Chinasage Diary

The sad tale of Ginseng

Because the roots of ginseng are often forked it can look like a person, indeed the Chinese name is 人参 renseng, it has long been used as a medicine. Just like mandrake it was believed to scream when harvested. There is no proven efficacy for the drug at all but it has been collected so voraciously that there is no longer any wild ginseng in China. The drug is routinely adulterated with other substances and can actually do you harm.
Read More

The sad tale of Ginseng

Because the roots of ginseng are often forked it can look like a person, indeed the Chinese name is 人参 renseng, it has long been used as a medicine. Just like mandrake it was believed to scream when harvested. There is no proven efficacy for the drug at all but it has been collected so voraciously that there is no longer any wild ginseng in China. The drug is routinely adulterated with other substances and can actually do you harm.
Read More

On this day

1928 Zhu Rongji born 1928 (96 years ago)

Yuan Shikai's Imperial dream

Dowager Empress Cixi turned to General Yuan Shikai in times of crisis. In 1900 it was he that suppressed the Boxer Rebellion. When the dynasty fell in 1911 it was Yuan Shikai rather than Sun Yatsen who came to lead the new Republic of China. The western powers, perhaps swayed by his actions against the Boxers, backed him rather than the revolutionary Sun from southern China. However it soon became clear that Yuan's ambition was to found his own new dynasty rather than embrace republicanism. Southern China swiftly rose is revolt against the new Hongxian Emperor and another long conflict was only averted in 1915 when he died of kidney failure. He ruled as Emperor for only 83 days.
Read More

On this day

1986 Ye Jianying died 1986 (38 years ago)

Loess

The fine calcareous sand called 'loess' is both a boon and a curse. It is spread over northern China through Ningxia, northern Shaanxi; eastern Gansu and southern Shanxi. It is a fertile soil an accumulation of wind-blown dust over millions of years. It is very easy eroded bu flash floods. The Yellow River flows through the deposit picking up a vast load of loess and coloring it yellow. The flooding of the yellow river has led to millions of deaths over the centuries.
Read More

On this day

1328 Emperor Hongwu born at Fengyang Anhui 1328 (696 years ago)

Long awaited simplification

It is often thought that the simplification of the characters was all down to Mao Zedong's new Communist government of 1949. The fact is that the calls to simplify the language had been rumbling on for a long time. The main reason was to improve literacy as the simplification made characters quicker to recognize and write. The famous writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) was a leading advocate for the reforms.
Read More

On this day

1928 Li Peng born 1928 (96 years ago)
1962 Sino Indian War began 1962 (62 years ago)

Long awaited simplification

It is often thought that the simplification of the characters was all down to Mao Zedong's new Communist government of 1949. The fact is that the calls to simplify the language had been rumbling on for a long time. The main reason was to improve literacy as the simplification made characters quicker to recognize and write. The famous writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) was a leading advocate for the reforms.
Read More

On this day

1936 Lu Xun died 1936 (88 years ago)

Duck restaurant

The Chinese love of food is well-known. The range of restaurants is mind-boggling and to give themselves a unique factor some concentrate on one particular dish. One prime example is the Quanjude restaurant, No.30, Qianmen Street, Beijing that specializes in serving Peking duck.
Read More

On this day

1860 Second Opium War 1860 (164 years ago)

Lost civilization

The Mongol invasion under Genghiz Khan is thought of as brutal, but many will not realize quite how brutal it was. One the kingdoms that stood up against him was the Western Xia kingdom (Xixia) in north-western China. The whole kingdom was annihilated by the Mongols with all people (men, women and children) put to the sword. Only about 1% of the population survived. As a consequence very little is known about them, even their language was lost.
Read More

On this day

1919 Zhao Ziyang born 1919 (105 years ago)

Land of Dinosaurs

One of the best places in the world to see dinosaur fossils. The city of Erenhot (Er Lian) has a huge gateway in the form of two kissing dinosaurs.
Read More

On this day

690 Empress Wu Zetian became ruler 690 (1,334 years ago)
1934 Jiangxi Soviet Breakout 1934 (90 years ago)
1934 Start of Long March 1934 (90 years ago)
1964 First Chinese atomic bomb 1964 (60 years ago)

Land of Dinosaurs

One of the best places in the world to see dinosaur fossils. The city of Erenhot (Er Lian) has a huge gateway in the form of two kissing dinosaurs.
Read More

Land of Dinosaurs

One of the best places in the world to see dinosaur fossils. The city of Erenhot (Er Lian) has a huge gateway in the form of two kissing dinosaurs.
Read More

Paper battle

By the Tang dynasty (618 - 907) China was using so much paper that bureaucrats were getting through millions of pages of the stuff. This great secret Chinese invention only made its way slowly to the west. A pivotal point was the Battle of Talas at which point the Arab army beat the Chinese and more importantly captured technicians skilled in paper manufacture. The Arab nations then began to use paper and then it reached Europe in the 11th century.
Read More

Gang of four

Mao's wife Jiang Qing together with Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan rose to power under Mao Zedong . It was Mao's successor Hua Guofeng who put them under arrest in October 1976, a month after Mao's death. A show trial followed with the 'Gang of Four' taking all the blame for the excesses of the cultural revolution and received long prison sentences.
Read More

On this day

1902 Peng Zhen born 1902 (122 years ago)
1992 Deng Xiaoping no longer Paramount Leader 1992 (32 years ago)
1992 Jiang Zemin became Paramount Leader 1992 (32 years ago)

Goose service

The goose is often portrayed on postage stamps in China. This alludes to the story dating back to 81BCE when Su Wu was on a journey of exploration into the west. He was captured and held in prison where he was starved. Somehow he managed to get hold of a wild goose and attach a letter to its leg. The Emperor was able to confront his captors and he was duly released. This is probably the first documented use of birds as messengers and so they make a suitable emblem for a postal service.
Read More

Qinghai

The province of Qinghai is named after the lake that stands on its eastern edge. It is the largest lake in China and is at a high altitude of 10,500 feet [3,200 meters]. Its name means blue-green lake. The salty waters of the lake (it has no outflow) is home to many birds.
Read More

On this day

1911 Wuchang Uprising 1911 (113 years ago)

Qinghai

The province of Qinghai is named after the lake that stands on its eastern edge. It is the largest lake in China and is at a high altitude of 10,500 feet [3,200 meters]. Its name means blue-green lake. The salty waters of the lake (it has no outflow) is home to many birds.
Read More

First Historian

Rivaling the accomplishments of the great Roman historians is the Chinese historian Sima Qian [135-86BCE]. Unlike so many early scholars he was very careful to back up his facts. Where he found conflicting reports of a historical event he included all the versions so that the reader could make their own judgment. He wrote not only on Chinese history but also about music; astronomy and traditions.
Read More

On this day

1735 Emperor Qianlong became ruler 1735 (289 years ago)

Nanjing Regime

A little known fact about the Japanese occupation of China [1940-1945] is that the occupied areas were governed by a 'Chinese' administration. This was the Nanjing Nationalist Government presided over by Wang Jingwei. The regime claimed to be the legitimate GMD Nationalist government and used the Republican flag. This puppet regime under which many of the Chinese people lived on the Eastern coast was in fact controlled by the Japanese military.
Read More

On this day

1976 Hua Guofeng became Chairman Chinese Communist Party 1976 (48 years ago)

Nanjing Regime

A little known fact about the Japanese occupation of China [1940-1945] is that the occupied areas were governed by a 'Chinese' administration. This was the Nanjing Nationalist Government presided over by Wang Jingwei. The regime claimed to be the legitimate GMD Nationalist government and used the Republican flag. This puppet regime under which many of the Chinese people lived on the Eastern coast was in fact controlled by the Japanese military.
Read More

On this day

23 Wang Mang no longer ruler 23 (2,001 years ago)
1552 Matteo Ricci SJ born 1552 (472 years ago)
1552 Matteo Ricci born 1552 (472 years ago)

A character is not a word

Many people think one Chinese character represents one word in other languages. In fact it normally takes two Chinese characters to represent a single word. So 'happy' can be expressed as 幸福 xìng fú and 'plant' as 植物 zhí wù. It is quite common for both of the characters representing the word contribute to the meaning independently so 植 is 'to plant' and 物 is 'thing' so both together mean 'the thing that is planted'.
Read More

Benevolence

One of the key tenets of Confucianism is that everyone should live in a spirit of benevolence 仁 rén. A follower of Confucius should be a person of empathy and humanity who believes it is correct to help those in need. This is not to be done on the basis of future reward (in life or death) but rather it is the virtuous way to behave.
Read More

Benevolence

One of the key tenets of Confucianism is that everyone should live in a spirit of benevolence 仁 rén. A follower of Confucius should be a person of empathy and humanity who believes it is correct to help those in need. This is not to be done on the basis of future reward (in life or death) but rather it is the virtuous way to behave.
Read More

Benevolence

One of the key tenets of Confucianism is that everyone should live in a spirit of benevolence 仁 rén. A follower of Confucius should be a person of empathy and humanity who believes it is correct to help those in need. This is not to be done on the basis of future reward (in life or death) but rather it is the virtuous way to behave.
Read More

Meeting in supreme harmony

The many halls and palaces in the Forbidden City (there are said to be 9,999 in all to choose from) and all were given a specific function. Over the centuries the function of many changed. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest hall and was used for the big occasions such as the enthronement of the Emperor, Imperial weddings, the conferment of honors and appointment of high officials. Some highly placed foreign dignitaries would be given an audience with the Emperor in the great hall.
Read More

On this day

1949 People's Republic of China began 1949 (75 years ago)
1949 Zhou Enlai became Premier PRC 1949 (75 years ago)
1949 Mao Zedong became Paramount Leader 1949 (75 years ago)

Meeting in supreme harmony

The many halls and palaces in the Forbidden City (there are said to be 9,999 in all to choose from) and all were given a specific function. Over the centuries the function of many changed. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest hall and was used for the big occasions such as the enthronement of the Emperor, Imperial weddings, the conferment of honors and appointment of high officials. Some highly placed foreign dignitaries would be given an audience with the Emperor in the great hall.
Read More

On this day

1949 Republic of China ended 1949 (75 years ago)

Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi was a radical reformer of the Song dynasty. He proposed such things as reducing taxes in order to actually raise more revenue, a measure often touted in modern times. His land reforms were resisted by the land owners and his reforms proved extremely divisive and so were not put into practice as he had intended.
Read More

Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi was a radical reformer of the Song dynasty. He proposed such things as reducing taxes in order to actually raise more revenue, a measure often touted in modern times. His land reforms were resisted by the land owners and his reforms proved extremely divisive and so were not put into practice as he had intended.
Read More

Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi was a radical reformer of the Song dynasty. He proposed such things as reducing taxes in order to actually raise more revenue, a measure often touted in modern times. His land reforms were resisted by the land owners and his reforms proved extremely divisive and so were not put into practice as he had intended.
Read More

On this day

1954 Mao Zedong became Chairman Chinese Communist Party 1954 (70 years ago)
1954 Mao Zedong became Chairman Peoples Republic of China 1954 (70 years ago)

Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi was a radical reformer of the Song dynasty. He proposed such things as reducing taxes in order to actually raise more revenue, a measure often touted in modern times. His land reforms were resisted by the land owners and his reforms proved extremely divisive and so were not put into practice as he had intended.
Read More