History and Culture
|
The Yongle Bell (yǒng lè dà zhōng 永乐大钟) was cast during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty early in the 15th century. The story goes that when Emperor Chengzu (míng chéng zǔ 明成祖) moved the capital to Beijing, he initiated three great projects, that is, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Yongle Bell.
This attests to the historical position of the Yongle Bell in those days. Emperor Taizu (míng tài zǔ 明太祖) overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and founded the Ming Dynasty. He made Nanjing the capital. In order to strengthen the frontier defense in the north, Zhu Yuanzhang made his fourth son Zhu Di the Prince of Yan and gave Beiping to him as his domain. |
Read more...
|
History and Culture
|
Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow (mǎ tà fēi yàn 马踏飞燕 /mǎ chāo lóng què 马超龙雀), or Bronze Galloping Horse, is a bronze artwork of the Eastern Han (dōng hàn 东汉) Dynasty. It is now preserved in the Gansu Provincial Museum. This horse statue, a representative of late bronze artworks, was unearthed in the Leitai Tomb (léi tái mù 雷台墓) of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Gansu (gān sù 甘肃) Province in the west of China. |
Read more...
|
History and Culture
|
The history of Liangzhu jade (liáng zhǔ yù 良渚玉) can be traced back to 4300 to 5000 years ago. Most Liangzhu jade items were excavated in Fanshan (fǎn shān 反山), Yaoshan (yáo shān 瑶山) in Zhejiang Province (zhè jiāng shěng 浙江省), Qianshanyang (qián shān yàng 钱山漾), Caoxieshan (cǎo xié shān 草鞋山) in Jiangsu Province (jiāng sū shěng 江苏省), and Shanghai (shàng hǎi 上海). The delicacy of Liangzhu jade is beyond praise. |
Read more...
|
History and Culture
|
The currency is a medium for the exchange of commodities. It was an inevitable outcome of such exchanges. In ancient China the currency came in different forms and was made variously from shells, jade, gold, silver, and paper.
Brief introduction about variety of ancient coins.
Shell money. Shell money was the oldest form of currency in ancient China. As the shells were small and hard in texture, they came in handy as money. By the Shang (shāng 商) and Zhou (zhōu 周) dynasties the use of shell money reached its top, and shell money became a symbol of wealth. |
Read more...
|
History and Culture
|
Sword of King Goujian of Yue (yuè wáng gōu jiàn jiàn 越王勾践剑) is a delicately made bronze sword, which is awarded as "the best sword in the world". It is 55.6 cm in total length, 45.6 cm in length of the sword body and 4.6 cm in width. It was discovered in 1965 in Jiangling (jiāng ling 江陵), Hubei Province (hú běi shěng 湖北省). Though buried for more than 2000 years, the sword shows no rust at all. It could lacerate more than twenty pieces of paper in one time. It is decorated with veiled rhombus patterns. The hilt of the sword is wrapped with silk thread, and embedded on one side with a blue glaze and on the other a turquoise glaze. There are eight Chinese characters on the sword “越王鸠潜,自乍用剑" (yuè wáng jiū qián, zìzhà yòng jiàn), which means that this sword is belong to King Goujian of Yue. |
Read more...
|
History and Culture
|
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qinshihuang Mausoleum (qín shǐ huáng líng bīng mǎ yǒng 秦始皇陵兵马俑), which is regarded as the eighth wonder of the world, is five kilometers east of Lintong County (lín tóng 临潼), 35 kilometers from Xi'an City (xī ān 西安) in Shaanxi Province (shān xī 山西). Qin Shi Huang (qín shǐ huáng 秦始皇) (259 BC - 210 BC), the first emperor of China, ascended the throne at the age of 13, when construction of his tomb began. On completion of his many conquests, he ordered 720,000 conscript laborers to hurry up on building his royal tomb. It was finished just-in-time in 210 BC for his use. His son, the second Qin Emperor, saw Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses near the mausoleum to his entombment. |
Read more...
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|