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Nanman
The Man, commonly known as the Nanman or Southern Man (, ''lit. Southern Barbarians''), were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in inland South and Southwest China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley. In ancient Chinese sources, the term Nanman was used to collectively describe multiple ethnic groups, probably the predecessors of the modern Miao, Zhuang, and Dai peoples, and non-Chinese Sino-Tibetan groups such as the Jingpo and Yi peoples. It was an umbrella term that included any groups south of the expanding Huaxia civilization, and there was never a single polity that united these people, although the state of Chu ruled over much of the Yangtze region during the Zhou dynasty and was partly influenced by the Man culture. Etymology The early Chinese exonym ''Man'' () was a graphic pejorative written with Radical 142 , which means "worm", "insect" or "vermin". Xu Shen's (c. 121 CE) ''Shuowen Jiezi'' dictionary defines ''Man'' as "Southern Man are a snake race. &# ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Barbarians
"Four Barbarians" ( zh, c=四夷, p=sìyí) was a generic term used in Ancient China, particularly by subjects of the Shang dynasty, Shang and Zhou dynasty, Zhou dynasties, referring to the various non-Sinitic peoples living outside the borders of the Huaxia civilization, who were pejoratively considered to be savage (pejorative term), savage barbarians by the agrarian society, agrarian Chinese people. Each was named according to a cardinal direction relative to China proper, China ''proper'': * The "Eastern Barbarians" or ''Dongyi'' (), referring to various peoples east of the Zhongyuan, Central Plain, particularly the Tungusic people, Tungusic and Koreans, Koreanic peoples from Northeast Asia; * The "Southern Barbarians" or ''Nanman'' (), referring to the Baiyue people from south of the Yangtze and the Burmic people beyond the Hengduan Mountains; * The "Western Barbarians" or ''Xirong'' (), referring to the highland peoples (especially the Qiang (historical people), Qiang) from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dongyi
The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Japanese Archipelago. Dongyi refers to different group of people in different periods. As such, the name "Yí" was something of a catch-all and was applied to different groups over time. According to the earliest Chinese record, the '' Zuo Zhuan'', the Shang dynasty was attacked by King Wu of Zhou while attacking the Dongyi and collapsed afterward. Ancient inhabitants of Eastern China Oracle bone inscriptions from the early 11th century BCE refer to campaigns by the late Shang king Di Yi against the ''Rénfāng'' (), a group occupying the area of southern Shandong and Jianghuai (northern Anhui and Jiangsu). Many Chinese archaeologists apply the historical name "Dongyi" to the archaeological Yueshi culture (1900–1500 BCE). Other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beidi
The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese ('' Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting economy and were distinguished from the nomads of the Eurasian steppe who lived to their north. Chinese historical accounts describe the Di inhabiting the upper Ordos Loop and gradually migrating eastward to northern Shanxi and northern Hebei, where they eventually created their own states like Zhongshan and Dai. Other groups of Di seem to have lived interspersed between the Chinese states before their eventual conquest or sinicization. Name The ancient Chinese, whose Xia, Shang, and Zhou states flourished along the Fen, Yellow, and Wei valleys, discussed their neighbors according to the cardinal directions. The Four Barbarians were the Di to the north, the Man to the south, the Yi to the east, and the Rong to the west. These ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xirong
Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and Qinghai). They were known as early as the Shang dynasty (1765–1122 BCE), as one of the Four Barbarians that frequently (and often violently) interacted with the sinitic Huaxia civilization. They typically resided to the west of Guanzhong Plains from the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE) onwards. They were mentioned in some ancient Chinese texts as perhaps genetically and linguistically related to the people of the Chinese civilization. Etymology The historian Li Feng says that during the Western Zhou period, since the term ''Rong'' "warlike foreigners" was "often used in bronze inscriptions to mean 'warfare', it is likely that when a people was called 'Rong', the Zhou considered them as political and military adversaries rather than as cultural and ethnic 'others'." Paul R. Goldin also proposes that ''Rong'' was a "pseudo-ethnonym" meaning "belli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graphic Pejoratives In Written Chinese
Some historical Chinese characters for non-Han Chinese, Han peoples were graphically pejorative ethnic slurs, where the racial insult derived not from the Chinese word but from the character used to write it. For instance, written Chinese first transcribed the name "the Yao people (in southwest China and Vietnam)" with the character for "jackal". Most of those terms were replaced in the early 20th-century language reforms; for example, the character for the term ''yáo'' was changed, replaced this graphic pejorative meaning "jackal" with another one – a homophone meaning "precious jade". Linguistic background Graphic pejoratives are a unique aspect of Chinese characters. In Alphabetic language, alphabetically written languages such as English, orthography does not change ethnic slurs – but in logographically written languages like Chinese, it makes a difference whether one writes ''Yáo'' as "jackal" or with its homophone "jade". Over 80% of Chinese characters are phono-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miao People
Miao is a word that the Chinese use to designate some ethnic minority groups living in southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia. Miao is thus officially recognized by the Chinese government as one of the largest ethnic minority groups that has more than 56 official ethnicities and dialects. The Miao live primarily in the mountains of southern China. Their homeland encompasses the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand). Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States, France, and Australia. Miao is a Chinese term, while the component groups of people have their own autonyms, such as (with some variant spellings) Hmong, Hmu, Xong (Qo-Xiong), and A-Hmao. These people (except th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military control over territories centered on the Wei River valley and North China Plain. Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), the political system created by the Zhou royal house survived in some form for several additional centuries. A date of 1046 BC for the Zhou's establishment is supported by the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and David Pankenier, but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC. The latter Eastern Zhou period is itself roughly subdivided into two parts. During the Spring and Autumn period (), power became increasingly decentralized as the authority of the royal house diminished. The Warring States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radical 142
Radical 142 or radical insect () meaning "insect" or "worm" is one of the 29 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals in total) composed of 6 strokes. In the ''Kangxi Dictionary'', there are 1067 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. is also the 131st indexing component in the ''Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components'' predominantly adopted by Simplified Chinese dictionaries published in mainland China. The character models a worm. To derive from this, characters meaning creeping animals such as reptiles, insects, worms, amphibians, and shellfish are included in this radical. The character 虫 is used as the simplified form of 蟲 in Simplified Chinese and Japanese and occasionally in Traditional Chinese. Evolution File:虫-oracle.svg, Oracle bone script character File:虫-bronze.svg, Bronze script character File:虫-seal.svg, Small seal script character Derived characters Sinogram The radical is also used as an independent Chinese character. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xu Shen
Xu Shen () was a Chinese calligrapher, philologist, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty (25–189 CE). 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 born about 58 CE in the Zhaoling district of Run'an prefecture (modern Luohe in Henan). He was a student of the scholar-official Jia Kui (30–101 CE). Under Jia, he established himself as a master in his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuowen Jiezi
The ''Shuowen Jiezi'' is a Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen , during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE). While prefigured by earlier reference works for Chinese characters like the ''Erya'' (), the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' contains the first comprehensive analysis of characters in terms of their structure, where Xu attempted to provide rationales for their construction. It was also the first to organize its entries into sections according to shared components called Chinese character radicals, radicals. Background Xu Shen was a scholar of the Five Classics during the Han dynasty. He finished compiling the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' in 100 CE. However, due to an unfavorable imperial attitude towards scholarship, he waited until 121 before his son Xu Chong presented it to Emperor An of Han, along with a memorial. In analyzing the structure of characters and defining the words represented by them, Xu strove to clarify the meaning of the pre-Han classics, so as to ensure order and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurent Sagart
Laurent Sagart (; born 1951) is a senior researcher at the Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l'Asie orientale (CRLAO – UMR 8563) unit of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Biography Born in Paris in 1951, he earned his Ph.D. in 1977 at the University of Paris 7 and his '' doctorat d'État'' in 1990 at University of Aix-Marseille 1. His early work focused on Chinese dialectology. He then turned his attention to Old Chinese, attempting a reconstruction of Old Chinese that separated word roots and affixes. His recent work, in collaboration with William H. Baxter, is a reconstruction of Old Chinese that builds on earlier scholarship and in addition takes into account paleography, phonological distinctions in conservative Chinese dialects ( Min, Hakka, and Waxiang) as well as the early layers of Chinese loanwords to Vietic, Hmong-Mien and to a lesser extent, Kra-Dai. A reconstruction of 4,000 Chinese characters has been published online. Their 2014 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
