Does anybody have a recommendation for books about the Jixia academy established in Qi around 318 BCE? Either English or Chinese is ok. Thank you!

I understand that crown was not seen as a symbol of Monarchy. Where there rituals which mark the ascend of an Emperor after his father's death? What kind of rituals were there? I am asking this for all the dynasties since I couldn't find anything online. I would love to hear about Qing though.

To avoid ambiguity, China here means both the commoners and governments of Ming, Qing and republican China.

Hello. I'm an architecture student who has been tasked with choosing a Chinese structure/building from before AD, so any structure until the Han Dynasty, to make a model, plan and section of.

As I mentioned, it can be anything from and before Han Dynasty. My team and I have been looking for days, mostly to no avail. But I figured my best bet would be to ask here. I hope someone replies soon, I'm very excited to work on the model.

I'm confused because I thought fire wasn't traditionally involved in the chinese funerary rites, but modern chinese funerary rites incorporates fire into almost every aspect of it, except the body is still preferably buried when possible and affordable.

Looking for a YouTube documentary/streaming service documentary that does an accurate job of Chinese history and culture, anything from song dynasty and before. I know that is a massive timeline but I am just looking for a starting point.

Someone could give or appoint some material about visual reconstruction of both Xia and Shang Dynasty; How their cities would look, how the people would dress, what a normal house would like, that sort of stuff.

Im having a bit of a hard time trying to imagine how they looked.

Assuming I speak and write Chinese alright; what advice would you have?

Do you think in the age of AI translators that there's still an importance in understanding Classical Chinese?

Thanks

From this article: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E6%AD%A6%E4%B9%99

Translating the relevant part:

Based on the dating of oracle bone inscriptions and sacrificial pits from the Yin Ruins, human and animal sacrifices were rare during this period. The period associated with the Huang group of oracle bones corresponds to the reigns of Wen Ding, Di Yi, and Di Xin. During this time, the number of human sacrifices averaged less than two per year. In late Shang tombs, there was also a trend toward "symbolic artifacts" replacing actual items for sacrificial purposes. The scale of human sacrifices had significantly decreased compared to earlier periods, and even compared to human sacrifices that occasionally appeared from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.

So the last king of Shang really wasn't that bad after all.

I've become fascinated with Chinese literature set during the period from the collapse of the Han dynasty to the collapse of the Yuan dynasty (3rd century to 14th century).

Below are the texts I've been able to gather, please discuss if there are other famous or critically-acclaimed works that I've missed (which I almost certainly have!), especially relating to the Yuan dynasty (which seems to receive far less attention from authors). I would love to swim deeper into the sea of pre-Ming Chinese literature...

(The works do not have to be strictly part of the 'historical fiction' genre, but should at least be set during this particular period in Chinese history.)

..........

1. Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Set: End of Han dynasty (3rd century)
Author: Luo Guanzhong (Ming dynasty, 14th century)

.

2. Revised Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Set: End of Han dynasty (3rd century)
Author: Zhou Dahuang (19th century)

.

3. Romance of the Eastern and Western Jin

Set: Jin dynasty (4th century)
Author: Yang Erzengming

.

4. Ballad of Mulan

Set: Northern Wei dynasty (6th century)
Author: unknown

.

5. Romance of Emperor Wu of Liang

Set: Reign of Emperor Wu (Liang dynasty, 6th century)
Author: Qingtian Huazang (Qing dynasty, 18th century)

.

6. Romance of Sui and Tang

Set: Sui/Tang dynasties (6th-8th centuries)
Author: Chu Renhuo (Qing dynasty, 17th century)

.

7. Romance of the Prince of Qin of Tang

Set: Reign of Emperor Taizong (Tang dynasty, 7th century)
Author: Zhu Shenglin (Ming dynasty, 17th century)

.

8. Journey to the West

Set: Reign of Emperor Taizong (Tang dynasty, 7th century)
Author: Wu Cheng'en (Ming dynasty, 16th century)

.

9. Tale of the Flying Sword

Set: Tang dynasty (7th century)
Author: Deng Zhiming

.

10. Legend of the Later Tang Dynasty

Set: End of Tang dynasty (9th-10th centuries)
Author: Zhong Xingming

.

11. Romance of the Late Tang and Five Dynasties

Set: End of Tang dynasty (9th-10th centuries)
Author: Luo Guanzhong (Ming dynasty, 14th century)

.

12. Tales of the Seventy-Two Dynasties

Set: Between Tang and Song dynasties (10th century)
Author: unknown

.

13. Tales of the Water Margin

Set: Song dynasty (12th century)
Author: Shi Nai'an (Ming dynasty, 16th century)

.

14. Plum in the Golden Vase

Set: Song dynasty (12th century)
Author: Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (Ming dynasty, 17th century)

.

15. Tale of Wu Mu's Loyalty and the Restoration of the Song

Set: Song dynasty (12th century)
Author: Xiong Damu (Ming dynasty, 16th century)

.

16. Romance of the Yang Family

Set: Song dynasty (12th century)
Author: Xiong Damu (Ming dynasty, 16th century)

.

17. Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

Set: Song dynasty (12th century)
Author: Jin Yong (20th century)

.

18. Blue Chronicle

Set: Yuan dynasty (13th-14th centuries)
Author: Innjanash (Qing dynasty, 19th century)

.

19. Condor Heroes

Set: Song/Yuan dynasties (12th-14th centuries)
Author: Jin Yong (20th century)

.

20. The Legend of Heroes

Set: End of Yuan dynasty (14th century)
Author: Guo Xun (Ming dynasty, 17th century)

I'm particularly interested in the period from the Song through to the end of the Qing, but am happy to stray outside of this.

I'm looking for anyone's recommendations for readable and interesting books and papers in Mandarin that they enjoyed - popular history or academic are both good.

Thank you!

I was reading the wiki entry on Fu Hao several weeks ago. A warrior-priestess? Large scale ritual cannibalism by the Shang state? Especially given how the Chinese have traditionally hated the act of cannibalism. Also the Shang religion was largely discontinued by the Zhou, and the Shang had no concept of the Mandate of Heaven. These seems so culturally unusual compared to the other dynastic states/empires in Chinese history.

Both the Shang and Zhou civilisations co-existed during the late Shang period. The Shang has more extensive records of steppe societies fighting against the Shang, but its records on the 'predynastic Zhou' are scant as the predynastic Zhou society is significantly far from Shang lands. In fact, the Zhou was officially vassalized but not brought under suzerainty under Wu Ding, as the Zhou was not adjacent to the Shang but separated by a 'cushion' of aggressive polities.

The Zhou's legendary history allude to Zhou and Shang as 'brotherly' societies: Shang's ancestor Xie was the brother of Hou Ji, the first Zhou ancestor. One way of interpreting this is that the Zhou and Shang are branches of the same 'civilisation'. But this isn't necessarily the case. In the Israelite religious texts, the Israelites see the Edomites in similar 'brotherly' terms. Jacob is Esau's brother, with Jacob the progenitor of the Israeli tribes and Esau the progenitor of the Edomites. Yet the Israelite religious texts show a societal/cultural consciousness that is distinct from, and even hostile to, that of the Edomites.

My initial assumption was that the Shang ought to have cultural fidelity with the Zhou to a large extent, especially given the roots of the Chinese seal script originated in the Late Shang, one continued by the Zhou (did the Zhou have seal script before the Shang, or did they adopt the Shang's language/script after conquering it?) However, it is almost as if they are two distinct cultures/societies, that nonetheless share some cultural affinities.

I know people will just say it's just a fiction book and shouldn't be considered a good source, but it seems to include details not found in other historical texts which makes me think the author had access to rare authentic sources which have since been lost.

Hi friends, does anyone recommend good books about the history of China since the 1980s (say since Tiananmen)? I’m really interested in understanding the history of how China went from being below Uganda in GDP per capita to now being the most or second most powerful country, and one of the most developed (and in some groundbreaking technologies the most developed) in the world. Many thanks!

Source : Science in the Medieval World by Said al-Andalusi, tr.

Why wasn't he imprisoned at least?

In Chinese movies/dramas that involve cross-dressing, one common reason cited by some female cross-dressing characters is that it was ostensibly more convenient for them to be cross-dressed as males when appearing in public, especially if/when they were traveling long distances. In real life, though, was this really a common reason for females cross-dressing as males in history? (I know the most common reason for females cross-dressing as males was to join professions/do activities which weren't open to females in ancient times, but for this question I'm only asking about this particular given reason.)

From what I understand they had a multi course structure with cold dishes to start, then main courses called 正菜 with smaller dishes in between.

Does anyone happen to know more about this? Or maybe where I can learn more?

How about specific dishes?

I imagine it will be in the book of rites, but I can't find a good translation.

The first festival is winter solstice celebrations. Any others?

The Tang was considered a time when China was very open to foreigners... open in the sense of foreigners easy to enter and to trade, in a way like the US in the 20th Century, during America's height.

The Tang and the Song seemed to have many Middle Eastern traders in the southeastern coast (today's Fujian and Guangdong Provinces); trade flourished.

Chinese dynasties after the Tang became more closed; the Ming and the Qing were very foreigner hostile.

And of course, the golden age of the Tang seems to be considered unparalleled by the Chinese afterwards, even if the High Qing should match or exceed the Tang in terms of influence over East and Central Asia.

Is it true that openness correlates with the heights of Chinese history?

(Foreigners entry by force or conquest not considered willful "open" of China, like the Mongol or the Manchu conquests)