Pillars of Heaven: The Symbolic Function of Column and Bracket Sets in the Han Dynasty

Architectural History ◽

10.1017/arh.2020.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 1-36

Author(s):

Jing Xie

Keyword(s):

Han Dynasty ◽

Symbolic Function ◽

Structural Role ◽

Kunlun Mountain ◽

Tremendous Amount ◽

Imperial China

ABSTRACTWooden columns surmounted by bracket sets are a key element of the great buildings of Imperial China and have received a tremendous amount of attention from scholars and architectural professionals. This article revisits the question of their symbolic function during the Han dynasty (206 bce–ce 220). In addition to their structural role, column and bracket sets fulfilled important social and cultural needs related to the representation of celestial and spiritual qualities. Understood variously as pillars of heaven, gates of heaven, the constellations, Kunlun Mountain and celestial plants, column and bracket sets engendered a rich iconography that served to bond architecture closely to the heavens.

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Women Rulers in Imperial China

NAN Nü ◽

10.1163/15685268-0152p0001 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 179-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Keith McMahon

Keyword(s):

Song Dynasty ◽

Tang Dynasty ◽

Extreme Case ◽

Han Dynasty ◽

The Song Dynasty ◽

Women Rulers ◽

History Of ◽

The Tang Dynasty ◽

Imperial China

“Women Rulers in Imperial China”is about the history and characteristics of rule by women in China from the Han dynasty to the Qing, especially focusing on the Tang dynasty ruler Wu Zetian (625-705) and the Song dynasty Empress Liu. The usual reason that allowed a woman to rule was the illness, incapacity, or death of her emperor-husband and the extreme youth of his son the successor. In such situations, the precedent was for a woman to govern temporarily as regent and, when the heir apparent became old enough, hand power to him. But many women ruled without being recognized as regent, and many did not hand power to the son once he was old enough, or even if they did, still continued to exert power. In the most extreme case, Wu Zetian declared herself emperor of her own dynasty. She was the climax of the long history of women rulers. Women after her avoided being compared to her but retained many of her methods of legitimization, such as the patronage of art and religion, the use of cosmic titles and vocabulary, and occasional gestures of impersonating a male emperor. When women ruled, it was an in-between time when notions and language about something that was not supposed to be nevertheless took shape and tested the limits of what could be made acceptable.

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Health and Philosophy in Pre- and Early Imperial China

Health ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199916429.003.0002 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 7-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Stanley-Baker

Keyword(s):

English Word ◽

Han Dynasty ◽

The State ◽

The Body ◽

Chinese History ◽

Learning Methods ◽

Imperial China ◽

Good Order ◽

The Individual ◽

Chinese Term

Though there was no single Chinese term that corresponds to the English word health, there were a variety of theories about bodily ideals. This chapter follows these theories through three periods of early Chinese history. A key notion is qi, or “vital breath,” that circulates through the body to preserve health; learning methods of breath control can thus prolong life. So-called “Daoist” philosophy draws a parallel between health in the individual and good order in the state, as well as nature or the cosmos as a whole, an idea furthered in medical works of the Han dynasty.

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Jia Yi (201–169 BC)

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy ◽

10.4324/9780415249126-g035-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Nylan

Keyword(s):

Educational Philosophy ◽

Central Government ◽

Han Dynasty ◽

Chinese History ◽

Imperial China

Jia Yi, in forging a brilliant synthesis of classical Legalist, Daoist and Confucian doctrines, fashioned a coherent political and educational philosophy in support of strong central government. Jia’s impact on Chinese history can hardly be overestimated; his philosophy significantly shaped the imperial institutions of the Han dynasty (202 bc–ad 220), which became the models for successive dynasties of imperial China.

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The Singing Sage: rhymes in Confucius dialogues

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies ◽

10.1017/s0041977x16000574 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 79 (3) ◽

pp. 581-607

Author(s):

Oliver Weingarten

Keyword(s):

Present Article ◽

Han Dynasty ◽

Inner Life ◽

Direct Speech ◽

Intellectual Tradition ◽

Patron Saint ◽

Prose Narratives ◽

Imperial China ◽

Mnemonic Function

AbstractThe present article explores uses of verse in direct speech attributed to Confucius (551–479bce) within works compiled mainly during the Han dynasty (206bce–220ce). Analysing short prose narratives and dialogues, the article investigates a poeticized debate, in which versified proverbs or apothegms are employed as tools of argumentation. In addition I examine the mnemonic function of reiterated rhymes on politics, and emotive song as an expression of thwarted ambition, purportedly revealing glimpses at Confucius's inner life; and libretto-like records of dramatic encounters whose participants exchange verse. The goal of the investigation is twofold. First, it demonstrates how, in early imperial China, the image of Confucius was remoulded to fulfil different functions and satisfy diverse needs beyond his by now familiar role as philosopher and as patron saint of an intellectual tradition and state ideology. Second, it draws attention to the riches of stylistic nuance and functional variety exhibited by early Chinese writings, which have so far hardly been tapped.

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A computer-control program for TEM in situ fatigue experiments

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100155074 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 620-621

Author(s):

Kenneth S. Vecchio ◽

John A. Hunt

Keyword(s):

Slow Crack Growth ◽

Computer Control ◽

Control Program ◽

Video Tape ◽

Computer Control System ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

In Situ Experiments ◽

Tremendous Amount ◽

And Control

In-situ experiments conducted within a transmission electron microscope provide the operator a unique opportunity to directly observe microstructural phenomena, such as phase transformations and dislocation-precipitate interactions, “as they happen”. However, in-situ experiments usually require a tremendous amount of experimental preparation beforehand, as well as, during the actual experiment. In most cases the researcher must operate and control several pieces of equipment simultaneously. For example, in in-situ deformation experiments, the researcher may have to not only operate the TEM, but also control the straining holder and possibly some recording system such as a video tape machine. When it comes to in-situ fatigue deformation, the experiments became even more complicated with having to control numerous loading cycles while following the slow crack growth. In this paper we will describe a new method for conducting in-situ fatigue experiments using a camputer-controlled tensile straining holder.The tensile straining holder used with computer-control system was manufactured by Philips for the Philips 300 series microscopes. It was necessary to modify the specimen stage area of this holder to work in the Philips 400 series microscopes because the distance between the optic axis and holder airlock is different than in the Philips 300 series microscopes. However, the program and interfacing can easily be modified to work with any goniometer type straining holder which uses a penrmanent magnet motor.

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