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Chinese Culture/Chinese Art Gallery and Western Art Gallery/Chinese Painting History

History of Chinese Painting

Traditional Chinese painting dates back to the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago. The excavated colored pottery with painted human faces, fish, deer and frogs indicates that the Chinese began painting as far back as the Neolithic Age. Over the centuries, the growth of Chinese painting inevitably reflected the change of time and social conditions. From Primitive to Modern times.

In its earliest stage, Chinese prehistoric paintings were closely related to other primitive crafts, such as pottery, bronze ware, carved jade and lacquer. The line patterns on unearthed pottery and bronze ware resemble ripples, fishing nets, teeth or frogs. The animal and human figures, succinct and vivid, are proofs to the innate sensitivity of the ancient artists and nature.

Chinese painting or engravings found on precipitous cliffs in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou in Southwest China; Fujian in East China and Mount Yinshan in Inner Mongolia; Altai in China's extreme west and Heihe in the far north, are even more ancient. Strong visual effects characterize the bright red cliff paintings in southern China that depict scenes of sacrificial rites, production activities and daily life. In comparison, hunting, animal grazing, wars and dancing are the main themes of cliff paintings in northern China. Before paper was invented, the art of silk painting had been developing. The earliest silk painting was excavated from the Mawangdui Tomb in central China of the Warring States Period (476-221 BC). Silk painting reached its artistic peak in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD25). Following the introduction of Buddhism to China during the first century from India, and the carvings on grottoes and temple building that ensued, the art of painting religious murals gradually gained prominence.

China plunged into a situation of divided states from the third to the sixth century, where incessant wars and successions of dynasties sharpened the thinking of Chinese artists which, in turn, promoted the development of art. Grotto murals, wall murals in tomb chambers, stone carvings, brick carvings and lacquer paintings flourished in a period deemed very important to the development of traditional Chinese painting The Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed the prosperity of figure painting, where the most outstanding painters were Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang. Their paintings, depicting the life of noble women and court ladies, exerted an eternal influence on the development of shi nu hua (painting of beauties), which comprise an important branch of traditional Chinese painting today.

Beginning in the Five Dynasties (907-960), each dynasty set up an art academy that gathered together the best painters throughout China. Academy members, who were on the government payroll and wore official uniforms, drew portraits of emperors, nobles and aristocrats that depicted their daily lives. The system proved conducive to the development of painting. The succeeding Song Dynasty (960-1127) developed such academies into the Imperial Art Academy.

During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) the "Four Great Painters" -- Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, Wei Zhen and Wang Meng -- represented the highest level of landscape painting. Their works immensely influenced landscape painting of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).The Ming Dynasty saw the rise of the Wumen Painting School, which emerged in Suzhou on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Keen to carry on the traditions of Chinese painting, the four Wumen masters blazed new trails and developed their own unique styles. When the Manchus came to power in 1644, the then-best painters showed their resentment to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) court in many ways. The "Four Monk Masters" -- Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Kun Can and Hong Ren -- had their heads shaved to demonstrate their determination not to serve the new dynasty, and they soothed their sadness by painting tranquil nature scenes and traditional art. Yangzhou, which faces Suzhou across the Yangtze River, was home to the "Eight Eccentrics" - the eight painters all with strong characters, proud and aloof, who refused to follow orthodoxy. They used freehand brushwork and broadened the horizon of flower-and-bird painting. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Shanghai, which gave birth to the Shanghai Painting School, had become the most prosperous commercial city and a gathering place for numerous painters. Following the spirit of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, the Shanghai School played a vital role in the transition of Chinese traditional painting from a classical art form to a modern one. The May 4th Movement of 1919, or the New Culture Movement, inspired the Chinese to learn from western art and introduce it to China. Many outstanding painters, led by Xu Beihong, emerged, whose paintings recognized a perfect merging of the merits of both Chinese Art and Western Art styles, absorbing western classicism, romanticism and impressionism. Other great painters of this period include Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong and Zhang Daqian. Oil painting, a western art, was introduced to China in the 17th century and gained popularity in the early 20th century. In the 1980s Chinese oil painting boomed.

Then came popular folk painting -- Chinese New Year pictures pinned up on doors, room walls and windows on the Chinese New Year to invite heavenly blessings and ward off disasters and evil spirits - which dates back to the Qing Dynasty and Han Dynasty. Thanks to the invention of block printing, folk painting became popular in the Song Dynasty and reached its zenith of sophistication in the Qing Dynasty. Woodcuts have become increasingly diverse in style, variety, theme and artistic form since the early 1980s.

Four treasures of the study

1. Techniques

According to painting techniques, Chinese painting can be divided into two styles: xieyi style and gongbi style. Xieyi, or freehand, is marked by exaggerated forms and freehand brushwork. Gongbi, or meticulous, is characterized by close attention to detail and fine brushwork. Freehand painting generalizes shapes and displays rich brushwork and ink techniques.

2. Forms

The principal forms of traditional Chinese painting are the hanging scroll, album of paintings, fan surface and long horizontal scroll. Hanging scrolls are both horizontal and vertical, usually mounted and hung on the wall. In an album of paintings the artist paints on a certain size of xuan paper and then binds a number of paintings into an album, which is convenient for storage. Folding fans and round fans made of bamboo strips with painted paper or silk pasted on the frame. The long, horizontal scroll is also called a hand scroll and is usually less than 50 centimeters high but maybe up to 100 meters long.

3. Subjects

Traditional Chinese painting can be classified as figure paintings, landscapes and flower-and-bird paintings. Landscapes represent a major category in traditional Chinese painting, mainly depicting the natural scenery of mountains and rivers. The range of subject matter in figure painting was extended far beyond religious themes during the Song Dynasty (960-1127). Landscape painting had already established itself as an independent form of expression by the fourth century and gradually branched out into the two separate styles: blue-and-green landscapes using bright blue, green and red pigments; and ink-and-wash landscapes relied on vivid brushwork and inks. Flower-and-bird painting deviated from decorative art to form its own independent genre around the ninth century. Traditional Chinese painting, poetry, Chinese calligraphy, painting and seal engraving are necessary components that supplement and enrich one another. "Painting in poetry and poetry in painting" has been a criterion for excellent works. Inscriptions and seal impressions help explain the painter's ideas and sentiments and also add beauty to the painting.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Eastern Zhou Dynasty

Eastern Zhou Dynasty Background (Year: 771 - 221 BC)

After the capital was sacked by barbarians from the west, the Zhou Dynasty moved east, thus neatly dividing the Zhou Dynasty into eastern Zhou Dynasty and western Zhou Dynasty periods. As might be expected, the power of the Zhou Dynasty declined somewhat. The so-called Spring & Autumn period, named after a book (The Spring and Autumn Annals) that provides a history of period saw a proliferation of new ideas and philosophies. The three most important, from a historical standpoint, were Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism.

Daoism is a can be a very frustrating philosophy to study. It is based on study of the Dao, literally translated, "the Way." For starters, the oldest great book of Daoism, the Dao de Jing, The Way and Virtue, was allegedly written by a man named Lao-zi. However, we don't know 1) if Lao-zi was his real name, 2) if Lao-zi ever actually existed, and 3) if the book is even the work of one author. Then there are the texts themselves. The first line of the Dao de Jing can be translated as "The Way that can be walked is not the enduring and unchanging Way." It can also be translated as "The Way that can be known is not the true Way," as well as several other translations that, while all having the same general paradoxical meaning, are all different. It is also full of other cryptic and paradoxical sayings, like "The more the sage expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more he gives to others, the more does he have himself." Daoists loved this kind of stuff; the story about the man dreaming he was a butterfly, then waking up and wondering if he was a man or a butterfly dreaming about being a man is classic Daoism. Daoism profoundly influenced the later development of Cha'an (also known as Zen) Buddhism.

Confucius, who lived about five hundred years before Christ, basically believed that moral men make good rulers and that virtue is one of the most important properties that an official can have. He also believed that virtue can be attained by following the proper way of behaving, and thus placed a great deal of stress on proper. Most of what is considered 'Confucianism' was actually written down by a disciple named Mencius, who also believed that all men were basically good. Confucius also codified the status of the ruler in Chinese political thought; the Emperor was the Son of Heaven (while Heaven in a Western context is a place, Heaven in the Chinese context is a divine/natural force) and had the Mandate of Heaven to rule.

Legalism derived from the teachings of another one of Confucius' disciples, a man named Xun-zi. Xun-zi believed that, for the most part, man would look out for himself first and was therefore basically evil (remember, this is more than two thousand years before Adam Smith argued that self-interest is what makes markets work and is therefore good). Consequently, the Legalists designed a series of draconian laws that would make a nation easier to control. The fundamental aim of both Confucianism and Legalism was the re-unification of a then divided China, but they took difference approaches. Confucianism depended on virtue and natural order; Legalism used a iron fist. Legalism has been called "super-Machiavellian;" this is not unwarranted, as it called for the suppression of dissent by the burning of books and burying dissidents alive (maltreatment of the opposition is nothing new in China; because the system starts with the idea that the Emperor is the Son of Heaven and has the Mandate of Heaven to rule, there is no such thing as legitimate dissent and thus no concept of "loyal opposition"). Legalism advocated techniques such as maintaining an active secret police, encouraging neighbors to inform on each other, and the creation of a general atmosphere of fear. In fact, many of the same tactics that the Legalists approved of were later employed by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

The politics of the Warring States period were much the same as those of the Spring & Autumn period; the major difference was that while in the earlier period, armies were small and battles lasted only a day, much like in pre-Napoleonic wars, the later period featured what modern strategists would call "totalwar." Massive armies (half a million per army was not an uncommon figure), long battles, sieges, were all common features of the Warring States battlefield.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty Background (Year: 207 BC - AD 220)

The Han dynasty plays a very important role in Chinese history. For starters, they invented Chinese history as we know it today. Additionally, the overwhelmingly predominant ethnic group in China is called the Han; they are named after the dynasty. But, most importantly, they developed (actually, it was invented by Qin Shihuangdi (Qin Dynasty), but perfected by the Han) the administrative model which every successive dynasty would copy, lock, stock, and barrel.

Why is the development of bureaucracy so important? Well, first of all, because ancient China was a big country. In 206 BC, when Han dynasty was founded, China stretched from modern Shenyang (some 500 km north of Beijing) in the north to around Guilin in the south; from the Pacific in the east to well past Chongqing in the west. Until Russia laid claim to Far East Siberia, China was the largest country in the world. It was also the most populous (60 million people at the time), and still is (however, India will probably overtake China in terms of population some time early in the 21th century). This is a management issue of tremendous proportions. How are you going to do things like collect taxes, keep the peace, and basically run a government without bureaucracy? The Chinese bureaucratic system is based on the study of the Confucian Classics, which provide an ideological reference point for proper behavior (which was often ignored, but it worked well enough) and loyalty to the Emperor. By developing this system, the Han emperors were able to run China with a reasonable degree of efficiency.

During the reign of an emperor named Han Wudi lived a historian named Sima Qian. His most important contribution to Chinese history was that he wrote a book known as Records of the Grand Historian (actually, he claimed to just be completing a book that his father, Sima Tan, had started, but most of the book is Sima Qian's). Most history books are very linear: first you talk about the Greeks, then the Romans, then the Dark Ages, and so on. What Sima did was structure his book so that each chapter covered a different topic: one chapter was a political record of the kings and emperors; the next would cover literature; the third, philosophy, and so on. Every dynastic record that followed copied Sima's original. Actually, there is an English-language history of China that loosely follows this model; it's called China's Imperial Past, written by Charles O. Hucker.

Between AD 8 and 25, a man named Wang Mang ruled China. He had been part of the Han royal household; he himself, however, was a commoner and had no royal blood in his veins. He had been appointed emperor after a power struggle in the Han house. History is mixed on him. While he did seem to have some good, reform-oriented ideas (e.g. power back to the people), he really wasn't up to the task of ruling. After his death in AD 25, the Han royal family took back the reins of power, and set up the Later Han dynasty.

The later Han were able to keep it together for about 200 years; however, towards the end of their rule, they become more and more dissolute. More importantly, they were unable to deal with two factors: a population shift from the Yellow River in the north to the Yangzi in the south; and they simply could not control barbarian tribal raiders from the north, which were one reason why people were moving to the south. Eventually, in AD 220, the center had lost so much control to the provinces that it collapsed (a small rebellion in the north helped), plunging China into 350 years of chaos and disunity.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty Background (Year: 221 - 207 BC)

Much of what came to constitute China Proper was unified for the first time in 221 B.C. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival states. In 221 BC, the first Emperor of China (so-called because all the previous dynastic heads only called themselves kings), Qin Shihuangdi, conquered the rest of China after a few hundred years of disunity.

There are two major reasons why he won; the first is that he was a devout Legalist (so much so that he burnt all [at least what he thought were all] the books in the country) and did things like execute generals for showing up late for maneuvers (this was later to prove to be his downfall). The other reason is because the state of Qin had a lot of iron, and consequently, at the dawn of the iron age, had many more iron weapons than the other armies did. Qin Shihuangdi had a great many accomplishments, not the least of which was the linking together of many of the old packed-earth defensive walls of the old principalities into the Great Wall of China. This is not to say that he built the massive masonry construction that today is called the Great Wall of China; what is today called the Great Wall was actually built close to two thousand years later, during the Ming dynasty.

In the year 210 BC Qin Shihuangdi died. It wasn't long before the Qin dynasty fell apart, helped in part by a revolution started by a soldier who, when faced with execution because he was going to be late delivering a group of new draftees (it had been very rainy and the roads had turned to mud), convinced his conscripts to rebel with him (they faced execution as well). And while they eventually were caught and duly executed, the revolution they started ended up destroying the old dynasty and set the stage for the Han.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Early 20th Century China

Early 20th Century China (Year: 1911-1949)

Frustrated by the Qing court's resistance to reform, young officials, military officers, and students--inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen--began to advocate the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and creation of a republic. A revolutionary military uprising on October 10, 1911, led to the abdication of the last Qing monarch. As part of a compromise to overthrow the dynasty without a civil war, the revolutionaries and reformers allowed high Qing officials to retain prominent positions in the new republic. One of these figures, General Yuan Shikai, was chosen as the republic's first president. Before his death in 1916, Yuan unsuccessfully attempted to name himself emperor. His death left the republican government all but shattered, ushering in the era of the "warlords" during which China was ruled and ravaged by shifting coalitions of competing provincial military leaders.

In the 1920s, Sun Yat-sen established a revolutionary base in south China and set out to unite the fragmented nation. With Soviet assistance, he organized the Kuomintang (KMT or "Chinese Nationalist People's Party") along Leninist lines, and entered into an alliance with the fledgling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After Sun's death in 1925, one of his protégés, Chiang Kai-shek, seized control of the KMT and succeeded in bringing most of south and central China under its rule. In 1927, Chiang destroyed the CCP's party organization and executed many of its leaders. The remnants fled into the mountains of eastern China.

Finally, driven out of their mountain bases in 1934, the CCP's forces embarked on a "Long March" across China's most desolate terrain to the northwest, where they established a guerrilla base at Yan'an in Shaanxi Province.

During the "Long March," the Communists reorganized under a new leader, Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung). The bitter struggle between the KMT and the CCP continued openly or clandestinely through the 14-year long Japanese invasion (1931-45), even though the two parties nominally formed a united front to oppose the Japanese invaders in 1937. The war between the two parties resumed after the Japanese defeat in 1945. By 1949, the CCP occupied most of the country.

Chiang Kai-shek fled with the remnants of his KMT government and military forces to Taiwan, where he proclaimed Taipei to be China's "provisional capital" and vowed to re-conquer the Chinese mainland. The KMT authorities on Taiwan still call themselves the "Republic of China."

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty Background (Year: 1368 - 1644)

Zhu Yuan Zhang (Cantonese: Taizu) founded the Ming dynasty in 1368. "Ming" means bright or in this context bright shinning. The first capital of the Ming dynasty was Nanjing. Zhu Yuan Zhang abdicated in 1398 and In 1403 Zhu Di became the new emperor. In 1421 the Forbidden City and the Imperial Palace of the Ming emperors and the Qing emperors were built. The Forbidden City is the biggest palace of the world with 9,999 chambers in the palace. (Replica of the Forbidden City in the U.S. at Forbidden Gardens). The Great Wall was also built in this time period. The height of this great sight is different, from 4 m to 12 m. Every 200 m we can find a tower. When it came to a fight at the wall this message was shown with fire signals from one tower to the next tower until the emperor was informed.

The Ming Dynasty rulers distinguished themselves by being fatter, lazier, crazier, and nastier than the average Imperial family. After the first Ming Emperor discovered that his prime minister was plotting against him, not only was the prime minister beheaded, but his entire family and anyone even remotely connected with him. Eventually, about 40,000 (no, that is not a misprint) people were executed in connection with this case alone. They were also virulent Neo-Confucianists.

In the early 1400s, a sailor named Zheng He (with a fleet of some 300-plus ships) sailed as far west as Mogadishu and Jiddah, and he may (or may not) have gotten to Madagascar. This is nearly 100 years before Columbus had the idea of trying to sail to Asia the long way around. But once the sailors came back, the trips were never followed up on. Conservative scholars at court failed to see the importance of them. For the first time in history, China was turning inwards, clinging to an incorrect interpretation of an outmoded philosophy.

To give the Ming Dynasty their due, however, they did do some positive things. Among other things, they moved the capital to Beijing, fortified the Great Wall, built the Forbidden City, and gave Macao to the Portuguese.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty Background (Year: 1644 - 1911)

In 1644, the Manchus took over China and founded the Qing dynasty. The Qing Dynasty weren't the worst rulers; under them the arts flowered (China's greatest novel, a work known variously as The Dream of the Red Chamber, A Dream of Red Mansions, and The Story of the Stone, was written during the Qing Dynasty) and culture bloomed. Moreover, they attempted to copy Chinese institutions and philosophy to a much greater extent than then the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty. However, in their attempt to to emulate the Chinese, they were even more conservative and inflexible than the Ming Dynasty. Their approach to foreign policy, which was to make everyone treat the Emperor like the Son of Heaven and not acknowledge other countries as being equal to China, didn't rub the West the right way, even when the Chinese were in the moral right (as in the Opium Wars, which netted Britain Hong Kong and Kowloon).

To live during the Qing Dynasty was to live in interesting times. Most importantly, the Western world attempted to make contact on a government-to-government basis, and, at least initially, failed. The Chinese (more specifically, the ultra-conservative Manchus) had no room in their world-view for the idea of independent, equal nations (this viewpoint, to a certain degree, still persists today). There was the rest of the world, and then there was China. It wasn't that they rejected the idea of a community of nations; it's that they couldn't conceive of it. It would be like trying to teach a Buddhist monk about the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. This viewpoint was so pervasive that Chinese reformers who advocated more flexibility in China's dealings with the West were often accused of being Westerners with Chinese faces.

The attitude of the Western powers towards China (England, Russia, Germany, France, and the United States, were, more or less, the primary players) was strangely ambivalent. On the one hand, they did their best to undermine what they considered to be restrictive trading and governmental regulations; the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) example of that was the British smuggling of opium into Southern China. Other examples included the 'right' for foreign navies to sail up Chinese rivers and waterways, and extra-territoriality, which meant that if a British citizen committed a crime in Qing China, he would be tried in a British council under British law. Most of these 'rights' came into being under a series of treaties that came to be known, and rightly so, as the Unequal Treaties.

On the other hand, they did do their best to prop up the ailing Qing, the most notable example being the crushing of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 by foreign troops (primarily U.S. Marines). What the Western powers were interested in was the carving up of China for their own purposes, and that, paradoxically, required keeping China together.

But two things happened to prevent that. First, in 1911, the Qing dynasty collapsed and China plunged headlong into chaos. Second, in 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand told his driver to go down a street in Sarajevo he shouldn't have, and Europe plunged headlong into chaos.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Shang Dynasty

Shang Dynasty Background (Year: c.1700 - c.1100 BC)

Thousands of archaeological finds in the Huang He Henan Valley, the apparent cradle of Chinese civilization provide evidence about the Shang dynasty, which endured roughly from 1700 to 1100 B.C.

The Shang dynasty (also called the Yin dynasty in its later stages) is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader who overthrew the last Xia ruler. Its civilization was based on agriculture, augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. Two important events of the period were the development of a writing system, as revealed in archaic Chinese inscriptions found ontortoise shells and flat cattle bones (commonly called oracle bones or and the use of bronze metallurgy. A number of ceremonial bronze vessels with inscriptions date from the Shang dynasty period; the workmanship on the bronzes attests to a high level of civilization.

A line of hereditary Shang kings ruled over much of northern China, and Shang troops fought frequent wars with neighboring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian steppes. The capitals, one of which was at the site of the modern city of Anyang, were centers of glittering court life. Court rituals to propitiate spirits and to honor sacred ancestors were highly developed. In addition to his secular position, the king was the head of the ancestor- and spirit-worship cult. Evidence from the royal tombs indicates that royal personages were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife. Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves, were buried alive with the royal corpse.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty Background (Year: 960 - 1279)

The Song Dynasty (pronounced Soong) ranks up there with the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty as one of the great dynasties. Fifty years after the official end of the Tang Dynasty, an imperial army re-unified China and established the Song dynasty. The Song dynasty was formed from one of the five dynasties after the Tang Dynasty. A time of remarkable advances in technology, culture, and economics, the Song dynasty, despite its political failures, basically set the stage for the rest of the imperial era. The most important development during the Song dynasty was that agricultural technology, aided by the importation of a fast-growing Vietnamese strain of rice and the invention of the printing press, developed to the point where the food-supply system was so efficient that, for the most part, there was no need to develop it further. There was enough food for everyone, more or less, the system worked, and it became self-sustaining. Because it worked, there was no incentive to improve it; the system thus remained basically unchanged from the Song dynasty up until the twentieth century. In fact, many rice farmers in the Chinese interior and in less-developed regions of south-east Asia are, for the most part, still using Song-era farming techniques.

The efficiency of the system not only made it economically self-sustaining, but also re-enforced the existing social structure. There were many reforms in the Song dynasty to make the population content. The towns were very important. Socials institutions like hospitals and homes for the aged were formed. Consequently, society and economics were largely static from the Song dynasty until the collapse of the dynastic system in the twentieth century.

This is important because one of the factors behind the Industrial Revolution in Europe was that they didn't have enough people to work the fields. There was an incentive to create better technology in Europe; there was no need in China. China actually had a surplus of human labor. The surplus of human labor led to one of the most important inventions, the gun-powder, because it was the base for the first colts and so it was also important for Europe. The Chinese used the gun-powder to shoot with arrows. Another weapon invented was the throwing machine. Because of the trade the Chinese population became more mobile. In the Song dynasty China was the biggest naval power of the world and the Chinese ships were better developed than the European.

While the Song dynasty was a time of great advances, politically and militarily, the Song dynasty was a failure. The northern half of China was conquered by barbarians, forcing the dynasty to abandon a northern capital in the early 1100's. Then a hundred and fifty years later, the Mongols, fresh from conquering everything between Manchuria and Austria, invaded and occupied China.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Sui Dynasty

Sui Dynasty Background (Year: 588 - 618)

China was reunified in A.D. 589 by the short-lived Sui dynasty (A.D. 588-618), which has often been compared to the earlier Qin dynasty in tenure and the ruthlessness of its accomplishments. The Sui dynasty's early demise was attributed to the government's tyrannical demands on the people, who bore the crushing burden of taxes and compulsory labor. These resources were overstrained in the completion of the Grand Canal a monumental engineering feat and in the undertaking of other construction projects, including the reconstruction of the Great Wall.

In 581 emperor Wen had founded the Sui dynasty in Chang'an. The second and last emperor of this short dynasty was emperor Yang. In this time China began its expeditions to other Asian countries over the sea. There built many canals which helped the economy between North China and South China. The Northern walls were built longer, because of the Mongols. In 618 general Li Yuan marched in Chang'an and founded the Tang dynasty. After him his son Li Shimin became emperor of China. The canals were built more and more and the economy got better.

There were two capitals Chang'an and Luoyang, but Chang'an was the more important capital. Both capitals are situated near the Huang He. Chang'an was built up. It had very strong walls for the defending. Here was also the palace, all the officials and buddistical and taoistical temples. In the 7th century there was a great expansion of China. In the western territories China fought which Turks and Tibetians. China won and could place his borders into the west. Korea and Vietnam have been also occupied. This was the first big expansion of Chinese empire.

Weakened by costly and disastrous military campaigns against Korea in the early seventh century, the Sui Dynasty disintegrated through a combination of popular revolts, disloyalty, and assassination.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty Background (Year: 618-907)

The Tang Dynasty is considered to be one of the great dynasties of Chinese history; many historians rank them right behind the Han Dynasty. They extended the boundaries of China through Siberia in the North, Korea in the east, and were in what is now Vietnam in the South. They even extended a corridor of control along the Silk Road well into modern-day Afghanistan.

There are two interesting historical things about the Tang Dynasty. The first is the Empress Wu, the only woman ever to actually bear the title 'Emperor' (or, in her case, Empress). The second was the An Lushan Rebellion, which marked the beginning of the end for the Tang Dynasty. The Empress Wu was not a nice person. She makes Catherine the Great look like an angel of mercy. While Empress Wu was still a concubine in the imperial Tang household, she deposed of a rival by murdering her own son, and then claiming her rival did it. In her own vicious, ruthless, scheming way, she was absolutely brilliant. Had Machiavelli known of her, he probably would have written "The Princess."

The An Lushan Rebellion had its roots in the behavior of one of the great emperors of Chinese history, Xuanzong. Until he fell in love with a young concubine named Yang Guifei, he had been a great ruler, and had brought the Tang Dynasty to its height of prosperity and grandeur. He was so infatuated with Yang that the administration of the government soon fell into decay, which was not made any better by the fact that Yang took advantage of her power to stuff high administrative positions with her corrupt cronies. She also took under her wing a general named An Lushan, who quickly accumulated power.

An Lushan eventually decided that he would make a pretty good emperor, and launched his rebellion. The civil war lasted for eight years, and was, for the years 755-763, pretty destructive. The emperor was forced to flee the capital, and on the way, the palace guard, blaming Yang Guifei for all the problems that had beset the dynasty (to be fair, it wasn't all her fault; there were forces of political economy at work that were pretty much beyond anybody's control), strangled her and threw her corpse in a ditch. There is a legend that what actually happened was that the emperor had procured a peasant look-alike who was actually the one killed, but as far as I know, that is only fiction. Anyway, the rebellion pretty much shattered centralized Tang control, and for the remaining 150 years of the dynasty, the country slowly disintegrated.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Three Kingdom Dynasty

Three Kingdom Dynasty Background (Year: 220 - 588)

While there was a great deal of political activity occurring during the Three Kingdom Dynasty period, most of it, consisting as it was of various wars between different kingdoms (one of the great novels of China, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is about this period), was not terribly important to the later development of China. Perhaps its greatest accomplishment was to reinforce in Chinese thought the importance of having "one Emperor over China, like one sun in the sky." Also the Battle of Red Cliffs (Battle of Chìbì) was a decisive battle during the period of the Three Kingdoms in China.

Socially, though, there were two important developments. The first was that the ethnic Han Chinese kept on moving south, while 'barbarians' moved into the north and assimilated themselves into Chinese society. The second development was Buddhism, which had had its start in India sometime in the 6th century BC, when the Buddha probably lived. It was introduced into China around the middle of the first century AD (probably about the same time that the early Christians were writing the Gospels), but really didn't catch on until the fall of the Han dynasty.

Buddhism competed strongly with Confucianism, and for a long time, pretty much eclipsed it as a major cultural force. For various reasons -- some political, some social -- it spread very quickly throughout China. It also changed somewhat from the Indian original, which, as far as I know, is not practiced anymore anywhere in the world. From China, Buddhism would spread into Tibet, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan.

Buddhism also merged somewhat with Daoism, particularly as a popular religion; and while the process may be compared to Christianity's appropriation of indigenous European beliefs and traditions, Daoism maintained its own identity and was not subsumed into popular Buddhism.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Xia Dynasty

Xia Dynasty Background (Year: c.2000 - c.1700 BC)

Not much is known about this first Chinese dynasty -- in fact, it until fairly recently, most historians. thought that it was a myth. Until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Anyang, Henan Province, in 1928, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the Xia.

But since then, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the existence of Xia civilization in the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts.

What little is known indicates that the Xia had descended from a wide-spread Yellow River valley Neolithic culture known as the Longshan culture, famous for their black-lacquered pottery. Even though no known examples of Xia-era writing survive, they almost certainly had a writing system that was a precursor of the Shang dynasty's "oracle bones."

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Dynasty/Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty Background (Year: 1279 - 1368)

In the year 1279 the Yuan dynasty was founded. While time of Mongol rule is called a dynasty, it was in fact a government of occupation. While the Mongols did use existing governmental structures for the duration, the language they used was Mongol, and many of the officials they used were non-Chinese. Mongols, Uighurs from central Asia, some Arabs and even an Italian named Marco Polo all served as officials for the Mongol government. One of the more significant accomplishments of the Mongol tenure was the preservation of China as we know it in that China wasn't turned into pastureland for the Mongolian ponies which not only was common Mongolian practice for territories they'd overrun but had actually been advocated by some of the conquering generals.

The Mongols divided the people in China into four classes. The first class were the Mongols, the next class were other peoples who were not Chinese, the third class were North Chinese and the last class were the South Chinese. The Mongols held the South Chinese for barbarian, but they were much better educated than the Mongols.

The Yuan dynasty also featured the famous Khubilai Khan, who, among other things, extended the Grand Canal. In the year 1267 Kubilai Khan shift the capital from Karakorum to Beijing. While in many ways, the Yuan Dynasty was a disaster, the reluctance of the Mongols to hire educated Chinese for governmental posts resulted in a remarkable cultural flowering; for example, Beijing Opera was invented during the Yuan Dynasty. On the other hand, attempts to analyze the failure of the Song Dynasty in keeping barbarians out China led to the rise and dominance of Neo-Confucianism, a notoriously conservative (if not outright reactionary) brand of Confucianism that had originally developed during the Song Dynasty.

The sciences were continued during the Yuan dynasty. The main sciences were mathematics and astronomy. The Yuan dynasty always tried to promote religions in which they were interested.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Society, Traditions/Chinese 8 Characters

What Can Chinese 8 Characters Tell You

In my previous article,I touched on the basics of Chinese 8 Characters.In this article,you will learn about the secrets you can discover from the Chinese 8 Characters.You will also understand by the end of the article,why some people keep their date and hour of birth a secret.

Let's begin...

You probably know that 8 Characters have a lot to do with a person's luck.From your 8 characters,you are able to know when are your good times and bad times.But besides that,your 8 characters also tells your romance luck,wealth luck,your likes and dislikes,and last but not least,your personality.

Let's look at the romance luck part first.What can your 8 characters tell you about your romance luck?

Firstly,you are able to know when you are likely to get married or get into a relationship.You can pin-point which year,which month romance comes into your life.You can also tell how good or bad your love life is.

By looking at your 8 characters,it is possible to tell a few things about your life partner or spouse.Things like what sort of elements they have in their 8 characters.

One of the most interesting things I discovered is that you can know whether a person is good-looking or attractive basing on his/her 8 characters.I had a friend who liked to meet girls through online chat rooms.Usually,it is rumoured that girls who try to meet guys through chat rooms were not that good looking.

My friend was very fearful of meeting a "not-so-good-looking" girl.When he knew that I could use 8 characters to determine looks,he kept asking me to help him analyse the girls he met online.If I told him "This girl should be quite good.",he would arrange to meet them in person.

So far,the results are 90% accurate.But it does not apply to everyone.Only certain 8 characters will show whether a person is attractive or not.

The thing that applies to everyone is the love life.I have noticed that certain people have a very good relationship with their spouse,while others keep ending up in divorce no matter how many marriages they went through.

Next,the wealth luck.This is what most people are interested in.Will they become a rich man/woman in this life?The 8 characters can also tell you your wealth luck.Why some people are able to amass a lot of wealth while others are unable to do so?

My observation is this,those whose 8 characters have a lot of wealth luck are usually able to earn and keep money.The others either spend the money or somehow unexpected expenses keep coming up to make them unable to keep money.

Are you interested in knowing how a rich man's 8 characters are like?

In order to be able to amass wealth,your own element must be strong.That means you must be born in the season that strengthens your own element.For example,if you are born on a Wood day,your element is Wood.If you are born in Spring,which is the Wood season,then your own element is strong.Therefore you are able to "control" your wealth.

If a person's own element is weak,then wealth will "control" him,instead of he controlling wealth.

Therefore,a rich man's 8 characters is usually strong in his own element.

Of course,this is an over-simplified explanation due to the constraint here.I will explain this in detail some other time.

Let's move on...

Your 8 characters can also reveal your likes and dislikes.You may like certain colors,eat certain food,do certain activities,visit certain places or enjoy the company of a certain person.On the contrary,you may dislike other things.

Let me explain why.Here is an example.Let's say you are born in Summer,where Fire is very strong.You have excessive Fire in your 8 characters and desperately need Water to balance the Fire.

You will notice that you might like swimming or spending a long time in the bathtub.You may like to go to countries with snow.Food wise,you may like ice cream,steamed fish,japanese raw fish or bean curd.For places,you are quite likely to go to places in the North.This may mean a country that is North of yours,or the Northern part of your own country,or maybe North of your town or neighborhood.

As a kid,you probably liked Mickey Mouse and Batman.You might have kept fishes or hamsters as pets.Your spouse and good friends are probably born in Winter,that is between 8 November and 3 February.

You may be amazed why am I able to tell you all these things?Because all these activities that I mentioned increase the effect the Water element.By increasing the Water element,you are creating your own good luck.You will automatically feel comfortable doing all these activities involving water.

The opposite applies,you will dislike Fire activities and avoid them.

This applies when you are going through a period of good luck.I noticed throughout the years that when a person's luck cycle is good,he/she will tend to do things which enhance his/her favorable element.When he/she is going through a period of bad luck,he/she will keep doing things which enhance his/her unfavorable element.

Lastly,let's move on to personality...

How can a person's personality be revealed in his/her 8 characters?

The dominant element shows it.The dominant element is the strongest element in the 8 characters.For example,a person with a lot of Fire tends to be hot-tempered,while a person with a lot of Water tends to be adaptable and quick-witted.Someone with a lot of Wood tends to be sympathetic and kind,while someone with a lot of Metal tends to be strong-willed and determined.

The other aspect is that person's own element.Which in this case refers to the heavenly stem of the day pillar.The own element something like a secondary character.

You may have guessed it by now...People keep their date and hour of birth secret because they do not want to reveal themselves to others.

About the Author:

Why do some people keep their date and hour of birth a secret? Apart from being afraid that they would be victims of black magic,why are they afraid of revealing their date and hour of birth? Discover what secrets you can find out,just by knowing someone's Chinese 8 Characters.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Medicine Health/Tai Chi

Tai Chi

The Chinese believes that the five great accomplishments that makes a person superior are painting, poetry, calligraphy and music and lastly, Tai Chi. A lot of people practice this art form for health reasons, and they may as well be considered as superior persons because they get to have longer and fuller lives.

Today, Tai Chi is being used more as a wellness tool than a martial one. Movements that are soft styled and routines done in slow motion are involved in the process of gently increasing and opening the internal circulation of the body. Tai Chi is as an effective therapy can be used to reduce tension, slow down breathing and clear the mind.

It is especially useful in today's world where life is full of stress and pressure. A Tai Chi practitioner will simply meet a heated argument with calm and prevent the situation from escalating out of control. Tai Chi is for you - learn an art form that can help you fight for a better life.

Intact Grammar and Movements

Unlike most other art forms whose present grammar is quite different from the one that was in the beginning, Tai Chi has managed to keep most of its original techniques. A continuous flowing movement, a relaxed but solid straight-body stance and the movement of 'chi' (energy) from inside the body to outside still forms the basis of Tai Chi.

Proper Movements

Moving correctly is all-important. This allows the 'chi' to circulate freely within the body. And, it is 'chi', the universal reservoir of energy that increases the power of an individual manifold. This is the power that the practitioner uses to overcome an adversary. Tai Chi also uses weapons, the most important one being a straight doubled edged sword, but that is in actual physical combat.

Benefits of Tai Chi

Wu-Wei, or the concept of yielding to, and meeting force with emptiness is what makes this art form such a rich one -- spiritually as well as physically. Tai Chi is known to lessen stress levels, improve balance and posture, reduce fall-related injuries and control blood pressure. In modern day life therefore Tai Chi has more significance than ever. There are plenty of new age foes it has to fight against: stress strain and diseases all of which have emerged victorious despite technology and progress.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Health, Medicine/Chi Kung (Qi Kung)

What is Chi Kung

By: Mansi Aggarwal

China has made significant contributions in the field of medicine and cure. There are many remedies that originated in China and have proved to be of great help in healing people across the world. According to the people of China, there is a universal life force or energy called “chi kung” or “qi kung” that pervades the entire human body. The “chi” flows via unseen energy channels known as meridians. As long as the flow of chi is smooth and unobstructed, the individual remains fit and healthy. But the moment there are irregularities in the circulation of chi, health of the person receives a setback. So in order to remain healthy, consistency in the current of chi should be maintained.

To have a sustainable flow of chi, Chinese medical philosophers devised several ways. Some of the best and eminent techniques are listed in this article.

The flow of chi or chi kung can be systematized by pinching small needles in the human body at specific points. This treatment or technique was termed as acupuncture. The basic principle behind acupuncture is to open the blockages to have a constant flow of energy throughout the body. The acupuncture needles are meant to puncture or open the points known as acupuncture points. This treatment primarily affects the nervous system of the individual. It helps in secreting some crucial hormones and other chemicals that are not adequately produced but are required by the body. Many diseases like asthma, problems in vision, paralysis, alopecia etc. find acupuncture a satisfying and good remedy. The diseases might not be completely eliminated but they are definitely controlled through the Chinese developed acupuncture therapy. The best point of acupuncture is that it has no side-effects, its harmless to go for it.

Chinese traditional herbal remedies are meant for hypertension and other cardiac problems. In case of hypertension a mixture of hawthorn, linden blossom, yarrow and valerian is given. The yarrow here is a diuretic while the rest act as relaxing agents. The hypertension with headache is treated with an additional wood betony while stress involves the usage of Siberian ginseng and skullcap.

Arthritis and Inflammation also find a good treatment in Chinese herbs. Medicines like shosaikoto, sinomenium acutum and scutellaria baicalensis are found to be tremendously effective in this area.

Chinese doctors have always emphasized the importance of exercise. They also worked out a special method or style of exercising. This method was named as ‘chi kung or qi kong’. Chi kung is deemed to bi-function as a fitness developing and enhancing scheme and also as a springboard for superior martial arts. A set of chi kung exercises has acted as perfect medicine in many cases.

The Chinese herbs have something to offer in case of common cold, flu, fever and influenza etc. Astragalus belongs to the pea family and is found to stabilize the immune system. Schisandra vine functions in multiple ways like in preventing diarrhea, cough, stress, aids in producing of fluids by the body. Echinacea is beat in averting cold or flu. It is a purple colored coneflower that stimulates the production of infection resistant white blood cells in the body.

This however is not all. Chinese herb and other remedies like exercises have a record-breaking significance in human life. They have largely contributed to the maintenance of a perfect health.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Medicine Health/Tui Na Massage

Tui Na Massage

What is Tui Na Massage

Tui Na massage therapy is an ancient form of Chinese massage therapy that has its origins in the Shang Dynasty of China in 1700 BC. It is still taught in Chinese Medical Colleges as a traditional therapy.

Tui Na is based on the traditional Chinese medical principle of the flow of Qi, or the 'life force' through the energy meridians of the body. It seeks to promote a more effective flow of Qi throughout the body by using massage and manipulation techniques. Tui Na involves the use of hands to massage soft tissue and apply pressure on the pressure points. It also involves some manipulation techniques to realign the musculoskeletal system. These techniques may be supplemented by the use of herbal poultices, compresses, liniments, and salves.

How does Tui Na Massage work

A typical session of Tui Na massage could last from anywhere between ten minutes to an hour. There may be more than one session of massage therapy depending on the severity of the ailment. This massage therapy is performed with the patient lying down on a table or floor mat. The patient is required to wear loose clothing and remain barefoot to facilitate the massage process. The therapist will initially examine the area to be treated and make some enquiries into the patient's general health, history of allergies and other existing conditions. After this the practitioner will decide on the appropriate method of treatment to be followed.

The treatment is carried out by the manipulation and massage of acupressure points, energy trigger points, muscles and joints surrounding the affected area. Most of the treatment is carried out by hand and may include techniques such as pressing, tapping, and kneading with palms, fingertips, knuckles or implements designed for this purpose. Chinese herbs may also be applied to facilitate faster healing.

Benefits of Tui Na Massage

Tui Na massage therapy concentrates on the freeing the blocked energy meridians in the affected areas of the body to bring about prompt relief from pain and to allow the body to heal itself. It is used for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders and chronic stress-related disorders of the digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems. It is very useful in treating chronic problems such as shoulder pain, joint pain, back pain, and disorders in the lower leg and ankle.

Tui Na is an intensive form of massage therapy and focuses on curing specific ailments and is not suitable as form of general body massage therapy for aiding in relaxation. It should not be used in conditions involving fractures, phlebitis, infections, open wounds, and lesions. It should also be avoided during pregnancy and menstruation.

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Chinese Culture/Asian Articles/Asian Massage Therapy

There are several forms of ancient Asian massage still being practiced in the world today. Asian massage techniques are ancient healing rituals developed over the centuries in India and the Far East. Thai massage, shiatsu and Asian massage are becoming more and more popular in the west as more people become interested in pilates, yoga and other more holistic forms of exercise and relaxation.

Thai massage actually started in India. It is a form of massage using guided stretching and Meridian pressure point therapy in combination with an ancient breathing method called “Pranayama.” This technique uses breathing techniques to relax and cleanse the body while strengthening the nervous system. Sessions usually end with a ritualized final relaxation that most customers find intensely restful.

Chinese acupressure or “tui na” was developed over 5000 years ago. By applying pressure to the body at certain key points, the acupressure therapist helps the body to activate its own self-healing abilities. Acupressure has been used for centuries to treat back pain, headaches and migraines, stress and anxiety. It is deeply relaxing and can have the added benefit of assisting the patient with weight management.

Japanese Shiatsu is another type of massage developed in the Far East. It concentrates on energy rebalance and physical well-being using the thumbs, palms and fingers to apply pressure to certain areas of the body. Benefits of this type of massage include rebalancing of the bone system, enhanced circulatory function, maintaining balance of the nervous system and greater skin and muscle flexibility.

Indonesian Javanese massage is a system of massage that uses all parts of the hand, including the knuckles, to knead and massage the muscles. Usually a massage oil is used to facilitate the therapy. This massage works on the muscles and nerves to relieve tension, back pain and aid in the healing of fractures. Of all of the Asian massages, this is the most robust, and the massage is often painful, although greatly beneficial in the long run.

Whatever your preferences, there are many ancient Asian massage treatments to choose from. Explore your massage options by adding one of these interesting and beneficial massages to your health regimen.

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Chinese Culture/Asian Articles/Asian Massage Therapy

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Health Medicine/Best Chinese Herbs

10 Best Chinese Herbs

Chinese herbs have been awarded a separate category of medicine for good reason. There is a huge number of Chinese herbs, the curative powers of which range from strengthening the immune system to inhibiting the growth of tumors to increasing sexuality.

There are many Chinese herbs including some that are considered common and some that are secrets zealously guarded by traditional Chinese herbalists. The following is a list of the 10 Best Chinese herbs:

1. Ginseng: Ginseng is a common root that enhances healing and rejuvenation. It helps to replenish body fluids and depleted energy. Ginseng also helps to remove toxins from the body and also stimulates sex glands. It is mildly bitter sweet to the taste.

2. Black & Red Reishi Mushrooms: These herbs are prized by the Chinese for helping to strengthen the immune system, enhance the impact of antioxidants, increase white blood corpuscle vitality and have an overall calming effect on the body. Reishi mushrooms have also been known to help reduce insomnia and female sexual dysfunction.

3. Lotus seed: The Lotus seed is another invaluable Chinese herb that tones the spleen and kidney and helps ease diarrhea. Lotus seeds also help to stimulate appetite and have a taste that is sweet to neutral.

4. Licorice root: The Licorice root is another well recognized Chinese herb because of its detoxification powers. It invigorates and cools down the body at the same time. Another use is as a natural sweetener.

5. Ginko Biloba: The Ginko Biloba is arguably the most ancient medicine of all Chinese herbs. It has time-tested curative effects on the lungs and the heart. It also fights coughs, asthma and chronic inflammation from allergies. It is also among the best herbal nutritional supplements around.

6. Ephedra: Ephedra, also know as ‘ma huang’, may be the world's oldest herb, cultivated for medicinal purposes nearly 5000 years ago. It fights asthma and stimulates blood pressure and heart function. Ephedra increases the secretion of adrenalin and stimulates certain glands, muscles and tissue functions.

7. Astralagus: This is a herb that has been used as an immunity booster in China for the last 4000 years. Astralagus helps increase the impaired immune function of blood cells up to and sometime beyond the normal cell capacity.

8. Prepared Aconite: Prepared Aconite is a powerful yang tonic. It is a Chinese herb that when used in excess, can become toxic. Aconite in its raw form is toxic. Also, overuse of Aconite can result in overheating of the body. It is never used alone and always combined with other herbs. Prepared Aconite is used to treat infertility, impotence, frequent urination, arthritis and rheumatism.

9. Albizzia Flower and Bark: The Albizzia flower and bark have long been utilized by the Chinese when one is experiencing emotional problems. This is an excellent Shen stabilizer and has superb calming properties.

10. Alisma: Alisma is yet another Chinese herb that strengthens water metabolism in the body. It is often used to fight obesity, especially for people who carry excess water weight. Alisma is also used by people who have trouble urinating and diabetics as well.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Health/Chinese Medicine

Visiting a Chinese pharmacy to get Chinese medicine in Taiwan is much like being inside a miniature museum of natural science. Tucked away in row after row of tidy drawers are animal, plant, and mineral products, each with a particular purpose of making Chinese medicine. Among the assortment of curiosities is amber, to relax the nerves; peach pits and safflower, to improve blood circulation; Chinese ephedra (mahuang) to induce perspiration; and ginseng to strengthen cardiac function.

The filling of a prescription ordered by a Chinese doctor is a fascinating process to watch. The pharmacist selects a few particular ingredients from the hundreds on his shelf. Chinese medicine are taken home by the patient, boiled into a "soup", and drunk. Confronted with such a steaming brew, you might ask yourself just what the basis of this ancient medical art is.

The theoretical framework of Chinese medicine was established more than two millennia ago. A great deal of ancient medical knowledge is preserved in the pre-Chin (221-207 B.C.) Inner Cannon (Nei Ching), a comprehensive record of Chinese medicine and medical theories up to that time. The Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) produced an authoritative and valuable practical guide--even to the present day--to the treatment of illness, the Treatise on Diseases Caused by Cold Factors (Shang Han Lun) by Chang Chung-ching.

One of the best-known Chinese medical works is the Materia Medica(Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu), compiled in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) by Li Shih-chen. This encyclopedic work heralded a new era in the world history of pharmacology; it includes descriptions of 1,892 different kinds of Chinese medicines. These works have all been translated into several foreign languages, and have exercised a profound influence on East Asian and European countries.

The Chinese have a unique system of categorizing illnesses that is widely divergent from its Western counterpart. The philosophy behind Chinese medicine is that man lives between heaven and earth, and comprises a miniature universe in himself. The material of which living things are made is considered to belong to the "yin", or female, passive, receding aspect of nature. The life functions of living things, on the other hand, are considered to belong to the "yang", or masculine, active, advancing aspect. The functions of living beings are described in terms of the following five centers of the body: 1."heart" or "mind" (hsin); this refers to the "command center" of the body, which manifests itself as consciousness and intelligence; 2."lungs" or "respiratory system" (fei); this system regulates various intrinsic functions of the body, and maintains cybernetic balance; 3."liver" (kan); this term includes the limbs and trunk, the mechanism for emotional response to the external environment, and the action of organs; 4."spleen" (p'i); this organ system regulates the distribution of nutrition throughout the body, and the metabolism, bringing strength and vigor to the physical body; and 5."kidneys" (shen); this refers to the system for regulating the storage of nutrition and the use of energy; the human life force depends on this system. This theory is used to describe the system of body functions, and as a whole is referred to as the "latent phenomena" ( ts'ang hsiang).

The passage of the seasons and changes in the weather can have an influence on the human body. Those having the most pronounced effect are wind (feng), cold (han), heat (shu), moisture (shih), dryness (tsao), and internal heat (huo "fire"). Excessive or extraordinary changes in the weather harm the body, and are referred to as the "six external disease-causing factors" (liu yin). On the other hand, if mood changes within the individual, such as happiness(hsi), anger(nu), worry(yu), pensiveness(szu), grief(pei), fear(k'ung), and surprise(ching) are too extreme, they will also harm the health. These emotions are called the "seven emotions"(ch'i ch'ing). In Chinese medicine, the six external disease-causing factors, interacting with the seven emotions, form the theoretical foundation of disease pathology. These theoretical models, coupled with the "theory of latent phenomena," are used to analyze the patient's constitution and his illness, and diagnose the exact nature of his overall physical and psychological loss of balance. Based on this analysis, the doctor can prescribe a method to correct the imbalance. The object of Chinese medicine is the person, not just the illness. In Chinese medical thinking, illness is only one manifestation of an imbalance that exists in the entire person.

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Chinese Culture/Chinese Health, Medicine/Chinese Health Secret

by: Paul Brelin

It seems as if the health of America is failing. One million Americans will die of circulatory disease this year. Six hundred thousand lives will be cut short by cancer as well. How did we get in such a mess? I’m not sure. But there is a way out that is starting to generate a real buzz!

Dear readers, I want to introduce you to the most nutrient dense food on the earth; wolfberries, or more specifically Lycium Barbarum.

The western scientific community have verified what Chinese and Tibetan health practitioners have known for thousands of years. Wolfberries are the healthiest known food on our planet.

In this report I will be talking specifically about wolfberries. In my research on the subject I found that not all wolfberries are created equal. The three most potent berries in the wolfberry family are Tibetan Goji berries, Chinese Xinjiang wolfberries and Chinese Ningxia wolfberries which all belong to the Lycium genus.

Wolfberries, a national treasure in China, have been used in traditional Chinese folk medicine for over 5,000 years. Ancient Chinese medical texts celebrated wolfberries for their wide range of health benefits including strengthening the ‘chi” or life force of the body. The people who consumed this fruit apparently lived free of common diseases like arthritis, cancer and diabetes. Moreover, their life expectancy has reached over 100 years!

In 1988, the Beijing Nutrition Research Institute conducted detailed chemical analysis and nutritional composition studies of the dried wolfberry fruit. Hold on to your socks, this is what they discovered. In addition to being packed with vitamins B1 and B6 (which is needed by the body to convert food into energy), and vitamin E (which has never been found in fruit before), wolfberries contain more protein then whole wheat, 18 amino acids (8 of them essential for life), 21 trace minerals (including significant amounts of zinc, iron, copper, calcium, selenium, phosphorus and germanium; a very rare anti-cancer agent almost never found in food), more beta carotene than carrots, 500 times more vitamin C by weight than oranges, essential fatty acids (required for the production of hormones and smooth functioning of the brain and nervous system) and is the richest source of carotenoids (natural fat-soluble pigments that play a critical role in vitamin A activity in humans) of any food on the planet. That’s not all.

Here is a short list of other health promoting compounds found in Lycium Barbarum:

Beta Sitosterol: An anti-inflammatory agent found to lower cholesterol, and used to treat sexual impotence and prostrate enlargement.

Zeaxanthin and Lutine: Valued for their role in protecting the eyes.

Betaine: Used by the liver to produce Choline which assists detoxification reactions in the liver. Betaine is known to protect DNA, enhance memory, promote muscle growth and protects us from fatty liver disease.

Cyperone: A sesquiterpene used in treatment of cervical cancer. It is also known to benefit heart and blood pressure problems as well as menstruation problems.

Solavetivone: A powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agent.

Physalin: A natural compound that boosts the immune system. Found to be effective in treating leukaemia, hepatitis B and cancer.

A laboratory procedure was recently developed to measure the amount of antioxidants the foods we eat contain. The procedure known as ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) was developed by Dr. Guohua Cao at USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, USA. ORAC is one of the most sensitive and reliable methods for measuring the ability of antioxidants to absorb free radicals. It is the only test to combine both time and degree of inhibition of free radicals.

According to Tufts University, the average person needs approximately 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity. Three servings of fruits and vegetables per day provide approximately 1200 ORAC units. This means the average person is short by up to 3800 ORAC units each day, depending on the fruits and vegetables they are choosing and their body’s requirements. To make up the difference, experts recommend supplementing our diet with high ORAC foods to become and stay healthy and slow down the aging process caused by free radical damage.

Lycium Barbarum was rated the food with the highest antioxidant ability coming in at an amazing 3,472 ORAC units per fluid oz. Some of the other notable mentions are vitamin E oil at 3,309, pomegranates at 3,037, blueberries 2,400, raspberries 1,220.

Furthermore, wolfberries have been found to have extremely high levels of immune-stimulating polysaccharides. What are polysaccharides? Polysaccharides are very large, long-chain sugar molecules that are nourishment for macrophages (large white blood cells) in the gut wall. The macrophages are then transported to other immune cells, setting off a chain of defensive events in our bodies.

Several years ago German researchers isolated polysaccharides from Echinacea purpurea (often used in medicinal formulations) and mixed them with macrophages in test tubes. They found that the polysaccharides profoundly activated the macrophages, stimulating them to effectively kill tumor cells! Also it was found macrophages increased their production of interleukin, a chemical which spurs the immune system to greater activity, and the polysaccharides also enhanced the activity of B lymphocytes, immune-system cells which fight bacterial infections.

Below are the results of a 2002 study on the effects of a Ningxia wolfberry product on phagocytes. First, why should we care about phagocytes? Phagocytes are a crucial component of the immune system and are found in the spleen. They digest foreign substances that invade the body including bacteria and other disease causing organisms. Having large numbers of phagocytes in the spleen will enable the body to more quickly eliminate foreign substances and thus prevent the development of potential illness.

The effects were astounding. Spleenic phagocyte cell counts (immune cells) increased by 81% and the ORAC (antioxidant capacity) the subjects' whole blood increased as well. Essentially, you could say the subjects’ blood became younger.

I believe this little fruit can change the health of the world. Tell your friends about it. If more people knew about wolfberries maybe CNN would stand up and take notice too!

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Acupuncture: Interview with Caroline Chen, L.Ac

posted by Shaun Yeu on Friday 16 December 2005.

I had the opportunity to interview acupuncturist Caroline Chen of Acupuncture For Life. Below is our conversation about Chinese acupuncture.

What is Acupuncture?

For thousands of years, acupuncture has been used to treat diseases, facilitate healing and restore healthful vigor. Originating in China, acupuncture is part of a Taoist system of medicine that approaches each individual as an interconnected sum of physical, emotional, and spiritual qualities, constantly flowing, changing and affecting each other.

There are 365 acupuncture points on the human body. They are connected through channels of energy and goes through the nervous points of the body. These channels of energy is also known as "Qi" (pronounced chi). "To achieve optimum health, Qi needs to flow smoothly," says Caroline. "When an illness or injury occurs, there is a blockage in the channel and a Qi imbalance occurs." Acupuncture helps by unblocking the channels and allow it to flow smoothly again.

During an acupuncture treatment, ultra-thin, sterile needles are inserted into specific points on your body. For most people, there is little or no discomfort from this process. In fact, many people (even those once afraid of needles) find acupuncture so restful they fall asleep during a treatment. Caroline gives the following advice and procedure when going to an acupuncture specialist:

Wear loose clothing, but not too loose.

Have a snack or small meal beforehand so you are not hungry

When going in to Acupuncture For Life for example, Caroline will do a pre-diagnoses to see what kind of treatment is required.

Do not worry about the needles. They are in sealed packages and sterile.

The needling will not hurt. If you can withstand a mosquito bite, you can withstand acupuncture.

The needles will stay in 10-20 minutes. During that time you might feel a bit of heaviness, tingling, or something inside moving around (which is your Qi). However, most people feel relaxed.

Certain treatments may require ear acupressure as well. It is said that the ear is a blueprint of the entire body from head to toe, inside and out. Each pressure point on the ear represent an organ or a part of the body.

The most important thing to remember is that acupuncture will not fix ailments overnight. At least 5 treatments are necessary to have any sort of effect. It is a slow, gradual process.

Fact or Fiction: In acupuncture, there is such a thing as a "death spot". Caroline says "it is possible for a master of Qi Quong to reverse the flow of Qi which will lead to death".

Acupuncture has proven highly effective for addressing a wide variety of health issues, including but not limited to:

Sports injuries, plus other musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction

Emotional imbalances such as depression, anxiety and insomnia

Digestive tract complaints, such as irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux

Asthma, allergies and other immune system stresses

Gynecological complaints such as PMS, menopausal symptoms, dysmenorrhea

Weight Loss

Smoking

Acupuncture is also very helpful during pregnancy for alleviating morning sickness, gestational diabetes and sciatica. And, as a post-partum treatment, acupuncture helps to quickly rebuild strength and restore hormonal balance.