Tag: china history

Mencius

Mencius was also a great representative of the Confucianism. Born some one hundred years later than Confucius in the state of Zou in today’s Shandong province, he was considered the second-greatest Confucian philosopher, or the “Second Sage”.

Mencius continued the ethical teachings of Confucius by stressing the innate goodness of human nature. He believed, however, that original human goodness can become depraved through one’s own destructive effort or through contact with an evil environment. The problem of moral cultivation is therefore to preserve or at least to restore the goodness that is one’s birthright. Continue reading Mencius

Han Fei and His Legalist Philosophy

Han Fei was a legalist philosopher and essayist in the 3rd century during the Warring States Period. His legalist thought had provided important theoretical support for the rule of the later Qin dynasty, China’s first centralized state.

Han Fei was a prince of the royal family of the State of Han. He stuttered and could not present his ideas in court, which was a serious impediment. But he overcame this by developing one of the most brilliant writing styles in ancient China. Continue reading Han Fei and His Legalist Philosophy

Ethnic Minorities Whose Population Is below 100 Thousand

There are 20 ethnic minorities in China whose population is below 100 thousand, namely, Blang, Tajik, Achang, Pumi, Owenki, Nu, Ching, Jinuo, Deang, Paoan, Russian, Yuku, Uzbek, Monba, Oroqen, Dulong, Tartar, Hezhe, Gaoshan and Luoba.
Dulong Nationality:
Dulong nationality has a population of over 7400 people, who live in compact community in the river valley along the Dulong River in Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County of Yunnan Province. Its spoken language is Dulongnese, which belongs to the Chinese-Tibetan language family, but it has no letter of its own. Dulong people believe that everything has its soul and they worship nature objects. The name of this nationality first appeared as “Qiao” according to the folkways in Lijiang area recorded in the chorography of Yuan Dynasty; later in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, this minority group was called “Qiu” or “Qu”. After the founding of new China, the name “Dulong” was adopted at the will of this ethnic group. In the past, the level of social productive force development of Dulong nationality was very low because they were mainly engaged in primitive agricultural production with simple production tools made of wood and bamboo; in addition, collection of ready-made products, fishing and hunting are indispensable supplement to their production. It was not until the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949 that the backward situation of Dulong people was completely addressed. Dulong people are industrious, hospitable and attach great importance to friendship. In Dulong community, it is not unusual that all the villagers render their help to the family that is in need or difficulty and the game animals are always shared by all who participate in the hunting. In addition, Dulong people are famed for their trustworthiness, fulfillment to their commitment and good traditional ethics and virtues based upon honesty and simplicity, therefore, in their community there are no such things as to shut the households’ doors at night to prevent burglary or to take possession of things lost by others on the road.
Continue reading Ethnic Minorities Whose Population Is below 100 Thousand

General Introduction of Nationalities in China

China is a united and multi-national country, which is also one of the most populous ones in the world. At present, there are 1.3 billion people from 56 nationalities in China.

The nationalities in China include: Han, Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazakh, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu, Dahur, Mulao, Qiang, Bulang, Sala, Maonan, Gelo, Sibo, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Ozbek, Russian, Owenke, Deang, Baoan, Yugu, Jing, Tartar, Dulong, Oroqen, Hezhe, Monba, Luoba, Jinuo. In addition, there are a few people from unidentified nationalities in China. Continue reading General Introduction of Nationalities in China

Zhou Dynasty

The third dynasty Zhou, was established in 1027 BC and it was destroyed by Qin in 256 BC, lasting approximately 770 years. It can be divided into two periods by the move of the capital West Zhou and East Zhou. The latter of which consists in two stages —— Spring and Autumn, Warring States.
West Zhou lasted from 1027 BC to 771 BC. The first king, Wu, moved the capital to Gao and demolished Shang. After the enthronement of Cheng, Zhougong suppressed the riots and more importantly, he carried out many measures to strengthen the newly-built dynasty. The system of conventions includes Jingtianzhi, Zongfazhi, Guoyezhi and Liyue, to name a few important ones. Continue reading Zhou Dynasty

Shang Dynasty

In the Chinese academia, Xia is considered to be the earliest dynasty of ancient times, but most of our knowledge about Xia dynasty, depends upon the documents of the succeeding dynasties and has not been confirmed yet. Shang, of ancient times, is the first dynasty which can be verified by precise archaeological materials. Now let’s introduce it to you.

Shang was founded in 16 century BC, and became extinct in 11 century BC, lasting 600 years. Shang moved its capital to another place many times, and finally settled down at Yin (near Anyang of Henan). Archaeological studies verify that in its early days, Chinese civilization had been highly developed. Its main characteristic is the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and bronze culture. Continue reading Shang Dynasty