Knife Money
Knife money is the name of large, casting, cast, bronze, knife-shaped commodity money produced by various governments and kingdoms in what is now China, approximately 2500 years ago. Knife money circulated in China between 600 and 200 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty."Encyclopedia of Money" Allen, Larry. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO INC., 1999 History There are several stories that attempt to explain how knife money was introduced but it is not certain if any or all are true. In one of the stories, a prince who was running low on money to pay his troops allowed them to use their knives as a form of currency to barter with villagers, and the medium became so popular that it became generally accepted. In another story, the same prince began accepting knives as payment for small fines in place of the current legal ring money. Classification Knife money is much the same shape as the actual knives in use during the Zhou period. They appear to have evolved in parallel with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yan (state)
Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Jicheng (Beijing), Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiadu at times. The history of Yan began in the Western Zhou in the early first millennium BC. After the authority of the Zhou king declined during the Spring and Autumn period in the 8th century BC, Yan survived and became one of the strongest states in China. During the Warring States period from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, Yan was one of the last states to be conquered by the armies of Qin Shihuang: Yan fell in 222 BC, the year before the declaration of the Qin dynasty, Qin Empire. Yan experienced a brief period of independence after the collapse of the Qin dynasty in 207 BC, but it was eventually absorbed by the victorious Western Han dynasty, Han. During its height, Yan stretched from the Yellow River to the Yalu River ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northeast China
Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The region is separated from the Russian Far East to the north and east by the Amur, Argun and Ussuri Rivers; from North Korea to the south by the Yalu and Tumen Rivers; and from the neighboring North China to the west by the Greater Khingan Range and Yan Mountains. It is also bounded by the Bohai Bay and Yellow Sea to the southwest, about away from East China's Jiaodong Peninsula across the Bohai Strait, due to be connected via a proposed undersea tunnel. The four prefectures of Inner Mongolia (which is part of North China) east of the Greater Khingan, i.e. Chifeng, Tongliao, Hinggan and Hulunbuir, are sometimes also considered broader parts of Northeast China, and together with the aforementioned three provinces formed what was h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere. China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic and linguistic people groups. The traditional lens for viewing Chinese history is the dynastic cycle: imperial dynasties rise and fall, and are ascribed certain achievements. This lens also tends to assume Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread many thousands of years into the past, making it one of the cradles of civilization. At various times, states representative of a dominant Chinese culture have directly controlled areas stretching as far west as the Tian Shan, the Tarim Basin, and the Himalayas, as far north as the Sayan Mountains, and as far south ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Duke Tai Of Tian Qi
Duke Tai of Tian Qi (), personal name Tian He, was from 386 BC to 384 BC the duke of the Qi state. He was the first Qi ruler from the Tian clan, which replaced the Jiang clan that had ruled the state for over six centuries. Reign Since Tian He's great-grandfather Tian Heng killed Duke Jian of Qi in 481 BC, the leaders of the Tian clan had been the ''de facto'' rulers of Qi. In 404 BC Tian He succeeded his older brother Tian Daozi as head of the Tian clan. He nominally served under Duke Kang of Qi, the last ruler from the House of Jiang, but effectively ruled the state himself. Tian He asked Marquis Wu of Wei to lobby for him at the court of King An of Zhou, the nominal ruler of all China. In 386 BC, King An officially recognized Tian He as ruler of Qi, ending more than six centuries of rule by the House of Jiang. Tian He became the first ''de jure'' ruler of Qi from the House of Tian, and is posthumously known as Duke Tai of Qi. He subsequently exiled Duke Kang to a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chinese Calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely Visual arts, visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high esteem across East Asia. Calligraphy is considered one of the four most-sought skills and hobbies of ancient Chinese literati, along with playing stringed musical instruments, the Go (game), board game "Go", and painting. There are some general standardizations of the various Chinese script styles, styles of calligraphy in this tradition. Chinese calligraphy and Ink wash painting, ink and wash painting are closely related: they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques, and have a long history of shared artistry. Distinguishing features of Chinese painting and calligraphy include an emphasis on motion charged with dynamic life. According to Stanley-Baker, "Calligraphy is sheer life experienced through energy in motion tha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Commemorative Coin
A commemorative coin is a coin issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Some coins of this category serve as collector's items only, while most commemorative coins are for regular circulation. Subcategories Commemorative coins can be seen as being of one of three types: *''Regular issue coinage'' are the normal coins intended to be used in commerce every day and are typically issued with the same design for several years, e.g. euro coins. *''Circulating commemoratives'' are intended to be used for commerce, but the design will only be issued for a limited time to commemorate an event, anniversary, person or location, among other items. Examples include the €2 commemorative coins and U.S. 50 State Quarters. *''Non-circulating legal tender (NCLT)'' are coins which are legal tender, and thus can in theory be used to purchase goods or services, but are not intended to be used in such a ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cao County
Cao County or Caoxian () is a county in Heze City in southwestern Shandong Province, China. It borders Henan Province to the west. History Bo, one of the capitals of the Shang dynasty, lay in what is now Cao . Prior to the Boxer Rebellion, Cao was an area noted for its lawlessness. When local garrisons were weakened during the First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ..., a militia known as the ''Dadaohui'' ("Great Sword Company") was set up. It operated until 1895 and may have inspired some of the Boxer Rebellion. Administrative divisions As of 2012, this County is divided to 5 subdistricts, 19 towns, 1 ethnic town and 2 townships. ;Subdistricts ;Towns ;Ethnic Towns * Houji Hui Town (侯集回族镇) ;Townships * Louzhuang Township (楼庄� ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pingdu
Pingdu () is the largest county-level city of Qingdao sub-provincial city, Shandong Province, China. It is located in the east of the Shandong Peninsula (Jiaodong Peninsula), the heart of peninsula. It borders Yantai and Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ..., and it has an area of and a population of 1,191,348 people in 2020. Administration The administrative divisions of Pingdu have undergone a relatively large number of changes in the past thirty years. , Pingdu had five subdistricts, 12 towns and one other area: As of 2016, this city is divided to 5 subdistricts, 12 towns and 1 other. ;Subdistricts ;Towns ;Others *Pingdu Export-oriented Industrial Processing Zone () Sports The Pingdu Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, which has a capacity of 15,00 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jimo District
Jimo District (), formerly Jimo City (), is a District of Qingdao, Shandong. Location Jimo is located in the southwest of the Shandong Peninsula, bordered by the Yellow Sea on the east and Mount Lao on the south. Climate Jimo has a moderate monsoon climate. The yearly average temperature is about , and average annual precipitation is . History Jimo was established in the Eastern Zhou dynasty, at which time it was the second largest settlement in Shandong. The Siege of Jimo in 279 BC, otherwise unremarkable, is remembered for the ruse that ended it. Tian Dan was a general of the State of Qi who had just lost 70 cities to the Yan. When Jimo, their penultimate city, was under fire, he collected more than 1,000 oxen, tied sharp daggers to their ears, tied straw to their tails, and dressed them in colourful cloth to make them look like dragons. At dead of night the Qi set the tails alight and drove the oxen towards the enemy camp. The panicking enemy soldiers were wiped out, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spring And Autumn Period
The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name derives from the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'', a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius (551–479 BCE). During this period, local polities negotiated their own alliances, waged wars against one another, up to defying the king's court in Luoyang, Luoyi. The gradual Partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, is generally considered to mark the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period. The periodization dates to the late Western Han (). Background In 771 BCE, a Quanrong invasion in coalition with the states of Zeng (state), Zeng and Shen (state), Shen— ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chinese Characters
Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only one that has remained in continuous use. Over a documented history spanning more than three millennia, the function, style, and means of writing characters have changed greatly. Unlike letters in alphabets that reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters generally represent morphemes, the units of meaning in a language. Writing all of the frequently used vocabulary in a language requires roughly 2000–3000 characters; , nearly have been identified and included in ''The Unicode Standard''. Characters are created according to several principles, where aspects of shape and pronunciation may be used to indicate the character's meaning. The first attested characters are oracle bone inscriptions made during the 13th century&n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zhao (state)
Zhao () was one of the seven major State (Ancient China), states during the Warring States period of ancient China. It emerged from the Partition of Jin, tripartite division of Jin, along with Han (Warring States), Han and Wei (state), Wei, in the 5th century BC. Zhao gained considerable strength from the military reforms initiated during the reign of King Wuling of Zhao, King Wuling, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Qin (state), Qin at the Battle of Changping. Its territory included areas in the modern provinces of Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi. It bordered the states of Qin, Wei, and Yan (state), Yan, as well as various nomadic peoples including the Donghu people, Hu and Xiongnu. Its capital was Handan, in modern Hebei province. Zhao was home to the Chinese Legalism, administrative philosopher Shen Dao, Confucian Xun Kuang, and Gongsun Long, who is affiliated to the school of names. Origins and ascendancy The Zhao (surname), Zhao clan within Jin ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |