1.
Xi'an
–
Xian, formerly romanized as Sian, and also known as Changan before the Ming dynasty, is the capital of Shaanxi Province, Peoples Republic of China. It is a city located in the center of the Guanzhong Plain in Northwest China. Xian is the point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Xian currently holds sub-provincial status, administering 9 districts and 4 counties, as of 2015 Xian has a population of 8,705,600 and the Xian-Xianyang metropolitan area has a population of 13,569,700. It is the most populous city in Northwest China, as well as one of the three most populous cities in Western China. According to a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, it was named as one of the 13 emerging megacities, or megalopolises. The report pinpoints and highlights the demographic and income trends that are shaping these cities development, the two Chinese characters 西安 in the name Xian mean Western Peace. It was renamed Changan during the Han dynasty, although it was referred to as Xijing during the Eastern Han dynasty after the capital was relocated to Luoyang in the east. It changed to Daxing in 581 AD during the Sui dynasty, during the Yuan dynasty, the city was first given the name Fengyuan, followed by Anxi then Jingzhao. It finally became Xian in 1369 at the time of the Ming dynasty and this name remained until 1928, then in 1930 it was renamed Xijing, or western capital. The citys name once again reverted to its Ming-era designation of Xian in 1943, Xian currently does not have a widely accepted one-character abbreviation as many other Chinese cities do, possibly due to fact that it was historically called Jing or Du, both meaning the capital. Several suggested abbreviations include Feng, Hao, or Tang, Xian has rich and culturally significant history. The Lantian Man was discovered in 1963 in Lantian County,50 km southeast of Xian, the site is now home to the Xian Banpo Museum, built in 1957 to preserve the archaeological collection. Xian became a cultural and political centre of China in the 11th century BC with the founding of the Zhou dynasty, the capital of Zhou was established in the twin settlements of Fengjing and Haojing, together known as Fenghao, located southwest of contemporary Xian. The settlement was known as Zhōngzhōu to indicate its role as the capital of the vassal states. In 770 BC, the capital was moved to Luoyang due to political unrest, following the Warring States period, China was unified under the Qin dynasty for the first time, with the capital located at Xianyang, just northwest of modern Xian. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Terracotta Army and his mausoleum just to the east of Xian almost immediately after his ascension to the throne. In 202 BC, the founding emperor Liu Bang of the Han dynasty established his capital in Changan County, his first palace and this is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Changan, or Xian
2.
History of science and technology in China
–
Among the earliest inventions were the abacus, the shadow clock, and the first items such as Kongming lanterns. The Tang Dynasty in particular, was a time of great innovation, a good deal of exchange occurred between Western and Chinese discoveries up to the Qing Dynasty. In the 19th and 20th century the introduction of Western technology was a factor in the modernization of China. Much of the early Western work in the history of science in China was done by Joseph Needham, the Warring States period began 2500 years ago at the time of the invention of the crossbow. Needham notes that the invention of the crossbow far outstripped the progress in defensive armor, at this time, there were also many nascent schools of thought in China — the Hundred Schools of Thought, scattered among many polities. The schools served as communities which advised the rulers of these states, mo Di introduced concepts useful to one of those rulers, such as defensive fortification. One of these concepts, fa was extended by the School of Names, the development of a school of logic was cut short by the defeat of Mohisms political sponsors by the Qin Dynasty, and the subsumption of fa as law rather than method by the Legalists. You conquered the empire on horseback, but from horseback you will never succeed in ruling it, derived from Taoist philosophy, one of the newest longstanding contributions of the ancient Chinese are in Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbal medicine. These claims, however, are disputed and rely on much supposition. The Book of Silk was the first definitive atlas of comets and it listed 29 comets that appeared over a period of about 300 years, with renderings of comets describing an event its appearance corresponded to. In architecture, the pinnacle of Chinese technology manifested itself in the Great Wall of China, typical Chinese architecture changed little from the succeeding Han Dynasty until the 19th century. The Qin Dynasty also developed the crossbow, which became the mainstream weapon in Europe. Several remains of crossbows have been found among the soldiers of the Terracotta Army in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar and astronomer Zhang Heng invented the first water-powered rotating armillary sphere, and catalogued 2500 stars and over 100 constellations. In 132, he invented the first seismological detector, called the Houfeng Didong Yi, according to the History of Later Han Dynasty, this seismograph was an urn-like instrument, which would drop one of eight balls to indicate when and in which direction an earthquake had occurred. On June 13,2005, Chinese seismologists announced that they had created a replica of the instrument, the mechanical engineer Ma Jun was another impressive figure from ancient China. However, Ma Juns most impressive invention was the south-pointing chariot and it incorporated the use of a differential gear in order to apply equal amount of torque to wheels rotating at different speeds, a device that is found in all modern automobiles. Sliding calipers were invented in China almost 2,000 years ago, the Chinese civilization was the earliest civilization to experiment successfully with aviation, with the kite and Kongming lantern being the first flying machines. The Four Great Inventions are the compass, gunpowder, papermaking and printing, paper and printing were developed first
3.
Four Great Inventions
–
The Four Great Inventions are inventions from ancient China that are celebrated in Chinese culture for their historical significance and as symbols of ancient Chinas advanced science and technology. The Four Great Inventions are, Compass Gunpowder Papermaking Printing These four discoveries had a impact on the development of civilization throughout the world. This commonplace spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 16th century and was appropriated only in recent times by Chinese scholars and these inventions were a badge of honor to modern Europeans, who proclaimed that there was nothing to equal them among the ancient Greeks and Romans. After reports by Portuguese sailors and Spanish missionaries began to back to Europe beginning in the 1530s. By 1620, when Francis Bacon wrote in his Instauratio magna that printing, gunpowder, and the nautical compass. Have altered the face and state of the world, first, in matters, second, in warfare, third, in navigation. Western writers and scholars from the 19th century onwards commonly attributed these inventions to China, edkins notes on these inventions were mentioned in an 1859 review in the journal Athenaeum, comparing the contemporary science and technology in China and Japan. In 1880 Johnsons New Universal Cyclopædia, A Scientific and Popular Treasury of Useful Knowledge. The Chautauquan in 1887, none of these, however, referred to four inventions or called them great. A lodestone compass was used in China during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, where it was called the south-governor and it was not used for navigation, but rather for geomancy and fortune-telling. The device is recommended as a means of orientation in the obscurity of the night, the first suspended magnetic needle compass was written of by Shen Kuo in his book of 1088. For most of Chinese history, the compass that remained in use was in the form of a magnetic needle floating in a bowl of water. According to Needham, the Chinese in the Song Dynasty and continuing Yuan Dynasty did make use of a dry compass, Gunpowder was discovered in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality. By that time, the Chinese had discovered how to create explosive round shot by packing their hollow shells with this nitrate-enhanced gunpowder, however, a recent archaeological discovery has been reported from Gansu of paper with Chinese characters on it dating to 8 BC. While paper used for wrapping and padding was used in China since the 2nd century BC, by the 6th century in China, sheets of paper were beginning to be used for toilet paper as well. During the Tang Dynasty paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea, the Song Dynasty that followed was the first government to issue paper currency. The Chinese invention of Woodblock printing, at some point before the first dated book in 868, according to A. Hyatt Mayor, curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was the Chinese who really discovered the means of communication that was to dominate until our age. Woodblock printing was better suited to Chinese characters than movable type, which the Chinese also invented, western printing presses, although introduced in the 16th century, were not widely used in China until the 19th century. China, along with Korea, was one of the last countries to adopt them, Woodblock printing for textiles, on the other hand, preceded text printing by centuries in all cultures, and is first found in China at around 220
4.
Chinese mathematics
–
Mathematics in China emerged independently by the 11th century BC. The Chinese independently developed very large and negative numbers, decimals, a place value system, a binary system, algebra, geometry. Knowledge of Chinese mathematics before 254 BC is somewhat fragmentary, as in other early societies the focus was on astronomy in order to perfect the agricultural calendar, and other practical tasks, and not on establishing formal systems. Ancient Chinese mathematicians did not develop an approach, but made advances in algorithm development. Some exchange of ideas across Asia through known cultural exchanges from at least Roman times is likely, frequently, elements of the mathematics of early societies correspond to rudimentary results found later in branches of modern mathematics such as geometry or number theory. The Pythagorean theorem for example, has been attested to the time of the Duke of Zhou, knowledge of Pascals triangle has also been shown to have existed in China centuries before Pascal, such as by Shen Kuo. Simple mathematics on Oracle bone script date back to the Shang Dynasty, one of the oldest surviving mathematical works is the Yi Jing, which greatly influenced written literature during the Zhou Dynasty. For mathematics, the book included a sophisticated use of hexagrams, leibniz pointed out, the I Ching contained elements of binary numbers. Since the Shang period, the Chinese had already developed a decimal system. Since early times, Chinese understood basic arithmetic, algebra, equations, although the Chinese were more focused on arithmetic and advanced algebra for astronomical uses, they were also the first to develop negative numbers, algebraic geometry and the usage of decimals. Math was one of the Liù Yì or Six Arts, students were required to master during the Zhou Dynasty, learning them all perfectly was required to be a perfect gentleman, or in the Chinese sense, a Renaissance Man. Six Arts have their roots in the Confucian philosophy, the oldest existent work on geometry in China comes from the philosophical Mohist canon of c.330 BC, compiled by the followers of Mozi. The Mo Jing described various aspects of many associated with physical science. It provided a definition of the geometric point, stating that a line is separated into parts. Much like Euclids first and third definitions and Platos beginning of a line, there is nothing similar to it. Similar to the atomists of Democritus, the Mo Jing stated that a point is the smallest unit and it also described the fact that planes without the quality of thickness cannot be piled up since they cannot mutually touch. The book provided word recognition for circumference, diameter, and radius, the history of mathematical development lacks some evidence. There are still debates about certain mathematical classics, for example, the Zhoubi Suanjing dates around 1200–1000 BC, yet many scholars believed it was written between 300–250 BC
5.
Chinese astronomy
–
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians indicating that the Chinese were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs. Detailed records of observations began during the Warring States period. The telescope was introduced in the seventeenth century, in 1669, the Peking observatory was completely redesigned and refitted under the direction of Ferdinand Verbiest. Today, China continues to be active in astronomy, with many observatories, one of the main functions was for the purpose of timekeeping. The Chinese used a calendar, but, because the cycles of the sun. The Chinese calendar was considered to be a symbol of a dynasty, as dynasties would rise and fall, astronomers and astrologers of each period would often prepare a new calendar to be made, with observations for that purpose. Astrological divination was also an important part of astronomy, astronomers took careful note of guest stars, which suddenly appeared among the fixed stars. Ancient astronomical records of phenomena like comets and supernovae are used in modern astronomical studies. The Chinese developed three different cosmological models, the Gai Tian, or hemispherical dome, model conceived the heavens as a hemisphere lying over a dome-shaped earth. The second cosmological model, associated with the Hun Tian school, saw the heavens as a celestial sphere not unlike the spherical models developed in the Greek, the divisions of the sky began with the Northern Dipper and the 28 mansions. In 1977, a box was excavated from the tomb of Yi. Names of the 28 lunar mansions were found on the cover of the box, as lunar mansions have such an ancient origin, the meanings of most of their names have become obscure. Even worse, the name of each lunar mansion consists of only one Chinese word, the meanings of the names are still under discussion. Besides the 28 lunar mansions, most constellations are based on the works of Shi Shen-fu and Gan De, in the fourth century BC, the two Chinese astronomers responsible for the earliest information going into the star catalogues were Shi Shen and Gan De of the Warring States period. These books appeared to have lasted until the sixth century, but were lost after that, a number of books share similar names, often quoted and named after them. These texts should not be confused with the original written by them. Notable works that helped preserve the contents include, Wu Xian has been one of the astronomers in debate and he is often represented as one of the Three Schools Astronomical tradition along with Gan and Shi. Moreover, it was customary in the past for the Chinese to forge works of notable scholars, Wu Xian is generally mentioned as the astronomer who lived many years before Gan and Shi
6.
Chinese calendar
–
Traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar which reckons years, months and days according to astronomical phenomena. It is used for activities in China and overseas Chinese communities. It depictures and lists the dates of traditional Chinese holidays, and guides Chinese people in selecting the most auspicious days for weddings, funerals, moving, in the Chinese calendar, the days begin and end at midnight. The months begin on the day with the dark moon, the years begin with the dark moon near the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox. The solar terms are the important components of the Chinese calendar, in a month, there are one to three solar terms. The currently used traditional Chinese calendar is the end result of centuries of evolution, many astronomical and seasonal factors were added by ancient scientists, and people can reckon the date of natural phenomena such as the moon phase and tide upon the Chinese calendar. The Chinese calendar has over 100 variants, whose characteristics reflect the evolutionary path. As with Chinese characters, different variants are used in different parts of the Chinese cultural sphere, calendars in Mongolia and Tibet have absorbed elements from the Chinese calendar and elements from other systems, but they are not direct descendants of the Chinese calendar. The official calendar in China is the Gregorian calendar, but the traditional Chinese calendar still plays an important role there. The Chinese calendar is known officially as the Rural Calendar, but is referred to by other names, such as the Former Calendar. The Chinese calendar preserves traditional East Asian culture, although the month sequences of Chinese calendar is decided by the solar term, the Chinese calendar is not an agriculture calendar. The Chinese calendar has greatly influenced the traditional calendars around Asia, the calendar has a year, month and date frame. The key elements are the day, synodic month and solar year, the Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, similar to the Hindu and Hebrew calendars. The concepts in the Chinese, Hindu, and Hebrew calendars, day, in the Chinese calendar, a day starts from the midnight, in the Hindu calendars, a day starts from sunrise, and in the Hebrew calendar, a day starts from sunset. Month, the time is based on the obliquity of the moon path, a month is about 29 17/32 days. Phase, 1/30 month, 12° obliquity of the moon path, a unique concept of dating method in the Hindu calendar, a phase is about 63/64 day, which derived out the 64 divinatory symbols. Date, the day number in a month, in the Chinese and Hebrew calendars, days are numbered in sequence from 1 to 29 or 30, and in the Hindu calendars, the days are numbered according to the number of the phase in the days. In the Hindu calendars, some dates may be vacant, Year, the time based on the earths revolution
7.
Chinese units of measurement
–
Chinese units of measurement are the customary and traditional units of measure used in China. In the Peoples Republic of China, the units were re-standardised during the late 20th century to make them approximate SI units, many of the units were formerly based on the number 16 instead of 10. The Chinese name for most SI units is based on that of the closest traditional unit, when it is necessary to emphasize which system is used, the words market for traditional units or common/standard for SI units may be added in front of the name. SI is the system of units, but traditional units are still ubiquitously used in everyday life. Note, The names lí and fēn for small units are the same for length, area, according to the Liji, the legendary Yellow Emperor created the first measurement units. The Xiao Erya and the Kongzi Jiayu state that length units were derived from the human body, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, these human body units caused inconsistency, and Yu the Great, another legendary figure, unified the length measurements. Rulers with decimal units have been unearthed from Shang Dynasty tombs, in the Zhou Dynasty, the king conferred nobles with powers of the state and the measurement units began to be inconsistent from state to state. After the Warring States period, Qin Shi Huang unified China, in the Han Dynasty, these measurements were still being used, and were documented systematically in the Book of Han. Astronomical instruments show little change of the length of chi in the following centuries and it was not until the introduction of decimal units in the Ming Dynasty that the traditional system was revised. On 7 January 1915, the Beiyang Government promulgated a measurement law to use not only metric system as the standard, in 1976 the Hong Kong Metrication Ordinance allowed a gradual replacement of the system in favor of the International System of Units metric system. The Weights and Measures Ordinance defines the metric, Imperial, as of 2012, all three systems are legal for trade and are in widespread use. On 24 August 1992, Macau published Law No, traditional units of length include the chi, bu, and li. The precise length of these units, and the ratios between these units, has varied over time,1 bu has consisted of either 5 or 6 chi, while 1 li has consisted of 300 or 360 bu. All metric values given in the tables are exact unless otherwise specified by the approximation sign ~, certain units are also listed at List of Chinese classifiers → Measurement units. The Chinese word for metre is 米 mǐ, this can take the Chinese standard SI prefixes, a kilometre, however, may also be called 公里 gōnglǐ, i. e. a metric lǐ. For example, a kilometre is 平方公里 píngfāng gōnglǐ. These units are used to measure cereal grains, among other things, in imperial times, the physical standard for these was the jialiang. In the case of volume, the market and metric shēng coincide, the Chinese standard SI prefixes may be added to this word shēng
8.
Early Chinese cartography
–
Early Chinese cartography began in the 5th century BC during the Warring States period when cartographers started to make maps of the Earths surface. Its scope extended beyond Chinas borders with the expansion of the Chinese Empire under the Han dynasty, there is an ancient Chinese legend called He Bo Xian Tu, which roughly means the River Deity presenting a map. During the mythical Xia dynasty, a river deity gave Yu the Great a stone with a flood map etched on its surface, Yu the Great used the map to help him in taming the flood that threatened to destroy rural agriculture. In general, the development of early Chinese cartography experienced three phrases, primitive map, classical map, and survey map, the primitive maps were simple maps, still steeped in myth and legend. It was not until the Han dynasty that classical maps began to emerge, the earliest reference to a map in Chinese history can be found in Volume 86 of the historical text Records of the Grand Historian. This volume recorded an incident in 227 BC during the late Warring States period in which a map is mentioned, crown Prince Dan of the Yan state sent Jing Ke to assassinate the King of the Qin state, so as to prevent Qin from conquering Yan. The map, which was rolled up and held in a case, had a dagger hidden in it. As Jing Ke was showing the King the map, he slowly unrolled the map until the dagger was revealed, the King managed to escape unharmed and Jing Ke was killed in his failed assassination attempt. From then on, maps are frequently mentioned in Chinese historical texts, in 1986, seven maps were found in Tomb 1, dating to the Qin state of the Warring States period, at Fangmatan in Gansu Province. The areas covered by the seven maps overlap, but in total they cover 107 ×68 km in area. In addition to the seven maps on wooden blocks found at Tomb 1 of Fangmatan and this tomb is dated to the early Western Han dynasty, so the map dates to the early 2nd century BC. The map shows topographic features such as mountains, waterways and roads, concrete evidence of the existence of maps in ancient China dates back to the Han dynasty. The three silk maps found at the Mawangdui tumulus in Changsha, Hunan Province are traced back to the 2nd century BC, the three maps are a topographic map of the Changsha region, a military map of southern Changsha, and a prefecture map. Research on the three maps indicates that the Chinese had acquired cartography skills in the Han dynasty, the scale of the map is approximately 1,180000. At the time of their discovery, these three silk maps were the oldest to be found in China, however, they were superseded in 1986 after Qin dynasty maps dating back to the 4th century BC were found in Fangmatan, Tianshui, Gansu Province. Throughout the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Chinese cartography did not experience any significant developments, however, traditional cartography skills became more refined, and different types of maps starting appearing. The new types of maps include national maps showing mountains and cities, land maps, coastal defence maps, river maps for flood control. The Guang Yu Tu incorporates the discoveries of admiral Zheng Hes 15th century voyages along the coasts of China, Southeast Asia, India, among Ming dynasty maps, Zheng Hes map was the most influential nautical chart
9.
Chinese geography
–
The study of geography in China begins in the Warring States period. It expands its scope beyond the Chinese homeland with the growth of the Chinese Empire under the Han dynasty. It enters its golden age with the invention of the compass in the 11th century, three Kingdoms Pei Xiu, the father of Chinese cartography produced a map of China with plotted grid lines and a graduated scale. A map carved in stone in AD1137 shows 500 settlements and a dozen rivers in China, on the reverse, the Yu Ji Tu, a copy of a more ancient map, uses the grid system developed in China a millennium earlier. After the founding of the Yuan dynasty in 1271, Kublai Khan ordered the compilation of a geography monograph named Dayuan Dayitong Zhi in 1285. In 1286, Persian astronomer Jamāl al-Dīn made Kublai Khan a proposal for merging several maps of the empire into a world map. It was supposedly a world map but is lost today and he also ordered to obtain a book called Rāh-nāmah from Muslim sailors. An extant map attached to the Jingshi Dadian proves Mongols accurate knowledge on Inner Asia that was obtained from Muslims, influence by these official projects, Taoist monk Zhu Siben compiled a geography monograph of China named Jiuyu Zhi in 1297. Based on this work, he created a now lost map of China named Yuditu in 1311-1320. These materials were, however, too large for circulation, what directly impacted Chinese intellectuals were the secondary compilations. Newly discovered materials reveal personal networks among intellectuals of southern China, Qingjun, who was from neighboring Taizhou, created the Hunyi Jiangli Tu when he stayed in Qingyuan. Wu Sidao, who left an important bibliographic clue, was also from Qingyuan, in addition, Ningbo was one of the most important seaports and the sea routes were extended to Fuzhou and Guangzhou, and Southeast Asia, Japan and Goryeo. They must have acquired marine information from Muslim sailors, maps in the Chinese tradition tended to be known by specific titles, easily expressed as short sequences of ideograms, such as the Yu Gong Jiuzhou Lidai Diwang Guodu Dili Tu. The Shengjiao Guangbei Tu by Li Zemin is lost, the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu, a Ming period map with much later Manchu translations of its labels, is also considered to have been based ultimately on Li Zemins map. The Shengjiao Guangbei Tu was a world map and it contained not only China but also Africa and Europe. Little is known about the author Li Zemin, based on place names on the map, it has been presumed that it was created around 1319 and revised sometime between 1329 and 1338. However, Wu Sidaos statement suggests that his map was newer than Qingjuns, the Hunyi Jiangli Tu by Zen monk Qingjun is lost. However, the Shuidong Riji by the Ming period book collector Ye Sheng includes an edition of the map by the name of Guanglun Jiangli Tu
10.
History of printing in East Asia
–
Printing in East Asia evolved from ink rubbings made on paper or cloth from texts on stone tables in China during the Han dynasty. Mechanical woodblock printing on paper started in China during the Tang dynasty before the 8th century CE, use of woodblock printing quickly spread to other East Asian countries. While the Chinese used only clay and wood movable type at first, the Western-style printing press became known in East Asia by the 16th century but was not fully adopted until centuries later. Traditionally, there have two main printing techniques in Asia, woodblock printing and moveable type printing. In the woodblock technique, ink is applied to letters carved upon a wooden board, with moveable type, the board is assembled using different lettertypes, according to the page being printed. Wooden printing was used in the East from the 8th century onwards and it is a dharani sutra printed on hemp paper and dated to 650 to 670 AD, during the Tang Dynasty. Another printed document dating to the half of the Chinese Tang Dynasty has also been found. In Korea, an example of woodblock printing from the century was discovered in 1966. The document is estimated to have been created no later than 704 AD, the manuscript is transcribed onto thin slightly waxed sheets of paper by a professional calligrapher. The engraving uses a set of sharp-edged tools to cut the characters with a double edged tool used to cut away any extra surfaces, the knife is held like a dagger in the right hand and guided by the middle finger of the left hand, drawing towards the cutter. The vertical lines are cut first, then the block is rotated 90 degrees, four proof-readings are normally required - the transcript, the corrected transcript, first sample print from block and after any corrections have been made. A small correction to a block can be made by cutting a small notch, after this the block is washed to remove any refuse. To print, the block is fixed firmly on a table, the printer takes a round horsehair inking brush and applies ink with a vertical motion. The paper is laid on the block and rubbed with a long narrow pad to transfer the impression to the paper. The paper is peeled off and set to dry, because of the rubbing process, printing is only done on one side of the paper, and the paper is thinner than in the west, but two pages are normally printed at once. Sample copies were made in red or blue, but black ink was always used for production. It is said that a printer could produce as many as 1500 or 2000 double sheets in a day. Blocks can be stored and reused when extra copies are needed,15,000 prints can be taken from a block with a further 10,000 after touching up
11.
Chinese ceramics
–
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era, Porcelain is so identified with China that it is still called china in everyday English usage. Most later Chinese ceramics, even of the finest quality, were made on an industrial scale, many of the most important kiln workshops were owned by or reserved for the Emperor, and large quantities of ceramics were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date. The earliest Chinese pottery was earthenware, which continued in production for utilitarian uses throughout Chinese history, but was increasingly less used for fine wares. Porcelain, on a Western definition, is a term comprising all ceramic ware that is white and translucent. The Chinese tradition recognizes two categories of ceramics, high-fired and low-fired, so doing without stoneware, which in Chinese tradition is mostly grouped with porcelain. Terms such as porcellaneous or near-porcelain may be used for stonewares with porcelain-like characteristics, the Erya defined porcelain as fine, compact pottery. Chinese pottery can also classified as being either northern or southern, the kiln types were also different. Southern materials have high silica, low alumina and high potassium oxide, the northern materials are often very suitable for stoneware, while in the south there are also areas highly suitable for porcelain. Chinese porcelain is made by a combination of the following materials. Porcelain stone - decomposed micaceous or feldspar rocks, historically known as petunse. Feldspar Quartz In the context of Chinese ceramics, the term lacks a universally accepted definition. This in turn has led to confusion about when the first Chinese porcelain was made, claims have been made for the late Eastern Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period, the Six Dynasties period, and the Tang dynasty. Chinese kiln technology has always been a key factor in the development of Chinese pottery, the Chinese developed effective kilns capable of firing at around 1, 000°C before 2000 BC. These were updraft kilns, often built below ground, two main types of kiln were developed by about 200 AD and remained in use until modern times. Both could reliably produce the temperatures of up to 1300°C or more needed for porcelain, in the late Ming, the egg-shaped kiln or zhenyao was developed at Jingdezhen, but mainly used there. This was something of a compromise between the types, and offered locations in the firing chamber with a range of firing conditions. According to Science, pottery dating from 20,000 years ago were found at the Xianrendong Cave site
12.
History of metallurgy in China
–
Metallurgy in China has a long history. The earliest metal objects in China date to around 3,000 BC, China was also the earliest civilization that produced cast iron. Recent evidence indicates that the earliest metal objects in China go back to the fourth millennium BCE. The earliest sites that have yielded metal objects date to the late fourth, copper was generally the earliest metal to be used by mankind. The use of copper in ancient China goes back to 3,000 BC, although bronze artifacts were exhumed in the archeological sites of Majiayao culture, it is still widely believed that Chinas Bronze Age began from around 2100 BC during the Xia dynasty. The Qijia culture of Qinghai, Gansu and western Shaanxi has yielded copper and bronze items and gold, copper. The earliest dates for metal in this region are found at a Majiayao site at Linjia, Dongxiang, Linjia site has the earliest evidence for bronze in China, dating to c.3,000 BC. The majority of metal items found in China come from the North-Western Region. Their dates range from 2900 –1600 BCE and these metal objects represent the Majiayao 马家 窑 Type of the Majiayao Culture, Zongri 宗日 Culture, Machang 马 厂 Type, Qijia 齐家 Culture, and Siba 四坝 Culture. The Erlitou culture, Shang Dynasty and Sanxingdui culture of early China used bronze vessels for rituals as well as farming implements, chromium only came to the attention of westerners in the 18th century. The alloys of tin and copper enabled weapons such as knives and swords to avoid rust. The layer of chromium oxide used on steel swords was 10 to 15 micrometers, the beginning of new breakthroughs in metallurgy occurred towards the Yangzi Rivers south in Chinas southeastern region in the Warring States Period such as gilt-bronze swords. According to some scholars, lost-wax casting was used in China already during the Spring and Autumn period, in 2008, two iron fragments were excavated at the Mogou site, in Gansu. They have been dated to the 14th century BC, belonging to the period of Siwa culture, one of the fragments was made of bloomery iron rather than meteoritic iron. In 1972, near the city of Gaocheng in Shijiazhuang, a bronze hatchet dating back to the 14th century BC was excavated. After a scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from meteoric iron, cast-iron artifacts are found in China before the 5th century BC, as early as the Zhou dynasty of the 6th century BC. An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings, around 500 BC, metalworkers in the southern state of Wu developed an iron smelting technology that would not be practiced in Europe until late medieval times. In Wu, iron smelters achieved a temperature of 1130 °C, at this temperature, iron combines with 4. 3% carbon and melts
13.
Ancient Chinese coinage
–
Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period, the Spring and Autumn period also saw the introduction of the first metal coins, however, they were not initially round, instead being either knife shaped or spade shaped. Round metal coins with a round, and then later square hole in the center were first introduced around 350 BCE, the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty to unify China, saw the introduction of a standardised coinage for the whole Empire. Subsequent dynasties produced variations on these round coins throughout the imperial period, ancient Chinese coins are markedly different from coins produced in the west. Chinese coins were manufactured by being cast in molds, whereas western coins were cut and hammered or, in later times. Chinese coins were made from mixtures of metals such copper, tin and lead, from bronze, brass or iron, precious metals like gold. The ratios and purity of the coin metals varied considerably, most Chinese coins were produced with a square hole in the middle. This was used to allow collections of coins to be threaded on a rod so that the rough edges could be filed smooth. Official coin production was not always centralised, but could be spread over many mint locations throughout the country, aside from officially produced coins, private coining was common during many stages of history. Various steps were taken over time to try to combat the private coining and limit its effects, at other times private coining was tolerated. The coins varied in value throughout the history, some coins were produced in very large numbers – during the Western Han, an average of 220 million coins a year were produced. Other coins were of limited circulation and are extremely rare – only six examples of Da Quan Wu Qian from the Eastern Wu Dynasty are known to exist. Occasionally, large hoards of coins have been uncovered, the earliest coinage of China was described by Sima Qian, the great historian of c. While nothing is known about the use of shells as money, gold. They are not found in hoards, and the probability is that all these are in fact funerary items. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest use of the spade and knife money was in the Spring, as in ancient Greece, socio-economic conditions at the time were favourable to the adoption of coinage. Inscriptions and archaeological evidence shows that cowrie shells were regarded as important objects of value in the Shang Dynasty, in the Zhou period, they are frequently referred to as gifts or rewards from kings and nobles to their subjects. Later imitations in bone, stone or bronze were used as money in some instances
14.
Chinese alchemy
–
Pao zhi cites the pharmacological processing as used in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, such as honey or wine frying and roasting with toxic metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic. According to J. C. Cooper states that a common viewpoint is that classical Taoism was the original but was too austere, Tao Chiao fulfilled the day-to-day needs of the people. By refining bases into gold, the alchemist believed that life would be delivered if the fake or synthetic gold was ingested. The idea that gold was superior to real gold arose because the alchemists believed the combination of a variety of substances gave the final substance a spiritual value. It possesses a superior essence when compared to natural gold, gold and cinnabar were the most sought-after substances to manipulate and ingest. They were believed to have longevity and could elongate the life of the consumer, cinnabar is a mineral with a reddish-brown colour and is the most common source of mercury in nature. It was used in the search for immortality because of the significance of its colour. The colour of the cinnabar is significant to symbolic belief as well, the colour red in Chinese culture is considered to be the zenith of the colour representing the sun, fire, royalty and energy. Cinnabar could also be roasted which produced a form of silver known as quicksilver. This substance was ingested but it could also be combined with sulphur, cinnabar was the yang to quicksilvers yin. In China gold was quite rare, so it was imported from other surrounding countries. However, cinnabar could be refined in the mountains of Szechuan and Hunan Provinces in central China, although the majority of hsien elixirs were combinations of jindan, many other elixirs were formed by combining metallic bases with natural herbs or animals bi-products. The rhinoceros horn was used in medicines and elixirs and was held to have fertility-increasing abilities. Elixirs were composed of compounds such as gold and silver, but they could also be made of more lethal components like arsenic. Both the Eastern practice of alchemy and the later Western practice are remarkably similar in their methods, to be sure, the desire to create an elixir of immortality was more appealing to the Taoists, but European alchemists were not averse to seeking out formulas for various longevity-boosting substances. The secret of transmuting one element into another, specifically base metals into gold or silver, was explored by both schools for obvious reasons. Alternatively, transmutation was also a means of accruing the precious metals that were key in making life-extending elixirs, Chinese alchemy specifically was consistent in its practice from the beginning, and there was relatively little controversy among its practitioners. Definition amongst alchemists varied only in their medical prescription for the elixir of immortality or perhaps only over their names for it, in the West there were conflicts between advocates of herbal and chemical, but in China, mineral remedies were always accepted
15.
Traditional Chinese medicine
–
It is primarily used as a complementary alternative medicine approach. TCM is widely used in China and is becoming prevalent in Europe. One of the tenets of TCM holds that the bodys vital energy circulates through channels, called meridians. Concepts of the body and of disease used in TCM reflect its ancient origins and its emphasis on dynamic processes over material structure, scientific investigation has not found histological or physiological evidence for traditional Chinese concepts such as qi, meridians, and acupuncture points. The TCM theory and practice are not based upon scientific knowledge, the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine remains poorly researched and documented. There are concerns over a number of toxic plants, animal parts. There are also concerns over illegal trade and transport of endangered species including rhinoceroses and tigers, a review of cost-effectiveness research for TCM found that studies had low levels of evidence, but so far have not shown benefit outcomes. Pharmaceutical research has explored the potential for creating new drugs from traditional remedies, proponents propose that research has so far missed key features of the art of TCM, such as unknown interactions between various ingredients and complex interactive biological systems. The doctrines of Chinese medicine are rooted in such as the Yellow Emperors Inner Canon and the Treatise on Cold Damage, as well as in cosmological notions such as yin-yang. Starting in the 1950s, these precepts were standardized in the Peoples Republic of China, including attempts to integrate them with modern notions of anatomy, in the 1950s, the Chinese government promoted a systematized form of TCM. TCMs view of the body places little emphasis on anatomical structures, while health is perceived as the harmonious interaction of these entities and the outside world, disease is interpreted as a disharmony in interaction. Traces of therapeutic activities in China date from the Shang dynasty, which Shang elites usually attributed to curses sent by their ancestors. There is no evidence that the Shang nobility used herbal remedies, according to a 2006 overview, the Documentation of Chinese materia medica dates back to around 1,100 BC when only dozens of drugs were first described. By the end of the 16th century, the number of drugs documented had reached close to 1,900, and by the end of the last century, published records of CMM had reached 12,800 drugs. Stone and bone found in ancient tombs led Joseph Needham to speculate that acupuncture might have been carried out in the Shang dynasty. The earliest evidence for acupuncture in this sense dates to the second or first century BC, the Yellow Emperors Inner Canon, the oldest received work of Chinese medical theory, was compiled around the first century BC on the basis of shorter texts from different medical lineages. It was also one of the first books in which the doctrines of Yinyang. The Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and Miscellaneous Illnesses was collated by Zhang Zhongjing sometime between 196 and 220 CE, at the end of the Han dynasty
16.
Agriculture in China
–
Agriculture is a vital industry in China, employing over 300 million farmers. China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, potatoes, tomato, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed and soybeans. Although accounting for only 10 percent of land worldwide, it produces food for 20 percent of the worlds population. The development of farming over the course of Chinas history has played a key role in supporting the growth of what is now the largest population in the world. Analysis of stone tools by Professor Liu Li and others has shown that the origins of Chinese agriculture is rooted in the pre-agricultural Paleolithic, during this time, hunter-gatherers harvested wild plants with the same tools that would later be used for millet and rice. Remains of domesticated millet have been found in northern China at Xinglonggou, Yuezhang, Dadiwan, Cishan and these sites cover a period over 6250-5050 BCE. The amount of domesticated millet eaten at these sites was proportionally quite low compared to other plants, at Xinglonggou, millet made up only 15% of all plant remains around 6200-5400 BCE, a ratio that changed to 99% by 2050-1550 BCE. Excavations at Kuahuqiao, the earliest known Neolithic site in eastern China, have documented rice cultivation 7,700 years ago, approximately half of the plant remains belonged to domesticated japonica species, whilst the other half were wild types of rice. It is possible that the people at Kuahuqiao also cultivated the wild type, finds at sites of the Hemudu Culture in Yuyao and Banpo near Xian include millet and spade-like tools made of stone and bone. Evidence of settled agriculture has been found at the Hemudu site of Tianluoshan. There is also a tradition involving agriculture in Chinese mythology. In his book Permanent Agriculture, Farmers of Forty Centuries, Professor Franklin Hiram King described and extolled the values of the farming practices of China. Due to Chinas status as a country and its severe shortage of arable land. However, throughout its history, various methods have developed or imported that enabled greater farming production. They also utilized the seed drill to improve on row farming. During the Spring and Autumn period, two revolutionary improvements in farming took place. One was the use of cast iron tools and beasts of burden to pull plows, and the other was the large-scale harnessing of rivers and development of water conservation projects. The engineer Sunshu Ao of the 6th century BC and Ximen Bao of the 5th century BC are two of the oldest hydraulic engineers from China, and their works were focused upon improving irrigation systems
17.
Sericulture
–
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used. Silk was first produced in China as early as the Neolithic period, sericulture has become an important cottage industry in countries such as Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Today, China and India are the two producers, with more than 60% of the worlds annual production. According to Confucian text, the discovery of silk production dates to about 2700 BC, by about the first half of the 1st century AD it had reached ancient Khotan, by a series of interactions along the Silk Road. By 140 AD the practice had been established in India, in the 6th century the smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire led to its establishment in the Mediterranean, remaining a monopoly in the Byzantine Empire for centuries. Chinese sericulture process Silkworm larvae are fed with leaves, and, after the fourth moult, climb a twig placed near them. This process is achieved by the worm through a fluid secreted from its structural glands. The silk is a continuous filament comprising fibroin protein, secreted from two glands in the head of each larva, and a gum called sericin, which cements the filaments. The sericin is removed by placing the cocoons in hot water and this is known as the degumming process. The immersion in hot water also kills the silkworm pupae, single filaments are combined to form thread, which is drawn under tension through several guides and wound onto reels. The threads may be plied to form yarn, after drying, the raw silk is packed according to quality. The stages of production are as follows, The silk moth lays thousands of eggs, the silk moth eggs hatch to form larvae or caterpillars, known as silkworms. The larvae feed on mulberry leaves, having grown and moulted several times silkworm weaves a net to hold itself It swings its head from side to side in a figure 8 distributing the saliva that will form silk. The silk solidifies when it contacts the air, the silkworm spins approximately one mile of filament and completely encloses itself in a cocoon in about two or three days. The amount of quality silk in each cocoon is small. As a result, about 2500 silkworms are required to produce a pound of raw silk The intact cocoons are boiled, the silk is obtained by brushing the undamaged cocoon to find the outside end of the filament. The silk filaments are wound on a reel
18.
Chinese architecture
–
Chinese architecture is a style of architecture that has taken shape in East Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details. Since the Tang Dynasty, Chinese architecture has had a influence on the architectural styles of Korea, Vietnam. The architecture of China is as old as Chinese civilization, throughout the 20th Century, Western-trained Chinese architects have attempted to combine traditional Chinese designs into modern architecture, with only limited success. A very important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry, bilateral symmetry and the articulation of buildings are found everywhere in Chinese architecture, from palace complexes to humble farmhouses. When possible, plans for renovation and extension of a house will often try to maintain this symmetry provided that there is enough capital to do so, secondary elements are positioned either side of main structures as two wings to maintain overall bilateral symmetry. The buildings are planned to contain an even number of columns in a structure to produce an odd number of bays. With the inclusion of a door to a building in the center bay. In contrast to the buildings, Chinese gardens are an exception which tend to be asymmetrical. The principle underlying the composition is to create enduring flow. In much of traditional Chinese architecture, buildings or building complexes take up an entire property and these enclosed spaces come in two forms, the, Courtyard, The use of open courtyards is a common feature in many types of Chinese architectures. This is best exemplified in the Siheyuan, which has consisted of an empty space surrounded by buildings connected with one another either directly or through verandas. This structure is essentially an enclosed courtyard formed from the intersections of closely spaced buildings. These enclosures serve in temperature regulation and in venting the building complexes, northern courtyards are typically open and facing the south to allow the maximum exposure of the building windows and walls to the sun while keeping the cold northern winds out. Southern sky wells are relatively small and serves to collect water from the roof tops. They perform the duties as the Roman impluvium while restricting the amount of sunlight that enters the building. Sky wells also serve as vents for rising hot air, which cool air from the lower stories of the house. The projected hierarchy and importance and uses of buildings in traditional Chinese architecture are based on the placement of buildings in a property/complex
19.
Chinese garden
–
The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. They create a miniature landscape, which is meant to express the harmony that should exist between man and nature. The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the Yellow River and these gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown. Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you, pu and yuan and you was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the Qin Dynasty, yuan became the character for all gardens, a famous royal garden of the late Shang dynasty was the Terrace, Pond and Park of the Spirit built by King Wenwang west of his capital city, Yin. The immaculate cranes have plumes of a brilliant white, the Emperor makes his promenade to the Pond of the Spirit, The water is full of fish, who wriggle. - translation in Jardins de Chine, ou la quête du paradis Another early royal garden was Shaqui, or the Dunes of Sand, built by the last Shang ruler, King Zhou. It was composed of a terrace, or tai, which served as an observation platform in the center of a large square park. It was described in one of the classics of Chinese literature. According to the Shiji, one of the most famous features of this garden was the Wine Pool, a large pool, big enough for several small boats, was constructed on the palace grounds, with inner linings of polished oval shaped stones from the sea shores. The pool was filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, King Zhou and his friends and concubines drifted in their boats, drinking the wine with their hands and eating the roasted meat from the trees. Later Chinese philosophers and historians cited this garden as an example of decadence, during the Spring and Autumn period, in 535 BC, the Terrace of Shanghua, with lavishly decorated palaces, was built by King Jing of the Zhou dynasty. In 505 BC, a more elaborate garden, the Terrace of Gusu, was begun. It was located on the side of a mountain, and included a series of terraces connected by galleries, from the highest terrace, a view extended as far as Lake Tai, the Great Lake. An ancient Chinese legend played an important part in early garden design, on this island were palaces of gold and silver, with jewels on the trees. There was no pain, no winter, wine glasses and rice bowls were always full, and fruits, in 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin conquered other rival states and unified China under the Qin Empire, which he ruled until 210 BC. He heard the legend of the islands and sent emissaries to find the islands and bring back the elixir of immortal life, at his palace near his capital, Xianyang, he created a garden with a large lake called Lanchi gong or the Lake of the Orchids
20.
History of transport in China
–
Transport has been a major factor in Chinas national economy. For most of the period since 1949, however, transport occupied a low priority in Chinas national development. In the twenty-five years that followed the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949, Chinas transportation network was built into a partially modern, the drive to modernize the transport system that began in 1978 required a sharp acceleration in investment. Though despite increased investment and development in the 1980s, the sector was strained by the rapid expansion of production. As a result, the transport system constrained the pace of economic development throughout the country. In the 1980s the updating of transport systems was given priority, in the late 1980s, China had more than 140,000 highway bridges. Their length totaled almost 4,000 kilometers, inland navigation is Chinas oldest form of transport. Despite the potential advantages of water transport, it was often mismanaged or neglected in the past, beginning in 1960 the network of navigable inland waterways decreased further because of the construction of dams and irrigation works and the increasing sedimentation. But by the early 1980s, as the railroads became increasingly congested, the central government set out to overhaul the inefficient inland waterway system and called upon localities to play major roles in managing and financing most of the projects. An estimated 340,000 people and 170,000 boats were engaged in the transport business. More than 800 shipping enterprises and 60 shipping companies transported over 259 million tons of cargo on the Yangtze River, nationally, in 1985 the inland waterways carried some 434 million tons of cargo. In 1986 there were approximately 138,600 kilometers of waterways,79 percent of which were navigable. The Cihuai Canal in northern Anhui opened to navigation in 1984 and this 134-kilometer canal linking the Ying River, a major tributary of the Huai River, with the Huai Hes main course, had an annual capacity of 600,000 tons of cargo. The canal promoted the flow of goods between Anhui and neighboring provinces and helped to develop the Huai River Plain, one of Chinas major grain-producing areas, during the early 1960s, Chinas merchant marine had fewer than thirty ships. By the 1970s and 1980s, maritime shipping capabilities had greatly increased, in 1985 China established eleven shipping offices and jointly operated shipping companies in foreign countries. The fleet called at more than 400 ports in more than 100 countries, the container ship fleet also was expanding rapidly. In 1984 China had only fifteen container ships, seven more were added in 1985, and an additional twenty-two were on order. By the early 1980s, Chinese shipyards had begun to manufacture a number of ships for their own maritime fleet
21.
Naval history of China
–
The naval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the late Spring and Autumn period about the ancient navy of China and the various ship types used in war. China was the maritime power in the years 1405–1433, when Chinese shipbuilders began to build massive oceangoing junks. In modern times, the current Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese governments continue to maintain standing navies with the Peoples Liberation Army Navy and the Republic of China Navy, respectively. The legendary Xu Fu searching for mythical Fusang, or the setting up of the maritime Silk Road since the 2nd century BC from Hepu Commandery, drew the ancient Chinese naval maps. After the First and Second Opium Wars, which shook up the generals of the Qing dynasty, for example, medieval Chinese hulls were split into bulkhead sections so that a hull rupture only flooded a fraction of the ship and did not necessarily sink it. This was described in the book of the Song Dynasty maritime author Zhu Yu, along with the innovations described in Zhus book, there were many other improvements to nautical technology in the medieval Song period. A significant naval battle was the Battle of Lake Poyang from August 30 to October 4 of the year 1363 AD, one of the oldest known Chinese books written on naval matters was the Yuejueshu of 52 AD, attributed to the Han Dynasty scholar Yuan Kang. Many passages of Yuan Kangs book were rewritten and published in Li Fangs Imperial Reader of the Taiping Era, the preserved written passages of Yuan Kangs book were again featured in the Yuanjian Leihan encyclopedia, edited and compiled by Zhang Ying in 1701 during the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Kangs book listed various water crafts that were used for war and these classes of ships were the great wing, the little wing, the stomach striker, the castle ship, and the bridge ship. Ramming vessels were also attested to in other Chinese documents, including the Shi Ming dictionary of c.100 AD written by Liu Xi. The Chinese also used a large iron t-shaped hook connected to a spar to pin retreating ships down, as described in the Mozi book compiled in the 4th century BC. This was discussed in a dialogue between Mozi and Lu Ban in 445 BC, as the technique made standard on all Chu warships was given as the reason why the Yue navy lost in battle to Chu. The rebellion of Gongsun Shu in Sichuan province against the re-established Han Dynasty during the year 33 AD was recorded in the Book of Later Han, compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century. Gongsun sent a force of some twenty to thirty thousand soldiers down the Yangtze River to attack the position of the Han commander Cen Peng. The castle ship design described by Yuan Kang saw continued use in Chinese naval battles after the Han period. Confronting the navy of the Chen Dynasty on the Yangtze River, during the Chinese Tang Dynasty there were some famous naval engagements, such as the Tang-Silla victory over the Korean kingdom of Baekje and Yamato Japanese forces in the Battle of Baekgang in 663. Tang Dynasty literature on warfare and ship design became more nuanced. In his Taipai Yinjing of 759 AD, Li Quan gave descriptions for several types of ships in his day
22.
Military history of China before 1911
–
The recorded military history of China extends from about 2200 BC to the present day. Although traditional Chinese Confucian philosophy favored peaceful political solutions and showed contempt for brute military force, in addition, Chinas armies also benefited from an advanced logistics system as well as a rich strategic tradition, beginning with Sun Tzus The Art of War, that deeply influenced military thought. The military history of China stretches from roughly 2200 BC to the present day, Chinese armies were advanced and powerful, especially after the Warring States period. Composed of peasant levies, usually serfs dependent upon the king or the lord of their home state. While organized military forces had existed along with the state, few remain of these early armies. These armies were centered around the chariot-riding nobility, who played a role akin to the European Knight as they were the main fighting force of the army, bronze weapons such as spears and swords were the main equipment of both the infantry and charioteers. These armies were ill-trained and haphazardly supplied, meaning that they could not campaign for more than a few months, during the Shang and Western Zhou times, warfare was seen as an aristocratic affair, complete with protocols that may be compared to the chivalry of the European knight. States would not attack other states while mourning its ruler, ruling houses would not be completely exterminated so descendants would be left to honor their ancestors. Nevertheless, under the Shang and Zhou, these armies were able to expand Chinas territory and influence from a narrow part of the Yellow river valley to all of the North China plain. However, after the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty in 771 BC when the Xirong captured its capital Haojing, China collapsed into a plethora of small states, the competition between these states would eventually produce the professional armies that marked the Imperial Era of China. During the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Xiang of Song, after Xiang lost the battle and was being rebuked by his ministers of war, he responded, The gentleman does not inflict a second wound, nor does he capture those with gray hair. On campaigns the ancients did not obstruct those in a narrow pass, even though I am but the remnant of a destroyed state, I will not drum an attack when the other side has not yet drawn up its ranks. His minister retorted, My lord does not know battle, the power of the aristocracy was curbed and for the first time, professional generals were appointed on merit, rather than birth. For example, during the Battle of Changping the state of Qin drafted all males over 15 years of age, although most soldiers were conscripts, it was also common to select soldiers based on specific qualifications. When a man meets this requirement, his household would be exempted from all corvée labor obligations and he would also be given special tax benefits on land and housing. However, this policy made soldiers in the Wei state difficult to replace, the first recorded use of cavalry took place in the Battle of Maling, in which general Pang Juan of Wei led his division of 5,000 cavalry into a trap by Qi forces. In 307 BC, King Wuling of Zhao ordered the adoption of nomadic clothing in order to train his own division of cavalry archers and he had to be ruthless in searching for the advantage, and an organizer in integrating units under him. In 221 BC, the Qin unified China and ushered in the Imperial Era of Chinese history, although it only lasted 15 years, Qin established institutions that would last for millennia
23.
Science and technology of the Han dynasty
–
There were great innovations in metallurgy. Smelting techniques were enhanced with inventions such as the waterwheel-powered bellows, the quality of life was improved with many Han inventions. The Han Chinese had hempen-bound bamboo scrolls to write on, yet by the 2nd century AD had invented the process which created a writing medium that was both cheap and easy to produce. The invention of the aided in the hauling of heavy loads. The maritime junk ship and stern-mounted steering rudder enabled the Chinese to venture out of waters of interior lakes and rivers. The invention of the reference for maps and raised-relief map allowed the Chinese to better navigate their terrain. In medicine, they used new herbal remedies to cure illnesses, calisthenics to keep physically fit, authorities in the capital were warned ahead of time of the direction of sudden earthquakes with the invention of the seismometer that was tripped by a vibration-sensitive pendulum device. To mark the passing of the seasons and special occasions, the Han Chinese used two variations of the calendar, which were established due to efforts in astronomy and mathematics. Hundreds of new roads and canals were built to transport, commerce, tax collection, communication. The Han-era Chinese also employed several types of bridges to cross waterways and deep gorges, such as bridges, arch bridges, simple suspension bridges. Han ruins of defensive city walls made of brick or rammed earth still stand today, if Mohism, rich in scientific thought, had rapidly grown and strengthened, the situation might have been very favorable to the development of a scientific structure. However, this did not happen because the seeds of the structure of science were never formed. During the late Eastern Han, disastrous upheavals again occurred in the process of social transformation, one can imagine the effect of this calamity on science. The most common writing mediums found in archaeological digs from ancient sites predating the Han period are shells, the written characters on these narrow flat strips of bamboo were arranged into vertical columns. Yet Chinese hempen paper of the Western Han and early Eastern Han eras was of a coarse quality, by the 3rd century, paper became one of Chinas chief writing mediums. The Han ceramics industry was upheld by private businesses as well as government agencies. Ceramics were used in domestic wares and utensils as well as materials for roof tiles. Kilns of the Han dynasty making grey pottery were able to reach firing temperatures above 1,000 °C, however, hard southern Chinese pottery made from a dense adhesive clay native only in the south was fired at even higher temperatures than grey pottery during the Han
24.
Science and technology of the Tang dynasty
–
The popularization of woodblock printing during the Tang dynasty made the written word available to greater audiences. The extent of woodblock printing is attested to by one of the worlds oldest surviving printed documents, a copy of the Diamond Sutra found at Dunhuang is the earliest surviving full-length book printed at regular size, complete with illustrations embedded within the text and dated precisely to 868. Among the earliest documents to be printed were Buddhist texts as well as calendars, the latter essential for calculating and marking which days were auspicious and which days were not. The first known book on the game was called the Yezi Gexi and was allegedly written by a Tang woman. However, Ouyang claimed the leaves were pages of a book for a game played with dice. In any case, Ouyang asserted that the rules for the game were lost by 1067 and it may be that the first pack of cards ever printed was a 32-card Chinese domino pack, in whose cards all 21 combinations of a pair of dice are depicted. According to the Gui Tian Lu, an 11th-century Chinese text redacted, domino cards were printed during the Tang dynasty, there is difficulty distinguishing paper cards and gaming tiles in many early sources as the Chinese word pái is used to describe both. Playing cards are paper pái while tiles are called bone pái, paper playing cards and the woodblocks to print them are unambiguously attested in 1294. William Henry Wilkinson suggests that the first cards may have been actual paper currency which were both the tools of gaming and the stakes being played for, as in trading card games. As using paper money was inconvenient and risky, they were substituted by play money known as money cards, one of the earliest games in which we know the rules is Madiao, a trick-taking game, which dates to the Ming Dynasty. 15th century scholar Lu Rong described it is as being played with 38 money cards divided into four suits,9 in coins,9 in strings of coins,9 in myriads, and 11 in tens of myriads. The two latter suits had Water Margin characters instead of pips on them with Chinese ideograms to mark their rank, the suit of coins is in reverse order with 9 of coins being the lowest going up to 1 of coins as the high card. Inverted ranking is also found in the Vietnamese game of Tổ tôm, the money-suited system is based on denominations of currency and not on the pips or pictures. This is why there is no tenth rank as that would create a new suit, a simplified deck is still in use by Hakka players, where every suit has just nine cards in progressive ranking, replacing pips and pictures with labels. Another type of modern deck keeps the traditional images but drops the highest suit, the designs on modern Mahjong tiles likely evolved from this pack. Technology during the Tang period was built also upon the precedents of the past, the mechanical gear systems of Zhang Heng and Ma Jun gave the Tang engineer, astronomer, and monk Yi Xing inspiration when he invented the worlds first clockwork escapement mechanism in 725. This was used alongside a clepsydra clock and waterwheel to power a rotating armillary sphere in representation of astronomical observation. Yi Xings device also had a mechanically timed bell that was struck every year, and a drum that was struck automatically every quarter-hour, essentially
25.
Science and technology of the Song dynasty
–
The Song dynasty provided some of the most significant technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen drafted by the government through imperial examinations. The ingenuity of advanced mechanical engineering had a tradition in China. The application of movable type printing advanced the already widespread use of printing to educate and amuse Confucian students. Notable advances in engineering, nautics, and metallurgy were made in Song China. These advances, along with the introduction of paper-printed money, helped revolutionize, polymath geniuses – that is, people knowledgeable across an encyclopaedic range of topics – such as Shen Kuo and Su Song embodied the spirit of early empirical science and technology in the Song era. This allowed sailors to navigate the seas more accurately with the magnetic needle compass, Shen was made famous for his written description of Bi Sheng, the inventor of movable type printing. Shen was also interested in geology, as he formulated a theory of geomorphology, along with his colleague Wei Pu in the Bureau of Astronomy, Shen used cosmological hypotheses when describing the variations of planetary motion, including retrogradation. One of Shens greatest achievements, aided by Wei Pu, was correcting the error by diligently recording and plotting the moons orbital path three times a night over a period of five years. Unfortunately Shen had many political rivals at court who were determined to sabotage his work, the court fully accepted their corrections to lunar and solar error, but only partially adopted Shen and Weis corrected plotting of the planetary orbital paths and various speeds. This treatise included many medicinal applications, including the use of ephedrin as a pharmaceutical drug, however, Su was most famous for his hydraulic-powered astronomical clock tower, crowned with a mechanically driven armillary sphere, which was erected in the capital city of Kaifeng in the year 1088. Sus clock tower employed the escapement mechanism two centuries before it was applied in clocks of Europe, sus clock tower also featured the earliest known endless power-transmitting chain drive in the world, as outlined in his horological treatise of 1092. On a court mission to inspect a frontier region, Shen Kuo once made a map of wood and glue-soaked sawdust to show the mountains, roads, rivers. Shen Kuo also experimented with camera obscura, only a few decades after the first to do so, there were many other important figures in the Song era besides Shen Kuo and Su Song, many of whom contributed greatly to the technological innovations of the time period. The Song Shi states, The odometer. is painted red, with pictures of flowers and birds on the four sides, and constructed in two storeys, handsomely adorned with carvings. At the completion of every li, the figure of a man in the lower storey strikes a drum, at the completion of every ten li. The carriage-pole ends in a phoenix-head, and the carriage is drawn by four horses, the escort was formerly of 18 men, but in the 4th year of the Yongxi reign period the emperor Taizong increased it to 30. When the upper horizontal wheel has made 1 revolution, the carriage will have gone 10 li, the number of wheels used, great and small, is 8 inches in all, with a total of 285 teeth. Thus the motion is transmitted as if by the links of a chain, in the Song period, the odometer device was combined with the south-pointing chariot device, which was probably first invented by the ancient Chinese mechanical engineer Ma Jun
26.
Science and technology in China
–
This is about the contemporary Peoples Republic of China. Science and technology in China redirects here, for times predating 1949, see History of science and technology in China. Science and technology have developed rapidly in the Peoples Republic of China during the 1990s to 2010s, China is now increasingly targeting indigenous innovation and aims to reform remaining weaknesses. China was a leader in science and technology until the early years of the Qing Dynasty. Chinese discoveries and Chinese innovations such as papermaking, printing, the compass, Chinese activity started to decrease in the fourteenth century. Unlike in Europe scientists did not attempt to reduce observations of nature to mathematical laws and they did not form a community with criticisms. There was a concentration on literature, arts, and public administration while science. The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated, one factor is argued to be the imperial examination system which removed the incentives for Chinese intellectuals to learn mathematics or to conduct experimentation. After being defeated repeatedly by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science, after the Communist victory in 1949 science and technology research was organized based on the model of the Soviet Union. Researchers should work as collectives for society rather than as individuals seeking recognition, many studied in the Soviet Union which also transferred technology. The Cultural revolution, which sought to remove perceived bourgeois influences and attitudes, caused large negative effects, after Mao Zedongs death, S&T was established as one of the Four Modernizations in 1976. The new leader Deng Xiaoping, and architect of the Chinese economic reform, was a promoter of S&T. The Soviet inspired system was gradually reformed. Media began promoting the value of S&T, scientific thinking, the third and fourth generations of leaders came almost exclusively from technical backgrounds. The State Council of the Peoples Republic of China in 1995 issued the Decision on Accelerating S&T Development which described planned Science & Technology development for the coming decades. It described S&T as the productive force and affecting economic development, social progress, national strength. S&T should become closely associated with market needs, not only Soviet style institutes should do research but also universities and private industries. State institutions should form joint ventures with Chinese or foreign venture capital in order for S&T developments to reach the industry, S&T personal should become more occupationally mobile, pay should be linked to economic results, and age and seniority should become less important for personal decisions
27.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
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
28.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
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
29.
Pinyin
–
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
30.
Nature (journal)
–
Nature is an English multidisciplinary scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. Nature claims a readership of about 3 million unique readers per month. The journal has a circulation of around 53,000. There are also sections on books and arts, the remainder of the journal consists mostly of research papers, which are often dense and highly technical. There are many fields of research in which important new advances, the papers that have been published in this journal are internationally acclaimed for maintaining high research standards. In 2007 Nature received the Princess of Asturias Award for Communications, the enormous progress in science and mathematics during the 19th century was recorded in journals written mostly in German or French, as well as in English. Britain underwent enormous technological and industrial changes and advances particularly in the half of the 19th century. In addition, during this period, the number of popular science periodicals doubled from the 1850s to the 1860s. According to the editors of these popular science magazines, the publications were designed to serve as organs of science, in essence, Nature, first created in 1869, was not the first magazine of its kind in Britain. While Recreative Science had attempted to more physical sciences such as astronomy and archaeology. Two other journals produced in England prior to the development of Nature were the Quarterly Journal of Science and Scientific Opinion, established in 1864 and 1868 and these similar journals all ultimately failed. The Popular Science Review survived longest, lasting 20 years and ending its publication in 1881, Recreative Science ceased publication as the Student, the Quarterly Journal, after undergoing a number of editorial changes, ceased publication in 1885. The Reader terminated in 1867, and finally, Scientific Opinion lasted a mere 2 years, janet Browne has proposed that far more than any other science journal of the period, Nature was conceived, born, and raised to serve polemic purpose. Perhaps it was in part its scientific liberality that made Nature a longer-lasting success than its predecessors and this is what Lockyers journal did from the start. Norman Lockyer, the founder of Nature, was a professor at Imperial College and he was succeeded as editor in 1919 by Sir Richard Gregory. Gregory helped to establish Nature in the scientific community. During the years 1945 to 1973, editorship of Nature changed three times, first in 1945 to A. J. V. Gale and L. J. F. Brimble, then to John Maddox in 1965, and finally to David Davies in 1973. In 1980, Maddox returned as editor and retained his position until 1995, philip Campbell has since become Editor-in-chief of all Nature publications
31.
Pseudoscience
–
Pseudoscience consists of claims, beliefs, or practices presented as being plausible scientifically, but which are not justifiable by the scientific method. The term pseudoscience is often considered pejorative because it suggests something is being presented as science inaccurately or even deceptively, accordingly, those termed as practicing or advocating pseudoscience often dispute the characterization. The demarcation between science and pseudoscience has philosophical and scientific implications, differentiating science from pseudoscience has practical implications in the case of health care, expert testimony, environmental policies, and science education. The word pseudoscience is derived from the Greek root pseudo meaning false and the English word science, an earlier recorded use of the term was during 1843 by the French physiologist François Magendie. From time to time, though, the usage of the word occurred in a formal, technical manner around a perceived threat to individual and institutional security in a social and cultural setting. A number of principles are accepted by scientists as standards for determining whether a body of knowledge, method. Experimental results should be reproducible and verified by other researchers, statistical quantification of significance, confidence, and error are also important tools for the scientific method. During the mid-20th century, Karl Popper emphasized the criterion of falsifiability to distinguish science from nonscience, falsifiability means a result can be disproved. For example, a statement such as God exists may be true or false, Popper used astrology and psychoanalysis as examples of pseudoscience and Einsteins theory of relativity as an example of science. The point is made there is no physical test to refute the claim of the presence of this dragon. No matter what test you think you can devise, there is then a reason why this does not apply to the invisible dragon, sagan concludes, Now, whats the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all. During 1942, Robert K. Merton identified a set of five norms which he characterized as what makes a real science, If any of the norms were violated, Merton considered the enterprise to be nonscience. These are not broadly accepted by the scientific community and his norms were, Originality, The tests and research done must present something new to the scientific community. Detachment, The scientists reasons for practicing this science must be simply for the expansion of their knowledge, the scientists should not have personal reasons to expect certain results. Universality, No person should be able to easily obtain the information of a test than another person. Social class, religion, ethnicity, or any other factors should not be factors in someones ability to receive or perform a type of science. Skepticism, Scientific facts must not be based on faith, one should always question every case and argument and constantly check for errors or invalid claims. Public accessibility, Any scientific knowledge one obtains should be available to everyone
32.
Herbology
–
Herbalism is the study of botany and use of plants intended for medicinal purposes or for supplementing a diet. Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through much of human history, modern medicine recognizes herbalism as a form of alternative medicine, as the practice of herbalism is not strictly based on evidence gathered using the scientific method. Modern medicine makes use of many plant-derived compounds as the basis for evidence-based pharmaceutical drugs, the scope of herbal medicine is sometimes extended to include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. General practices include ancient methods of traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, practitioners of herbalism or phytotherapy are referred to as herbalists or phytotherapists. Products used in herbalism may be called herbal medicines, botanicals, natural products, herbal remedies, herbal supplements. Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of plants dates back to the Paleolithic age. Written evidence of herbal remedies dates back over 5,000 years, to the Sumerians, a number of ancient cultures wrote about plants and their medical uses in books called herbals. In ancient Egypt, herbs are mentioned in Egyptian medical papyri, depicted in tomb illustrations, or on rare occasions found in medical jars containing trace amounts of herbs. Among the oldest, lengthiest, and most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt, the Ebers Papyrus dates from about 1550 BC, the earliest known Greek herbals come from Theophrastus of Eresos who in the 4th c. B. C. wrote in Greek Historia Plantarum, from Diocles of Carystus who wrote during the 3rd century B. C, only a few fragments of these works have survived intact, but from what remains scholars have noted a large amount of overlap with the Egyptian herbals. Seeds likely used for herbalism have been found in sites of Bronze Age China dating from the Shang Dynasty. Over a hundred of the 224 drugs mentioned in the Huangdi Neijing, herbs also commonly featured in the medicine of ancient India, where the principal treatment for diseases was diet. The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of the population of some Asian and African countries presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of health care. Pharmaceuticals are prohibitively expensive for most of the population, half of whom lived on less than $2 U. S. per day in 2002. In comparison, herbal medicines can be grown from seed or gathered from nature for little or no cost, many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 25% of modern drugs used in the United States have been derived from plants, at least 7,000 medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia are derived from plants. In a 2010 global survey of the most common 1000 plant-derived compounds, preclinical studies were reported for about one-half of the plant products, while 12% of the plants, although available in the Western market, had no substantial studies of their properties. Strong evidence was found that 5 were toxic or allergenic, so that their use ought to be discouraged or forbidden, according to Cancer Research UK, there is currently no strong evidence from studies in people that herbal remedies can treat, prevent or cure cancer
33.
Herb
–
In general use, herbs are any plants used for food, flavoring, medicine, or fragrances for their savory or aromatic properties. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices, Herbs refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant, while spices are produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, berries, bark, roots and fruits. In botanical English, the herb is also used as a synonym of herbaceous plant. Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, and in some cases, general usage of the term herb differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs. In medicinal or spiritual use any of the parts of the plant might be considered herbs, including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark, resin and pericarp. The word herb is pronounced /ˈhɜːrb/ in the UK, but /ˈɜːrb/ is common among North American speakers, as far back as 5000 BCE, Sumerians used herbs in medicine. Ancient Egyptians used fennel, coriander and thyme around 1555 BCE, in ancient Greece, in 162 CE, a physician by the name of Galen was known for concocting complicated herbal remedies that contained up to 100 ingredients. Culinary herbs are distinguished from vegetables in that, like spices, they are used in small amounts, Herbs can be perennials such as thyme or lavender, biennials such as parsley, or annuals like basil. Perennial herbs can be such as rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, or trees such as bay laurel, Laurus nobilis – this contrasts with botanical herbs. Some plants are used as herbs and spices, such as dill weed and dill seed or coriander leaves and seeds. Also, there are some such as those in the mint family that are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Some plants contain phytochemicals that have effects on the body, there may be some effects when consumed in the small levels that typify culinary spicing, and some herbs are toxic in larger quantities. For instance, some types of herbal extract, such as the extract of St. Johns-wort or of kava can be used for purposes to relieve depression. However, large amounts of these herbs may lead to toxic overload that may involve complications, some of a serious nature, Herbs have long been used as the basis of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, with usage dating as far back as the first century CE and far before. In India, the Ayurveda medicinal system is based on herbs, medicinal use of herbs in Western cultures has its roots in the Hippocratic elemental healing system, based on a quaternary elemental healing metaphor. Famous herbalist of the Western tradition include Avicenna, Galen, Paracelsus, Culpepper, the indigenous peoples of Australia developed herbal medicine based on plants that were readily available to them. The isolation of the people meant the remedies developed were for far less serious diseases. Herbs such as mint, wattle and eucalyptus were used for coughs, diarrhea, fever
34.
Mawangdui
–
Mawangdui is an archaeological site located in Changsha, China. The site consists of two saddle-shaped hills and contained the tombs of three people from the western Han dynasty, Marquis Li Cang, his wife, and a male believed to have been their son, the site was excavated from 1972 to 1974. Most of the artifacts from Mawangdui are displayed at the Hunan Provincial Museum and it was called King Mas Mound because it was initially thought to be the tomb of Ma Yin, a ruler of the Chu kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The tombs were made of large cypress planks, the outside of the tombs were layered with white clay and charcoal. White clay layering originated with Chu burials, while charcoal layering was practiced during the early western Han dynasty in the Changsha area, the tombs contained nested lacquered coffins, a Chu burial custom. The tombs also followed the burial practices dictated by Emperor Wen of Han,1, contained the remains of a woman in her fifties. Her mummified body was so well-preserved that researchers were able to perform an autopsy on her body, specifically, her diet was too rich in sugars and meats, and she suffered from arterial-coronary problems. Buried with her were skeletons of various food-animals, jujubes, lotus soup, grains, researchers found honeydew melon seeds in her stomach, inferring consumption right before death. She outlived the occupants of the two tombs. Xin Zhuis tomb was by far the best preserved of the three, a complete cosmetic set, lacquered pieces and finely woven silk garments with paintings are almost perfectly preserved. Her coffins were painted according to Chu customs and beliefs with whirling clouds interwoven with mystical animals, there was also a silk painting showing a variety of exercises researchers call the forerunner of Tai ji. 2, was the site of the first Marquis of Dai. The Han dynasty had appointed Li Cang as the chancellor of the Kingdom of Changsha and this tomb had been plundered several times by grave robbers. Tomb 3 was directly south of Tomb 1, and contained the tomb of a man in his thirties who died in 168 BC, the occupant is believed to have been a relative of Li Cang and his wife. This tomb contained a trove of military, medical. Highly regarded artifacts in particular were the lacquered wine-bowls and cosmetic boxes, of the more famous artifacts from Mawangdui were its silk funeral banners, these T-shaped banners were draped on the coffin of Tomb 1. The banners depicted the Chinese abstraction of the cosmos and the afterlife at the time of the western Han dynasty, a silk banner of similar style and function were found in Tomb 3. The T-shaped silk funeral banner in the tomb of the Marquise is called the banner with the written name of the deceased replaced with a portrait
35.
Shennong
–
Shennong, also known as the Wugushen or also Wuguxiandi, is a deity in Chinese religion, a mythical sage ruler of prehistoric China. Shennong has at times been counted amongst the Three Sovereigns, a group of deities or deified kings said to have lived some 4,500 years ago. Shennong has been thought to have taught the ancient Chinese not only their practices of agriculture, Shennong can also be taken to refer to his people, the Shennong-shi. Since shì can mean both clan and surname and serve as a masculine honorific like mister or sir, it is used in reference to his people. The Han Chinese regarded them both as their joint ancestors, the sacrifice of cows or oxen to Shennong in his various manifestations is never at all appropriate, instead pigs and sheep are acceptable. Fireworks and incense may also be used, especially at the appearance of his statue on his birthday, lunar April 26, under his various names, Shennong is the patron deity especially of farmers, rice traders, and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Many temples and other dedicated to his commemoration exist. However, Shennong, both the individual and the clan, are important, in the history of culture—especially in regards to mythology. Indeed, Shennong figures extensively in historical literature, sima Qian mentions that the rulers directly preceding the Yellow Emperor were of the house of Shennong. Sima Zhen, who added a prologue for the Shiji, said his surname was Jiang, Shennong also features in the book popularly known in English as I Ching. Here, he is referenced as coming to power after the end of the house of Paoxi, also inventing a bent-wood plow, a rake, teaching these skills to others. Another reference is in the Lüshi Chunqiu, mentioning some violence with regard to the rise of the Shennong house, the Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng is a book on agriculture and medicinal plants, attributed to Shennong. Research suggests that it is a compilation of traditions, written between about 200 and 250 AD. As noted above, Shennong is said in the Huainanzi to have tasted hundreds of herbs to test their medical value and this work lists the various medicinal herbs, such as lingzhi, that were discovered by Shennong and given grade and rarity ratings. It is considered to be the earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia, and includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, Shennong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical herbs by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of traditional Chinese medicine. Legend holds that Shennong had a transparent body, and thus could see the effects of different plants, Tea, which acts as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some seventy herbs, is also said to have been his discovery. Shennong first tasted it, traditionally in ca.2437 BC, from tea leaves on burning tea twigs, after they were carried up from the fire by the hot air, Shennong is venerated as the Father of Chinese medicine. He is also believed to have introduced the technique of acupuncture, Shennong is said to have played a part in the creation of the guqin, together with Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor
36.
Shennong Ben Cao Jing
–
Shennong Bencaojing is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants. Its origin has been attributed to the mythical Chinese sovereign Shennong, researchers believe the text is a compilation of oral traditions, written between about 200 and 250 AD. The original text no longer exists but is said to have composed of three volumes containing 365 entries on medicaments and their description. These herbs are described as noble or upper herbs, the second volume is devoted to 120 therapeutic substances intended to treat the sick, but have toxic, or potentially toxic properties of varying degrees. In this category, we find the ginger, peonies and cucumber, the substances of this group are described as human, commoner, or middle herbs. In the last volume there are 125 entries corresponding to substances which have a strong or violent action on functions and are often poisonous. Rhubarb, different pitted fruits and peaches are among those featured and these herbs are referred to as low herbs. Shanghan lun, a text to the Ben Cao Jing composed by Zhang Zhongjing
37.
Materia medica
–
Materia medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing. The term derives from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD, De materia medica, On Medical Material. The term materia medica was used from the period of the Roman Empire until the 20th century, the earliest known writing about medicine was a 110-page Egyptian papyrus. It was supposedly written by the god Thoth in about 16 BC, the Ebers papyrus is an ancient recipe book dated to approximately 1552 BC. It contains a mixture of magic and medicine with invocations to banish disease, the most famous Egyptian physician was Imhotep, who lived in Memphis around 2500 B. C. Imhotep’s materia medica consisted of procedures for treating head and torso injuries, tending of wounds, in India, the Ayurveda is traditional medicine that emphasizes plant-based treatments, hygiene, and balance in the body’s state of being. Indian materia medica included knowledge of plants, where they grow in all season, methods for storage and it also included directions for making juice from vegetables, dried powders from herb, cold infusions and extracts. The earliest Chinese manual of materia medica, the Shennong Bencao Jing, was compiled in the 1st century AD during the Han dynasty and it lists some 365 medicines, of which 252 are herbs. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by the Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments found in the Mawangdui tomb, succeeding generations augmented the Shennong Bencao Jing, as in the Yaoxing Lun, a 7th-century Tang Dynasty treatise on herbal medicine. In Greece, Hippocrates was a philosopher known as the Father of Medicine. He founded a school of medicine focused on treating the causes of disease rather than its symptoms. Disease was dictated by natural laws and therefore could be treated through close observation of symptoms and his treatises, Aphorisms and Prognostics, discuss 265 drugs, the importance of diet and external treatments for diseases. Theophrastus was a disciple of Aristotle and a philosopher of natural history and he wrote a treatise entitled Historia Plantarium about 300 B. C. It was the first attempt to organize and classify plants, plant lore and it provided physicians with a rough taxonomy of plants and details of medicinal herbs and herbal concoctions. Galen was a philosopher, physician, pharmacist and prolific medical writer and he compiled an extensive record of the medical knowledge of his day and added his own observations. He wrote on the structure of organs, but not their uses, the pulse and its association with respiration, the arteries and the movement of blood, and the uses of theriacs. In treatises such as On Theriac to Piso, On Theriac to Pamphilius and his work was rediscovered in the 15th century and became the authority on medicine and healing for the next two centuries. His medicine was based on the regulation of the four humors, the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, of Anazarbus in Asia Minor, wrote a five-volume treatise concerning medical matters, entitled Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς in Greek or De Materia Medica in Latin
38.
Zhang Zhongjing
–
Zhang Zhongjing, formal name Zhang Ji, was an Eastern Han dynasty physician and one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han dynasty. He established medication principles and summed up the experience until that time. Though well known in modern Chinese medicine and considered one of the finest Chinese physicians in history, very little is known about his life, according to later sources, he was born in Nanyang, held an official position in Changsha and lived from approximately 150 to 219 AD. Exact dates regarding his birth, death and works vary, during his time, with warlords fighting for their own territories, many people fell victim to infectious diseases. Shortly after its publication, the book was lost during the wars that ravaged China during the period of the Three Kingdoms, because of Zhangs contribution to traditional Chinese medicine, he is often regarded as the sage of Chinese medicine. These two texts have been reconstructed several times up to the modern era. Traditional Chinese medicine Chinese herbology Works by Zhang Zhongjing at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Zhang Zhongjing at Internet Archive
39.
Han dynasty
–
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
40.
Yin and yang
–
Many tangible dualities are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. Duality is found in many systems, but Yin and Yang are parts of a Oneness that is also equated with the Tao. A term has been coined dualistic-monism or dialectical monism, Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation. The yin yang shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the element in each section. In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real, so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. In the ethics of Confucianism on the hand, most notably in the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu. The Chinese terms yīn 陰 or 阴 shady side and yáng 陽 or 阳 sunny side are linguistically analyzable in terms of Chinese characters, pronunciations and etymology, meanings, topography, and loanwords. The first phonetic yīn 侌 cloudy ideographically combines jīn 今 now, present and yún 云 cloud, the second phonetic yáng 昜 bright originally pictured 日 the sun with 勿 rays coming down. This phonetic is expanded with the sun radical into yáng 暘 rising sun, the mound, hill radical 阝full forms semantically specify yīn 陰 shady/dark side of a hill and yáng 陽 sunny/light side of a hill. Compare the Classical Chinese names for these two bodies, Tàiyīn 太陰 moon and Tàiyáng 太陽 sun. Reconstructions of Old Chinese have illuminated the etymology of modern Chinese words, Yin and yang are semantically complex words. A reliable Chinese-English dictionary gives the translation equivalents. Many Chinese place names or toponyms contain the word yang sunny side, similarly, yin refers to north side of a hill in Huayin 華陰, which is north of Mount Hua 華山 in Shaanxi province. English yin, yang, and yin-yang are familiar loanwords of Chinese origin, the Oxford English Dictionary defines, yin Also Yin, Yn. a. Also attrib. or as adj. and transf, comb. as yin-yang, the combination or fusion of the two cosmic forces, freq. attrib. Esp. as yin-yang symbol, a divided by an S-shaped line into a dark. Comb. yang-yin = yin-yang s. v. yin b, for the earliest recorded yin and yang usages, the OED cites 1671 for yin and yang,1850 for yin-yang, and 1959 for yang-yin
41.
Wu Xing
–
The Five Phases are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. This order of presentation is known as the generation sequence. In the order of mutual overcoming, they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, the system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. The system is used as a reference in some forms of complementary and alternative medicine. Xing of Wu Xing means moving, a planet is called a star in Chinese. Wu Xing originally refers to the five planets that create five dimensions of earth life. Wu Xing is also translated as Five Elements and this is used extensively by many including practitioners of Five Element acupuncture. This translation arose by analogy with the Western system of the four elements. By the same token, Mù is thought of as Tree rather than Wood, the word element is thus used within the context of Chinese medicine with a different meaning to its usual meaning. It should be recognized that the phase, although commonly preferred, is not perfect. Phase is a translation for the five seasons mentioned below. Manfred Porkert attempts to resolve this by using Evolutive Phase for 五行 Wǔ Xíng and Circuit Phase for 五運 Wǔ Yùn, some of the Mawangdui Silk Texts also present the Wu Xing as five virtues or types of activities. Within Chinese medicine texts the Wu Xing are also referred to as Wu Yun or a combination of the two characters these emphasise the correspondence of five elements to five seasons, another tradition refers to the Wǔ Xíng as Wǔ Dé, the Five Virtues. Wood parts Earth Earth dams Water Water extinguishes Fire Fire melts Metal Metal chops Wood This cycle might also be called controls, according to Wu Xing theory, the structure of the cosmos mirrors the five phases. Each phase has a series of associations with different aspects of nature. In the ancient Chinese form of known as Feng Shui practitioners all based their art. All of these phases are represented within the trigrams, associated with these phases are colors, seasons and shapes, all of which are interacting with each other. Based on a directional energy flow from one phase to the next
42.
Shang Han Lun
–
It is amongst the oldest complete clinical textbooks in the world, and one of the four canonical works that students must study in traditional Chinese medical education today. Collated by scholastic ministers Kao Pao-hen, Lin I, and Sun Chi under the order of the emperor, Cheng Wu-chis Annotated Shang han lun. Extensively read in Japan and China, was circulated in Chengs time. However, many transcriptions and re-transcriptions have stirred up disagreement as to whether it is true to the original and this book has the same content as the Song edition with other minor variations in context. Kang Ping is the name of the period from 1058-1068 in the Heian era in Japan and it is indispensable for study because it retains the ancient style. The Song edition is in ten volumes including the first to chapters on pulse diagnosis, the Cheng edition is also in ten volumes but simplified, yang ming, a more severe internal excess yang condition with fever without chills, distended abdomen, and constipation. Shao yang, half outside, half inside half excess and half deficiency with chest discomfort, alternating chills, tai yin, chills, distended abdomen with occasional pain. Shao yin, weak pulse, anxiety, drowsiness, diarrhea, chills, jue yin, thirst, difficult urination, physical collapse. Chinese herbology Chinese patent medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine
43.
Song dynasty
–
The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties and it was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass, the Song dynasty is divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern. During the Northern Song, the Song capital was in the city of Bianjing. The Southern Song refers to the period after the Song lost control of its half to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze, the Southern Song dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and his younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China, after two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khans armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The Mongol invasion led to a reunification under the Yuan dynasty, the population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and this data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people and this dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. The lower gentry assumed a role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the gentry for their services, sponsorship. Social life during the Song was vibrant, citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the expansion of woodblock printing. Technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished over the course of the Song, although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period
.JPG)
. PMID 9240055.
Quotations related to Traditional Chinese medicine at Wikiquote