...glazed pottery, and the Seismograph. These contributions have all been useful and ingenious. Standardized writing, language, money, a system of measurement and the seismoscope are a few that we really can’t live without. Without standardized writing, language, money and a system of measurement we would not have a way of writing, there would not have been a standardized language of the Chinese culture, standardized money made it easier for trades and such so that people could get a fair trade for things such as grain, barley etc. The system of measurement has given us a universal way of finding the length, volume, area, perimeter, etc. of things. To me the one contribution we couldn’t live without would be the Seismograph. Chang Heng or Zhang Heng, invented the first seismoscope in AD 132, it was called the Houfeng Didong Yi, meaning “instrument for measuring seasonal winds and the movements of the Earth.” From a description in “Dragons and toads: the Chinese seismoscope of BC 132”. Chinese Science 6: 1-19, that it has a large bronze vessel, which was about 2 meters in diameter; eight points around the top were a dragon’s head is holding bronze balls. To measure an earthquake one of the mouths would open and drop its ball into a bronze toad at the base, making a sound and possibly showing the direction of the earthquake. In AD 143 the seismoscope indicated an earthquake that was not felt, inside the vessel there was a central column that would move along eight tracks, like a...
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...| The Chinese have contributed innovative ideas that continue to help shape technology worldwide. | Ancient Chinese Contributions It was 1271 when an Italian merchant, by the name of Marco Polo, visited China during the Song Dynasty. There Marco Polo found a place like none other in Western Europe. China was far more technologically advanced and here were some of the most important and far-reaching contributions of the Chinese. “The Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques”, compiled by Zeng Goliang in 1044, it states that gunpowder was made of a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. Since Zeng describes three different gunpowder mixtures, we can assume that gunpowder was created sometime earlier. It is also stated by Zeng that the Chinese used it for signal flares and fireworks before even trying it with military uses in grenades. The compass is another great invention of the Chinese. Originally, these were created to point to true south, not north, because south is considered their cardinal direction. In 400 B.C. the earliest compasses were made out of lodestone. Lodestone is a type of magnetic iron ore, that when struck by lightning, it becomes magnetized. Very few people have given us as much joy and sorrow as alcohol. You can relate ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, beer, wine, and liquor to the Chinese. By early 300 B.C., the Chinese had figured out how to refine food products like vinegar and...
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...ANCIENT CHINESE CONTRIBUTIONS 1 Assignment 2: Ancient Chinese Contributions Thomas R. Felix Strayer University Humanities 111 Professor Aprile Castagna March 05, 2013 ANCIENT CHINESE CONTRIBUTIONS 2 The Ancient Chinese culture was a very successful culture that created many inventions and contributed to the advancement of not only the Chinese civilization but also to the civilization of the world. According to Henry Sayre, the Qin Dynasty, which was said to exist from 221BCE until 206 BCE, was the first empire in China to rise to dominance; however, the Han Dynasty was given credit for the most Ancient Chinese contributions and inventions (Sayre, 2012). The Han Dynasty existed from 206 BCE until 220 CE, and during the Han Dynasty contributions and inventions by the Ancient Chinese included: the wheelbarrow, seismograph, paper, compass, map, glazed pottery, hot air balloons, and silk. While the Ancient Chinese made many contributions and inventions for the world, the four most useful are the wheelbarrow, the seismograph, paper, and the map. Today the wheelbarrow is commonly used for farming, gardening, and construction work such as moving dirt, bricks, mulch. It is suitable for many jobs because it allows the weight of the contents to be evenly distributed between the wheel and the operator. For many of the same purposes...
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...Assignment One – Film Analysis (Mise en scene, Hero) Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002), is a Chinese martial art movie which was first released in China on 24th Oct 2002. Starring by Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, Tony Leung as Broken Sword and Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow. This film was based on the story of the attempt on assassination of the Qin emperor by Jing Ke. The scene that I chose to carry out my analysis would be the part from 45.07 minutes to 50.07 minutes where it started from Flying Snow’s effort to stop Broken Sword from appearing at the battle until her fight started with Nameless. In hero, from the scene 46.54 minutes until 47.02 minutes, the settings of the scene act as a metaphor. The location shows a wide compound overwhelming Flying Snow which emphasize that she is going to confront the battle with Nameless alone. It give us a feeling that she is tough and determined to face what is after her even she is aware that her enemy is much more powerful and stronger than she is. She firmly walks toward her horse also denote to us that Flying Snow is unafraid to die and is mentally prepared to face what is about to fall upon her. In addition, the scene 47.11 minutes to 47.16 minutes shows that Broken Sword is standing high up on the hill, portraying the feeling that they are growing further apart and have to leave one another’s life in the future. At the same time, the contradiction between their locations show that he was given the chance to stay alive contrasting...
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...Steven Spielberg wrote in Time Magazine that at the core of Zhang Yimou’s filmography “was the idea that the conflict of man foretells the desire for inner peace”. Spielberg’s statement precisely embodies the underlying meaning in both films “To Live” and “Hero” (Person of the Year). Both films reinforce the idea that humanity conquers all. Humility and benevolence are hard to come by, easily trotted upon, and often taken advantage of. However, it is only through personal strife that we often embody these qualities and begin to develop inner piece. Both films employ powerful and sad events to help expose political shortcomings and ailments that have a direct and real result on society. I believe that at the heart of Yimou’s cinematography is the idea that, after all is said and done, goodwill humanity will prevail. In “To Live”, a Chinese family experiences more misfortunes than blessings. Because of gambling, unfortunate circumstances, and political instability and change, we see Fugui and his family go through a traumatic transformation from riches to rags. But what’s captivating to watch is that as life becomes more difficult and situations worsen, Fugui begins to appreciate the finer things in life. He soul wakes up to morality and purpose when for so long it was bogged down by selfishness, power, and earthly desires. Through cultural symbolism, we are reminded of the important values perpetuated by this film. From the puppet shows to an eclectic mix of Chinese instrumentation...
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...Ancient Chinese Contributions Elizabeth Finch Professor Karen Lewis HUM 111-World Culture 1 November 26, 2011 Ancient China has played a significant part in many famous inventions that have had a major impact in our lives from day to day. No matter how small they seem to be their inventions have helped us in so many ways that we have taken for granted. How many of us have ever given a thought to those that have made our lives easier by their inventions? There are quite a few from the Ancient Chinese that I was not aware of and was amazed at how many of these we do use in our lives every day and never stop to think where these items were invented. So what are some of the amazing things the Ancient Chinese have invented? 1) Row planting was first planted in the feudal period-6th century BC. This way of planting allows the crops to grow faster and stronger and they also realized that as the wind travels there is less damage in crops planted in rows due to the wind passing through gently. It is also more efficient in watering, weeding and harvesting the crops. (Stevenh) 2) The compass was created in the feudal period-4th century BC and was made of lodestone. The compass was first used by fortune-tellers before it was applied to the cardinal direction. Then the Chinese’s started using the compass to point to the south because they considered south not north their cardinal direction. 3) Gunpowder has been credited to certain Chinese alchemists around 9th century...
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...constrained is the relatedness of diversification. Unrelateness refers to the absence of direct links between businesses. 참고 : http://wenku.baidu.com/view/6a080e260722192e4536f624 2. A.Describe how Haier uses activity sharing and the transfer of core competencies to create value. (related diversification strategy) Haier uses both related and unrelated diversification strategies. Haier catapulted in the last two decades producing consumer products that are sold in similar fashion. They all shared distribution channels, outbound logistics, and sales forces. Haier was able to develop core competencies through effective activity sharing of primary activities resulting in a superb competitive advantage, ultimately creating value. CEO Zhang Ruimin realized that using both strategies’ can work in Haier’s favor with the ultimate goal of getting name recognition globally. His related diversification strategy used both operational and corporate relatedness to create value. It is evident in the case study that Haier took advantage of this strategy to help in these areas: •Inbound logistics: delivery, warehouse, quality assurance. •Operations: quality control, assembly facilities, maintenance. •Outbound logistics: sales force and customer service. •Support activities: purchasing, innovation. Exhibit 3 (pg. 18) is a...
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...Valuable Chinese Inventions Strayer University Valuable Chinese Inventions The Chinese have made many useful inventions that have advanced their culture and others around the world. If it wasn’t for such great ingenious inventions, life even today would be drastically different. Think of that beautiful silk scarf you have being nonexistent. Imagine wars being fought today without guns and grenades. Think of enjoying delicious dishes such as soup and spaghetti without those stringy satisfying noodles. The Chinese people have made spectacular inventions such as great fabrics like silk to innovative combat aids such as Gunpowder and possibly even noodles. In my quest to win a trip to china, this essay will expose the inventions I find to be of the greatest significance to society (Henry, 2011). Gunpowder, was accidentally invented, the intended use of the substance was to create immortality in humans. Gunpowder did not create immortality, but was lethal if used in explosives. It was made from potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. The Chinese learned of the mixtures power, and soon used it in fire explosives such as hand grenades (Clark, 2013). The Compass was originally designed to point the “true south”, but had since been used to point to the North. The first Compasses were made of magnetic iron ore, called lodestone. Lodestone becomes highly magnetized when struck by lightning, and points between the North and South Pole. Men would balance the device on a flat surface...
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...Ancient Chinese Contributions This paper will highlight some of the inventions of the ancient Chinese and focus on four that many believe to be the most important to society today. China is the oldest living civilization in the world. Because of the vast history, dating 5,000 years, Chinese history is broken down into dynasties. The Chinese have made a copious amount of inventions in history, four of which we will go into great detail about in this paper- printing, gunpowder, compass, and paper. Theories abound as to why China was so successful inventing. Some of the factors contributing to the proliferation of innovation are wealth, an abundant population, and geographical isolation. The Chinese also had a very civilized and cultured society. The Chinese have always had a large population; historians estimate that during the innovation period for the Chinese they maintained 25% of the world’s population (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014). This allowed for the Chinese to leverage many people to perform a task. China is located in Asia, and during the time they were extremely isolated, as evidenced by the building of the Great Wall, a tremendous feat in ingenuity and innovation in its own right. A few of the noted inventions listed in chronological order are silk, papermaking, cast iron technology, wheelbarrow, compass, tea, porcelain, gunpowder, brandy, whisky and printing. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on the compass, paper, gunpowder...
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...Name Course Tutor Date Honor of Chinese culture in film. The Hero is a Chinese film based in Hong Kong China, and it is entirely a wuxia film. It is a martial art film, and it depicts the Chinese culture and unity. The king in the film is trying to bring together warring kingdoms and also come up with a standard Chinese language among the variations. There is a conflict depicted in the film that of who to trust. The king is almost lured to believe an assassin who finally forgives the king. There is an excellent use of flashbacks in the film hence making it a narration film as most of the stories narrated, and flashback is used. Most of the fights shown in flashbacks where nameless and the king of Qin are conversing at the palace. Hero is filming that entirely depicts the ancient Chinese culture and uses visual designs in a relevant way. The film uses the fascist aesthetics that represents authoritarianism. The film represents the Chinese culture in a number of ways. It does not concentrate on the multiculturalism as other Chinese films could do. First, the movie shows the Chinese culture in the form of leadership. At the beginning of the film, the narrator tells of ancient China being a kingdom ruled by kings, and initially it was made up of seven kingdoms. The film also shows the ancient Chinese leadership to have had many wars. It was during this wars that the parents of nameless (jet li) were killed making him come for revenge in the palace. The evidence is when the king...
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...Dzou Yen, or Zou Yan, was an admired alchemist from China born in 305 BC. China was the third independent location to discover and pursue the study of Alchemy with Dzou Yen at the forefront. He lived during the Zhou dynasty. At the height of his popularity, during the 4th century BC, he was credited with many things including being an incredibly talented and intelligent human being. He was remembered as being just as, or nearly as, skilled as Nicholas Flamel in the ways of alchemy. His main alchemical claim to fame is the possibility that he was able to transmute base metals to noble metals, the feat which made him as famous an alchemist as Flamel, as this was something only these two are rumored to have been able to achieve. His writings were very influential to the Chinese. They laid the foundation for both healing and geomancy as they were practiced in China. He also recorded his thoughts and philosophies on the 5 Chinese elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) as well as the importance of ying and yang to these elements. Unfortunately, his recordings of his findings were very difficult to understand. While Dzou Yen’s time was nearly 2500 years in the past, if he were alive today, he would certainly find some similarities. Firstly, he studied at a state-run university, called the Jixia Academy. The idea of academies, both magical and mundane, for any number of subjects is still a practice very much alive in today’s day and age. Secondly, his study of the elements is obviously...
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...Ancient Chinese Contributions Humanities 111 World Cultures 1 05/27/2012 In the days of Ancient Chinese, inventions were created using different techniques and styles by using things that we use in our everyday living. There are many contributions that I thought were important. Those inventions that were created by the Ancient Chinese were Umbrella’s. Umbrellas were invented by the Chinese. They made umbrellas from oiled paper. It was made from oiled paper because it repelled water. The frames of the umbrellas were made from mulberry bark and bamboo. Chinese used the umbrellas to keep the sun off of their skin. The common people used blue umbrellas and people that were of royal used red and yellow umbrellas. (This was cited from The Ancient Chinese Contributions, published by Deng Yinke. Information came from pages 1-23). The Seismograph was created by an astronomer during the Han Dynasty. The astronomer created the seismograph to give warning of an earthquake. The seismograph color was bronze and the vase was covered with dragons and toads. A long medal pendulum hung inside the vase. On the outside it had eight dragon heads; each was mounted onto its sides. Each dragon had a ball in its mouth and the dragon’s head was mounted onto its side as well. The pendulum swung in the direction in which the earthquake occurred. The pendulum would strike a rod inside the vase, the rod would then knock a ball out of the dragon’s mouth, and then it would drop into the...
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...Does the film Huang tudi (Yellow Earth) offer a critique of the Communist revolution? If so where and how? Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou’s Yellow Earth is a meaningful and controversial film that highlights the young and old, realist and idealist, as well as the ideal utopia and bounded bureaucracies – touching on the notion of fate. Set in early 1939 in China, Yellow Earth follows the story of Gu Qing, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) soldier sent out among the peasants in Northern Shaanxi to collect folksongs, to which the Communists intend to rewrite new lyrics to help inspire soldiers and peasant followers to fight the Japanese invasion and work towards the revolution. Gu Qing comes across a village holding a wedding procession and is invited to join the feast. He stays at a peasant’s home, and meets a father with a daughter (Cuiqiao) and a son (Hanhan). There are several significant scenes in the film that suggests the filmmaker’s potential critique of the Communist revolution (CR). The film begins with a magnificent panning view of the vast and mountainous landscape. As with many nationalistic films, landscape plays a very important role, as it indirectly depicts the village peasants as slaves to the land, and a sense of hopelessness that comes with working the land. The several slow scenes focused on the horizon and landscape also represent the notion of an ‘unchanging China’, and it’s backwardness with it’s social and political margins. The film has many scenes depicting...
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...Valuable Chinese Inventions Strayer University Valuable Chinese Inventions The Chinese have made many useful inventions that have advanced their culture and others around the world. If it wasn’t for such great ingenious inventions, life even today would be drastically different. Think of that beautiful silk scarf you have being nonexistent. Imagine wars being fought today without guns and grenades. Think of enjoying delicious dishes such as soup and spaghetti without those stringy satisfying noodles. The Chinese people have made spectacular inventions such as great fabrics like silk to innovative combat aids such as Gunpowder and possibly even noodles. In my quest to win a trip to china, this essay will expose the inventions I find to be of the greatest significance to society (Henry, 2011). Gunpowder, was accidentally invented, the intended use of the substance was to create immortality in humans. Gunpowder did not create immortality, but was lethal if used in explosives. It was made from potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. The Chinese learned of the mixtures power, and soon used it in fire explosives such as hand grenades (Clark, 2013). The Compass was originally designed to point the “true south”, but had since been used to point to the North. The first Compasses were made of magnetic iron ore, called lodestone. Lodestone becomes highly magnetized when struck by lightning, and points between the North and South Pole. Men would balance the device on a flat surface...
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...China | Key people | Zhang Ruimin: Chairman and CEO Yang Mianmian: President Wu Kesong: Vice-Chairman | Products | Major appliances Small appliances Commercial heating and cooling systems Consumer electronics | Revenue | CNY 150.9 billion (2012) | Employees | 80,000 | Subsidiaries | Haier Electronics Group Co. (SEHK: 1169) Qingdao Haier Co. | Website | www.haier.com | About Haier History of the haier The origins of Haier date back long before the actual founding of the company. In the 1920s, a refrigerator factory was built in Qingdao to supply the Chinese market. After the 1949 establishment of the People's Republic of China, this factory was then taken over and turned into a state owned enterprise. Zhang Ruimin and the corporate revival By the 1980s, the factory had debt of over CNY¥1.4 million and suffered from dilapidated infrastructure, poor management, and lack of quality controls, resulting from the planned economic system and relevant policies. Production had slowed, rarely surpassing 80 refrigerators a month, and the factory was close to bankruptcy. The Qingdao government hired a young assistant city-manager, Zhang Ruimin, responsible for a number of city owned appliance companies. Zhang was appointed the managing director of the factory in 1984. When he arrived in 1984, Zhang decided that improvement was needed to the factory's quality control. In 1985, a customer brought a faulty refrigerator back to the factory and showed it to Zhang. Zhang and the customer then...
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