* An outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts

Chinese jade and steatite plaques, in the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes.

Chinese jade and steatite plaques, in the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes.

The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes ( descriptions of animals locked in combat ), particularly the rectangular belt-plaques made of gold or bronze, and created their own versions in jade and steatite.

The presence of dragons within Chinese culture dates back several thousands of years with the discovery of a dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC from the Yangshao culture in Henan in 1987, and jade badges of rank in coiled form have been excavated from the Hongshan culture circa 4700-2900 BC.

The character for " dragon " in the earliest Chinese writing has a similar coiled form, as do later jade dragon amulets from the Shang period.

The character for " dragon " in the earliest Chinese writing has a similar coiled form, as do later jade dragon amulets from the Shang period.

Chinese jade was attributed with magical powers, and was used in the Stone and Bronze Ages for large and impractical versions of everyday weapons and tools, as well as the bi disks and cong vessels.

The 12 Chinese zodiac jade figurine s.

Classic examples of Chinese manufacturing are displayed which include lacquer, silk, porcelain, jade and cloisonné enamel.

Several Chinese characters for non-Chinese peoples were graphic pejoratives, the character for the Yao people, for instance, was changed from yao 猺 " jackal " to yao 瑤 " precious jade ".

A selection of antique, hand-crafted Chinese jade

As " quetzal " jade, bright green jadeite from Guatemala was treasured by Mesoamerican cultures, and as " kingfisher " jade, vivid green rocks from Burma became the preferred stone of post-1800 Chinese imperial scholars and rulers.

From the earliest Chinese dynasties to the present, the jade deposits most in use were not only those of Khotan in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang but other parts of China as well, such as Lantian, Shaanxi.

From the Kingdom of Khotan, on the southern leg of the Silk Road, yearly tribute payments consisting of the most precious white jade were made to the Chinese Imperial court and there worked into objets d ' art by skilled artisans as jade had a status-value exceeding that of gold or silver.

Jade became a favourite material for the crafting of Chinese scholars ' objects, such as rests for calligraphy brushes, as well as the mouthpieces of some opium pipes, due to the belief that breathing through jade would bestow longevity upon smokers who used such a pipe.

In the history of the art of the Chinese empire, jade has had a special significance, comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West.

More exotic loads could include jade from Khotan, elk antlers prized in Chinese medicine, or even dead bodies of the Shanxi caravan men and traders, who happened to die while in Xinjiang.

For the meaning of " colour of jade ", Bic is " 碧 " in Chinese characters.

It held Mrs. Marcos ' collection of excavated porcelain and pottery, Ban Chieng prehistoric pottery from Thailand and Filipiniana book rarities, and treasures such as a statue from Angkor and Chinese jade furniture.

A jade-carved Chinese dragon | dragon garment ornament from the Warring States period.

Chinese Jade ornament with grapes vine, ( 1115 – 1234 CE )

But a tossing of coins, with perhaps the added safeguard of reference to the oracles of the I Ching, the Chinese Book Of Changes, dictates the handling of the chosen materials.

I never found it among any of the Chinese with whom I spoke, though granted they were, almost all, members of the official family who, presumably, harbor official thoughts.

And the Chinese, as the Albanian incident shows, have strong suspicions that Khrushchev is anxious to secure a `` shameful '' peace with the West.

The Chinese, North Vietnamese and North Koreans, on the other hand, feel that, militarily, Russia is strong enough to support them in the `` just wars of liberation '' they would like to embark on before long: with China attacking Formosa and the North Koreans and North Vietnamese liberating the southern half of their respective countries.

Then the Chinese hostler, who rode with Vernon on the box, would break open a hamper and produce filets of smoked bass or sturgeon, sandwiches, pickled eggs, and a rum sangaree to be heated over a spirit lamp.

Following arrowed signs, I veered right toward the former kitchens, complete with chimneys, which now house one of the world's greatest collections of Chinese porcelain and a fabulous array of silver dinner services.

The technique of reality confusion -- the use of paradox and riddles to shake the mind's grip on reality -- originated with fourth and third century B.C. Chinese Quietism: the koan is not basically a new device.

Early Chinese anchoritism was theoretically aimed at a mystic pantheist union with the divine, personal salvation being achieved when the mystical recluse united with divine essence.

administrative organization and delicate diplomatic relations with Top Brass -- British, American and Chinese ; ;

Another possible source of the suanpan is Chinese counting rods, which operated with a decimal system but lacked the concept of zero as a place holder.

The zero was probably introduced to the Chinese in the Tang Dynasty ( 618-907 AD ) when travel in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East would have provided direct contact with India, allowing them to acquire the concept of zero and the decimal point from Indian merchants and mathematicians.

); its design was planned by the government of the day ; and it places individual letters in syllable clusters with equal dimensions, in the same way as Chinese characters, to allow for mixed-script writing ( one syllable always takes up one type-space no matter how many letters get stacked into building that one sound-block ).

As of early 2011, trade with China is dominated by imports of Chinese goods and accounts for about 10 percent of Armenia's foreign trade.

The Terracotta Army commissioned by the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi is a collection of about 8000 life-sized ceramic soldiers and horses buried with the emperor.

Even though this period-known in its earlier part as the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period-in its latter part was fraught with chaos and bloody battles, it is also known as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophy because a broad range of thoughts and ideas were developed and discussed freely.

The Agrarians believed that Chinese society should be modeled around that of the early sage king Shen Nong, a folk hero which was portrayed in Chinese literature as " working in the fields, along with everyone else, and consulting with everyone else when any decision had to be reached.

The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including " hidden ", " esoteric ", " spurious ", " of questionable authenticity ", ancient Chinese " revealed texts and objects " and " Christian texts that are not canonical ".

There is, however, speculation that local criminal gangs barter abalone illegally with Chinese nationals in exchange for chemicals used in the production of drugs, reducing the need for the use of money and hence avoiding money laundering difficulties.

File: HK Food Chinese Seafood Dinner 鮑魚仔 Steamed Abalone with Mandarin orange peels. JPG |< center > Abalone with mandarin orange peels .</ center >

Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup Y is otherwise found mainly among Nivkhs, and with lower frequency among Tungusic peoples, Koreans, Mongols ( including Kalmyks and Buryats ), Chinese, Japanese, Central Asians, South Siberian Turkic peoples ( e. g. Tuvans, Todjins, Soyots ), Koryaks, Alyutors, Itelmens, Taiwanese aborigines, Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malaysians.