scholarly journals The Palace that Could Be the Biggest in the World

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 16-23
Author(s):  
Sergey A. Komissarov ◽  
Aleksandr I. Soloviev
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
The World ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Military ◽  
Base Platform ◽  
Construction Works

The authors investigate the historical fate of one of four construction mega-projects of Qin Shihuangdi, namely, Epang Palace which was supposed to become the worthy dwelling for the first unifier of the Celestial Empire. Construction workers erected the giant platform-stylobate and built three walls around it. During the Middle Ages (from the end of the Han dynasty and up to the Tang dynasty) it accommodated the military Echeng settlement. Within the same period of time, by the efforts of literati and, first of all, by prominent poet Du Mu (803–852) who wrote “The Ode on Epang Palace”, a myth was created about the wonderful residence of the Emperor with many features such as watchtowers, pavilions and galleries, and how all these beauties were destroyed by rebellions in the great fire. Nevertheless, regular archaeological excavations conducted at the site during the period of 2002–2004 did not reveal any traces of such a fire. The Palace wasn’t burned down – it was simply never constructed. Furthermore, though the huge base platform of the Palace was registered by UNESCO experts as the biggest palace building in the world, no further complicated constructions were found on its surface (though some evidence of preparatory works were reported, for example, the many pieces of roofing tiles that were lifted to the platform). The results of archaeological investigations of real Epang meant the death-warrant to false Epang that was built by local authorities as popular tourist attraction, means a source of money. It was ruined in 2012 and replaced with archaeological park where all construction works were to be based on scientific reconstruction.

scholarly journals Relationship between climate change and wars between nomadic and farming groups from the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty period

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 3567-3595
Author(s):  
Y. Su ◽  
L. Liu ◽  
X. Q. Fang ◽  
Y. N. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Solid Material ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
The South ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
Western Han Dynasty ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Background Climate

Abstract. In ancient China, the change in regional agriculture and animal husbandry productivity caused by climate change led to either wars or peaceful relations between nomadic and farming groups. From the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty there were 367 wars between the two groups. The nomadic people initiated 69 % of the wars, but 62.4 % were won by the farmers. On a 30 year-period timescale, warm climates corresponded to a high incidence of wars. The conflicts between the nomadic and farming groups took place in some areas which are sensitive to climate change. During the cold periods, the battlefields were mostly in the southern regions. The main causes which leading to the above results are following: (1) warm climate provided a solid material foundation for nomadic and farming groups, especially contributed to improve the productivity of nomadic group; meanwhile, the excessive desire for essential means of subsistence in nomadic group could led to wars. (2) During the cold periods, people of farming group moved to the south and construct the south, meanwhile, nomadic group occupied the central plains, thus the battlefields also changed. As the background, climate change plays an indirect role in wars between groups.

scholarly journals Medieval Daoist Concepts of the Middle Kingdom

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-196
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Casey Lee
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Chinese People ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Profound Influence ◽  
The World ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Ancient Chinese

AbstractThe ancient Chinese people believed that they existed at the center of the world. With the arrival of Buddhism in China came a new cosmic worldview rooted in Indian culture that destabilized the Han [huaxia 華夏] people’s long-held notions of China as the Middle Kingdom [Zhongguo 中國] and had a profound influence on medieval Daoism. Under the influence of Buddhist cosmology, Daoists reformed their idea of Middle Kingdom, for a time relinquishing its signification of China as the center of the world. Daoists had to acknowledge the existence of multiple kingdoms outside China and non-Han peoples [manyi 蠻夷] who resided on the outskirts of the so-called Middle Kingdom as potential followers of Daoism. However, during the Tang dynasty, this capacious attitude ceased to be maintained or passed on. Instead, Tang Daoists returned to a notion of Middle Kingdom that reinstated the traditional divide between Han and non-Han peoples.

The Influence of Foreign Trade Activities on Chinese Loan Words from the Historical Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 690
Author(s):  
Yiming Zhao ◽  
Yeli Shi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Late Qing Dynasty ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Late Qing ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Republic

In the process of thousands of years’ dynasties change and social development, it is not difficult to find the sustained impact of foreign trade on Chinese society. Trade has output both the goods and culture of China. At the same time it also brought in the material and non-material civilization from other places of the world. As a product of foreign culture, loan words are not only a microcosm of the outcome of trade activities in specific periods, but also enrichment to Chinese language. This article intends to elaborate the influence of trade activities on Chinese loan words with the development of history as the pointcut, focusing on the typical periods of the development of foreign trade in China, including the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

The Languages of Diaspora and Return

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 1-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Spolsky
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Overseas Chinese ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Middle Ages

Abstract Until quite recently, the term Diaspora (usually with the capital) meant the dispersion of the Jews in many parts of the world. Now, it is recognized that many other groups have built communities distant from their homeland, such as Overseas Chinese, South Asians, Romani, Armenians, Syrian and Palestinian Arabs. To explore the effect of exile on language repertoires, the article traces the sociolinguistic development of the many Jewish Diasporas, starting with the community exiled to Babylon, and following through exiles in Muslim and Christian countries in the Middle Ages and later. It presents the changes that occurred linguistically after Jews were granted full citizenship. It then goes into details about the phenomenon and problem of the Jewish return to the homeland, the revitalization and revernacularization of the Hebrew that had been a sacred and literary language, and the rediasporization that accounts for the cases of maintenance of Diaspora varieties.

scholarly journals THE TEA ROAD: FROM CHINA TO UZBEKISTAN (7-15TH CENTURIES)

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 4913-4924
Author(s):  
Mahfuza Bahriddinovna Mamatova
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
The People ◽  
Ferghana Valley ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Tea Drinking ◽  
Made In China

Five thousand years ago, the first tea was made in China. Only from the beginning of the Middle Ages people of neighboring countries of China recognized tea and until the Tang Dynasty, tea drinking was not widespread. Beginning of the 7th century tea brought Central Asia with the Tea Road. From this period he stretched from China to India. At the centre of this path was Central Asia, the ancient cities of Uzbekistan namely after Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent and the Ferghana Valley. It was the northeastern Tea Road that connected China with Central Asia and was much more ancient than other directions of this route. In the 7-15th centuries The Tea Road developed in different historical periods. During the Tang Dynasty in China, Sogdian merchants brought tea to Central Asia. During the Song Dynasty, it was traded by Central Asian merchants and opened their tea shops in China. The Samanid rulers were the patrons of the tea trade. Under the Ming and Timuridsempire, an intensive ambassadorial-diplomatic relationship between China and Central Asia was strengthened. During this period, among the various goods, the main article of Chinese exports was tea, which was exchanged for thoroughbred horses brought from Central Asia. Since the time of the Tang Dynasty, bilateral trade has been established with Central Asia, and as part of the Tea Road, there were several main and a number of experimental routes along which tea went to Central Asia. In these paths, there were customs points - cities that played an important role in China's trade and economic ties with Central Asia. Today, tea is considered a favourite drink of the peoples of Central Asia, including Uzbekistan. Green tea is imported to Uzbekistan from China and it has become a national drink for the people of Uzbekistan.

Tomb Architecture of Dynastic China: Old and New Questions

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Qinghua Guo
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Stark Contrast ◽  
Eastern Han

A significant number of tombs have survived from the Han dynasty (Western Han 206 BC-AD 8, Eastern Han 25–220), an important period for tomb architecture in China. The number of examples is in stark contrast to the lack of evidence of other architecture from the period. In fact, no timber architecture built before the Tang dynasty (618–907) exists today. While much care and scholarly effort has been devoted to the interpretation of ancient architecture, funeral architecture has not received adequate study and scrutiny.

Women Rulers in Imperial China

NAN Nü ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Women Rulers ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Imperial China

“Women Rulers in Imperial China”is about the history and characteristics of rule by women in China from the Han dynasty to the Qing, especially focusing on the Tang dynasty ruler Wu Zetian (625-705) and the Song dynasty Empress Liu. The usual reason that allowed a woman to rule was the illness, incapacity, or death of her emperor-husband and the extreme youth of his son the successor. In such situations, the precedent was for a woman to govern temporarily as regent and, when the heir apparent became old enough, hand power to him. But many women ruled without being recognized as regent, and many did not hand power to the son once he was old enough, or even if they did, still continued to exert power. In the most extreme case, Wu Zetian declared herself emperor of her own dynasty. She was the climax of the long history of women rulers. Women after her avoided being compared to her but retained many of her methods of legitimization, such as the patronage of art and religion, the use of cosmic titles and vocabulary, and occasional gestures of impersonating a male emperor. When women ruled, it was an in-between time when notions and language about something that was not supposed to be nevertheless took shape and tested the limits of what could be made acceptable.

Die lateinische ›Versio vulgata‹ des griechischen Legendenromans von ›Barlaam und Josaphat‹

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-417
Author(s):  
Franz Josef Worstbrock
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many ◽  
As If

AbstractThe ›Versio vulgata‹, probably written around 1170 in Paris (St. Denis), a thoroughly accurate Latin translation of its Greek model, the ›Historia of Barlaam and Joasaph‹, is the starting point for the legend of ›Barlaam and Josaphat‹, which was widely used in all literature in the Western Middle Ages. It itself had an unusually rapid and broad reception, in which, according to the testimony of more than 100 preserved manuscripts, especially the new monastic orders of the 12th century participated, led by the Cistercians. The narrative programme of the ›Historia‹ is the path of the king’s son Josaphat into an existence of radical religious renunciation of the world, the central act of the plot being his departure from power, from the country and its people into the eremitic wilderness. It takes place against the protest of the people, who do not want to let the beloved king go, and especially against the protest of Prince Barachias, whom Josaphat forces into his succession. Here the individual’s desire for salvation not only disputes the claim of the salvation of the many, but above all denies the forced successor the possibility of an equal path of salvation. Thus the ›Historia‹ is loaded with an insoluble aporia at its key point. The use of the Bible has a formative effect on the style of the ›Historia‹, not so much the frequent citation of marked exact Bible quotations as the even more frequent insertion of smaller or larger biblical excerpts into the narrator’s speech or that of one of his characters as if they were part of their own speech.

The Pathway from Negatives to Question Particles

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-chuan WEI
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Part ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Dialects ◽  
The Way

There is a great number of question particles in Chinese dialects that can be traced back to the negatives bu 不 and wu 無, which appeared in the negative part of A-not-A questions before turning into question particles. It remains debatable when and how this change occurred. We pinpoint the time when these two negatives changed into question particles according to several criteria in this paper. The time when bu became used as a question particle can be roughly dated to the Later Han dynasty and that of wu to the Tang dynasty, and the characters for these two words were then replaced by others. The interaction between bu and wu in history draws a picture of dynamic interaction. Some dialects show an extension from bu to wu, and some the other way round; the former is predominant in Middle Chinese, and the latter after the Tang dynasty. The way that bu changed into a question particle appears different from wu, which can be depicted as follows: The negative bu might have been seen as equivalent to the question particles hu 乎 and ye 耶 by holding a position identical to these two particles, which lost their function of interrogation and, as a result, were supplanted by bu subsequently. As a negative, wu is not only parallel with bu in syntactic behaviors, but also overlaps with the latter in the history, which made wu turn into a question particle after bu had done so.

scholarly journals The relationship between climate change and wars waged between nomadic and farming groups from the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty period

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Su ◽  
L. Liu ◽  
X. Q. Fang ◽  
Y. N. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Solid Material ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Regional Productivity ◽  
Western Han Dynasty ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. In ancient China, shifts in regional productivity of agriculture and animal husbandry, caused by climate change, either led to wars or peaceful relations between nomadic and farming groups. During the period spanning the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, 367 wars were waged between these groups. While 69 % of the wars were initiated by nomads, 62.4 % were won by the farming groups. On a centennial timescale, the battlegrounds were mostly in northern areas (at an average latitude of 38.92° N) during warm periods, moving southward (at an average latitude of 34.66° N) during cold periods. On a decadal timescale, warm climates corresponded to a high incidence of wars (a correlation coefficient of 0.293). While farming groups were inclined to initiate wars during dry and cold periods, their chances of achieving victory were reduced at such times. The main reasons for this are, first, that a warm climate provided a solid material foundation for nomadic and farming groups, contributing especially to enhanced productivity among the former. However, the overriding desire of nomadic groups to expand essential subsistence means led to wars. Second, during cold periods, farming groups moved to and settled in the south, while nomadic groups occupied the Central Plain. Thus, the locations of the battlefields also changed. While other factors also influenced these wars, climate change served as a backdrop, playing an indirect role in wars between these groups.

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