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Zhen'gao
The ''Zhengao'' (真誥, ''Declarations of the Perfected'') written in 499 CE is the Shangqing Taoist patriarch Tao Hongjing's comprehensive collection of poetry and prose from the original "Shangqing revelations", which were supposedly given to the mystic Yang Xi by a group of Taoist ''zhenren'' Perfected Ones from 364 to 370. This classic text has long been famous both as a foundational text of religious Taoism and as a brilliant exemplar of medieval Chinese poetry. History The ''Zhengao'' is a compendium of Shangqing Taoist materials transmitted by the Eastern Jin dynasty scholar and mystic Yang Xi (330-c. 386) and his patrons Xu Mi (許谧, 303-376) and Xu Hui (許翽, 341-c. 370). The large, aristocratic Xu (許) family was from Jurong, Jiangsu, which was the Eastern Jin capital Jiankang (modern Nanjing) from 317 to 420. Following the Xu family tradition of government service, Xu Mi and his son Hui were officials in the court of Emperor Ai, unlike Xu Mi's elder bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yang Xi (mystic)
Yang Xi (楊羲, 330-c. 386), courtesy name Xihe (羲和, a mythological solar deity), was an Eastern Jin dynasty scholar, calligrapher, and mystic, who is best known for the "Shangqing revelations" that were purportedly dictated to him by Taoist deities between 364 and 370. The Taoist polymath Tao Hongjing subsequently compiled and redacted Yang's revealed texts into the c. 499 '' Zhen'gao'' (真誥, Declarations of the Perfected) compendium, which formed the foundations of the Shangqing School of Taoism. Life The life of Yang Xi was closely intertwined with the aristocratic Xu (許) family in Jurong, Jiangsu. He was employed as the in-house medium/shaman and spiritual advisor when the Perfected Ones directed Yang to transmit the revelation manuscripts to Xu Mi (許謐), an official in the court of Emperor Ai of Jin, and his son Xu Hui (許翽). The sinologist Isabelle Robinet stresses that Yang Xi was a mystic or a visionary, as opposed to a medium. Contrasting a simple med ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tao Hongjing
Tao Hongjing (456–536), courtesy name Tongming, was a Chinese alchemist, astronomer, calligrapher, military general, musician, physician, and pharmacologist, and writer during the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). A polymathic individual of many talents, he was best known as a founder of the Shangqing "Highest Clarity" School of Taoism and the compiler-editor of the basic Shangqing scriptures. Biography There are a variety of sources about Tao Hongjing's life, from his own writings to biographies in the official Twenty-Four Histories. The British sinologist Lionel Giles said Tao's "versatility was amazing: scholar, philosopher, calligraphist, musician, alchemist, pharmacologist, astronomer, he may be regarded as the Chinese counterpart of Leonardo da Vinci". Secular life Tao Hongjing was born in Moling (秣陵, present-day Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu), which was near the Northern and Southern dynasties period capital Jiankang (present-day Nanjing). His fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seal Script
Seal script, also sigillary script () is an ancient style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of the Zhou dynasty bronze script. The Qin variant of seal script eventually became the standard, and was adopted as the formal script for all of China during the Qin dynasty. It was still widely used for decorative engraving and seals (name chops, or signets) in the Han dynasty. The literal translation of the Chinese name for seal script, (), is 'decorative engraving script', a name coined during the Han dynasty, which reflects the then-reduced role of the script for the writing of ceremonial inscriptions. Types The general term seal script can be used to refer to several types of seal script, including the large or great seal script ( ; Japanese ; Korean ; Vietnamese ) and the lesser or small seal script ( ; Japanese ; Korean ; Vietnamese ). Most commonly, without any other clarifying t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the ChuHan contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and it has influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese is referred to as "Han characters". The emperor was at the pinnacle o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Textus Receptus
''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's '' Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denominations. The ''Textus Receptus'' constituted the translation-base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, the Spanish Reina-Valera translation, the Czech Bible of Kralice, and most Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout Western and Central Europe. The text originated with the first printed Greek New Testament, published in 1516, a work undertaken in Basel by the Dutch Catholic scholar, priest and monk Desiderius Erasmus. History Erasmus had been working for years on two projects: a collation of Greek texts and a fresh Latin New Testament. In 1512, he began his work on the Latin New Testament. He collected all the V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daozang
Daozang (), meaning ' Taoist Canon', consists of around 1,400 texts that were collected (after the '' Daodejing'' and '' Zhuangzi'' and Liezi which are the core Taoist texts). They were collected by Taoist monks of the period in an attempt to bring together all of the teachings of Taoism, including all the commentaries and expositions of the various masters from the original teachings found in the ''Daodejing'' and ''Zhuangzi''. These three divisions were based on the main focus of Taoism in Southern China during the time it was made, namely; meditation, ritual, and exorcism. These Three Grottoes were used as levels for the initiation of Taoist masters, from lowest (exorcism) to highest (meditation). As well as the Three Grottoes there were Four Supplements that were added to the canon c. 500. These were mainly taken from older core Taoist texts (e.g. ''Daodejing'') apart from one which was taken from an already established and separate philosophy known as Tianshi Dao (Way o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Textual Criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in dates from the earliest writing in cuneiform, impressed on clay, for example, to multiple unpublished versions of a 21st-century author's work. Historically, scribes who were paid to copy documents may have been literate, but many were simply copyists, mimicking the shapes of letters without necessarily understanding what they meant. This means that unintentional alterations were common when copying manuscripts by hand. Intentional alterations may have been made as well, for example, the censoring of printed work for political, religious or cultural reasons. The objective of the textual critic's work is to provide a better understanding of the creation and historical transmission of the text and its variants. This understanding may lead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Facsimile
A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in scale, color, condition, and other material qualities. For books and manuscripts, this also entails a complete copy of all pages; hence, an incomplete copy is a "partial facsimile". Facsimiles are sometimes used by scholars to research a source that they do not have access to otherwise, and by museums and archives for media preservation and conservation. Many are sold commercially, often accompanied by a volume of commentary. They may be produced in limited editions, typically of 500–2,000 copies, and cost the equivalent of a few thousand United States dollars. The term " fax" is a shortened form of "facsimile" though most faxes are not reproductions of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Xianzhi (calligrapher)
Wang Xianzhi (, 344–386), courtesy name Zijing (子敬), was a famous Chinese calligrapher of the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the seventh and youngest son of the famed Wang Xizhi. Wang inherited his father's talent for the art, and although several of his siblings were notable calligraphers, only Xianzhi was able to eventually equal his father in status, with the pair later attaining the appellation, "The Two Wangs (二王 èr wáng)." Wang Xianzhi's (also referred to as "Wang Junior" 小王) style is substantially more fluid and stylistic than that of his father ("Wang Senior" 大王), whose structural firmness nonetheless remains unrivaled. Xianzhi's most celebrated accomplishment is his refinement of the "running-cursive" script (行草), a writing style which, as the name implies, combines features of both the cursive and running scripts. The Duck-Head Pill Note is an outstanding example of this technique. Another of Xianzhi's accomplishments is the extensive application of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi (; ; 303 AD361 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in Chinese history, and was a master of all forms of Chinese calligraphy, especially the running script. He is known as one of the Four Talented Calligraphers () in Chinese calligraphy. Emperor Taizong of Tang admired his works so much that Wang's work, the ''Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion'' (or ''Lantingji Xu'') was said to be buried with the emperor in his mausoleum. His artistic talent continues to be held in high esteem in modern China, and remains an influential figure in East Asian calligraphy, particularly Japanese calligraphy. Biography Born in Linyi, Langya Commandery (modern Linyi, Shandong), Wang belonged to the powerful and prominent Wang clan of Langya. In his youth, the War of the Eight Princes and subsequent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Mother Of The West
The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most important characteristics are revealed: she is royal, female, and is associated with the west. The first historical information on her can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions of the 15th century BCE that record sacrifices to a "Western Mother". Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates organized Taoism, she is most often associated with Taoism. The growing popularity of the Queen Mother of the West, as well as the beliefs that she was the dispenser of prosperity, longevity, and eternal bliss, took place during Han dynasty, in the 2nd century BCE, when the northern and western parts of China were able to be better known because of the opening of the Silk Road. Names ''Queen Mother of the West'' is a calque of Xiwangmu i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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