Chinese Midterms

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Antiquarianism

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the study of objects from the past, which in premodern china was an activity that supplemented and corrected the received historical record by the investigation of inscribed objects, especially ritual bronze vessels and texts cut into stone

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arhat

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see louhan; (Sanskrit: arhat) the major followers of the Buddha who vowed to remain alive to preserve his teachings

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bodhidharma

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(d 532 ce) the first patriarch of chan Buddhism, an indina or sogdian monk who is traditionally believed to have transmitted chan from India to china

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Bodhisattva

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a being whose nature is enlightenment (bodhi) as in the historical buddha prior to his final enlightenment

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bracket cluster

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(dou gong) a combination of blocks (dou) and arms (gong), usually atop a column, that serves to transmit the roof weight to the column grid and foundation

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Chan Buddhism

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(Jp: Zen) – Buddhist sect that emphasizes meditation and personal transmission of doctrine, traditionally believed to have been transmitted form India by bodhidharma, but possibly of Chinese origin, in japan, zen

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Cizhou ware

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stonewares produced at many kilns across northern china from the song to the ming periods. Decorative techniques include slip painting beneath transparent glze, incising sgraffito, carving layers of slip in contrasting colors, and cut glaze in white, black, brown, and sometimes green and red colors

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dazu

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a center of tantric Buddhism and the site of Buddhist cave temples and carvings dating from the tang to quin dynasties, located northwest of the city of chongqing, Sichuan province

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fengshui

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(“wind and water”; dili, “earth principles”) Geomancy, the lore and methods of sitting buildings, graves etc. with regard to the propitious or harmful inflences of landscape formations

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guan ware

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(“official” ware) with special reference to a southern song crackled celadon ware made at kilns in hangzhou

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guanyin

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(Sanskrit; Avalokitesvara) The bodhisattva of compassion, one of the attendants of Amitabha Buddha and a popular object of devotion throughout East Asia

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huineng

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(638 - 713) one of two contenders for the title of sixth patriarch of chan Buddhism, traditionally known as the “founder” of the southern school of chan

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jian ware

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a type of sturdy stoneware favored for tea drinking in china and japan, glazed in blacks, browns, and yellows, first produced in fujian in the song period. Glze types include “hare’s fur” and “oil spot”, each produced when excess iron in the slip precipitates out during reduction

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jiehua

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(“ruled-line painting”) a style of in which rulers and other tools were used to produce precise and detailed images of man-made contruction such as architecture and boats

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jurchen

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a semi nomadic people who founded the jin dynasty (1115 - 1234) in the north of modern day china and forced the song dynasty court south of the huai river in 1127

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kaolin

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(china clay) a white clay,mostly silicon oxide and aluminum oxide, with few impurities, which is an essential ingredient in porcelin

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ko'an

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(Japanese, from the Chinese gongan) a nonsensical or paradoxical question or story used in chan Buddhism as a method to force the listener to abandon logical thought and attain a suprarational understanding

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longquan ware

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a porcellaneous stoneware with a grayish body and thick, green glaze first produced in zhejiang province in the song period. Decorated w incised, carved, molded, and fully sculptural designs

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luohan

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(Sanskrit: arhat) the major followers of the Buddha who vowed to remain alive to preserve his teachings

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meditation school

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a school of Chinese Buddhism devoted to intense mental regimens (dhyana, chan, zen) as a means of attaining enlightenment

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parinirvana

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(sanskrit) the “final nirvana” or death of the historical buddha

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qidan

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(khitan) a semi nomadic people who founded a kingdom on the northern border of song-period china, which was given the dynastic name of Liao (947 - 1125)

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qingbai

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(“blush-white”) a porcelin ware with blue-tinged glaze first produced in Jiangxi province in the tenth centur. It is thinly potted and may have incised or molded designs

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porcelain

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a high-fired ceramic made from white clay (kaolin) with clear glazes producing a vitreous, resonant, and translucent body

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ru ware

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an extremely rare stoneware with thick, gray-blue glaze first produced for the northern song court at an official kiln in henna province

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sakyamuni

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(“sage of the sakyas”) an honorific name for the historical Buddha, Siddhartha gautama, who was a member of the sakya clan

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shanshui

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(“mountains and water”) a generic term for landscape

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stoneware

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a high fired (above 1000 degress centigrade) ceramic that is partially virtrified, hence nonporpus and hard and often covered with a feldspathic graygreen or brown glaze

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stupa

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(ta) an Indian sacred mound erected by Buddhists to enshrine a relic; a precursor of the Chinese pagoda

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sutra

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(jing) the holy texts, words, and teaching of the buddha

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"The Three Friends of Winter"

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a traditionally grouping of pine, bamboo, and flowering plum, which represent perseverance through adversity

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xing ware

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a stoneware made with white thing glaze in northern china from the sui period onward, which derives its name from xingzhou, hehei province

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yaozhou ware

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a stoneware w grayish body and usually decorated with an olive green glaze, first produced in shaanxi province in the tang period, carved and molded decorations are most commonly used

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ziran

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(“self-so”) a desirable quality of natural spontaneity – lack of artifice and resonance with nature – in ones personality or creative work

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the five dynasties

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southern tang
northern song
southern song
liao
jin
yuan