1.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
2.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
3.
Standard Chinese
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Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
4.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
5.
Cantonese
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Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
6.
Jyutping
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Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping
7.
Southern Min
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Southern Min, or Minnan, is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in certain parts of China including southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang, and in Taiwan. The Min Nan dialects are spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, including Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien, the Southern Min dialect group also includes Teochew, though Teochew has limited mutual intelligibility with Hokkien. Hainanese is not mutually intellgible with other Southern Min and is considered a separate branch of Min. Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, any other Min branch, Hakka, Cantonese, Shanghainese or Mandarin. Southern Min dialects are spoken in the part of Fujian. The variant spoken in Leizhou, Guangdong as well as Hainan is Hainanese and is not mutually intelligible with other Southern Min or Teochew, Hainanese is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate. Puxian Min was originally based on the Quanzhou dialect, but over time became heavily influenced by Eastern Min, eventually losing intellegility with Minnan. A forms of Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, collectively known as Taiwanese, Southern Min is a first language for most of the Hoklo people, the main ethnicity of Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-Hoklo speak Southern Min fluently, there are many Southern Min speakers also among Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many ethnic Chinese immigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia and present-day Malaysia and Singapore. In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as Hokkien, Hokkienese, many Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and speak Teochew language, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Southern Min-speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore, with the largest group being Hokkien, despite the similarities the two groups are rarely seen as part of the same Minnan Chinese subgroups. The variants of Southern Min spoken in Zhejiang province are most akin to that spoken in Quanzhou, the variants spoken in Taiwan are similar to the three Fujian variants and are collectively known as Taiwanese. Those Southern Min variants that are known as Hokkien in Southeast Asia also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province are known as Teochew or Chaozhou. Teochew is of importance in the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora, particularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra. The Philippines variant is mostly from the Quanzhou area as most of their forefathers are from the aforementioned area, the Southern Min language variant spoken around Shanwei and Haifeng differs markedly from Teochew and may represent a later migration from Zhangzhou
8.
Taiwanese Romanization System
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The Taiwanese Romanization System is a transcription system for Taiwanese Hokkien. It is derived from Pe̍h-ōe-jī and since 2006 has been promoted by Taiwans Ministry of Education. It is nearly identical to Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet Romanization for Hakka apart from using ts tsh j instead of c ch j for the fricatives /ts tsʰ dz/, Taiwanese Romanization System uses 16 basic Latin letters,7 digraphs and a trigraph. In addition, it uses 6 diacritics to represent tones, nn is only used after a vowel to express nasalization, so it has no capital letter. Palatalization occurs when J, S, Ts, Tsh followed by i, so Ji, Si, Tsi, of the 10 unused basic Latin letters, R is sometimes used to express dialectal vowels, while the others are only used in loanwords. O pronounced ㄜ in general dialect in Kaohsiung and Tainan, ㄛ in Taipei, -nn forms the nasal vowels There is also syllabic m and ng. ing pronounced, ik pronounced. A hyphen links elements of a compound word, a double hyphen indicates that the following syllable has a neutral tone and therefore that the preceding syllable does not undergo tone sandhi. 臺灣閩南語羅馬拼音及其發音學習網, Taiwanese Romanization System learning site by Ministry of Education, Taiwan
9.
Middle Chinese
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The fanqie method used to indicate pronunciation in these dictionaries, though an improvement on earlier methods, proved awkward in practice. The mid 12th-century Yunjing and other rime tables incorporate a more sophisticated, the rime tables attest to a number of sound changes that had occurred over the centuries following the publication of the Qieyun. Linguists sometimes refer to the system of the Qieyun as Early Middle Chinese, the dictionaries and tables describe pronunciations in relative terms, but do not give their actual sounds. The Swedish linguist Bernard Karlgren believed that the recorded a speech standard of the capital Changan of the Sui and Tang dynasties. This composite system contains important information for the reconstruction of the system of Old Chinese phonology. The Middle Chinese system is used as a framework for the study. Branches of the Chinese family such as Mandarin, Yue and Wu can be treated as divergent developments from the Qieyun system. The reconstruction of Middle Chinese phonology is largely dependent upon detailed descriptions in a few original sources, the most important of these is the Qieyun rime dictionary and its revisions. The Qieyun is often used together with interpretations in Song dynasty rime tables such as the Yunjing, Qiyinlue, Chinese scholars of the Northern and Southern dynasties period were concerned with the correct recitation of the classics. Various schools produced dictionaries to codify reading pronunciations and the associated rhyme conventions of regulated verse, the Qieyun was an attempt to merge the distinctions in six earlier dictionaries, which were eclipsed by its success and are no longer extant. It was accepted as the standard reading pronunciation during the Tang dynasty, the Qieyun is thus the oldest surviving rime dictionary and the main source for the pronunciation of characters in Early Middle Chinese. The rime dictionaries organize Chinese characters by their pronunciation, according to a hierarchy of tone, rhyme, the fanqie system uses multiple equivalent characters to represent each particular initial, and likewise for finals. The categories of initials and finals actually represented were first identified by the Cantonese scholar Chen Li in an analysis published in his Qièyùn kǎo. The Qieyun classified homonyms under 193 rhyme classes, each of which is placed one of the four tones. A single rhyme class may contain multiple finals, generally differing only in the medial or in so-called chongniu doublets, the Yunjing is the oldest of the so-called rime tables, which provide a more detailed phonological analysis of the system contained in the Qieyun. However, the analysis shows some influence from LMC, which needs to be taken into account when interpreting difficult aspects of the system. The Yunjing is organized into 43 tables, each covering several Qieyun rhyme classes, and classified as, One of 16 broad rhyme classes, each described as either inner or outer. The meaning of this is debated but it has suggested that it refers to the height of the main vowel, with outer finals having an open vowel
10.
Old Chinese
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Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, bronze inscriptions became plentiful during the following Zhou dynasty. The latter part of the Zhou period saw a flowering of literature, including works such as the Analects, the Mencius. These works served as models for Literary Chinese, which remained the standard until the early twentieth century, thus preserving the vocabulary. Old Chinese was written with a form of Chinese characters. Although the script is not alphabetic, most characters were created by adapting a character for a similar-sounding word. Most recent reconstructions also describe Old Chinese as a language without tones, but having consonant clusters at the end of the syllable, most researchers trace the core vocabulary of Old Chinese to Sino-Tibetan, with much early borrowing from neighbouring languages. During the Zhou period, the originally monosyllabic vocabulary was augmented with polysyllabic words formed by compounding, several derivational affixes have also been identified. However the language lacked inflection, and indicated grammatical relationships using word order, the earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at the Yinxu site near modern Anyang identified as the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1250 BC. These are the bones, short inscriptions carved on tortoise plastrons and ox scapulae for divinatory purposes. The language written is undoubtedly an early form of Chinese, but is difficult to due to the limited subject matter. Only half of the 4,000 characters used have been identified with certainty, little is known about the grammar of this language, but it seems much less reliant on grammatical particles than Classical Chinese. From early in the Western Zhou period, around 1000 BC, even longer pre-Classical texts on a wide range of subjects have also been transmitted through the literary tradition. The oldest parts of the Book of Documents, the Classic of Poetry and the I Ching also date from the early Zhou period, a greater proportion of this more varied vocabulary has been identified than for the oracular period. The four centuries preceding the unification of China in 221 BC constitute the Chinese classical period in the strict sense, there are many bronze inscriptions from this period, but they are vastly outweighed by a rich literature written in ink on bamboo and wooden slips and silk. Although these are perishable materials, and many books were destroyed in the burning of books and burying of scholars in the Qin dynasty, other texts have been transmitted as copies. Such works from this period as the Analects, the Classic of Filial Piety, the Mencius, the Classical Chinese of such works formed the basis of Literary Chinese, which remained the written standard until the early twentieth century. Each character of the script represented a single Old Chinese word, most scholars believe that these words were monosyllabic, though some have recently suggested that a minority of them had minor presyllables
11.
Reconstructions of Old Chinese
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Several authors have produced reconstructions of Old Chinese phonology, beginning with the Swedish sinologist Bernard Karlgren in the 1940s and continuing to the present day. Although the various notations appear to be different, they correspond with each other on most points. By the 1970s, it was agreed that Old Chinese had fewer points of articulation than Middle Chinese, a set of voiceless sonorants. Since the 1990s, most authors have agreed on a six-vowel system, several other kinds of evidence are less comprehensive, but provide valuable clues. These include Min dialects, early Chinese transcriptions of foreign names, Middle Chinese, or more precisely Early Middle Chinese, is the phonological system of the Qieyun, a rhyme dictionary published in 601, with many revisions and expansions over the following centuries. These dictionaries indicated pronunciation by dividing a syllable into an initial consonant, according to its preface, the Qieyun did not reflect a single contemporary dialect, but incorporated distinctions made in different parts of China at the time. The fact that the Qieyun system contains more distinctions than any single form of speech means that it retains additional information about the history of the language. The large number of initials and finals are unevenly distributed, suggesting hypotheses about earlier forms of Chinese, often characters sharing a phonetic element are still pronounced alike, as in the character 中, which was adapted to write the words chōng and zhōng. In other cases the words in a series have very different sounds both in Middle Chinese and in modern varieties. Since the sounds are assumed to have been similar at the time the characters were chosen, the first systematic study of the structure of Chinese characters was Xu Shens Shuowen Jiezi. The Shuowen was mostly based on the seal script standardized in the Qin dynasty. Earlier characters from bones and Zhou bronze inscriptions often reveal relationships that were obscured in later forms. Rhyme has been a consistent feature of Chinese poetry, while much old poetry still rhymes in modern varieties of Chinese, Chinese scholars have long noted exceptions. This was attributed to lax rhyming practice of early poets until the late-Ming dynasty scholar Chen Di argued that a former consistency had been obscured by sound change and this implied that the rhyming practice of ancient poets recorded information about their pronunciation. Scholars have studied various bodies of poetry to identify classes of rhyming words at different periods, the oldest such collection is the Shijing, containing songs ranging from the 10th to 7th centuries BC. The systematic study of Old Chinese rhymes began in the 17th century, gus analysis was refined by Qing dynasty philologists, steadily increasing the number of rhyme groups. A final revision by Wang Li in the 1930s produced the set of 31 rhyme groups. The Min dialects are believed to have split off before the Middle Chinese stage, for example, the following dental initials have been identified in reconstructed proto-Min, Other points of articulation show similar distinctions within stops and nasals
12.
History of China
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Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1500 BC under the Shang dynasty. Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty, with thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the worlds oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy developed during the Zhou dynasty. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history, between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China, in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang united the warring kingdoms and created for himself the title of emperor of the Qin dynasty. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly, in the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite, the Scholar-officials. Young men were selected through difficult examinations and were well-versed in calligraphy and philosophy. What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than a million years ago, recent study shows that the stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site are magnetostratigraphically dated to 1.36 million years ago. The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, the excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation. Perhaps the most famous specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1923–27, fossilised teeth of Homo sapiens dating to 125, 000–80,000 BC have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County in Hunan. The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to about 10,000 BC, Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, is carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago, farming gave rise to the Jiahu culture. At Damaidi in Ningxia,3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and these pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC, some scholars have suggested that Jiahu symbols were the earliest Chinese writing system. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, Later, Yangshao culture was superseded by the Longshan culture, which was also centered on the Yellow River from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site, The Bronze Age is also represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture site in northeast China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan province is believed to be the site of a ancient city. The site was first discovered in 1929 and then re-discovered in 1986, Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui culture to be part of the ancient kingdom of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings
13.
Han dynasty
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The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered an age in Chinese history. To this day, Chinas majority ethnic group refers to itself as the Han people and it was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods, the Western Han or Former Han and the Eastern Han or Later Han, the emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas controlled by the central government using an innovation inherited from the Qin known as commanderies. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States, from the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 AD, the Han dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty. The coinage issued by the government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations, the Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han launched several campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries, the territories north of Hans borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Imperial authority was seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, following Liu Bangs victory in the Chu–Han Contention, the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. Chinas first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty, the Qin unified the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their empire became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Within four years, the authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Although Xiang Yu proved to be a commander, Liu Bang defeated him at Battle of Gaixia. Liu Bang assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu, Changan was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han
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Wang Mang
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Wang Mang, courtesy name Jujun, was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin Dynasty, ruling 9–23 AD. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow, and his rule marks the separation between the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty, some historians have traditionally viewed Wang as a usurper, while others have portrayed him as a visionary and selfless social reformer. Though a learned Confucian scholar who sought to implement the harmonious society he saw in the classics, in October 23 AD, the capital Changan was attacked and the imperial palace ransacked. Wang Mang died in the battle, the Han dynasty was reestablished in 25 AD when Liu Xiu took the throne. Wang Mang was the son of Wang Man, the brother of Empress Wang Zhengjun. Wang Man died early, while Wang Mang was young, before Emperor Cheng took the throne, unlike most of his brothers, Wang Man did not have the opportunity to become a marquess. Empress Wang took pity on his family, and after she herself was widowed, had Qu moved to the palace to live with her. While Wang Mang was obviously well-connected to the family, he did not have nearly the luxuries that his cousins enjoyed. Indeed, unlike his relatives who lived expensively and competed with other on how they could spend more, Wang Mang was praised for his humility, thriftiness. He wore not the clothes of young nobles but those of a young Confucian scholar and he was also praised on how filial he was to his mother and how caring he was to his deceased brother Wang Yong s wife and son Wang Guang. Wang Mang befriended many people and served his uncles carefully. When Wang Mangs powerful uncle Wang Feng grew ill, Wang Mang cared for him near his sick bed day and night, Wang Feng was greatly touched, and before his death, he asked Empress Dowager Wang and Emperor Cheng to take good care of Wang Mang. Wang Mang was therefore given the post of imperial attendant and later promoted to be one of the subcommanders of the imperial guards. In 16 BC, another of Wang Mangs uncles, Wang Shang the Marquess of Chengdu, submitted a petition to divide part of his march, several well-regarded officials concurred in this request, and Emperor Cheng was impressed with Wang Mangs reputation. He therefore created Wang Mang the Marquess of Xindu and promoted him to the Chamberlain for Attendants and it was described by historians that the greater the posts that Wang was promoted to, the more humble he grew. He did not accumulate wealth, but used the money to support scholars and to give gifts to colleagues, another thing that Wang Mang made himself known for was that he had only a single wife, Lady Wang, and no concubines. However, as events would show, Wang was not completely faithful to his wife. Chunyu also had relations with both Emperor Chengs wife Empress Zhao Feiyan and his deposed former wife Empress Xu
15.
Ban Gu
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Ban Gu was an ancient Chinese historian and poet best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han, the second of Chinas 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of fu, a literary form, part prose and part poetry. A number of Bans fu were collected by Xiao Tong in the Wen Xuan, the Ban family was one of the most distinguished families of the Eastern Han dynasty. They lived in the state of Chu during the Warring States period, but in the 3rd century BC, Ban Biao later moved the family to Anling. Ban Gus great-aunt Consort Ban was a scholar and poet, and he took over from his father responsibility for writing a history of the former Han Dynasty, a book known in modern times as the Hanshu or Book of Han. However, his work was interrupted by political problems, as his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou led to his imprisonment and death. A few volumes of his book in 13–20th and 26th, however, was completed by his sister, Ban Zhao. Bans twin brother Ban Chao was a military leader and explorer of Central Asia. His sister, Ban Zhao, was one of the most famous scholars in Chinese history. Bans father, Ban Biao, died in AD54 when Ban was twenty-two, Ban was subsequently arrested and the Ban family library confiscated, though Bans brother Ban Chao was able to intercede on his behalf and secure Bans release. Emperor Ming was so impressed with the quality of Bans work that in AD66 he gave him permission to resume his work on the history of the Western Han, which he worked on for the rest of his life. Ban continued to serve in the library and at the imperial court throughout the second half of the 1st century AD. During the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han, Ban was promoted to the position of Marshal of the Black Warrior Gate, Ban later served as a high-ranking literary official under Dou Xian, the brother of Emperor Zhangs empress. Although Dou won prestige for two campaigns against the Xiongnu, in AD92 he was suspected by Emperor He of Han of plotting a rebellion. Immediately thereafter, Ban was dismissed from office and arrested by an old rival, Chong Jing, Ban died in prison that same year at 61 years old. Ban Biao Ban Gu Ban Chao Ban Xiong Ban Shi Ban Yong Ban Zhao Han poetry Twenty-Four Histories Works by Gu Ban at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Gu Ban at Internet Archive
16.
Ban Zhao
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Bān Zhāo, courtesy name Huiban, was the first known female Chinese historian. She completed her brother Ban Gus work on the history of the Western Han and she also wrote Lessons for Women, an influential work on womens conduct. She also had great interest in astronomy and mathematics and wrote poems, commemorative writings, argumentations, commentaries, essays and several longer works and she became Chinas most famous female scholar. Ban Zhao was born in Anling, near modern Xianyang, Shaanxi province, at age fourteen, she married a local resident named Cao Shishu, and was called in the court by the name as Venerable Madame Cao. Her husband died when she was still young and she never remarried, instead devoting her life to scholarship. She was the daughter of the famous historian Ban Biao and younger of 2 sisters of the general Ban Chao and she was also the grandniece of the notable scholar and poet Consort Ban. Ban Zhao was a co-author of the history of the Western Han, after Ban Gu was imprisoned and executed in 92 because of his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou, Ban Zhao finished the work. She added the genealogy of the mother of the emperor, providing information which was not usually kept. She also added a treatise on astronomy, Ban Zhao also wrote the Lessons for Women. This Confucian moralistic book generally advised women to be compliant and respectful towards the purpose of maintaining familial harmony. The book also indicates women should be well-educated so they can serve their husbands. According to her, Nothing is better than obedience which sacrifices personal opinion, a modern revisionist theory states that the book is a guide to teach women how to avoid scandal in youth so they can survive long enough to become a powerful dowager. This treatise on the education of women was dedicated to the daughters in Ban Zhaos family but was circulated immediately at court and it was popular for centuries in China as a guide for womens conduct. She taught Empress Deng Sui and members of the court in the royal library, the Empress and concubines gave her the title Gifted one and the empress made her a Lady-in-waiting. As the Empress became regent for the infant Emperor Shang of Han, in gratitude, the Empress gave both Ban Zhaos sons appointments as officials. Ban Zhao was also a librarian at court, supervising the editorial labors of a staff of assistants, in this capacity, she rearranged and enlarged the Biographies of Eminent Women by Liu Xiang. It is possible that she supervised the copying of manuscripts from bamboo slips and silk onto a recently invented material, in 113, Ban Zhaos son Cao Cheng was appointed an official in Chenliu Commandery. Ban accompanied him to Chenliu and wrote about the journey in Dong Zheng Fu, after her death, her daughter-in-law, née Ding, gathered her works in the three-volume Collected Works of Ban Zhao, but most have been lost
17.
Ban Biao
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Ban Biao, courtesy name, was a Chinese historian, and an official born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han Dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng. Ban Biao began the Book of Han, which was completed by his son, Ban Gu, Ban Biao Ban Gu Ban Chao Ban Xiong Ban Shi Ban Yong Ban Zhao Book of Han Book of Later Han, vol
18.
Records of the Grand Historian
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The work covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese and a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the authors own time. The Records has been called a text in Chinese civilization. After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin, Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, the Records set the model for the 24 subsequent dynastic histories of China. The work that became Records of the Grand Historian was begun by Sima Tan, after his death in 110 BC, it was continued and completed by his son and successor Sima Qian, who is generally credited as the works author. Sima Qian is known to have completed the Records before his death in c.86 BC, with one copy residing in the capital of Changan. Details regarding the Records early reception and circulation are not well known, beginning in the Northern and Southern dynasties and the Tang dynasty, a number of scholars wrote and edited commentaries to the Records. Most 1st millennium editions of the Records include the commentaries of Pei Yin, Sima Zhen, the primary modern edition of the Records is the Zhonghua Book Company edition of 1959, and is based on an edition prepared by the Chinese historian Gu Jiegang in the early 1930s. There are two known surviving fragments of Records manuscripts from before the Tang dynasty, both of which are preserved in the Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu, Japan, a number of woodblock printed editions of the Records survive, the earliest of which date to the Song dynasty. In all, the Records is about 526,000 Chinese characters long, making it four times longer than Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, Sima Qian conceived and composed his work in self-contained units, with a good deal of repetition between them. His manuscript was written on bamboo slips with about 24 to 36 characters each, even after the manuscript was allowed to circulate or be copied, the work would have circulated as bundles of bamboo slips or small groups. Endymion Wilkinson calculates that there were probably between 466 and 700 bundles, whose total weight would have been 88–132 pounds, which would have been difficult to access, later copies on silk would have been much lighter, but also expensive and rare. Until the work was transferred to many centuries later, circulation would have been difficult and piecemeal. Sima Qian organized the chapters of Records of the Grand Historian into five categories, the first five cover either periods, such as the Five Emperors, or individual dynasties, such as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The last seven cover individual rulers, starting with the First Emperor of Qin, Tables Chapters 13 to 22 are the Tables, which are one genealogical table and nine other chronological tables. Each table except the last one begins with an introduction to the period it covers, Hereditary Houses The Hereditary Houses is the second largest of the five Records sections, and comprises chapters 31 to 60. Within this section, the chapters are very different in nature than the later chapters. Many of the chapters are chronicle-like accounts of the leading states of the Zhou dynasty, such as the states of Qin and Lu. The later chapters, which cover the Han dynasty, contain biographies, Ranked Biographies The Ranked Biographies is the largest of the five Records sections, covering chapters 61 to 130, and accounts for 42% of the entire work
19.
Book of the Later Han
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The Hou Hanshu, or Book of the Later Han, also known as History of the Later Han, is a Chinese court document covering the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE. It was compiled by Fan Ye and others in the 5th century during the Liu Song dynasty, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. The book is part of four early historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han and Records of the Three Kingdoms. Fan Ye used earlier histories, including accounts by Sima Qian and Ban Gu, along many others. The section on the Treatise on the Western Regions was based on a report composed by Ban Yong and it presumably includes notes from his father Ban Chao. It contains a few references to events occurring after the death of Emperor An, including a brief account of the arrival of the first official envoys from Rome in 166. Now, the reports of the Jianwu period onwards recorded in this Chapter on the Western Regions differ from the earlier, they are from Ban Yongs report at the end of Emperor An, trois Généraux Chinois de la dynastie des Han Orientaux. Pan Tch’ao, – son fils Pan Yong, – Leang K’in, chapitre LXXVII du Heou Han chou. Les pay doccident daprès le Heou Han chou, through the Jade Gate - China to Rome, A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions, sino-Platonic Papers No.131 March,2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, encyclopedia of China, 1st ed. Silk Road Seattle - University of Washington Hou Han Shu
20.
Fan Ye (historian)
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Fan Ye, courtesy name Weizong, was a historian and politician of the Liu Song dynasty during the Southern and Northern dynasties period. He was the compiler of the historical text Book of the Later Han, the son of Fan Tai, Fan Ye was born in present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang, but his ancestral home was in Nanyang, Henan
21.
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian, formerly romanized Ssu-ma Chien, was a Chinese historian of the Han dynasty. Sima Qian was born at Xiayang in Zuopingyi around 145 BC, Simas precise year of birth is still debated, but it is generally agreed that he lived most of his life during the reign of the Emperor Wu whose long reign lasted from 141-87 BC. His father, Sima Tan, around 136 BC received an appointment to the relatively low-ranking position of grand historian. The grand historians primary duty was to formulate the yearly calendar, identifying which days were ritually auspicious or inauspicious, and present it to the emperor prior to New Years Day. Besides these duties, the historian was also to travel with the emperor for important rituals. By his account, by the age of ten Sima was able to read the old writings and was considered to be a promising scholar, Sima grew up in a Confucian environment, and Sima always regarded his historical work as an act of Confucian filial piety to his father. In 126 BC, around the age of twenty, Sima Qian began a tour around China as it existed in the Han dynasty. He then went to seek the place of the legendary Xia dynasty rulers Yu on Mount Kuaiji. He then went north to Huaiyin to see the grave of Han dynasty general Han Xin, then continued north to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, where he studied ritual and other traditional subjects. After his travels, Sima was chosen to be a Palace Attendant in the government, Sima married young and had one daughter. In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five, Sima Qian was sent westward on an expedition against some barbarian tribes. That year, his father ill and could not attend the Imperial Feng Sacrifice. Suspecting his time was running out, he summoned his son home to complete the historical work he had begun. Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring and Autumn - the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature, fueled by his fathers inspiration, Sima Qian started to compile Shiji, which became known in English as the Records of the Grand Historian, in 109 BC. Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian assumed his fathers position as Court Astrologer. In 105 BC, Sima was among the chosen to reform the calendar. As a senior official, Sima was also in the position to offer counsel to the emperor on general affairs of state. In 99 BC, Sima Qian became embroiled in the Li Ling affair, Emperor Wu attributed the defeat to Li Ling, with all government officials subsequently condemning him for it
22.
Yang Xiong (author)
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Yang Xiong was a Han dynasty scholar, poet, and author known for his philosophical writings and fu poetry compositions. Like a number of the great writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was from Shu. Yang claimed that his family had moved south from the state of Jin during its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE, as a youth Yang was an admirer and imitator of his elder Shu compatriot Sima Xiangru and the grand fu style of the early Han period. His ability and success in fu composition earned him a summons to the capital at Changan to serve as an Expectant Official, responsible for composing poems. Yangs position required him to praise the virtue and glory of Emperor Cheng of Han and the grandeur of imperial outings, together with Sima Xiangru, Yang was one of the most famous and illustrious men of the entire Han dynasty. The Book of Han devotes a full chapter to both Yang and Sima, an honor surpassing that of even the most famous generals and ministers. He did not believe human nature was good as Mencius had written, nor inherently bad as Xunzi had written. He was an associate of the official and philosopher Huan Tan. Yang is also known for his protest against the verbosity of the fu and he was hailed by Huan Tan as the Confucius from the western parts. Footnotes Works Cited Chen, Keming and Zhang, Shancheng, Yang Xiong, encyclopedia of China, 1st ed. Ho, Kenneth Pui-Hung. The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Volume 1, the Han Shu Biography of Yang Xiong. Tempe, Center for Asian Studies, Arizona State University, in Knechtges, David R. Chang, Taiping. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, A Reference Guide, Part Three
23.
Law
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Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. Law as a system helps regulate and ensure that a community show respect, private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, the law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. Islamic Sharia law is the worlds most widely used religious law, the adjudication of the law is generally divided into two main areas referred to as Criminal law and Civil law. Criminal law deals with conduct that is considered harmful to social order, Civil law deals with the resolution of lawsuits between individuals or organizations. Law provides a source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, there is an old saying that all are equal before the law, although Jonathan Swift argued that Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. In 1894, the author Anatole France said sarcastically, In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual, mikhail Bakunin said, All law has for its object to confirm and exalt into a system the exploitation of the workers by a ruling class. Cicero said more law, less justice, marxist doctrine asserts that law will not be required once the state has withered away. Regardless of ones view of the law, it today a completely central institution. Numerous definitions of law have been put forward over the centuries, at the same time, it plays only one part in the congeries of rules which influence behavior, for social and moral rules of a less institutionalized kind are also of great importance. There have been attempts to produce a universally acceptable definition of law. In 1972, one indicated that no such definition could be produced. McCoubrey and White said that the question what is law, glanville Williams said that the meaning of the word law depends on the context in which that word is used. He said that, for example, early customary law and municipal law were contexts where the law had two different and irreconcilable meanings. Thurman Arnold said that it is obvious that it is impossible to define the word law and it is possible to take the view that there is no need to define the word law. The history of law links closely to the development of civilization, Ancient Egyptian law, dating as far back as 3000 BC, contained a civil code that was probably broken into twelve books
24.
Science
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Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations, disciplines which use science, like engineering and medicine, may also be considered to be applied sciences. However, during the Islamic Golden Age foundations for the method were laid by Ibn al-Haytham in his Book of Optics. In the 17th and 18th centuries, scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of physical laws, over the course of the 19th century, the word science became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself as a disciplined way to study the natural world. It was during this time that scientific disciplines such as biology, chemistry, Science in a broad sense existed before the modern era and in many historical civilizations. Modern science is distinct in its approach and successful in its results, Science in its original sense was a word for a type of knowledge rather than a specialized word for the pursuit of such knowledge. In particular, it was the type of knowledge which people can communicate to each other, for example, knowledge about the working of natural things was gathered long before recorded history and led to the development of complex abstract thought. This is shown by the construction of calendars, techniques for making poisonous plants edible. For this reason, it is claimed these men were the first philosophers in the strict sense and they were mainly speculators or theorists, particularly interested in astronomy. In contrast, trying to use knowledge of nature to imitate nature was seen by scientists as a more appropriate interest for lower class artisans. A clear-cut distinction between formal and empirical science was made by the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, although his work Peri Physeos is a poem, it may be viewed as an epistemological essay on method in natural science. Parmenides ἐὸν may refer to a system or calculus which can describe nature more precisely than natural languages. Physis may be identical to ἐὸν and he criticized the older type of study of physics as too purely speculative and lacking in self-criticism. He was particularly concerned that some of the early physicists treated nature as if it could be assumed that it had no intelligent order, explaining things merely in terms of motion and matter. The study of things had been the realm of mythology and tradition, however. Aristotle later created a less controversial systematic programme of Socratic philosophy which was teleological and he rejected many of the conclusions of earlier scientists. For example, in his physics, the sun goes around the earth, each thing has a formal cause and final cause and a role in the rational cosmic order. Motion and change is described as the actualization of potentials already in things, while the Socratics insisted that philosophy should be used to consider the practical question of the best way to live for a human being, they did not argue for any other types of applied science
25.
Geography
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Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth. The first person to use the word γεωγραφία was Eratosthenes, Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of the Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is often defined in terms of the two branches of geography and physical geography. Geography has been called the world discipline and the bridge between the human and the physical sciences, Geography is a systematic study of the Earth and its features. Traditionally, geography has been associated with cartography and place names, although many geographers are trained in toponymy and cartology, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the space and the temporal database distribution of phenomena, processes, because space and place affect a variety of topics, such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the approach depends on an attentiveness to the relationship between physical and human phenomena and its spatial patterns. Names of places. are not geography. know by heart a whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself and this is a description of the world—that is Geography. In a word Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of argument and reason, of cause, just as all phenomena exist in time and thus have a history, they also exist in space and have a geography. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main fields, human geography and physical geography. The former largely focuses on the environment and how humans create, view, manage. The latter examines the environment, and how organisms, climate, soil, water. The difference between these led to a third field, environmental geography, which combines physical and human geography. Physical geography focuses on geography as an Earth science and it aims to understand the physical problems and the issues of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns. Physical geography can be divided into broad categories, including, Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns. It encompasses the human, political, cultural, social, and it requires an understanding of the traditional aspects of physical and human geography, as well as the ways that human societies conceptualize the environment. Integrated geography has emerged as a bridge between the human and the geography, as a result of the increasing specialisation of the two sub-fields. Examples of areas of research in the environmental geography include, emergency management, environmental management, sustainability, geomatics is concerned with the application of computers to the traditional spatial techniques used in cartography and topography
26.
Literature
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Literature, in its broadest sense, is any single body of written works. Its Latin root literatura/litteratura was used to refer to all written accounts, developments in print technology have allowed an evergrowing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature. There have been attempts to define literature. Simon and Delyse Ryan begin their attempt to answer the question What is Literature, with the observation, The quest to discover a definition for literature is a road that is much travelled, though the point of arrival, if ever reached, is seldom satisfactory. Most attempted definitions are broad and vague, and they change over time. In fact, the thing that is certain about defining literature is that the definition will change. Concepts of what is literature change over time as well, definitions of literature have varied over time, it is a culturally relative definition. In Western Europe prior to the century, literature as a term indicated all books. A more restricted sense of the term emerged during the Romantic period, contemporary debates over what constitutes literature can be seen as returning to the older, more inclusive notion of what constitutes literature. Cultural studies, for instance, takes as its subject of both popular and minority genres, in addition to canonical works. The value judgment definition of literature considers it to cover exclusively those writings that possess high quality or distinction and this sort of definition is that used in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition when it classifies literature as the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing. The formalist definition is that literature foregrounds poetic effects, it is the literariness or poetic of literature that distinguishes it from ordinary speech or other kinds of writing. Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura learning, a writing, grammar, originally writing formed with letters, in spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts. Poetry is a form of art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of. Possibly as a result of Aristotles influence, poetry before the century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a normative category of fictive or rhetorical art. As a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and sustained by an oral tradition, novel, a long fictional prose narrative. It was the close relation to real life that differentiated it from the chivalric romance, in most European languages the equivalent term is roman. In English, the term emerged from the Romance languages in the fifteenth century, with the meaning of news, it came to indicate something new
27.
Zhang Qian
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Zhang Qian was a Chinese official and diplomat who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Han dynasty. Today Zhang Qians travels are associated with the route of transcontinental trade. In essence, his missions opened up to China the many kingdoms, Zhang Qians accounts of his explorations of Central Asia are detailed in the Early Han historical chronicles, Records of the Grand Historian, compiled by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The Central Asian sections of the Silk Road routes were expanded around 114 BC largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian, today Zhang Qian is considered a national hero and revered for the key role he played in opening China to the world of commercial trade. Zhang Qian was born in Chenggu district just east of Hanzhong in the central province of Shaanxi. He entered the capital, Changan, todays Xian, between 140 BC and 134 BC as a Gentleman, serving Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. At the time the nomadic Xiongnu tribes controlled what is now Inner Mongolia and dominated the Western Regions, Xiyu, the Han emperor was interested in establishing commercial ties with distant lands but outside contact was prevented by the hostile Xiongnu. He was accompanied by a guide named Ganfu, a Xiongnu who had captured in war. The objective of Zhang Qians first mission was to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi. However to get to the territory of the Yuezhi he was forced to pass through land controlled by the Xiongnu who captured him, during this time he married a Xiongnu wife, who bore him a son, and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader. The Yuezhi were agricultural people who produced strong horses and many unknown crops including alfalfa for animal fodder, however, the Yuezhi were too settled to desire war against the Xiongnu. On his return trip he was captured by the Xiongnu who again spared his life because they valued his sense of duty. Two years later the Xiongnu leader died and in the midst of chaos, of the original mission of just over a hundred men, only Zhang Qian and Ganfu managed to return to China. Zhang Qian returned in 125 BC with detailed news for the Emperor, showing that sophisticated civilizations existed to the West, all these states, he was told, were militarily weak and prized Han goods and wealth. Upon Zhang Qians return to China he was honoured with a position of palace counselor, on his mission Zhang Qian had noticed products from an area now known as northern India. However, the task remained to find a route not obstructed by the Xiongnu to India. Zhang Qian set out on a mission to forge a route from China to India via Sichuan. In 119–115 BC Zhang Qian was sent on a mission by the emperor
28.
Western Regions
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Because of its strategic location astride the Silk Road, the Western Regions have been historically significant since at least the 3rd century BC. It was the site of the Han–Xiongnu War until 89 AD, in the 7th century, the Tang campaign against the oasis states led to Chinese control of the region until the An Lushan Rebellion. The region became significant in later centuries as a conduit between East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Muslim world and Europe, such as during the period of the Mongol Empire. One of the most significant exports of the Western Regions was Buddhist texts, particularly the Mahāyāna sūtras, which were carried by traders and pilgrim monks to China. The Tang dynasty monk Xuanzang crossed the region on his way to study in India, before the onset of Turkic migrations, the peoples of the region were Indo-Europeans divided into roughly two linguistic groups, the Saka and the Tocharians. The peoples of oasis city-states of Khotan and Kashgar spoke Saka, one of the Eastern Iranian languages, whereas the people of Kucha, the language of the native people of Loulan has yet to be fully understood or determined. Yap Wars with the Xiongnu - a translation from Zizhi Tongjian Chapters 4-17, authorHouse ISBN 978-1-4490-0604-4 西域考古図譜, vol.1 西域考古図譜, vol.2
29.
Records of the Three Kingdoms
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The Records of the Three Kingdoms is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. It is widely regarded as the official and authoritative text for that period. Written by Chen Shou in the century, the work combines the smaller histories of the rival states of Cao Wei, Shu Han. The Records of the Three Kingdoms provided the basis for the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century and it contains 65 volumes and about 360,000 Chinese characters which are broken into three books. The Book of Wei contains 30 volumes, the Book of Shu 15 volumes, each volume is organised in the form of one or more biographies. The amount of space a biography takes up is dictated by the importance of the figure, the original author was Chen Shou, who was born in present-day Nanchong, Sichuan, in the state of Shu. After the fall of Shu in 263, he became a historian under the government of the Jin dynasty. After the fall of Wu in 280, his work received the acclaim of the senior minister Zhang Hua. Prior to the Jin dynasty, both the states of Wei and Wu already had their histories, such as the Book of Wei by Wang Chen, the Weilüe by Yu Huan. Chen Shou created the Records of the Three Kingdoms with these works as a foundation. The Records of the Three Kingdoms used the year 220 AD — which marked the end of the Han dynasty — as the year in which the state of Wei was established. The Records of the Three Kingdoms referred the rulers of Wei as Emperors, the romantic and historical traditions for the Three Kingdoms period have been so confused over the centuries that the Records of the Three Kingdoms is often regarded as an invaluable resource. Although it contains errors, it is more historically accurate than the embellishments of writers in later periods. In its nature, the work is indeed a chronicle, much like those of early Medieval Europe written much later, the text is bland and little more than a collection of historical facts. A rough translation of an extract from Guan Yus biography is as follows, In the 24th year, the Former Lord became the King of Hanzhong. In the same year, Yu led his men to attack Cao Ren at Fan, Lord Cao sent Yu Jin to aid Ren. In autumn, great rains caused the Han River to flood, Jin, from this, we can establish reasonably accurately the flow of events and how history unfolded but almost nothing about society or elements of institutions or policies. The amount of creative imagination used in ancient Chinese historical narratives — of fictionalising — is impossible to estimate precisely
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Emperor Gaozu of Han
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Emperor Gaozu of Han, born Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 –195 BC. He was one of the few dynasty founders in Chinese history with humble origin from the peasant class, before coming to power, Liu Bang initially served as a minor patrol officer for the Qin dynasty in his hometown Pei County, within the conquered state of Chu. With the First Emperors death and the Qin Empires subsequent political chaos, Liu Bang renounced his government position and he won the race against fellow rebel leader Xiang Yu to invade the Qin heartland and forced the surrender of the last Qin emperor in 206 BC. Within the year, Liu Bang broke out with his army and conquered the Three Qins, in 202 BC, Liu Bang emerged victorious following the Battle of Gaixia, unified most of China under his control, and established the Han dynasty with himself as the founding emperor. During his reign, Liu Bang reduced taxes and corvée, promoted Confucianism and he also initiated the policy of heqin to maintain a de jure peace between the Han Empire and the Xiongnu after losing the Battle of Baideng in 200 BC. He died in 195 BC and was succeeded by his son, in imperial Han myth, Liu Bang was a descendant of the mythical Emperor Yao, who descended from the Yellow Emperor. It is a practice among many ancient Chinese noble families to claim descent from the mythical Yellow Emperor. Liu Bang was born to a peasant family in Fenyu Village, Zhongyang Township and his parents names were not recorded in history, they were simply referred to as Liu Taigong and Liu Ao. According to legend, before Liu Bangs birth, his mother was caught in a rainstorm, at that moment, lightning struck and the sky darkened. Liu Bangs father went to fetch his wife home and saw a dragon hovering above her and she became pregnant and later gave birth to Liu Bang. The young Liu Bang was outspoken, charismatic and of great generosity, Liu Bang persisted in his idling ways and depended on his brothers family for food and lodging. When he grew older, he became a friend and live-in companion of a former retainer of Lord Xinling named Zhang Er. After Qin dynasty conquered Chu, Zhang Er went into hiding and he nevertheless forged close relationships with most of the local county bureaucrats, and earned himself a small reputation in the district. Liu Bang was once sent for statute labour in the capital Xianyang, awed by the majestic sight of the royal convoy, he exclaimed, Wow, this is how a great man should be. One day, Lü Wen, a wealthy and influential gentry from Shanfu County who had moved to Pei County, was putting on a feast to host the local elites. Xiao He, who was in charge of helping Lü Wen collect gifts from the visitors, Liu Bang went there without bringing any money and said, I offer 10,000 coins. Lü Wen chatted with Liu Bang, and said, I used to predict fortunes for many people and he then offered his daughter Lü Zhis hand in marriage to Liu Bang. After they were wed, Lü Zhi bore Liu Bang a son Liu Ying, Liu Bang was tasked with escorting a group of convicts to Mount Li to build the First Emperors mausoleum
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Emperor Hui of Han
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Emperor Hui of Han was the second emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. He was the son of the first Han emperor, Han Gaozu. He is generally remembered as a weak character dominated by his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, personally kind and generous and he tried to protect Ruyi, Prince Yin of Zhao, his younger half-brother, from being murdered by Empress Dowager Lü, but failed. After that he indulged himself in drinking and sex and died at a young age. Empress Dowager Lü installed two of his sons, Liu Gong and Liu Hong, the sons of the Emperors concubine after he died without a designated heir. Emperor Huis wife was Empress Zhang Yan, a niece of his by his sister Princess Yuan of Lu, Liu Yings childhood is not completely clear. What is known is that he was not his father Liu Bangs oldest son—that would be Liu Fei, who would later be made the Prince of Qi. However, Liu Ying was considered to be the heir because his mother. In 205 BC, Liu Bang appeared to be near total victory, the then-very young Liu Ying must have then spent these days not knowing what the eventual fate of his grandfather and mother would be. After Liu Bangs victory and self-declaration as the emperor, thus establishing the Han Dynasty, in 202 BC, he made his wife empress and Liu Ying, as his proper heir, crown prince. Under the title of Ying Taizi, he was considered to be kind and tolerant, rather, he favored his young son Liu Ruyi, whom he considered to be more like him and whose mother, Consort Qi, was his favorite concubine. With the support of the officials, however, Prince Yings status as heir survived despite Consort Qis machinations. As crown prince, Prince Ying, along with his mother, Prince Ying was instead put in charge of home territories around the capital Changan, assisted by Confucian scholar Shusun Tong and strategist Zhang Liang. He appeared to carry out the tasks competently but without distinction, Prince Ying succeeded to the throne of Han when his father died in 195 BC from complications of an arrow wound suffered during the campaign against Ying Bu. Immediately upon Prince Yings ascension to the throne as Emperor Hui, Empress Lü, now empress dowager and she wanted to carry out a plot of revenge against Consort Qi and her son Ruyi. She first arrested Consort Qi and put her in prison garb, instead of directly moving against Zhou and Liu Ruyi, though, Lü circumvented Zhou by first summoning him to the capital, and then summoning Liu Ruyi. Emperor Hui tried to save Liu Ruyis life, before Liu Ruyi could get to the capital, Emperor Hui intercepted his young brother at Bashang and received Liu Ruyi into his palace, and they dined together and slept together. Empress Dowager Lü wanted to kill Liu Ruyi, but was afraid that any attempt might also harm her own son, Empress Dowager Lü got her chance in winter 195 BC
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Emperor Wen of Han
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Emperor Wen of Han was the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty of ancient China. His personal name was Liu Heng, Liu Heng was a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager. When Emperor Gao suppressed the rebellion of Dai, he made Liu Heng Prince of Dai and his reign brought a much needed political stability that laid the groundwork for prosperity under his grandson Emperor Wu. Historians noted that the tax rates were at a ratio of 1 out of 30 and 1 out of 60, corresponding to 3. 33% and 1. 67%, warehouses were so full of grain that some of it was left to decay. In a move of lasting importance in 165 BC, Emperor Wen introduced recruitment to the service through examinations. Previously, potential officials never sat for any sort of academic examinations and their names were sent by local officials to the central government based on reputations and abilities, which were sometimes judged subjectively. He was said by Liu Xiang to have been fond of reading Shen Buhai, using his method, Xing-Ming to control his subordinates and devoting much time to legal cases. These era names are not true era names, but are retrospective, in the sense that the era-name system, Emperor Wen, in accordance with prior imperial calendrical systems, would have simply referred to the number of years in his reign. But he reset the calendar once at the persuasion of the sorcerer Xinyuan Ping, thus historians need to refer to the eras before and after the resetting separately. Qianyuan 179 BC-164 BC Houyuan 163 BC-157 BC In 196 BC, after Emperor Gao defeated the Chen Xi rebellion in the Dai region, he made Liu Heng, his son by Consort Bo, the capital of the principality was at Jinyang. Dai was a region on the boundaries with Xiongnu, and Emperor Gao probably created the principality with the mind to use it as a base to defend against Xiongnu raids. For the first year of the existence, Chen, whose army was defeated but who eluded capture, remained a threat. The grand empress dowager then made Lü Lu Prince of Zhao, after some hesitation, Prince Heng, then 23 years old, accepted the throne as Emperor Wen. His nephew, Emperor Houshao, viewed as a puppet of Grand Empress Dowager Lü. Emperor Wen quickly showed an aptitude to govern the empire with diligence, heavily influenced by his wife Empress Dou, who was an adherent of Taoism, Emperor Wen governed the country with the general policies of non-interference with the people and relaxed laws. His personal life was marked by thriftiness and general willingness to forgive and he was initially very deferential to Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and Guan Ying, who were instrumental in his accession, and they served as successive prime ministers. In 179 BC, he created a governmental program for those in need. Loans or tax exemptions were offered to widowers, widows, orphans, and seniors without children
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Emperor Jing of Han
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Emperor Jing of Han, personal name Liu Qi, was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 157 to 141 BC. His reign saw the limiting of the power of the feudal kings/princes which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC, Emperor Jing managed to crush the revolt and princes were thereafter denied rights to appoint ministers for their fiefs. This move consolidated central power which paved the way for the reign of his son Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Jing had a complicated personality and he continued his father Emperor Wens policy of general non-interference with the people, reduced tax and other burdens, and promoted government thrift. He continued and magnified his fathers policy of reduction in criminal sentences and his light governance of the people was due to the Taoist influences of his mother, Empress Dou. Emperor Jing was born to Emperor Wen, then Prince of Dai and he was his fathers oldest son. After his father became emperor in 180 BC, then-Prince Qi was made crown prince in 179 BC, at the same time, his mother was made empress. In his childhood as crown prince, Prince Qi was praised for being compassionate and he was deeply influenced by his mother Empress Dou, who was a Taoist and required all of her children and grandchildren to study Taoist doctrines. He also developed deep bonds with his older sister Princess Liu Piao and his younger brother Liu Wu, in 157 BC, Emperor Wen died, and Prince Qi became emperor. In accordance with Emperor Wens will, the period of mourning was shortened, Emperor Jings grandmother Empress Dowager Bo became grand empress dowager, and Empress Dou became empress dowager. Prince Qis wife, Crown Princess Bo became empress and these era names are not true era names in the sense that the era name system, as instituted by Emperor Jings son Emperor Wu, had not come into place. Under Jing, taxes were cut in half, to one-thirtieth of the crop and he also continued his fathers policy of heqin with Xiongnu, which largely avoided large conflicts with that northern neighbor. However, one immediate issue confronting Emperor Jing was the power possessed by princes of collateral lines of the imperial clan, the princes often built up their own military strengths and resisted edicts issued by the emperor. This was already an issue in Emperor Wens days, but Emperor Wen did not take any actions on the issue. Emperor Jing did not designate a crown prince for the first few years of his reign, because Empress Bo did not have any sons. His mother, the Dowager Empress Dou, wanted him to make his younger brother Liu Wu, the Prince of Liang, the crown prince, however, Liu Wu was given many privileges not given to other princes. The issue of dealing with powerful princes would soon erupt into a war known as the Rebellion of the Seven States. While Emperor Jing was crown prince, Liu Pis heir apparent Liu Xian had been on a visit to the capital Changan
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Emperor Wu of Han
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Emperor Wu of Han, born Liu Che, courtesy name Tong, was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years — a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later. His reign resulted in vast territorial expansion, development of a strong and centralized state resulting from his governmental re-organization and it was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly or indirectly. Many new crops and other items were introduced to China during his reign, Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BC to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of Kangju. This resulted in further missions to Central Asia, michael Loewe called the reign of Emperor Wu the high point of Modernist policies, looking back to adapt ideas from the pre-Han period. His policies and most trusted advisers were Legalist, favoring adherents of Shang Yang and these reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighboring civilizations. Emperor Wu was also known for his employment of shaman advisers, the personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che. The use of Han in referring to emperor Wu is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is Liu, the family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of Liu, the family name of Liu Bang. The character Di is a title, this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means emperor, the character Wu literally means martial or warlike, but is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, Wu plus di makes the name Wudi, the posthumous name used for historical and for religious purposes. One of Han Wudis innovations was the practice of changing names every so many years. Thus, the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi came to be the nth year of the, when they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle. Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the commander of the Commandery of Liaodong. King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She, in response, Emperor Wu commissioned a two-pronged attack against Joseon. Initially, Joseon offered to become a vassal, but peace negotiations broke down by the Chinese forces refusal to let a Joseon force escort its crown prince to Changan to pay tribute to Emperor Wu, Han took over the Joseon lands in 108 BC and established four commanderies. Also in 109 BC, Emperor Wu sent a force against the Kingdom of Dian. When the King of Dian surrendered, it was incorporated into Han territory with the King of Dian being permitted to keep his traditional authority, Emperor Wu established five commanderies over Dian and the other nearby kingdoms
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Emperor Zhao of Han
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Emperor Zhao of Han was an emperor of the Western Han dynasty from 87 to 74 BC. Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han, by the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC and he was only eight years old. Emperor Wus long reign left the Han Dynasty greatly expanded, however constant warfare had depleted the empires coffers, Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took the initiative and lowered taxes as well as reduced government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han Dynasty enjoyed an era of peace, Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years, at the age of 20. In 94 BC, then-Prince Fuling was born to a concubine of Emperor Wu, Consort Zhao. This led to speculations that he, due to his favor for Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Prince Fuling crown prince instead of Crown Prince Liu Ju, the son of Empress Wei Zifu. That, in turn, led to conspiracies against Prince Ju and Empress Wei, being misunderstood as a revolt, Prince Ju was defeated and went into exile, and both he and Empress Wei committed suicide soon afterwards. After Prince Jus death, Emperor Wu was forced to consider who would make a good heir, left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang, whom he considered to be capable and he also ordered Prince Fulings mother, Consort Zhao, arrested and executed, in fear that she would become an uncontrollable empress dowager, like Empress Dowager Lü. He entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling, at Huos suggestion, he also made ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi and general Shangguang Jie co-regents. He died on March 2987 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince two days prior on March 27, Crown Prince Fuling then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhao at the age of 8. Early in Emperor Zhaos reign, Huo, Jin, and Shangguan served as co-regents, the palace was run by Princess Eyi, Emperor Wus daughter and Emperor Zhaos older sister, who had moved back to the palace to serve as Emperor Zhaos caretaker. Prince Dan of Yan was not happy about the turn in events that led to Emperor Zhaos ascension, in 86 BC, he secretly planned a rebellion, forming a conspiracy with two imperial clan members, Liu Zhang and Liu Ze. The conspiracy was discovered, but Prince Dan was not punished, later that year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, after being created a marquess on his sickbed, died. Huo and Shangguan were subsequently created marquesses as well, the young couple had a daughter, who was age five in 84 BC, when Shangguan Jie wanted to marry her to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young, Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Shangguan An was a friend of Princess Eyis lover, Ding Wairen, Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan was appointed as an imperial consort
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Emperor Xuan of Han
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Emperor Xuan of Han, born Liu Bingyi, later renamed to Liu Xun, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 74 to 49 BC. His life story was a riches-to-rags-to-riches story, Emperor Xuan was the great grandson of Emperor Wu. His father Liu Jin also died in that turmoil, Emperor Xuan was only an infant at the time and hence he was spared but was banished to live as a commoner. After Emperor Hes short reign of only 27 days in 74 BC, Emperor Xuan has been considered a hardworking and brilliant emperor. Because Xuan grew up as a commoner, he understood the suffering of his people. He lowered taxes, liberalized the government and employed capable ministers to the government and he was said by Liu Xiang to have been fond of reading Shen Buhai, using Xing-Ming to control his subordinates and devoting much time to legal cases. However, his execution of the entire Huo clan later drew criticism from historians for its ungratefulness to Huo Guang. Under Emperor Xuan, the Han dynasty prospered economically and militarily and his rule lasted 25 years and he died in 49 BC. He was succeeded by his son Emperor Yuan, Liu Bingyi was born in 91 BC to Liu Jin, the son of then-Crown Prince Liu Ju, and his wife Consort Wang. As the grandson of the Crown Prince, Bingyi likely was born in Prince Jus palace and that same year, however, disaster would strike. With conspirators accusing him of using witchcraft against his father Emperor Wu, Prince Ju was forced into a rebellion, Prince Ju committed suicide, and Bingyis two uncles died with him, although it was not clear whether they also committed suicide or were killed by soldiers. Bingyis great-grandmother Empress Wei also committed suicide, and his grandmother Consort Shi and it is not completely clear whether they took their own lives or were executed, but the latter seems likely. For reasons not completely clear, the baby Bingyi was spared, Bing visited them each day to see how the child was doing. Near the end of Emperor Wus reign, there was an incident when magicians claimed that an aura of an emperor was appearing from Changan prisons. Emperor Wu ordered that all prisoners, regardless of whether they had been convicted or not, the eunuch filed charges against Bing for refusing to abide by the edict—a capital offense—but by that time Emperor Wu had realized his error and declared a general pardon. The prisoners in all prisons were dead, but the prisoners at Bings prison survived. The city government refused to accept responsibility, and so Bing had to let them remain in prison, after Hus sentence was over, Bing hired her out of his own pocket to continue to serve as a wet nurse for several months, before letting her leave. Later, the budget for taking care of Bingyi was cut off from the imperial clan affairs budget, and Bing took money out of his own salary to care for Bingyi
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Emperor Yuan of Han
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Emperor Yuan of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He reigned from 48 to 33 BC, Emperor Yuan was remembered for the promotion of Confucianism as the official creed of Chinese government. He appointed Confucius adherents to important government posts, when Emperor Yuan was born as Liu Shi in 75 BC, his parents Liu Bingyi and Xu Pingjun were commoners without titles. Bingyi was spared because of his age, but became a commoner. One of whom was chief eunuch Zhang He, who had been an advisor for Prince Ju before his rebellion, and who was punished by being castrated. Circa 76 BC, Zhang wanted to marry his granddaughter to Bingyi, Zhang, instead, invited one of his subordinate eunuchs, Xu Guanghan, to dinner, and persuaded him to marry his daughter Xu Pingjun to Liu Bingyi. Zhang also paid the bride price, after marriage, Bingyi heavily depended on his wifes family for support. Shi was only less than a year old when something highly unusual would happen to his father, Bingyi accepted, and took the throne as Emperor Xuan. Shis mother Xu Pingjun was created empress and this action would cost Empress Xu her life, however, and cost Prince Shi his mother. Huo Guangs wife, Xian, would not be denied her wish of making her daughter Huo Chengjun an empress, in 71 BC, Empress Xu was pregnant when Lady Xian came up with a plot. She bribed Empress Xus female physician Chunyu Yan, under guise of giving Empress Xu medicine after she gave birth, Chunyu did so, and Empress Xu died shortly after she gave birth. Her doctors were arrested to investigate whether they cared for the empress properly. Lady Xian, alarmed, informed Huo Guang what had actually happened, in 70 BC, Emperor Xuan created Huo Chengjun empress. Accustomed to luxury living, her palace expenditures far exceeded the late Empress Xu, Huos wife Lady Xian was shocked and displeased, because if her daughter were to have a son later, that son could only be a prince and not the future emperor. She instructed her daughter to murder the crown prince, allegedly, Empress Huo did make multiple attempts to do so, but failed each time. Around this time, the emperor also heard rumors that the Huos had murdered Empress Xu, which led him to begin stripping the Huos of actual power, while giving them impressive titles. In 66 BC, after there had been increasing public rumors that the Huos had murdered Empress Xu, Lady Xian finally revealed to her son and grandnephews that she had, indeed, murdered Empress Xu. In fear of what the emperor might do if he had proof, Lady Xian, her son, her grandnephews
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Emperor Cheng of Han
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Emperor Cheng of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty ruling from 33 until 7 BC. Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its slide into disintegration while the Wang clan continued its slow grip on power, corruptions and greedy officials continued to plague the government and as a result rebellions broke out throughout the country. Emperor Cheng died after a reign of 26 years and was succeeded by his nephew, Emperor Cheng was born circa 51 BC to then-Crown Prince Liu Shi and one of his consorts, Consort Wang. He was Emperor Yuans first-born son, in 47 BC, Emperor Yuan created him Crown Prince Ao. Emperor Yuan was a relatively non-womanizing emperor, but he did have two favorite concubines in addition to Empress Wang -- Consort Fu and Consort Feng Yuan, each of whom bore him one son. Empress Wang apparently tried to maintain a relationship with both, and she was largely successful, at least as far as Consort Feng was concerned. However, a struggle between Empress Wang and Consort Fu for their sons heir status would erupt, as Crown Prince Ao grew older, Emperor Yuan became increasingly unhappy with his fitness as imperial heir and impressed with Consort Fus son, Prince Liu Kang of Shanyang. Several incidents led to this situation, as the princes further grew, several things further led to an endearment between Emperor Yuan and Prince Kang. They shared affection and skills in music—particularly in the playing of drums, Prince Kang also showed high intelligence and diligence, while Crown Prince Ao was known for drinking and womanizing. In his illness, apparently encouraged by Consort Fu, Emperor Yuan reconsidered whether he should make Prince Kang his heir instead, only the intercession of Shi Dan led Emperor Yuan to cease those thoughts. When Emperor Yuan died in 33 BC, Crown Prince Ao ascended the throne, after the death of Emperor Yuan and the accession of Emperor Cheng, Empress Wang became empress dowager. Prince Kang, as was customary with imperial princes, was sent to govern his principality—now at Dingtao, Emperor Cheng was very trusting of his uncles and put them in important roles in government. Several, in addition to Empress Dowager Wangs cousin Wang Yin, after Wang Gen, Empress Dowager Wangs nephew Wang Mang served in the same role. When Wang Feng realized this, Empress Dowager Wang became saddened, Emperor Cheng was a womanizer with many favorites. His first favorite was Empress Xu, from the clan of his grandmother, the first wife of Emperor Xuan. Neither the Zhaos nor another later favorite of Emperor Chengs, Consort Li, in 9 BC, still heirless, Emperor Cheng appeared to come to the resolution of making either his younger brother Prince Liu Xing of Zhongshan or his nephew Prince Liu Xin of Dingtao his heir. Emperor Cheng made Prince Xin crown prince in 8 BC, Emperor Cheng died suddenly in 7 BC, apparently from a stroke. Immediately there were rumors that he had in fact had concubines who bore him sons
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Emperor Ai of Han
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Emperor Ai of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He ascended the throne when he was 20, having been made heir by his uncle Emperor Cheng, who was childless, the people and the officials were initially excited about his ascension, as he was viewed by them to be intelligent, articulate, and capable. However, under Emperor Ai, corruption became more prevalent. During Emperor Ais reign, he stripped the Wang clan, which had been powerful during Emperor Chengs reign, of much of their power. In an unpopular act, Emperor Ai had his prime minister Wang Jia put to death for criticizing him, an act that made him appear tyrannical. Emperor Ais shortcomings quickly led to the demoralization of the people towards the government, Emperor Ai was also famous for being the most effusive homosexual emperor of the Han Dynasty. Dong was afterward forced to commit suicide, Emperor Ai was born to Liu Kang, Prince of Dingtao, the brother to then-reigning Emperor Cheng and son to Emperor Yuan, and his wife Consort Ding, in 27 BC, presumably at Prince Kangs principality. From birth, he was raised by his grandmother, the domineering Consort Fu. Prince Kang died in 23 BC, and the four-year-old Prince Xin became the Prince of Dingtao and he also showed clear understanding of the Confucian classic Shi Jing, further impressing Emperor Cheng. At that time, the sonless Emperor Cheng was beginning to consider making either his younger brother Liu Xing, Emperor Cheng therefore seriously considered making Prince Xin his heir. In 8 BC, Emperor Cheng summoned several key officials to discuss with him who would be the proper heir. Emperor Cheng, whose mind was made up, created him Crown Prince Xin. Whether Emperor Cheng was formally adopting Prince Xin would quickly become a major controversy, Emperor Cheng viewed his creation of Prince Xin as crown prince as formal adoption, and he believed that Prince Xin was now his son, no longer Prince Kangs. Emperor Chengs desire to have Prince Xin act as only his son extended to the arena of Prince Xins relationship with his grandmother Consort Fu and his mother Consort Ding. Emperor Cheng decreed that Consort Fu and Consort Ding be required to remain in Dingtao, Consort Ding, however, would continue to not be allowed to see Prince Xin. Emperor Cheng died suddenly in 7 BC, apparently from a stroke, Crown Prince Xin ascended the throne as Emperor Ai. Empress Dowager Wang, as his step-grandmother became grand empress dowager and he created Consort Fu, the daughter of his grandmother Princess Dowager Fus cousin Fu Yan, empress. Emperor Ai, aged 20 at his ascension, quickly ended Emperor Chengs practice of delegating imperial authorities to his uncles and cousins of the Wang clan and appeared diligent in his rule
