1.
Gujin Tushu Jicheng
–
The Gujin Tushu Jicheng, also known as the Imperial Encyclopaedia, is a vast encyclopaedic work written in China during the reigns of the Qing Dynasty emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng. It was begun in 1700 and completed in 1725, the work was headed initially by scholar Chen Menglei, and later by Jiang Tingxi. Sixty-four imprints were made of the first edition, known as the Wu-ying Hall edition, the encyclopaedia consisted of 6 series,32 divisions, and 6,117 sections. It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters, topics covered included natural phenomena, geography, history, literature and government. The work was printed in 1726 using copper movable type printing and it spanned around 10 thousand rolls. To illustrate the size of the Gujin Tushu Jicheng, it is estimated to have contained 3 to 4 times the amount of material in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. The Emperor of China presented a set of the encyclopaedia in 5,000 fascicles to the China Society of London, a complete Japanese copy was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. One of Yongzhengs brothers patronised the project for a while, although Yongzheng contrived to give credit to his father Kangxi instead. The 32 subdivisions are as follows, yongle Encyclopedia Siku Quanshu Hua Sui Search for Modern China, Jonathan Spence,1990 故宮東吳數位古今圖書集成 etext WorldCat Archive. org HathiTrust WorldCat Google Books Library of Congress
2.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
3.
Reference work
–
A reference work is a book or periodical to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed, Reference works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end. The writing style used in works is informative, the authors avoid use of the first person. Many reference works are compiled by a team of contributors whose work is coordinated by one or more editors rather than by an individual author, indices are commonly provided in many types of reference work. Updated editions are published as needed, in some cases annually. Reference works include dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias, almanacs, bibliographies, many reference works are available in electronic form and can be obtained as application software, CD-ROMs, DVDs, or online through the Internet. A reference work is useful to its users if they attribute some degree of trust, in comparison, a reference book or reference-only book in a library is one that may only be used in the library and may not be borrowed from the library. Many such books are works, which are, usually, used briefly or photocopied from. Keeping them in the library assures that they always be available for use on demand. Some reference-only books are too valuable to permit borrowers to take them out, reference-only items may be shelved in a reference collection located separately from circulating items. Some libraries consist entirely, or to an extent, of books which may not be borrowed. An electronic resource is a piece of information that is stored electronically, general American Reference Books Annual, ARBA. Littleton, Col. Libraries Unlimited, 1970- Bergenholtz, H. Nielsen, S. Tarp, S. Lexicography at a Crossroads, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Today, printed Reference Material London, Library Association Katz, W. A. Introduction to Reference Work, 3rd ed.2 vols, new York, McGraw-Hill Nielsen, Sandro The Effect of Lexicographical Information Costs on Dictionary Making and Use. J. Walfords Concise Guide to Reference Material, London, Library Association ISBN 0-85365-882-X, p.19. Books of Reference for School Libraries, an annotated list, 2nd ed. London, Library Association Malclès, geneva, Droz, 1950-58 Sheehy, E. P. et al. comps. Guide to Reference Books, 9th ed. Chicago, American Library Association, Supplement,1980 Totok, W. & Weitzel, aufl. hrg. von W. Totok, K. -H. Frankfurt am Main, Klostermann Day, Alan, walford, A. J. Walfords Guide to Reference Material
4.
East Asian cultural sphere
–
The Sinosphere, or East Asian cultural sphere, refers to a grouping of countries and regions in East Asia that were historically influenced by the culture of China. The East Asian cultural sphere shares a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, the core regions of the East Asian cultural sphere are Mainland China, Taiwan Island, North Korea, South Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Japan and Vietnam. Although Mongolia and parts of Central Asia are sometimes included and perhaps more on an ethnic basis, the terms East Asian cultural sphere and Chinese character cultural sphere are used interchangeably with Sinosphere but have different denotations. British historian Arnold J. Toynbee listed the Far Eastern civilization as one of the main civilizations outlined in his book and he included Japan and Korea in his Far Eastern civilization, and proposed that it grew out of the Sinic civilization that originated in the Yellow River basin. Toynbee compared the relationship between the Sinic and Far Eastern civilization with that of the Hellenic and Western civilizations, according to Toynbee, the Hellenic and Western civilizations had an apparentation-affiliation relationship, while the Far Eastern world was controlled by the ghost of the Sinic universal state. Japanese historian Nishijima Sadao conceived a Chinese or East Asian cultural sphere largely isolated from other cultures, according to Sadao, this cultural sphere shared the philosophy of Confucianism, the religion of Buddhism, and similar political and social structures. His cultural sphere includes China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the American Sinologist and historian Edwin O. Reischauer grouped China, Korea, and Japan together into a cultural sphere that he called the Sinic world. These countries are centralized states that share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Reischauer states that this culture originated in Northern China, and compared the relationship between Northern China and East Asia with that of Greco-Roman civilization and Europe. The elites of East Asia were tied together through a written language based on Chinese characters. Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington considered the Sinic world as one of civilizations in his The Clash of Civilizations. Huntingtons Sinic civilization includes China, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, of the many civilizations that Huntington discusses, the Sinic world is the only one that is based on a cultural, rather than religious, identity. Huntingtons theory was that in a post-Cold War world, humanity identify with groups, tribes, ethnic groups, religious communities. Huntington argued that the Sinic world would eventually oppose the Wests hegemony in Asia, countries from the East Asian cultural sphere share a common architectural style stemming from the architecture of ancient China. The countries of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Confucianism focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics, the most basic of which are rén, yì, and lǐ. Mid-Imperial Chinese philosophy is defined by the development of Neo-Confucianism. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism from India also became a prominent philosophical, Neo-Confucianism has its origins in the Tang Dynasty, the Confucianist scholar Han Yu is seen as a forebear of the Neo-Confucianists of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi is seen as the first true pioneer of Neo-Confucianism, elsewhere in East Asia, Japanese philosophy began to develop as indigenous Shinto beliefs fused with Buddhism, Confucianism and other schools of Chinese philosophy. Similar to Japan, in Korean philosophy elements of Shamanism were integrated into the Neo-Confucianism imported from China, East Asian literary culture was based on the use of Literary Chinese, which became the medium of scholarship and government across the region
5.
Encyclopedia
–
An encyclopedia or encyclopaedia is a type of reference work or compendium holding a comprehensive summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries, which are usually accessed alphabetically by article name, Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries. Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years, the oldest still in existence, AD77 by Pliny the Elder and was not fully revised at the time of his death in AD79. The modern encyclopedia evolved out of dictionaries around the 17th century, some modern encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia, are often electronic and freely available. Together, the phrase literally translates as complete instruction or complete knowledge, one of the oldest vernacular uses was by François Rabelais in his Pantagruel in 1532. Several encyclopedias have names that include the suffix -pedia, e. g. Banglapedia, in British usage, the spellings encyclopedia and encyclopaedia are both current. In American usage, only the former is commonly used, the spelling encyclopædia—with the æ ligature—was frequently used in the 19th century and is increasingly rare, although it is retained in product titles such as Encyclopædia Britannica and others. The Oxford English Dictionary records encyclopædia and encyclopaedia as equal alternatives, websters Third New International Dictionary features encyclopedia as the main headword and encyclopaedia as a minor variant. In addition, cyclopedia and cyclopaedia are now rarely used shortened forms of the word originating in the 17th century, the modern encyclopedia was developed from the dictionary in the 18th century. Historically, both encyclopedias and dictionaries have been researched and written by well-educated, well-informed content experts, a dictionary is a linguistic work which primarily focuses on alphabetical listing of words and their definitions. Synonymous words and those related by the matter are to be found scattered around the dictionary. Thus, a dictionary typically provides limited information, analysis or background for the word defined. While it may offer a definition, it may leave the reader lacking in understanding the meaning, significance or limitations of a term, and how the term relates to a broader field of knowledge. An encyclopedia is, allegedly, not written in order to convince, an encyclopedia article also often includes many maps and illustrations, as well as bibliography and statistics. General encyclopedias often contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and gazetteers. There are also encyclopedias that cover a variety of topics but from a particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective. Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their domain, such as an encyclopedia of medicine, philosophy. Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion, some systematic method of organization is essential to making an encyclopedia usable as a work of reference
6.
Yongle Encyclopedia
–
The Yongle Encyclopedia or Yongle Dadian was a Chinese leishu encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. Its sheer scope and size made it the worlds largest paper-based general encyclopedia, the Yongle Dadian was commissioned by the Yongle Emperor and completed in 1408. 2,169 scholars spent four years compiling the leishu encyclopedia, the scholars incorporated 8,000 texts from ancient times through the early Ming dynasty. The encyclopedia was completed in 1408 at the Guozijian in Nanjing and it comprised 22,937 manuscript rolls or chapters, in 11,095 volumes, occupying roughly 40 cubic meters, and using 370 million Chinese characters. It was designed to include all that had written on the Confucian canon, as well as all history, philosophy, arts. It was a massive collation of excerpts and works from the entirety of Chinese literature, the Yongle Dadian was not printed for the general public, because the treasury had run out of funds when it was completed in 1408. In 1557, during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, the encyclopedia was narrowly saved from a fire burnt down three palaces in the Forbidden City. A manuscript copy was made in 1567, the original manuscript of the Yongle Dadian was almost completely lost by the end of the Ming dynasty, but 90 percent of the 1567 manuscript survived until the Second Opium War in the Qing dynasty. In 1860, the Anglo-French invasion of Beijing resulted in burning and looting of the city, with the British. 5,000 volumes remained by 1875, less than half of the original, during the Boxer Rebellion and the 1900 Eight-Nation Alliance occupation of Beijing, allied soldiers took hundreds of volumes, and many were destroyed in the Hanlin Academy fire. Only 60 volumes remained in Beijing, fewer than 400 volumes survive today, comprising about 800 chapters, or 3.5 percent of the original work. The most complete collection is kept at the National Library of China in Beijing, the next largest collection is at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan which holds 62 volumes. Chinese encyclopedias Four Great Books of Song Gujin Tushu Jicheng Siku Quanshu Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, east Asia, A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Destruction of Chinese Books in the Peking Siege of 1900, China to Digitalize Worlds Earliest Encyclopedia. April 2002 - aspirations, pending approval, experts Urge Collectors To Share Worlds Earliest Encyclopedia
7.
Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and some other Asian languages. In Standard Chinese, and sometimes also in English, they are called hànzì. They have been adapted to write a number of languages including, Japanese, where they are known as kanji, Korean, where they are known as hanja. Collectively, they are known as CJK characters, in English, they are sometimes called Han characters. Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world, Chinese characters number in the tens of thousands, though most of them are minor graphic variants encountered only in historical texts. Studies in China have shown that literacy in written Chinese requires a knowledge of between three and four thousand characters. In Japan,2,136 are taught through secondary school, the characters used in Japan are distinct from those used in China in many respects. There are various national standard lists of characters, forms, in South Korea, when Chinese characters are used they are of the traditional variant and are almost identical to those used in places like Taiwan and Hong Kong. In Old Chinese, most words were monosyllabic and there was a correspondence between characters and words. Rather, a character almost always corresponds to a syllable that is also a morpheme. However, there are a few exceptions to this correspondence, including bisyllabic morphemes. Modern Chinese has many homophones, thus the same syllable may be represented by many characters. A single character may also have a range of meanings, or sometimes quite distinct meanings, cognates in the several varieties of Chinese are generally written with the same character. They typically have similar meanings, but often quite different pronunciations and these foreign adaptations of Chinese pronunciation are known as Sino-Xenic pronunciations, and have been useful in the reconstruction of Middle Chinese. When the script was first used in the late 2nd millennium BC, words of Old Chinese were generally monosyllabic, increasing numbers of polysyllabic words have entered the language from the Western Zhou period to the present day. The process has accelerated over the centuries as phonetic change has increased the number of homophones and it has been estimated that over two thirds of the 3,000 most common words in modern Standard Chinese are polysyllables, the vast majority of those being disyllables. The most common process has been to form compounds of existing words, words have also been created by adding affixes, reduplication and borrowing from other languages. Polysyllabic words are written with one character per syllable
8.
Cao Wei
–
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
