Hongwu Emperor

Eusebius’ excerpt The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine and Mou Tzu’s excerpt The Disposition of Error clearly depict the issues Rome and China faced as these new religions entered their society. During Eusebius’ time Christianity was a fairly new religion and was seen as a threat to Pagan Rome, thus it received a lot of backlash. Mou Tzu lived in 6th century China which was after the Han Dynasty fell. This was a time where people were open to new ideas. Thus Mahayana Buddhism flourished…

Then final large persecution of Christians began under the rule of Diocletian. This became known as the ‘Great’ Persecution and it took place between the years 303 and 313. Although this was the last of the persecutions the Christians in the Roman Empire, it is also considered to be the most severe. It started with the issuance of the First Edict in early 303. The biggest effect of this edict was that all Christian churches were to be destroyed, as well as all copies of scriptures and liturgical…

were under enormous pressure to betray their relationship with Jesus and God. Especially from 100 A.D. to 313, when it was illegal to be a Christian under the Roman Empire (“Christ Our Life”). While the Roman empire normally worshipped the Roman Emperor as a god, the followers of Jesus knew that they already had a relationship with their single and own God and would not betray their beliefs. In order to reduce the number of dissidents, many of the Christians who affirmatively held on to their…

When we think of birds we usually tend to imagine them above our heads flying high in the sky. We tend to forget that some of them live in extremely cold environments and can actually swim deep underwater for sufficient amount of time. These strange birds are referred to as penguins. These birds tend to baffle us because of their similarities and different traits compared to their flying relatives. Exactly why and how did they began to develop differently from other birds? So what is the…

Gudorf gives a brief history on the transformation of Christian societies due to the death penalty. He explains that about a coupe centuries Christians were urged t live a non-violant life. On Idolatry, written at the turn of the third century, Tertullian insists that among the professions or trades forbidden to Christians were executioner and torturer. He states that until the end of the second century, Chrisitans were not in the army. As the Roman Empire in the third and fourth century became…

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 once she was able to be emperor,…

rich and noble family and was taught to play music, write, and read Chinese classics. By the age of 13, she was known for her wit, intelligence, as well as her beauty and soon became a concubine for Emperor Tai Tsung. Wu arrived at the palace as a concubine in about 636 AD. After the death Emperor Tai Tsung, Wu became the favorite concubine of…

be rolled up into a carpet which was then presented to Caesar. There, she made a deep and lasting impression on the future Roman Emperor, who would father a son to her (Crawford, 2007). Likewise, Empress Wu used seduction and planning to become the prized consort and confidant of Emperors Taizong and Gaozong. It is rumored that Wu achieved this by allowing the Emperors to satisfy their most forbidden sexual pleasures (Dash, 2012). Of course, these tales of feminine seduction may themselves be…

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 with her and call her 'Mei-Niang' meaning 'beautiful girl'. She was basically a maid of the so-called “royals”. One day she had talked to the emperor about Chinese History, surprising Taizong, he also was amazed that she could read and write. She, later on, became his secretary who…

beginnings as a daughter of a lumber merchant to becoming the emperor of China was a story of deception and murder. Many things contributed to the rise of Wu Zhao, including her education and experience, gaining the affection of the emperor, and how she manipulated others in court. Once she gained a position in court, she was able to stay in power due to her network of spies and informers and her loyal ministers, the worsening health of emperor Gaozong, how she prevented others from rising to…