Chinese literature

February 22nd, 2012

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Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novelsthat arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery

The introduction of widespread woodblock printingduring the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song Dynasty(960–1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered the founder of baihua literature in China. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery

There is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from the Hundred Schools of Thought that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE). The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of military science and Chinese history. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery

Note that except for the books of poems and songs, most of this literature is philosophical and didactic; there is little in the way of fiction. However, these texts maintained their significance through both their ideas and their prose style. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery

The Confucian works in particular have been of key importance to Chinese culture and history, as a set of works known as the Four Books and Five Classics were, in the 12th century CE, chosen as the basis for the Imperial examination for any government post. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery

These nine books therefore became the center of the educational system. They have been grouped into two categories: the Five Classics, allegedly commented and edited by Confucius, and the Four Books. The Five Classics include: Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery

The Four Books include: the Analects of Confucius, a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples;Mencius, a collection of political dialogues; the Doctrine of the Mean, a book that teaches the path to Confucian virtue; and the Great Learning, a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery

Other important philosophical works include the Mohist Mozi, which taught “inclusive love” as both an ethical and social principle, and Hanfeizi, one of the central Legalist texts. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery

Important Daoist classics include the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and the Classic of the Perfect Emptiness. Later authors combined Daoism with Confucianism and Legalism, such as Liu An (2nd century BCE), whose Huainanzi (The Philosophers of Huai-nan) also added to the fields of geography and topography. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery

Among the classics of military science, The Art of War by Sun Tzu (6th century BCE) was perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective international diplomacy. It was also the first in a tradition of Chinese military treatises, such as the Wujing Zongyao(Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, 1044 CE) and the Huolongjing (Fire Dragon Manual, 14th century CE). Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery

The Chinese kept consistent and accurate court records after the year 841 BCE, with the beginning of the Gonghe regency of theWestern Zhou Dynasty. The earliest known narrative history of China was the Zuo Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BCE, and attributed to the blind 5th century BCE historian Zuo Qiuming. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery

The Classic of History is thought to have been compiled as far back as the 6th century BCE, and was certainly compiled by 4th century BCE, the latest date for the writing of the Guodian Chu Slipsunearthed in a Hubei tomb in 1993. The Classic of History included early information on geography in the chapter of the Yu Gong.^[1] Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery

The Bamboo Annals found in 281 AD in the tomb of the King of Wei, who was interred in 296 BCE, provide another example; however, unlike the Zuo Zhuan, the authenticity of the early date of the Bamboo Annals is in doubt. Another early text was the political strategy book of the Zhan Guo Ce, Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery

compiled between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE, with partial amounts of the text found amongst the 2nd century BCE tomb site at Mawangdui. The oldest extant dictionary in China is the Erya, dated to the 3rd century BCE, anonymously written but with later commentary by the historian Guo Pu (276–324). Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery

Other early dictionaries include theFangyan by Yang Xiong (53 BCE – 18 AD) and the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen (58–147 AD). One of the largest was the Kangxi Dictionary compiled by 1716 under the auspices of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722); it provides definitions for over 47,000 characters.

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Although court records and other independent records existed beforehand, the definitive work in early Chinese historical writing was the Shiji (??/??), written by the Han Dynasty court historian Sima Qian (145 BCE-90 BCE). Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery

This groundbreaking text laid the foundation for Chinese historiography and the many official Chinese historical texts compiled for each dynasty thereafter. Sima Qian is often compared to the Greek Herodotus in scope and method, Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery

because he covered Chinese history from the mythical Xia Dynastyuntil the contemporary reign of Emperor Wu of Han while retaining an objective and non-biased standpoint. This was often difficult for the official dynastic historians, who used historical works to justify the reign of the current dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery

He influenced the written works of many Chinese historians, including the works of Ban Gu and Ban Zhao in the 1st and 2nd centuries, and even Sima Guang’s 11th-century compilation of the Zizhi Tongjian , presented to Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1084 AD. Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery

The overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed the Twenty-Four Histories, created for each successive Chinese dynasty up until the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); China’s last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), is not included. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery

Large encyclopedias were also produced in China through the ages. The Yiwen Leiju encyclopedia was completed by Ouyang Xun in 624 during the Tang Dynasty, with aid from scholars Linghu Defen and Chen Shuda. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery

During the Song Dynasty, the compilation of theFour Great Books of Song (10th century – 11th century), begun by Li Fang and completed by Cefu Yuangui, represented a massive undertaking of written material covering a wide range of different subjects. This included the Extensive Records of the Taiping Era(978), Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery

the Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era (983), the Finest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature (986), and the Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau (1013). Although these Song Dynasty Chinese encyclopedias featured millions of written Chinese characterseach, Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery

their aggregate size paled in comparison to the later Yongle Encyclopedia (1408) of the Ming Dynasty, which contained a total of 50 million Chinese characters.^[2] Even this size was trumped by later Qing Dynasty encyclopedias, such as the printed Gujin Tushu Jicheng (1726), which featured over 100 million written Chinese characters in over 800,000 pages, Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery

printed in 60 different copies using copper-metal Chinese movable type printing. Other great encyclopedic writers include the polymath scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and his Dream Pool Essays, the agronomist and inventor Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333) and his Nongshu, and the minor scholar-official Song Yingxing (1587–1666) and his Tiangong Kaiwu. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery

Classical poetry

The rich tradition of Chinese poetry began with two influential collections. In northern China, the Shijing or Classic of Poetry(approx. 10th-7th century BCE) comprises over 300 poems in a variety of styles ranging from those with a strong suggestion of folk music to ceremonial hymns.^[3] Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery

The word “shi” has the basic meaning of poem or poetry, as well as its use in criticism to describe one of China’s lyrical poetic genres. Confucius is traditionally credited with editing the Shijing. Its stately lines are usually composed of four characters or four syllables (Chinese characters are monosyllabic). Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery

Many of these early poems establish the later tradition of starting with a description of nature that leads into emotionally expressive statements, known as bi, xing, or sometime bixing.^[4]Separately in southern China, Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery

the Chuci is ascribed to Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BCE) and his follower Song Yu (fl. 3rd century BCE) and is distinguished by its more emotionally intense affect, often full of despair and descriptions of the fantastic.^[5] Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery

Metrically its six-character lines are formed into couplets separated in the middle by a strong caesura character (as the seventh character of the first line), producing a driving and dramatic rhythm. Both the Shijing and the Chuci have remained influential throughout Chinese history. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery

During the greater part of China’s first great period of unification, begun with the short-lived Qin Dynasty (221 BCE – 206 BCE) and followed by the centuries-long Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), the shi form of poetry underwent little innovation. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery

But a distinctively descriptive and erudite fu form (not the same fu character as that used for the bureau of music) developed that has been called “rhyme-prose,” a uniquely Han offshoot of Chinese poetry’s tradition.^[6] Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery

Equally noteworthy is Music Bureau poetry (yuefu), collected and presumably refined popular lyrics from folk music. The end of the Han witnesses a resurgence of the shi poetry, with the anonymous “19 Old Poems.” This collection reflects the emergence of a distinctive five-character line that later became shipoetry’s most common line length.^[7] Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery

From the Jian’an reign period (196 – 220 CE) onward, the five-character line became a focus for innovations in style and theme.^[8] The Cao family^[9], rulers of the Wei Dynasty (220 – 265 CE) during the post-Han Three Kingdomsperiod, distinguished themselves as poets by writing poems filled with sympathy for the day-to-day struggles of soldiery and the common people. Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery

Taoist philosophy became a different, common theme for other poets, and a genre emphasizing true feeling emerged led by Ruan Ji (210-263).^[10] The landscape genre of Chinese nature poetry emerged under the brush of Xie Lingyun (385-433), Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery

as he innovated distinctively descriptive and complementary couplets composed of five-character lines.^[11] A farmland genre was born in obscurity by Tao Qian (365-427) also known as Tao Yuanming as he labored in his fields and then wrote extolling the influence of wine.^[12] Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery

Toward the close of this period in which many later-developed themes were first experimented with, the Xiao family^[13] of the Southern Liang Dynasty (502-557) engaged in highly refined and often denigrated^[14] court-style poetry lushly describing sensual delights as well as the description of objects. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery

Reunified China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907) high culture set a high point for many things, including poetry. Various schools of Buddhism flourished, a successfully imported and modified cultural influence from India, as represented by the Chan or Zen beliefs ofWang Wei (701-761).^[15] Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery

His quatrains (jueju) describing natural scenes are world-famous examples of excellence, each couplet conventionally containing about two distinct images or thoughts per line.^[16] Tang poetry’s big star is Li Bai (701-762) also pronounced and written as Li Bo, who worked in all major styles, Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery

both the more free old style verse (gutishi) as well as the tonally regulated new style verse (jintishi).^[17] Regardless of genre, Tang poets notably strove to perfect a style in which poetic subjects are exposed and evident, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery

often without directly referring to the emotional thrust at hand.^[18] The poet Du Fu (712-770) excelled at regulated verse and use of the seven-character line, writing denser poems with more allusions as he aged, Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery

experiencing hardship and writing about it.^[19] A parade of great Tang poets also includes Chen Zi’ang (661-702), Wang Zhihuan (688-742), Meng Haoran (689-740), Bai Juyi (772-846), Li He (790-816), Du Mu (803-852), Wen Tingyun (812-870), (listed chronologically) and Li Shangyin (813-858), Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery

whose poetry delights in allusions that often remain obscure,^[20] and whose emphasis on the seven-character line also contributed to the emerging posthumous fame of Du Fu,^[21] now ranked alongside Li Bai. The distinctively different ci poetry form began its development during the Tang as Central Asian and other musical influences flowed through its cosmopolitan society.^[22] Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery

China’s Song Dynasty (960-1279), another reunification era after a brief period of disunity, initiated a fresh high culture. Several of its greatest poets were capable government officials as well including Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), Su Shi (1037-1101), and Wang Anshi(1021-1086). The ci form flourished as a few hundred songs became standard templates for poems with distinctive and variously set meters.^[23] Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery

The free and expressive style of Song high culture has been contrasted with majestic Tang poems by centuries of subsequent critics who engage in fierce arguments over which dynasty had the best poetry.^[24] Additional musical influences contributed to the Yuan Dynasty’s (1279-1368) distinctive qu opera culture and spawned the sanqu form of individual poems based on it.^[25] Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery

Classical Chinese poetry composition became a conventional skill of the well educated throughout the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing(1644-1911) dynasties. Over a million poems have been preserved, including those by women and by many other diverse voices.^[26]Painter-poets, such as Shen Zhou (1427-1509), Tang Yin (1470-1524), Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), and Yun Shouping (1633-1690), created worthy conspicuous poems as they combined art, poetry and calligraphy with brush on paper.^[27] Poetry composition competitions were socially common, as depicted in novels, for example over dessert after a nice dinner.^[28] Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery

The Song versus Tang debate continues through the centuries.^[29] While China’s later imperial period does not seem to have broken new ground for innovative approaches to poetry, picking through its vast body of preserved works remains a scholarly challenge, so new treasures may yet be restored from obscurity.^[30] Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery

Early Chinese prose was deeply influenced by the great philosophical writings of the Hundred Schools of Thought (770-221 BCE). The works of Mo Zi (??), Mencius (??) and Zhuang Zi (??) contain well-reasoned, carefully developed discourses that reveal much stronger organization and style than their predecessors. Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery

Mo Zi’s polemic prose was built on solid and effective methodological reasoning. Mencius contributed elegant diction and, like Zhuang Zi, relied on comparisons, anecdotes, and allegories. By the 3rd century BCE, these writers had developed a simple, concise and economical prose style that served as a model of literary form for over 2,000 years. They were written in Classical Chinese, an isolating language spoken during the Spring and Autumn Period. Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery

Later prose

During the Tang period, the ornate, artificial style of prose developed in previous periods was replace by a simple, direct, and forceful prose based on examples from the Hundred Schools (see above) and from the Han period, the period in which the great historical works of Sima Tan and Sima Qian were published. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

This neoclassical style dominated prose writing for the next 800 years. It was exemplified in the work of Han Yu ?? (768–824), a master essayist and strong advocate of a return to Confucian orthodoxy; Han Yu was later listed as one of the “Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song.” Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

The Song Dynasty saw the rise in popularity of “travel record literature” (youji wenxue). Travel literature combined both diary andnarrative prose formats, it was practiced by such seasoned travelers as Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and Xu Xiake (1587–1641) and can be seen in the example of Su Shi’s Record of Stone Bell Mountain. Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

After the 14th century, vernacular fiction became popular, at least outside of court circles. Vernacular fiction covered a broader range of subject matter and was longer and more loosely structured than literary fiction. One of the masterpieces of Chinese vernacular fiction is the 18th-century domestic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (???). Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

Late Qing (1895–1911)

Scholars now tend to agree that modern Chinese literature did not erupt suddenly in the New Culture Movement (1917–23). Instead, they trace its origins back at least to the late Qing period (1895–1911). Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

The late Qing was a period of intellectual ferment sparked by a sense of national crisis. Intellectuals began to seek solutions to China’s problems outside of its own tradition. They translated works of Western expository writing and literature, Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

which enthralled readers with new ideas and opened up windows onto new exotic cultures. Most outstanding^[^{by whom?}^] were the translations of Yan Fu (??) (1864–1921) and Lin Shu (??) (1852–1924). Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

In this climate, a boom in the writing of fiction occurred, especially after the 1905 abolishment of the civil service examination when literati struggled to fill new social and cultural roles for themselves. Stylistically, this fiction shows signs of both the Chinese novelistic tradition and Western narrative modes. Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

In subject matter, it is strikingly concerned with the contemporary: social problems, historical upheaval, changing ethical values, etc. In this sense, late Qing fiction is modern. Important novelists of the period includeWu Woyao (???) (1866–1910), Li Boyuan (???) (1867–1906), Liu E (??) (1857–1909), and Zeng Pu (??) (1872–1935). Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

The late Qing also saw a “revolution in poetry” (????), which promoted experimentation with new forms and the incorporation of new registers of language. However, the poetry scene was still dominated by the adherents to the Tongguang School (named after theTongzhi and Guangxu reigns of the Qing), whose leaders — Chen Yan (??), Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

Chen Sanli (???), Zheng Xiaoxu (???), and Shen Zengzhi (???) — promoted a Song style in the manner of Huang Tingjian. These poets would become the objects of scorn by New Culturalists like Hu Shi, who saw their work as overly allusive, artificial, and divorced from contemporary reality. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery

In drama, the late Qing saw the emergence of the new “civilized drama” (???), a hybrid of Chinese operatic drama with Western-style spoken drama. Peking opera and “reformed Peking opera” were also popular at the time. Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

Republican Era (1911–1949)

The literary scene in the first few years after the collapse of the Qing in 1911 was dominated by popular love stories, some written in the classical language and some in the vernacular. This entertainment fiction would later be labeled “Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly” Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

fiction by New Culturalists, who despised its lack of social engagement. Throughout much of the Republican era, Butterfly fiction would reach many more readers than its “progressive” counterpart. Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

In the course of the New Culture Movement (1917–23), the vernacular language largely displaced the classical in all areas of literature and writing. Literary reformers Hu Shi (??) (1891–1962) and Chen Duxiu (???) (1880–1942) declared the classical language “dead” and promoted the vibrant vernacular in its stead. Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery

Hu Shi once said, “A dead language can never produce a living literature.”^[^{citation needed}^] In terms of literary practice, Lu Xun (1881–1936) is usually said to be the first major stylist in the new vernacular prose that Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu were promoting. Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

Though often said to be less successful than their counterparts in fiction writing, poets also experimented with the vernacular in new poetic forms, such as free verse and the sonnet. Given that there was no tradition of writing poetry in the vernacular, these experiments were more radical than those in fiction writing and also less easily accepted by the reading public. Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

^[^{by whom?}^] Modern poetry flourished especially in the 1930s, in the hands of poets like Zhu Xiang (??), Dai Wangshu (???), Li Jinfa (???), Wen Yiduo (???), and Ge Xiao (??). Other poets, even among the May Fourth radicals (e.g., Yu Dafu), continued to write poetry in classical styles. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

May Fourth radicalism, combined with changes in the education system, made possible the emergence of a large group of women writers. While there had been women writers in the late imperial period and the late Qing, they had been few in number. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery

These writers generally tackled domestic issues, such as relations between the sexes, family, and friendship, but they were revolutionary in giving direct expression to female subjectivity. Ding Ling’s (??) story “Diary of Miss Sophie” (??????) exposes the thoughts and feelings of its female diarist in all their complexity. Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/P Battery

The 1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of spoken drama. Most outstanding among playwrights of the day are Ouyuang Yuqian (????), Hong Shen (??), Tian Han (??), and Cao Yu (??).^[^{by whom?}^] More popular than this Western-style drama, however, was Peking Opera, raised to new artistic heights by the likes of Mei Lanfang (???). Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/PC Battery

In the late 1920s and 1930s, literary journals and societies espousing various artistic theories proliferated. Among the major writers of the period were Guo Moruo (???) (1892–1978), a poet, historian, essayist, and critic; Mao Dun (??) (1896–1981), Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/T Battery

the first of the novelists to emerge from the “League of Left-Wing Writers” and one whose work reflected the revolutionary struggle and disillusionment of the late 1920s; satirist and novelist Lao She (??) (1899–1966); and Ba Jin (??) (1904–2005), Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/W Battery

a novelist whose work was influenced by Ivan Turgenev and other Russian writers. In the 1930s Ba Jin produced a trilogy that depicted the struggle of modern youth against the ageold dominance of the Confucian family system. Comparison often is made^[^{by whom?}^] between Jia(Family), Sony VAIO VPCW111XXP Battery

one of the novels in the trilogy, and Dream of the Red Chamber (???). Many of these writers became important as administrators of artistic and literary policy after 1949. Most of those authors who were still alive during the Cultural Revolution(1966–76) were either purged or forced to submit to public humiliation. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXT Battery

The League of Left-Wing Writers founded in 1930 included Lu Xun (??) among its leadership. By 1932 it had adopted the Soviet doctrine of socialist realism; that is, the insistence that art must concentrate on contemporary events in a realistic way, exposing the ills of nonsocialist society and promoting a glorious future under communism. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXW Battery

Other styles of literature were at odds with the highly-political literature being promoted by the League. The “New Sensationists” (????) – a group of writers based in Shanghai who were influenced, to varying degrees, by Western and Japanese modernism—wrote fiction that was more concerned with the unconscious and with aesthetics than with politics or social problems. Sony VAIO VPCW115XG Battery

Most important among these writers were Mu Shiying (???), Liu Na’ou (???), and Shi Zhecun (???).^[^{by whom?}^] Other writers, including Shen Congwen (???) and Fei Ming (??), balked at the utilitarian role for literature by writing lyrical, almost nostalgic, depictions of the countryside. Sony VAIO VPCW115XGP Battery

Lin Yutang, who had studied at Harvard and Leipzig, introduced the concept of youmo (humor), which he used in trenchant criticism of China’s political and cultural situation before leaving for the United States. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/P Battery

The Communist Party of China had established a base after the Long March in Yan’an. The literary ideals of the League were being simplified and enforced on writers and “cultural workers.” In 1942, Mao Zedong gave a series of lectures calledSony VAIO VPCW115XW/T Battery

“Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Art and Literature” that clearly made literature subservient to politics via the Yan’an Rectification Movement. This document would become the national guideline for culture after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/W Battery

Republican Era (1911–1949)

This entertainment fiction would later be labeled “Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly” fiction by New Culturalists, who despised its lack of social engagement. Throughout much of the Republican era, Butterfly fiction would reach many more readers than its “progressive” counterpart. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/T Battery

and promoted the vibrant vernacular in its stead. Hu Shi once said, “A dead language can never produce a living literature.”^[^{citation needed}^] In terms of literary practice, Lu Xun (1881–1936) is usually said to be the first major stylist in the new vernacular prose that Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu were promoting. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ Battery

Modern poetry flourished especially in the 1930s, in the hands of poets like Zhu Xiang (??), Dai Wangshu (???), Li Jinfa (???), Wen Yiduo (???), and Ge Xiao (??). Other poets, even among the May Fourth radicals (e.g., Yu Dafu), continued to write poetry in classical styles. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/W Battery

essayist, and critic; Mao Dun (??) (1896–1981), the first of the novelists to emerge from the “League of Left-Wing Writers” and one whose work reflected the revolutionary struggle and disillusionment of the late 1920s; satirist and novelist Lao She (??) (1899–1966); and Ba Jin (??) (1904–2005), Sony VAIO VPCW121AX Battery

depictions of the countryside. Lin Yutang, who had studied at Harvard and Leipzig, introduced the concept of youmo (humor), which he used in trenchant criticism of China’s political and cultural situation before leaving for the United States. Sony VAIO VPCW12AAJ Battery

In 1942, Mao Zedong gave a series of lectures called “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Art and Literature” that clearly made literature subservient to politics via the Yan’an Rectification Movement. This document would become the national guideline for culture after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Sony VAIO VPCW12AVJ Battery

Post-Mao (1976–present)

The arrest of Jiang Qing and the other members of the Gang of Four in 1976, and especially the reforms initiated at the Third Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee in December 1978, led writers to take up their pens again. Much of the literature in what would be called the “new era” (???) Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P Battery

discussed the serious abuses of power that had taken place at both the national and the local levels during the Cultural Revolution. The writers decried the waste of time and talent during that decade and bemoaned abuses that had held China back. At the same time, the writers expressed eagerness to make a contribution to building Chinese society. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/T Battery

This literature, often called “the literature of the wounded,” contained disquieting views of the party and the political system. Intensely patriotic, these authors wrote cynically of the political leadership that gave rise to the extreme chaos and disorder of the Cultural Revolution. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/W Battery

Some of them extended the blame to the entire generation of leaders and to the political system itself. The political authorities were faced with a serious problem: how could they encourage writers to criticize and discredit the abuses of the Cultural Revolution without allowing that criticism to go beyond what they considered tolerable limits? Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/L Battery

During this period, a large number of novels and short stories were published. Literary magazines from before the Cultural Revolution were revived, and new ones were established to satisfy the appetite of the reading public. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/P Battery

There was a special interest in foreign works. Linguists were commissioned to translate recently published foreign literature, often without carefully considering its interest for the Chinese reader. Literary magazines specializing in translations of foreign short stories became very popular, especially among the young. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/T Battery

These dramatic changes brought objections from some leaders in the government, literary and art circles who feared it was happening too fast. The first reaction came in 1980 with calls to combat “bourgeois liberalism,” a campaign that was repeated in 1981. These two difficult periods were followed by the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign in late 1983. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/W Battery

At the same time, writers remained more free to write in unconventional styles and to treat sensitive subject matter. A spirit of literary experimentation flourished in the second half of the 1980s. Sony VAIO VPCW215AG/L Battery

Fiction writers such as Wang Meng (??), Zhang Xinxin (???), and Zong Pu (??) and dramatists such as Gao Xingjian (???) experimented with modernist language and narrative modes. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC Battery

Another group of writers—collectively said to constitute the Roots (??) movement—including Han Shaogong (???), Mo Yan, andA Cheng (??) sought to reconnect literature and culture to Chinese traditions, Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/L Battery

from which a century of modernization and cultural and political iconoclasm had severed them. Other writers (e.g., Yu Hua (??), Ge Fei (??), Su Tong (??) experimented in a more avant-garde (??) mode of writing that was daring in form and language and showed a complete loss of faith in ideals of any sort.^[^{by whom?}^] Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/P Battery

In the wake of the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 and with the intensification of market reforms, literature and culture turned increasingly commercial and escapist. Wang Shuo (??), the so-called “hooligan” (??) writer, is the most obvious manifestation of this commercial shift, Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/T Battery

though his fiction is not without serious intent.^[^{by whom?}^] Some writers, such as Yan Lianke ???, continue to take seriously the role of literature in exposing social problems; his novel Dreams of Ding Village (???) deals with the plight ofHIV-AIDS victims. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/W Battery

As in the May Fourth Movement, women writers flourish in present-day China. Many of them, such as Chen Ran (??), Wei Hui (??), Wang Anyi (???), and Hong Ying (??), explore female subjectivity in a radically changing society. Neo-realism (e.g., Liu Heng (??), Chi Li (??), Fang Fang (??), He Dun (??), and Zhu Wen (??) is another important current in post-Tian’anmen fiction. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC Battery

China’s state-run General Administration of Press and Publication (??????) screens all Chinese literature intended to be sold on the open market. The GAPP has the legal authority to screen, censor, and ban any print, electronic, or Internet publication in China. Because all publishers in China are required to be licensed by the GAPP, Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/L Battery

that agency also has the power to deny people the right to publish, and completely shut down any publisher who fails to follow its dictates.^[31] As a result, the ratio of official to pirated books is said to be 2:3.^[32] Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/P Battery

According to a report in ZonaEuropa, there are more than 4,000 underground publishing factories around China.^[31] The Chinese government continues to hold public book burnings^[33] on unapproved yet popular “spiritual pollution” literature, though critics claim this spotlight on individual titles only helps fuel booksales.^[34] Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/T Battery

Many new-generation Chinese authors who were the recipients of such government attention have been re-published in English and success in the western literary markets, namely Zhou Weihui’s Shanghai Baby, Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/W Battery

Anchee Min’s controversial memoir Red Azalea, Time Magazine banned-book covergirl Chun Sue’s Beijing Doll, and Mian Mian’s Candy. Online bestseller Ghost Blows Out the Light had to be rewritten to remove references to the supernatural before it could be released in print.^[35] Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/L Battery

After the liberal 1980s, the 1990s saw a strong commercialization of literature due to an opening of the book market. According toMartin Woesler trends were ‘cult literature’ with Guo Jingming (???), ?????? Cry me a sad river, vagabond literature with Xu Zechen (???), ??????? Peking double quick, Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/P Battery

Liu Zhenyun (???), ???? The pickpockets, underground literature Mian Mian (??), ???? Panda Sex, ‘longing for something’ literature, divided in historicizing literature with Yu Dan ??, ??????Confucius in your heart, Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/W Battery

Yi Zhongtian (???) and in Tibetan literature with Alai, literature of the mega cities, women’s literature with Bi Shumin (???), ??? Women’s boxing, ???? The female psychologist, master narratives by narrators like Mo Yan ?? with ???? Life and Death are Wearing me out.^[36] Sony VAIO VPCW21AAJ Battery

However Chinese literature at the beginning of the 21st century shows signs of overcoming the commercialization of literature of the 1980s and 1990s. An example is Han Han’s (??) novel ??? His land (2009), which was written in a social critical surrealistic style against the uncritical mainstream, but ranked 1st in 2009 Chinese bestseller list.^[37] Sony VAIO VPCW21AKJ Battery

In the new millennium, online literature in China plays a much more important role than in the United States or in the rest of the world.^[38] Almost any book is available online, novels finding millions of readers, being available at 2 Yuan in average, a tenth of the average prize of a printed book.^[39] Online literature stars are, amongst others, again Han Han and Guo Jingming.^[40] Sony VAIO VPCW21AVJ Battery

Chinese language literature also flourishes in the diaspora—in South East Asia, the United States, and Europe. China is the largest publisher of books, magazines and newspapers in the world.^[^{citation needed}^] Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

In book publishing alone, some 128,800 new titles of books were published in 2005, according to the General Administration of Press and Publication. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

There are more than 600 literary journals across the country. Living and writing in France but continuing to write primarily in Chinese, Gao Xingjian became the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000. Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

Book market

China buys many foreign book rights; nearly 16 million copies of the sixth book of the Harry Potter series were sold in Chinese translation. As China Book Review reported, the rights to 9,328 foreign titles – including many children’s books – went to China in 2007. China was nominated as a Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 2009. [2][3] Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

The book market in China traditionally orders books during bookfairs, because the country lacks a national book ordering system. In 2006, 6.8 million titles were sold, not including an unknown number of banned titles, Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

bootleg copies and underground publishing factories. Seven percent of all publishers are located in Shanghai. Because the industry lacks a national distribution system, many titles from publishers in the provinces can only be found there. Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

The central publishing houses belonging to ministries or (other) government institutions have their main seat at Beijing (40 percent of all publishers). Most regional publishing houses are situated in the capitals of the provinces. Universities also have associated presses. Private publishing is tolerated. 220,000 books were published in 2005. Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

Among 579 publishers – almost five times more than thirty years ago – 225 are supervised by ministries, commissions or the army; 348 are controlled by agencies; and six are even more independent. On the other hand 100,000 private bookstores bring in the half of the income of the book industry.^[41] Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

According to The Guardian, the cultural life of the 1.3 billion people who live and work in this economic superpower remains a closed book to many in the west – their bestselling authors unfamiliar, Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

their most exciting writers untranslated. However, in 2005, the Chinese government started a sponsoring program for translations of government-approved Chinese works, which has already resulted in more than 200 books being translated from Chinese into another language. Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

Shanda Literature Ltd. is an online publishing company that claims to publish 8,000 Chinese literary works daily. Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

Early female writers

Cai, or literary talent, is an attribute describing profound lyricism, deep intellectuality and analytic skill.^[42] Although it was acknowledged that both women and men possessed cai, the phrase nuren wucai bian shi de ???????(for women, Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

lack of literary talent is a virtue^[42] summarizes the dominant sentiment that the literary field was traditionally a domain for men. Despite this belief, works authored by women play an integral part throughout Chinese history. There were a number of women writers prior to the 20th century who were respected by the intelligentsia of their era, Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

even if much of their work was considered less important than men’s work in general.^[43] Female writers helped to bring forth themes such as romance, marriage, gender roles and the politics surrounding women. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

The first women recorded in biography and bibliography were poets.^[43] The aesthetic nature of poetry was highly regarded, while fiction was viewed as an avenue taken because of a failed career or commercial venture.^[43] A marked increase in female literacy took place during the Late Imperial Era. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

One of the more notable poets of this time was Mao Xiuhui, a 16th century poet that used the plight of her husband’s failed attempt at gaining a position as civil servant to write a poem that draws parallels between the male and female as they suffer hardships in the political and domestic arenas respectively. Other notable female poets in Chinese history wereGao Zhixian, Xue Tao, and Li Qingzhao Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

20th century writers and feminism

The beginning of the century marked a period of growing unrest for women as the feminist movement took hold. Women of this period were faced with the dilemma of protesting oppressive ideals stemming from Confucian ideology or remaining true to their family and maintaining peace and order. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Literary discourse at the time was highly influenced by this social movement. Women writers of the time authored works reflecting the feminist sentiment and the issues that came with revolution.^[44] Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

Zhang Ailing, Lu Yin, Shi Pingmei and Ding Ling, were four of the most influential feminist writers of the time. In the 1920s and 1930s, Freudianpsychoanalysis gained favor with Chinese feminists looking to study gender relationships, thus becoming a topic of many feminist writers throughout the early and mid portions of the 20th century.^[44] Sony VAIO VPCZ110 Battery

When Mao came to power in 1949, he addressed the issue of women’s rights and tried to establish women’s equality through the “iron girls” of national development ideal.^[44] Through this philosophy, long-standing practices such as foot binding, prostitution and trafficking of women were abolished. Sony VAIO VPCZ110GB/BI Battery

Women were given the opportunity to own land, divorce, and join the military and other employment fields.^[45] The establishment of this ideology, however, did not liberate women; instead, it undermined the feminine voice by forcing women to take a male-oriented stance on public and domestic policy.^[44] Sony VAIO VPCZ112GD/S Battery

Literature authored during this time reflects the restrictive and masculine perspective of women writers during this period.^[44] This “Mulanian” style of writing submerged true feminine identity, Sony VAIO VPCZ112GX/S Battery

rendering the female perspective neglected and hidden in the male dominated political and aesthetic arenas.^[46] There were some exceptions to this rule, such as Yuan Qiongqiong, who wrote about women’s issues and how much women could accomplish without men. Sony VAIO VPCZ114GX/S Battery

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Sòng Cháo; Wade-Giles: Sung Ch’ao; IPA: [s??? t??????]) was a ruling dynasty in Chinabetween 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCZ115 Battery

It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as first discernment of true north using a compass. Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/B Battery

The Song Dynasty is divided into two distinct periods: the Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song (Chinese: ??, 960–1127), the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of inner China. Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/S Battery

The Southern Song (Chinese: ??, 1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of northern China to the Jin Dynasty. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze River and established their capital at Lin’an (now Hangzhou). Sony VAIO VPCZ116 Battery

Although the Song Dynasty had lost control of the traditional birthplace of Chinese civilization along the Yellow River, the Song economy was not in ruins, as the Southern Song Empire contained 60 percent of China’s population and a majority of the most productive agricultural land.^[1] Sony VAIO VPCZ116GX/S Battery

The Southern Song Dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. Sony VAIO VPCZ117 Battery

To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Sony VAIO VPCZ117FC/B Battery

Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, died in 1259 while besieging a city inChongqing. His younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. Sony VAIO VPCZ118 Battery

In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China.^[2] After two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khan’s armies conquered the Song Dynasty in 1279. China was once again unified, under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368).^[3] Sony VAIO VPCZ118GC/B Battery

The population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. This growth came through expanded rice cultivation in central and southern China, the use of early-ripening rice from southeast and southern Asia, and the production of abundant food surpluses.^[4][5] Sony VAIO VPCZ118GX/S Battery

The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and Tang dynasties. This data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people, and 200 million by the time of the Ming Dynasty.^[6] Sony VAIO VPCZ119 Battery

This dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in premodern China. The expansion of the population was partially the cause for the gradual withdrawal of the central government from heavily regulating the market economy. Sony VAIO VPCZ119FJ/S Battery

A much larger populace also increased the importance of the lower gentry’s role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the scholarly gentry for their services, sponsorship, and local supervision. Sony VAIO VPCZ119GC/X Battery

Social life during the Song was vibrant; social elites gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. Sony VAIO VPCZ119L Battery

The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the earlier invention of woodblock printing and the 11th-century invention of movable type printing. Pre-modern technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, and other intellectual pursuits flourished over the course of the Song. Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/B Battery

Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused with Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new organization of classic texts that brought out the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism. Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/S Battery

Although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui Dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period. This became a leading factor in the shift of an aristocratic elite to a bureaucratic elite. Sony VAIO VPCZ11AFJ Battery

Northern Song, 960–1127

Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976) unified China through conquering other lands during his reign, ending the upheaval of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. In Kaifeng, he established a strong central government over the empireSony VAIO VPCZ11AGJ Battery

. He ensured administrative stability by promoting the civil service examination system of drafting state bureaucrats by skill and merit (instead ofaristocratic or military position) and promoted projects that ensured efficiency in communication throughout the empire. Sony VAIO VPCZ11AVJ Battery

One such project was the creation by cartographers of detailed maps of each province and city which were then collected in a large atlas.^[7] He also promoted groundbreaking science and technological innovations by supporting such works as the astronomical clock towerdesigned and built by the engineer Zhang Sixun.^[8] Sony VAIO VPCZ11CGX/X Battery

The Song court maintained diplomatic relations with Chola India, Fatimid Egypt, Srivijaya, the Kara-Khanid Khanate of Central Asia, and other countries that were also trade partners.^{[9][10][11][12]} Sony VAIO VPCZ11DGX/SJ Battery

However, it was China’s closest neighboring states which would have the greatest impact on its domestic and foreign policy. From its inception under Taizu, the Song Dynasty alternated between warfare and diplomacy with the ethnic Khitans of the Liao Dynasty in the northeast and with the Tanguts of the Western Xia Dynastyin the northwest. Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX/XQ Battery

The Song Dynasty used military force in an attempt to quell the Liao Dynasty and recapture the Sixteen Prefectures, a territory under Khitan control that was traditionally considered to be part of China proper.^[13] Sony VAIO VPCZ11V9R/B Battery

However, Song forces were repulsed by the Liao forces who engaged in aggressive yearly campaigns into northern Song territory until 1005 when the signing of the Shanyuan Treaty ended these northern border clashes. Sony VAIO VPCZ11X9E/B Battery

The Song were forced to provide tribute to the Khitans, although paying this tribute did little damage to the overall Song economy since the Khitans were heavily dependent upon importing massive amounts of goods from the Song Dynasty.^[14] More significantly, the Song state recognized the Liao state as its diplomatic equal.^[15] Sony VAIO VPCZ11Z9E/B Battery

The Song Dynasty managed to win several military victories over the Tanguts in the early 11th century, culminating in a campaign led by the polymath scientist, general, and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095).^[16] However, this campaign was ultimately a failure due to a rival military officer of Shen disobeying direct orders, Sony VAIO VPCZ125GX/S Battery

and the territory gained from the Western Xia was eventually lost.^[17]There was also a significant war fought against the Lý Dynasty of Vietnam from 1075 to 1077 over a border dispute and the Song’s severing of commercial relations with the ??i Vi?t kingdom.^[18] After Lý forces inflicted heavy damages in a raid on Guangxi, the Song commander Guo Kui (1022–1088) penetrated as far as Th?ng Long (modern Hanoi).^[19] Sony VAIO VPCZ127FC Battery

However, heavy losses on both sides prompted the Lý commander Th??ng Ki?t (1019–1105) to make peace overtures, allowing both sides to withdraw from the war effort; captured territories held by both Song and Lý were mutually exchanged in 1082, along with prisoners of war.^[20] Sony VAIO VPCZ128GC Battery

During the 11th century, political rivalries thoroughly divided members of the court due to the ministers’ differing approaches, opinions, and policies regarding the handling of the Song’s complex society and thriving economy. Sony VAIO VPCZ12M9E/B Battery

The idealist Chancellor, Fan Zhongyan (989–1052), was the first to receive a heated political backlash when he attempted to make such reforms as improving the recruitment system of officials, increasing the salaries for minor officials, and establishing sponsorship programs to allow a wider range of people to be well educated and eligible for state service.^[21] Sony VAIO VPCZ13M9E/B Battery

After Fan was forced to step down from his office, Wang Anshi(1021–1086) became Chancellor of the imperial court. With the backing of Emperor Shenzong (1067–1085), Wang Anshi severely criticized the educational system and state bureaucracy. Sony VAIO VPCZ13V9E/X Battery

Seeking to resolve what he saw as state corruption and negligence, Wang implemented a series of reforms called the New Policies. These involved land tax reform, the establishment of several governmentmonopolies, the support of local militias, and the creation of higher standards for the Imperial examination to make it more practical for men skilled in statecraft to pass.^[22] Sony VAIO VPCZ13Z9E/X Battery

The reforms created political factions in the court. Wang Anshi’s New Policies Group (Xin Fa), also known as the ‘Reformers’, were opposed by the ministers in the ‘Conservative’ faction led by the historian and Chancellor Sima Guang (1019–1086).^[23] Sony VAIO VPCZZZHJ Battery

As one faction supplanted another in the majority position of the court ministers, it would demote rival officials and exile them to govern remote frontier regions of the empire.^[22] One of the prominent victims of the political rivalry, the famous poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101), was jailed and eventually exiled for criticizing Wang’s reforms.^[22] Sony VAIO VPZ117 Battery

While the central Song court remained politically divided and focused upon its internal affairs, alarming new events to the north in the Liao state finally came to its attention. The Jurchen, a subject tribe within the Liao empire, rebelled against the Liao and formed their own state, the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234).^[24] Sony VAIO VPZ118 Battery

The Song official Tong Guan (1054–1126) advised Emperor Huizong (1100–1125) to form an alliance with the Jurchens, and their joint military campaign toppled and completely conquered the Liao Dynasty by 1125. Sony VAIO VPZ119 Battery

However, the poor performance and military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jurchens who immediately broke the alliance with the Song, launching an invasion into Song territory in 1125 and another in 1127; in this latter invasion, the Jurchens captured not only the Song capital at Kaifeng, Sony VPCM11M1E/B Battery

but the retired emperor Huizong, his successor Qinzong, and most of the Imperial court.^[24] This took place in the year of Jingkang (Chinese ??) and it is known as the Humiliation of Jingkang (Chinese ????). The remaining Song forces regrouped under the self-proclaimed. Emperor Gaozong (1127–1162), Sony VPCM11M1E/W Battery

and withdrew south of the Yangtze River to establish the Song Dynasty’s new capital at Lin’an (in modern Hangzhou). The Jurchen conquest of northern China and shift of capitals from Kaifeng to Lin’an was the dividing line between the Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty. Sony VPCM12M1E/L Battery

Although weakened and pushed south along the Huai River, the Southern Song found new ways to bolster its strong economy and defend its own state against the Jin Dynasty. They had able military officers such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. Sony VPCM12M1E/P Battery

The government sponsored massive shipbuilding and harbor improvement projects, and the construction of beacons and seaport warehouses in order to support maritime trade abroad and the major international seaports, such as Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Xiamen, that were sustaining China’s commerce.^[25][26][27] Sony VPCM12M1E/W Battery

To protect and support the multitudes of ships sailing for maritime interests into the waters of the East China Sea and Yellow Sea (to Korea and Japan), Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, it was a necessity to establish an official standing navy.^[28] The Song Dynasty therefore established China’s first permanent navy in 1132,^[27Sony VPCM13M1E/L Battery

^]with a headquarters at Dinghai.^[29] With a permanent navy, the Song were prepared to face the naval forces of the Jin on the Yangtze River in 1161, in the Battle of Tangdao and the Battle of Caishi. During these battles the Song navy employed swift paddle wheel drivennaval vessels armed with trebuchet catapults aboard the decks that launched gunpowder bombs.^[29] Sony VPCM13M1E/P Battery

Although the Jin forces boasted 70,000 men on 600 warships, and the Song forces only 3,000 men on 120 warships,^[30] the Song Dynasty forces were victorious in both battles due to the destructive power of the bombs and the rapid assaults by paddle wheel ships.^[31] The strength of the navy was heavily emphasized after that. Sony VPCM13M1E/W Battery

A century after the navy was founded it had grown in size to 52,000 fighting marines.^[29] The Song government confiscated portions of land owned by the landed gentry in order to raise revenue for these projects, an act which caused dissension and loss of loyalty amongst leading members of Song society but did not stop the Song’s defensive preparations. Sony VAIO VGN-Z11MN/B Battery

Financial matters were made worse by the fact that many wealthy, land-owning families—some which had officials working for the government—used their social connections with those in office in order to obtain tax-exempt status.^[35] Sony VAIO VGN-Z11VN/X Battery

Although the Song Dynasty was able to hold back the Jin, a new considerable foe came to power over the steppe, deserts, and plains north of the Jin Dynasty. The Mongols, led by Genghis Khan (r. 1206–1227), Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B Battery

initially invaded the Jin Dynasty in 1205 and 1209, engaging in large raids across its borders, and in 1211 an enormous Mongol army was assembled to invade the Jin.^[36] The Jin Dynasty was forced to submit and pay tribute to the Mongols as vassals; when the Jin suddenly moved their capital city from Beijingto Kaifeng, Sony VAIO VGN-Z11XN/B Battery

the Mongols saw this as a revolt.^[37] Under the leadership of Ögedei Khan (r.1229–1241), both the Jin Dynasty and Western Xia Dynasty were conquered by Mongol forces.^[37][38] The Mongols also invaded Korea, the Abbasid Caliphate of the Middle East, and Kievan Rus’. The Mongols were at one time allied with the Song, Sony VAIO VGN-Z15 Battery

but this alliance was broken when the Song recaptured the former imperial capitals of Kaifeng, Luoyang and Chang’an at the collapse of the Jin Dynasty. The Mongol leaderMöngke Khan led a campaign against the Song in 1259, but died on August 11 during the Battle of Fishing Town in Chongqing.^[39Sony VAIO VGN-Z15N Battery

^]Möngke’s death and the ensuing succession crisis prompted Hulagu Khan to pull the bulk of the Mongol forces out of the Middle East where they were poised to fight the Egyptian Mamluks (who defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut). Although Hulagu was allied withKublai Khan, his forces were unable to help in the assault against the Song, due to Hulagu’s war with the Golden Horde.^[40] Sony VAIO VGN-Z17 Battery

Kublai continued the assault against the Song, gaining a temporary foothold on the southern banks of the Yangtze.^[41] Kublai made preparations to take Ezhou, but a pending civil war with his brother Ariq Böke—a rival claimant to the Mongol Khaganate—forced Kublai to move with the bulk of his forces back north.^[42] Sony VAIO VGN-Z17N Battery

In Kublai’s absence, the Song forces were ordered by Chancellor Jia Sidao to make an opportune assault, and succeeded in pushing the Mongol forces back to the northern banks of the Yangzi.^[43] Sony VAIO VGN-Z19 Battery

There were minor border skirmishes until 1265, when Kublai won a significant battle in Sichuan.^[44] From 1268 to 1273, Kublai blockaded the Yangzi River with his navy and besieged Xiangyang, the last obstacle in his way to invading the rich Yangzi River basin.^[44] Kublai officially declared the creation of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271. Sony VAIO VGN-Z19N Battery

In 1275, a Song force of 130,000 troops under Chancellor Jia Sidao was defeated by Kublai’s newly appointed commander-in-chief, general Bayan.^[45] By 1276, most of the Song territory had been captured by Yuan forces.^[38] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21MN/B Battery

In the Battle of Yamen on the Pearl River Delta in 1279, the Yuan army, led by the general Zhang Hongfan, finally crushed the Song resistance. The last remaining ruler, the 8-year-old emperor Emperor Huaizong of Song committed suicide, along with Prime Minister Lu Xiufu ^[46] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21VN/X Battery

and 800 members of the royal clan. On Kublai’s orders, carried out by his commander Bayan, the rest of the former imperial family of Song were unharmed; the deposed Emperor Gong was demoted, being given the title ‘Duke of Ying’, but was eventually exiled to Tibet where he took up a monastic life.^[47] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21WN/B Battery

Society and culture

The Song Dynasty was an era of administrative sophistication and complex social organization. Some of the largest cities in the world were found in China during this period (Kaifeng and Hangzhou had populations of over a million).^[1][48] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21XN Battery

People enjoyed various social clubs and entertainment in the cities, and there were many schools and temples to provide the people with education and religious services.^[1] The Song government supported multiple forms of social welfare programs, including the establishment ofretirement homes, public clinics, and pauper’s graveyards.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21ZN/X Battery

The Song Dynasty supported a widespread postal service that was modeled on the earlier Han Dynasty (202 BC – AD 220) postal system to provide swift communication throughout the empire.^[49] Sony VAIO VGN-Z25 Battery

The central government employed thousands of postal workers of various ranks and responsibilities to provide service for post offices and larger postal stations.^[50] In rural areas, farming peasants either owned their own plots of land, paid rents as tenant farmers, or were serfs on large estates.^[51] Sony VAIO VGN-Z25/B Battery

Although women were on a lower social tier than men (according to Confucian ethics), they enjoyed many social and legal privileges and wielded considerable power at home and in their own small businesses. Sony VAIO VGN-Z25TN/B Battery

As Song society became more and more prosperous and parents on the bride’s side of the family provided larger dowries for her marriage, women naturally gained many new legal rights in ownership of property.^[52] Sony VAIO VGN-Z26TN/B Battery

They were also equal in status to men in inheriting family property.^[53] There were many notable and well-educated women and it was a common practice for women to educate their sons during their earliest youth.^[54][55] Sony VAIO VGN-Z27 Battery

The mother of the scientist, general, diplomat, and statesman Shen Kuo taught him essentials of military strategy.^[55] There were also exceptional women writers and poets such as Li Qingzhao (1084–1151), who became famous even in her lifetime.^[52] Sony VAIO VGN-Z27/B Battery

Religion in China during this period had a great effect on people’s lives, beliefs and daily activities, and Chinese literature on spirituality was popular.^[56] The major deities of Daoism and Buddhism, ancestral spirits and the many deities of Chinese folk religionwere worshiped with sacrificial offerings. Sony VAIO VGN-Z27TN/X Battery

Tansen Sen asserts that more Buddhist monks from India traveled to China during the Song than in the previous Tang Dynasty (618–907).^[57] Sony VAIO VGN-Z29N/X Battery

With many ethnic foreigners traveling to China to conduct trade or live permanently, there came many foreign religions; religious minorities in China included Middle Eastern Muslims, the Kaifeng Jews, and Persian Manichaeans.^[58][59] Sony VAIO VGN-Z29N Battery

The populace engaged in a vibrant social and domestic life, enjoying such public festivals as the Lantern Festival or the Qingming Festival. There were entertainment quarters in the cities provided a constant array of amusements. Sony VAIO VGN-Z31MN/B Battery

There were puppeteers, acrobats, theater actors, sword swallowers, snake charmers, storytellers, singers and musicians, prostitutes, and places to relax including tea houses, restaurants, and organized banquets.^[1][60][61] Sony VAIO VGN-Z31VN/X Battery

People attended social clubs in large numbers; there were tea clubs, exotic food clubs, antiquarian and art collectors’ clubs, horse-loving clubs, poetry clubs and music clubs.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-Z31WN/B Battery

Like regional cooking and cuisines in the Song, the era was known for its regional varieties of performing arts styles as well.^[62] Theatrical drama was very popular amongst the elite and general populace, although Classical Chinese—not the vernacular language—was spoken by actors on stage.^[63][64] Sony VAIO VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery

The four largest drama theatres in Kaifeng could hold audiences of several thousand each.^[65] There were also notable domestic pastimes, as people at home enjoyed activities such as the go and xiangqi board games. Sony VAIO VGN-Z35 Battery

During this period greater emphasis was laid upon the civil service system of recruiting officials; this was based upon degrees acquired through competitive examinations, in an effort to select the most capable individuals for governance. Sony VAIO VGN-Z35/B Battery

Selecting men for office through proven merit was an ancient idea in China. The civil service system became institutionalized on a small scale during the Sui and Tang dynasties, but by the Song period it became virtually the only means for drafting officials into the government.^[66] Sony VAIO VGN-Z35TN/B Battery

The advent of widespread printing helped to widely circulate Confucian teachings and to educate more and more eligible candidates for the exams.^[67] This can be seen in the number of exam takers for the low-level prefectural exams rising from 30,000 annual candidates in the early 11th century to 400,000 candidates by the late 13th century.^[67] Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD Battery

The civil service and examination system allowed for greater meritocracy, social mobility, and equality in competition for those wishing to attain an official seat in government.^[68] By using Song state-gathered statistics, Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD/B Battery

Edward A. Kracke, Sud? Yoshiyuki, and Ho Ping-ti supported the hypothesis that simply because one had a father, grandfather, or great-grandfather who had served as an official of state, it did not guarantee that one would obtain the same level of authority.^[68][69][70] Robert Hartwell and Robert P. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD/J Battery

Hymes criticized this model, stating that it places too much emphasis on the role of the nuclear family and demonstrates only three paternal ascendants of exam candidates while ignoring the demographic reality of Song China, the significant proportion of males in each generation that had no surviving sons, and the role of the extended family.^[69][70] Sony VAIO VGN-Z36TD/B Battery

Many felt disenfranchised by what they saw as a bureaucratic system that favored the land-holding class able to afford the best education.^[68] One of the greatest literary critics of this was the official and famous poet Su Shi. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36TD/J Battery

Yet Su was a product of his times, as the identity, habits, and attitudes of the scholar-official had become lessaristocratic and more bureaucratic with the transition of the periods from Tang to Song.^[71] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37D Battery

At the beginning of the dynasty, government posts were disproportionately held by two elite social groups: a founding elite who had ties with the founding emperor and a semi-hereditary professional elite who used long-held clan status, family connections and marriage alliances to secure appointments.^[72] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37D/B Battery

By the late 11th century, the founding elite became obsolete while political partisanship and factionalism at court undermined the marriage strategies of the professional elite, which dissolved as a distinguishable social group and was replaced by a multitude of gentry families.^[73] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37GD Battery

Due to China’s enormous population growth and the body of its appointed scholar-officials being accepted in limited size (about 20,000 active officials during the Song period), the larger scholarly gentry class would now take over grassroots affairs on the vast local level.^[74] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37GD/X Battery

Excluding the scholar-officials in office, this elite social class consisted of exam candidates, examination degree-holders not yet assigned to an official post, local tutors, and retired officials.^[75] Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D Battery

These learned men, degree-holders, and local elites supervised local affairs and sponsored necessary facilities of local communities; any local magistrate appointed to his office by the government relied upon the cooperation of the few or many local gentry elites in the area.^[74] Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D/X Battery

For example, the Song government—excluding the educational-reformist government under Emperor Huizong—spared little amount of state revenue to maintainprefectural and county schools; instead, the bulk of the funds for schools was drawn from private financing.^[76] Sony VAIO VGN-Z41MD/B Battery

This limited role of government officials was a departure from the earlier Tang Dynasty (618–907), when the government strictly regulated commercial markets and local affairs; now the government withdrew heavily from regulating commerce and relied upon a mass of local gentry to perform necessary duties in local communities.^[74] Sony VAIO VGN-Z41WD/B Battery

The gentry distinguished themselves in society through their intellectual and antiquarian pursuits,^[77][78][79] while the homes of prominent landholders attracted a variety of courtiers including artisans, artists, educational tutors, and entertainers.^[80] Sony VAIO VGN-Z45GD/B Battery

Despite the disdain for trade, commerce, and the merchant class exhibited by the highly cultured and elite exam-drafted scholar-officials,commercialism played a prominent role in Song culture and society.^[60] Sony VAIO VGN-Z45TD/B Battery

A scholar-official would be frowned upon by his peers if he pursued means of profiteering outside of his official salary; however, this did not stop many scholar-officials from managing business relations through the use of intermediary agents.^[81] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46GD/B Battery

Law, justice, and forensic science

The Song judicial system retained most of the legal code of the earlier Tang Dynasty, the basis of traditional Chinese law up until the modern era.^[82] Roving sheriffs maintained law and order in the municipal jurisdictions and occasionally ventured into the countryside.^[83] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46GD/U Battery

Official magistrates overseeing court cases were not only expected to be well-versed in written law but also to promote morality in society.^[82] Magistrates such as the famed Bao Qingtian (999–1062) embodied the upright, moral judge who upheld justice and never failed to live up to his principles. Sony VAIO VGN-Z46MD/B Battery

Song judges specified the guilty person or party in a criminal act and meted out punishments accordingly, often in the form of caning.^[82][84] A guilty individual or parties brought to court for a criminal or civil offense were not viewed as wholly innocent until proven otherwise, while even accusers were viewed with a high level of suspicion by the judge.^[84] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46SD/B Battery

Due to costly court expenses and immediate jailing of those accused of criminal offenses, people in the Song preferred to settle disputes and quarrels privately, without the court’s interference.^[84] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46TD/B Battery

Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays argued against traditional Chinese beliefs in anatomy (such as his argument for two throat valves instead of three); this perhaps spurred the interest in the performance of post-mortem autopsies in China during the 12th century.^[85][86] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46TD/R Battery

The physician and judge known as Song Ci (1186–1249) wrote a pioneering work of forensic science on the examination of corpses in order to determine cause of death (strangulation, poisoning, Sony VAIO VGN-Z47GD/X Battery

drowning, blows, etc.) and to prove whether death resulted from murder, suicide, or accidental death.^[87] Song Ci stressed the importance of proper coroner’s conduct during autopsies and the accurate recording of the inquest of each autopsy by official clerks.^[88] Sony VAIO VGN-Z48GD/X Battery

The Song military was chiefly organized to ensure that the army could not threaten Imperial control, often at the expense of effectiveness in war. Northern Song’s Military Council operated under a Chancellor, who had no control over the imperial army. The imperial army was divided among three marshals, Sony VAIO VGN-Z48TD/X Battery

each independently responsible to the Emperor. Since the Emperor rarely led campaigns personally, Song forces lacked unity of command.^[89] The imperial court often believed that successful generals endangered royal authority, and relieved or even executed them (notably Li Gang,^[90] Yue Fei, and Han Shizhong.^[91]) Sony VAIO VGN-Z51WG/B Battery

Although the scholar-officials viewed military soldiers as lower members in the hierarchic social order,^[92] a person could gain status and prestige in society by becoming a high ranking military officer with a record of victorious battles.^[93] At its height, the Song military had one million soldiers^[22] Sony VAIO VGN-Z51XG/B Battery

divided into platoons of 50 troops, companies made of two platoons, and one battalion composed of 500 soldiers.^[94][95] Crossbowmen were separated from the regular infantry and placed in their own units as they were prized combatants, providing effective missile fire against cavalry charges.^[95] Sony VAIO VGN-Z530N/B Battery

The government was eager to sponsor new crossbow designs that could shoot at longer ranges, while crossbowmen were also valuable when employed as long-range snipers.^[96] Song cavalry employed a slew of different weapons, including halberds, swords, bows, spears, and ‘fire lances’ that discharged a gunpowder blast of flame and shrapnel.^[97] Sony VAIO VGN-Z540EBB Battery

Military strategy and military training were treated as science that could be studied and perfected; soldiers were tested in their skills of using weaponry and in their athletic ability.^[98] The troops were trained to follow signal standards to advance at the waving of banners and to halt at the sound of bells and drums.^[95] Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NLB Battery

The Song navy was of great importance during the consolidation of the empire in the 10th century; during the war against theSouthern Tang state the Song navy employed tactics such as defending large floating pontoon bridges across the Yangzi River in order to secure movements of troops and supplies.^[99] Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NMB Battery

There were large naval ships in the Song that could carry 1,000 soldiers aboard their decks,^[100] while the swift-moving paddle-wheel crafts were viewed as essential fighting ships in any successful naval battle.^[100][101] Sony VAIO VGN-Z550N/B Battery

In a battle on January 23, 971, massive arrow fire from Song Dynasty crossbowmen decimated the war elephant corps of theSouthern Han army.^[102] This defeat not only marked the eventual submission of the Southern Han to the Song Dynasty, but also the last instance where a war elephant corps was employed as a regular division within a Chinese army.^[102] Sony VAIO VGN-Z55F Battery

There was a total of 347 military treatises written during the Song period, as listed by the history text of the Song Shi (compiled in 1345).^[103] However, only a handful of these military treatises have survived, which includes the Wujing Zongyao written in 1044. It was the first known book to have listed formulas for gunpowder;^[104Sony VAIO VGN-Z55TG/B Battery

it gave appropriate formulas for use in several different kinds of gunpowder bombs.^[105] It also provided detailed description and illustrations of double-piston pump flamethrowers, as well as instructions for the maintenance and repair of the components and equipment used in the device.^[106] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/B Battery

Arts, literature, and philosophy

The visual arts during the Song Dynasty were heightened by new developments such as advances in landscape and portrait painting. The gentry elite engaged in the arts as accepted pastimes of the cultured scholar-official, including painting, composing poetry, and writing calligraphy.^[107] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/E Battery

The poet and statesman Su Shi and his associate Mi Fu (1051–1107) enjoyed antiquarian affairs, often borrowing or buying art pieces to study and copy.^[21] Poetry and literature profited from the rising popularity and development of the ci poetry form. Enormous encyclopedic volumes were compiled, Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GGX Battery

such as works of historiography and dozens of treatises on technical subjects. This included the universal history text of the Zizhi Tongjian, compiled into 1000 volumes of 9.4 million writtenChinese characters. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/B Battery

The genre of Chinese travel literature also became popular with the writings of the geographer Fan Chengda(1126–1193) and Su Shi, the latter of whom wrote the ‘daytrip essay’ known as Record of Stone Bell Mountain that used persuasive writing to argue for a philosophical point.^[108] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/E Battery

Although an early form of the local geographic gazetteer existed in China since the 1st century, the matured form known as “treatise on a place”, or fangzhi, replaced the old “map guide”, or tujing, during the Song Dynasty.^[109] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/R Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-Z570N/B Battery

The imperial courts of the emperor’s palace were filled with his entourage of court painters, calligraphers, poets, and storytellers.Emperor Huizong was a renowned artist as well as a patron of the arts. Sony VAIO VGN-Z57G Battery

A prime example of a highly venerated court painter wasZhang Zeduan (1085–1145) who painted an enormous panoramic painting, Along the River During the Qingming Festival. Emperor Gaozong of Song initiated a massive art project during his reign, known as the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute from the life story ofCai Wenji (b. 177). Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GG/X Battery

This art project was a diplomatic gesture to the Jin Dynasty while he negotiated for the release of his mother from Jurchen captivity in the north.^[110] Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GGX Battery

In philosophy, Chinese Buddhism had waned in influence but it retained its hold on the arts and on the charities of monasteries. Buddhism had a profound influence upon the budding movement of Neo-Confucianism, led by Cheng Yi (1033–1107) and Zhu Xi(1130–1200).^[111] Sony VAIO VGN-Z57TG/X Battery

Mahayana Buddhism influenced Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi through its concept of ethical universalism,^[112]while Buddhist metaphysics had a deep impact upon the pre–Neo-Confucian doctrine of Cheng Yi.^[111] Sony VAIO VGN-Z58GG/X Battery

The philosophical work of Cheng Yi in turn influenced Zhu Xi. Although his writings were not accepted by his contemporary peers, Zhu’s commentary and emphasis upon the Confucian classics of the Four Books as an introductory corpus to Confucian learning formed the basis of the Neo-Confucian doctrine. Sony VAIO VGN-Z58GGX Battery

By the year 1241, under the sponsorship of Emperor Lizong, Zhu Xi’s Four Books and his commentary on them became standard requirements of study for students attempting to pass the civil service examinations.^[113] Sony VAIO VGN-Z590NJB Battery

The East Asian countries of Japan and Korea also adopted Zhu Xi’s teaching, known as the Shushigaku (???, School of Zhu Xi) of Japan, and in Korea the Jujahak (???). Buddhism’s continuing influence can be seen in painted artwork such as Lin Tinggui’s Luohan Laundering. Sony VAIO VGN-Z590UAB Battery

However, the ideology was highly criticized and even scorned by some. The statesman and historian Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) called the religion a “curse” that could only be remedied by uprooting it from Chinese culture and replacing it with Confucian discourse.^[114] Sony VAIO VGN-Z591U/B Battery

Buddhism would not see a true revival in Chinese society until the Mongol rule of the Yuan Dynasty, with Kublai Khan’s sponsorship of Tibetan Buddhism and Drogön Chögyal Phagpa as the leading lama. The Christian sect of Nestorianism—which had entered China in the Tang era—would also be revived in China under Mongol rule.^[115] Sony VAIO VGN-Z59G Battery

Cuisine and apparel

The food that one consumed and the clothes that one wore in Song China were largely dictated by one’s status and social class. The main food staples in the diet of the lower classes remained rice, pork, and salted fish;^[116] their clothing materials were made ofhempen or cotton cloths, restricted to a color standard of black and white.^[117] Sony VAIO VGN-Z620D Battery

Trousers were the acceptable form of attire for farming peasants, soldiers, artisans, and merchants, although wealthy merchants might choose to wear more ornate clothing and male blouses that came down below the waist.^[118] Acceptable apparel for scholar-officials was rigidly confined to a social hierarchic ranking system. Sony VAIO VGN-Z620N/B Battery

However, as time went on this rule of rank-graded apparel for officials was not as strictly enforced as it was in the beginning of the dynasty.^[119] Each official was able to display his awarded status by wearing different-colored traditional silken robes that hung to the ground around his feet, specific types of headgear, and even specific styles of girdles that displayed his graded-rank of officialdom.^[120] Sony VAIO VGN-Z650N/B Battery

Women in the Song period wore long dresses, blouses that came down to the knee, skirts and jackets with long or short sleeves, while women from wealthy families could wear purple scarves around their shoulders.^[121] The main difference in women’s apparel from that of men was that it was fastened on the left, not on the right.^[121] Sony VAIO VGN-Z670N/B Battery

There is a multitude of existing restaurant and tavern menus and listed entrées for feasts, banquets, festivals, and carnivals during the Song period,^[122] all of which reveal a very diverse and lavish diet for those of the upper class. Sony VAIO VGN-Z690CTO Battery

In their meals they could choose from a wide variety of meats, including shrimp, geese, duck, mussel, shellfish, fallow deer, hare, partridge, pheasant, francolin, quail,fox, badger, clam, crab, and many others.^{[123][124][125]} Sony VAIO VGN-Z690NAX Battery

Dairy products were absent from Chinese cuisine and culture altogether,beef was rarely consumed since the bull was a valuable draft animal, and dog meat was absent from the diet of the wealthy, although the poor could choose to eat dog meat if necessary (yet it was not part of their regular diet).^[126] People also consumed dates,raisins, Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PAB Battery

jujubes, pears, plums, apricots, pear juice, lychee-fruit juice, honey and ginger drinks, pawpaw juice, spices and seasonings ofSichuan pepper, ginger, pimento, soy sauce, oil, sesame oil, salt, and vinegar.^{[122][124][127][128]} The common diet of the poor was pork, salted fish, and rice.^[116] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PCB Battery

The economy of the Song Dynasty was one of the most prosperous and advanced economies in the medieval world. Song Chinese invested their funds in joint stock companies and in multiple sailing vessels at a time when monetary gain was assured from the vigorous overseas trade and indigenous trade along the Grand Canal and Yangzi River.^[129] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PDB Battery

Prominent merchant families and private businesses were allowed to occupy industries that were not already government-operated monopolies.^[22][130] Both private and government-controlled industries met the needs of a growing Chinese population in the Song.^[22][130] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PEB Battery

Both artisans and merchants formed guilds which the state had to deal with when assessing taxes, requisitioning goods, and setting standard worker’s wages and prices on goods.^[129][131] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PFB Battery

The iron industry was pursued by both private entrepreneurs who owned their own smelters as well as government-supervised smelting facilities.^[132] The Song economy was stable enough to produce over a hundred million kilograms (over two hundred million pounds) of iron product a year.^[133] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690YAD Battery

Large scale deforestation in China would have continued if not for the 11th century innovation of the use of coal instead of charcoal in blast furnaces for smelting cast iron.^[133] Much of this iron was reserved for military use in crafting weapons and armoring troops, Sony VAIO VGN-Z691Y/B Battery

but some was used to fashion the many iron products needed to fill the demands of the growing indigenous market. The iron trade within China was furthered by the building of new canals which aided the flow of iron products from production centers to the large market found in the capital city.^[134] Sony VAIO VGN-Z691Y/X Battery

Left item: A Northern Song qingbai-ware vase with a transparent blue-toned ceramic glaze, from Jingdezhen, 11th century; Center item: A Northern or Southern Song qingbai-ware bowl with incised lotus decorations, a metal rim, and a transparent blue-toned glaze, from Jingdezhen, Sony VAIO VGN-Z698Y/X Battery

12th or 13th century; Right item: A Southern Song miniature model of a granary with removable top lid and doorway, qingbai porcelain with transparent blue-toned glaze, Jingdezhen, 13th century. Sony VAIO VGN-Z699JAB Battery

The annual output of minted copper currency in 1085 alone reached roughly six billion coins.^[4] The most notable advancement in the Song economy was the establishment of the world’s first government issued paper-printed money, known as Jiaozi (see alsoHuizi).^[4] For the printing of paper money alone, Sony VAIO VGN-Z70B Battery

the Song court established several government-run factories in the cities ofHuizhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Anqi.^[135] The size of the workforce employed in paper money factories was large; it was recorded in 1175 that the factory at Hangzhou employed more than a thousand workers a day.^[135] Sony VAIO VGN-Z71JB Battery

The economic power of Song China heavily influenced foreign economies abroad. The Moroccan geographer al-Idrisi wrote in 1154 of the prowess of Chinese merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and of their annual voyages that brought iron, swords, silk, velvet, porcelain, and various textiles to places such as Aden (Yemen), the Indus River, Sony VAIO VGN-Z73FB Battery

and the Euphrates in modern-day Iraq.^[28]Foreigners, in turn, had an impact on the Chinese economy. For example, many West Asian and Central Asian Muslims went to Chinato trade, becoming a preeminent force in the import and export industry, while some were even appointed as officers supervising economic affairs.^[59][136] Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DKX Battery

Sea trade with the Southeast Pacific, the Hindu world, the Islamic world, and the East African world brought merchants great fortune and spurred an enormous growth in the shipbuilding industry of Song-era Fujian province.^[137] Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DMR Battery

However, there was risk involved in such long overseas ventures. It was to reduce the risk of losing money on maritime trade missions abroad that, as the historians Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais write: Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DND Battery

[Song era] investors usually divided their investment among many ships, and each ship had many investors behind it. One observer thought eagerness to invest in overseas trade was leading to an outflow of copper cash. He wrote, ‘People along the coast are on intimate terms with the merchants who engage in overseas trade, either because they are fellow-countrymen or personal acquaintancesSony VAIO VGN-Z820DB Battery

Advancements in weapons technology enhanced by gunpowder, including the evolution of the early flamethrower, explosivegrenade, firearm, cannon, and land mine, enabled the Song Chinese to ward off their militant enemies until the Song’s ultimate collapse in the late 13th century.^{[139][140][141][142][143]} Sony VAIO VGN-Z820G/B Battery

The Wujing Zongyao manuscript of 1044 was the first book in history to provide formulas for gunpowder and their specified use in different types of bombs.^[138] While engaged in a war with the Mongols, Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GLX Battery

in the year 1259 the official Li Zengbo wrote in his Kezhai Zagao, Xugaohou that the city of Qingzhou was manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased bomb shells a month, dispatching to Xiangyang and Yingzhou about ten to twenty thousand such bombs at a time.^[144] Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GMR Battery

In turn, the invading Mongols employed northern Chinese soldiers and used these same type of gunpowder weapons against the Song.^[145] By the 14th century the firearm and cannon could also be found in Europe, India, and the Islamic Middle East, during the early age of gunpowder warfare. Sony VAIO VGN-Z898H/X Battery

Measuring distance and mechanical navigation

As early as the Han Dynasty, when the state needed to effectively measure distances traveled throughout the empire, the Chinese relied on the mechanical odometer device.^[146] The Chinese odometer came in the form of a wheeled-carriage, Sony VAIO VGN-Z90FS Battery

its inner gears functioning off the rotated motion of the wheels, and specific units of distance—the Chinese li—marked by the mechanical striking of a drum or bell for auditory alarm.^[147] The specifications for the 11th century odometer were written by Chief Chamberlain Lu Daolong, Sony VAIO VGN-Z90NS Battery

who is quoted extensively in the historical text of the Song Shi (compiled by 1345).^[148] In the Song period, the odometer vehicle was also combined with another old complex mechanical device known as the South Pointing Chariot.^[149] This device, originally crafted by Ma Jun in the 3rd century, Sony VAIO VGN-Z90PS Battery

incorporated a differential gear that allowed a figure mounted on the vehicle to always point in the southern direction, no matter how the vehicle’s wheels’ turned about.^[150] The device concept of the differential gear for this navigational vehicle is now found in all modern automobiles in order to apply the equal amount of torque to wheels rotating at different speeds. Sony VAIO VGN-Z90S Battery

Polymaths, inventions, and astronomy

Polymath figures such as the statesmen Shen Kuo and Su Song (1020–1101) embodied advancements in all fields of study, includingbiology, botany, zoology, geology, mineralogy, mechanics, horology, astronomy, pharmaceutical medicine, archeology,mathematics, cartography, optics, art criticism, and more.^{[78][151][152]} Sony VAIO VGN-Z90US Battery

Shen Kuo was the first to discern magnetic declination of true north while experimenting with a compass.^[153][154] Shen theorized that geographical climates gradually shifted over time.^[155][156] He created a theory of land formation involving concepts accepted in modern geomorphology.^[157] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91DS Battery

He performed optical experiments with camera obscura just decades after Ibn al-Haytham was the first to do so.^[158] He also improved the designs of astronomical instruments such as the widened astronomical sighting tube, which allowed Shen Kuo to fix the position of the pole star (which had shifted over centuries of time).^[159] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91JS Battery

Shen Kuo was also known forhydraulic clockworks, as he invented a new overflow-tank clepsydra which had more efficient higher-order interpolation instead of linear interpolation in calibrating the measure of time.^[159] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91PS Battery

Su Song was best known for his horology treatise written in 1092, which described and illustrated in great detail his hydraulic-powered, 12 metres (39 ft) tall astronomical clock tower built in Kaifeng. Sony VAIO VGN-Z91YS Battery

The clock tower featured large astronomical instruments of the armillary sphere and celestial globe, both driven by an early intermittently working escapement mechanism (roughly two centuries before the discrete verge escapement of true mechanical clocks appeared in medieval clockworks).^[160][161] Sony VAIO VGN-Z92DS Battery

In addition, Su Song’s clock tower featured the world’s first endless power-transmitting chain drive,^[162] an essential mechanical device found in many practical uses throughout the ages, such as the bicycle. Su’s tower featured a rotating gear wheel with 133 clock jack manikinswho were timed to rotate past shuttered windows while ringing gongs and bells, Sony VAIO VGN-Z92JS Battery

banging drums, and presenting announcement plaques.^[163] In his printed book, Su published a celestial atlas of five star charts. These star charts feature a cylindrical projection similar to Mercator projection, the latter being a cartographic innovation of Gerardus Mercator in 1569.^[164][165] Sony VAIO VGN-Z92PS Battery

Mathematics and cartography

There were many notable improvements to Chinese mathematics during the Song era. The book published in 1261 by the mathematician Yang Hui (c. 1238–1298) provided the earliest Chinese illustration of Pascal’s triangle, although it was described earlier around 1100 by Jia Xian.^[166] Sony VAIO VGN-Z92YS Battery

Yang Hui also provided rules for constructing combinatorial arrangements in magic squares, provided theoretical proof for Euclid’s forty-third proposition about parallelograms, and was the first to use negative coefficients of ‘x’ in quadratic equations.^[167] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93FS Battery

Yang’s contemporary Qin Jiushao (c. 1202–1261) was the first to introduce the zero symbol into Chinese mathematics;^[168] before this blank spaces were used instead of zeros in the system of counting rods.^[169] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93GS Battery

He is also known for working with the Chinese remainder theorem, Heron’s formula, and astronomical data used in determining the winter solstice. Qin’s major work was the Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections published in 1247. Sony VAIO VGN-Z93HS Battery

Geometry was essential to surveying and cartography. The earliest extant Chinese maps date to the 4th century BCE,^[170] yet it was not until the time of Pei Xiu (224–271) that topographical elevation, a formal rectangular grid system, and use of a standard graduated scale of distances was applied to terrain maps.^[171][172] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93VS Battery

Following a long tradition, Shen Kuo created a raised-relief map, while his other maps featured a uniform graduated scale of 1:900,000.^[173][174] A 3 ft (0.91 m) squared map of 1137—carved into a stone block—followed a uniform grid scale of 100 li for each gridded square, Sony A1258274A Battery

and accurately mapped the outline of the coasts and river systems of China, extending all the way to India.^[175] Furthermore, the world’s oldest known terrain map in printed form comes from the edited encyclopedia of Yang Jia in 1155, which displayed western China without the formal grid system that was characteristic of more professionally made Chinese maps.^[176] Sony VGP-BPL10 Battery

Although gazetteers had existed since 52 CE during the Han Dynasty and gazetteers accompanied by illustrative maps (Chinese: tujing) since the Sui Dynasty, the illustrated gazetteer became much more common in the Song Dynasty, when the foremost concern was for illustrative gazetteers to serve political, administrative, and military purposes.^[177] Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery

Movable type printing

The innovation of movable type printing was made by the artisan Bi Sheng (990–1051), first described by the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088.^[179][180] Sony VGP-BPS10/S Battery

The collection of Bi Sheng’s original clay-fired typeface was passed on to one of Shen Kuo’s nephews, and was carefully preserved.^[180][181] Movable type enhanced the already widespread use of woodblock methods of printing thousands of documents and volumes of written literature, consumed eagerly by an increasingly literate public. Sony VGP-BPS10A/B Battery

The advancement of printing had a deep impact on education and the scholar-official class, since more books could be made faster while mass-produced, printed books were cheaper in comparison to laborious handwritten copies.^[67][71] Sony VGP-BPS10B Battery

The enhancement of widespread printing and print culture in the Song period was thus a direct catalyst in the rise of social mobility and expansion of the educated class of scholar elites, the latter which expanded dramatically in size from the 11th to 13th centuries.^[67][182] Sony VGP-BPS10A Battery

The movable type invented by Bi Sheng was ultimately trumped by the use of woodblock printing due to the limitations of the enormous Chinese character writing system, yet movable type printing continued to be used and was improved in later periods. Sony VGP-BPS11 Battery

TheYuan Dynasty scholar-official Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333) implemented a faster typesetting process, improved Bi’s baked-clay movable type character set with a wooden one, and experimented with tin-metal movable type.^[183] The wealthy printing patronHua Sui (1439–1513) of the Ming Dynasty established China’s first metal movable type (using bronze) in 1490.^[184] Sony VGP-BPL11 Battery

In 1638 theBeijing Gazette switched their printing process from woodblock to movable type printing.^[185] Yet it was during the Qing Dynastythat massive printing projects began to employ movable type printing. This includes the printing of sixty-six copies of a 5,020 volume long encyclopedia in 1725, Sony VGP-BPL12 Battery

the Gujin Tushu Jicheng (Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times), which necessitated the crafting of 250,000 movable type characters cast in bronze.^[186] By the 19th century the European style printing press replaced the old Chinese methods of movable type, while traditional woodblock printing in modern East Asia is used sparsely and for aesthetic reasons. Sony VGP-BPS12 Battery

Hydraulic engineering and nautics

There were considerable advancements in hydraulic engineering and nautical technology during the Song Dynasty. The 10th century invention of the pound lock for canal systems allowed different water levels to be raised and lowered for separated segments of a canal, which significantly aided the safety of canal traffic and allowed for larger barges to pass through.^[188] Sony VGP-BPL13 Battery

There was the Song era innovation of watertight bulkhead compartments for ships that allowed possible damage to the hull without sinking.^[71][189] If ships were damaged, the Chinese of the 11th century discovered how to employ a drydock to repair boats while suspended out of water.^[190] Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery

There Song Chinese used crossbeams to brace the ribs of ships in order to strengthen them in a skeletal like structure.^[191] Stern-mounted rudders had been mounted on Chinese ships since the 1st century, as evidenced with a preserved Han tomb model of a ship. In the Song period the Chinese devised a way to mechanically raise and lower rudders in order for ships to travel in a wider range of water depths.^[191] Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery

The Song Chinese arranged the protruding teeth of anchors in a circular pattern instead of in one direction.^[191] David Graff and Robin Higham state that this arrangement “[made] them more reliable” for anchoring ships.^[191] Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery

Arguably the most important nautical innovation of the Song period was the introduction of the magnetic mariner’scompass for navigation at sea.^[173] The magnetic compass was first written of by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, as well as Zhu Yu in his Pingzhou Table Talks published in 1119. Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery

Architecture during the Song period reached new heights of sophistication. Authors such as Yu Hao and Shen Kuo wrote books outlining the field of architectural layouts, craftsmanship, and structural engineering in the 10th and 11th centuries, respectively. Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery

Shen Kuo preserved the written dialogues of Yu Hao when describing technical issues such as slanting struts built into pagoda towers for diagonal wind bracing.^[192] Shen Kuo also preserved Yu’s specified dimensions and units of measurement for various building types.^[193] Sony VGP-BPS13A/S Battery

The architect Li Jie (1065–1110), who published the Yingzao Fashi (‘Treatise on Architectural Methods’) in 1103, greatly expanded upon the works of Yu Hao and compiled the standard building codes used by the central government agencies and by craftsmen throughout the empire.^[194] Sony VGP-BPS13AS Battery

He addressed the standard methods of construction, design, and applications of moats and fortifications, stonework, greater woodwork, lesser woodwork, wood-carving, turning and drilling, sawing, bamboo work, tiling, wall building, painting and decoration, brickwork, glazed tile making, Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

and provided proportions for mortar formulas inmasonry.^[195][196] In his book, Li provided detailed and vivid illustrations of architectural components and cross-sections of buildings. These illustrations displayed various applications of corbel brackets, cantilever arms, mortise and tenon work of tie beams and cross beams, Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery

and diagrams showing the various building types of halls in graded sizes.^[197] He also outlined the standard units of measurement and standard dimensional measurements of all building components described and illustrated in his book.^[198] Sony VGP-BPS13B/S Battery

Grandiose building projects were supported by the government, including the erection of towering Buddhist Chinese pagodas and the construction of enormous bridges (wood or stone, trestle or segmental arch bridge). Many of the pagoda towers built during the Song period were erected at heights that exceeded ten stories. Sony VGP-BPS13Q Battery

Some of the most famous are the Iron Pagoda built in 1049 during the Northern Song and the Liuhe Pagoda built in 1165 during the Southern Song, although there were many others. The tallest is theLiaodi Pagoda of Hebei built in the year 1055, towering 84 m (276 ft) in total height. Sony VGP-BPS13S Battery

Some of the bridges reached lengths of 1,220 m (4,000 ft), with many being wide enough to allow two lanes of cart traffic simultaneously over a waterway or ravine.^[199] The government also oversaw construction of their own administrative offices, palace apartments, city fortifications, ancestral temples, and Buddhist temples.^[200] Sony VGP-BPL7 Battery

The professions of the architect, craftsman, carpenter, and structural engineer were not seen as professionally equal to that of a Confucian scholar-official. Architectural knowledge had been passed down orally for thousands of years in China, in many cases from a father craftsman to his son. Sony VGP-BPS7 Battery

Structural engineering and architecture schools were known to have existed during the Song period; one prestigious engineering school was headed by the renowned bridge-builder Cai Xiang (1012–1067) in medieval Fujianprovince.^[201] Sony VGP-BPL8 Battery

Besides existing buildings and technical literature of building manuals, Song Dynasty artwork portraying cityscapes and other buildings aid modern-day scholars in their attempts to reconstruct and realize the nuances of Song architecture. Song Dynasty artists such as Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Sony VGP-BPL8A Battery

Guo Xi, Zhang Zeduan, Emperor Huizong of Song, and Ma Lin painted close-up depictions of buildings as well as large expanses of cityscapes featuring arched bridges, halls and pavilions, pagoda towers, and distinct Chinese city walls. Sony VGP-BPL8B Battery

The scientist and statesman Shen Kuo was known for his criticism of artwork relating to architecture, saying that it was more important for an artist to capture a holistic view of a landscape than it was to focus on the angles and corners of buildings.^[202] For example, Shen criticized the work of the painter Li Cheng for failing to observe the principle of “seeing the small from the viewpoint of the large” in portraying buildings.^[202] Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery

There were also pyramidal tomb structures in the Song era, such as the Song imperial tombs located in Gongxian, Henanprovince.^[203] About 100 km (62 mi) from Gongxian is another Song Dynasty tomb at Baisha, Sony VGP-BPS8A Battery

which features “elaborate facsimiles in brick of Chinese timber frame construction, from door lintels to pillars and pedestals to bracket sets, that adorn interior walls.”^[203]The two large chambers of the Baisha tomb also feature conical-shaped roofs.^[204] Sony VGP-BPS8B Battery

Flanking the avenues leading to these tombs are lines of Song Dynasty stone statues of officials, tomb guardians, animals, and mythological creatures. Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery

Archaeology

In addition to the Song gentry’s antiquarian pursuits of art collecting, scholar-officials during the Song became highly interested in retrieving ancient relics from archaeological sites, in order to revive the use of ancient vessels in ceremonies of state ritual.^[205] Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery

Scholar-officials of the Song period claimed to have discovered ancient bronze vessels that were created as far back as the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) which bore the writing characters of the Shang era.^[206] Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery

Some attempted to recreate these bronze vessels by using imagination alone, not by observing tangible evidence of relics; this practice was criticized by Shen Kuo in his work of 1088.^[205] Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery

Yet Shen Kuo had much more to criticize than this practice alone. Shen objected to the idea of his peers that ancient relics were products created by famous “sages” in lore or the ancient aristocratic class; Shen rightfully attributed the discovered handicrafts and vessels from ancient times as the work of artisans and commoners from previous eras.^[205] Sony VGP-BPS9A Battery

He also disapproved of his peers’ pursuit of archaeology simply to enhance state ritual, since Shen not only took an interdisciplinary approach with the study of archaeology, but he also emphasized the study of functionality and investigating what was the ancient relics’ original processes of manufacture.^[205] Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery

Shen used ancient texts and existing models of armillary spheres to create one based on ancient standards; Shen described ancient weaponry such as the use of a scaled sighting device on crossbows; while experimenting withancient musical measures, Shen suggested hanging an ancient bell by using a hollow handle.^[205] Sony VGP-BPS9A/S Battery

Despite the gentry’s overriding interest in archaeology simply for reviving ancient state rituals, some of Shen’s peers took a similar approach to the study of archaeology. His contemporary Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) compiled an analytical catalogue of ancient rubbings on stone and bronze which pioneered ideas in early epigraphy and archeology.^[78] Sony VGP-BPS9B Battery

During the 11th century, Song scholars discovered the ancient shrine of Wu Liang (78–151 AD), a scholar of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD); they produced rubbings of the carvings and bas-reliefs decorating the walls of his tomb so that they could be analyzed elsewhere.^[207] Sony VGP-BPX11 Battery

On the unreliability of historical works written after the fact, scholar-official Zhao Mingcheng (1081–1129) stated “…the inscriptions on stone and bronze are made at the time the events took place and can be trusted without reservation, and thus discrepancies may be discovered.”^[208] Sony VGP-BPL18 Battery

Historian R.C. Rudolph states that Zhao’s emphasis on consulting contemporary sources for accurate dating is parallel with the concern of the German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886),^[208] Sony VGP-BPS18 Battery

and was in fact emphasized by many Song scholars.^[209]The Song scholar Hong Mai (1123–1202) heavily criticized what he called the court’s “ridiculous” archaeological catalogue Bogutucompiled during the Huizong reign periods of Zheng He and Xuan He (1111–1125).^[210] Sony VGP-BPL20 Battery

Hong Mai obtained old vessels from the Han Dynasty and compared them with the descriptions offered in the catalogue, which he found so inaccurate he stated he had to “hold my sides with laughter.”^[211] Hong Mai pointed out that the erroneous material was the fault of Chancellor Cai Jing (1047–1126), who prohibited scholars from reading and consulting the written histories.^[211] Sony VGP-BPS20/B Battery

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Romance of the Three Kingdoms

February 21st, 2012

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Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century,[1] is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in 280. Sony VAIO VPCCW1AHJ Battery

The story (part historical, part legend, and part myth) chronicles the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han Dynasty or restore it. While the novel actually follows literally hundreds of characters, Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E Battery

the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han Dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel deals with the plots, personal and army battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years. Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/B Battery

This novel also gives readers a sense of how the Chinese view their history in a cyclical lense. The famous opening lines of the novel summarize this view: It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide (????????????????).[2] Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/L Battery

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters.[3] The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia,[4] and it is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China.[5] Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/P Battery

Myths from the Three Kingdoms era existed as oral traditions before written compilations. With their focus on the history of Han Chinese, the stories grew in popularity during the reign of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. During the succeeding Ming Dynasty, an interest in plays and novels resulted in further expansions and retelling of the stories. Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/R Battery

The earliest attempt to combine these stories into a written work was Sanguozhi Pinghua (simplified Chinese: ?????; traditional Chinese: ?????; pinyin: S?nguózhì Pínghuà; literally “Story of Records of Three Kingdoms“),Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/W Battery

published sometime between 1321 and 1323. This version combined themes of legend, magic, and morality to appeal to the peasant class. Elements of reincarnation and karma were woven into this version of the story. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/B Battery

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong, who lived sometime between 1315 and 1400 (late Yuan to early Ming period). This theory is extensively developed in Andrew Plaks’ Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel.^[6] It was written in partly vernacular and partly Classical Chinese and was considered the standard text for 300 years. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/L Battery

The author made use of available historical records, including the Records of Three Kingdoms compiled by Chen Shou, which covered events from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to the unification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in 280. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/R Battery

The novel also includes material from Tang Dynasty poetic works, Yuan Dynasty operas and his own personal interpretation of elements such as virtue and legitimacy. The author combined this historical knowledge with a gift for storytelling to create a rich tapestry of personalities, Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/W Battery

and initially published it in 24 volumes. It was copied by hand in manuscripts until first printed in 1522^[7] as Sanguozhi Tongsu Yanyi.^[8] In the 1660s, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Mao Lun (simplified Chinese: ??; traditional Chinese: ??)^[3] Sony VAIO VPCCW26EC Battery

and his son Mao Zonggang (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???) significantly edited the text, fitting it into 120 chapters, and abbreviating the title to Sanguozhi Yanyi.^[8] The text was reduced from 900,000 to 750,000 characters; significant editing was done for narrative flow; Sony VAIO VPCCW26FX/B Battery

use of third party poems was reduced and shifted from conventional verse to finer pieces; and most passages praising Cao Cao’s advisers and generals were removed.^[9] Scholars have long debated whether the Maos’ viewpoint was anti-Qing (identifying Southern Ming remnants with Shu-Han) or pro-Qing.^[10] Sony VAIO VPCCW28EC Battery

This novel reflects Confucian values that were prominent at the time it was written. According to Confucian moral standards, loyalty to one’s family, friends, and superiors are important measures for distinguishing good and bad people. Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/P Battery

Story

In the final years of the Han Dynasty, incompetent eunuchs deceive the emperor and persecute good officials, and the government becomes extremely corrupt on all levels, leading to widespread deterioration of the empire. During the reign of the penultimate Han sovereign, Emperor Ling, the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out under the leadership of Zhang Jue (a.k.a. Zhang Jiao). Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/R Battery

The rebellion is barely suppressed by troops under the command of He Jin, General-in-Chief of the imperial armies. Fearing his growing power, the eunuchs led by Zhang Rang lure He Jin into the palace and murder him. He Jin’s stunned guards, Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/W Battery

led by Yuan Shao, respond by charging into the palace to kill all eunuchs for revenge, which turns into indiscriminate slaughter. In the ensuing chaos, the child Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu disappear from the palace. Sony VAIO VPCCW29FJ/W Battery

The missing emperor and prince are found later by soldiers of the warlord Dong Zhuo, who proceeds to seize control of the capital city Luoyang under the pretext of protecting the emperor. Dong later deposes Emperor Shao and replaces him with the Prince of Chenliu, who becomes known as Emperor Xian. Sony VAIO VPCCW2AFJ Battery

Dong usurps state power and starts a reign of terror in which innocents are persecuted and the common people suffer. Wu Fu and Cao Cao attempt to assassinate Dong Zhuo but both fail. Sony VAIO VPCCW2AHJ Battery

Cao Cao manages to escape and issues an imperial edict in the emperor’s name to all regional warlords and governors, calling them to rise up against Dong Zhuo. Under Yuan Shao’s leadership, eighteen warlords form a coalition force in a campaign against Dong Zhuo, Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E Battery

but undermined by poor leadership and conflict of interest, they only manage to drive Dong from Luoyang to Chang’an. Dong Zhuo is eventually betrayed and killed by his foster son Lü Bu in a dispute over the beautiful maiden Diaochan. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/B Battery

In the meantime, the empire is already disintegrating into civil war. Sun Jian finds the Imperial Seal and keeps it secretly for himself, further weakening royal authority. Without a strong central government, warlords begin to rise and fight each other for land, plunging China into a state of anarchy. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/L Battery

In the north, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are at war, and in the south, Sun Jian and Liu Biao. Many others, even those without title or land, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, are also starting to build up power. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/P Battery

Cao Cao rescues Emperor Xian from Dong Zhuo’s followers and establishes the new imperial court in Xuchang. Cao Cao proceeds to defeat his rivals such as Lü Bu, Yuan Shu and Zhang Xiu before scoring a tactical victory over Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu despite being vastly outnumbered. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/R Battery

Through his conquests, Cao unites the Central Plains and northern China under his rule, and the lands he controlled would serve as the foundation for the state of Cao Wei in the future. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/W Battery

Meanwhile, an ambush had violently concluded Sun Jian’s life in a war with Liu Biao, fulfilling Sun’s own rash oath to heaven. His eldest son Sun Ce delivers the Imperial Seal as a tribute to the rising royal pretender, Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

Yuan Shu of Huainan, in exchange for reinforcements. Sun secures himself a state in the rich riverlands of Jiangdong, on which the state of Eastern Wu will eventually be founded. Tragically, Sun Ce also dies at the pinnacle of his career from illness under stress of his terrifying encounter with the ghost of Yu Ji, Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

a venerable magician whom he had falsely accused and executed in jealousy. However, his younger brother Sun Quan, who succeeds him, proves to be a capable and charismatic ruler. Sun, assisted by skilled advisors Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, inspires hidden talents such as Lu Su to join his service, and builds up a strong military force. Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

Liu Bei, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, swear allegiance to the Han Dynasty in the famous Oath of the Peach Garden and pledge to do their best for the country. However, their goals and ambitions are not realized until the later part of the novel. Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

Liu is not recognized for his efforts in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion and is merely appointed as a junior magistrate. They join Gongsun Zan and participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Liu Bei becomes the governor of Xu Province after Tao Qian passes on the post to him. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

Liu loses the province when Lü Bu seizes control of it with the help of a defector and he joins Cao Cao in defeating Lü at the Battle of Xiapi. While Cao Cao subtly reveals his intention to usurp state power, Liu Bei is officially recognised by Emperor Xian as the Imperial Uncle and seen as a saviour to help the emperor deal with Cao. Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

Liu Bei leaves Cao Cao eventually and seizes Xu Province from Cao’s newly appointed governor Che Zhou. In retaliation, Cao attacks Xu Province and defeats Liu, forcing Liu to seek refuge under Yuan Shao for a brief period of time. Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

Liu finds a new base in Runan after leaving Yuan but is defeated by Cao Cao’s forces once again. He retreats to Jing Province to join Liu Biao and is placed in charge of Xinye. At Xinye, Liu recruits the genius strategist Zhuge Liang personally and builds up his forces. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

Cao Cao declares himself chancellor and leads his troops to attack southern China after uniting the north. He is defeated twice at Xinye by Liu Bei’s forces but Liu loses the city as well. Liu leads his men and the civilians of Xinye on an exodus southwards and they arrive at Jiangxia (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei) where Liu establishes a foothold against Cao Cao. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

To resist Cao Cao, Liu Bei sends Zhuge Liang to persuade Sun Quan to form an alliance. Zhuge succeeds in his diplomatic mission and remains in Jiangdong as a temporary advisor to Sun Quan. Sun places Zhou Yu in command of the armies of Jiangdong (Eastern Wu) in preparation for an upcoming war with Cao Cao. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

Zhou feels that Zhuge will become a future threat to Eastern Wu and he tries to kill Zhuge on a few occasions but he fails and decides to co-operate with Zhuge for the time being. Cao Cao is defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei and he is forced to retreat north. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

Sun Quan and Liu Bei begin vying for control of Jing Province after their victory and Liu seizes the province from Cao Cao after following Zhuge Liang’s strategy. Sun Quan is unhappy and sends emissaries to ask Liu Bei for Jing Province, but Liu dismisses the envoys each time with different excuses. Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

Sun uses some strategies proposed by Zhou Yu to take the land, of which the most famous is the “Beauty Scheme.” Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

Sun intends to lure Liu Bei to Jiangdong to marry his sister Lady Sun and hold Liu hostage to exchange his freedom for Jing Province, but the plot fails and the newly-wed couple return home safely. Zhou Yu tries to take Jing Province repeatedly but his plans are foiled three times by Zhuge Liang. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

Liu Bei’s takeover of Yi Province

After Zhou Yu’s death, relations between Liu Bei and Sun Quan gradually deteriorate but not to the point of open conflict. In accordance with Zhuge Liang’s Longzhong Plan, Liu Bei leads his troops into Yi Province in the west and takes over the land from the incompetent noble Liu Zhang. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

By then, Liu Bei rules a vast area of land from Jing Province to Yi Province in the west, which will serve as the foundation for the future state of Shu Han. He proclaims himself “King of Hanzhong” after his victory over Cao Cao in the Hanzhong Campaign. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

At the same time, Cao has also been granted the title of “King of Wei” by the emperor and Sun Quan became known as the “Duke of Wu”. In the east, Sun Quan and Cao Cao’s forces clash at the Battle of Ruxukou and Battle of Xiaoyao Ford with victories and defeats for both sides. The situation among the three major powers reaches a stalemate after this until Cao Cao’s death. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

Meanwhile, Sun Quan plots to take Jing Province after tiring of Liu Bei’s repeated refusals to hand the land over. He makes peace with Cao Cao and becomes a vassal of Cao with the title of “King of Wu”. Guan YuSony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

, who is in charge of Jing Province, leads his troops to attack Cao Ren in the Battle of Fancheng. Sun Quan sends Lü Meng to lead his troops to seize Jing Province while Guan is away, as part of his secret agreement with Cao Cao. Guan is caught off guard and loses Jing Province before he realizes it. He retreats to Maicheng, Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

where he is heavily surrounded by Sun Quan’s forces, while his army gradually shrinks in size as many of his troops desert or surrender to the enemy. In desperation, Guan attempts to break out of the siege but fails and is captured in an ambush. He Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

is executed on Sun Quan’s orders after refusing to renounce his loyalty to Liu Bei.

Shortly after Guan Yu’s death, Cao Cao dies of a brain tumor and his son Cao Pi usurps the throne, effectively ending the Han Dynasty and Cao renames his new dynasty “Cao Wei”. In response, Liu Bei proclaims himself emperor, Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

to carry on the bloodline of the Han Dynasty. While Liu Bei is planning to avenge Guan Yu, his other sworn brother Zhang Fei is assassinated in his sleep by his subordinates, who have defected to Sun Quan. Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

As Liu Bei leads a large army to attack Sun Quan to avenge Guan Yu, Sun attempts to appease Liu by offering him the return of Jing Province. Liu’s advisers, including Zhuge Liang, urge him to accept Sun’s tokens of peace, but Liu persists in vengeance. Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

After initial victories, a series of strategic mistakes due to the impetuosity of Liu leads to the cataclysmic defeat of Shu Han in the Battle of Xiaoting. Lu Xun, the commander of Sun Quan’s forces, refrains from pursuing the retreating Shu Han troops after encountering Zhuge Liang’s Stone Sentinel Maze. Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

Liu Bei dies in Baidicheng from illness shortly after his defeat. In a moving final conversation between Liu on his deathbed and Zhuge Liang, Liu grants Zhuge the authority to take the throne if his successor Liu Shan proves to be an inept ruler. Zhuge refuses and swears that he will remain faithful to the trust Liu Bei had placed in him. Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

Zhuge Liang’s campaigns

After Liu Bei’s death, as advised by Sima Yi, Cao Pi induces several forces, including Sun Quan, turncoat Shu general Meng Da, Meng Huo of the Nanman and the Qiang tribes, to attack Shu Han, in coordination with a Cao Wei army. Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery

Zhuge Liang manages to send the five armies retreating without any bloodshed. An envoy from Shu Han named Deng Zhi subsequently persuades Sun Quan to renew the former alliance with Shu Han. Zhuge Liang personally leads a southern campaign against the Nanman barbarian king Meng Huo. Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery

Meng is defeated and captured seven times, but Zhuge releases him each time and allows him to come back for another battle, in order to win Meng over. The seventh time, Meng refuses to leave and decides to swear allegiance to Shu Han forever. Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery

After pacifying the south, Zhuge Liang leads the Shu Han army on five military expeditions to attack Cao Wei in order to restore the Han Dynasty. However, Zhuge’s days are numbered as he had been suffering from chronic tuberculosis all along, Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery

and his condition worsens under stress from the campaigns. His last significant victory over Cao Wei is probably the defection of Jiang Wei, a promising young general who is well-versed in military strategy. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

Zhuge Liang dies of illness at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains while leading a stalemate battle against his nemesis, the Cao Wei commander Sima Yi. Before his death, Zhuge orders his trusted generals to build a statue of himself and use it to scare away the enemy in order to buy time for the Shu Han army to retreat safely. Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

End of the Three Kingdoms

The long years of battle between Shu Han and Cao Wei sees many changes in the ruling Cao family in Cao Wei. The influence of the Caos weakens after the death of Cao Rui and the state power of Cao Wei eventually falls into the hands of the Sima clan, headed by Sima Yi’s sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

In Shu Han, Jiang Wei inherits Zhuge Liang’s legacy and continues to lead another nine campaigns against Cao Wei for a bitter three decades, but he fails to achieve any significant success. Moreover, the ruler of Shu Han, Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

Liu Shan, is incompetent and places faith in treacherous officials, further leading to the decline of the kingdom. Shu Han is eventually conquered by Cao Wei. Jiang Wei attempts to restore Shu Han with the help of Zhong Hui but their plans are exposed and both of them are killed by Sima Zhao’s troops. After the fall of Shu Han in 263, Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

Sima Zhao’s son Sima Yan forces the last Wei ruler, Cao Huan, to abdicate his throne in 265, officially ending the Cao Wei dynasty. Sima Yan, having already been proclaimed the Prince of Jin in the previous year, then formally establishes the Jin Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

In Eastern Wu, there has been internal conflict among the nobles ever since the death of Sun Quan, with Zhuge Ke and Sun Lin making attempts to usurp state power. Although stability is restored temporarily, the last Wu ruler Sun Hao appears to be a tyrant who does not make any efforts to strengthen his kingdom. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

Eastern Wu, the last of the Three Kingdoms, is finally conquered by Jin after a long period of struggle in the year 280, thus marking the end of the near century-long era of civil strife known as the Three Kingdoms period. Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

Historical accuracy

The novel draws from historical sources, including Chen Shou’s Records of Three Kingdoms. Other major influences include Liu Yiqing’s Shishuo xinyu or A New Account of Tales of the World, published in 430,[11] and the Sanguozhi Pinghua, a chronological collection of eighty fictional sketches starting with the peach garden oath and ending with Zhuge Liang’s death.[12] Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

Some fifty or sixty Yuan and early Ming plays about the Three Kingdoms are known to have existed, and their material is almost entirely fictional, based on thin threads of actual history. The novel is thus a return to greater emphasis on history, compared to these dramas.[13] Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

The novel also shifted towards better acknowledgement of the Southland’s historical importance, while still betraying some prejudice against them.[14] Zhang Xuecheng famously wrote that the novel was 70% fact and 30% fiction.[8] The fictional parts are culled from different sources, including unofficial histories, folk stories, Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery

the Sanguozhi Pinghua, and also the author’s own imagination. Nonetheless, the description of the social conditions and the logic that the characters use is accurate to the Three Kingdoms period, creating “believable” situations and characters, even if they are not historically accurate.[15] Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, like the dramas and folk stories of its day, features Liu Bei and his kingdom as the protagonist; hence the depiction of the people in Shu-Han was glorified. The antagonists, Cao Cao, Sun Quan and their kingdoms, Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

on the other hand, were often denigrated. This suited the political climate in the Ming Dynasty, unlike in the Jin Dynasty, when Cao Wei was considered the legitimate successor to the Han Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

Some non-historical scenes in the novel have become well-known and subsequently became a part of traditional Chinese culture. Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery

Dominant themes of the novel include: the rise and fall of the ideal liege (Liu Bei) finding the ideal minister (Zhuge Liang); the conflict between the ideal liege (Liu Bei) and the consummate villain (Cao Cao); and the cruelties and injustice of feudal or dynastic government.[3] Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

Critics have argued that Luo Guanzhong’s initial pronouncement “It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide” epitomizes the main theme of the novel.[16] Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

Taking this as a locus for study of the classic has been disputed, however. Further, “division” and “unity” for Luo are not of equal importance.[16] Though the work shows the journey from unity to division in the final years of the Han Dynasty, that is only the beginning of the book. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

“The author expended most of his ink on the focal point of his description—the difficult transition from ‘division’ to ‘unity’ and the great achievements that came out of the bitter struggle by various heroes to reunify the Chinese empire.”[16] Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery

Romance of the Three Kingdoms recorded stories of a Buddhist monk called Pujing (??), who was a friend of Guan Yu. Pujing made his first appearance during Guan’s arduous journey of crossing five passes and slaying six generals, in which he warned Guan of an assassination plot. As the novel was written in the Ming Dynasty, more than 1000 years after the era, Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

these stories showed that Buddhism had long been a significant ingredient of the mainstream culture and may not be historically accurate. Luo Guanzhong preserved these descriptions from earlier versions of the novel to support his portrait of Guan as a faithful man of virtue. Guan was since then respectfully addressed as “Lord Guan” or Guan Gong. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

Romance of the Three Kingdoms has been translated into English by numerous scholars. The first known translation was performed in 1907 by John G. Steele and consisted of a single chapter excerpt that was distributed in China to students learning English at Presbyterian missionary schools. Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

[19] Z.Q. Parker published a 1925 translation containing four episodes from the novel including the events of the Battle of Red Cliffs, while Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang published excerpts in 1981 including chapters 43–50.[19] A complete and faithful translation of the novel was published in two volumes in 1925 by Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor.[19] Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

The translation was well-written, but lacked any supplementary materials such as maps or character lists that would aide Western readers; a 1959 reprint was published that included maps and an introduction by Roy Andrew Miller to assist foreign readers.[19] Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

In 1976, Moss Roberts published an abridged translation containing one fourth of the novel including maps and more than 40 woodblock illustrations from three Chinese versions of the novel.[19] Roberts’s abridgement is reader-friendly, being written for use in colleges and to be read by the general public.[19] After decades of work, Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

Roberts published a full translation in 1991 complete with an Afterword, eleven maps, a list of characters, titles, terms, and offices, and almost 100 pages of notes from Mao Zonggang’s commentaries and other scholarly sources.[19] Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

Roberts’s complete translation remains faithful to the original; it is reliable yet still matches the tone and style of the classic text.[19] Yang Ye, a professor in Chinese Literature at the UC Riverside, wrote in Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English (1998) that Roberts’s translation “supersedes Brewitt-Taylor’s translation and will no doubt remain the definitive English version for many years to come.”[19] Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

During the decline of the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was under the control of Cao Cao, the chancellor to the last Han ruler, Emperor Xian. In 213, Cao Cao was granted the title of “Duke of Wei” and given ten cities as his domain. This area was named “Wei”. At that time, the southern part of China was already divided into two areas controlled by two warlords. In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to “King of Wei”.Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

On March 15, 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi inherited the title of “King of Wei”. Later that year on December 11, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate and took over the throne, founding the Wei Dynasty. However, Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested Cao Pi’s claim to the Han throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222. Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

Cao Pi ruled for six years until his death in 226. He was succeeded by his son Cao Rui, who died in 239, and was in turn succeeded by Cao Fang. In 249, during Cao Fang’s reign, the regent Sima Yi seized state power from his co-regent Cao Shuang in a coup known as the Incident at Gaoping Tombs. Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

This event marked the collapse of imperial authority in Wei, as Cao Fang’s role had been reduced to a puppet ruler while Sima Yi wielded state power firmly in his hands. Sima Yi died in 251 and passed on his authority to his oldest son Sima Shi, who continued ruling as regent. Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang in 254 and replaced him with Cao Mao. Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

After Sima Shi died in the following year, his younger brother Sima Zhao inherited his power and status as regent. In 260, Cao Mao attempted to seize back state power from Sima Zhao in a coup, but was killed by Sima’s subordinate Cheng Ji (??). Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

After Cao Mao’s death, Cao Huan was enthroned as the fifth ruler of Wei. However, Cao Huan was also a figurehead under Sima Zhao’s control much like his predecessor. In 263, Wei armies led by Zhong Hui and Deng Ai conquered Shu. Two years later, Sima Zhao’s son Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate in his favour, replacing Wei with the Jin Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

As Gogeryeo consolidated its power, it proceeded to act to conquer the territories on the Korean peninsula which were under Chinese rule.[1] Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei Wars in 242, trying to cut off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, the Chinese Wei state responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo. Hwando was detroyed in revenge by the Chinese Wei forces in 244.[2] Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

Cao Wei (220 CE – 265 CE) was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid. Its name came from 213, when Cao Cao’s feudal holdings were given the name Wei; Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

historians often add the prefix Cao (?, from Cao Cao’s family name) to distinguish it from the other states in Chinese history also known as Wei, such as the earlier Wei state during the Warring States Period, and the later Northern Wei state. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

In 220, when Cao Pi deposed the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei became the name of the new dynasty he founded, which was seized and controlled by the Sima family in 249, until it was overthrown and became part of the Jin Dynasty in 265. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu. Some historians argue it was the last Han Dynasty because its founding emperor Liu Bei was directly related to the sovereign family of the original Han Dynasty, Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery

and bore their surname. The other two states were Cao Wei in central and northern China and Eastern Wu in southeastern China. The state is sometimes known as the Kingdom of Shu, though this usage is ambiguous as it was the name of the older Shu state in the area (ca. 1046 BC – 316 BC). Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, a warlord and distant relative of the Han imperial clan, rallied the support of many capable followers. Following the counsel of his advisor Zhuge Liang and Zhuge’s Longzhong Plan, Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

Liu Bei conquered parts of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) in 208 and 209. Between 212 and 215, Liu Bei took over Yi Province (covering the Sichuan Basin) from the warlord Liu Zhang, and wrestled control of Hanzhong from rival warlord Cao Cao in 219. Sony VAIO VPCEA20 Battery

From the territories he gained, Liu Bei established a position for himself in China during the final years of the Han Dynasty. However in 219, the alliance between Liu Bei and his ally, Sun Quan, was broken when Sun sent his general Lü Meng to invade Jing Province. Jing Province came under Sun Quan’s control after the surprise attack, and Liu Bei’s general Guan Yu was captured and executed on Sun’s order. Sony VAIO VPCEB10 Battery

In 220, after the death of Cao Cao, his son Cao Pi forced the Han Dynasty’s last ruler, Emperor Xian to abdicate, taking over the Han throne and starting a new Cao Wei dynasty. The following year, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, with his dynasty known as “Shu Han”. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI Battery

Although Liu Bei is seen as the founder of Shu Han, he never claimed to be the founder of a new dynasty; rather, he claimed to be continuing the fallen Han Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM Battery

In 222, Liu Bei launched an attack on Sun Quan to retake Jing Province and avenge Guan Yu, culminating in the Battle of Xiaoting. However, due to grave tactical mistakes, Liu Bei suffered a dramatic defeat with the burning of his line of camps and the decimation of his already numerically inferior army. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T Battery

Liu Bei survived the battle and fled to Baidicheng, where he died a year later due to illness. His son, Liu Shan, succeeded him as emperor of Shu Han. The chancellor Zhuge Liang and general Li Yan were appointed as regents to assist the young Liu Shan. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI Battery

Zhuge Liang felt that it was more important for Shu to attack and topple the Wei government and restore legitimacy to the Han Dynasty, hence he made peace with Sun Quan and reaffirmed Shu’s alliance with Sun. Sun Quan later declared himself emperor of Eastern Wu in 229, and his status was recognized by Shu. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX Battery

Between 228 and 234, Zhuge Liang launched a series of six invasions on Wei but failed each time due to lack of supplies or incompetency of his officers, eventually dying of sickness at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. Zhuge Liang’s protege, Jiang Wei, continued his legacy by leading another nine campaigns against Wei between 247 and 262, but failed to make any significant territorial gains. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI Battery

In 263, armies led by Wei generals Zhong Hui and Deng Ai attacked Shu and conquered its capital Chengdu. Liu Shan surrendered to Deng Ai outside Chengdu, marking the end of Shu. Jiang Wei attempted to incite conflict between Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, hoping to take advantage of the situation to revive Shu. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T Battery

However, his plan failed and he was killed by Wei troops along with Zhong Hui and Deng Ai. Liu Shan was brought to the Wei capital Luoyang and lived a comfortable and peaceful life as the “Duke of Anle” until the end of his days. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI Battery

Shu was not merely a nation of war. During peace time, Shu began many irrigation and road-building projects designed to improve the economy. Many of these public works still exist and are widely used. For example, the Zipingpu Dam is still present near Chengdu, Sichuan. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX Battery

These works helped improve the economy of southwestern China and can be credited with beginning the history of economic activity in Sichuan. It also promoted trade with southern China, which was then ruled by Eastern Wu. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI Battery

It was claimed that many refugees fled west to Sasanian Persia when Shu fell in 263.[1]

Eastern Wu

Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan (Yangtze River Delta) region of China. During its existence, its capital was at Jianye (??; present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), but at times it was also at Wuchang (??; present-day Ezhou, Hubei). Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T Battery

During the final years of the Han Dynasty, the Wu region – in the south of the Yangtze River surrounding present-day Nanjing – was under the control of the warlord Sun Quan. Sun Quan succeeded his brother Sun Ce as the lord over the Wu region paying nominal allegiance to Emperor Xian of Han (who was, at that point, under the control of Cao Cao). Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI Battery

Unlike his competitors, he did not really have the ambition to be Emperor of China. However, after Cao Pi of Cao Wei and Liu Bei of Shu Han each declared themselves emperor, Sun Quan decided to follow suit in 229, claiming to have founded the Wu Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX Battery

Sun Quan’s long reign resulted in the stabilizing of the south. Wu and Shu had a military alliance, to defeat Wei in the north. Wu never managed to gain territory north of the Yangtze River, but Wei never managed to take territory south of the river. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI Battery

Wu was finally conquered by the Jin Dynasty in 280, which marked the reunification of China at the end of the Three Kingdoms period. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC Battery

Under the rule of Wu, the Yangtze River Delta region, regarded in early history as a barbaric “jungle” developed into one of the commercial, cultural, and political centers of China. Within five centuries, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, the development of southern China centered around Jiangnan had surpassed that of the north. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T Battery

The achievements of Wu marked the beginning of the cultural and political division between northern and southern China that would repeatedly appear in Chinese history well into modernity. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX Battery

The island of Taiwan may have been first reached by the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period. Contact with the native population and the dispatch of officials to an island named “Yizhou” (??) by the Wu navy might have been to Taiwan, but the location of Yizhou is open to dispute; some historians believe it was Taiwan, while others believe it was the Ryukyu Islands. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI Battery

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period (traditional Chinese: ????; simplified Chinese: ????; pinyin: S?nguó shídài) was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the “Six Dynasties” following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T Battery

In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the conquest of the state Wu by the Jin Dynasty in 280.? However, many Chinese historians and laymen extend the starting point of this period back to the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI Battery

The Three Kingdoms (traditional Chinese: ??; simplified Chinese: ??; pinyin: S?nguó) were Wei (?), Shu (?), and Wu (?). To further distinguish these states from other historical Chinese states of the same name, historians add a relevant character: Wei is also known as Cao Wei (??), Shu is also known as Shu Han (??), and Wu is also known as Dong Wu or Eastern Wu (??). Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM Battery

The term “Three Kingdoms” itself is something of a mistranslation, since each state was eventually headed not by kings, but by an emperor who claimed legitimate succession from the Han Dynasty. Although the translation “Three Empires” is more contextually accurate,[1] the term “Three Kingdoms” has become standard among sinologists. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI Battery

The earlier, “unofficial” part of the period, from 184 to 220, was marked by chaotic infighting between warlords in various parts of China. The middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states, Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T Battery

Wei, Shu, and Wu.? The later part of this period was marked by the collapse of the tripartite situation: first the conquest of Shu by Wei (263), then the overthrow of Wei by the Jin Dynasty (265), and the destruction of Wu by Jin (280). Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI Battery

Although relatively short, this historical period has been greatly romanticised in the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It has been celebrated and popularised in operas, folk stories, novels and in more recent times, films, television, and video games.? Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX Battery

The best known of these is Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Ming Dynasty historical novel based on events in the Three Kingdoms period. The authoritative historical record of the era is Chen Shou’s Records of Three Kingdoms, along with Pei Songzhi’s later annotations of the text. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI Battery

The Three Kingdoms period was one of the bloodiest in Chinese history.? A population census during the late Eastern Han Dynasty reported a population of approximately 50 million, while a population census during the early Western Jin Dynasty reported a population of approximately 16 million.[2] However, the Jin Dynasty’s census was far less complete than the Han census, so these figures are in question.^{[citation needed]} Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T Battery

Technology advanced significantly during this period. Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang invented the wooden ox, suggested to be an early form of the wheelbarrow, and improved on the repeating crossbow. Wei mechanical engineer Ma Jun is considered by many to be the equal of his predecessor Zhang Heng. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI Battery

He invented a hydraulic-powered, mechanical puppet theatre designed for Emperor Ming of Wei, square-pallet chain pumps for irrigation of gardens in Luoyang, and the ingenious design of the South Pointing Chariot, a non-magnetic directional compass operated by differential gears. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX Battery

The power of the Eastern Han Dynasty went into depression and steadily declined after the reign of Emperor He from a variety of political and economic problems. A series of Han emperors ascended the throne while still youths, Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B Battery

and de facto imperial power often rested with the emperors’ older relatives. As these relatives occasionally were loath to give up their influence, emperors would, upon reaching maturity, be forced to rely on political alliances with senior officials and eunuchs to achieve control of the government. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G Battery

Political posturing and infighting between imperial relatives and eunuch officials was a constant problem in Chinese government at the time. During the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, leading officials’ dissatisfaction with the eunuchs’ usurpations of power reached a peak, and many began to openly protest against them. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L Battery

The first and second protests met with failure, and the court eunuchs persuaded the emperor to execute many of the protesting scholars. Some local rulers seized the opportunity to exert despotic control over their lands and citizens, since many feared to speak out in the oppressive political climate. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P Battery

Emperors Huan and Ling’s reigns were recorded as particularly dark periods of Han Dynasty rule. In addition to political oppression and mismanagement, China experienced a number of natural disasters during this period, and local rebellions sprung up throughout the country. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W Battery

In the second month of 184, Zhang Jiao, leader of the Way of Supreme Peace, a Taoist movement, along with his two brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, led the movement’s followers in a rebellion against the government that was called the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX Battery

Their movement quickly attracted followers and soon numbered several hundred thousands and received support from many parts of China. They had 36 bases throughout China, with large bases having 10,000 or more followers and minor bases having 6,000 to 7,000, similar to Han armies. Their motto was: Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B Battery

“The firmament[3] has perished, the Yellow Sky[4] will soon rise; in this year of jiazi, let there be prosperity in the world!” Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G Battery

[5] Emperor Ling dispatched generals Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Jun to lead the Han armies against the rebels, and decreed that local governments had to supply soldiers to assist in their efforts. It is at this point that the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms begins its narrative. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L Battery

The Yellow Turbans were ultimately defeated and its surviving followers dispersed throughout China, but due to the turbulent situation throughout the empire, many were able to survive as bandits in mountainous areas, thus continuing their ability to contribute to the turmoil of the era. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P Battery

With the widespread increase in bandits across the Chinese nation, the Han army had no way to repel each and every raiding party. In 188, Emperor Ling accepted a memorial from Yi Province[6] governor Liu Yan suggesting he grant direct administrative power over feudal provinces and direct command of regional military to local governors, as well promoting them in rank and filling such positions with members of the Liu family or court officials. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W Battery

This move made provinces (zhou) official administrative units, and although they had power to combat rebellions, the later intra-government chaos allowed these local governors to easily rule independently of the central government. Soon after this move, Liu Yan severed all of his region’s ties to the Han imperial court, and several other areas followed suit. Sony VAIO VPCEB190X Battery

Dong Zhuo in power

In the same year, Emperor Ling died, and another struggle began between the court eunuchs for control of the imperial family. Court eunuch Jian Shuo planned to kill General-in-Chief He Jin, a relative of the imperial family, and to replace the crown prince Liu Bian with his younger brother Liu Xie, the Prince of Chenliu (in present-day Kaifeng), though his plan was unsuccessful. Sony VAIO VPCEB19FX Battery

Liu Bian took the Han throne as Emperor Shao, and He Jin plotted with warlord Yuan Shao to assassinate the Ten Attendants, a clique of ten eunuchs led by Zhang Rang who controlled much of the imperial court. He Jin also ordered Dong Zhuo, Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX Battery

the frontier general in Liang Province, and Ding Yuan, Inspector of Bing Province[7], to bring troops to the capital to reinforce his position of authority. The eunuchs learned of He Jin’s plot, and had him assassinated before Dong Zhuo reached the capital Luoyang. Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX Battery

When Yuan Shao’s troops reached Luoyang, they stormed the palace complex, killing the Ten Attendants and 2,000 of the eunuchs’ supporters. Though this move effectively ended the century-long feud between the eunuchs and the imperial family, it ushered in the era of warlords and martial law that became the Three Kingdoms era. Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX/B Battery

This event prompted the invitation of Dong Zhuo to enter Luoyang from the northwest boundary of China. At the time China faced the Qiang tribes in the northwest, and thus Dong Zhuo controlled a large army with elite training. When he brought the army to Luoyang, he was able to easily overpower the existing armies of both sides and took control of the imperial court, ushering in a period of civil war across China. Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX Battery

Dong Zhuo then manipulated the succession so that Liu Xie could take the throne in lieu of Liu Bian. Dong Zhuo, while ambitious, genuinely wished for a more capable emperor. On his way to Luoyang, he encountered a small band of soldiers protecting Liu Bian and Liu Xie fleeing the war zone. Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX/BI Battery

In the encounter Dong Zhuo acted arrogantly and threateningly, causing Liu Bian to be paralyzed with fear; Liu Xie, the future Emperor Xian, responded calmly with authority and commanded Dong Zhuo to protect the royal family with his army to return to the imperial court. Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX Battery

While Dong Zhuo originally wanted to re-establish the authority of the Han Dynasty and manage all the political conflict properly, his political capability proved to be much worse than his military leadership. Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX/BI Battery

His behaviour grew more and more violent and authoritarian, executing or sending into exile all that opposed him, and showed less and less respect to the emperor. He ignored all royal etiquette and frequently carried open weapons into the imperial court. Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX Battery

In 190 a coalition led by Yuan Shao was formed between nearly all the provincial authorities in the eastern provinces of the empire against Dong Zhuo. The mounting pressure from repeated defeat on the southern frontline against Sun Jian’s forces drove Emperor Xian and later Dong Zhuo himself west to Chang’an in May 191. Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX/BI Battery

Dong Zhuo once again demonstrated his political shortcomings by forcing millions of residents of Luoyang to migrate to Chang’an. He then set fire to Luoyang, preventing occupation by his enemies and destroying the biggest city in China at that time. In addition, he ordered his army to slaughter a whole village of civilians. Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX Battery

The soldiers beheaded the civilians and carried their heads into Chang’an to show off as war trophies, pretending to have had a great victory against his enemies. A year later Dong Zhuo was killed in a coup d’etat by Wang Yun and Lü Bu. Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX/BI Battery

In 191, there was some talk among the coalition of appointing Liu Yu, an imperial relative, as emperor, and gradually its members began to fall out. Most of the warlords in the coalition, with a few exceptions, sought the increase of personal military power in the time of instability instead of seriously wishing to restore the Han Dynasty’s authority. Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX Battery

The Han empire was divided between a number of regional warlords. Yuan Shao occupied the northern area of Ye and extended his power, by taking over his superior Han Fu with trickery and intimidation, north of the Yellow River against Gongsun Zan, Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI Battery

who held the northern frontier. Cao Cao, directly to Yuan Shao’s south, was engaged in a struggle against Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, who occupied respectively the Huai River basin and middle Yangtze regions. Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI Battery

Further south the young warlord Sun Ce, taking over after the untimely death of Sun Jian, was establishing his rule in the lower Yangtze, albeit as a subordinate of Yuan Shu. In the west, Liu Zhang held Yi Province while Hanzhong and the northwest were controlled by a motley collection of smaller warlords such as Ma Teng of Liang Province, the original post of Dong Zhuo. Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX Battery

Dong Zhuo, confident in his success, was slain by his follower Lü Bu and minister Wang Yun. Lü Bu, in turn, was attacked by Dong Zhuo’s subordinates: Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and Fan Chou. Wang Yun and his whole family were executed. Lü Bu fled to Zhang Yang, a northern warlord, and remained with him for a time before briefly joining Yuan Shao, but it was clear that Lü Bu was far too independent to serve another. Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX Battery

In August 195, Emperor Xian fled the tyranny of Li Jue at Chang’an and made a year long hazardous journey east in search of supporters. By 196, when he was received by Cao Cao, most of the smaller contenders for power had either been absorbed by larger ones or destroyed. Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI Battery

This was an extremely important move for Cao Cao following the suggestion from his primary advisor, Xun Yu, commenting that by supporting the authentic emperor, Cao Cao would have the formal legal authority to control the other warlords and force them to comply in order to restore the Han Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX Battery

Cao Cao, whose zone of control was the precursor to the state of Cao Wei, had raised an army in the winter of 189. In several strategic movements and battles, he controlled Yan Province and defeated several factions of the Yellow Turban rebels. This earned him the aid of other local militaries controlled by Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI Battery

who joined his cause to create his first sizable army. He continued the effort and absorbed approximately 300,000 Yellow Turban rebels into his army as well as a number of clan-based military groups from the eastern side of Qing Province. In 196 he established an imperial court at Xuchang and developed military agricultural colonies (tuntian) to support his army. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX Battery

Although the system imposed a heavy tax on hired civilian farmers (40% to 60% of agricultural production), the farmers were more than pleased to be able to work with relative stability and professional military protection in a time of chaos. This was later said to be his second important policy for success. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B Battery

In 194, Cao Cao went to war with Tao Qian of Xu Province, because Tao’s subordinate Zhang Kai had murdered Cao Cao’s father Cao Song. Tao Qian received the support of Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan, but even then it seemed as if Cao Cao’s superior forces would overrun Xu Province entirely. However, Cao Cao received word that Lü Bu had seized Yan Province in his absence, and accordingly he retreated, Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G Battery

putting a halt to hostilities with Tao Qian for the time being. Tao Qian died in the same year, leaving his province to Liu Bei. A year later, in 195, Cao Cao managed to drive Lü Bu out of Yan Province. Lü Bu fled to Xu Province and was received by Liu Bei, and an uneasy alliance began between the two. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L Battery

In the south, Sun Ce, then an independent general under the service of Yuan Shu, defeated the warlords of Yang Province, including Liu Yao, Wang Lang, and Yan Baihu. In 197, Yuan Shu, who was at odds with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei, felt assured of victory with his subordinate’s conquests, and thus declared himself emperor of the Cheng Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P Battery

The move, however, was a strategic blunder, as it drew the ire of many warlords across the land, including Yuan Shu’s own subordinate Sun Ce, who had advised Yuan Shu not to make such a move. Cao Cao issued orders to Sun Ce to attack Yuan Shu. Sun Ce complied, but first convinced Cao Cao to form a coalition against Yuan Shu, of which Liu Bei and Lü Bu were members. Attacked on all sides, Yuan Shu was defeated and fled into hiding. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W Battery

Afterwards, Lü Bu betrayed Liu Bei and seized Xu Province, forming an alliance with Yuan Shu’s remnant forces. Liu Bei, together with his followers Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, fled to Cao Cao, who accepted him. Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX Battery

Soon, preparations were made for an attack on Lü Bu, and the combined forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei invaded Xu Province. Lü Bu’s men deserted him, Yuan Shu’s forces never arrived as reinforcements, and he was bound by his own subordinates Song Xian and Wei Xu and executed on Cao Cao’s order. Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B Battery

In 200, Dong Cheng, an imperial relative, received a secret edict from Emperor Xian to assassinate Cao Cao. He collaborated with Liu Bei on this effort, but Cao Cao soon found out about the plot and had Dong Cheng and his conspirators executed, with only Liu Bei surviving and fleeing to join Yuan Shao in the north. Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W Battery

After settling the nearby provinces, including a rebellion led by former Yellow Turbans, and internal affairs with the court, Cao Cao turned his attention north to Yuan Shao, who himself had eliminated his northern rival Gongsun Zan that same year. Yuan Shao, himself of higher nobility than Cao Cao, amassed a large army and camped along the northern bank of the Yellow River. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery

In 200, after winning a decisive battle against Liu Biao at Sha County and putting down the rebellions of Xu Gong and others, Sun Ce was struck by an arrow and fatally wounded. On his deathbed, he named his younger brother, Sun Quan, as his heir. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery

Following months of planning, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao clashed at the Battle of Guandu. Overcoming Yuan Shao’s superior numbers, Cao Cao decisively defeated him by setting fire to his supplies, and in doing so crippled the northern army. Liu Bei fled to join Liu Biao in Jing Province, and many of Yuan Shao’s forces were destroyed. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery

In 202, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao’s death and the resulting division among his sons to advance north of the Yellow River. He captured Ye in 204 and occupied the provinces of Ji, Bing, Qing and You. By the end of 207, after a lightning campaign against the Wuhuan barbarians, Cao Cao had achieved undisputed dominance of the North China Plain. Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery

In 208, Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly unify the empire. Liu Biao’s son Liu Cong surrendered Jing Province and Cao was able to capture a sizable fleet at Jiangling. Sun Quan, the successor to Sun Ce in the lower Yangtze, continued to resist, however. Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery

His advisor Lu Su secured an alliance with Liu Bei, himself a recent refugee from the north, and Zhou Yu was placed in command of Sun Quan’s navy, along with a veteran general who served the Sun family, Cheng Pu. Their combined armies of 50,000 met Cao Cao’s fleet and 200,000-strong force at Red Cliffs that winter. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery

After an initial skirmish, an attack beginning with a plan to set fire to Cao Cao’s fleet was set in motion to lead to the decisive defeat of Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and provided the basis for the states of Shu and Wu. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery

After his return to the north, Cao Cao contented himself with absorbing the northwestern regions in 211 and consolidating his power. He progressively increased his titles and power, eventually becoming the King of Wei in 217, a title bestowed upon him by the puppet Emperor Xian that he controlled. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery

Liu Bei, having defeated the weak Jing Province warlords Han Xuan, Jin Xuan, Zhao Fan, and Liu Du, entered Yi Province and later in 214 displaced Liu Zhang as ruler, leaving Guan Yu in charge of Jing Province. Sun Quan, who had in the intervening years being engaged with defenses against Cao Cao in the southeast at Hefei, Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery

now turned his attention to Jing Province and the middle Yangtze. Tensions between the allies were increasingly visible. In 219, after Liu Bei successfully seized Hanzhong from Cao Cao and as Guan Yu was engaged in the siege of Fancheng, Sun Quan’s general Lü Meng seized Jing Province in a surprise invasion. Guan Yu was captured and executed on Sun Quan’s order. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery

Emergence of the Three Kingdoms

In the first month of 220, Cao Cao died and in the tenth month his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate, thus ending the Han Dynasty. He named his state Wei and proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang. Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery

In 221, Liu Bei declared himself emperor, in a bid to restore the fallen Han Dynasty. (His state is known in history as “Shu” or “Shu Han”) In the same year, Wei bestowed on Sun Quan the title of King of Wu. A year later, Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery

Shu declared war on Wu (this was because Wu had allied with Wei in order to defeat the sworn brother of Liu Bei – Guan Yu – who at that time placed in charge on Jing province, as it was most strategic location in all of the three kingdoms) and met the Wu armies at the Battle of Xiaoting (also known as Battle of Yiling). Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery

At Xiaoting, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan’s commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu, where he died soon afterward. After the death of Liu Bei, Shu and Wu resumed friendly relations at the expense of Wei, thus stabilizing the tripartite configuration. In 222, Sun Quan renounced his recognition of Cao Pi’s regime and, in 229, he declared himself emperor of Eastern Wu in Wuchang. Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery

Dominion of the north completely belonged to Wei, whilst Shu occupied the southwest and Wu the central south and east. The external borders of the states were generally limited to the extent of Chinese civilization. For example, the political control of Shu on its southern frontier was limited by the Tai tribes of present-day Yunnan and Burma, known collectively as the “Nanman” (southern barbarians). Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery

In 223 Liu Shan rose to the throne of Shu following his father’s defeat and death. The defeat of Liu Bei at Xiaoting ended the period of hostility between Wu and Shu and both used the opportunity to concentrate on internal problems and the external enemy of Wei. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery

For Sun Quan, the victory terminated his fears of Shu expansion into Jing Province and he turned to the aborigines of the southeast, whom the Chinese collectively called the “Shanyue”. A collection of successes against the rebellious tribesmen culminated in the victory of 224. In that year Zhuge Ke ended a three year siege of Danyang with the surrender of 100,000 Shanyue. Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery

Of these, 40,000 were drafted as auxiliaries into the Wu army. Meanwhile Shu was also experiencing troubles with the indigenous tribes of their south. The southwestern Nanman peoples rose in revolt against Shu authority, captured and looted cities in Yi Province. Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery

Zhuge Liang, recognising the importance of stability in the south, ordered the advance of the Shu armies in three columns against the Nanman. He fought a number of engagements against the chieftain Meng Huo, at the end of which Meng Huo submitted. A tribesman was allowed to reside at the Shu capital Chengdu as an official and the Nanman formed their own battalions within the Shu army. Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery

At the end of Zhuge Liang’s Southern Campaign, the Wu-Shu alliance came to fruition and Shu was free to move against the north. In 227 Zhuge Liang transferred his main Shu armies to Hanzhong, and opened up the battle for the northwest with Wei. The next year, he ordered Zhao Yun to attack from Ji Gorge as a diversion while Zhuge himself led the main force to Mount Qi. Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery

The vanguard Ma Su, however, suffered a tactical defeat at Jieting and the Shu army was forced to withdraw. In the next six years Zhuge Liang attempted several more offensives, but supply problems limited the capacity for success. In 234 he led his last great northern offensive, reaching the Battle of Wuzhang Plains south of the Wei River. Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

Due to the death of Zhuge Liang (234), however, the Shu army was forced once again to withdraw, but were pursued by Wei. The Shu forces began to withdraw; Sima Yi deduced Zhuge Liang’s demise and ordered an attack. Shu struck back almost immediately, causing Sima Yi to second guess and allow Shu to withdraw successfully. Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

Wu and the South

In the times of Zhuge Liang’s northern offensives, the state of Wu had always been on the defensive against invasions from the north. The area around Hefei was the scene of many bitter battles and under constant pressure from Wei after the Battle of Red Cliffs. Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

Warfare had grown so intense that many of the residents chose to migrate and resettle south of the Yangtze River. After Zhuge Liang’s death, attacks on the southern Huai River region intensified but nonetheless, Wei could not break through the line of the river defenses erected by Wu, which included the Ruxu fortress. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

Sun Quan’s long reign is regarded as a time of plenty for his southern state. Migrations from the north and the settlement of the Shanyue increased manpower for agriculture, especially along the lower reaches of the Yangtze and in Kuaiji commandery (present-day Shaoxing). River transport blossomed, with the construction of the Zhedong and Jiangnan canals. Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

Trade with Shu flourished, with a huge influx of Shu cotton and the development of celadon and metal industries. Ocean transport was improved to such an extent that sea journeys were made to Manchuria and the island of Taiwan. Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

In the south, Wu merchants reached Linyi (northern Vietnam) and Fu’nan (Cambodia). As the economy prospered, so too did the arts and culture. In the Yangtze delta, the first Buddhist influences reached the south from Luoyang. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

From the late 230s tensions began to become visible between the imperial Cao clan and the Sima clan. Following the death of Cao Zhen, factionalism was evident between Cao Shuang and the Grand Tutor Sima Yi. In deliberations, Cao Shuang placed his own supporters in important posts and excluded Sima Yi, whom he regarded as a dangerous threat. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

The power of the Sima clan, one of the great landowning families of the Han Dynasty, was bolstered by Sima Yi’s military victories. Additionally, Sima Yi was an extremely capable strategist and politician. In 238 he crushed the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan and brought the Liaodong region directly under central control. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

Ultimately, he outmaneuvered Cao Shuang in power play. Taking advantage of an excursion by the imperial clansmen to the Gaoping Tombs, Sima Yi undertook a putsch in Luoyang, forcing Cao Shuang’s faction from authority. Many protested against the overwhelming power of the Sima family; notable among these were the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. One of the sages, Xi Kang, was executed as part of the purges after Cao Shuang’s downfall. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

The decreasing strength of the Cao clan was mirrored by the decline of Shu. After Zhuge Liang’s death, his position as chancellor fell to Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun, in that order. But after 258, Shu politics became increasingly controlled by the eunuch faction and corruption rose. Despite the energetic efforts of Jiang Wei, Zhuge Liang’s protege, Shu was unable to secure any decisive achievement. Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

In 263, Wei launched a three-pronged attack and the Shu army was forced into general retreat from Hanzhong. Jiang Wei hurriedly held a position at Jiange but he was outflanked by the Wei commander Deng Ai, who force-marched his army from Yinping through territory formerly considered impassable. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

By the winter of the year, the capital Chengdu fell due to the strategic invasion of Wei by Deng Ai who invaded Chengdu personally. The emperor Liu Shan thus surrendered. The state of Shu had come to an end after 43 years. Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

Liu Shan was reinstated to the Wei capital of Luoyang and was given the new title of the “Duke of Anle”. He was tormented with endless jeers and ridicules, as he had given up the dream up of a benevolent land which was dreamt by Liu Bei. But, little did the people know, that if he had not surrendered, then people would still be suffering, thus neglecting the way of benevolence. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

Cao Huan succeeded to the throne in 260 after Cao Mao was killed in a failed coup against Sima Zhao. Soon after, Sima Zhao died and his title as Duke of Jin was inherited by his son Sima Yan. Sima Yan immediately began plotting to become emperor but faced stiff opposition. However, due to advice from his advisors, Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

Cao Huan decided the best course of action would be to abdicate, unlike his predecessor Cao Mao. Sima Yan seized the throne in 264 after forcing Cao Huan’s abdication, effectively overthrowing the Wei Dynasty and establishing the successor Jin Dynasty. This situation was similar to the deposal of Emperor Xian of Han by Cao Pi 40 years earlier. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

Following Sun Quan’s death and the ascension of the young Sun Liang to the throne in 252, the state of Wu went into a period of steady decline. Successful Wei suppression of rebellions in the southern Huai River region by Sima Zhao and Sima Shi reduced any opportunity of Wu influence. The fall of Shu signalled a change in Wei politics. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

After Liu Shan surrendered to Wei, Sima Yan (grandson of Sima Yi), overthrew the Wei emperor and proclaimed his own dynasty of Jin in 264, ending 46 years of Cao dominion in the north. After Jin’s rise, emperor Sun Xiu of Wu died, and his ministers gave the throne to Sun Hao. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

Sun Hao was a promising young man, but upon ascension he became a tyrant, killing or exiling all who dared oppose him in the court. In 269 Yang Hu, a Jin commander in the south, started preparing for the invasion of Wu by ordering the construction of a fleet and the training of marines in Sichuan under Wang Jun. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

Four years later, Lu Kang, the last great general of Wu, died leaving no competent successor. The planned Jin offensive finally came in the winter of 279. Sima Yan launched five simultaneous offensives along the Yangtze River from Jianye (present-day Nanjing) to Jiangling whilst the Sichuan fleet sailed downriver to Jing Province. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

Under the strain of such an enormous attack, the Wu forces collapsed and Jianye fell in the third month of 280. Sun Hao surrendered and was given a fiefdom on which to live out his days. This marked the end of the Three Kingdoms era, and the beginning of a break in the forthcoming 300 years of chaos. Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, serious famine followed in the Central Plains of China. Cannibalism was widespread in some parts of China, as it was recorded that “in the spring of 170, some wives ate their husbands in Henei (??) and some husbands ate their wives in Henan”.Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

After his coming to power, Dong Zhuo gave full swing to his army to plunder and rape women. When the Guandong Coalition was starting the campaign against Dong Zhuo, unexpectedly absurd enough, he ordered that “all the population of Luoyang be forced to move to Chang’an, all the palaces, temples, official residences and homes be burnt, no one should stay within that area of 200 li“, Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

(considering the miserable life at that time, it was almost impossible for most people to move to the final destination alive) thus making cries of discontent rise all round and the population there decreased sharply. When Cao Cao was attacking Xu Province, it was said that “hundreds of thousands of men and women were buried alive, even dogs and cocks did not survive. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery

The Si River was blocked. From then on, these five towns never recover.” When Li Jue and his army were advancing towards the Guanzhong area, “there remained hundreds of thousands of people, but Li Jue allowed his army to plunder the cities and the people, thus making the people have nothing but eat each other to death.” Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery

It can be known from the following table that how serious the decrease of population was during that period. From the late Eastern Han to the Western Jin Dynasty, despite its length about 125 years, the peak number of population only equaled 35.3% of the peak number of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery

From then on to Sui Dynasty, the population never recovered. It also should be noted that the high militarization of the population was common. For example, the population of Shu was 900,000, but the military were more than 100,000, occupying more than 10% of the population. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery

The Records of Three Kingdoms contains population figures for the Three Kingdoms. As with many Chinese historical population figures, these numbers are likely to be less than the actual populations, since census and tax records went hand in hand, and tax evaders were often not on records. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, due to natural disasters and social unrest, the economy was badly depressed, leading to the massive waste of farmland. Some local landlords and aristocracy established their own strongholds to defend themselves and developed agriculture, which gradually evolved into a self-sufficient manorial system. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery

The system of strongholds and manors also had effects on the economical mode of following dynasties. In addition, because of the collapse of the imperial court, those worn copper coins were not melted and reminted and many privately-minted coins appeared. In the Three Kingdoms period, newly-minted coins never made their way into currency. As a consequence, the main currencies at that time were cloth and grains. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery

In economic terms the division of the Three Kingdoms reflected a reality that long endured. Even during the Northern Song Dynasty, 700 years after the Three Kingdoms period, it was possible to think of China as being composed of three great regional markets. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery

(The status of the northwest was slightly ambivalent, as it had links with the northern region and Sichuan). These geographical divisions are underscored by the fact that the main communication routes between the three main regions were all man-made: the Grand Canal linking north and south, Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery

the hauling-way through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River linking southern China with Sichuan and the gallery roads joining Sichuan with the northwest. The break into three separate entities was quite natural and even anticipated by such political foresight as that of Zhuge Liang (see Longzhong Plan). Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery

In popular culture

Numerous people and affairs from the period later became Chinese legends. The most complete and influential example is the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong during the Ming Dynasty. Possibly due to the popularity of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Three Kingdoms era is one of the most well known non-modern Chinese eras in terms of iconic characters, Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery

deeds and exploits. This is reflected in the way how fictional accounts of the Three Kingdoms, mostly based on the novel, play a significant role in East Asian popular culture. Books, television dramas, films, cartoons, anime, games, and music on the topic are still regularly produced in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery

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Bible

February 20th, 2012

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Bible

The Bible (from Koine Greek ?? ?????? ta biblia “the books”) is any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the contents and the order of the individual books (Biblical canon) vary among denominations. Sony VAIO VGN-NR50 Battery

The 24 texts of the Hebrew Bible are divided into 39 books in Christian Old Testaments, and complete Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Bible. Sony VAIO VGN-NR50B Battery

The Hebrew and Christian Bibles are also important to other Abrahamic religions, including Islam^[1] and the Bahá’í Faith,^[2] but those religions do not regard them as central religious texts. Sony VAIO VGN-NR51 Battery

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, is divided into three parts: (1) the five books of the Torah (“teaching” or “law”), comprising the origins of the Israelite nation, its laws and its covenant with the God of Israel; Sony VAIO VGN-NR51B Battery

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(2) the Nevi’im (“prophets”), containing the historic account of ancient Israel and Judah focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites – specifically, Sony VAIO VGN-NR52 Battery

struggles between believers in “the Lord God” and believers in foreign gods, and the criticism of unethical and unjust behavior of Israelite elites and rulers; and (3) the Ketuvim (“writings”): poetic and philosophical works such as the Psalms and the Book of Job. Sony VAIO VGN-NR52B Battery

The Christian Bible is divided into two parts. The first is called the Old Testament, containing the (minimum) 39 books of Hebrew Scripture, and the second portion is called the New Testament, containing a set of 27 books. The first four books of the New Testament form the Canonical gospels which recount the life of Jesus and are central to the Christian faith. Sony VAIO VGN-NR71B Battery

Christian Bibles include the books of the Hebrew Bible, but arranged in a different order: Jewish Scripture ends with the people of Israel restored to Jerusalem and the temple, whereas the Christian arrangement ends with the book of the prophet Malachi. Sony VAIO VGN-NR71B2 Battery

The oldest surviving Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century; the oldest complete Jewish Bible is a Greek translation, also dating to the 4th century. The oldest complete manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible (the Masoretic text) date from the Middle Ages.^[3] Sony VAIO VGN-NR72B Battery

During the three centuries following the establishment of Christianity in the 1st century, Church Fathers compiled Gospel accounts and letters of apostles into a Christian Bible which became known as the New Testament. Sony VAIO VGN-NS10E/S Battery

The Old and New Testaments together are commonly referred to as “The Holy Bible” (?? ?????? ?? ????). Many Christians consider the text of the Bible to be divinely inspired, and cite passages in the Bible itself as support for this belief. The canonical composition of the Old Testament is under dispute between Christian groups: Sony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S Battery

Protestants hold only the books of the Hebrew Bible to be canonical; Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox additionally consider the deuterocanonical books, a group of Jewish books, to be canonical. Sony VAIO VGN-NS10L/S Battery

The New Testament is composed of the Gospels (“good news”), the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles (letters), and the Book of Revelation. The Bible is the best-selling book in history with approximate sales estimates ranging from 2.5 billion to 6 billion.^[4][5] Sony VAIO VGN-NS110E/L Battery

The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the same word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin and ultimately from Greek ?? ?????? ta biblia “the books” (singular ??????? biblion).^[6] Sony VAIO VGN-NS110E/S Battery

Middle Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra “holy book”, while biblia in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. bibliorum). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (biblia, gen. bibliae) Sony VAIO VGN-NS110E/W Battery

in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.^[7] Latin biblia sacra “holy books” translates Greek ?? ?????? ?? ???? ta biblia ta hagia, “the holy books”.^[8] Sony VAIO VGN-NS115N/S Battery

The word ??????? itself had the literal meaning of “paper” or “scroll” and came to be used as the ordinary word for “book”. It is the diminutive of ?????? bublos, “Egyptian papyrus”, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ER/S Battery

possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician port Byblos (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. The Greek ta biblia (lit. “little papyrus books”)^[9] was “an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books (the Septuagint).^[10][11] Christian use of the term can be traced to ca. AD 223.^[6] Sony VAIO VGN-NS11E/S Battery

The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and the Jewish people. The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world and the history of God’s early relationship with humanity. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11J/S Battery

The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God’s covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel)—and Jacob’s children—the “Children of Israel”—especially Joseph. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11L/S Battery

eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from their liberation from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11MR/S Battery

to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11M/S Battery

The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate amongst traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11SR/S Battery

and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).^{[12][13][14][15]} These commandments provide the basis for Halakha (Jewish religious law). Tradition states that there are 613 Mitzvot or 613 commandments. There is some dispute as to how to divide these up (mainly between the rabbis Ramban and Rambam). Sony VAIO VGN-NS11S/S Battery

The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions which in the Jewish liturgy are read on successive Sabbaths, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. The cycle ends and recommences at the end of Sukkot, which is called Simchat Torah. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ZR/S Battery

Nevi’im

Main article: Nevi’im

The Nevi’im, or “Prophets”, tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, the Nevi’im (“prophets”), containing the historic account of ancient Israel and Judah focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11Z/S Battery

and conflicts among Israelites—specifically, struggles between believers in “the Lord God”^[16] and believers in foreign gods,^[17][18] and the criticism of unethical and unjust behavior of Israelite elites and rulers;^[19][20][21] in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/W Battery

It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Portions of the prophetic books are read by Jews on the Sabbath (Shabbat). The Book of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur. Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/S Battery

Ketuvim

The Ketuvim, or “Writings” or “Scriptures,” may have been written or compiled during or after the Babylonian Exile. Many of the psalms in the book of Psalms are attributed to David; King Solomon is believed to have written Song of Songs in his youth, Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/W Battery

Proverbs at the prime of his life, and Ecclesiastes at old age; and the prophet Jeremiah is thought to have written Lamentations. The Book of Job is the only biblical book that centers entirely on a non-Jew. Sony VAIO VGN-NS21Z/S Battery

The Book of Ruth is the only book to focus on a convert to Judaism. It tells the story of a Moabitess who married a Jew and continued to follow the ways of the Jews after her husband’s death; according to the Bible, she was the great-grandmother of King David. Five of the books, called “The Five Scrolls” (Megilot), are read on Jewish holidays: Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/P Battery

Song of Songs on Passover; the Book of Ruth on Shavuot; Lamentations on the Ninth of Av; Ecclesiastes on Sukkot; and the Book of Esther on Purim. Collectively, the Ketuvim contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the stories of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the Babylonian exile. It ends with the Persian decree allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/W Battery

The Ketuvim comprise the following eleven books, divided, in many modern translations, into twelve through the division of Ezra and Nehemiah: Sony VAIO VGN-NS31S/S Battery

Oral Torah

According to some Jews during the Hellenistic period, such as the Sadducees, only a minimal oral tradition of interpreting the words of the Torah existed, which did not include extended biblical interpretation. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31Z/P Battery

According to the Pharisees, however, God revealed both a Written Torah and an Oral Torah to Moses, the Oral Torah consisting of both stories and legal traditions. In Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah is essential for understanding the Written Torah literally (as it includes neither vowels nor punctuation) and exegetically. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31Z/S Battery

The Oral Torah has different facets, principally Halacha (laws), the Aggadah (stories), and the Kabbalah (esoteric knowledge). Major portions of the Oral Law have been committed to writing, notably the Mishnah; the Tosefta; Midrash, such as Midrash Rabbah, the Sifre, the Sifra, and the Mechilta; and both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds as well. It may have even influenced early Christianity. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31Z/W Battery

Orthodox Judaism continues to accept the Oral Torah in its totality. Masorti and Conservative Judaism state that the Oral Tradition is to some degree divinely inspired, and that rabbis today must adapt and apply its principles to changing conditions, Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/P Battery

even if this results in changes in Jewish practice. Reform Judaism also gives some credence to the Talmud containing the legal elements of the Oral Torah, but, as with the written Torah, asserts that both were inspired by, but not dictated by, God. Reconstructionist Judaism denies any connection of the Torah, Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/W Battery

Written or Oral, with God, viewing it instead as the nation’s literary and moral genius. Karaite Judaism holds strictly to the Written Torah but not the Oral Torah, maintaining that all of the divine commandments handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah, without additional Oral Law or explanation. Sony VAIO VGN-NS130E/L Battery

The article Jewish commentaries on the Bible discusses the Jewish understanding of the Bible, including Bible commentaries from the ancient Targums to classical Rabbinic literature, the midrash literature, the classical medieval commentators, and modern day Jewish Bible commentaries. Sony VAIO VGN-NS130E/S Battery

Septuagint

Main article: Septuagint

The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint included books and additions not found in the Hebrew Bible. Modern Jewish Bibles follow the Masoretic Text rather than the Septuagint. Sony VAIO VGN-NS130E/W Battery

The Septuagint splits certain books in two, so that the book of Kings, for example, became First Kings and Second Kings. Christian Bibles maintain these divisions. The Septuagint was adopted as the Christian Old Testament. Sony VAIO VGN-NS140E/L Battery

Christian canons

The Christian Bible consists of the Hebrew scriptures of Judaism, which are known as the Old Testament; and later writings recording the lives and teachings of Jesus and his followers, known as the New Testament. “Testament” is a translation of the Greek ??????? (diatheke), also often translated “covenant”. Sony VAIO VGN-NS140E/S Battery

It is a legal term denoting a formal and legally binding declaration of benefits to be given by one party to another (e.g., “last will and testament” in secular use). Here it does not connote mutuality; rather, it is a unilateral covenant offered by God to individuals.^[9] Sony VAIO VGN-NS140E/W Battery

Groups within Christianity include differing books as part of one or both of these “Testaments” of their sacred writings—most prominent among which are the Biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books. Sony VAIO VGN-NS190J/L Battery

Significant versions of the English Christian Bible include the Douay-Rheims, the RSV, the KJV, the ESV, the NKJV, and the NIV. For a complete list, see List of English Bible translations. Sony VAIO VGN-NS190J/S Battery

In Judaism, the term Christian Bible is commonly used to identify only those books like the New Testament which have been added by Christians to the Masoretic Text, and excludes any reference to an Old Testament.^[23] Sony VAIO VGN-NS190J/W Battery

Old Testament

The books which make up the Christian Old Testament differ between Protestants and the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, the Protestant movement accepting only those books contained in the Hebrew Bible, while Catholics and Orthodox have a wider canon. Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/L Battery

The books were written in classical Hebrew, except for brief portions (Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2:4–7:28) which are in the Aramaic language, a sister language which became the lingua franca of the Semitic world.^[24] Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/P Battery

Much of the material, including many genealogies, poems and narratives, is thought to have been handed down by word of mouth for many generations. Very few manuscripts are said to have survived the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.^[24] Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/S Battery

The Old Testament is accepted by Christians as scripture. Broadly speaking, it contains the same material as the Hebrew Bible. However, the order of the books is not entirely the same as that found in Hebrew manuscripts and in the ancient versions and varies from Judaism in interpretation and emphasis (see for example Isaiah 7:14). Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/W Battery

Christian denominations disagree about the incorporation of a small number of books into their canons of the Old Testament. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Peshitta, and the English King James Version. Sony VAIO VGN-NS240E/L Battery

Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books

The Septuagint (Greek translation, from Alexandria in Egypt under the Ptolemies) was generally abandoned in favour of the 10th century Masoretic text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into Western languages. In Eastern Christianity, translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. Sony VAIO VGN-NS290J/L Battery

Some modern Western translations since the 14th century make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text. They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts e.g. those discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Sony VAIO VGN-NS290J/S Battery

A number of books which are part of the Peshitta or Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible (i.e., among the protocanonical books) are often referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e. deutero) canon, Sony VAIO VGN-NS50B/L Battery

that canon as fixed definitively by the Council of Trent 1545-1563.^[25][26] It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one) and 27 for the New.^[27] Sony VAIO VGN-NS50B/W Battery

See Canon of Trent: List of the Canonical Scriptures.

But if anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema. Sony VAIO VGN-NS51B/L Battery

—Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis, Council of Trent, 8 April 1546

Most Protestants term these books as apocrypha. Evangelicals and those of the Modern Protestant traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles included them in Apocrypha sections until the 1820s. However, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old TestamentSony VAIO VGN-NS51B/P Battery

The Old Testament has always been central to the life of the Christian church. Bible scholar N.T. Wright says Jesus, himself a Jew, was profoundly shaped by the scriptures. Sony VAIO VGN-NS51B/W Battery

He adds that the earliest Christians also searched those same scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the ancient Israelites’ scriptures as having reached a climactic fulfillment in Jesus himself, generating the “new covenant” prophesied by Jeremiah.^[28] Sony VAIO VGN-NS52JB/L Battery

New Testament

The New Testament is a collection of 27 books, of 4 different genres of Christian literature (Gospels, one account of the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles and an Apocalypse). Jesus is its central figure. Sony VAIO VGN-NS52JB/P Battery

The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament (2 Timothy 3:16). Nearly all Christians recognize the New Testament (as stated below) as canonical scripture. These books can be grouped into: Sony VAIO VGN-NS52JB/W Battery

The consensus scholarly view is that the books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek, the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Other minority views hold that the original language of the books of the New Testament are Aramaic, Hebrew, or both. Sony VAIO VGN-NS70B/W Battery

Historic editions

When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they wrote notes on the margins of the page (marginal glosses) to correct their text—especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line—and to comment about the text. Sony VAIO VGN-NS71B/W Battery

When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. See textual criticism. Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions. Sony VAIO VGN-NS72JB/W Battery

The autographs, the Greek manuscripts written by the original authors, have not survived. Scholars surmise the original Greek text from the versions that do survive. Sony VAIO VGN-NS90HS Battery

The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian text-type (generally minimalist), the Byzantine text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western text-type (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts. Sony VAIO VGN-NS92JS Battery

Development of Christian canons

Main articles: Development of the Old Testament canon and Development of the New Testament canonSony VAIO VGN-NS92XS Battery

The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S Battery

Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of synods produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46(51),54, or 57 book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T Battery

most notably the Synod of Hippo in AD 393. Also c. 400, Jerome produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see Vulgate), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S Battery

With the benefit of hindsight it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time. A definitive list did not come from an Ecumenical Council until the Council of Trent (1545–63).^[29] Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T Battery

During the Protestant Reformation, certain reformers proposed different canonical lists to those currently in use. Though not without debate, see Antilegomena, the list of New Testament books would come to remain the same; however, Sony VAIO VGN-NW21EF/S Battery

the Old Testament texts present in the Septuagint but not included in the Jewish canon fell out of favor. In time they would come to be removed from most Protestant canons. Hence, in a Catholic context, these texts are referred to as deuterocanonical books, whereas in a Protestant context they are referred to as the Apocrypha, Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF Battery

the label applied to all texts excluded from the Biblical canon but which were in the Septuagint. It should also be noted that Catholics and Protestants both describe certain other books, such as the Acts of Peter, as apocryphal. Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF Battery

Thus, the Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon—the number of books (though not the content) varies from the Tanakh because of a different method of division—while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books(51 books with some books combined into 46 books) as the canonical Old Testament. Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery

The Orthodox Churches recognise 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 in addition to the Catholic canon. Some include 2 Esdras. The Anglican Church also recognises a longer canon. The term “Hebrew Scriptures” is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF Battery

since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books, while Catholics and Orthodox include additional texts that have not survived in Hebrew. Both Catholics and Protestants have the same 27-book New Testament Canon. Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF/W Battery

The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in 2 Timothy 3:16, “all Scripture is inspired of God”.^[9] Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF Battery

Ethiopian Orthodox canon

The Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.^[30] The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the Septuagint accepted by other Orthodox Christians, Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/B Battery

in addition to Enoch and Jubilees which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge’ez but are quoted in the New Testament^{[citation needed]}, also Greek Ezra First and the Apocalypse of Ezra, 3 books of Meqabyan, and Psalm 151 at the end of the Psalter. Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/TC Battery

The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups’, as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order. Sony VAIO VGN-NW35E Battery

Divine inspiration

The Christian Bible contains paragraphs indicating that “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God”. (2 Timothy 3:16-3:17) ^[31] Almost all Christians believe that the Bible consists of the inspired Word of God, where God intervened and influenced the words of the Bible. Sony VAIO VGN-NW380F/S Battery

For many Christians the Bible is also infallible, in that it is incapable of error within matters of faith and practice. For example, that the bible is free from error in spiritual but not scientific matters. A related, but distinguishable belief is that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, Sony VAIO VGN-NW380F/T Battery

without error in any aspect. spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans. Within these broad beliefs there are many schools of hermeneutics. “Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture.”^[28] Sony VAIO VGN-NW50JB Battery

Fundamentalist Christians are associated with the doctrine of Biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader. Sony VAIO VGN-NW51FB/N Battery

Belief in sacred texts is attested to in Jewish antiquity,^[32][33] and this belief can also be seen in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention Divine agency in relation to its writings.^[34] In their book A General Introduction to the Bible, Sony VAIO VGN-NW51FB/W Battery

Norman Geisler and William Nix wrote: “The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record.”^[35] Most evangelical Biblical scholars^[36][37][38] associate inspiration with only the original text; Sony VAIO VGN-NW70JB Battery

for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy which asserted that inspiration applied only to the autographic text of Scripture.^[39] A minority even within adherents of Biblical literalism extend the claim of inerrancy to a particular translation, e.g. the King-James-Only Movement. Sony VAIO VGN-NW71FB/N Battery

Bible versions and translations

The original texts of the Tanakh were in Hebrew, although some portions were in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, Sony VAIO VGN-NW71FB/W Battery

and the Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as Aleppo Codex. Sony VAIO VGN-NW91FS Battery

Even in this version by itself, there are words which are traditionally read differently from written (sometimes one word is written and another is read), because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations. Sony VAIO VGN-NW91GS Battery

The primary Biblical text for early Christians was the Septuagint or (LXX). In addition, they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, Coptic, Ge’ez and Latin, among other languages. Sony VAIO VGN-NW91VS Battery

The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament. Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery

The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text, or Vetus Latina, which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible. Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery

Pope Damasus I assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Council of Rome in AD 382. He commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D Battery

This translation became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and in 1546 at the Council of Trent was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the Latin Rite. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/B Battery

Since the Protestant Reformation, Bible translations for many languages have been made. The Bible has seen hundreds of English language translations. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/P Battery

In the 17th century Thomas Hobbes collected the current evidence to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher Baruch Spinoza published a unified critical analysis, arguing that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, Sony VAIO VGN-SR140D/S Battery

but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was “clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses . . .” Despite determined opposition from Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, the views of Hobbes and Spinoza gained increasing acceptance amongst scholars. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E Battery

Archaeological and historical research

Main articles: Biblical archaeology school and The Bible and history

Biblical archaeology is the archaeology that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in Biblical times. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/B Battery

There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of Biblical archaeology. One broad division includes Biblical maximalism which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/P Battery

It is considered the opposite of Biblical minimalism which considers the Bible a purely post-exilic (5th century BC and later) composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to Biblical minimalism, Sony VAIO VGN-SR140E/S Battery

the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BC have a basis in history. Sony VAIO VGN-SR140N/S Battery

The historicity of the Biblical account of the history of ancient Israel and Judah of the 10th to 7th centuries BC is disputed in scholarship. The Biblical account of the 8th to 7th centuries BC is widely, Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/B Battery

but not universally, accepted as historical, while the verdict on the earliest period of the United Monarchy (10th century BC) and the historicity of David is unclear. Archaeological evidence providing information on this period, such as the Tel Dan Stele, can potentially be decisive. Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/P Battery

The Biblical account of events of the Exodus from Egypt in the Torah, and the migration to the Promised Land and the period of Judges are not considered historical in scholarship.^[42][43] Regarding the New Testament, the setting being the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD, the historical context is well established. Sony VAIO VGN-SR165E/S Battery

There has been some debate on the historicity of Jesus, but the mainstream opinion is that Jesus was one of several known historical itinerant preachers in 1st-century Roman Judea, teaching in the context of the religious upheavals and sectarianism of Second Temple Judaism. Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBJ Battery

Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the subfamily Crocodylinae). Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EEJ/C Battery

The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e. the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), as well as the Crocodylomorpha which includes prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors. Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBQ Battery

Member species of the family Crocodylidae are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodiles tend to congregate in freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NAB Battery

wetlands and sometimes in brackish water. They feed mostly on vertebrates like fish, reptiles, and mammals, sometimes on invertebrates like molluscs and crustaceans, depending on species. They first appeared during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NBB Battery

Etymology

The word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek ?????????? (crocodilos), “lizard,” used in the phrase ho krokódilos ho potamós, “the lizard of the (Nile) river.” Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NDB Battery

There are several variant Greek forms of the word attested, including the later form ??????????? (crocodeilos)^[2] found cited in many English reference works.^[3] In the Koine Greek of Roman times, crocodilos and crocodeilos would have been pronounced identically, and either or both may be the source of the Latinized form crocod?lus used by the ancient Romans. Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NEB Battery

Crocodilos/crocodeilos itself is a compound of krokè (“pebbles”), and drilos/dreilos (“worm”). It is ascribed to Herodotus, supposedly to describe the basking habits of the Egyptian crocodile.^[4] Sony VAIO VGN-SR190NGB Battery

However the word drilos is only attested as a colloquial term for “penis”.^[5] The meaning of krokè is explained as describing the skin texture of lizards (or crocodiles) in most sources,^{[citation needed]} but is alternately claimed to refer to a supposed habit of (lizards or crocodiles) basking on pebbly ground. Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PAB Battery

The form crocodrillus is attested in Medieval Latin.^[4] It is not clear whether this is a medieval corruption or derives from alternate Greco-Latin forms (late Greek corcodrillos and corcodrillion are attested). Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PCB Battery

A (further) corrupted form cocodrille is found in Old French and was borrowed into Middle English as cocodril(le). The Modern English form crocodile was adapted directly from the Classical Latin crocod?lus in the 16th Century, replacing the earlier form. Sony VAIO VGN-SR190PFB Battery

The use of -y- in the scientific name Crocodylus (and forms derived from it) is a corruption introduced by Laurenti (1768). Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

Description

Crocodiles are among the more biologically complex reptiles despite their prehistoric look. Unlike other reptiles, they have a cerebral cortex; a four-chambered heart; and the functional equivalent of a diaphragm, by incorporating muscles used for aquatic locomotion into respiration (e.g. M. diaphragmaticus);^[6] Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

Their external morphology on the other hand is a sign of their aquatic and predatory lifestyle. A crocodile’s physical traits allow it to be a successful predator. They have a streamlined body that enables them to swim swiftly. Crocodiles also tuck their feet to their sides while swimming, which makes them faster by decreasing water resistance. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VRN Battery

They have webbed feet which, although not used to propel the animal through the water, allow it to make fast turns and sudden moves in the water or initiate swimming. Webbed feet are an advantage in shallower water where the animals sometimes move around by walking. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

Crocodiles have a palatal flap, a rigid tissue at the back of the mouth that blocks the entry of water. The palate has a special path from the nostril to the glottis that bypasses the mouth. The nostrils are closed during submergence. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

Like other archosaurs, crocodilians are diapsid, although their post-temporal fenestrae are reduced. The walls of the braincase are bony but they lack supratemporal and postfrontal bones.^[7] Their tongues are not free but held in place by a membrane which limits movement; as a result, crocodiles are unable to stick out their tongues.^[8] Sony VAIO VGN-SR210J/S Battery

Crocodilian scales have pores that are believed to be sensory, analogous to the lateral line in fishes. They are particularly seen on their upper and lower jaws. Another possibility is that they are secretory, as they produce an oily substance that appears to flush mud off.^[7] Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

Crocodiles are very fast over short distances, even out of water. Since crocodiles feed by grabbing and holding onto their prey, they have evolved sharp teeth for tearing and holding onto flesh, and powerful muscles that close the jaws and hold them shut. These jaws can bite down with immense force, Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery

by far the strongest bite of any animal. The pressure of the crocodile’s bite is more than 5,000 pounds per square inch (30,000 kPa),^[9] compared to just 335 pounds per square inch (2,300 kPa) for a rottweiler, 400 pounds per square inch (2,800 kPa) for a large great white shark, 800 pounds per square inch (6,000 kPa) to 1,000 pounds per square inch (7,000 kPa) Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/S Battery

for a hyena, or 2,000 pounds per square inch (10,000 kPa) for a large alligator^{[citation needed]}. The jaws are opened, however, by a very weak set of muscles. Crocodiles can thus be subdued for study or transport by taping their jaws or holding their jaws shut with large rubber bands cut from automobile inner tubes. They have limited lateral (side-to-side) movement in their neck. Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/B Battery

Biology and behavior

Crocodiles are ambush hunters, waiting for fish or land animals to come close, then rushing out to attack. As cold-blooded predators, they have a very slow metabolism, and thus can survive long periods without food. Despite their appearance of being slow, crocodiles are top predators in their environment, and various species have been observed attacking and killing sharks.^[10] Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/H Battery

Herodotus claimed that Nile crocodiles have a symbiotic relationship with certain birds like the Egyptian plover, which enter the crocodile’s mouth and pick leeches that have been feeding on the crocodile’s blood, but there is no evidence of this interaction actually occurring in any crocodile species, and it is most likely mythical or allegorical fiction.^[11] Sony VAIO VGN-SR240J/B Battery

Many large crocodilians swallow stones (called gastroliths or stomach stones) which may act as ballast to balance their body or assist in crushing food,^[7] similar to grit in birds. Sony VAIO VGN-SR240N/B Battery

Salt glands are present in the tongues of most crocodylids and they have a pore opening on the surface of the tongue. They appear to be similar to those in marine turtles; they seem to be absent in Alligatoridae.^[7] Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTH Battery

Crocodilians can produce sounds during distress and in aggressive displays. They can also hear well and the tympanic membranes are concealed by flat flaps that may be raised or lowered by muscles.^[7] Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTJ Battery

Crocodiles eat fish, birds, mammals and occasionally smaller crocodiles.

Crocodiles are protected in many parts of the world, but they also are farmed commercially. Their hide is tanned and used to make leather goods such as shoes and handbags, whilst crocodile meat is also considered a delicacy. The most commonly farmed species are the Saltwater and Nile crocodiles, Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTQ Battery

while a hybrid of the Saltwater and the rare Siamese Crocodile is also bred in Asian farms. Farming has resulted in an increase in the Saltwater crocodile population in Australia, as eggs are usually harvested from the wild, so landowners have an incentive to conserve crocodile habitat. Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JVB/C Battery

Crocodiles are more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than to most animals classified as reptiles, the three being included in the group Archosauria (‘ruling reptiles’). See Crocodilia for more information. Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JVH/C Battery

Crocodile embryos do not have sex chromosomes, and unlike humans sex is not determined genetically. Sex is determined by temperature, with males produced at around 31.6 °C (89 °F), and females produced at slightly lower and higher temperatures. The average incubation period is around 80 days, and also is dependent upon temperature.^[12] Sony VAIO VGN-SR290NTB Battery

Crocodiles may possess a form of homing instinct. Three rogue saltwater crocodiles were relocated 400 kilometres by helicopter in northern Australia but had returned to their original locations within three weeks, based on data obtained from tracking devices attached to the reptiles.^[13] Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN/S Battery

The land speed record for a crocodile is 17 km/h (11 mph) measured in a galloping Australian freshwater crocodile.^[14] Maximum speed varies from species to species. Certain types of crocodiles can indeed gallop, including Cuban crocodiles, New Guinea crocodiles, African dwarf crocodiles, and even small Nile crocodiles. Sony VAIO VGN-SR29XN/S Battery

The fastest means by which most species can move is a kind of “belly run”, where the body moves in a snake-like fashion, limbs splayed out to either side paddling away frantically while the tail whips to and fro. Sony VAIO VGN-SR2RVN/S Battery

Crocodiles can reach speeds of 10 or 11 km/h (around 7 mph) when they “belly run”, and often faster if they’re slipping down muddy riverbanks. Another form of locomotion is the “high walk” where the body is raised clear off the ground. Sony VAIO VGN-SR390NAB Battery

Crocodiles do not have sweat glands and release heat through their mouths. They often sleep with their mouths open and may even pant like a dog.^[15] Sony VAIO VGN-SR390NAH Battery

It is reported^[16] that when the Nile crocodile has lurked a long time underwater to catch prey, and thus has built up a large oxygen debt, when it has caught and eaten that prey, Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery

it closes its right aortic arch and uses its left aortic arch to flush blood loaded with carbon dioxide from its muscles directly to its stomach; the resulting excess acidity in its blood supply makes it much easier for the stomach lining to secrete more stomach acid to quickly dissolve bulks of swallowed prey flesh and bone. Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery

Size

Size greatly varies between species, from the dwarf crocodile to the saltwater crocodile. Species of Palaeosuchus and Osteolaemus grow to an adult size of just 1 metre (3.3 ft) to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). Larger species can reach over 4.85 metres (15.9 ft) long and weigh well over 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb). Sony VAIO VGN-SR49VN/H Battery

Crocodilians show pronounced sexual dimorphism with males growing much larger and more rapidly than females.^[7] Despite their large adult size, crocodiles start their life at around 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. The largest species of crocodile is the saltwater crocodile, found in eastern India, northern Australia, throughout south-east Asia, and in the surrounding waters. Sony VAIO VGN-SR51B/P Battery

Two larger certifiable records are both of 6.2 metres (20 ft) crocodiles. The first crocodile was shot in the Mary River in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1974 by poachers and measured by wildlife rangers.^{[citation needed]} The second crocodile was killed in 1983 in the Fly River, Papua New Guinea. Sony VAIO VGN-SR51B/S Battery

In the case of the second crocodile it was actually the skin that was measured by zoologist Jerome Montague, and as skins are known to underestimate the size of the actual animal, it is possible this crocodile was at least another 10 cm longer.^{[citation needed]} Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF Battery

The largest crocodile ever held in captivity is an Estuarine–Siamese hybrid named Yai (Thai: ????, meaning big) (born 10 June 1972) at the famous Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo, Thailand. This animal measures 6 m (19.69 ft) (19 ft 8 in) in length and weighs 1114.27 kg.^[17] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery

Meanwhile, the longest crocodile captured alive is Lolong which was measured at 6.096 metres (20 ft 3 in) by a National Geographic team in Agusan del Sur Province, Philippines.^[18] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/S Battery

Wildlife experts, however, argue that the largest crocodile so far found in the Bhitarkanika was almost 23 feet (7.0 m) long, which could be traced from the skull preserved by the Kanika Royal Family. Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery

The crocodile was shot near Dhamara in 1926 and later its skull was preserved by the then Kanika King. Crocodile experts estimate the animal was between 20 feet (6.1 m) and 23 feet (7.0 m) long, as the size of the skull was measured one ninth of the total length of the body.^{[citation needed]} Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MR Battery

Age

There is no reliable way of measuring crocodile age, although several techniques are used to derive a reasonable guess. The most common method is to measure lamellar growth rings in bones and teeth—each ring corresponds to a change in growth rate which typically occurs once a year between dry and wet seasons.^[19] Sony VAIO VGN-SR59VG Battery

Bearing these inaccuracies in mind, the oldest crocodilians appear to be the largest species. C. porosus is estimated to live around 70 years on average, and there is limited evidence that some individuals may exceed 100 years. One of the oldest crocodiles recorded died in a zoo in Russia. Sony VAIO VGN-SR59VG/H Battery

A male freshwater crocodile at the Australia Zoo is estimated to be 130 years old. He was rescued from the wild by Bob Irwin and Steve Irwin after being shot twice by hunters. As a result of the shootings, this crocodile (known affectionately as “Mr. Freshy”) has lost his right eye.^[20] Sony VAIO VGN-SR70B/S Battery

Skin

Crocodiles have smooth skin on their belly and side, while their dorsal surface is armoured with large osteoderms. The armoured skin has scales and is thick and rugged, providing some protection. They are still able to absorb heat through this thick, rugged armour as a network of small capillaries push blood through the scales to absorb heat. Sony VAIO VGN-SR72B/P Battery

Crocodile meat is consumed in some countries, such as Australia, Ethiopia, Thailand, South Africa and also Cuba (in pickled form); it can also be found in specialty restaurants in some parts of the United States. Sony VAIO VGN-SR72B/S Battery

The meat is white and its nutritional composition compares favourably with that of other meats.^{[citation needed]} It tends to have a slightly higher cholesterol level than other meats.^{[citation needed]} Crocodile meat has a delicate flavour; some describe it as a cross between chicken and crab.^{[citation needed]} Cuts of meat include backstrap and tail fillet. Sony VAIO VGN-SR73JB/S Battery

Phoenix (mythology)

The phoenix or phenix (Greek: ?????? Greek pronunciation: [?finiks], Armenian: ??????, Persian: ?????, Arabic: ??????? ?? ???? ???????, Chinese: ?? or ???, Hebrew: ?????) is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese and (according to Sanchuniathon) Phoenicians. Sony VAIO VGN-SR74FB/S Battery

A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends^{[weasel words]}). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, Sony VAIO VGN-SR90FS Battery

young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally “sun-city” in Greek). Sony VAIO VGN-SR90NS Battery

It is said that the bird’s cry is that of a beautiful song. The Phoenix’s ability to be reborn from its own ashes implies that it is immortal, though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring of the older one. In very few stories they are able to change into peopleSony VAIO VGN-SR90S Battery

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus gave the following account of the phoenix in the fifth century BC while describing the animals of Egypt: Sony VAIO VGN-SR90US Battery

Another sacred bird is the one called the phoenix. Now, I have not actually seen a phoenix, except in a painting, because they are quite infrequent visitors to the country; in fact, I was told in Heliopolis that they appear only at 500-year intervals. Sony VAIO VGN-SR91NS Battery

They say that it is the death of a phoenix’s father which prompts its visit to Egypt. Anyway, if the painting was reliable, I can tell you something about the phoenix’s size and qualities, namely that its feathers are partly gold but mostly red, and that in appearance and size it is most like an eagle. Sony VAIO VGN-SR91PS Battery

There is a particular feat they say the phoenix performs; I do not believe it myself, but they say that the bird sets out from its homeland in Arabia on a journey to the sanctuary of the sun, bringing its father sealed in myrrh, and buries its father there.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-SR91S Battery

The Roman poet Ovid wrote the following about the phoenix:

Most beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous gums. Sony VAIO VGN-SR91US Battery

When it has lived five hundred years, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors. Sony VAIO VGN-SR92NS Battery

From the body of the parent bird, a young Phoenix issues forth, destined to live as long a life as its predecessor. When this has grown up and gained sufficient strength, it lifts its nest from the tree (its own cradle and its parent’s sepulchre), and carries it to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-SR92PS Battery

The phoenix or firebird originated in ancient mythology and has gone through a variety of representations in art/literature, ranging from being fully birdlike to having the head of a dog and suckling its young. Typically, it is considered benevolent, but some tales suggest that humans are not always safe around it. Sony VAIO VGN-SR92S Battery

Flavius Philostratus (c. AD 170), who wrote the biography Life of Apollonius of Tyana, refers to the phoenix as a bird living in India, but sometimes migrating to Egypt every five hundred years. Sony VAIO VGN-SR92US Battery

His account is clearly inspired by Garuda, the bird of the Hindu god Vishnu. He considered the bird as an emanation of sunlight, being in appearance and size much like an eagle. His contemporary Lactantius is probably the author who wrote the longest poem on the famous bird. Sony VAIO VGN-SR93DS Battery

Although descriptions (and life-span) vary, the Egyptian phoenix (Bennu bird) became popular in early Christian art, literature and Christian symbolism, as a symbol of Christ representing his resurrection, Sony VAIO VGN-SR93JS Batery

immortality, and life-after-death. One of the Early Church Fathers, Clement, related the following regarding the Phoenix in chapter 25 of the First Epistle of Clement: Sony VAIO VGN-SR93PS Batttery

Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phoenix. Sony VAIO VGN-SR93YS Battery

This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. Sony VAIO VGN-SR94FS Battery

But as the flesh decays a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the bones of its parent, and bearing these it passes from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. Sony VAIO VGN-SR94GS Battery

And, in open day, flying in the sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and having done this, hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect the registers of the dates, and find that it has returned exactly as the five hundredth year was completed. Sony VAIO VGN-SR94HS Battery

Michael W. Holmes points out that early Christian writers justified their use of this myth because the word appears in Psalm 92:12 (LXX Psalm 91:13), but in that passage it actually refers to a palm tree, not a mythological bird.^[3] However, it was the flourishing of Christian Hebraist interpretations of Job 29: Sony VAIO VGN-SR94VS Battery

18 that brought the Joban phoenix to life for Christian readers of the seventeenth century. At the heart of these interpretations is the proliferation of richly complementary meanings that turn upon three translations of the word chol (???) – as phoenix, palm tree, or sand – in Job 29:18.^[4] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ54B/B Battery

Identification

Originally, the phoenix was identified by the Egyptians as a stork or heron-like bird called a benu, known from the Book of the Dead and other Egyptian texts as one of the sacred symbols of worship at Heliopolis, closely associated with the rising sun and the Egyptian sun-god Ra. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ55B/B Battery

The Greeks subsequently pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle and identified it with their own word phoenix (??????), meaning the color purple-red or crimson (cf. Phoenicia) or a palm tree. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ55GN/B Battery

According to the Greek mythology the phoenix lived in Phoenicia next to a well. At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Helios stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen to its song. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ56 Battery

Related usage

In Persian mythology, Simurgh (Persian: ?????, Middle Persian: senmurv) was a winged, bird-like creature that was very large and extremely ancient with a long tail. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ561N Battery

The Simurgh appears in many Iranian literary classics such as Farid ud-Din Attar’s Conference of the Birds as instructor and birds leader, and in Ferdowsi’s epic Shahnameh (The Book of Kings); Simurgh raised up and cherished Zaal or Zal, father of Rostam. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ562N Battery

Lebanon, and Beirut in particular, is often depicted symbolically as a phoenix bird having been destroyed and rebuilt 7 times during its long historySony VAIO VGN-SZ57N Battery

In China, the phoenix is called the businiao (???; literally “immortal bird”). The East Asian variant, the fenghuang (??) is a mythical bird similar to the phoenix.^[5] It is the one of the most-respected legendary creatures in China and the feminine counterpart to the dragon.^[6] Its rare appearance is said to foreshadow a great event or bear testimony to the greatness of a ruler.^[6] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ58GN Battery

In Japan, the phoenix is called fushich? (???^?), literally “immortal bird”, and the East Asian variant is called h?-? (kanji: ??). Sony VAIO VGN-SZ58GN/C Battery

In Korea, the phoenix is called bulsajo (Hanja:??? Hangul:???) literally meaning “immortal bird”, and the East Asian variant is called bonghwangsae (Hangul:??? Hanja:???). Sony VAIO VGN-SZ58N Battery

In Russian folklore, the phoenix appears as the Zhar-Ptitsa (???-?????), or firebird, subject of the famous 1910 ballet score by Igor Stravinsky. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ61MN/B Battery

In modern Greece, the phoenix became established as a symbol of the nation’s rebirth during the Greek War of Independence. It was first used in the flags of Alexander Ypsilantis, and was chosen as the official emblem of the Provisional Government (1828–1832) by Governor John Capodistria, Sony VAIO VGN-SZ61VN/X Battery

who also named the first modern Greek currency “phoenix“. Despite being replaced by a Germanic royal Coat of Arms, it remained a popular symbol, and was used again in the 1930s by the Second Hellenic Republic. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ61WN/C Battery

However, its use by the military junta of 1967-1974 made it extremely unpopular, and it has almost disappeared from use after 1974, with the notable exception of the Order of the Phoenix, the country’s second-highest award. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ640N/B Battery

The constellation Phoenix, was introduced in the late 16th century by sailors organized by Petrus Plancius, probably one of Keyser or de Houtman and displayed on a globe from 1597 created by Hondius. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ645P3 Battery

In ancient Arabic tradition the Ghoghnus or Ghoghnous is a bird having some mythical relation with the date palm. The Ghoghnus is said to have laid only one egg. It lived in the Arabian Desert many thousands of years ago.^[7] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ650N/C Battery

Zumrud-u Anka (Zümrüdüanka), Tu?rul or Deveku?u, is a Turkish version of the phoenix. The word Anka comes from the word for “necklace”, for the bird’s neck is covered with white feathers forming like a necklace. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ660N/C Battery

vThe phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal. The Belgian € 10 silver coin, commemorating sixty years of peace, depicts the phoenix as a representation of a new Europe, post 1945. Moreover, the Iranian 500 rial coins issued since 2004 have an image of a phoenix on the reverse. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ670N/C Battery

Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, was so named as it was built on the ruins of the Hohokam civilization that had existed on the site centuries before. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ680ND Battery

The phoenix was sometimes used as a symbol of the Provisional IRA. The symbols of rebirth and renewal referred to the Provisional IRA’s formation “out of the ashes of ‘69″.^[8] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ691N/X Battery

The phoenix became the official symbol of Atlanta, Georgia in 1888 because it was “reborn” from the ashes after it was burned down in the American Civil War.^[9] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ71E/B Battery

Phoenicia (UK /f??n???/, US /f??ni???/;^[2] from the Greek: ???????: Phoiník?), was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ71VN/X Battery

It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. The Phoenicians used the galley, a man-powered sailing vessel, and are credited with the invention of the bireme.^[3] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ71WN/C Battery

They were famed in Classical Greece and Rome as ‘traders in purple’, referring to their monopoly on the precious purple dye of the Murex snail, used, among other things, for royal clothing, and for their spread of the alphabet (or abjad), upon which all major modern phonetic alphabets are derived. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ74B/B Battery

In the Amarna tablets of the 14th century BC, people from the region called themselves Kenaani or Kinaani (Canaanites), although these letters predate the invasion of the Sea Peoples by over a century. Much later, in the 6th century BC, Sony VAIO VGN-SZ750N/C Battery

Hecataeus of Miletus writes that Phoenicia was formerly called ???, a name Philo of Byblos later adopted into his mythology as his eponym for the Phoenicians: “Khna who was afterwards called Phoinix”.^[4] Egyptian seafaring expeditions had already been made to Byblos to bring back “cedars of Lebanon” as early as the third millennium BC. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ75B/B Battery

“Phoenicia” is really a Classical Greek term used to refer to the region of the major Canaanite port towns, and does not correspond exactly to a cultural identity that would have been recognised by the Phoenicians themselves. It is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single ethnicity. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ76 Battery

Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to ancient Greece.^[5] However in terms of archaeology, language, life style and religion, there is little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other cultures of Canaan. As Canaanites, they were unique in their remarkable seafaring achievements. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ770N/C Battery

Each of their cities was a city-state which was politically an independent unit. They could come into conflict and one city might be dominated by another city-state, although they would collaborate in leagues or alliances. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ77N Battery

Though ancient boundaries of such city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre seems to have been the southernmost. Sarepta (modern day Sarafand) between Sidon and Tyre is the most thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. The Phoenicians were the first state-level society to make extensive use of the alphabet. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ780 Battery

The Phoenician phonetic alphabet is generally believed to be the ancestor of almost all modern alphabets, although it did not contain any vowels (these were added later by the Greeks). From a traditional linguistic perspective, they spoke Phoenician, a Canaanite dialect.^[6][7] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ78N Battery

However, due to the very slight differences in language, and the insufficient records of the time, whether Phoenician formed a separate and united dialect, or was merely a superficially defined part of a broader language continuum, is unclear. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ791N/X Battery

Through their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of the alphabet to North Africa and Europe, where it was adopted by the Greeks, who later passed it on to the Etruscans, who in turn transmitted it to the Romans.^[8] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ84NS Battery

In addition to their many inscriptions, the Phoenicians were believed to have left numerous other types of written sources, but most have not survived. Evangelical Preparation by Eusebius of Caesarea quotes extensively from Philo of Byblos and Sanchuniathon. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ84PS Battery

Spencer Wells of the Genographic Project has conducted genetic studies that demonstrate that male populations of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Malta, Spain, and other areas settled by Phoenicians, as well as those of the Ashkenazim and other Jewish populations in Europe and elsewhere, including Palestine , share a common m89 chromosome Y type.^[9] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ84S Battery

Male populations in areas associated with Minoan or with the Sea People settlement have completely different genetic markers. This implies that Minoans and Sea Peoples probably did not have ancestral relation with the Phoenicians.^[10][11] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ84US Battery

Zalloua and Wells (2004), under the auspices of a grant from National Geographic Magazine examined the origins of the Phoenicians. The debate between Wells and Zalloua was whether haplogroup J2 (M172) should be identified as that of the Phoenicians or that of its “parent” haplogroup M89 on the YDNA phylogenetic tree.^[12] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ85NS Battery

Initial consensus suggested that J2 be identified with the Canaanite-Phoenician (Northwest Semitic) population, with avenues open for future research.^[13] As Wells commented, “The Phoenicians were the Canaanites”^[14] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ85S Battery

It was reported in the PBS description of the National Geographic TV Special on this study entitled “Quest for the Phoenicians” that ancient DNA was included in this study as extracted from the tooth of a 2500 year-old Phoenician mummy.^[15] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ85US Battery

Wells identified the haplogroup of the Canaanites as haplogroup J2.^[16] The National Geographic Genographic Project linked haplogroup J2 to the site of Jericho, Tel el-Sultan, ca. 8500 BCE and indicated that in modern populationsSony VAIO VGN-SZ94NS Battery

, haplogroup J2 is found in North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East, with especially high distribution among present-day Jewish populations (30%), Southern Italians (20%), and lower frequencies in Southern Spain (10%).^[17] Sony VAIO VGN-SZ94PS Battery

High point: 1200–800 BC

Fernand Braudel remarked in The Perspective of the World that Phoenicia was an early example of a “world-economy” surrounded by empires. The high point of Phoenician culture and seapower is usually placed ca. 1200–800 BC. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ94S Battery

Many of the most important Phoenician settlements had been established long before this: Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Simyra, Arwad, and Berytus, all appear in the Amarna tablets. Archeology has identified cultural elements of the Phoenician zenith as early as the third millennium BC. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ94US Battery

The league of independent city-state ports, with others on the islands and along other coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, was ideally suited for trade between the Levant area, rich in natural resources, and the rest of the ancient world. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ95NS Battery

During the early Iron Age, in around 1200 BC an unknown event occurred, historically associated with the appearance of the Sea Peoples from the north. They weakened and destroyed the Egyptians and the Hittites respectively. In the resulting power vacuum, a number of Phoenician cities rose as significant maritime powers. Sony VAIO VGN-SZ95S Battery

The societies rested on three power-bases: the king; the temple and its priests; and councils of elders. Byblos first became the predominant center from where the Phoenicians dominated the Mediterranean and Erythraean (Red) Sea routes. It was here that the first inscription in the Phoenician alphabet was found, Sony VAIO VGN-SZ95US Battery

on the sarcophagus of Ahiram (ca. 1200 BC). Later, Tyre gained in power. One of its kings, the priest Ithobaal (887–856 BC) ruled Phoenicia as far north as Beirut, and part of Cyprus. Carthage was founded in 814 BC under Pygmalion of Tyre (820–774 BC). Sony VAIO VGN-TZ121 Battery

The collection of city-states constituting Phoenicia came to be characterized by outsiders and the Phoenicians as Sidonia or Tyria. Phoenicians and Canaanites alike were called Zidonians or Tyrians, as one Phoenician city came to prominence after another. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ13 Battery

Cyrus the Great conquered Phoenicia in 539 BC. The Persians divided Phoenicia into four vassal kingdoms: Sidon, Tyre, Arwad, and Byblos. They prospered, furnishing fleets for the Persian kings. Phoenician influence declined after this. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ130N/B Battery

It is likely that much of the Phoenician population migrated to Carthage and other colonies following the Persian conquest. In 350 or 345 BC a rebellion in Sidon led by Tennes was crushed by Artaxerxes III. Its destruction was described by Diodorus Siculus. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ131 Battery

Alexander the Great took Tyre in 332 BC after the Siege of Tyre. Alexander was exceptionally harsh to Tyre, executing 2,000 of the leading citizens, but he maintained the king in power. He gained control of the other cities peacefully: the ruler of Aradus submitted; the king of Sidon was overthrown. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ132/N Battery

The rise of Hellenistic Greece gradually ousted the remnants of Phoenicia’s former dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes. Phoenician culture disappeared entirely in the motherland. Carthage continued to flourish in North Africa. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ132N Battery

It oversaw the mining of iron and precious metals from Iberia, and used its considerable naval power and mercenary armies to protect commercial interests. Rome finally destroyed it in 146 BC, at the end of the Punic Wars. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N/B Battery

Following Alexander, the Phoenician homeland was controlled by a succession of Hellenistic rulers: Laomedon (323 BC), Ptolemy I (320), Antigonus II (315), Demetrius (301), and Seleucus (296). Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N/N Battery

Between 286 and 197 BC, Phoenicia (except for Aradus) fell to the Ptolemies of Egypt, who installed the high priests of Astarte as vassal rulers in Sidon (Eshmunazar I, Tabnit, Eshmunazar II). Sony VAIO VGN-TZ160CB Battery

In 197 BC, Phoenicia along with Syria reverted to the Seleucids. The region became increasingly Hellenized, although Tyre became autonomous in 126 BC, followed by Sidon in 111. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ160N/B Battery

Syria, including Phoenicia, were seized by king Tigranes the Great of Armenia from 82 until 69 BC, when he was defeated by Lucullus. In 65 BC Pompey finally incorporated the territory as part of the Roman province of Syria. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ16GN/B Battery

Trade

The Phoenicians were among the greatest traders of their time and owed much of their prosperity to trade. At first, they traded mainly with the Greeks, trading wood, slaves, glass and powdered Tyrian purple. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ16N Battery

Tyrian purple was a violet-purple dye used by the Greek elite to color garments. In fact, the word Phoenician derives from the ancient Greek word phoínios meaning “purple”. As trading and colonizing spread over the Mediterranean, Phoenicians and Greeks seemed to have unconsciously split that sea in two: Sony VAIO VGN-TZ16N/B Battery

the Phoenicians sailed along and eventually dominating the southern shore, while the Greeks were active along the northern shores. The two cultures clashed rarely, mainly in Sicily, which eventually settled into two spheres of influence, the Phoenician southwest and the Greek northeast. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ17/N Battery

In the centuries after 1200 BC, the Phoenicians were the major naval and trading power of the region. Phoenician trade was founded on the Tyrian purple dye, a violet-purple dye derived from the shell of the Murex sea-snail, once profusely available in coastal waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea but exploited to local extinction.

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Tang Dynasty

February 19th, 2012

1 comment

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Táng Cháo; IPA: [t???? t?????]; Middle Chinese: dh?ng) (June 18, 618 – June 1, 907) was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery

It was founded by the Li (?) family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was interrupted briefly by the Second Zhou Dynasty (October 8, 690 – March 3, 705) when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the first and only Chinese empress regnant, ruling in her own right. Sony VGP-BPS13A/S Battery

The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), the most populous city at the time in the world, is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization—equal to, or surpassing that of, the earlier Han Dynasty—a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, Sony VGP-BPS13AS Battery

acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, was greater than that of the Han period, and it rivalled that of the later Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people.^{[2][3][4]a[›]}Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

Yet, even when the central government was breaking down and unable to compile an accurate census of the population in the 9th century, it is estimated that the population had grown by then to about 80 million people.^[5][6] Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery

With its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and the lucrative trade routes along theSilk Road. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, Sony VGP-BPS13B/S Battery

while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it indirectly controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Sony VGP-BPS13Q Battery

The Tang Dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability, except during the An Shi Rebellion and the decline of central authority in the latter half of the dynasty. Like the previous Sui Dynasty, Sony VGP-BPS13S Battery

the Tang Dynasty maintained a civil service system by drafting officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of regional military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era; it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry.^[7] Sony VGP-BPL7 Battery

Two of China’s most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang. There was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. Sony VGP-BPS7 Battery

There were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state and decline in influence. Sony VGP-BPL8 Battery

the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. The weakened central government largely withdrew from managing theeconomy, though the country’s mercantile affairs stayed intact and commercial trade continued to thrive regardless. Sony VGP-BPL8A Battery

Xuanzang

Xuanzang (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Xuán Zàng; Wade–Giles: Hsüan-tsang Sanskrit: ?????????) (c. 602 – 664) was a famous ChineseBuddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period. Born in Henan province of China in 602 or 603, from boyhood he took to reading sacred books, including the Chinese Classics and the writings of the ancient sages. Sony VGP-BPL8B Battery

While residing in the city of Luoyang, Xuanzang entered Buddhist monkhood at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in Sichuan (Szechuan), where he was ordained at the age of twenty. He later traveled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery

At length, he came to Chang’an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Here Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian’s visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist scriptures that had reached China. Sony VGP-BPS8A Battery

He became famous for his seventeen year overland journey to India, which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which in turn provided the inspiration for the popular epic novel Journey to the West. Sony VGP-BPS8B Battery

Xuanzang is also known as Táng-s?nzàng (???), Xuánzàng S?nzàng (????), Xuánzàng Dàsh? (????), or simply as Táng S?ng (??), or Tang (Dynasty) Monk in Mandarin; in Cantonese as Tong Sam Jong and in Vietnamese as ???ng Tam T?ng. Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery

Less commonromanizations of Xuanzang include Hhuen Kwan, Hiouen Thsang, Hiuen Tsiang, Hsien-tsang, Hsyan-tsang, Hsuan Chwang, Hsuan Tsiang, Hwen Thsang, Xuan Cang, Xuan Zang, Shuen Shang, Yuan Chang, Yuan Chwang, and Yuen Chwang. Hsüan, Hüan, Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery

Huan and Chuang are also found. In Korean, he is known as Hyeon Jang. In Japanese, he is known as Genj?, or Genj?-sanz? (Xuanzang-sanzang). In Vietnamese, he is known as ???ng T?ng (Tang Buddhist monk), ???ng Tam T?ng (“Tang Tripitaka” monk), Huy?n Trang (the Han-Vietnamese name of Xuanzang)(nishant k) Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery

S?nzàng (??) is the Chinese term for the Tripitaka scriptures, and in some English-language fiction he is addressed with this title. Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery

Early life

Xuanzang was born near Luoyang, Henan in 602 as Chén Hu? or Chén Y? (? ?) and died 5 February 664^[1] in Yu Hua Gong (???). Xuanzang, whose lay name was Chen Hui, was born into a family noted for its erudition for generations. Sony VGP-BPS9A Battery

He was the youngest of four children. His great-grandfather was an official serving as a prefect; his grandfather was appointed as professor in the Imperial College at the capital. His father was a conservative Confucianistwho gave up office and withdrew into seclusion to escape the political turmoil that gripped China at that time. Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery

According to traditional biographies, Xuanzang displayed a superb intelligence and earnestness, amazing his father by his careful observance of the Confucian rituals at the age of eight. Along with his brothers and sister, he received an early education from his father, who instructed him in classical works on filial piety and several other canonical treatises of orthodox Confucianism. Sony VGP-BPS9A/S Battery

Although his household in Chenhe Village of Goushi Town (?? gou1), Luo Prefecture (??),Henan, was essentially Confucian, at a young age Xuanzang expressed interest in becoming a Buddhist monk as one of his elder brothers had done. Sony VGP-BPS9B Battery

After the death of his father in 611, he lived with his older brother Chensu (later known as Changjie) for five years at Jingtu Monastery (???) in Luoyang, supported by the Sui Dynasty state. During this time he studied Mahayana Buddhism and various early Buddhist schools, preferring Mahayana. Sony VGP-BPX11 Battery

In 618, the Sui Dynasty collapsed and Xuanzang and his brother fled to Chang’an, which had been proclaimed as the capital of the Tangstate, and thence southward to Chengdu, Sichuan. Here the two brothers spent two or three years in further study in the monastery ofKong Hui, including the Sony VGP-BPL18 Battery

Abhidharmakosa-sastra (Abhidharma Storehouse Treatise). When Xuanzang requested to take Buddhist orders at the age of thirteen, the abbot Zheng Shanguo made an exception in his case because of his precocious knowledge. Sony VGP-BPS18 Battery

Xuanzang was fully ordained as a monk in 622, at the age of twenty. The myriad contradictions and discrepancies in the texts at that time prompted Xuanzang to decide to go to India and study in the cradle of Buddhism. Sony VGP-BPL20 Battery

He subsequently left his brother and returned to Chang’an to study foreign languages and to continue his study of Buddhism. He began his mastery of Sanskrit in 626, and probably also studied Tocharian. During this time, Xuanzang also became interested in the metaphysical Yogacara school of BuddhisSony VGP-BPS20/B Battery

Pilgrimage

In 629, Xuanzang reportedly had a dream that convinced him to journey to India. The Tang Dynasty and Eastern Türk Göktürks were waging war at the time; therefore Emperor Tang Taizong prohibited foreign travel. Sony VGP-BPS20/S Battery

Xuanzang persuaded some Buddhist guards at the gates ofYumen and slipped out of the empire via Liangzhou (Gansu), and Qinghai province in 629.^[2] He subsequently travelled across the Gobi Desert to Kumul (Hami), thence following the Tian Shan westward, arriving in Turpan in 630. Here he met the king of Turpan, a Buddhist who equipped him further for his travels with letters of introduction and valuables to serve as funds. Sony VGP-BPL21 Battery

Moving further westward, Xuanzang escaped robbers to reach Yanqi, then toured the non-Mahayana monasteries of Kucha. Further west he passed Aksu before turning northwest to cross the Tian Shan’s Bedal Pass into modern Kyrgyzstan. Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery

He skirted Issyk Kul before visitingTokmak on its northwest, and met the great Khan of the Western Türk, whose relationship to the Tang emperor was friendly at the time. After a feast, Xuanzang continued west then southwest to Tashkent (Chach/Che-Shih), capital of modern day Uzbekistan. Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery

From here, he crossed the desert further west to Samarkand. In Samarkand, which was under Persian influence, the party came across some abandoned Buddhist temples and Xuanzang impressed the local king with his preaching. Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery

Setting out again to the south, Xuanzang crossed a spur of the Pamirs and passed through the famous Iron Gates. Continuing southward, he reached the Amu Darya and Termez, where he encountered a community of more than a thousand Buddhist monks. Sony VGP-BPS21A/B Battery

Further east he passed through Kunduz, where he stayed for some time to witness the funeral rites of Prince Tardu, who had been poisoned. Here he met the monk Dharmasimha, and on the advice of the late Tardu made the trip westward to Balkh (modern day Afghanistan), to see the Buddhist sites and relics, Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery

especially the Nava Vihara, or Nawbahar, which he described as the westernmost monastic institution in the world. Here Xuanzang also found over 3,000 non-Mahayana monks, including Prajnakara, a monk with whom Xuanzang studied early Buddhist scriptures. Sony VGP-BPL22 Battery

He acquired the important Mah?vibh??a text here, which he later translated into Chinese. Prajnakara then accompanied the party southward to Bamyan, where Xuanzang met the king and saw tens of non-Mahayana monasteries, in addition to the two large Bamyan Buddhas carved out of the rockface. Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery

The party then resumed their travel eastward, crossing the Shibar Pass and descending to the regional capital of Kapisi (about 60 km north of modernKabul), which sported over 100 monasteries and 6,000 monks, mostly Mahayana. This was part of the fabled old land ofGandhara. Sony VGP-BPS22/A Battery

Xuanzang took part in a religious debate here, and demonstrated his knowledge of many Buddhist schools. Here he also met the first Jains and Hindus of his journey. He pushed on to Adinapur^[3] (later named Jalalabad) and Laghman, where he considered himself to have reached India. The year was 630. Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery

India

Xuanzang left Adinapur, which had few Buddhist monks, but many stupas and monasteries. His travels included, passing throughHunza and the Khyber Pass to the east, reaching the former capital of Gandhara, Purushapura (Peshawar), on the other side. Peshawar was nothing compared to its former glory, Sony VGP-BPL23 Battery

and Buddhism was declining in the region. Xuanzang visited a number of stupas around Peshawar, notably theKanishka Stupa. This stupa was built just southeast of Peshawar, by a former king of the city. In 1908, it was rediscovered by D.B. Spooner with the help of Xuanzang’s account. Sony VGP-BPS23 Battery

Xuanzang left Peshawar and travelled northeast to the Swat Valley (the location of O??iy?na is disputed between Swat valley and Orissa). Reaching O??iy?na, he found 1,400 old monasteries, that had previously supported 18,000 monks. The remnant monks were of the Mahayana school. Sony VGP-BPS23/B Battery

Xuanzang continued northward and into the Buner Valley, before doubling back via Shabaz Gharni to cross the Indus river at Hund. Thereafter he headed to Taxila, a Mahayana Buddhist kingdom that was a vassal ofKashmir, which is precisely where he headed next. Here he found 5,000 more Buddhist monks in 100 monasteries. Sony VGP-BPS23/D Battery

Here he met a talented Mahayana monk and spent his next two years (631-633) studying Mahayana alongside other schools of Buddhism. During this time, Xuanzang writes about the Fourth Buddhist council that took place nearby, ca. 100 AD, under the order of King Kanishka of Kushana. He visited Chiniot and Lahore as well and provided the earliest writings available on the ancient cities. Sony VGP-BPS23/G Battery

Sony VGP-BPS23/P Battery

In 633, Xuanzang left Kashmir and journeyed south to Chinabhukti, thought to be modern Firozpur, India, where he studied for a year with the monk-princeVinitaprabha. Sony VGP-BPS23/W Battery

In 634, he went east to Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, before climbing up to visit predominantly non-Mahayana monasteries in the Kulu valley and turning southward again to Bairat and then Mathura, on the Yamuna river. Sony Limited Edition 007 Battery

Mathura had 2,000 monks of both major Buddhist branches, despite being Hindu-dominated. Xuanzang travelled up the river to Srughna before crossing eastward to Matipura, where he arrived in 635, having crossed the river Ganges. At Matipura Monastery, Xuanzang studied under Mitrasena.^[4] Sony VAIO VGC-LB15 Battery

From here, he headed south to Sankasya (Kapitha), said to be where Buddha descended from heaven, then onward to the northern Indian emperor Harsha’s grand capital of Kanyakubja (Kannauj). It is believed he also visited Govishan present day Kashipur in the Harsha era, in 636, Sony VGN-AR Series Battery

Xuanzang encountered 100 monasteriesof 10,000 monks (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana), and was impressed by the king’s patronage of both scholarship and Buddhism. Sony VGN-CR Series Battery

Xuanzang spent time in the city studying early Buddhist scriptures, before setting off eastward again for Ayodhya (Saketa), homeland of the Yogacara school. Xuanzang now moved south to Kausambi(Kosam), where he had a copy made from an important local image of the Buddha. Sony VIAO VGN-G Series Battery

Xuanzang now returned northward to Sravasti, travelled through Terai in the southern part of modern Nepal (here he found deserted Buddhist monasteries) and thence toKapilavastu, his last stop before Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Sony VIAO VGN-G118 Battery

Reaching Lumbini, he would have seen a pillar near the old Ashoka tree that Buddha is said to have been born under. This was from the reign of emperor Ashoka, and records that he worshipped at the spot. The pillar was rediscovered by A. Führer in 1895. Sony VIAO VGN-G118CN/B Battery

In 637, Xuanzang set out from Lumbini to Kusinagara, the site of Buddha’s death, before heading southwest to the deer park at Sarnath where Buddha gave his first sermon, and where Xuanzang found 1,500 resident monks. Travelling eastward, at first via Varanasi, Xuanzang reached Vaisali, Sony VIAO VGN-G118CN/T Battery

Pataliputra (Patna) and Bodh Gaya. He was then accompanied by local monks to Nalanda, the great Buddhist university of Indian state of Bihar, where he spent at least the next two years. He was in the company of several thousand scholar-monks, whom he praised. Xuanzang studied logic, grammar, Sony VIAO VGN-G218 Battery

Sanskrit, and the Yogacara school of Buddhism during his time atNalanda. René Grousset notes that it was at Nalanda (where an “azure pool winds around the monasteries, adorned with the full-blown cups of the blue lotus; the dazzling red flowers of the lovely kanaka hang here and there, Sony VGN-TZ121 Battery

and outside groves of mango trees offer the inhabitants their dense and protective shade”) that Xuanzang met the venerable Silabhadra, the monastery’s superior.^[5] Silabhadra had dreamt of Xuanzang’s arrival and that it would help spread far and wide the Holy Law.^[6] Grousset writes: Sony VGN-TZ13 Battery

“The Chinese pilgrim had finally found the omniscient master, the incomparable metaphysician who was to make known to him the ultimate secrets of the idealist systems…The founders of Mahayana idealism, Asanga and Vasubandhu…Dignaga…Dharmapala had in turn trained Silabhadra. Sony VGN-TZ131 Battery

Siladhadra was thus in a position to make available to the Sino-Japanese world the entire heritage of Buddhist idealism, and the Siddhi Hiuan Tsang’s great philosophical treatise…is none other than the Summa of this doctrine, the fruit of seven centuries of Indian [Buddhist] thought.”^[7] Sony VGN-TZ132N Battery

From Nalanda, Xuanzang travelled through several countries, including Camp?, to the capital of Pundravardhana, identified with modern Mahasthangarh, in Bangladesh. There Xuanzang found 20 monasteries with over 3,000 monks studying both the Hinayana and the Mahayana. One of them was the V??ibhã Monastery (Po Shi Po), Sony VGN-TZ132/N Battery

where he found over 700 Mahayana monks from all over East India.^[8][9] He also visited a stupa originally built by Ashoka Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur in the district ofNaogaon,Bangladesh.^{[citation needed]} Sony VGN-TZ17N Battery

After crossing the Karatoya, he went east to the ancient city of Pragjyotishpur (modern Guwahati) in the kingdom of Kamarupa (modern Assam) at the invitation of its Buddhist king Kumar Bhaskaravarman. Sony VGN-TZ16N Battery

Later, the king escorted Xuanzang back to the Kannauj at the request of king Harshavardhana, who was an ally of Kumar Bhaskaravarman, to attend a great Buddhist council there which was attended by both the kings. Sony VGN-TZ18N Battery

Xuanzang turned southward and travelled to Andhradesa to visit the famous Viharas at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. He stayed at Amaravati and studied ‘Abhidhammapitakam’. He observed that there were many Viharas at Amaravati and some of them were deserted. He later proceeded to Kanchi, the imperial capital ofPallavas and a strong centre of Buddhism. Sony VAIO VGN-AR47G/E1 Battery

Traveling through the Khyber Pass of the Hindu Kush, Xuanzang passed through Kashgar, Khotan, and Dunhuang on his way back to China. He arrived in the capital, Chang’an, on the seventh day of the first month of 645, and a great procession celebrated his return.^[10] Sony VAIO VGN-AR520E Battery

Return to China

During his travels, he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, especially at the famous center of Buddhist learning atN?landa University. When he returned, he brought with him some 657 Sanskrit texts. With the emperor’s support, he set up a large translation bureau in Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), Sony VAIO VGN-AR53DB Battery

drawing students and collaborators from all over East Asia. He is credited with the translation of some 1,330 fascicles of scriptures into Chinese. His strongest personal interest in Buddhism was in the field of Yog?c?ra (????) or Consciousness-only (??). Sony VAIO VGN-AR54DB Battery

The force of his own study, translation and commentary of the texts of these traditions initiated the development of theFaxiang school (???) in East Asia. Although the school itself did not thrive for a long time, its theories regardingperception, consciousness, karma, rebirth, etc. Sony VAIO VGN-AR550E Battery

found their way into the doctrines of other more successful schools. Xuanzang’s closest and most eminent student was Kuiji (??) who became recognized as the first patriarch of the Faxiang school. Xuanzang’s logic, as described by Kuiji, Sony VAIO VGN-AR55DB Battery

was often misunderstood by scholars of Chinese Buddhism because they lack the necessary background in Indian logic.^[11] Another important disciple was the Korean monk Woncheuk. Sony VAIO VGN-AR630E Battery

Xuanzang was known for his extensive but careful translations of Indian Buddhist texts to Chinese, which have enabled subsequent recoveries of lost Indian Buddhist texts from the translated Chinese copies. He is credited with writing or compiling the Cheng Weishi Lun as a commentary on these texts. Sony VAIO VGN-AR64DB Battery

translation of the Heart Sutra became and remains the standard in all East Asian Buddhist sects. He also founded the short-lived but influential Faxiang school of Buddhism. Additionally, he was known for recording the events of the reign of the northern Indian emperor, Harsha. Sony VAIO VGN-AR65DB Battery

The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra

Xuanzang returned to China with three copies of the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra.^[12] Xuanzang, with a team of disciple translators, commenced translating the voluminous work in 660 CE, using all three versions to ensure the integrity of the source documentation.^[12] Sony VAIO VGN-AR660U Battery

Xuanzang was being encouraged by a number of his disciple translators to render an abridged version. After a suite of dreams quickened his decision, Xuanzang determined to render an unabridged, complete volume, faithful to the original of 600 chapters.^[13] Sony VAIO VGN-AR690U Battery

In 646, under the Emperor’s request, Xuanzang completed his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (?????), which has become one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India. This book was first translated into French by the Sinologist Stanislas Julien in 1857. Sony VAIO VGN-AR71ZU Battery

There was also a biography of Xuanzang written by the monk Huili (??). Both books were first translated into English by Samuel Beal, in 1884 and 1911 respectively.^[14][15] An English translation with copious notes by Thomas Watters was edited by T.W. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushell, and published posthumously in London in 1905. Sony VAIO VGN-AR730E/B Battery

Xuanzang’s work, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is the longest and most detailed account of the countries of Central and South Asia that has been bestowed upon posterity by a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. Sony VAIO VGN-AR73DB Battery

While his main purpose was to obtain Buddhist books and to receive instruction on Buddhism while in India, he ended up doing much more. He has preserved the records of political and social aspects of the lands he visited. Sony VAIO VGN-AR74DB Battery

His record of the places visited by him in Bengal — mainly Raktamrittika near Karnasuvarna, Pundranagara and its environs,Samatata and Tamralipti — have been very helpful in the recording of the archaeological history of Bengal. His account has also shed welcome light on the history of 7th century Bengal, especially the Gauda kingdom under Shashanka, although at times he can be quite partisan. Sony VAIO VGN-AR75UDB Battery

Xuanzang obtained and translated 657 Sanskrit Buddhist works. He received the best education on Buddhism he could find throughout India. Much of this activity is detailed in the companion volume to Xiyu Ji, the Biography of Xuanzang written by Huili, entitled the Life of Xuanzang. Sony VAIO VGN-AR790U/B Battery

His version of the Heart Sutra is the basis for all Chinese commentaries on the sutra, and recitations throughout China, Korea and Japan.^[16] His style was, by Chinese standards, cumbersome and overly literal, and marked by scholarly innovations in terminology; usually, where another version by the earlier translatorKum?raj?va exists, Kum?raj?va’s is more popular.^[16] Sony VAIO VGN-AR820E Battery

Xuanzang’s journey along the so-called Silk Road, and the legends that grew up around it, inspired the Ming novel Journey to the West, one of the great classics ofChinese literature. The Xuanzang of the novel is the reincarnation of a disciple of Gautama Buddha, and is protected on his journey by three powerful disciples. Sony VAIO VGN-AR830E Battery

One of them, the monkey, was a popular favourite and profoundly influenced Chinese culture and contemporary Japanese manga and anime, (including the popular Dragon Balland Saiyuki series’), and became well known in the West by Arthur Waley’s translation and later the cult TV series Monkey. Sony VAIO VGN-AR83S Battery

In the Yuan Dynasty, there was also a play by Wu Changling (???) about Xuanzang obtaining scriptures. Sony VAIO VGN-AR83US Battery

Relics

The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (simplified Chinese: ?????; traditional Chinese: ?????; pinyin: Dà Táng X?yù Jì; Wade–Giles: Ta T’ang Hsiyü Chi) is a narrative of Xuanzang’s nineteen year journey through Chang’an to Central Asia and eventually South Asia between 626 and 645. Sony VAIO VGN-AR84US Battery

It was compiled in 646^[1] by Bianji, a disciple of Xuanzang, who spent more than one year editing the book through Xuanzang’s dictation. Sony VAIO VGN-AR84S Battery

The book contains more than 120,000 Chinese characters and is divided into twelve volumes, which describe the geography, land and maritime transportation, climate, local products, people, language, history, politics, economic life, religion, culture, and customs in 110 countries, regions and city-states from present-day Xinjiang to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan,India, and Sri Lanka, etc. Sony VAIO VGN-AR85S Battery

Today, the text is of a great value to modern historians and archaeologists.^[1] The Records is an important document ofCentral Asia during the early seventh century, as it provides information of a Buddhist culture existed in Afghanistan during that time and the earliest textual evidence for Buddhist sculptures at Bamiyan.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-AR85US Battery

The text also has equal importance in the studies of India, and archaeologists have been using it to fill in certain gaps in Indian history.^[1] The text has served as a guidebook for the excavation of many important sites, such as Rajagrha, the Temple at Sarnath, Ajanta, the ruins of NalandaMonastery in Bihar, etc.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AR870EA Battery

The text has also been known for having “exact descriptions of distances and locations of different places.”^[1] The text inspired the popular epic novel Journey to the West, published in the 16th century. Sony VAIO VGN-AR890U Battery

Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: S?n Wùk?ng), also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West (Chinese: ???; pinyin: X?yóujì). In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. Sony VAIO VGN-AR93S Battery

After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutrasfrom India. The TV series Monkey and upcoming film The Monkey King are both based on this book. Sony VAIO VGN-AR93US Battery

Sun Wukong possesses an immense amount of strength; he is able to lift his 13,500 j?n (8,100 kg or 17,881 lbs) staff with ease. He is also superbly fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 kilometers or 33,554 mi) in one somersault. Sun knows 72 transformations, which allows him to transform into various animals and objects; Sony VAIO VGN-AR94S Battery

he has trouble, however, transforming into other people, because he is unable to complete the transformation of his tail. He is a skilled fighter, capable of holding his own against the best generals of heaven. Sony VAIO VGN-AR94US Battery

Each of his hairs possesses magical properties, and is capable of transforming either into a clone of the Monkey King himself, or various weapons, animals, and other objects. He also knows spells that can commandwind, part water, conjure protective circles against demons, and freeze humans, demons, and gods alike.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AR95S Battery

The origin of Sun Wukong is considered by some American, Chinese, and Indian scholars to be influenced by both the Hindu deityHanuman from the Ramayana and elements of Chinese folklore.^[2][3][4] Sony VAIO VGN-AR95US Battery

Sun Wukong was born from a mythical stone formed from the primal forces of chaos, located on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit(hua guo shan). After joining a clan of monkeys, he earned their respect by discovering the Water Curtain Cave (shui lian dong) behind a large waterfall; Sony VAIO VGN-AW110J/H Battery

the clan made it their new home. The other monkeys honored him as their king, and he called himself M?i Hóuwáng (handsome monkey king). He soon realized that despite his power over the monkeys, he was still only mortal. Sony VAIO VGN-AW11M/H Battery

Determined to find immortality, he traveled on a raft to civilized lands, where he found and became the disciple of aTaoist immortal Bodhi. He was able to acquire human speech and manners through his travels.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AW11S/B Battery

Bodhi was initially reluctant to take him because he was not human; but the monkey’s pertinacity impressed the patriarch. It was from him that the monkey received his official name Sun Wukong (“Sun” implies his origin as a monkey, and “Wukong” meansaware of emptiness).^[5] Sony VAIO VGN-AW11XU/Q Battery

Soon, his eagerness and intelligence made him one of the favorite disciples of the patriarch, whose guidance and training taught the monkey a number of magic arts. He acquired the powers of shapeshifting known as the “72 transformations”, supposedly the more versatile and difficult set of skills that allows him to transform into every possible form of existence, Sony VAIO VGN-AW11Z/B Battery

including people and objects. He also learned about cloud-traveling, including a technique called theJ?nd?uyún (cloud-somersault), which covers 108,000 li (54,000 km or 33,554 mi) in a single flip. Finally, he could transform each of the 84,000 hairs on his body into inanimate objects and living beings, Sony VAIO VGN-AW120J/H Battery

or even clones of himself. Sun Wukong became proud of his abilities, and began boasting to the other disciples. Bodhi was not happy with this, and cast him out of his temple. Before they parted, Bodhi ordered that Sun Wukong promise never to tell anyone how he acquired his powers.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AW150Y/H Battery

At the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Sun Wukong established himself as one of the most powerful and influential demons in the world. In search of a weapon worthy of himself, Sun Wukong traveled into the oceans, where he acquired the Golden-banded staff Ruyi Jingu Bang, which could change its size, Sony VAIO VGN-AW160J/Q Battery

multiply itself, and fight according to the whim of its master. It was originally used by Dà-Y? to measure ocean depth and later became the “Pillar that pacifies the oceans”, a treasure of Ao Guang, the “dragon-king of the Eastern Seas”. It weighed 13,500 jin (8.1 tons). Upon Sun Wukong’s approach, the pillar started to glow, signifying that it had found its true master. Sony VAIO VGN-AW170Y/Q Battery

Its versatility meant that Sun Wukong could wield it as a staff and keep it inside his ear as a sewing needle. This drove fear into the magical beings of the sea and threw the sea itself into confusion, since nothing but the pillar could control the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tides. Sony VAIO VGN-AW180Y/Q Battery

In addition to taking the magical staff, Wukong also defeated the dragons of the four seas in battle and forced them to give him golden chain mail (?????), a phoenix-feather cap (????? Fèngchìz?jingu?n), and cloud-walking boots (????? ?us?bùyúnl?). Sony VAIO VGN-AW190JAH Battery

Upon his triumphant return, he demonstrated the new weapon to his followers, growing his size in proportion to the original length of the staff. The uproar drew attention of other beastly powers who sought to ally with him. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NAB Battery

Sun Wukong formed a fraternity with the Bull Demon King (???), the Saurial Demon King (???), the Roc Demon King (???), the Lion Spirit King (???), the Macaque Spirit King (???) and the Marmoset Spirit King (??????). Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NBB Battery

Sun Wukong then defied Hell’s attempt to collect his soul. Instead of reincarnating like all other living beings, he wiped his name out of the “Book of Life and Death” and with it the names of all other monkeys known to him. The Dragon Kings and the Kings of Hell then decided to report him to the Jade Emperor of Heaven.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NCB Battery

Havoc in the Heavenly Kingdom

Hoping that a promotion and a rank amongst the gods would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Sun Wukong to Heaven, where the monkey believed he would receive an honorable place as one of the gods. Instead, he was made the Protector of the Horses to watch over the stables, Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YAB Battery

which was the lowest job in heaven. When he discovered this, Sun Wukong rebelled and proclaimed himself the “Great Sage, Equal of Heaven”, and allied with some of the most powerful demons on earth. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YBB Battery

Then he got revenge by setting the Cloud Horses free. The Heavens’ initial attempt at subduing the Monkey King was unsuccessful, and they were forced to recognize his title; however, they tried again to put him off as the guardian of Heavenly Garden. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YCB Battery

When he found that he was excluded from a royal banquet that included every other important god and goddess, Sun Wukong’s indignation again turned to open defiance. After stealingXi Wangmu’s “peaches of immortality”, Lao Tzu’s “pills of longevity”, and the Jade Emperor’s royal wine, he escaped back to his kingdom in preparation for his rebellion. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YDB Battery

Sun Wukong later single-handedly defeated the Army of Heaven’s 100,000 celestial warriors – each fight an equivalent of a cosmic embodiment, including all 28 constellations, four heavenly kings, and Nezha, the son of Li Jiang Jun who proved himself worthy – and proved himself equal to the best of Heaven’s generals, Erlang Shen. Sony VAIO VGN-AW220J/B Battery

Eventually, through the teamwork of Taoist and Buddhist forces, including the efforts from some of the greatest deities, Sun Wukong was captured. After several failed attempts at execution, Sony VAIO VGN-AW230J/H Battery

Sun Wukong was locked into Lao Tzu’s eight-way trigram cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the most sacred and the most severesamadhi fires. After 49 days, the cauldron was opened and Sun Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever. Sony VAIO VGN-AW235J/B Battery

He now had the ability to recognize evil in any form through his hu?y?n-j?nj?ng (????) (lit. “fiery-eyes golden-gaze”), an eye condition that also gave him a weakness to smoke, and proceeded to destroy Heaven’s remaining forces. Sony VAIO VGN-AW290JFQ Battery

Imprisonment

With all of their options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven appealed to the Buddha, who arrived from his temple in the West. The Buddha made a bet with Sun Wukong that he (Sun Wukong) could not escape from his (Buddha’s) palm. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF Battery

Sun Wukong, knowing that he could cover 108,000 li in one leap, smugly agreed. He took a great leap and then flew to the end of the world in seconds. Nothing was visible except for five pillars, Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF/H Battery

and Wukong surmised that he had reached the ends of Heaven. To prove his trail, he marked the pillars with a phrase declaring himself “the great sage equal to heaven” (and in other versions, urinated on the pillar he signed on). Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF Battery

Afterward, he leaped back and landed in the Buddha’s palm. There, he was surprised to find that the five “pillars” he had found were in fact the five fingers of the Buddha’s hand. When Wukong tried to escape, the Buddha turned his hand into a mountain. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF/H Battery

Before Wukong could shrug it off, the Buddha sealed him there using a paper talisman on which was written the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in gold letters, wherein Sun Wukong remained imprisoned for five centuries.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH Battery

Five centuries later, the Bodhisattva Guanyin went out in search for disciples that could protect a pilgrim from the East to journey to India to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. In hearing this, Sun Wukong offered to serve this pilgrim, Xuanzang, a monk of the Tang Dynasty, in exchange for his freedom. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH/Q Battery

Guanyin understood that the monkey would be hard to control, and therefore gaveXuanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical headband which, once Sun Wukong was tricked into putting it on, could never be removed. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF Battery

With a special chant, the band would tighten and cause unbearable pain to the monkey’s head. To be fair, she also gave Sun Wukong three special hairs, which could be used in dire emergencies. Under Xuanzang’s supervision, Sun Wukong was allowed to journey to the West. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF/B Battery

Throughout the epic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong faithfully helped Xuanzang on his journey to India. They were joined by “Pigsy” (??? Zhu Bajie) and “Sandy” (??? Sha Wujing), both of whom offered to accompany the priest in order to atone for their previous crimes. It was later revealed that the priest’s horse was in fact a dragon prince. Sony VAIO VGN-AW50DB/H Battery

Xuanzang’s safety was constantly under threat from demons and other supernatural beings (who believed that his flesh, once consumed, would bring them longevity), as well as from bandits, wherefore Sun Wukong often acted as his bodyguard and given free access to the powers of Heaven to combat these threats. Sony VAIO VGN-AW51JGB Battery

The group encountered a series of eighty-one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. There, Sun Wukong was granted Buddhahood for his service and strength.^[1] Sony VAIO VGN-AW52JGB Battery

The Sun Wukong festival is celebrated on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month on the Chinese calendar. Festivals feature recreations of his ordeals such as walking on a bed of coals and climbing a ladder of knives. Sony VAIO VGN-AW53FB Battery

In Hong Kong the festival is celebrated at the Buddhist Temple in the Po Tat Estate area of Sau Mau Ping, which contains a shrine to Sun Wukong. Sony VAIO VGN-AW70B/Q Battery

In spite of their popularity (or perhaps because of it), legends regarding Sun Wukong have changed with Chinese culture. The tale with Buddha and the “Pillars” is a prime example, and did not appear until Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty. Various legends concerning Sun Wukong date back to before written Chinese history. Sony VAIO VGN-AW71JB Battery

They tend to change and adapt to the most popular Chinese religion of a given era. The Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana is also considered by some American, Chinese, and Indian scholars to be an inspiration for Sun Wukong.^[2][3][4] Sony VAIO VGN-AW72JB Battery

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn’s Chinese opera “Monkey: Journey to the West” is based on the legend of the Monkey King. They were subsequently commissioned by the BBC to produce a two minute animated film to promote their coverage of the 2008 Olympicsin Beijing, which features the characters involved in various sporting activities. Sony VAIO VGN-AW73FB Battery

There are some scholars who believe this character may be originated from the first disciple of Xuan Zang, Shi Banto.^[7]

Sun Wukong is so prominent in Journey to the West that the famous translation by Arthur Waley, entitled Monkey, led to other versions of Journey to the West, also called Monkey, among them a well-known Japanese television show. Sony VAIO VGN-AW80NS Battery

In his book The Shaolin Monastery (2008), Tel Aviv University Prof. Meir Shahar claims that Sun influenced a legend concerning the origins of the Shaolin staff method. The legend takes place during the Red Turban Rebellion of the Yuan Dynasty. Sony VAIO VGN-AW80S Battery

lay siege to the monastery, but it is saved by a lowly kitchen worker wielding a long fire poker as a makeshift staff. He leaps into the oven and emerges as a monstrous giant big enough to stand astride both Mount Song and the imperial fort atop Mount Shaoshi (which are five miles apart). The bandits flee when they behold himSony VAIO VGN-AW80US Battery

. The Shaolin monks later realize that the kitchen worker was the Monastery’s guardian deity, Vajrapani, in disguise. Shahar compares the worker’s transformation in the stove with Sun Wukong’s time in Laozi’s crucible, their use of the staff, and the fact that Sun Wukong and his weapon can both grow to gigantic proportions.^[8] Sony VAIO VGN-AW81DS Battery

The brief satirical novel Xiyoubu (???, “Supplement to the Journey to the West,” c. 1640) follows Sun as he is trapped in a magical dream world created by the Qing Fish Demon, the embodiment of desire (?, qing). Sony VAIO VGN-AW81JS Battery

Sun travels back and forth through time, during which he serves as the adjunct King of Hell and judges the soul of the recently dead traitor Qin Hui during the Song Dynasty, takes on the appearance of a beautiful concubine and causes the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, Sony VAIO VGN-AW81YS Battery

and even faces King Paramita, one of his five sons born to the demoness Princess Iron Fan,^[9] on the battlefield during the Tang Dynasty.^[10] The events of the Xiyoubu take place between the end of chapter 61 and the beginning of chapter 62 of Journey to the West.^[11] Sony VAIO VGN-AW82DS Battery

The author, Tong Yue (??), wrote the book because he wanted to create an opponent—in this case desire—that Sun could not defeat with his great strength and martial skill.^[12] Sony VAIO VGN-AW82JS Battery

The Li family belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the reign of the Sui emperors.^[8][9] The mothers of both Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604–617) and the founding emperor of Tang were sisters, making these two emperors of different dynasties first cousins.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-AW82YS Battery

Li Yuan(later to become Emperor Gaozu of Tang, r. 618–626) was the Duke of Tang and former governor ofTaiyuan when other government officials were fighting off bandit leaders in the collapse of the Sui Empire, caused in part by a failed Korean campaign.^[8][10] With prestige and military experience, Sony VAIO VGN-AW83FS Battery

he later rose in rebellion along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang (d. 623) who raised her own troops and commanded them.^[11] In 617, Li Yuan occupied Chang’an and acted as regent over a puppet child emperor of the Sui, relegating Emperor Yang to the position ofTaishang Huang, Sony VAIO VGN-AW83GS Battery

or retired emperor/father of the present emperor.^[11] With the news of Emperor Yang’s murder by his general Yuwen Huaji (d. 619), on June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang.^[11][12] Sony VAIO VGN-AW83HS Battery

Li Yuan ruled until 626 before being forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin, Prince of Qin. Li Shimin had commanded troops since the age of 18, had prowess with a bow, sword, lance, and was known for his effective cavalry charges.^[2][13] Sony VAIO VGN-AW90NS Battery

Fighting a numerically superior army, he defeated Dou Jiande (573–621) at Luoyang in the Battle of Hulao on May 28, 621.^[14][15] In a violent elimination of royal family due to fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushed and killed two of his brothers, Li Yuanji (b. 603) and Crown Prince Li Jiancheng (b. 589) in the Incident at Xuanwu Gate on July 2, 626.^[16] Sony VAIO VGN-AW90S Battery

Shortly thereafter, his father abdicated in his favor and Li Shimin ascended the throne. He is conventionally known by his temple name Taizong (???). Although killing two brothers and deposing his father contradicted the Confucian value of filial piety,^[16] Sony VAIO VGN-AW90US Battery

Taizong showed himself to be a capable leader who listened to the advice of the wisest members of his council.^[2] In 628, Emperor Taizong held a Buddhist memorial service for the casualties of war, and in 629 had Buddhist monasteries erected at the sites of major battles so that monks could pray for the fallen on both sides of the fight.^[17] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ11EN Battery

This was during the campaign against Eastern Tujue, a Göktürk khanate that was destroyed after the capture of Jiali KhanAshini Duobi by the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (571–649), who later became a Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty. With this victory, the Turks accepted Taizong as their Khagan, or Great Khan (???), in addition to his rule as the Son of Heaven.^[18][19] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ11MN Battery

Administration and politics

Taizong set out to solve internal problems within the government which had constantly plagued past dynasties. Building upon the Sui legal code, he issued a new legal code that subsequent Chinese dynasties would model theirs upon, as well as neighboring polities in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ11XN Battery

The earliest law code to survive though was the one established in the year 653, which was divided into 500 articles specifying different crimes and penalties ranging from ten blows with a light stick, one hundred blows with a heavy rod, exile, penal servitude, or execution.^[20] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ12VN Battery

The legal code clearly distinguished different levels of severity in meted punishments when different members of the social and political hierarchy committed the same crime.^[21] For example, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ12XN Battery

the severity of punishment was different when a servant or nephew killed a master or an uncle than when a master or uncle killed a servant or nephew.^[21] The Tang Code was largely retained by later codes such as the early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) code of 1397,^[22] yet there were several revisions in later times, such as improved property rights for women during the Song Dynasty(960–1279).^[23][24] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ31VT Battery

The Tang had three departments (?, sh?ng), which were obliged to draft, review, and implement policies respectively. There were also six ministries (?, bù) under the administrations that implemented policy, each of which was assigned different tasks. These divisional state bureaus included the personnel administration, finance, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ31XT Battery

rites, military, justice, and public works—an administrative model which would last until the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).^[25] Although the founders of the Tang related to the glory of the earlier Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), the basis for much of their administrative organization was very similar to the previous Southern and Northern Dynasties.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560 Battery

The Northern Zhou (557–581) divisional militia (fubing) was continued by the Tang government, along with farmer-soldiers serving in rotation from the capital or frontier in order to receive appropriated farmland. The equal-field system of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534) was also kept, although there were a few modifications.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560N24 Battery

Although the central and local governments kept an enormous number of records about land property in order to assess taxes, it became common practice in the Tang for literate and affluent people to create their own private documents and signed contracts.^[26] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560N30 Battery

These had their own signature and that of a witness and scribe in order to prove in court (if necessary) that their claim to property was legitimate.^[26] The prototype of this actually existed since the ancient Han Dynasty, while contractual language became even more common and embedded into Chinese literary culture in later dynasties.^[26] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P Battery

The center of the political power of the Tang was the capital city of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), where the emperor maintained his large palace quarters, and entertained political emissaries with music, sports, acrobatic stunts, poetry, paintings, and dramatic theater performances. Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P20 Battery

The capital was also filled with incredible amounts of riches and resources to spare. When the Chineseprefectural government officials traveled to the capital in the year 643 to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P22 Battery

Emperor Taizong discovered that many had no proper quarters to rest in, and were renting rooms with merchants.^[27]Therefore, Emperor Taizong ordered the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official his own private mansion in the capital.^[27] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P28 Battery

Imperial examinations

Following the Sui Dynasty’s example, the Tang abandoned the nine-rank system in favor of a large civil service system.^[28]Students of Confucian studies were potential candidates for the imperial examinations, the graduates of which could be appointed as state bureaucrats in the local, provincial, and central government. Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P30 Battery

There were two types of exams that were given, mingjing(‘illuminating the classics examination’) and jinshi (‘presented scholar examination’).^[29] The mingjing was based upon theConfucian classics, and tested the student’s knowledge of a broad variety of texts.^[29] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560P34 Battery

The jinshi tested a student’s literary abilities in writing essay-style responses to questions on matters of governance and politics, as well as their skills in composing poetry.^[30] Candidates were also judged on their skills of deportment, appearance, speech, and level of skill incalligraphy, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ561 Battery

all of which were subjective criteria that allowed the already wealthy members of society to be chosen over ones of more modest means who were unable to be educated in rhetoric or fanciful writing skills.^[31] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ561N20 Battery

There was a disproportionate number of civil officials coming from aristocratic as opposed to non-aristocratic families.^[31] The exams were open to all male subjects whose fathers were not of the artisan or merchant classes,^[32] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ561P20 Battery

although having wealth or noble status was not a prerequisite in receiving a recommendation.^[31] In order to promote widespread Confucian education, the Tang government established state-run schools and issued standard versions of the Five Classics with selected commentaries.^[21] Sony VAIO VGN-BZ562P Battery

This competitive procedure was designed to draw the best talent into government. But perhaps an even greater consideration for the Tang rulers, aware that imperial dependence on powerful aristocratic families and warlords would have destabilizing consequences, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ563P Battery

was to create a body of career officials having no autonomous territorial or functional power base. The Tang law code ensured equal division of inherited property amongst legitimate heirs, allowing a bit of social mobility and preventing the families of powerful court officials in becoming landed nobility through primogeniture.^[33] Sony VAIO VGN-BZAAFS Battery

As it turned out, these scholar-officials acquired status in their local communities and in family ties, while they also shared values that connected them to the imperial court. From Tang times until the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, Sony VAIO VGN-BZAAHS Battery

scholar-officials functioned often as intermediaries between thegrassroots level and the government. Yet the potential of a widespread examination system was not fully realized until the Song Dynasty, Sony VAIO VGN-BZAANS Battery

where the merit-driven scholar official largely shed his aristocratic habits and defined his social status through the examination system.^[34][35][36] As historian Patricia Ebrey states of the Song period scholar-officials: Sony VAIO VGN-BZAAPS Battery

The examination system, used only on a small scale in Sui and Tang times, played a central role in the fashioning of this new elite. The early Song emperors, concerned above all to avoid domination of the government by military men, greatly expanded the civil service examination system and the government school system. Sony VAIO VGN-CR11H/B Battery

Nevertheless, the Sui and Tang dynasties institutionalized and set the foundations for the civil service system and this new elite class of exam-drafted scholar-officials. Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/L Battery

Religion and politics

From the outset, religion played a role in Tang politics. In his bid for power, Li Yuan had attracted a following by claiming descent from the Daoist sage Laozi (fl. 6th century BC).^[38] People bidding for office would have monks from Buddhist temples pray for them in public, in return for cash donations or gifts if the person was to be selected. Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/P Battery

Before the persecution of Buddhism in the 9th century, Buddhism and Daoism were accepted side by side, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (r. 712–56) invited monks and clerics of both religions to his court.^[39] Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/W Battery

At the same time Xuanzong exalted the ancient Laozi by granting him grand titles, wrote commentary on the Daoist Laozi, set up a school to prepare candidates for examinations on Daoist scriptures, and called upon the Indian monk Vajrabodhi (671–741) to perform Tantric rites to avert a drought in the year 726.^[39] Sony VAIO VGN-CR11Z/R Battery

In 742 Emperor Xuanzong personally held the incense burner during the ceremony of the Ceylonese monk Amoghavajra (705–74) reciting “mystical incantations to secure the victory of Tang forces.”^[39] Sony VAIO VGN-CR120E/L Battery

While religion played a role in politics, politics also played a role in religion. In the year 714, Emperor Xuanzong forbade shops and vendors in the city of Chang’an to sell copied Buddhist sutras, instead giving the Buddhist clergy of the monasteries the sole right to distribute sutras to the laity.^[40] Sony VAIO VGN-CR120E/P Battery

In the previous year of 713, Emperor Xuanzong had liquidated the highly lucrative Inexhaustible Treasury, which was run by a prominent Buddhist monastery in Chang’an. This monastery collected vast amounts of money, silk, and treasures through multitudes of anonymous people’s repentances, leaving the donations on the monastery’s premise.^[41] Sony VAIO VGN-CR120E/R Battery

Although the monastery was generous in donations, Emperor Xuanzong issued a decree abolishing their treasury on grounds that their banking practices were fraudulent, collected their riches, and distributed the wealth to various other Buddhist monasteries, Daoist abbeys, and to repair statues, halls, and bridges in the city.^[41] Sony VAIO VGN-CR120E/W Battery

Taxes and the census

The Tang Dynasty government attempted to create an accurate census of the size of their empire’s population, mostly for effective taxation and matters of military conscription for each region. Sony VAIO VGN-CR125E/B Battery

The early Tang government established both the grain tax and cloth tax at a relatively low rate for each household under the empire. This was meant to encourage households to enroll for taxation and not avoid the authorities, thus providing the government with the most accurate estimate possible.^[2] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13/B Battery

In the census of 609, the population was tallied by efforts of the government at a size of 9 million households, or about 50 million people.^[2] Again, the Tang census of the year 742 approximated the size China’s population to about 50 million people.^[4] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13/L Battery

Patricia Ebrey writes that even if a rather significant number of people had avoided the registration process of the tax census, the population size during the Tang had not grown significantly since the earlier Han Dynasty (the census of the year 2 recording a population of roughly 58 million people in China).^[2][42] S.A.M. Adshead disagrees, estimating that there were about 75 million people by 750.^[43] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13/P Battery

In the Tang census of the year 754, there were 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures, and 1,538 counties throughout the empire.^[44]Although there were many large and prominent cities during the Tang, the rural and agrarian areas comprised the majority of China’s population at some 80 to 90%.^[45] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13/R Battery

There was also a dramatic migratory shift of the population from northern to southern China, as the North held 75% of the overall population at the dynasty’s inception, but by its end was reduced to 50%.^[46] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13/W Battery

Chinese population size would not dramatically increase until the Song Dynasty period, where the population doubled to 100 million people due to extensive rice cultivation in central and southern China, coupled with rural farmers holding more abundant yields of food that they could easily provide the growing market.^[47] Sony VAIO VGN-CR131E/L Battery

Military and foreign policy

The 7th century and first half of the 8th century is generally considered the zenith era of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Tang Xuanzong brought the Middle Kingdom to its golden age while the Silk Road thrived, with sway over Indochina in the south, and to the west Tang China was master of the Pamirs (modern-day Tajikistan) and protector of Kashmir bordering Persia.^[48] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G Battery

Some of the kingdoms paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty included Kashmir, Nepal, Khotan, Kucha, Kashgar, Japan, Korea, Champa, and kingdoms located in Amu Darya and Syr Darya valley.^[49][50] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G/B Battery

Turkic nomads addressed the Emperor of Tang China as Tian Kehan.^[19]After the widespread Göktürk revolt of Shabolüe Khan (d. 658) was put down at Issyk Kul in 657 by Su Dingfang (591–667), Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G/L Battery

Emperor Gaozong established several protectorates governed by a Protectorate General or Grand Protectorate General, which extended the Chinese sphere of influence as far as Herat in Western Afghanistan.^[51] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G/P Battery

Protectorate Generals were given a great deal of autonomy to handle local crises without waiting for central admission. After Xuanzong’s reign, military governors (jiedushi) were given enormous power, Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G/W Battery

including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their titles on hereditarily. This is commonly recognized as the beginning of the fall of Tang’s central government.^[52][53] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13G/R Battery

Soldiers and conscription

By the year 737, Emperor Xuanzong discarded the policy of conscripting soldiers that were replaced every three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who were more battle-hardened and efficient.^[54] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13T/L Battery

It was more economically feasible as well, since training new recruits and sending them out to the frontier every three years drained the treasury.^[54] By the late 7th century, the fubing troops began abandoning military service and the homes provided to them in the equal-field system. Sony VAIO VGN-CR13T/P Battery

The supposed standard of 100 mu of land allotted to each family was in fact decreasing in size in places where population expanded and the wealthy bought up most of the land.^[55] Hard-pressed peasants and vagrants were then induced into military service with benefits of exemption from both taxation and corvée labor service, Sony VAIO VGN-CR13T/R Battery

as well as provisions for farmland and dwellings for dependents who accompanied soldiers on the frontier.^[56] By the year 742 the total number of enlisted troops in the Tang armies had risen to about 500,000 men.^[54] Sony VAIO VGN-CR13T/W Battery

The Sui and Tang carried out very successful military campaigns against the steppe nomads. Chinese foreign policy to the north and west now had to deal with Turkic nomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group in Central Asia.^[58][59] Sony VAIO VGN-CR15/B Battery

To handle and avoid any threats posed by the Turks, the Sui government repaired fortifications and received their trade and tribute missions.^[30] They sent royal princesses off to marry Turkic clan leaders, a total of four of them in 597, 599, 614, and 617. The Sui stirred trouble and conflict amongst ethnic groups against the Turks. Sony VAIO VGN-CR150E/B Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-CR190 Battery

As early as the Sui Dynasty, the Turks had become a major militarized force employed by the Chinese. When the Khitans began raiding northeast China in 605, a Chinese general led 20,000 Turks against them, distributing Khitan livestock and women to the Turks as a reward.^[3] Sony VAIO VGN-CR190E/L Battery

On two occasions between 635 to 636, Tang royal princesses were married to Turk mercenaries or generals in Chinese service.^[61] Throughout the Tang Dynasty until the end of 755, there were approximately ten Turkic generals serving under the Tang.^[62][63] Sony VAIO VGN-CR190E/P Battery

While most of the Tang army was made of fubing Chinese conscripts, the majority of the troops led by Turkic generals were of non-Chinese origin, campaigning largely in the western frontier where the presence of fubing troops was low.^[64] Some “Turkic” troops were nomadisized Han Chinese, adesinicized people.^[65] Sony VAIO VGN-CR190E/R Battery

Civil war in China was almost totally diminished by 626, along with the defeat in 628 of the Ordos Chinese warlord Liang Shidu; after these internal conflicts, the Tang began an offensive against the Turks.^[66] Sony VAIO VGN-CR190E/W Battery

In the year 630, Tang armies captured areas of the Ordos Desert, modern-day Inner Mongolia province, and southern Mongolia from the Turks.^[3][67] After this military victory, Emperor Taizong won the title of Great Khan amongst the various Turks in the region who pledged their allegiance to him and the Chinese empire (with several thousand Turks traveling into China to live at Chang’an). Sony VAIO VGN-CR19VN/B Battery

On June 11, 631, Emperor Taizong also sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China.^[68][69] Sony VAIO VGN-CR19XN/B Battery

While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. Like the earlier Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s.^[30] Sony VAIO VGN-CR20 Battery

During Emperor Taizong’s reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks, but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun, the Tufan, the Xiyu states, and the Xueyantuo. Sony VAIO VGN-CR21/B Battery

The Tang Empire competed with the Tibetan Empire for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia, which was at times settled withmarriage alliances such as the marrying of Princess Wencheng (d. 680) to Songtsän Gampo (d. 649).^[70][71] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/L Battery

A Tibetan tradition mentions that after Songtsän Gampo’s death in 649 C.E., Chinese troops captured Lhasa.^[72] The Tibetan scholar Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that the tradition is in error and that “those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct” and claims that the event is mentioned neither in the Chinese annals nor in the manuscripts of Dunhuang.^[73] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/P Battery

There was a long string of conflicts with Tibet over territories in the Tarim Basin between 670–692 and in 763 the Tibetans even captured the capital of China, Chang’an, for fifteen days during the An Shi Rebellion.^[74][75] In fact, it was during this rebellion that the Tang withdrew its western garrisons stationed in what is now Gansu and Qinghai, Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/W Battery

which the Tibetans then occupied along with the territory of what is now Xinjiang.^[76] Hostilities between the Tang and Tibet continued until they signed a formal peace treaty in 821.^[77] The terms of this treaty, including the fixed borders between the two countries, are recorded in a bilingual inscription on a stone pillar outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa.^[78] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/L Battery

During the Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656), the son of the last ruler of the Sassanid Empire, Prince Pirooz, fled to Tang China.^[49][79] According to the Book of Tang, Pirooz was made the head of a Governorate of Persia in what is now Zaranj, Afghanistan. Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/P Battery

During this conquest of Persia, the Islamic Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan (r. 644–656) sent an embassy to the Tang court at Chang’an.^[63] By the 740s, the Arabs of Khurasan had established a presence in the Ferghana basin and in Sogdiana. At theBattle of Talas in 751, Qarluq mercenaries under the Chinese defectedSony VAIO VGN-CR21S/W Battery

helping the Arab armies of the Islamic Caliphate to defeat the Tang force under commander Go Seonji (d. 756, also known as Gao Xianzhi, a general of Goguryeo descent). Although the battle itself was not of the greatest significance militarily, this was a pivotal moment in history; it marks the spread of Chinesepapermaking^[80][81] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/N Battery

into regions west of China as captured Chinese soldiers revealed secrets of Chinese papermaking to the Arabs. These techniques ultimately reached Europe by the 12th century through Arab-controlled Spain. Although they had fought at Talas, on June 11, 758, Sony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/R Battery

an Abbasid embassy arrived at Chang’an simultaneously with the Uyghur Turks bearing gifts for the Tang Emperor.^[82] From even further west, a tribute embassy came to the court of Taizong in 643 from the Patriarch of Antioch.^[83] Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/B Battery

In 788-9 the Chinese concluded a military alliance with the Uighur Turks who twice defeated the Tibetans, in 789 near the town of Kuch’eng in Jungharia, and in 791 near Ning-hsia on the Yellow River.^[84] Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R Battery

Korea and Japan

In the east, the Chinese military campaigns were less successful than elsewhere. Like the emperors of the Sui Dynasty before him, Taizong established a military campaign in 644 against the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo in the Goguryeo-Tang Wars; however, Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/L Battery

this led to its defeat in the First Goguryeo–Tang War because they failed to overcome the successful defense led by General Yeon Gaesomun. Allying with the Korean Silla Kingdom, the Chinese fought against Baekje and their Yamato Japanese allies in the Battle of Baekgang in August 663, a decisive Tang–Silla victory. Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/N Battery

The Tang Dynasty navy had several different ship types at its disposal to engage in naval warfare, these ships described by Li Quan in his Taipai Yinjing (Canon of the White and Gloomy Planet of War) of 759.^[85] Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/P Battery

The Battle of Baekgang was actually a restoration movement by remnant forces of Baekje, since their kingdom was toppled in 660 by a joint Tang–Silla invasion, led by notable Korean general Kim Yushin (595–673) and Chinese general Su Dingfang. Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/R Battery

In another joint invasion with Silla, the Tang army severely weakened the Goguryeo Kingdom in the north by taking out its outer forts in the year 645. With joint attacks by Silla and Tang armies under commander Li Shiji (594–669), the Kingdom of Goguryeo was destroyed by 668.^[48] Sony VAIO VGN-CR23/W Battery

Although they were formerly enemies, the Tang accepted officials and generals of Goguryeo into their administration and military, such as the brothers Yeon Namsaeng (634–679) and Yeon Namsan (639–701). Sony VAIO VGN-CR240E/B Battery

From 668 to 676, the Tang Empire would control northern Korea. However, in 671 Silla began fighting the Tang forces there. At the same time the Tang faced threats on its western border when a large Chinese army was defeated by the Tibetans on the Dafei River in 670.^[86] Sony VAIO VGN-CR25G/N Battery

By 676, the Tang army was driven out of Korea by Unified Silla.^[87] Following a revolt of the Eastern Turks in 679, the Tang abandoned its Korean campaigns.^[86] Sony VAIO VGN-CR240N/B Battery

Although the Tang had fought the Japanese, they still held cordial relations with Japan. There were numerous Imperial embassies to China from Japan, diplomatic missions that were not halted until 894 by Emperor Uda (r. 887–897), upon persuasion by Sugawara no Michizane (845–903).^[88] Sony VAIO VGN-CR290EAL Battery

The Japanese Emperor Temmu (r. 672–686) even established his conscripted army on that of the Chinese model, his state ceremonies on the Chinese model, and constructed his palace at Fujiwara on the Chinese model of architecture.^[89] Sony VAIO VGN-CR290EAN Battery

Many Chinese Buddhist monks came to Japan to help further the spread of Buddhism as well. Two 7th century monks in particular, Zhi Yu and Zhi You, visited the court of Emperor Tenji (r. 661–672), whereupon they presented a gift of a South Pointing Chariot that they had crafted.^[90] Sony VAIO VGN-CR290EAP Battery

This 3rd century mechanically driven directional-compass vehicle (employing a differential gear) was again reproduced in several models for Tenji in 666, as recorded in the Nihon Shoki of 720.^[90] Sony VAIO VGN-CR290EAR Battery

Japanese monks also visited China; such was the case with Ennin (794–864), who wrote of his travel experiences including travels along China’s Grand Canal.^[91][92] The Japanese monk Enchin (814–891) stayed in China from 839 to 847 and again from 853 to 858, landing near Fuzhou, Fujian and setting sail for Japan from Taizhou, Zhejiang during his second trip to China.^[93][94] Sony VAIO VGN-CR290EAW Battery

Trade and spread of culture

Through use of the land trade along the Silk Road and maritime trade by sail at sea, the Tang were able to gain many new technologies, cultural practices, rare luxury, and contemporary items. Sony VAIO VGN-CR29XN/B Battery

From the Middle East, India, Persia, and Central Asia the Tang were able to acquire new ideas in fashion, new types of ceramics, and improved silver-smithing.^[95] The Chinese also gradually adopted the foreign concept of stools and chairs as seating, whereas the Chinese beforehand always sat on mats placed on the floor.^[96] Sony VAIO VGN-CR305E/RC Battery

To the Middle East, the Islamic world coveted and purchased in bulk Chinese goods such as silks, lacquerwares, and porcelain wares.^[97] Songs, dances, and musical instruments from foreign regions became popular in China during the Tang Dynasty.^[98][99] These musical instruments includedoboes, Sony VAIO VGN-CR31S/D Battery

flutes, and small lacquered drums from Kucha in the Tarim Basin, and percussion instruments from India such as cymbals.^[98] At the court there were nine musical ensembles (expanded from seven in the Sui Dynasty) representing music from throughout Asia.^[100] Sony VAIO VGN-CR323/W Battery

There was great contact and interest in India as a hub for Buddhist knowledge, with famous travelers such as Xuanzang (d. 664) visiting the South Asian subcontinent. After a 17-year long trip, Xuanzang managed to bring back valuable Sanskrit texts to be translated into Chinese. Sony VAIO VGN-CR33 Battery

There was also a Turkic–Chinese dictionary available for serious scholars and students, while Turkic folksongs gave inspiration to some Chinese poetry.^[101][102] In the interior of China, trade was facilitated by the Grand Canal and the Tang government’s rationalization of the greater canal system that reduced costs of transporting grain and other commodities.^[103] Sony VAIO VGN-CR382 Battery

The state also managed roughly 32,100 km (19,900 mi) of postal service routes by horse or boat.^[104] Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBL Battery

Silk Road

The Silk Road was the most important pre-modern Eurasian trade route. During this period of the Pax Sinica, the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants benefited from the commerce between East and West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centers. Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBN Battery

Although the Silk Road from China to the West was initially formulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141–87 BC), it was reopened by the Tang in 639 when Hou Junji (d. 643) conquered the West, and remained open for almost four decades. Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBP Battery

It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu’s period, the Silk Road reopened when the Tang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installed in 640,^[105] Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBR Battery

once again connecting China directly to the West for land-based trade.^[106] The Tang captured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General Gao Xianzhi.^[107] After the An Shi Rebellion ended in 763, Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBT Battery

the Tang Empire had once again lost control over many of its outer western lands, as the Tibetan Empire largely cut off China’s direct access to the Silk Road.^[77] An internal rebellion in 848 ousted the Tibetan rulers, while Tang China regained its western territories from Tibet in 851, which contained crucial grazing areas and pastures for raising horses that the Tang Dynasty desperately needed.^[77][108] Sony VAIO VGN-CR490EBW Battery

Despite the many western travelers coming into China to live and trade, many travelers, mainly religious monks, recorded the strict border laws that the Chinese enforced.^[97] As the monk Xuanzang and many other monk travelers attested to, Sony VAIO VGN-CR50B/W Battery

there were many Chinese government checkpoints along the Silk Road that examined travel permits into the Tang Empire.^[97] Furthermore, banditry was a problem along the checkpoints and oasis towns, as Xuanzang also recorded that his group of travelers were assaulted by bandits on multiple occasions.^[97] Sony VAIO VGN-CR51B/W Battery

The Silk Road also had an impact on Tang Dynasty art. Horses became a significant symbol of prosperity and power as well as an instrument of military and diplomatic policy. Horses were also revered a relative of the dragon. ^[109] Sony VAIO VGN-CR520E/J Battery

Seaports and maritime trade

Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd century BC,^[110][111] yet it was during the Tang Dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, into Persia, Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq), Sony VAIO VGN-CR52B/W Battery

Arabia, Egypt, Aksum(Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.^[112] From the same Quraysh tribe of Muhammad, Sa’d ibn Abi-Waqqas sailed from Ethiopia to China during the reign ofEmperor Gaozu. He later traveled back to China with a copy of the Quran, establishing China’s first mosque, the Mosque of Remembrance, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. To this day he is still buried in a Muslim cemetery at Guangzhou. Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBL Battery

During the Tang Dynasty, thousands of foreigners came and lived in numerous Chinese cities for trade and commercial ties with China, including Persians, Arabs, Hindu Indians, Malays, Sinhalese, Khmers, Chams, Jews and Nestorian Christians of the Near East, and many others.^[113][114] Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBN Battery

In 748, the Buddhist monk Jian Zhen described Guangzhou as a bustling mercantile center where many large and impressive foreign ships came to dock. He wrote that “many big ships came from Borneo, Persia, Qunglun (Indonesia/Java)…with…spices, pearls, and jade piled up mountain high”,^[115][116] as written in the Yue Jue Shu (Lost Records of the State of Yue). Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBP Battery

After Arab and Persian piratesburned and looted Guangzhou in 758,^[77] the Tang government reacted by shutting the port down for roughly five decades, as foreign vessels docked at Hanoi instead.^[117] However, when the port reopened it continued to thrive. Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBR Battery

In 851 the Arab merchant Suleiman al-Tajir observed the manufacturing of Chinese porcelain in Guangzhou and admired its transparent quality.^[118] He also provided a description of Guangzhou’s mosque, its granaries, its local government administration, some of its written records, the treatment of travellers, along with the use of ceramics, rice-wine, and tea.^[119] Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBT Battery

However, in another bloody episode at Guangzhou in 879, the Chinese rebel Huang Chaosacked the city, and purportedly slaughtered thousands of native Chinese, along with foreign Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the process.^{[120][121][122]} Huang’s rebellion was eventually suppressed in 884. Sony VAIO VGN-CR590EBW Battery

Vessels from Korean Silla, Balhae and Hizen Province of Japan were all involved in the Yellow Sea trade, which Silla dominated.^[123]After Silla and Japan reopened renewed hostilities in the late 7th century, most Japanese maritime merchants chose to set sail fromNagasaki towards the mouth of the Huai River, Sony VAIO VGN-CR60B/L Battery

the Yangzi River, and even as far south as the Hangzhou Bay in order to avoid Korean ships in the Yellow Sea.^[123][124] In order to sail back to Japan in 838, the Japanese embassy to China procured nine ships and sixty Korean sailors from the Korean wards of Chuzhou and Lianshui cities along the Huai River.^[125] It is also known that Chinese trade ships traveling to Japan set sail from the various ports along the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.^[126] Sony VAIO VGN-CR60B/P Battery

The Chinese engaged in large-scale production for overseas export by at least the time of the Tang. This was proven by the discovery of the Belitung shipwreck, a silt-preserved shipwrecked Arabian dhowin the Gaspar Strait near Belitung, which had 63,000 pieces of Tang ceramics, silver, Sony VAIO VGN-CR60B/R Battery

and gold (including a Changsha bowl inscribed with a date: “16th day of the seventh month of the second year of the Baoli reign”, or 826 AD, roughly confirmed by radiocarbon dating of star anise at the wreck).^[127] Beginning in 785, the Chinese began to call regularly at Sufala on the East African coast in order to cut out Arab middlemen,^[128] Sony VAIO VGN-CR61B/L Battery

with various contemporary Chinese sources giving detailed descriptions of trade in Africa. The official and geographer Jia Dan (730–805) wrote of two common sea trade routes in his day: one from the coast of the Bohai Sea towards Korea and another from Guangzhou through Malacca towards the Nicobar Islands, Sony VAIO VGN-CR61B/N Battery

Sri Lanka and India, the eastern and northern shores of the Arabian Sea to the Euphrates River.^[129] In 863 the Chinese author Duan Chengshi (d. 863) provided a detailed description of the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris trade in a country called Bobali, which historians suggest was Berbera in Somalia.^[130] Sony VAIO VGN-CR61B/P Battery

In Fustat (old Cairo), Egypt, the fame of Chinese ceramics there led to an enormous demand for Chinese goods; hence Chinese often traveled there (this continued into later periods such as Fatimid Egypt).^[131][132] Sony VAIO VGN-CR61B/R Battery

From this time period, the Arab merchant Shulama once wrote of his admiration for Chinese seafaring junks, but noted that their draft was too deep for them to enter the Euphrates River, which forced them to ferry passengers and cargo in small boats.^[133] Shulama also noted that Chinese ships were often very large, with capacities up to 600–700 passengers.^[129][133] Sony VAIO VGN-CR62B/L Battery

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