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Nine Ding
The Nine Tripod Cauldrons () were a collection of ding in ancient China that were viewed as symbols of the authority given to the ruler by the Mandate of Heaven. According to the legend, they were cast by Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty. At the time of the Shang dynasty during the 2nd millennium BCE, the tripod cauldrons came to symbolize the power and authority of the ruling dynasty with strict regulations imposed as to their use. Members of the scholarly gentry class were permitted to use one or three cauldrons; the ministers of state (, ''dàfū'') five; the vassal lords seven; and only the sovereign Son of Heaven was entitled to use nine. The use of the nine tripod cauldrons to offer ritual sacrifices to the ancestors from heaven and earth was a major ceremonial occasion so that by natural progression the ding came to symbolize national political power and later to be regarded as a National Treasure. Sources state that two years after the fall of the Zhou dynasty at the ha ...
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Ding (vessel)
''Ding'' ( zh, s=鼎, p=dǐng) are prehistoric China, prehistoric and ancient China, ancient Chinese cauldrons standing upon legs with a lid and two fancy facing handles. They are one of the most important shapes used in Chinese ritual bronzes. They were made in two shapes: round vessels with three legs and rectangular ones with four, the latter often called ''fāng dǐng'' ( zh, s=方鼎, l=square ding). They were cookware, used for cooking, storage, and animal sacrifice, ritual offerings to the Chinese mythology, gods or to ancestor veneration in China, ancestors. The earliest recovered examples are ceramic tripods from the Neolithic Peiligang culture, Peiligang culture, but they are better known from the Chinese Bronze Age, particularly after the Zhou dynasty, Zhou deemphasized the ritual use of ''huangjiu'' alcohol practiced by the list of Shang emperors, Shang kings. Under the Zhou, the ding and the privilege to perform the associated rituals became symbols of authority. ...
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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 ...
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King Cheng Of Zhou
King Cheng of Zhou (; 1055–1021 BC), personal name Ji Song, was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. Ji Dan, Duke of Zhou served as regent during his minority. His parents were King Wu of Zhou and Queen Yi Jiang. Life King Cheng was young when he ascended the throne. His uncle the Duke of Zhou, fearing that Shang forces might rise again under the possible weak rule of a young ruler, became the regent and supervised government affairs for several years. Duke of Zhou established the eastern capital at Luoyang and later defeated a rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ... by Cheng's uncles the Three Guards Cai Shu, Guan Shu and Huo Shu.Hucker, Charles O. (1978). China to 1850: a s ...
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King Wu Of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou (; died ), personal name Ji Fa, was the founding king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BCE and ended with his death three years later. King Wu was the second son of Ji Chang (posthumously King Wen) and Tai Si. In most accounts, his older brother Bo Yikao was said to have predeceased his father, typically at the hands of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty; in the '' Book of Rites'', however, it is assumed that his inheritance represented an older tradition among the Zhou of passing over the eldest son. (Fa's grandfather Jili had likewise inherited Zhou despite two older brothers.) Upon his succession, Fa worked with his father-in-law Jiang Ziya to accomplish an unfinished task: overthrowing the Shang dynasty. During the ninth year of his reign, Fa marched down the Yellow River to the Mengjin ford and met with more than 800 dukes. He constructed an ...
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Yinxu
Yinxu (; ) is a Chinese archeological site corresponding to Yin, the final capital of the Shang dynasty (). Located in present-day Anyang, Henan, Yin served as the capital during the Late Shang period () which spanned the reigns of 12 Shang kings and saw the emergence of oracle bone script, the earliest known Chinese writing. Along with oracle bone script and other material evidence for the Shang's existence, the site was forgotten for millennia. Its rediscovery in 1899 resulted from an investigation into oracle bones that were discovered being sold nearby. The rediscovery of Yinxu marked the beginning of decades of intensive excavation and study. It is one of China's oldest and largest archeological sites, and was selected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2006. Yinxu is located in northern Henan, near modern Anyang and the borders Henan shares with Hebei and Shanxi. Public access to the site is permitted. Traditional history According to the 2nd century ''Shuowen Jiezi'' ...
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Pan Geng
Pán Gēng (), personal name Zi Xun, was a Shang dynasty King of China. He is best known for having moved the capital of the Shang dynasty to its final location at Yinxu, Yīn. Records In the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' he was listed by Sima Qian as the nineteenth Shang king, succeeding his older brother King Yang Jia, Yang Jia. Oracle script inscriptions on oracle bones, bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively identify him as the eighteenth Shang king. He ruled for about 28 years according to both the ''Bamboo Annals'' and the ''Records of the Grand Historian''. The ''Bamboo Annals'' provide a brief summary of the major known events of his rule, which are as follows. He was enthroned in the year of Bingyin () with Yan () as his capital. In the seventh year of his regime, the Ying vassal () came to Yan to pay homage to him. In the fourteenth year of his reign he moved his capital to Beimeng (), renaming it Yin (). In the fifteenth year of his reign he reviewed his army at ...
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Qufu
Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, and a total population of 653,000 inhabitants, of which, 188,000 live in urban areas. Qufu is best known as the hometown of Confucius, who is traditionally believed to have been born at nearby Mount Ni. The city contains numerous historic palaces, temples and cemeteries. The three most famous cultural sites of the city, collectively known as ''San Kong'' ( zh, labels=no , c=三孔 , l=the Three Confucian ites}, are the Temple of Confucius ( zh, s=, p=Kǒngmiào), the Cemetery of Confucius ( zh, labels=no , c=, p=Kǒnglín), and the Kong Family Mansion ( zh, labels=no , c=, p=Kǒngfǔ). Together, these three sites have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. Etymology The name Qufu literally means "crooked hill", and r ...
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Jie Of Xia
King Jie ( zh, c=桀; traditionally 1728–1675 BCE) was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty.劉煒/著. [2002] (2002) Chinese civilization in a new light 中華文明傳真#1 原始社會:東方的曙光. Publishing Company. . pg 150. Around 1600 BCE, Jie was defeated by Tang of Shang, bringing an end to the Xia dynasty that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the new Shang dynasty.王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #1 遠古至春秋. 中華書局. . p 26. Etymology ''Jié'' (Variant Chinese characters, variant: ) (< Old Chinese: ) (Reconstructions of Old Chinese#Zhengzhang (1981–1995), ZS) means "outstanding" and later "hero"; with regards to Chinese, it is cognate to ''qiè'' (< OC ) (ZS) "martial"; with regards to languages other than Chinese, it is cognate to either "strength; champion, athlete", or Mizo language, Mizo: "brave, resolute". T ...
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Tang Of Shang
Cheng Tang (born Zi Lü), recorded on oracle bones as Tai Yi or Da Yi, was the first king of the Shang dynasty. Tang is traditionally considered a virtuous ruler, as signified by his common nickname Tang the Perfect. According to legend, as the last leader of the Predynastic Shang he overthrew Jie, the last king of the Xia dynasty. Rise of Shang Tang ruled Shang (known as Predynastic Shang in historiography), one of the many kingdoms under the suzerainty of the Xia dynasty, for 17 years. During Jie's reign, Shang grew in power, initially at the expense of Xia's other vassals. He was able to win many supporters from as many as 40 smaller kingdoms.王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #1 遠古至春秋. 中華書局. . p 30. Tang recognized that Jie mistreated his people and used this to convince others. According to legend, in one speech, Tang said that creating chaos was not something he wanted, but given the terror of Jie, he had to follow the Mandate of Heaven and ...
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Yu Gong
The ''Yu Gong'' or ''Tribute of Yu'' is a chapter of the ''Book of Xia'' ( Chinese: ''Xià Shū'') section of the ''Book of Documents'', one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. The chapter describes the legendary Yu the Great and the provinces of his time. Most modern scholars believe it was written in the fifth century BCE or later. Contents and significance The chapter can be divided into two parts. The first describes the nine provinces of Ji (), Yan (), Qing (), Xu (), Yang (), Jing (), Yu (), Liang (), and Yong (), with the improvement works conducted by Yu in each province. The second enumerates Yu's surveys of the rivers of the empire, followed by an idealized description of five concentric domains of five hundred li each, from the royal domain ( ''Diānfú'') around the capital to the remote wild domain ( ''Huāngfú''). Later, this would become important in the justification for the concept of ''Tianxia'' or "All Under Heaven" as a means to b ...
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Book Of Documents
The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, and served as the foundation of Chinese political philosophy for over two millennia. The ''Book of Documents'' was the subject of one of China's oldest literary controversies, between proponents of different versions of the text. A version was preserved from Qin Shi Huang's burning of books and burying of scholars by scholar Fu Sheng, in 29 chapters ( ). This group of texts were referred to as "Modern Script" (or "Current Script"; ), because they were written with the script in use at the beginning of the Western Han dynasty. A longer version of the ''Documents'' was said to be discovered in the wall of Confucius's family estate in Qufu by his descendant Kong Anguo in the late 2nd century BC. This new material was referred to as " ...
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Qi Of Xia
Qi () was a Chinese king, the son of Yu the Great and the second sovereign of the Xia dynasty. He ruled for roughly nine to ten years.戴逸, 龔書鐸. 002(2003) 中國通史. 史前 夏 商 西周. Intelligence press. . p. 40. Biography Family Qi's father, Yu the Great, also the founder of the Xia dynasty, married Nu Jiao and had Qi. Qi was not to be the next king but due to public pressure Qi was chosen as Yu's successor, starting the dynastic tradition. Later, Qi had a son named Tài Kāng who also became the next king. Reign Yu died 45 years into his reign. After Qi's rule, Qi's son Tai Kang succeeded him as king. According to the historian Sima Qian, Yu did not want his son to become king and intended to give the throne to Gao Yao, his Minister of Justice, but when Gao died Yu designated as his heir Yi (also known as Boyi), his former companion for thirteen years fighting the flood and his current Minister of Animal Husbandry. But due to Yu's great influenc ...
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