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Baidi People
The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting economy and were distinguished from the nomads of the Eurasian steppe (''Hu'') who lived to their north. Chinese historical accounts describe the Di inhabiting the upper Ordos Loop and gradually migrating eastward to northern Shanxi and northern Hebei, where they eventually created their own states like Zhongshan and Dai. Other groups of Di seem to have lived interspersed between the Chinese states before their eventual conquest or assimilation. Name The ancient Chinese, whose Xia, Shang, and Zhou states flourished along the Fen, Yellow, and Wei valleys, discussed their neighbors according to the cardinal directions. The "Four Barbarians" (''Siyi'') were the Di to the north, the Man to the south, the Yi to the east, and the Ron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by the royal house, surnamed Ji, lasted initially from 1046 until 771 BC for a period known as the Western Zhou, and the political sphere of influence it created continued well into the Eastern Zhou period for another 500 years. The establishment date of 1046 BC is supported by the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and David Pankenier, but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC. During the Zhou dynasty, centralized power decreased throughout the Spring and Autumn period until the Warring States period in the last two centuries of the dynasty. In the latter period, the Zhou court had little control over its constituent states that were at war with each other until the Qin state consolidated power a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In traditional historiography, the Xia was later succeeded by the Shang dynasty. There are no contemporaneous records of the Xia, who are not mentioned in the oldest Chinese texts, since the earliest oracle bone inscriptions date from the late Shang period (13th century BC). The earliest mentions occur in the oldest chapters of the '' Book of Documents'', which report speeches from the early Western Zhou period and are accepted by most scholars as dating from that time. The speeches justify the Zhou conquest of the Shang as the passing of the Mandate of Heaven and liken it to the succession of the Xia by the Shang. That political philosophy was promoted by the Confucian school in the Eastern Zhou period. The succession of dynasties was incorpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ji (Zhou Dynasty Ancestral Surname)
''Jī'' () was the ancestral name of the Zhou dynasty which ruled China between the 11th and 3rd centuries BC. Thirty-nine members of the family ruled China during this period while many others ruled as local lords, lords who eventually gained great autonomy during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Ji is a relatively uncommon surname in modern China, largely because its bearers often adopted the names of their states and fiefs as new surnames. The character is composed of the radicals (Old Chinese: ''nra'', "woman") and (OC: ''ɢ(r)ə'', "chin").Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', pp. 61, 106, & 175. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. It is most likely a phono-semantic compound, with ''nra'' common in the earliest Zhou-era family names and ''ɢ(r)ə'' marking a rhyme of (OC: ''K(r)ə''). The legendary and historical record shows the Zhou Ji clan closely entwined with the Jiang (), who seem to have provided many of the Ji lords' high-ranking spous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wei Zhao (Eastern Wu)
Wei Zhao (204–273), courtesy name Hongsi, was an official, historian and scholar of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He shared the same personal name as Sima Zhao (,an ancestor of the Jin dynasty emperors) so, in order to avoid naming taboo, the historian Chen Shou changed Wei Zhao's personal name to "Yao()" when he wrote Wei Zhao's biography in the '' Sanguozhi'' (the authoritative source for the history of the Three Kingdoms period). Life Wei Zhao was appointed as the first Erudite Libationer (博士祭酒; i.e. President) of the precursor to the Imperial Nanking University by the third Wu emperor, Sun Xiu, in 258. He was the chief editor of the ''Book of Wu'', an official history of Wu. While he was compiling the Book of Wu'', the fourth Wu emperor Sun Hao attempted to force him to rewrite certain portions of the book, but Wei Zhao refused on the grounds that such amendments would infringe the principle of history. Wei Zhao's insistenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Wu
Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < : ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the period (220–280). It previously existed from 220–222 as a kingdom nominally under Cao Wei, its rival state, but declared independence from Wei and became a sovereign state in 222. It became an empire in 229 after its fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dai (Spring And Autumn Period)
Dai was a state which existed in northern Hebei during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. Its eponymous capital was located north of the Zhou Kingdom in what is now Yu County. It was apparently established by the people known to the ancient Chinese as the Baidi or "White Barbarians". They traded livestock and other goods between Central Asia and the Zhou states prior to their conquest by the Zhao clan of Jin. Name ''Dài'' (pinyin) and ''Tai'' ( Wade-Giles) are romanizations of the modern Mandarin way of reading the character , which is usually a preposition meaning "for", a verb meaning "to stand for" or "represent", or a noun meaning "era".. Its original sense in Old Chinese was "to replace", but the kingdom's name was a transcription of the capital's native name; linguistic reconstruction suggests its Old Chinese pronunciation would have been something like /*lˤək-s/.. The northern Rong, wiped out by Zhao BC, were also known as the "Dai Rong" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhongshan (state)
Zhongshan () was a small state that existed during the Warring States period, which managed to survive for almost 120 years despite its small size. Its origins of its founder are a matter of contention between scholars. Origins The origin of the Zhongshan state is disputed; some sources, such as the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', label the state as being founded and ruled by Beidi (白狄), while others only list them as not being Zhou or Han. Zhongshan occupies roughly the same place as the earlier Xianyu state. The two countries, being Zhongshan and Xianyu, have a muddled history, as the term Zhongshan begins somewhat before the term Xianyu ends. Zhongshan, meaning central mountains, is first mentioned in 506BC, by a Jin minister, as a hostile neighboring state. The last mention of the Xianyu, meanwhile, is in 489BC, when Zhao Yang, a Jin minister, leads a military campaign against them. There are three reasons Zhongshan is often considered a continuation of Xianyu: B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reconstructions Of Old Chinese
Although Old Chinese is known from written records beginning around 1200 BC, the logographic script provides much more indirect and partial information about the pronunciation of the language than alphabetic systems used elsewhere. Several authors have produced reconstructions of Old Chinese phonology, beginning with the Swedish sinologist Bernard Karlgren in the 1940s and continuing to the present day. The method introduced by Karlgren is unique, comparing categories implied by ancient rhyming practice and the structure of Chinese characters with descriptions in medieval rhyme dictionaries, though more recent approaches have also incorporated other kinds of evidence. Although the various notations appear to be very different, they correspond with each other on most points. By the 1970s, it was generally agreed that Old Chinese had fewer points of articulation than Middle Chinese, a set of voiceless sonorants, and labiovelar and labio-laryngeal initials. Since the 1990s, most auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, in the late Shang dynasty. Bronze inscriptions became plentiful during the following Zhou dynasty. The latter part of the Zhou period saw a flowering of literature, including classical works such as the '' Analects'', the '' Mencius'', and the '' Zuo zhuan''. These works served as models for Literary Chinese (or Classical Chinese), which remained the written standard until the early twentieth century, thus preserving the vocabulary and grammar of late Old Chinese. Old Chinese was written with several early forms of Chinese characters, including Oracle Bone, Bronze, and Seal scripts. Throughout the Old Chinese period, there was a close correspondence between a character and a monosyllabic and monomorphemic word. Although the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xianyu Kingdom
Zhongshan () was a small state that existed during the Warring States period, which managed to survive for almost 120 years despite its small size. Its origins of its founder are a matter of contention between scholars. Origins The origin of the Zhongshan state is disputed; some sources, such as the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', label the state as being founded and ruled by Beidi (白狄), while others only list them as not being Zhou or Han. Zhongshan occupies roughly the same place as the earlier Xianyu state. The two countries, being Zhongshan and Xianyu, have a muddled history, as the term Zhongshan begins somewhat before the term Xianyu ends. Zhongshan, meaning central mountains, is first mentioned in 506BC, by a Jin minister, as a hostile neighboring state. The last mention of the Xianyu, meanwhile, is in 489BC, when Zhao Yang, a Jin minister, leads a military campaign against them. There are three reasons Zhongshan is often considered a continuation of Xianyu: B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbarian
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less civilized or orderly (such as a tribal society) but may also be part of a certain "primitive" cultural group (such as nomads) or social class (such as bandits) both within and outside one's own nation. Alternatively, they may instead be admired and romanticised as noble savages. In idiomatic or figurative usage, a "barbarian" may also be an individual reference to a brutal, cruel, warlike, and insensitive person. The term originates from the el, βάρβαρος (''barbaros'' pl. βάρβαροι ''barbaroi''). In Ancient Greece, the Greeks used the term not only towards those who did not speak Greek and follow classical Greek customs, but also towards Greek populations on the fringe of the Greek world with peculiar dialects. In Ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to Weiyuan County''Wei yuan'' meaning "Wei's source"in Gansu province, less than from the Yellow River at Lanzhou. However, due to the sharp turn north the Yellow River takes in Lanzhou, the Wei and the Yellow River do not meet for more than further along the Yellow River's course. In a direct line, the Wei's source lies west of the main city along its course, Xi'an in Shaanxi province. The length of the river is and the area drained covers . The Wei River's tributaries include the Luo River, Jing River, Niutou River, Feng River and the Chishui River. The Wei River valley has a continental climate, with hot summers and cool, dry winters. It sits between the arid steppes and deserts to the north and the forests of the Qingling mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
