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Analyses of a sample of 68 carnelian and agate beads from Korea's late Proto-Three Kingdoms and Three Kingdoms period (C.E. 100-668) provide evidence for longdistance exchange with South Asia. Three Kingdoms period elites were rejecting locally made stone beads made of local materials for stone beads obtained from long distance trade and made of non-local materials. Some of these beads may also be derived from South, Central, or Southeast Asia as well as from regions of modern China or Mongolia. The beads were recovered from burials at sites associated with the Paekche (RR: Baekje), Kaya (RR: Gaya), and Silla cultural traditions. There have been no local bead workshops found during the Three Kingdoms period and the carnelian beads were manufactured using different drilling technologies compared to earlier Korean drilling. Faceted hexagonal, spherical, and irregularly shaped carnelian beads were perforated using diamond drills, a technology originally developed in South Asia ca. 600 B.C.E. Quantitative analyses of drill hole size and overall size and shape of the beads points to multiple workshops supplying the imported beads. The distribution patterns of the beads in different polities may reflect changes in trade networks over time as well as stylistic choices of bead shapes used as a means of differentiating specific groups or individuals. Evidence for string wear and external weathering indicate that some beads were used for long periods of time enroute to Korea or in Korea itself before burial in mortuary contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Zhuge Liang's Military Talk on the Three Kingdoms, a Japanese bunraku play adapted from the famous Chinese historical fiction Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It discusses how the playwright recreated the world of the Three Kingdoms, focusing on two themes: loyalty and substitution. By comparing the Chinese original and the Japanese adaptation, it illuminates what kinds of efforts the playwright has made for dramatization, and how he transformed Three Kingdoms to reflect Japanese values and aesthetics. Meanwhile, this play provides a complement to The Battles of Coxinga, the best-known bunraku play with a historical setting, for our understanding of how "China" was conceived of by Japanese authors. The Battles of Coxinga is often considered to demonstrate the rise of national awareness and change in the Japanese attitude toward China at the time. This play shows that the traditional representation of the Sino-Japanese relationship still remained in some of the literary works during the transitional period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses the issues with representation of history of Silla kingdom in historical records of the Three Kingdoms "Samguk sagi" and "Sanguozhi".

This paper investigates the methods of eclipse prediction in China before the fourth century AD, with a detailed example of the eclipse theory in the Jing chu li (Luminous Inception System [Figure not available: see fulltext.]). As the official calendar of the Jin dynasty and the Kingdom Wei during the three kingdoms period, the Jing chu li was used for more than 200 years after it was adopted in 237 AD. From the San tong li (Triple Concordance System [Figure not available: see fulltext.]) of the Western Han to the Jing chu li, methods for predicting eclipses developed in three important ways: (i) from predicting only lunar eclipses to the prediction of both solar and lunar eclipses; (ii) from relying only on the mean periods of the sun and the moon to taking into consideration the variation in lunar velocity; and (iii) from estimating only a rough date to predicting the exact time of eclipses. This paper addresses two questions: first, how did ancient Chinese astronomers use cycles to predict eclipses in the Han dynasty? Second, how did astronomers such as Liu Hong [Figure not available: see fulltext.] and Yang Wei [Figure not available: see fulltext.] revise early eclipse prediction methods? The original text of the Jing chu li is analyzed to show how Yang Wei combined lunar velocity theory with the traditional method of predicting eclipses using cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arguments among the son of Xishu, the Prince of Dongwu and Mr. Wei in Zuo Si's Sandu Fu were actually the battle about the legitimacy of the regime in the Three Kingdoms' tripartite confrontation and the North-South confrontation. The point of the arguments was not about the location of the capital, but about what was legitimate, or the legitimacy of the regime that Jin inherited from Wei. Specifically, Shudu Fu stated the orthodox viewpoint of Shu-Han, the son of Xishu. Wudu Fu stated the cultural orthodox viewpoint of Zhou-Han, the Prince of Dongwu, while Weidu Fu represented Cao Wei's political stand that Jin descended from Wei. A record of the legitimacy of Cao Wei from the perspective of abdication must highlight the political achievements of the State of Wei, and therefore must start from the founding of the State of Wei. In terms of the location of the capital, Ye bore greater political and cultural significance than Luoyang. Therefore, in terms of legitimacy and the mandate of heaven, only Capital Ye could take on such a mission. From the perspective of cultural geography, the north-centered cultural mode of thinking which was shaped in the Zhou-Han unification period became Mr. Wei's theoretical basis of his criticisms of the son of Xishu and the Prince of Dongwu who boasted about their capitals, and of his praise of Cao Cao's establishing Ye as the capital. On the other hand, Luoyang's significance and value as the centre of a unified nation was not fully justified during the period of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, the historical mission of unifying the country was accomplished by the Western Jin Dynasty, which is another important cultural-geographical factor accounting for why Zuo Si selected Ye as his topic. In Weidu Fu, Mr. Wei gave an "authentic" description of Capital Ye's organizational system, local conditions and customs, and Emperor Wei and so on. The description centered round the ruler's righteousness and the "legitimate capital and benevolent government," illustrating his political ethics that Jin descended from Wei. Mr. Wei's comment on Cao Wei is not only a historical evaluation of the Three Kingdoms, but also a major political issue of how the Western Jin Dynasty judged its regime. Using a literary form, Zuo Si successfully applied the political-cultural functions of Da Fu in his record of the fight for hegemony between the three kingdoms and disputes about the Western Jin Dynasty's lineage. It was an approval of the mainstream ideology of the political ethics that Wei was legitimate and Western Jin Dynasty descended from Wei. This explains Zuo Si's description of Capital Ye in Weidu Fu, and the historical and political backgrounds of the overwhelming popularity of Sandu Fu (the sensational effect called "luoyang zhigui" ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1930s, Chinese archaeologists have discovered a number of inscribed wooden tablets from the early Han to the Western Jin, which were identified as "greeting tablets" of two types, ci ... and ye .... As attested in transmitted accounts, these tablets played an important role in die communicative etiquette of early imperial and early medieval officialdom; during a meeting ceremony, they were presented by the guest to the host. The present article offers a systematic survey of the available corpus of excavated greeting tablets and explores their wider socio-cultural implications. As a component of the communicative etiquette of the bureaucracy, greeting tablets were instrumental in the adaptation of elements of aristocratic culture to die needs of mass officialdom--a new social stratum that in terms of cultural background differed fundamentally from the hereditary aristocracy of the pre-imperial era but occupied a comparable position as a social and political elite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the memory of the Nanzheng (Southern Expeditions) to the ethnic frontiers of China by Chinese ruler Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdom Period. Particular focus is given to how the folklore, oral history and legends of Zhuge Liang's expedition have evolved among southwestern Chinese ethnic groups by examining the interpretations of people living in Kangding, China, and the Yi and Han people. The author contrasts the nationalistic interpretation of the expedition by the Chinese government with the historical memory of ethnic groups in the country.

The article discusses the era of Chinese history involving the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period. It focuses on the battle of Chi Bi, which took place in the year 208. The military importance of this battle for Chinese history is emphasized, and the strategy and tactics used are discussed. The Three Kingdoms era enjoys a romantic reputation because of the classic literary work Sanguo Yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms). It is noted that the historical realities of that time were significantly different from this romanticized literary portrayal.

This paper compares the attitudes towards life of the iconoclastic literati of the Wei and Jin dynasties (namely Ruan Ji ... and Ji Kang ...) and Cao Xueqin ... (or Jia Baoyu ... his voice in The Dream of the Red Chamber ...). In the first section, we discuss anti-Confucianism and antimonarchism and how the iconoclastic literati of the Wei and Jin objected to empty ritualism and Confucianism being turned into a vehicle for slaughter in the hands of the ruling class (Ji Kang, for instance, placed himself above social strictures and followed nature while Ruan Ji proposed a kingless society). For his part, Cao expressed similar ideas in The Dream of the Red Chamber in making no distinction between high and low, superior and inferior. The next section looks at the great importance attached to sentiment ... by these literati. Ruan was well known for his expression of true love and deep affection, while Jia Baoyu breaks through the limits and controls on ethical relations to express his love for not only young maids but also all living things. Finally, we focus on a sense of mourning over the passage of time that is a fundamental theme of Ruan's yunghuai ... (expressing the feelings of the heart) poems and attempts by the iconoclastic literati of the period to summon up the past and preserve memories in their writing in an effort to combat the passage of time and a coming death. We find similar themes and creative motifs in The Dream of the Red Chamber and note that Cao lets Baoyu live in the Daguan Garden ... because a retreat to such a garden is reminiscent of the ideal life-style of those iconoclastic literati. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emperors of the Western and Eastern Chin and the Southern dynasties implemented many policies to solidify their power. These policies sometimes violated the proper functions of the political system and thus incurred political chaos. First, they introduced the policy of appointing imperial clansmen to the post of governor-general (tu-tu ...), taking charge of troops stationed in strategic places. Although this policy strengthened the emperor's control of the army, it sometimes resulted in bloody power struggles between family members and caused the demise of the dynasty. Second, emperors of the Southern dynasties often deployed document clerks (tien-ch'ien ...) and commissioners (t'ai-shih ...) to inspect and supervise the functions of local governments under the prefects (tz'u-shih ...) and governors-general. This policy, however, did not provide an effective solution to some of the local problems. The key to solving these problems still lay in the hands of local lords and leaders of local troops. Therefore, in the Sung, Ch'i, and Liang dynasties, the imperial control over local government and local military troops remained limited. At court, the emperors of the Southern dynasties often assigned secretariat drafters (chung-shu she-jen ...) and clerks (ling-shih ...) to be in charge of pivotal political affairs. They chose not to delegate power to officials from elite families, but to these low-ranking officials who came from families of lesser birth, in order to restrain the political power of the elite families. Although these were initially temporary measures, they eventually changed the central government system. In the Ch'en dynasty, the Department of Secretariat Drafters (chung-shu she-jen sheng ...) became the supreme center of the government. As for the elite families, who were the emperors' major contenders for political power, their political status indeed went into a decline. However, some political newcomers forfeited their familial credentials and posed as members of elite families. Then, they took advantage of the privileges reserved for elites in the political system. Since these privileges were not abolished, autocracy remained a distant ideal to the emperors of the Southern dynasties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to historical records, the ancestors of Sun Quan ... had been officials in the Wu region for generations. Based on that, Chen Yinque ... argued that the kingdom of Wu was established by the inferior aristocratic Sun family with the support of major families in the southern lower reaches of the Yangzi River, a view that has had wide influence in academic circles. However, a close examination of the material shows that the Sun family had humble origins and thus should be seen as belonging to the poor landowning class. The Sun family expressed the unconventionality of that class in their attitudes towards culture and customs: they belittled Confucian learning and rites in favor of superstition, choose spouses out of love and disregarded the wife's traditional position in the family hierarchy, and with their love for hunting, displays of humor, and predilection for drinking were closer to Cao Cao ... and his offspring than Confucian literati and officials. Politically speaking, the Sun family also favored Cao Cao's methods of ruling and worked towards centralizing power, a move that caused rifts and strife with the large Confucian families that originally supported them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a case study of the Cao-Wei conquest of the Shu-Han state in China during the Three Kingdoms period in 263 A.D. Background on the history of Chinese civil warfare; Information on the political unity established by the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty; Details of the strategies used during the invasion of the Shu-han state.

The article focuses on the acquisition by the Princeton University Library's Numismatic Collection of the Wu Collection of Chinese Coins. The author discusses the value of the coin collection, which was assembled by polymer interface chemistry specialist Souheng Wu. The collection was donated by Wu's widow, Tung Ching Wu. Items in the collection are examined including knife coins, spades, and coins from the Three Kingdoms, Dark Ages, and T'ang Dynasty of Chinese history. The value of the coin collection for study by students and scholars is also discussed.