Latest news with #Henan
The Guardian
an hour ago
- General
- The Guardian
Qiu Xigui obituary
Qiu Xigui, who has died aged 89, first made his mark as a paleographer, a scholar of ancient writing, through researching Chinese 'oracle bones'. These are divinations inscribed on animal scapulae – shoulder blades – or turtle plastrons – the bottom part of their shells. The characters they employ are the earliest known forerunners of the modern Chinese writing system. Their appearance in the antiquities market led to the excavation from the late 1920s of the last capital of the Shang dynasty (c1600-1050 BC) at Yinxu, near Anyang, in Henan province. This spectacular discovery set the stage for an attempt to reconstruct the history of Chinese early civilisation on the basis of archaeological and paleographic evidence that is still central to Chinese humanities research, and gave Qiu the opportunity to develop a systematic approach to identifying and tracing the evolution of countless ancient Chinese characters. As with their counterparts today, they combine semantic elements with phonetic ones. Pictographs or ideographs were used to form characters, which were then borrowed, along the lines of a rebus picture puzzle, to write words with the same or similar sound values. Then, further semantic elements might be added to distinguish these phonetic borrowings from the original character. Even though this basic system of character formation is still reflected in the modern script, both the spoken language and writing evolved in a complex manner over the next 3,000 years, making the ancient script difficult to decipher. Qiu's analytic method was outlined in his book, Wenzixue Gaiyao, first published in 1988, and translated into English as Chinese Writing (2000). He was renowned for his rigorous standards of proof and for publishing articles in which he corrected previous mistakes when he discovered them. In one instance, a pedicab driver with a high school diploma and a passion for paleography wrote to him after reading one of his articles offering a different interpretation of a character. Realising his mistake, Qiu not only corrected himself, but helped the man to get admitted to Fudan University, in Shanghai. Born in that city, Qiu was a teenager when the Communist party came to power in 1949. His family was classified as 'petty bourgeois' because his father had invested money in the factory where he worked. However, Qiu passed the competitive university examination and was admitted to the history department of Fudan in 1952. In his first year, he took a class with Hu Houxuan, a pioneering oracle bone scholar, and devoted himself to the study of ancient writing. In 1956, when Qiu graduated, he accompanied Hu when the latter moved to the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Then, in 1960, Qiu was appointed to teach at Peking University. Like most intellectuals during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution periods, Qiu spent periods of time labouring in the countryside and criticising himself at meetings. Nevertheless, with the help of older colleagues, he found ways to continue doing his paleographic research. In 1972, just as the Cultural Revolution was beginning to wind down, construction workers at Changsha Mawangdui in Hunan province happened upon a tomb. When it was excavated by archaeologists, they discovered that it had been perfectly sealed and contained the preserved corpse of a woman, including her soft tissue and the textiles in which her body was wrapped. Her son's tomb, which was closed in 168 BC, was nearby and contained more than 20 manuscripts brush-written on silk, including two copies of the Daoist classic known as the Laozi, and the Book of Changes (the Yijing, or I Ching), as well as other texts. In 1974, Qiu joined a small group charged with transcribing the Mawangdui manuscripts into modern characters. His responsibility was the Laozi, and his research on these manuscripts aided in the transcription of earlier manuscripts brush-written on slips of bamboo – the Guodian Chu slips, taking their name from the ancient state of Chu – that were found in a tomb in Guodian, Hubei province, in 1993. That tomb, which also included sections of the Laozi, has been dated to around 300 BC. Thus, the manuscripts, which included many philosophical texts, were probably written down during the lifetime of Confucius' most famous disciple, Mencius. They were recorded in a regional style, and when they were published with transcriptions in 1998, they carried annotations by Qiu. In 2005, Qiu was invited to Fudan to head a new Centre for Research on Excavated Classics and Paleography. Since the discovery of the Guodian tomb, many more bamboo and silk manuscripts have been unearthed. Accordingly, this institution focuses primarily on their decipherment and interpretation. Qiu's intellectual leadership is evident in the lively academic discussions posted online by his graduate students. Qiu also promoted international scholarly cooperation, teaching and mentoring many foreign students, both at Peking University and at Fudan. In 1982-83 he taught paleography at the University of Washington in Seattle, and in 2000 received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago. I first met Qiu Xigui in 1984 in Beijing, when I was teaching for Soas University of London. By the time we invited him to London in 1992, he had already been diagnosed with glaucoma, and while magnifying glasses, computers and his devoted students helped him to continue his work, eventually he became totally blind. Even then, he continued his work by dictating his ideas to his students. He is survived by his wife, Dong Yan, and his son, Qiu Shi. Qiu Xigui, paleographer, born 13 July 1935; died 8 May 2025
CTV News
6 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
World's tallest monk? Victor Wembanyama spotted at China's Shaolin Temple with shaved head
Victor Wembanyama looks on during the 2025 Women's Volleyball Nations League match between France and Belgium at National Indoor Stadium on June 6, 2025 in Beijing, China. (via CNN Newsource) French 7'3' NBA star Victor Wembanyama may have just unlocked a new position: Shaolin monk. Wembanyama, who ended last season early due to a rare blood clot in his right shoulder appeared to be looking for some off-season spiritual peace and strength at a Shaolin Temple in central China. A widely circulated image showed the San Antonio Spurs center with a freshly shaven head, sitting pensively in front of small Buddha statues inside a room typically used by abbots to receive guests. Chinese state media reports confirmed on Monday that he was indeed at the temple. The image, which CNN is unable to trace to its original source, was reposted by multiple Chinese state media outlets and by the NBA's official account on Chinese social media. NBA said on its official Weibo page on Monday that 'according to reports' Wembanyama has shaved his head and begun a 10-day retreat in the Shaolin Temple. In a separate video on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, a bystander spotted the towering basketball player at the temple. Perhaps the 'tallest monk' in history, both ancient and modern. During a private visit to China, San Antonio Spurs basketball player Victor Wembanyama had his head shaved at the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, donned monastic robes, and shared a vegetarian meal, preparing for… — China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) June 9, 2025 The 1,500-year-old monastery, nestled deep in the forested mountains of central China's Henan province, is known for Zen Buddhism and the Chinese martial art of kung fu. Retreats at the temple focus on discipline, meditation and inner harmony and aim to help disconnect from real-world distractions. The 21-year-old Wembanyama – a 2024-25 NBA All-star and 2023-24 Rookie of the Year, just went through a tough season. He had been out since February following a rare deep vein thrombosis diagnosis and several weeks later the Spurs were officially eliminated from playoffs. Wembanyama seemingly wanted to stay low-key on his journey at the monastery. The Frenchman has not yet posted anything about it on social media. On Monday, the Shaolin Temple, told CNN 'We are not aware of this' when asked about Wembanyama staying there. But a state-owned outlet of Henan province, where the temple is located, reportedly learned from people at the temple that 'Wembanyama is indeed currently in the Shaolin Temple, but the relevant matters are not convenient to be disclosed to the public'. Right before the spiritual tour, the French basketballer spent a couple of fun days in Beijing. Locals spotted him shopping, playing basketball, walking in a park, and even visiting the Great Wall, as shown in their social media footage. The San Antonio Spurs on Friday shared a video on Instagram of Wembanyama as he visited the Great Wall of China in Beijing. 'It's Victor Wembanyama. Life in China on the Great Wall itself, having an amazing time. It's crazy,' he said. The Shaolin temple often attracts well known figures. Prominent U.S. YouTuber IShowSpeed visited to the same temple back in March, training with a kung fu master and generating millions of views on his social media accounts.
CNN
13 hours ago
- Sport
- CNN
World's tallest monk? Victor Wembanyama spotted at China's Shaolin Temple with shaved head
French 7'3' NBA star Victor Wembanyama may have just unlocked a new position: Shaolin monk. Wembanyama, who ended last season early due to a rare blood clot in his right shoulder appeared to be looking for some off-season spiritual peace and strength at a Shaolin Temple in central China. A widely circulated image showed the San Antonio Spurs center with a freshly shaven head, sitting pensively in front of small Budda statues inside a room typically used by abbots to receive guests. Chinese state media reports confirmed on Monday that he was indeed at the temple. The image, which CNN is unable to trace to its original source, was reposted by multiple Chinese state media outlets and by the NBA's official account on Chinese social media. NBA said on its official Weibo page on Monday that 'according to reports' Wembanyama has shaved his head and begun a 10-day retreat in the Shaolin Temple. In a separate video on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, a bystander spotted the towering basketball player at the temple. The 1,500-year-old monastery, nestled deep in the forested mountains of central China's Henan province, is known for Zen Buddhism and the Chinese martial art of kung fu. Retreats at the temple focus on discipline, meditation and inner harmony and aim to help disconnect from real-world distractions. The 21-year-old Wembanyama – a 2024-25 NBA All-star and 2023-24 Rookie of the Year, just went through a tough season. He had been out since February following a rare deep vein thrombosis diagnosis and several weeks later the Spurs were officially eliminated from playoffs. Wembanyama seemingly wanted to stay low-key on his journey at the monastery. The Frenchman has not yet posted anything about it on social media. On Monday, the Shaolin Temple, told CNN 'We are not aware of this' when asked about Wembanyama staying there. But a state-owned outlet of Henan province, where the temple is located, reportedly learned from people at the temple that 'Wembanyama is indeed currently in the Shaolin Temple, but the relevant matters are not convenient to be disclosed to the public'. Right before the spiritual tour, the French basketballer spent a couple of fun days in Beijing. Locals spotted him shopping, playing basketball, walking in a park, and even visiting the Greal Wall, as shown in their social media footage. The San Antonio Spurs on Friday shared a video on Instagram of Wembanyama as he visited the Great Wall of China in Beijing. 'It's Victor Wembanyama. Life in China on the Great Wall itself, having an amazing time. It's crazy,' he said. The Shaolin temple often attracts well known figures. Prominent US YouTuber IShowSpeed visited to the same temple back in March, training with a kung fu master and generating millions of views on his social media accounts.
CNN
13 hours ago
- Sport
- CNN
World's tallest monk? Victor Wembanyama spotted at China's Shaolin Temple with shaved head
French 7'3' NBA star Victor Wembanyama may have just unlocked a new position: Shaolin monk. Wembanyama, who ended last season early due to a rare blood clot in his right shoulder appeared to be looking for some off-season spiritual peace and strength at a Shaolin Temple in central China. A widely circulated image showed the San Antonio Spurs center with a freshly shaven head, sitting pensively in front of small Budda statues inside a room typically used by abbots to receive guests. Chinese state media reports confirmed on Monday that he was indeed at the temple. The image, which CNN is unable to trace to its original source, was reposted by multiple Chinese state media outlets and by the NBA's official account on Chinese social media. NBA said on its official Weibo page on Monday that 'according to reports' Wembanyama has shaved his head and begun a 10-day retreat in the Shaolin Temple. In a separate video on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, a bystander spotted the towering basketball player at the temple. The 1,500-year-old monastery, nestled deep in the forested mountains of central China's Henan province, is known for Zen Buddhism and the Chinese martial art of kung fu. Retreats at the temple focus on discipline, meditation and inner harmony and aim to help disconnect from real-world distractions. The 21-year-old Wembanyama – a 2024-25 NBA All-star and 2023-24 Rookie of the Year, just went through a tough season. He had been out since February following a rare deep vein thrombosis diagnosis and several weeks later the Spurs were officially eliminated from playoffs. Wembanyama seemingly wanted to stay low-key on his journey at the monastery. The Frenchman has not yet posted anything about it on social media. On Monday, the Shaolin Temple, told CNN 'We are not aware of this' when asked about Wembanyama staying there. But a state-owned outlet of Henan province, where the temple is located, reportedly learned from people at the temple that 'Wembanyama is indeed currently in the Shaolin Temple, but the relevant matters are not convenient to be disclosed to the public'. Right before the spiritual tour, the French basketballer spent a couple of fun days in Beijing. Locals spotted him shopping, playing basketball, walking in a park, and even visiting the Greal Wall, as shown in their social media footage. The San Antonio Spurs on Friday shared a video on Instagram of Wembanyama as he visited the Great Wall of China in Beijing. 'It's Victor Wembanyama. Life in China on the Great Wall itself, having an amazing time. It's crazy,' he said. The Shaolin temple often attracts well known figures. Prominent US YouTuber IShowSpeed visited to the same temple back in March, training with a kung fu master and generating millions of views on his social media accounts.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Zoomlion Advances Intelligent Agricultural Machinery and Upgrades Service Support to Safeguard Summer Grain Harvest
CHANGSHA, China, June 9, 2025 /CNW/ -- Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. ("Zoomlion"; is spearheading all-out efforts to safeguard the summer harvest as China's "Three Summer" jobs – summer harvesting, planting, and field management – are now in full swing. In the Changzhuang Town of Suiping County, Zhumadian City, Henan Province, Zoomlion's grain combine harvesters are the "vanguards" of high-quality harvesting; while in Anhui, the brand's PL80 crawler-type harvester achieved outstanding results in the mechanical harvesting loss reduction skills competition as well. Zhang Xiaobo, a combine harvester driver in Suiping with over a decade of experience, is operating Zoomlion TE100-DH this summer, the first hybrid power harvester in China. "The harvester is powered by an electric motor, offering fast response times and simplified gear shifting. It can adjust power output intelligently to keep the engine running at optimal conditions, resulting in fuel savings of 30% compared to traditional models," said Zhang Xiaobo. "The TE100-DH not only has very low failure rate, Zoomlion's after-safes team can also respond 24 hours a day to guarantee the harvesting." As the agricultural industry continues to evolve, Zoomlion's intelligent technologies are advancing the agricultural jobs to reach new heights. By leveraging the BeiDou positioning system alongside AI-driven path planning, automatic obstacle avoidance, and remote instruction capabilities, Zoomlion's unmanned harvesting machines have achieved impressive precision and efficiency, leading to significantly increased harvest yields. Moreover, Zoomlion has transformed its service offerings by implementing comprehensive digital and intelligent strategies. The company has innovated its service system to boost operational efficiency by establishing an intelligent control center, four service columns, and four support centers. Additionally, it has expanded its network with 107 new standard agricultural machinery service stations to ensure complete coverage and formed a large-scale service team of 2,200 professionals dedicated to providing quick responses, on-site assistance, and immediate troubleshooting. "We have successfully completed the construction of our integrated warehousing system, which includes a central factory, provincial airports, city-level centers, dealers, mobile spare parts support vehicles, and direct service spare parts packages. Through the ZBP service spare parts system, WMS warehouse management system, and TMS logistics visualization system, we have fully achieved digital processing, intelligent resource coordination, and enhanced customer service visibility. This has significantly improved the speed and timeliness of our service spare parts supply," said Huo Xiaofeng, Co-General Manager of Zoomlion Agriculture Machinery Co., Ltd. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Zoomlion View original content to download multimedia:
