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Five Elements (Chinese Philosophy)
(; Japanese: (); Korean: (); Vietnamese: ''ngũ hành'' (五行)), usually translated as Five Phases or Five Agents, is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Fire ( zh, c=, p=huǒ, labels=no), Water ( zh, c=, p=shuǐ, labels=no), Wood ( zh, c=, p=mù, labels=no), Metal or Gold ( zh, c=, p=jīn, labels=no), and Earth or Soil ( zh, c=, p=tǔ, labels=no). This order of presentation is known as the " Days of the Week" sequence. In the order of "mutual generation" ( zh, c=相生, p=xiāngshēng, labels=no), they are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In the order of "mutual overcoming" ( zh, c=相克, p=xiāngkè, labels=no), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal. The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu Xing
Wuxing may refer to: Places in China Counties and districts *Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China *Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou Subdistricts (五星街道) *Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang *Wuxing Subdistrict, Xinyang, in Shihe District, Xinyang, Henan *Wuxing subdistrict, Xi'an, in Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi *Wuxing, Jiangsu, in Zhonglou District, Changzhou, Jiangsu *Wuxing, Yancheng, Jiangsu, in Tinghu District, Yancheng, Jiangsu Towns (五星镇) *Wuxing, Anhui, in Taihe County, Anhui *Wuxing, Xinye County, in Xinye County, Henan Townships (五星乡) *Wuxing Township, Anhui, in Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng, Anhui *Wuxing Township, Henan, in Puyang County, Henan *Wuxing, Sichuan, a List of township-level divisions of Sichuan, township in Xingwen County, Yibin, Sichuan *Wuxing, Yunnan, in Huize County, Yunnan Other *Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), a concept in Chinese philosophy *Wux ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Art Of War
''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years it was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. ''The Art of War'' remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both Far Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, politics, sports, lifestyles and beyond. The book contains a detailed explanation and analysis of the 5th-century BC Chinese military, from weapons, environmental conditions, and strategy to rank and discipline. Sun also stressed the importance of intelligence ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geomancy
Geomancy (Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy involves interpreting a series of 16 figures formed by a randomized process that involves recursion, followed by analyzing them, often augmented with astrological interpretations. Geomancy was practiced by people from all social classes. It was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe, particularly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In Renaissance magic, geomancy was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts", along with necromancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and spatulamancy (scapulimancy). History The word "geomancy", from Late Greek ''geōmanteía'', translates literally to "foresight by earth"; it is a calque translation of the Arabic term ''‛ilm al-raml'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganzhi
The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi ( zh, 干支, gānzhī), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere. It appears as a means of recording days in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang oracle bones of the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years began around the middle of the 3rd century BC. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan, and to a lesser extent, in Mainland China. This traditional method of numbering days and years no longer has any significant role in modern Chinese time-keeping or the official calendar. However, the sexagenary cycle is used in the names of many histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganzhi
The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi ( zh, 干支, gānzhī), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere. It appears as a means of recording days in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang oracle bones of the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years began around the middle of the 3rd century BC. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan, and to a lesser extent, in Mainland China. This traditional method of numbering days and years no longer has any significant role in modern Chinese time-keeping or the official calendar. However, the sexagenary cycle is used in the names of many histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zi Wei Dou Shu
Zi Wei Dou Shu (Chinese: ), commonly referred to in English as Purple Star Astrology, is a form of fortune-telling in Chinese culture. The study of destiny (Chinese: , ming xue) is one of the five arts of Chinese metaphysics. Along with the Bazi chart, Zi Wei Dou Shu is one of the most renowned fortune-telling methods used in this study. Much like western astrology, Zi Wei Dou Shu claims to use the position of the cosmos at the time of one's birth to make determinations about personality, career and marriage prospects, and more. History Traditionally, Zi Wei Dou Shu is considered to have been created by a Taoist named Lu Chun Yang () during the Tang Dynasty. It was further developed by Chen Xi Yi () during the Song Dynasty and later on by Luo Hong Xian () during the Ming Dynasty to its present-day form. Its exact origin, however, is still debated among different schools. Unlike the more commonly known Four Pillars of Destiny system of birth-chart divination, Zi Wei Dou Shu is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavenly Stems
The ten Heavenly Stems or Celestial Stems () are a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear during the Shang dynasty, c. 1250 BC, as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day of the Shang week. The Heavenly Stems were used in combination with the Earthly Branches, a similar cycle of twelve days, to produce a compound cycle of sixty days. Subsequently, the Heavenly Stems lost their original function as names for days of the week and dead kin, and acquired many other uses, the most prominent and long lasting of which was their use together with the Earthly Branches as a 60-year calendrical cycle. The system is used throughout East Asia. Table The Japanese names of the Heavenly Stems are based on their corresponding Wuxing elements (e.g. ''ki'' for "wood", ''mizu'' for "water"), followed by the possessive/attributive particle の (''no'') and the word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mawangdui Silk Texts
The Mawangdui Silk Texts () are Chinese philosophical and medical works written on silk which were discovered at the Mawangdui site in Changsha, Hunan, in 1973. They include some of the earliest attested manuscripts of existing texts (such as the ''I Ching''), two copies of the ''Tao Te Ching'', a copy of ''Zhan Guo Ce'', works by Gan De and Shi Shen and previously unknown medical texts, such as '' Wushi'er Bingfang'' (''Prescriptions for Fifty-Two Ailments''). Scholars arranged them into 28 types of silk books. Their approximately 120,000 words cover military strategy, mathematics, cartography and the six classical arts: ritual, music, archery, horsemanship, writing and arithmetic. Overview The texts were buried in tomb number three at Mawangdui (which was sealed in 168 BC), and were hidden until their late-20th-century discovery. Some were previously known only by title, and others are previously-unknown commentaries on the ''I Ching'' attributed to Confucius. In general, they fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecture Room
''Lecture Room'' is a Chinese television programme hosted by China Central Television (CCTV), in which scholars from various disciplines are invited to provide lectures. It was first broadcast on 9 July 2001 on CCTV-10. In its early days, featured topics included biology, physics, economics, history and literature, and the lecturers were from around the world. Its focus has gradually changed, as recent programmes focus more on Chinese history and Chinese culture. The show's title is literally translated as ''The Hundred Schools of Thought Forum''. ''Lecture Room'' is only an English adaptation of its Chinese title. Lecture series *Yi Zhongtian, ''Influential Personalities of the Han Dynasty''; ''Analysis of the Three Kingdoms'' (品三国) *Liu Xinwu, ''Liu Xinwu Exposes the Secrets of Dream of Red Chamber'' I-IV (刘心武揭密红楼梦 1-4) *Yan Chongnian, ''Emperors of the Qing Dynasty'', ''The Fall of Ming and Rise of Qing'' *Mao Peiqi, ''Emperors of the Ming Dynasty'' *Wang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Sivin
Nathan Sivin (11 May 1931 – 24 June 2022), also known as Xiwen (), was an American sinologist, historian, essayist, educator, and writer. He taught first at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then at the University of Pennsylvania until his retirement in 2006. The major areas of study and focus in Nathan Sivin's career and publications were history of science and technology in China, medicine in traditional China, Chinese philosophy, and Chinese religious beliefs. He was a key player in the development of their scholarly study in the West. He collaborated with prominent scholars, such as G.E.R. Lloyd, A.C. Graham and Joseph Needham, and nurtured younger ones. His wife was the artist Carole Delmore Sivin, who died in 2020. For many years they lived in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. In 1977 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He was president of the Philadelphia literary society, Franklin Inn Club, 1996-1998. Education and career From 1954 until 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Elements
Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had similar lists which sometimes referred, in local languages, to "air" as "wind" and the fifth element as "void". These different cultures and even individual philosophers had widely varying explanations concerning their attributes and how they related to observable phenomena as well as cosmology. Sometimes these theories overlapped with mythology and were personified in deities. Some of these interpretations included atomism (the idea of very small, indivisible portions of matter), but other interpretations considered the elements to be divisible into infinitely small pieces without changing their nature. While the classification of the material world in ancient Indian, Hellenistic Egypt, and ancient Greece into Air, Earth, Fire and Water wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
