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Bronze Zhou Cooking Vessel
A Western Zhou ceremonial bronze of cooking-vessel form inscribed to record that the King of Zhou gave a fiefdom to Shi You, ordering that he inherit the title as well as the land and people living there. Bronze Gui of Shi You (food container...

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Western Zhou Ritual Vessel
Bronze ritual vessel, Western Zhou Dynasty, 1100-1000 BCE. Henan Province, China. The ancient Chinese tradition of preparing ceremonial meals for ancestors dates back to the Shang dynasty (1500-1050 BCE). An inscription inside this bowl...

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Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE) was a brief one with only two reigning emperors but it managed to unify China following the split of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. As had happened previously in Chinese history, a short-lived dynasty...

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Song Dynasty
The Song (aka Sung) dynasty ruled China from 960 to 1279 CE with the reign split into two periods: the Northern Song (960-1125 CE) and Southern Song (1125-1279 CE). The Northern Song ruled a largely united China from their capital at Kaifeng...

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

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Teng Shih
Teng Shih (l. c. 500 BCE) was a Chinese Sophist and lawyer who lived and wrote in the province of Cheng (Pengcheng, modern-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu province) during the era of the Spring and Autumn Period (c. 772-476 BCE) which preceded the Warring...

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Religion in Ancient China
Religious practices in ancient China go back over 7,000 years. Long before the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Confucius and Lao-Tzu developed or before the teachings of the Buddha came to China, the people worshipped personifications...

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The Eastern Perspective on the Trinity
All too often, the Eastern perspective on the Trinity is mistakenly overlooked by Western society in the study of Church History. This is unfortunate, for men like Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390 CE) and John of Damascus (676–749 CE) offered...

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Third Dynasty of Egypt
The Third Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2670-2613 BCE) begins with king Djoser, famous for his Step Pyramid at Saqqara. Although there are some sources which claim a king named Sanakht (also known as Nebra) founded the Third Dynasty, these claims...

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Ptolemaic Dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Macedonian royal family that ruled Ptolemaic Egypt from 323 to 30 BCE. It was founded by Ptolemy I, a general and successor of Alexander the Great. They built Alexandria, including the Lighthouse of Alexandria...