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Zhouyi 周易 The Changes of the Zhou

The Zhouyi 周易, also called Yijing 易經, or, shortly, Yi 易, is one of the most important Confucian classics. It has not only influenced Confucian and especially Neo-Confucian thinking but is also deeply rooted in the Daoist tradition. It is so important that the discipline of yixue 易學 "Yijing studies" came into being.

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Exemplarious translation of Rites of the Zhou

1.天官冢宰
惟王建国,辨方正位,体国经野,设官分职,以为民民极。乃立天官冢宰,使帅 其属而掌邦治,以佐王均邦国。
治官之属:大宰,卿一人。小宰,中大夫二人。
宰夫,下大夫四人;上士八人,中士十有六人,旅下士三十有二人;府六人, 史十有二人,胥十有二人,徒百有二十人。
The Prime Minister and the "Heavenly Ministry"
The only person that constitutes the empire, is the king. He determines the [four] regions and fixes the [governmental] positions; he embodies the cities and measures the countryside; he creates the ministries and separates their respective functions; this all to make a fixed pole for the people. Therewith, he institutes the "Heavenly ministry" and the office of prime minister, he charges the prime minister to head his subordinates and to take into his hands the administration of the state, to help the king to regulate the fiefdoms and the state.
The ministry consists of the following persons:
The Great Administrator, one ministerial person. Small Administrators, two prefects of second rank. Assistant Administrators, four prefects of third rank. Eight graduated officers of first rank, sixteen graduates officers of second rank. Ordinary officers: thirty-two graduated officers of third rank, six officers for the magazins, twelve scribes, twelve aides, and one hundred and twenty retainers…
大宰之职,掌建邦之六典,以佐王治邦国:
一曰治典,以经邦国,以治官府,以纪万民。
二曰教典,以安邦国,以教官府,以扰万民。
三曰礼典,以和邦国, 以统百官,以谐万民。
四曰政典,以平邦国,以正百官,以均万民。
五曰刑典, 以诘邦国,以刑百官,以纠万民。
六曰事典,以富邦国,以任百官,以生万民。
The office of Great Administrator:
He holds in his hands the duty to establish the Six Constitutions to constitute the empire, for he has to help the king to regulate the fiefdoms and the state.
First, the Regulating Constitution, to measure the fiefdoms and the state, to regulate the ministries and to structure the people.
Second, the Instructing Constitution, to consolidate the country, to instruct the Ministries and to civilize the people.
Third, the Ritual Constitution, to harmonize the country, to unite the Ministries and to bring the people together.
Forth, the Governmental Constitution, to appease the country, to correct the officers, and to make equal all people.
Fifth, the Punishment Constitution, to correct the country, to chastise the officers, and to bind the people to what is needed.
Sixth, the Labour Constitution, to enrich the country, to make active the officers, and to nourish the people…
以八法治官府…
以八则治都鄙…
以八柄诏王驭群臣…
以八统诏王驭万民…
以九职任万民…
以九赋敛财贿…
以九式均节财用…
以九贡致邦国之用…
以九两系邦国之民…
岁终,则令百官府各正其 治,受其会,听其致事,而诏王废置。三岁,则大计群吏之治而诛赏之。
By the Eight regulations, he regulates the Ministries,…
by the Eight Principles, he regulates the cities and the towns,…
by the Eight Handles, he helps the king to control the many officers,…
by the Eight Guidelines, he helps the king to control the people,…
by the Nine Offices, he employs the people,…
by the Nine Taxes, he reassembles the richness and values,…
by the Nine Measures, he equals and moderates the finances [of the ministries],…
by the Nine tributes, he effects the expenditures of the country,…
by the Nine Couplings, he helds together the people of the country…
At the end of the year, he orders all officers to regulate each one of their duties, and he receives their account, he makes them report how they effected their duties, and he suggests the king whom to dismiss and whom to confirm. Every third year, he carries out the great control of the government of all officers and punishes or rewards them.

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Zhouli 周礼 Rites of the Zhou

The Zhouli 周礼 "Rites of the Zhou" is a decription of the putative organisation of the government during the Western Zhou period 西周 (11th cent.-770 BCE). It is one of the three classics on rites (sanli 三礼) and one of the thirteen Confucian Classics. It was compiled during the Warring States period 战国 (5th cent.-221 BCE) and was known under the names of Zhouguan 周官 "The Offices of the Zhou" or Zhouguanjing 周官经 "Classic of the offices of the Zhou". Only during the Former Han period 前汉 (206 BCE-8 CE) it was given the name Zhouli by Liu Xin 刘歆. The book consists of six parts corresponding to the six ministries (liubu 六部) which, according to ancient cosmology, are correlated to Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons. There are 376 state officials in total, with subalters secretaries numbering many thousands. The Ministries, their cosmology and structure are:

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South Gate of China—-Sanya 三亚

************************************************** Sanya(三亚:Sānyà) is situated on the southernmost tip of Hainan Province, lying between 1809′ and 1837′ latitude giving it the tropical monsoon climate of this region. Covering an area of 1919.58 square kilometers (about 741 square miles) with 209.1 kilometers (about 130 miles) long coastline, Sanya has many natural advantages. Possessing a number of excellent harbors, Sanya is an important port for import and export of trade with foreign countries. Therefore, Sanya is also named the 'South Gate of China' to stress its importance while it plays a vital role in the life of the southern part of China in areas of the economy and politics to transportation.

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Zizhi tongjian 资治通鉴 “Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government”

The Zizhi tongjian 资治通鉴 "Comprehensive mirror to aid in government" is one of the most important traditional histories of China. In respect of influence it is only second to the first universal history of China, the Shiji 史记, or even surpasses the latter. The Zizhi tongjian was written by the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) writer and politician Sima Guang 司马光. The Zizhi tongjian consists of 294 juan "scrolls" plus 30 juan of register (mulu 目录) and a text-critical apparatus (kaoyi 考异) of 30 juan. It covers the time period between the reign of King Weilie 周威烈王 (r. 425-402 BCE) of the Eastern Zhou dynasty 东周 (770-221 BCE) and the reign of Emperor Shizong 后周世宗 (r. 954-959) of the Later Zhou 后周 (951-960), or the years 403 BCE to 959 CE.

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East China Normal University 华东师范大学

*********************************************************** East China Normal University (ECNU)(华东师范大学:Huádōnɡ Shīfàn Dàxué) was founded in October 1951 on the site of Great China University(大夏大学:Dàxià Dàxué) with most of its faculties from Great China University joined by some faculties from a number of other universities such as Fudan University. In 1972, East China Normal University was renamed Shanghai Normal University, when other four institutes including Shanghai Teachers Institute, Shanghai Education Institute, Shanghai Physical Education Institute, and Shanghai in-Service Teachers Institute were merged with it. In July 1980, it regained its original name of East China Normal University as the other four institutes separated again and resumed their original status one after another in 1978.

Over fifty years of development has shaped East China Normal University into one of the key institutions of higher learning under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Education, influential both at home and abroad. The University has 15 full-time schools, namely School of Humanities, School of Educational Science, School of Educational Administration, School of Preschool Education and Special Education, School of Foreign Languages, School of Business , School of Law and Politics, School of Life Science, School of Physical Education and Health Care, School of Science and Engineering, School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, School of Information Science and Technology, School of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language,School of software engineering and the Vocational College. These schools consist of 35 departments offering 55 undergraduate programs, 5 of which, i.e. Chinese, History, Mathematics, Geography and Psychology, are on the list of State Training and Research Bases for Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences.

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Shuowen jiezi 说文解字Explaining Simple and Analyzing Compound Characters

The Shuowen jiezi 说文解字 "Explaining simple and analyzing compound characters", short Shuowen 说文, is the oldest and one of the most important character dictionaries of ancient China. It was compiled by the Later Han period 后汉 (25-220 CE) scholar Xu Shen 许慎. The book was finished in 100 CE but was only submitted to the court in 121 by the author's son, Xu Chong 许冲. The characters are arranged in 540 so-called radicals (bushou 部首) in 14 chapters, and one chapter including a list of the radicals and Xu Shen’s own postface (xu 叙).

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