Enlightenment Age in History of China

The Enlightenment Age refers to the period preceded by the Prehistoric Age and followed by the Xia dynasty (2070 B.C.-1600 B.C.) in Chinese history, when the earliest Chinese civilization took into form in the Yellow River area of Central China. The history in the Enlightenment Age was closely related to the ancient fairy tales, of which two most well-known ones were the Creation of the World by Pan Gu and the Creation of Men by Goddess Nvwa, and the tales have been passed down to the later generations from mouth to mouth and have had a great influence on the traditional Chinese culture.

The legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were the semi-mythological clan-rulers and the outstanding culture heroes before the Xia dynasty. It's generally considered that the Three Sovereigns are Sui Ren, Fu Xi, Yan Di and the Five Emperors refer to Huang Di, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao and Shun. Yan Di had a fierce battle with Chiyou tribe for territory, and he was wounded in the battle and asked Huang Di for help. Huang Di won the decisive victory over Chiyou tribe in the battle of Zhuolu (present Hebei Province) by allying the other clan-leaders. In the following years, a conflict between Huang Di and Yan Di broke out, and the former defeated the later in the battle of Banquan and unified the other tribes.

The son and grandson of Huang Di, Zhuan Xu and Di Ku, remained as leaders of the tribe successively, followed by Yao (the Son of Di Ku), who was a wise leader and established the Abdicating System (non-hereditary imperial succession), so Shun was chosen as Yao's successor. It was said that the deluge spread without restriction during the reign of Shun, and Gun (father of Yu the Great) led the people to fight it under Shun's order, resulting in failure. Shun sentenced Gun to death and cut his head off in anger, and Yu (son of Gun) was chosen to fight the deluge. Instead of blocking the water with soil (as Gun did), Yu tamed the deluge eventually through diverting the river into the sea step by step, and he was chosen as the leader of the tribe by Shun for his great contribution to all the people, so the later generations call him Yu the Great to show respect toward him.

Qi (the son of Yu) killed the clan-leader appointed by Yu and abolished the Abdicating System after the death of Yu the Great, claiming himself the governor of the tribe and establishing the first hereditary dynasty - the Xia dynasty, which is also first slavery dynasty in Chinese history and followed by the Shang dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.).

We provide more information for the visitors who are interested in the Shang Dynasty and the history of China, for more information, please visit my website.

View the original article here

Qin and Han Dynasties in History of China

Ying Zheng (ruler of Qin state) defeated the other six states and established the Qin dynasty (221-206) in 221 B.C., which is the first centralized feudal country in China, and he regarded himself far greater than the previous clan-leaders (the so called Three Sovereigns and Five "Emperors") from the prehistoric age, so he claimed himself Emperor Qinshihuang (meaning the first emperor of China) and chose Xianyang (the present Xi'an) as the capital.

A series of far-reaching reforms were conducted during the reign of Emperor Qinshihuang, including establishing the centralization system, introducing a uniformity of weights, measures and Chinese characters, which still have a substantial influence on the people today. Emperor Qinshihuang ordered to build great constructions during his reign as well, including the imperial road, Afang Palace, the Great Wall and his own mausoleum, of which the most well-known one is the Great Wall that stretched from Lintao in the east and Liaodong in the east to resist the attacks from the nomadic tribes in the north. Great importance was attached to the law and the legalist (a school of thought in Warring States Period) Li Si was appointed chancellor to carry out reforms by Emperor Qinshihuang. Under Li Si's proposal, the books of different schools (except Legalist School) were burnt, some Confucian scholars were buried alive and the weapons were taken over by Emperor Qinshihuang.

Emperor Qinshihuang died all of a sudden on his royal progress in 210 B.C., and Hu Hai (the second son of Emperor Qinshihuang) ascended the throne by killing the crown prince Fu Su (the oldest son of Emperor Qinshihuang), claiming himself Emperor Ershi (meaning the second emperor of China). Owning to Emperor Ershi's despotic rule,

Dazexiang Uprising led by Chen Sheng broke out and the previous minister officials of the other Six States rebelled ten month later. Liu Bang rose in revolt and captured Xi'an in 206 B.C., and the last Emperor Ziying of the Qin dyasnty surrendered to Li Bang, resulting in the fall of the Qin dynasty. The war between Chu State led by Xiang Yu and the Han Sate led by Liu Bang broke out in the following years, ending with the death of Xiang Yu.

Liu Bang ascended the throne and established the Han dynasty (206-220) with Chang'an (present Xi'an) as capital, ushering a new era in the history of mankind. A series of policies were taken to reduce corvee and taxes and great importance was attached to farming and manufacturing at the beginning and in the middle age of the Han dynasty, which greatly stimulated the rapid development in economy, culture and military. The Han dynasty was at its peak during the reign of Emperor Wudi, which was titled "One of the Four Great Empires in the World" in addition to the Roman Empire, Anxi Empire and Guishuang Empire, and Emperor Wudi sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions as an envoy, opening up the world-famous Silk-Road and promoting the culture communication between China and the Western countries.

We provide more information for the visitors who are interested in the Shang Dynasty and the history of China, for more information, please visit my website.

View the original article here

Pre-Qin Period in History of China

With a time span of over 1,800 years, the Pre-Qin Period (2,100 B.C.-221 B.C.) refers to the period preceding the Qin dynasty (221-206) in Chinese history, and it goes through 3 different historical stages, namely, the Xia dynasty (2070 B.C.-1600 B.C.), the Shang dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.), the Zhou dynasty (1046 B.C.- 221 B.C.), during which the great ancient Chinese people created glorious civilization with their intelligence and hard working, including the inscription on oracle bones from the Xia-Shang dynasties and the bronze wares from the Shang-Zhou dynasties, and these cultural relics become the historical symbols of the ancient Chinese civilization.

The earliest hereditary dynasty in Chinese history, the Xia dynasty, was established by Qi (son of Yu the Great) in 2070 B.C, and the Site of Erlitou in Luoyang is proven to be its original capital according to the latest archeological findings, when the earliest calendar (Xia Xiao Zheng) in Chinese history appeared.

The legend goes that the last emperor of the Xia dynasty, Jie, was overthrown by Tang (the founder of the Shang dynasty) owing to his cruel rule, and Tang was elected as the ruler of a new dynasty- the Shang dynasty, when the civilization was more prosperous than that in the Xia dynasty with the bronze wares, the primitive porcelains and the inscriptions on oracle bones emerging. Although the agriculture functioned as the main industry, great progress had been made in the handicraft industry in the Shang dynasty, especially in the filed of the bronze casting and smelting technology. The last ruler of the Shang dynasty, Zhou, levied exorbitant taxes on the working people and took no notice of state affairs, meanwhile, another tribe led by Vassal Ji Chang rose gradually in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and Ji Fa (Vassal Ji Chang's son) rose in rebellion first and won the decisive victory over Shang ruler in the battle of Muye, resulting in the fall of the Shang dynasty and the rise of the Zhou dynasty. Ji Fa (or Emperor Wu) set up the Zhou dynasty with Haojing (present Xi'an of Shaanxi Province) as capital, whose territory was greatly expanded later, stretching from the Yangtze River in the south to the Liaoning Province in the north and from Shandong Province in the east to Gansu Province in the west, and the patriarch system and the governmental organizations were formed in the Zhou dynasty.

As a matter of fact, the Zhou dynasty is composed of the Western Zhou dynasty and the Eastern Zhou dynasty, of which the later is divided into the Spring & Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C) and the Warring State Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.). Emperor Zhoupingwang relocated the capital from Haojing to Luoyi (present Luoyang) owing to the invasion from the northern nomadic tribe in 770. B.C., since then the Zhou dynasty started to decline, and the wheel of history rolled on to the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 B.C.-256 B.C.).

The fall of the Zhou dynasty directly led to the rising of 100 small States, among which the wars broke out frequently, and seven States stood out of the crowed, during the war, namely, Qi State, Chu State, Yan State, Han State, Zhao State, Wei State and Qin State. Shang Yang was appointed as the Chancellor to carry out reforms in the Qin State in 356 B.C., making Qin State the most powerful state then, and Ying Zheng (ruler of Qin state) defeated the other six states one after another and established the first centralized feudal country in China- the Qin dynasty, who was known to the world as Emperor Qinshihuang.

We provide more information for the visitors who are interested in the Shang Dynasty and the history of China, for more information, please visit my website.

View the original article here

The History of Timeshare

Timeshare ownership, a concept that is well known if a little misunderstood. Because of events within the last 20 to 30 years most people are aware of timeshares to one degree or another. Although the general consensus to what is meant by timeshare is highly confused, anything from it being a synonym for "pyramid selling" or possibly even "scam" right through to "owning property" and "investing in real estate". Like most misconceptions there is often a kernel of truth in there somewhere, although none of these things are entirely accurate, least of all a fair representation of what a timeshare actually is.

Timeshare sees its origins within Europe in the 1960s, between France and Switzerland. In France the Société des Grands Travaux de Marseille, owners of SuperDevoluy pushed the slogan "No need to rent the room; buy the hotel, it's cheaper!" Similarly Hapimag a Swiss company formed in the early 60s began buying resort properties across Europe and offered a form of timeshare membership through a right-to-use basis rather than deeding the ownership. Both of these companies saw the potential in offering premium holiday property to those who could not afford it paying by conventional methods.

Following in the late 60s, early 70s was the US, who first adopted timeshares in Hawaii and later Florida. By the early 70s it became clear that the timeshare method was growing very popular and as such the businesses engaging in buy timeshare and sell timeshare grew quickly. The number of resorts employing this method grew steadily and the first points programme was established by Vacation Internationale shortly after. Of course the term "time share" originated within computing and has been used prior to its adoption in holiday ownership. Although, it wasn't until the mid 70s did the term "timeshare" actually start being used by the industry, with Innisfree Companies of California opting to market it in this way, in the selling shares of vacation time.

The crux of timeshares was not the ownership of property, but rather of time - in particular, time in a specific holiday location. A famous analogy which has been attributed to various people in the past is something to the effect of "you would not by a whole cake, whilst it may look lovely, it would be too big for you and you would simply not be able to benefit from it all before it spoilt. You would however buy a piece of the cake and enjoy your share without excess cost or chance of it being spoilt."

Resort Condominiums International (RCI) was founded in 1974 as an answer to those who found the initial fixed-week method of buying timeshare too limiting. The concept, a potentially daunting one logistically speaking, was that RCI would offer an exchange program that would let timeshare owners deposit their week and take another one located in a different location. As RCI became affiliated with more resorts it offered a global points system to complement its exchange program in order to give the most flexibility possible.

The 1980 is really when we saw the boom within timeshare sales, the marketing budgets exploded and the competition grew exponentially. The range of those looking to buy timeshare now had even more choice with a range of budgets considered from the low-cost timeshare to the super-elite. Of course, the growing success of the timeshare industry saw the rise of the imitators. Many companies started selling lesser timeshares for more money and tactics began to vary in their scope and legality. A relatively new industry was rich pickings but unfortunately it was also very vulnerable to those looking to exploit it.

By the 1990s there were four million worldwide timeshare owners and some 2,000+ facilities/resorts to cater for them; it was around this time when the resale sector began to grow in size. It was clearly seen that timeshares, whilst not a financial investment, were intended to be kept and used year on year to really reap the financial benefits from the whole deal. However there comes a time where timeshare owners are no longer able to make it to the resort and ultimately need sell their timeshare. It is here that timeshare resellers come in, and the used timeshare market was born.

The birth of the used timeshare market was, however, followed quickly by those looking to make a quick buck at the expense of owners looking to sell and legitimate companies. Various scam timeshare resales companies appeared, promising quick and profitable sales that would ultimately never come into fruition. To protect consumers and the industry more laws and legislation have been introduced and governing bodies such as RDO, OTE, TATOC and ARDA have been established to protect those looking to buy timeshare and sell timeshare.

James Howson is a timeshare and travel expert with over a decade of experience reviewing top resorts. He owns several timeshare properties and can offer expert advice to those who may wish to buy timeshare.

View the original article here