1.
Hong Kong
–
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour —between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
Hong Kong
–
The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in WWI and WWII.
Hong Kong
–
Flag
Hong Kong
–
Stamp with portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II, 1953
Hong Kong
–
Development of
Hong Kong Island in 1986
2.
Tian Tan Buddha
–
Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is sited near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the relationship between man and nature, people and faith. It is a centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction. The statue is named Tian Tan Buddha because its base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, one of the five large Buddha statues in China, it is enthroned on a lotus on top of a three-platform altar. Surrounding it are six smaller bronze statues known as The Offering of the Six Devas that are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These symbolise the Six Perfections of generosity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, the statue is 34 metres tall, weighs over 250 metric tons, and was constructed from 202 bronze pieces. In addition to the components, there is a strong steel framework inside to support the heavy load. Reputedly the figure can be seen across the bay from as far away as Macau on a clear day, visitors have to climb 268 steps to reach the Buddha, though the site also features a small winding road for vehicles to accommodate the handicapped. The Buddhas right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction and he faces north, which is unique among the great Buddha statues, as all others face south. There are also three floors beneath the statue, the halls of the Universe, of Benevolent Merit and of Remembrance, one of the most renowned features inside is a relic of Gautama Buddha, consisting of some of his alleged cremated remains. Only visitors who purchase an offering for the Buddha are allowed to see the relic, there is a huge carved bell inscribed with images of Buddhas in the show room. It was designed to ring every seven minutes,108 times a day, the Tian Tan Buddha was constructed beginning in 1990, and was finished on 29 December 1993, which the Chinese reckon as the day of the Buddhas enlightenment. When the statue was completed, monks from around the world were invited to the opening ceremony. Distinguished visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United States all took part in the proceedings. On 18 October 1999, the Hong Kong Post Office issued a definitive issue of landmark stamps, on 22 May 2012 it was also featured on the HK$3 value of the Five Festival set, this one celebrating the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha. The MTR corporation has issued a souvenir ticket featuring a photograph of the statue. Po Lin Monastery and the Buddha are open to the public between 10,00 and 17,30, access to the outside of the Buddha is free of charge, but there is an admission fee to go inside the Buddha. Visitors can reach the site by bus or taxi, travelling first to Mui Wo via ferry from the Outlying Islands piers in Central or to Tung Chung station via the MTR, or cable car
Tian Tan Buddha
–
The Big Buddha
Tian Tan Buddha
–
Tian Tan Buddha from afar
Tian Tan Buddha
–
"The Offering of the Six Devas": Buddhistic statues praising and making offerings to the Tian Tan Buddha.
Po Lin Monastery can be seen in the background.
Tian Tan Buddha
–
View from the upper platform, with the detail of the Buddha's robes clearly visible.
3.
Beijing
–
Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
Beijing
–
Clockwise from top:
Beijing CBD skyline,
Tiananmen,
Temple of Heaven,
National Center for the Performing Arts, and
Beijing National Stadium
Beijing
–
The museum at
Zhoukoudian
Beijing
–
The
Tianning Pagoda, built around 1120.
Beijing
–
Longevity Hill in Beijing where
Kublai Khan wrote his poem.
4.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
5.
World Heritage Site
–
A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
World Heritage Site
–
Site #252:
Taj Mahal, an example of cultural heritage site
World Heritage Site
–
Logo of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
World Heritage Committee
World Heritage Site
–
Site #156:
Serengeti National Park, an example of natural heritage site
World Heritage Site
–
Site #274:
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, an example of mixed heritage site
6.
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
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in Traditional Chinese characters.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
A Series of Reading workbook in Traditional Chinese used in some Elementary schools in the Philippines.
7.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The slogan 战无不胜的毛泽东思想万岁 (Zhàn wúbù shèng de Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng wànsuì; Long live the invincible
Mao Zedong Thought) on
Xinhua Gate in Beijing.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935 consisted of 324 characters.
8.
Standard Chinese
–
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
Standard Chinese
–
A poster outside of high school in
Yangzhou urges people to speak Putonghua
Standard Chinese
–
Zhongguo Guanhua (中国官话/中國官話), or Medii Regni Communis Loquela ("Middle Kingdom's Common Speech"), used on the frontispiece of an early Chinese grammar published by
Étienne Fourmont (with
Arcadio Huang) in 1742
9.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Hanyu Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
10.
Cantonese
–
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
Cantonese
–
Street in
Chinatown, San Francisco. Cantonese has traditionally been the dominant Chinese variant among Chinese populations in the Western world.
Cantonese
–
Gwóngdūng Wah / gwong 2 dung 1 waa 6 (Cantonese) written in
traditional Chinese (left) and
simplified Chinese (right) characters
Cantonese
–
Chinese dictionary from Tang dynasty. Modern Cantonese pronunciation is more similar to Middle Chinese from this era than other Chinese varieties.
11.
Jyutping
–
Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping
Jyutping
–
Jyutping Romanization.
12.
Southern Min
–
Southern Min, or Minnan, is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in certain parts of China including southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang, and in Taiwan. The Min Nan dialects are spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, including Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien, the Southern Min dialect group also includes Teochew, though Teochew has limited mutual intelligibility with Hokkien. Hainanese is not mutually intellgible with other Southern Min and is considered a separate branch of Min. Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, any other Min branch, Hakka, Cantonese, Shanghainese or Mandarin. Southern Min dialects are spoken in the part of Fujian. The variant spoken in Leizhou, Guangdong as well as Hainan is Hainanese and is not mutually intelligible with other Southern Min or Teochew, Hainanese is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate. Puxian Min was originally based on the Quanzhou dialect, but over time became heavily influenced by Eastern Min, eventually losing intellegility with Minnan. A forms of Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, collectively known as Taiwanese, Southern Min is a first language for most of the Hoklo people, the main ethnicity of Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-Hoklo speak Southern Min fluently, there are many Southern Min speakers also among Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many ethnic Chinese immigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia and present-day Malaysia and Singapore. In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as Hokkien, Hokkienese, many Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and speak Teochew language, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Southern Min-speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore, with the largest group being Hokkien, despite the similarities the two groups are rarely seen as part of the same Minnan Chinese subgroups. The variants of Southern Min spoken in Zhejiang province are most akin to that spoken in Quanzhou, the variants spoken in Taiwan are similar to the three Fujian variants and are collectively known as Taiwanese. Those Southern Min variants that are known as Hokkien in Southeast Asia also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province are known as Teochew or Chaozhou. Teochew is of importance in the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora, particularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra. The Philippines variant is mostly from the Quanzhou area as most of their forefathers are from the aforementioned area, the Southern Min language variant spoken around Shanwei and Haifeng differs markedly from Teochew and may represent a later migration from Zhangzhou
Southern Min
–
Koa-a books, Min Nan written in Chinese characters
Southern Min
–
Distribution of Southern Min.
13.
Taiwanese Romanization System
–
The Taiwanese Romanization System is a transcription system for Taiwanese Hokkien. It is derived from Pe̍h-ōe-jī and since 2006 has been promoted by Taiwans Ministry of Education. It is nearly identical to Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet Romanization for Hakka apart from using ts tsh j instead of c ch j for the fricatives /ts tsʰ dz/, Taiwanese Romanization System uses 16 basic Latin letters,7 digraphs and a trigraph. In addition, it uses 6 diacritics to represent tones, nn is only used after a vowel to express nasalization, so it has no capital letter. Palatalization occurs when J, S, Ts, Tsh followed by i, so Ji, Si, Tsi, of the 10 unused basic Latin letters, R is sometimes used to express dialectal vowels, while the others are only used in loanwords. O pronounced ㄜ in general dialect in Kaohsiung and Tainan, ㄛ in Taipei, -nn forms the nasal vowels There is also syllabic m and ng. ing pronounced, ik pronounced. A hyphen links elements of a compound word, a double hyphen indicates that the following syllable has a neutral tone and therefore that the preceding syllable does not undergo tone sandhi. 臺灣閩南語羅馬拼音及其發音學習網, Taiwanese Romanization System learning site by Ministry of Education, Taiwan
Taiwanese Romanization System
–
Taiwanese Romanization System
14.
Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
15.
Manchu language
–
Manchu is a severely endangered Tungusic language spoken in Manchuria, it was the native language of the Manchus and one of the official languages of the Qing dynasty of China. Most Manchus now speak Mandarin Chinese, according to data from UNESCO, there are 10 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus. Manchu language enjoys high historical value for historians of China, especially for the Qing dynasty and they supply information that is unavailable in Chinese and, when both Manchu and Chinese versions of a given text exist, they provide controls for understanding the Chinese. Like most Siberian languages, Manchu is a language that demonstrates limited vowel harmony. It has been demonstrated that it is derived mainly from the Jurchen language though there are many words from Mongolian. Its script is written and taken from the Mongolian alphabet. The Manchu language uses the Manchu script, which was derived from the traditional Mongol script, Manchu is usually romanized according to the system devised by Paul Georg von Möllendorff in his Manchu grammar. Its ancestor, Jurchen, used the Jurchen script, which is derived from the Khitan script, there is no relation between the Jurchen script and the Manchu script Chinese Characters can also be used to transliterate Manchu. Mongols learnt their script as a syllabary, dividing the syllables into twelve different classes, based on the final phonemes of the syllables, all of which ended in vowels. The Manchus followed the same syllabic method when learning Manchu script, today, the opinion on whether it is alphabet or syllabic in nature is still split between different experts. In China, it is considered syllabic and Manchu is still taught in this manner, the alphabetic approach is used mainly by foreigners who want to learn the language. Studying Manchu script as a syllabary takes a longer time, Manchus when learning, instead of saying I, a---la, I, o---lo, &c. were taught at once to say la, lo, &c. Many more syllables than are contained in their syllabary might have formed with their letters. The Qing dynasty referred to the Manchu language in various Chinese titles such as Qingwen 清文, or Qingyu 清語 and Guoyu 國語, the national was also applied to the Manchu writing as in Guowen 國文 in addition to Guoyu 國語. In the Manchu language version of the Treaty of Nerchinsk, the term Chinese language referred to all three Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, not just one language, Guoyu now refers to Standard Chinese. In 1635 Hong Taiji renamed the Jurchen people and Jurchen language as Manchu, Manchu began as a primary language of the Qing dynasty Imperial court, but as Manchu officials became increasingly sinicized, many started losing the language. Trying to preserve the Manchu identity, the government instituted Manchu language classes and examinations for the bannermen. Chinese classics and fiction were translated into Manchu, and a body of Manchu literature accumulated, as the Yongzheng Emperor explained, If some special encouragement … is not offered, the ancestral language will not be passed on and learned
Manchu language
–
Plaque at the
Forbidden City in
Beijing,
China, in both Chinese (left, qián qīng mén) and Manchu (right, kiyan cing men)
Manchu language
–
A symbol of the Manchu people
Manchu language
–
The
Kangxi Emperor 's stele near
Lugou Bridge, with parallel Chinese and Manchu text
Manchu language
–
"Banjin Inenggi" and Manchu linguistic activity by the government and students in
Changchun, 2011
16.
Emperor of China
–
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
Emperor of China
–
Qin Shi Huang
17.
Ming dynasty
–
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
Ming dynasty
–
History of China
Ming dynasty
–
Ming China around 1580
Ming dynasty
–
A
cannon from the
Huolongjing, compiled by
Jiao Yu and
Liu Bowen before the latter's death in 1375.
Ming dynasty
–
Portrait of the
Hongwu Emperor (ruled in 1368–98)
18.
Qing dynasty
–
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
Qing dynasty
–
History of China
Qing dynasty
–
Flag (1889–1912)
Qing dynasty
–
An Italian map showing the "Kingdom of the
Nüzhen " or the "
Jin Tartars", who "have occupied and are at present ruling China", north of
Liaodong and
Korea, published in 1682
Qing dynasty
–
Qing era brush container
19.
Heaven
–
According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases enter Heaven alive. Some believe in the possibility of a Heaven on Earth in a World to Come, another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions, Heaven is considered as Svarga loka, and this cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, the modern English word heaven is derived from the earlier heven, this in turn was developed from the previous Old English form heofon. By about 1000, heofon was being used in reference to the Christianized place where God dwells, all of these have been derived from a reconstructed Proto-Germanic form *Hemina-. In Ancient Egyptian religion, belief in an afterlife is much more stressed than in ancient Judaism, Heaven was a physical place far above the Earth in a dark area of space where there were no stars, basically beyond the Universe. Their heart would finally be weighed with the feather of truth, almost nothing is known of Bronze Age Canaanite views of Heaven, and the archeological findings at Ugarit have not provided information. The 1st century Greek author Philo of Byblos may preserve elements of Iron Age Phoenician religion in his Sanchuniathon, in the Middle Hittite myths, Heaven is the abode of the gods. In the Song of Kumarbi, Alalu was king in Heaven for nine years before giving birth to his son, Anu was himself overthrown by his son, Kumarbi. The Baháí Faith regards the description of Heaven as a specific place as symbolic. The Baháí writings describe Heaven as a condition where closeness to God is defined as Heaven. For Baháís, entry into the life has the potential to bring great joy. Baháulláh likened death to the process of birth and he explains, The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. Accordingly, Baháís view life as a stage, where one can develop. The key to progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestation of God. Baháulláh wrote, Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return, in Buddhism there are several Heavens, all of which are still part of samsara. Those who accumulate good karma may be reborn in one of them, however, their stay in Heaven is not eternal—eventually they will use up their good karma and will undergo rebirth into another realm, as a human, animal or other being. Because Heaven is temporary and part of samsara, Buddhists focus more on escaping the cycle of rebirth, Nirvana is not a heaven but a mental state
Heaven
–
Dante and
Beatrice gaze upon the highest heavens; from
Gustave Doré 's illustrations to the
Divine Comedy.
Heaven
–
Structure of Universe as per the Jain Scriptures.
Heaven
–
The
Assumption of the Virgin by
Francesco Botticini at the National Gallery London, shows three hierarchies and nine orders of angels, each with different characteristics.
20.
Taoism
–
Taoism, also known as Daoism, is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is an idea in most Chinese philosophical schools, in Taoism, however. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, the Tao Te Ching, a compact book containing teachings attributed to Laozi, is widely considered the keystone work of the Taoist tradition, together with the later writings of Zhuangzi. By the Han dynasty, the sources of Taoism had coalesced into a coherent tradition of religious organizations. In earlier ancient China, Taoists were thought of as hermits or recluses who did not participate in political life, Zhuangzi was the best known of these, and it is significant that he lived in the south, where he was part of local Chinese shamanic traditions. Women shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was strong in the southern state of Chu. Early Taoist movements developed their own institution in contrast to shamanism, shamans revealed basic texts of Taoism from early times down to at least the 20th century. Institutional orders of Taoism evolved in various strains that in recent times are conventionally grouped into two main branches, Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Daozang—which was published at the behest of the emperor, throughout Chinese history, Taoism was nominated several times as a state religion. After the 17th century, however, it fell from favor, Chinese alchemy, Chinese astrology, Chan Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history. Beyond China, Taoism also had influence on surrounding societies in Asia, Taoism also has a presence in Hong Kong, Macau, and in Southeast Asia. English speakers continue to debate the preferred romanization of the words Daoism and Taoism, the root Chinese word 道 way, path is romanized tao in the older Wade–Giles system and dào in the modern Pinyin system. In linguistic terminology, English Taoism/Daoism is formed from the Chinese loanword tao/dao 道 way, route, principle and the native suffix -ism. The debate over Taoism vs. Daoism involves sinology, phonemes, loanwords, Daoism is pronounced /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/, but English speakers disagree whether Taoism should be /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/. In theory, both Wade–Giles tao and Pinyin dao are articulated identically, as are Taoism and Daoism, an investment book titled The Tao Jones Averages illustrates this /daʊ/ pronunciations widespread familiarity. In speech, Tao and Taoism are often pronounced /ˈtaʊ/ and ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/, lexicography shows American and British English differences in pronouncing Taoism. Taoist philosophy or Taology, or the mystical aspect — The philosophical doctrines based on the texts of the I Ching, the Tao Te Ching and these texts were linked together as Taoist philosophy during the early Han Dynasty, but notably not before. It is unlikely that Zhuangzi was familiar with the text of the Daodejing, however, the discussed distinction is rejected by the majority of Western and Japanese scholars
Taoism
–
Taoist rite at the Qingyanggong (Green Goat Temple) in
Chengdu
Taoism
–
Gates of the Chunyang
gong in
Datong,
Shanxi. It's a temple dedicated to
Lü Dongbin.
Taoism
–
A
daoshi (Taoist priest) in
Macau.
Taoism
–
Jintai
guan (金台观) in
Baoji,
Shaanxi.
21.
Yongle Emperor
–
The Yongle Emperor, personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty in China, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. He was originally enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan in May 1370, amid the continuing struggle against the Mongols of the Northern Yuan dynasty, Zhu Di consolidated his own power and eliminated rivals such as the general Lan Yu. In 1402, he overthrew his nephew and occupied the imperial capital, Nanjing, after which he was proclaimed Emperor and adopted the era name Yongle. Eager to establish his own legitimacy, Zhu Di voided the Jianwen Emperors reign and established a wide-ranging effort to destroy or falsify records concerning his childhood and this included a massive purge of the Confucian scholars in Nanjing and grants of extraordinary extralegal authority to the eunuch secret police. One favorite was Zheng He, who employed his authority to launch major voyages of exploration into the South Pacific, the difficulties in Nanjing also led the Yongle Emperor to re-establish Beiping as the new imperial capital. He repaired and reopened the Grand Canal and, between 1406 and 1420, directed the construction of the Forbidden City and he was also responsible for the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, considered one of the wonders of the world before its destruction by the Taiping rebels in 1856. These scholars completed the monumental Yongle Encyclopedia during his reign, the Yongle Emperor died while personally leading a military campaign against the Mongols. He was buried in the Changling Tomb, the central and largest mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty Tombs located north of Beijing, the Yongle Emperor was born Zhu Di on 2 May 1360, the fourth son of the new leader of the central Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang would later rise to become the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, according to surviving Ming historical records, Zhu Dis mother was the Hongwu Emperors primary consort, Empress Ma, the view Zhu Di himself maintained. Zhu Di grew up as a prince in a loving, caring environment and his father supplied nothing but the best education and, trusting them alone, reestablished the old feudal principalities for his many sons. Similarly, when the Hongwu Emperor sent large forces to the north, the Hongwu Emperor was long-lived and survived his first heir, Zhu Biao, the Crown Prince. He worried about his succession and issued a series of instructions for his family. These instructions made it clear that the rule would pass only to children from the primary consort, excluding the Prince of Yan in favour of Zhu Yunwen. When the Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen succeeded his grandfather as the Jianwen Emperor, in direct violation of the dynastic instructions, the Prince of Yan attempted to mourn his father in Nanjing, bringing a large armed guard with him. The imperial army was able to him at Huaian and. Faced with certain hostility, Zhu Di pretended to fall ill, in the first year, Zhu Di survived the initial assaults by superior forces under Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong thanks to superior tactics and capable Mongol auxiliaries. By 1402, he knew enough to be able to avoid the main hosts of the army while sacking Xuzhou, Suzhou
Yongle Emperor
–
Yongle Emperor
Yongle Emperor
–
The Yongle Emperor observing court eunuchs playing
cuju, an ancient Chinese game similar to
soccer.
Yongle Emperor
–
The abandoned base for a
giant stele that the Yongle Emperor ordered to be made for his father in 1405
Yongle Emperor
–
The Yongle Emperor
22.
Forbidden City
–
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and it served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings, the palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, part of the museums former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War. With over 14.6 million annual visitors, the Palace Museum is the most visited art museum in the world, the common English name, the Forbidden City, is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng. The name Zijin Cheng first formally appeared in 1576, another English name of similar origin is Forbidden Palace. The name Zijin Cheng is a name with significance on many levels, zi, or Purple, refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure, was the realm of the Celestial Emperor, the Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin, or Forbidden, referred to the fact no one could enter or leave the palace without the emperors permission. Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng, the museum which is based in these buildings is known as the Palace Museum. When Hongwu Emperors son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers. Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood found in the jungles of south-western China, the floors of major halls were paved with golden bricks, specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou. From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty, in April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty. He soon fled before the armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces. By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, the Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings, to emphasise Harmony rather than Supremacy, made the name plates bilingual, and introduced Shamanist elements to the palace. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City, in 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, the Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925
Forbidden City
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Forbidden City
–
The Gate of Divine Might, the northern gate. The lower tablet reads "The Palace Museum" (故 宫 博 物 院)
Forbidden City
–
The Forbidden City as depicted in a
Ming dynasty painting
Forbidden City
–
The East Glorious Gate under renovation as part of the 16-year restoration process
23.
Jiajing Emperor
–
The Jiajing Emperor was the 11th emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty who ruled from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperors cousin and his father, Zhu Youyuan, the Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperors concubine, Lady Shao. The Jiajing Emperors regnal name, Jiajing, means admirable tranquility, born as heir apparent of a vassal prince, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 with the death of the Hongzhi Emperors son, the Zhengde Emperor. As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an honorary imperial rank, custom dictated that an emperor who was not an immediate descendant of the previous one should be adopted by the previous one, to maintain an unbroken line. Such a posthumous adoption of Zhu Houcong by the Hongzhi Emperor was proposed and this conflict is known as the Great Rites Controversy. The Jiajing Emperor prevailed and hundreds of his opponents were banished, flogged in the imperial court, among the banished was the poet Yang Shen. The Jiajing Emperor was also known to be a cruel and self-aggrandizing emperor, ignoring state affairs, the Jiajing Emperor relied on Zhang Cong and Yan Song to handle affairs of state. Ministers such as Hai Rui and Yang Xusheng challenged and even chastised Yan Song, Hai Rui and many ministers were eventually dismissed or executed. Only Yan Song, a few handful of eunuchs and Daoist priests ever saw the emperor and this eventually led to corruption at all levels of the Ming government. However, the Jiajing Emperor was intelligent and managed to control the court, the Jiajing Emperors ruthlessness also led to an internal plot by his concubines to assassinate him in October,1542 by strangling him while he slept. A group of maids who had had enough of the emperors cruelty decided to band together to murder him. Meanwhile, some of the palace maids involved began to panic. The Ming dynasty had enjoyed a period of peace. In 1550, he reached the suburbs of Beijing. Eventually the Ming government appeased him by granting special trading rights, the Ming government also had to deal with wokou pirates attacking the southeastern coastline. Starting in 1550, Beijing was enlarged by the addition of the outer city, the deadliest earthquake of all times, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed over 800,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperors reign. The Jiajing Emperor was a follower of Taoism and attempted to suppress Buddhism
Jiajing Emperor
–
Jiajing Emperor
Jiajing Emperor
–
The Jiajing Emperor on his state barge, from a scroll painted in 1538 by unknown court artists
Jiajing Emperor
–
A porcelain vase with glazed fish designs, from the Jiajing era.
Jiajing Emperor
–
Original – A
panoramic painting showing the Jiajing Emperor traveling to the
Ming Dynasty Tombs with a huge cavalry escort and an elephant-drawn carriage.
24.
Temple of Sun
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This page is about the historic site in Beijing. For the temple in Rome of the name, see Temple of the Sun. For the Tintin book, see Prisoners of the Sun, the Temple of the Sun is an altar located in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It is within Ritan Park, in the Jianguomen area, the nearest Beijing Metro station is Yonganli on the Beijing subway Line 1. The altar was built in 1530 during the late Ming Dynasty for use in ritual sacrifice to the sun by the Emperor of China, the area surrounding the Ritan temple is now a public park, and the site features extensive gardens and a small lake. On the opposite side of Beijing, to the west, is the Temple of the Moon, during the 2008 Summer Olympics, it was selected as one of the three protest zones. Temple of Heaven Temple of Earth Temple of the Moon Media related to Temple of the Sun at Wikimedia Commons
Temple of Sun
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The "Star Gates" that mark the boundary of the altar
Temple of Sun
–
The West Holy Gate
25.
Temple of Earth
–
The Temple of the Earth in Beijing, China, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside Beijings second ring road. It is also located just a few hundred yards north of Yonghe Temple, at 42.7 hectares, it is the second largest of the four Temples of Beijing behind only the Temple of Heaven. It was built in 1530 during the Ming dynasty, emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would attend the annual summer solstice ritual of offerings to the heaven. Directly opposite it, at the side of the city, is the Temple of Heaven in Chongwenmen. The Temple of Earth was constructed in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor during the Ming dynasty, the park covers a 40 hectares space outside of Beijings second ring road. This places the park in the middle of a populated area. The park features gardens and tree lined paths. During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was damaged, however, for thousands of years, the Chinese have believed that important cosmic things could be symbolized using common shapes and directions. Because the Temple symbolizes the Earth, its footprint is square in shape, the square is a powerful symbol in Chinese culture and mythology which can mean Earth or the ground. The Temples construction mirrors these beliefs with its many square walls, the Temple of Earth is also located in the north of Beijing, north being the direction associated with the Earth. In contrast to this, the much larger Temple of Heaven is circular in shape, symbolizing the heavens and sky and these two temples, along with the Temple of the Moon and Temple of the Sun, interact with each other in spiritually important ways. The Chinese government has listed the Earth temple as one of the most important historical monuments under special preservation and it is common to see foreigners and Chinese tourists in the actual Temple of Earth in the park. The Temple itself is actually a small portion of the park. Aside from the Temple, the park offers a childrens play arcade, water calligraphy, food, the park is frequented by joggers and runners, and is a very popular place to do Tai Chi. Since the 1980s, traditional temple fairs have been held regularly during the Chinese lunar new year, the Temple of Earth is the main temple in Beijing where people can worship the god of Earth. The Temple of Earth was used for a specific purpose, emperors of the Ming, and then later the Qing dynasties used the Temple for sacrifices which were used to appease the gods, who in turn would help the nation. These sacrifices took place at the Temple of Earth during the summer solstice, some things that sacrifices were done for include good harvest, a strong stable nation, and good weather. During the Chinese New Year the Temple of Earth holds a popular festival
Temple of Earth
–
Stairway to the Altar at the Temple of Earth
Temple of Earth
–
Satellite image of the park of Temple of Earth. (1967-09-20)
Temple of Earth
–
Festival at the Temple of Earth
26.
Qianlong Emperor
–
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. This turned around in his years, the Qing empire began to decline with rampant corruption and wastefulness in his court. Hongli was adored both by his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor and his father, the Yongzheng Emperor, some historians argue that the main reason why the Kangxi Emperor appointed the Yongzheng Emperor as his successor was because Hongli was his favourite grandson. He felt that Honglis mannerisms were similar to his own. As a teenager, Hongli was very capable in martial arts, after his fathers enthronement in 1722, Hongli was made a qinwang under the title Prince Bao of the First Rank. For many years, the Yongzheng Emperor did not designate any of his sons as the crown prince, Hongli went on inspection trips to the south, and was known to be an able negotiator and enforcer. He was also appointed as the regent on occasions when his father was away from the capital. Honglis accession to the throne was already foreseen before he was proclaimed emperor before the assembled imperial court upon the death of the Yongzheng Emperor. The name in the box was to be revealed to other members of the family in the presence of all senior ministers only upon the death of the emperor. When the Yongzheng Emperor died suddenly in 1735, the will was taken out and read before the entire Qing imperial court, Hongli adopted the era name Qianlong, which is composed of the characters 乾 and 隆 and which collectively mean Lasting Eminence. The Qianlong Emperor was a military leader. Immediately after ascending the throne, he sent armies to suppress the Miao rebellion and his later campaigns greatly expanded the territory controlled by the Qing Empire. This was made not only by Qing military might, but also by the disunity. Under the Qianlong Emperors reign, the Dzungar Khanate was incorporated into the Qing Empires rule and renamed Xinjiang, while to the west, the incorporation of Xinjiang into the Qing Empire resulted from the final defeat and destruction of the Dzungars, a coalition of Western Mongol tribes. The Qianlong Emperor then ordered the Dzungar genocide, historian Peter Perdue has argued that the decimation of the Dzungars was the result of an explicit policy of massacre launched by the Qianlong Emperor. Khalkha Mongol rebels under Prince Chingünjav had plotted with the Dzungar leader Amursana, the Qing army crushed the rebellion and executed Chingünjav and his entire family. Poems glorifying the Qing conquest and genocide of the Dzungar Mongols were written by Zhao, Zhao Yi wrote the Yanpu zaji in brush-notes style, where military expenditures of the Qianlong Emperors reign were recorded. The Qianlong Emperor was praised as being the source of eighteenth-century peace, the Dzungar genocide has been compared to the Qing extermination of the Jinchuan Tibetan people in 1776, which also occurred during the Qianlong Emperors reign
Qianlong Emperor
–
Qianlong Emperor 乾隆帝
Qianlong Emperor
–
Military attire of the Qianlong Emperor.
Musée de l'Armée, Paris.
Qianlong Emperor
–
A soldier from the Qianlong era, by
William Alexander, 1793.
Qianlong Emperor
–
The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings
27.
Second Opium War
–
The terms Second War and Arrow War are both used in literature. The Arrow War refers to the name of a vessel which became the point of the conflict. The war followed on from the First Opium War, the failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War. In China, the war is considered to be the beginning of modern Chinese history, the 1850s saw the rapid growth of Western imperialism. Some of the goals of the western powers were the expansion of their overseas markets. The French Treaty of Huangpu and the American Wangxia Treaty both contained clauses allowing renegotiation of the treaties after 12 years of being in effect. In an effort to expand their privileges in China, Britain demanded the Qing authorities renegotiate the Treaty of Nanking, citing their most favoured nation status. In October 1856, Chinese marines in Canton seized a ship called the Arrow on suspicion of piracy. The Arrow had previously used by pirates, captured by the Chinese government. It was then registered as a British ship and still flew the British flag at the time of its detainment and its captain, Thomas Kennedy, who was aboard a nearby vessel at the time, reported seeing Chinese marines pull the British flag down from the ship. Ye released nine of the members, but refused to release the last three. On 23 October the British destroyed four barrier forts, on 25 October a demand was made for the British to be allowed to enter the city. Next day the British started to bombard the city, firing one shot every 10 minutes, Ye Mingchen issued a bounty on every British head taken. On 29 October a hole was blasted in the city walls and troops entered, with a flag of the United States of America being planted by James Keenan on the walls, losses were 3 killed and 12 wounded. Negotiations failed and the city was bombarded, on 6 November 23 war junks attacked and were destroyed. There were pauses for talks, with the British bombarding at intervals, fires were caused, then on 5 January 1857, the British government lost a Parliamentary vote regarding the Arrow incident and what had taken place at Canton to the end of the year on 3 March 1857. Then there was an election in April 1857 which increased the government majority. In April, the government asked the United States of America and Russia if they were interested in alliances, in May 1857, the Indian Mutiny became serious
Second Opium War
–
Palikao's bridge, on the evening of
the battle, by
Émile Bayard
Second Opium War
–
The Illustrated London News print of the
clipper steamship Ly-ee-moon, built for the opium trade, c. 1859
Second Opium War
–
The execution of the
Paris Foreign Missions Society missionary
Auguste Chapdelaine was the official cause of the French involvement in the Second Opium War.
Second Opium War
–
The capture of Ye Mingchen after the fall of Canton
28.
Boxer Rebellion
–
The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihequan Movement a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty. The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence, Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China, Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu, the Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the execution of those suspected of being Boxers. The Empress Dowager then sponsored a set of institutional and fiscal changes in an attempt to save the dynasty by reforming it. The Righteous and Harmonious Fists arose in the sections of the northern coastal province of Shandong long known for social unrest, religious sects. American Christian missionaries were probably the first to refer to the well-trained, athletic men as Boxers, because of the martial arts. Their primary practice was a type of possession which involved the whirling of swords, violent prostrations. The opportunities to fight back Western encroachment and colonization were especially attractive to unemployed village men, the tradition of possession and invulnerability went back several hundred years but took on special meaning against the powerful new weapons of the West. The Boxers, armed with rifles and swords, claimed supernatural invulnerability towards blows of cannon, rifle shots, furthermore, the Boxer groups popularly claimed that millions of soldiers of Heaven would descend to assist them in purifying China of foreign oppression. The Big Swords, emboldened by this support, also attacked their local Catholic village rivals. The Big Swords responded by attacking Catholic churches and burning them, the line between Christians and bandits, remarks one recent historian, became increasingly indistinct. As a result of pressure in the capital, Yuxian executed several Big Sword leaders. More martial secret societies started emerging after this, the early years saw a variety of village activities, not a broad movement or a united purpose. Martial folk religious societies such as the Baguadao prepared the way for the Boxers, like the Red Boxing school or the Plum Flower Boxers, the Boxers of Shandong were more concerned with traditional social and moral values, such as filial piety, than with foreign influences. One leader, for instance, Zhu Hongdeng, started as a healer, specializing in skin ulcers. Zhu claimed descent from Ming dynasty emperors, since his surname was the surname of the Ming imperial family and he announced that his goal was to Revive the Qing and destroy the foreigners
Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
–
Top: Russian cannons
breaking the gates of Peking Bottom: American troops
scale the walls of Peking.
Boxer Rebellion
–
A Boxer during the revolt
Boxer Rebellion
–
A French political cartoon depicting
China as a pie about to be carved up by
Queen Victoria (
Britain),
Kaiser Wilhelm II (
Germany),
Tsar Nicholas II (
Russia),
Marianne (
France) and a
samurai (
Japan), while a
Chinese mandarin helplessly looks on.
29.
Yuan Shikai
–
There the Yuans had built a fortified village, Yuanzhaicun. Yuans family was affluent enough to provide Yuan with a traditional Confucian education, as a young man he enjoyed riding, boxing, and entertainment with friends. His career began with the purchase of an official title in 1880. Using his fathers connections, Yuan travelled to Tengzhou, Shandong, Yuans first marriage was in 1876 to a woman of the Yu family who bore him a first son, Keding, in 1878. Yuan Shikai married nine more concubines throughout the course of his life, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan had adopted an aggressive foreign policy, contesting Chinese domination of the peninsula. Under the unequal Treaty of Ganghwa, which the Koreans signed with reluctance in 1876, Japan was allowed to send missions to Hanseong. Amidst an internal struggle which resulted in the queens exile. The Korean king proposed training 500 troops in the art of modern warfare, Li Hongzhang also recommended Yuans promotion, with Yuan given the rank of sub-prefect. In 1885, Yuan was appointed Imperial Resident of Seoul, on the surface the position equalled that of ambassador but in practice, as head official from the suzerain, Yuan had become the supreme adviser on all Korean government policies. Perceiving Chinas increasing influence on the Korean government, Japan sought more influence through co-suzerainty with China, a series of documents were released to Yuan Shikai, claiming the Korean government had changed its stance towards Chinese protection and would rather turn to Russia for protection. Yuan was outraged yet skeptical, and asked Li Hongzhang for advice, in a treaty signed between Japan and Qing, the two parties agreed only to send troops into Korea after notifying the other. Although the Korean government was now stable, it was still a protectorate of Qing, another more radicalised group, the Donghak Society, promoting an early nationalist doctrine based partly upon Confucian principles, rose in rebellion against the government. Yuan and Li Hongzhang sent troops into Korea to protect Seoul and Qings interests, tensions boiled over between Japan and China when Japan refused to withdraw its forces and placed a blockade at the 38th Parallel. Li Hongzhang wanted at all costs to avoid a war with Japan, Japan refused, and war broke out. Yuan, having put in an ineffective position, was recalled to Tianjin in July 1894. Yuans rise to fame began with his participation in the First Sino-Japanese War as commander of the Chinese garrison forces in Korea. Unlike other officers, however, he avoided the humiliation of Chinese defeat by having been recalled to Beijing several days before the outbreak of conflict, as an ally of Li Hongzhang, Yuan was appointed the commander of the first New army in 1895. The Qing court relied heavily on his army due to the proximity of its garrison to the capital, of the new armies that formed part of the Self-Strengthening Movement, Yuans was the best trained and most effective
Yuan Shikai
–
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
–
Yuan Shikai as Governor of Shandong
Yuan Shikai
–
Yuan Shikai sworn in as Provisional President of the Republic of China, in Beijing, 10 March 1912.
Yuan Shikai
–
Yuan Shikai as the Hongxian Emperor.
30.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
–
A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
UNESCO World Heritage Site
–
Site #252:
Taj Mahal, an example of cultural heritage site
UNESCO World Heritage Site
–
Logo of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
World Heritage Committee
UNESCO World Heritage Site
–
Site #156:
Serengeti National Park, an example of natural heritage site
UNESCO World Heritage Site
–
Site #274:
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, an example of mixed heritage site
31.
Marble
–
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the marble to refer to metamorphosed limestone, however. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material and this stem is also the basis for the English word marmoreal, meaning marble-like. In Hungarian it is called márvány, Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the carbonate mineral grains. The resulting marble rock is composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals. Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the carbonate rock have typically been modified or destroyed. Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure limestone or dolomite protolith, green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally magnesium-rich limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure, examples of historically notable marble varieties and locations, White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times. This preference has to do with its softness, which made it easier to carve, relative isotropy and homogeneity, construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish. More generally in construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the marble is used for any crystalline calcitic rock useful as building stone. For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone that geologists call the Holston Formation. Ashgabat, the city of Turkmenistan, was recorded in the 2013 Guinness Book of Records as having the worlds highest concentration of white marble buildings. According to the United States Geological Survey, U. S. domestic marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at about $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005. Crushed marble production in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. For comparison,2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate, U. S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons. The DSAN World Demand for Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, the largest dimension marble application is tile. In 1998, marble production was dominated by 4 countries that accounted for almost half of production of marble
Marble
–
Marble in Carrrara marble quarry, Italy
Marble
Marble
–
The
Taj Mahal is entirely clad in marble.
Marble
–
Carlo Franzoni's sculptural marble
chariot clock depicting
Clio, the Greek
muse of history.
32.
Circular Mound Altar
–
The Circular Mound Altar is an outdoor empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, located in Beijing, China. It is part of the Temple of Heaven and it was constructed in 1530, during the 9th year of the Jiajing Emperors reign in the Ming dynasty, and enlarged in 1749. The round terrace was first covered with blue glazed slabs surrounded with a white marble balustrade when it was expanded. It has a perimeter of 534m and a height of 5. 2m This altar was also built for religious purposes. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperors would offer sacrifices to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year, Sacrificial animals and other offerings were burned here to ensure good harvests. A common animal slaughtered here was the bull, which the people would set on fire as a sacrifice of prosperity and this ceremony was to thank Heaven and pray that everything would be good in the future. The round inner wall represents heaven while the outer wall represents earth, according to Chinese beliefs. The three round white marble terraces that make up the altar represents communication with heaven, the Circular Mound Altar is special in the sense that the architecture of the place circulates around the number 9. To understand why the people of China back then chose the number 9, in Yin-Yang, Yin represents the even numbers and Yang represents the odd numbers. 9, being the largest 1-digit odd number, is considered “extremely yang” and this number represents the Chinese Dragon, and the dragon represents the emperor. 9 is also said to symbolize, the “9 circles of heaven”, the number of pillars in each section is a multiple of 9. When we multiply this number by 4 to get the number of pillars for the whole circle, also, the number of stone slates each wall is made of in the first terrace is 9. The top layer has 72 slates, the layer has 108 slates. All together there are 360 slates and this is similar to 360o, which is a circle and thus represents the circumference of heaven. In the centre of the terrace is the Heavens Heart Stone which is surrounded by concentrically arranged flag-stones. There are 9 stones in the first circle,18 in the second,27 in the third and it continues in this manner up to the ninth circle, which has 81 stones. The middle and bottom terraces also have 9 circles each, the total number of the marble flagstones on the surface is 3,402. Each terrace has four entrances and a flight of nine steps leading down in every direction and these nine steps represent the nine layers of heaven and emphasize heaven’s extreme importance
Circular Mound Altar
–
Circular Mound Altar
Circular Mound Altar
–
Lingxing Gate of the Circular Mound Altar
33.
China
–
China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
China
–
Yinxu, ruins of an ancient
palace dating from the
Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE)
China
–
Flag
China
–
Some of the thousands of life-size
Terracotta Warriors of the
Qin Dynasty, c. 210 BCE
China
–
The
Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the
Chinese interior from incursions by
nomadic pastoralists of the northern
steppes.
34.
Son of Heaven
–
The Son of Heaven is a universal emperor who rules tianxia comprising all under heaven which translates from the ancient Chinese into English as ruler of the whole world. The title Son of Heaven comes from the Mandate of Heaven and they declared that Heaven had revoked the mandate from the Shang and given it to the Zhou in retaliation for Shang corruption and misrule. Heaven bestowed the mandate to whomever was best fit to rule, the title held the emperor responsible for the prosperity and security of his people through the threat of losing the mandate. The ancient Han Chinese imperial title of tianzi was later adopted by the Emperor of Japan during the Asuka period, Japan sent diplomatic missions to China, then under the rule of the Sui dynasty, forming cultural and commercial ties. The Yamato state modeled their government after the Confucian imperial bureaucracy, a mission in 607 delivered a message that greeted the Sui emperor by saying that the Son of Heaven in the land where the sun rises. To the Son of Heaven in the land where the sun sets, the Japanese title was less conditional than its Chinese counterpart. There was no divine mandate that punished the emperor for failing to rule justly, the right to rule of the Japanese emperor, descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu, was absolute. The Vietnamese title Thiên tử was more similar to the Chinese Son of Heaven, a divine mandate gave the Vietnamese emperor the right to rule, but it was based on his ability to govern and not his lineage. The Son of Heaven was often one of several titles adopted by East Asian monarchs, Emperor Taizong of Tang held the Chinese Son of Heaven title and the Central Asian title of Tengeri Qaghan, which he gained after defeating the Tujue. Japanese monarchs employed the title of tennō, a name that also appeals to the connection to Heaven. Tian / Shangdi Heaven worship All Under Heaven Emperor of China Tian Kehan Sinocentrism Celestial Empire Imperial Chinese tributary system Pax Sinica Beasley, the Japanese Experience, A Short History of Japan. The Evolution of Government in China, heritage of China, Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan, The Tenmu Dynasty, 650–800. H. J. Van Derven, ed. Warfare in Chinese History, vietnam and the Chinese Model, A Comparative Study of Vietnamese and Chinese Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century
Son of Heaven
–
Son of Heaven was a title of the
Qianlong Emperor.
Son of Heaven
–
The
Emperor of Japan ruled as a divine descendant of the sun goddess
Amaterasu.
35.
Sacrifice
–
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation or worship. While sacrifice often implies the ritual killing of an animal, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of food or artifacts, for offerings of liquids by pouring, the term libation is used. The Latin term sacrificium derived from Latin sacrificus, which combined the concepts sacra, the Latin word sacrificium came to apply to the Christian eucharist in particular, sometimes named a bloodless sacrifice to distinguish it from blood sacrifices. In individual non-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as sacrifice include the Indic yajna, the Greek thusia, the Germanic blōtan, the term usually implies doing without something or giving something up. But the word also occurs in metaphorical use to describe doing good for others or taking a short-term loss in return for a greater power gain. Scholars such as René Girard have theorized that scapegoating may account for the origins of sacrifice, animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practiced by adherents of religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature. It also served a social or economic function in those cultures where the portions of the animal were distributed among those attending the sacrifice for consumption. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans, Ancient Egyptians and it is against their religion for Egyptians to sacrifice animals, except for sheep, bulls, calves, male calves and geese. Animal sacrifice is practiced today by the followers of Santería and other lineages of Orisa as a means of curing the sick. However, in Santeria, such animal offerings constitute a small portion of what are termed ebos—ritual activities that include offerings, prayer. Christians from some villages in Greece also sacrifice animals to Orthodox saints in a known as kourbània. The practice, while publicly condemned, is often tolerated, according to Walter Burkert, a scholar of sacrifice, Greek sacrifices derived from hunting practices. Hunters, feeling guilty for having killed another living being so they could eat and survive, the primary evidence used to suggest this theory is the Dipolieia, which is an Athenian festival, in limited circulation, during which an ox was sacrificed. The protagonist of the ritual was an ox, which it had, at one point. According to his theory, the killer of the ox eased his conscience by suggesting that everybody should participate in the killing of the sacrificial victim. In the expansion of the Athenian state, numerous oxen were needed to feed the people at the banquets and were accompanied by state festivals, the hecatomb became the general designation for the great sacrifices offered by the state. These sacrificial processions of hundreds of oxen remove the original ties, Human sacrifice was practiced by many ancient cultures
Sacrifice
–
Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against
Germanic tribes: contemporary
bas-relief,
Capitoline Museum, Rome
Sacrifice
–
Animal sacrifice offered together with
libation in
Ancient Greece. Attic red-figure
oinochoe, ca. 430–425 BC (
Louvre).
Sacrifice
–
Aztec human sacrifice, from
Codex Mendoza, 16th century (
Bodleian Library,
Oxford).
36.
Robe
–
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves, the English word robe derives from Middle English robe, borrowed from Old French robe, itself taken from the Frankish word *rouba, and is related to the word rob. A gown worn as part of the attire of a judge or barrister, a wide variety of long, flowing religious dress including pulpit robes and the robes worn by various types of monks. A gown worn as part of the dress of a peer or royalty. Any of several womens fashions of French origin, as robe à langlaise, a gown worn in fantasy literature and role-playing games by wizards and other magical characters. A bathrobe worn mostly after bathing or swimming, any long flowing garment, for example, a cassock is sometimes called a robe, although a cassock is close-fitting
Robe
–
A dragon robe from
Qing Dynasty of China
Robe
–
Academic robes
37.
Meat
–
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and killed animals for meat since prehistoric times, the advent of civilization allowed the domestication of animals such as chickens, sheep, pigs and cattle. This eventually led to their use in production on an industrial scale with the aid of slaughterhouses. Meat is mainly composed of water, protein, and fat and it is edible raw, but is normally eaten after it has been cooked and seasoned or processed in a variety of ways. Unprocessed meat will spoil or rot within hours or days as a result of infection with and decomposition by bacteria, most often, meat refers to skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as offal. The word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general, the term is related to mad in Danish, mat in Swedish and Norwegian, and matur in Icelandic and Faroese, which also mean food. The word mete also exists in Old Frisian to denote important food, differentiating it from swiets, paleontological evidence suggests that meat constituted a substantial proportion of the diet of even the earliest humans. Early hunter-gatherers depended on the hunting of large animals such as bison. Several breeds of sheep were established in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt by 3500–3000 BC, today, more than 200 sheep-breeds exist. Cattle were domesticated in Mesopotamia after settled agriculture was established about 5000 BC, modern domesticated cattle fall into the groups Bos taurus and Bos indicus, both descended from the now-extinct aurochs. The breeding of cattle, cattle optimized for meat production as opposed to animals best suited for draught or dairy purposes. Domestic pigs, which are descended from boars, are known to have existed about 2500 BC in modern-day Hungary and in Troy, earlier pottery from Jericho. Pork sausages and hams were of commercial importance in Greco-Roman times. Pigs continue to be bred intensively as they are being optimized to produce meat best suited for meat products. Other animals are or have raised or hunted for their flesh. The type of meat consumed varies much between different cultures, changes over time, depending on such as tradition and the availability of the animals. The amount and kind of meat consumed also varies by income, horses are commonly eaten in France, Italy, Germany and Japan, among other countries. Horses and other mammals such as reindeer were hunted during the late Paleolithic in western Europe
Meat
–
Varieties of meat
Meat
–
A typical shoulder cut of
lamb
Meat
–
A
Hereford bull, a breed of cattle frequently used in beef production.
Meat
–
Blade steaks are an example of "red" meat
38.
9 (number)
–
9 is the natural number following 8 and preceding 10. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, the digit 9 is called Niner, five-digit produce PLU codes that begin with 9 are organic. Common terminal digit in psychological pricing, Nine is a number that appears often in Indian Culture and mythology. Nine influencers are attested in Indian astrology, in the Vaisheshika branch of Hindu philosophy, there are nine universal substances or elements, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Ether, Time, Space, Soul, and Mind. Navaratri is a festival dedicated to the nine forms of Durga. Navaratna, meaning 9 jewels may also refer to Navaratnas - accomplished courtiers, Navratan - a kind of dish, according to Yoga, the human body has nine doors - two eyes, two ears, the mouth, two nostrils, and the openings for defecation and procreation. In Indian aesthetics, there are nine kinds of Rasa, Nine is considered a good number in Chinese culture because it sounds the same as the word long-lasting. Nine is strongly associated with the Chinese dragon, a symbol of magic, there are nine forms of the dragon, it is described in terms of nine attributes, and it has nine children. It has 117 scales –81 yang and 36 yin, all three numbers are multiples of 9 as well as having the same digital root of 9. The dragon often symbolizes the Emperor, and the number nine can be found in many ornaments in the Forbidden City, the name of the area called Kowloon in Hong Kong literally means, nine dragons. The nine-dotted line delimits certain island claims by China in the South China Sea, the nine-rank system was a civil service nomination system used during certain Chinese dynasties. 9 Points of the Heart / Heart Master Channels in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the nine bows is a term used in Ancient Egypt to represent the traditional enemies of Egypt. The Ennead is a group of nine Egyptian deities, who, in versions of the Osiris myth. The Nine Worthies are nine historical, or semi-legendary figures who, in Norse mythology, the universe is divided into nine worlds which are all connected by the world tree Yggdrasil. The nine Muses in Greek mythology are Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and it takes nine days to fall from heaven to earth, and nine more to fall from earth to Tartarus—a place of torment in the underworld. Leto labored for nine days and nine nights for Apollo, according to the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, according to Georges Ifrah, the origin of the 9 integers can be attributed to ancient Indian civilization, and was adopted by subsequent civilizations in conjunction with the 0. In the beginning, various Indians wrote 9 similar to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot, the Kshatrapa, Andhra and Gupta started curving the bottom vertical line coming up with a 3-look-alike. The Nagari continued the bottom stroke to make a circle and enclose the 3-look-alike, as time went on, the enclosing circle became bigger and its line continued beyond the circle downwards, as the 3-look-alike became smaller
9 (number)
–
A
Nine-ball rack with the 9 ball at the center
9 (number)
9 (number)
–
Playing cards showing the 9 of all four suits
39.
Column
–
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member, the term column applies especially to a large round support with a capital and a base or pedestal and made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is called a post. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces, other compression members are often termed columns because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, column refers to such an element that also has certain proportional. A column might also be an element not needed for structural purposes, many columns are engaged. All significant Iron Age civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean made some use of columns, egyptian columns are famously present in the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak, where 134 columns are lined up in 16 rows, with some columns reaching heights of 24 metres. Some of the most elaborate columns in the ancient world were those of the Persians and they included double-bull structures in their capitals. The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis, measuring 70 ×70 metres, was built by the Achaemenid king Darius I, many of the ancient Persian columns are standing, some being more than 30 metres tall. The Minoans used whole tree-trunks, usually turned upside down in order to prevent re-growth, stood on a set in the stylobate. These were then painted as in the most famous Minoan palace of Knossos, the Minoans employed columns to create large open-plan spaces, light-wells and as a focal point for religious rituals. These traditions were continued by the later Mycenaean civilization, particularly in the megaron or hall at the heart of their palaces. Being made of wood these early columns have not survived, but their bases have and through these we may see their use. The Greeks developed the classical orders of architecture, which are most easily distinguished by the form of the column and their Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders were expanded by the Romans to include the Tuscan and Composite orders. Columns, or at least large structural exterior ones, became less significant in the architecture of the Middle Ages. Early columns were constructed of stone, some out of a piece of stone. Monolithic columns are among the heaviest stones used in architecture, other stone columns are created out of multiple sections of stone, mortared or dry-fit together
Column
–
National Capitol Columns at the
United States National Arboretum in
Washington, D.C.
Column
–
Marble columns with antique capitals in the
Great Mosque of Kairouan also known as the Mosque of Uqba, city of
Kairouan,
Tunisia
Column
–
Illustration of Doric (left three), Ionic (middle three) and Corinthian (right two) columns.
Column
–
Plan, front view and side view of a typical
Persepolis column, of
Persia (Iran)
40.
Season
–
A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology and hours of daylight. Seasons result from the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. During May, June, and July, the northern hemisphere is exposed to direct sunlight because the hemisphere faces the sun. The same is true of the hemisphere in November, December. It is the tilt of the Earth that causes the Sun to be higher in the sky during the months which increases the solar flux. However, due to lag, June, July, and August are the hottest months in the northern hemisphere and December, January. In temperate and subpolar regions, four calendar-based seasons are recognized, spring, summer, autumn or fall. Ecologists often use a model for temperate climate regions, prevernal, vernal, estival, serotinal, autumnal. Many tropical regions have two seasons, the rainy, wet, or monsoon season and the dry season, some have a third cool, mild, or harmattan season. Seasons often held special significance for agrarian societies, whose lives revolved around planting and harvest times, in some parts of the world, some other seasons capture the timing of important ecological events such as hurricane season, tornado season, and wildfire season. The most historically important of these are the three seasons—flood, growth, and low water—which were previously defined by the annual flooding of the Nile in Egypt. The seasons result from the Earths axis of rotation being tilted with respect to its orbital plane by an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees, regardless of the time of year, the northern and southern hemispheres always experience opposite seasons. This is because during summer or winter, one part of the planet is directly exposed to the rays of the Sun than the other. For approximately half of the year, the northern hemisphere tips toward the Sun, for the other half of the year, the same happens, but in the southern hemisphere instead of the northern, with the maximum around December 21. The two instants when the Sun is directly overhead at the Equator are the equinoxes. Also at that moment, both the North Pole and the South Pole of the Earth are just on the terminator, and hence day and night are equally divided between the northern and southern hemispheres. Around the March equinox, the northern hemisphere will be experiencing spring as the hours of daylight increase, the effect of axial tilt is observable as the change in day length and altitude of the Sun at noon during a year. Between this effect and the daylight hours, the axial tilt of the Earth accounts for most of the seasonal variation in climate in both hemispheres
Season
–
Red and green trees in spring
Season
–
A tree in winter
Season
–
The six ecological seasons
Season
–
The four calendar seasons, depicted in an ancient Roman mosaic from
Tunisia.
41.
Mount Tai
–
Mount Tai is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Taian, in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the Jade Emperor Peak, which is reported as 1,545 metres tall. Mount Tai is known as the mountain of the Five Great Mountains of China. It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is regarded the foremost of the five. Mount Tai has been a place of worship for at least 3,000 years, Mount Tai is located in western Shandong, just north of the city of Taian and to the south of the provincial capital Jinan. It extends from 150 to 1,545 metres above sea level, the Jade Emperor Peak is 1,532.7 metres above sea level and located at 36° 16′N and 117° 6′E. Traces of human presence at Mount Tai date back to the Paleolithic period, human settlement of the area can be proven from the neolithic period onwards. During this time, two cultures had emerged near the mountain, the Dawenkou culture to the south and the Longshan culture to the north. During the Xia Dynasty the mountain was known as Mount Dai and lay within the borders of Qingzhou, religious worship of Mount Tai has a tradition dating back 3,000 years, from the time of the Shang to the Qing Dynasty. The two sacrifices are referred to together as the Fengshan sacrifices. Carving of an inscription as part of the sacrifices marked the attainment of the great peace, by the time of the Zhou Dynasty sacrifices at Mount Tai had become highly ritualized ceremonies in which a local feudal lord would travel there to make sacrifices of food and jade ritual items. These would then be arranged in a ritually correct pattern before being buried on the mountain. In the Spring and Autumn period the states of Qi and Lu bordered Mount Tai to the north and south respectively. In the ensuing Warring States period, to protect itself against invasion, the State of Qi erected a 500 kilometres wall, the name Taian of the neighboring city is attributed to the saying If Mount Tai is stable, so is the entire country. In 219 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, held a ceremony on the summit, during the Han Dynasty, the Feng and Shan sacrifices were considered the highest of all sacrifices. Rituals and sacrifices were conducted by the Sui, Mount Tai has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. In 2003, it attracted around 6 million visitors, a renovation project was completed in late October 2005, which aimed at restoring cultural relics and renovating damaged buildings of cultural significance. Widely known for its special ceremonies and sacrifices, Mount Tai has seen visits by many poets, there are grandiose temples, many stone inscriptions and stone tablets with the mountain playing an important role in the development of both Buddhism and Taoism
Mount Tai
–
The South Gate to Heaven at Mount Tai
Mount Tai
Mount Tai
–
Jade Emperor Peak, the summit of Mount Tai
Mount Tai
–
The Immortal Bridge (
Chinese: 仙 人 桥;
pinyin: Xiān rén Qiáo), a natural landscape
42.
Dongcheng District, Beijing
–
The Dongcheng District of Beijing covers the eastern half of Beijings urban core, the Old City. The districts population was 535,558 as of Chinas 2000 Census, settlement in the area dates back over a millennium. It did not formally become a district of the city until the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911. The name Dongcheng was first given to it in a 1958 reorganization, Dongcheng includes many of Beijings major cultural attractions, such as the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. More than a quarter of the citys Major National Historical and Cultural Sites are inside its boundaries, over three-quarters of the districts economic activity is in the service sector. Dongcheng is often described, and depicted on simplified maps, as the half of the area inside the 2nd Ring Road. However, the boundaries include some areas outside it as well, particularly on the north. In the former direction a small projection crosses the 3rd Ring Road, the 2010 merger with Chongwen added some land beyond the Ring Road on the south. At Wenzhin Street it turns eastward to follow Jingshan Front Street between the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park and it resumes its northward course along Jingshan East Street, turning west along Jingshan Back Street, thus leaving all of Jingshan in the Xicheng District to the west. At Dianmen Inner Street it turns again, following the east-west line that formally divided Beijing in the mid-15th century. At the streets end, the edge of Rendinghu Park, it follows the edge to the northeast. The boundary turns east at Huangsi Street, following the property lines of buildings on the north side. It crosses the street again a block east of Gulou Outer Street, from the parks northeastern corner it goes due east to Andingmen Outer Street, where it turns north. It continues north across the 3rd Ring Road for a kilometer to Jianan East Road and this is the districts northernmost section, now bordering on the Chaoyang District. After 500 m, it zigzags south, southeast and then west again along local streets to Shenggu Middle Road, there it turns south and crosses the Ring Road again, continuing on Xiaohangzhuang North Street. Another zigzag takes it along Xiaohangzhuang, Xinghua and Qingniangou roads to Heipingli East Street, at Jiaolin Alley it turns south again, following another irregular path through the neighborhoods here to just east of Minwang Hutong. At the river paralleling the Second Ring Road on its north, it turns east briefly to follow that, a short section detours north to take in some of the buildings on the north side of Xiangheyuan Road, after which it returns to what is now Xiangheyuan North Street. Turning southeast along Zuojiazhuang West Street, the turns to follow the north bank of the Landmark River eastward at the Chunxiu Road intersection
Dongcheng District, Beijing
–
District viewed from Dongzhimen to the northeast, 2007
Dongcheng District, Beijing
–
Satellite image of Dongcheng District. (1967-09-20)
Dongcheng District, Beijing
–
Drum Tower from Di'anmen Street
Dongcheng District, Beijing
–
Workers' Indoor Arena
43.
Chongwen District
–
Chongwen District is a former district of the Chinese Municipality of Beijing, located relatively southeast to the city center, and was situated between Yongdingmen and Qianmen. It spanned an area of 16.46 square kilometres and it bordered Dongcheng District to the north, Fengtai District to the south, Chaoyang District to the east, and Xuanwu District to the west. It merged into the Dongcheng District in July 2010, chongwen District was one of Beijings more compact districts, with per capita area being considerably less than other districts. Prior to its merger with Dongcheng District, it was considered the smallest out of the four districts that compose the city center, the district was renowned for the Temple of Heaven and Longtan Park, as well as housing the two original Peking Duck restaurants, Quanjude and Bianyifang
Chongwen District
–
Chongwen District
44.
Beijing Subway
–
The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing municipality. The network has 19 lines,345 stations and 574 km of track in operation, and is the second longest subway system in the world after the Shanghai Metro. The subway is the worlds busiest in annual ridership, with 3.66 billion trips delivered in 2016, averaging 9.998 million per day, the Beijing Subway opened in 1969 and is the oldest metro system in mainland China. The subway has undergone rapid expansion since 2002, as two lines were in service before then. The existing network still cannot adequately meet the mass transit needs. Beijing Subways extensive expansion plans call for 999 km of lines serving a projected 18.5 million trips everyday by 2020. The most recent expansion came into effect on December 31,2016 with the opening of the section of Line 16 from Xiyuan to Beianhe, as well as Chaoyang Park and Wangjing East stations. Beijing is currently constructing six new fully automated lines totaling 300 km in length using domestically developed communications-based train control systems and this will potentially create the longest fully automated subway network in the world. The Beijing Subway is owned by the city of Beijing and has two operators, the main operator is the wholly state-owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. which operates 15 lines. The second operator is the Beijing MTR Corp, the Beijing Subway switched from a fixed-fare to a distance-based fare schedule for all lines except the Airport Express on December 28,2014. For example, a 40 km trip would cost ¥7, the Airport Express costs ¥25 per ride. Children below 1.3 metres in height ride for free when accompanied by a paying adult, riders can look up fares by checking fare schedules posted in stations, calling the subway hotline 96165, going to the Beijing Subway website, or using the subways smartphone app. Riders must insert the ticket or tap the card at the gate both before entering and exiting the station, the subways fare collection gates accept single-ride tickets and the Yikatong fare card. Riders can purchase tickets and add credit to Yikatong card at ticket counters or vending machines in every station. The Yikatong, also known as the One Card Through Card, is an integrated circuit card that stores credit for the subway, urban and suburban buses, the Yikatong card itself must be purchased at the ticket counter. To enter a station, the Yikatong card must have a balance of ¥3.00. To prevent fraud, riders are required to complete their journeys within four hours upon entering the subway, if the four-hour limit is exceeded, a surcharge of ¥3 is imposed. Each Yikatong card is allowed to be overdrawn once, the overdrawn amount is deducted when credits are added to the card
Beijing Subway
–
The
Yikatong card
Beijing Subway
–
A single-ride farecard
Beijing Subway
–
A Line 2 train
Beijing Subway
–
Line 2 platform at Xizhimen
45.
Line 5, Beijing Subway
–
Line 5 of the Beijing Subway was Beijings first subway with a north-south route. It runs for 27.6 km, in a straight line. Metro Line 5 is planned to be Beijings first true north-south line, in addition, the Line will serve the booming communities of Tiantongyuan in the north which lack any subway connection. It entered into operation on October 2007, after the start of construction, house prices along the line began to rapidly grow. In a short period of 20 days after the opening, the housing prices along the subway line increased 23. 3%. Starting fare of RMB3.00 that increases according to the fare scheme introduced in December 2014. The first south-bound trains departs from Tiantongyuan North at 4, 59am, the first north-bound train departs from Songjiazhuang at 5, 19am. The last south-bound train leaves Tiantongyuan North at 10, 47pm, the last north-bound train leaves Songjiazhuang at 11, 10pm. At Huixinxijie Nankou Station, it links up with Line 10, further south, it skirts east of the Temple of Earth and meets Line 2 Loop at the Yonghegong, also known as the Lama Temple. Then Line 5 cuts through the old neighborhoods of Dongcheng District and it takes 49 minutes to cover all the 23 stations. Zhangzizhonglu Station, named after a general martyred in World War II, is the eponymous station of the Beijing Subway. Line 5 stations also have LCD screens that display the wait times for the next train, Line 5 trains have digital voice announcements and LCD passenger information display. Construction work on Line 5 got underway in late 2002 and the line opened to the public on October 7,2007, December 28,2002, Construction on Line 5 began. March 28,2004, Underground tunneling started underneath Yonghegong and Hepinglibeijie stations, the underground tunnel would pass the Temple of Heaven. May 20,2004, The underground tunnel between Yonghegong and Zhangzizhonglu stations broke through, november 11,2005, Railway tracks were laid at Huixinxijie Beikou station. July 2006, The entire underground railway was completed, september 2006, Platform screen doors began installation in Line 5 stations. April 2007, Line 5 started trial runs without passengers, October 7,2007, Line 5 opened to the public at 2p. m. in the afternoon. November 23,2007, Sound insulation were installed on the parts of Line 5 following complaints of excess noise from nearby residents
Line 5, Beijing Subway
–
Line 5, Beijing Subway
Line 5, Beijing Subway
–
Line 5 entrance at
Beixinqiao.
Line 5, Beijing Subway
–
Line 5 platform at
Dongdan.
Line 5, Beijing Subway
–
Line 5
Tiantongyuan. To the left is Tiantongyuan South station; a bus rapid transit line is visible in the center.
46.
Beijing Bus
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Public bus service in Beijing is the among the most extensive, widely used and affordable form of public transportation in urban and suburban districts of the city. In 2015, the network consists of 876 routes with a fleet of 24,347 buses and trolleybuses carrying 3.98 billion passengers annually. Public bus service in the city began in 1921, Beijing Airport Buses provide separate service to the citys two airports. Under the new fare scheme implemented on December 28,2014, bus fares cost RMB2.00 for the first 10 km, Yikatong card users are entitled to a 50% discount and students enjoy a 75% discount. Prior to the hike, bus fares were as low as ¥1. Riders carrying bulky luggage that take up the space of another passenger will have to purchase a bus fare. A child below the height of 1. 2m rides for free when accompanied by a paying rider, bearers of Retired Cadres Honorary Certificates and blind individuals can also ride public buses for free. On buses with a clerk on board, the clerk can sell paper tickets. The ticket clerk will ask riders deboarding the bus to show the ticket they had purchased. On bus routes designated as having no ticket clerks, riders must pay exact fare in cash, show the driver their bus pass, riders paying with the Yikatong metrocard receive 50% discount off the cash fare. Hence, with a Yikatong card, the starting becomes ¥1.00 per ride, riders with the student metro card enjoy 70% discount off the cash fare. Riders must swipe twice, both on boarding and deboarding the bus, so the distance can be calculated. Until the introduction of the Yikatong metrocard in 2006, Beijing Bus Passes were a choice for discounted bus fare. Bus passes are available for three days, seven days,15 days, the Yikatong has no expiration date and has a lower per ride cost. The Yikatong card can be purchased or have added at any Beijing Subway station or at any of 89 bus stops around the city. Service on most bus lines begins between 5,00 and 6,00 and end between 20,00 and 23,00, the 夜-series night bus lines begin service at 23,20 and run until between 4,30 and 5,00. Bus stops are marked with signs that indicate the name of the stop, route number, hours of operation, fare schedule. Bus route signs are only in Chinese, on buses with two doors, the front door is used for entry and the back door for deboarding
Beijing Bus
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Beijing Bus 1 on
Chang'an Avenue at
Tiananmen Square. The vehicle is produced by
Huanghai Bus.
Beijing Bus
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Riders using the
Yikatong card (above) enjoy 50% off the standard cash bus fare.
Beijing Bus
Beijing Bus
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Beijing bus sign showing the bus route number (486), hours of service (5:30 - 22:00), name of the stop (Shifoying Dongli 石佛营东里), terminus (Sifangqiao Xi & Xinzhuang), fare schedule (flate rate ¥1, exact fare), stops along route, and direction of travel (red arrow pointing toward Xinzhuang)
47.
Tian
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Tiān is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang Dynasty, the Chinese referred to their god as Shàngdì or Dì. During the following Zhou Dynasty, Tiān became synonymous with this figure, Heaven worship was, before the 20th century, an orthodox state religion of China. In Taoism and Confucianism, Tiān is often translated as Heaven and is mentioned in relationship to its aspect of Dì. These two aspects of Daoist cosmology are representative of the nature of Taoism. They are thought to maintain the two poles of the Three Realms of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Humanity, the ancient oracle and bronze ideograms for dà 大 depict a stick figure person with arms stretched out denoting great, large. The oracle and bronze characters for tiān 天 emphasize the cranium of this great, either with a square or round head, two variant Chinese characters for tiān 天 heaven are 兲 and the Daoist coinage 靝. The sinologist Herrlee Creel, who wrote a study on The Origin of the Deity Tien. For three thousand years it has believed that from time immemorial all Chinese revered Tien 天, Heaven, as the highest deity. But the new materials that have available in the present century. It appears rather that Tien is not named at all in the Shang inscriptions, Tien appears only with the Chou, and was apparently a Chou deity. After the conquest the Chou considered Tien to be identical with the Shang deity Ti, first, Creel analyzes all the tian and di occurrences meaning god, gods in Western Zhou era Chinese classic texts and bronze inscriptions. His corpus of authenticated Western Zhou bronzes mention tian 91 times, second, Creel contrasts the disparity between 175 occurrences of di or shangdi on Shang era oracle inscriptions with at least 26 occurrences of tian. Upon examining these 26 oracle scripts that scholars have identified as tian 天 heaven, god, according to tradition, Tang of Shang assembled his subjects to overthrow King Jie of Xia, the infamous last ruler of the Xia Dynasty, but they were reluctant to attack. The king said, Come, ye multitudes of the people, listen all to my words. It is not I, the child, who dare to undertake what may seem to be a rebellious enterprise. Now, ye multitudes, you are saying, Our prince does not compassionate us, I have indeed heard these words of you all, but the sovereign of Hsiâ is an offender, and, as I fear God, I dare not but punish him. Now you are saying, What are the crimes of Hsiâ to us, the king of Hsiâ does nothing but exhaust the strength of his people, and exercise oppression in the cities of Hsiâ
Tian
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Chinese
Bronze script character for tiān.
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