1.
Chen Hongshou
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Chen Hongshou, formerly romanized as Chen Hung-shou, was a Chinese painter of the late Ming dynasty. Chen was born in Zhuji, Zhejiang province in 1598, during the Ming dynasty and his courtesy name was Zhanghou, and his pseudonyms were Laolian, Fuchi, Yunmenseng, Huichi, Chiheshang and Huiseng. He once trained under Lan Ying, and was skilled in painting human figures, landscapes. He utilized plump, profound brushwork and precise color, creating a unique style and he always painted illustrations and made tapestry portraits. His two masterpieces, Shui Hu Ye Zi and Bo Gu Ye Zi, were the rare examples among the Ming and he was very famous at that time, called Chen in South and Cui in North, together with Cui Zizhong. He also was skilled in calligraphy, poetry and prose, Chen Hongshou and his Painting Gallery at China Online Museum
2.
Ming dynasty
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The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China – then known as the Empire of the Great Ming – for 276 years following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming, described by some as one of the greatest eras of orderly government, although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, regimes loyal to the Ming throne – collectively called the Southern Ming – survived until 1683. He rewarded his supporters and employed them as a counterweight against the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. One, Zheng He, led seven enormous voyages of exploration into the Indian Ocean as far as Arabia, the rise of new emperors and new factions diminished such extravagances, the capture of the Zhengtong Emperor during the 1449 Tumu Crisis ended them completely. The imperial navy was allowed to fall into disrepair while forced labor constructed the Liaodong palisade, haijin laws intended to protect the coasts from Japanese pirates instead turned many into smugglers and pirates themselves. The growth of Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch trade created new demand for Chinese products and produced an influx of Japanese. This abundance of specie remonetized the Ming economy, whose money had suffered repeated hyperinflation and was no longer trusted. While traditional Confucians opposed such a prominent role for commerce and the newly rich it created, combined with crop failure, floods, and epidemic, the dynasty collapsed before the rebel leader Li Zicheng, who was defeated by the Manchu-led Eight Banner armies who founded the Qing dynasty. The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty ruled before the establishment of the Ming dynasty, consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles, and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River. A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351, the Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang was a peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352. In 1356, Zhus rebel force captured the city of Nanjing, with the Yuan dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country and thus the right to establish a new dynasty. In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his archrival and leader of the rebel Han faction, Chen Youliang, in the Battle of Lake Poyang, arguably the largest naval battle in history. Known for its ambitious use of ships, Zhus force of 200,000 Ming sailors were able to defeat a Han rebel force over triple their size, claimed to be 650. The victory destroyed the last opposing rebel faction, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in uncontested control of the bountiful Yangtze River Valley, Zhu Yuanzhang took Hongwu, or Vastly Martial, as his era name. Hongwu made an effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built a 48 km long wall around Nanjing, as well as new palaces, Hongwu organized a military system known as the weisuo, which was similar to the fubing system of the Tang dynasty. With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established the Jinyiwei, some 100,000 people were executed in a series of purges during his rule
3.
Song dynasty
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The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties and it was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass, the Song dynasty is divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern. During the Northern Song, the Song capital was in the city of Bianjing. The Southern Song refers to the period after the Song lost control of its half to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze, the Southern Song dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and his younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China, after two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khans armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The Mongol invasion led to a reunification under the Yuan dynasty, the population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and this data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people and this dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. The lower gentry assumed a role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the gentry for their services, sponsorship. Social life during the Song was vibrant, citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the expansion of woodblock printing. Technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished over the course of the Song, although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period
4.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols
5.
Calligraphy
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Calligraphy is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, brush, a contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as, the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner. Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable, classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both. It is also used for props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates, maps, the principal tools for a calligrapher are the pen and the brush. Calligraphy pens write with nibs that may be flat, round, for some decorative purposes, multi-nibbed pens—steel brushes—can be used. However, works have also created with felt-tip and ballpoint pens. There are some styles of calligraphy, like Gothic script, which require a stub nib pen, Writing ink is usually water-based and is much less viscous than the oil-based inks used in printing. Normally, light boxes and templates are used to achieve straight lines without pencil markings detracting from the work, ruled paper, either for a light box or direct use, is most often ruled every quarter or half inch, although inch spaces are occasionally used. This is the case with litterea unciales, and college-ruled paper often acts as a guideline well, common calligraphy pens and brushes are, Quill Dip pen Ink brush Qalam Fountain pen Western calligraphy is recognizable by the use of the Latin script. The Latin alphabet appeared about 600 BC, in Rome, and by the first century developed into Roman imperial capitals carved on stones, Rustic capitals painted on walls, in the second and third centuries the uncial lettering style developed. As writing withdrew to monasteries, uncial script was more suitable for copying the Bible. It was the monasteries which preserved calligraphic traditions during the fourth and fifth centuries, at the height of the Empire, its power reached as far as Great Britain, when the empire fell, its literary influence remained. The Semi-uncial generated the Irish Semi-uncial, the small Anglo-Saxon, each region developed its own standards following the main monastery of the region, which are mostly cursive and hardly readable. Christian churches promoted the development of writing through the copying of the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Two distinct styles of writing known as uncial and half-uncial developed from a variety of Roman bookhands, the 7th-9th centuries in northern Europe were the heyday of Celtic illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow, Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells. Charlemagnes devotion to improved scholarship resulted in the recruiting of a crowd of scribes, according to Alcuin, Alcuin developed the style known as the Caroline or Carolingian minuscule. The first manuscript in hand was the Godescalc Evangelistary — a Gospel book written by the scribe Godescalc. Carolingian remains the one hand from which modern booktype descends
6.
Anchorite
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Anchorites had a certain autonomy, as they did not answer to any ecclesiastical authority other than the bishop. The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monasticism, in the Catholic Church today, it is one of the Other Forms of Consecrated Life and governed by the same norms as the consecrated eremitic life. From the 12th to the 16th centuries, female anchorites consistently outnumbered their male equivalents, sometimes by as many as four to one, the gender of a high number of anchorites, however, is not recorded for these periods. The anchoritic life became widespread during the early and high Middle Ages, examples of the dwellings of anchorites and anchoresses survive. A large number of these are in England and they tended to be a simple cell, built against one of the walls of the local village church. Sometimes, if the anchorite were walled up inside the cell, some anchorites, however, freely moved between their cell and the adjoining church. Most anchoritic strongholds were small, perhaps no more than 12 to 15 ft square, viewing the altar, hearing Mass, and receiving the Eucharist was possible through one small, shuttered window in the common wall facing the sanctuary, called a hagioscope or squint. Anchorites would also provide advice and counsel to visitors through this window. Another small window would allow access to those who saw to the physical needs, such as food. A third window, often facing the street, but covered with translucent cloth, Anchorites were supposed to remain in their cell in all eventualities. Some were even burned in their cells, which refused to leave even when pirates or other attackers were looting and burning their towns. They ate frugal meals, spending their days both in contemplative prayer and interceding on behalf of others, Anchorites bodily waste was managed by means of a chamber pot. It is clear that, although set apart from the community at large by stone walls and specific spiritual precepts, the anchorhold was clearly also a communal womb from which would emerge an idealized sense of a communitys own reborn potential, both as Christians and as human subjects. An idea of their daily routine can be gleaned from an anchoritic Rule, the most widely known today is the early 13th century text known as Ancrene Wisse. Another, less known, example is the rule known as De Institutione Inclusarum written in the 12th century, around 1160–62. The earliest recorded anchorites lived in the 3rd century CE, for example, Hilarion was known as the founder of anchoritic life in Palestine. The anchoritic life proved popular in England. Wulfric of Haselbury was enclosed as an anchorite in a cell built against the church in his village of Haselbury, christine Carpenter, who submitted a petition in 1329 and was granted permission to become the Anchoress of Shere Church, in the Borough of Guildford, England
7.
Hongwu Emperor
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The Hongwu Emperor, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder and first emperor of Chinas Ming dynasty. Following his seizure of the Yuan capital, Khanbaliq, Zhu claimed the Mandate of Heaven, trusting only in his family, he made his many sons powerful feudal princes along the northern marches and the Yangtze valley. Most of the sites related to the Hongwu Emperor are located in Nanjing. Zhu was a born into a poor peasant tenant farmer family in Zhongli Village in the Huai River plain. His father was Zhu Shizhen and his mother was Chen Erniang and he had seven older siblings, several of whom were given away by his parents, as they did not have enough food to support the family. When he was 16, severe drought ruined the harvest where his family lived, subsequently, famine killed his entire family, except one of his brothers. He then buried them by wrapping them in white clothes, destitute, Zhu accepted a suggestion to take up a pledge made by his brother and became a novice monk at the Huangjue Temple, a local Buddhist monastery. He did not remain there for long, as the monastery ran short of funds, for the next few years, Zhu led the life of a wandering beggar and personally experienced and saw the hardships of the common people. After about three years, he returned to the monastery and stayed there until he was around 24 years old and he learned to read and write during the time he spent with the Buddhist monks. The monastery where Zhu lived was eventually destroyed by an army that was suppressing a local rebellion, in 1352, Zhu joined one of the many insurgent forces that had risen in rebellion against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He rose rapidly through the ranks and became a commander, in 1356, Zhu, and his army conquered Nanjing, which became his base of operations, and the capital of the Ming dynasty during his reign. Zhus government in Nanjing became famous for good governance, and the city attracted vast numbers of people fleeing from other and it is estimated that Nanjings population increased by 10 times over the next 10 years. In the meantime, the Yuan government had weakened by internal factions fighting for control. By 1358, central and southern China had fallen into the hands of different rebel groups, during that time the Red Turbans also split up. Zhu became the leader of a faction, while the larger faction, under Chen Youliang. Zhu was able to attract many talents into his service, one of them was Zhu Sheng, who advised him, Build high walls, stock up rations, and dont be too quick to call yourself a king. Another, Jiao Yu, was an officer, who later compiled a military treatise outlining the various types of gunpowder weapons. Another one, Liu Bowen, became one of Zhus key advisors, starting from 1360, Zhu, and Chen Youliang fought a protracted war for supremacy over the former territories controlled by the Red Turbans
8.
Wen Zhengming
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Wen Zhengming, born Wen Bi, was a leading Ming dynasty painter, calligrapher, poet, and scholar. He was regarded as one of the Four Masters of Ming painting, Wen Zhengming was born Wen Bi near present-day Suzhou on November 28,1470. He would later be known by his name, Zhengming. He had a brother, Wen Gui, who was born in 1469. When Zhengming was two old, his father, Wen Lin, passed the imperial examination with the highest possible rank. Wen Lin was assigned a government position as a magistrate in Yongjia County in Zhejiang province, in 1476, Qi died of an illness at the age of 32. Wen Lin commissioned the noted scholar Li Dongyang to write an inscription for her tomb, Wen Zhengming’s family was originally from a line of military men who lived in Hengshan County, Hunan province. At the time of his great-great-grandfather Wen Dingcong, the moved to the city of Changzhou in the Suzhou area. Zhengming was a distant relative of the Song dynasty official Wen Tianxiang, from this he derived his hao, Hengshan, which he used to sign many of his works. His father Wen Lin and his grandfather Wen Hong were both interested in painting, Wen Lin was also a patron of Tang Yin, Wen Zhengmings contemporary and fellow member of the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty. In 1489, Wen Zhengming began studying under Shen Zhou, the eldest of the Four Masters and founder of the Wu school of painting, Zhengmings father Wen Lin died in 1499, while working as prefect of Wenzhou. At Zhengmings request, Shen Zhou provided an account of Wen Lins life for the funeral. Wen Zhengming married the daughter of an official and jinshi named Wu Yu around the year 1490. Her uncle was the artist Xia Chang, whose paintings of bamboo may have influenced Wens own work, little is known about Wens wife herself, whose personal name was not recorded. After she died in 1542, Wen painted Wintry Trees after Li Cheng for a guest who arrived with a gift to mourn her death. Around 1509-1513, Wang Xianchen, a friend of the Wen family, began construction on the Humble Administrators Garden, generally considered one of Chinas greatest classical gardens. The garden is the subject of some of Wen Zhengmings poems and paintings, including an album of thirty-one views painted in 1535, Wen Zhengmings brother Wen Gui died in 1536. Zhengmings eldest son, Wen Peng, was a noted seal-engraver, Wen Jia, was also an artist, as was his nephew Wen Boren
9.
Xu Wei
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Xu Wei was a Ming dynasty Chinese painter, poet, writer and dramatist famed for his artistic expressiveness. Qi once exclaimed in a poem that How I wish to be born 300 years earlier so I could grind ink, Xu Wei can be considered as the founder of modern painting in China. His influence continues to exert itself, despite his posthumous recognition, Xu was manifestly mentally ill and unsuccessful in life, ending his life in poverty after the murder of his third wife and several attempts at suicide. His courtesy names were Wenqing and then later Wenchang and his pseudonyms were The Mountain-man of the Heavenly Pond, Daoist of the Green Vine House and The Water and Moon of the Bureaus Farm. Born in Shanyin, Xu was raised by a mother who died when he was 14. At 21, he married a woman surnamed Pan, who died five years later, though he passed the county civil examination at age 20, Xu was never able to pass the provincial civil service examinations, even after attempting it eight times. Nevertheless, Xu was employed by Hu Zongxian, Supreme Commander of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Fujian coastal defense against the wokou pirates, after General Hu was arrested and lost his position, Xu Wei feared a similar fate for himself. Xu became mentally distraught at this juncture, attempting to commit suicide nine times, such as by axing himself in the skull and his mental imbalance led to his killing of his second wife Zhang after becoming paranoid that she was having an affair. As a punishment for murder, he was jailed for seven years until his friend Zhang Yuanbian from the Hanlin Academy managed to free him at age of 53. It is possible Xu Wei suffered from disorder, a condition actually recognized in China at this time. Xu spent the rest of his painting, but with little financial success. However, his paintings have been sought after in modern times. Xus dramatic efforts often deal with themes and Xu can be regarded as something of an early womens rights advocate. The British orientalist Arthur Waley, in his introduction to the 1942 translation of Jin Ping Mei argued that Xu Wei was the author, Xu Wei was also a poet in shi style of considerable note. Xus collected works in 30 chapters exists with a commentary by the late Ming writer Yuan Hongdao, Yuan Hongdao and the others of his literary movement were undoubtedly influenced by the writings of Xu. Of the various arts Xu Wei practiced, he held his calligraphy in highest esteem, a modern typeset edition of Xu Weis collected works, Xu Wei ji, was published by the Zhonghua Publishing House in Beijing in 1983. Previously a 17th-century edition of his works known as the Xu Wenchang sanji was reproduced in Taiwan in 1968. Many such individuals appeared in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, three thousand years of Chinese painting
10.
Shaoxing
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Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in eastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as 越 from the former inhabitants. Located on the bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest. As of 2010, its population was 4,912,339 inhabitants, among which,1,914,683 lived in the built-up metropolitan area of Hangzhou-Shaoxing, with a total of 8,156,154 inhabitants. Notable residents of Shaoxing include Wang Xizhi, the parents of Zhou Enlai, Lu Xun and it is also noted for Shaoxing wine, meigan cai, and stinky tofu, and was recently featured on A Bite of China. Its local variety of Chinese opera sung in the local dialect, in 2010, Shaoxing celebrated the 2, 500th anniversary of the founding of the city. Economically, the citys driven by manufacturing of textiles, electronics, Zhejiang has the fifth highest per capita GDP in the nation, with the city itself at 32nd nationally by GDP per capita. The city was first named Shaoxing in 1131 during the Southern Song dynasty, the name comes from the Shaoxing reign period of Emperor Gaozong of Song, and is a poetic term meaning inheriting the imperial task and resurging to prosperity. Modern-day Shaoxing lies north of the Kuaiji Mountains, which were an important center of the people of Yue during ancient Chinas Spring. Chinese legend connected them with events in the life of Yu the Great, around the early 5th century BC, the time of Yues famous king Goujian, his people began establishing permanent centers in the alluvial plain north of the hills. Following his freedom from captivity in Wu, Goujian commissioned his advisor Fan Li to erect a major fortification in the area of present-day Shaoxings Yuecheng District. Following Yues conquest of Wu, though, its royal court was removed to its former rivals capital until its own conquest by Chu in 334 BC. The commemorative stele he erected is now lost but was visited by Sima Qian during his 1st-century BC pilgrimage of Chinas historical sites and was preserved in his Records of the Grand Historian. The areas capital in present-day Yuecheng was then known as Kuaiji until the 12th century, the present site of Yus mausoleum dates to the 6th-century Southern Dynasties period. From the later Ming through the Qing, Shaoxing was famous for its network of native sons throughout the Chinese government bureaucracy, cooperating out of native-place loyalty. Under the Republic of China during the early 20th century, the prefecture was abolished, the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing administers three districts, two county-level cities and one county. Average Temperature,16 °C There are a number of historical places connected with the writer Lu Xun, xianheng Hotel, founded in 1894, mentioned in works by the novelist. In front of the gate is a statue of Kong Yiji, sanwei School, built around 1890, at the end of the Qing Dynasty
11.
Zhejiang
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Zhejiang, formerly romanized as Chekiang, is an eastern coastal province of China. The provinces name derives from the Zhe River, the name of the Qiantang River which flows past Hangzhou. Kuahuqiao culture was a neolithic culture that flourished in Hangzhou area in 6. Zhejiang was the site of the Neolithic cultures of the Hemudu, the area of modern Zhejiang was outside the major sphere of influence of the Shang civilization during the second millennium BC. Instead, this area was populated by peoples known as Dongyue. The kingdom of Yue began to appear in the chronicles and records written during the Spring, according to the chronicles, the kingdom of Yue was in northern Zhejiang. Shiji claims that its leaders were descended from the Shang founder Yu the Great, the Song of the Yue Boatman was transliterated into Chinese and recorded by authors in north China or inland China of Hebei and Henan around 528 BC. The song shows that the Yue people spoke a language that was mutually unintelligible with the dialects spoken in north, the Sword of Goujian bears bird-worm seal script. Yuenü was a swordswoman from the state of Yue, to check the growth of the kingdom of Wu, Chu pursued a policy of strengthening Yue. Under King Goujian, Yue recovered from its early reverses and fully annexed the lands of its rival in 473 BC, the Yue kings then moved their capital center from their original home around Mount Kuaiji in present-day Shaoxing to the former Wu capital at present-day Suzhou. With no southern power to turn against Yue, Chu opposed it directly and, in 333 BC, yues former lands were annexed by the Qin Empire in 222 BC and organized into a commandery named for Kuaiji in Zhejiang but initially headquartered in Wu in Jiangsu. Kuaiji Commandery was the power base for Xiang Liang and Xiang Yus rebellion against the Qin Empire which initially succeeded in restoring the kingdom of Chu. At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era, Zhejiang was home to the warlords Yan Baihu and Wang Lang prior to their defeat by Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who eventually established the Kingdom of Wu. Despite the removal of their court from Kuaiji to Jianye, they continued development of the region, industrial kilns were established and trade reached as far as Manchuria and Funan. Zhejiang was part of the Wu during the Three Kingdoms, Wu, commonly known as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, had been the economically most developed state among the Three Kingdoms. The historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms records that Zhejiang had the best-equipped, the story depicts how the states of Wei and Shu, lack of material resources, avoided direct confrontation with the Wu. In armed military conflicts with Wu, the two states relied intensively on tactics of camouflage and deception to steal Wus military resources including arrows and bows, the other two centers in the south were Jiankang and Chengdu. In 589, Qiantang was raised in status and renamed Hangzhou, some may have lost social privilege, and took refugee in areas south to Yangtze River
12.
Shan shui
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Shan shui refers to a style of traditional Chinese painting that involves or depicts scenery or natural landscapes, using a brush and ink rather than more conventional paints. Mountains, rivers and often waterfalls are prominent in art form. Shan shui painting first arose to prominence during the 5th century and it was later characterized by a group of landscape painters such as Zhang Zeduan, most of them already famous, who produced large-scale landscape paintings. These landscape paintings usually centered on mountains, mountains had long been seen as sacred places in China, which were viewed as the homes of immortals and thus, close to the heavens. Philosophical interest in nature, or in mystical connotations of naturalism, the art of shan shui, like many other styles of Chinese painting has a strong reference to Taoist imagery and motifs, as symbolisms of Taoism strongly influenced Chinese landscape painting. Most dictionaries and definitions of shan shui assume that the term includes all ancient Chinese paintings with mountain, contemporary Chinese painters, however, feel that only paintings with mountain and water images that follow specific conventions of form, style and function should be called shan shui painting. When Chinese painters work on shan shui painting, they do not try to present an image of what they have seen in the nature, no one cares whether the painted colors and shapes look like the real object or not. According to Cheng Hsi, Shan shui painting is a kind of painting which goes against the definition of what a painting is. Shan shui painting refutes color, light and shadow and personal brush work, Shan shui painting is not an open window for the viewers eye, it is an object for the viewers mind. Shan shui painting is more like a vehicle of philosophy, Shan shui paintings involve a complicated and rigorous set of almost mystical requirements for balance, composition, and form. All shan shui paintings should have 3 basic components, Paths - Pathways should never be straight and they should meander like a stream. This helps deepen the landscape by adding layers, the path can be the river, or a path along it, or the tracing of the sun through the sky over the shoulder of the mountain. The concept is to never create inorganic patterns, but instead to mimic the patterns that nature creates, the Threshold - The path should lead to a threshold. The threshold is there to embrace you and provide a special welcome, the threshold can be the mountain, or its shadow upon the ground, or its cut into the sky. The concept is always that a mountain or its boundary must be defined clearly, the Heart - The heart is the focal point of the painting and all elements should lead to it. The heart defines the meaning of the painting, the concept should imply that each painting has a single focal point, and that all the natural lines of the painting direct inwards to this point. Positive interactions between the Elements are, Wood produces Fire Fire produces Earth Earth produces Metal Metal produces Water Water produces Wood, Elements that react positively should be used together. For example, Water complements both Metal and Wood, therefore, a painter would combine blue and green or blue, there is a positive interaction between Earth and Fire, so a painter would mix Yellow and Red
