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Siku Quanshu
The ''Siku Quanshu'', literally the ''Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'', is a Chinese encyclopedia commissioned during the Qing dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor. Commissioned in 1772 and completed in 1782, the ''Siku quanshu'' is the largest collection of books in imperial Chinese history, comprising 36,381 volumes, 79,337 manuscript rolls, 2.3 million pages, and about 997 million words. The complete encyclopedia contains an annotated catalogue of 10,680 titles along with a compendiums of 3,593 titles. The ''Siku Quanshu'' surpassed the 1403 ''Yongle Encyclopedia'' created by the previous Ming dynasty, which had been China's largest encyclopedia. Complete copies of the ''Siku Quanshu'' are held at the National Library of China in Beijing, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Gansu Library in Lanzhou, and the Zhejiang Library in Hangzhou. Compilation Creation The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty ordered the creation of the ''Siku Quanshu'' in 1772. Local a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Encyclopedia
Chinese encyclopedias comprise both Chinese language encyclopedias and foreign language ones about China or Chinese topics. There is a type of native Chinese reference work called '' leishu'' (lit. "categorized writings") that is sometimes translated as "encyclopedia", but although these collections of quotations from classic texts are expansively "encyclopedic", a ''leishu'' is more accurately described as a "compendium" or "anthology". The long history of Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedias began with the (222 CE) '' Huanglan'' ("Emperor's Mirror") ''leishu'' and continues with online encyclopedias such as the '' Baike Encyclopedia''. Terminology The Chinese language has several translation equivalents for the English word ''encyclopedia''. ''Diǎn'' 典 "standard; ceremony; canon; allusion; dictionary; encyclopedia" occurs in compounds such as ''zìdiǎn'' 字典 "character dictionary; lexicon", ''cídiǎn'' 辭典 "word/phrase dictionary; encyclopedia", ''dàdiǎn'' 大� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qing Dynasty Coinage
Qing dynasty coinage was based on a Bimetallism, bimetallic standard of copper and silver coinage. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty was proclaimed in 1636 and ruled over China proper from 1644 until its overthrow in 1912 as a result of the Xinhai Revolution. The Qing saw the transformation of a traditional Cash (Chinese coin), cash coin–based cast coinage monetary system into a modern currency system with Milled coinage, machine-struck coins, while the old sycee, traditional silver ingots would slowly be replaced by silver coins based on those of the Mexican peso. After the Qing dynasty was abolished, its currency was replaced by the History of Chinese currency#Republic of China, Chinese yuan of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. Later Jin dynasty coinage (1616–1636) Prior to the establishment of the Qing dynasty, the Aisin Gioro clan established the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty, named after the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasty of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty List of Chinese monarchs, Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum. As a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. The Forbidden City is arguably the most famous Chinese palace, palace in all of History of China, Chinese history, and is the largest preserved Palace, royal palace complex still standing in the world. The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhu Yuanzhang
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398. In the mid-14th century, China was plagued by epidemics, famines, and peasant uprisings during the rule of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, orphaned during this time of chaos, joined a Buddhist monastery as a novice monk, where he occasionally begged for alms to sustain himself, gaining an understanding of the struggles faced by ordinary people, while harboring disdain for scholars who only gained knowledge from books. In 1352, he joined a rebel division, quickly distinguishing himself among the rebels and rising to lead his own army. In 1356, he conquered Nanjing and established it as his capital. He formed his own government, consisting of both generals and Confucian scholars, rejecting Mongol rule over China. He adopted the concept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Shicheng
Zhang Shicheng (; 1321－1367), born Zhang Jiusi (), was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion in the late Yuan dynasty of China. Early life Zhang Shicheng came from a family of salt shippers, and he himself started out in this trade in Northern Jiangsu, transporting both "legal" and "contraband" salt, as did his brothers Zhang Shiyi (), Zhang Shide (), and Zhang Shixin (). By his generosity he earned the respect of other salt workers who made him their leader when they rebelled against the oppressive government in 1353.Edward L. Farmer, ''Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering of Chinese Society Following the Era of Mongol Rule''. BRILL, 1995. , On Google Books P. 23. Since the 1340s, the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty began to face numerous crises. The Yellow River flooded constantly, and other natural disasters also occurred. At the same time, the Yuan dynasty required considerable military expenditure to maintain its vast empire. This was solved mostly th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-Qing Sentiment
Anti-Qing sentiment () refers to a sentiment principally held in China against the rule of the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912), which was criticized by opponents as being "barbaric". Already hated by the Han Chinese because of the Manchus' ancestors, the Jurchen people, for the Jin–Song wars and the war crimes against them that followed (notably the Jingkang incident) centuries ago, the Qing was later accused of destroying traditional Han culture by enforcing policies such as Tifayifu, forcing Han to wear their hair in a Queue (hairstyle), queue in the Manchu style. It was blamed for suppressing Chinese science, Criticism of Qing dynasty's economic performance, causing China to be transformed from the world's premiere power to a poor, backwards nation. The people of the Eight Banners lived off Social welfare in China, government pensions unlike the general Han civilian population. The rallying slogan of anti-Qing activists was "Fǎn Qīng fù Míng" (; "Ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koan
A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhist practice in different ways. The main goal of practice in Zen is to achieve (Chinese: jianxing 見性), to see or observe one's buddha-nature. Extended study of literature as well as meditation () on a is a major feature of modern Rinzai Zen. They are also studied in the Sōtō school of Zen to a lesser extent. In Chinese Chan and Korean Seon Buddhism, meditating on a , a key phrase of a , is also a major Zen meditation method. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word ( zh, c= 公案, p=gōng'àn, w=kung-an, l=public case). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters ('public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable') and ('table; desk, altar; (law) case; record; file; plan; mandate, proposal.') According to the Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huang Zongxi
Huang Zongxi (; September 24, 1610 – August 12, 1695), courtesy name Taichong (), was a Chinese naturalist, political theorist, philosopher, and soldier during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part of the Qing. He was the son an adherent of the Donglin Movement who died in prison. In 1626, the teenaged Huang became a disciple of the philosopher Liu Zongzhou. In 1631, he started studying Chinese history. Huang was politically active as a Ming loyalist until his retirement in 1649, spending the rest of his life in study. A warrant for his arrest was issued after the rise to power of Ruan Dacheng, but he avoided capture through uncertain ways. He may have fled China to seek political refuge in Japan. Huang's political text '' Waiting for the Dawn'' condemns selfish autocratic rule, and declares that the world should belong to the people. He argued that all laws and regulatory bodies should be an outgrowth of local needs, not imposed by leaders with a politica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Records Of The Grand Historian
The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, building upon work begun by his father Sima Tan. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty. The ''Shiji'' has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and Qin Shi Huang, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The ''Shiji'' set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historiographical conventions, the ''Shiji'' does no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Qian
Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China covering more than two thousand years from the rise of the legendary Yellow Emperor and formation of the first Chinese polity to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, during which Sima wrote. As the first universal history of the world as it was known to the ancient Chinese, the ''Shiji'' served as a model for official histories for subsequent dynasties across the Sinosphere until the 20th century. Sima Qian's father, Sima Tan, first conceived of the ambitious project of writing a complete history of China, but had completed only some preparatory sketches at the time of his death. After inheriting his father's position as court historian in the imperial court, he was determined to fulfill his father's dying wish of composing and putting together th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Historiography
Chinese historiography is the study of the techniques and sources used by historians to develop the recorded history of China. Overview of Chinese history The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to the Shang dynasty ( 1600–1046 BC). Many written examples survive of ceremonial inscriptions, divinations and records of family names, which were carved or painted onto tortoise shell or bones. The uniformly religious context of Shang written records makes avoidance of preservation bias important when interpreting Shang history. The first conscious attempt to record history in China may have been the inscription on the Zhou dynasty bronze Shi Qiang ''pan''. This and thousands of other Chinese bronze inscriptions form our primary sources for the period in which they were interred in elite burials. The oldest surviving history texts of China were compiled in the ''Book of Documents (Shujing)''. The '' Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu)'', the official chronicle of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the #Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD), Western Han (202 BC9 AD) and the #Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a Golden ages of China, golden age in Chinese history, and had a permanent impact on Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people" or "Han Chinese". The spoken Chinese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
