China is experiencing a remarkable religious renaissance that includes dark ages during Mao Zedong period, and revival and also reform in many traditional forms (Madsen 2011, p. 18). Religions not only in terms of organizations and conflicts, but also individual belief and convictions shaped the many of transformation of the history with continuous influence on society for the past few centuries (Dubois 2011, p. 1). Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Legalism have major impact in Asian society,…
Portrait of a Chief (Lefem), an African wood sculpture from 19th to early 20th century, is a portrayal of one of the ruler of Bangwa chiefdoms . In contrast, The Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules, a Roman marble sculpture from A.D. 69 to 98, Flavian dynasty, depicts the Greek Mythology hero: Hercules . While the idealized man form is the subject of two sculptures, both sculptures contain concepts of the power and strength. However, the Roman sculpture reflects…
Halperin shows that the majority of writers in Tang dynasty are eager to defend the Buddhist “faith”. He’s focusing on 7 representatives of Tang’s literati. They are Liang Su, Pai Chu-I, Tuan Ch’eng shih, Li Chao, Wei Kao, Ku K’uang and Liu Tsung-yuan. Halperin said, “Unlike all but a few Tang writers, Song…
How effective were the Late Qing Reforms of Empress Dowager Cixi in modernizing early 20th century China 1902-1908 INTRODUCTION Empress Dowager Cixi (alternatively Tz’u-his) has traditionally been characterized as a powerful obstacle to reform; promulgating Qing conservatism, Manchu values and neo-Confucianism, and, throughout the second half of the 19th century, stolidly resisting political reform. However, from her return to court in 1902 to her death, a dramatic revolution in Cixi’s approach…
for higher education but for them to serve the men better, maintaining a patriarchal society. Instead of using the previous harsher and cruel laws and regulation against the civilians. The Han rulers modified some of the harsher aspects of the Zhao dynasty; Confucian ideals of government, out of favor during the Qin period, were adopted as the creed of the Han Empire, and Confucian scholars gained prominent status as the core of the civil…
out of the contradictions between Liu’s vision of himself as an educated man and potential government official and his actual situation (19).” He even “traced his ancestry back to Liu Zhiyuan, a tenth century emperor of the short-lived later Han dynasty (21).” The holder of a provincial degree, Liu watched with dismay as the countryside began to wither under the slow but relentless assault of modernization. Despite his constant belief he was qualified to hold government office, he never did, and…
lifestyle, esthetics and good taste. What one wore said where one stood in society and who one was to be. Styles change from dynasty to dynasty and the history is imprinted in the clothing. Depending on one’s political and economic status, the distinction between the different styles of clothing existed not only throughout the dynasties but many times through the dynasty itself. The Chinese resume the necessities of life within four words: clothing, food, habitation and transportation. Clothing…
Weeks prior to the procession, Sheng Xuanhuai’s family had engaged in a grueling lobbying campaign to seek a permit for the funeral cortege to go through Nanjing 南京 Road and other major streets in the International Settlement. On October 25, 1917, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (Shanghai zong shanghui 上海總商會) filed a written request to the SMC at the behest of the Sheng family for the use of Nanjing Road for the procession. In the letter, Sheng was portrayed as a highly accomplished…
travels down the family line as they become successors. Moss Roberts notes this as one of the philosophy’s strongpoints in his afterword for his translation of Three Kingdoms: “It is a concept less active in times of stability, [because] changes of dynasty are relatively infrequent; they are the exception, not the rule.” He also talks of its strengths outside of times of crises, saying “it is always a useful reminder to the ruler of the penalty for misgovernment.” Not only does this philosophy…
Tehran, Iran: From Persia to Present Tehran wondrous, mysterious past gives the capital city a mystic fascination that makes anyone curious about it anxious to visit. From being part of the biblical Persian Empire to the unfortunate hostage siege of the United States Embassy in 1979, Tehran has a history that is as rich as any other capital on earth. The people of Tehran are friendly, polite, and are not representative of the governmental powers of Iran. Its architecture is unique for this city…