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Baisigou Square Pagoda
Baisigou Square Pagoda (Chinese ) was a brick pagoda in Helan County, Ningxia, China, built during the early years of the Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227), ''circa'' 1075–1076. It is situated in an isolated location about 10 km into the Baisigou Valley on the eastern side of the Helan Mountains, northwest of Yinchuan, but may have been the site of an important Buddhist temple during the Western Xia. The pagoda was illegally destroyed in 1990; archaeological investigation of the ruins has uncovered a large number of Tangut artefacts and Buddhist relics, including books and manuscripts written in the Tangut language and script. Investigation of the ruins of the pagoda On 28 November 1990 a local peasant discovered that the pagoda had suddenly collapsed, and when the Ningxia police investigated they discovered that the pagoda had been blown up by unknown criminals, apparently with the intention of stealing any historical relics inside the pagoda. The pagoda was reduced to r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baisigou Square Pagoda
Baisigou Square Pagoda (Chinese ) was a brick pagoda in Helan County, Ningxia, China, built during the early years of the Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227), ''circa'' 1075–1076. It is situated in an isolated location about 10 km into the Baisigou Valley on the eastern side of the Helan Mountains, northwest of Yinchuan, but may have been the site of an important Buddhist temple during the Western Xia. The pagoda was illegally destroyed in 1990; archaeological investigation of the ruins has uncovered a large number of Tangut artefacts and Buddhist relics, including books and manuscripts written in the Tangut language and script. Investigation of the ruins of the pagoda On 28 November 1990 a local peasant discovered that the pagoda had suddenly collapsed, and when the Ningxia police investigated they discovered that the pagoda had been blown up by unknown criminals, apparently with the intention of stealing any historical relics inside the pagoda. The pagoda was reduced to r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumambulation or ''pradakhshina'' has been an important ritual and devotional practice since the earliest times, and stupas always have a ''pradakhshina'' path around them. The original South Asian form is a large solid dome above a tholobate or drum with vertical sides, which usually sits on a square base. There is no access to the inside of the structure. In large stupas there may be walkways for circumambulation on top of the base as well as on the ground below it. Large stupas have or had ''vedikā'' railings outside the path around the base, often highly decorated with sculpture, especially at the torana gateways, of which there are usually four. At the top of the dome is a thin vertical element, with one of more horizontal discs spreadin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wutaishan
Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks roughly corresponding to the cardinal directions. The north peak (Beitai Ding or Yedou Feng) is the highest () and is also the highest point in northern China. As host to over 53 sacred monasteries, Mount Wutai is home to many of China's most important monasteries and temples. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009 and named a AAAAA tourist attraction by China's National Tourism Administration in 2007. Significance Mount Wutai is one of the Four Sacred Mountains in Chinese Buddhism. Each of the mountains is viewed as the bodhimaṇḍa () of one of the four great bodhisattvas. Wǔtái is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Mañjuśrī or "" () in Chinese. Mañjuśrī has been associated with Mount Wutai since ancient times. Paul Williams writes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Chongzong Of Western Xia
Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia (1084–1139), born Li Qianshun (), was the fourth emperor of the Western Xia dynasty of China, ruling from 1086 to 1139. His reign began at the age of three, when his father Li Bingchang died. He remained under the regency of the Empress Dowager Zhaojian until she was poisoned in 1099 by a Liao envoy. Li's reign included further sinification and removed the power of some significant Tangut clans, which had remained a powerful political force—appointing tribal leaders as kings, forcing them under his power and influence. His reign saw incursions by the neighboring Liao and Northern Song dynasties, and a series of military defeats from 1114. He established Confucianist-led administration for several political quarters including civil and military, centralising his power. Buddhism was prevalent during his reign, and the scriptures were translated to the Tangut language. Family Consorts and issue: * Empress, of the Yelü clan (皇后耶 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Huizong Of Western Xia
Emperor Huizong of Western Xia (1060–1086), born Li Bingchang (), was the third emperor of the Tangut-led Chinese Western Xia dynasty, ruling from 1067 to 1086. After his father's sudden death, Huizong assumed the throne at the young age of six. His mother, Empress Dowager Liang (Chinese: 梁太后, Tangut: ), became the regent for the rest of Huizong's reign. In 1076, Huizong turned sixteen, and was supposed to assume direct control of the throne, but was stopped by the enormous influence of the Dowager. The two sparred over the cultural policy of the empire: the Emperor Huizong supported sinicization, while the Empress Dowager Liang supported Tangutization (ironic, considering Huizong was of paternal Tangut heritage, and Liang was of ethnic Han heritage). Empress Dowager Liang eventually had Huizong put under house arrest; as a result, Huizong requested the Song dynasty for help. The Song Dynasty then invaded the Western Xia on the premise of freeing Huizong, but the invasio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China Daily
''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. The headquarters and principal editorial office is in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. The newspaper has branch offices in most major cities of China as well as several major foreign cities including New York City, Washington, D.C., London, and Kathmandu. The paper is published by satellite offices in the United States, Hong Kong, and Europe. ''China Daily'' also produces an insert of sponsored content called ''China Watch'' that has been distributed inside other newspapers including ''The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Le Figaro''. Within mainland China, the newspaper targets primarily diplomats, foreign expatriates, tourists, and locals wishing to improve their English. The China edition also o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Movable Type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation marks) usually on the medium of paper. The world's first movable type printing technology for paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around AD 1040 in China during the Northern Song dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990–1051). The earliest printed paper money with movable metal type to print the identifying code of the money was made in 1161 during the Song dynasty. In 1193, a book in the Song dynasty documented how to use the copper movable type. The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty. The spread of both movable-type systems was, to some degree, limited to primarily East Asia. The development of the printing press in Europe may have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auspicious Tantra Of All-Reaching Union
The ''Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union'' ( Tangut: ''Gyu̱²-rjur¹ Źji²-njɨ² Ngwu²-phjo̱² Mər²-twẹ²'', translated into Chinese as ''Jíxiáng Biànzhì Kǒuhé Běnxù'' 吉祥遍至口和本續) is the title of a set of nine volumes of Buddhist printed texts written in the Tangut language and script which was discovered in the ruins of the Baisigou Square Pagoda in Helan County, Ningxia, Northwest China in 1991 after it had been illegally blown up. Printed during the Western Xia (1038–1227), ''circa'' 1139–1193, it is thought to be the earliest extant example of a book printed using wooden movable type. The book is currently held at the Ningxia Institute of Archaeology in Yinchuan, and because of its historical significance it has been included in the list of 64 Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad that was issued by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2002. Discovery The Baisigou Square Pagoda was situated in a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tantra
Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga ("Path of Mantra") in Hinduism or Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle") and Guhyamantra ("Secret Mantra") in Buddhism. Starting in the early centuries of the common era, newly revealed Tantras centering on Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti emerged. There are tantric lineages in all main forms of modern Hinduism, such as the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, the Shakta sect of Sri-Vidya, the Kaula, and Kashmir Shaivism. In Buddhism, the Vajrayana traditions are known for tantric ideas and practices, which are based on India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sutra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements.Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pages 54–55 Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven. The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas. Every school of Hindu philosophy, Vedic guides for rites of passage, v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua is a ministry-level institution subordinate to the State Council and is the highest ranking state media organ in China. Xinhua is a publisher as well as a news agency. Xinhua publishes in multiple languages and is a channel for the distribution of information related to the Chinese government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its headquarters in Beijing are located close to the central government's headquarters at Zhongnanhai. Xinhua tailors its pro-Chinese government message to the nuances of each audience. Xinhua has faced criticism for spreading propaganda and disinformation and for criticizing people, groups, or movements critical of the Chinese government and its policies. History The predecessor to Xinhua was the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
