Culture
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Stories from Ancient China: The Fate of Emperor Tai Zong Is Seen In a Dream
2004-07-09
That same night, another government official named Feng Changming had a dream. In the dream, he went to a place where the dead gathered. Feng Changming asked, “According to Buddha’s scriptures, the good and the bad will be rewarded accordingly. Is this true or not?” The dead answered, “Of course it’s true.” Then Changming asked, “What will happen to someone like Fu Yi who does not believe in Buddhist scriptures after he dies?” The dead answered, “The good and the bad will surely be rewarded accordingly. As for Fu Yi, he has already been condemned to the Ni Li circle of hell.” -
The Development Of Robots In Ancient China
2004-07-07Ancient Chinese mechanical engineering technology was very advanced. Distinguished mechanical engineers at that time were able to create many marvellous types of robots. For example, King Mu (976 – 922 B.C.) of the Western Zhou Dynasty (10th century - 771 B.C.) once conducted an inspection tour of the west of his empire. A skillful artisan named Yan Shi made a robot to entertain King Mu during the inspection tour. This robot could sing and dance like a real person. It also had extremely realistic organs, bones, muscles, joints, skin and hair -
The Fall of the Tubo Kingdom
2004-06-16After Lang Dharma’s death, his two concubines, with the support of imperial kinsmen and others, fought for the throne for their sons and split the imperial court in two. During the rule of Lang Dharma’s grandsons, the two imperial courts suffered attacks from the populace and slave uprisings. The Tubo Kingdom, which once rivaled the Tang Dynasty, the zenith of all Chinese dynasties in terms of culture, wealth and military power, thus collapsed with the last Tibetan king, Lang Dharma, due to his ruthless persecution of Buddhism. -
The Origin of a Chinese Idiom: Rare and Commendable
2004-06-08 Mr. Sunshu Wushu once made a remark: “Zi Gong is more talented and virtuous than Confucius.” Zi Gong responded saying: “I will use a wall as an analogy. The wall of my house is of a shoulder’s height. A man standing outside of the wall can have a full view of my expensive and splendorous home. However, Confucius’s wall is much higher than that of mine by many meters. One standing outside the wall will be unable to see his grand and magnificent mansion unless he is admitted to the mansion. There are but a few people in this world that have the privilege of entering the door. -
The Zither
2004-05-29The zither is one of the oldest musical instruments. Its rich, deep sound, its lingering, faraway quality, give it its distinctive national features. Traditionally, zither playing allowed ancient scholars to express their feelings and aspirations. -
The Origin of a Chinese Idiom: Stealing One Chicken Per Month
2004-05-25Duke Xuan of the Qi State during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 – 481 B.C.) asked him, “Can you tell the difference between the lack of effort and inability?” Mencius replied, “If someone asks you to carry Mount Tai under your arm and leap over the North Sea with it, and you say, ‘I am unable to do it,’ it is because you are truly unable to do it. If someone asks you to snap a branch off a tree and you say ‘I am unable to do it,’ it is from a lack of effort. Governing a kingdom is not as difficult as carrying Mount Tai under your arm and leaping over the North Sea. It is as easy as snatching a branch off a tree. -
Xi’an Wild Goose Pagoda
2004-05-24The Wild Goose Pagoda, located at the southern end of the Great Compassion Temple, has become a symbol of Xi’an, a former historical capital of China. Wild Goose Pagoda was built for Monk Tang Sanzang to organise and translate the Buddhist scriptures that he brought back from India. Wild Goose Pagoda was originally named Goose Pagoda after a similar pagoda in India. Later on, a smaller Goose Pagoda was built inside the Blessings Temple of Changan City. In order to distinguish between the two, people call the one in the Great Compassion Temple Wild Goose Pagoda and the one in the Blessings Temple Small Goose Pagoda. -
Stories from Ancient China: Twenty Six Cuts
2004-05-21One summer during a civil war in China, a rebel army was about to pass through and maraud the City of Yangzhou. Cheng prayed to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for her blessings. Then he had a dream in which Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara told him, “All seventeen people in your family except you will survive this tribulation.” Cheng woke up and remembered what Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara had said in the dream. Having learned that he could not escape this tribulation, he prayed to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for mercy. The next night he dreamed of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara again. -
The Origin of the Chinese Idiom: Remain Diligent at Both Dawn and Dusk
2004-05-11The Three Character Classic is a children’s reader written by Wang Yinglin in the 13th century. Every line of the book is composed of three characters, and every four sentences form a group. Children love to read its rhymed verses. The book also is very interesting to read and very educational. It has remained a popular teaching text over the past hundreds of years. -
Stories from Ancient China: Death from Starvation at Copper Mountain
2004-05-06The Emperor had a very good relationship with Deng Tong and visited him often. One day, he ordered a famous fortune-teller to tell Deng Tong’s fortune by reading his face. The fortune-teller said that Deng Tong would die from starvation and exposure to the cold. The Emperor said with great anger, “I am the one who turned Deng Tong into someone rich and honoured. How can I let him die of poverty and starvation?” He then bestowed the Yandao Copper Mountain in the Shu prefecture to Deng Tong along with the authority to mint coins. The Emperor was very pleased with himself believing that Deng Tong wouldn’t die of starvation with such a great amount of wealth. -
Concerning the Proverb “You Shouldn’t Question the Whole Thing, but Neither Should You Believe in Everything You’ve Heard or Seen”
2004-04-30Actually the phrase “You shouldn’t question the whole thing, but neither should you believe in everything you’ve been told or have seen” came from the cultivation community and reflects an objective view that cultivators had of cultivation. But as human society became more and more degenerate, people’s righteous faith in gods gradually disappeared. Thus this proverb’s meaning has become twisted and it has now become a phrase to express people’s lack of belief in gods or Buddhas. -
Chinese Idiom: Missing One Basket of Soil Spoils the Entire Effort to Build a Nine-Ren Mountain
2004-04-21The legend has it that once upon a time in ancient China, a person started a project to build a nine-ren mountain. He moved one basket of soil after another and kept piling them up. When he had almost finished building the nine-ren mountain and needed only one more basket of soil to call it a success, he aborted the project due to a lack of persistence. Because of the lack of one last basket of soil, the entire effort to build a nine-ren mountain was spoiled by a narrow margin. -
The Mystery of the Dragon
2004-04-19The Dragon, with its special implications, has been pervasive in all aspects of ancient Chinese culture, and it has become a strong spiritual symbol for the Chinese people. Do dragons really exist? Are they merely imaginations in the realm of spirituality, or do they have physical existence? It is still a mystery to us today. I was surprised that many eye-witness accounts about the appearance of dragons can be found in our history books, which entices me to re-examine whether dragons truly exist -
The Origin of the Chinese Idiom: Wearing a Fur Coat Inside Out When Carrying Firewood
2004-04-14Duke Wen was deeply worried. He said, “What do you congratulate me for? This is not a good sign. This is just like the man who wore his fur coat inside out while carrying firewood. He liked the fur so much that he forgot it was more important to protect the lining in order to preserve the fur. By the same token, the amount of farmable land in Dongyang has not increased in the past year, and the population in Dongyang has remained the same, but the taxes and grain collected have increased by tenfold. The abrupt increase must have been the result of extortion by local officials. -
The Fortune of Zhang Baozang
2004-04-13Baozang himself had previous bouts with dysentery, so upon hearing news of the emperor’s condition, he submitted the prescription for the cure he had used. The medicine consisted of stir-frying piper longuml with milk. After taking this medicine, the emperor immediately became well and subsequently issued an imperial order for the prime minister, Wei Zheng, to appoint Zhang Baozang to a government position of official with the fifth highest rank. Wei Zheng, however, didn’t like Zhao Baozang and decided on his own not to issue the promotion order for Zhang Baozang.
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