Poems of this style first emerged during the reign of Emperor Wu of Qi of the Southern Dynasties. That period, lasting from 483 to 493, assumed the regal title of Yongming, hence the name of this poetic style. Yongming poems featured metrical structure and parallelism. They were also known as the “new poetry,” as opposed to the “old poetry” of…
This term refers to the evaluative judgment or view of the people in a country or region, on an issue, phenomenon or incident which touches on their common interest and which has broad societal meaning. Ancient Chinese often took the “mandate of heaven” to be the basis and highest concept for the legitimacy of political authority and for policymak…
This term means not to publicize one’s strong points but make up for one’s weak points. Tao (韬) means a sword sheath or an arrow box. Guang (光) means light, indicating one’s capability and talent. Taoguang (韬光) means not to advertise one’s strong points, and never boast about or show off one’s talent or skills. Yang (养) means cultivation w…