1.
Qing dynasty
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It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water
2.
Dong Zhuo
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Dong Zhuo, courtesy name Zhongying, was a politician and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Dong Zhuo subsequently deposed Emperor Shao and instated Emperor Xian, Dong Zhuo rose to power in the Han imperial court and ruled the nation with tyranny and cruelty for a brief period of time. The following year, a coalition of officials and warlords launched a punitive campaign against Dong, forcing him to move the capital to Changan. Dong Zhuo was assassinated in 192 by his foster son Lü Bu as part of an orchestrated by Interior Minister Wang Yun. Dong Zhuo was born in Lintao, Longxi Commandery and was said to be a youth who was excellent in horseback archery in his early days. He travelled around the Qiang region and befriended many men of gallantry, when he grew up, he returned and started farming in the countryside, where he incidentally excavated a blade, which had obscure inscription fading from it which said slash the kings like logging. When he took the sabre to the famed scholar Cai Yong for appraisal, as a physically adept man with a good background, Dong became an imperial guard, and joined Zhang Huans campaign against Qiang rebels in Bing Province as a Major. He was rewarded with 9,000 rolls of silk for his performance. Dong was sent to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the early 180s after a few subsequent promotions but he was defeated by the rebels and demoted. When the tribes of Qiang and Hu rebelled with local gentries Han Sui and Bian Zhang in Liang Province, Dong was reinstated as Knight General, during a battle with the Qiang tribes, Dong Zhuos army was outnumbered and a river sealed his retreat route. To prevent his army from being routed by the enemy, Dong ordered his troops to dam the river and he sent his men to cross the drained lower stream and break the dam in order to thwart any subsequent pursuits by the enemy. Despite failing the campaign, Dongs unit was the only unscathed unit of the Han forces, Dong Zhuo was henceforth promoted to General of the Van and Inspector of Bing Province. However, he refused to accept his new post as he was unwilling to leave his troops, realizing the Han authority was declining from its failure in subjugating the Qiang tribe, Dong focused on building his power in Liang. At the time, a Han military officer, Sun Jian, suggested to his superior that Dongs arrogance and insubordination to the court warranted a death sentence, but his advice was not heeded. Following the death of Emperor Ling in 189, General-in-Chief He Jin ordered Dong Zhuo to lead troops into Luoyang to aid him in eliminating the eunuch faction, before Dongs arrival, He Jin was assassinated by the eunuchs and the capital city fell into a state of turmoil. The eunuchs took Emperor Shao hostage and fled from Luoyang, Dong Zhuos army intercepted the eunuchs and brought the emperor back to the palace. At the same time, He Jins half-brother, General of Chariots and he Jin and He Miaos forces were without a leader and came under Dong Zhuos command when the latter led his ferocious Liang Province troops into the city. Lü then became Dongs adopted son and trusted aide, and assisted Dong to take control of the imperial capital of Luoyang
3.
Li Jue (Han dynasty)
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Li Jue, courtesy name Zhiran, was a descendant of Li Guang, and a military general serving under the autocratic warlord, Dong Zhuo, in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He later succeeded Dong Zhuo as the leader of the Liang Province faction after Dong was murdered in a coup détat, originating from Beidi Commandery of Liang Province, Li Jue entered Dong Zhuos Liang Province army as one of the earliest recruits. After Dong Zhuo relocated the capital from Luoyang to Changan, Li Jue, along Guo Si and Zhang Ji, were sent to the frontline against the eastern warlords. Tao Qian, despite having an alliance with Dong Zhuo, indeed sent 3,000 elite Danyang troops to Zhu Jun to battle Guo Si and Li Jue at Zhongmu County. Li Jue and his comrades then performed raids around Chenliu and Yingchuan commanderies, wherein the defenders, Cao Cao, many residents there were hijacked and enslaved by Li Jues forces. Before Li Jue could return to the capital, Dong Zhuo was assassinated by Lü Bu in an orchestrated by Wang Yun. Therefore, the four planned to relinquish their positions and go into hiding, however, Li Jues chief advisor Jia Xu suggested that they should take this opportunity to launch a strike at Changan since the regime was not stabilised after the coup. The four then roused several thousand followers to attack Changan. Along the way, Liang Province residents joined the course. Lü Bu attempted to break the siege, but was forced back inside the city gate despite him seriously wounding Guo Si in a duel, Li Jue then announced they would leave if Wang Yun would go with them. Wang Yun, thinking that the four rebels only wanted his life and did not have the ambition to take the city, however, following his death, the rebels continued the siege and breached the city. Li Jues forces usurped imperial power by taking Emperor Xian hostage, the four demanded high ranks and even thought about assassinating the emperor to take the throne, however was dissuaded from doing so by Jia Xu. With Li Jue as the leader of the Liang Province army, people who allied themselves with them, like Liu Biao, Yuan Shu, and Li Ru, were all promoted by them. Li Ru also forced the emperor to bestow him the titles of General of Chariots and Cavalry, Marquis of Chiyang, Colonel-Director of Retainers, when Li Jues power was at its height, even Cao Cao sent emissaries to pay tribute as a token of goodwill. In the march of 194, a vassal and local warlord, Ma Teng. He then initiated a rebellion in Mei County, an imperial emissary from Emperor Xian was sent to broker peace, but to no avail. Then, Ma Tengs close friend and comrade, Han Sui, was sent to dissuade Ma Teng with an armed force, once Han Sui arrived at Mei County, however, he joined forces with Ma Teng, and secretly contacted Liu Yans spies implanted in the court. Liu Yans cohorts were discovered before they could make a move, Li Jue sent his nephew Li Li, Guo Si and Fan Chou to counter the allied force
4.
Guo Si
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Guo Si, also known as Guo Duo, was a general serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He assisted Dong in his campaigns, and was placed under Dongs son-in-law after Dong relocated the imperial capital to Changan. He later became one of the de facto regents of Emperor Xian, wherein they occupied the capital and held the emperor and imperial officials hostage. However, his downfall came when he quarreled with another regent, Li Jue, and together with Li, they were defeated by Yang Feng and Dong Cheng, Guo was eventually betrayed and murdered by one of his subordinate generals. Tao, despite having an alliance with Dong, indeed sent 3,000 elite danyang troops to Zhu to battle Guo and Li at Zhongmu. Guo, Li, and Zhang Ji then performed raids around area of Chenliu and Yingchuan, wherein Cao Cao and the likes were unable to stop them, and many residents there were hijacked and enslaved. Because he was stationed outside the capital, he was able to return to Liang Province when Dong Zhuo was assassinated by Lü Bu, however, Hu murdered Niu after he decided to take the wealth of his master for himself. Guo, along the three generals, then pleaded the de facto leader of Han court, Wang Yun, for amnesty since they were Dongs most trusted aides. To the exact contrary, Wang granted amnesty to all of Dongs former generals except for four, so they planned to relinquish their positions. Advisor Jia Xu suggested that they should take this opportunity to launch a strike at Changan since the Liang Province power was actually unscathed after the coup. At the beginning of their campaign, not much Liang residents joined them, only several thousands soldiers followed the four, a fierce battle was fought outside the wall of Changan, where Guo Si personally dueled the famous Lu Bu. Even Guo himself was defeated and was pierced by Lus spear, but he survived the wound, the four then surrounded Changan with their army and lied that they would leave if Wang Yun would go with them. Wang, thinking that the four rebels only wanted his life and didnt have an intention to besiege the city, committed suicide. The four then demanded high ranks, and Guo and Li even thought about assassinating the emperor to take the throne, however was dissuaded from doing so by Fan and Zhang. With Li as the leader of the rebels, the four took almost complete control of the court and demoted and promoted anyone at will. When the western forces of Han Sui, Ma Teng and Liu Yan formed an alliance to challenge the Han court controlled by the four, Li sent out his nephew Li Li, Guo, and Fan to counter the allied force. The allied force was dealt a defeat with a casualty up to ten thousand about 13 miles west to Changan. Knowing the allied force was low on grain, Li Li asked Fan to pursuit and wipe the enemy out, but was refused by the former because of his friendship with Han
5.
Cao Cao
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Cao Cao, courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty. As one of the figures of the Three Kingdoms period. During the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Cao was able to secure the most populated and prosperous cities of the central plains and northern China. Cao had much success as the Han chancellor, but his handling of the Han emperor Liu Xie was heavily criticized and resulted in a continued, opposition directly gathered around warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan, whom Cao was unable to quell. Cao was also skilled in poetry and martial arts and wrote many war journals, Cao Cao was born in Qiao in 155. His father Cao Song was a son of Cao Teng. Some historical records, including the Biography of Cao Man, claim that Cao Songs original family name was Xiahou, Cao was known for his craftiness as an adolescent. According to the Biography of Cao Man, Cao Caos uncle complained to Cao Song about Cao Caos indulgence in hunting, in retaliation, Cao Cao feigned a fit before his uncle, who immediately rushed to inform Cao Song. When Cao Song went to see his son, Cao Cao behaved normally, when asked, Cao Cao replied, I have never had a fit, but I lost the love of my uncle, and therefore he deceived you. Afterwards, Cao Song ceased to believe his brother regarding Cao Cao, at that time, there was a man named Xu Shao who lived in Runan and was famous for his ability to evaluate a persons potentials and talents. Cao Cao paid him a visit in hopes of receiving an evaluation that would help him politically. At first, Xu Shao refused to make a statement, however, under persistent questioning, he said, You would be a capable minister in peaceful times. There are two versions of this comment in other unofficial historical records. At the age of 20, Cao Cao was appointed captain of Luoyang. Upon taking up the post, he placed rows of multicolored stakes outside his office and ordered his deputies to flog those who violated the law, regardless of their status. An uncle of Jian Shuo, one of the most powerful and this prompted Jian Shuo and other higher authorities to ostensibly promote Cao Cao to the post of governor of Dunqiu County while actually moving him out of the imperial capital. Cao Cao remained in position for little more than a year. Around 180, Cao Cao returned to court as a Consultant, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184, Cao Cao was recalled to Luoyang and appointed Captain of the Cavalry and sent to Yingchuan in Yu Province to suppress the rebels
6.
Cao Pi
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Cao Pi, courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. He was born in Qiao as the son of Cao Cao. However, he was the eldest son among all the children born to Cao Cao by his concubine Lady Bian, of all his brothers, Cao Pi was the shrewdest. Instead of focusing on academic studies or administering military affairs, he was always in the presence of officials in order to gain their support. He was mostly in charge of defence at the start of his career. After the defeat of Cao Caos rival Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, he took the widow of Yuan Shaos son Yuan Xi, Lady Zhen, as a concubine, but in 221 Lady Zhen died and Guo Nüwang became empress. In 220, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Han Dynasty, to abdicate the throne to him, and he proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Cao Wei. Cao Pi continued the wars against the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, founded by his fathers rivals Liu Bei and Sun Quan respectively, unlike his father, Cao Pi concentrated most of his efforts on internal administration rather than on waging wars against his rivals. During his reign, he formally established Chen Quns nine-rank system as the base for civil service nomination, after Cao Pis death, his successor Cao Rui granted him the posthumous name Emperor Wen and the temple name Shizu. Cao Pi was also a poet and scholar, just like his father Cao Cao. He wrote Yan Ge Xing, the first Chinese poem in the style of seven syllables per line and he also wrote over a hundred articles on various subjects. Cao Pi was the eldest son of Cao Cao and his concubine Lady Bian, Cao Pi was recorded as excellent swordsman as he studied martial arts from Shi E, a gentleman of household from Rapid as Tigers division of the imperial guards. In the period after 190 when Cao Cao was constantly waging war against other rival warlords, it is not known where Cao Pi and Lady Bian were, or what they did. The lone reference to Cao Pi during this period was in 204, the next immediate reference to Cao Pis activities was in 211, when he was appointed General of the Household for All Purposes and Vice Chancellor. This position placed him second to his father, who was then Chancellor, the eldest of all of Cao Caos sons, Cao Ang, had died early, so Cao Pi was regarded as the eldest among all his fathers sons. Besides, Cao Pis mother had also become Cao Caos official spouse after Cao Caos first wife Lady Ding was deposed, Cao Pi thus became the presumptive heir to his father. However, Cao Pis status as heir was not immediately made legal, Cao Cao greatly favoured Cao Zhi, who was known for his literary talents. Both Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were talented poets, but Cao Zhi was more highly regarded as a poet and speaker
7.
Family name
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A surname or family name is a name added to a given name. In many cases, a surname is a name and many dictionaries define surname as a synonym of family name. In the English-speaking world, it is synonymous with last name because it is usually placed at the end of a persons given name there. In most Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries, two or more surnames may be used, in Hungary, Hong Kong, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Taiwan, Vietnam, and parts of India, the family name is placed before a persons given name. The concept of a surname is a recent historical development. Based on an occupation or area of residence, a byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the same name. A family name is typically a part of a personal name which. The use of names is common in most cultures around the world. However, the style of having both a name and a given name is far from universal. In many countries, it is common for people to have only one name or mononym. Also, in most Slavic countries and in Greece, for example, Surname laws vary around the world. If a childs paternity was not known, or if the putative father denied paternity and that is still the custom and law in many countries. The surname for children of married parents is usually inherited from the father, in this article, family name and surname both mean the patrilineal surname, handed down from or inherited from the fathers line or patriline, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Thus, the maternal surname means the patrilineal surname which ones mother inherited from either or both of her parents. For a discussion of matrilineal surnames, passing from mothers to daughters, mrs. Ms. Miss, Dr, and so on. Generally the given name, first name, forename, or personal name is the one used by friends, family and it may also be used by someone who is in some way senior to the person being addressed. This practice also differs between cultures, see T–V distinction, the study of proper names in family names is called onomastics. A one-name study is a collection of vital and other data about all persons worldwide sharing a particular surname
8.
Liu
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劉 / 刘 is a common Chinese family name. The Liu as transcribed in English can represent several different surnames written in different Chinese characters, 劉 / 刘, pinyin, a very common surname, as it was the family name of Han Dynasty emperors. In Hakka, 刘/劉 is most commonly transliterated as Liew while 廖 is written as Liau or Liaw, the other variants of the romanised surname Liu, i. e. 柳, 留 and 六, are uncommon among speakers of Hakka. In Gan, 刘/劉 is most commonly transliterated as Liew or Lieu, the Indonesian-Chinese descent Latinise it according to Dutch pronunciation as Lauw. In Vietnamese, the name can take the form Liễu, or Lưu. Best known for editing the Huainanzi compendium of Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist teachings
9.
Given name
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A given name is a part of a persons personal name. It identifies a person, and differentiates that person from other members of a group, such as a family or clan. The term given name refers to the fact that the name usually is bestowed upon a person and this contrasts with a surname, which is normally inherited, and shared with other members of the childs immediate family. Given names are used in a familiar and friendly manner in informal situations. In more formal situations the surname is commonly used, unless it is necessary to distinguish between people with the same surname. The idioms on a basis and being on first-name terms allude to the familiarity of addressing another by a given name. The order given name – family name, commonly known as the Western order, is used throughout most European countries and in countries that have cultures predominantly influenced by Western Europe. The order family name – given name, commonly known as the Eastern order, is used in East Asia, as well as in Southern and North-Eastern parts of India. The order given name - fathers family name - mothers family name is used in Spanish-speaking countries to acknowledge the families of both parents. Today the order can also be changed legally in Spain using given name - mothers family name - fathers family name, under the common Western naming convention, people may have one or more forenames. If more than one, there is usually a main forename for everyday use, sometimes however two or more forenames may carry equal weight. There is no particular ordering rule for forenames – often the main forename is at the beginning, a childs given name or names are usually chosen by the parents soon after birth. If a name is not assigned at birth, one may be given at a ceremony, with family. In most jurisdictions, a name at birth is a matter of public record, inscribed on a birth certificate. In western cultures, people normally retain the same name throughout their lives. However, in some cases names may be changed by petitioning a court of law. People may also change their names when immigrating from one country to another with different naming conventions, in France, the agency can refer the case to a local judge. Some jurisdictions, like in Sweden, restrict the spelling of names, parents may choose a name because of its meaning
10.
Courtesy name
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A courtesy name, also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to ones given name. This practice is a tradition in East Asian cultures, including China, Japan, Korea, formerly in China, the zi would replace a males given name when he turned twenty, as a symbol of adulthood and respect. It could be either by the parents or by the first personal teacher on the first day of family school. Females might substitute their given name for a zi upon marriage, one also may adopt a self-chosen courtesy name. In China the popularity of the custom has declined to some extent since the May Fourth Movement in 1919, a courtesy name is not to be confused with an art name, another frequently mentioned term for an alternative name in Asian culture-based context. An art name is associated with art and is more of a literary name or a pseudonym that is more spontaneous. The zì, sometimes called the biǎozì or courtesy name, is a name given to Chinese males at the age of 20. It was sometimes given to females upon marriage, the practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the generation to address him by his given name. The zì is mostly disyllabic and is based on the meaning of the míng or given name. Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi dynasty believed that while the purpose of the míng was to one person from another. The relation which exists between a persons zì and míng may be seen in the case of Chiang Kai-shek, whose ming was Zhōngzhèng. Thus he was also called 蔣中正（Chiang Chung-cheng）in some context, another way to form a zì is to use the homophonic character zǐ – a respectful title for a male – as the first character of the disyllabic zì. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiaos zì was Zǐchǎn, and Du Fus and it is also common to construct a zì by using as the first character one which expresses the bearers birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius, whose name was Kǒng Qiū, was given the zì Zhòngní, the characters commonly used are bó for the first, zhòng for the second, shū for the third, and jì typically for the youngest, if the family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jians four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Yi, the use of zì began during the Shang dynasty, and slowly developed into a system which became most widespread during the succeeding Zhou dynasty. During this period, women were also given zì, the zì given to a woman was generally composed of a character indicating her birth order among female siblings and her surname. For example, Mèng Jiāng was the eldest daughter in the Jiāng family, prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their zì
11.
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
12.
Han dynasty
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The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered an age in Chinese history. To this day, Chinas majority ethnic group refers to itself as the Han people and it was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods, the Western Han or Former Han and the Eastern Han or Later Han, the emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas controlled by the central government using an innovation inherited from the Qin known as commanderies. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States, from the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 AD, the Han dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty. The coinage issued by the government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations, the Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han launched several campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries, the territories north of Hans borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Imperial authority was seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, following Liu Bangs victory in the Chu–Han Contention, the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. Chinas first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty, the Qin unified the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their empire became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Within four years, the authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Although Xiang Yu proved to be a commander, Liu Bang defeated him at Battle of Gaixia. Liu Bang assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu, Changan was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han
13.
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
14.
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
15.
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
16.
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
17.
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
18.
Campaign against Dong Zhuo
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The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the claimed that Dong had the intention of usurping the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage. They justified their campaign as to remove Dong from power, the campaign led to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Changan. It was a prelude to the end of the Han dynasty and, subsequently, the two scenes are often reenacted in Chinese opera along with other famous scenes from the novel. Both incidents however, are fictional, Hua was killed in a battle against Sun Jian, Liu, Guan and Zhang were not active in the campaign. Instead, they were fighting remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels in the north and thus did not duel with Lü Bu, following the death of Emperor Ling in 189, General-in-Chief He Jin summoned the frontier general Dong Zhuo from the northwest into the capital city of Luoyang. Dong was ordered to lead his troops into the city to aid He in eliminating the eunuch faction. However, before Dong Zhuos arrival, He Jins plan was revealed and he Jins associates led by Yuan Shao stormed the palace after the assassination and started massacring eunuchs. The young Emperor Shao and his brother, the Prince of Chenliu, were brought out of the palace by the surviving eunuchs during the chaos. The emperor lost the Imperial Seal during his escape and they were eventually discovered by a search party and escorted back to the palace safely by Dong Zhuo and his men. Subsequently, the warlord Ding Yuan was killed by his subordinate Lü Bu for opposing Dong Zhuos decision to depose Emperor Shao, Lü then defected to Dongs side. In 190, Dong Zhuo deposed Emperor Shao and installed the Prince of Chenliu on the throne, the prince became historically known as Emperor Xian. Dong appointed himself as Chancellor of State, an official post abolished almost 200 years ago, on March 26 in the same year, Dong had the Prince of Hongnong and Empress Dowager He killed. Since then, Dong Zhuo had established an influence in the imperial court. He was authoritarian and showed no regard for the monarchy as he made the final decisions on policies without consulting or seeking approval from the emperor. He eliminated several of his opponents in the court to further strengthen his grip over the apparatus of state. Yuan Shao fled from Luoyang after openly disagreeing with Dong Zhuos decision to depose Emperor Shao, Dong Zhuo feared that Yuan Shao might rise in revolt against him as Yuan was also an influential figure in politics as well. Dong heeded his advisors suggestions and proposed to the emperor to appoint Yuan as Grand Administrator of Bohai as an act of appeasement, while in Bohai, Yuan Shao was not appeased by Dong Zhuos proposal to appoint him as Grand Administrator
19.
Luoyang
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Luoyang, formerly romanized as Loyang, is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in Central China. It is a city in western Henan province. It borders the capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north. Situated on the plain of China, Luoyang is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. The name Luoyang originates from the location on the north or sunny side of the Luo River. Since the river flows from west to east and the sun is to the south of the river, Luoyang has had several names over the centuries, including Luoyi and Luozhou, though Luoyang has been its primary name. It has been called, during various periods, Dongdu, Xijing, during the rule of Wu Zetian, the city was known as Shendu The greater Luoyang area has been sacred ground since the late Neolithic period. This area at the intersection of the Luo river and Yi River was considered to be the center of China. Because of this aspect, several cities – all of which are generally referred to as Luoyang – have been built in this area. In 2070 BC, the Xia Dynasty king Tai Kang moved the Xia capital to the intersection of the Luo and Yi, in 1600 BC, Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia Dynasty king, and built Western Bo, a new capital on the Luo River. The ruins of Western Bo are located in Luoyang Prefecture, in the 1136 BC a settlement named Chengzhou was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility. The Duke also moved the Nine Tripod Cauldrons to Chengzhou from the Zhou Dynasty capital at Haojing, a second Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng was built 15 km west of Chengzhou. Wangcheng became the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in 771 BC, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty capital was moved to Chengzhou in 510 BC. Later, the Eastern Han Dynasty capital of Luoyang would be built over Chengzhou, modern Luoyang is built over the ruins of Wangcheng, which are still visible today at Wangcheng Park. In 25 AD, Luoyang was declared the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty on November 27 by Emperor Guangwu of Han, for several centuries, Luoyang was the focal point of China. In AD68, the White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was founded in Luoyang, the temple still exists, though the architecture is of later origin, mainly from the 16th century. An Shigao was one of the first monks to popularize Buddhism in Luoyang, in 190 AD, Chancellor Dong Zhuo ordered his soldiers to ransack, pillage, and raze the city as he retreated from the coalition set up against him by regional lords from across China. The court was moved to the more defensible western city of Changan
20.
Chang'an
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Changan is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xian. Changan means Perpetual Peace in Classical Chinese, during the short-lived Xin dynasty, the city was renamed Constant Peace, yet after its fall in AD23, the old name was restored. By the time of the Ming dynasty, the name was changed to Xian, meaning Western Peace. Changan had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao Culture was established in Banpo in the citys suburb, from its capital at Xianyang, the Qin dynasty ruled a larger area than either of the preceding dynasties. The imperial city of Changan during the Han dynasty was located northwest of todays Xian. During the Tang dynasty, the area to be known as Changan included the area inside the Ming Xian fortification, plus small areas to its east and west. The Tang Changan hence, was 8 times the size of the Ming Xian, during its heyday, Changan was one of the largest and most populous cities in the world. Around AD750, Changan was called a million peoples city in Chinese records, while modern estimates put it at around 800, 000–1,000,000 within city walls. According to the census in 742 recorded in the New Book of Tang,362,921 families with 1,960,188 persons were counted in Jingzhao Fu, the strategic and economic importance of ancient Changan was mainly due to its central position. The roads leading to Gansu, Sichuan, Henan, Hubei, the site of the Han capital was located 3 km northwest of modern Xian. As the capital of the Western Han, it was the political, economic and it was also the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, and a cosmopolitan metropolis. By 2 AD, the population was 246,200 in 80,000 households and this population consisted mostly of the scholar gentry class whose education was being sponsored by their wealthy aristocratic families. In addition to civil servants was a larger underclass to serve them. Initially, Emperor Liu Bang decided to build his capital at the center of the sun and this location was the site of the holy city Chengzhou, home of the last Zhou emperors. The magical significance of location was believed to ensure a long-lasting dynasty like the Zhou. However, in practice the strategic value of a capital located in the Wei Valley became the deciding factor for locating the new capital. To this end, it is recorded c 200 BC he forcibly relocated thousands of clans in the aristocracy to this region. First, it kept all potential rivals close to the new Emperor and his adviser Liu Jing described this plan as weakening the root while strengthening the branch
21.
Xuchang
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Xuchang is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast. Its population was 4,307,488 inhabitants at the final 2010 census, of whom 1,952,666 lived in the area made up of Weidu district, Xuchang county. In 2007, the city was named as one of Chinas top ten cities by Chinese Cities Brand Value Report. The prefecture-level city of Xuchang administers 2 district,2 county-level cities and 2 counties, in ancient times, the city occupied a strategic location in central China. Xuchang served as the warlord Cao Caos de facto capital during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, after finding the old capital Luoyang ravaged by war, Cao moved the imperial court and Emperor Xian to what is now Xuchang in 196. In 220, Cao Caos son and successor Cao Pi officially declared the city as the capital of the established state of Cao Wei. The city was renamed Xuchang, meaning Xu Rising, the Wei emperors held court at Xuchang until the capital was moved to Luoyang in the 220s. Xuchang ranges in latitude from 33°16 to 34°24 N and in longitude from 113°03 to 114°190 E. Xuchang has a humid subtropical climate. Winters are cool and dry, summers hot and humid, spring begins early and is warm, rain mainly falls from May to September, as more than 70% of the annual precipitation occurs then. The city has a mean temperature of at 14.5 °C, and its highest average monthly temperature is 27.1 °C in July. Just over 700 millimetres of precipitation each year, and there is on average 217 frost-free days and 2280 hours of sunshine per year. Xuchang is an important center of the Chinese tobacco industry, however, due to economic reasons many farmers have chosen not to plant tobacco anymore. The city is famous for its man-made human hair exports. Xuchang University is in the city, famous tourist attractions include Baling Bridge and Chunqiu Tower. On 18 December 2006, the Oromia Region government in Ethiopia signed an agreement with Henan Province to establish a city program with Ambo. Bolingbrook, Illinois is also a city of Xuchang
22.
Battle of Red Cliffs
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It was fought in the winter of AD 208/9 between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan and the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. Liu Bei and Sun Quan successfully frustrated Cao Caos effort to conquer the south of the Yangtze River. The battle has been called the largest naval battle in history in terms of numbers involved, descriptions of the battle differ widely, and the location of the battle is fiercely debated. Although its precise location remains uncertain, the majority of academic conjectures place it on the bank of the Yangtze River, southwest of present-day Wuhan. By the early century, the Han dynasty, which had ruled China for almost four centuries, was crumbling. Emperor Xian had been a political figurehead since 189, with no control over the actions of the warlords controlling their respective territories. One of the most powerful warlords in China was Cao Cao and he then completed a successful campaign against the Wuhuan in the winter of the same year, thus securing his northern frontier. Upon his return in 208, he was appointed Chancellor, a position granted him absolute authority over the entire imperial government. Shortly afterwards, in the autumn of 208, his army began a southern campaign, the Yangtze River in the area of Jing Province was key to the success of this strategy. Sun Quan controlled the river east of the Han and the southeastern territories abutting it, factions had arisen supporting either of Liu Biaos two sons in a struggle for succession. The younger son prevailed, and Liu Biaos dispossessed eldest son, Liu Qi, departed to assume a commandery in Jiangxia. Liu Biao died of only a few weeks later, while Cao Cao was advancing from the north and, under these circumstances, Liu Biaos younger son and successor, Liu Cong. Cao Cao thus captured a fleet and secured the naval base at Jiangling. This provided him with a key strategic military depot and forward base to harbour his ships, when Jing Province fell, Liu Bei quickly fled south, accompanied by a refugee population of civilians and soldiers. This disorganised exodus was pursued by Cao Caos elite cavalry, and was surrounded, Liu Bei escaped, however, and fled further east to Xiakou, where he liaised with Sun Quans emissary Lu Su. At this point historical accounts are inconsistent, Lu Su may have successfully encouraged Liu Bei to move further east. In either case, Liu Bei was later joined by Liu Qi, Liu Beis main advisor, Zhuge Liang, was sent to Chaisang to negotiate forming a mutual front against Cao Cao with Sun Quan. By the time Zhuge Liang arrived, Cao Cao had already sent Sun Quan a letter boasting of commanding 800,000 men, the faction led by Sun Quans Chief Clerk, Zhang Zhao, advocated surrender, citing Cao Caos overwhelming numerical advantage
23.
Sun Quan
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Sun Quan, courtesy name Zhongmou, formally known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. He inherited control of the regime established by his elder brother, Sun Ce. He declared formal independence and ruled from 222 to 229 as the King of Wu, Sun Quan was born in Xiapi while his father Sun Jian served there. When Sun Ce was assassinated by the retainers of Xu Gong in 200, the 18-year-old Sun Quan inherited the lands southeast of the Yangtze River from his brother. His administration proved to be stable in those early years as Sun Jian and Sun Ces most senior officers, such as Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong. Thus throughout the 200s, Sun Quan, under the tutelage of his able advisers, in early 207, his forces finally won complete victory over Huang Zu, a military leader under Liu Biao, who dominated the middle Yangtze. In winter of year, the northern warlord Cao Cao led an army of some 830,000 to conquer the south to complete the reunification of China. Two distinct factions emerged at his court on how to handle the situation, one, led by Zhang Zhao, urged surrender whilst the other, led by Zhou Yu and Lu Su, opposed capitulation. Eventually, Sun Quan decided to oppose Cao Cao in the middle Yangtze with his superior riverine forces, allied with Liu Bei and employing the combined strategies of Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, they defeated Cao Cao decisively at the Battle of Red Cliffs. In 220, Cao Pi, Cao Caos son and successor, seized the throne and proclaimed himself to be the Emperor of China and it was not until the year 229 that he formally declared himself emperor. Because of his skill in gathering important, honourable men to his cause and this primary strength served him well in gaining the support of the common people and surrounding himself with capable generals. After the death of his crown prince, Sun Deng. When Sun He succeeded Sun Deng as the new prince, he was supported by Lu Xun and Zhuge Ke, while his rival Sun Ba was supported by Quan Cong and Bu Zhi. Over a prolonged power struggle, numerous officials were executed. Sun Quan died in 252 at the age of 70 and he enjoyed the longest reign among all the founders of the Three Kingdoms and was succeeded by his son, Sun Liang. Sun Quan was born in 182, while his father Sun Jian was still a general of the Han dynasty, after his fathers death in 191, he became the charge of his brother Sun Ce. As he grew up, he served his brother during the conquests of the south of the Yangtze River. He was made a county magistrate in 196, at the age of 14, the Records of the Three Kingdoms mentioned that Sun Jian was a descendant of Sun Wu, a militarist in the Spring and Autumn Period and the author of The Art of War
24.
Liu Bei
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Liu Bei, courtesy name Xuande, was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Liu Bei overcame his many defeats to carve out his own realm, which at its peak spanned present-day Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan, parts of Hubei, and parts of Gansu. His fictional counterpart in the novel was a example of a ruler who adhered to the Confucian set of moral values, such as loyalty. Historically, Liu Bei like many Han rulers was greatly influenced by Laozi and he was a brilliant politician and leader whose skill was a remarkable demonstration of a Legalist. Liu Beis somewhat Confucian tendencies were also dramatized compared to his rival states founders Cao Pi and Sun Quan, who both ruled as pure Legalists. The historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms described Liu Bei as a man seven chi and five cun tall, with arms that extended beyond his knees. The historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong gave a description about Liu Beis physical appearance. According to the historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was born in Zhuo County and he was a descendant of Liu Zhen, a son of Liu Sheng and a grandson of Emperor Jing. However, Pei Songzhis commentary, based on the Dianlue, said that Liu Bei was a descendant of the Marquis of Linyi, the title of Marquis of Linyi was held by Liu Fu, and later by Liu Fus son Liu Taotu. All three descended from Emperor Jing, Liu Beis grandfather Liu Xiong and father Liu Hong were both employed as local clerks. Liu Bei grew up in a family, having lost his father when he was still a child. To support themselves, Liu Bei and his mother sold shoes, even so, Liu Bei was full of ambition from childhood, he once said to his peers, while under a tree that resembled the royal chariot, that he desired to become an emperor. At the age of 14, Liu Bei, sponsored by an affluent relative who recognised his potential in leadership. There he met and befriended Gongsun Zan, who would become a prominent warlord in northern China. The adolescent Liu Bei was said to be unenthusiastic in studying and displayed interest in hunting, music, concise in speech, calm in demeanour, and kind to his friends, Liu Bei was well liked by his contemporaries. In 184, at the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei became much more politically aware and called for the assembly of a volunteer army to help government forces suppress the rebellion. Liu Bei received financial contributions from two wealthy horse merchants named Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang and rallied a group of followers, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei. Liu Bei led his army to join the provincial army, together, they scored several victories against the rebels
25.
Cao Wei
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Cao Wei was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period. With its capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations laid by his father, Cao Cao, towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. Historians often add the prefix Cao to distinguish it from other Chinese states known as Wei, such as Wei of the Warring States period and Northern Wei of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The authority of the ruling Cao family gradually weakened after the death of the second Wei emperor, Cao Rui, and eventually fell into the hands of Sima Yi, a Wei regent, and his family, in 249. Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, northern China came under the control of Cao Cao, in 213, Emperor Xian granted Cao Cao the title of Duke of Wei and gave him ten cities as his dukedom. At that time, the part of China was divided into two areas controlled by two other warlords, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. In 216, Emperor Xian promoted Cao Cao to the status of a vassal king — King of Wei —, Cao Cao died on 15 March 220 and his vassal king title was inherited by his son Cao Pi. Later that year, on 11 December, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate in his favour and took over the throne, however, Liu Bei immediately contested Cao Pis claim to the Han throne and declared himself Emperor of Shu Han a year later. Sun Quan was nominally a vassal king under Wei, but he declared independence in 222, Cao Pi ruled for six years until his death in 226 and was succeeded by his son, Cao Rui, who ruled until his death in 239. Throughout the reigns of Cao Pi and Cao Rui, Wei had been fighting numerous wars with its two rival states — Shu and Wu. The Shu invasions were repelled by the Wei armies led by the generals Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, Zhang He and others, Shu did not make any significant gains in the expeditions. On its southern and eastern borders, Wei engaged Wu in a series of armed conflicts throughout the 220s and 230s, including the battles of Dongkou, however, most of the battles resulted in stalemate and neither side managed to significantly expand its territory. Around that time, as the Korean kingdom Goguryeo consolidated its power, Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei Wars in 242, trying to cut off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, Wei responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo, hwando was destroyed in revenge by Wei forces in 244. In 249, during the reign of Cao Ruis successor, Cao Fang and this event marked the collapse of imperial authority in Wei, as Cao Fangs role had been reduced to a puppet ruler while Sima Yi wielded state power firmly in his hands. Sima Yi died in 251 and passed on his authority to his eldest son, Sima Shi, Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang in 254 and replaced him with Cao Mao. After Sima Shi died in the year, his younger brother, Sima Zhao, inherited his power. In 260, Cao Mao attempted to back state power from Sima Zhao in a coup
26.
Crown prince
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A crown prince or crown princess is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a prince is also titled crown princess. The term is now borne as a title mainly in Asia, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, however, heirs apparent to non-imperial and non-royal monarchies, crown prince is not used as a title, although it is sometimes used as a synonym for heir apparent. g. Former Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, compare heir apparent and heir presumptive. In Scandinavian kingdoms, the heir presumptive to the crown may hold a different title than the heir apparent and it is also the title borne by the heir apparent of Liechtenstein, as well as the heir apparent or presumptive of Monaco. It generally requires a specific conferral by the sovereign, which may be withheld, reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran. Paras, Crown Prince of Nepal Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, Egypt, Prince of the Said, meaning Prince of Upper Egypt Persia, Pahlavi dynasty and Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahd, Shahzada, i. e. His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince, the above component vali ahd meaning successor by virtue of a covenant was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e. g. g. He was not necessarily the son, wonja. Southeast Asian traditions, Siam Makutrajakuman in Thailand since 1886, krom Phrarajawangboworn Sathanmongkol or Phra Maha Uparaja or commonly called Wang Na in Thailand prior to 1886. Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Anom in Yogyakarta sultanate and Surakarta, Indonesia, raja Muda or Tengku Mahkota in the Malay sultanates of Malaysia. org- here napoleonic section
27.
End of the Han dynasty
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The end of the Han dynasty refers to the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 AD, which roughly coincides with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynastys last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, eventually, one of those warlords, Cao Cao, was able to gradually reunify the empire, ostensibly under Emperor Xians rule, but the empire was actually controlled by Cao Cao himself. Cao Caos efforts to reunite the Han empire were rebuffed at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 /209. The Han dynasty formally ended in 220 when Cao Caos son and heir, Cao Pi, Cao Pi became the emperor of a new state, Cao Wei. A year later, in response to Cao Pis usurpation of the Han throne, Liu Bei declared himself emperor of Shu Han, and in 229, Sun Quan followed suit, declaring himself emperor of Eastern Wu. The period from Emperor Xians abdication in 220 to the reunification of China under the Jin dynasty in 265 was known as the Three Kingdoms era in Chinese history. Towards the end of the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, Emperor Ling, convinced by Liu Yan, changed the Inspectors titles to Governor and granted them the authority to levy taxes and command armed forces within the borders. Liu Yan was commissioned as the Governor of Yi Province, while other important officials also became Governors, including Liu Yu. The increased influence of these provincial governors formed the basis on which later warlords would control large regions of the Han empire, Emperor Ling died in 189 and was succeeded by his 13-year-old son, Liu Bian, who became known as Emperor Shao. Empress He, now empress dowager, became regent to the emperor, while her older brother, General-in-Chief He Jin. He Jin and Yuan Shao plotted to exterminate all the Ten Attendants, a group of ten influential eunuch officials in the court, after the eunuchs discovered He Jins plot, they lured him into the palace and murdered him. In response, Yuan Shao led the guards on an indiscriminate massacre of the palace eunuchs. Dong Zhuo arrived on the scene and found Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu, the young emperor appeared nervous and fearful, while the prince remained calm and composed, and gave orders to Dong Zhuo to escort them back to the palace. Dong Zhuo used the opportunity to control of state power. Not long later, Dong Zhuo deposed Emperor Shao and replaced him with the Prince of Chenliu, in the spring of 190, several provincial officials and warlords formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo, claiming that he was set on usurping the throne and had effectively kidnapped Emperor Xian. Yuan Shao, Administrator of Bohai, was nominated to be the leader of the coalition, the coalition armies was stationed at Henei and appeared to be ready to move on the capital Luoyang. However, the coalition was actually rather disorganized, and Yuan Shao did not have command over the entire alliance. Besides, the members were also hesitant to directly confront Dong Zhuo
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Yuan Shao
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Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu, was a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He occupied the territories of China during the civil war that occurred towards the end of the Han Dynasty. He was also an elder half-brother of Yuan Shu, a warlord who controlled the Huai River region, in 200, he launched a campaign against his rival Cao Cao but was defeated at the Battle of Guandu. He died of two years later in Ye. His eventual failure despite his family background and geographical advantages was commonly blamed on his indecisiveness. A local of Ruyang County, Yuan Shao was born in a family with members who had served in prominent positions within the civil bureaucracy of the Han Dynasty since the first century AD. Yuan Shao was a son of Yuan Feng and the eldest sibling, both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are recognized as great-grandsons of Yuan An, as recorded in Wang Shen s Book of Wei. Yuan Shaos mother was originally a servant maid of Yuan Feng, Chen Shous Records of Three Kingdoms contend that Shao was in fact an older cousin of Yuan Shu. This is attributed to Yuan Fengs older brother also lacking male children, Yuan Shao would go on to enjoy more privileges than Yuan Shu, despite the latter being a blood-related member of the clan. When Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu became involved in disputes later, when Yuan Shao was young, he participated in saving some of the partisans from death or other terrible fates during the second of the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions. After he entered government service, Yuan Shao initially served as an aide to General-in-Chief He Jin and was heavily trusted by him. After the death of Emperor Ling in 189, He Jin and Yuan Shao plotted to eliminate the eunuch faction, headed by the Ten Attendants and he Jin then summoned Dong Zhuo to lead troops into the capital Luoyang to pressure the empress dowager. The eunuchs became fearful and they forged an edict in the empress dowagers name, Yuan cautioned He Jin, reminding him that he should order an attack on the eunuchs instead of entering the palace. After He Jin refused to accept his advice thrice, Yuan Shao, inside the palace, He Jin was ambushed and assassinated by the eunuchs, who tossed his severed head over the wall. Over 2,000 people were killed in the massacre, while the young Emperor Shao, the resulting power vacuum provided Dong Zhuo, who found and rescued the emperor and prince, with an opportunity to seize control of the capital city when he arrived. Dong then discussed with Yuan about his plan to depose Emperor Shao and replace him with the Prince of Chenliu, relations between the two deteriorated and Yuan fled from Luoyang to Ji Province. At the time Yuan just got out of the city gate, Dong thought about sending men after him, as suggested by the three men, Dong appointed Yuan as Administrator of Bohai Commandery in a bid to appease the latter. By early 190, however, Yuan became openly hostile, a coalition of regional officials and commanders from the eastern provinces, including Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Zhang Miao and Bao Xin, formed up behind him in a campaign to oust Dong Zhuo
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Horses in East Asian warfare
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Horses in East Asian warfare are inextricably linked with the strategic and tactical evolution of armed conflict. A warrior on horseback or horse-drawn chariot changed the balance of power between civilizations, when people with horses clashed with those without, horses provided a huge advantage. When both sides had horses, battles turned on the strength and strategy of their mounted horsemen, military tactics were refined in terms of the use of horses. As in most cultures, a war horse in East Asia was trained to be controlled with limited use of reins, responding primarily to the riders legs, burmese horses are somewhat smaller than the Chinese breed, but they are more adept at jumping. There were horse-driven chariots of the Shang and Zhou periods, but horseback riding in China, although mounted archers represented an initial tactical advantage over Chinese armies, the Chinese learned to adapt. Conservative forces opposed change, which affected the proportional balance amongst cavalrymen, horse-drawn chariots, the benefits of using horses as light cavalry against chariots in warfare was understood when the Chinese confronted incursions from nomadic tribes of the steppes. Feeding horses was a significant problem, and many people were driven from their land so that the Imperial horses would have adequate pastures, climate and fodder south of the Yangtze River were unfit for horses raised on the grasslands of the western steppes. The Chinese army lacked a sufficient number of quality horses. Importation was the only remedy but the potential suppliers were the steppe-nomads. The strategic factor considered most essential in warfare was controlled exclusively by the merchant-traders of the most likely enemies. The Chinese used chariots for horse-based warfare until light cavalry became common during the Warring States era. The Chinese warhorses were cultivated from the vast herds roaming free on the plains of northeastern China. The hardy Central Asian horses were generally short-legged with barrel chests, speed was not anticipated from this configuration, but strength and endurance are characteristic features. During the Han dynasty, records tell of a Chinese expedition to Fergana, the horses were acquired for military use and for breeding. Horses are the foundation of power, the great resources of the state but, should this falter, the state will fall -- Ma Yuan. During the Jin dynasty, records of thousands of armored horses illustrate the development of warfare in this period, Horses and skilled horsemen were often in short supply in agrarian China, and cavalry were a distinct minority in most Sui dynasty and Tang Dynasty armies. The Imperial herds numbered 325,700 horses in 794 The Song through Ming dynasty armies relied on an officially supervised tea-for-horse trading systems which evolved over centuries. Tea and horses were so inextricably related that officials repeatedly requested that the tea laws, from the perspective of the Chinese court, government control of tea was the first step in the creation of a rational and effective policy aimed at improving the quality of horses in the army
30.
Zhengzhou
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Zhengzhou is a Chinese city and the provincial capital of Henan Province in east-central China. As a prefecture-level city, it serves as the political, economic, technological. The city lies on the bank of the Yellow River. Zhengzhou has a population of 9,378,000 inhabitants with a population of 6,406,000. Zhengzhou is now a growing city. Greater Zhengzhou was named as one of the 13 emerging megacities or megalopolises in China in a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Shang dynasty established Aodu or Bodu in Zhengzhou. This prehistorical city had become abandoned as ruins long before the First Emperor of China in BC260, since 1950, archaeological finds in a walled city in Eastern Zhengzhou have provided evidence of Neolithic Shang dynasty settlements in the area. Outside this city, remains of public buildings and a complex of small settlements have been discovered. The site is identified with the Shang capital of Ao and is preserved in the Shang dynasty Ruins monument in Guanchen District. The Shang, who moved their capital due to frequent natural disasters. The site, nevertheless, remained occupied, Zhou tombs have also been discovered, legend suggests that in the Western Zhou period the site became the fief of a family named Guan. From this derives the name borne by the county since the late 6th century BC—Guancheng, the city first became the seat of a prefectural administration in AD587, when it was named Guanzhou. In 605 it was first called Zhengzhou—a name by which it has been virtually ever since. The name Zhengzhou came from the Sui dynasty, even though it was located in Chenggao, the government moved to the contemporary city during the Tang dynasty. It achieved its greatest importance under the Sui, Tang, and early Song dynasties, when it was the terminus of the New Bian Canal, which joined the Yellow River to the northwest. There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals at Luoyang and Changan to the west, in the Song period, however, the transfer of the capital eastward to Kaifeng robbed Zhengzhou of much of its importance. It was a capital during the five dynasties of Xia, Shang, Guan, Zheng, and Han, and a prefecture during the eight dynasties of Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. Zhengzhou thus became a rail junction and a regional center for cotton, grain, peanuts
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Henan
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Henan is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is 豫, named after Yuzhou, a Han Dynasty state that parts of Henan. Although the name of the province south of the river, approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou which literally means central plain land or midland, although the name is also applied to the entirety of China proper. Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 3,000 years of recorded history, and remained Chinas cultural, economical, numerous heritages have been left behind including the ruins of Shang Dynasty capital city Yin and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng, with an area of 167,000 km2, Henan covers a large part of the fertile and densely populated North China Plain. Its neighbouring provinces are Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Henan is Chinas third most populous province with a population of over 94 million. If it were a country by itself, Henan would be the 12th most populous country in the world, behind Mexico, Henan is the 5th largest provincial economy of China and the largest among inland provinces. However, per capita GDP is low compared to eastern and central provinces. The economy continues to depend on its dwindling aluminum and coal reserves, as well as agriculture, heavy industry, tourism, high-tech industry and service sector is underdeveloped and is concentrated around Zhengzhou and Luoyang. Widely regarded as the Cradle of Chinese civilization along with Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, Henan is known for its historical prosperity, the economic prosperity resulted from its extensive fertile plains and its location at the heart of the country. However, its location also means that it has suffered from nearly all of the major wars in China. In addition, the floods of the Yellow River have caused significant damage from time to time. Kaifeng, in particular, has been buried by the Yellow Rivers silt seven times due to flooding, archaeological sites reveal that prehistoric cultures such as the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture were active in what is now northern Henan since the Neolithic Era. The more recent Erlitou culture has been identified with the Xia Dynasty. Virtually the entire kingdom existed within what is now north and central Henan, the Xia Dynasty collapsed around the 16th century BC following the invasion of Shang, a neighboring vassal state centered around todays Shangqiu in eastern Henan. The Shang Dynasty was the first literate dynasty of China and its many capitals are located at the modern cities of Shangqiu, Yanshi, and Zhengzhou. Their last and most important capital, Yin, located in modern Anyang, is where the first Chinese writing was created, in the 11th century BC, the Zhou Dynasty of Shaanxi arrived from the west and overthrew the Shang Dynasty
32.
Gansu
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Gansu is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the northwest of the country. It lies between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, the Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. Gansu has a population of 26 million and covers an area of 425,800 square kilometres, the capital is Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of the province. Gansu is a compound of the names of Ganzhou and Suzhou, Gansu is abbreviated as 甘 or 陇, and is also known as Longxi or Longyou, in reference to the Long Mountain east of Gansu. Gansu is a name first used during the Song dynasty of two Sui and Tang dynasty prefectures, Gan and Su. In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to Neolithic cultures, the Dadiwan culture, from where archaeologically significant artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about 6000 BC to about 3000 BC. The Majiayao culture and part of the Qijia culture took root in Gansu from 3100 BC to 2700 BC and 2400 BC to 1900 BC respectively, the Yuezhi originally lived in the very western part of Gansu until they were forced to emigrate by the Xiongnu around 177 BCE. The State of Qin, later to become the state of the Chinese empire, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu. The Qin name is believed to have originated, in part, Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200-year-old map of Guixian County. In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, the Han dynasty extended the Great Wall across this corridor, building the strategic Yumenguan and Yangguan fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there, the Ming dynasty built the Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu. By the Qingshui treaty, concluded in 823 between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty, China lost a part of Gansu province for a significant period. After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, an Uyghur state was established in parts of Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036 AD, during that time, many of Gansus residents were converted to Islam. Along the Silk Road, Gansu was an important province. Temples and Buddhist grottoes such as those at Mogao Caves and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han garrison near the Yumen pass in August 2006, the province was also the origin of the Dungan Revolt of 1862-77. Among the Qing forces were Muslim generals like Ma Zhanao and Ma Anliang who helped Qing crush the rebel Muslims, the revolt spread into Gansu from neighbouring Qinghai. Frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow progress of the province until recently
33.
Wang Yun (Han dynasty)
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Wang Yun, courtesy name Zishi, was a Minister over the Masses under Emperor Xian in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. During Wang Yuns time, the emperors were mere puppets under the power of eunuchs, in 192, Wang Yun plotted and successfully staged Lü Bus assassination of Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord in power. However, Dong Zhuos former subjects soon led a coup, in which Wang Yun along with most of his family were executed. In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms Wang Yun was the father of the possibly fictional Diaochan. The subsequent rift that arose between the father and son eventually saw the death of Dong Zhuo by the hands of Lü Bu. According to Book of Later Han, Wang Yun was from Qi County and his family had many members who had served as administrative officials in the regional government for generations. Wang Yun himself was an official at the age of 19, however, later he failed in the power struggle with the eunuch Zhang Rang. He had to abandon his position and hide himself in countryside, after the death of Zhang Rang, warlord He Jin came into power, and Wang Yun was promoted to the Gentleman of the Household and later to the Intendant of Henan. In 190, the capital Luoyang fell into chaos following the death of He Jin, Dong Zhuo, a warlord from Liang Province managed to take control of the situation and eventually placed in the throne a puppet emperor whom he held in his power. At the end of the eunuch riot era, Wang Yun was the Minister over the Masses, Dong Zhuos subsequent tyrannical and cruel behavior aroused the wrath of many. Wang Yun then colluded with other court officials in a plot to assassinate Dong Zhuo. The plan received a huge boost when the conspirators managed to recruit the help of Dong Zhuos own foster son Lü Bu, bringing along a dozen men, Lü Bu cornered Dong Zhuo outside the palace gate and delivered the fatal blow himself. After the death of Dong Zhuo, rumors spread that the court intended to execute all his troops from Liangzhou. When a royal decree of pardon was not issued, former subjects of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, led a coup, before Lü Bu relinquished from the capital, he sought out Wang Yun and asked the minister to join him. Wang Yun, however, refused to leave the young emperor behind, the rebels soon seized Wang Yun along with many of his family members, who were then executed openly in the city center. Many of his brothers managed to escape, and one of them. The classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events occurred before. Luo Guanzhong delineated an elaborate and cunning scheme for Wang Yuns plot to eliminate Dong Zhuo and it involved two stratagems from the Thirty-Six Strategies, the Strategem of Beautiful Women and the Strategem of Combining Tactics
34.
Ju Shou
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Ju Shou was an advisor serving under the warlord Yuan Shao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Ju Shou first started his career as a clerk under the Governor of Ji Province. In AD191, Han Fus former ally, Yuan Shao overtook Ji Province, Ju Shou was made the Army Controller to help keep the discipline of Yuan Shaos forces. Ju Shou was much involved in the war fought between Yuan Shao and the Yan Province warlord, Gongsun Zan, however, Yuan Shao later grew weary of Ju Shaos suggestion, as they contradicted the advice of Guo Tu, who was a favorite of him. Prior to the Battle of Guandu, Ju Shou advised against having Yan Liang strike Cao Caos forces at Boma, Yuan Shao ignored the advisor, resulting in a major defeat, in which Yan Liang was slain in battle. However Yuan Shao was tricked into thinking that a general who resembled Guan Yu had slain his general. Ju Shou also agreed with Tian Fengs suggestion, however this angered Yuan Shao and he perceived it as lowering his armys morale and this also served as a warning to Ju Shou. Later, Yuan Shao personally led his 100,000 strong army to attack Cao Cao during the Battle of Guandu, however, Yuan Shao once again ignored this advice and had Ju Shou locked up under the same charge as Tian Feng, affecting the armys morale. He was overconfident that his forces were stronger and had no need for a long term defensive fight. Yuan Shao assigned Chunyu Qiong to be in charge of the main supply base at Wuchao. Ju Shou knew that Chunyu Qiong was incapable of taking the responsibility of guarding the supplies and provisions and he then advised Yuan Shao to let someone else be in charge as the loss of Wuchao would likely result in defeat. Yuan Shao was sick and tired of Ju Shou and ignored him, as Ju Shou had predicted, Yuan Shaos army suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Guandu when their supplies and provisions at Wuchao were burnt down by Cao Caos troops. Yuan Shao managed to back to Hebei but Ju Shou was captured in battle by Cao Caos troops. Cao Cao treated Ju Shou with respect and offered to let Ju join him as an advisor, Ju Shou stated that his family had always served the Yuans, and that will never change. Cao Cao was moved by his loyalty and gave him a few days to think about the offer, however, Ju Shou attempted to escape at night by stealing a horse, but was killed by Cao Caos men. Saddened by the loss of a scholar, Ju Shou was given a proper burial. List of people of the Three Kingdoms Chen, Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms vol. Book of the Later Han vol, annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
35.
Ji Province
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Jizhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. It is referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya and it consisted of lands north of the Yellow River, including the modern province Hebei, and the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. In the late Han dynasty, much of northern China, including Jizhou, was controlled by the warlord Yuan Shao, in 200, Yuan Shao was defeated by the rival warlord Cao Cao at the Battle of Guandu, and died shortly thereafter. His sons Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan took control of his territories, in the following years, Cao Cao launched an invasion of northern China, capturing Ye in 204 and decisively winning the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in 207. Cao Cao and his successors controlled Jizhou for the rest of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period
36.
Shandong
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Shandong is a coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China, and is part of the East China region. Shandongs Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and one of the sites with the longest history of continuous religious worship. The Buddhist temples in the mountains to the south of the capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius, and was established as the center of Confucianism. Individually, the two Chinese characters in the name Shandong mean mountain and east, Shandong could hence be translated literally as east of the mountains and refers to the provinces location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. A common nickname for Shandong is Qílǔ, after the States of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn period. Whereas the State of Qi was a power of its era. Lu, however, became renowned for being the home of Confucius, the cultural dominance of the State of Lu heritage is reflected in the official abbreviation for Shandong which is 鲁. English speakers in the 19th century called the province Shan-tung, the province is on the eastern edge of the North China Plain and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and extends out to sea as the Shandong Peninsula. The earliest dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, over subsequent centuries, the Dongyi were eventually sinicized. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, at this time, Shandong was home to two major states, the state of Qi at Linzi and the state of Lu at Qufu. Lu is noted for being the home of Confucius, the state was, however, comparatively small, and eventually succumbed to the larger state of Chu from the south. The state of Qi was, on the hand, was a major power throughout the period. Cities it ruled included Linzi, Jimo and Ju, the Qin dynasty conquered Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BCE. The Han dynasty that followed created a number of commanderies supervised by two regions in what is now modern Shandong, Qingzhou in the north and Yanzhou in the south, during the division of the Three Kingdoms, Shandong belonged to the Cao Wei, which ruled over northern China. After the Three Kingdoms period, a period of unity under the Western Jin dynasty gave way to invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun, Shandong stayed with the Northern Dynasties for the rest of this period. The Sui dynasty reestablished unity in 589, and the Tang dynasty presided over the golden age of China
