2-(a) The first emperor considered himself to be the strongest man in the world and he was a ruthless dictator who would subject people to the crudest punishments and keep them in terror. But this mighty emperor had a weakness. He was scared of death to the point of obsession, his biggest wish was to be immortal. He built the underground tomb in order to live an eternal posthumous existence. The purpose of the terra-cotta army was to protect his necropolis and himself from the ghosts of the dead and evil spirits. He could have made this army out of real human soldiers -he was so powerful and cruel that he would not mind sacrificing thousands of people in order to ensure his safety- but he chose terra-cotta figures instead. The reason is that the emperor knew that human bodies would rot and they would not be durable, so they would not be able to protect him for long. But clay sculptures would...
Chinese religion, nr3
April 3rd, 2009Chinese religion, nr2
April 3rd, 2009l-(b) Ancestral worship was very important in Shang culture, it was the focal point of religion. Therefore the main purpose of the bronze objects during the Shang was to serve as ritual vessels and provide a means of communicating with the world of the dead ancestors. So Shang bronze ritual vessels were usually decorated with symbolic imagery related to the world of the dead like poisonous snakes and dragons symbolizing death, enigmatic elephants transcending beyond reality. While the Shang culture worships ancestral ghosts fervently, the Zhou culture honors heaven and people. In Zhou times, if a person made an achievement, he would dedicate a bronze object to an ancestor as a commemoration of his glory. So the focus moved from the ancestor for whom the sacrifice was made to the devotee who makes the sacrifice. The bronze objects became narratives and commemorations of worldly events and...
Chinese religion, nr1
April 3rd, 2009Chinese religion
l-(a) Ancestral worship is the central theme in Chinese religion. It was believed that people continued to exist after death and they needed nourishment, attention and respect from the living. If their hunger was not satiated or they were not respected with rituals, then it was believed that they would turn into vicious ghosts and haunt the living. But if they were properly treated, they would protect and help the living. Therefore people would frequently perform worshipping rituals and give sacrifices to their dead ancestors. In Shang and Zhou dynasties grain, wine, animal and human sacrifices would be offered to ancestors in bronze ritual vessels. The bronze ritual vessels are either food or wine containers and there is a clear separation between their shapes. The food vessels are divided into two categories, those for preparing food and those for serving food. Similarly...
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND THE WAGES OF LABOUR
April 3rd, 2009ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
AND
THE WAGES OF LABOUR
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith argues that economic prosperity is the main factor in the determination of wages. This statement does not necessarily imply that wages of labour are proportional to the actual greatness of national wealth; it means that wages are the highest in the most thriving countries, even if they are not the richest. In this paper, I will discuss the mechanisms for the effect of economic prosperity on the wages of labour and will show the types of economies possible regardless of the actual richness of the country.
The nominal price of labour is dependent on two factors: the demand for labour and the price of provisions provided to the labourer in exchange for the labour. A change in the revenue and stock of a nation affects the amounts of funds destined for hiring labourers and therefore causes a change in the demand for...
4
April 2nd, 2009
AKPC_IDS += "40,";Popularity: 24% [?]
3
April 2nd, 2009AKPC_IDS += "36,";Popularity: 25% [?]
2
April 2nd, 2009
AKPC_IDS += "31,";Popularity: 70% [?]