1.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
2.
Emperor Zhezong
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Emperor Zhezong of Song, personal name Zhao Xu, was the seventh emperor of the Song dynasty in China. His original personal name was Zhao Yong but he changed it to Zhao Xu after his coronation and he reigned from 1085 until his death in 1100, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Emperor Huizong, because his son died prematurely. Emperor Zhezong was the son of Emperor Shenzong. He ascended the throne at the age of nine under the supervision of his grandmother, as the young emperors regent, Grand Empress Dowager Gao appointed conservatives such as Sima Guang as Chancellor, who halted the New Policies set forth by Wang Anshi. Emperor Zhezong was powerless and it was not until Grand Empress Dowager Gaos death in 1093 that the emperor was able to reinstate Wang Anshis reforms and reduce Sima Guangs influence. However, Emperor Zhezong was unable to stop fighting between members of his government and the more liberal members who supported Wang Anshis reforms. This split would eventually contribute to the Northern Song dynastys demise in the 12th century, Emperor Zhezong died in 1100 in Kaifeng at the age of 24 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Emperor Huizong. Volume 17–18, Biography of Emperor Zhezong
3.
Emperor Qinzong
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Emperor Qinzong of Song, personal name Zhao Huan, was the ninth emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the last emperor of The Northern Song Dynasty. Emperor Qinzong was the eldest son and heir apparent of Emperor Huizong and his mother was Emperor Huizongs empress consort, Empress Wang. Left to deal with the Jin invasion, Emperor Qinzong appointed the general Li Gang to lead the Song military to fend off the invaders, however, the emperor was not a decisive leader and often made poor judgments. Eventually, he removed Li Gang from his appointment in the hope of starting peace talks with the Jin Empire, however, Jin forces eventually breached the walls of the Song capital, Bianjing, in 1127 and occupied the city in an event historically known as the Jingkang Incident. Emperor Qinzong, along with his father Emperor Huizong and the rest of their family, were taken prisoner by Jin forces and this event also marked the end of the Northern Song dynasty. One of Emperor Huizongs sons managed to escape to southern China, Emperor Qinzong and his father were demoted to the status of commoners on 20 March 1127 and deported to Huining Prefecture, the Jin capital, on 13 May 1127. In 1128, the two former Song emperors were forced to wear mourning dress and pay homage to the ancestors of the Jin emperors at their temple in Huining Prefecture. A few months later, the emperor started receiving a stipend due to his nobility status. He lived the rest of his life as a captive in the Jin Empire, Emperor Qinzong died as a sick and broken man in 1161. His temple name means Esteemed Ancestor, alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368
4.
Emperor of China
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The emperor was also referred to as the Son of Heaven, a title that predates the Qin unification and recognized as the ruler of all under heaven. In practice not every Emperor held supreme power in China, although this was usually the case, Emperors from the same family are classified in historical periods known as dynasties. During the Yuan and Qing dynasties China was ruled by ethnic Mongols, the orthodox historical view sees these as non-native dynasties that became sinicized, though some recent scholars argue that the interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex. Nevertheless, in both cases these rulers claimed the Mandate of Heaven to assume the role of traditional Confucian emperors in order to rule over China proper and he called himself Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together, on that account, some modern scholars translate the title as thearch. On occasion, the father of the emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled the Tai Shang Huang, the Grand Imperial Sire, the practice was initiated by the First Emperor, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father. Liu Bang, who established the Han dynasty, was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived and it was said he granted the title during his fathers life because he would not be bowed to by his own father, a commoner. Owing to political fragmentation, over the centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of Emperor of All China, the Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of China, on one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty, there were 557 emperors including the rulers of minor states. The Emperors words were considered sacred edicts and his written proclamations directives from above, in theory, the Emperors orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of the Imperial family, addresses to the Emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties and these emperors ruled as absolute monarchs throughout their reign, maintaining a centralized grip on the country. During the Song dynasty, the power was significantly overshadowed by the power of the chancellor. The emperors position, unless deposed in a rebellion, was always hereditary, as a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During these minorities, the Empress Dowager would possess significant power, where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants. In a few places, eunuchs wielded vast power, one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming dynasty, occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents
5.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
6.
House of Zhao
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The House of Zhao was the imperial clan of the Song Empire of China. The House of Zhao originated from the Zhao family of Zhuo Commandery and this Zhao family has a long history since the Spring and Autumn period. The Song dynasty Emperors hailed from the Guandong Zhao while the Longxi Li produced the Tang Emperors, the founder of the Song Empire, Zhao Kuangyin, was born in a military family. His father, Zhao Hongyin, moved from Zhuo Commandery to Luoyang, Zhao Kuangyin also had an elder brother Zhao Guangji, two younger brothers Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Guangmei, and two younger sisters. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, the Yellow Emperor was claimed to be as an ancestor of the Song emperors, Zhao Kuangyin started his military career under the Later Han dynasty. However, he changed his stance, and came to serve Chai Rong. He also persuaded his father, who was a Later Han general and this caused the decline and collapse of the Later Han. With Chai Rongs trust, Zhao Kuangyin was assigned to be a guardian for Chai Rongs seven-year-old son, Guo Zongxun, through years of effort, Zhao Kuangyin conquered other rival states in the south and unified them under his newly established Song Empire. In order to prevent a military coup from happening again and to strengthen civilian control over the military, Zhao Kuangyin dismissed his generals. This inadvertently resulted in the Song Empire having a weak military later, Zhao Kuangyin reigned for 17 years and died suddenly and suspiciously in 976 at the age of 49. His younger brother, Zhao Kuangyi became the new emperor and it was suspected that Zhao Kuangyi murdered his brother for the throne, and did the same to his two nephews to prevent them from seizing the throne. The subsequent emperors – Emperor Zhenzong through Emperor Gaozong – were all descendants of Zhao Kuangyi, until Emperor Gaozong passed the throne to Zhao Shen, nevertheless, the Song Empire still thrived under Zhao Kuangyi s reign. But the threats of northern nomadic empires, such as the Khitan-led Liao Empire, Jurchen-led Jin Empire, on 20 March 1127, the Song capital, Bianjing fell to Jin forces during the Jin–Song Wars. After several days looting and raping, the Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, along with most of their members, were captured and taken to the Jin capital, Shangjing. This event is known as the Jingkang Incident. Many of these died from illness, hunger, torture. Some of them committed suicide to avoid being humiliated by the Jurchens, Emperor Huizongs ninth son, Zhao Gou, escaped from Bianjing and fled to southern China, where he reestablished the Song Empire with its capital at Linan and himself as the new emperor. As his only son died prematurely, Emperor Gaozong had to pass his throne to Zhao Shen, the imperial lineage now went back to Zhao Kuangyins line
7.
Emperor Shenzong of Song
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Emperor Shenzong of Song, personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty in China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to Zhao Xu after his coronation and he reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085. During his reign, Emperor Shenzong became interested in Wang Anshis policies, Wang implemented his famous New Policies aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed, which some have seen as a forerunner of the modern welfare state. These acts became the hallmark reform of Emperor Shenzongs reign, Emperor Shenzong sent failed campaigns against the Vietnamese ruler Lý Nhân Tông of the Lý dynasty in 1076. Emperor Shenzongs other notable act as emperor was his attempt to weaken the Tangut-led Western Xia state by invading and expelling the Western Xia forces from Gansu Province. The Song army was quite successful at these campaigns, but during the battle for the city of Yongle, in 1082. As a result, Western Xia grew more powerful and subsequently continued to be a thorn in the side of the Song Empire over the ensuing decades and this book records historical events from the Zhou dynasty to the Song dynasty. Aside from the ancient Roman embassies to Han and Three-Kingdoms era China, however, from Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas of Fo lin dispatched a diplomatic mission to Chinas Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong. Emperor Shenzong died in 1085 at the age of 36 and was succeeded by his son, Emperor Shenzongs younger sister was married to Wang Shen. Wang Anshi Shen Kuo List of emperors of the Song dynasty Song dynasty
8.
Chinese language
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Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
9.
Standard Chinese
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Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
10.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
11.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
12.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
13.
Chinese name
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Chinese personal names are names used by those from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora overseas. Prior to the 20th century, educated Chinese also utilized a courtesy name or style name called zi by which they were known among those outside of their family and closest friends. From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Han Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a given name. In general, using the given name connoted the speakers authority, peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures – particularly emperors – used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and those possessing names identical to the emperors were frequently forced to change them. Although some terms in the ancient Chinese naming system, such as xìng and míng, are used today, they were used in different. Commoners possessed only a name, and the modern concept of a surname or family name did not yet exist at any level of society.3 billion citizens. In fact, just the top three – Wang, Li, and Zhang – cover more than 20% of the population. This homogeneity results from the majority of Han family names having only one character. Chinese surnames arose from two separate traditions, the xìng and the shì. The original xìng were clans of royalty at the Shang court, the shì did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the Jiang and Yao families, the original xìng have nearly disappeared, xìng is now used to describe the shì surnames which replaced them, while shì is used to refer to maiden names. The enormous modern clans sometimes share ancestral halls with one another, nonetheless, however tenuous these bonds sometimes are, it remains a minor taboo to marry someone with the same family name. In modern mainland China, it is the norm that a woman keeps her name unchanged. A child usually inherits his/her fathers surname, though the law explicitly states that a child may use either parents or the grandparents. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to both parents surnames. In the older generations, it was common for a married woman to prepend her husbands surname to her own. This practice is now almost extinct in mainland China, though there are a few such as the name change of Gu Kailai, but survives in some Hong Kong, Macau
14.
Chinese surname
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Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames existed, namely xing or lineage names, and shi or clan names, Chinese family names are patrilineal, passed from father to children. Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except in places with more Western influences such as Hong Kong, traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous. The colloquial expressions laobaixing and bǎixìng are used in Chinese to mean ordinary folks, prior to the Warring States period, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was also a difference between clan names or xing and lineages names or shi, Xing were surnames held by the noble clans. They generally are composed of a nü radical which has taken by some as evidence they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Léon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou, the female radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean lady of such or such clan, prior to the Qin Dynasty China was largely a fengjian society. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing, after the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually spread to the lower classes and the difference between xing and shi blurred. Many shi surnames survive to the present day, according to Kiang Kang-Hu, there are 18 sources from which Chinese surnames may be derived, while others suggested at least 24. The following are some of the sources, Xing, These were usually reserved for the central lineage of the royal family. Of these xings, only Jiang and Yao have survived in their form to modern days as frequently occurring surnames. Royal decree by the Emperor, such as Kuang, state name, Many nobles and commoners took the name of their state, either to show their continuing allegiance or as a matter of national and ethnic identity. These are some of the most common Chinese surnames, name of a fief or place of origin, Fiefdoms were often granted to collateral branches of the aristocracy and it was natural as part of the process of sub-surnaming for their names to be used. An example is Di, Marquis of Ouyangting, whose descendants took the surname Ouyang, there are some two hundred examples of this identified, often of two-character surnames, but few have survived to the present. Names of an ancestor, Like the previous example, this was also a common origin with close to 500 or 600 examples,200 of which are two-character surnames, often an ancestors courtesy name would be used. For example, Yuan Taotu took the character of his grandfathers courtesy name Boyuan as his surname. Sometimes titles granted to ancestors could also be taken as surnames, seniority within the family, In ancient usage, the characters of meng, zhong, shu and ji were used to denote the first, second, third and fourth eldest sons in a family
15.
Zhao (surname)
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Zhao is the 1st surname in the famous Hundred Family Surnames – the traditional list of all Chinese surnames – because it was the emperors surname of the Song Dynasty when the list was compiled. The romanized spelling is shared with the much rarer family name Zhào, Zhao is one of the most ancient of Chinese surnames, and its origins are partly shrouded in legend. During the reign of King Mu of Zhou, an officer named Zaofu proved exceptionally adept at training horses and driving chariots and won the respect of King Mu. During a battle with the state of Xu, an ethnically different state which was resisting Zhou rule, Zaofu drove a chariot into the battle. In gratitude, King Mu enfeoffed Zaofu as the lord of Zhao, zaofus descendants took Zhao as a surname to mark their prestigious association with the city. Records such as Sima Qians Records of the Grand Historian say that Zaofu was a descendant of legendary kings Zhuanxu, Shaohao, the town Zhao became part of the state of Jin during the Warring States period, when the Zhou Dynasty began to collapse. In 403 BC, Jin split into three states, one of which was the state of Zhao. During this period, the ancestral name Ying split into 14 clan names, Lian, Xu, Jiang, Qin, Zhao, Huang, Liang, Ma, Ge, Gu, Mou, Zhong, Fei. The Zhao clan rulers of State of Qin and State of Zhao were highly successful, the Zhao name experienced a great revival after Zhao Kuangyin became the first emperor of the Song Dynasty in 960 AD, leading to 300 years of Zhao rule over China. Rimer, J. Thomas and Yamazaki Masakazu trans, on the Art of the Nō Drama, The Major Treatises of Zeami. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, the Ancient Refugees From Religious Persecution in Japan, The Tribe of Hada – Their Religious and Cultural Influence. Shinsen Shōjiroku 出自秦始皇帝三世孫孝武王也 McCullough, William H, the Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 2, Heian Japan. The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 2, Heian Japan, ben Ami-Shillony, The Jews and the Japanese, The Successful Outsiders, pp. 135–7 Dual origins of the Japanese, common ground for hunter-gatherer and farmer Y chromosomes
16.
Song dynasty
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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
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Chinese calligraphy
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Chinese calligraphy is a form of calligraphy widely practiced in China and revered in the Chinese cultural sphere, which often includes Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. There is a standardization of the various styles of calligraphy in this tradition. Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash painting are closely related, since they are accomplished using similar tools, Chinese painting and calligraphy distinguish themselves from other cultural arts because they emphasize motion and are charged with dynamic life. According to Stanley-Baker, Calligraphy is sheer life experienced through energy in motion that is registered as traces on silk or paper, with time, Calligraphy has also led to the development of many forms of art in China, including seal carving, ornate paperweights, and inkstones. In China, calligraphy is referred to as Shūfǎ, literally, the way/method/law of writing, Shodō in Japan, Chinese calligraphy is normally regarded as one of the arts in the countries where it is practised. Chinese calligraphy focuses not only on methods of writing but also on cultivating ones character, Calligraphy is also considered an art where works are appreciated more or only for their aesthetic qualities. Chinese characters can be retraced to 4000 BC signs, in 2003, at the site of Xiaoshuangqiao, about 20 km southeast of the ancient Zhengzhou Shang City, ceramic inscriptions dating to 1435–1412 BC have been found by archaeologists. These writings are made in cinnabar paint, thus, the dates of writing in China have been confirmed for the Middle Shang period. The ceramic ritual vessel vats that bear these cinnabar inscriptions were all unearthed within the area of this site. They were unearthed mostly in the sacrificial pits holding cow skulls and cow horns, the inscriptions are written on the exterior and interior of the rim, and the exterior of the belly of the large type of vats. The characters are mostly written singly, character compounds or sentences are rarely seen, the contemporary Chinese characters set principles were clearly visible in ancient Chinas Jiǎgǔwén characters carved on ox scapulas and tortoise plastrons around 14th - 11th century BCE. Brush-written examples decay over time and have not survived, during the divination ceremony, after the cracks were made, characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved. With the development of Jīnwén and Dàzhuàn cursive signs continued, moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters. In Imperial China, the graphs on old steles — some dating from 200 BC, despite the fact that the main writing implement of the time was already the brush, little paper survives from this period, and the main examples of this style are on steles. The Lìshū style which is more regularized, and in ways similar to modern text, were also authorised under Qin Shi Huang. Kǎishū style — still in use today — and attributed to Wang Xizhi and its spread was encouraged by Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang, who ordered the printing of the classics using new wooden blocks in Kaishu. Printing technologies here allowed shapes to stabilize, the Kaishu shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China. But small changes have made, for example in the shape of 广 which is not absolutely the same in the Kangxi Dictionary of 1716 as in modern books
18.
Jurchen people
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The Jurchen established the Jin Dynasty, whose empire conquered the Northern Song in 1127, gaining control of most of North China. Jin control over China lasted until their 1234 conquest by the Mongols, the Manchus would later conquer the Ming and establish the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until their overthrow in 1911. The obscurity of the origin of the Jurchen is reflected in the confusion surrounding their name and it is recorded variously in different languages and different eras. The apparently cognate ethnonyms Sushen and Jizhen are recorded in ancient Chinese geographical works like the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the present name dates back to at least the 10th century, when Balhae was destroyed by the Khitans. It was the source of Fra Mauros Zorça and Marco Polos Ciorcia, vajda considers that the Jurchens name probably derives from the Tungusic words for reindeer people and is cognate with the names of the Orochs of Khabarovsk Province and the Oroks of Sakhalin. In Manchu, this word was often used to describe the serfs—though not slaves—of the free Manchu people. To describe the people who founded the Jin dynasty, they reborrowed the Mongolian name as Jurcit. The initial Khitan form of the name was said to be Lüzhen, at the same time, the Jurchen were interchangeably known as the Nrjo-drik. Aisin Gioro, however, argues that this was a folk etymology. Under the Liao, a distinction was made between the Charted Jurchens who submitted to their rule and the Uncharted Jurchens who lived beyond their frontier. The former were divided into the Jianzhou and Haixi Jurchens and the latter included the Yeren Jurchens, in earlier records, this area was known as the home of the Sushen, the Yilou, the Wuji, and the Mohe or Malgal. Under the Qing and within modern scholarship, some sources stress the continuity between these peoples with the Jurchen but this remains conjectural. The Tungusic Mohe tribes were subjects of the Korean state of Balhae, the Mohe enjoyed eating pork, practiced pig farming extensively, and were mainly sedentary. They used both pig and dog skins for coats and they were predominantly farmers and grew soybean, wheat, millet, and rice in addition to hunting. By the 11th century, the Jurchens had become vassals of the Khitan rulers of the Liao dynasty, the Jin dynasty captured the Northern Song dynastys capital, Bianjing, in 1127. The name of the Jurchens dynasty—the Chinese word for gold—derived from the Gold River in their ancestral homeland, at first, the Jurchen tribesmen were kept in readiness for warfare, but decades of urban and settled life in China eroded their original warlike lifestyle in Manchurian tundra and marshes. Eventually, intermarriage with other groups in China was permitted. The Jin rulers themselves came to follow Confucian norms, by 1215, after losing much territory to the Mongols, the Jurchens moved their capital south from Zhongdu to Kaifeng
19.
Kaifeng
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Kaifeng, known previously by several names, is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan, China. It was once the capital of the Song dynasty, and is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, there are currently nearly 5 million people living in its metropolitan area. The postal romanization for the city is Kaifeng and its official one-character abbreviation in Chinese is 汴. Its name was originally Qifeng, but the syllable qi was changed to the essentially synonymous kai to avoid the naming taboo of Liu Qi, as with Beijing, there have been many reconstructions during its history. In 364 BC during the Warring States period, the State of Wei founded a city called Daliang as its capital in this area, during this period, the first of many canals in the area was constructed linking a local river to the Yellow River. When the State of Wei was conquered by the State of Qin, Kaifeng was destroyed and abandoned except for a market town. Early in the 7th century, Kaifeng was transformed into a commercial hub when it was connected to the Grand Canal as well as through the construction of a canal running to western Shandong. In 781 during the Tang dynasty, a new city was reconstructed and named Bian, Bian was the capital of the Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song dynasty made Bian its capital when it overthrew the Later Zhou in 960, shortly afterwards, the city underwent further expansion. During the Song, when it was known as Dongjing or Bianjing, Kaifeng was the capital, typhus was an acute problem in the city. In 1049, the Youguosi Pagoda – or Iron Pagoda as it is called today – was constructed measuring 54.7 metres in height and it has survived the vicissitudes of war and floods to become the oldest landmark in this ancient city. Another Song-dynasty pagoda, Po Tower, dating from 974, has partially destroyed. Another well-known sight was the clock tower of the engineer, scientist. Kaifeng reached its peak importance in the 11th century when it was a commercial and industrial center at the intersection of four major canals. During this time, the city was surrounded by three rings of city walls and probably had a population of between 600,000 and 700,000 and it is believed that Kaifeng was the largest city in the world from 1013 to 1127. This period ended in 1127 when the city fell to Jurchen invaders during the Jingkang Incident and it subsequently came under the rule of the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which had conquered most of North China during the Jin–Song Wars. While it remained an important administrative center, only the city area inside the city wall of the early Song remained settled. One major problem associated with Kaifeng as the capital of the Song was its location
20.
Jingkang incident
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The Jin forces captured the Song ruler, Emperor Qinzong, along with his father, Emperor Huizong, and many members of the imperial family and officials of the Song imperial court. This event marked the end of the era known as the Northern Song dynasty, some members of the Song imperial family, most notably Zhao Gou, managed to escape to southern China, where they reestablished the Song dynasty in the new capital, Linan. This event was referred to as the Jingkang Incident because it took place during the Jingkang era of the reign of Emperor Qinzong, Jingkang was the era name of Emperor Qinzongs reign. In 1120, under the Alliance Conducted at Sea, the Jin and Song dynasties agreed to form an alliance against the Liao dynasty and, if victorious. The Jin would get a portion of the northern land. The Jin army sacked the Liao capital of Shangjing and ended the Liao dynasty, the Song army in the south, however, could not even penetrate the Liaos defensive positions and the army was defeated by the remaining Liao troops afterwards. This exposed the limitation of the Song army as well as the corruption, in the end, the Jin took control of all former Liao territories. After the fall of the Liao dynasty, the Song dynasty wanted the Sixteen Prefectures as promised, the Jin dynasty sold the land at a price of 300,000 bolts of silk and 200,000 ounces of silver. This price was considered to be extremely generous because it was the tribute that the Song was previously paying to the Liao annually since the Chanyuan Treaty of 1005. According to the Twenty-Four Histories, in 1123, three years after the fall of Liao, a Jin general Zhang Jue defected to the Song dynasty, the Song imperial court initially welcomed the defection and awarded Zhang Jue an honorific title and land. The Jin dynasty, on the hand, sent a small army aimed to overturn the defection but was defeated by Zhang Jues troops. Soon after that, the Song imperial court realised that Zhang Jues defection would only result in hostility from the north, Zhang Jue was executed in the winter of 1123. This came too late, in the fall of 1125, Emperor Taizong of the Jin dynasty issued an order to launch an attack on Song territories. The Jin armies invaded Song territory from the west and from the north, the Jin northern army advanced quickly, sacking Qinhuangdao in October 1125, followed Baoding, Dingzhou, Zhengding and Xingtai in January 1126. This army, commanded by Wolibu, did not meet much resistance as most of the Song generals surrendered themselves and their cities as soon as the Jin army arrived. On the other hand, the Jin western army, commanded by Nianhan, was held up near the cities of Datong and Taiyuan from the very beginning, in February 1126, the Jin northern army crossed the Yellow River and began the siege of Bianjing, the Song capital. Before the invaders surrounded the city, Emperor Huizong had abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Emperor Qinzong, the Jin northern army faced difficult siege fighting that was not well-suited for cavalry. At the same time, the Jin western army was held up in the Datong area
21.
Huining Prefecture
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Huining Prefecture was a prefecture in the Shangjing region of Manchuria. It served as the first superior capital of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty from 1122 to 1153 and its location was in present-day Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China. During the early years of building up their empire, Jurchen rulers often moved people from elsewhere in China to their capital, the first emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, Aguda resettled captives to the Shangjing area during his war against the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. Agudas successor, Wuqimai conquered most of northern China in the wars against the Han Chinese-led Northern Song dynasty and he continued the policy, resulting in numerous wealthy people, skilled craftsmen from Yanjing and the former Song capital, Bianjing, being relocated to Shangjing. A variety of valuable goods captured in Bianjing was brought to the Jin capital as well, the city plan on Shangjing emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing, although the Jin capital was much smaller than its Northern Song prototype. The capital was moved to Yanjing in 1153 by Wanyan Liang, Yanjing was more centrally located within the Jin Empire, and it was easier to supply it with food. Wanyan Liang is said to have support of most of his officials in this move, in 1157, Wanyan Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his former capital. While Yanjing and later Bianjing were the Jin dynastys principal capitals thereafter, ruins of the city were discovered and excavated in present-day Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, about 2 km from Acheng Districts central urban area. The site of the ruins is a historical heritage site. Many of the artifacts there are on display in Harbin. Acheng City, Harbin government web site, the Setting of the Forbidden City and Its Protection. Chinese Association of Cultural Relics Protection, beijings 850th Anniversary as National Capital. Chinese History — Jin Dynasty map and geography, jing-shen Tao, The Jurchen in Twelfth-Century China. University of Washington Press,1976, ISBN 0-295-95514-7
22.
Emperor Taizong of Jin
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Emperor Taizong of Jin, personal name Wuqimai, sinicised name Wanyan Sheng, was the second emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, which ruled northern China between the 12th and 13th centuries. During his reign, the Jin dynasty conquered the Khitan-led Liao dynasty and he then led the Jurchens in their campaigns against the Song dynasty, captured the Song capital in 1127 and went on to occupy most of northern China. After his death, he was honoured with the temple name Taizong by his successor, Emperor Xizong. Wuqimai was the son of Helibo and his primary consort. He was a brother of Aguda, the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty. He succeeded his brother in 1123, the Song general Li Gang led fierce resistance against the Jin invaders. After some time, the Jin and Song dynasties agreed to a truce, in August 1126, Emperor Taizong ordered Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan to lead Jin forces to attack and besiege Bianjing again. This time, the Jin dynasty not only conquered Bianjing, and this event, historically known as the Jingkang Incident, marked the end of the Northern Song dynasty and beginning of the Southern Song dynasty. In 1128, Emperor Taizong gave titles of nobility to the two captured former Song emperors, Emperor Huizong was called Duke Hunde while Emperor Qinzong was called Marquis Chonghun, during his reign, Emperor Taizong laid and strengthened the Jin dynastys political system and institutions. In his later years, he designated Hela, a grandson of Aguda and he died in Mingde Palace in 1135 and was buried in the He Mausoleum. His descendants were massacred by Digunai, the ruler of the Jin dynasty. His remains were relocated to Dafangshan, which known as the Gong Mausoleum
23.
Yilan County, Heilongjiang
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Yilan County is under the administration of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, Peoples Republic of China. It is more than 240 kilometres to the east-northeast of central Harbin and its county seat, which is also called Yilan, is located near the confluence of the Mudan River with the Sungari. China National Highway 221 During the rule of the Ming Dynasty in China, Yilan, the town retained its importance into the Qing period, and in 1692 became the seat of a Deputy Lieutenant-General. Subordinated to the Governor General in Jilin City, the Sanxing Fu dutong was in control of the northeastern section of the Jilin Province - a large region stretching northeast along the Sungari and the Amur to the Pacific Ocean. In 1887, three British travelers - H. E. M. James, Francis Younghusband and Harry English Fulford visited Sanxing on their tour of Manchuria. According to Fulfords account, the town had the population of around 10,000, trade in furs, lu Houmin, who was the official photographer for the top Chinese leaders particularly Mao Zedong from 1950 to 1964 was born in Yilan. Official website of Yilan County government
24.
Taoism
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Taoism, also known as Daoism, is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is an idea in most Chinese philosophical schools, in Taoism, however. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, the Tao Te Ching, a compact book containing teachings attributed to Laozi, is widely considered the keystone work of the Taoist tradition, together with the later writings of Zhuangzi. By the Han dynasty, the sources of Taoism had coalesced into a coherent tradition of religious organizations. In earlier ancient China, Taoists were thought of as hermits or recluses who did not participate in political life, Zhuangzi was the best known of these, and it is significant that he lived in the south, where he was part of local Chinese shamanic traditions. Women shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was strong in the southern state of Chu. Early Taoist movements developed their own institution in contrast to shamanism, shamans revealed basic texts of Taoism from early times down to at least the 20th century. Institutional orders of Taoism evolved in various strains that in recent times are conventionally grouped into two main branches, Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Daozang—which was published at the behest of the emperor, throughout Chinese history, Taoism was nominated several times as a state religion. After the 17th century, however, it fell from favor, Chinese alchemy, Chinese astrology, Chan Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history. Beyond China, Taoism also had influence on surrounding societies in Asia, Taoism also has a presence in Hong Kong, Macau, and in Southeast Asia. English speakers continue to debate the preferred romanization of the words Daoism and Taoism, the root Chinese word 道 way, path is romanized tao in the older Wade–Giles system and dào in the modern Pinyin system. In linguistic terminology, English Taoism/Daoism is formed from the Chinese loanword tao/dao 道 way, route, principle and the native suffix -ism. The debate over Taoism vs. Daoism involves sinology, phonemes, loanwords, Daoism is pronounced /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/, but English speakers disagree whether Taoism should be /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/. In theory, both Wade–Giles tao and Pinyin dao are articulated identically, as are Taoism and Daoism, an investment book titled The Tao Jones Averages illustrates this /daʊ/ pronunciations widespread familiarity. In speech, Tao and Taoism are often pronounced /ˈtaʊ/ and ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/, lexicography shows American and British English differences in pronouncing Taoism. Taoist philosophy or Taology, or the mystical aspect — The philosophical doctrines based on the texts of the I Ching, the Tao Te Ching and these texts were linked together as Taoist philosophy during the early Han Dynasty, but notably not before. It is unlikely that Zhuangzi was familiar with the text of the Daodejing, however, the discussed distinction is rejected by the majority of Western and Japanese scholars
25.
Chinese poetry
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Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. Poetry has consistently been held in high regard in China. Westerners also have found in it an interesting and pleasurable field of study, Classical Chinese poetry includes, perhaps first and foremost shi, and also other major types such as ci and qu. There is also a traditional Chinese literary form called fu, which defies categorization into English more than the other terms, during the modern period, there also has developed free verse in Western style. For example, lines from I Ching are often rhymed, but may not be considered to be poetry, a cross-cultural comparison to this might be the Pre-Socratic philosophical works in ancient Greece which were often written in verse versus free verse. The earliest extant anthologies are the Shi Jing, both of these have had a great impact on the subsequent poetic tradition. The elder of two works, the Shijing is a preserved collection of Classical Chinese poetry from over two millennia ago. The collection contains both aristocratic poems regarding life at the court and also more rustic poetry and images of natural settings. The Shijing poems are composed of four-character lines, rather than the five. The main techniques of espression are fu，bi and xing, during the Han Dynasty, the Chu Ci style of poetry contributed to the evolution of the fu style, typified by a mixture of verse and prose passages. The fu form remained popular during the subsequent Six Dynasties period, although it became shorter, the fu form of poetry remains as one of the generic pillars of Chinese poetry, although, in the Tang Dynasty, five-character and seven-character shi poetry begins to dominate. Many yuefu poems are composed of five-character or seven-character lines, in contrast to the lines of earlier times. A characteristic form of Han Dynasty literature is the fu, the poetic period of the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Six Dynasties era is known as Jianan poetry. An important collection of Han poetry is the Nineteen Old Poems, between and over-lapping the poetry of the latter days of the Han and the beginning period of the Six Dynasties was Jianan poetry. Examples of surviving poetry from this include the works of the Three Caos, Cao Cao, Cao Pi. The general and poet Lu Ji used Neo-Taoist cosmology to take literary theory in a new direction with his Wen fu, a high point of classical Chinese poetry occurred during the Tang period, not only was this period prolific in poets, but, also in poems. By this point, poetry was being composed according to regulated tone patterns, regulated and unregulated poetry were distinguished as ancient-style gushi poetry and regulated, recent-style jintishi poetry. Good examples of the gushi and jintishi forms can be found in, respectively, good examples of the jueju verse form can be found in the poems of Li Bai and Wang Wei
26.
Chinese painting
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Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the style is known today in Chinese as guóhuà, meaning national or native painting. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in ink or coloured pigments. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made are paper, the finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, the two main techniques in Chinese painting are, Gongbi, meaning meticulous, uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely. It is often coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. It is often practised by artists working for the court or in independent workshops. Ink and wash painting, in Chinese shui-mo also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting and this style is also referred to as xieyi or freehand style. Landscape painting was regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting, the time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period is known as the Great age of Chinese landscape. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer and these two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting. Chinese painting and calligraphy distinguish themselves from other arts by emphasis on motion. The practice is traditionally first learned by rote, in which the shows the right way to draw items. The apprentice must copy these items strictly and continuously until the movements become instinctive, in contemporary times, debate emerged on the limits of this copyist tradition within modern art scenes where innovation is the rule. Changing lifestyles, tools, and colors are also influencing new waves of masters, the earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental, they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals and it was only during the Warring States period that artists began to represent the world around them. Calligraphy and painting were thought to be the purest forms of art, the implements were the brush pen made of animal hair, and black inks made from pine soot and animal glue. In ancient times, writing, as well as painting, was done on silk, however, after the invention of paper in the 1st century AD, silk was gradually replaced by the new and cheaper material. Original writings by famous calligraphers have been valued throughout Chinas history and are mounted on scrolls
27.
Music of China
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Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese as well as other ethnic minorities within mainland China. It also includes music produced by people of Chinese origin in some territories outside mainland China using traditional Chinese instruments or in the Chinese language and it covers a highly diverse range of music from the traditional to the modern. These further developed into forms of music through succeeding dynasties. Chinese music continues to evolve in the times, and more contemporary forms have also emerged. A twelve-tone musical system was created based on the pitches of the pipes, and the first of these pipes produced the yellow bell pitch. Archaeological evidence indicates that music culture developed in China from an early period. During the Zhou Dynasty, a system of court and ceremonial music later termed yayue was established. The word dance similarly also refers to music, and every dance would have have a piece of associated with it. The most important set of music of the period was the Six-dynasty Music Dance performed in rituals in the royal court, correct music according to Zhou concept would involve instruments correlating to the five elements of nature and would bring harmony to nature. Around or before the 7th century BC, a system of pitch generation, Chinese philosophers took varying approaches to music. Some popular forms of music, however, were considered corrupting in the Confucian view, mozi on the other hand condemned music, and argued in Against Music that music is an extravagance and indulgence that serves no useful purpose and may be harmful. According to Mencius, a powerful ruler once asked him whether it was if he preferred popular music to the classics. The answer was that it mattered that the ruler loved his subjects. In ancient China the social status of musicians was much lower than that of painters, though music was seen as central to the harmony, almost every emperor took folk songs seriously, sending officers to collect songs to record the popular culture. One of the Confucianist Classics, Shi Jing 詩經, contained many folk songs dating from 800 BC to about 400 BC, in subsequent dynasties, the development of Chinese music was strongly influenced by the musical traditions of Central Asia. The oldest extant written Chinese music is Youlan or the Solitary Orchid, composed during the 6th or 7th century, but has also been attributed to Confucius. The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was for the qin during the Tang Dynasty, through succeeding dynasties over thousands of years, Chinese musicians developed a large assortment of different instruments and playing styles. A wide variety of instruments, such as guzheng and dizi are indigenous, although many popular traditional musical instruments were introduced from Central Asia, such as the erhu
28.
Wang Anshi
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Wang Anshi was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms known as the New Policies. These reforms constituted the core concepts of the Song-Dynasty Reformists, in contrast to their rivals, Wang Anshis ideas are usually analyzed in terms of the influence the Rites of Zhou or Legalism had on him. His economic reforms included increase currency circulation, breaking up of private monopolies and his military reforms expanded the use of local militias and his government reforms expanded the civil service examination system and attempted to suppress nepotism in government. Although successful for a while, he fell out of favor of the emperor. During the Song Dynasty, the development of large estates, whose owners managed to evade paying their share of taxes. The drop in revenues, a succession of budget deficits. Wang Anshi came from a family of scholars and was placed fourth in the imperial exam of 1042. He spent the first twenty years of his career in the government of the lower Yangtze region. During this period, he gained experience in local governance. This experience guided his analysis in formulating solutions to revitalize the ailing Song society, Wang came to power as 2nd privy councilor in 1069. It was there that he introduced and promulgated his reform policy, there were three main components to this policy, 1) state finance and trade, 2) defense and social order, and 3) education and improving of governance. He believed that foundation of the state rests on the well being of the common people, to limit speculation and eliminate private monopolies, he initiated price control and regulated wages and set up pensions for the aged and unemployed. The state also began to institute public orphanages, hospitals, dispensaries, hospices, cemeteries, the military reform centered on a new institution of the baojia system or organized households. This was done to ensure collective responsibility in society and was used to strengthen local defense. He also proposed the creation of systems to breed military horses, tests in law, military affairs and medicine were added to the examination system, with mathematics added in 1104. The National Academy was transformed into a school rather than simply a holding place for officials waiting for appointments. However, there was deep-seated resistance to the reforms as it hurt bureaucrats coming in under the old system. Although Wang had the alliance of such prominent court figures as Shen Kuo, imperial scholar-officials such as Su Dongpo and they believed Wangs reforms were against the moral fundamentals of the Two Emperors and would therefore prevent the Song from experiencing the prosperity and peace of the ancients
29.
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
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The Nine Tripod Cauldrons were ancient Chinese ritual cauldrons. They were ascribed to the foundation of the Xia by Yu the Great, at the time of the Shang Dynasty during the 2nd millennium BCE, the tripod cauldrons came to symbolize the power and authority of the ruling dynasty with strict regulations imposed as to their use. Members of the gentry class were permitted to use one or three cauldrons, the ministers of state five, the vassal lords seven, and only the sovereign Son of Heaven was entitled to use nine. However, by the time Qin Shi Huang had eliminated the other six Warring States to become the first emperor of China in 221 BCE, the whereabouts of the nine tripod cauldrons were unknown. Sima Qian records in his Records of the Grand Historian that they were lost in the Si River to where Qin Shi Huang later dispatched a thousand men to search for the cauldrons, thereafter he cast the metal into nine large tripod cauldrons. Legend says that each ding weighed around 30,000 catties equivalent to 7.5 tons, the Xia Shu section of the Book of Documents contains the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu that describes the rivers and mountains of the Nine Provinces. After Tang of Shang overthrew Jie of Xia, the nine tripod cauldrons were moved to the Shang capital at Yan, later, when the Shang king Pan Geng moved his capital to Yin, the cauldrons again went with him. Following the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty by the Zhou Dynasty, the power of the Zhou royal family began to decline at the start of the Eastern Zhou Period in 771 BCE, with each vassal state clamoring for kingship. At the time of King Ding of Zhou, King Zhuang of Chu inquired for the first time regarding the weight of the only to be rebuffed by the Zhou minister Wangsun Man. Asking such a question was at time a direct challenge to the power of the reigning dynasty. King Qingxiang of Chu, along with the king of the State of Qi also sought possession of the treasures as did the states of Wei and Han. The last Eastern Zhou monarch King Nan of Zhou dealt with all these rival claimants by playing them off against one another, after the overthrow of Zhou and the foundation of the new Qin Dynasty, the Nine Tripod Cauldrons disappeared. Theories as to their fate abound with no agreement amongst scholars. According to historical records, both Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wen of Han searched for the nine tripod cauldrons in the Si River but with no success. Later emperors time and again recast the cauldrons, the most well known examples being Wu Zetian in 696 CE, in 2006, the National Museum of China in Beijing cast Nine Tripod Cauldrons which are now on permanent display as a tourist attraction. Baopuzi mentions Records on the Nine Cauldrons, a description of the vessels commenting on their protective function. In all Chinese speaking societies, if someone commented on someones words as having the weight of nine tripod cauldrons and it meant that the person was very trustworthy and would never break their promises. Imperial Seal of China Tablet of Destinies This article is based on a translation of 九鼎 九鼎 in the Chinese Wikipedia
30.
Khitan people
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They spoke the Khitan language, which is related to the Mongolic languages. As the Liao dynasty, they dominated a vast area north of and including parts of China, There is no consensus on the etymology of the name of Khitan. Feng Jiasheng argues that it comes from the Yuwen chieftains names, zhao Zhenji thinks that the term originated from Xianbei and means a place where Xianbei had resided. Japanese people scholar Otagi Matsuo considers Khitans original name is Xidan, various forms of the word Khitan survive in the many languages as the name of China. The use of the name Khitai to mean China or Chinese in such Turkic languages as Uyghur is considered pejorative by the Han Chinese and they have different stories about their origin. According to Khitan records, their ancestor was Qishou Khagan. Qishou Khagan was a man riding a white horse who floated down the Laoha River and met Kedun. At the intersection of the two rivers, at the foot of the holy Muye Mountain, they met and mated, giving birth to eight sons, a temple with portraits of Khitan ancestors was built on Mount Muye their holiest mountain. The Qidan Guozhi records a Khitan legend in its preface, There was a chief called Naihe and this chief was nothing but a skull hidden under a rug in a round felt tent, so that he was invisible. Only when something serious had happened in his state, a horse and a gray ox were sacrificed to him, then he took on a human figure. After the affairs had been settled, he returned to the tent and he disappeared, for his countrymen peeped at him. Then there was another chief called Waihe who was living in a round felt tent. He wore a head and was clad in pigskin. When there was an action he came out, then he retired, later it happened that his wife stole his pigskin, he abandoned her and nobody knew where he went. Then there was one called Zhouli Hunhe. Each day he ate nineteen and had one left. These three chiefs were known for their abilities in running their state. In 630, Tang Taizong received the capitulation in southern Manchuria, from the 5th to the 8th centuries, they were dominated by the steppe power to their West and the Chinese to their south
31.
Liao dynasty
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The Liao dynasty was founded by Abaoji, Khagan of the Khitan people around the time of the collapse of Tang China. It was the first state to all of Manchuria. Almost immediately after its founding, the Liao dynasty began a process of territorial expansion, tension between traditional Khitan social and political practices and Chinese influence and customs was a defining feature of the dynasty. So different were Khitan and Chinese practices that Abaoji set up two parallel governments, Khitan women were taught to hunt, managed family property, and held military posts. Many marriages were not arranged, women were not required to be virgins at their first marriage, the Liao dynasty was destroyed by the Jurchen people of the Jin dynasty in 1125 with the capture of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao. However, the remnant Khitan, led by Yelü Dashi, established the Qara Khitai, the Liao dynasty was officially known as the Khitan（now known as Cathay） or Khitan state in 916. The name Great Liao began to appear as the name between 936 and 947. The dynasty name Liao means iron, but it refers to the Liao River in southern Manchuria. Since 983 the state became known as the Khitan, but Great Liao reappeared as the country name in 1066. Neither the origins, ethnic makeup, nor early history of the Khitans are well documented in historical records, the earliest reference to a Khitan state is found in the Book of Wei, a history of the Northern Wei Dynasty that was completed in 554. Several books written after 554 mention the Khitans as being active during the late third, the Book of Jin, a history of the Jin dynasty, refers to the Khitans in the section covering the reign of Murong Sheng. Samguk Sagi, a history of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Twitchett and Klaus-Peter Tietze, it is generally held that the Khitans emerged from the Yuwen branch of the Xianbei people. Following a defeat at the hands of another branch of the Xianbei in 345, in 388 the Kumo Xi itself split, with one group remaining under the name Kumo Xi and the other group becoming the Khitans. This view is backed up by the Book of Wei. There are also several competing theories on the origin of the Khitans, beginning in the Song dynasty, some Chinese scholars suggested that the Khitans might have descended from the Xiongnu people. While modern historians have rejected the idea that the Khitan were solely Xiongnu in origin, there is support for the claim that they are of mixed Xianbei. By the time the Book of Wei was written in 554, the Khitans suffered a series of military defeats to other nomadic groups in the region, as well as to the Chinese Northern Qi and Sui Dynasties. Khitan tribes at various times fell under the influence of Turkic tribes such as the Uighurs and Chinese dynasties such as the Sui and this influence would significantly shape Khitan language and culture
32.
Yellow River
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The Yellow River or Huang He is the second-longest river in Asia, following the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 km. Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai province of western China, it flows through nine provinces, the Yellow River basin has an east–west extent of about 1,900 kilometers and a north–south extent of about 1,100 km. Its total basin area is about 742,443 square kilometers and its basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. Early Chinese literature including the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu dating to the Warring States period refers to the Yellow River as simply 河, the first appearance of the name 黃河 is in the Book of Han written during the Eastern Han dynasty about the Western Han dynasty. The adjective yellow describes the color of the muddy water in the lower course of the river. One of its older Mongolian names was the Black River, because the river runs clear before it enters the Loess Plateau, in Mongolia itself, it is simply called the Šar Mörön. In Qinghai, the rivers Tibetan name is River of the Peacock above sea level they are the two largest plateau freshwater lakes nationwide, flowing east at the eastern edge of the Amne Machin Mountains, the Yellow River enters Maqu County in Gansu. Here, the river skirts through the peat bog known as the Zoigê Wetlands. Flowing now along the edge of Amne Machin, the river reenters Qinghai. The valley section stretches from Longyang Gorge in Qinghai to Qingtong Gorge in Gansu, steep cliffs line both sides of the river. The water bed is narrow and the drop is large, so the flow in this section is extremely turbulent. There are 20 gorges in this section, the most famous of these being the Longyang, Jishi, Liujia, Bapan, the flow conditions in this section makes it the best location for hydroelectric plants. The Yellow River exits Qinghai for the second and final time in these gorges, downstream from the Yanguo Gorge, the provincial capital of Lanzhou is built upon the Yellow Rivers banks. The Yellow River flows northeasterly out of Gansu and into Ningxia before the Qingtong Gorge, after emerging from the Qingtong Gorge, the river comes into a section of vast alluvial plains, the Yinchuan Plain and Hetao Plain. In this section, the regions along the river are mostly deserts and grasslands, the Hetao Plain has a length of 900 km and width of 30 to 50 km. It is historically the most important irrigation plain along the Yellow River, the Ordos Loop formed by an enormous twist of the Yellow River, beginning at Zhongning County in Ningxia and ending with a drastic eastward turn at its confluence with the Wei at Tongguan in Shaanxi. However, the division for the middle reaches of the river run from Hekou in Togtoh County, Inner Mongolia, to Zhengzhou. The middle reaches are 1,206 km long, with an area of 344,000 square kilometers,45. 7% of the total, with a total elevation drop of 890 m
33.
Yangtze
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The Yangtze River, known in China as the Cháng Jiāng or the Yángzǐ Jiāng, is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country and it drains one-fifth of the land area of the Peoples Republic of China and its river basin is home to one-third of the countrys population. The Yangtze is the sixth-largest river by volume in the world. The Yangtze River plays a role in the history, culture. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the PRCs GDP, for thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world, in recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves, a stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In mid-2014 the Chinese government announced it was building a transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports. Because the source of the Yangtze was not ascertained until modern times, Yangtze was actually the name of Chang Jiang for the lower part from Nanjing to the river mouth at Shanghai. In modern Chinese, Yangtze is still used to refer to the part of Chang Jiang from Nanjing to the river mouth. Yangtze never stands for the whole Chang Jiang, Chang Jiang is the modern Chinese name for the lower 2,884 km of the Yangtze from its confluence with the Min River at Yibin in Sichuan Province to the river mouth at Shanghai. Chang Jiang literally means the Long River, in Old Chinese, this stretch of the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang 江, a character of phono-semantic compound origin, combining the water radical 氵 with the homophone 工. Krong was probably a word in the Austroasiatic language of local peoples such as the Yue, similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, all meaning river, it is related to modern Vietnamese sông and Khmer kôngkea. By the Han Dynasty, Jiang had come to any river in Chinese. The epithet 長, means long, was first formally applied to the river during the Six Dynasties period, various sections of Chang Jiang have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the Chuan Jiang or Sichuan River, in the Hubei Province, the river is also called the Jing Jiang or the Jing River after Jingzhou. In Anhui Province, the takes on the local name Wan Jiang after the shorthand name for Anhui. And Yangzi Jiang t 揚子江s 扬子江, p Yángzǐjiāng) or the Yangzi River, the name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called Yangzi or Yangzijin
34.
Harbin
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Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the Peoples Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city and the most populous city in Northeast China. According to the 2010 census, the area made of seven out of nine urban districts had 5,282,093 inhabitants. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, Harbin, which was originally a Manchu word meaning a place for drying fishing nets, grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today, in the 1920s, the city was considered Chinas fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai. The city has been voted China Top Tourist City by China National Tourism Administration in 2004, on 22 June 2010, Harbin was appointed a City of Music by the UN. Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late Stone Age, Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty, was born in the Jurchen Wanyan tribes who resided near the Ashi River in this region. In AD1115 Aguda established Jins capital Shangjing Huining Prefecture in todays Acheng District of Harbin, after Agudas death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered the construction of a new city on a uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing, Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the Jin empire until Wanyan Liang moved the capital to Yanjing in 1153. Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his capital in 1157. Wanyan Liangs successor Wanyan Yong restored the city and established it as a capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and excavated about 2 km from present-day Achengs central urban area, the site of the old Jin capital ruins is a national historic reserve, and includes the Jin Dynasty History Museum. The museum, open to the public, was renovated in late 2005, mounted statues of Aguda and of his chief commander Wanyan Zonghan stand in the grounds of the museum. Many of the artifacts there are on display in nearby Harbin. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin Empire, Huining Prefecture was abandoned, in the 17th century, the Manchus used building materials from Huining Prefecture to construct their new stronghold in Alchuka. The region of Harbin remained largely rural until the 1800s, with ten villages
35.
Emperor Gaozong of Song
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Emperor Gaozong of Song, personal name Zhao Gou, courtesy name Deji, was the tenth emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the first emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He was the son of Emperor Huizong and a younger brother of Emperor Qinzong. In 1127, during the wars between the Song dynasty and Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, the Song capital Bianjing fell to Jin forces in an event historically known as the Jingkang Incident. Emperors Huizong and Qinzong were taken prisoner by the Jurchens, while Zhao Gou managed to escape to southern China and he reestablished the Song dynasty in Linan and was proclaimed emperor. He reigned from 1127 until 1162, when he abdicated the throne in favour of his adopted son Zhao Shen, Emperor Gaozong was the ninth son of Emperor Huizong and a younger brother of Emperor Qinzong. His mother, whose family name was Wei, was a concubine of Emperor Huizong. She was posthumously honoured as Empress Xianren, Emperor Gaozong was originally a prince during the reigns of his father and brother. The Great Chu, a state created by the Jin Empire, was abolished when Zhang Bangchang submitted to Emperor Gaozong. During Emperor Gaozongs reign, the Jurchens often attacked his realm, initially, he employed military leaders such as Li Gang, Zong Ze, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Yu Yunwen to lead the Song forces to hold off the Jurchens. However, after years of fighting and significant military success, Emperor Gaozong settled on a pacifist stance, as a result, Emperor Gaozong and Qin Hui plotted to frame Yue Fei for some ambiguous offence and had him put to death. Han Shizhong was also dismissed from his military duties, Emperor Gaozong was also a notable poet and had significant influence on other Chinese poets. Among his surviving works is the Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain, Emperor Gaozong abdicated in 1162 after reigning for more than 35 years, and passed the throne to his adopted son Zhao Shen, because his only son, Zhao Fu, died prematurely around the age of two. Emperor Gaozong then assumed the title of Taishang Huang but remained the de facto ruler until his death in 1187
36.
Heilongjiang
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Heilongjiang is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Heilongjiang literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur, the Manchu name of the region is Sahaliyan ula, from which the name of Sakhalin is derived, and the Mongolian name with the same meaning is Qaramörin. Heilongjiang borders Jilin in the south and Inner Mongolia to the west, it also borders Russia to the north, the Amur River marks the border between the Peoples Republic of China and Russia to the north. Heilongjiang contains Chinas northernmost point and easternmost point, ancient Chinese records and other sources state that Heilongjiang was inhabited by people such as the Buyeo, the Mohe, Balhae and the Khitan. Mongolic Donghu people lived in Inner Mongolia and the part of Heilongjiang. Some names are Manchu or Mongolian, the eastern portion of Heilongjiang was ruled by the kingdom of Balhae between the 7th century and 10th century. The Jurchen Jin dynasty that ruled much of north China arose within the borders of modern Heilongjiang. Heilongjiang as an entity was created in 1683, during the Kangxi era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The eastern part of whats today Heilongjiang remained under the supervision of the General of Jilin and these areas deep in Manchuria were closed off to Han Chinese migration. The original seat of the Military Governor of Heilongjiang, as established in 1683, was in Heilongjang City, however, already in 1690 the seat of the governor was transferred to Nenjiang on the Nen River, and, in 1699, further south to Qiqihar. An additional advantage of Qiqihar may have been its location at the junction of a northbound road, little Qing Military presence existed north of Aigun. At the same time, Manchuria was opened to Han Chinese migration by the Qing government, by the early twentieth century, due to the Chuang Guandong, the Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group in the region. In 1931, Japanese forces invaded Heilongjiang, in 1932, the Japanese completed their conquest of the province, which became part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In 1945, Japanese forces in Manchuria were defeated by the Soviet Army, during the Chinese Civil War, Soviet forces aided the Chinese communists. Heilongjiang became the first province to be controlled by the communists. At the beginning of communist rule, Heilongjiang included only the portion of the present-day province. The remaining area was the province of Songjiang, its capital was Harbin, in 1954, these two provinces were merged into present-day Heilongjiang. During the Cultural Revolution, Heilongjiang was also expanded to include Hulunbuir League and some areas previously in Inner Mongolia
37.
Wei River
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The Wei River is a major river in west-central Chinas Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to Weiyuan County – Wei yuan meaning Weis source – in Gansu province, less than 200 kilometres from the Yellow River at Lanzhou. However, due to the turn north the Yellow River takes in Lanzhou, the Wei. In a direct line, the Weis source lies 700 kilometres west of the city along its course. The length of the river is 818 kilometres and the area drained covers 135,000 square kilometres, the Wei Rivers tributaries include the Luo River, Jing River, Niutou River and the Chishui River. The valley of the Wei was one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, along which the capitals of the Zhou, Qin, Han. The area of Dingxi around its headwaters in Gansu has numerous stone age sites from early cultures. The Wei Valley is likely the earliest center of Chinese civilization, the headwaters of the Wei River are also notable in the development of the Northern Silk Road. In September 2003 extensive rainfall led to flooding caused over 30 fatalities. Ecological aspects of the Wei River have been examined with respect to rates in the Wei River
38.
Guqin
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The guqin is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It is sometimes referred to by the Chinese as the father of Chinese music or the instrument of the sages, the guqin is not to be confused with the guzheng, another Chinese long zither also without frets, but with moveable bridges under each string. The prefix gu- was later added for clarification, thus, the instrument is called guqin today. It can also be called qixian-qin, because Robert Hans van Guliks book about the qin is called The Lore of the Chinese Lute, the guqin is sometimes inaccurately called a lute. Other incorrect classifications, mainly from music compact discs, include harp or table-harp, the guqin is a very quiet instrument, with a range of about four octaves, and its open strings are tuned in the bass register. Its lowest pitch is two octaves below middle C, or the lowest note on the cello. Sounds are produced by plucking open strings, stopped strings, the use of glissando—sliding tones—gives it a sound reminiscent of a pizzicato cello, fretless double bass or a slide guitar. The qin is also capable of a lot of harmonics, of which 91 are most commonly used and indicated by the dotted positions, by tradition the qin originally had five strings, but ancient qin-like instruments with 10 or more strings have been found. The modern form has been standardized for about two millennia, legend has it that the qin, the most revered of all Chinese musical instruments, has a history of about 5,000 years. This legend states that the figures of Chinas pre-history — Fuxi, Shennong and Huang Di. Nearly all qin books and tablature collections published prior to the twentieth century state this as the origins of the qin. It is mentioned in Chinese writings dating back nearly 3,000 years, the exact origins of the qin is still a very much continuing subject of debate over the past few decades. It is the longest excerpt included on the disc, in 2003, guqin music was proclaimed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. There are a number of ancient sources that discuss qin lore, qin theory, some of these books are available inserted into certain qinpu. The detail can be very concise to extremely detailed and thorough, some are mostly philosophical or artistic musings, others are scientific and technical. As with any other tradition, there are differences in ideals. Therefore, there exist different schools and societies which transmit these different ideas, many qin schools known as qin pai developed over the centuries. Such schools generally formed around areas where qin activity was greatest, some schools have come and gone, and some have offshoots
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