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Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1999's Outcast. Tim can't get enough of the voxels, and we dive a little bit into combat, mounts, and structure. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Mostly through Shamazaar Issues covered: revisiting Defeating Games for Charity, the work behind the event, launch of VGHF library, accepting the voxels, possible benefits of voxels, how to represent transfer, back to metaballs, generating noise in the voxels, collision and voxels, looking unlike other games of the time, leaving out polygons for the voxels to show through, avoiding the enemies vs blasting, apparent resource scarcity, weak stealth, projectile-based shooting, combat and missing all the time, enjoying dodging but hating missing, abstraction in games, enemies dropping guns that disappear, voice work, stand-out characters, having fun with the NPCs, not being too self-serious, investigating the twon-ha, the different aesthetics of European games, a flexible mount, stumbling on the quest log, skipping ahead in the knowledge tree, seeing games in the same family, a milieu or scene, what were the game inputs that got you to this game, coming at ideas from different directions, German dubbing, the voice of Pey'j, adding legitimization, the music. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: BioStats, Mark Garcia, Artimage, Final Fantasy VI, Video Game History Foundation, Phil Salvador, Minecraft, Starfighter, Steve Ash, Spore, System Shock 2, DOOM (1993), CliffyB, Chess, Annals of the Grand Historian, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Bruce Willis, Halo, Dark Crystal, Beyond Good and Evil, Rayman, Ultima (series), Populous, Peter Molyneux, Sid Meier, Civilization (series), Vitor, Assassin's Creed (series), David Gasman, Star Wars, John Williams, Dark Souls 2, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More Outcast Twitch: timlongojr Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com
Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by Bro Wallace McCleod, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, and is brought to us by Bro Alexander Peratore, Cornerstone #216, Portland ME. In the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Ontario, we read the words: Every newly initiated […]
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Season 9 is starting to wind down. For the ninth chengyu of the season, we take Sima Qian's "Record of the Grand Historian" and open to the chapter on Xiang Yu. This time we look at the story of Xiān Fā Zhì Rén 先发制人. In this well-known story from the fall of the Qin Dynasty, we see Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang seizing the day and the hour to attack Qin forces and bring the dynasty to an end. But before they do that, they first weigh their options by talking with the governor of a local commandery. After one short meeting with this guy, Xiang Liang decides not to wait to see what happens next. He realized 先发制人. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by RW Bro Wallace McCloud, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Canada in Ontario, and is brought to us by WBro John Rock, PM – Solar Star #14, Bath ME. From time to time, as you wander about in various cities, you may encounter old […]
Apologies for any degradation of the sound quality. This was recorded while we were traveling, and the room setup was not ideal, so if sounds like I'm in a cave, you know why ;) This episode we head over to the continent to kick off the Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty was extremely influential on Yamato and later Japan, as well as the rest of East Asia. And so we'll take a look at how it got its start and how it expanded along the silk road, while at the same time talking about the literally cutthroat politics of the period. Especially in the royal house. Nobody fights like family. For more information, check out the podcast webpage: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-104 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is episode 104: A Bloody Start to a Golden Age It was early in the morning on the fourth day of the sixth month of the ninth year of Wu De. Brothers Li Jiancheng, Crown Prince, and his younger brother, Li Yuanji, were more than a bit annoyed--Their brother had apparently slandered them to their father, the Emperor, claiming that they had had illicit relationships with his concubines. Although the accusations were false, they still had to come to the palace to clear their names. So they left the crown prince's residence at the Eastern Palace and were traveling on horseback with a retinue of men through the private, forested royal park north of the city towards the Xuanwu Gate—the northern gate to the palace and to the great city of Chang'an. As they approached Linhu Hall, they noticed something was afoot: there were soldiers in the park, headed their way. It was immediately apparent that the accusations had been a ruse, and their brother meant for more than just to tarnish their honor. As they fled eastward, back towards the Eastern palace, their brother, Li Shimin, came galloping towards them and called out to them. Li Yuanji tried to draw his bow, but couldn't get to it in time, and Li Shimin shot and killed Li Jiancheng, their older brother and the crown prince. Li Yuanji himself fell from his horse as he dodged arrows from the attacking troops, but Li Shimin also became entangled in the brush of the park and had to dismount. Li Yuanji ran up to his brother and tried to strangle him with his bow string, but soon he was chased off by reinforcements. Li Yuanji fled on foot to Wude Hall, where he was finally caught and struck down with arrows. Li Shimin's forces struck off the heads of the two murdered princes, and took them to the Xuanwu gate, where opposing forces were still fighting. Seeing the heads of the two princes, it was clear that Li Shimin's ambush was victorious, and the princes' forces quickly dispersed. Three days later, the victorious Li Shimin was instated as the new crown prince. Two months later, his father, Li Yuan, known to history as emperor Tang Gaozu, abdicated in favor of his son, who came to power as Emperor Taizong. This was the start of the Zhenguan era, which would come to be seen as a golden age in the history of the various Chinese empires. --------------- Alright, so as may be apparent, we are deviating a bit from our discussion of Yamato to look at some of the events on the continent. This is because the rise of the Tang dynasty would have an incredible impact on the Japanese archipelago. For one, it was the alliance between the Tang and Silla that would eventually mean the removal of Yamato and its allies from the Korean peninsula. In addition, however, the Tang dynasty's access to the silk road and its grandiose government would become an exemplar for Yamato and many other polities who wished to demonstrate their political and cultural sophistication. Many of the laws and even court dress would mimic that of the Tang court—with a local flare, of course. In addition, the Tang dynasty brought a relative stability to the continent that would last for over two hundred years. Of course, none of that was known at the outset, and like many previous kingdoms, the Tang dynasty was born out of bloodshed. We've mentioned several times how the Sui Dynasty was growing increasingly unpopular in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. Wars continued to cost money and lives, as did the giant public works projects of the periods - though the Grand Canal would be one of the greatest constructions of any age, uniting the Yangzi and Yellow River basins in myriad ways, powering the regions' economies for centuries to come. Into this Sui period came a man of the Li family named Yuan. We mentioned him back in episode 102, but I figured he could do with a little more backstory. Li Yuan's family originated in the frontier regions. Official biographies had connected him to the founder of the Western Liang dynasty, and his family had served in various roles as the different northern kingdoms rose and fell. The Li family had been providing military service since the time of Yuan's great-grandfather, and Li Yuan himself had been serving since the early 600s. He was made a general and placed in charge of the Dongguang pass in the Taihang mountains. There, he largely stayed out of the limelight. At one point, he was summoned to the palace and rather than going he feigned illness, instead. You see, around this time there was a prophecy flying around that someone with the surname of Li would try to take the throne from Sui Emperor, Emperor Yang, so it may have been in Li Yuan's best interest to avoid the court and anything that could draw Emperor Yang's suspicions. He continued to do everything in his power to make himself seem unthreatening, even as rebellions were breaking out across the Empire. In 614, the Sui army was defeated by Goguryeo, and the Sui court was plagued by numerous uprisings. Li Yuan may have sat it out if it weren't for his son, Li Shimin. Like many youthful individuals, Li Shimin was less than invested in the current administration. He and several of his close acquaintances began to scheme behind his father's back, with plans to join the other uprisings and hope to take a piece of the pie. Eventually, they blackmailed Li Yuan into marching on the capital of Daxingcheng in 617, threatening to expose several illicit relationships from his time at the court—relationships that would have surely put him at odds with the Emperor. At the same time, Emperor Yang had fled to the southern capital along the banks of the Yangzi River, but his son and heir, Yang You, was still in the capital. Li Yuan marched on imperial city of Daxingcheng, near the ancient capital of Chang'an, claiming that he was coming to protect the young heir. Taking control of the capital city put Li Yuan at odds with imperial forces, who did not necessarily accept Li Yuan's altruistic claims. Li Yuan and his sons, including Li Shimin and Li Jiangcheng, were drawn into fighting. Even Li Yuan's daughter, Pingyang, the wife of general Chai Shao, contributed to the war effort. She personally raised an army and led it into battle, becoming the first female general of what would be known as the Tang dynasty. In 618, Emperor Yang of Sui was assassinated by another general, Yuwen Huaji, and the throne passed to his son, Yang You, known as Emperor Gong of Sui. However, Li Yuan pressured the newly made Emperor Gong to yield the throne to him. Since Li Yuan had inherited the title “Duke of Tang” from his paternal line, he used that as the name of his new dynasty, and became known as Tang Gaozu—the High Founder of Tang. It wasn't enough to simply take the throne, though. There were still many other warlords looking to take his place. After all, unification had only come about some thirty or forty years prior. Up to that point, there had been numerous, often competing kingdoms, especially in the north. It was quite possible that the Sui dynasty was just a fluke, and most people no doubt expected the empire to fall once more into chaos. Still, although he definitely had to back it up with military might, often led by his sons and close confidants, Li Yuan went about the process of enacting his sovereignty. This included various state rituals, as well as a reform of the administration. For one thing, they renamed the capital. Daxingcheng had been built nearby the ancient capital of Chang'an, and so they renamed Daxingcheng to the ancient name of Chang'an. In addition, he sought out various supernatural portents. He also enjoyed the support of various Daoists, who believed that the founder of Daoism, Laozi, was from the Li family. There was a belief at the time that a messianic ruler from the Li family would bring about the Daoist millennium. And to better understand that, it may be useful to understand a little bit about Daoism. Daoism, first and foremost, is one of the more well known religions to come out of China, and often is found side by side what would seem to be its polar opposite, Confucianism. However, the two have more in common than one might at first assume. The believed founder of Daoism is known as Laozi, though some later sources, including the Qin dynasty “Records of the Grand Historian”, by Sima Chen, would claim for him the name Li Er. Laozi was said to have been a scholar who abandoned the world, and as he was leaving the empire for parts unknown, an astute guard recognized him and requested that before he left that he write down his accumulated wisdom before he would let the old sage leave. That became the work known as the Dao De Jing, or the Classic of the Way and Virtue. The opening of the Dao De Jing is rather famous: Dao ke Dao, feichang Dao. Or, according to one translation: The Dao that can be known is not the eternal Dao. However, no English translation truly does the original justice. Traditionally, Laozi is said to have been a contemporary of Confucius, and some of the earliest writings on him, in the Warring States period writings of Zhuangzi, often show Confucius in awe of Laozi. That said, most tend to agree that Laozi himself likely never existed, and that the Dao De Jing was assembled over the years from various poems and sayings that fit with the general theme of formlessness and a general concept of following the Way, a rather ill defined concept of natural order, one which humans are constantly pushing against, often to our detriment. Truth is that both Confucius and Laozi—or whomever compiled the Dao De Jing—wrote about a thing called the “Dao” or “Way”. Confucius was often talking about the “Way of Heaven”, describing an ordered universe where balance was kept by everyone remaining in their proper place, creating a series of rules around strict, hierarchical relationships, such as those between a father and son, or the ruler and subject. According to Confucian thought, as long as things on Earth were properly ordered, that order would be reflected in the Heavens, and all of creation would be ordered as well. In Daoism, it is much less about attempting to order the universe, but rather about giving in to your natural place in the universe. This is a much simplified version of both religions, but in general, where Confucianism tended to see serving at court as a virtue, Daoism tended to reject official life. For many court officials, they would embrace Confucian ideals in their official lives, but often seek out Daoist pleasures in their free time. Religious Daoism, where it became more than simply a philosophical ideal, appears to have coalesced around the Han dynasty. There are Daoist temples, though in this instance it is often intertwined with many other Sinitic philosophies and beliefs. Thus things like the Queen Mother of the West and the Peaches of Immortality could be included in Daoist practice. Things like the Yijing, the Book of Changes, and various divination methods could also be included. In many cases, “Daoist” seems to be used less to refer to a strict adherent to the philosophy of the supposed Laozi, and more as a general catchall for various folk beliefs. Thus many people see the images of the Queen Mother of the West on Han Dynasty mirrors imported to Japan as evidence of a Daoist influence on the archipelago, while others note the lack of the further panoply of religious accoutrements that we would expect if it was truly a “Daoist” influence, and not just a few folk beliefs that made their way across the straits. However, by the time that Li Yuan was coming to the throne there was a thriving Daoist community in the Sui and burgeoning Tang dynasties, and if they believed that Li Yuan was an incarnation of Laozi—or at least a messianic descendant—who was he to dissuade them of such a notion? Li Yuan reached back into the past in other ways as well. For one, he would reinstitute the Northern Wei “equal-field” system of state granted land, along with a system of prefectures and districts to help administer it. This was largely an effort to help fill up the coffers, which had been emptied by the Sui and constant warfare, while also emphasizing state ownership of land, with individuals being mere tenants. It also helped bring back into cultivation lands that had long lain fallow, often due to the constant fighting of the previous centuries. In 621, Li Yuan ordered the minting of new copper coins to help stabilize the currency. Later Sui currency had been devalued by numerous forgeries as well as official debasement—mixing in less valuable metals to make the coins, while attempting to maintain the same denominations as before. These new coins were meant to restore faith in the currency, but shortages would continue to plague the dynasty throughout its history, leading to the use of cloth as a common medium of exchange and tax payment, something that was also common on the archipelago, along with other goods, in lieu of rice or money. By 624, Li Yuan also announced a new legal code based on the old Han era code, although this was quickly expanded, since the needs of the code from the 3rd century Now initially, for all of their claims to the entire geographic area of the Sui dynasty, the newly established Tang dynasty really only had effective control over a small are of Guanzhou—the area around Chang'an itself. Li Yuan hadn't been the only one to rise up, and just because he had declared himself the new emperor didn't mean that the other warlords were just giving up. It wasn't like they had reached the end of a football match and everyone was now just going to go home. And so he and his sons found themselves campaigning for at least the next five years, and that was against the active threats. Plenty of local elites, especially along the Yellow River basin, simply opted to hole up in their fortified settlements. After all, they had no guarantees that this new Tang dynasty would last longer than any of the others in the past several centuries. Often these local elites came under nominal vassalage of the Tang—and probably any other warlord that showed up—but in reality, based on how we see the Tang administration at work, it seems they were primarily left to their own devices, at least early on. After all, Li Yuan and his sons had plenty of active threats to worry about. And it was definitely his sons who bore the brunt of the work. Li Jiancheng, the eldest son, who would eventually be named Crown Prince, and Li Shimin each took charge of various troops against the threats to the new Tang empire. And they were, for the most part, successful. They eventually brought a majority of the former Sui territory under their control, such that by 623 internal resistance had begun to wane, and by 624 the situation was largely under control. At least internally. To the north and west there was another threat: The khaganate of the Göktürks. Now for many people, if you hear “Turks” you might immediately think of the Ottomans in the region of modern Turkiye. However, that is not where the Turkish people originated from. In fact, the first mention of Turkic people appears to be out of the Altai mountains, in modern Mongolia, from around 545. They appear to have been a nomadic group, as were many of the people of the steppes of central Eurasia. By 551, only a short time after they were first documented by outside groups, they had established the Göktürk, or Celestial Turk, Khaganate, based in the Mongolian plateau. From there they expanded in the 6th century, at one point spanning from the Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires in the west all the way to the kingdoms and empires of the Yellow River basin in the east. Many of the ethnic Han kingdoms that clashed with the Göktürks instituted practices of basically paying them off to prevent raids and invasions of their territory. Shortly after the founding of the Sui dynasty, the Turkic Khaganate split in two, after the death of the khagan, and so the Sui and Tang were actually dealing with what we know as the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. They were known to the ethnic Han people as the Thuk-kyat people, a term that today is often transcribed as Tujue, due to the shift in Sinic pronunciation over time. “Tujue” is often how you'll see it rendered in sources referencing Chinese documents. The Eastern Turkic Khaganate remained an issue for the Sui and Tang dynasties. Initially, when the uprisings against the Sui began, the Göktürks actually pulled back for a bit, hoping to allow the internal conflicts to weaken their eastern neighbors, but as they saw the direction things were taking, with the Tang dynasty solidifying their power, they began to launch invasions and harass the border, forcing the Tang dynasty to send troops. Initially Li Yuan attempted to by off the Eastern Turks, as previous dynasties had done, but while they were happy to take his money, the invasions did not stop. Eventually, things got so bad—and the internal conflicts were in a stable enough state—that Li Yuan, decided to send a force against them. A fairly straightforward decision, supposedly, except, well… Throughout all of this conflict, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin had been building up their own influence. Li Jiancheng, as the eldest son of Li Yuan, was the Crown Prince, but Li Shimin had built up his own power and influence, to the point that Li Jiancheng and his other brother, Li Yuanji, were starting to look at how they could take care of him before he got so powerful and popular that Li Yuan was tempted to make him Crown Prince instead of Jiancheng. At one point, Li Yuanji proposed inviting Li Shimin over and just having him killed, but Li Jiancheng balked at such direct and obvious fratricide. Instead, Li Jiancheng reportedly pushed his younger brother into positions that would possibly get him killed, but Li Shimin continued to succeed, thwarting his brother's plans and growing his own fame and power in the process. Finally, Li Jiancheng decided to take a different approach, and he suggested to his father that the army to defend the empire against the Turks should be led by none other than Li Yuanji. This would mean moving a large portion of the army out from under Li Shimin's command to his brother, Li Yuanji, who would also accrue much of the fame and respect if he proved successful. This was a huge blow to Li Shimin, who had heard rumors that his brothers were out to get him. Before setting out on such a campaign, it would have been expected that Li Shimin and his other brothers turn out to wish Li Yuanji success in his campaign. That would have put Li Shimin in an extremely vulnerable position, where he could be arrested or even killed, without the usual protection of his own forces. And so Li Shimin decided to be proactive. Before the campaign could set out, Li Shimin submitted accusations against Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji that they were having illicit relations with the concubines of their father, the emperor. This got Li Yuan's attention, and he called both of his sons back to the palace to investigate what was going on. This is what led to that fateful incident known as the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Unbeknownst to Li Yuan or his other sons, Li Shimin had forces loyal to him take over the Xuanwu gate the night before Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were to have their audience. Ideally, at least from Li Shimin's position, they would have both been assassinated at Xuanwu gate, but as I noted at the start of the episode, things did not go exactly to plan. There were several moments where a single stray arrow could have completely changed the course of things, but in the end, Li Shimin was triumphant. As the fighting was going on, Li Yuan heard the commotion. Apparently he had been out in a boat on the lake in the palace enclosure—and yes, you heard that right, the palace included a lake, or at least a very large pond, such that the emperor could partake in a lazy morning upon the water. When he heard the commotion, he guessed that the tensions between his sons must be at the heart of it, and even surmised that Li Shimin was likely behind it. He got to shore and surrounded himself with courtiers, including known comrades and acquaintances of his son, Li Shimin. Eventually, a representative of Li Shimin arrived, and he told the court that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had risen up in rebellion, but that Li Shimin had had them both put to death. With Li Shimin's troops literally at the gates of the palace, and Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji not exactly able to defend themselves, the accusation stood. Several days later, no doubt under pressure from Li Shimin, Emperor Tang Gaozu, aka Li Yuan, officially made Li Shimin the Crown Prince. Two months later, he abdicated in favor of Li Shimin, who came to power as Tang Taizong in 626 CE. Li Yuan himself took on the title of Retired Emperor, and continued to live life in the palace, but with a much reduced impact on the political affairs of the empire. Li Shimin himself took the reins of power immediately, and set about cementing his rule in several different ways. First off, to offset his particularly unfilial method of coming to the throne, Li Shimin engaged in performative Confucian virtue signaling. He played the part of the dutiful son, at least in public, providing for his retired father and attempting to act the part of the sage ruler. This was somewhat impeded by the cold relationship he and his father appear to have maintained after that point—apparently killing your siblings and forcing your father to abdicate are not exactly the kinds of bonding experiences that bring a father and son closer together. Still, that was mostly kept in the confines of the private areas of the palace. Publicly, he gathered accomplished military and civilian officials, and made sure to seek out their opinion. The era of emperor Tang Taizong is known as the Zhenguan era, lasting from roughly 627 to 649, and it was considered to be synonymous with good governance by later historians and philosophers. Granted, most of the examples of good governance only lasted long enough for Li Shimin to establish himself in his position as emperor. Once he had solidified his power, and felt secure in his position, his rule changed to a more traditional and authoritarian model. Regarding the threat of invasion from the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Li Shimin met the Turks at the Wei River, where he accused them of invading Tang territory and demanded restitution. The Turks were impressed enough by his forces that they agreed to settle, offering thousands of horses and other goods, but Li Shimin declined their attempts to make it good. Eventually, Li Shimin supported some of the more disaffected members of the Turkic Khaganate in a coup, and by 630 the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and their gateway to the Silk Road was under Tang dynasty control. The Turks granted Li Shimin the title of Heavenly Khagan, placing him over both the Tang dynasty and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. He then went about resettling surrendered Eastern Turks while sending agents to foment rebellions and civil wars in the Western Turkic Khaganate, which controlled the area from Yumenguan, the Jade Gate, west of Dunhuang, all the way to Sassanid Persia. Dunhuang is an oasis city at the western end of the Gansu corridor, and the Jade Gate was considered to be the entry way to the Western Regions. As Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin placed a puppet Khagan on the throne of the Western Turkic Khaganate in 642, and then sent numerous campaigns against the Western Turks in a series of wars against those who hadn't simply given in to his will—first against the kingdom of Gaochang, a city cut from the rock of a giant plateau, and then on to the cities Karashr—known today by the Chinese name of Yanqi—and on to Kuqa. The campaigns would outlive Emperor Taizong himself, and the khaganate was completely annexed by 657, giving the Tang dynasty complete mastery over at least one part of the silk road out to Sassanid Persia and the west. This would be huge, not only for the Tang dynasty, but for all of the cultures on the far eastern end of that silk road. There would be an increase in material and cultural items that traversed the routes. Chinese court dress even came to incorporate Turkic and Sogdian dress and clothing styles, which would eventually make their way to the Japanese archipelago, where they would take the tailored, round-necked collar designs for their own, eventually changing them, by the late Heian era, into their own distinctive garments. It also opened a route to India for those Buddhist scholars who wished to go and study at the source, such as it was. As for Emperor Taizong, by the 630s, with his title as Heavenly Khagan, Li Shimin seems to have stopped worrying about performative Confucian virtues. He took more direct control, and more often would quarrel with his ministers on various issues. In 637 he also reworked the Tang legal code, further refining the law. At the same time, there were family matters he also had to attend to. It seems like father, like son—while Li Shimin's eldest son, Li Chengqian was the Crown Prince, Shimin appeared to favor another son, Li Tai. As such, these two brothers became bitter rivals. Li Chengqian started to worry about his position as Crown Prince, and he consulted with some of his close advisors and confidants. Their solution was not to take his brother out of the picture, but rather to take his own father out of the picture. And so Li Chengqian reportedly entertained the idea of overthrowing his father, Emperor Taizong, at least as a thought experiment. And really, at this point, I have some suspicions that Li Shimin might very well have been a bit of an absentee father, because does Chengqian even know whom he is talking about trying to coup? Sure enough, Li Shimin learned about his sons extracurricular activities in 643 and he was less than happy with all of this. Li Chengqian's defense, appears to have been that they only discussed it, they never went through with anything. As such, some of Chengqian's conspirators were put to death, but Chengqian himself was simply reduced in rank to commoner status, stripped of his titles. When he died a few years later, though, Li Shimin had him buried as a Duke, and a later emperor would even posthumously restore his rank as an imperial prince. Of course, the question came up as to just what to do about the Crown Prince. Li Tai seemed the obvious choice, as he had clearly impressed his father with his apparent talent and skill. However, it was pointed out that Li Tai's competition with his brother is what had led to Chengqian's fear and thoughts of rebellion in the first place. He hadn't exactly been the model of filial virtue. In fact, if he hadn't been scheming, none of this would have taken place. And so it was decided to pass him over and to create Li Zhi, a younger brother, as Crown Prince. Li Tai himself was demoted, though only down to a minor princely state, and exiled from Chang'an, making it extremely difficult for him to influence politics. Records of the time suggest this was an extremely difficult decision by his father, but one that he considered necessary for the responsible administration of government. All of this was taking place in the early 640s, but it wasn't the only thing that Li Shimin had on his mind. With the Turkic threat being handled in the west, the emperor let his ambitions get the better of him, and he turned his eyes towards Goguryeo, to his northeast. Previously, Emperor Yang of Sui had failed in his campaigns against Goguryeo, and that was one of the things that had led to the popular uprisings and rebellion that had taken down the dynasty. Now, Emperor Taizong seemed determined to succeed where the prior dynasty failed. And so the Tang dynasty allied with the kingdom of Silla, hoping to force Goguryeo into a war on two fronts. Silla was already expanding on the Korean peninsula, and a natural ally for the Tang dynasty. Furthermore, they were far enough away that they weren't an immediate threat if they decided to go back on their part of the deal. Unfortunately for the Tang, these campaigns in 645 were not exactly a cake walk, and they handed Li Shimin his first defeat since the attempts to unify everyone under the Tang dynasty. Not exactly a great look. Relations with Goguryeo were normalized for a brief time, but then Emperor Taizong decided to give it another try. They started gathering ships and men for another invasion, no doubt having played out why they had lost the previous go round and hoping that it would be better in round two. The invasions, however, would come to naught. As it was being prepared, Tang Taizong grew ill. He called off the invasion, and then, in 649, he passed away. His youngest son, the Crown Prince Li Zhi, came to the throne as Emperor Gaozong. The reign of him and his wife, Empress Wu Zetian, would have an enormous impact on the rest of the 7th century. Through all of this fighting, bloodshed, and politics, this set the stage for the future of the Tang dynasty, which would once again place the area of modern China in the center of what many considered to be the civilized world. Besides being a center for Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist religion, Chang'an became an extremely cosmopolitan city, with Sogdian and Turkic traders visiting the markets and establishing themselves in the city. Many foreign families would adapt over time, integrating into the culture of their new home. These foreigners brought other ideas with them as well. Zoroastrianism, a Persian religion, may have come eastward much earlier, but in the 6th and 7th centuries, both Manichaeism and Christianity—at least an eastern version of Christianity—had made inroads into the capital of Chang'an. Manichaeism would have its ups and downs, especially in conflict with Buddhism. Christianity, on the other hand, was not necessarily the Christianity of Rome, but typically connected with the Syriac church that existed in the Persian empire, where it was a decidedly minority religion. Later proponents of Rome and the Latin rite would connect it with the supposed heresies of Nestorius, referring to the Church of the East as Nestorian Christianity, but this is not a term they would have used for themselves. These religions kept some of their traditions, but also incorporated some aspects of the culture of their new home, such as the use of rice in place of bread in some rituals. This was an exciting time, and the court at Chang'an was fascinated with various customs of the Western Regions. Music, clothing, and even pasttimes were influenced by contact with the western lands. This would, in time, be passed on even to the archipelago. For instance, the pipa was an instrument that had origins in the Western regions. It is found in the area of modern China in at least the Northern Wei dynasty, but no doubt it grew more popular over time. A version of this same instrument traveled west to Persia, where it became the oud, and further on to Europe, where it became the famous lute. In the archipelago, the pipa became the Biwa, and while we can never be one hundred percent certain about early music, we have instructions from the Tang dynasty on music for the pipa, and Tang dynasty and early music, along with music from Goguryeo, came over to the Japanese courts in the form of gagaku, traditional Japanese court music, in the early 8th century. Moving forward in our story about the Japanese archipelago, we are going to see more and more about the kentoushi, the Japanese embassies to the Tang dynasty, and just what they would bring back. At the same time, we will also see the reaction of the court to the alliance between the Tang and Yamato's largest competitor on the Korean peninsula, Silla. That alliance, which outlived emperor Taizong and even the king of Silla, would dramatically shift the balance of power on the peninsula and in all of northeast Asia. But we need to get there, first. For now, let's move our gaze back across the waters to the archipelago, where Prince Tamura was about to take the throne, later becoming known as Jomei Tennou. Of course, he was dealing with his own politics, especially regarding the Soga house and the powerful hold they had over government. Next episode we will get back to just what was happening over there. Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to Tweet at us at @SengokuPodcast, or reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for her work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
From George Washington to Gerald Ford, many of America's presidents have been linked to the secretive world of Freemasonry. Despite the enduring curiosity surrounding the topic, few have attempted to examine the once intimate connection between the world's oldest fraternity and the American presidency...until now. Bro. Chris Ruli is the past Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia and the author of "The White House & The Freemasons." He joins us on a unique tour through two centuries of stories on prominent Freemasons and America's most famous address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC.Show Notes:Order your copy of "The White House and the Freemasons" by Bro. Chris Ruli Follow the Craftsmen Online Podcast on SpotifySubscribe to the Craftsmen Online Podcast on Apple PodcastsEmail the host, WB Michael Arce. Yes, we will read your email and may even reach out to be a guest on a future episode.Support the Craftsmen Online Podcast. Whether it's a one time donation or you become a Patreon Subscriber, we appreciate your support!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/craftsmen-online-podcast--4822031/support.
Writing history in China has never been easy; China's first historian, Sima Qian, was forced to choose between execution and castration and imprisonment. He chose the latter in order to finish his life's work, Records of the Grand Historian. Now China's keepers of inconvenient truths are put under immense pressure by Xi Jinping's war on historical nihilism—viewpoints and memories that run counter to official Party history. Fighting a seemingly unwinnable battle against the state, China's underground historians often make huge sacrifices to keep alive histories that the Party would like to erase. In the first of a two-part series on history and memory, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Ian Johnson, whose book Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future is out today. Image: Still from 夹边沟 The Ditch (2010), directed by Wang BingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Masonic Roundtable - Freemasonry Today for Today's Freemasons
Join the Knights of the roundtable this week as we meet with B. Chris Ruli, past Grand Historian of the GL of DC, and a historian on early Freemasonry, whose new book "The White House & The Freemasons" touches on the effect of the Craft on the Presidency of the United States!
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again we thank The Grand Historian for giving up another good one. This one's an eight-character chengyu. The story goes back to 206 BC and the famous story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's meeting at The Banquet at Hongmen. Here, the two contenders for the emperorship of China, meet face to face. Only one of them could sit on that throne and beginning right here, the Chu-Han Contention begins. The chengyu for this time, 项庄舞剑, 意在沛公 Xiàng Zhuāng Wǔ Jiàn, Yì Zài Pèi Gōng comes from this slice of history mentioned in the Record of the Grand Historian from the chapter on Xiang Yu. People who have a lot to lose, especially in the world of politics and government should pay attention to this one. It's a good one to use when describing someone who may appear all nice and pleasant but who has a hidden motive to do you harm. Enjoy! White Vengeance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3yXEh7KCQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Liu Bang was a man who had a good life and then had a really bad day. How he handled that bad day led to the creation of one of China's most important dynasties and reshaped China's history - join us as we talk about executions, how legal systems based on fear are not sustainable, and lacquer. Lots of lacquer. Also, Greg's fighting a cold this week, so expect a few background sniffles. Sources: Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
Welcome back to another season of Chinese Sayings. For the Season 8 opener, we open with a well-known and useful chengyu: Yī Zì Qiān Jīn 一字千金. The story behind this classic from The Record of the Grand Historian features the infamous Lü Buwei, Lady Zhao, and the father of the future first emperor of China, King Zhuangxiang. The Qin State and Dynasty yielded up some fantastic chengyu's over the years. And this is sure one of them. Stay cool everyone, especially all ya'lls in Arizona. Thanks as always to Emma in China's capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome back to another season of Chinese Sayings. For the Season 8 opener, we open with a well-known and useful chengyu: Yī Zì Qiān Jīn 一字千金. The story behind this classic from The Record of the Grand Historian features the infamous Lü Buwei, Lady Zhao, and the father of the future first emperor of China, King Zhuangxiang. The Qin State and Dynasty yielded up some fantastic chengyu's over the years. And this is sure one of them. Stay cool everyone, especially all ya'lls in Arizona. Thanks as always to Emma in China's capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome back to another season of Chinese Sayings. For the Season 8 opener, we open with a well-known and useful chengyu: Yī Zì Qiān Jīn 一字千金. The story behind this classic from The Record of the Grand Historian features the infamous Lü Buwei, Lady Zhao, and the father of the future first emperor of China, King Zhuangxiang. The Qin State and Dynasty yielded up some fantastic chengyu's over the years. And this is sure one of them. Stay cool everyone, especially all ya'lls in Arizona. Thanks as always to Emma in China's capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome back to another season of Chinese Sayings. For the Season 8 opener, we open with a well-known and useful chengyu: Yī Zì Qiān Jīn 一字千金. The story behind this classic from The Record of the Grand Historian features the infamous Lü Buwei, Lady Zhao, and the father of the future first emperor of China, King Zhuangxiang. The Qin State and Dynasty yielded up some fantastic chengyu's over the years. And this is sure one of them. Stay cool everyone, especially all ya'lls in Arizona. Thanks as always to Emma in China's capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
RW Gary Heinmiller is the Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New York and shares his perspective on William Preston's contributions to Masonic ritual. Bro. Gary also weaves in his esoteric research on Masonic Geometry as it relates to the practice of Freemasonry today.Show Links...Visit RW Gary L. Heinmiller digital Masonic archive, the Onondaga and Oswego Masonic District Historical Society... https://omdhs.masonicdigitaltrust.org/ Read RW Heinmiller's writings on Preston's Lectures and Masonic Ritual Philosophy, here...https://craftsmenonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Prestons-Lectures-of-English-Craft-Masonry.pdfhttps://craftsmenonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Freemasonry-And-A-View-Of-The-Perennial-World-Philosophy-RW-Gary-Heinmiller.pdf
James R. Morgan III, Grand Historian and Archivist of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, traces the history of Black Freemasonry in the USA from the 18th century to the present day. Recorded 18th October 2022. Look out on our social feeds for details of upcoming live webinars and how to register or head to Solomon and click "Discover Freemasonry". Twitter: SolomonUGLE Facebook: SolomonUGLE This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm
This week's Chinese Saying is a well-worn one brought to us by none other than Sima Qian, the Grand Historian. Featured in this story are Lian Po, Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, Bai Qi and the whole Battle of Changping. This is the story of Zhǐshàng Tánbīng 紙上談兵, a useful chengyu for all kinds of occasions where the end result doesn't necessarily go according to the carefully crafted plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week's Chinese Saying is a well-worn one brought to us by none other than Sima Qian, the Grand Historian. Featured in this story are Lian Po, Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, Bai Qi and the whole Battle of Changping. This is the story of Zhǐshàng Tánbīng 紙上談兵, a useful chengyu for all kinds of occasions where the end result doesn't necessarily go according to the carefully crafted plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week's Chinese Saying is a well-worn one brought to us by none other than Sima Qian, the Grand Historian. Featured in this story are Lian Po, Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, Bai Qi and the whole Battle of Changping. This is the story of Zhǐshàng Tánbīng 紙上談兵, a useful chengyu for all kinds of occasions where the end result doesn't necessarily go according to the carefully crafted plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week's Chinese Saying is a well-worn one brought to us by none other than Sima Qian, the Grand Historian. Featured in this story are Lian Po, Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, Bai Qi and the whole Battle of Changping. This is the story of Zhǐshàng Tánbīng 紙上談兵, a useful chengyu for all kinds of occasions where the end result doesn't necessarily go according to the carefully crafted plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We've all been in this situation in our lives. Here's one for all seasons. Poor old Zhou Bo was caught ill-prepared when the emperor was grilling him. Enjoy this one, gifted to us by The Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian: Hàn Liú Jiā Bèi 汗流浃背. The weather doesn't need to be hot and humid to relate to this ancient classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We've all been in this situation in our lives. Here's one for all seasons. Poor old Zhou Bo was caught ill-prepared when the emperor was grilling him. Enjoy this one, gifted to us by The Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian: Hàn Liú Jiā Bèi 汗流浃背. The weather doesn't need to be hot and humid to relate to this ancient classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We've all been in this situation in our lives. Here's one for all seasons. Poor old Zhou Bo was caught ill-prepared when the emperor was grilling him. Enjoy this one, gifted to us by The Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian: Hàn Liú Jiā Bèi 汗流浃背. The weather doesn't need to be hot and humid to relate to this ancient classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We've all been in this situation in our lives. Here's one for all seasons. Poor old Zhou Bo was caught ill-prepared when the emperor was grilling him. Enjoy this one, gifted to us by The Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian: Hàn Liú Jiā Bèi 汗流浃背. The weather doesn't need to be hot and humid to relate to this ancient classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For this latest CSP episode, we welcome China's great historian, Sima Qian to the stage where he plays in a starring role in this tragic story behind the well-known Chinese Saying Jiǔ Niú Yī Máo 九牛一毛. One hair from nine oxen. Most Chinese speakers know of this one but not the story behind it. When faced with a tough choice after displeasing Han Emperor Wu, the future Grand Historian, after careful consideration accepted his sad fate and went on to finish the epic history of China from mythical times to the present day in the Han, begun by his father, Sima Tan. Enjoy!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-chinese-sayings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
For this latest CSP episode, we welcome China's great historian, Sima Qian to the stage where he plays in a starring role in this tragic story behind the well-known Chinese Saying Jiǔ Niú Yī Máo 九牛一毛. One hair from nine oxen. Most Chinese speakers know of this one but not the story behind it. When faced with a tough choice after displeasing Han Emperor Wu, the future Grand Historian, after careful consideration accepted his sad fate and went on to finish the epic history of China from mythical times to the present day in the Han, begun by his father, Sima Tan. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Many may still remember the 2002 martial art film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Jet Li. The name is Hero and it is based on the historical event of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the first emperor of China, King of Qin in 227 BC. The original story is explicitly detailed in the Records of The Grand Historian, also known by its Chinese name Shiji(史記). A monumental history of ancient China and the world, it was completed around 94 BC by the Western Han Dynasty official Sima Qian after having been started by his father, Sima Tan, Grand Astrologer to the imperial court. In this episode, we will explore the historical as well as literary values of the Records of the Grand Historian, which is a foundational text in Eastern civilization. Readings:Burton Waston, trans. Records of The Grand Historianfor aficionados in classical Chinese: Shiji(史記)Nicola Di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History This podcast is sponsored by Riverside, the most efficient platform for video recording and editing for podcasters.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show
Join Tim Marotte for his conversation with RW Brother Karl Olson, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire about prominent national and New Hampshire Brethren past and present and how Masonry is seen (or unseen) through their celebrity.
There are many famous emperors in Chinese history, but there are three people, although they are not emperors, they have the same status as emperors, they are Yao, Shun and Yu-- three tribal alliance leaders in ancient times. In today's story, we are going to look at the characteristics of Yao, Shun and Yu. By understanding their characteristics, we can understand why Sima Qian used them as a model and standard for a national leader in the Records of the Grand Historian.Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc. Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com
Here's another good one to remember if your life should temporarily hit the skids and your friends scatter. This one comes from the Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian, who tells us all about Lord Zhai, a loyal and respected public servant during the long reign of Han Emperor Wu.I hope you never have to use this one in your life but keep Mén Kě Luǒ Què 门可罗雀 handy just in case. And take a page out of the Record of the Grand Historian and what Lord Zhai's classy response was to his fair-weather-friends.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-chinese-sayings-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Here's another good one to remember if your life should temporarily hit the skids and your friends scatter. This one comes from the Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian, who tells us all about Lord Zhai, a loyal and respected public servant during the long reign of Han Emperor Wu. I hope you never have to use this one in your life but keep Mén Kě Luǒ Què 门可罗雀 handy just in case. And take a page out of the Record of the Grand Historian and what Lord Zhai's classy response was to his fair-weather-friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our first season discusses the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry as described in Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma: The Annotated Edition". Transcripts, Chapter Markers and Show Notes for all episodes are available from our website - WayOfTheHermit.com.The "Annotated Edition" that we are using in this series contains annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, Grand Historian and Grand Archivist of the Scottish Rite. It is highly recommended that you read the chapter in order to fully follow our discussion. "Morals and Dogma" is available from these sites: Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma: Annotated Edition (to purchase)Morals and Dogma (free but unannotated online PDF)Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma (Audible audiobook for purchase)"Morals and Dogma" is composed of lectures intended to accompany the 32 degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. This episode provides an introduction to the Blue Lodge of Freemasonry, the Scottish Rite and the author of "Morals and Dogma", Albert Pike. It also discusses the Introduction section of the book.Way of the Hermit (Twitter)Way of the Hermit (YouTube)Topic Links:Morals & Dogma (Wikipedia)Albert Pike (Wikipedia)Freemasonry (Wikipedia)Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite (Wikipedia)Grand Lodge of TennesseeTennessee Lodge of ResearchSupreme Council of the Scottish Rite - Southern Jurisdiction
Hallo, this is Prof. Bin Song at Washington College. This unit of the course “Ru and Confucianism” will help you understand when is the beginning of Confucianism, or should we say, the beginning of the Ru tradition, and what the earliest democratic political institution in ancient Chinese civilization looks like.It is an extraordinary task for Ru scholars to talk about the beginning of the tradition. This is because the beginning, as it is described by Ru classics such as the Classic of Documents and discussed by Confucius in the Analects, expresses the ideal of the Ru way of life, and therefore, is more a concept of morality and politics, rather than one of time and history. As one of my favorite ancient Chinese poets, Du Fu (712-770 C.E), mused: the purpose of his poetry-writing is “to help the emperors to become as magnificent as Yao and Shun, and to turn people's morals and customs back to be that simple and amiable.” (?????, ?????)As also indicated by Du Fu's verse, the beginning of the Ru tradition starts from the stories of rulership by the sage-kings, Yao and Shun. The times when these kings lived were respectively called Tang and Yu, and according to the best archeological evidences we can estimate today, we are talking about almost two thousand years before the life of Confucius (551-479 B.C.E).To consider the time of Yao and Shun as the beginning of the Ru tradition does not mean that there is no notable leader prior to Yao and Shun. Instead, if you read histories such as Si Maqian's “The Record of the Grand Historian,” you will find an even older lineage of legendary kings in ancient China, such as King Yan, King Huang, and the King of Fu Xi. However, please remember, Confucius himself is also a historian. Among the six classics he compiled to teach his students, there are one grand history and another local history. The grand history is titled as the Classic of Documents (??), and it is opened with the chapters about Yao and Shun.So, why did Confucius decide to put Yao and Shun at the beginning of the history which matters greatly to the Ru tradition? From Confucius's discussion on related topics in the Analects, we find two reasons: firstly, the factuality of anything beyond the time of Yao and Shun passed down to Confucius's purview was hardly to confirm (Analects 3.0). Secondly, which is more important, the personalities and rulership of Yao and Shun represented an ideal of the Ru way of life so that later Ruists can take this ideal as a supreme guidance to evaluate, live through, and contribute to varying regimes, societies and times (Analects 8.19, 15.5). In this sense, the stories of Yao and Shun, together with the one of Duke of Zhou whom we will focus on later, are major resources of Confucius's thought, and should be studied carefully by students interested in the Ru tradition today.Understood in this way, the crucial lesson we need to learn about the stories of Yao and Shun is: what kind of ideal of Ruism did they represent? To answer this question, we will focus upon Yao in this episode, and Shun in next one.Do you still remember the text we once read about the Great Learning? It lays out a very concrete program of self-cultivation and social engagement for a Ru learner, starting from cultivating inner excellences, proceeding through loving and renewing the people, and aiming finally at abiding in the highest good, which is elaborated as peace and harmony throughout the world. Now, let's read the opening paragraph of the Classic of Documents, and see how extraordinarily these two texts are related:“Yao was reverential, intelligent, cultured, and thoughtful – naturally and without effort. He was sincerely courteous, and capable of all deference. The bright (influence of these qualities) was felt through the four quarters (of the land), and reached to (heaven) above and (earth) beneath. He made the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of (all in) the nine classes of his kindred, who (thus) became harmonious. He (also) regulated and polished the people (of his domain), who all became brightly enlightened. (Finally), he united and harmonized the myriad states; and so the black-haired people were transformed. The result was (universal) concord.” (Adapted from translation of James Legge)In other words, Yao started to cultivate himself with all needed qualities to live a self-content personal life, and to govern a country well. Then, he was dedicated to aligning his extensive family; finally, he influenced the people beyond his family, and succeeded to unite a myriad of states under the heaven! Because he did this so well, he looked “natural and without effort” while achieving all of these! This effortless achievement was described by later Ruists as embodying the virtue of “non-action” (wu-wei), a sign of the highest moral achievement of a Ruist sage.If you continue to read these opening chapters of the Classic of Documents, you will find details of Yao's policies by which he could achieve this effortless good governance. For instances, he appointed able and virtuous talents to varying governmental posts, and set reasonable rules for the promotion of these governmental officials; he cherished the value of education, and established offices to take charge of educating the people, particularly about how to better human relationships within families; he also governed the country primarily through the moral impacts generated by virtuous leadership, elegant music and rites, while secondarily through establishing laws and punishments.However, although these ways of governance by Yao all represent the Ru ideal to a certain degree, none of them can surpass the influence of the institution called “abdication,” (??) which is about how to transition the supreme political power to the next King.According to the Classic of Documents, when Yao turned into old, he summoned an assembly of regional leaders to decide how to transition his power to next king. Firstly, these leaders recommend the son of Yao, but Yao denied it because he thought his son was not good enough to be a candidate. Then, all these leaders recommended Gun, a regional leader in an aristocratic family; although Yao did not quite agree with this either, he finally yielded to the majority opinion of the assembly. However, after nine years of probation, Gun failed to prove that he was an ideal candidate mainly because he did not stop the big flood in those years. Then, Yao had to summon the assembly again, and said it can recommend a bright man even if this entails “ to raise a person who is poor and lives remotely.” (?????). Eventually, the assembly recommended Shun, who was a very poor man in the lowest class but became well-known because of his filial conduct within his family. Then, Yao accepted this candidate and started another long period of probation until Shun's final appointment.As constructed by contemporary scholars, the procedure of this institution of abdication possibly consists of six steps.First, leaders from different regions of a country will form an assembly of representatives;Second, the assembly, together with the incumbent king, will nominate multiple candidates for the future king;Third, the nominated candidates have a chance to answer raised questions for entering the next step;Fourth, after the Q&A test, the assembly and the king will decide collectively through a majority vote who will be appointed to different levels and posts of government for a long “probation” period of three to thirteen years per cases we know;Fifth, at the end of this probation period, the incumbent king will decide whether to accept the candidate as the head of the government;Sixth, if approved by the king, the candidate will be the head of the government, and when the incumbent king passes away, the head of the government will become the new king. During the tenure of the head of government, the king-elect does not have the power to appoint new officials until the incumbent king passes away.Given these six steps of abdication, anyone familiar with the imperial history of ancient China will find how distinguishing it is. The later Chinese history is one of dynasty after dynasty, and each dynasty is ruled by a royal family with its distinctive surname. These royal families either overthrew the previous dynasty or unified a disintegrated country through sword and blood. Within a given dynasty, the transition of supreme political power from one emperor to another is largely following the rule of the inheritance by the eldest son, but not without cruel and violent political struggles for it.In contrast, the institution of abdication prevalent in the time of Yao and Shun succeeded in transitioning power with peace, and the balancing power from the assembly of regional leaders also gives us a glimpse into how the idea of “democracy” is not entirely alien to the minds in the earliest stage of Chinese civilization. More importantly, the willingness of Yao to yield his power to a poor commoner with an entirely different family name from him speaks to one most important Ruist principle of ideal politics: that is “to respect worthies” (??), which means to guarantee that the most able and virtuous people can be appointed to the governmental positions fit for their talents. In the later development of Ruist political philosophy, this “human” element was also thought of as the most important one for good governance within a fixed political institution.Unfortunately, this earliest democratic institution of abdication does not last long. As you may have noticed, the supreme leader, the king, still held a mighty power in the system, so if his power grows out of balance, it will be easy for him to pass on the power to his son, and thus, end this institution once for all. This was exactly what happened to the successor of Shun, namely, Yu, who passed on his throne to his son, who established a new dynasty called Xia. And starting from Xia, Chinese history waved farewell to the ideal politics of Yao and Shun, and became one of dynastic politics dominated by competing royal families. In this later type of imperial politics, the best Ruist scholars can aspire for is, as Du Fu's poetry indicated, to help their emperor to return to be like Yao and Shun, but these scholars would never be able to dream to be the emperor themselves. Because of this, the original Ruist principle of “respecting worthies” central to the earliest democratic ideal is also dramatically undermined.In a contemporary perspective, the most effective political regime we know so far which can achieve peaceful transition of political power is the western type of liberal democracy. However, the reason why liberal democracy can achieve this is based upon multiple institutions supporting its key ideal of government for the people, which include the universal suffrage, the competition among multiple parties, the check-balance among governmental branches, etc. In comparison, the most original form of democracy in ancient Chinese civilization, the abdication, still predominantly relied upon the personal choice of the supreme leader, and although it contained some democratic element, its institution was still very premature regarding its lack of those corresponding supporting systems in contemporary liberal democracy. However, even so, the central idea of “respecting worthies” based upon a system of meritocracy and power balance still sheds a great light upon even those contemporary practices of liberal democracy. Today, what Ruist scholars are particularly concerned is how to incorporate this uniquely Ruist meritocratic and democratic political philosophy into the contemporary practices of liberal democracy so as to perfect it and make it more fit for facing the challenges of human society today. In this regard, I hope the study of the most original democratic idea at the beginning of the Ruist history will bring much inspiration.References:Book of Yu ??, translated by James Legge.???, “?????”, ????????2003??3?, pp.125-150.Further Recommended Reading:Sungmoon Kim, “Confucian Constitutionalism: Mencius and Xunzi on Virtue, Ritual, and Royal Transmission,” The Review of Politics, Vol. 73, No.3 (Summer 2011), pp. 371-399.
Morals & Dogma Part 5d -31° – Inspector Inquisitor - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_Dogma_of_the_Ancient_and_Accepted_Scottish_Rite_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-5:2
Morals & Dogma Part 5e -32° – Master Of The Royal Secret - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_Dogma_of_the_Ancient_and_Accepted_Scottish_Rite_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-5:2
Morals & Dogma Part 5c -30° – Knight Kadosh - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_Dogma_of_the_Ancient_and_Accepted_Scottish_Rite_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-5:2
Morals & Dogma Part 5b -29° – Scottish Knight Of St. Andrew - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_Dogma_of_the_Ancient_and_Accepted_Scottish_Rite_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-5:2
Morals & Dogma Part 5a -28° – Knight Of The Sun Or Prince Adept - 4 - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_Dogma_of_the_Ancient_and_Accepted_Scottish_Rite_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-5:2
Morals & Dogma Part 4d -28° – Knight Of The Sun Or Prince Adept - Part 1-3 - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Do…ok-by-Albert-Pike-4:7
Morals & Dogma Part 4c -27° – Knight Commander Of The Temple - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Do…ok-by-Albert-Pike-4:7
Morals & Dogma Part 3g -25° – Knight Of The Brazen Serpent - 1 - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Do…ok-by-Albert-Pike-3:1
Morals & Dogma Part 4b -26° –Prince Of Mercy - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-4:7
Morals & Dogma Part 4a -25° – Knight Of The Brazen Serpent - 2 - Albert Pike - Audioboy [Audio missing from "Sun's youth and creative vigor at the Vernal Equinox." on page 347 all the way to page 376 where the next chapter starts.] Text found here: http://pictoumasons.org/library/Pike%2C%20Albert%20~%20Morals%20and%20Dogma%20%5Bpdf%5D.pdf audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-4:7
Morals & Dogma Part 3e -23° – Chief Of The Tabernacle - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-3:1
Morals & Dogma Part 3f -24° – Prince Of The Tabernacle - Albert Pike - Audioboy audioboy279.com/ The Audioboy project. An anti-authoritarian community based initiative focused on creating a library of audiobooks for truth seekers and free speech advocates. All content on this channel is free to download, share, or repost. Your support is much appreciated. Truth, audiobooks, for the people. --- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with the benefit of annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Pike plagiarized or quoted without attribution content for the book from French occultist Éliphas Lévi's 1854-1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morals_and_…e_of_Freemasonry Audio taken from: https://lbry.tv/@audioboy:7/Morals-Dogma-Audiobook-by-Albert-Pike-3:1
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/rQ7zHwBvOBE Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel and RWB Trevor McKeown the Grand Historian of the GL of BC&Yukon as we have a conversation with the Deputy Grand Master of Washington, RWB Cameron Bailey about his latest article in "That Which Can Not Be Defended" You can view RWB Cameron's blog at: https://write.as/cmbailey/ Follow us on Facebook! http://Facebook.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: http://Anchor.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com iTunes: http://itunes.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com GOOGLE PODCASTS: http://Google.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com SPOTIFY: http://Spotify.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com STITCHER: http://Stitcher.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. Music: www.bensound.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/HNW2OW_EzN4 Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel and RWB Trevor McKeown the Grand Historian of the GL of BC&Yukon as we have a conversation with and learn about the Deputy Grand Master of Washington, RWB Cameron Bailey. Follow us on Facebook! http://Facebook.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: http://Anchor.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com iTunes: http://itunes.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com GOOGLE PODCASTS: http://Google.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com SPOTIFY: http://Spotify.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com STITCHER: http://Stitcher.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. Music: www.bensound.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/Q2pOm9evT6M Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, WB Steven Chung, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel as we enjoy our Blue Room discussion with RWB Moises Gomez, the Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. Follow us on Facebook! http://Facebook.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: http://Anchor.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com iTunes: http://itunes.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com GOOGLE PODCASTS: http://Google.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com SPOTIFY: http://Spotify.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com STITCHER: http://Stitcher.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. Music: www.bensound.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/V5rtojwnGIw Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; WB Steven Chung, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel as we talk with RWB Moises Gomez the current Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey. Follow us on Facebook! http://Facebook.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: http://Anchor.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com iTunes: http://itunes.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com GOOGLE PODCASTS: http://Google.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com SPOTIFY: http://Spotify.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com STITCHER: http://Stitcher.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. Music: www.bensound.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/1gDx9Ygjn78 Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, WB Steven Chung, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel as we talk with RWB Moises Gomez the Grand Historian New Jersey. Follow us on Facebook! http://Facebook.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: http://Anchor.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com iTunes: http://itunes.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com GOOGLE PODCASTS: http://Google.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com SPOTIFY: http://Spotify.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com STITCHER: http://Stitcher.TheWorkingToolsPodcast.com DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. Music: www.bensound.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
Taiwan Accent - Chinese Classical Literature▪台灣腔 中國古典文學 ▪ 台湾腔 中国古典文学
清世祖,膺景命,靖四方,克大定。 由康雍,歷乾嘉,民安富,治績誇。 道咸間,變亂起,始英法,擾都鄙。 同光後,宣統弱,傳九帝,清朝歿。 清世祖,膺景命,靖四方,克大定。 由康雍,历乾嘉,民安富,治绩夸。 道咸间,变乱起,始英法,扰都鄙。 同光后,宣统弱,传九帝,清朝殁。 Qīng shìzǔ, yīng jǐng mìng, jìng sìfāng, kè dà dìng. Yóu kāng yōng, lì gān jiā, mín ānfù, zhì jī kuā. Dào xián jiān, biànluàn qǐ, shǐ yīngfǎ, rǎo dū bǐ. Tóng guāng hòu, xuāntǒng ruò, chuán jiǔ dì, qīngcháo mò. ------------------------------------------------------------------ < English Translation> At the end of the Qing Dynasty, many people began to advocate for a violent revolution to ultimately overthrow the monarchy. Eventually, the dynasty was overthrown following the Xinhai Revolution. The feudal monarchy was abolished and a republican government was later established. One can learn the history from ancient times to modern times, study the reasons behind the rise and fall of a dynasty and learn lessons from history. When reading historical books, one should follow the right order, that is, starting with Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian). Han Shu (History of the Former Han Dynasty), and followed by Hou Han Shu (History of the Later Han Dynasty), and San Guo Zhi (Records of Three Kingdoms). When reading these classics, one should also turn to the literature, such as the works of Zi Zhi Tong Jian (Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government) for reference, so as to fully understand the history and reflect on history. < Explanation in simplified> 清朝衰落,革命兴起。辛亥革命推翻了清朝统治,废除了封建君主专 制,实行法治,建立了中华民国。从上古到近代的历史大致如此,通过学习历史,我们可以了解各个朝代治乱兴衰的过程,以史为鉴。读史书要掌握次序,先读《史记》《汉书》,再读《后汉书》《三国志》。读的同时还要查证经书,参考《资治通鉴》,以便更好地理解和反思历史。 < Explanation in traditional> 清朝衰落,革命興起。辛亥革命推翻了清朝統治,廢除了封建君主專 制,實行法治,建立了中華民國。從上古到近代的歷史大致如此,通過學習歷史,我們可以了解各個朝代治亂興衰的過程,以史為鑑。讀史書要掌握次序,先讀《史記》《漢書》,再讀《後漢書》《三國志》。讀的同時還要查證經書,參考《資治通鑑》,以便更好地理解和反思歷史。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to leave a message, thought, suggestion, feedback to me. 如果你对内容有任何问题,想法,建议,都可以留言给我 https://open.firstory.me/story/ck9v7bjsoqivi0873td4ux1gc?m=comment It would be a big help if you kindly support my channel with a cup of coffee 欢迎买杯咖杯赞助我的频道,你的小小支持是我的大大帮助 ☕ https://pay.firstory.me/user/taiwanaccent Powered by Firstory Hosting
RWB Andrew Melillo, the Grand Historian of CT, shares with us his historical findings on how our brothers were handling the Spanish Flu and how that relates to today's Covid-19 pandemic. He also talked about the importance of capturing the records of our past and present so we can better share our stories in the future. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nickives/message
Ginger Hicks Smith, Emory, lifelong Tri Delta volunteer and leader, gives a historical perspective of major challenges in our history. Turning back the pages of Tri Delta’s archives, Ginger focuses on three time periods that impacted our organization – World War I, The Great Depression and World War II. Each situation provided Tri Delta opportunities for growth, passionately serve others and support our sisters. Tri Delta was able to weather each storm and continued to thrive as a brave, bold and kind organization for women. https://www.tridelta.org/about/history/Correction: Bessie Leach Priddy, Grand Historian, and Hortense Imboden Hudson, National Vice President, presided over the 1919 Convention in place of National President R. Louise Fitch, who was still overseas engaged in war work
In this episode we look at Mao Zedong’s childhood, family background, and see what he was thinking in 1912. Further reading:Edgar Snow, Red Star Over ChinaStuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 1: The Pre-Marxist Period, 1912-1920Lee Feigon, Mao: A ReinterpretationJonathan Spence, Mao Zedong: A Life Some names from this episode:Ba Jin, anarchist novelist who wrote The FamilyShang Yang, founder of the Legalist schoolSima Qian, author of Records of the Grand Historian
The Working Tools Podcast https://youtu.be/tVMZu9kU3Uw Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, WB Steven Chung, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel as we welcome VWB Trevor W. McKeown, Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon as we discuss Masonic Landmarks, and more specifically the Ancient Landmarks compiled by Albert Mackey in 1858. For some good background on the Ancient Landmarks, the Grand Lodge of BC & Yukon has several pages devoted to the discussion here: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/grandlodge/landmarks.html Music: www.bensound.com Follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/workingtoolspodcast/ Join our Discord Server! https://discord.gg/MSP59zg Podcast rebroadcasts: ANCHOR.fm: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast GOOGLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9jNTgzOWY4L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2badGvl0C5JWwHMzuySQrS STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/the-working-tools-podcast iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-working-tools-podcast/id1470810240 DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
We continue our chronological retelling of Chinese history from very beginning. Our story begins with monumental work on ancient Chinese history, The Records of the Grand Historian. The Record begins with stories of 5 Emperors, a lost Golden Age of Ideal sage rulers according Confucian canonical history. I will tell the tale and deconstruct it...
Join the Working Tools Podcast Team; Bro. Connor Massey, WB Steven Chung, VWB David Colbeth & VWB Matthew Appel our newest guest host, as we welcome VWB Trevor W. McKeown, Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon as we discuss Masonic Landmarks, and more specifically the Ancient Landmarks compiled by Albert Mackey in 1858. For some good background on the Ancient Landmarks, the Grand Lodge of BC & Yukon has several pages devoted to the discussion here: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/grandlodge/landmarks.html Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/theworkingtoolspodcast Follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/workingtoolspodcast/ Join our Discord Server! https://discord.gg/MSP59zg PODCAST REBROADCASTS: ANCHOR.fm: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast GOOGLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9jNTgzOWY4L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2badGvl0C5JWwHMzuySQrS STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/the-working-tools-podcast iTunes: Coming Soon! DISCLAIMER: Our opinions are our own, and do not reflect the opinions or stances of the various Grand Lodges or regular Lodges around the world. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theworkingtoolspodcast/support
He wasn't quite the man who invented history in China, but he certainly shaped it for thousands of years. Author of the Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian), Sima Qian told the history of China in the 2nd century BC in way nobody had done before; interviewing participants, influencing views on who was good and bad. History has always been political in China, and Sima Qian was one of the first writers to show how that politics worked, whether the powerful liked it or not. His objectivity got him into big trouble at court - when he confronted the emperor, he was subjected to a horrific and humiliating punishment. For Sima Qian, writing history came at a price. Presenter: Rana Mitter Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.
What happened in Masonic History Today? Today in Masonic History David Rowland Francis passes away in 1927. http://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=1&new_day=15&new_year=2017 Today we have R:.W:. Bro. Walter Hunt back on the show who is the Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. He joins us today to go in depth on a website he has spent the last 8 years working on for the benefit of all Masons. Join us to learn more about this amazing site MasonicGenealogy.com Historical Light is brought to you in part by Masonic Revival and viewers like you. Be sure to visit www.MasonicRevival.com to find Quality, Unique, Masonic merchandise that you will be proud to wear. Let’s start a Masonic Revival, Together! Use our Promo code HLIGHT to get FREE shipping! Want your company announced on the show? Contact Alex@HistoricalLight.com for more information on sponsorship slots. If you enjoy our work here and would like to contribute to the show you can do so on our website www.HistoricalLight.com by clicking on the “Support the Show” tab in the main menu then click on “Donate”. You can easily setup a convenient one time or recurring donation to the show. All proceeds received go directly back into the show to help offset the overall costs such as web hosting, audio podcast hosting, equipment upkeep, etc. We sincerely appreciate your patronism and continued support! http://www.historicallight.com/support/ Order an official Historical Light Lapel Pin to support the show! WE NOW HAVE OFFICIAL HISTORICAL LIGHT SHIRTS FOR SALE! Http://www.HistoricalLight.com/Shop **Photo Credits: Wikipedia Masonrytoday.com
In this episode we talk with the Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
What happened in Masonic History Today? Today in Masonic History Arthur Edward Waite is born in 1857. http://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php... Today we chat with Bro. James Morgan III. Bro Morgan is a respected Masonic Historian, Co Host on The Prince Hall Think Tank, as well as the Assoc. W:. Grand Historian and Archivist for the Prince Hall jurisdiction in Washington DC. Today's topic originated from some research for a family reunion that aided him in stumbling upon some compelling history of Prince Hall Masonry here in Kansas. He went on to write a very well researched paper on the topic titled “A Worthy Adversary”. We are pleased to have him on the show today to cover this great topic. Email: jrmorgan919@aol.com Prince Hall Think Tank airs the last Sunday of each month https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCksk... Historical Light is brought to you in part by Masonic Revival and viewers like you. Be sure to visit www.MasonicRevival.com to find Quality, Unique, Masonic merchandise that you will be proud to wear. Let’s start a Masonic Revival, Together! Use our Promo code HLIGHT to get FREE shipping! If you enjoy our work here and would like to contribute to the show you can do so on our website www.HistoricalLight.com by clicking on the “Support the Show” tab in the main menu then click on “Donate”. You can easily setup a convenient one time or recurring donation to the show. All proceeds received go directly back into the show to help offset the overall costs such as web hosting, audio podcast hosting, equipment upkeep, etc. We sincerely appreciate your patronism and continued support! http://www.historicallight.com/support/ Order an official Historical Light Lapel Pin to support the show! WE NOW HAVE OFFICIAL HISTORICAL LIGHT SHIRTS FOR SALE! Http://www.HistoricalLight.com/Shop **Photo Credits: Wikipedia Masonrytoday.com Bro. James Morgan III
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China. This mausoleum was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC, and is situated underneath a 76-meter-tall tomb mound shaped like a truncated pyramid. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on the Qin capital Xianyang, divided into inner and outer cities. The circumference of the inner city is 2.5 km (1.55 miles) and the outer is 6.3 km (3.9 miles). The tomb is located in the southwest of the inner city and faces east. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts is the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum.The tomb itself has not yet been excavated. Archaeological explorations currently concentrate on various sites of the extensive necropolis surrounding the tomb, including the Terracotta Army to the east of the tomb mound.[2] The Terracotta Army served as a garrison to the mausoleum and has yet to be completely excavated.Work on the mausoleum began soon after Emperor Qin ascended the throne in 246 BC when he was still aged 13, although its full-scale construction only started after he had conquered the six other major states and unified China in 221 BC. The source of the account of the construction of the mausoleum and its description came from Sima Qian in chapter six of his Records of the Grand Historian, which contains the biography of Qin Shi Huang.In the ninth month, the First Emperor was interred at Mount Li. When the First Emperor first came to the throne, the digging and preparation work began at Mount Li. Later, when he had unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug through three layers of groundwater, and poured in bronze for the outer coffin. Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representation of the heavenly constellations, below, the features of the land. Candles were made from fat of "man-fish", which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time. The Second Emperor said: "It would be inappropriate for the concubines of the late emperor who have no sons to be out free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the mechanical devices and knew of its treasures were to divulge those secrets. Therefore, after the funeral ceremonies had completed and the treasures hidden away, the inner passageway was blocked, and the outer gate lowered, immediately trapping all the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. Trees and vegetations were then planted on the tomb mound such that it resembles a hill.— Sima Qian, Shiji, Chapter 6.Some scholars believe that the claim of having "dug through three layers of groundwater" to be figurative. It is also uncertain what the "man-fish" in the text refers to, interpretation of the term varies from whale to walrus and other aquatic animals such as giant salamander. Before the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was completed, a peasant rebellion broke out during the late Qin dynasty. Zhang Han redeployed all the 700,000-people building the mausoleum to suppress the rebellion, so the construction of the mausoleum ceased. After Xiang Yu entered Xianyang, he is said to have looted the tomb. Afterwards, it is said that a shepherd unintentionally burnt down the underground palace of the mausoleum. The story goes that he went into a cave of the mausoleum, dug by Xiang Yu, to look for his sheep with a torch in his hand, and a fire was started, burning away all the remaining tomb structures. No solid evidence of this has been
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China. This mausoleum was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC, and is situated underneath a 76-meter-tall tomb mound shaped like a truncated pyramid. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on the Qin capital Xianyang, divided into inner and outer cities. The circumference of the inner city is 2.5 km (1.55 miles) and the outer is 6.3 km (3.9 miles). The tomb is located in the southwest of the inner city and faces east. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts is the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum. The tomb itself has not yet been excavated. Archaeological explorations currently concentrate on various sites of the extensive necropolis surrounding the tomb, including the Terracotta Army to the east of the tomb mound.[2] The Terracotta Army served as a garrison to the mausoleum and has yet to be completely excavated. Work on the mausoleum began soon after Emperor Qin ascended the throne in 246 BC when he was still aged 13, although its full-scale construction only started after he had conquered the six other major states and unified China in 221 BC. The source of the account of the construction of the mausoleum and its description came from Sima Qian in chapter six of his Records of the Grand Historian, which contains the biography of Qin Shi Huang. In the ninth month, the First Emperor was interred at Mount Li. When the First Emperor first came to the throne, the digging and preparation work began at Mount Li. Later, when he had unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug through three layers of groundwater, and poured in bronze for the outer coffin. Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representation of the heavenly constellations, below, the features of the land. Candles were made from fat of "man-fish", which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time. The Second Emperor said: "It would be inappropriate for the concubines of the late emperor who have no sons to be out free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the mechanical devices and knew of its treasures were to divulge those secrets. Therefore, after the funeral ceremonies had completed and the treasures hidden away, the inner passageway was blocked, and the outer gate lowered, immediately trapping all the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. Trees and vegetations were then planted on the tomb mound such that it resembles a hill. — Sima Qian, Shiji, Chapter 6. Some scholars believe that the claim of having "dug through three layers of groundwater" to be figurative. It is also uncertain what the "man-fish" in the text refers to, interpretation of the term varies from whale to walrus and other aquatic animals such as giant salamander. Before the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was completed, a peasant rebellion broke out during the late Qin dynasty. Zhang Han redeployed all the 700,000-people building the mausoleum to suppress the rebellion, so the construction of the mausoleum ceased. After Xiang Yu entered Xianyang, he is said to have looted the tomb. Afterwards, it is said that a shepherd unintentionally burnt down the underground palace of the mausoleum. The story goes that he went into a cave of the mausoleum, dug by Xiang Yu, to look for his sheep with a torch in his hand, and a fire was started, burning away all the remaining tomb structures. No solid evidence of this has been
What happened in Masonic History Today? Today in Masonic History Mark Odom Hatfield passes away in 2011. http://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=8&new_day=07&new_year=2016 In this episode, we sit down with Bro. Walter H. Hunt, the Grand Historian for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts as he brings us to light on the history of Freemasonry within his state. You are sure to love this episode as Brother Hunt is another one of those guys you could easily chat with for days. It is clear to see his passion and devotion to the work of the craft. http://massfreemasonry.org/ http://masonicgenealogy.com/ Alex has another big speaking engagement coming soon on August 19th in Topeka, Ks. He will be presenting at the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education. This is a large, respected, and quality conference between 13 midwestern Masonic jurisdictions. This event is rarely held in Kansas and is featuring a pretty epic speaker line up including Bro. Powers as a special lunchtime presenter who will be speaking on the topic “Examining the Craft: Then, Now, and Yet to Come”. Get your tickets TODAY! http://www.kansasmason.org/news-and-events/event-registrations/ Historical Light is brought to you in part by Masonic Revival and viewers like you. Be sure to visit www.MasonicRevival.com to find Quality, Unique, Masonic merchandise that you will be proud to wear. Let’s start a Masonic Revival, Together! Use our Promo code HLIGHT to get FREE shipping! If you enjoy our work here and would like to contribute to the show you can do so on our websitewww.HistoricalLight.com by clicking on the “Support the Show” tab in the main menu then click on “Donate”. You can easily setup a convenient one time or recurring donation to the show. All proceeds received go directly back into the show to help offset the overall costs such as web hosting, audio podcast hosting, equipment upkeep, etc. We sincerely appreciate your patronism and continued support! http://www.historicallight.com/support/ Order an official Historical Light Lapel Pin to support the show! WE NOW HAVE OFFICIAL HISTORICAL LIGHT SHIRTS FOR SALE! Http://www.HistoricalLight.com/Shop **Photo Credits: Wikipedia Masonrytoday.com
An interview with Michael Brantley, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons of North Carolina. Brantley discusses Freemasonry in the Tar Heel State and describes two large murals by artist Allyn Cox in the Grand Lodge that depict key events and figures in its history.