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Fenshen
''Fenshen'' 分身 (lit. "divide the body") or ''fenxing'' 分形 ("divide the physical form") was a legendary Daoist and ''fangshi'' Master of Esoterica technique for multilocation, that is, transforming or multiplying one's body into two or more identical versions. A famous story about ''fenshen'' concerns general Cao Cao ordering the execution of the alchemist Zuo Ci, who when taken into prison playfully divided himself into multiple Master Zuos, thus bamboozling the guards and escaping death. Terminology The Chinese word ''fēnshēn'' is a compound of ''fēn'' 分 "divide, separate, split, divert; differentiate, distinguish, discriminate, demarcate" and ''shēn'' 身 "torso of a man or animal, trunk of the body, the body below the neck; by synecdoche, general term for bodyKroll, Paul K. (2017), ''A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese'', rev. ed., Brill.". The Chinese ''Hanyu Da Cidian'', which is lexicographically comparable to the ''Oxford English D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luo Guanzhong
Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attributed with writing ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Identity The location and date of Luo's birth are controversial. One possibility was that he was from Taiyuan, and lived in the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty by the record of his contemporary, the playwright Jia Zhongming (賈仲明), who said that he had met him in 1364. Another possibility was that he was born in Dongping County, Dongyuan, the province of Shandong, in about 1280 – 1360. Literary historians suggest other possibilities for his home, also including Hangzhou and Jiangnan. According to Meng Fanren (孟繁仁), Luo can be identified in the pedigree of the Luo family, and Taiyuan is most likely his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng (; AD 78–139), formerly romanized as Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar. Zhang Heng began his career as a minor civil servant in Nanyang. Eventually, he became Chief Astronomer, Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages, and then Palace Attendant at the imperial court. His uncompromising stance on historical and calendrical issues led to his becoming a controversial figure, preventing him from rising to the status of Grand Historian. His political rivalry with the palace eunuchs during the reign of Emperor Shun (r. 125–144) led to his decision to retire from the central court to serve as an administrator of Hejian Kingdom in present-day Hebei. Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wenlin Software For Learning Chinese
Wenlin Software for Learning Chinese () is a software application designed by Tom Bishop, who is also president of the Wenlin Institute. It is based on his experience of the needs of learners of the Chinese language, predominantly Mandarin. It contains a dictionary function, a corpus of Chinese texts, a function for reading and creating Chinese text files, and a flashcard function. By pointing the cursor at a Chinese character the software looks up an English word, and vice versa, working like a dictionary. The software recognizes files in Unicode, GB 2312, Big5, and HZ format. Functions Dictionary function The dictionary contains an electronic version of the ABC Chinese–English Dictionary by John DeFrancis and the Shuowen Jiezi seal character dictionary. The current version (4.3.2) contains more than 300,000 Chinese-English entries and over 60,000 English-Chinese entries. It allows users to search for Chinese characters or words by inputting either Chinese characters or pinyin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shen (Chinese Religion)
''Shen'' (神) is the Chinese word for "deity", "spirit", heart, inclusive and community mind, or future mind. The Japanese equivalent is ''shin''. This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar, yet differing, meanings. The first meaning may refer to spirits or gods that are intimately involved in the affairs of the world. Spirits generate entities like rivers, mountains, thunder and stars. A second meaning of shen refers to the human spirit or psyche; it is the basic power or agency within humans that accounts for life, and in order to further life to its fullest potential the spirit is transformed to actualise potential. A third understanding of shen describes an entity as spiritual in the sense of inspiring awe or wonder because it combines categories usually kept separate, or it cannot be comprehended through normal concepts. In traditional Chinese medicine the physician will describe this as the shimmer or gloss that is seen above the surface of a object. If it has a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus Sutra
The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. It is the main scripture on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established. It is also influential for other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Zen. According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, "For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the ''Lotus Sūtra'' contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation." The American Buddhologist Donald S. Lopez Jr. writes that the ''Lotus Sūtra'' "is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist texts," presenting "a radical re-vision of both the Buddhist path and of the person of the Buddha." Two central teachings of the ''Lotus Sūtra'' have been very i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmarakṣa
(, J. Jiku Hōgo; K. Ch’uk Pǒphom c. 233-310) was one of the most important early translators of Mahayana sutras into Chinese. Several of his translations had profound effects on East Asian Buddhism. He is described in scriptural catalogues as Yuezhi in origin. Life His family lived at Dunhuang, where he was born around 233 CE. At the age of eight, he became a novice and took the Indian monk named Zhu Gaozuo () as his teacher. As a young boy, Dhamaraksa was said to be extremely intelligent, and journeyed with his teacher to many countries in the Western Regions, where he learned Central Asian languages and scripts. He then traveled back to China with a quantity of Buddhist texts and translated them with the aid of numerous assistants and associates, both Chinese and foreign, from Parthians to Khotanese. One of his more prominent assistants was a Chinese upāsaka, Nie Chengyuan (), who served as a scribe and editor. Dharmaraksa first began his translation career in Chang'an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upaya
Upaya (Sanskrit: उपाय, , ''expedient means'', ''pedagogy'') is a term used in Buddhism to refer to an aspect of guidance along the Buddhist paths to liberation where a conscious, voluntary action "is driven by an incomplete reasoning" about its direction. Upaya is often used with ''kaushalya'' (कौशल्य, "cleverness"), ''upaya-kaushalya'' meaning "skill in means". Upaya-kaushalya is a concept emphasizing that practitioners may use their own specific methods or techniques that fit the situation in order to gain enlightenment. The implication is that even if a technique, view, etc., is not ultimately "true" in the highest sense, it may still be an ''expedient'' practice to perform or view to hold; i.e., it may bring the practitioner closer to the true realization in a similar way. The exercise of skill to which it refers, the ability to adapt one's message to the audience, is of enormous importance in the Pali Canon. The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism notes tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Mang
Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only Emperor of China, emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the throne in 9 CE. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow, and his rule marked the separation between the Western Han dynasty (before Xin) and Eastern Han dynasty (after Xin). Traditional Chinese historiography viewed Wang as a tyrant and usurper, while more recently, some historians have portrayed him as a visionary and selfless social reformer. During his reign, he abolished slavery and initiated a land redistribution program. Though a learned Confucian scholar who sought to implement the harmonious society he saw in the Chinese classic texts, classics, his efforts ended in chaos. Wang Mang's late reign saw large-scale peasant rebellions, most notably the revolt of the Red Eyebrows. In October 23 CE, the capital Chang'a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Guangwu Of Han
Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later Han) dynasty. He ruled over parts of China at first, and through suppression and conquest of regional warlords, the whole of China proper was consolidated by the time of his death in AD 57. During his reign, Taoism was made the official religion of China, and the Chinese folk religion began to decline. Liu Xiu was one of the many descendants of the Han imperial family. Following the usurpation of the Han throne by Wang Mang and the ensuing civil war during the disintegration of Wang's short-lived Xin dynasty, he emerged as one of several descendants of the fallen dynasty claiming the imperial throne. After assembling forces and proclaiming himself emperor in the face of competitors, he was able to defeat his rivals, destroy the peasant ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guan Suo
Guan Suo is a fictional character of the Three Kingdoms period of China. He is often depicted as the third son of the general Guan Yu. He is not mentioned in historical records, and appears only in folk tales and in the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''. He was said to have served in the state of Shu Han as a military general. In folklore and literature Little is known about Guan Suo, as many tales about him were passed down in the form of folk culture instead of textual works. In the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Guan Suo was described as a capable warrior, and was involved in Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign against the Nanman. Guan Suo was very popular among the girls because of his handsome appearance. In a Chinese opera play, ''Guan Suo Play'' (關索戲), he was described as a man "seven chi tall, with a face like a peach blossom" (身長七尺，面似桃花). In some stories, he has many wives. The first is called Bao ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
