Mandarin Chinese
(also known as Putonghua) is the primary language, and is spoken by more than 70 percent of the population. Cantonese prevails in Hong Kong and in parts of the Guangdong Province. Many other dialects abound.
The worlds oldest civilization Three great teachers : 1. Confucius 2.Lao-tzu 3. Mencius
Confucius was Chinas most famous Philosopher. He lived in Ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty.
Confucius was a government official, and during his lifetime (he lived from 551 to 479 B.C. ) he saw growing disorder and chaos in the system. Perhaps due to the turmoil and injustices he saw, he set himself to develop a new moral code based on respect, honesty, education, kindness and strong family bonds. His teachings later became the basis for religious and moral life throughout China.
Five virtues of confucius:
Li for ritual etiquette, manners, gravity "Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart"
Ren stands for Kindness to the fellow man Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses
Xin stands for truthfulness, faithfulness and sincerity The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions Yi for righteousness or honesty, generosity of soul When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves Xiao for filial piety, for strong family values The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home
The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.
- LAO TZU
Lao Tzu (Old Master)
Chinese Taoist Philosopher, c. 600 B.C.E.
The specific date of birth of Lao Tzu is unknown. Legends vary, but scholars place his birth between 600 and 300 B.C.E. Lao Tzu is attributed with the writing of the Tao-Te Ching, (taomeaning the way of all life, temeaning the fit use of life by men, and chingmeaning text or classic). Lao Tzu was not his real name, but an honorific given the sage, meaning Old Master. Lao Tzus wise counsel attracted followers, but he refused to set his ideas down in writing. He believed that written words might solidify into formal dogma. Lao Tzu wanted his philosophy to remain a natural way to live life with goodness, serenity and respect. Lao Tzu laid down no rigid code of behavior. He believed a persons conduct should be governed by instinct and conscience. Lao Tzu believed that human life, like everything else in the universe, is constantly influenced by outside forces. He believed simplicity to be the key to truth and freedom. Lao Tzu encouraged his followers to observe, and seek to understand the laws of nature; to develop intuition and build up personal power; and to use that power to lead life with love, and without force. Legend says that in the end Lao Tzu, saddened by the evil of men, set off into the desert on a water buffalo leaving civilization behind. When he arrived at the final gate at the great wall protecting the kingdom, the gatekeeper persuaded him to record the principles of his philosophy for posterity. The result was the eighty-one sayings of the Tao-Te Ching. This ancient Chinese text is the worlds most translated classic next to the Bible.
Mencius (c. 372-289 BCE)
Better known in China as Master Meng (Chinese: Mengzi), Mencius was a fourth-century BCE Chinese thinker whose importance in the Confucian tradition is second only to that of Confucius himself. In many ways, he played the role of St. Paul to Confucius Jesus, interpreting the thought of the master for subsequent ages while simultaneously impressing Confucius ideas with his own philosophical stamp. He is most famous for his theory of human nature, according to which all human beings share an innate goodness that either can be cultivated through education and self-discipline or squandered through neglect and negative influences, but never lost altogether. While it is not clear that Mencius views prevailed in early Chinese philosophical circles, they eventually won out after gaining the support of influential medieval commentators and thinkers such as Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200 CE) and Wang Yangming (1472-1529 CE). (See Romanization systems for Chinese terms.) Today contemporary philosophical interest in evolutionary psychology and sociobiology has inspired fresh appraisals of Mencius, while recent philological studies question the coherence and authenticity of the text that bears his name. Mencius remains a perennially attractive figure for those intrigued by moral psychology, of which he was the foremost practitioner in early China.
Two main rivers .. 1. ) Hwang ho river (yellow river) 2. ) Yangtze river
Dynasties ::
Hsia dynasty
semilegendary first dynasty of China, which ruled, according to traditional dates, from c.2205 B.C. to c.1766 B.C. or, according to some modern scholars, from c.1994 B.C. to c.1523 B.C. This dynasty is said to have been founded by Yu, the culture hero of China who built canals to control floods and then divided the reclaimed land. Scanty archaeological remains suggest that the people had domestic animals, wheat and millet, the potter's wheel, bronze weapons, and war chariots. The Hsia dynasty was succeeded by the Shang, the first historic dynasty
Shang dynastywas, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley. According to the chronology based upon calculations by Liu Xin, the Shang ruled between 1766 BC and 1122 BC, but according to the chronology based upon the Bamboo Annals, they ruled between 1556 BC and 1046 BC. The results of the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project place them between 1600 BC and 1046 BC. According to historical tradition, the Shang Dynasty followed the Xia Dynasty and preceded the Zhou Dynasty. While some direct information about the Shang Dynasty comes from Shang-era inscriptions on bronze artifacts, most comes from oracle bones turtle shells, cattle scapulae, or other bones, which bear glyphs that form the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters. Other sources on the Shang come from historical records of the later Zhou Dynasty and the Han Dynasty Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian. The inscriptions on the oracle bones are divinations, and because they can be gleaned for information on many topics from the politics and economy to the art and medicine of the period, civilization. One site of the Shang capitals, later historically called the Ruins of Yin (), is near modern day Anyang. Archaeological work there uncovered eleven major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts have been obtained. The workmanship on the bronzes attests to a high level of civilization. In terms of inscribed oracle bones alone, more than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations during the1920s and 1930s, and over four times as many have been found since.
[2]
they provide critical insight into the early stages of Chinese
Chou dynasty (zhou)
The Chinese civilization expanded during the time of the Zhou dynasty. The massive size that the dynasty covered was too much for the Zhou leaders to handle due to the poor means of communication. Because of this, the leaders decided to appoint people to oversee each of the territories. The territories started off as walled off cities. The leader
of each of the territories were the lords, each receiving the title through inheritance. Next in the hierarchy were the fighting men, followed by the peasants and the domestic slaves. Soon, these territories became more independent, eventually breaking away from the main Zhou dynasty leaders.The Zhou society was based on agricultural production. During that time, the land of the lords was divided among the peasants to grow crops. They were divided up into three by three squares, with the eight outer squares being worked on by the peasants. The center tract of land was worked on by all eight of the peasants for the lord. The extent of this type of land distibution was unclear, but the later dynasties believed that this was the most equitable way of dealing with land distribution and use.The religious practice of the Zhou empire reflected their hierarchical way of life. The Zhou kings believed that they were given a mandate from heaven to rule. The kings prayed and sacrificed to Shang Ti, the Lord on High, now called T'ien (Heaven), and to their ancestors. The lords of the territories prayed to the local nature gods and to the gods of agriculture in addition to their ancestors. If any sacrifices or prayers were missed, great ill was predicted to fall on the territory or kingdom of the neglectful leader. Emperor Wu wang was the leader of chou dynasty ..it is
the longest dynasty .
Ch`in dynasty the emperor was Shih Huang Ti .
Ch'in (chin) [key], dynasty of China, which ruled from 221 B.C. to 206 B.C. The word China is derived from Ch'in, the first dynasty to unify the country by conquering the warring feudal states of the late Chou period. King Cheng took the title Shih Huang-ti or Shi Huangdi [first august emperor] in 221 B.C. and began to consolidate the new empire. In matters of state he was counseled by Li Ssu (d. 208 B.C.), a scholar of the Legalist school of philosophy, which emphasized the need for strict laws in social and political relations and for obedience to state authority. Under Shih Huang-ti, Ch'in extended the empire W to Guizhou, N to Gansu, and S to Tonkin in what is now Vietnam, and made the capital Xianyang (near modern Xi'an, Shaanxi prov.) the most splendid city of China; it is speculated that much of theGreat Wall was built during his reign. To govern the vast empire, Ch'in abolished feudalism, instituted a centralized government that was the model for later unifying dynasties, established uniform laws, weights, and measures, standardized the written language, and built a network of roads and canals that converged on the capital. Ch'in Shih Huang-ti has been regarded as a brutal autocrat by many since he is said to have imposed harsh laws, levied heavy taxes, tolerated no criticism, and burned all books except the useful ones on medicine and agriculture. Shih Huang-ti died in 210 B.C. and was succeeded by a weakling son. Overburdened peasants revolted and overthrew the Ch'in dynasty in 206 B.C. Soon after, the Han dynasty came to power in China
Han dynasty the emperor was Liu pang .
-Wu Ti civil service examination
Tang dynasty - Tang Dynasty rose to fame with their first major album "A Dream Return to Tang
Dynasty" (1991/2). The album officially sold about 2,000,000 authentic copies throughout Asia and abroad, not counting the multitudes more of pirated copies. Their sound is part progressive rock and artistic metal and part traditional Chinese vocal techniques with lyrical poetry and musical arrangements meant to
hearken back to the glorious days of ancient Chinese civilization; in particular, the art and cultural epitome of Chinese history as popularly represented by the era of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Dynasty soon became the icon of Chinese hard rock music, and their guitarist Liu Yijun (), also known as "Lao Wu", became the first rock guitar hero in China.
[citation needed]
Bassist Zhang Ju, died in 1995 while riding
his motorcycle from fellow rock bassist friend Chen Jin's home, when an accident occurred involving a collision with a truck on the Zizhuqiao freeway overpass in western Beijing. This dealt a heavy blow to the band. Liu Yijun left the band in 1996 and was replaced by original founding member Kaiser Kuo, a Chinese-American who formed the band with Ding Wu and Zhang Ju in 1989. In 1991, the band released its metal rock version of The Internationale in Chinese. The band's 1998 release "Epic" was their second album, 7 years after their debut record. Epic did maintain a level of artfully composed series of new prog-metal rock songs that helped bring success to their debut album, but may otherwise be described as a little bit more of a straight-ahead rock album with somewhat less ethnic orientation
needed] [citation
. The album received lukewarm reviews. Nevertheless, the album was still popular enough to elicit waves of
unauthorized copies in the pirated market. In June 1999, Kaiser Kuo again parted company with Tang Dynasty and later formed another well-recognized Chinese metal-rock band, Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu). Kuo was replaced for a period by former Iron Kite front man Yu Yang, and then by young guitar virtuoso Chen Lei, who joined the band in late 2000. In 2002, Lao Wu rejoined the group and Tang Dynasty is at its present five-man band form, featuring contrasting styles of Chen Lei and Lao Wu both exchanging and interplaying guitar work, and fattening-up their overall live sound with Ding Wu's occasional coloring in their sound palette with a third guitar. In January 2009, Lao Wu announced his second departure of the band due to "personal reasons" and "in cooperation with the idea of music with the band"; he is now working with an Austrian neo-classical rock artist on an album stated to be out by 2010. Ding is currently filling the spot of the second guitarist.
[1]
As of February 2010, Ding Wu has announced that the band
[2]
is preparing for the fourth release due out later in the year
Sung dynasty they learned how to paint - They learned how to trade Yuan dynasty It was conquered by Mongols - Gengis khan was the emperor .
Kublai khan the first emperor who give importants
and progress to cities . Cambaluc City where Kublai khan made progress
Ming dynasty this is the last dynasty in china .
Taiwan mainland of china .. Beijing the capital of china .
emperor of tang dynasty ..
emperor of ming dynasty emperor of han dynasty
