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Niu Yingzhen
Niu Yingzhen () was a poet in Imperial China who lived during the 8th century. It was claimed that Niu was able to learn different texts within her dreams. Niu wrote over 100 works and showed talent with composing rhapsodies and odes. Personal life Niu was born sometime during the 8th century in present-day Henan. When she was 13 years old, Niu was already well-read in Buddhist sutras and Confucian literature. According to her biography, Niu was able to learn different texts by dreaming that she ate the actual copies, giving her the ability to discuss literature and philosophy with long-deceased male scholars in her dreams. She was questioned about her dreams when she woke up, to which Niu's response was that she did not know how it happened. Despite this, Niu was able to accurately answer any questions that were asked about texts that she had discussed within her dreams. Niu was also well-versed in the '' Zuo Zhuan'', which details the political history of China from 721 B.C. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niu (surname)
Niu () is a Chinese family name was listed 310th on the Song Dynasty list of the ''Hundred Family Surnames.'' It means "ox". According to a 2013 study it was the 103rd most common surname at the time, shared by 2.20 million people, or 0.150% of the total population, with the province with the most being Henan. Prominent people with family name 牛 * Consort Niu (牛昭容), a concubine said to be a power behind the throne after Tang emperor Shunzong suffered a stroke. * Niu Ben (牛犇), stage name of Chinese actor Zhang Xuejing. * Niu Fu (牛辅), general during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. * Niu Guannan (牛冠男), Chinese water polo player. * Niu Huijun (牛惠君), international football referee. * Niu Jianfeng (牛剑锋), Chinese bronze medallist in table tennis at the 2004 Athens Olympics. * Niu Junfeng (牛骏峰), Chinese actor. * Niu Jin (牛金), general during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. * Niu Lijie (牛丽杰), former Chinese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapters, 11th century BC), the '' Bamboo Annals'' (c. 296 BC) and the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' (c. 91 BC) describe a Xia dynasty before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, and Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia. The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is among the world's oldest civilizations and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhapsody (music)
A rhapsody in music is a one- movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour, and tonality. An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation make it freer in form than a set of variations. The word ''rhapsody'' is derived from the gr, ῥαψῳδός, ''rhapsōidos'', a reciter of epic poetry (a rhapsodist), and came to be used in Europe by the 16th century as a designation for literary forms, not only epic poems, but also for collections of miscellaneous writings and, later, any extravagant expression of sentiment or feeling. In the 18th century, literary rhapsodies first became linked with music, as in Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's ''Musicalische Rhapsodien'' (1786), a collection of songs with keyboard accompaniment, together with a few solo keyboard pieces. The first solo piano compositions with the title, however, were Václav Jan Tomášek’s fifteen Rhapsodies, the firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is also applied to the entirety of China proper. Henan is a birthplace of Han Chinese civilization, with over 3,200 years of recorded history and remained China's cultural, economic and political center until approximately 1,000 years ago. Henan Province is home to many heritage sites, including the ruins of Shang dynasty capital city Yin and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals of China, Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, are in Henan. The practice of tai chi also began here in Chen Jia Gou Village (Chen style), as did the later Yang and Wu styles. Although the name of the province () means "south of the ellowriver.", approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River, also known as the Hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sutra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements.Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pages 54–55 Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven. The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas. Every school of Hindu philosophy, Vedic guides for rites of passage, v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a way of life, Confucianism developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE). Confucius considered himself a transmitter of cultural values inherited from the Xia (c. 2070–1600 BCE), Shang (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and Western Zhou dynasties (c. 1046–771 BCE). Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist and autocratic Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), but survived. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang–Lao as the official ideology, while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism. A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In the late Tang, C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fu (poetry)
''Fu'' (), often translated "rhapsody" or "poetic exposition", is a form of Chinese rhymed prose that was the dominant literary form during the Han dynasty (206AD220). ''Fu'' are intermediary pieces between poetry and prose in which a place, object, feeling, or other subject is described and rhapsodized in exhaustive detail and from as many angles as possible. Features characteristic of ''fu'' include alternating rhyme and prose, varying line length, close alliteration, onomatopoeia, loose parallelism, and extensive cataloging of their topics. ''Fu'' composers usually strove to use as wide a vocabulary as possible, and classical ''fu'' often contain many rare and archaic Chinese words. They were not sung like songs, but were recited or chanted. The ''fu'' genre came into being around the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC and continued to be regularly used into the Song dynasty (9601279). ''Fu'' were used as grand praises for the imperial courts, palaces, and cities, but were also used ... [...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] |
Song Ruozhao
Song Ruozhao (; 761–828) was a Chinese Confucian scholar, poet and imperial official of the Tang dynasty (618–906). Her extant works include one poem, a short fiction story and her annotation to her sister's work: ''Analects for Women'', a book about the proper roles and code of conduct for women, and a biography of Niu Yingzhen. The Five Sisters Song Ruozhao was the second eldest of the ''Five Sisters of the Song Family'' (the eldest Song Ruoshen, the third eldest Song Ruoxian Song Ruoxian (, 772–835), was a Chinese Confucian scholar and poet. She was one of five sisters, who all became employed as official poets at the Imperial court: Song Ruoshen (; 768–820), Song Ruozhao, Song Ruoxian, Song Ruolun () and Song ..., followed by Song Ruolun and Song Ruoxun), who were known for their learning, literary talent and respected position in the imperial palace. Their father, Song Tingfen, was a Confucian scholar and the progeny of the famous poet Song Zhiwen (c. 656-c. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
