In Chinese mythology, epidemics are caused by Five Epidemic Demons with five pairs of evil eyes, all having a human body but the head of a man, a tiger, a horse, a bird or a rooster. According to the Encyclopedia on The Origin of the Mysterious Figures from Confucius, Buddhism and Daoist (三教源流搜神大全), a work compiled during the Ming Dynasty, […]
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Great truths are always simple. (It is the language that makes the world complicated.) A quotation from Mencius Laws without compassion cannot build a good society; compassion without laws cannot make a good government. In other words, laws without compassion will not unite people; compassion without laws can lead to injustice. A Quotation from The Book of Rites The Book […]
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In the mountainous west Hunan Province in China’s southern inland region, there are many remote villages where the mysterious practice to communicate with hidden forces is still very much part of the daily reality. A family in the village. COMMENTS FROM MINDS.COM Eric Hmmmmm…. that is fascinating. Are they forces of evil? 😨😭 All Things Chinese Pure “evil” forces are rare […]
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In Chinese mythology, most beings in the celestial worlds more or less look like humans. The difference between the bodies of the terrestrial humans and the celestial beings are that the latter is much more refined in substance, more graceful in appearance, lighter in weight, shining in colour and transformable in shape since it is not formed with flesh and blood […]
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Oracle Turtle Scripts This is Oracle Turtle Script, the early Chinese written language carved on a turtle shell during Shang Dynasty (1600 BC – 1046 BC) – an era ruled by merchants with a social system chiefly based on written business contacts. This script used to be considered as the earliest form of Chinese characters by archaeologists. But the evidence […]
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White Deer College (白鹿书院), in Jiangxi Province, was a private university established 1,000 years ago with its heyday during Song and Ming dynasties. In classic China (before the middle 17th century), there were two kinds of tertiary education facilities: state-sponsored university and private colleges. The students of the former were selected nationwide. Not only they needed to pay no tuition […]
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During the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), there were four men regarded as the top four talented scholars in the region of Jiangnan, the area where Liangzhu Culture developed 5,300 – 4,000 years ago. One of the four in Hangzhou, other three from Suzhou, all were great poets, painters and calligraphers. This calligraphy is the first page […]
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The Heart Sutra is one of the most important Buddhist classics, while hand-copying Heart Surra is a popular practice among Buddhist followers in China historically. The practice mainly serves two purposes: to help distribute Buddhist classics in an era when printing was expensive, and most importantly, to function as a meditative learning process that allows the message easily entering the […]
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Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹, 989-1052), a Suzhou native, was a great statesman, philosopher, writer, educator, military strategist of the Song Dynasty. His most memorable statements include: Be the first to bear the burden for the world and the last to enjoy the fruit of collective achievement. I’d rather speak up for the truth and die than keep silent and live. He did not […]
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More than 3,000 mysterious signs discovered in Mt Juci (具茨山), of Henan Province, China, are believed to be carved in the rocks by ancient Chinese more than 5,000 years ago, according to researchers from Geophysics and Planetary Science Institute of China’s Science Academy. But so far no one can decode their meaning. Some experts suggest they might be the earlier […]
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A 1000-year-old Chinese divorce settlement agreement was unearthed in 1900 from Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Gansu Province. The following is a rough translation of this Tang Dynasty divorce settlement paper penned by a man named Zhao Zongmin: We all know when a man and a woman become a couple, they love each other. The cause for a man and a […]
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What Is the Origin of Duanwu Dragon Boat Festival? Boat racing and zongzi on Duanwu festival was initially created to pay tribute to Qu Yuan (343 BC – 278 BC), one of China’s greatest poets and statesmen. Qu Yuan was a high official of Chu Kingdom during the Warring States era. To be wrongly accused by a group of corrupt […]
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