History of ChinaThe history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. The notion of "China" can be understood under many diverse historiographical, cultural, geographic, and political lenses, and has evolved tremendously over time. Each region now understood to be part of the Chinese world has alternated between many periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and hardship. Classical Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze and Pearl valleys now constitute the geographic core of China and have for the majority of its imperial history.
BeijingBeijing (beɪˈdʒɪŋ ; ; AUDBeijing pronunciation.oggbei3.jing1), alternatively romanized as Peking (piːˈkɪŋ ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. With over 21 million residents, Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city after Shanghai. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.
BuddhismBuddhism (ˈbʊdɪzəm , USalsoˈbuːd- ), also known as Buddha Dharma, and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa–movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population.
Zhou dynastyThe Zhou dynasty ( zhou1; Old Chinese (B&S): *tiw) was a royal dynasty of China (1046 BC – 256 BC) that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of ancient China by the royal house, surnamed Ji, lasted from 1046 until 771 BC for a period known as the Western Zhou, and the political sphere of influence it created continued well into the Eastern Zhou period for another 500 years.
Han ChineseThe Han Chinese or Han people are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They are the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population. Han Chinese people comprise various subgroups speaking distinctive varieties of the Chinese languages. The estimated 1.4 billion Han Chinese people worldwide are primarily concentrated in the People's Republic of China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau), where they make up about 92% of the total population.
Chinese BuddhismChinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism () is a Chinese form of Mahāyāna Buddhism which draws on the Chinese Buddhist Canon (大藏經, Dàzàngjīng, "Great Storage of Scriptures") as well as numerous Chinese traditions. Chinese Buddhism focuses on studying Mahayana sutras and Mahāyāna treatises and draws its main doctrines from these sources. Some of the most important scriptures in Chinese Buddhism include: Lotus Sutra, Flower Ornament Sutra, Vimalakirtī Sutra, Nirvana Sutra, and Amitābha Sutra.
Ancestral shrineAn ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely linked to Confucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety. A common central feature of the ancestral temples are the ancestral tablets that embody the ancestral spirits. The ancestral tablets are typically arranged by seniority of the ancestors.
Chinese kinA Chinese kin, lineage or sometimes rendered as clan, is a patrilineal and patrilocal group of related Chinese people with a common surname sharing a common ancestor and, in many cases, an ancestral home. Chinese kinship tend to be strong in southern China, reinforced by ties to an ancestral village, common property, and often a common spoken Chinese dialect unintelligible to people outside the village. Kinship structures tend to be weaker in northern China, with clan members that do not usually reside in the same village nor share property.
Burning of books and burying of scholarsThe burning of books and burying of scholars (), also known as burning the books and executing the ru scholars, refers to the purported burning of texts in 213 BCE and live burial of 460 Confucian scholars in 212 BCE by the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty. This was alleged to have destroyed philosophical treatises of the Hundred Schools of Thought, with the goal of strengthening the official Qin governing philosophy of Legalism.
Spring and Autumn AnnalsThe Spring and Autumn Annals () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 BC. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged in annals form. Because it was traditionally regarded as having been compiled by Confucius (after a claim to this effect by Mencius), it was included as one of the Five Classics of Chinese literature.
