scholarly journals Reconstruction designs of an early Chinese astronomical clock with a waterwheel steelyard clepsydra

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 891-911
Author(s):  
Zeng-Hui Hwang ◽  
Tsung-Yi Lin ◽  
Hong-Sen Yan
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Design Specifications ◽  
Astronomical Clock ◽  
Technological Level ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Original Device

Abstract. During the 8th century, ancient China began to use a steelyard clepsydra to control the waterwheel, giving it a time-keeping function for use in hydromechanical astronomical clocks. In the Tang Dynasty, the monk I-Hsing (683–723 CE) and Liang Lingzan jointly built a water-powered celestial globe (shuiyun huntian), which, according to historical records, was China's first hydromechanical astronomical clock with a waterwheel steelyard clepsydra. However, the original device has since been lost. The objective of this study is to use the design methodology for the reconstruction of lost ancient machinery to systematically reconstruct this lost clock. The methodology included the study of ancient literature to formulate reconstruction design specifications. Through the process of generalization and specialization, the target device was analyzed to determine its function, and different mechanical configurations that achieved the same function were developed. Thereafter, an atlas of possible mechanical sketches that were consistent with the technological level of ancient times was built. A computer 3D reconstruction of the waterwheel steelyard clepsydra, time-reporting device, and astronomical device was carried out, and 50 possible configurations were developed. One was selected to build a physical model.

scholarly journals Interpreters and the Writing of History in China

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Lung
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Liang Dynasty ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
Made In

Abstract This article argues that interpreters are crucial figures in the recording of history. Evidence taken from historical texts in ancient China is used to verify the claim that interpreters’ notes might have been used as a reference in composing historical records. By documenting the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) policy to have interpreters interview foreign envoys and submit the relevant accounts to the Bureau of Historiography, this article provides background for the link between interpreters’ interview notes and history compilation in China. Evidence is further drawn from the history of the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618), whereby an interpreter’s mediated account of the emperor’s conversation with a Japanese envoy was directly adapted. Most interestingly, pictorial and written documents of foreign peoples made in the mid-6th century during the Liang dynasty (AD 502-557) were found to be very similar to the written accounts about these foreign peoples in Liangshu, the history of the Liang dynasty, completed in the early 7th century. Apparently, there is a solid link between the interview accounts and historical accounts about foreign peoples in China. Thus, there is a strong possibility that interpreters’ notes, in the form of reports, provide important, if not primary, sources for history compilation in China.

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.

Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from Its Origins to the Tang Dynasty

2003 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 851
Author(s):  
Antonino Forte ◽  
Maurizio Scarpari
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
The Tang Dynasty

Were past Chinese families complex? Household structures during the Tang Dynasty, 618–907 AD

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIM FUTING LIAO
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Chinese Families ◽  
Marriage Patterns ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Household Heads ◽  
Complex Households ◽  
Popular Image ◽  
Age And Sex

The popular image of a traditional Chinese household is one of a large kin group composed of multiple-family units. However, reports on family size in China's past suggest that the average household size was not large in ancient times. Using population registers for Dunhuang and Turfan from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 ad), this article is the first serious attempt to analyze household structures in ancient China. While a high proportion of simple-family households were recorded in the registers, a significant number of complex households suggests that the distribution of Chinese households was bimodal. This pattern fits neither the model considered as typical for Western families nor that for Eastern families. Other issues covered include the frequency of living alone, the presence of slaves, the distribution of household heads by age and sex, and women's marriage patterns.

scholarly journals Textual Research on Henna Art Introduced into Ancient China Through the Silk Road

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Xue Yang ◽  
Yu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Chinese Traditional Culture ◽  
Jin Dynasty ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Textual Research ◽  
The Silk Road

Since ancient Egypt, henna has been widely used as dyes for women’s henna body art. Through the Silk Road, China assimilated cultures of its Western Regions, India, and Persia, such as the henna art. In Ancient China the "garden balsam" is always called "henna". Nevertheless, they belong to two different kinds of flowers. Folks’ mixed use of these two kinds of flower names reflects the profound impact of the henna art on Chinese traditional culture of decorative nails. This textual research results revealed that in ancient China the customs of dye red nails are affected by foreign henna art and there were three development stages: the introduction period (from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty), the development period (in the Song-Yuan Dynasty) and the popularity period (in the Ming-Qing Dynasty).

Translation officials of the Tang central government in medieval China

Interpreting ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Lung
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Job Duties

The article documents and differentiates two kinds of translation officials in the central government of the Tang dynasty (618–906 AD) in medieval China: translators in the Court of Diplomatic Reception (Yiyu 譯語) and translators in the Secretariat (Fanshu Yiyu 蕃書譯語). The distinction between them is essential because they are often mentioned in the scholarly literature indiscriminately. Given the scarcity of historical records and the absence of focused discussions about translators in Tang times, their differences were usually either toned down as minimal or misinterpreted by modern scholarship over the past decade. Although some researchers have recently made reference to the two translator titles and agreed that their translation and interpreting duties were somewhat different, the nature of these differences has not been clearly established. Analysis of standard historical records suggests that, in fact, these two types of translators had distinct job duties. Translators in the Court of Diplomatic Reception interpreted primarily for foreign envoys, while the Secretariat’s translators chiefly translated state letters from foreign envoys. This article presents evidence to substantiate this observation and explain why such an apparently straightforward categorization has not been put forward thus far.

scholarly journals Rediscovering the Idea of Cultural Heritage and the Relationship with Nature: Four Schools of Essential Thought of the Ancient Han Chinese

Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1812-1834
Author(s):  
Otto Chen ◽  
Dawei Han
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Han Chinese ◽  
Heritage Conservation ◽  
I Ching ◽  
Conservation Movement ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Human And Nature

After a long-standing debate of pluralism in heritage conservation, the global practice has just started to broaden its view from material to people and even to nature, leading to the potential of a more comprehensive understanding and harmony between these spheres. Notwithstanding that the shift from material to people and then to nature seemingly looks like the only path in the modern heritage conservation movement to achieve the foregoing goals, in fact, there exist some regional cultures that originally featured particular views on human–nature harmony. This paper hence highlights the regional difference in heritage with a focus on China of ancient times, which unfolds the particular perspective emphasising the unity of human and nature. With a case study of Huaqing Palace of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), the research is expected to be the first attempt to rediscover that the four schools of thought, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and I Ching, had jointly formed a “wisdom” system of the ancient Han Chinese in shaping the idea of cultural heritage, as well as the idea of heritage conservation, which were inherited by modern Chinese without knowing and recognising it. The paper, therefore, argues that without understanding and acknowledging the significance of the ancient Han Chinese’s particular view on nature and the universe formed by the four schools of thought behind the material, it is not likely to protect and promote comprehensively their heritage value, such that the importance of cultural diversity will be just rhetoric.

Endogenous evolution of patriarchal clan system in ancient China

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1322-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Deng
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Institutional Response ◽  
Common People ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Back Door ◽  
The Tang Dynasty

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze long-term institutional causes and consequences of preference falsification by studying the evolution of China’s patriarchal clan system. Design/methodology/approach The historic study shows that although the clan system was abolished in the Qin dynasty, it re-emerged among high-standing families in the Han dynasty and spread to common people after the Tang dynasty. Findings The author submits that the clan system was an institutional response to the preference falsification problem that arose due to the dictatorial political institutions first established in the Qin dynasty. It helped people to take collective action by themselves and also opened a back door to influence government decisions. A piece of clear evidence is the co-evolution of the clan system and government personnel system. Social implications In this sense, the clan system probably also helped to prolong the political institutions for 2,000 years. Originality/value This is the first institutional study on the clan system in China.

The Baima Tibetans and the Di People of Chinese Historical Records: Challenging the Link

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-174
Author(s):  
Katia Chirkova
Keyword(s):  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Character ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Western Sichuan ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Popular View ◽  
The Tang Dynasty ◽  
The Ancient Chinese

This paper addresses a long-standing controversy surrounding the ethnicity of the Baima Tibetans, a Tibeto-Burman people in Western Sichuan Province whose ethnic and linguistic origins are yet to be satisfactorily ascertained. It focuses on one popular view, which attempts to link the present-day Baima Tibetans with the Di, an ancient Tibeto-Burman group documented in the Chinese historical records who inhabited roughly the same area until their gradual assimilation into the Han and the Tibetans during the Tang Dynasty. The paper examines and refutes all three types of evidence proffered in the literature in support of making such a link: geographical distribution, cultures and customs, and language. Focusing on the linguistic evidence, including autonyms and certain names of the Di contained in the historical texts, and two alleged Di loan words recorded in the ancient Chinese character dictionary 《說文解字》 , the paper makes use of first-hand fieldwork material to bear on the issue. It concludes that it is immature to say anything definite about the identity of the mysterious Di language or languages, let alone to directly link them with the speech of the modern Baima people, which is predominantly a Bodic language.

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