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Proto-Mandarin
Old Mandarin or Early Mandarin was the speech of northern China during the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (12th to 14th centuries). New genres of vernacular literature were based on this language, including verse, drama and story forms, such as the '' qu'' and ''sanqu''. The phonology of Old Mandarin has been inferred from the 'Phags-pa script, an alphabet created in 1269 for several languages of the Mongol empire, including Chinese, and from two rime dictionaries, the ''Menggu Ziyun'' (1308) and the '' Zhongyuan Yinyun'' (1324). The rhyme books differ in some details but show many of the features characteristic of modern Mandarin dialects, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stops and the reorganization of the four tones of Middle Chinese. Name The name "Mandarin", as a direct translation of the Chinese (, 'language of the officials'), was initially applied to the lingua franca of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which was based on va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandarin (late Imperial Lingua Franca)
Mandarin () was the common spoken language of administration of the Chinese empire during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It arose as a practical measure, to circumvent the mutual unintelligibility of the varieties of Chinese spoken in different parts of China. Knowledge of this language was thus essential for an official career, but it was never formally defined. The language was a koiné based on Mandarin dialects. The southern variant spoken around Nanjing was prevalent in the late Ming era, although later on a form based on the Beijing dialect took the stage by the mid-19th century and developed into Standard Chinese in the 20th century. In some 19th-century works, it was called the court dialect. History By the late imperial period, local varieties of Chinese had diverged to the extent that people from different provinces could not understand one another. In order to facilitate communication between officials from different provinces, and between officials and the inhabitant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standard language, standardized form of Mandarin Chinese that was first developed during the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republican Era (1912‒1949). It is designated as the official language of Languages of China, mainland China and a major language in the United Nations languages, United Nations, Languages of Singapore, Singapore, and Languages of Taiwan, Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. Standard Chinese is a pluricentric language with local standards in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore that mainly differ in their lexicon. Hong Kong written Chinese, used for formal written communication in Hong Kong and Macau, is a form of Standard Chinese that is read aloud with the Cantonese reading of characters. Like other Sinit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Checked Tone
A checked tone, commonly known by the Chinese calque entering tone, is one of the four syllable types in the phonology of Middle Chinese. Although usually translated as "tone", a checked tone is not a tone in the phonetic sense but rather a syllable that ends in a stop consonant or a glottal stop. Separating the checked tone allows ''-p'', ''-t'', and ''-k'' to be treated as allophones of ''-m'', ''-n'', and ''-ng'', respectively, since they are in complementary distribution. Stops appear only in the checked tone, and nasals appear only in the other tones. Because of the origin of tone in Chinese, the number of tones found in such syllables is smaller than the number of tones in other syllables. In Chinese phonetics, they have traditionally been counted separately. For instance, in Cantonese, there are six tones in syllables that do not end in stops but only three in syllables that do so. That is why although Cantonese has only six tones, in the sense of six contrasting variatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Alphabet
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, Jirel and Balti. It has also been used for some non-Tibetic languages in close cultural contact with Tibet, such as Thakali. The printed form is called uchen script while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script. This writing system is used across the Himalayas, and Tibet. The script is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. The Tibetan script is of Brahmic origin from the Gupta script and is ancestral to scripts such as Meitei, Lepcha,Daniels, Peter T. and William Bright. ''The World's Writing Systems''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Marchen and the multilingual ʼPhags-pa script. History According to Tibetan historiography, the Tibetan script was introduced by Thonmi Sambhota in the firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294, although after the division of the empire this was a nominal position. He proclaimed the empire's dynastic name "Great Yuan" in 1271, and ruled Yuan China until his death in 1294. Kublai was the second son of Tolui by his chief wife Sorghaghtani Beki, and a grandson of Genghis Khan. He was almost 12 when Genghis Khan died in 1227. He had succeeded his older brother Möngke as Khagan in 1260, but had to defeat his younger brother Ariq Böke in the Toluid Civil War lasting until 1264. This episode marked the beginning of the fragmentation of the empire. Kublai's real power was limited to the Yuan Empire, even though as Khagan he still had influence in the Ilkhanate and, to a significantly lesser degree, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drogön Chögyal Phagpa
Drogön Chogyal Phagpa (; ; 1235 – 15 December 1280), was the fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also the first Imperial Preceptor of the Yuan dynasty, and was concurrently named the director of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, serving during the reign of Kublai Khan. Historical tradition remembers him as the first vice-ruler of Tibet under the Yuan emperor as well as one of the Five Sakya patriarchs (). Although this is historically disputed, he played a very important political role. Early life Phagpa was born in Ngari (West Tibet) in 1235 as the son of Sönam Gyeltsen (, 1184–1239), a member of the Khon family () which held hereditary power over the Sakya Monastery in the Tsang region, and his mother was Kunga Kyi (). The ''Red annals'' name his mother as Jomo Konchog Kyi. He was the nephew of Sakya Pandita (1182-1251), who began the relationship between Sakya and the Mongol conquerors after their first invasion of Tibet in 1240. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Northern Song dynasty. As of 31 December 2018, around 4,465,000 people lived in Kaifeng's Prefecture, of whom 1,652,000 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Xiangfu, Longting, Shunhe Hui, Gulou and Yuwantai Districts. Located along the Yellow River's southern bank, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the west, Xinxiang to the northwest, Shangqiu to the east, Zhoukou to the southeast, Xuchang to the southwest, and Heze of Shandong to the northeast. Kaifeng is also a major city in the world by scientific research outputs as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is home to a campus of Henan University, one of the national key universities in the Double First Class University Plan. Names The postal romanization for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shao Yong
Shao Yong (; 1011–1077), courtesy name Yaofu (堯夫), named Shào Kāngjié (邵康節) was a Chinese cosmologist, historian, philosopher, and poet who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism across China during the Song dynasty. Shao is considered one of the most learned men of his time. Unlike most men of such stature in his society, Shao avoided governmental positions his entire life, but his influence was no less substantial. He wrote an influential treatise on cosmogony, the ''Huangji Jingshi'' (皇極經世, ''Book of supreme world ordering principles''). Origins Shao's ancestors were from Fanyang. He was born in 1011 in an area known as Hengzhang county (衡漳, now Anyang, Anyang, Henan) to Shao Gu (邵古, 986–1064) and Lady Li (李氏, d. 1032 or 1033). Shao's mother, Li, was an extremely devout practitioner of Buddhism. This link with Buddhism proved to be a major influence on Shao's thought throughout his life. Shao Yong's first teacher was Shao ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qieyun
The ''Qieyun'' () is a Chinese language, Chinese rhyme dictionary, published in 601 during the Sui dynasty. The book was a guide to proper reading of classical texts, using the ''fanqie'' method to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. The ''Qieyun'' and later redactions, notably the ''Guangyun'', are important documentary sources used in the reconstruction of historical Chinese phonology. History The book was created by Lu Fayan (Lu Fa-yen; ) in 601. The preface of the ''Qieyun'' describes how the plan of the book originated from a discussion with eight of his friends 20 years earlier at his home in Chang'an, the capital of Sui dynasty, Sui China. None of these scholars was originally from Chang'an; they were native speakers of differing dialects – five northern and three southern. According to Lu, Yan Zhitui (顏之推) and Xiao Gai (), both men originally from the south, were the most influential in setting up the norms on which the ''Qieyun'' was based. Howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guangyun
The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and expanded rhymes"). Chen Pengnian (, 961–1017) and Qiu Yong () were the chief editors. The dictionary is a revision and expansion of the influential '' Qieyun'' rime dictionary of 601, and was itself later revised as the ''Jiyun''. ''Pingshui Yun'' system, the standard for poetry rhyming after the Song Dynasty, is also based on ''Guangyun''. Until the discovery of an almost complete early 8th century edition of the ''Qieyun'' in 1947, the ''Guangyun'' was the most accurate available account of the ''Qieyun'' phonology, and was heavily used in early work on the reconstruction of Middle Chinese. It is still used as a major source. The ''Guangyun'' has a similar hierarchical organization to the ''Qieyun'': * The dictionary is split into four ton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rime Table
A rime table or rhyme table () is a Chinese phonological model, tabulating the syllables of the series of rime dictionaries beginning with the ''Qieyun'' (601) by their onsets, rhyme groups, tones and other properties. The method gave a significantly more precise and systematic account of the sounds of those dictionaries than the previously used analysis, but many of its details remain obscure. The phonological system that is implicit in the rime dictionaries and analysed in the rime tables is known as Middle Chinese, and is the traditional starting point for efforts to recover the sounds of early forms of Chinese. Some authors distinguish the two layers as Early and Late Middle Chinese respectively. The earliest rime tables are associated with Chinese Buddhist monks, who are believed to have been inspired by the Sanskrit syllable charts in the Siddham script they used to study the language. The oldest extant rime tables are the 12th-century ''Yunjing'' ("mirror of rhymes") an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mengu Ziyun Xia 24b
, also called or , are various types of facial armour that were worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. These include the ''sōmen'', ''menpō'', ''hanbō'' or ''hanpō'', and ''happuri''. Description The ''men-yoroi'', which covered all or part of the face, provided a way to secure the top-heavy ''kabuto'' (helmet). The ''Shinobi-no-o'' (chin cord) of the kabuto would be tied under the chin. Small hooks called ''ori-kugi'' or posts called ''odome'' located on various places would help secure the chin cord. The ''men-yoroi'' was constructed from iron, leather, or a combination of both. It had a lacquered or rusted type of finish and included a variety of facial details, such as a moustache, fierce teeth and a detachable nose. With the exception of the happuri, a men-yoroi had a small hole underneath the chin for sweat drainage. History Face armour in Japan begins with the ''happuri'', which is depicted in Heian- and Kamakura-era yamato-e paintings, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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