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Wang Mantang
Wang Mantang (王满堂; 1471 – 1541), was a renowned beauty from Bazhou and a unofficial consort of the Zhengde Emperor. She is known for being called the ''Washing Clothes Empress'' (浣衣皇后). Biography Despite the strict restrictions placed on women during the Ming dynasty, Wang Mantang's behavior was rebellious and was encouraged by her father. Her father was a writer for court judges and had several connections around town. When Wang Mantang grew up, she was known for her beauty and uniqueness. The Zhengde Emperor liked to frequent brothels and created palaces called "Bao Fang" (豹房) outside the Imperial Palace for exotic animals such as tigers and leopards. He later used these palaces to house women, and as a result, searched for beautiful women. Wang Mantang wanted an opportunity to be his consort and went to the imperial selection. However, her young age and inexperience led to her not being selected to serve the emperor. Wang Mantang returned to home to the di ...
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Bazhou, Hebei
Bazhou (), formerly Ba County, is a county-level city in Hebei province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of Langfang prefecture-level city. As of 2002, it had a population of over 132,000. Administrative divisions Towns: *Bazhou Town (), Nanmeng, Bazhou, Hebei, Nanmeng (), Xin'an (), Tang'erli (), Jianchapu (), Shengfang (), Yangfengang () Townships: * Chaheji Township (), Kangxianzhuang Township (), Dongyangzhuang Township (), Wangzhuangzi Township (), Dongduan Township () Climate Transportation There are three railway stations in Bazhou. Bazhou railway station is the oldest and is an intermediate stop on the Beijing–Kowloon railway and the western terminus of the Tianjin–Bazhou railway. Bazhou West railway station is an intermediate stop on the Tianjin–Baoding intercity railway Tianjin–Baoding intercity railway, also known as Tianjin-Baoding Passenger Line, is a high-speed railway line connecting Tianjin with Baoding in Hebei province. Starting ...
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Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhengde, meaning "right virtue" or "rectification of virtue". He was known for favoring eunuchs such as Liu Jin and became infamous for his childlike behavior. He eventually died at age 29 from an illness he contracted after drunkenly falling off a boat into the Yellow River. He left behind no sons and was succeeded by his first cousin Zhu Houcong. Early years Zhu Houzhao was made crown prince at a very early age and because his father did not take up any other concubines, Zhu did not have to contend with other princes for the throne. (His younger brother died in infancy.) The prince was thoroughly educated in Confucian literature and he excelled in his studies. Many of the Hongzhi Emperor's ministers expected that Zhu Houzhao would become ...
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Dragon Robe
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of feline, reptilian and avian features. Scholars believe huge extinct or migrating crocodiles bear the closest resemblance, especially when encountered in forested or swampy areas, and are most likely the template of modern Oriental dragon imagery. Etymology The word ''dragon'' entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French ''dragon'', which in turn comes from la, draconem (nominative ) meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from Ancient Greek , (genitive , ) "serpent, giant sea ...
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Beijing City Fortifications
The Beijing city fortifications were walls with series of towers and gates constructed in the city of Beijing, China in the early 1400s until they were partially demolished in 1965 for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road and Line 2 of the Beijing Subway. The original walls were preserved in the southeastern part of the city, just south of the Beijing railway station. The entire perimeter of the Inner and Outer city walls stretched for approximately . Beijing was the capital of China for the majority of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, as well as a secondary capital to the Liao and Jin Dynasties. As such, the city required an extensive fortification system around the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, the Inner city, and the Outer city. Fortifications included gate towers, gates, archways, watchtowers, barbicans, barbican towers, barbican gates, barbican archways, sluice gates, sluice gate towers, enemy sighting towers, corner guard towers, and a moat system. It had ...
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Empress Xia (Ming Dynasty)
Empress Xiaojingyi (1492 – 26 February 1535), of the Xia clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, married to the Zhengde Emperor. Biography Lady Xia was the daughter of Xia Ru (夏儒), and she was virtuous and elegant. She was from the district Sang-yuan (in present Nanking). In 1506, she was selected to become the first consort and empress of the emperor. She had no issue and when her spouse died childless in 1521, he was succeeded by his cousin Jiajing. She was given the title Empress Zhuangsu, because she couldn't be an empress dowager. GOODRICH, L. Carington; Fang Chaoying, et al., Dictionary of Ming biografi, 1368-1644. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. xxi + 1751 s. (1 vol.) 023103833X (vol. 2). Titles *During the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor (r. 1487–1505) **Lady Xia (夏氏; from 1492) *During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521) **Empress (皇后; from 1506) *During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor ( ...
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Jiajing Emperor
The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor (reigned from 1464 to 1487) and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperor's concubine, Lady Shao. The Jiajing Emperor's era name, "Jiajing", means "admirable tranquility". Early years Born as heir apparent of a vassal prince, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 after the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, the Zhengde Emperor, who did not leave an heir. Prior to the Zhengde Emperor's death, the line of succession was as follows: * '' Zhu Jianshen, the Chenghua Emperor (1447–1487)'' ** ''Unnamed son (1466–1466)'' ** ''Zhu Youji (1469–1472)'' ** '' Zhu Youcheng, the Hongzhi Emperor (1470–1505)'' *** Zhu Ho ...
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16th-century Chinese Women
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion ...
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Chinese Ladies-in-waiting
Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of various ethnicities in contemporary China ** Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in the world and the majority ethnic group in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore ** Ethnic minorities in China, people of non-Han Chinese ethnicities in modern China ** Ethnic groups in Chinese history, people of various ethnicities in historical China ** Nationals of the People's Republic of China ** Nationals of the Republic of China ** Overseas Chinese, Chinese people residing outside the territories of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan * Sinitic languages, the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family ** Chinese language, a group of related languages spoken predominantly in China, sharing a written script (Chinese ...
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Ming Dynasty Imperial Consorts
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the navy's dockyards in Nanjing were the largest in the world. He also took great care breaking the power of the court eunuchs and unr ...
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People From Bazhou, Hebei
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of p ...
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