Culture

Cao Cong, son of Cao Cao, who was the emperor of the Wei during the Three Kingdoms Period, was a kind and caring person. At that time, there were many events going on in Wei that Cao Cao had to utilize very severe punishments to deal with. One day, officials found out that mice had

During the time of Emperor Zhenzong (968-1022 A.D.) of the Song Dynasty, two of the Emperor’s relatives did not agree with the amount of each other’s endowment, argued about it, and had complained about each other at the Censorate’s office. Emperor Zhenzong had the case reviewed more than ten times and couldn’t get it settled.

Tang Bin (1627-1687 A.D.) was from Sui County of Henan Province in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). He passed the Imperial Civil Service Examination in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi and became a Jinshi (metropolitan graduate). He assumed many official posts including Shanxi Tongguan Dao (district magistrate), Jiangxi Lingbei Dao, the

In the Song Dynasty (960-1279A.D), there was a wealthy man named Jiang Balang (the eighth son) in Pingjiang. Later on, the Jiang family went into decline and crowds of creditors would wait outside his house everyday. Balang had no choice but to divorce his wife. He told her, “Please go back to your parents. I

Yang Bangyi was from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). One day, when he was reading in Tianwang Temple after he passed the candidacy examination in the provincial imperial examinations, he saw the wings of a blue phoenix, which sat straddling on the body of a Buddha statue, fall off from the rain dripping on them over

In June 2002, a 270 million-year-old “hidden words stone” was discovered in Guizhou, China. A crack that formed 500 years ago in a large stone revealed six clearly discernible Chinese characters; the characters clearly spell “The Chinese Communist Party perishes [Zhōngguó gòngchǎndǎng wáng 中國共產党亡].” The character “perish” [wáng 亡] is especially large. The official media in Mainland

Han Qi was the Duke of Weiguo and a prime minister during the Song Dynasty. One day, while he was leading an army in Ding Wu, he was writing a letter and asked one of his guards to hold a candle next to him. The guard wasn’t careful with the candle and Han Qi’s hair

In the Song Dynasty, some criminals were released from prison and sent into exile on Shanmen Island. A regulation of that dynasty set an upper limit of people on the island to 300 people. The government provided enough food for 300 criminals only. In addition, the island was very small and couldn’t hold more people

In the Shang Dynasty in ancient China, there was a king called Wu Ding. After Wu Ding’s father died, he stayed out of government affairs for three whole years to mourn his father. After the three years of mourning were over, Wu Ding still did not attend government affairs. As the government officials were all

Herbal remedies have been used in China for millennia with each dynasty classifying and documenting new treatments as they were discovered. Shennong meaning “Divine Farmer,” lived some 5,000 years ago and taught the ancient Chinese agriculture and how to use herbs to treat their ailments. He is credited with inventing the hoe, axe, and plow,

Confucianism teaches that people should deal with each other with good faith, respect, understanding and trust instead of suspicion. Only then can people get along with each other harmoniously. In ancient times, Confucius and his disciples were once trapped in the wilderness bordering the state of Chen and the state of Cai. They had to

Cheng Hao was a scholar in the Northern Song dynasty. He had a strong desire to help others and bring comfort to the common people. No matter where his official post took him, he took good care of the local people as if they were his own relatives. When he held a position in Fugou

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1735 A.D. to 1796 A.D.) in the Qing Dynasty, there was a young scholar named Yin Qing in the city of Wuxi. One year, the emperor went to climb a famous mountain called the Tai Mountain and decided to hold an imperial civil service examination there. When he heard