Download or read book Technical Arts in the Han Histories written by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While cultural literacy in early China was grounded in learning the Classics, basic competence in official life was generally predicated on acquiring several forms of technical knowledge. Recent archaeological finds have brought renewed attention to the use of technical manuals and mantic techniques within a huge range of discrete contexts, pushing historians to move beyond the generalities offered by past scholarship. To explore these uses, Technical Arts in the Han Histories delves deeply into the rarely studied "Treatises" and "Tables" compiled for the first two standard histories, the Shiji (Historical Records) and Hanshu (History of Han), important supplements to the better-known biographical chapters, and models for the inclusion of technical subjects in the twenty-three later "Standard Histories" of imperial China. Indeed, for a great many aspects of life in early imperial society, they constitute our best primary sources for understanding complex realities and perceptions. The essays in this volume seek to explain how different social groups thought of, disseminated, and withheld technical knowledge relating to the body, body politic, and cosmos, in the process of detailing the preoccupations of successive courts from Qin through Eastern Han in administering the localities, the frontier zones, and their numerous subjects (at the time, roughly one-quarter of the world's population).
Download or read book Technical Arts in the Han Historie written by NYLAN CSIKSZENTMIHALYI and published by . This book was released on 2022-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Art of Terrestrial Diagrams in Early China written by Michelle H. Wang and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is the first English-language monograph on the early history of cartography in China. Its chief players are three maps found in tombs that date from the fourth to the second century BCE and together constitute the entire known corpus of ancient Chinese maps (ditu). A millennium separates them from the next available map from 1136 CE. Most scholars study them through the lens of modern, empirical definitions of maps and their use. This book offers an alternative view by drawing on methods not just from cartography but from art history, archaeology, and religion. It argues that, as tomb objects, the maps were designed to be simultaneously functional for the living and the dead-that each map was drawn to serve navigational purposes of guiding the living from one town to another as well as to diagram ritual order, thereby taming the unknown territory of the dead. In contrast with traditional scholarship, The Art of Terrestrial Diagrams in Early China proposes that ditu can "speak" through their forms. Departing from dominant theories of representation that forge a narrow path from form to meaning, the book braids together two main strands of argumentation to explore the multifaceted and multifunctional diagrammatic tradition of rendering space in early China"--
Download or read book Imperial Cults written by Robinson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imperial Cults is a comparative study of the transformation of imperial religion and imperial authority in the early Han and Roman empires. During the reigns of the Emperor Wu of Han and Octavian Augustus of Rome, the rulers undertook substantial reforms to their respective systems of cult, at a time when they were re-shaping the idea of imperial authority and consolidating their own power. The changes made to religious institutions during their reigns show how these reforms were a fundamental part of the imperial consolidation. Employing a comparative methodology the author discusses some of the common strategies employed by the two rulers in order to centre religious and political authority around themselves. Both rulers incorporated new men from outside of the established court elite to serve in their religious institutions and as advisors, thus weakening the authority of those who had traditionally held it. They both expanded the reach of their imperially-sponsored cult, and refashioned important ceremonies to demonstrate and communicate the unprecedented achievements of each ruler. Emperor Wu recruited experts in mantic knowledge from far reaches of the empire, while Augustus co-opted loyal followers into the newly revived priestly colleges. Robinson shows how the rulers used their respective religious institutions to consolidate their authority, secure support, and communicate their authority to the elite and commoners alike. By using the comparative approach, the author not only reveals similar trends in the formation of ancient empires, but also shows how new perspectives on familiar material can be found when engaging with other societies.
Download or read book Readings in Han Chinese Thought written by and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2006-09-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intellectual contributions of the Han (206 BCE-CE 220) have for too long received short shrift in introductory anthologies of Chinese thought. It was during the Han's unprecedented centuries-long unification of China that a canon of classical texts emerged, syncretic and scholastic trends transformed the legacy of pre-imperial philosophy, and popular religious movements shook official verities. With Mark Csikszentmihalyi's collection, readers at last have an accessible, eclectic introduction to the key themes of thought during this crucial period. Providing clear introductory essays and elegant, readable translations, Csikszentmihalyi exercises a judicious revisionism by breaking down stereotypes of philosophical orthodoxy and offering a subtler vision of cross-fertilization in thought. His juxtaposition of texts that reflect very different social milieux and their problems gives a more vivid picture of the Han than has ever before been available in an English-language collection. The result is a work that should by rights be required reading in intellectual history courses for years to come. --David Schaberg, University of California, Los Angeles
Download or read book History of Technology Volume 21 written by Graham Hollister-Short and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The technical problems confronting different societies and periods, and the measures taken to solve them form the concern of this annual collection of essays. Volumes contain technical articles ranging widely in subject, time and region, as well as general papers on the history of technology. In addition to dealing with the history of technical discovery and change, History of Technology also explores the relations of technology to other aspects of life -- social, cultural and economic -- and shows how technological development has shaped, and been shaped by, the society in which it occurred.
Download or read book Military Thought in Early China written by Christopher C. Rand and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2017-05-11 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a systematic and comprehensive survey of writings on military philosophy in early China. This study of the philosophy of war in early China examines the recurring debate, from antiquity through the Western Han period (202 BCE8 CE), about how to achieve a proper balance between martial (wu) force and civil (wen) governance in the pursuit of a peaceful state. Rather than focusing solely on Sunzis Art of War and other military treatises from the Warring States era (ca. 475221 BCE), Christopher C. Rand analyzes the evolution of this debate by examining a broad corpus of early Han and pre-Han texts, including works uncovered in archeological excavations during recent decades. What emerges is a framework for understanding early Chinas military philosophy as an ongoing negotiation between three major alternatives: militarism, compartmentalism, and syncretism. Military Thought in Early China offers a look into Chinas historical experience with a perennial issue that is not only of continuing relevance to modern-day China but also pertinent to other world states seeking to sustain strong and harmonious societies. With its close engagement with and nuanced interpretation of a truly impressive range of sources, this book illuminates a field that gets too little serious attention. Charles Sanft, author of Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China: Publicizing the Qin Dynasty
Download or read book History of the World Map by Map written by DK and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2023-09-05 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the history of the world in unprecedented detail with this ultimate guide to history throughout the ages. Maps don't just show us where to go, but also where we've been. If you're interested in finding out more about the biggest events in world history, then this book all about history of the world is perfect for you! This stunning history book for adults starts with the evolution and migration of our oldest ancestors out of Africa. You can then look up maps about the Greece and Persian War, the Mongol Conquests, Medieval Europe's trade routes, and the rise of the Ottomans. Explore maps about the colonisation of North America, the scientific revolution, Napoleon's advances, and Britain's control of India. Then uncover the history of later centuries, such as the Age of Imperialism, the American Civil War, industrialised Europe and the transformation of Japan. Journey into past like never before as you uncover: - Easy-to-read text panels for a deeper understanding of history - A total of 140 maps alongside stunning pictures and informative timelines - Storytelling maps to bring history to life - Published in association with the Smithsonian Institution in the USA. Bursting with striking illustrations and full of fascinating detail, this history book is the ultimate gift for map lovers, history enthusiasts of all ages and those who enjoy visiting museums and other historical sites, whether as a present for dad, or handy reference guide for any other history lover in your life! History of the World Map by Map aims to help you gain a strong understanding of some of the forces and movements across continents that have shaped our world! Go on guided tour through time and explore: - Prehistory 7 MYA-3000 BCE - The Ancient World 3000 BCE - 500 CE - Middle Ages 500-1450 CE - The Early Modern World 1450-1700 - Revolution and Industry 1700-1850 - Progress and Empire 1850-1914 - The Modern World 1914-Present At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So why stop there? The Map by Map series includes other titles such as History of the World Map by Map and World War II Map by Map, each detailing historical events and placing them in the context of geography. DK's luxurious Map by Map books are fantastic history gifts, packed with fascinating facts, high-quality photography, and detailed profiles and descriptions of people and events.
Download or read book A Brief History of Image Science and Technology in China written by Congyao Han and published by Springer. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, within the vision of the study on the image history, clearly manifests the development of Chinese image science and technology of over 2000 years based on compendium, while having briefly sorted out expositions by scientists since ancient times in China, demonstrates the spiritual course, ideas of thinking and forms of life and reveales profound humane ideas, basis of sentiments and styles of the spirit featured by Chinese image culture. The historic outline of images is clear-cut along with authenticated inter-attestation for clues of images and texts. Historic facts concerning images are ecologically diversified, while historic documents about images are properly chosen, in addition to the integration between liberal arts and science and perfect combination between images and texts. Blessed with nice integration between images and texts, this book serves as reference to experts, scholars, undergraduates and postgraduates related to the study on image history, history of science and technology, study of history and news communication.
Download or read book A General History of Chinese Art written by Xifan Li and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-10-03 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume studies the evolution of Chinese art during the Qin and Han Dynasties, The Three Kingdoms, Eastern and Western Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It traces the initial artistic vocabularies of Chinese calligraphy as well as the rapid development of the performing and the decorative arts. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.
Download or read book Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought written by John S. Major and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1993-08-03 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Huainanzi has in recent years been recognized by scholars as one of the seminal works of Chinese thought at the beginning of the imperial era, a summary of the full flowering of early Taoist philosophy. This book presents a study of three key chapters of the Huainanzi, The Treatise on the Patterns of Heaven, The Treatise on Topography, and The Treatise on the Seasonal Rules, which collectively comprise the most comprehensive extant statement of cosmological thinking in the early Han period. Major presents, for the first time, full English translations of these treatises. He supplements the translations with detailed commentaries that clarify the sometimes arcane language of the text and presents a fascinating picture of the ancient Chinese view of how the world was formed and sustained, and of the role of humans in the cosmos.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature 1000 BCE 900CE written by Wiebke Denecke and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume introduces readers to classical Chinese literature from its beginnings (ca. 10th century BCE) to the tenth century CE. It asks basic questions such as: How did reading and writing practices change over these two millennia? How did concepts of literature evolve? What were the factors that shaped literary production and textual transmission? How do traditional bibliographic categories, modern conceptions of genre, and literary theories shape our understanding of classical Chinese literature? What are the recurrent and evolving concerns of writings within the period under purview? What are the dimensions of human experience they address? Why is classical Chinese literature important for our understanding of pre-modern East Asia? How does the transmission of this literature in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam define cultural boundaries? And what, in turn, can we learn from the Chinese-style literatures of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, about Chinese literature? In addressing these questions, the Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature departs from standard literary histories and sourcebooks. It does not simply categorize literary works according to periods, authors, or texts. Its goal is to offer a new conceptual framework for thinking about classical Chinese literature by defining a four-part structure. The first section discusses the basics of literacy and includes topics such as writing systems, manuscript culture, education, and loss and preservation in textual transmission. It is followed by a second section devoted to conceptions of genre, textual organization, and literary signification throughout Chinese history. A third section surveys literary tropes and themes. The final section takes us beyond China to the surrounding cultures that adopted Chinese culture and produced Chinese style writing adapted to their own historical circumstances. The volume is sustained by a dual foci: the recuperation of historical perspectives for the period it surveys and the attempt to draw connections between past and present, demonstrating how the viewpoints and information in this volume yield insights into modern China and east Asia.
Download or read book A Master of Science History written by Jed Z. Buchwald and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-01-05 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New essays in science history ranging across the entire field and related in most instance to the works of Charles Gillispie, one of the field's founders.
Download or read book Material Virtue written by Mark Csikszentmihalyi and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-09-13 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of both excavated and transmitted texts that link ethics and natural philosophy, Material Virtue narrates the history of a neglected tradition that argues virtue has physical presence in the body, and rewrites the formative period of Confucianism.
Download or read book Development History Of Ancient Chinese Glass Technology written by and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2021-02-04 with total page 818 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Worldwide research on ancient glass began in the early 20th century. A consensus has been reached in the community of Archaeology that the first manmade or synthetic glasses, based on archaeological findings, originated in the Middle East during the 5000-3000's BC. By contrast, the manufacturing technology of pottery and ceramics were well developed in ancient China. The earliest pottery and ceramics dates back to the Shang Dynasty - the Zhou Dynasty (1700 BC-770 BC), while the earliest ancient glass artifacts unearthed in China dates back to the Western Han Dynasty. Utilizing the state-of-the art analytical and spectroscopic methods, the recent findings demonstrate that China had already developed its own glassmaking technology at latest since 200 BC. There are two schools of viewpoint on the origin of ancient Chinese glass. The more common one believes that ancient Chinese glass originated from the import of glassmaking technology from the West as a result of Sino-West trade exchanges in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD). The other scientifically demonstrates that homemade ancient Chinese glass with unique domestic formula containing both PbO and BaO were made as early as in the Pre-Qin Period or even the Warring States Period (770 BC-221 BC), known as Yousha or Faience.This English version of the previously published Chinese book entitled Development History of Ancient Chinese Glass Technology is for universities and research institutes where various research and educational activities of ancient glass and history are conducted. With 18 chapters, the scope of this book covers very detailed information on scientifically based findings of ancient Chinese glass development and imports and influence of foreign glass products as well as influence of the foreign glass manufacturing processes through the trade exchanges along the Silk Road(s).
Download or read book A History of Modern Japanese Aesthetics written by Michael F. Marra and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2001-02-01 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays constitutes the first history of modern Japanese aesthetics in any language. It introduces readers through lucid and readable translations to works on the philosophy of art written by major Japanese thinkers from the late nineteenth century to the present. Selected from a variety of sources (monographs, journals, catalogues), the essays cover topics related to the study of beauty in art and nature. The translations are organized into four parts. The first, "The Introduction of Aesthetics," traces the formation of notions of "beauty," "culture," and "art" in Japan. It includes discussion of the creation of the museum in Japan and the frenetic efforts of Nishi Amane, Okakura Tenshin, Ernest Fenollosa, and Mori Ogai to introduce German, British, and French aesthetic thought to the Japanese. This is followed by three sections that examine the transformation of the aesthetic field into an academic discipline that flourished at three major Japanese universities. "Aesthetics at Waseda University" begins with an essay on the spiritualism and idealism of Onishi Hajime and continues with essays on the impact of German Lebensphilosophie ("philosophy of life") on Shimamura Hogetsu and Takayama Chogyu, and work by the major Waseda aesthetician of the twentieth century, Aizu Yaichi. Thinkers of the Tokyo School adopted a "scientific" method in the study of art theory. Part 3, "Aesthetics at the University of Tokyo," focuses on the ideas of Otsuka Yasuji (holder of the world’s first Chair of Aesthetics), Onishi Yoshinori, Watsuji Tetsuro, Abe Jiro, Takeuchi Toshio, and Imamichi Tomonobu. The section concludes with a look at the contemporary philosopher Sakabe Megumi. The last section, "Aesthetics at the University of Kyoto," includes essays on Nakagawa Shigeki and Fukada Yasukazu, pioneers in the field of aesthetics, and on the philosophy of art of the "Kyoto School," which was deeply inspired by the thought of Nishida Kitaro. Finally the work of Kuki Shuzo, an influential teacher of Western philosophy at the University of Kyoto, is examined. A History of Modern Japanese Aesthetics is a companion volume to Modern Japanese Aesthetics: A Reader (UH Press, 1999).
Download or read book A Cultural History of the Chinese Language written by Sharron Gu and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-12-22 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese, one of the oldest active languages, evolved over 5,000 years. As such, it makes for a fascinating case study in the development of language. This cultural history of Chinese demonstrates that the language grew and responded to its music and visual expression in a manner very similar to contemporary English and other Western languages. Within Chinese cultural history lie the answers to numerous questions that have haunted scholars for decades: How does language relate to worldview? What would happen to law after its language loses absolute binding power? How do music, visual, and theatrical images influence literature? By presenting Chinese not as a system of signs but as the history of a community, this study shows how language has expanded the scope of Chinese imagination and offers a glimpse into the future of younger languages throughout the world.
