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Summons Of The Soul
Summons of the Soul, Summoning of the Soul, or Zhao Hun (; Pinyin: Zhāo Hún) is one of the poems anthologized in the ancient Chinese poetry collection, the ''Chu Ci''. The "Summons of the Soul" consists of a four-part poem. The first part consists of a few lines with no clear relationship to the rest of the poem. The second part is a prolog in the form of a conversation in heaven, in which God (帝) orders the Ancestor Shaman Wu Yang (巫陽) to go down below to earth and help out in the case of someone whose soul has wandered off. Part three is the actual summoning of the soul, by means of threats and temptations. The fourth part is an epilog (''luan''). (Hawkes, 2011 985 222) The authorship of "Summons of the Soul" has been attributed to Qu Yuan, but Song Yu is more likely. (Hawkes, 2011 985 223) The "Summons of the Soul" is very similar, but longer, than another of the ''Chu ci'' poems, "The Great Summons" (''Da zhao''). Both poems derive from a shamanic tradition of summoning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hun And Po
''Hun'' () and ''po'' () are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and traditional religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a spiritual, ethereal, yang soul which leaves the body after death, and also a corporeal, substantive, yin soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Some controversy exists over the number of souls in a person; for instance, one of the traditions within Daoism proposes a soul structure of ; that is, "three and seven ". The historian Yü Ying-shih describes and as "two pivotal concepts that have been, and remain today, the key to understanding Chinese views of the human soul and the afterlife". Characters The Chinese characters and for and typify the most common character classification of "radical-phonetic" or "phono-semantic" graphs, which combine a "radical" or "signific" (recurring graphic elements that roughly provide semantic information) with a "phonetic" (suggesting ancient pronunciation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese form, to learners already familiar with the Latin alphabet. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, but pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written in the Latin script, and is also used in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The word ' () literally means "Han language" (i.e. Chinese language), while ' () means "spelled sounds". The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by a group of Chinese linguists including Zhou Youguang and was based on earlier forms of romanizations of Chinese. It was published by the Chinese Government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted pinyin as an international standard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chu Ci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period (ended 221 BC), and also a large number of works composed several centuries later, during the Han dynasty.Hawkes, David. Ch'u Tz'u: ''Songs of the South, an Ancient Chinese Anthology''. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959), 28. The traditional version of the ''Chu ci'' contains 17 major sections, anthologized with its current contents by Wang Yi (librarian), Wang Yi, a 2nd-century AD librarian who served under Emperor Shun of Han. The early (pre-Qin dynasty) Classical Chinese poetry is mainly known through the two anthologies the ''Chu ci'' and the ''Shi Jing, Shi jing'' (''Classic of Poetry'' or ''Book of Songs''). Background ''Chu ci'' was named after a form of poetry that originated in the Chu (state), State of Chu, which was located i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu (shaman)
''Wu'' () is a Chinese term translating to "shaman" or "sorcerer", originally the practitioners of Chinese shamanism or "Wuism" (巫教 ''wū jiào''). Terminology The glyph ancestral to modern is first recorded in bronze script, where it could refer to shamans or sorcerers of either sex. Modern Mandarin ''wu'' (Cantonese ''mouh'') continues a Middle Chinese ''mju'' or ''mjo''. The Old Chinese reconstruction is uncertain, given as *''mywo'' or as *''myag'', the presence of a final velar ''-g'' or ''-ɣ'' in Old Chinese being uncertain. By the late Zhou Dynasty (4th to 3rd centuries BCE), ''wu'' referred mostly to female shamans or "sorceresses", while male sorcerers were named ''xi'' "male shaman; sorcerer", first attested in the ''Guoyu'' or '' Discourses of the States'' (4th century BCE). Other sex-differentiated shaman names include ''nanwu'' for "male shaman; sorcerer; wizard"; and ''nüwu'' , ''wunü'' , ''wupo'' , and ''wuyu'' for "female shaman; sorceress; witch". ''W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the ''Chu Ci'' anthology (also known as ''The Songs of the South'' or ''Songs of Chu''): a volume of poems attributed to or considered to be inspired by his Verse (poetry), verse writing. Together with the ''Classic of Poetry, Shi Jing'', the ''Chu Ci'' is one of the two greatest collections of ancient Chinese verse. He is also remembered in connection to the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Historical details about Qu Yuan's life are few, and his authorship of many ''Chu Ci'' poems has been questioned at length. However, he is widely accepted to have written "The Lament," a ''Chu Ci'' poem. The first known reference to Qu Yuan appears in a poem written in 174 BCE by Jia Yi, an official from Luoy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Yu
Song Yu (; 298–263 BC) was a Chinese poet from the late Warring States period, and is known as the traditional author of a number of poems in the ''Verses of Chu (Chu ci'' 楚辭'')''. Among the ''Verses of Chu'' poems usually attributed to Song Yu are those in the '' Jiu Bian'' section. Also credited to Song Yu, somewhat improbably, are several '' fu'' collected in the 6th century literary anthology '' Wen Xuan''. Biography Biographic information about Song Yu tends to be anecdotal, rather than truly historical, and little reliable information about Song's life exists. Historical accounts agree that Song was from the state of Chu, and was born in the city of Yan (modern Yicheng, Hubei Province), and lived during the reign of King Xiang of Chu (r. 298–263 BC). Works According to the section covering literature and art in the ''Book of Han'', Song wrote 16 works, but only 14 of them have been handed down, such as '' Jiu Bian'' and ''Dengtuzi Haose Fu'' (). However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Summons
"The Great Summons" or ''"Da Zhao"'' () is one of the poems anthologized in the ancient Chinese poetry collection, the ''Chu ci'', also known as ''The Songs of the South''. "The Great Summons" consists of a single poem without introduction or epilog. Its authorship has been attributed to Qu Yuan and to the otherwise relatively unknown Jing Cuo. (Hawkes, 2011 985 232-233) It is very similar, but shorter, than another of the ''Chu ci'' poems, Zhao Hun, ("Summons of the Soul"). Both poems derive from a shamanic tradition of summoning the soul of the someone who has seemed to die, most likely originally with the intention of having it to re-animate its former body (but in the later literary tradition this was meant more allegorically). The two poems both follow a similar pattern: threats of dangers lurking in all directions to which the soul might wander and then tempting descriptions of magnificent sensual pleasures which would be available as a reward for the souls obedient return. (H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period (ended 221 BC), and also a large number of works composed several centuries later, during the Han dynasty.Hawkes, David. Ch'u Tz'u: ''Songs of the South, an Ancient Chinese Anthology''. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959), 28. The traditional version of the ''Chu ci'' contains 17 major sections, anthologized with its current contents by Wang Yi, a 2nd-century AD librarian who served under Emperor Shun of Han. The early (pre-Qin dynasty) Classical Chinese poetry is mainly known through the two anthologies the ''Chu ci'' and the ''Shi jing'' (''Classic of Poetry'' or ''Book of Songs''). Background ''Chu ci'' was named after a form of poetry that originated in the State of Chu, which was located in what is now central China, but was then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Chinese Poetry
Classical Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese and typified by certain traditional forms, or modes; traditional genres; and connections with particular historical periods, such as the poetry of the Tang dynasty. The existence of classical Chinese poetry is documented at least as early as the publication of the ''Classic of Poetry'' (''Shijing''). Various combinations of forms and genres have developed over the ages. Many or most of these poetic forms were developed by the end of the Tang dynasty, in 907 CE. The use and development of Classical Chinese poetry actively continued up until the May Fourth Movement, in 1919, and is still developed even today. Poetry created during this period of more-or-less continuous development displays a great deal of diversity – categorized by both major historical periods and by dynastic periods (the traditional Chinese historical method). Another key aspect of Classical Chinese poetry is its intense int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duanwu Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival ( zh, s=端午节, t=端午節) is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar. Names The English language name for the holiday is Dragon Boat Festival, used as the official English translation of the holiday by the People's Republic of China. It is also referred to in some English sources as Double Fifth Festival which alludes to the date as in the original Chinese name. Chinese names by region ''Duanwu'' (), as the festival is called in Mandarin Chinese, literally means "starting/opening horse", i.e., the first "horse day" (according to the Chinese zodiac/Chinese calendar system) to occur on the month; however, despite the literal meaning being '' wǔ'', "the ay of thehorse in the animal cycle", this character has also been interchangeably construed as ''wǔ'' () meaning "five". Hence ''Duanwu'', the "festival on the fifth day ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Fu Poetry
The History of ''fu'' poetry covers the beginnings of the Chinese literary genre of ''Fu (poetry), fu''. The term ''fu'' describes literary works which have certain characteristics of their own. English lacks an equivalent native term (or Classical Chinese poetry forms, form). Sometimes called "rhapsodies", sometimes called "rhyme-prose", ''fu'' are characterized by qualities of both poetry and prose: both are obligatory. The ''fu'' form of literary work is a treatment in a poetic manner, wherein some topic (or topics) of interest, such as an exotic object, a profound feeling, or an encyclopedic subject is described and rhapsodized upon, in exhaustive detail and various angles of view. And, for a piece to be truly considered to be within the ''fu'' genre, it must follow the rules of this form, in terms of structure, meter, and so on. The first known ''fu'' in the fully accepted, modern meaning of the term, dates from the later part of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC), which is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Wu Shaman
''Wu'' () is a Chinese term translating to "shaman" or "sorcerer", originally the practitioners of Chinese shamanism or "Wuism" (巫教 ''wū jiào''). Terminology The glyph ancestral to modern is first recorded in bronze script, where it could refer to shamans or sorcerers of either sex. Modern Mandarin ''wu'' (Cantonese ''mouh'') continues a Middle Chinese ''mju'' or ''mjo''. The Old Chinese reconstruction is uncertain, given as *''mywo'' or as *''myag'', the presence of a final velar ''-g'' or ''-ɣ'' in Old Chinese being uncertain. By the late Zhou Dynasty (4th to 3rd centuries BCE), ''wu'' referred mostly to female shamans or "sorceresses", while male sorcerers were named ''xi'' "male shaman; sorcerer", first attested in the ''Guoyu'' or '' Discourses of the States'' (4th century BCE). Other sex-differentiated shaman names include ''nanwu'' for "male shaman; sorcerer; wizard"; and ''nüwu'' , ''wunü'' , ''wupo'' , and ''wuyu'' for "female shaman; sorceress; witch". ''W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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