Eastern Wu

Tang Yin (1470-1523), also known as Tang Bohu or Tang Ziwei, was a famous artist of the middle Ming dynasty. Interestingly, his names are not only associated with the historical figure of a recognized painter and poet, but also with numerous fictions that feature him as the protagonist, ranging from Ming dynasty novels to modern television shows. Within the Tang Yin scholarship, studies are therefore sometimes divided into the ones on his biography and oeuvre and those on the fictional or…

Empress Wu was probably the most controversial woman emperor that was able to reign china for many years. Empress Wu Killed many I mean many people in her circle, but She still was a Buddhist in everyone’s eyes which surprises me.The once reigning Emperor of China became a Buddhist because of her more than slight obsession of power and becoming the emperor of China. The buddhist religion was her weapon to get the Chinese people to believe that she was the next emperor of china chosen by god and…

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu can be translated as The Book of the Immanence of the Way or The Book of the Way and of How It Manifests Itself. Lao Tzu, author of the book, can also be known as “The Master”. He has a form of government planned and wishes to everyone follows and support this plan. His main goal is simplicity and naturalness. When he thinks of a way to govern someone it comes to his mind the idea that the more rules and obligation you put to a person, the less they will do it. He just…

The Bhagavad-Gita is an ancient Hindu scripture that encompasses seven hundred verses and conveys how we are attached to the pleasures, desires, and duties that distract us from our true self. Slightly older, the Daodejing is an ancient Chinese text that is comprised of eighty-one brief chapters. As the fundamental text of Taoism, the Daodejing expresses how we must be in a state of “Wei Wei,” in order to be synchronized with the ever-changing universe. The author of the Daodejing was a sage…

Hung Liu was born in 1948 in Changchun, China, however, she grew up in Beijing. There, she experienced the Cultural Revolution under the power of Mao Tse-tung. Around the age of 20, Hung Liu went to live in the countryside where she had to work with peasants in the fields. When schools finally reopened, she started thriving chose to study. Later she became a teacher at an elite Beijing school. She also had a television show revolving how to draw and paint. Then in 1984, Hung Liu was off to San…

The first reading in chapter one of our text Pursuing Happiness, edited by Mathew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, presents material translated from The TaoTeChing. I studied multiple sources to find more about this ancient text, and in the paragraphs below I will discuss the meaning of Tao its self, the author behind the work, and how Taoism has grown and changed through the centuries up to present time. Taoism is a religion that originated in china approximately 2,400 years ago. The main…

A bird does not strive to be a better bird, nor a fish lives in angst because he cannot fly. One miraculously discovers one's authentic self within the harmony and balance of the natural order of all that is. In the ‘Tao Te Ching’, 6th century B.C. Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, introduces the Tao as the undefinable inherent truth; the key to unlocking the ebb and flow of a joyous nonresistant life; to the bewilderment of those who choose to suffer the endless cycle of anxiety, worry and fear.…

Biography Wu Zhao was born in Wenshui Shanxi Province in 624 CE. Her family was very wealthy and noble. She was the daughter of Wu Shihuo a chancellor of the Tang Dynasty. Wu was pushed a lot by her father when it came to her education. She was forced to read and write and develop the intellectual skills that were for men during this time period. Fast forward into the future in 638 CE, she was actually selected by Emperor Taizong at the age of 14 to become a concubine for him. He would flirt…

humans could find a path towards immortality. According to Ronnie Littlejohn, “The Daoists did not think of immortality as… an achievement in the religious sense…It was the result of finding harmony with the dao, expressed through wisdom, meditation, and wu wei. Persons who had such knowledge were reputed to live in the mountains…Undoubtedly, some removal to the mountains was a part of the journey to becoming a zhen ren "true person." Because Daoists believed that nature and our own bodies were…

Mainland China, and have always been revered as a cultural icon. Pandas have even been used by the Chinese government as diplomatic gifts in foreign policy interactions. Dubbed “Panda Diplomacy,” this practice dates back to the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian (625-705) sent a pair of pandas to the Japanese Emperor Because of their status as a national symbol, the Chinese government has initiated numerous conservation efforts to prevent the panda from becoming extinct. As of 2014, there are…