Western Han Dynasty Research Articles

The obscuration and rediscovery of the original Confucian thought of moral politics: Deciphering work on the Guodian, Shangbo and the transmitted versions of Ziyi

By analyzing the author of Ziyi 缁衣 (Black Costumes) as well as Ziyi’s transmission and evolution by studying and analyzing the ancient text, one can see that Ziyi was a work of Zisi or the Zisi and Mencius School. Comparing the similarities and differences between the transmitted version of Ziyi and its Guodian 郭店 and Shangbo 上博 versions, one finds that the original version of Ziyi had been significantly revised by Confucian classics teachers in the unstable political and social climate during the Western Han Dynasty, specifically, the thought of moral politics of the original Confucians contained in the work was garbled and concealed, and the idea of law and the legal system was highlighted accordingly. The uncovered Guodian and Shangbo versions of Ziyi have removed the shroud that Confucians in the Han Dynasty had spread over it for 2, 000 years, revealing the thought of moral politics of the original Confucians.

Suan Shu Shu A Book on Numbers and Computations

In December and January of 1983–1984, archaeologists excavating the tomb of an ancient Chinese provincial bureaucrat at a Western Han Dynasty site near Zhangjiashan, in Jiangling county, Hubei Province, discovered a number of books on bamboo strips, including inter alia works on legal statutes, military practice, and medicine. Among these was a previously unknown mathematical work on some 200 bamboo strips, the Suan shu shu, or Book of Numbers and Computations. Based upon other works found in the tomb, especially a copy of the Er nian lu ling (Laws and Decrees of the Second Year (of the reign of empress Lu, i.e. Lu Hou)), archaeologists have dated the tomb to ca. 186 BCE (Lu Hou’s regency lasted from 188 to 180 BCE). The Suan shu shu, as the earliest yet discovered work devoted specifically to mathematics from ancient China, has stirred considerable interest among Chinese historians of science. The translation and commentary offered here draw extensively on the works cited in Sect. 3 below. Several appendixes devoted to specific issues related to translating the Suan shu shu, including its title and the problem of determining English equivalents for various commodities that arise in the text, may be found in Appendix II.

The technical research on the huge glazed brick from the relic of Nanyue Kingdom Palace

‘Qin brick and Han tile’ has a great worldwide reputation in the architectural history of China. According to the former archaeological materials, the big hollow brick is usually one meter long and thirty to forty centimeters wide, while the solid brick is generally much smaller. But in 1995, large scale vestiges and structures were unearthed at the center of Guangzhou’s old district, from the relic of Nanyue Kingdom Palace, which was built some 2000 years ago during the Western-Han Dynasty. A great number of earthen structural members were discovered, especially the solid glazed bricks in various beautiful patterns with an astonishing thickness and size. Some of them are one meter square, more than 20 centimeters thick, and weight half a ton, which are named ‘Brick No.1 in the world’ by excavators. People have shown great interest in how to make these huge glazed bricks at the ancient technical conditions, because it is very difficult to manufacture such huge bricks even with the modern technology. At the request of Guangdong Nanyue Kingdom Palace Museum, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics carried out systematical measurements and analysis on these bricks and studied the physical and chemical forming mechanisms from their chemical compositions, structure, and physical characteristics. Here the technical characteristics of the bricks are also discussed.

Suan Shu Shu A Book on Numbers and Computations

In December and January of 1983-1984, archaeologists excavating the tomb of an ancient Chinese provincial bureaucrat at a Western Han Dynasty site near Zhangjiashan, in Jiangling county, Hubei Province, discovered a number of books on bamboo strips, including inter alia works on legal statutes, military practice, and medicine. Among these was a previously unknown mathematical work on some 200 bamboo strips, the Suan shu shu, or Book of Numbers and Computations. Based upon other works found in the tomb, especially a copy of the ? Er nian lu ling (Laws and Decrees of the Second Year (of the reign of empress Lii, i.e. ? Lu Hou)), archaeologists have dated the tomb to ca. 186 BCE (Lu Hou's regency lasted from 188 to 180 BCE). The Suan shu shu, as the earliest yet discovered work devoted specifically to mathematics from ancient China, has stirred considerable interest among Chinese historians of science. The translation and commentary offered here draw extensively on the works cited in Sect. 3 below. Several appendixes devoted to specific issues related to translating the Suan shu shu, including its title and the problem of determining English equivalents for various commodities that arise in the text, may be found in Appendix II.

Three fabricated pigments (Han purple, indigo and emerald green) in ancient Chinese artifacts studied by Raman microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry and polarized light microscopy

AbstractIn this study, we analyzed three fabricated pigments from ancient artifacts in China. The purple pigment was obtained from a painted pottery figurine unearthed from the Chu Tombs group of the Western Han dynasty in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. The dark blue dye was from silk textiles in the Palace Museum. The green pigment was from decorative paintings on ancient architectures in the Palace Museum. These pigments were analyzed with Raman microscopy (RM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX) analytic spectroscopy and polarized light microscopy (PLM). By comparing their Raman spectra with standard samples, the primary ingredients of the purple pigment and the dark blue dye were found to be Han purple and indigo, respectively. However, the green pigment could not be identified by RM because of strong fluorescence. It was then confirmed to be emerald green by using EDX analytic microscopy and PLM. We also describe the traditional manufacturing methods of these pigments and their applications on artifacts in Chinese history. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cai Liang. Ph.D. Cornell University, 2007. - In the Matrix of Power: A Study of the Social and Political Status of Confucians (Ru) in the Western Han Dynasty (206 bce-8 ce). UnM: AAT 3276800.

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Historical Evidence for the Birth of the Newly Discovered Pulsar PSR J1833–1034

Stimulated by the recent discovery of PSR J1833–1034 in SNR G21.5–0.9 and its age parameters presented by two groups of discovery, we demonstrate that the PSR J1833–1034 was born 2053 years ago from a supernova explosion, the BC 48 guest star observed in the Western Han (Early Han) Dynasty by ancient Chinese. Based on a detailed analysis of the Chinese ancient record of the BC 48 guest star and the new detected physical parameters of PSR J1833–1034, agreements on the visual position, age and distance between PSR J1833–1034 and the BC 48 guest star are obtained. The initial period P0 of PSR J1833–1034 is now derived from its historical and current observed data without any other extra assumption on P0 itself, except that the factor P is a constant in its evolution until now.

Gifted Education in Tianyi High School of Jiangsu Province: The Pursuit and Practice

Gifted education in China started from Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.). Modern gifted education in high schools began with the establishment of highly able classes at China Science and Technology University. Tianyi High School of Jiangsu Province, located in Wuxi, one of the famous cities of China, has practised gifted education since 1980 and it has lasted for 23 years till now. For the past twenty years, Tianyi High School has explored the basic theoretical foundations and practical procedures for gifted education and undertaken some new experimentation in this field.

The Criticism of Powerful Women by Western Han Dynasty Portent Experts

AbstractWestern Han portent experts investigated unusual natural phenomena that they considered signs of Heaven's will. Beginning as a marginal method of historical analysis and cosmological theory, portent studies matured into a standard form of political discourse and critique. Landmark research on portents by influential scholars such as Dong Zhongshu, Jing Fang, and Liu Xiang provided sophisticated metaphysical justifications for excluding certain women from political life. This article discusses the development of Western Han portent studies to demonstrate how a new politicized ideology of gender emerged from these historical and cosmological researches. Durant la période Han occidentale, les experts en divination s'intéressaient aux phénomènes naturels qu'ils interprétaient comme des manifestations de la volonté céleste. Les études divinatoires commencèrent comme une méthode marginale d'analyse historique et comme une théorie cosmologique ; elles se muèrent en un discours politique et critique. Des études importantes sur les signes divinatoires par des lettrés influent tels que Dong Zhongshu, Jin Fang et Liu Xiang fournirent des justification métaphysiques pour l'exclusion de certaines femmes de la vie politique. Cet article analyse le développement des études divinatoires durant la période Han occidentale et montre comment une nouvelle idéologique politiques des sexes a émergé de ces recherches historiques et cosmologiques.

Juedixi: An Entertainment of War in Early China

Juedixi is a performance genre of the Western Han (206 BCE-23 CE) that developed from rites of the central state in early China. The genesis of this art from competitions and performances dedicated to wu (martiality) and held in autumn and winter is detailed. The relationship of the art to a Han strategem to soften and control nomad opponents is explained. The high point of the genre came under Emperor Wu, who used it to impress local and foreign audiences even as he waged a costly war on the frontier. The genre's excesses were related to the excesses of the unsuccessful war. Juedixi faded after Emperor Wu, but its legacy of variety performance was inherited by the hundred entertainments and wu would later reappear in xiqu as one of the two fundamental categories of performance style. Dallas McCurley is on the faculty at Queens College--City University of New York. She received a PhD from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa with a specialty in Chinese theatre. She has published in Italian and Chinese as well as English, and has staged productions fusing Asian and Western styles in Asia, Europe, and the United States. ********** This article considers how juedixi, the spectacular performance form of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-23 CE), was used as mode of impressing enemies and allies and mythologizing the power of the Chinese empire. As exploited by Emperor Wu (literally, the martial emperor) it exemplified art as a military strategem. It grew from Chinese rituals of winter, struggle, and death, which saw violence as part of the cosmic cycle. It became an antecedent of the hundred entertainments. (1) While juedixi faded after Emperor Wu, understanding this form can help clarify aspects of Chinese performance history and help explain the historical significance of the performance category of wu in xiqu. In a larger perspective, juedixi allows us to contemplate performance where military display, sport, and theatre spectacle interpenetrate in ways that have political impact. Juedixi is made up of three words: jue (horn, or the aggressive action of horning), di (resisting), (2) and xi (entertainment, which much later came also to denote theatre). (3) Juedixi's history can be traced back to jueli (horning-strength), competitive displays staged during the Warring States period (481-221 BCE) as rites (Ye 1985: 2-3, 20-21; Dolby 1983: 11; Dieny 1968: 58). The name was changed to juedi (horning-resisting), and various nonmartial acts seem to have been added during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE). By the time we reach juedixi, in the reign of the Han Emperor Wu (r. 140-87 BCE), (4) we are confronted with an immense spectacle including not only feats of strength and displays of skill with weaponry, but also acrobatics, song and dance, wondrous technical effects, sequences of transformations, magic acts, and a skit in which an over-the-hill magician battles a white tiger--the whole permeated by a multivalent symbology. Juedixi was marked by its derivation from state rites and its link to Emperor Wu's long war against the Xiongnu nomads, a war that coincided with the first major Chinese imperial expansion. By the time its descendant baixi, or the hundred entertainments, was being staged, the country had undergone antiexpansionist reaction and patronage was passing from imperial to private sponsors. Juedixi allows us to contemplate oriented theatre as a tool of state, and its demise is linked to failure of that state. Promoting Wu (Martiality) through Jueli and Juedi As background to juedixi it is important to see how it relates to earlier forms, the competetive ritual jueli of the Warring States and the more theatricalized juedi of the Qin. Jueli (horning-strength) encompassed a range of competitive performances: weightlifting, (5) wrestling, (6) archery, chariot-handling, and what seems to have been a rowdy and violent team sport known as taju (kickball) (Hou Hanshu: 3123, 3136) Jueli fulfilled three intertwined aims. …

The Archaeology of the Great Wall of the Qin and Han Dynasties

This paper traces the routes of the entire length of the Great Wall along China’s northern border in the Qin and Western Han Dynasties. By comparing the results of recent archaeological surveys and excavations with historical records preserved in Sima Qian’s Shiji and Ban Gu’s Hanshu, the various components of the Great Wall can be determined and placed in their proper stages of construction.

A Study on the Body-Building Values of Daoyin Illustration in Light of Neurophysiology

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.Daoyin Illustration, with 44 Daoyin postures unearthed from the Western Han Dynasty Tomb III at Mawangdui in Hunan Province, China, is the earliest body-building Illustration found by Chinese archaeologists. Other ancient Chinese sports of DaoyinShu, such as Wuqinxi, Baduanjin, Yijinjing and Taijiquan, were the results of evolution and development of Daoyin Illustration according to their dates of appearance and movements. The people in ancient times practised them, combining the movements of body and limbs with breathing and therapeutic treatment with keeping fit and motion with tranquility in order to keep the harmony between Yin and Yan. From the viewpoint of neurophysiology, the central nervous system (CNS) receives the inputs from all of the organs and tissues, which bring the information of changes in the external and internal environments. The information from contractions and stretches of muscles and tendons inputted by thicker afferent fibers can inhibit and adjust the activities of internal organs controlled by thinner nervous fibers. All inputs interact with the changes in external and internal environments and be in harmony with them. This is the process of the central integration. The value of Daoyin Illustration in building up health is to maintain the internal homeostasis through moderate movements of the body and limbs to affect the activities of the internal organs.馬王堆漢墓是我國考古發現中時代最早的健身圖譜，共有四十四個術勢。從出現年代和動作結構分析，它的導引術如五禽戲、八段錦、易筋經、太極拳等是從繼承和演化而來。古人操練這些動作是通過肢體運動與呼吸結合，治療與健身結合，動靜相結合以求陰陽平衡。從神經生理學觀點來看，中樞神經系統接受來自所有組織與器官發來的衝動，這些衝動帶來了關於外環境變化和自體機能狀態即內環境變化的信息。體表下軟組織(特別是肌肉與肌腱的收縮和牽張所引起的)由較粗神經纖維的傳入電衝動，對於較細神經纖維所支配的內臟器官的活動有某種抑制與調節作用。各種信息在中樞神經系統內相互作用，相互制約，以確定最後的反射活動，使有機體適應體內外所發生的變化，以維持有機體與環境的平衡，這就是中樞整合過程。馬王堆漢墓所體現的健身價値就在於通過適當的肢體運動以影響內臟活動，調理機體內環境的穩定平衡。

Le culte du Joyau de Chen : culte historique culte vivant

In the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji 28), Sima Qian tells the story of a stone that had been found by the duke Wen of Qin near Chencang (in the vicinity of Baoji, Shaanxi), in the year in 746 B.C. In reality, the stone was a hen or a female pheasant; sometimes the male would come at night, brilliant as a shooting star and with a voice like thunder. The duke had a shrine built for the stone and called her "The Treasure of Chen." Later, the hen became a Lady, Lady Chenbao, and the male a Lord, Lord She. Coming from Zhicheng, the City of the Pheasant (Henan), Lord She would join in the sacrifices offered to Lady Chenbao. During the Qin and the Western Han Dynasty, worship of the Treasure of Chen formed part of the imperial cult. For this period, the sources are the official histories. After the religious reforms of the end of the first century B.C., the cult was carried on by the local population; information about the development of the cult and the legend is found in literary writings, the geographical treatises, the commentaries of the official histories and, for later periods, in the gazetteers. For the history of the cult in recent decades and up to today, fieldwork has shown that the cult was still alive in the area where it originated 2700 years ago. Discussions with people living near the temples and with specialists of local history have provided information based on oral transmission, and have also oriented research toward new material such as archeological reports, newspapers, and local publications.

Mrs. Morquis of Tai awakened from her sleep of over 2100 years ago

In Jannuary of 1972, Han Tomb No. 1 at Mawandui was excavated at Changsha, Hunan province. The grave was situated 4km from the center of the city. The cadaver had been buried in three different sizes of wooden coffins with the living necessities, food, clothes, music instruments, medicines and so on (Fig. 1,2). She was identified as the wife of Morquis of Tai in the Western Han dynasty and had passed on over 2100 years ago. She was 154cm in height and 34.3kg in weight. Her skin was light yellowish-brown in colour and moisty, most of the soft tissue still had some elasticity (Fig. 3).

A Mössbauer study of an ancient pottery figure (Western-Han dynasty)

The grey pottery figure manufactured in the Western-Han Dynasty (175-118 B.C.) and the clay gathered from the same site of Beidongshan in Xuzhou have been studied by X-ray Diffraction(XRD). X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Mossbauer spectroscopy. They were simultaneously fired under the same conditions in different atmospheres at various temperature up to 1100°C. This study deals with the original firing atmosphere, original firing temperature and its provenance. The information mentioned above can be inferred from the method of the refiring pottery and the firing clay. The results of the original firing temperature deduced from both of them are in goodself agreement. It is found that the values of the Mossbauer parameters for the unrefired pottery figure are approximately the same as those for the clay fired at 950°C for five hours in a reduced atmosphere. The XRF analysis confirmed the locality of this pottery figure.

Comparative pixe analysis of trace elements in archaeological samples

Comparative analysis of trace elements in tomato seeds from the earlier Western Han dynasty (200 B.C.) tomb in suburban Chengdu and present tomato seeds in Chengdu Qingdao and Beijing has been performed. The intended purpose of this analysis is to provide some useful information for archaeologists and biologists to solve controversial problems involved in the place of origin of the ancient tomato seeds. In order to study the ancient agricultural technique, seed reservation and environment science, the trace elements in carbonized food and the wood of a coffin have also been analyzed. The experimental results demonstrate that there are significant differences between the elemental composition and relative contents of ancient tomato seeds. In this paper the analysis of trace elements in historic relics from the group tombs of the minority nationality in Aba Tibetan Autonomy State of Sichuan Province is also reported. It is found that in the glazed pearls there is much Ba and Pb which is significant for the study of glass manufacture techniques in ancient China All experiments were done in vacuum by nondestructive PIXE analysis using a 2.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator and a Si(Li) spectrometer at the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology of Sichuan University.

Research on Scale and Precision of the Water Clock in Ancient China

The instruments of measuring time have been closely related to astronomy, especially to astrometry. In ancient China, before mechanical clocks were imported from European countries, accurate Water Clocks, main tools for measuring time, had been developed two thousand years ago.In this paper the sizes (mainly the height) of five single vessel-type Clocks of Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-25 A.D.), which were either unearthed in recent years or recorded in some historical documents, are taken as a sample for studying the scaling of indicator-rods and precision of Clock.

La tombe à linceul de jade du roi de Nanyue à Canton

In 1983, the tomb of the second king of Nanyue was brought to light on a small granitic hillock, mount Xianggang, in Canton. Well preserved and unviolated, the sepulture was deeply dug into the top of the hill and its chambers were entirely built of sandstone blocks. It provides important clues on the evolution of kingly burial practices as well as on the organization of feudal royalty during the Western Han dynasty. Chinese ruler of an independent kingdom, populated mostly by Yue Barbarians (related to the Dôngsonian people of protohistoric Vietnam), Zhao Mei (who died between 128 and 117 BC), identified by his seals, was dressed in a jade suit and rested in a set of lacquered woodcaskets. Accompanied by fourteen human victims, he was surrounded with numerous exquisitely crafted goods. The burial objects (among which a few situlae (bronze buckets) were the only Yue objects) give information on the process of diffusion of the Han culture, that little by little replaced the Yue one, as well as on the technical and economic level of a kingdom, where metallurgy was locally practiced and where sea trade was flourishing.

Parasitological investigation on the ancient corpse of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed from tomb No. 168 on Phoenix Hill in Jiangling county

This paper presents our parasitological studies on the ancient corpse of Western Han Dynasty unearthed from tomb No. 168 on Phoenix Hill in Jiangling county, Hubei province. It was found that eggs of four species of parasites in it, belong to Schistosoma japonicum, Clonorchis sinensis, Taeniarhynchus saginatus (or Taenia solium), and Trichuris trichiura respectively. This shows that early in 167 B.C. there was prevalence of four kinds of the above-mentioned parasitoses in Jiangling county area. The ancient corpse is recognized as the earliest case of these four parasitic diseases ever reported in the world’s medical literature.

The Role of History in the Philosophy of Dong Zhongshu

Dong Zhongshu [c. 179-104 B.C.] was China's greatest idealist philosopher of the Western Han dynasty. Since Liberation, a great number of people have written works analyzing and criticizing the philosophical thought of Dong Zhongshu revealing its idealistic and metaphysical nature. This is absolutely essential. But is there nothing at all that we can take from the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu? I believe that this merits further research. In fact, the teleology and metaphysical world view of his idealistic pantheism played a progressive role in the historical circumstances of his times.