Origins of Chinese Music (2007 Edition - EPUB)

Origins of Chinese Music (2007 Edition - EPUB) PDF Author: Lim SK
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
ISBN: 9812299866
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
From the early days, musical instruments in China were made from everyday items: hunting tools, trees, bamboo and even bones. During the Zhou dynasty, there were about 70 instruments. Today, there are hundreds. But have you ever wondered how these musical instruments in China came about? Well, in this book, the evolution of Chinese music over the centuries is examined, from prehistoric times, through the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, all the way to our modern times. In addition, the origins and characteristics of specific musical instruments are explored, giving insight in one's understanding of these instruments. Legendary accounts related to historical personalities are also featured, including: * How two phoenixes helped Fuxi, the earliest ancestor of the Chinese, add music to the lives of the people. * How the musical talents of some individuals were so high they could sense evil elements in a piece of music. * How Wangzi Qiao became an immortal from playing the sheng. Indeed, this book holds a treasury of fascinating information and stories pertaining to Chinese musical instruments. This is definitely something any music lover should have in his collection.

Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature

Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature PDF Author: Xiaoxiang Li
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
ISBN: 9789812293947
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
The richness of Chinese classical literature encompasses a range of forms, from poetry and rhymed prose, to essays and novels. Each period has its own unique style, and there are outstanding representative works for each: the pre-Qin Book of Songs, Songs of the South, Han fu, Yue fu songs, Tang poetry, Song ci, Yuan drama and more. Using illustrations and exposition of the various styles of classical Chinese literature, this book takes the reader on a tour of the Chinese literary world, while affording valuable insights into the themes of early Chinese civilizations.

Gateway to Chinese Culture

Gateway to Chinese Culture PDF Author: Asiapac Editorial
Publisher: Asiapac Books
ISBN: 9812299033
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Have you ever wonder about the significance of the various vibrant festivals celebrated by the Chinese people every year, or why the Chinese eat with Chopsticks? How did the intricate characters of their written language come to be? Ancient Chinese thinkers like Confucius and Sun-zi have left their mark on the Chinese Culture, but who were they? And with the Chinese cuisine that is available in Chinese restaurants all across the world, there's hardly any needs for introductions! Join us on a tour of the ancient and colourful Chinese culture in this part of this Montage Culture Series!

The Story of Stone

The Story of Stone PDF Author: Jing Wang
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822311959
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
In this pathbreaking study of three of the most familiar texts in the Chinese tradition--all concerning stones endowed with magical properties--Jing Wang develops a monumental reconstruction of ancient Chinese stone lore. Wang's thorough and systematic comparison of these classic works illuminates the various tellings of the stone story and provides new insight into major topics in traditional Chinese literature. Bringing together Chinese myth, religion, folklore, art, and literature, this book is the first in any language to amass the sources of stone myth and stone lore in Chinese culture. Uniting classical Chinese studies with contemporary Western theoretical concerns, Wang examines these stone narratives by analyzing intertextuality within Chinese traditions. She offers revelatory interpretations to long-standing critical issues, such as the paradoxical character of the monkey in The Journey to the West, the circularity of narrative logic in The Dream of the Red Chamber, and the structural necessity of the stone tablet in Water Margin. By both challenging and incorporating traditional sinological scholarship, Wang's The Story of Stone reveals the ideological ramifications of these three literary works on Chinese cultural history and makes the past relevant to contemporary intellectual discourse. Specialists in Chinese literature and culture, comparative literature, literary theory, and religious studies will find much of interest in this outstanding work, which is sure to become a standard reference on the subject.

Shanzhai

Shanzhai PDF Author: Byung-Chul Han
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262534363
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
Tracing the thread of “decreation” in Chinese thought, from constantly changing classical masterpieces to fake cell phones that are better than the original. Shanzhai is a Chinese neologism that means “fake,” originally coined to describe knock-off cell phones marketed under such names as Nokir and Samsing. These cell phones were not crude forgeries but multifunctional, stylish, and as good as or better than the originals. Shanzhai has since spread into other parts of Chinese life, with shanzhai books, shanzhai politicians, shanzhai stars. There is a shanzhai Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll, in which Harry takes on his nemesis Yandomort. In the West, this would be seen as piracy, or even desecration, but in Chinese culture, originals are continually transformed—deconstructed. In this volume in the Untimely Meditations series, Byung-Chul Han traces the thread of deconstruction, or “decreation,” in Chinese thought, from ancient masterpieces that invite inscription and transcription to Maoism—“a kind a shanzhai Marxism,” Han writes. Han discusses the Chinese concepts of quan, or law, which literally means the weight that slides back and forth on a scale, radically different from Western notions of absoluteness; zhen ji, or original, determined not by an act of creation but by unending process; xian zhan, or seals of leisure, affixed by collectors and part of the picture's composition; fuzhi, or copy, a replica of equal value to the original; and shanzhai. The Far East, Han writes, is not familiar with such “pre-deconstructive” factors as original or identity. Far Eastern thought begins with deconstruction.

Gateway to Indian Classical Literature

Gateway to Indian Classical Literature PDF Author:
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
ISBN: 9789812294272
Category : Indic literature
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
"... features the most famous poets and writers who not only influenced the masses but founded entirely new schools of thought. Each section introduces the seminal work of each era, and addresses its influence on contemporary literature."--Back cover.

Gateway

Gateway PDF Author: Sharon Shinn
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101148837
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
As a Chinese adoptee in St. Louis, teenage Daiyu often feels out of place. When an elderly Asian jewelry seller at a street fair shows her a black jade ring--and tells her that "black jade" translates to "Daiyu"--she buys it as a talisman of her heritage. But it's more than that; it's magic. It takes Daiyu through a gateway into a version of St. Louis much like 19th-century China. Almost immediately she is recruited as a spy, which means hours of training in manners and niceties and sleight of hand. It also means stealing time to be with handsome Kalen, who is in on the plan. There's only one problem. Once her task is done, she must go back to St. Louis and leave him behind forever. . . .

A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese

A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese PDF Author: Paul Rouzer
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 1684174457
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 564

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Book Description
"Forty lessons designed to introduce beginning students to the basic patterns and structures of Classical Chinese are taken from a number of pre-Han and Han texts selected to give students a grounding in exemplary Classical Chinese style. Two additional lessons use texts from later periods to help students appreciate the changes in written Chinese over the centuries. Each lesson consists of a text, a vocabulary list featuring discussions of meaning and usage, explanations of grammar, and explications of difficult passages. The standard modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean pronunciations are indicated for each character, making this a learning tool for native speakers of those languages as well. Appendices give suggestions for further readings, review common and significant words, explain the radical system, and provide Japanese kanbun readings for all the selections. Glossaries of all vocabulary items and pronunciation indexes for modern Chinese and Korean are also included."

A Study of Literary Trends in China Since the 1980s

A Study of Literary Trends in China Since the 1980s PDF Author: Teresa Chi-Ching Sun
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0761871098
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 87

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Book Description
This book intends to trace the revival of traditional literary works since the 1980s in China as it is revealed on the revitalized College Entrance Examination (CEE). In order to show how these changes reflect China’s altering ideology after the fall of Communism, selections from the CEE’s literary portion will be examined. Taking advantage of the resurrection of the powerful CEE, test creators have composed the literary portion as an education tool to shape public opinion in the post-Communist era. Literature in China have never been an independent art but had shared the responsibility for transmitting China’s intellectual and ethical traditions. The introduction of Communism to China silenced these traditions and made literature the servant of political ideology. This book traces the chronological process of restoring modern vernacular literature from the pre-Communist era and the ways in which traditional literature is being used for modern purposes. For many Chinese intellectuals, the gradual withdrawal of literature for serving political causes and the reinstatement of classical literature and early vernacular works to on the CEE bring to light the recovery of the aesthetic literary tradition and a return to normalcy. When students take the CEE, they not only mentally scrutinize literature that they first read during their secondary education, but also experience an assertive presentation of current Chinese cultural values and outlooks on life. This study argues that in the post-1980s CEE literary selections, students experience a variety of texts that summon up China’s pre-Communist literary tradition in order to serve as an intellectual guiding light for future social development. For those interested in comparative higher education, a particular area of interest may be the book’s singular consideration of the science and technology passages in connection with the restructuring of higher education in China as a remedy of China’s cultural tradition.

The Shi King, the Old "Poetry Classic" of the Chinese

The Shi King, the Old Author: William Jennings
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinese poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description


Origins of Chinese Music (2007 Edition - EPUB)

Origins of Chinese Music (2007 Edition - EPUB) PDF Author: Lim SK
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
ISBN: 9812299866
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 157

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the early days, musical instruments in China were made from everyday items: hunting tools, trees, bamboo and even bones. During the Zhou dynasty, there were about 70 instruments. Today, there are hundreds. But have you ever wondered how these musical instruments in China came about? Well, in this book, the evolution of Chinese music over the centuries is examined, from prehistoric times, through the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, all the way to our modern times. In addition, the origins and characteristics of specific musical instruments are explored, giving insight in one's understanding of these instruments. Legendary accounts related to historical personalities are also featured, including: * How two phoenixes helped Fuxi, the earliest ancestor of the Chinese, add music to the lives of the people. * How the musical talents of some individuals were so high they could sense evil elements in a piece of music. * How Wangzi Qiao became an immortal from playing the sheng. Indeed, this book holds a treasury of fascinating information and stories pertaining to Chinese musical instruments. This is definitely something any music lover should have in his collection.