Life is difficult, and sometimes you have regrets, but you can always make a better future. There was a famous grand chancellor of China’s Song Dynasty named Kou Zhun, who left behind a brief but legendary article describing six types of regret. It is only 42 characters long but has had a great impact on ...
What’s in your heart will determine success or failure. In the Song Dynasty, there were identical twin brothers, Gao Xiaobiao and Gao Xiaoji. At the age of 16, they took part in the state examination system and both passed the county-level examination, gaining recognition as individuals who had “cultivated talents.” Once they married, their parents ...
When we speak of pillows, we usually think of something soft on which we rest our heads. However, Chinese people in ancient times would often sleep on ceramic pillows, which were hard as a rock. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), these ceramic pillows were at the peak of their popularity. Ceramic pillows The trend of ...
A popular Chinese idiom — ‘Where water flows, a channel will form’ — basically conveys the idea that success will come naturally when the conditions necessary for such success are fulfilled. There is an interesting story behind how this saying originated. The story behind the Chinese idiom Back during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), there lived a man ...
Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty ordered its people to pay more taxes in order to cover its military expenses after liberating the area of Yanjing. Liu Shi was the wife of a wealthy man from Huairen County. After her husband’s death, Liu lived together with their son. After she heard the government had raised ...
In Chinese paintings, one important genre is figure painting. Nevertheless, images with children as the main subject are relatively rare. It was not until the time of the Six Dynasties (220-589) that children became the main focus in paintings, and scenes of children playing joyfully became popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) by such painters ...
Why were the ministers of the Song Dynasty required to wear hats with wide wing flaps? The reason Song Dynasty hats featured protruding side flaps is surprising. The founding emperor, Zhao Kuangyin, also known as Emperor Taizu, came up with the idea to solve a problem. After ascending to the throne, Zhao was concerned that ...
Please examine these remarkable paintings, which give us an insight into the lives of children during the Song Dynasty. They were painted by Su Hanchen (1094-1172), who was a native of Kaifeng, Henan Province, who specialized in painting Buddhist and Taoist figures. During the Xuanhe era under Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Su was ...