Pinli, meaning diplomatic etiquette and protocol for the visits by the lords to the king and by one lord to another, is an important part of political activity in ancient China. Depending on such factors as the status of visitor and host and the purpose and frequency of the visits, diplomatic etiquette was conducted at three levels: between two duca…
Governance of a state should be guided by virtue. Confucius (551-479 BC) expounded this philosophy – which his followers in later eras promoted – on the basis of the approach advocated by the rulers in the Western Zhou Dynasty that prized high moral values and the virtue of being cautious in meting out punishment. Governance based on virtue stan…
“The qi(vital force) of heaven and earth” denotes the two types of qi, an element that constitutes all things corporeal and flows between heaven and earth. Both shapeless, the qi of earth and the qi of heaven respectively possess the opposite attributes of yin and yang. Their movement follows the law of the change of yin and yang. The interaction …