SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

Baojia system

  • The Xining Reforms: Wang Anshi

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    Juan

    The Young Prince and the Visionary Scholar When Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, his eldest son, Zhao Xu, was already a thoughtful teenager of fifteen or sixteen. Unlike his peers, Zhao Xu was deeply engrossed in statecraft, particularly favoring the legalist philosophies of Han Fei. Among the many memorials he read was a lengthy…

  • The iron reformer: Shang Yang [Warring States]

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    Rob

    After the prolonged hegemonic wars of the Spring and Autumn period, the number of vassal states within the Zhou dynasty had significantly decreased. The Zhou royal court, though nominally the supreme ruler of the realm, had become a mere shell of its former self. The vassal states were constantly at war with one another.