1.
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.
2.
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
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Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese characters
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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.
3.
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
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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
4.
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
5.
Cantonese
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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.
6.
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.
7.
Guan Hanqing
–
Guan Hanqing, sobriquet the Oldman of the Studio, was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. He has been described as among the most prolific and highly regarded dramatists of the Yuan period, guan spent much of his later life in Dadu and produced about 65 plays, mostly in the vernacular of the time. Fourteen of his plays are extant, including, The Injustice to Dou E a. k. a, snow in Midsummer Saving the Dusty-windy a. k. a. Rescued by a Coquette The Conference of a Single Dao a. k. a, the Story of the Secluded Chamber, with Li Zhuowu’s Critical Comments
Guan Hanqing
–
A 1958
U.S.S.R. postage stamp commemorating Guan Hanqing.
8.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols
Yuan dynasty
–
History of China
Yuan dynasty
–
Yuan dynasty circa 1294
Yuan dynasty
–
Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty
Yuan dynasty
–
Painting of a 14th-century Yuan dynasty
junk
9.
Jiangsu
–
Jiangsu, formerly romanized as Kiangsu, is an eastern-central coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. It is one of the provinces in manufacturing electronics and apparel items. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, Jiangsu has the second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, Jiangsu has a coastline of over 1,000 kilometres along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze River passes through the southern part of the province. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Jiangsu has been an economic and commercial center. Cities such as Yangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Shanghai are all major Chinese economic hubs, since the initiation of economic reforms in 1990, Jiangsu has become a focal point for economic development. It is widely regarded as Chinas most developed province measured by its Human Development Index, Jiangsu is home to many of the worlds leading exporters of electronic equipment, chemicals and textiles. It has also been Chinas largest recipient of foreign investment since 2006. Its 2014 nominal GDP was more than 1 trillion US dollars and its name is a compound of the first elements of the names of the two cities of Jiangning and Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is 苏, the character of its name. The state of Wu was subjugated in 473 BC by the state of Yue, Yue was in turn subjugated by the powerful state of Chu from the west in 333 BC. Eventually the state of Qin swept away all the other states, during the Three Kingdoms period, southern Jiangsu became the base of the Eastern Wu whose capital, Jiankang, is modern Nanjing. When nomadic invasions overran northern China in the 4th century, the court of the Jin Dynasty moved to Jiankang. Cities in southern and central Jiangsu swelled with the influx of migrants from the north, Jiankang remained as the capital for four successive Southern Dynasties and became the largest commercial and cultural center in China. The Tang Dynasty relied on southern Jiangsu for annual deliveries of grain and it was during the Song Dynasty, which saw the development of a wealthy mercantile class and emergent market economy in China, that south Jiangsu emerged as a center of trade. From then onwards, south Jiangsu, especially cities like Suzhou or Yangzhou, would be synonymous with opulence. Today south Jiangsu remains one of the richest parts of China, the Mongols took control of China in the thirteenth century. The Ming Dynasty, which was established in 1368 after driving out the Mongols who had occupied China, following a coup by Zhu Di, however, the capital was moved to Beijing, far to the north
Jiangsu
–
One of the
tortoise stelae of Xiao Dan (478—522), a member of the
Liang royal family. Ganjiaxiang,
Qixia District, near Nanjing
Jiangsu
–
Map showing the location of Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu
–
The
Huqiu Tower of
Tiger Hill, Suzhou, built in 961.
Jiangsu
–
The
Beisi Pagoda of
Suzhou, built between 1131 and 1162 during the
Song Dynasty, 76 m (243 ft) tall.
10.
Tongyangxi
–
A direct translation of the Taiwanese word sim-pu-a is little daughter-in-law, in which the characters sim-pu mean daughter-in-law and the particle character a indicates a diminutive. The similarly used Mandarin Chinese term tongyangxi means literally child raised daughter-in-law and is the term used as translation for the English term child bride. The shim-pua daughter was adopted into a family who already had a son to whom she would be betrothed. Instead, some families adopted a shim-pua daughter prior to having a son, although the shim-pua daughter joins the household as a child, the marriage would only occur after both had reached puberty. Shim-pua marriage occurred over a range of classes, but was particularly common among poor. Among the well to do, marrying a son in a marriage was prestigious and a display of status. In contrast, the bride price to acquire a bride for a son to wed in a major marriage could be prohibitive. If the family could not afford such a bride for marriage, this could result in a failure to produce descendants. In contrast, the costs of adopting an infant daughter were low, in poor communities, limited wealth or status motivated both the adoption of a shim-pua daughter into the family and the giving up of biological daughters as shim-pua to other families. In contrast, a daughter would remain in the household, caring for the parents through their old age. For these reasons, adoption of an infant shim-pua daughter frequently coincided with giving up an infant daughter for adoption. This has been explained as a demonstration of the Westermarck effect, in mainland China, the practice was outlawed by the Communist Party of China in 1949. In Taiwan, shim-pua marriage fell out of practice by the 1970s due to increased wealth resulting from Taiwans economic success, greater exposure outside the home and education itself often created opportunities for shim-pua daughters to resist or escape the marriage arrangement. Zhaozhui is a custom by which a wealthy family that lacks an heir might take in a boy child. Since these marriages required the husband entering the household, they were relegated to a lower social status. During the Qing dynasty, these became increasingly common to maintain inheritance bloodlines. The boy would take on the name of his new family
Tongyangxi
–
A Shim-pua marriage certificate from Ming dynasty (1588)
11.
Anhui
–
Anhui is a landlocked province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the eastern region of the country. The name Anhui derives from the names of two cities, Anqing and Huizhou, the abbreviation for Anhui is Chinese, 皖, pinyin, wǎn after the historical State of Wan, Mount Wan, and the Wan river. The province of Anhui was formed in the 17th century, before then, there was no coherent concept of Anhui. In terms of culture, Northern Anhui was firmly a part of the North China Plain together with modern-day Henan province, northern Jiangsu, Central Anhui was densely populated and constituted mostly of fertile land from the Huai River watershed. In contrast, the culture of Southern Anhui, bordered mostly along the Yangtze, was closer to Jiangxi, the hills of southeastern Anhui formed a unique and distinct cultural sphere of its own. In the 2007 book China Road, author Rob Gifford stated that the Chinese refer to Anhui as a big agricultural province, according to Gifford, this is an euphemism for a very poor area and that people have referred to Anhui as the Appalachia of China. The north of the province is part of the North China Plain while the areas are part of the Huai River watershed. Both of these regions are flat and densely populated. The land becomes more uneven further south, with the Dabie Mountains occupying much of southwestern Anhui, the Yangtze River finds its way through south Anhui in between these two mountainous regions. The highest peak in Anhui is Lotus Peak, part of Huangshan in southeastern Anhui and it has an altitude of 1873 m. Major rivers include the Huai River in the north and the Yangtze in the south, the largest lake is Lake Chaohu situated in the center of the province, with an area of about 800 km2. The southeastern part of the province near the Yangtze River has many lakes as well, as with topography, the province differs in climate from north to south. The north is more temperate and has more clearcut seasons, january temperatures average at around -1 to 2 °C north of the Huai River, and 0 to 3 °C south of the Huai River, in July temperatures average 27 °C or above. Plum rains occur in June and July and may cause flooding, major cities, Anhui is divided into sixteen prefecture-level divisions, all prefecture-level cities, The sixteen prefecture-level divisions of Anhui are subdivided into 105 county-level divisions. Those are in turn divided into 1,845 township-level divisions, the Politics of Anhui Province is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Anhui is the official in the Peoples Government of Anhui. Agriculture in Anhui varies according to the zones that the province crosses. To the north of the Huai River, wheat and sweet potatoes are grown, while to the south of the Huai River it is rice, natural resources of Anhui include iron in Maanshan, coal in Huainan, and copper in Tongling
Anhui
–
The Yangtze River bisects the province diagonally. Pictured: The Anqing Yangtze River Bridge
Anhui
–
Map showing the location of Anhui Province
Anhui
–
A street in Zhide (至德), a
town, historically known as Yaodu (尧度), in
Dongzhi County
Anhui
–
Electric locomotive at Bengbu in northern Anhui
12.
Bian Que
–
Bian Que was, according to legend, the earliest known Chinese physician. His real name is said to be Qin Yueren, but his skills were so amazing that the people gave him the same name as the legendary doctor Bian Que. He was a native of the State of Qi, according to the legend recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, he was gifted with clairvoyance from a deity when he was working as a noble hostel staff. The legend states that while being an attendant at the hostel, the old man was thankful of Bian Ques attentive service and politeness, and gave him a packet of medicine which he told Bian Que to boil in water. After taking this medicine, he gained the ability to see through the human body and he thereby became an excellent diagnostician with his X-ray-like ability. He also excelled in taking and acupuncture therapy. He is ascribed the authorship of Bian Que Neijing, han Dynasty physicians claimed to have studied his works, which have since been lost. Tales state that he was a doctor of many disciplines, conforming to the local needs wherever he went, for example, in one city he was a childrens doctor, and in another a female physician. The lord brushed this aside as at time he felt no symptoms. The last time Bian Que went to see the lord, he looked in from afar, when an attendant of the lord asked him why he had done this, he replied that the disease was in the marrow and was incurable. The lord was said to have died soon after, another legend stated that once, while visiting the state of Guo, he saw people mourning on the streets. Upon inquiring what their grievances were, he got the reply that the heir apparent of the lord had died, sensing something afoot, he is said to have gone to the palace to inquire about the circumstances of the death. After hearing of how the prince died, he concluded that the prince had not really died and he set a single acupuncture needle in the Baihu point on the head, helping the prince to regain consciousness. Herbal medicine was boiled to help the prince sit up, and after Bian Que prescribed the prince with more herbal medicine, Bian Que advocated the four-step diagnoses of Looking, Listening, Inquiring, and Taking. The Daoist Liezi has a legend that Bian Que used anesthesia to perform a heart transplantation, with the xin 心 heart. Gong Hu 公扈 from Lu and Qi Ying 齊嬰 from Zhao had opposite imbalances of qi 氣 breath, life-force and zhi 志 will, gong had a qi mental power deficiency while Qi had a zhi willpower deficiency. Bian Que suggests exchanging the hearts of the two to attain balance, upon hearing his opinion, the patients agree to the procedure. Bian Que then gives the men an intoxicating wine that makes them feign death for three days, salguero Some texts in bamboo slips unearthed in Chengdu may be composed by him
Bian Que
–
Bian Que
Bian Que
–
Stone carving from the
Eastern Han Dynasty, showing the divine healer Bian Que, depicted as a bird with a human head, treating sick people using
acupuncture.
13.
Kunqu
–
Kunqu, also known as Kunju, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the style originated in the Wu cultural area. It is listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral, Kunqu singing techniques are said to have been developed during the Ming Dynasty by Wei Liangfu in the port of Taicang, but linked to the songs of nearby Kunshan. Kunqu performance is closely inter-related with the performance of other styles of Chinese musical theatre, including Jingju. The emergence of chuanqi plays, commonly sung to Kunqu, is said to have ushered in a second Golden Era of Chinese drama, Kunqu troupes experienced a commercial decline in the late 19th century. However, in the early 20th century, Kunqu was re-established by philanthropists as a genre that was subsequently subsidised by the Communist state. Today, Kunqu is performed professionally in seven Mainland Chinese major cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chenzhou, Yongjia County/Wenzhou and Hangzhou, non-professional opera societies are active in many other cities in China and abroad, and opera companies occasionally tour. There are many plays that continue to be today, including The Peony Pavilion and The Peach Blossom Fan. In addition, many classical Chinese novels and stories, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and its melody or tune is one of the Four Great Characteristic Melodies in Chinese opera. In 2006, Zhou Bing acted as Producer and Art Director for KunQu of Sexcentenary and it won Outstanding Documentary Award of 24th China TV Golden Eagle Awards, It won Award of TV Art Features of 21st Starlight Award for 2006
Kunqu
–
A scene from
The Peony Pavilion
Kunqu
–
Gu Jian, Yuan dynasty playwright, a pioneer of Kunqu
Kunqu
Kunqu
–
A Kunqu performer's portrayal of Hu Sanniang
14.
Zaju
–
Zaju was a form of Chinese drama or Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy. Zaju is a genre of dramas that had its origins in the Song Dynasty and it has particularly been associated with the time of the Yuan Dynasty, and remains important in terms of the historical study of the theater arts as well as Classical Chinese literature and poetry. The Yuan zaju were poetic music dramas comprising four acts, with the act defined as a set of songs following and completing a certain musical modal progression. Occasionally one or two wedges, or short interludes in the form of a performed by another character might be added to either support or enhance the plot. Within the acts, lyrics were written to existing tunes or set-rhythmic patterns, and. The zaju featured particular specialized roles for performers, such as Dan, Sheng, Hua, developed during the Northern Song Dynasty, the zaju theater was further popularized during the subsequent Yuan Dynasty, founded by the Mongol Empire under the leadership of Kublai Khan. Major questions remain about the relationships between artistic and political process, in regards to how it is known in relationship to the zaju theater form of art. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty succeeded the previous dynasties which controlled China, the Tangut Western Xia, the Khitan Liao, the transitions between the various political regimes tended to involve war, death, and disorder in a large scale. Accompanying musical notation is evidently lacking, instead, the tune to which an aria was meant to be sung is indicated in the text by the title of a song or aria using the same tune. Generally, information about performances derives from preserved literary texts, arias, libretti, much of the information on Yuan era plays and playwrights derives from a book written during this time period which is entitled Register of Ghosts. Famous playwrights include Guan Hanqing, author of The Injustice to Dou E, and the author Bo Renfu, wang Shifu wrote the popular play The Story of the Western Wing. Li Qianfu wrote Circle of Chalk, ma Zhiyuan has seven extant zaju plays/operas, four of which have been translated into English. Zaju, or Yuan opera, represents a period in the development of the Chinese Opera, Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies, “Stage Directions in the Performance of Yuan Drama, ” Comparative Drama 39. 3/4, 397-443. Theaters of Desire, Authors, Readers, and the Reproduction of Early Chinese Song-Drama, Chinese Poetry, An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres
Zaju
–
A modern reconstruction of a mural depicting the
Yuan zaju stage c. 1324. The original was found in the
Guangsheng Temple of
Shanxi province.
Zaju
–
From a print illustration of zaju plays by Yuan writers;
Ming Dynasty, Wanli reign (1563–1620).
Zaju
–
A modern Sichuan Opera in Wuhou Temple c. 2006
15.
Cantonese opera
–
The Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern Chinas Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics, and acting. In the 12th century, there was a form called the Nanxi or Southern drama. With the invasion of the Mongol army, Emperor Gong of the Song dynasty fled with hundreds of thousands of Song people into Guangdong in 1276, among them were Nanxi performers from Zhejiang, who brought Nanxi into Guangdong and helped develop the opera traditions in the south. Many well-known operas performed today, such as Tai Nui Fa originated in the Ming Dynasty and The Purple Hairpin originated in the Yuan Dynasty, with the lyrics, until the 20th century all the female roles were performed by males. Beginning in the 1950s massive waves of immigrants fled Shanghai to destinations like North Point and their arrival boosted the Cantonese opera fan-base significantly. However, a number of Cantonese opera troupes are left to preserve the art in Hong Kong today. As a result, many stages that were dedicated to the Cantonese genre are closing down, Hong Kongs Sunbeam Theatre is one of the last facilities that is still standing to exhibit Cantonese opera. In 1999, the Association and the Academy further conducted a two-year daytime diploma programme in performing arts in Cantonese opera in order to train professional actors and actresses. Aiming at further raising the level, the Association and the Academy launched an advanced course in Cantonese opera in the next academic year. In recent years, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council has given grants to Love and Faith Cantonese Opera Laboratory to conduct Cantonese opera classes for children, Cantonese opera shares many common characteristics with other Chinese theatre genres. Thus, music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics and acting are all featured in Cantonese opera, Most of the plots are based on Chinese history and famous Chinese classics and myths. Also, the culture and philosophies of the Chinese people can be seen in the plays, virtues are often reflected by the operas. Some particular features of Cantonese opera are, Cing sik sing - formulaic, heoi ji sing - abstraction of reality, distancing from reality. Sin ming sing - clear-cut, distinct, unambiguous, well-defined, zung hap ngai seot jing sik - a composite or synthetic art form. Sei gung ng faat - the four skills and the five methods, the four skills and five methods are a simple codification of training areas that theatre performers must master and a metaphor for the most well-rounded and thoroughly-trained performers. Before widespread formal education, Cantonese opera taught morals and messages to its audiences rather than being solely entertainment, the government used theatre to promote the idea of be loyal to the emperor and love the country. Thus, the government examined the theatre frequently and would ban any theatre if a message was conveyed or considered
Cantonese opera
–
Cantonese opera
Cantonese opera
–
Fong Yeem Fun performing outside the realm of Cantonese opera in 1953
Cantonese opera
–
A female general
Cantonese opera
–
An exhibition displaying opera costumes
16.
Librettist
–
A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
Librettist
–
Cover of a 1921 libretto for Giordano's
Andrea Chénier
Librettist
–
The composer of
Cavalleria rusticana,
Pietro Mascagni, flanked by his librettists,
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and
Guido Menasci.
Librettist
–
Pages from an 1859 libretto for
Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation and musical notation for one of the arias.
Librettist
–
Henry Purcell (1659–1695) whose operas were written to English libretti.
17.
Royal Shakespeare Company
–
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The companys home is in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it has recently redeveloped its Royal Shakespeare, the theatres re-opened in November 2010, having closed in 2007. The new buildings attracted 18,000 visitors within the first week, performances in Stratford-upon-Avon continued throughout the Transformation project at the temporary Courtyard Theatre. The 2011-season began with performances of Macbeth and a re-imagined lost play The History of Cardenio, the fiftieth birthday season also featured The Merchant of Venice with Sir Patrick Stewart and revivals of some of the RSCs greatest plays, including a new staging of Marat/Sade. For the London 2012 Festival as part of the Cultural Olympiad, in 2013 the company began live screenings of its Shakespeare productions – called Live from Stratford-upon-Avon – which are screened around the world. In 2016, the company collaborated with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios to stage The Tempest, John Wards Birmingham-based company, the Warwickshire Company of Comedians, agreed to perform it. A surviving copy of the records that the company performed Othello. The first building erected to commemorate Shakespeare was David Garricks Jubilee Pavilion in 1769, the first permanent commemorative building to Shakespeares works in the town was a theatre built in 1827, in the gardens of New Place, but has long since been demolished. The RSCs history began with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which was the brainchild of a local brewer and he donated a two-acre site by the River Avon and in 1875 launched an international campaign to build a theatre in the town of Shakespeares birth. The theatre, a Victorian-Gothic building seating just over 700 people, opened on 23 April 1879, with a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, a title which gave ammunition to several critics. From 1919, under the direction of William Bridges-Adams and after a slow start, the theatre received a Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1925, which gave it status. On the afternoon of 6 March 1926, when a new season was about to commence rehearsals, fire broke out, and the mass of half-timbering chosen to ornament the interior provided dry tinder. By the following morning the theatre was a blackened shell, the company transferred its Shakespeare festivals to a converted local cinema. Fund-raising began for the rebuilding of the theatre, with generous donations arriving from philanthropists in America, george Bernard Shaw commented that her design was the only one that showed any theatre sense. Her modernist plans for an art deco structure came under fire from many directions, later it came under the direction of Sir Barry Jackson in 1945, Anthony Quayle from 1948 to 1956 and Glen Byam Shaw 1957–1959, with an impressive roll-call of actors. Scotts building, with minor adjustments to the stage, remained in constant use until 2007 when it was closed for a major refit of the interior. Timeline,1932 – new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens, abutting the remains of the old,1961 – chartered name of the corporation and the Stratford theatre becomes ‘Royal Shakespeare. ’1974 – The Other Place opened, created from a prefabricated former store/rehearsal room in Stratford. 1986 – the Swan Theatre opened, created from the shell of the 1879 Memorial Theatre,1991 – Purpose-built new Other Place, designed by Michael Reardon, opens
Royal Shakespeare Company
–
Renovated Royal Shakespeare Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon in 2011
Royal Shakespeare Company
–
Royal Shakespeare Company logo
Royal Shakespeare Company
–
Royal Shakespeare Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon in 2003
18.
Yam Kim Fai
–
Yam Kim Fai, also known as Ren Jianhui was a renowned Cantonese opera actress in China and Hong Kong. She was most notable for her ability to sing in the lower register. That her opera voice was indistinguishable from a male one allowed her to either male or female roles. On 24 June 1972, Yam performed the last time in public and they did not expect to see her in a 2-piece set of jacket and qipao with floral print. Since 1972, Yam enjoyed singing in private with a band and was often accompanied by her protégée Loong who would read the lyrics out for her until her eyesight improved with surgery. On 11 July 1976, Miss Universe 1976, the 25th Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Lee Theatre in Hong Kong. From five portraits, contestants were asked to one that she/they could identify, as the only actress instead of an actor. Yam was not the one she/they picked, in 1989, she died at home in Hong Kong due to pleural effusion. Yam had a will drawn up and left her estate to families, born Yam Lee Chor, Yam performed as a past-time with a Cantonese opera troupe since when still in grade school. When Yam was 14, her aunt, another Cantonese opera actress, taught Yam the foundation courses. Very soon, Yam quit school and began her formal opera performance studies with Wong Lui Hap, after the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wong worked with Luo Pinchao in Hong Kong at some point. Although they never co-operated again once the contract expired, Yam provided for Wong, a working poor in modern language. Jade Flower was one of the very first co-stars as female leads on stage, rooftop theatres were for all-female troupes since the time of Lee Suet Fong who formed the all-female troupe which she left when married in 1923. Lee basically set a bar for all female leads that only Fong Yim Fun had come close in a century, since the first top four all-female troupes, female leads became less noteworthy as the actresses in male lead roles. Male and female performers were not often in same troupe until after Japan took Guangdong, reputation of all-female troupe was not as good as that of all-male troupe. Yam mentioned that male leads were called sissy in the street while the jingles below reflects the sentiments about those troupes. Many troupes with male performers followed her first own with Tsui Yan Sam as co-star not long since Yam was initially hired to perform in a theatre built in greyhound racing stadium. Co-stars also included other actresses at times as and when Yam saw fit, co-stars had always been replaceable to her
Yam Kim Fai
–
Yam Kim Fai (left)
19.
TVB
–
Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, was founded as the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on 19 November 1967 and it has a staff of about 4,500. It is still referred to with that name, although there is more than one terrestrial television station now. The companys previous chairman was Sir Run Run Shaw, TVBs headquarters is Asias largest commercial television production centre. TVB currently operates five channels in Hong Kong, TVB Jade. TVB relaunched its service in 2014 under a new brand. TVB Network Visions channel are carried by PCCW NowTV service because of an agreement dating from the pay-TV networks inception. Network Vision is run by veteran TVB executive, Felix To, TVB reaches out to the Overseas Chinese communities. In Taiwan, TVB operates through its TVBS subsidiary, many of Hong Kongs film and pop stars started their careers at the station through drama series produced by TVB. Special TVB events such as the annual TVB Anniversary Celebration are broadcast to planetary audience, TVB also runs talent programmes such as the annual Miss Hong Kong and Miss Chinese International beauty pageants. Successful contestants may be offered TVBs contracts and represent Hong Kong to take part at world-class beauty contests, TVB dominates most of the television market in Hong Kong, but it is not considered the powerhouse it used to be. One of the first shows launched was Enjoy Yourself Tonight in 1967, TVB receives praise for its programming from a wide range of demographics, including the middle class, as was the case with its 2004 historical drama series War and Beauty. Its programme line-up features a stream of soap operas, variety shows. TVB has been criticised for signing contracts with many local celebrities which restrict them from appearing on other local television stations. Hong Kongs Cable T. V. claims it is unfair competition, in fact, many artists do not have exclusive contracts with TVB and are free to show up in programmes produced by other local television stations or out-sourcing production houses. The annual TVB Music Awards ceremony is one of the biggest for Cantopop personalities and it ruled that three TVB staff members under scrutiny were not guilty. Afterwards, TVB reformed its music programmes in a bid to reestablish their authority, on the other hand, TVB was awarded the National Association of Broadcasterss International Broadcasting Excellence Award in 2001. The award recognised the companys outstanding contributions to the community through a range of charitable programmes and activities
TVB
–
TVB Clear Water Bay headquarters in 2002
20.
Louise Lee
–
Louise Lee Si-kei is a Hong Kong actress and former Chinese Canadian newscaster. Louise was crowned in 1968 when she competed in the Hong Kong Princess beauty pageant, li left Hong Kong in the 1980s and briefly was a news anchor at Torontos Chinavision Canada station. She left Canada and returned to Hong Kong to resume her career with TVB. In 2007, she won the coveted Best Actress award in the 40th TVB Anniversary Awards for her role as Ling Hau in Heart of Greed. In 2008, she won the “My Favourite Female Character at the 41st TVB Anniversary Awards for her role as Chung Siu-Hor in Moonlight Resonance, at the 2010 TVB Anniversary Awards, she won the Lifetime Acting Achievement Award, being the first to win 3 major awards. In December 2014, Louise ended her contract with TVB with her last appearance in Romantic Repertoire as Lin Sau-Fong and she will be pursuing acting roles in Mainland China in the future. Louise was treated for cancer and continues to live in Hong Kong and her daughter is Toronto radio DJ Leslie Yip with A1 Chinese Radio. She is a Christian and a member of Artistes Christian Fellowship, astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards 2008 - Top 12 Favourite Characters Award - one of the character won in the category, as Ling Hau in Heart of Greed too. Louise Lee at the Internet Movie Database
Louise Lee
–
Louise Lee
21.
Zhong Kui
–
Zhong Kui is a figure of Chinese mythology. According to folklore, Zhong Kui travelled with Du Ping, a friend from his hometown, though Zhong achieved top honours in the exams, his title of zhuangyuan was stripped by the emperor because of his disfigured appearance. In anger, Zhong Kui committed suicide upon the steps by hurtling himself against the palace gate until his head was broken. During his judgment, the Hell King saw potential in Zhong, intelligent enough to score top honors in the imperial examinations, but damned to hell because he committed suicide. The Hell King then gave him the title, as king of ghosts, forever to hunt, capture, maintain, after Zhong became king of ghosts in Hell, he returned to his hometown on Chinese New Years Eve. To repay Du Pings kindness, Zhong Kui gave his sister in marriage to Du. Zhong Kuis popularity in folklore can be traced to the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China, according to Song Dynasty sources, once the Emperor Xuanzong was gravely ill. He had a dream in which he saw two ghosts, the smaller of the ghosts stole a purse from imperial consort Yang Guifei and a flute belonging to the emperor. The larger ghost, wearing the hat of an official, captured the smaller ghost, tore out his eye and he then introduced himself as Zhong Kui. He said that he had sworn to rid the empire of evil, when the emperor awoke, he had recovered from his illness. So he commissioned the court painter Wu Daozi to produce an image of Zhong Kui to show to the officials and this was highly influential to later representations of Zhong. Zhong Kui is the character in the TV series Heavenly Ghost Catcher Zhong Kui is a playable character in the game SMITE. Chinese Buddhism Feng shui Taoism SHŌKI 鍾馗 - The demon queller, the true version including the Japanese interpretation
Zhong Kui
–
Zhong Kui the Demon killer
Zhong Kui
–
The painting Zhong Kui the Demon Queller with Five Bats from the
Ming dynasty
Zhong Kui
–
A detail of "Shōki zu" (Shōki striding), by
Okumura Masanobu in
pillar print format, c. 1741–1751.
Zhong Kui
–
Hanging scroll " Deity " Zhong Kui the Demon Queller. Ink and Colours on Paper.
22.
Project Gutenberg
–
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. It was founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital library, most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The project tries to make these as free as possible, in long-lasting, as of 3 October 2015, Project Gutenberg reached 50,000 items in its collection. The releases are available in plain text but, wherever possible, other formats are included, such as HTML, PDF, EPUB, MOBI, most releases are in the English language, but many non-English works are also available. There are multiple affiliated projects that are providing additional content, including regional, Project Gutenberg is also closely affiliated with Distributed Proofreaders, an Internet-based community for proofreading scanned texts. Project Gutenberg was started by Michael Hart in 1971 with the digitization of the United States Declaration of Independence, Hart, a student at the University of Illinois, obtained access to a Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer in the universitys Materials Research Lab. Through friendly operators, he received an account with an unlimited amount of computer time. Hart has said he wanted to back this gift by doing something that could be considered to be of great value. His initial goal was to make the 10,000 most consulted books available to the public at little or no charge and this particular computer was one of the 15 nodes on ARPANET, the computer network that would become the Internet. Hart believed that computers would one day be accessible to the general public and he used a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence in his backpack, and this became the first Project Gutenberg e-text. He named the project after Johannes Gutenberg, the fifteenth century German printer who propelled the movable type printing press revolution, by the mid-1990s, Hart was running Project Gutenberg from Illinois Benedictine College. More volunteers had joined the effort, all of the text was entered manually until 1989 when image scanners and optical character recognition software improved and became more widely available, which made book scanning more feasible. Hart later came to an arrangement with Carnegie Mellon University, which agreed to administer Project Gutenbergs finances, as the volume of e-texts increased, volunteers began to take over the projects day-to-day operations that Hart had run. Starting in 2004, an online catalog made Project Gutenberg content easier to browse, access. Project Gutenberg is now hosted by ibiblio at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Italian volunteer Pietro Di Miceli developed and administered the first Project Gutenberg website and started the development of the Project online Catalog. In his ten years in this role, the Project web pages won a number of awards, often being featured in best of the Web listings, Hart died on 6 September 2011 at his home in Urbana, Illinois at the age of 64. In 2000, a corporation, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Long-time Project Gutenberg volunteer Gregory Newby became the foundations first CEO, also in 2000, Charles Franks founded Distributed Proofreaders, which allowed the proofreading of scanned texts to be distributed among many volunteers over the Internet
Project Gutenberg
–
Michael Hart (left) and Gregory Newby (right) of Project Gutenberg, 2006
Project Gutenberg
–
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
–
Formats
23.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
24.
History of the Yuan dynasty
–
The Yuan dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China and Mongolia established by Kublai Khan and a khanate of the Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol Empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese, but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he made the city of Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu, his capital. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols. There were 4 Han Tumens and 3 Khitan Tumens, with each Tumen consisting of 10,000 troops, Shi Tianze was a Han Chinese who lived in the Jin dynasty. Interethnic marriage between Han and Jurchen became common at this time, Shi Bingzhi was married to a Jurchen woman and a Han Chinese woman, it is unknown which of them was Shi Tianzes mother. Shi Tianze was married to two Jurchen women, a Han Chinese woman, and a Korean woman, and his son Shi Gang was born to one of his Jurchen wives. His Jurchen wives surnames were Mo-nien and Na-ho, his Korean wifes surname was Li, Shi Tianze defected to the Mongol Empires forces upon their invasion of the Jin dynasty. His son Shi Gang married a Kerait woman, the Kerait were Mongolified Turkic people, the Yuan dynasty created a Han Army out of defected Jin troops and army of defected Song troops called the Newly Submitted Army. Möngke Khan commenced a campaign against the Chinese Song dynasty in southern China. The Mongol force which invaded southern China was far greater than the force sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. He died in 1259 without a successor, Kublai returned from fighting the Song in 1260 when he learned that his brother, Ariq Böke, was challenging his claim to the throne. Kublai convened a kurultai in the Chinese city of Kaiping that elected him Great Khan, a rival kurultai in Mongolia proclaimed Ariq Böke Great Khan, beginning a civil war. Kublai Khan depended on the cooperation of his Chinese subjects to ensure that his army received ample resources and he bolstered his popularity among his subjects by modeling his government on the bureaucracy of traditional Chinese dynasties and adopting the Chinese era name of Zhongtong
History of the Yuan dynasty
–
Seal of the Ilkhan Ghazan in a 1302 letter to
Pope Boniface VIII.
History of the Yuan dynasty
–
History of China
History of the Yuan dynasty
–
Kublai Khan,
Genghis Khan 's grandson and founder of the Yuan dynasty
History of the Yuan dynasty
–
Yuan dynasty
banknote with its printing plate, 1287.
25.
Division of the Mongol Empire
–
The four khanates each pursued their own separate interests and objectives, and fell at different times. Möngke Khans brother Hulagu Khan broke off his military advance into Syria, withdrawing the bulk of his forces to Mughan. In 1260, the Mamluks advanced from Egypt, being allowed to camp and resupply near the Christian stronghold of Acre, the Mongols were defeated, and Kitbuqa was executed. This pivotal battle marked the limit for Mongol expansion, as the Mongols were never again able to make any serious military advances farther than Syria. In a separate part of the empire, another brother of Hulagu and Möngke, Kublai Khan, rather than returning to the capital, he continued his advance into the Wuchang area of China, near the Yangtze River. Battles ensued between the armies of Kublai and those of his brother Ariqboke, which included forces still loyal to Möngkes previous administration, Kublais army easily eliminated Ariqbokes supporters and seized control of the civil administration in southern Mongolia. Further challenges took place from their cousins, the Chagataids, Kublai sent Abishka, a Chagataid prince loyal to him, to take charge of Chagatais realm. But Ariqboke captured and then executed Abishka, having his own man Alghu crowned there instead, Kublais new administration blockaded Ariqboke in Mongolia to cut off food supplies, causing a famine. Karakorum fell quickly to Kublai, but Ariqboke rallied and re-took the capital in 1261. In the southwestern Ilkhanate, Hulagu was loyal to his brother Kublai, but clashes with their cousin Berke, Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks against Hulagu and supported Kublais rival claimant, Ariqboke. Hulagu died on February 8,1264, Berke sought to take advantage and invade Hulagus realm, but he died along the way, and a few months later Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate died as well. Kublai named Hulagus son Abaqa as a new Ilkhan, and Abaqa sought foreign alliances, Kublai nominated Batus grandson Möngke Temür to lead the Golden Horde. Ariqboqe surrendered to Kublai at Shangdu on August 21,1264, the establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan accelerated the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire fractured into four khanates including the Yuan dynasty, the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, in 1304, a peace treaty among the khanates established the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty over the western khanates. However, this supremacy was based on nothing like the foundations as that of the earlier Khagans. Conflicts such as border clashes among them continued, an example would be the Esen Buqa–Ayurbarwada war occurred in the 1310s. Each of the four continued to function as separate states. The transition of the capital of the Mongol Empire to Khanbaliq by Kublai Khan in 1264 was opposed by many Mongols, thus, Ariq Bökes struggle was for keeping the center of the Empire in Mongolia homeland
Division of the Mongol Empire
–
The Mongols at war.
Division of the Mongol Empire
–
Fragmentation of the
Mongol Empire
Division of the Mongol Empire
–
Kublai Khan,
Genghis Khan 's grandson and founder of the Yuan dynasty.
Division of the Mongol Empire
–
A Yuan dynasty
jade belt plaque featuring carved designs of a
dragon.
26.
Toluid Civil War
–
The Toluid Civil War was fought between Kublai Khan and his younger brother, Ariq Böke, from 1260 to 1264. Möngke Khan died in 1259 with no declared successor, precipitating infighting between members of the Tolui family line for the title of Great Khan that escalated to a civil war. The Toluid Civil War, and the wars that followed it, weakened the authority of the Great Khan over the Mongol Empire, the Tolui family successfully enthroned their candidate for Great Khan, Möngke, in the kurultais of 1250 and 1251. The Ögedeid candidate for Great Khan, Shiremun, and his cousin Nakhu, were embittered by their loss, Möngke took revenge by purging his opponents in the royal house, and members of both the Chagatai and Ögedei families. Möngke handed control over the Caucasus region to the Golden Horde in 1252, with the approval of Möngke, Berke succeeded his brother, Batu, as Khan of the Golden Horde in Russia in 1255. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate seized control of the Caucasus from the Golden Horde, and his sacking of Baghdad in 1258 angered Berke, Möngke Khan died in 1259 without appointing a successor. He likely favored Ariq Böke, whom Möngke designated in 1258 as commander of Karakorum, Kublai Khan was campaigning against the southern Song in 1260 when he received news that Ariq Böke was challenging him for the succession of the throne. Ariq Böke formed alliances with powerful members of the Mongol nobility to endorse him as a candidate for Great Khan, most of Möngkes immediate family supported Ariq Böke. Kublai withdrew from the Song and mobilized his troops to fight Ariq Böke, in China, Kublai summoned a kurultai at Kaiping, where he was elected Great Khan. This was the first kurultai to proclaim a Great Khan outside the Mongol homeland or Central Asia, Ariq Böke convened his own kurultai in Karakorum that proclaimed him Great Khan a month later, creating two rival claimants for the throne. Hulagu embarked for Mongolia to attend the kurultai, but the Mamluk defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut forced him to back to the Middle East. Berke capitalized on the Mamluk victory by invading the Ilkhanate, beginning the Berke–Hulagu war, Ariq Böke allied with Berke Khan of the Golden Horde and Alghu of the Chagatai Khanate. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate was the ally of Kublai Khan. Berke supported Ariq Böke because he was resentful of Hulagu, who had ties with Kublai. Hulagu and Berke, however, became occupied with their own war, Kublai had access to supplies from the fertile lands of China, while Ariq Böke had to import resources to Karakorum in the semi-arid steppes. Kublai Khan depended on supplies from China and therefore needed Chinese popular support to win the civil war. Kublai ingratiated himself to his subjects with the help of his Chinese advisers and he presented himself as a sage emperor capable of uniting the Chinese, and Ariq Böke as a destructive usurper. Kublai promised to reduce taxes, modeled his government institutions to resemble those of the Chinese dynasties, and adopted the era name of Zhongtong and his policies were popular in northern China, but had no impact on his relations with the Southern Song
Toluid Civil War
–
Kublai Khan (left) and
Ariq Böke (right) fought a civil war for the title of Great Khan
Toluid Civil War
Toluid Civil War
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Ariq Böke's victory against Alghu
27.
Mongol invasion of China
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The Mongol invasion of China was a series of major military efforts by the Mongols to invade China proper. It spanned six decades in the 13th century and involved the defeat of the Jin dynasty, Western Xia, the Dali Kingdom, the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan started the conquest with small-scale raids into Western Xia in 1205 and 1207. By 1279, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan had established the Yuan dynasty in China and crushed the last Song resistance and this was the first time in history that the whole of China was conquered and subsequently ruled by a foreign or non-native ruler. In the early 1200s, Temujin, soon to be Genghis Khan, began consolidating his power in Mongolia. Following the death of the Kerait leader Ong Khan to Temujins emerging Mongol Empire in 1203, Keriat leader Nilqa Senggum led a band of followers into Western Xia. However, after his adherents took to plundering the locals, Nilqa Senggum was expelled from Western Xia territory, using his rival Nilga Senggums temporary refuge in Western Xia as a pretext, Temujin launched a raid against the state in 1205 in the Edsin region. The Mongols plundered border settlements and one local Western Xia noble accepted Mongol supremacy, the next year,1206, Temujin was formally proclaimed Genghis Khan, ruler of all the Mongols, marking the official start of the Mongol Empire. In 1207, Genghis led another raid into Western Xia, invading the Ordo region and sacking Wuhai, in 1209, the Genghis undertook a larger campaign to secure the submission of Western Xia. The Mongols, at this point inexperienced at siege warfare, attempted to out the city by diverting the Yellow River. After their defeat in 1210, Western Xia served as vassals to the Mongol Empire for almost a decade. In 1219, Genghis Khan launched his campaign against the Khwarazmian dynasty in Central Asia, and requested military aid from Western Xia. However, the emperor and his military commander Asha refused to part in the campaign, stating that if Genghis had too few troops to attack Khwarazm. Infuriated, Genghis swore vengeance and left to invade Khwarazm, while Western Xia attempted alliances with the Jin, after defeating Khwarazm in 1221, Genghis prepared his armies to punish Western Xia for their betrayal, and in 1225 he attacked with a force of approximately 180,000. After taking Khara-Khoto, the Mongols began a steady advance southward, enraged by Western Xias fierce resistance, Genghis engaged the countryside in annihilative warfare and ordered his generals to systematically destroy cities and garrisons as they went. In August 1226, Mongol troops approached Wuwei, the second-largest city of the Western Xia empire, in Autumn 1226, Genghis took Liangchow, crossed the Helan Shan desert, and in November lay siege to Lingwu, a mere 30 kilometers from Yinchuan. Here, in the Battle of Yellow River, the Mongols destroyed a force of 300,000 Western Xia that launched a counter-attack against them, Yinchuan lay besieged for about six months, after which Genghis opened up peace negotiations while secretly planning to kill the emperor. However, in August 1227, Genghis died of an uncertain cause. In September 1227, Emperor Mozhu surrendered to the Mongols and was promptly executed, the Mongols then mercilessly pillaged Yinchuan, slaughtered the citys population, plundered the imperial tombs west of the city, and completed the effective annihilation the Western Xia state
Mongol invasion of China
–
One of major battles at the Badger Mouth during the
Mongol–Jin War.
Mongol invasion of China
–
The siege of Zhongdu (modern
Beijing) in 1213–14.
28.
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
–
The Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty under Kublai Khan was the final step for the Mongols to rule the whole of China under the Yuan dynasty. It is also considered the Mongol Empires last great military achievement, although Genghis Khan refused, on his death in 1227 he bequeathed a plan to attack the Jin capital by passing through Song territory. Subsequently, a Mongol ambassador was killed by the Song governor in uncertain circumstances, before receiving any explanation, the Mongols marched through Song territory to enter the Jins redoubt in Henan. In 1233 the Song dynasty finally became an ally of the Mongols, Song general Meng Gong defeated the Jin general Wu Xian and directed his troops to besiege the city of Caizhou, to which the last emperor of the Jurchen had fled. With the help of the Mongols, the Song armies were able to extinguish the Jin dynasty that had occupied northern China for more than a century. Thus the Mongol troops, headed by sons of the Ögedei Khan, started their slow and this combination resulted in one of the most difficult and prolonged wars of the Mongol conquests. A greater amount of resistance was put up by Korea. The Mongol force which invaded southern China was far greater than the force sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. Many Han Chinese defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded three Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols. There were 4 Han Tumens, with each Tumen consisting of 10,000 troops, the four Han Generals Zhang Rou, Yan Shi, Shi Tianze, and Liu Heima commanded the four Han tumens under Ogödei Khan. Shi Tianze was a Han Chinese who lived in the Jin dynasty, interethnic marriage between Han and Jurchen became common at this time. Shi Bingzhi was married to a Jurchen woman and a Han Chinese woman, Shi Tianze was married to two Jurchen women, a Han Chinese woman, and a Korean woman, and his son Shi Gang was born to one of his Jurchen wives. His Jurchen wives surnames were Mo-nien and Na-ho, his Korean wifes surname was Li, Shi Tianze defected to the Mongol Empires forces upon their invasion of the Jin dynasty. His son Shi Gang married a Kerait woman, the Kerait were Mongolified Turkic people and considered as part of the Mongol nation. Shi Tianze, Zhang Rou, and Yan Shi and other high ranking Chinese who served in the Jin dynasty, Chagaan and Zhang Rou jointly launched an attack on the Song dynasty ordered by Töregene Khatun. The Yuan dynasty created a Han Army out of defected Jin troops, in the early spring of 1227, Genghis Khan ordered a small fraction of the army to advance into Songs Circuit of Lizhou, in the name of attacking Jīn and W. Xia. The five zhous of Jie（階）, Feng （鳳）, Cheng（成）, He （和）, then the Mongols moved southward and seized Wénzhou（文州）
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
–
Southern Song before Mongol World conquests
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
–
Emperor Lizong of Song
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
–
Mongol warrior on horseback, preparing a mounted archery shot.
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
–
Kublai Khan, the
Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of the
Yuan dynasty. Painting from 1294.
29.
Battle of Xiangyang
–
The Battle of Xiangyang was a key battle between the invading Mongols of the Yuan dynasty and Southern Song forces from AD1267 to 1273. After the battle, the victorious Yuan forces pushed farther into the Song heartland, previously for 30 years, the Song dynasty managed to handle several major offensives by the Mongol Empire. The strategic significance of Xiangyang came from the fact that it was in a position dominating the Han river, once the Yuan forces occupied Xiangyang, they could travel by ships down the Han river into the Yangtze river. The battle consisted of skirmishes, ground assault, and the siege of the fortified cities of Fancheng and Xiangyang in modern-day Hubei. Lü Wenhuan, commander-in-chief of the Southern Song dynasty, surrendered to Kublai Khan in 1273, the conventional use of Mongolian cavalry was restricted by the woody terrain and numerous military outposts of the Southern Song dynasty. The use of the counterweight trebuchet by the Mongols proved especially effective. Before the rule of Kublai Khan, the Mongols had launched military campaigns as far as Eastern Europe, however, the Song dynasty was difficult to conquer because of the strategic location of Xiangyang, which became a vital position for Kublai to capture and hold. The city guarded the waterways of South China because the Han River was a tributary into the Yangtze River. Once the city fell, the Mongols obtained easy access into important Southern cities in China, the Southern Song knew the importance of this vital spot, and treated the defense of Xiangyang as important as their capital. The city was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a river on one side, Song stored massive amount of supplies inside the fortress, as preparation for long sieges. They also built walls and towers on all four sides of the fortress. Each entrance of the fortress had at least two layers of walls, used to trap enemy sieging forces inside, in 1133, the famous Song general Yue Fei led many successful campaigns against the Jin dynasty, in the Xiangyang area. From there, he pushed the Jin army back north as far as Kaifeng, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols under the leadership of Ögedei. At that time, Mongols and the Southern Song dynasty were allies, after that, the two former allies did not have any common enemy. The Song killed Mongol envoys and attempted to invade the Mongol territories, Xiangyang surrendered to the army of the Mongol Empire without resistance in 1236. But the Mongols voluntarily left the city after it was held by them in 1236-38. The twin cities of Xiangyang-Fenchang, with walls almost 5 kilometers around and 200,000 people, the Mongolian cavalry were lured in Xiangyang where they were slaughtered by the Song defenders due to the fortress double layered wall design. When a Mongol contingent entered the entrance of the fortress, the Mongol forces would be slaughtered to the last man, Mongols lifted the siege of Xiangyang
Battle of Xiangyang
–
Illustration of a Hinged Counterweight
Trebuchet Prepped for Transit from the
Wujing Zongyao, late Ming (Wanli Period) edition
Battle of Xiangyang
–
Illustration of a Xuanfengwupao (旋風五砲) from the Wujing Zongyao
Battle of Xiangyang
–
Chuangzi Nu
Battle of Xiangyang
–
A city under Mongol siege. From the illuminated manuscript of
Rashid al-Din 's
Jami al-Tawarikh. Edinburgh University Library.
30.
Battle of Yamen
–
The naval Battle of Yamen took place on 19 March 1279 and is considered to be the last stand of the Song dynasty against the invading Mongol Yuan dynasty. Although outnumbered 10,1, the Yuan navy delivered a crushing tactical and strategic victory, today, the battle site is located at Yamen, in Xinhui County, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, China. In 1276, the Southern Song court, in their rush to flee the city of Linan to avoid Mongol invaders approaching Fuzhou. Hopes of resistance centered on two young princes, Gongs brothers, the older boy, Zhao Shi, who was nine years old, was declared emperor. In 1277, when Fuzhou fell to the Mongols, the dynasty fled to Quanzhou, where Zhang Shijie. However, the Muslim merchant Fu Shougeng refused their request, prompting Zhang to confiscate Fus properties, in fury, Fu slaughtered the imperial clan and many officials in Quanzhou and surrendered to the Yuan, strengthening the Mongols naval power. At this point of the war it was obvious the Song did not stand a chance when fighting the Yuan head-on, Zhang Shijie decided to build a vast fleet with what remained, to allow the Song court and soldiers to move from place to place until the situation improved. The Song court sailed to Guangdong from Quanzhou, however, Zhao Shis boat capsized in a storm on the way to Leizhou. Although he survived, he fell ill because of this ordeal, the imperial court later sought refuge in Lantau Islands Mui Wo, where Emperor Zhao Shi eventually died, he was succeeded by his younger sibling, Zhao Bing, who was seven. Zhang Shijie brought the new emperor to Yamen and prepared the defense against the Yuan there, in 1278 Wen Tianxiang, who had fought against the Yuan in Guangdong and Jiangxi, was captured by Wang Weiyi in Haifeng County, eliminating all the Song land forces nearby. In 1279 Zhang Hongfan of the Yuan attacked the Song navy in Yamen, li Heng, who previously had captured Guangzhou, reinforced Zhang Hongfan. Some within the Song forces suggested that the navy should first claim the mouth of the bay, Zhang Shijie turned down this suggestion in order to prevent his soldiers from fleeing the battle. He then ordered the burning of all palaces, houses and forts on land for the same reason, Zhang Shijie ordered about 1000 warships to be chained together, forming a long string within the bay, and placed Emperor Huaizongs boat in the center of his fleet. This was done to prevent individual Song ships from fleeing the battle, the Yuan forces steered fire ships into the Song formation, but the Song ships were prepared for such an attack, all Song ships had been painted with fire-resistant mud. The Yuan navy then blockaded the bay, while the Yuan army cut off Songs fresh water, the Song side, with many non-combatants, soon ran out of supplies. The Song soldiers were forced to eat dry foods and drink sea water, causing nausea, Zhang Hongfan even kidnapped Zhang Shijies nephew, asking Zhang Shijie to surrender on three occasions, to no avail. In the afternoon of 18 March Zhang Hongfan prepared for a massive assault, the employment of cannons was turned down because Hongfan felt that cannons could break the chains of the formation too effectively, making it easy for the Song ships to retreat. The next day Zhang Hongfan split his forces into four parts, one each of the Songs east, north
Battle of Yamen
–
A park in commemoration of the battle in
Xinhui,
Jiangmen,
Guangdong
