scholarly journals Could phenological records from Chinese poems of the Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279 CE) be reliable evidence of past climate changes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 929-950
Author(s):  
Yachen Liu ◽  
Xiuqi Fang ◽  
Junhu Dai ◽  
Huanjiong Wang ◽  
Zexing Tao
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Past Climate ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Past Climate Change ◽  
Phenological Records

Abstract. Phenological records in historical documents have been proven to be of unique value for reconstructing past climate changes. As a literary genre, poetry reached its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279 CE) in China. Sources from this period could provide abundant phenological records in the absence of phenological observations. However, the reliability of phenological records from poems, as well as their processing methods, remains to be comprehensively summarized and discussed. In this paper, after introducing the certainties and uncertainties of phenological information in poems, the key processing steps and methods for deriving phenological records from poems and using them in past climate change studies are discussed: (1) two principles, namely the principle of conservatism and the principle of personal experience, should be followed to reduce uncertainties; (2) the phenological records in poems need to be filtered according to the types of poems, background information, rhetorical devices, spatial representations, and human influence; (3) animals and plants are identified at the species level according to their modern distributions and the sequences of different phenophases; (4) phenophases in poems are identified on the basis of modern observation criteria; (5) the dates and sites for the phenophases in poems are confirmed from background information and related studies. As a case study, 86 phenological records from poems of the Tang Dynasty in the Guanzhong region in China were extracted to reconstruct annual temperature anomalies in specific years in the period between 600 and 900 CE. Following this, the reconstruction from poems was compared with relevant reconstructions in published studies to demonstrate the validity and reliability of phenological records from poems in studies of past climate changes. This paper reveals that the phenological records from poems could be useful evidence of past climate changes after being scientifically processed. This could provide an important reference for future studies in this domain, in both principle and methodology, pursuant of extracting and applying phenological records from poems for larger areas and different periods in Chinese history.

scholarly journals How could phenological records from the Chinese poems of the Tang and Song Dynasties (618–1260 AD) be reliable evidence of past climate changes?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yachen Liu ◽  
Xiuqi Fang ◽  
Junhu Dai ◽  
Huanjiong Wang ◽  
Zexing Tao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Changes ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Past Climate ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties ◽  
Past Climate Change ◽  
Processing Steps ◽  
Phenological Records

Abstract. Phenological records in historical documents have been proved to be of unique value for reconstructing past climate changes. As a literary genre, poetry reached its peak period in the Tang and Song Dynasties (618–1260 AD) in China, which could provide abundant phenological records in this period when lacking phenological observations. However, the reliability of phenological records from poems as well as their processing methods remains to be comprehensively summarized and discussed. In this paper, after introducing the certainties and uncertainties of phenological information in poems, the key processing steps and methods for deriving phenological records from poems and using them in past climate change studies were discussed: (1) two principles namely the principle of conservative and the principle of personal experience should be followed to reduce the uncertainties; (2) the phenological records in poems need to be filtered according to the types of poems, the background information, the rhetorical devices and the spatial representations; (3) the animals and plants are identified to species level according to their modern distributions and the sequences of different phenophases; (4) the phenophases in poems are identified on the basis of modern observation criterion; (5) the dates and sites for the phenophases in poems are confirmed from background information and related studies. Finally, the temperature anomalies reconstructed by phenological records from poems were compared with those reconstructed by other historical documents in published studies to demonstrate the validity and reliability of phenological records from poems in studies of past climate changes. This paper proved that the phenological records from poems could be useful evidence of past climate changes after being scientifically processed and also provides a reference in both principle and methodology for the extraction and application of phenological records from poems.

The Other China Hunger: Part II

Worldview ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
Miriam London ◽  
Ivan D. London
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
The Tang Dynasty

It's nothing new in Chinese history to impress the foreigner for the sake of the country's face,” said a young escaper last year in Hong Kong, who by no means intended to denigrate his country. “When people from other countries came to the ancient capital of Ch'ang An in the Tang Dynasty, it was so gorgeously decorated, those foreigners were astounded….If the rulers today desire not to let foreigners see anyone wearing patched clothes, that can easily be arranged. And if they want to show foreigners trees in Peking with silk hanging from the branches, that is also possible.”Visitors from afar viewing today what B. Michael Frolic describes as “the peaceful blues and grays and whites of Chinese cities” would certainly smile at the thought of brocades waving in the breeze.

Semi-Automating the Transformation of Chinese Historical Records Into Structured Biographical Data

2019 ◽  
pp. 228-246
Author(s):  
Lik Hang Tsui ◽  
Hongsu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Important Process ◽  
Biographical Data ◽  
Chinese Studies ◽  
Latin Script ◽  
The Tang Dynasty

This chapter explores and analyzes the new methods that the China Biographical Database (CBDB) project team has developed and adopted to digitize reference works about Chinese history, which is part of the important process of turning them into structured biographical data. This workflow focuses on the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and has implications for the continued improvement in the technologies for digitization and research into historical biographies in the Chinese language. These explorations and outcomes also demonstrate attempts in the Chinese studies field to transform large amounts of texts in non-Latin script into structured biographical data in a semi-automated fashion, and are expected to benefit digital humanities research, especially initiatives focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.

scholarly journals The Representation of Military Troops in Pingcheng Tombs and the Private Household Institution of Buqu in Practice

Asian Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-243
Author(s):  
Chin-Yin Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Point Of Interest ◽  
Mural Paintings ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Northern Wei

In Northern Wei tombs of the Pingcheng period (398–494 CE), we notice a recurrence of the depiction of armed men in both mural paintings and tomb figurines, not in combat but positioned in formation. Consisting of infantry soldiers alongside light and heavy cavalry accompanied by flag bearers, such a military scene presents itself as a point of interest amidst the rest of the funerary setting. Is this supposed to be an indication that the tomb occupant had indeed commanded such an impressive set of troops in life? Or had the families commissioned this theme as part of the tomb repertoire simply in hopes of providing protection over the deceased in their life after death? If we set the examination of this type of image against textual history, the household institution of buqu retainers that began as early as the Xin (“New”) Dynasty (9–23 CE) and was codified in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), serving as private retainer corps of armed men to powerful families, appears to be the type of social institution reified in the archaeological materials mentioned above. The large-scale appearance of these military troops inside Pingcheng period tombs might even suggest that with the “tribal policy” in place, the Han Chinese practice of keeping buqu retainers became a convenient method for the Tuoba to manage recently conquered tribal confederations, shifting clan loyalty based on bloodline to household loyalty based on the buqu institution, one with a long social tradition in Chinese history.  

scholarly journals Study on Twining Technologies Adopted by Bamboo Sutra Wrappers of the Tang Dynasty

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Rulin Yang ◽  
Yanghua Kuang
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Rectangular Shape ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Structure Dimension

Bamboo sutra wrapper is made of bamboo splints fastened together with silk threads using the warp twining method. Bamboo sutra wrappers dating to the Tang and Song dynasties are mainly found in Cave 17. They are usually in a rectangular shape with the geometrical, dotted or floral pattern which are quite favored in the Tang dynasty. Affected by Buddhism, sutra wrappers of this kind have also been found in other Asian countries such as Japan and Korea, with a similarity in structure, dimension and twining method.

scholarly journals Tang Dynasty Aesthetic Criteria: Zhang Huaiguan’s Shuduan

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 148-169
Author(s):  
Yolaine Escande
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Aesthetic Theory ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
European Tradition ◽  
The Tang Dynasty

The Shuduan 《書斷》 (Judgments on Calligraphers) by Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang dynasty comprises classifications of calligraphy that Chinese theoreticians still refer to. This article aims at considering the functioning and efficacy of such evaluations through a study comparing this work to other treatises and, when relevant, to the European tradition. Its main objective is to examine how Chinese aesthetic theory responded to new evaluative needs that appeared during this crucial period in Chinese history. Thus, it seeks to clarify the nature of the criteria adopted by Zhang Huaiguan for his gradings: are they material, ideological, aesthetic, or of another nature?

Daoist Meditation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Komjathy
Keyword(s):  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
Insight Meditation ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The One ◽  
Internal Alchemy

Meditation has been and remains a central practice in the Daoist (Taoist) tradition. This chapter examines Daoist meditation, often referred to as dazuo (“engaging in sitting”) and shouyi (“guarding the One”) in Chinese, from the Later Han dynasty to the present. It provides a general overview of the five major forms of Daoist meditation, namely, apophatic meditation, ingestion, visualization, inner observation, and internal alchemy. Ingestion (fuqi) and visualization (cunxiang) were first systematized in the early medieval period. Inner observation (neiguan), a Daoist adaptation of Buddhist insight meditation (vipassanā), became a central practice during the Tang dynasty. Internal alchemy (neidan) developed during the late Tang dynasty and early Song dynasty. Following this period, apophatic meditation and internal alchemy became the two dominant forms of Daoist meditative praxis. In addition to providing socio-historical background information, this chapter discusses the technical specifics of each type of Daoist meditation, including major texts and informing views.

Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Course of History Since Middle Antiquity

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-119
Author(s):  
Li Zhi’an
Keyword(s):  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Southern Song ◽  
The North ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Yuan Dynasty ◽  
Southern Dynasties ◽  
Southern Institutions

Abstract Two periods in Chinese history can be characterized as constituting a North/South polarization: the period commonly known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420ad-589ad), and the Southern Song, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties (1115ad-1368ad). Both of these periods exhibited sharp contrasts between the North and South that can be seen in their respective political and economic institutions. The North/South parity in both of these periods had a great impact on the course of Chinese history. Both before and after the much studied Tang-Song transformation, Chinese history evolved as a conjoining of previously separate North/South institutions. Once the country achieved unification under the Sui Dynasty and early part of the Tang, the trend was to carry on the Northern institutions in the form of political and economic administration. Later in the Tang Dynasty the Northern institutions and practices gave way to the increasing implementation of the Southern institutions across the country. During the Song Dynasty, the Song court initially inherited this “Southernization” trend while the minority kingdoms of Liao, Xia, Jin, and Yuan primarily inherited the Northern practices. After coexisting for a time, the Yuan Dynasty and early Ming saw the eventual dominance of the Southern institutions, while in middle to late Ming the Northern practices reasserted themselves and became the norm. An analysis of these two periods of North/South disparity will demonstrate how these differences came about and how this constant divergence-convergence influenced Chinese history.

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