Taoism is not a religion, nor a philosophy. It is a “Way” of life. It is a River. The Tao is the natural order of things. It is a force that flows through every living and sentient object, as well as through the entire universe. When the Tao is in balance it is possible to find perfect happiness. Lao Tzu The primary religious figures in Taoism are Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, two scholars...
The Taklamakan Desert (also Taklimakan) is a desert of Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. It is known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world. It covers an area of 270,000 km2 of the Tarim Basin, 1,000 km long and 400 km wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of the Silk Road as travellers...
The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. Extending 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometres)...
The role of seals in the Chinese culture can hardly be underestimated. For the last 3,000 years they have been used in both official and private spheres. The earliest examples of seals come from the Shang dynasty (BCE 16-11 c.) from the archeological sites at Anyang. However very little is known about their usage at this early stage, it is only starting from the Spring and Autumn period (BCE 722...
Nushu is one of the most interesting and least known writing systems that I know. The words nu shu literally means “Woman’s Writing” in Chinese. As the name implies, Nushu is a writing system created and used exclusively by women in a remote part of China. Traditional Chinese culture is male-centered and forbids girls from any kind of formal education, so Nushu was developed in...
There have been various stories about the origin of the Chinese script, with nearly all ancient writers attributing it to a man named Cangjie. Cangjie, according to one legend, saw a divine being whose face had unusual features that looked like a picture of writings. In imitation of his image, Cangjie created the earliest written characters. After that, certain ancient accounts go on to say...
The history of science and technology in China is both long and rich with many contributions to science and technology. In antiquity, independently of Greek philosophers and other civilizations, ancient Chinese philosophers made significant advances in science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy. The first recorded observations of comets, solar eclipses, and supernovae were made in China...
Peking Man is an example of Homo erectus. A group of fossil specimens was discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Chou K’ou-tien) near Beijing (at that time known as Peking), China. More recently, the finds have been dated from roughly 500 000 years ago, although a new study suggests they may be as much as 680,000 – 780,000 years old. Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar...
The writing of mythological tales began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-420), when various writers, influenced by the alchemist’s ideas and Taoist and Buddhist superstitions, were interested in inventing stories about gods and ghosts. Some of them show their unusual imagination and mastery of the written language. This practice was continued in the next period, the period of Southern and...
The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC Ð 256 BC). Today, the music continues a rich traditional heritage in one aspect, while emerging into a more contemporary form at the same time. The legendary founder of music in Chinese mythology was Ling Lun...