|
Zilin
The ''Zilin'' (; c. 350) or Forest of Characters was a Chinese dictionary compiled by the Jin dynasty (266–420) lexicographer Lü Chen (呂忱). It contained 12,824 character head entries, organized by the 540- radical system of the ''Shuowen Jiezi''. In the history of Chinese lexicography, the ''Zilin'' followed the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' (121; with 9,353 character entries) and preceded the ''Yupian'' (c. 543; with 12,158 entries). Text Lü Chen compiled the ''Zilin'' to supplement the ''Shuowen jiezi'', and included more the 3,000 uncommon and variant Chinese characters. Yong and Peng describe the ''Zilin'' as a "more influential character dictionary" than the ''Shuowen jiezi''. Lü Chen's younger brother Lü Jing (呂靜) was also a lexicographer, who compiled the '' Yunji'' (韻集; "Assembly of Rimes"; c. 280). Other than their dictionaries, little is known about either brother. The title ''Zilin'', translated as "Forest of Characters" or "The Character Forest", combines ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Character
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji''. Chinese characters in South Korea, which are known as ''hanja'', retain significant use in Korean academia to study its documents, history, literature and records. Vietnam once used the ''chữ Hán'' and developed chữ Nôm to write Vietnamese language, Vietnamese before turning to a Vietnamese alphabet, romanized alphabet. Chinese characters are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world. By virtue of their widespread current use throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as their profound historic use throughout the adoption of Chinese literary culture, Sinosphere, Chinese characters are among the most widely adopted writing systems in the world by number of users. The total number of Chinese c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shenglei
The (c. 230 CE) ''Shenglei'' 聲類, compiled by the Cao Wei dynasty lexicographer Li Deng 李登, was the first Chinese rime dictionary. Earlier dictionaries were organized either by semantic fields (e.g., c. 3rd-century BCE '' Erya'') or by character radicals (e.g., 121 CE ''Shuowen Jiezi''). The last copies of the ''Shenglei'' were lost around the 13th century, and it is known only from earlier descriptions and quotations, which say it was in 10 volumes and contained 11,520 Chinese character entries, categorized by linguistic tone in terms of the ''wǔshēng'' 五聲 "Five Tones (of the pentatonic scale)" from Chinese musicology and wǔxíng 五行 "Five Phases/Elements" theory. Title The title combines ''shēng'' 聲 "sound; voice; declare; reputation; tone (in Chinese linguistics); initial consonant (of a Chinese syllable)" and ''lèi'' 類 "kind; type; class; category; genus; form class (in Chinese linguistics)". English translations of the title include: ''Sounds Cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Dictionary
Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Han dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for the Chinese language, and this article discusses some of the most important. Terminology The general term ''císhū'' (, "lexicographic books") semantically encompasses "dictionary; lexicon; encyclopedia; glossary". The Chinese language has two words for dictionary: ''zidian'' (character/logograph dictionary) for written forms, that is, Chinese characters, and ''cidian'' (word/phrase dictionary), for spoken forms. For character dictionaries, ''zidian'' () combines ''zi'' "character, graph; letter, script, writing; word") and ''dian'' "dictionary, encyclopedia; standard, rule; statute, canon; classical allusion"). For word dictionaries, ''cidian'' is interchangeably written /; ''cídiǎn''; ''tzʻŭ²-tien³''; "word dictionary") or (/; ''cídiǎn''; ''tzʻŭ²-tien³''; "word dictionary"); ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Wei
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 550. Widely regarded as the official and authoritative source historical text for that period, it is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Origin and reception The Northern Wei dynasty was established in 386 by the Tuoba clan. The greatest accomplishment of the Northern Wei dynasty was the unification of Northern China in 439. An internal struggle resulted in a split which introduced the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei. The Eastern Wei dynasty was short-lived. Established in 534, several military campaigns were fought to try and reunite east and west but each failed. In 550, the area was taken over by Gao Yang who founded his own dynasty which he names the Northern Qi. It is the history of these two dynasties that Wei Shou attempted to re ... [...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] |
Xu Shen
Xu Shen ( CE) was a Chinese calligrapher, philologist, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-189). He was born in the Zhaoling district of Run'an prefecture (today known as Luohe in Henan Province). During his own lifetime, Xu was recognized as a preeminent scholar of the Five Classics. He was the author of ''Shuowen Jiezi'',''Daijisen'' entry "Xu Shen" (''Kyo Shin'' in Japanese). Shogakukan.'' Kanjigen'' entry "Xu Shen" (''Kyo Shin'' in Japanese). Gakken, 2006. which was the first comprehensive dictionary of Chinese characters, as well as the first to organize entries by radical. This work continues to provide scholars with information on the development and historical usage of Chinese characters. Xu Shen completed his first draft in 100 CE but, waited until 121 CE before having his son present the work to the Emperor An of Han. Life Xu was a student of the scholar-official Jia Kui (30-101). Under Jia, he established himself as a master in his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xu Miao
Xu Miao (172–249), courtesy name Jingshan, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao, who was the ''de facto'' head of the Han central government in that period. After the end of the Han dynasty in 220, Xu Miao served under Cao Cao's son and successor, Cao Pi, who established the Cao Wei state with himself as the emperor. He lived through the reigns of three Wei emperors – Cao Pi, Cao Rui and Cao Fang – and held various high offices in the Wei government. See also * Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms Notes References * Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''Records of Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Place Names
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of any geographical feature, and full scope of the term also includes proper names of all cosmographical features. In a more specific sense, the term ''toponymy'' refers to an inventory of toponyms, while the discipline researching such names is referred to as ''toponymics'' or ''toponomastics''. Toponymy is a branch of onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds. A person who studies toponymy is called ''toponymist''. Etymology The term toponymy come from grc, τόπος / , 'place', and / , 'name'. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' records ''toponymy'' (meaning "place name") first appearing in English in 1876. Since then, ''toponym'' has come to replace the term ''place-name'' in professional discourse among geographers. Toponym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yan Zhitui
Yan Zhitui (, 531–591) courtesy name Jie () was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, musician, writer, philosopher and politician who served four different Chinese states during the late Northern and Southern dynasties: the Liang Dynasty in southern China, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties of northern China, and their successor state that reunified China, the Sui Dynasty. Yan Zhitui was a supporter of Buddhism in China despite criticism by many of his Confucian-taught peers. Family background Yan Zhitui's ancestors were originally from Linyi in modern-day Shandong Province. His family belonged to the aristocratic Yan clan of Langya ( 琅琊顏氏). After the fall of the Jin Dynasty's capital city of Chang'an during the Uprising of the Five Barbarians, the Yan family migrated south below the Yangtze River in the year 317. At the Eastern Jin's new capital of Jiankang (modern-day Nanjing) the Yan family became prominent amongst the elite families. The Yan family provided ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Qi
Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China from 550 to 577. The dynasty was founded by Gao Yang (Emperor Wenxuan), and was eventually conquered by the Northern Zhou dynasty in 577. History Northern Qi was the successor state of the Chinese Xianbei state of Eastern Wei and was founded by Emperor Wenxuan. Emperor Wenxuan had an Han father of largely Xianbei culture, Gao Huan, and a Xianbei mother, Lou Zhaojun. As Eastern Wei's powerful minister Gao Huan was succeeded by his sons Gao Cheng and Gao Yang, who took the throne from Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei in 550 and established Northern Qi as Emperor Wenxuan. Northern Qi was the strongest state out of the three main states (the other two being Northern Zhou state and Chen Dynasty) in China when Chen was established. Northern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerical Script
The clerical script (; Japanese: 隷書体, ''reishotai''; Korean: 예서 (old spelling 례서); Vietnamese: lệ thư), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing which evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in largely active use through the Wei-Jin periods. In its development, it departed significantly from the earlier scripts in terms of graphic structures (a process named ''libian'', or "clerical change"), and was characterized by its rectilinearity, a trait shared with the later regular script. Although it was succeeded by the later scripts, including the regular script, the clerical script is preserved as a calligraphic practice. In Chinese calligraphy, the term ''clerical'' often refers to a specific calligraphic style that is typical of a specific subtype of the clerical script, the ''Han'' ''clerical'' () or ''bafen'' () ''script''. This style of calligraphy is ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Small Seal Script
The small seal script (), or Qin script (, ''Qínzhuàn''), is an archaic form of Chinese calligraphy. It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by the government of Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Chinese Qin dynasty. Name Xiaozhuan, formerly romanized as Hsiao-chuan, is also known as the seal script or lesser seal script. History Before the Qin conquest of the six other major warring states of Zhou China, local styles of characters had evolved independently of one another for centuries, producing what are called the "Scripts of the Six States" (), all of which are included under the general term "great seal script". However, under one unified government, the diversity was deemed undesirable as it hindered timely communication, trade, taxation, and transportation, and as independent scripts might be used to represent dissenting political ideas. Hence, Emperor Qin Shi Huang mandated the systematic unification of weights, measures, currencies, etc., an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
