1.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
2.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
3.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
4.
Yinxu
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Yinxu is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script. Yinxu was discovered, or rediscovered, in 1899, it is one of Chinas oldest and largest archeological sites, Yinxu is located in northernmost Henan province near the modern city of Anyang, and near the Hebei and Shanxi province borders. Public access to the site is permitted, in the Book of Documents, the Pan Geng chapter, describes King Pan Geng moving the capital of the Shang dynasty. According to the Historical Records of Sima Qian, Pan Geng moved his capital from the north of the Yellow River to Bo 亳, according to the Bamboo Annals, he moved the capital from Yān, to a site called Běimĕng and Yīn. The name Yin is an ancient term referring to vibrant music-making, from that point on the dynasty would also be known as the Yin dynasty. According to the accounts, later rulers became pleasure-seekers who took no interest in state affairs. King Zhòu, the last of the Shang dynasty kings, is remembered for his ruthlessness. His increasingly autocratic laws alienated the nobility until King Wu of the Zhou dynasty was able to gain the support to rise up, the Zhou dynasty established their capital at Fenghao near modern-day Xian and Yin was abandoned to fall into ruin. Thereafter the once-great city of Yin was relegated to legend along with its founding dynasty until the years of the Qing dynasty. Yinxu is famous for its bones, which were first discovered in 1899 by Wang Yirong. Director Wang was suffering from malaria at the time and was prescribed Longgu 龍骨 at a traditional Chinese pharmacy and he noticed strange carvings on these bones and concluded that these could be samples of China’s earliest writing. He sent his assistant in search of the source of these bones, in 1917, Wang Guowei deciphered the oracle bone inscriptions of the names of the Shang kings and constructed a complete Shang genealogy. This closely matched that in the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian confirming the authenticity of the legendary Shang dynasty. However, the oracle bone inscriptions record the name of the state as Dàyìshāng or Shāngyì, the first excavations at Yinxu were led by the archeologist Li Ji of the Institute of History and Philosophy from 1928-37. They uncovered the remains of a palace, several royal tombs. One of the largest and oldest sites of Chinese archaeology, excavations here have laid the foundation for work across the country, four periods are recognized at the site. From these remains archaeologists have been able to confirm that this was the spiritual and cultural center of the Shang dynasty, the best preserved of the Shang dynasty royal tombs unearthed at Yinxu is the Tomb of Fu Hao
5.
Shang dynasty
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The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project dated them from c.1600 to 1046 BC, the Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history supported by archaeological evidence. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, the Anyang site has yielded the earliest known body of Chinese writing, mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones – turtle shells, ox scapulae, or other bones. More than 20,000 were discovered in the scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, many events concerning the Shang dynasty are mentioned in various Chinese classics, including the Book of Documents, the Mencius and the Zuo Zhuan. Working from all the documents, the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian assembled a sequential account of the Shang dynasty as part of his Records of the Grand Historian. His history describes some events in detail, while in other cases only the name of a king is given, a closely related, but slightly different, account is given by the Bamboo Annals. The Annals were interred in 296 BC, but the text has a complex history, the name Yīn is used by Sima Qian for the dynasty, and in the current text version of the Bamboo Annals for both the dynasty and its final capital. It has been a name for the Shang throughout history. Since the Records of Emperors and Kings by Huangfu Mi, it has often used specifically to describe the later half of the Shang dynasty. In Japan and Korea, the Shang are still referred to almost exclusively as the Yin dynasty, however it seems to have been a Zhou name for the earlier dynasty. The word does not appear in the bones, which refer to the state as Shāng. It also does not appear in securely-dated Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, xie is said to have helped Yu the Great to control the Great Flood and for his service to have been granted a place called Shang as a fief. Sima Qian relates that the dynasty itself was founded 13 generations later, when Xies descendant Tang overthrew the impious and cruel final Xia ruler in the Battle of Mingtiao. The Records recount events from the reigns of Tang, Tai Jia, Tai Wu, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, Wu Yi and the final king Di Xin. According to the Records, the Shang moved their capital five times, Di Xin, the last Shang king, is said to have committed suicide after his army was defeated by Wu of Zhou. Legends say that his army and his equipped slaves betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in the decisive Battle of Muye, according to the Yi Zhou Shu and Mencius the battle was very bloody
6.
Anyang
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Anyang is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It has a population of 5,172,834 as of the 2010 census,2,025,811 of whom live in the metropolitan area made of 4 urban districts. Xiaonanhai, on the far edge of the city, was home to prehistoric cavemen during the Stone Age. Over 7,000 artifacts have been unearthed here, representing what has been dubbed the Xiaonanhai culture, around 2000 BC, the legendary sage-kings Zhuanxu and Emperor Ku are said to have established their capitals in the area around Anyang from where they ruled their kingdoms. Their mausoleums are today situated in Sanyang village south of Neihuang County, at the beginning of the 14th century BC, King Pangeng of the Shang Dynasty established his capital 2 km north of the modern city on the banks of the Huan River. The city, known as Yin, was the first stable capital in Chinese history, Anyangs Tangyin County was the seat of Yue Village, birthplace of the famous Song Dynasty general, Yue Fei. This was also the home of Zhou Tong, Yues military arts tutor. Following the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Anyang was given its present name after a renaming process. In August 1949, Anyang prefecture was detached from Henan and – along with Puyang and Xinxiang – consigned to the short lived experimental province of Pingyuan by the ruling Communist government, all three were eventually returned to Henans territory in November 1953, with the dissolution of Pingyuan. Anyang has an administrative area of 7,413 square kilometres. The city actually lies on the border between steppe and the North China Plain, and as such, it has a four-season, monsoon-influenced climate, winters are cold and very dry, with a January 24-hour average of −0.9 °C. Summers are hot and humid, with July averaging 27.0 °C, a majority of the annual precipitation of 557 millimetres falls in July and August alone, and the annual mean temperature is 14.11 °C. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 43% in July to 58% in May, extreme temperatures have ranged from −21.7 °C to 43.2 °C. The prefecture-level city of Anyang administers 4 districts,1 county-level city and 4 counties, sixteen foreign-funded enterprises have been established. A multichannel, all-round foreign relations and trade network has set up to lay a foundation for developing Anyangs economy. Anyang city is an ancient city with a history of over 3,000 years and is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China and it is one of the key birthplaces of Chinese ancient culture. The city has three museums, the Anyang Museum, the National Museum of Chinese Writing, and the Yinxu Museum on the ruins
7.
Henan
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Henan is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is 豫, named after Yuzhou, a Han Dynasty state that parts of Henan. Although the name of the province south of the river, approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou which literally means central plain land or midland, although the name is also applied to the entirety of China proper. Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 3,000 years of recorded history, and remained Chinas cultural, economical, numerous heritages have been left behind including the ruins of Shang Dynasty capital city Yin and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng, with an area of 167,000 km2, Henan covers a large part of the fertile and densely populated North China Plain. Its neighbouring provinces are Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Henan is Chinas third most populous province with a population of over 94 million. If it were a country by itself, Henan would be the 12th most populous country in the world, behind Mexico, Henan is the 5th largest provincial economy of China and the largest among inland provinces. However, per capita GDP is low compared to eastern and central provinces. The economy continues to depend on its dwindling aluminum and coal reserves, as well as agriculture, heavy industry, tourism, high-tech industry and service sector is underdeveloped and is concentrated around Zhengzhou and Luoyang. Widely regarded as the Cradle of Chinese civilization along with Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, Henan is known for its historical prosperity, the economic prosperity resulted from its extensive fertile plains and its location at the heart of the country. However, its location also means that it has suffered from nearly all of the major wars in China. In addition, the floods of the Yellow River have caused significant damage from time to time. Kaifeng, in particular, has been buried by the Yellow Rivers silt seven times due to flooding, archaeological sites reveal that prehistoric cultures such as the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture were active in what is now northern Henan since the Neolithic Era. The more recent Erlitou culture has been identified with the Xia Dynasty. Virtually the entire kingdom existed within what is now north and central Henan, the Xia Dynasty collapsed around the 16th century BC following the invasion of Shang, a neighboring vassal state centered around todays Shangqiu in eastern Henan. The Shang Dynasty was the first literate dynasty of China and its many capitals are located at the modern cities of Shangqiu, Yanshi, and Zhengzhou. Their last and most important capital, Yin, located in modern Anyang, is where the first Chinese writing was created, in the 11th century BC, the Zhou Dynasty of Shaanxi arrived from the west and overthrew the Shang Dynasty
8.
Fu Hao
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Her tomb was unearthed at Yinxu, by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang intact with treasures such as bronzes and jades. Inside the pit was evidence of a wooden chamber 5 meters long,3.5 m wide and 1.3 m high containing a wooden coffin that has since completely disintegrated. What is known is that King Wu Ding would cultivate the allegiance of neighbouring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them, Fu Hao entered the royal household through such a marriage and took advantage of the semi-matriarchal slave society to rise through the ranks. Fu Hao is known to modern scholars mainly from inscriptions on Shang dynasty oracle bone artifacts unearthed at Yinxu, in these inscriptions she is shown to have led numerous military campaigns. The Tu-Fang had fought against the Shang for generations until they were defeated by Fu Hao in a single decisive battle. Further campaigns against the neighbouring Yi, Qiang and Ba followed, with up to 13,000 soldiers and important generals Zhi and Hou Gao serving under her, she was the most powerful Shang general of her time. This highly unusual status is confirmed by the weapons, including great battle-axes. This was very unusual for a woman of that time, the sacrificial bronze vessels and tortoise shells inscribed prepared by Fu Hao discovered in her tomb further evidence her status as high priestess and oracle caster. She also controlled her own fiefdom on the borders of the empire and she died before King Wu Ding, and he constructed a tomb for her on the edge of the royal cemetery at his capital Yin. The King later made many sacrifices here in hope for her assistance in defeating the attacking Gong. The tomb was unearthed by archaeologists in 1976 and is now open to the public, tomb of Fu Hao Loewe, Michael, Shaughnessy, Edward L. The Cambridge History of Ancient China, From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC
9.
Oracle bone
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Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. Scapulimancy is the term if ox scapulae were used for the divination. Diviners would submit questions to deities regarding future weather, crop planting, the fortunes of members of the family, military endeavors. These questions were carved onto the bone or shell in oracle bone script using a sharp tool, intense heat was then applied with a metal rod until the bone or shell cracked due to thermal expansion. The diviner would then interpret the pattern of cracks and write the prognostication upon the piece as well, by the Zhou dynasty, cinnabar ink and brush had become the preferred writing method, resulting in fewer carved inscriptions and often blank oracle bones being unearthed. The oracle bones bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing, when they were discovered and deciphered in the early twentieth century, these records confirmed the existence of the Shang, which some scholars had until then doubted. The turtle shell fragments were prescribed for malaria, while the animal bones were used in powdered form to treat knife wounds. A legendary tale relates that Wang was sick with malaria, and his scholar friend Liu E was visiting him and they discovered, before it was ground into powder, that it bore strange glyphs, which they, having studied the ancient bronze inscriptions, recognized as ancient writing. As Xǔ Yǎhuì states, No one can know how many oracle bones, prior to 1899, were ground up by traditional Chinese pharmacies and disappeared into peoples stomachs. It is not known how Wang and Liu actually came across these dragon bones, although scholars tried to find their source, antique dealers falsely claimed that the bones came from Tangyin in Henan. In 1908, scholar Luo Zhenyu discovered the source of the bones near Anyang, decades of uncontrolled digs followed to fuel the antiques trade, and many of these pieces eventually entered collections in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan. The first Western collector was the American missionary Frank H. Chalfant, Chalfant also first coined the term oracle bone in his 1906 book Early Chinese Writing, which was then borrowed into Chinese as jiǎgǔ 甲骨 in the 1930s. The Canadian Presbyterian minister James Mellon Menzies bought the largest amount, the Chinese still acknowledge the pioneering contribution of Menzies as the foremost western scholar of Yin-Shang culture and oracle bone inscriptions. His former residence in Anyang was declared a Protected Treasure in 2004, the inscriptions on the oracle bones, once deciphered, turned out to be the records of the divinations performed for or by the royal household. These, together with royal-sized tombs, proved beyond a doubt for the first time the existence of the Shang dynasty, which had recently been doubted, today, Xiǎotún at Anyang is thus also known as the Ruins of Yin, or Yinxu. The Jiǎgǔwén héjí edited by Hu Houxuan, with its supplement edited by Peng Bangjiong, is the most comprehensive catalogue of oracle bone framents, the 20 volumes contain reproductions of over 55,000 fragments. A separate work contains transcriptions of the inscriptions into standard characters, the vast majority of the inscribed oracle bones were found at the Yinxu site in modern Anyang, and date to the reigns of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty. The extant inscriptions are not evenly distributed across these periods, with 55% coming from period I and 31% from periods III, a few oracle bones date to the beginning of the subsequent Zhou dynasty
10.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
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It was described by Foreign Policy magazine as the top think tank in Asia. It is affiliated with the PRCs State Council until 2017, the CASS was established in May 1977 with the aim of promoting the development of philosophy and social sciences. It was formed by separating 14 research units of the Department of Philosophy, the first president was Hu Qiaomu, and the current president is Wang Weiguang. It is also in charge of 105 national academic communities throughout China, CASS currently has over 3,200 resident scholars. CASS membership and honorary membership are both conferred for life and are the highest academic titles of the academy, there are 47 members and 95 honorary members. The China Social Sciences Press was established in June 1978 under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and has published over 8,000 books since its inception
11.
Chinese bronze inscriptions
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Early bronze inscriptions were almost always cast, while later inscriptions were often engraved after the bronze was cast. The bronze inscriptions are one of the earliest scripts in the Chinese family of scripts, for the early Western Zhou to early Warring States period, the bulk of writing which has been unearthed has been in the form of bronze inscriptions. As a result, it is common to refer to the variety of scripts of this period as bronze script, the term usually includes bronze inscriptions of the preceding Shang dynasty as well. In addition, artistic scripts also emerged in the late Spring and Autumn to early Warring States, such as Bird Script, also called Bird Seal Script, and Worm Script. 寅 Yín in Four Different Scripts on Shang–Zhou bronzes Of the abundant Chinese ritual bronze artifacts extant today and these have been periodically unearthed ever since their creation, and have been systematically collected and studied since at least the Song dynasty. Examples, Of the 12,000 inscribed bronzes extant today, roughly 3,000 date from the Shang dynasty,6,000 from the Zhou dynasty, and the final 3,000 from the Qin and Han dynasties. As in the oracle bone script, characters could be written facing left or right, turned 90 degrees, for instance, and both represent the modern character xū 戌, while and are both hóu 侯 marquis. This was true of normal as well as extra complex identificational graphs, such as the hǔ 虎 tiger clan emblem at right and these inscriptions are almost all cast, and are relatively short and simple. Western Zhou dynasty characters basically continue from the Shang writing system, although most are not pictographs in function, the early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions have been described as more pictographic in flavor than those of subsequent periods. During the Western Zhou, many begin to show signs of simplification and linearization, with the result being a decrease in pictographic quality. Some flexibility in orientation of graphs continues in the Western Zhou, the graphs start to become slightly more uniform in structure, size and arrangement by the time of the third Zhou sovereign, King Kāng, and after the ninth, King Yì, this trend becomes more obvious. Some have used the term large seal to refer to the script of this period. This term dates back to the Han dynasty, when seal script, in the Eastern Zhou, the various states initially continued using the same forms as in the late Western Zhou. However, regional forms then began to diverge stylistically as early as the Spring and Autumn period, in the same areas, in the late Spring and Autumn to early Warring States, scripts which embellished basic structures with decorative forms such as birds or worms also appeared. Some bronzes of the period were incised in a rough, casual manner and it is thought that these reflected the popular writing of the time which coexisted with the formal script. Seals have been found from the Warring States period, mostly cast in bronze and these form an additional, valuable resource for the study of Chinese bronze inscriptions. It is also from this period that the first surviving bamboo, in the early Warring States period, typical bronze inscriptions were similar in content and length to those in the late Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn period. One of the most famous sets of bronzes ever discovered dates to the early Warring States, the total length of the inscriptions on this set was almost 2,800 characters
12.
Lacquer
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The term lacquer is used for a number of hard and potentially shiny finishes applied to materials such as wood. These fall into a number of different groups. This dries to a hard and smooth surface layer which is durable, waterproof. Asian lacquer is sometimes painted with pictures, inlaid with shell and other materials, or carved, as well as dusted with gold and given other further decorative treatments. In modern techniques, lacquer means a range of clear or coloured wood finishes that dry by solvent evaporation or a process that produces a hard. The finish can be of any level from ultra matte to high gloss. It is also used for paint, which is a paint that typically dries better on a hard. Lacquer is more durable than shellac and these ultimately derive from Sanskrit lākshā, which was used for both the Lac insect and the scarlet resinous secretion it produces that was used as wood finish. Lac resin was once imported in quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. Lacquer sheen is a measurement of the shine for a given lacquer, different manufacturers have their own names and standards for their sheen. The most common names from least shiny to most shiny are, flat, matte, egg shell, satin, semi-gloss, urushiol-based lacquers differ from most others, being slow-drying, and set by oxidation and polymerization, rather than by evaporation alone. In order for it to set properly it requires a humid, the phenols oxidize and polymerize under the action of an enzyme laccase, yielding a substrate that, upon proper evaporation of its water content, is hard. These lacquers produce very hard, durable finishes that are beautiful and very resistant to damage by water, acid, alkali or abrasion. The active ingredient of the resin is urushiol, a mixture of various phenols suspended in water, the resin is derived from a tree indigenous to China, species Toxicodendron vernicifluum, commonly known as the Lacquer Tree. The fresh resin from the T. vernicifluum trees causes urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, the Chinese treated the allergic reaction with crushed shellfish, which supposedly prevents lacquer from drying properly. Lacquer skills became very highly developed in Asia, and many highly decorated pieces were produced, the earliest extant lacquer object, a red wooden bowl, was unearthed at a Hemudu culture site in China. By the Han Dynasty, many centres of production became firmly established. The knowledge of the Chinese methods of the process spread from China during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, eventually it was introduced to Korea, Japan, Southeast
13.
Liangzhu culture
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The Liangzhu culture was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. The culture was highly stratified, as jade, silk, ivory and lacquer artifacts were found exclusively in elite burials and this division of class indicates that the Liangzhu Period was an early state, symbolized by the clear distinction drawn between social classes in funeral structures. A pan-regional urban center had emerged at the Liangzhu city-site and elite groups from this site presided over the local centers, the Liangzhu culture was extremely influential and its sphere of influence reached as far north as Shanxi and as far south as Guangdong. The type site at Liangzhu was discovered in Yuhang County, Zhejiang, a 2007 analysis of the DNA recovered from human remains shows high frequencies of Haplogroup O1 in Liangzhu culture linking this culture to modern Austronesian and Tai-Kadai populations. It is believed that the Liangzhu culture or other associated subtraditions are the homeland of Austronesian speakers. The Liangzhu Culture entered its prime about 4000 ~5000 years ago, there are almost no traces of the splendid culture created by the Liangzhu people in the following years ever found in this area. Recent research has shown that the development of settlements was interrupted several times by rising waters. Some evidence implicates that the Taihu lake was formed as an impact crater only 4500 years ago, the culture possessed advanced agriculture, included irrigation, paddy rice cultivation and aquaculture. Houses were often constructed with stilts on rivers or shorelines, a new discovery of ancient city wall base relics was announced by the Zhejiang provincial government on November 29,2007. It was concluded the site was the center of the Liangzhu culture, a new Liangzhu Culture Museum was completed in 2008 and opened late in the year. The Liangzhu Ancient City is located in an environment on the plain of river networks between Daxiong Mountain and Dazhe Mountain of the Tianmu Mountain Range. This ancient city is said to be the largest city during this time period and its interior area is 290 hectares, surrounded by clay walls which had six city gates. Two gates were located in the north, east and south walls, at its center was a palace site that spanned 30 hectares and there was also evidence of an artificial flood protection design implemented within the city. Both of these constructions are said to be indicators of the social complexity developing in Liangzhu at the time, a granary may have been in place containing up to 15,000 kg of rice grain. There are numerous waterway entrances both inside and outside of the city, linking it to the river networks, inside the city were artificial earth mounds and natural hills. Outside of the area, remains are found for 700 hectares. 8 kilometers to the north various dam-like sites were found and are speculated to be an ancient flood protection system. The Liangzhu city-site is said to have settled and developed with a specific purpose in mind since this area has very few remains that can be traced back to earlier periods
14.
Grave goods
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Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a type of votive deposit, most grave goods recovered by archaeologists consist of inorganic objects such as pottery and stone and metal tools but organic objects that have since decayed were also placed in ancient tombs. Funerary art is a term but generally means artworks made specifically to decorate a burial place. Where grave goods appear, grave robbery is a potential problem, etruscans would scratch the word śuθina, Etruscan for from a tomb, on grave goods buried with the dead to discourage their reuse by the living. The tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun is famous because it was one of the few Egyptian tombs that was not thoroughly looted in ancient times, Grave goods can be regarded as a sacrifice intended for the benefit of the deceased in the afterlife. Closely related are customs of worship and offerings to the dead, in modern western culture related to All Souls Day, in East Asia the hell bank note. Also closely related is the custom of retainer sacrifice, where servants or wives of a deceased chieftain are interred with the body, evidence for intentional burial is found in Neanderthal sites from 130,000 years ago or earlier. In Homo sapiens burials beginning about 100,000 years ago, the body of the deceased was sprinkled with red ochre, and offerings of food, tools, and fresh flowers may have been deposited in the grave. Beads made of basalt deposited in graves in the Fertile Crescent date to the end of the Upper Paleolithic, the distribution of grave goods are a potential indicator of the social stratification of a society. It is also possible that burial goods indicate a level of concern and consciousness in regard to an afterlife, the expression of social status in rich graves is taken to extremes in the royal graves of the Bronze Age. In the Theban Necropolis in Ancient Egypt, the pyramids and the graves in the Valley of the Kings are among the most elaborate burials in human history. This trend is continued into the Iron Age, an example of an extremely rich royal grave of the Iron Age is the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang. In the sphere of the Roman Empire, early Christian graves lack grave goods, in the Christian Middle Ages, high-status graves are marked on the exterior, with tomb effigies or expensive tomb stones rather than by the presence of grave goods. The importance of goods, from the simple behavioural and technical to the metaphysical. However, care must be taken to avoid naive interpretation of grave goods as a sample of artefacts in use in a culture. Because of their context, grave goods may represent a special class of artifacts. Burial Grave field Necropolis Mingqi, the traditional Chinese burial goods The Earliest Beads, Treasures From the Ancient World, Museum of Ancient and Modern Art, at muma. org
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Longshan culture
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The first archaeological find of this culture took place at the Chengziya Archaeological Site in 1928, with the first excavations in 1930 and 1931. The culture is named after the modern town of Longshan in Zhangqiu. The culture was noted for its polished black pottery. The population expanded dramatically during the 3rd millennium BC, with settlements having rammed earth walls. It decreased in most areas around 2000 BC until the area evolved into the Bronze Age Erlitou culture. A distinctive feature of the Longshan culture was the level of skill in pottery making, including the use of pottery wheels. This pottery was widespread in North China, and also found in the Yangtze River valley, until the 1950s, such black pottery was considered the principal diagnostic, and all of these sites were assigned to the Longshan culture. For example, the culture of the lower Yangtze area is now described as the Liangzhu culture. At the same time, researchers recognized the diversity within the Yellow River valley by distinguishing regional variants in Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi from the Shandong or classic Longshan. Also in the 1980s, Yan Wenming proposed the term Longshan era to encompass cultures of the late Neolithic across the area, the most important crop was foxtail millet, but traces of broomcorn millet, rice and wheat have also been found. Rice grains have been found in Shandong and southern Henan, specialized tools for digging, harvesting and grinding grain have been recovered. The most common source of meat was the pig, sheep and goats were apparently domesticated in the Loess Plateau area in the 4th millennium BC, found in western Henan by 2800 BC, and then spread across the middle and lower Yellow River area. Dogs were also eaten, particularly in Shandong, though cattle were less important, small-scale production of silk by raising and domesticating the silkworm in early sericulture was also known. Remains have been found in Shaanxi and southern Henan of scapulae of cattle, pigs, sheep, evidence of human sacrifice becomes more common in Shaanxi and the Central Plain in the late Longshan period. Excavations in the 1950s in Shanxian, western Henan, identified a Miaodigou II phase transitional between the preceding Yangshao culture and the later Henan Longshan, some scholars argue that the late Dawenkou culture should be considered the early phase of the Shandong Longshan culture. Miaodigou II sites are found in central and western Henan, southern Shanxi, the tools and pottery found at these sites were significantly improved from those of the preceding Yangshao culture. Agriculture was intensified, and the consumption of domesticated animals greatly increased, similarities in ceramic styles of central Henan Miaodigou II with the late Dawenkou culture to the east and the late Qujialing culture to the south suggest trade contacts between the regions. There were also expansions from middle and late Dawenkou sites toward central Henan, the late period of the Longshan culture in the middle Yellow River area is contemporaneous with the classic Shandong Longshan culture
16.
Hongshan culture
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The Hongshan culture was a Neolithic culture in northeastern China. Hongshan sites have found in an area stretching from Inner Mongolia to Liaoning. The culture is named after Hongshanhou, a site in Hongshan District, the Hongshanhou site was discovered by the Japanese archaeologist Torii Ryūzō in 1908 and extensively excavated in 1935 by Kōsaku Hamada and Mizuno Seiichi. In northeast China, Hongshan culture was preceded by Xinglongwa culture, Xinle culture, and Zhaobaogou culture, which may be contemporary with Xinle, Yangshao culture was in the larger area and contemporary with Hongshan culture. These two cultures interacted with each other, Hongshan burial artifacts include some of the earliest known examples of jade working. The Hongshan culture is known for its jade pig dragons and embryo dragons, clay figurines, including figurines of pregnant women, are also found throughout Hongshan sites. Small copper rings were also excavated, the archaeological site at Niuheliang is a unique ritual complex associated with the Hongshan culture. Excavators have discovered an underground temple complex—which included an altar—and also cairns in Niuheliang, the temple was constructed of stone platforms, with painted walls. Archaeologists have given it the name Goddess Temple due to the discovery of a female head with jade inlaid eyes. It was a structure, 1m deep. Included on its walls are mural paintings, housed inside the Goddess Temple are clay figurines as large as three times the size of real-life humans. The exceedingly large figurines are possibly deities, but for a religion not reflective in any other Chinese culture, the existence of complex trading networks and monumental architecture point to the existence of a chiefdom in these prehistoric communies. Painted pottery was discovered within the temple. Over 60 nearby tombs have been unearthed, all constructed of stone and covered by stone mounds, cairns were discovered atop two nearby two hills, with either round or square stepped tombs, made of piled limestone. Entombed inside were sculptures of dragons and tortoises and it has been suggested that religious sacrifice might have been performed within the Hongshan culture. Just as suggested by evidence found at early Yangshao culture sites, the presence of both round and square shapes at Hongshan culture ceremonial centers suggests an early presence of the gaitian cosmography. Early feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and the universe, some Chinese archaeologists such as Guo Da-shun see the Hongshan culture as an important stage of early Chinese civilization. Whatever the linguistic affinity of the ancient denizens, Hongshan culture is believed to have exerted an influence on the development of early Chinese civilization, Hongshan culture may also have contributed to the development of settlements in ancient Korea
17.
Shijiahe culture
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The Shijiahe culture was a late Neolithic culture centered on the middle Yangtze River region in Hubei Province, China. It succeeded the Qujialing culture in the region and inherited its unique artefact of painted spindle whorls. Pottery figurines and distinct jade worked with advanced techniques were common to the culture. The culture is named after its site, the Shijiahe site cluster, in Tianmen County, Hubei. The lower layer of the site belonged to the Qujialing culture, the city site is said to be a nearly perfect square of 120 hectares in area and was densely populated. It may have housed from between 15,000 and 50,000 inhabitants within the settlements walls, at Dengjiawan, within the Shijiahe site cluster, some pieces of copper were discovered, making these the earliest copper objects discovered so far in southern China. The primary mode of travel was thought to be watercraft, people even built channels as makeshift rivers to connect urban core areas to adjacent rivers or from towns to main rivers. In addition to walls, moats were dug around towns. At the town site at Chengtoushan, the moat is about 40–50 m in width, researchers estimate that a total labor force of 200,000 to 470,000 people was needed to construct the moat and walls at this site. The people of the Shijiahe culture grew both rice and millet, some scholars have speculated that Shijiahe could have been considered an ancient state due to its relatively advanced socio-political structure. Shijiahe is said to have a size and land area greater than Erlitou. Other scholars note that the Shijiahe and other cultures along the Yangtze were more socially complex, many jade artifacts have been unearthed from Shijiahe sites, mainly dating from the late phase. In 2015, archaeologists excavated the Tanjialing site, dating to late Shijiahe culture and they discovered more than 250 pieces of jade in five tombs. The jade carving technology exhibited by these artifacts appear to have exceeded that of the Liangzhu and Hongshan cultures, the Shijiahe culture ended around 2000 BC, about the same time as Liangzhu. However, unlike the Liangzhu culture, which disappeared, Shijiahe seems to have had a drastic decrease in population. Some scholars believe the decline was a result of warfare with the Longshan culture, other possible reasons are flooding, collapse of social order or a combination of these factors. A Companion to Chinese Archaeology, John Wiley & Sons, pp. 510–534, zhang, Chi, Hung, Hsiao-chun, The Neolithic of Southern China-Origin, Development, and Dispersal, Asian Perspectives,47, 299–329
18.
Chinese ritual bronzes
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Sets of ritual bronzes are the most impressive surviving objects from the Chinese Bronze Age. On the death of the owner they would be placed in his tomb, so that he could continue to pay his respects in the afterlife, other examples were cast specifically as grave goods. The ritual bronzes were not used for normal eating and drinking, they represent larger, more elaborate versions of the types of vessels used for this. Apart from table vessels, weapons and some objects were made in special ritual forms. At least initially, the production of bronze was probably controlled by the ruler, bronzes are some of the most important pieces of ancient Chinese art, warranting an entire separate catalogue in the Imperial art collections. The majority of surviving Chinese ancient bronze artefacts are ritual forms rather than their equivalents made for practical use, weapons like daggers and axes had a sacrificial meaning, symbolizing the heavenly power of the ruler. The ritual books of old China minutely describe who was allowed to use what kinds of sacrificial vessels and her higher status would have been clear not only to her contemporaries, but also, it was believed, to her ancestors and other spirits. Many of the pieces were cast with inscriptions using the form of her name. The most highly prized are generally the sacrificial and wine vessels, often these vessels are elaborately decorated with taotie designs. Dǐng Sacrificial vessel, originally a cauldron for cooking and storing meat, the Shang prototype has a round bowl, wider than it is tall, set on three legs, there are two short handles on each side. Later examples became larger and larger and were considered a measure of power and it is considered the single most important class of Chinese bronzeware in terms of its cultural importance. There is a called a fāngdǐng which has a square bowl. There exist rare forms with lids, 西清古鑒 contains over two hundred examples, and this is the most highly regarded of all Chinese bronzes. Dòu, Sacrificial vessel that was originally a food vessel, Flat, covered bowl on a long stem. Fǔ, Rectangular dish, triangular in vertical cross-section, always with a lid shaped like the dish. Zūn, Wine vessel and sacrificial vessel, Tall cylindrical wine cup, with no handles or legs. The mouth is slightly broader than the body. In the late Zhōu dynasty, this type of vessel became exceedingly elaborate, often taking the shape of animals and these later types are distinguished from gōng by retaining a small, roughly circular mouth
19.
Cowry
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Cowry or cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The word cowry is also used to refer only to the shells of these snails. Many people throughout history have found the very rounded, shiny, porcelain-like shells of cowries pleasing to look at, indeed, the term porcelain derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell due to their similar translucent appearance. The cowry was the shell most widely used worldwide as shell money, cowry shell money was important at one time or another in the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. Some species in the family Ovulidae are also referred to as cowries. In the British Isles the local Trivia species are sometimes called cowries, the Ovulidae and the Triviidae are somewhat closely related to Cypraeidae. The shells of cowries are usually smooth and shiny and more or less egg-shaped, with a flat surface which shows a long, narrow, slit-like opening. The narrower end of the cowry shell is the anterior end. The spire of the shell is not visible in the shell of most species, but is visible in juveniles. Nearly all cowries have a porcelain-like shine, with exceptions such as Hawaiis granulated cowry. Lengths range from 5 mm for some species up to 19 cm for the Atlantic deer cowry, the word cowrie comes from Hindi कौड़ी and ultimately from Sanskrit कपर्द. Cowry shells, especially Monetaria moneta, were used for centuries as currency in Africa, after the 1500s, however, it became even more common. Western nations, chiefly through the trade, introduced huge amounts of Maldivian cowries in Africa. The Ghanaian unit of currency known as the Ghanaian cedi was named after cowry shells, starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells, or copies of the shells, were used as Chinese currency. They were also used as means of exchange in India, the Classical Chinese character for money originated as a stylized drawing of a Maldivian cowrie shell. Words and characters concerning money, property or wealth usually have this as a radical, before the Spring and Autumn period the cowrie was used as a type of trade token awarding access to a feudal lords resources to a worthy vassal. There is some debate about how the Ojibway traded for or found these shells, so far inland and so far north, oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that the shells were found in the ground, or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. Petroforms in the Whiteshell Provincial Park may be as old as 8,000 years, cowry shells are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms
20.
Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
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The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is an important archaeological site in Suizhou, Hubei, China, dated sometime after 433 BC. The tomb contained the remains of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and is one of a handful of ancient Chinese royal tombs to have been discovered intact, Zeng was a minor state subordinate to its powerful neighbor, Chǔ. The tomb was made around 433 BC, either at the end of the Spring, the Peoples Liberation Army accidentally discovered the tomb in 1977 while destroying a hill to build a factory at Leigudun. The tomb was constructed of wooden timbers and covers an area of 220 square meters. The tomb is divided into four chambers, resembling the layout of a palace of the day. The northern chamber is the smallest and contained military artifacts, the eastern chamber contained the tomb of Marquis Yi, who was buried in a wooden lacquer coffin nested inside a larger lacquer coffin. This chamber also contained eight other coffins that held the remains of eight women, the western chamber contained thirteen coffins that held the remains of thirteen other women. The central chamber is the largest, and contained a large ensemble of musical instruments. In 1981, a less well-preserved and smaller tomb was discovered about 100 meters away and this tomb contained a less extravagant set of 36 bronze bells and other musical instruments. The bells are two-toned, producing two distinct tones when struck at the center or the side, this property is enabled because the bells have an almond-shaped cross-section, the bells cover a range of five octaves. The bells were inscribed with music notations that detailed the relationship among the standards of Zeng, Chu. Other musical instruments in the ensemble include stone chimes, various string instruments were also discovered in the tombs, including se, qin and zhu. Once the gourd matured, it would take the shape of the mold that conformed to the musical properties of the instrument. Along with the Late Shang dynasty tomb of Fu Hao, the tomb one of the largest sets of ritual bronze vessels to be properly recorded at the site. The tomb had a total of 88 vessels and implements such as ladles and shovels, the decoration of the vessels is highly elaborate, with many protruding elements. The largest vessel is a unique pan wine vessel in two pieces,33 cm high and nearly as wide, there is a matching set of 9 of the smaller li type of cauldron. Other vessels include a set of 8 covered gui for holding grain,4 fǔ square sacrificial vessels,10 cups on legs, four fou, in addition to aesthetic artifacts, the tomb contained a trove of weaponry, including arrowheads, dagger-axes spear tips and chariot wheel spokes. This tomb is important in the history of Ancient Chinese glass, as it contains 173 eye beads that were made in a western Asian style, similar to some found in Gilan, Iran
21.
International Standard Book Number
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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
22.
Oxford Art Online
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A new edition was published in 2003 by Oxford University Press. Written by 6,700 experts from around the world, its 32, 600-pages cover over 45,000 topics about art, artists, art critics, art collectors, or anything else connected to the world of art. According to The New York Times Book Review it is the most ambitious art-publishing venture of the late 20th century, almost half the content covers non-Western subjects, and contributors hail from 120 countries. Topics range from Julia Margaret Cameron to Shoji Hamada, Korea to Timbuktu, the Enlightenment to Marxism, entries include bibliographies and a vast number of images. The dictionary is available in a standard hardcover edition, though the leather-bound version appears to be out of print. The Grove Dictionary of Art is published by Oxford University Press, the online version, which is updated three times a year, is available by subscription and includes some extra content. In the UK, many libraries offer it free to their online users using their library membership number. The Grove Dictionary of Art was first offered online through the Grove Art Online web site in 1998. The site was expanded and renamed as Oxford Art Online, including works, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. In 2011, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists was added to the database, the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians References Sources Jane Turner
23.
China Central Television
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China Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the predominant state television broadcaster in the Peoples Republic of China. CCTV has a network of 50 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers. Most of its programmes are a mixture of news, documentary, social education, comedy, entertainment, and drama, as of present, there are 50 television channels, and the broadcaster provides programming in six different languages. CCTV broadcast its first program on 2 September 1958, due to increasing demands, it soon launched its second channel in 1963 and third channel in 1969, followed by the first simultaneous satellite broadcasts nationwide in 1972. The network changed its name to CCTV on 1 May 1978, until the late 1970s, CCTV held only evening broadcasts, usually closing down at midnight. During the summer and winter vacations, it occasionally transmitted daytime programming for students. In 1980 CCTV experimented with news relays from local and central television studios via microwave, by 1985, CCTV had already become a leading television network in China. In 1987 CCTVs popularity soared due to the adaptation and presentation of Dream of the Red Chamber, the 36-episode TV series—the first Chinese television drama to enter the global market— still remains popular in the international market. In the same year, CCTV exported 10,216 programmes to 77 foreign television stations, initially, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee issued directive censorship of programs. During reform in the 1990s, the Party adopted new standards for CCTV, affordability and acceptability, on 2 September 2008 the new CCTV Headquarters was opened on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of CCTV. In July 2009 CCTV expanded its coverage and target audience by launching CCTV-العربية, today, CCTV has 24 channels, most of them airing 24 hours a day. On 17 June 2013, CCTV announced General channel, News channel, China Central Television falls under the supervision of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television which is in turn subordinate to the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China. A Vice Minister of the council serves as chairman of CCTV. The organisation has relationships with television stations run by local governments. The organization is considered one of the big three outlets in China, along with the Peoples Daily and Xinhua. In 2011, former newspaper editor Hu Zhanfan was appointed the head of CCTV, in 2015, Nie Chenxi was appointed the new head of CCTV. China Network Television is a broadcaster of China Central Television which launched on 28 December 2009. CNTV offers six foreign languages services, including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Korean, from 1979 to 2001, the CCTV logo consisted of two crossing ellipses, and was designed by Zhang Desheng, a former CCTV employee
24.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
25.
University of Washington
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The University of Washington, commonly referred to as simply Washington, UW, or informally U-Dub, is a public flagship research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast, the university has three campuses, the oldest and largest in the University District of Seattle and two others in Tacoma and Bothell. Washington is a member of the Association of American Universities and is ranked among the top 15 universities in the world by a variety of international publications. In athletics, the university competes in the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference and its athletic teams are called the Huskies. Seattle was one of several settlements in the mid to late 19th century vying for primacy in the new Washington Territory, in 1854, territorial governor Isaac Stevens recommended the establishment of a university in Washington. Several prominent Seattle-area residents, chief among them Methodist preacher Daniel Bagley and they convinced early founder of Seattle and member of the territorial legislature Arthur A. Denny of the importance of Seattle winning the school. When no site emerged, the legislature, encouraged by Denny, in 1861, scouting began for an appropriate 10 acres site in Seattle to serve as the campus for a new university. Arthur and Mary Denny donated eight acres, and fellow pioneers Edward Lander and Charlie and this tract was bounded by 4th and 6th Avenues on the west and east and Union and Seneca Streets on the north and south. UW opened on November 4,1861, as the Territorial University of Washington, the following year, the legislature passed articles incorporating the University and establishing a Board of Regents. The school struggled initially, closing three times, in 1863 for lack of students, and again in 1867 and 1876 due to shortage of funds. However, Clara Antoinette McCarty Wilt became the first graduate of UW in 1876 when she graduated from UW with a degree in science. By the time Washington entered the Union in 1889, both Seattle and the University had grown substantially, enrollment increased from 30 students to nearly 300, and the relative isolation of the campus had given way to encroaching development. A special legislative committee headed by UW graduate Edmond Meany was created to find a new campus able to serve the growing student population. The committee selected a site on Union Bay northeast of downtown, the university relocated from downtown to the new campus in 1895, moving into the newly built Denny Hall. The regents tried and failed to sell the old campus, the University still owns what is now called the Metropolitan Tract. In the heart of the city, it is among the most valuable pieces of estate in Seattle. The original Territorial University building was torn down in 1908 and its former site houses the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. The sole surviving remnants of UWs first building are four 24-foot, white, hand-fluted cedar and they were salvaged by Edmond S. Meany—one of the Universitys first graduates and the former head of the history department
26.
National Gallery of Art
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The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D. C. located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress. Andrew W. Mellon donated an art collection and funds for construction. The Gallery often presents temporary special exhibitions spanning the world and the history of art and it is one of the largest museums in North America. In 1930 Mellon formed the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, when quizzed by Abbot, he explained that the project was in the hands of the Trust and that its decisions were partly dependent on the attitude of the Government towards the gift. Designed by architect John Russell Pope, the new structure was completed and accepted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of the American people on March 17,1941. Neither Mellon nor Pope lived to see the completed, both died in late August 1937, only two months after excavation had begun. At the time of its inception it was the largest marble structure in the world, as anticipated by Mellon, the creation of the National Gallery encouraged the donation of other substantial art collections by a number of private donors. The Gallerys East Building was constructed in the 1970s on much of the land left over from the original congressional joint resolution. It was funded by Mellons children Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, designed by famed architect I. M. Pei, the contemporary structure was completed in 1978 and was opened on June 1 of that year by President Jimmy Carter. The new building was built to house the Museums collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures. The design received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1981, the final addition to the complex is the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Completed and opened to the public on May 23,1999, the National Gallery of Art is supported through a private-public partnership. The United States federal government provides funds, through annual appropriations, to support the museums operations, all artwork, as well as special programs, are provided through private donations and funds. The museum is not part of the Smithsonian Institution, noted directors of the National Gallery have included David E. Finley, Jr. John Walker, and J. Carter Brown. Rusty Powell III is the current director, entry to both buildings of the National Gallery of Art is free of charge. From Monday through Saturday, the museum is open from 10 a. m. –5 p. m. it is open from 11 –6 p. m. on Sundays and it is closed on December 25 and January 1. The museum comprises two buildings, the West Building and the East Building linked by an underground passage
27.
Bianzhong
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Bianzhong is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. These sets of bells were used as polyphonic musical instruments. They were hung in a frame and struck with a mallet. Along with the stone chimes called bianqing, they were an important instrument in Chinas ritual, several sets of bianzhong were imported to the Korean court during the Song Dynasty. Pronounced in Korean as pyeonjong, the instrument became an important part in Koreas ritual, the instruments name is pronounced henshō in Japanese. Yi was the ruler of Zeng, one of the states under control of the major State of Chu. This region is now part of the present-day Hubei province, although tuned bells have been created and used for musical performance in many cultures, zhong are unique among all other types of cast bells in several respects. This special shape gives zhong bells the remarkable ability to produce two different musical tones, depending on where they are struck, the interval between these notes on each bell is either a major or minor third, equivalent to a distance of four or five notes on a piano. The ends and intersection of each pair of beams are fitted with decorated bronze caps, the longer pair of main beams are provided with extra support in the middle in the form of two slender bronze columns. In 1992, Ma Chengyuan, director of the Shanghai Museum, purchased the 3, the bells had been looted from the tombs of the rulers of the State of Jin and smuggled out of China. The bells are now listed by the Chinese government as one of the first 64 national treasures forbidden to be exhibited abroad and these bells usually have inscriptions on them from which scholars use as references for studying ancient Chinese writings. Another related ancient Chinese musical instrument is the bianqing, which was made of stone rather than metal, bianqing Traditional Chinese musical instruments Traditional Korean musical instruments Lee, Yuan-Yuan and Shen, Sinyan. Chinese Music Society of North America Press, ISBN 1-880464-03-9 Shen, Sinyan, Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, Scientific American,256,94. Suspended music, chime-bells in the culture of Bronze Age China, Ancient Chinese Bells Six-tone scale in a 12-tone system Bianzhong video from The Musical Instruments E-book
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Ding (vessel)
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Ding were prehistoric and ancient Chinese cauldrons, standing upon legs with a lid and two facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in Chinese ritual bronzes and they were made in two shapes, round vessels with three legs and rectangular ones with four, the latter often called fanding. They were used for cooking, storage, and ritual offerings to the gods or to ancestors, under the Zhou, the ding and the privilege to perform the associated rituals became symbols of authority. In Chinese history and culture, possession of one or more ancient ding is often associated with power, therefore, the ding is often used as an implicit symbolism for power. The term inquiring of the ding is often used interchangeably with the quest for power, in the early Bronze Age of China, the use of wine and food vessels served a religious purpose. While ding were the most important food vessels, wine vessels were the more prominent ritual bronzes of this time, likely due to the belief in Shamanism, Ding were used to make ritual sacrifices, both human and animal, to ancestors. They varied in size, but were quite large, indicating that whole animals were likely sacrificed. The sacrifices were meant to appease ancestors due to the Shang belief that spirits had the capability to affect the world of the living, if the ancestors were happy, the living would be blessed with good fortune. During the Early Western Zhou Dynasty, the people underwent a political and cultural change, King Wu of Zhou believed that the Shang people were drunkards. He believed that their over-consumption of wine led their king to lose the Mandate of Heaven, because of this belief, food vessels replaced wine vessels in importance. Bronze vessels underwent what has been the Ritual Revolution and this theory suggests that because there was a change in decor as well as the types and variations of vessels found in tombs, their function shifted from solely religious to a more secular one. Instead of sacrificing food to ancestors, the Zhou used ding to show off the status of the deceased to both the living and spirits. For example, emperors were buried with nine ding, feudal lords with seven, ministers with five, the vessels served as symbols of authority for the elite far into the Warring States period. This is the period to which the oldest examples of bronze dings date, inscriptions found on dings and zhongs are used to study bronzeware script. The most commonly believed bronze vessel casting process of ancient Chinese vessels is the mold process. The model would then be shaved down to form the core, when the bronze had cooled, the clay would be broken away from the vessel, and the process was complete. A newer variation on the mold process was put forth as a way to explain asymmetrical faces on vessels which, as a rule. It was proposed that décor was not made on a model and then transferred to the outer mold layer, décor was added in a variety of ways
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Dui (vessel)
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A dui is a type of Chinese ritual bronze vessel used in the late Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period of ancient China. It was a container used as a ritual vessel. Most Dui consist of two bowls supported on three legs, the Dui is typically spherical in shape, possessing a half-domed bowl on bottom with a similarly shaped container fitting on top. Shapes vary from circular, ovular, or subcircular, the vessel stands on either a single pedestal or is supported by three legs. The three legs would permit heating of the food within, each vessel sports two handles, either set or unfixed rings adorn the bottom portion of the vessel, allowing for easy transport. The containers themselves possess highly intricate detailing, varying in geometric, many of these carvings assume biomorphic forms, depicting typical animal imagery found throughout ancient China such as cats, snakes, dragons or birds. Much of the designs are in-laid with metal, though few complete renditions still exist, from the specimen found from the Warring States period, proof of copper in-lay can be found in swirling spherical patterns that accentuate the shape of the Dui. Incised geometric patterning along with cat-like outlines emanate from the container, simple linear patterning covers the vessel in clearly defined registers, while high-relief rope bands separate the basin from the lid. From the Warring States period, ovular forms become subcircular shapes, four fantastical creatures adorn the lid of this periods example, forming upright rings. Animal pendant masks hold moveable rings in their mouths, allowing for easy transport, in-lay patterning surfaces in this example too, with turquoise and silver in typical registers. Curvilinear patterns accentuate the shape, the prominent bands of decoration portray symmetrical bird figures with intertwining bodies encircling the vessel. Border designs consist of S-shaped bands around the foot, lid, in some examples the two symmetric hemispheres could be used individually or as a bowl with lid when facilitating the ritual process. Lidded varieties are evidenced by the lack of supporting structure on each bowl, the vessel might be displayed prominently within a temple or hall but also found use during feasts commemorating ancestors. At times, the vessel was produced solely for burial, in later periods the vessel became a symbol of societal prominence and the religious aspect receded. The dui functioned and was created in the Late Zhou dynasties, the dui is one of the earliest types of near-spherical shape of vessel. In the middle of the Spring and Autumn period, people began to use the dui as a warming and serving food vessel. According to scholar K. C. Chang, the term dui was said to have written in the catalogue incorrectly by cataloguers from the Song dynasty. First seen in Eastern Zhou, dui means gobular vessel, but in Shang and Western Zhou, Dui was transcribed into the modern equivalent of gui
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Gu (vessel)
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A gu is type of ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It was used to drink wine or to offer ritual libations, a gu is tall and slender, with a slightly flared base that tapers to a slim center section before widening again into a trumpet-like mouth, wider than the base. Its surface is decorated with taotie. A gu from the Shang dynasty was among the 13 works of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on 18 March 1990, along with paintings by Rembrandt, the gu vessel was known for its use as a wine drinking vessel. It is said to have developed from other elaborate cups that also had high stems and were found in Neolithic cultures, inscriptions have been found on ancient vessels stating that it was common to drink wine in Chinese cultures. The creation of a such as the gu makes sense in modern times because of its shape. The long stem made it easy to hold and sip from, while allowing it to take on unique. Throughout the hundreds of Neolithic to early dynastic sites discovered in China, the form, shapes, and décor, provide hints to the every vessel’s function as well as the early beliefs that inspired them. Early Chinese religion has been difficult for scholars to understand due to a lack of archaeological evidence on Neolithic religious philosophies. The gu was a wine vessel to be found in high class areas. This wine vessel has been found in such as meeting areas were high class Chinese members would gather for wine with one another. The gu vessel can be unique in a number of ways, the more elegant styled vessels with more relief and design would be found more commonly in the high class surroundings. The simpler, tall and narrow, gu vessels would be throughout the familys households. According to the Tsun family, the gu vessel was found to be listed under the Wine Containers list of artifacts that have found in the Shang civilizations. This allows archaeologists to focus on locations of gu vessels to help indicate the status of the site. In Book 6, verse 25, of the Confucian Analects, the only evidence we have of ritual use of this vessel is its strong association with wine, spirits, and high class rulers. Later engraved vessels help support the significance of ritual wine drinking as part of ritual ceremony. The gu vessel appears in an engraving of a ritual scene found on a yi vessel discovered in a tomb in Shaanxi in which the gu being used in the engraving highly resembles the gu of the Shang
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Guang (vessel)
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A guang or gong is a particular shape used in Chinese art for vessels, originally made as Chinese ritual bronzes in the Shang dynasty, and sometimes later in Chinese porcelain. They are a type of ewer which was used for pouring rice wine at ritual banquets, the guang has a single thick foot, and a thick hollow body that represents one or more stylized animals. Guangs have a handle at one end and a spout at the other. The back and animal head at the end usually are a removable lid. Their main period of use was during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, from around 1700 to 900 BCE, the Ritual wine server, Indianapolis Museum of Art,60.43 is a fine example from about 1100 BC. This use, for storage and serving, is suggested through the form of the vessel and it is typically supported by one oval-shaped foot, while the bronze itself takes the form of several animals and fantastical creatures metamorphosed. Each guang also has a neck and head, which serve as the channel for the wine. A lid accompanies the vessel to complete the form, according to Robert Bagley, this lid is the chief idiosyncrasy, or characteristic, of the guang, for it is where the largest relief and decoration often takes place. Guang bronze vessels were used not only in life to honor the deceased, because of this, the ritual vessels are not only apotropaic but useful to the living as well. They are both everyday functioning items, but also objects which serve religious and spiritual purposes, the Guang is distinguishable by its zoomorphic lid and handle, and its one-footed base. Some guang lids also depict animals, typically birds, at the back of the vessel facing or transitioning into the handle, the animals on the lid and handle are presented in the round. The surface of the vessel is decorated in low- to mid-relief and this relief may depict the bodies belonging to creatures rendered on the lid or other complete animal figures. It is not uncommon for one animal to transition directly into another, the lower sections of the guang are also often divided into registers and quadrants by flanges. This flange can be the central divider of a taotie, a mask-like creature motif with curving horns, other surface embellishments include geometric background shapes such as the squared-spiral, the lei-wen. These were used both to fill in empty space between more representational imagery and sometimes as smaller detail in those images. See Also, Shang Dynasty The guang, one of many types of Chinese ritual bronze vessels, is late to come into the world of bronze vessels, and lasts a very short amount of time. The earliest account of guang vessels comes from late in the Shang dynasty, during the Anyang Period and these vessels were distinct from other guang objects in early Chinese history because of their decoration. In the Shang Dynasty, the guang featured ornamentation which had not been fully developed, in a late twelfth century to early eleventh century guang, the decoration is lacking on the bottom register, but more innovative in design in the lid and upper registers
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Gui (vessel)
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A gui is a type of bowl-shaped ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel used to hold offerings of food, probably mainly grain, for ancestral tombs. As with other shapes, the ritual bronzes followed early pottery versions for domestic use, the shape changed somewhat over the centuries but constant characteristics are a circular form, with a rounded, wide, profile or shape from the side, standing on a narrower rim or foot. There are usually two, or sometimes four, handles, and there may be a cover or a square base, the Kang Hou Gui, an 11th-century BC example in the British Museum was chosen as object 23 in the A History of the World in 100 Objects. The British Museum bowl inscription on the inside of the bowl tells that King Wus brother, Kang Hou, the inscription relates a rebellion by remnants of the Shang, and its defeat by the Zhou, which helps us to date it. Because historians know exactly when this unsuccessful rebellion against the Zhou dynasty took place then the bowl can be dated very accurately, ringing Thunder- Tomb Treasures from Ancient China. San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, the great bronze age of China, an exhibition from the Peoples Republic of China. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, media related to Gui at Wikimedia Commons The development of the Gui, illustrated by examples in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 12th century B. C. Shang dynasty late 11th–early 10th century B. C, western Zhou early 9th century B. C
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Hu (vessel)
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A hu is a type of wine vessel that has a pear-shaped cross-section. Its body swells and flares into a neck, creating S-shaped profile. While it is similar to you vessel, hu usually has a longer body, the shape of hu probably derives from its ceramic prototype prior to the Shang dynasty. They usually have handles on the top or rings attached to each side of neck, many extant hu lack lids while those excavated in such tombs as Fu Haos indicate that this type of vessel might be originally made with lids. Although it is often to see hu having a circular body, there also appears hu in square and flat rectangular forms, called fang hu. In addition, hu often came to be found in a pair or in a set together with other types of vessels. As wine had played an important part in the Shang ritual, the bronze hu vessel has not been found prior to the Shang period. During this period, there are two types of hu vessels. One has a mouth and long neck, the other has wide mouth. The décor on the hu in the Shang period was dominated by taotie motif, square form of hu began to appear in the end of the Shang dynasty. Because this form of hu is still uncommon at this time, its appearance in the tomb marks the owners wealth. Hu in the Western Zhou period was undergone several changes, larger hu vessels seem to become more common after the first half of mid-Western Zhou. This is possibly a response to changes in ritual, nevertheless, hu from the Western Zhou dynasty still mainly served as a wine vessel for the uses of ritual. In addition to the change in size, hus previous taotie design was replaced by other types of animal. Hu found during this time were not from tombs, but hoards left by Zhou people. Therefore, the burial context provides less clues about their functions. The East Zhou dynasty was subdivided into two periods, Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period, the East Zhou witnessed the decline of central government and the rise of feudal states. It is a time of political disunity, powerful feudal lords barely paid allegiance to Zhou kings, whose domain drastically dwindled during this time
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Jia (vessel)
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A jia is a ritual vessel type found in both pottery and bronze forms, it was used to hold libations of wine for the veneration of ancestors. It was made either with four legs or in the form of a tripod, the earliest evidence of the Jia vessel type appears during the Neolithic Period. It was a prominent form during the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties, the vessels had a ceremonial function. They were decorated with varying designs and zoomorphic motifs, possibly symbolizing varying religious beliefs. There are several theories as to the origin and meaning of the symbolic iconography, Early Chinese scholars extended their traditional beliefs as regarded the symbolic meanings of the designs and motifs. They believed them to have a religious, cosmic, or mythical function, the Western historian Max Loehr has argued that the designs and motifs are ornamental and have no inherent symbolic meaning. There are no extant texts or sources contemporary with the creation of the Shang bronzes that offer descriptions or explanations of the meanings of the Jia vessels. The Jia bronze type functioned as a wine vessel, the bronze vessels were used at feasts as drinking vessels, they were exhibited in ancestral halls and temples, and most prominently buried in tombs for use in the afterlife. These bronze vessels were not for use, as the ancients typically used lacquerware or earthenware for eating and drinking. The Shang were practitioners of a form of worship, which incorporated ritual sacrifices. They would make their offerings based on a calendar of ritual sacrifices, the sacrifices would include the presentation of food and drink, depending on the vessel type. The bronze vessels were used to prepare, and or present these offerings, when it comes to the décor of the jia vessel, simple designs are most common. The lack of design is due to the jia vessel being one of the oldest vessel forms. As time progressed, vessel décor got more elaborate, while one simple band of décor was prevalent in Early Shang times, towards the middle and late Shang periods more than one band of décor was more common. As the Zhou period began it was not unlikely to see a jia covered in ornamentation, the vessel shape changed to accommodate the change in decoration, and vice versa. When more elaborate designs are seen it is normally the taotie motif, the taotie motif shows two dragon-like figures in profile, that together to form the taotie mask. Whorl circles were also a common decoration on the jia vessel, the décor on the jia can be classified by Max Loehrs five styles of Anyang bronzes. Style I is classified by thin thread relief designs, they are described as being light and airy, Style II uses a thicker ribbon relief
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Jue (vessel)
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A jue is a shape of Chinese ritual bronze, a tripod vessel or goblet used to serve or warm wine. It was used for ceremonial purposes by the Chinese of the Xia, Shang, often the jue had a handle, sometimes in the shape of a dragon. It also has two protuberances on the top of the vessel, which were used when lifting the vessel out of heat. As with other shapes, the surface may be decorated with taotie, ringing Thunder- Tomb Treasures from Ancient China. San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, the great bronze age of China, an exhibition from the Peoples Republic of China, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on jues
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You (vessel)
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A you is a lidded vessel that was used for liquid offerings by the Chinese of the Zhou and Shang Dynasties. It sometimes lacks taotie in favor of smoother surfaces, sometimes these vessels are zoomorphic, especially in the form of two owls back to back. Usually the handle of the you is in the form of a loop that attaches on either side of the lid and they can be quadruped or have a single base. Ringing Thunder- Tomb Treasures from Ancient China, San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art. The great bronze age of China, an exhibition from the Peoples Republic of China, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Zun
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Used in religious ceremonies to hold wine, the zun has a wide lip to facilitate pouring. Vessels have been found in the shape of a dragon, an ox, a goose, one notable zun is the He zun. The zun is a used as a ritual container to hold wine in ancient Chinese. It is a wine cup, with no handles or legs. The mouth of the vessel is normally seen as broader than the rest of the body, as a ritual container, its function is to provide the offering of wine to the deceased through ceremonial practices. Depending on the type of zun vessel, for example the Xi zun, not only was it used to store wine and this is the only bronze piece discovered known to combine the two functions. The zun comes in various shapes, notably as a round or square vase-like form, through these forms they appear in unique shapes varying different animals. Often, these vessels are found with distinctive and defined decor with unique symbolism, the most noticeable symbol through the decor is the taotie, known as the demon-face or the face of a sacrificial animal in early Chinese art. This type of face is a motif found in Chinese ritual bronzes during the Shang dynasty. It is has also defined as a mask, vividly shown as two symmetrical bodies that are joined together. The most visible feature of the mask on the vessel is the protruding animal eyes projecting from the surface in which stares at the viewer. These protruding eyes has also defined as the eyes of a predator. The zun can be seen in a variety of different vessel forms from an amount of decoration to detailed. Some are square, some cylindrical while others are modeled after animals, some of the animals they are modeled after are an elephant, ox, sheep, horse, rhinoceros and a bird. The basic shape used throughout many is cylindrical and the shape itself is repeated, some Zuns are tall and slender while others may be short and round. The decoration used on the vessels varies not only in content, the height of the relief may give off the impression of texture or it may emphasize the form of the vessel by being smooth and round like the vessel. The taller vessel forms may have flanges on the sides that start at the upper lip, some characteristics of early Shang zuns consisted of a flaring mouth, high neck and a large body. The zuns also had wide shoulders and a foot ring, during the early Western Zhou there was a zun modeled after a gu but was thicker, larger and the body portion is swelled more than that of a gu
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TLV mirror
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A TLV mirror is a type of bronze mirror that was popular during the Han Dynasty in China. They are called TLV mirrors because symbols resembling the letters T, L and they were produced from around the 2nd century BCE until the 2nd century CE. The first mirrors with TLV symbols appeared during the 2nd century BCE, the dragon was an important symbol of these early TLV mirrors. In early mirrors from the 2nd century BCE, the dragons were used as an arabesque, however by the 1st century BCE. In the later part of the Western Han period, the dragons were replaced by winged figures, monsters and immortals. By the end of the 1st century BCE, the band dividing the area into two concentric rings had largely lost its structural function of separating the mirror into two sections. Instead it existed merely as a line, or not at all, Mirrors from the Xin Dynasty usually have an outer band with cloud or animal motifs, and an inner circle with a square containing a knob. The inner circle contains a series of eight nipples, and various mythological animals and being. The central square could have an inscription, or contain the characters of the Twelve Earthly Branches, inscriptions placed in between the mirrors sections frequently discuss Wang Mang and his reign. Scholars are engaged in a debate as to what the symbols on TLV mirrors mean, some scholars believe that they represent ideas from Chinese Cosmology, while others believe that they could also be used to play the boardgame of liubo. At their centers is a circular boss inset on a square panel, according to Schuyler Camman, the design of TLV mirrors was cosmologically significant. The V shapes served to give the square the appearance of being placed in the middle of a cross. This forms an illustration of the Chinese idea of the five directions – North, South, West, East, the central square within the round mirror likely alludes to the ancient Chinese idea that heaven was round and earth was square. The Ts represented the concept of the ‘Four Gates of the Middle Kingdom and they could have also represented the idea of the four inner gates of the Han place of sacrifice, or the gates of the imperial tombs built during the Han period. The Ls possibly symbolized the marshes and swamps beyond the ‘Four Seas, the bending of the Ls could possibly have served to create a rotating effect which symbolized the four seasons, which were very closely related to the cardinal directions. The nine nipples in the central square likely represented the ‘nine regions of the earth as discussed by Cammann as having come from the Shiji. The eight nipples outside of the square were most likely a representations of the Eight Pillars. The area between the round border and the outer rim of the mirror was often filled with swirls that represented the clouds in heaven
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He zun
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The He zun is an ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel of the zun shape. Today it is in the Baoji Bronze Museum in Shaanxi, the vessel is 38. 8cm tall,28.8 cm in diameter and weights 14. 6kg. Inside the container, at the base, it contained 12 rows of 122 inscribed Chinese characters, of the 122 characters,119 are identified while 3 are unknown. Among the characters is the phrase inscribed in Zhou era form and this is the earliest known artifact to contain the word Middle Kingdom/China. It is also the earliest known vessel bearing the character de 德 and he zun later became one of only 64 designated pieces of historical artifacts that can never leave Chinese soil. The construction of the city of Luoyi was documented in two chapters of the Classic of History and this vessel also supports the claim. Historians believe King Wu of Zhou was at Haojing at the time after the construction of Luoyi, the record shows King Cheng of Zhou established his residence in Chengzhou in his 5th year. Most scholars consider this was 5th year after Duke of Zhou handed over the government, the lost artifact was discovered by a Chen family. Behind their house in Baoji was a 3 metre tall cliff, one cubic metre of the piece was sticking out from the soil. In 1963 the second son of the dug out the piece thinking the part that sticks out would hurt somebody. The piece revealed a design, but the family did not know it was a national treasure. They then used it as a storage container at home. On August 8,1965 the family struggled with financial difficulties, in September 1965 a worker in the waste center informed an expert about the bronze piece. The expert recognized it as a Zhou dynasty artifact and brought it back to a museum, in 1975, near the end of the Cultural revolution, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage sent the piece to the Shaanxi relic bureau. Ma Chengyuan, an expert at the Shanghai Museum, recognised its significance. In 1976 the PRC cultural bureau organized an art exhibition to the United States, the US requested this piece join the exhibit and offered a US$30 million protection coverage
