Start here
The Ancient Chinese Concept of the Tao
What the Tao, or Way, meant in early Chinese thought: the Tao Te Ching, the Zhuangzi, wu wei and spontaneity, and how Daoist ideas differ from Confucian ones.
Persia and Asia
Chinese Thought and Arts
Daoist ideas, balance, the five phases and the brush arts of early China.
The Ancient Chinese Art of Calligraphy
How writing became a fine art in China: the brush, ink and inkstone, the main script styles, and why handwriting was a sign of education and character.
The Ancient Chinese Concept of the Five Elements
The Chinese five phases of wood, fire, earth, metal and water: their generating and overcoming cycles, and how they were applied to seasons, medicine and dynasties.
The Ancient Chinese Concept of Yin and Yang
How yin and yang, two paired and interdependent forces, shaped early Chinese views of nature, medicine and society, from the Book of Changes to the Han period.
The Mysterious Art of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy
How Chinese scripts developed from oracle bones to seal, clerical, regular and cursive forms, and who the famous calligraphy masters were, from Wang Xizhi to Yan Zhenqing.
Related topics
More in persia and asia
Persian and Arabian Crossroads Susa, Ctesiphon and the Sabaean incense kingdom. Central Asian Kingdoms The Kushan Empire and the Tarim Basin mummies. Petra and the Nabataeans The rock-cut capital of the Nabataeans in Jordan, its builders and its rediscovery. Phoenician People and Seafaring The city-states of the Levant coast, their ships, trade, colonies and alphabet. Chinese Dynasties and Inventions Early Chinese dynasties, the Qin unification, its monuments and the inventions that followed. The Silk Road The overland trade routes linking China, Central Asia and the west, and the people who travelled them. Angkor and the Khmer The temples and royal city of Angkor in Cambodia and the Khmer builders behind them. Mohenjo-Daro and Indus Cities The planned cities of the Indus Valley, led by Mohenjo-Daro. Harappans and Vedic India The Harappan culture of the Indus plains and the Vedic traditions that came after. Persepolis and Achaemenid Persia The Achaemenid Persian rulers and their ceremonial capital at Persepolis. Qin and the Terracotta Army The First Emperor, his buried army and the walls of the north. Imperial China The Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Mongols and Steppe Peoples Mongols, Yuan, Timurids, Huns and Xiongnu on the steppe. Caliphates and Ottomans The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the rise of the Ottomans. Shambhala and Lost Cities The Shambhala legend and cities said to be lost to history. Scythians of the Steppe Nomadic horse peoples north of the Black Sea and across the steppe. Gobekli Tepe and Early Monuments Carved pillars and enclosures built before farming villages. Trade, Money and Markets How coins, merchants, weights and sea routes tied the ancient world together. Early Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia Early states and cultures on the eastern and southern edges of Asia.