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司马
Sima (, ) is a Chinese family name. It is one of the rare two-character Chinese family names; most Chinese family names consist of only a single character. It is an occupational surname, literally meaning "control" (sī) "horses" (mǎ); in a similar way as the English surname Marshall is derived from the Frankish: "mare" (horse) + "skalkoz" (master). The family name originated from one of the offices of the Three Excellencies of the Zhou dynasty. The name has also been anglicised as "Szema". History The Sima clan were said to be the descendants of the mythological figures Gaoyang and Chongli (Gaoyang's son). They served as ''xiaguan'' (夏官; "officers of summer") in the reigns of the mythical emperors Yao and Shun and through the Xia and Shang dynasties. During the Zhou dynasty, officials holding the appointment of ''xiaguan'' oversaw military affairs and were collectively known as "''xiaguan sima''". Cheng Boxiufu (程柏休父), a descendant of Chongli, helped King Xuan o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Ang
Sima Ang (died 205 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Yin () of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin and Han dynasties of China. Sima Ang was originally a general of the insurgent Zhao kingdom during the Qin dynasty. After the fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 BC, Xiang Yu divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms and made Sima Ang the King of Yin (殷王). Sima Ang's kingdom covered parts of present-day northern Henan and southern Hebei provinces, with his capital at Zhaoge (present-day Qi County, Hebi, Henan) In the third month of 205 BC, the Han general Han Xin conquered the Yin kingdom and captured Sima Ang. Sima Ang surrendered and his kingdom became the Henei Commandery of the Han Empire. Sima Ang died in the following month at the Battle of Pengcheng. Sima Ang's descendants founded the Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Qian
Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years beginning from the rise of the legendary Yellow Emperor and the formation of the first Chinese polity to the reigning sovereign of Sima Qian's time, Emperor Wu of Han. As the first universal history of the world as it was known to the ancient Chinese, the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' served as a model for official history-writing for subsequent Chinese dynasties and the Chinese cultural sphere (Korea, Vietnam, Japan) up until the 20th century. Sima Qian's father Sima Tan first conceived of the ambitious project of writing a complete history of China, but had completed only some preparatory sketches at the time of his death. After inheriting his father's position as court historian in the imperial court, he was determined to fulfill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Compound Surname
A Chinese compound surname is a Chinese surname using more than one Chinese character, character. Many of these compound surnames derive from Zhou dynasty Chinese noble and official titles, professions, place names and other areas, to serve a purpose. Some are originally from various tribes that lived in ancient China, while others were created by joining two one-character family names. Only a few of these names (e.g. Ouyang [歐陽/欧阳], Shangguan (surname), Shangguan [上官], Sima (Chinese surname), Sima [司馬/司马], Zhuge [諸葛/诸葛], Situ (surname), Situ [司徒], Xiahou [夏侯], Huangfu [皇甫], and Huyan [呼延]) can still be found quite commonly in modern times with Ouyang, Shangguan, Sima and Situ appearing most frequently. Many clans eventually took on a single-character surname for various reasons. Chinese surnames with more than two characters are mostly not of ethnic Chinese origin (e.g. Xianbei or Turkic languages, Turkic), and are becoming exceedingly ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Tan
Sima Tan (; 165–110 BCE) was a Chinese astrologer and historian during the Western Han dynasty. His work ''Records of the Grand Historian'' was completed by his son Sima Qian, who is considered the founder of Chinese historiography. Education & career Sima Tan studied astronomy with Tang Du, the ''I Ching'' under Yang He, and Daoism under Master Huang. He was appointed to the office of Court Astrologer () at age 25 in 140 BCE, a position which he held until his death. An essay by him has survived within the ''Records of the Grand Historian''. In this essay within the larger work, Sima Tan describes six philosophical lineages or "schools" (家 ''jiā''): * Confucianism (儒家 ''Rú jiā'') * Daoism (道家 ''Dào jiā'') * Legalism (法家 ''Fǎ jiā'') * Mohism (墨家 ''Mò jiā'') * School of Names (名家 ''Míng jiā'') * School of Naturalists (陰陽家/阴阳家 ''Yīnyáng jiā'') (central figure Zou Yan) The categorization of earlier philosophers into th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima (office)
Sima is an official post from ancient China that first appears in texts dating from the Western Zhou dynasty and continued to be used during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period. Translated literally, it means "administrator of the horses." Owing to the fact that the power and responsibilities associated with the office changed somewhat throughout Chinese history, a variety of English translations for the term have been suggested. The textually closest equivalent is Master of the Horse. Other English terms such as 'marshal' and 'major' have also been suggested, and may be appropriate in different contexts: for example 'marshal' may be appropriate in the Western Han dynasty, when "Grand Sima" was a title granted to high generals, while 'major' may be appropriate as the translation for the lower military position also called "Sima" from the Wei dynasty to the Song dynasty. During the Eastern Han dynasty the term 'Grand Marshal' ( zh, t=大司馬, p=dàsīmǎ, links ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Shun
Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition also holds that those with surname Chen (陳) are descendants of Emperor Shun. The Duke Hu of Chen, a descendant of Shun, became the founder of the State of Chen. Later Chen dynasty emperors such as Chen Baxian would also claim descent from Shun. Names Shun's clan name () is Yao (), his lineage name () is Youyu (). His given name was Chonghua (). Shun is sometimes referred to as the Great Shun () or as Yu Shun or Shun of Yu (), "Yu" being the name of his fief, which he received from Yao. Life of Shun According to traditional sources, Shun received the mantle of leadership from Emperor Yao at the age of 53, and then died at the age of 100 years. Before his death Shun is recorded as relinquishing his seat of power to Yu (), the founde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), the Qin dynasty arose as a fief of the Western Zhou and endured for over five centuries until 221 BCE when it founded its brief empire, which lasted only until 206 BCE. It often causes confusion that the ruling family of the Qin kingdom (what is conventionally called a "dynasty") ruled for over five centuries, while the "Qin Dynasty," the conventional name for the first Chinese empire, comprises the last fourteen years of Qin's existence. The divide between these two periods occurred in 221 BCE when King Zheng of Qin declared himself the Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of Qin, though he had already been king of Qin since 246 BCE. Qin was a minor power for the early centuries of its existence. The streng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Records Of The Grand Historian
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian, whose father Sima Tan had begun it several decades earlier. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty. The ''Records'' has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The ''Records'' set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historical works, the ''Records'' do not treat history as "a cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Changping
The Battle of Changping () was a military campaign during the Warring States period of ancient China, which took place from 262 BC to 260 BC at Changping (northwest of present-day Gaoping, Shanxi province), between the two strongest military powers, the Qin (state), State of Qin and the Zhao (state), State of Zhao. After a bitter two-year stalemate, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Qin forces and the ruthless execution of most of the Zhao captives, resulting in an unrecoverable loss of manpower and strategic reserve for the Zhao state. One of the list of battles by casualties, bloodiest battles in human history, the main historical records for the events of this period is sourced from the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', written more than a century later, which estimated roughly 450,000 dead on the Zhao side and 250,000 dead on the Qin side. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (685–762) later built a temple over a collection of some of the human remains, and scattered bones a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bai Qi
Bai Qi (; – 257 BC), also known as Gongsun Qi (), was a Chinese military general of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Born in Mei (present-day Mei County, Shaanxi), Bai Qi served as the commander of the Qin army for more than 30 years, being responsible for the deaths of over one million, earning him the nickname (; ). According to the Shiji, he seized more than 73 cities from the other six hostile states, and to date no record has been found to show that he suffered a single defeat throughout his military career. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the late Warring States period, along with Li Mu, Wang Jian, and Lian Po; he is also remembered as the most fearsome amongst the four. Life In 293 BC, Bai Qi led the Qin army to victory against Wei () and Han () forces at the Battle of Yique (in present-day Longmen (), southeast of Luoyang, Henan), reportedly slaughtering around 240,000 enemy soldiers in total while capturi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qin (state)
Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted expansion and development that was unavailable to its rivals in the North China Plain. Following extensive "Legalist" reform in the fourth century BC, Qin emerged as one of the dominant powers of the Seven Warring States and unified the seven states of China in 221 BC under Qin Shi Huang. It established the Qin dynasty, which was short-lived but greatly influenced later Chinese history. History Founding According to the 2nd century BC historical text ''Records of the Grand Historian'' by Sima Qian, the Qin state traced its origin to Zhuanxu, one of the legendary Five Emperors in ancient times. One of his descendants, Boyi, was granted the family name of Yíng by Emperor Shun. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Yíng clan split ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhao (state)
Zhao () was one of the seven major states during the Warring States period of ancient China. It was created from the three-way Partition of Jin, together with Han and Wei, in the 5th century BC. Zhao gained significant strength from the military reforms initiated during King Wuling's reign, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Qin at the Battle of Changping. Its territory included areas now in modern Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. It bordered the states of Qin, Wei and Yan and various nomadic peoples, including the Hu and Xiongnu. Its capital was Handan, in modern Hebei Province. Zhao was home to administrative philosopher Shen Dao, sophist Gongsun Long and the Confucian Xun Kuang. Origins and ascendancy The Zhao clan within Jin had accumulated power for centuries, including annexing the Baidi state of Dai for themselves during the mid-5th centuryBC. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin was divided up between three powe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
