|
Confucius , Chinese Greatest Thinker |
Confucius (551-479 BCE), according to Chinese tradition, was a thinker, political figure, educator, and founder of the Ru School of Chinese thought. His teachings, preserved in the Analects, form the foundation of much of subsequent Chinese speculation on the education and comportment of the ideal man, how such an individual should live his live and interact with others, and the forms of society and government in which he should participate. Fung Yu-lan, one of the great 20th century authorities on the history of Chinese thought, compares Confucius' influence in Chinese history with that of Socrates in the West.
Emperor Qin Shihuang , China's First Emperor
Qin Shihuang (259-210BC) was the state-founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty. He was enthroned at the age of 13 and became an emperor at 39. From 230 to 221BC, he destroyed six states in succession, unified China and established the feudal centralized system.
In order to consolidate his position, the Emperor launched a series of reforms on politics, economy, culture and ideology. He asked his Prime Minister to unify the eight calligraphic styles that were thriving in other states and absorb some simplified characters and vulgar style scripts to create the standardized Qinzhuan (Qin-Dynasty seal) script.
This was China's first thorough character standardization movement led by the central government, and the uniform calligraphic style has great significance in pushing forward the development of Chinese characters.
Zetian Wu, The Only Female Empress in China
Empress Wu is the only female regent of her own right in the history of China, founding her own dynasty -- the Zhou. She became empress herself in 655 after she succeeded in discrediting Gaozong's wife, Empress Wang, by framing her for the killing of her baby (it is said that Wu Zetian herself had done the deed) and the Pure Concubine, Xiao Liangdi. Chinese political theory did not allow a woman to ascend the throne and Empress Wu was determined to quash the opposition and promote loyal officials within the bureaucracy
Quyuan, Chinese Patriotic Poet
Qu Yuan (340-278 BC) was the first great patriotic poet in the history of Chinese literature. He composed 25 poems including Sorrow after Departure.
Sorrow after Departure is Qu Yuan's classic work, which is also the earliest long lyric poem in China. The poem resolutely uncloaks the repulsiveness of the ruling class by deploying a series of metaphors, and at the same time portrays some upstanding models who adhere to justice, are unafraid of persecution and very devoted to their country and people. Sorrow after Departure is a romantic lyric poem with a measured realism.Quyuan, Chinese Patriotic Poet
Qu Yuan (340-278 BC) was the first great patriotic poet in the history of Chinese literature. He composed 25 poems including Sorrow after Departure.
Sorrow after Departure is Qu Yuan's classic work, which is also the earliest long lyric poem in China. The poem resolutely uncloaks the repulsiveness of the ruling class by deploying a series of metaphors, and at the same time portrays some upstanding models who adhere to justice, are unafraid of persecution and very devoted to their country and people. Sorrow after Departure is a romantic lyric poem with a measured realism.
Guanyu, military general in the Three Kingdom Era
Guan Yu (160每 219) was a military general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Kingdom of Shu, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.
One of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan Yu's true life stories have largely given way to semi-fictional ones, mostly found in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms or passed down the generations as folklore, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been much exaggerated.
Guan Yu had been deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still being worshipped by Chinese people today, especially in Hong Kong. While being seen as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness, Guan Yu had been criticized by historians for being arrogant and vain, qualities that eventually led to his downfall in the hands of Sun Quan, lord of the Kingdom of Wu.
Guan Yu is traditionally portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long lush beard. While his beard was indeed mentioned in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the idea of his red face was probably borrowed from opera representation, where red faces depict loyalty and righteousness. Also according to folklore, Guan Yu's weapon was a guandao, which resembles a halberd and was said to weigh 82 jin (41 kilograms using today's standards).
Lishizhen, Scholar Worthy of Emulation
Li Shizhen was a highly influential figure in Chinese medicine and the author of the revered text Great Compendium of Herbs. The work is one of the most frequently mentioned books in the Chinese herbal tradition. Li Shizhen was the subject of a 1956 Chinese movie about his life and accomplishments. The modern kung-fu actor Jet Li described Li Shizhen as the person he most looks up to. There is a Li Shizhen award given to doctors and researchers who make valuable contributions to traditional Chinese Medicine. He is further given recognition in the labeling of herb products and there is even a Li Shizhen brand of herbs. One can say that in the pantheon of the greatest scholars of traditional China, Li Shizhen is the last towering figure to be recognized.
Cai Lun, the Paper-maker
Cai Lun was a Chinese eunuch who greatly reformed the art of papermaking. At that time, although the technology of papermaking has already been invented, paper was used primarily among only common people. While most of the literati did not favor the paper, Cai saw the prospect of paper, which could substitute for silk. So Cai began to reform the papermaking technology.
Cai's contribution is considered one of the most important inventions in history, since it enabled China to develop its civilization much faster than with earlier writing materials (primarily bamboo), and it did the same with Europe when it was introduced in the 12th or 13th century.
Li Bai, the Greatest Poet
Li Bai, Great Poet of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Cheng (37-2BC) of the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907), long recognized as China's age of poetry, produced a number of outstanding poets who had greatly enriched the legacy of Chinese literature.
Although almost nothing is known of the life of Sun-tzu, his tract, The Art of War, has been one of the most influential military handbooks in world history. Legend has it that he served the Wu dynasty after being challenged by the emperor to make an effective army out of his concubines. Sun-tzu placed the emperor's two favorites at the head of two different files of concubines and when they failed to discipline their charges, he cut their heads off despite the protests of the emperor. After that the concubines drilled effectively. He became known as Sun the warrior and is reputed never top have lost a battle.
The Art of War is noted for its realistic assessment of the political constraints of warfare. It is part drill book, part tactical survey, and part political treatise. Its advice has been followed for centuries and it continues to be consulted by modern Chinese leaders. In recent years it has been promoted as a tool in business schools in Japan and the United States.
Yue Fei, Chinese Patriotic military general
General Yue Fei is the well-known national hero in the war against Jin invaders during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). He, with his army, had won many great battles, so a minister named Qin Hui was quite jealous of him. With the authority of Emperor Gaozong, Qin Hui ordered Yue Fei back to court at once at a time that Yue Fei was fighting furiously with the northern invaders on the battlefield. In fact, the command was just an excuse to order him back. Yue Fei was wrongly accused of seriously defying military order during his mission and was subsequently put to death at the age of 39.
Xi Shi, "so beautiful as to sink fish"
Xi Shi was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of Spring and Autumn Period. Xi Shi's beauty is said to be so extreme that she caused the fish to dip in shame while laundering her garments in the river.
Gou Jian , king of Yue, was once imprisoned after a defeat in a war by the State of Wu. The state of Yue later became a tribulatory to Wu. Secretly planning his revenge, Gou Jian's minister Wen Zhong suggested training beautiful women and offering them as a tribute.
Bewitched by the beauty of Xi Shi, the king of Wu forgot all about his state affairs and on their instigation, killed his best advisor, he even built Guanwa Palace (Palace of Beautiful Women) in an imperial park on the slope. The strength of Wu dwindled, and in 473 BC Gou Jian launched his strike and put the Wu army to full rout. The king of Wu then committed suicide.
The West Lake in Hangzhou is said to be the incarnation of Xi Shi, hence it is also called Xizi Lake, Xizi being another name for Xi Shi, meaning Lady Xi.
Yang Guifei, "a face that would shame any flower"
Yang Guifei was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. She was a consort of Xuanzong of Tang China who was killed because the angry army was convinced that the Rebellion of Anshi was ultimately the Yangs' fault.
Yang Guifei is known for being slightly overweight, which was a much sought-after quality at the time. Misinterpretion of quotes describing this in the West has often led to her being described as "obese". The term "obese", when used to describe Yang Guifei, must not be viewed in its modern context of someone who is extremely overweight. She was often compared and contrasted with Zhao Feiyan (猣鵁桏), the beautiful wife of Emperor Cheng of Han, because she was known for her full build while Zhao was known for her slender build. This led to the Chinese idiom yanshou huanfei , describing (frequently in advertisement for sexual services) the range of the types of beauties.
Wangzhaojun, "so beautiful as to let fall flying geese"
Wang Zhaojun was the consort of the Xiongnu shanyu Huhanye. She is famed as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China.
Wang Zhaojun was born to a prominent family. She entered the harem of Emperor Yuan probably after 40 BC. During her time in the Lateral Courts, Wang was never visited by the emperor and remained as a palace lady-in-waiting.
In 33 BC, Huhanye visited Chang'an on a homage trip, as part of the tributary system between the Han and Xiongnu. He took the opportunity to ask to be allowed to become an imperial son-in-law. Instead of honouring the shanyu with a princess, Huhanye was presented with five women from the imperial harem, one of them who was Wang Zhaojun.
A story from the Hou Han Shu relates that Wang Zhaojun volunteered to join the shanyu. When summoned to court, her beauty astonished the emperor's courtiers and made the emperor reconsider his decision to send her to the Xiongnu.
Wang Zhaojun became a favourite of the Huhanye shanyu, giving birth to two sons. When Huhanye died in 31 BC, Wang Zhaojun requested to return to China. Emperor Cheng, however, ordered that she follow Xiongnu levirate custom and become the wife of the next shanyu, the oldest son of her husband. In her new marriage she had two daughters.
Diaochan, "a face that would make clouds cover up the full moon"
Diao Chan was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Unlike the other three beauties, she never appears in any historical writings known to exist and is quite possibly a fictional character.
Diao Chan appeared in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which she assisted in a plot by the official Wang Yun to persuade the warrior L邦 Bu to kill his godfather, the tyrant Dong Zhuo. She did this by becoming Dong Zhuo's concubine but also L邦 Bu's betrothed, then manipulating the two through their jealousy. L邦 Bu had to escape shortly after killing Dong Zhuo and he lost a battle to Dong Zhuo's generals. However, he did meet up with Diao Chan once more. During the ploy to make L邦 Bu kill Dong Zhuo, Diao Chan did fall in love with L邦 Bu. Diao Chan several years later died of illness, having not gave birth to any children.
Empress Dowager Cixi
The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835每1908), was a powerful and charismatic figure who was the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, ruling over China for most of the period from 1861 to her death in 1908.
Historians consider that she did her best to cope with the difficulties of the era but her conservative attitudes did not serve her well and the Western powers continued to take advantage of the country's relatively low level of technological development.
Cixi was a major concubine of the Emperor Xianfeng. Soon after Emperor Xianfeng died in 1861, Cixi along with Empress Ci'an became regents for the boy. The two Dowager Empresses, counseled by the late Emperor's brother, maintained this position until 1873 when Emperor Tongzhi came of age.
Two years later, the young man was dead. Cixi violated the normal succession and had her three year old nephew named the new heir. The two Dowager Empresses continued as regents until the death of Ci'an, the other Dowager Empress, in 1881, when Cixi became the de facto ruler of China.
When Emperor Guangxu, the nephew, attained maturity, Cixi retired to the country, though she kept herself informed through a network of spies. After China lost the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895), Guangxu implemented many reforms in what came to be known as the "Hundred Days of Reform." In reaction, Cixi worked with the military and conservative forces to stage a coup and take power again as active regent, confining the emperor to his palace.
The next year, Cixi supported the forces behind the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-reform and anti-foreign rebellion. When foreign troops retaliated by entering the Forbidden City and capturing Peking (Beijing), Cixi accepted the offered peace terms. As appeasement, she eventually implemented the reforms that she'd stopped her nephew from instituting. She continued to rule, her power much diminished, until her death in 1908. Emperor Guangxu died as she was dying, reportedly poisoned at her direction.
Her actual power surpassed that of another great Queen who was her contemporary, England's Queen Victoria. In addition to her part in the politics of her day, she's also remembered for her patronage of the arts including the opera, and the founding of the Peking Zoological Garden (1906), later the first zoo to breed the giant panda.
Sun Yat-sen, Father of the Republic
In Chinese history he is known as "The Father of the Revolution" or "The Father of the Republic." In the West he is considered the most important figure of Chinese history in the twentieth century. As a revolutionary, he lived most of his life in disappointment. For over twenty years he struggled to bring a nationalist and democratic revolution to China and when he finally triumphed with the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1912 with him as president, he had it cruelly snatched from him by the dictatorial and ambitious Y邦an Shih-kai. He died in 1924, with China in ruins, torn by the anarchy and violence of competing warlords. His ideas, however, fueled the revolutionary fervor of the early twentieth century and became the basis of the Nationalist government established by Chiang Kai-shek in 1928.
Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-Shek was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang(KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. He commanded the Northern Expedition to unify China against the warlords and emerged victorious in 1928 as the overall leader of the Republic of China (ROC). Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War during which Chiang's stature within China weakened but his international prominence grew. During the Chinese Civil War (1926每1949, Chiang attempted to eradicate the Chinese Communists but ultimately failed, forcing his government to retreat to Taiwan, where he established the Republic of China and was its president for the remainder of his life.
Li Tsung-jen, acting president of the Republic of China
Li Tsung-jen (1890- 1969), was vice-president and acting president of the Republic of China and adversary of Chiang Kai-shek.
Born in Xixiang Village, Guilin, Guangxi Province to a teacher father, Li Beiying as the second eldest in a family of five boys and three girls. Li joined Tongmeng Hui in 1910. He was the general of the Seventh Army in the Northern Expedition. From 1925 to 1949, Guangxi remained under his influence.
Li participated in several set-piece battles in the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), including the Battle of Tai er zhuang.
In April 28 1948, Li was elected by the National Assembly as the vice-president, five days after his political opponent, Chiang Kai-shek became the president. The day after Chiang resigned on January 21, 1949 as a response to the Chinese Communist uprisings and several victories, Li became the nominal acting president. Li attempted to negotiate with the communists in Beijing. Such "pacifist attacks" increased the already-strained Li-Chiang tension.
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (1893 每1976) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. Under his leadership, the CCP became the ruling party of mainland China as the result of its victory in the Chinese Civil War. On October 1, 1949, Mao declared the formation of the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square
Mao developed a brand of Signified Marxism-Leninism known as Maoism paralleling the political ideology known as Stalinism. While in power, he started a series of experiments aimed at speeding up China's economic development known as the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward sought to rely on labour instead of capital to help agriculture and industries succeed. Unfortunately, as a result of the Great Leap Forward, at least 20 million people starved to death. He forged, and later split, an alliance with the Soviet Union and launched the Cultural Revolution
Mao is widely credited for creating a mostly unified China free of foreign domination for the first time since the Opium Wars Mao has also been criticized for his inefficient response to the famine of 1958每1961 and the violence of the Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong is commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (禱翋炟). At the height of his personality cult, Mao was commonly known in China as the "Four Greats": "Great Teacher, Great Leader, Great Supreme Commander, Great Helmsman".
Dengxiaoping
Dengxiaoping(1904〞1997) was revolutionary elder in the Communist Party of China(CPC) who served as the ruler of the People＊s Republic of China from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, forming the core of the ※second generation§ CPC leadership. Under his tutelage, China developed one of the fastest growing economies in the world. One of his famous sayings is that "It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice."
LeiFeng, a heroic figure to millions of Chinese
LeiFeng, a familiar heroic figure to millions of Chinese, is known to be someone who was a People's Liberation Army soldier who died on duty. He was known for keeping a dairy, in his dairy, there were many stories of him helping other people. Politicians used his stories to educate people and encourage billions of Chinese to "Learn from LeiFeng", and "Be the new LeiFeng". Each company and school in China had set up rewards for those who are nominated as the new LeiFeng. His stories were blown out of proportion and used as a propaganda machine by the communist party for influencing people on studying Mao's theory, as he was also known as a good student of Mao's theory. The central government's main purpose, as historians now points out, was to brainwash people and use LeiFeng as an example as someone who was unconditionally devoted to Mao's leadership, and encourage others to do the same.
Yuan longping, the Father of Hybrid Rice
Professor Yuan is widely acknowledged for the discovery of the genetic basis of heterosis in rice〞a phenomenon in which the progeny of two distinctly different parents grow faster, yield more, and resist stress better than either parent. In developing his ※three-line system§ of hybrid rice, Professor Yuan and his team soon produced a commercial hybrid rice variety called Nan-you No. 2, which was released in 1974. With yields 20 percent higher than previous varieties, Professor Yuan＊s new crop immediately began to improve food availability in China.
In the three decades following his breakthrough achievement, planting of this new crop has spread so widely, so that now almost half of China＊s rice production area is planted in hybrid rice with a 20 percent higher yield over previous varieties. This translates into food to feed approximately 60 million more people per year in China alone. Beyond this exceptional accomplishment, Professor Yuan has built an additional legacy of combating food shortages and hunger through his:
- Developing of a new technique for increasing hybrid seed yields through restriction of self-pollination;
- Facilitating the establishment of the hybrid rice seed production industry in China;
- Developing new strategies to further improve hybrid rice
- Developing a successful two-line system of hybrid rice
- Developing higher yielding ※super hybrid rice§
- Spreading his techniques for hybrid rice throughout Asia and to Africa and the Americas; and Training thousands of scientists and researchers from over 25 countries.
Professor Yuan＊s remarkable achievements in hybrid rice research have previously won him numerous awards and honors, including China＊s State Supreme Science and Technology Award, the 2001 Magsaysay Award, the UN FAO Medal of Honor for Food Security, and the 2004 Wolf Prize in agriculture. |
