The Historical Foundations of Qing Dynasty Art When the Manchus established the Qing dynasty in 1644, inheriting the mandate from […]
The Historical Context: Reclaiming Han Cultural Identity When Zhu Yuanzhang, later known as the Hongwu Emperor, overthrew the Mongol-led Yuan […]
The Mongol Ascent and Cultural Fusion The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) emerged from the vast Mongolian steppes, where the ancestors of […]
The Fractured Landscape of Post-Tang China As the Tang dynasty collapsed in 907 CE, China fragmented into competing regional powers, […]
The Historical Backdrop of Tang Dynasty Art The Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) emerged after three centuries of fragmentation following the […]
The Historical Context of Chinese Intellectual Traditions For centuries, Chinese scholars studying “national learning” (guoxue) consciously excluded natural sciences from […]
The Origins of Chinese Performance Arts The roots of Chinese theater stretch deep into antiquity, long before the formal establishment […]
The Origins of Chinese Prose Traditions Chinese literary history presents a fascinating dichotomy between two distinct prose styles: the free-flowing […]
The Fluid Definition of Literature in Ancient China The concept of literature in ancient China differed significantly from modern interpretations. […]
The Intellectual Ferment of Late Tang and Early Song The Buddhist intellectual renaissance during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907 […]
The Golden Age of Chinese Philosophy During the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BCE) and Warring States (475-221 BCE) periods, China […]
The Grand Tradition of Chinese Official Historiography For over two millennia, Chinese scholars have maintained an unparalleled tradition of historical […]
The Humble Origins of China’s Sacred Texts The term “jing” (经), now revered as denoting Confucian classics embodying eternal truths, […]
The Dawn of Chinese Writing and Early Book Formats Long before the invention of paper and printing, ancient Chinese texts […]
The Origins of China’s Antiquarian Tradition Long before the formal discipline of archaeology emerged in the West, Chinese scholars had […]
Unlocking the Secrets of Classical Texts Reading classical Chinese texts presents unique challenges that go beyond understanding modern literary Chinese. […]
The Birth of a Concept in a Changing World The term Guoxue (国学), often translated as “National Learning” or “Chinese […]
The Collapse of Ming and the Birth of Loyalist Scholarship When the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, Gu Yanwu was […]
The Shattered World of Late Ming and Early Qing The collapse of Ming China in 1644 created more than just […]
The Historical Foundations of Neo-Confucian Thought The intellectual landscape of late imperial China witnessed a profound philosophical transformation that scholars […]
The Arrival of Buddhism in Han China Buddhism first entered China during the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE), though […]
The Qin Suppression and Han Restoration When Qin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BCE, establishing the first imperial dynasty, […]
