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Daji (town)
Daji () was the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in History of China, ancient China. In legends and fictions, she is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit who kills and impersonates the real Daji. Her identification as a fox spirit seems to have originated from at least the Tang dynasty. These accounts have been popularized in works such as the (), the , and the . She is considered a classic example of how a beautiful femme fatale can cause the downfall of a dynasty in Chinese culture. In the Song dynasty, fox spirit cults, including those dedicated to Daji, became outlawed, but their suppression was unsuccessful. For example, in 1111, an imperial edict was issued for the destruction of many spirit shrines within Kaifeng, including those of Daji. Biography Daji was from a noble family of Yousu (); her style name is Da (), and her clan name is Ji (). Hence, she is also known as Su Da Ji or Da Ji in ancient sources. At some time during hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Surname
Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the Western tradition in which surnames are written last. Around 2,000 Han Chinese surnames are currently in use, but the great proportion of Han Chinese people use only a relatively small number of these surnames; 19 surnames are used by around half of the Han Chinese people, while 100 surnames are used by around 87% of the population. A report in 2019 gives the most common Chinese surnames as Wang and Li, each shared by over 100 million people in China. The remaining top ten most common Chinese surnames are Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Wu and Zhou. Two distinct types of Chinese surnames existed in ancient China, namely ''xing'' () ancestral clan names and ''shi'' () branch lineage names. Later, the two terms began to be used i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creations Of Daji
''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major Written vernacular Chinese, vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Consisting of 100 chapters, it was first published in book form between 1567 and 1619. Another source claims it was published in 1605. The work combines elements of history, folklore, mythology, legends and fantasy.Chew, Katherine Liang (2002). ''Tales of the Teahouse Retold: Investiture of the Gods''. Page XI. . The story is set in the era of the decline of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and the rise of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). It intertwines numerous elements of Chinese mythology, including deities, immortals and spirits. The authorship is attributed to Xu Zhonglin. Plot The novel is a romanticised retelling of the overthrow of King Zhou of Shang, King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang dy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bo Yikao
Bo Yikao was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou and the elder brother of King Wu who was the founder of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. As a member of the Zhou royal house, his family name was Ji (姬). "Bo" refers to his status as the oldest son of his father. "Yikao" may have been his personal name or a posthumous name used for ritual purposes. It is known that he did not inherit his father's realm along the Wei River. Based on later Chinese inheritance laws and legends, it is typically thought that he predeceased his father, e.g. by Sima Qian. Stories such as the ''Fengshen Yanyi'' lay the guilt upon King Zhou, the last king of the Shang dynasty, and the traditional account of his death was taken by later Chinese jurists as the first instance of ''lingchi'' (the "death by a thousand cuts"). However, passages in the ''Book of Rites'' and the '' Masters of Huainan'' assume that King Wu's inheritance simply represented an aberration or even an older tradition among the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunzhongzi
Yunzhongzi () is a character from the famed classic Chinese novel ''Fengshen Yanyi''. Yunzhongzi is a renowned immortal of the Jade Column Cave atop Mount South End. After the sinister Daji had taken her grasp over King Zhou of Shang, Yunzhongzi was the first immortal to see the injustice from above the clouds. After Yunzhongzi realized that this was none other than the Thousand-Year Vixen, he exclaimed the words "''If she is not eliminated, great disaster will befall the Red Dust! I must prevent this from happening!''" Following this event, Yunzhongzi presented himself before King Zhou. After the king had asked for Yunzhongzi's home, Yunzhongzi responded by saying that he is from water--heart of cloud, mind of fluidity. Thus following this point, Yunzhongzi would engage in a great reformative conversation with the king in the hopes that he would be rid of Daji and employ the Taoist way to his kingdom. Before Yunzhongzi left the king, he handed him his wooden sword, a sword that wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hu Li Jing
Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, characteristics, and shapes, including ''huxian'' (), ''hushen'' (), ''husheng'' (), ''huwang'' (), ''huyao'' (), and ''jiuweihu'' (). Fox spirits and nine-tailed foxes appear frequently in Chinese folklore, literature, and mythology. Depending on the story, the fox spirit's presence may be a good or a bad omen. The motif of nine-tailed foxes from Chinese culture was eventually transmitted and introduced to Japanese and Korean cultures. Descriptions The nine-tailed fox occurs in the ''Shanhaijing'' (''Classic of Mountains and Seas''), compiled from the Warring States period to the Western Han period (circa fourth to circa first century BC). The work states: In chapter 14 of the ''Shanhaijing'', Guo Pu, a scholar of the Eastern Jin dynasty, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhaoge
Zhaoge () was the last of a series of cities that served as capital of the Shang dynasty, and later capital of State of Wey (衛國). It is located in current Qi County, Hebi, Henan about 50 km south of Anyang. See also *Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chine ..., another capital of Shang References Ancient Chinese capitals Shang dynasty {{China-hist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concubinage
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice in China until the 20th century that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and their experience could vary tremendously according to their masters' whim. During the Mongol conquests, both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol, and in Indian society, where the intermingling of castes and religions was frowned upon and a taboo, and concubinage could be practiced with women with whom marriage was considered undesirable, such as those from a lower caste and Muslim women who wouldn't be accepted in a Hindu household and Hindu women who wouldn't be accepted in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Possessed By Spirits
Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity,Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30 Haitian Vodou, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian, African, and Native American traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America. As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In the Huainanzi, there is described a great battle between deities that broke the pillars supporting Heaven and caused great devastation. There was great flooding, and Heaven had collapsed. Nüwa was the one who patched the holes in Heaven with five colored stones, and she used the legs of a tortoise to mend the pillars. There are many instances of her in literature across China which detail her in creation stories, and today remains a figure important to Chinese culture. Name The character ''nü'' ( zh, t=女, l=female) is a common prefix on the names of goddesses. The proper name is ''wa'', also read as ''gua'' ( zh, t=媧). The Chinese character is unique to this name. Birrell translates it as 'lovely', but notes that it "could be construed as 'fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hokusai Daji
, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the iconic print ''The Great Wave off Kanagawa''. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ''ukiyo-e'' from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. Hokusai created the monumental ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' as a response to a domestic travel boom in Japan and as part of a personal interest in Mount Fuji. It was this series, specifically, ''The Great Wave off Kanagawa'' and '' Fine Wind, Clear Morning'', that secured his fame both in Japan and overseas. Hokusai was best known for his woodblock ukiyo-e prints, but he worked in a variety of mediums including painting and book illustration. Starting as a young child, he continued working and improving his style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foot Binding
Foot binding, or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change their shape and size. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet, and the shoes made for these feet were known as lotus shoes. In late imperial China, bound feet were considered a status symbol and a mark of feminine beauty. However, footbinding was a painful practice that limited the mobility of women and resulted in lifelong disabilities. The prevalence and practice of footbinding varied over time and by region and social class. The practice may have originated among court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th-century China, and gradually became popular among the elite during the Song dynasty. Footbinding eventually spread to lower social classes by the Qing dynasty (1636–1912). Manchu emperors attempted to ban the practice in the 17th century, but failed. In some areas, footbinding raised marriage prospects. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biographies Of Exemplary Women
The ''Biographies of Exemplary Women'' () is a book compiled by the Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang c. 18 BCE. It includes 125 biographical accounts of exemplary women in ancient China, taken from early Chinese histories including '' Chunqiu'', '' Zuozhuan'', and the ''Records of the Grand Historian''. The book served as a standard Confucianist textbook for the moral education of women in traditional China for two millennia. Description The idealized biographies are divided into eight scrolls, including the eighth addendum from an unknown editor, as shown below. This book follows the ''lièzhuàn'' (列傳 "arrayed biographies") biographical format established by the Chinese historian Sima Qian. The word ''liènǚ'' (列女 "famous women in history") is sometimes understood as ''liènǚ'' (烈女 "women martyrs"), which Neo-Confucianists used to mean a "woman who commits suicide after her husband's death rather than remarry; woman who dies defending her honor." The online C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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