I've also run across another very interesting Chinese history site, i'll go see if i can find it again . . .
That second URL leads to a very interesting site, as well, but they've left a huge gap in there--they don't recognize separate stages in the Han, and don't mention the "Three Kingdoms" period at all--there's about a 400 year gap.
Here's about the best quick-reference for Chinese dynasties which i have run across:
http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/library/dynasty/dynasty.htm
BTW, beware of any site, including a Chinese site, or any text, including a Chinese text, which contends that there ever was a single "Great Wall" . . . walls were built all over the place, over almost 2000 years, as a means, not of stopping "barbarian" invasions, but of canalizing them, to make them more "militarily manageable." For example, one of the sites which Husker has listed speaks of Huang-ti (although not using that title) as building the first "great wall." In fact, the oldest available texts have an ambiguous character, which could either mean "long walls," or "walled cities." Additionally, it refers to his defenses of the Yellow River loop, and the Ordos desert region, one of the two major, chronic battlegrounds of the ruling dynasties and the "barbarians" (the other being the Gansu or Kansu corridor, which leads to the eastern part of the central asian highlands, "above" the Himalayas). The modern "Great Wall" refers to a section of Ming Dynasty wall, refurbed by the Chinese for the tourist trade, and hundreds of miles from Huang-ti's defensive works in the Yellow River Loop.
Warring states is also a misleading term. I have used the term "Rice Wars" (and enclosed it in quotes) because, although a western, and not Chinese term, it is a handily inclusive term for all of the almost continuous petty warfare during Xia, Shang and Xhou periods. The period of the collapse of the Latter Han, leading to the "Three Kingdoms" period is also referred to as a "Warring States" period. To add to the Confucion (love bad puns), the end of the feudal period in Japan, from about 1570 to 1624, is also known as the "Warring States" period. That refers to the attempt by Oda Nobunaga to unify Japan. The unification was not completed until after his death, however, and was accomplished by one of his lieutenants, Tokugawa Ieyasu--who established the Tokugawa dynasty which ruled Japan for nearly two centuries. Think of Lord Toranaga in the James Clavell Shogun epic. I think Asian history fascinates me because we were taught almost nothing of it in school.
You see the movie "RAN" not sure if I spelled it right.
No, Boss, but i gotta run . . . however, tell me about it, and leave any liks you have, 'k?
Synopsis
With RAN, master director Akira Kurosawa transforms Shakespeare's KING LEAR into an epic tragedy set in feudal Japan. On the eve of his 70th birthday, Lord Hidetora prepares to divide his empire among his three sons. In the process, he ends up disowning his youngest son, the only one who truly cares about him. The empire is engulfed in bitter warfare as the two older brothers, after fighting among themselves over the inheritance, turn on their father. Homeless and abandoned by all but his most loyal followers, Hidetora must face both his tragic present state and the actions of his brutal past.
Description
For his 27th film, the "sensei" of Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa, transposes Shakespeare's KING LEAR to feudal Japan. RAN, which translates as "chaos" or "turmoil," is the tragic tale of Lord Hidetora, a warlord who decides to divide his empire among his three sons on the eve of his 70th birthday. However, Hidetora's youngest and most compassionate son, Saburo, defiantly objects to this hasty decision and is disowned by the proud, stubborn ruler. Once the two eldest sons take control of the empire, they quickly turn on their father and begin vying for total control over the land. As Hidetora is banished from his own kingdom in a bloody battle, he must confront the consequences of his violent, ruthless past. Ten years in the making, RAN represents the culmination of Kurosawa's career by revisiting his skill at adapting Shakespeare, as evidenced in THRONE OF BLOOD, and displaying the cinematic splendor of his other landmark films such as SEVEN SAMURAI and RASHOMON. With its magnificent costumes, breathtaking settings, and amazingly photographed battle sequences, the film is truly stunning. An epic on the grandest of scales, RAN is not only one of Kurosawa's finest films, it is a glorious masterpiece of Japanese cinema.
Setanta
You go to bed or what?
Yeah, Boss, i sorta did . . . but thank you for the information, i've always loved Kurosawa's stuff . . .
Lightwizard, Setana, Husker and Ackerman thank you. I guess I was expecting more from China but I suppose they never had a code of laws. Maybe the Samori
had the first code of conduct in the far east?
I would venture to say, Boss, that Europeans and Middle Easterners thought in terms of law to curb the violence of the members of society . . . without having a clue why this occurred, it seems that the Chinese came to a consensus modus vivendi at the level of the peasant village--a type of social contract--it was the greed and lust for power of "aristocracy" which lead to the "Rice Wars." It is truely a shame that we haven't better historical evidence for Chinese social development before the rise of the priestly/madarin class of literate, records-keeping bureaucrats . . .
Setanta,
Did you see or like ,"The Name of the Rose" Movie?
Yes, Boss, and i read Uco's novel as well, both very well done--one of those rare occassions on which a motion picture was as good as the book . . .
an eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind
"Another typical case of American Blind Justice!"
-- Arlo Guthrie, Alice's Restaurant
And its all because the times they are changing.
