Girl, 3, eats leftovers for 2 days after mom dies

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A 3-year-old girl comforted herself with her favorite toy and ate cheese, leftover lasagna and milk for two days after her mother died unexpectedly in their New Zealand home. Read more….

China city drafts ‘Good Samaritan’ law

A city in southern China is considering passing a law to protect people who help strangers from being sued, after a case in which an injured toddler was ignored by 18 passers-by, a report said Wednesday. Read more…

Man with ax kills 6 in central China attacks

BEIJING (AP) — A mentally disturbed man with an ax attacked children and parents walking on a city street in central China on Wednesday, killing six, local officials said.

Three adults and one child died at the scene of the early morning assault on the outskirts of the city of Gongyi, and another child and one other adult later succumbed to their wounds, a city government spokeswoman said, reading from an official statement. Read more…

Papier maches pandas celebrate 50th anniversary of conservation organization

A child runs yesterday among some of 1,600 papier maches pandas set up on a place by the lake in Geneva by World Wildlife Fund members to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the conservation organisation. According to the WWF, there are less than 2,500 mature giant pandas in the wild. The animal has been the organisation’s logo since 1961, the year WWF was founded. Read more….

Giant Panda, China´s National Treasure

Some news and links about China’s much loved animal.

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About the 2011 Mid – Autumn Festival

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Chinese President salutes teachers ahead of Teachers’ Day

This is old news but still worth a read….

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — President Hu Jintao sent festive greetings to teachers ahead of national Teachers’ Day, which falls on Sept. 10, during his visit to Beijing No. 80 High School on Friday.  Read more…

 

Top 10 most beautiful Chinese waterfalls

It is quite an experience to stand next to rumbling waterfalls and hear the plummeting water pounding against the rocks.We invites you to witness the power of nature with this list of top 10 most beautiful waterfalls in China. Read more….

S.E. China marks Mid-Autumn Festival in special way

Eating mooncakes is a tasty tradition when it comes to Mid-Autumn Day, but it’s not the only one. Let’s take you now to two cities in south-eastern China to see how people there are marking the festival in their own special way. Read more…

KING WUWANG TOPPLES THE SHANG DYNASTY

Corruption in the Shang Dynasty reache its peak during the reign of King Zhouwang. He had a luxurious palace built in Chaoge called “Lutai,” or Deer Terrace, which served as a storehouse for the treasures he had seized. The king used various brutal methods to suppress the people. One of the devices. dubbed paoluo, was said to be a hollow bronze column, some six metres high and 2.4 metres across, stuffed with burning carbon, with three holes distributed evenly from top to bottom. Those who opposed him, officials and common people alike, would all be arrested and burned to death on the red-hot column.

As the Shang Dynasty declined, a state named Zhou was rising in the west. In stark contrast to Zhouwang’s cruelty, King Wenwang of Zhou adopted a policy of “enriching the people,” to encourage them to become rich through labour. Hardworking and living a simple life, the king often went to work in the fields together with the peasants to learn about their lives. By the time his son, King Wuwang (r. 1046 to 1042 BC), took the throne, Zhou had overpowered the Shang. Many states that had been subordinate to Shang turned instead to Zhou.

When Wuwang commanded his troops to advance towards Mengjin, taking with him on a chariot a memorial tablet for his late father, he was joined by many other regional rulers who had long resented Zhouwang. They all suggested to Wuwang that he should attack Chaoge directly, to end the rule of Zhouwang. After studying the intelligience reports filed by the spies he had sent to Chaoge. Wuwang decided that the time was not yet ripe for the final attack.  He then withdrew his troops, and continued to make preparations while biding his time.

Upon learning that Wuwang’s troops were nearby, Zhouwang hastened to gather about 170,000 troops to confront the invaders at Muye. Though outnumbering Wuwang’s troops, Zhouwang’s troops were mostly composed of slaves who had just been captured. These slaves were all outraged by the cruel king, but they were placed in front, with elite forces and imperial guards from behind forcing them to charge, an arrangement that only heightened their desire to rebel. As soon as the battle commenced, they switched allegiances and joined soldiers from the Zhou and fought against the Shang troops. As a result, Zhouwang suffered a severe defeat at Muye. Upon seeing the fall of his dynasty, he dressed himself up, mounted the Deer Terrace, piled  beautiful jade and other precious treasures all around himself, and ordered the terrace to be set on fire, putting an end to his wicked life.

Five days after the decisive battle at Muye, Wuwang proclaimed the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, taking Haojing (southeast of today’s Lintong, Shaanxi Province) as the capital. It was known as the Western Zhou (1046 – 771 BC), the third and last slave dynasty in Chinese history, after the Xia and Shang dynasties, and considered the golden age of early China.