Category: Chinese Religion and Philosophy

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The Future is the Past: The Beliefs of the Shang

The Shang dynasty is the earliest ancient Chinese dynasty that is shown through archaeological evidence to have actually existed. Excavations at the ruins of the final capital of the Shang, Yin (near modern-day Anyang in Henan Province) uncovered eleven royal tombs, the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, weapons, the remains of both animal and human sacrifices and thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts. The beliefs of the Shang underpinned their society.

Read on to find out more about their religion, divination. 

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Ye Xian: The Chinese Cinderella (Part 2)

The tale of Cinderella is famous all around the world, and almost every country has a different version of the story. The Chinese version is the story of Ye Xian (in Chinese: 叶限 Yè xiàn), first written down around 860AD.

Listen to part one of the story and find out more about it here.

Read on to find out more about the story and listen to part 2 of our narration!

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Chinese Stories: Mencius’ Mother Moves Three Times

Mencius (Meng Zi 孟子 372 – 289 BC) was a Chinese philosopher and probably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself – he is called “the second sage” after all! The story of Mencius’ Mother Moves Three Times (in Chinese 孟母三遷 mèng mǔ sān qiān) was intended to show the importance of the right environment to a child’s upbringing.

Read on to find out more about the story and listen to our narration!

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