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Suiren
Suiren ( zh, , ''Suìrén'', lit. "Flint Man") appears in Chinese mythology and some works which draw upon it. He is credited as a culture hero who introduced humans to the production of fire and its use for cooking. He was included on some ancient lists of the legendary Three August Ones, who lived long before Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, and the Xia rulers of the earliest historical Chinese dynasty, even before the Yellow Emperor & Yandi. Suiren’s innovation by tradition has been using the wooden fire drill to create fire. Tradition holds that he ruled over China for 110 years. Sources He is mentioned in ten books from the Han dynasty or before. Those crediting him with the introduction of drilling wood for fire include three Confucian works (''Bai Hu Tong'', ''Zhong Lun'', and ''Fengsu Tongyi''), the legalist book by Han Feizi, and the historical textbook ''Gu San Fen'' (). He is also mentioned more generally in the ''Zhuangzi'' or ''Chuang-tzu'', in two of the Confuc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Sovereigns And Five Emperors
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today they may be considered culture heroes. The dates of these mythological figures may be fictitious, but according to some accounts and reconstructions, they supposedly preceded the Xia Dynasty. Description The Three Sovereigns, sometimes known as the Three August Ones, were said to be god-kings or demigods who used their divine abilities to improve the lives of the Chinese peoples and gift them essential skills and valuable knowledge. The Five Emperors are portrayed as exemplary ancestral sages who possessed a great moral character and lived to an extremely old age and ruled over a period of great Chinese peace. The Three Sovereigns on the other hand are ascribed various identities in different Chinese historical texts. These high kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of the mythology involves exciting stories full of fantastic people and beings, the use of magical powers, often taking place in an exotic mythological place or time. Like many mythologies, Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Along with Chinese folklore, Chinese mythology forms an important part of Chinese folk religion. Many stories regarding characters and events of the distant past have a double tradition: ones which present a more historicized or euhemerized version and ones which present a more mythological version. Many myths involve the creation and cosmology of the universe and its deities and inhabitants. Some mythology involves creation myths, the origin of things, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youchao
Youchao (, lit. "Nest-Owner") is the inventor of houses and buildings, according to China's ancient mythology. He is said to have been one of The Three August Ones in ancient China. He is an obscure figure, also known as Da Chao (). Tradition holds that he ruled over China for 200 years. According to Han Feizi, people could avoid harm from animals with the help of buildings made from wood, which was taught by Youchao. There is the legend of the Four Clans (), who took part in creating the world. The four members are Youchao, Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong.王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #1 遠古至春秋. 中華書局. . pp. 4–7. References Citations Sources * Christie, Anthony (1968). ''Chinese Mythology''. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. * Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011 985 Year 985 ( CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters around 2,000BC. Fuxi was counted as the first of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period. Origin Pangu was said to be the creation god in Chinese mythology. He was a giant sleeping within an egg of chaos. As he awoke, he stood up and divided the sky and the earth. Pangu then died after standing up, and his body turned into rivers, mountains, plants, animals, and everything else in the world, among which is a powerful being known as Huaxu (華胥). Huaxu gave birth to a twin brother and sister, Fuxi and Nüwa. Fuxi and Nüwa are said to be creatures that have faces of human and bodies of snakes. Fuxi was known as the "original god", and he was said to have be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Table Of Chinese Monarchs
This list of Chinese monarchs includes rulers of China with various titles prior to the establishment of the Republic in 1912. From the Zhou dynasty until the Qin dynasty, rulers usually held the title "king" (). With the separation of China into different Warring States, this title had become so common that the unifier of China, the first Qin Emperor Qin Shihuang created a new title for himself, that of "emperor" (). The title of Emperor of China continued to be used for the remainder of China's imperial history, right down to the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912. While many other monarchs existed in and around China throughout its history, this list covers only those with a quasi-legitimate claim to the majority of China, or those who have traditionally been named in king-lists. The following list of Chinese monarchs is in no way comprehensive. Chinese sovereigns were known by many different names, and how they should be identified is often confusing. Sometimes the same emperor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In the Huainanzi, there is described a great battle between deities that broke the pillars supporting Heaven and caused great devastation. There was great flooding, and Heaven had collapsed. Nüwa was the one who patched the holes in Heaven with five colored stones, and she used the legs of a tortoise to mend the pillars. There are many instances of her in literature across China which detail her in creation stories, and today remains a figure important to Chinese culture. Name The character ''nü'' ( zh, t=女, l=female) is a common prefix on the names of goddesses. The proper name is ''wa'', also read as ''gua'' ( zh, t=媧). The Chinese character is unique to this name. Birrell translates it as 'lovely', but notes that it "could be construed as 'fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuo Wen Jie Zi
''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them, as well as the first to use the principle of organization by sections with shared components called radicals (''bùshǒu'' 部首, lit. "section headers"). Circumstances of compilation Xu Shen, a Han Dynasty scholar of the Five Classics, compiled the ''Shuowen Jiezi''. He finished editing it in 100 CE, but due to an unfavorable imperial attitude towards scholarship, he waited until 121 CE before having his son Xǔ Chōng present it to Emperor An of Han along with a memorial. In analyzing the structure of characters and defining the words represented by them, Xu Shen strove to disambiguate the meaning of the pre-Han Classics, so as to render their usage by government unquestioned and bring about order, and in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanzi (text)
The ''Guanzi'' () is an ancient Chinese political and philosophical text. At over 135,000 characters long, the ''Guanzi'' is one of the longest early Chinese philosophical texts. This anonymously written foundational text covers broad subject matter, notably including price regulation of commodities via the concept of "light and heavy" (轻重). It is one of the most representative text of developing concepts of political economy Warring States era. Authorship The ''Guanzi'' is named for and traditionally attributed to the 7th century BCE philosopher and statesman Guan Zhong, who served as Prime Minister to Duke Huan of Qi. It was, however, written by several anonymous authors and precise date of creation remains subject to historical debate. The Han Dynasty scholar Liu Xiang edited the received ''Guanzi'' text circa 26 BCE. It contains a wide variety of material from many different authors over several successive centuries, largely associated with the 4th century BCE Jixia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qianfu Lun
The ''Qianfu Lun'' ( zh, , ''Qiánfū lún'', "Comments of a Recluse"), also known by its Wade-Giles romanization ''Ch'ien-fu Lun'', is a political-metaphysical text by the Later Han philosopher Wang Fu. It contains criticisms of contemporary societies, especially the power of consort clans and the growing regionalism. In the work, Wang Fu strongly supports the Confucian model of good government and humanism. Further reading * Anne Behnke Kinney. ''The Art of the Han Essay: Wang Fu's Ch'ien-Fu Lun''. Phoenix: Arizona State University Center for Asian Research, 1990. References External links Full text of the ''Qianfu Lun'' (Chinese)- Chinese Text Project The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ... Chinese classic texts {{china-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xunzi (book)
The ''Xunzi'' () is an ancient Chinese collection of philosophical writings attributed to and named after Xun Kuang, a 3rd-century BCE philosopher usually associated with the Confucian tradition. The ''Xunzi'' is perhaps most famous for the emphasis it places on education and propriety, as well as its striking assertion that "human nature is detestable". The text is furthermore an important source of early theories of ritual, cosmology, and governance. The ideas within the ''Xunzi'' are thought to have exerted a strong influence on Legalist thinkers, such as Han Fei, and laid the groundwork for much of Han Dynasty political ideology. The text criticizes a wide range of other prominent early Chinese thinkers, including Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, and Mencius. Some ''Xunzi'' chapters are especially significant. The "Discussion of Heaven ( ''Tiān lùn'')" rejects the notion that heaven has a moral will. Instead, Xunzi asserts that heaven operates according to constant principles; thus ... [...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] |
Han Feizi
The ''Han Feizi'' or ''Hanfeizi'' (" ritings ofMaster Han Fei") is an ancient Chinese text named for its attribution to the political philosopher Han Fei. It comprises a selection of essays in the Legalist tradition on theories of state power, synthesizing the methodologies of his predecessors. Its 55 chapters, most of which date to the Warring States period mid-3rd century, are the only such text to survive fully intact. Among the most important philosophical classics in ancient China, it touches on administration, diplomacy, war and economics, and is also valuable for its abundance of anecdotes about pre-Qin China. Though differing considerably in style, the coherency of the essays lend themselves to the possibility that they were written by Han Fei himself, and are generally considered more philosophically engaging than the ''Book of Lord Shang''. Zhuge Liang is said to have attached great importance to the Han Feizi, as well as to Han Fei's predecessor Shen Buhai. Introdu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
