Big DipperThe Big Dipper (US, Canada) or the Plough (UK, Ireland) is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a "bowl" or "body" and three define a "handle" or "head". It is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures. The North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper (Little Bear), can be located by extending an imaginary line through the front two stars of the asterism, Merak (β) and Dubhe (α).
Shizi (book)The Shizi is an eclectic Chinese classic written by Shi Jiao 尸佼 (c. 390–330 BCE), and the earliest text from Chinese philosophical school of Zajia 雜家 "Syncretism", which combined ideas from the Hundred Schools of Thought, including Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Legalism. The Shizi text was written c. 330 BCE in twenty sections, and was well known from the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) until the Song dynasty (960–1279) when all copies were lost.
TianxiaTianxia (), literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty. In ancient China and imperial China, tianxia denoted the lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Chinese sovereign by universal and well-defined principles of order.
FangshiFangshi () were Chinese technical specialists who flourished from the third century BCE to the fifth century CE. English translations of fangshi include alchemist, astrologer, diviner, exorcist, geomancer, doctor, magician, monk, mystic, necromancer, occultist, omenologist, physician, physiognomist, technician, technologist, thaumaturge, and wizard. The Chinese word fangshi combines fang "direction; side; locality; place; region; formula; (medical) prescription; recipe; method; way" and shi "scholar; intelligentsia; gentleman; officer; yeoman; soldier; person trained in a certain field".
Three teachingsIn Chinese philosophy, the three teachings (; tam giáo, Chữ Hán: 三教) are Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism considered as a harmonious aggregate. Literary references to the "three teachings" by prominent Chinese scholars date back to the 6th century. The term may also refer to a non-religious philosophy built on that aggregation. The phrase also appears as the three teachings harmonious as one (). In common understanding, three teachings harmonious as one simply reflects the long history, mutual influence, and (at times) complementary teachings of the three belief systems.
ShangdiShangdi (), also called simply Di (), is the Chinese term for "Supreme Deity" or "Highest Deity" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tian ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou theology. Although the use of "Tian" to refer to the absolute God of the universe is predominant in Chinese religion today, "Shangdi" continues to be used in a variety of traditions, including certain philosophical schools, certain strains of Confucianism, some Chinese salvationist religions (notably Yiguandao) and Chinese Protestant Christianity.
Wu (shaman)Wu () is a Chinese term translating to "shaman" or "sorcerer", originally the practitioners of Chinese shamanism or "Wuism" (巫教 wū jiào). The glyph ancestral to modern is first recorded in bronze script, where it could refer to shamans or sorcerers of either sex. Modern Mandarin wu (Cantonese mouh) continues a Middle Chinese mju or mjo. The Old Chinese reconstruction is uncertain, given as *mywo or as *myag, the presence of a final velar -g or -ɣ in Old Chinese being uncertain.
ZhengzhouZhengzhou (dʒɛŋ'dʒoʊ,_dʒʌŋ-, ; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National Central Cities in China, the centre of Central Plains area, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. The Zhengzhou metropolitan area (including Zhengzhou and Kaifeng) is the core area of the Central Plains Economic Zone.
WenzhouWenzhou (pronounced AUDWen1zhou1.oggwen1.zhou1; Wenzhounese: Yuziou [ʔy33–11 tɕiɤu33–32], ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui to the west, Taizhou to the north, and the province of Fujian to the south. The area consists of mostly mountainous terrain, as well as hundreds of islands off the East China Sea coast, which is nearly in length. It is said that the city's land is 70% mountains, 20% farmland, and 10% water.
TaijituIn Chinese philosophy, a taijitu () is a symbol or diagram () representing Taiji () in both its monist (wuji) and its dualist (yin and yang) aspects. Such a diagram was first introduced by Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤; 1017–1073) of the Song Dynasty in his Taijitu shuo (太極圖說). The modern Taoist canon, compiled during the Ming era, has at least half a dozen variants of such taijitu. The two most similar are the "Taiji Primal Heaven" () and the "wuji" () diagrams, both of which have been extensively studied during the Qing period for their possible connection with Zhou Dunyi's taijitu.
