Category: Chinese Classics

Today I'd like to make an introduction of Huabiao. Huabiao, as something typical Chinese, is actually an ornamental or symbolic column erected in front of palaces, bridges, city gates, tombs or other places. They used to be made of wood, hence their other name–Huabiaomu. They were difficult to preserve, however, and the Haubiao we see today are mostly made of marble.

According to the book of 24 solar terms, “Dong (winter), is the end, the collection of everything.” This means that the autumn crops have been harvested and animals have hidden to prepare for hibernation. Around the Start of Winter, the surface of the earth has stored some heat after a summer of exposure. Thus the weather is not cold. Even in the sunny days, people feel like it’s spring. The weather, neither hot nor cold, is very pleasant, and good for the growth of the winter crops. Of course, after Start of Winter Day, the cold air from Siberia will come unexpectedly, leading to strong wind, dropping temperatures, snow and rain. In a sense, the Start of Winter is a reminder for people to concern themselves with the change of weather and life.

Today I'd like to make an introduction of Pavilion, one of the most amazing traditional architecture in China. A common sight in the country, the Chinese pavilion (ting, which means also a kiosk) is built normally either of wood or stone or bamboo and may be in any of several plan figures– square, triangle, hexagon, octagon, a five-petal flower, a fan and what not. But all pavilions described as ting have this in common: they have columns to support the roof, but no walls. In parks or at scenic spots, pavilions are built on slopes to command the panorama or on lakeside to create intriguing images in the water. They are not only part of the landscape but also belvederes from which to enjoy it.

The jizhuanti 纪传体 "biographic-thematic type" is a literary type in Chinese historiography in which history is dealt with in biographies and thematic treatises. The standard histories written in this historiographic type are the official dynastic histories (zhengshi 正史), but there are also other histories – mainly dynastic histories – written in this type of history. There are three types of biographies and two types of treatises:

Attributed to Xu Zhonglin 许仲琳 (d. 1566) or to Lu Xixing 陆西星 (d. 1601), this novel also called Fengshenbang 封神榜 of the type of a historical romance is a great fantasy about the overthrow of the bad, depraved ruler Zhou 纣 of the Shang Dynasty 商 by King Wu of Zhou 周武王. The sources for this novel include oral and written material about Daoist heroes and gods, monsters and spirits that assist King Wu in subduing the bad ruler or help bad King Zhou to resist the heaven appointed rebel. Inspired by his fox-ghost concubine Daji 妲己 (not Danji!), king Zhou murders his loyal ministers and even his own son. After the downfall of Shang, the suicide of king Zhou and the exorcism of Daji by Jiang Ziya 姜子牙, King Wu enfeoffs all his followers with a part of the kingdom, creating the Zhou feudal system. The deceased and killed heroes (the "gods" of the title), even the enemies, are invested with a heavenly constellation.
The novel is well-composed and organized in an endless sequence of battles between the heroes that are not only fighting with weapons but also with words, trying to persuade the opponent to follow the justified side. The monotony of the endless battles makes the book a quite boring lecture, even if the author tries to introduce unexpected elements like suddenly joining Daoist magicians or even Buddhist deities.
 

The Moon on a Cold Night
霜月
by Li Shangyin
（唐）李商隐
“When people can hear the sound of wild geese, the cicada stops tweeting;
初闻征雁已无蝉，
I climb up to a high building and look far into the distance, seeing the water and sky merge into one;
百尺楼高水接天。
The deity of snow and frost, Qing Nv, and the goddess of the moon, Chang’e are not afraid of the cold;
青女素娥俱耐冷，
They are still competing with each other to see who is more beautiful.”
月中霜里斗婵娟。

The Xinqingnian 新青年 "La Jeunesse (New Youth)" was a periodical published by Chen Duxiu 陈独秀 in Shanghai. Its first issue came out as a monthly periodical on September 15, 1915 with the title of Qingnian zazhi 青年杂志. From the second issue on it bore the name of Xinqingnian. It is probably the most famous newspaper of Republican China and reflected a very widespread intellectual current among young Chinese intellectuals. The two main objectives held high by Chen Duxiu and the authors were "democracy" (minzhu 民主) and "science" (kexue 科学). Influenced by Western philosophy of the state and society the authors suggested changing traditional China in order to strengthen her politics, moral, education and thinking. Old ways of thinking, as embodied in Confucianism, and the old style of literature, using the classical language, should be abolished.

Ashima is a traditional story of a girl from the national minority of the Yi 彝族. This story, in circulation among the tribe of the Sani 撒尼 living in the village of Azhudi 阿着底 district of Lunan 路南 in the province of Yunnan, was brought into the literary form of a poem in 1953 by Huang Tie 黄铁, Yang Zhiyong 杨知勇, Liu Qi 刘绮 and Gong Liu 公刘, which were members of the provincial Renmin gongwentuan gongzuozu 人民文工团工作组. The story was first published in 1954 by the newspaper Yunnan ribao 云南日报. The book has been translated into several foreign languages.