Chinasage : All about China
China sage's information will be of use to anyone keen to learn more about the world's upcoming nation. We cover all aspects of China in hundreds of detailed pages which include all sorts of cultural traditions , descriptions of every Chinese province and all the dynasties . We hope you find ChinaSage the home for your study of China.
You can also check out your knowledge of China with our Quiz section .
Traditions
About Chinasage
We're building an extensive set of information all about China. We found other sites too detailed (such as Wikipedia) or just too old-fashioned. What we thought was needed was a carefully constructed site with strict editorial control so that everything is consistent and easy to navigate without clutter.
The name “Chinasage” came about because it can be read as either “China sage” (中 国 英 明 zhōng guó yīng míng ) or “China’s age” (中 国 时 代 zhōng guó shí dài ) , which promotes our new knowledge resource at a time when China has come of age in the world.
Horses
The most precious import into China along the Silk Road up to the Han dynasty was herds of horses. They were needed to improve the effectiveness of Han cavalry against the horsemen of the northern frontier tribes. Emperor Wudi launched raids into the north to capture them and with these new horses General Ban Chao was able to subjugate the northern tribes.
Getting by in China There are many customs and traditions that you should know before traveling to China. Our customs page covers such things as giving gifts, banquets, sealing business deals and how to behave in public. A respect for age old traditions will impress your hosts who will appreciate your efforts to embrace the culture. Read more…
China's Silk Road The silk road from China leading to India and also through Central Asia to the Middle East was the longest trade route by land. It allowed early contact between the Roman Empire and China when silk was in great demand in Rome. The trade brought great prosperity to the cities of Central Asia such as Samarkand and Bactra. Read more…
Dao De Jing ancient classic The Dao De Jing (or Tao Te Ching using the old spelling) is a much loved Chinese classic. It is written as a series of short, individual thoughts and contemplations of our place in the world. It follows the Daoist (Taoist) philosophical tradition. It is over 2,500 years old but still has a message for us today. Read more…
Traditional medicine in China Thousands of years of seeking cures to illness in China has led to a wide range of traditional medicines and procedures being discovered. Nowadays traditional medicine is used for minor ailments and when western medicine offers no cure. Read more…
Owls The owl is a bird of ill omen in China and is considered to be unlucky. Read more…
Great Inventions The four great Chinese inventions are considered to be: paper; printing ; compass and gunpowder . Other key inventions include the abacus, iron casting, pasta, silk etc.. However the production of paper and then printing must be considered the most important of these. Read more…
Chinese fortune telling In ancient China the Emperor would always consult the Yi Jing (I Ching) before making important decisions. The Imperial court had experts to interpret the answers given by this method of Divination. Because it produces a set for the 'present' and also a 'change' it is called the Book of Changes and contains explanations of the transformations. Our online free consultation uses the original yarrow stick method and is not random - you make decisions that guide the consultation. We provide a full translation of the commentaries for each of the 64 hexagrams. Read more…
Lotus The lotus is an emblem with strong Buddhist links. As the plant grows in mud and muck and yet produces a pure white flower it is considered a metaphor for favorable transformation. Read more…
Cracking China book
Your A-Z key to understanding China
We are proud to announce a printed book all about China based loosely on this web site. It is a set of sixty topics in A-Z order covering everything from hair to kiwifruit, clapping to rhubarb, eunuchs to dragons. Buying a copy will help support Chinasage . Now available as a Kindle eBook for just $3.90.
Details... ➚
Chinese Silk Along with porcelain and tea, silk is one of China's important innovations. The secret of this great invention was closely guarded for centuries. Fabulous fine cloth was an important export as far back as the early Roman Empire and it was in Rome where a law was passed to ban the wearing of silk. Read more…
History
Dip into history Our history section has a page for each major dynasty, for the whole period from the time of myths and legends 5,000 years ago all the way through the Han, Tang, Song, Ming dynasties to the last great dynasty the Qing. Read more…
Three Character Classic The Three Character Classic (San Zi Jing 三 字 经 language primer for children who aspired to a scholarly life. It introduces the student to Chinese history, philosophy as well as the most common characters. It contains many exhortations for the student to study long and hard. Read more…
Yuan or Mongol dynasty The great Mongol hordes took northern China in 1215 but the south held out until 1279. Kublai khan established the capital of the Great Khan at Dadu, present day Beijing . Their brief period of rule (90 years) saw the Mongols take to Chinese ways, using existing administration and traditions rather than imposing their own. It was China's most cosmopolitan era with the famous visit of Marco Polo . Read more…
Chinese money As in so many other things, China was the first to introduce paper currency and has had a standard coinage for thousands of years. Read more…
Wang Xizhi
The master calligrapher Wang Xizhi 303 - 361 is considered the “Sage of calligraphy ”. The art of writing Chinese characters continues to be a well respected tradition. Fine examples of writing by famous calligraphers can achieve very high prices. Read more…
Relations with Taiwan - the One China Policy An exploration into the current debate about the status of Taiwan with a look into the complex history and some thoughts on the future. Read more…
China today You can find information not only about China's long history but its present and future too. We cover the years since 1912, the space program, the current leadership and system of government as well as some lengthy musing on China's future direction. Read more…
Geography
China's diverse geography China has deserts, mountains, lakes, rain forests and almost every other type of geographical feature you can think of. Our geography section has pages for each individual province as well as the great Yangzi and Yellow rivers. There are also pages on climate, cities, population, ethnic people, airports and universities. Read more…
Great City of Shanghai The huge city of Shanghai has become the leading city in Eastern Asia once again - just as it was in the 1920s. Known for its dynamism and cosmopolitanism, Shanghai rivals Beijing as the nation's most important metropolis. It is ideally placed near the mouth of the Yangzi river to act as a gateway into China. Read more…
Yellow River The valley of the mighty Yellow River was the cradle of Chinese civilization. The heavy load of silt that turns the waters 'yellow' creates rich farming land in the lower stretches. It is the second longest river in China after the Yangzi River . Read more…
China's ancient heartland The modern province of Shaanxi has many sites of historic interest. Perhaps none more so than the tomb of the First Qin Emperor with its thousands of Terracotta warriors. With the great Yellow River, mountains and arid areas there is a great deal of scenic beauty too. Read more…
Understanding the Date and Time in Chinese Telling the date and time is essential for travelers. In China the Arabic numbers are used for writing but the Chinese characters are used for reading. Read more…
Atomic threat
After the foundation of Peoples republic in 1949 Russia helped its Communist neighbor in rebuilding the country. This included help on developing nuclear missiles. Such a measure was necessary because the U.S. had threatened to use the atomic bomb on China despite the country having nothing so drastic to retaliate with. When China broke with Russia acrimoniously, Mao managed to keep the nuclear program going. So on 6 October 1964, China detonated its first nuclear bomb and entered the select group of nations with weapons of mass destruction. It was seen as a major step forward in Chinese independence and technology. At the present time (2019) China has about 290 nuclear missiles. Read more…
Hat color war
The governing Tibetan religious group the Yellow Hat sect beat the Red Hat sect in 1641 and installed the first Dalai Lama at Lhasa. Read more…
Language
The Chinese Language The Chinese language is rightly treasured as the country's greatest accomplishment. Our language section describes the language and its history. The section includes some introductory lessons and a guide to writing the characters. Read more…
The Chinese Language Let's get you started with a few simple sentences and phrases in both spoken and written Chinese. We begin with key concepts and introduces the most common and useful words and phrases in Chinese. Read more…
Ancient stone writings Stone steles form the most permanent of records. Over the centuries they have been used as memorials, reference libraries, calligraphy samples and poems. Visitors to China will have seen these revered inscriptions in all sorts of locations: mountains, houses, parks and museums documenting the lives and feelings of people over the centuries. They are a powerful and permanent expression of the continuity of Chinese history. Read more…
Chinese Poetry The Chinese language is ideally suited for writing poems. The long history of Chinese has allowed poems written over two thousand years ago to still be appreciated today. The characters provide a concise method for conveying impressions and emotion. Read more…
Consult the Yi Jing We offer a free consultation for Yi Jing (I Ching) the Chinese system for fortune telling. It uses the ancient yarrow stick method and gives full information about the 'gua' (hexagram) that is chosen. The consultation takes account of user action - it is not random. Read more…
Bits and Pieces
We need your help to keep the Chinasage web site growing. We'd love to keep this web site completely free of advertisements like Wikipedia. Please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber for however little or much you can afford. We have been running this campaign for two months and have so far raised only 10% of our target. So please help… or else advertisements will make a comeback!
To read more and take out a subscription simply click on the Patreon Patreon
Many thanks, much appreciated.
Tue 20th Sep 2022Patreon pictures Thanks to the generous donations from Chinasage's Patreon ➚ sponsors we've just added quality photographs to many of our pages.
Although you can get images of all sorts of thing for free you do still have to pay for quality, particularly for specialist subjects. This time we have used 123rf for the new images who claim to have 200 million images to choose from. It takes a long time to make a choice and then they all need editing for usage, tagging and finally putting on the appropriate place on our hundreds of pages. We hope you will agree that they make a significant improvement.
New Year dragon, Shanghai Read more…
Horses
The most precious import into China along the Silk Road up to the Han dynasty was herds of horses. They were needed to improve the effectiveness of Han cavalry against the horsemen of the northern frontier tribes. Emperor Wudi launched raids into the north to capture them and with these new horses General Ban Chao was able to subjugate the northern tribes.
Chinese Cities We have all the important statistics on all the major cities in China. Gives Population, Chinese name and shows map of location within China as well as calculating distances to any other Chinese city. Read more…
Best China Sights In this page we give information on the top attractions all over China to tempt you to explore further. Each attraction is clearly marked on a map and further information on each place is readily available. From furthest Heilongjiang to Hong Kong and Lhasa to Shanghai we have selected the top travel highlights. Read more…
The Chinese Emperor The institution of Emperor , as head of the Chinese family of people, lasted for thousands of years and to some extent lives on with the Presidency. In China there has been great respect for the Emperor/President who in turn is expected to rule wisely with the best interests of his subjects in mind. To early European visitors to China the structure was considered close to the ideal form of society. Read more…
Imperial Examinations One of China's most important exports was the respect for scholarship and learning. China was the first nation to appoint on basis of what they knew rather than who they knew. Strict examinations were set up two thousand years ago and were the passport to a quieter life with a steady income. Read more…
Quintessence of the Nation Traditional Chinese Opera was the entertainment of all Chinese over many centuries. A long evening performance contains elements of drama, music, comedy, acrobatics and martial arts. Each region has its own distinctive form. Over time complex body movements represent specific meanings as a very sparse set is used. The art form has inspired many Western composers and playwrights to emulate the style. Read more…
Lunch in Chengdu
Conventions
We use a consistent style for links within Chinasage. An internal link taking you to another page within our site is shown like this while a link to a page on any other web site is shown like this ➚ .
We use Chinese characters wherever appropriate. Most browsers should display both the characters and the pinyin correctly. We highlight any use of the older Wade Giles system for 'spelling' characters. Except where stated all characters are the modern simplified form used in the People's Republic rather than the traditional ones (pre-1970s). To help you learn Chinese characters many of the very common characters are highlighted thus: 中
Dates are given using the BCE/CE ➚ (Before Common Era and in Common Era) year convention rather than BC/AD. If a date is not followed by BCE or CE it should be taken as CE.
Authorship
All the text on the Chinasage web site is my own, I do not copy and paste from other web sites. I research each topic from a number of authoritative sources (mainly books ). The only exception to this are quotations and image credits. All text is our copyright and can not be used/copied without my permission. I am independent of any other company or government, the opinions expressed are my own. I do not receive funding or backing from any agency or organization .
Teacup Media (China History Podcast)
I am delighted to be able to promote links to Laszlo Montgomery's excellent Teacup Media ➚ series created over the last 14 years. Laszlo Montgomery ➚ has in depth knowledge of building commercial contacts with China over 30 years. The set of 290 podcasts totals 150 hours of audio commentary which covers every conceivable topic in Chinese history. Highly recommended.
Acknowledgments
I am extremely grateful to the many people who have put their photographs online for anyone to adapt and use. Without them this site would be very drab. If I am not using the image license correctly please let me know. I am grateful to Kim Dramer ➚ for permission to use her short videos all about Chinese culture and traditions. Patreon subscribers have supported the web site and allowed us to amongst other things purchase some quality images of China for use here. Some pages use Javascript ➚ to create special effects such as our airport table and calendar . I am grateful to the original authors for providing their code to be used and adapted by anyone else. The online Chinese dictionary uses the definition from the CC-CEDICT project ➚ for which I am grateful for a generous free license. Sound files kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.
Feel free to contact Chinasage to point out any errors, omissions or suggestions on how to improve this web site.
If you would like to support my work and keep us independent become a Patreon or make a Donation via Paypal.
