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Eight Trigrams Formation
The Stone Sentinel Maze was an array of rocks and boulders thought to be conjured by Zhuge Liang based on the concept of the bagua. The formation was located on Yufu Shore (魚腹浦) by the Yangtze River near present-day Baidicheng, Chongqing, China, where supposed ruins of the array exist. In folklore, when the Yangtze River rises in summer, the formation is submerged, but in autumn, the array resurfaces, with the rocks and boulders still left intact in their original positions. Lu Xun's encounter The Stone Sentinel Maze was mentioned in Chapter 84 of the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong. Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun at the Battle of Xiaoting and fled towards Baidicheng with Lu Xun in hot pursuit. When Lu Xun arrived at Yufu Shore by the Yangtze River near Baidicheng, he felt a strong enemy presence and cautioned his troops of a possible ambush. He sent men to scout ahead, who reported that the area was deserted except for some scattered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is recognised as the most accomplished strategist of his era, and has been compared to Sun Tzu, the author of ''The Art of War''. His reputation as an intelligent and learned scholar grew even while he was living in relative seclusion, earning him the nickname "Wolong" or "Fulong", meaning "Crouching Dragon" or "Sleeping Dragon". Zhuge Liang is often depicted wearing a Taoist robe and holding a hand fan made of crane feathers. Zhuge Liang was a Confucian-oriented "Legalist". He liked to compare himself to the sage minister Guan Zhong and Yue Yi developing Shu's agriculture and industry to become a regional power, and attached great importance to the works of Shen Buhai and Han Fei, refusing to indulge local elites and adopting strict, but fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan Zhang
Pan Zhang (died 234), courtesy name Wengui, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Eastern Wu (founded by Sun Quan) during the Three Kingdoms period until his death. Pan Zhang was praised by Chen Shou as one of the "twelve tiger minister of Jiangdong" (江東十二虎臣). Early life and career Pan Zhang was from Fagan County (), Dong Commandery (), which is located east of present-day Guan County, Shandong. In 196, he became a follower of a 14-year-old Sun Quan, who was then serving as the Chief () of Yangxian County () under his elder brother Sun Ce, who controlled many territories in the Jiangdong region. Pan Zhang was a heavy drinker and compulsive gambler, and he had to frequently borrow money to support these habits because his family was poor. When his creditors came to pursue debts, he always claimed that he would pay them back when he became wealthy. Sun Quan felt that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiroshi Aramata
is a Japanese author, polymath, critic, translator and specialist in natural history, iconography and cartography. His most popular novel was ''Teito Monogatari'' (''Tale of the Capitol''), which has sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone. Biography Aramata was born in Tokyo. As a child, he was an intense bibliophile and avid collector of old books. Following his entrance into middle school he was mentored by acclaimed translator Hirai Te'ichii (who was responsible for providing the Japanese translations of the complete works of Lafcadio Hearn as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula). After finishing high school, he immediately entered Keio University in 1966. He heavily studied Western/Oriental magic and occult sciences. He graduated with a degree in law. Around this time, he moonlighted as a Japanese translator for classic fantasy literature. The Japanese translations he produced during this period include H.P. Lovecraft's acclaimed novella ''The Shadow Out of Time'', Lin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teito Monogatari
is an epic historical dark fantasy/science fiction work; the debut novel of natural history researcher and polymath Hiroshi Aramata. It began circulation in the literary magazine ''Monthly King Novel'' owned by Kadokawa Shoten in 1983, and was published in 10 volumes over the course of 1985–1987. The novel is a romanticized retelling of the 20th-century history of Tokyo from an occultist perspective. Widely regarded as the first novel to popularize onmyōdō and fūsui mythology in modern Japanese fiction,Reider, Noriko T. ''Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present''. Utah State University Press, 2010. () the work was a major success in its native country. It won the 1987 Nihon SF Taisho Award, sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone, inspired several adaptations as well as a long running literary franchise. Likewise its influence can still be felt to this day.Harper, Jim. ''Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film''. Noir Publishing. () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lu Yu
Lu Yu (; 733–804) or Lu Ji (陆疾), courtesy name Jici (季疵) was a Chinese tea master and writer. He is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book ''The Classic of Tea,'' also known as ''Ch'a Ching'' (simplified Chinese: 茶经), the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea. Biography Lu Yu was born in 733 in Tianmen, Hubei. For six years, Lu Yu stayed in Huomen mountain studying under the guidance of master Zou Fuzi. During this period, Lu Yu often brewed tea for his teacher. He also took care of fellow students' health using his remarkable knowledge in tea and herbs that he learned while at the Longgai Monastery. Whenever time permitted between his studies Lu Yu often went to the countryside to gather tea leaves and herbs. In one of those trips Lu Yu stumbled upon a spring underneath a 6-foot round rock and the water from the spring was extremely clear and clean. When Lu Yu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Du Fu
Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest. Although initially he was little-known to other writers, his works came to be hugely influential in both Chinese and Japanese literary culture. Of his poetic writing, nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and the "Poet-Sage" by Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire".Hung, 1. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu, is a Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city which serves as the Capital city, capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 inhabitants during the 2020 Chinese census, it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city apart from the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities with a population of over 20 million (the other three are Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing). It is traditionally the hub in Southwest China. Chengdu is located in central Sichuan. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is known as the "Country of Heaven" () and the "Land of Abundance". Its prehistoric settlers included the Sanxingdui culture. The site of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Xianzhong
Zhang Xianzhong (张献忠 or Chang Hsien-chung; 18 September 1606 – 2 January 1647), nickname Huanghu (literally 'Yellow Tiger'), was a Chinese peasant leader who led a peasant revolt from Yan'an wei, Shaanxi (today Yulin, Shaanxi province). He conquered Sichuan in 1644, and named himself king and later emperor of the Xi dynasty (西朝 or Great Xi 大西). His rule in Sichuan was brief, and he was killed by the invading Qing army. He is commonly associated with the massacres in Sichuan that depopulated the region. However, the extent of his killings is disputed. Biography Early life Zhang was born in liushujian (literally 'willow spring', modern Dingbian, Shaanxi province), into a poor family. He was described as tall in stature, had a yellow complexion and a "tiger chin" (), and hence was given the nickname "Yellow Tiger". He served in the Ming army, and while in the army he was sentenced to death for violations of military rules, but was reprieved after an intervention b ... [...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] |
Cao Pi's Invasions Of Eastern Wu
During the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, Cao Pi, the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei, invaded the rival state of Eastern Wu thrice during his reign between 222 and 225. The ''casus belli'' for the attack was the Wu leader Sun Quan's refusal to send his son Sun Deng as a hostage to the Wei court, under which Wu was a nominal vassal at the time. The invasions were separated into two parts. The first attack occurred in the years 222–224 before Cao Pi ordered total retreat. The second and last part was fought in 225. Background After the Shu Han emperor Liu Bei was defeated by Sun Quan's forces at the Battle of Xiaoting, Sun benefited from his submission to Cao Pi, who would help him in the conflict against Liu Bei. However, on both sides, this was never a popular concept, especially in the ranks of Sun Quan, who had defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs 14 years ago. To make matters worse, Sun Quan and his officers were uneasy about Sun's titles and ranks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son among all the children born to Cao Cao by his concubine (later wife), Lady Bian. According to some historical records, he was often in the presence of court officials in order to gain their support. He was mostly in charge of defence at the start of his career. After the defeat of Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, he took Yuan Xi's widow, Lady Zhen, as a concubine, but in 221 Lady Zhen died and Guo Nüwang became empress. On 25 November 220, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour, after which on 11 December 220 he proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Cao Wei. Cao Pi continued the wars against the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, founded by his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luo Tong
Luo Tong (193–228), courtesy name Gongxu, was an official serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Luo Tong was from Wushang County (烏傷縣), Kuaiji Commandery, which is around present-day Yiwu, Zhejiang. His father Luo Jun (駱俊), who served the Prince of Chen Liu Chong as his chancellor (陳相) in the Eastern Han dynasty, was killed by the warlord Yuan Shu. Luo Tong's mother remarried after her husband's death, and became a concubine of the official Hua Xin. Luo Tong, who was seven years old then, returned to Kuaiji Commandery with his close friends. Before he left, his mother tearfully saw him off, but Luo Tong did not look back when he boarded the carriage. When the carriage driver told him his mother was behind him, Luo Tong said, "I don't want to make my mother miss me even more. That's why I don't look back." Luo Tong was also known for being filial to his stepmother (Hua Xin's official sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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