The Golden Peaches of Samarkand
The Golden Peaches of Samarkand

Author: Edward H. Schafer

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-09-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0520341147

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In the seventh century the kingdom of Samarkand sent formal gifts of fancy yellow peaches, large as goose eggs and with a color like gold, to the Chinese court at Ch'ang-an. What kind of fruit these golden peaches really were cannot now be guessed, but they have the glamour of mystery, and they symbolize all the exotic things longed for, and unknown things hoped for, by the people of the T'ang empire. This book examines the exotics imported into China during the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), and depicts their influence on Chinese life. Into the land during the three centuries of T'ang came the natives of almost every nation of Asia, all bringing exotic wares either as gifts or as goods to be sold. Ivory, rare woods, drugs, diamonds, magicians, dancing girls—the author covers all classes of unusual imports, their places of origin, their lore, their effort on costume, dwellings, diet, and on painting, sculpture, music, and poetry. This book is not a statistical record of commercial imports and medieval trade, but rather a "humanistic essay, however material its subject matter."

The Grand Scribe's Records
The Grand Scribe's Records

Author: Qian Sima

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9780253340221

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This second volume of the ongoing annotated translation of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Shi chi(The Grand Scribe's Records), widely acknowledged as the most important early Chinese history, contains the "basic annals" of five early Han-dynasty emperors. The annals trace the first century of Han rule (206 BC to ca. 100 BC) in a year-by-year account that focuses on imperial activities. In The Grand Scribe's Records, Ssu-ma Ch'ien revitalised the style of the annals he had written for previous rulers. Here are accounts of the peasant who founded the dynasty, Liu Pang, a man noted as much for his licentiousness as he was his ruthless political instinct, and of his cruel wife, Empress Lÿ, who murdered her chief rival for Liu Pang's affections in the most gruesome manner. The annals of two relatively undistinguished emperors follow. The volume concludes with Ssu-ma's depiction of perhaps the greatest ruler of the Han, Emperor Wu, told within the context of his delusive attempts to find a means to achieve immortality. When completed this translation will bring all 130 chapters of the Shih chi into English. Volumes 1 and 7 were published by Indiana University Press in 1994.

Transcendence and Divine Passion
Transcendence and Divine Passion

Author: Suzanne Elizabeth Cahill

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9780804721127

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Drawing on medieval Chinese poetry, fiction, and religious scriptures, this book illuminates the greatest goddess of Taoism and her place in Chinese society.

The Empire of Min
The Empire of Min

Author: Edward H. Schafer

Publisher: Rutland, Vt. : Published for the Harvard-Yenching Institute [by] C.E. Tuttle Company,$c1954.

Published: 1954

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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Record of an Ancient Mirror
Record of an Ancient Mirror

Author: Jue Chen

Publisher: Harrassowitz

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

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Jue Chen's "Record of an Ancient Mirror" is a study on the "Gujing ji", one of the few extant texts of the early Tang dynasty (618-907) "chuanqi" fiction. It presents concrete research on the textual history and close reading of the work, against the background of detailed informational material regarding the historical careers of Wang Du and Wang Ji, as well as the intellectual context of Sui-Tang politics, philosophy, and religion. Based on that, Chen's analysis illuminates a broad range of fields: art history and the lore of medieval Buddhism and Daoism; the spiritual geography of China's "sacred mountains"; ancient Chinese medicine and occult arts; and other related topics. Like the text on which it is based, this study deals with a wide variety of seemingly disjointed elements. Yet they all come together in a comprehensive view of the workings of Tang "tales of the strange", and traditional Chinese fictional and historical narrative in general, with their frequent adumbration of historical and religious implications beyond the specific episodes presented.