Alternatively, browse terms in alphabetical order according to their Chinese Pinyin 汉语拼音
This is a scene from a popular traditional play ‘A Set of Interlocking Stratagems (连环计)’. The war lord Dong Zhuo (董卓, ? – 192 CE) became a senior minister in the Han court. His tendency to dominate the young sovereign, …
Continue reading “Diao Chan Praying in front of Burning Incense”
Dong Zhuo (董卓 d. 192), a tyrannic warlord rising to power at the end of the Han dynasty, caused great concern among courtiers and officials. Wang Yun (王允), the Minister Over the Masses (司徒 Situ), was entrusted to figure out …
Continue reading “The Couple’s Tryst in the Phoenix Pavilion Making Dong Zhuo Fly into a Fury”
‘True love conquers all’ is the theme of the Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭 Mudan Ting), a musical play of fifty-five scenes written by Tang Xianzu (汤显祖, 1550–1616) in Ming dynasty. Also known as The Romance of Return of Soul (还魂记 Huanhun …
Continue reading “A Startled Romantic Dream in the Back Garden”
This scene is from one of the most famous Chinese dramatic works, Romance of the Western Chamber 西厢记, which was written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (王实甫 1260–1336). The play tells the story of a secret love affair between …
Continue reading “Scholar Zhang and Cui Yingying’s encounter in the Salvation Monastery”
The figures of Three Star Gods are personified representation of Good Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity. They originated from Chinese people’s worship of the stars in the southern sky. During the time of Lichun 立春 (the Beginning of Spring), there are …
Guo Ziyi (郭子仪 697–781), posthumously bestowed the title Prince Zhongwu of Fenyang (汾阳忠武王) because of his birth place and his contribution to the court, was the greatest Tang-dynasty general. He played the key role in military campaigns against the Uyghur …
Continue reading “Guo Ziyi Deterring the Enemy Without Armour”
In this scene, there are several Chinese longevity symbols such as the crane, the generic immortal, the pine tree, and the deer, etc. However, the proper meaning of this particular scene is not a simple assemblage of individual symbols. It …
Continue reading “May the length of your life be eternally prolonged!”
Zhang Liang (张良, d. 189 BCE) was an ambitious young man and was looking for opportunities to overturn the emperor at that time. He ran into a guru strategist Lord Yellowstone (黄石公 Huang Shigong) by the Yi Bridge 圯桥, where …
Continue reading “Lord Yellowstone teaching Zhang Liang art of war”
This is Scene Two of Act Two of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (1250–1336). Sun Feihu 孙飞虎, a local bandit, was attracted to Miss Cui …
When the Baron of the Zhou vassal state (周西伯) did a divination with oracle bones for his imminent hunting trip, the message came: ‘You will not catch a small bear or a large bear, but a teacher will be presented …
Continue reading “Jiang Ziya Was Discovered Angling by Baron of Zhou by the Wei River”