To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice, and Self-Divinization in Early China

2004 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lothar von Falkenhausen ◽  
Michael J. Puett
Keyword(s):  
Early China

Ritual, Rejuvenation Practices, and the Experience of Aging in Early Chinese Religion

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ori Tavor
Keyword(s):  
Aging Process ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Chinese Religion ◽  
Human History ◽  
Early China ◽  
Technological Means ◽  
Lasting Influence ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Scientific Advances

Scientific advances in the field of biomedicine have fundamentally changed the ways in which we think about our bodies. Disease, aging, and even death, are no longer seen as inevitable realities but as obstacles that can be controlled, and in some cases even reversed, by technological means. The current discourse, however, can be enriched by an investigation of the various ways in which the aging process was perceived and explained throughout human history. In this article, I argue that in early China, the experience of aging and the challenges and anxieties it produced played a constitutive role in the shaping of religious culture. Drawing on a variety of medical, philosophical, and liturgical sources, I outline two models of aging: one that presented aging, and especially the loss of virility, as an undesirable but solvable condition that can be reversed with the aid of various rejuvenation techniques, and a more socially conscious model that depicted aging as a process of gradual social ascension, a natural but fundamentally unalterable condition that should be accepted, marked, and even celebrated through ritual. I conclude by demonstrating the legacy and lasting influence of these models on two of the most fundamental tenets of Chinese religion: the pursuit of longevity and the ideal of filial piety.

Material Virtue: Ethics and the Body in Early China (review)

2006 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward G. (Edward Gilman) Slingerland
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
The Body ◽  
Early China

The Politics of the Past in Early China by Vincent S. Leung

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 485-487
Author(s):  
Lothar von Falkenhausen
Keyword(s):  
Early China ◽  
The Past

scholarly journals China and the steppe: technological study of precious metalwork from Xigoupan Tomb 2 (4th–3rd c. BCE) in the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liu ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
Junchang Yang ◽  
Ruiliang Liu ◽  
Guoxing Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Energy Dispersive Spectrometer ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Early China ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
3D Digital Microscopy ◽  
Technological Study

AbstractTechnology employed by the ancient goldsmiths is traceable through archaeometallurgy. Using non-destructive analytical methods, namely, a 3D digital microscopy and a scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM–EDS), we investigated the manufacturing techniques and chemical composition of gold and silver artefacts recovered from Tomb 2 (M2), the richest find from Xigoupan cemetery (fourth-third century BCE) in the northern part of Jungar Banner, Inner Mongolia. The present research contributes to a better understanding of the inventive nature of precious metal working industry in early China (eighth-third century BCE). First, cultural interchange was evidenced in the metalwork examined, notably as being closely linked to techniques emerging from the Eurasian steppes. In Xigoupan M2, the ornamentation of sheet works in the Scytho-Siberian animal style was seen to be clearly influenced by the central Asian steppe goldsmithing practice, while certain cast items were typical of the Chinese tradition. Second, our analysis reveals that the gold appliqués with raised animal figures that were previously thought to be repoussé work have actually been made with double-sided carving. We consider such a new technology as one of local inventions that was inspired by methods arriving from the central Asian steppes. In addition, our analysis of elemental composition reveals that the gold artefacts found in Xigoupan M2 to be made of natural gold, while the horse harness ornament is made of pure silver. These results, combined with the study of the existing data pertaining to comparable examples, attest to the shared craftsmanship in prestige metal production across the northern Chinese states, especially with regard to the pre-imperial period Qin workshop.

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