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Juggling In Ancient China
Although juggling in its western form involving props such as balls, rings, and clubs is rarely performed in modern China, at certain periods in Chinese history it was much more popular. In fact, some of the world's earliest known jugglers were Chinese warriors and entertainers who lived during the time of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. References to these artists in ancient Chinese literature have preserved records of their incredible achievements. From such references, it appears that juggling was a well-regarded and highly developed form of ancient Chinese art. Xiong Yiliao Xiong Yiliao (), was a famous Chu warrior who fought under King Zhuang of Chu (ruled 613-591 BC) during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Ancient Chinese annals state that he practiced ''nongwan'' (, "throwing multiple objects up and down without dropping"), and he is often cited as one of the world's earliest known jugglers. During a battle in about 603 BC between the sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Han Dynasty Juggling
Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese people who may be fully or partially Han Chinese descent. * Han Minjok, or Han people (): the Korean native name referring to Koreans. * Hän: one of the First Nations peoples of Canada. Former states * Han (Western Zhou state) (韓) (11th century BC – 757 BC), a Chinese state during the Spring and Autumn period * Han (state) (韓) (403–230 BC), a Chinese state during the Warring States period * Han dynasty (漢/汉) (206 BC – 220 AD), a dynasty split into two eras, Western Han and Eastern Han ** Shu Han (蜀漢) (221–263), a Han Chinese dynasty that existed during the Three Kingdoms Period * Former Zhao (304–329), one of the Sixteen Kingdoms, known as Han (漢) before 319 * Cheng Han (成漢) (304–347), one of the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lan Zi
Although juggling in its western form involving props such as balls, rings, and clubs is rarely performed in modern China, at certain periods in Chinese history it was much more popular. In fact, some of the world's earliest known jugglers were Chinese warriors and entertainers who lived during the time of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. References to these artists in ancient Chinese literature have preserved records of their incredible achievements. From such references, it appears that juggling was a well-regarded and highly developed form of ancient Chinese art. Xiong Yiliao Xiong Yiliao (), was a famous Chu warrior who fought under King Zhuang of Chu (ruled 613-591 BC) during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Ancient Chinese annals state that he practiced ''nongwan'' (, "throwing multiple objects up and down without dropping"), and he is often cited as one of the world's earliest known jugglers. During a battle in about 603 BC between the stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Sword And Two Bronze Swords, Warring States Period
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in front of oxygen (32.1% and 30.1%, respectively), forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. In its metallic state, iron is rare in the Earth's crust, limited mainly to deposition by meteorites. Iron ores, by contrast, are among the most abundant in the Earth's crust, although extracting usable metal from them requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching or higher, about higher than that required to smelt copper. Humans started to master that process in Eurasia during the 2nd millennium BCE and the use of iron tools and weapons began to displace copper alloys, in some regions, only around 1200 BCE. That event is considered the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. In th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring And Autumn Period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives from the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'', a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius (551–479 BCE). During this period, the Zhou royal authority over the various feudal states eroded as more and more dukes and marquesses obtained ''de facto'' regional autonomy, defying the king's court in Luoyi and waging wars amongst themselves. The gradual Partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, marked the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period. Background In 771 BCE, a Quanrong invasion in coalition with the states of Zeng and Shen — the latter polity being the fief of the grandfather of the disinherited crown prince Yijiu — destroyed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Zhuang Of Chu
King Zhuang of Chu (, reigned 613-591 BC) was a monarch of the Zhou dynasty State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. His personal name was Xiong Lü (), his ancestral name was Mi (), and his posthumous title was King Zhuang. He was one of the five rulers dubbed the Five Hegemons by Xunzi and attempted to wrest control of China from King Ding of Zhou. The son of King Mu of Chu, Zhuang ascended the throne in 613 BC. According to a legend in the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', for the first three years of his reign Zhuang wasted time in pleasure seeking, but, when challenged by two courtiers, reformed his ways. The king made Sunshu Ao his chancellor. Sunshu Ao began a series of major dam-works and an enormous planned reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. After some military successes, King Zhuang attempted to usurp King Ding of Zhou. According to a well-known story, probably an invention of the Warring States period, he asked a messenger f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chu (state)
Chu, or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period. At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BCE during the Qin's wars of unification. Also known as Jing () and Jingchu (), Chu included most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. For more than 400 years, the Chu capital Danyang was located at the junction of the Dan and Xi Rivers near present-day Xichuan County, Henan, but later moved to Ying. The house of Chu originally bore the clan name Nai ( OC: /*rneːlʔ/) which was later written as Mi ( OC: /*meʔ/). They also bore the lineage name Yan ( OC: /*qlamʔ/, /*qʰɯːm/) which would later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song (state)
Song (; Old Chinese: *') was a state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China, with its capital at Shangqiu. The state was founded soon after King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang dynasty to establish the Zhou dynasty in 1046 BC. It was conquered by the State of Qi in 286 BC, during the Warring States period. Confucius was a descendant of a Song nobleman who moved to the State of Lu. Origin King Zhou of Shang, Di Xin was the younger brother of Zi Qi (who was said in legends to have ruled Gija Joseon in the 11th century BCE) and Zi Yan () (later rulers of Zhou's vassal state Song), father of Wu Geng. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the last ruler of Shang, marking the transition to the Zhou Dynasty, the victor was honor-bound by a stricture of feudal etiquette known as () to allow the defeated house of Shang to continue offering sacrifices to their ancestors. As a result, for a time Shang became a vassal state of Zhou, with the Shang heir Wu Geng allowed to continue ancesto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhuangzi (book)
The ''Zhuangzi'' (Chinese: , historically romanized ''Chuang Tzŭ'') is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476221) which contains stories and anecdotes that exemplify the carefree nature of the ideal Taoist sage. Named for its traditional author, "Master Zhuang" (Zhuangzi), the ''Zhuangzi'' is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, along with the ''Tao Te Ching''. The ''Zhuangzi'' consists of a large collection of anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables, which are often humorous or irreverent. Its main themes are of spontaneity in action and of freedom from the human world and its conventions. The fables and anecdotes in the text attempt to illustrate the falseness of human distinctions between good and bad, large and small, life and death, and human and nature. While other ancient Chinese philosophers focused on moral and personal duty, Zhuangzi promoted carefree wandering and becoming one with "the Way" (''Dào'' ) by following nature. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liezi
The ''Liezi'' () is a Taoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, a c. 5th century BC Hundred Schools of Thought philosopher. Although there were references to Lie's ''Liezi'' from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, a number of Chinese and Western scholars believe that the content of the current text was compiled around the 4th century CE by Zhang Zhan. Textual history The first two references to the ''Liezi'' book are from the Former Han Dynasty. The editor Liu Xiang notes he eliminated repetitions in ''Liezi'' and rearranged it into eight chapters (''pian'' ). The Book of Han bibliography section () says it has eight chapters () and concludes that since the '' Zhuangzi'' quotes Liezi, he must have lived before Zhuangzi. There is a three-century historical gap until the next evidence of the ''Liezi'': the Jin dynasty commentary by Zhang Zhan (fl. ca. 370 CE). Zhang's preface claims his ''Liezi'' copy was transmitted down from his grandfather. All received ''Liezi'' texts derive from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' (, 'Thoroughfare'); the ''Tao'' is generally defined as the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying reality. The ''Tao Te Ching'', a book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (), together with the later writings of Zhuangzi, are both widely considered the keystone works of Taoism. Taoism teaches about the various disciplines for achieving perfection through self-cultivation. This can be done through the use of Taoist techniques and by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the all, called "the way" or "Tao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize ''wu wei'' (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity and the Three Treasures: , compassion, , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jian
The ''jian'' (pronunciation （劍）, English approximation: ) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the ''jian'' date to the 7th century BCE, during the Spring and Autumn period; one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian. Historical one-handed versions have blades varying from in length. The weight of an average sword of blade-length would be in a range of approximately 700 to 900 grams (1.5 to 2 pounds). There are also larger two-handed versions used for training by many styles of Chinese martial arts. Professional ''jian'' practitioners are referred to as ''jianke'' ( or "swordsmen"; a term dating from the Han dynasty). In Chinese folklore, it is known as "The Gentleman of Weapons" and is considered one of the four major weapons, along with the ''gun'' (staff), '' qiang'' (spear), and the ''dao'' (sabre). These swords are also sometimes referred to as ''taijijian'' or "tai ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Yo-yo
The diabolo ( ; commonly misspelled ''diablo'') is a juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle () and two cups (hourglass/egg timer shaped) or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo. This object is spun using a string attached to two hand sticks ("batons" or "wands"). A large variety of tricks are possible with the diabolo, including tosses, and various types of interaction with the sticks, string, and various parts of the user's body. Multiple diabolos can be spun on a single string. Like the Western yo-yo (which has an independent origin), it maintains its spinning motion through a rotating effect based on conservation of angular momentum. History Origin The Diabolo is derived from the Chinese yo-yo encountered by Europeans during the colonial era. However, the origin of the Chinese yo-yo is unknown. The earliest mention of the Chinese yo-yo is in the late Ming dynasty Wanli period (1572–1620), with its details well recorded in the book ''Dijing Jingwulue'' by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
