Taizong: Did you mean...?

There were over 200 gods and goddesses worshipped throughout ancient China, but if one were to count every deity or spirit, the number would be over 1,000. Each town, village, city, field, farm, and sometimes even separate plot in a graveyard...

Wu Zetian was born in 624 CE to a wealthy family, and her father encouraged her to learn how to read and write, as well as how to play music, the art of public speaking, and how to compose poetry, even though these skills were usually reserved...

Chinese literature is among the most imaginative and interesting in the world. The precision of the language results in perfectly realized images whether in poetry or prose and, as with all great literature, the themes are timeless. The Chinese...

Emperor Taizu (960-976 CE), formerly known as Zhao Kuangyin, was the founder of the Song (aka Sung) dynasty which ruled China from 960 to 1279 CE. Taizu settled for a territorially smaller but more unified and prosperous China than was seen...

The Khitan people formed the Liao dynasty and ruled parts of Mongolia, Manchuria, and northern China from 907 to 1125 CE. Adopting elements of Chinese government and culture, the Khitan were more than a match for their rivals the Song dynasty...

Women in ancient China did not enjoy the status, either social or political, afforded to men. Women were subordinate to first their fathers, then their husbands, and finally, in the case of being left a widow, their sons in a system known...

The provinces of the Tang Dynasty c. 742 CE. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) is regularly cited as the greatest imperial dynasty in ancient Chinese history. It was a golden age of reform and cultural advancement, which lay the groundwork for...

Taoism (also known as Daoism) is a Chinese philosophy attributed to Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE) which developed from the folk religion of the people primarily in the rural areas of China and became the official religion of the country under the...

The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), also known as Heaven's Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China's early kings and then emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky selected a particular...

The emperors of ancient China had tremendous power and responsibility. Called the 'Son of Heaven', he (and once she) was given a divine right to rule over all people but was expected to promote their best interest and not his own. An absolute...