|
Crane In Chinese Mythology
Cranes () are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are various myths involving cranes, and in Chinese mythology cranes are generally symbolically connected with the idea of longevity. In China, the crane mythology is associated with the divine bird worship in the animal totemism; cranes have a spiritual meaning where they are a form of divine bird which travels between heaven and man's world. Cranes regularly appear in Chinese arts such as paintings, tapestry, and decorative arts; they are also often depicted carrying the souls of the deceased to heaven. The crane is the second most important bird after the fenghuang, the symbol of the empress, in China. The motifs of cranes may vary in a range from reference to real cranes (such as the red-crowned crane) referring to transformed Taoist immortals ''(xian)'', who sometimes were said to have magical abilities to transform into cranes in order to fly on various journeys. When a taoist priest dies, it is referred as ''yuhu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bian Jingzhao
Bian Jingzhao (), styled Wenjin (), was a famed Chinese painter in the early Ming Dynasty. His birth and death years are unknown. He was a native of Longxi in Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...中国古代书画鑑定组: Page 8. and was active 1426–1435.Barnhart: Page 203. Image:Bian Jingzhao-Snow Plum and Twin Cranes.jpg, ''Snow Plum and Twin Cranes'' Image:Bian Jingzhao-Birds Flocking at Flowers and Bamboo.jpg, ''Birds Flocking at Flowers and Bamboo'' Image:Bian Wenjin, Three Friends and a Hundred Birds.jpg, ''Three Friends and One Hundred Birds'' Image:Bian Jingzhao and Wang Fu-Bamboo and Cranes Twin Clarity.jpg, ''Bamboo and Cranes - Twin Clarity'' Notes References * Barnhart, R. M. et al. (1997). Three thousand years of Chinese painting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunlun (mythology)
The Kunlun () or Kunlun Shan is a mountain or mountain range in Chinese mythology, an important symbol representing the '' axis mundi'' and divinity. The mythological Kunlun is based on various sources — mythologic and geographic — of the modern so-called Kunlun Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and Mount Kailash (as an archetypal '' omphalos''). The term "Kunlun" has also been applied to Southeastern Asian lands or islands and seemingly even Africa — although the relationship to the mountain is not clear beyond the nomenclature. In any case, Kunlun refers to distant, exotic, and mysterious places. Different locations of Kunlun have been ascribed in the various legends, myths, and semi-historical accounts in which it appears. These accounts typically describe Kunlun as the dwelling place of various gods and goddesses where fabled plants and mythical creatures may also be found. Many important events in Chinese mythology were based around Kunlun. Historical development As the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them. Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos tortoise, Galápagos giant tortoise, growing to more than in length, whereas others like the Chersobius signatus, Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only long. Several lineages of tortoises Giant tortoise, have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kg, including the Galápagos tortoise, Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually Diurnality, diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts 187 species names of pines as current, together with more synonyms. The American Conifer Society (ACS) and the Royal Horticultural Society accept 121 species. Pines are commonly found in the Northern Hemisphere. ''Pine'' may also refer to the lumber derived from pine trees; it is one of the more extensively used types of lumber. The pine family is the largest conifer family and there are currently 818 named cultivars (or trinomials) recognized by the ACS. Description Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous resinous trees (or, rarely, shrubs) growing tall, with the majority of species reaching tall. The smallest are Siberian dwarf pine and Potosi pinyon, and the tallest is an tall ponderosa pine located in southern Oregon's Rogue Riv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhi (excrescences)
The Chinese term ''zhī'' (芝) commonly means "fungi; mushroom", best exemplified by the medicinal Lingzhi mushroom, but in Daoism it referred to a class of supernatural plant, animal, and mineral substances that were said to confer instantaneous ''xian'' immortality when ingested. In the absence of a semantically better English word, scholars have translated the wide-ranging meaning of ''zhi'' as "excrescences", "exudations", and "cryptogams". Terminology Translating Chinese ''zhi'' (芝) is problematic. For instance, a recent Chinese-English dictionary says: #mushroom, in general … an object shaped like a mushroom, e.g., a chariot canopy. # ingularand in ompounds靈~ ''língzhī'', "numinous mushroom" and 紫~ ''zǐzhī'', "purple mushroom" (''Ganoderma lucidum'', ''G. japonicum''), a type of polypore mushroom that grows on wood, especially rotting logs; particularly striking examples sometimes regarded as auspicious celestial omens for having qualities conducing to long li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legend Of The White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series. The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden Locked for Eternity in the Leifeng Pagoda'' () in Feng Menglong's '' Stories to Caution the World'', which was written during the Ming dynasty. The legend is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being ''Lady Meng Jiang'', ''Butterfly Lovers'', and ''The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl''. Basic story Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals, disguises himself as a '' tangyuan'' vendor at the Broken Bridge near the West Lake in Hangzhou. A boy called Xu Xian () buys some ''tangyuan'' from Lü Dongbin without knowing that they are actually immortality pills. After eating them, he does not feel hungry for the next three days so he goes back to ask the vendor why. Lü Dongbin laughs and carries Xu Xian to the bridge, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
He Xiangu
He Xiangu, birth name He Qiong, is a Chinese mythology, Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoism, Taoist pantheon. She is often seen as the only female among the Eight Immortals (though the sex of Lan Caihe, another of the Eight Immortals, is somewhat ambiguous). He Xiangu is believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty and was born in either Lingling District, Yongzhou, Hunan or Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, Guangdong. Legend According to the ''Xian Fo Qi Zong'' (), He Xiangu was the daughter of He Tai (), a man from Zengcheng District, Zengcheng, Guangdong. At birth, she had six long hairs on the crown of her head. When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica so that her body might become etherealised and immune from death. She did as instructed, vowed to remain a virgin, and Bigu (grain avoidance), gradually decreased her food intake. Wu Zetian once sent a messenger to summon He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron-Crutch Li
Li Tieguai (Mandarin: ; lit. "Iron Crutch Li") is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. He is sometimes described as irascible and ill-tempered, but also benevolent to the poor, sick and the needy, whose suffering he alleviates with special medicine from his Calabash gourd. He is often portrayed as an ugly old man with a dirty face, a scraggly beard, and messy hair held by a golden band. He walks with the aid of an iron crutch and often has a gourd slung over his shoulder or held in his hand. He often is depicted as a clown figure who descends to earth in the form of a beggar who uses his power to fight for the oppressed and needy. The legend says that Li was born in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), and was originally named "Li Xuan". However, in folklore, he is depicted as Laozi's apprentice, hence he should have lived in the sixth century BC. Apotheosis The Eight Immortals became immortals by means of practising Taoist magical art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanshan (poet)
Hanshan (, ) is a Chinese Buddhist and Taoist figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, when he lived and died, or whether he actually existed. In the Chinese Buddhist tradition, Hanshan and his sidekick Shide are honored as emanations of the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, respectively. In Japanese and Chinese paintings, Hanshan is often depicted together with Shide or with Fenggan, another monk with legendary attributes. Little is known of his work, since he was a recluse living in a remote region and his poems were written on rocks in the mountains he called home. Of the 600 poems he is thought to have written at some point before his death, 313 were collected and have survived.Xiang Chu. ''寒山诗注 (i.e. "Cold Mountain Poems and Notes")'' (1997, 2000, 2010) 3rd edition, Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing, China Among the 57 poems attributed to Hanshan's friend, Shid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shide (monk)
Shide (, fl. 9th century)Cihai lists Shide as living during the time of emperor Tai Zong who ruled from 626 to 649. See the date controversy in Hanshan article. Page 692. was a Tang Dynasty Chinese Buddhist poet at the Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai on the East China Sea coast; roughly contemporary with Hanshan and Fenggan, but younger than both of them. As close friends the three of them formed the "Tiantai Trio". Shide lived as a lay monk, and worked most of his life in the kitchen of Guoqing Temple. An apocryphal story relates how Shide received his name: Once, Fenggan was travelling between Guoqing Temple and the village of Tiantai, when at the redstone rock ridge called 'Red Wall' (赤城) he heard some crying. He investigated, and found a ten-year-old boy who had been abandoned by his parents; and picked him up and took him back to the temple, where the monks subsequently raised him.Cihai Page 692. Shide is referred to as Jittoku in Japanese. Poetry Shide wrote a number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han Chinese, Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump state, rump regimes ruled by remnants of the House of Zhu, Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the naval history of China, navy's dockyards in Nanjin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beizi
Beizi (), also known as beizi () and chuozi (), is an item worn in traditional Chinese attire common to both men and women; it is typically a large loose outer coat with loose and long sleeves. It was most popular during the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and from the early Qing to the Mid-Qing dynasty. The beizi originated in the Song dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, the beizi was referred as pifeng (). When worn by men, it is sometimes referred as changyi (), hechang (), or dachang () when it features large sleeves and knotted ties at the front as a garment closure. Terminology Beizi (背子) literally means "person sitting behind". According to Zhu Xi, the beizi may have originally been clothing worn by concubines and maidservants, and it was then named after these people as they would always walk behind their mistress. History Origins The beizi originated in the Song dynasty; it is assumed that it was derived from the banbi, where the sleeves and the garment lengthened. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
