Shang Dynasty (1766 – 1122 B.C.) 3/3

August 31, 2010

Archeologists discovered China’s first chariots while excavating the Shang capital of Xin Xu.

The archeological evidence shows the development of the war chariot from two horses to four for more horsepower.

The narrator of the video takes us for a ride in a replicate of the Shang war chariot.

The Shang Dynasty also had women warriors.  Fu Hao, queen consort of King Wuding (Shang Dynasty’s 22nd king), was not only the mother to some of the king’s children but also a fighting general.

Fu Hao’s tomb was one of two discovered that had not been looted. Oracle bones revealed that she led thirteen thousand troops into combat. Fu Hao was more than a military leader. She was also high priestess and oracle caster.

The video’s narrator talks about jade having the same status in China that diamonds have elsewhere.  Jade is not only a symbol of luxury and wealth since ancient times but also represents refinement and purity.

During the Shang Dynasty,  The I Ching, The Book of Changes was written, which is based on the principle of a broken line representing yin and an unbroken line representing yang. This is the first book that attempted to explain the secrets of the universe.

See The Life of Confucius

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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1 Comment | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Chinese women, history | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Peter Hessler, an expatriate, on China

March 30, 2010

Peter Hessler is a Beijing correspondent for the New Yorker. He has lived in China for fifteen years. After leaving the Peace Corps, Hessler freelanced for Atlantic Monthly and the New York Times before returning to China in 1999 as a Beijing-based freelance writer.

I agree with Hessler when he said in a CNNGo interview, “People in China are not forthcoming like Americans; they don’t like to tell you their personal story. It’s a type of modesty, I think, in a culture where people are not encouraged to see themselves as the center of the universe.”

I have an American born-again Christian friend who has bragged about Christianity being the fastest growing religion in China. I wonder what he’d say if he read what Hessler had to say here, “The Chinese relationship with religion is pragmatic and fluid; people often change their faith very quickly. And I don’t see them following religion to a degree where it’s clearly not in their self-interest….”

On happiness, Hessler says, “At this particular moment I think that Americans…might be less happy than Chinese people. The Chinese can roll with the punches…. Everybody in China has seen ups and downs; if they get laid off from the factory, they just go back to the village and play mah-jong….”

Discover The Influence of Confucius

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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2 Comments | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Christianity, Confucianism, expatriates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse