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Three Star Gods
The Sanxing ()) are the gods of the three celestial bodies considered essential in Chinese astrology and mythology: Jupiter, Ursa Major, and Canopus. Fu, Lu, and Shou (), or Cai, Zi and Shou () are also the embodiments of Fortune ( ''Fu''), presiding over the planet Jupiter, Prosperity (''Lu''), presiding over Mizar (ζ Ursae Majoris), and Longevity ( ''Shou''), presiding over Canopus. They have emerged from Chinese folk religion. Their iconic representation as three, old, bearded, wise men dates back to the Ming dynasty, when the gods of the three stars were represented in human form for the first time. They are sometimes identified with other deities of the Chinese religion or of Taoism. The term is commonly used in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of a good life. Statues of these three gods are found on the facades of folk religion's temples, ancestral shrines, in homes and many Chinese-owned shops, often on small altars with a glass of water, an orange or othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Folk Religious
Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ancestors, and worship devoted to Chinese deities and immortals, deities and immortals, who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of Chinese kin, family lineages. Stories surrounding these gods form a loose canon of Chinese mythology. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), these practices had been Religious syncretism, blended with Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. The government of China, government of modern China generally tolerates popular religious organizations, but has suppressed or persecuted those that they fear would undermine social stability. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, governments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a Golden age (metaphor), golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of the Han dynasty. The House of Li, Li family founded the dynasty after taking advantage of a period of Sui decline and precipitating their final collapse, in turn inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant. The An Lushan rebellion (755 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pill Of Immortality
The Pill of Immortality, also known as xiandan (仙丹), (金丹) or (丹) in general, was an elixir or pill sought by Chinese alchemists to confer physical or spiritual immortality. It is typically represented as a spherical pill of dark color and uniform texture, made of refined medical material. Colloquially and in Chinese medicine, the term can also refer to medicine of great efficacy. The search for the pill was started several centuries BC ago and continued until 500 AD and was often based on noble metals such as mercury and gold. Its search was supported by the emperors and the nobility of China, with a strong tradition in Taoism. During the Qin dynasty, the founding Emperor Qin Shi Huang consulted sages and alchemists to seek such a pill to achieve eternal life. The alchemical tradition in China was divided into two differing schools in the search for the pill of immortality. Taoist sects which advocated the attainment of immortality by consuming substances were ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calabash Gourd
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed as a vegetable, or harvested mature to be dried and used as a utensil, container, or a musical instrument. When it is fresh, the fruit has a light green smooth skin and white flesh. Calabash fruits have a variety of shapes: they can be huge and rounded, small and bottle-shaped, or slim and serpentine, and they can grow to be over a metre long. Rounder varieties are typically called calabash gourds. The gourd was one of the world's first cultivated plants grown not primarily for food, but for use as containers. The bottle gourd may have been carried from Asia to Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the course of human migration, or by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd. It has been proven to have been g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a conviction that gods may be physically immortal, and that this is also a state that the gods at times offer humans. In Christianity, the conviction that God may offer physical immortality with the resurrection of the flesh at the end of time has traditionally been at the center of its beliefs. What form an unending human life would take, or whether an immaterial soul exists and possesses immortality, has been a major point of focus of religion, as well as the subject of speculation and debate. In religious contexts, immortality is often stated to be one of the promises of divinities to human beings who perform virtue or follow divine law. Some scientists, futurists and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peach
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peaches and #Nectarines, nectarines are the same species, though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. The tree is regarded as handsome and is planted in gardens for its springtime blooms in addition to fruit production. The peach tree is relatively short lived, usually not exceeding twenty years of age. However, the peach fruit is regarded as a symbol of longevity in several East Asian cultures. The specific name ''persica'' refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia (modern-day Iran), from where it was transplanted to Europe and in the 16th century to the Americas. It belongs to the genus ''Prunus'', which also includes the cherry, apricot, almond, and plum, and which is part of the Rosaceae, rose family. The p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Man Of The South Pole
The Old Man of the South Pole ( Chinese & ), also called the Old Immortal of the South Pole (), Xian of Longevity (), or Star of Longevity (), is the Taoist deification of Canopus, the brightest star of the constellation Carina. He is typically portrayed with long white hair and beard, a protruding forehead and a healthy pink complexion. His right hand often holds a peach and left hand a walking staff with a calabash gourd, which is said to contain the elixir of life. He can also be portrayed as riding a crane or a deer, often accompanied by disciples. He is one of the symbols of happiness and longevity in Far Eastern culture. Description The Old Man of the South Pole is often depicted in Chinese pictures as an old man with a long white beard with a deer by his side. This style of picture is related to the story of an emperor of the Northern Song dynasty, who had invited such an old man from the street and later considered the old man as the sign of his longevity. In certain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin () was a bureaucrat scholar in the history of China, Korea and Vietnam. The term is generally applied to the officials appointed through the imperial examination system. History and use of the term The English term comes from the Portuguese ''mandarim'' (spelled in Old Portuguese as ''mandarin,'' ). The Portuguese word was used in one of the earliest Portuguese reports about China: letters from the imprisoned survivors of the Tomé Pires embassy, most likely written in 1524, and in Castanheda's ''História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses'' (c. 1559). Matteo Ricci, who entered mainland China from Portuguese Macau in 1583, also said the Portuguese used the word. The Portuguese word was thought by many to be related to ''mandador'' ("one who commands") and ''mandar'' ("to command"), from Latin ''mandare''. Modern dictionaries, however, agree that the Portuguese borrowed it from the Malay ''menteri'' (in Jawi: , ), which derived fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Examination
The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by merit rather than by birth started Imperial examination in Chinese mythology, early in Chinese history, but using written examinations as a tool of selection started in earnest during the Sui dynasty (581–618), then into the Tang dynasty (618–907). The system became dominant during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and lasted for almost a millennium until its abolition during the late Qing reforms, late Qing dynasty reforms in 1905. The key sponsors for abolition were Yuan Shikai, Yin Chang and Zhang Zhidong. Aspects of the imperial examination still exist for entry into the civil service of both China and Taiwan. The exams served to ensure a common knowledge of writing, Chinese classics, and literary style among state officials. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruyi (scepter)
A ''ruyi'' () is a Chinese curved decorative object that serves as either a ceremonial scepter in Chinese Buddhism or a talisman symbolizing power and good fortune in Chinese folklore. The "ruyi" image frequently appears as a motif in Asian art. A traditional ''ruyi'' has a long S-shaped handle and a head fashioned like a fist, cloud, or lingzhi mushroom. ''Ruyi'' are constructed from diverse materials. For example, the Palace Museum in Beijing has nearly 3,000 ''ruyi'' variously made of gold, silver, iron, bamboo, wood, ivory, coral, rhinoceros horn, lacquer, crystal, jade, and precious gems. Word The Chinese term ''ruyi'' is a compound of ''ru'' 如 "as; like; such as; as if; for example; supposing; be like; be similar; accord with" and ''yi'' 意 "wish; will; desire; intention; suggestion; thought; idea; meaning; imagination". Standard Chinese uses ''ruyi'' either as a stative verb meaning "as desired; as one wishes, as one likes; according to one's wishes; following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Later Shu
Shu, referred to as Later Shu ( zh, t=後蜀, s=后蜀, first=t, p=Hòu Shǔ) and Meng Shu ( zh, c=孟蜀) in historiography, was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located in present-day Sichuan with its capital in Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ... and lasted from 934 to 965. Rulers Rulers family tree See also * First Kingdom of Shu * Second Kingdom of Shu * Third Kingdom of Shu References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shu Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Former countries in Chinese history History of Sichuan 934 establishments 10th-century establishments in China 965 disestablishments 10th-century disestablishments in China States and territories established in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Xian (deity)
Zhang Xian () is a Chinese god who is the enemy of the ''tiangou'' (), a legendary creature in the form of a dog who creates eclipses. It is said that he protects his children from the dog with his bow and arrows. He is often depicted aiming at the sky, waiting for the beast to appear. He is the god of birth and the protector of male children. Many sought him to give them male offspring and to protect their living children. References See also *Apotropaic magic Apotropaic magic (From ) or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tr ..., which wards away misfortune Archers Childhood gods Chinese gods {{China-myth-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
