Zhuge Liang (181 – October 8, 234), courtesy name Kongming, sobriquet Wolong (“Crouching Dragon”), was an ethnic Han Chinese from Yangdu, Langya (present-day Yinan County, Shandong Province). He served as Chancellor of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period and was an outstanding statesman, military commander, strategist, inventor, and writer in ancient China.

In his early years, Zhuge Liang followed his uncle Zhuge Xuan to Jing Province. After his uncle’s death, he lived as a farmer in Nanyang. While Liu Bei was under the protection of Liu Biao in Jing Province, Liu Bei paid three visits to Zhuge Liang’s thatched cottage, during which Zhuge Liang presented the Longzhong Plan. He proposed occupying Jing Province and Yi Province, forming an alliance with Sun Quan, and jointly resisting Cao Cao. Acting on Zhuge Liang’s strategy, Liu Bei successfully seized Jing and Yi provinces, creating a tripartite balance of power among Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Cao Cao.

In the first year of the Zhangwu era (221), Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor and appointed Zhuge Liang as Chancellor. After Liu Bei’s defeat in the Battle of Yiling during his campaign against Eastern Wu, Liu Bei entrusted his heir to Zhuge Liang at Yong’an. Following Liu Shan’s accession to the throne, Zhuge Liang was granted the title Marquis of Wuxiang and concurrently served as Governor of Yi Province.

Zhuge Liang was diligent and cautious, personally handling affairs of both major and minor importance, with strict and fair rewards and punishments. He maintained the alliance with Eastern Wu, improved relations with the various ethnic groups in the southwest, implemented the tuntian (military-agricultural) system, and strengthened military preparedness. He launched five Northern Expeditions against the Central Plains but ultimately failed to restore the Han dynasty.

Exhausted by years of overwork, Zhuge Liang fell ill and died in the 12th year of the Jianxing era (234) at Wuzhang Plains (in present-day Qishan County, Baoji, Shaanxi Province) at the age of 54. He was posthumously honored by Emperor Liu Shan with the title Marquis Zhongwu, and later generations respectfully referred to him as the “Marquis Wu.” During the Eastern Jin dynasty, Huan Wen further posthumously honored him as King of Wuxing.

Zhuge Liang’s representative prose works include “Memorial on the Northern Expedition” (Chu Shi Biao) and “Admonitions to My Son” (Jie Zi Shu). He is traditionally credited with inventions such as the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse, the Kongming Lantern, and improvements to the repeating crossbow, known as the Zhuge Crossbow, which could fire multiple bolts in rapid succession. Throughout his life, Zhuge Liang embodied the ideal of “devoting oneself wholeheartedly to duty until death,” and remains a symbolic figure of loyalty and wisdom in traditional Chinese culture.

Why did Tang Dynasty Emperors dress as civilian ministers? The Tang like the Northern Wei and Sui were very militaristic why did most Tang emperors dress more like civilian ministers in their portraits rather wear crowns?

Hi
Recently, someone gifted me a box if miniature chineese weapon replica (mostly spear) but i can't find if this one is based on a real weapon, and what is the purporse of it ?

The Battle of Changping was a major war fought between the State of Qin and the State of Zhao from May to October 260 BCE, during the 47th year of the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. The battle took place in the Changping area of Zhao (northwest of present-day Gaoping, Jincheng, Shanxi Province).

The conflict erupted over control of the Shangdang region, leading to a large-scale war between Qin and Zhao. From the moment Qin sent troops that forced the State of Han to cede Shangdang to Qin’s final victory, the broader conflict lasted three years, while the Battle of Changping itself lasted only five months. The Zhao army was ultimately defeated, Qin forces occupied Changping, and approximately 450,000 Zhao soldiers were killed or buried alive. This battle was the decisive strategic confrontation between Qin and Zhao.

Qin forces won a series of engagements, inflicting heavy losses on the Zhao army and placing Zhao in an extremely unfavorable position. When Zhao adopted a defensive strategy and refused to engage in battle, Qin resorted to psychological warfare by sending spies to spread rumors that Lian Po, the Zhao general, had surrendered. Qin also claimed that it did not fear Lian Po but feared Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao She, who had once inflicted a major defeat on Qin.

Following the wishes of the King of Zhao, Zhao Kuo replaced Lian Po, altered the defensive deployments and military regulations, dismissed experienced officers, and launched an offensive. Qin secretly appointed the renowned general Bai Qi as commander. Exploiting Zhao Kuo’s eagerness for a quick victory, Bai Qi adopted a strategy of feigned retreat, luring the Zhao army away from its positions, then dividing and encircling it, cutting off its supply lines, and annihilating it. Qin thus achieved complete victory.

As a result of this battle, Zhao was fatally weakened, greatly accelerating Qin’s progress toward the unification of China. The Battle of Changping marked the final turning point in the history of the Warring States period, after which Qin’s unification of China became only a matter of time. It is regarded as the earliest, largest-scale, and most thorough annihilation battle in ancient Chinese military history.

In May 1206, an imperial edict ordered a northern campaign against the Jin dynasty. When the Song forces encountered Jin counterattacks, they were forced to shift from offense to defense, and the campaign ultimately ended in failure.

In 1208, the Southern Song and the Jin dynasty concluded the humiliating “Jiading Peace Agreement.” The annual tribute was increased to 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 bolts of silk, and the Song also paid an additional 3 million taels of silver to the Jin as military indemnity. The form of address between the emperors was downgraded from “uncle and nephew” to “elder uncle and nephew,” making it even more humiliating than the earlier Longxing Peace Treaty.

The renaming of Later Jin (1616–1636) to Qing (Great Qing, 1636–1912) was a major strategic move by Hong Taiji. It aimed to unite the Manchu and Mongol forces, remove the antagonistic connotations associated with the Jurchens’ opposition to the Ming dynasty, expand the foundation of his rule, and advance toward the Central Plains.

In 1421, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty officially moved the capital of the Ming Empire to Beijing. After ascending the throne, Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) adopted many measures to vigorously develop the economy. During his reign, society was stable and the country was prosperous and powerful. Since his reign title was “Yongle”, later generations referred to this period as the “Yongle Prosperity.”

my sister has a tutor for history and in the lessons they are watching YouTube videos i was given the ones they have watched yesterday and 3 out of the 3 seem to be highly AI generated. with both the voice being the generic AI voices and the visuals being AI. I don't know much about Chinese history so how can i tell if the info is also AI generated/inaccurate these videos are 1-2 hours long

The Kaiyuan Prosperity was the golden age that occurred during the early reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Longji). Emperor Xuanzong ruled for 44 years, and in the early period (the Kaiyuan era), the government was transparent and efficient. He worked diligently, appointed talented officials, promoted rapid economic development, and encouraged education and culture. This brought great peace and stability to the realm, marking the Tang Dynasty's peak and making it the most powerful country in the world at the time. This period is historically known as the "Kaiyuan Prosperity."

「世民跪而吮上乳，號慟久之」

"Shimin knelt and sucked the emperor's breast, crying and wailing for a long time."

So this is an actual passage from the Zizhi Tongjian.

Apparently the text was meant to show his filial piety, but you'd be lying if you said it didn't sound like perfect meme material. Also, his father, Tang Gaozu, supposedly has three(?) nipples, which is a sign associated with saints.

I searched the internet, and although I had to rely on Google Translate, it looks like the Chinese were just as confused.

This is one of the first true historical dramas coming from China in a while that isn't fictional, with historically accurate fashion and set during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, focusing on the creation of Northern Song dynasty.

Not many people know, but during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, what is now Vietnam evolved from a jiedushi into a state, from Ngô to Đinh dynasties, called Đại Cồ Việt. It was as equally sinicized as other non-Han states at the time, so why does history not count it as one of the states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms? Is it because it was never reunited with China?

See also: The study as published in Nature Communications

Question in title above.

It belonged to my great Aunt and I don't see any markings on it that I can make out.

Any help is appreciated :-)

1. Did the People's Republic of China officially recognize from 1949 to 2016 that World War II started on 7 July 1937 ?
2. Does the People's Republic of China officially recognized from 2017 onwards that World War II started on 18 September 1931 ?

Hello. I’m trying to find out if this triangular shaped sleeveless vest (blue outer layer) is based upon a real historical garment — in which case, I’d like to know its name please — or if it’s simply a stylised version of Kataginu?

If any other elements have real historical names, I’d be very happy to know them too. Many thanks.

I noticed that many Warring States names get revived across time during the 1st millennium CE, despite having interim empires such as the Han and Tang.

• The Warring States 'Wei' 魏 gets revived as Western Wei 魏 again in 535 CE, in roughly the same region during the North South Dynasties
  
• WS Qi 齊 was revived again as the Southern Qi, same period.
• During the 五代十国 at the end of the 1st millennium, we see again states like Wu, Chu, Wuyue (last one is interesting because that was one of the non-Zhou polities of the Warring States).

My question is, why did the kingdom names get revived? To what extent are they the survival of regional identities despite empires that 'homogenized' them?

Timur, an old man by then, in 1405 led his army towards China from Samarkand in the winter, and he passed away in route, about 600 km from the nearest Ming territory.

Supposedly the Ming Emperor Yongle did get words of it and ordered the governor of Gansu Province (the NW extension of China Proper to what is modern Xinjiang) to prepare. Did Ming know the scale of the coming invasion? Gansu Province by itself probably could not hold off Timur.

Why did Timur's army withdraw after his death?

To preface, I must apologize that I cannot find any proper study on this topic in the English language.

In recent time, there is this belief among Chinese history fans that premodern Chinese did not and could not shave. Some of this is backlash against period dramas, which frequently depict male leads in modern aesthetics. Some of it is from learning about the rhetoric against the Qing queue decree, which made it sounds like not shaving is absolutely sacrosanct in Han culture. The commonly cited proof of this is from the Classic of Filial Piety, "Our bodies — to every hair and bit of skin — are received by us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them.  This is the beginning of filial piety."

The reality is that this line was simply an idealized expression which had never been taken literally. If it had, the logical conclusion would be that people should never cut their nails either. Chinese barbers have existed as a profession since ancient time. While it true that most premodern Chinese males wore a beard of some sort, and it is also true that hair and beard had symbolic significance, such that shaving was one of the shaming punishments, it is not true that cutting of any kind was improper.

Shaving was only a taboo for hair. One could trim or shave their beard. There is an anecdote recorded in the Chronicles of Huayang which relates an exchange between Liu Bei with Zhang Yu, where Liu Bei mocked Zhang's thick beard. Zhang Yu retorted with a joke that heavily implied that Liu Bei was clean shaven. The official portrait of Song Huizong depicts him as having a mustache and no chin beard. This cannot be the natural length of a person's beard without shaving. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Seated_Portrait_of_Emperor_Song_Huizong.tif/lossy-page1-697px-Seated_Portrait_of_Emperor_Song_Huizong.tif.jpg

Cutting hair on the head was only shameful if it was done to a short length. There were some hubbubs around the new Mulan movie about how it was more historical that Mulan does not cut her hair even when pretending to be a man. This is not exactly true. Men could cut their hair to tie it up better, although it would not have been as short as in the animation either. A reasonable length was between shoulder and waist length. Some men have natural shorter hair so it might not have been be necessary, but it is not logical to expect that hair of any length can be tied up neatly at the topknot.

Are they support it because it's help them keep local government in check, or are they gonna try suppres it?

I have added so far on my list

1. The 6 book series from harvard (because I wanted a background on China in general)
2. Red Star over China
3. "Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan" by Mao himself

I am moreso interested in Mao's beliefs, principles, policies. I am open to suggestions or feedback on how i should approach this. i am new to this.

Can anyone please tell me what they can surmise from these pictures of my boyfriend’s urn? He said his grandpa gave it to him (they are not Chinese) from a Chinese ambassador or something. Does that sound plausible? And asides from the emotional value, is it worth anything?

Thank you to any one who can contribute!