China. People’s Republic Founders of Chinese Culture Series 1989 Silver Proof 5 Yuan 36mm (22.22 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.643 oz. ASW) Reference: KM# 249, Y# 214 Certification: NGC PF 68 ULTRA CAMEO 2839329-021 中华人民共和国 1989, The emblem of the People’s Republic of China. Guan Hanqing, playwright, sitting facing left, theatre behind.
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Guan Hanqing (c. 1241-1320), sobriquet “the Oldman of the Studio” (齋叟 Zhāisǒu), was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. He has been described as among the most prolific and highly regarded dramatists of the Yuan period.
Guan spent much of his later life in Dadu and produced about 65 plays, mostly in the vernacular of the time. Fourteen of his plays are extant, including:
- The Injustice to Dou E a.k.a. Snow in Midsummer (感天動地竇娥冤 Gǎn Tiān Dòng Dì Dòu É Yuān)
- Saving the Dusty-windy a.k.a. Saving the Prostitute a.k.a. Rescued by a Coquette (趙盼兒風月救風塵 Zhào Pàn Ér Fēng Yuè Jiù Fēng Chén)
- The Conference of a Single Dao a.k.a. Meeting the Enemies Alone a.k.a. Lord Guan Goes to the Feast (關大王獨赴單刀會 Guān Dà Wáng Dú Fù Dān Dāo Huì)
- The Pavilion of Moon-Worship (閨怨佳人拜月亭 Guī Yuàn Jiā Rén Bài Yuè Tíng)
- The Butterfly Dream (包待制三勘蝴蝶夢 Bāo Dài Zhì Sān Kān Hú Dié Mèng)
- The Wife-Snatcher (包待制智斬魯齋郎 Bāo Dài Zhì Zhì Zhǎn Lǔ Zhāi Láng)
- The Riverside Pavilion (望江亭中秋切膾旦 Wàng Jiāng Tíng Zhōng Qiū Qiē Kuài Dàn)
- The Jade Mirror-Stand (溫太真玉鏡臺 Wēn Tài Zhēn Yù Jìng Tái)
- Death of the Winged-Tiger General (鄧夫人苦痛哭存孝 Dèng Fū Rén Kǔ Tòng Kū Cún Xiào)
China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949, is a country in East Asia and the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area, depending on the source consulted. Governed by the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
China emerged as one of the world’s earliest civilizations, in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China’s political system was based on hereditary monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE. Since then, China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE, the Qin unified core China and established the first Chinese empire. The succeeding Han dynasty, which ruled from 206 BC until 220 AD, saw some of the most advanced technology at that time, including papermaking and the compass, along with agricultural and medical improvements. The invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and Northern Song (960-1127) completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture spread widely in Asia, as the new maritime Silk Route brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and Horn of Africa. Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution, when a republic replaced the Qing dynasty. The Chinese Civil War resulted in a division of territory in 1949, when the Communist Party of China established the People’s Republic of China, a unitary one-party sovereign state on Mainland China, while the Kuomintang-led government retreated to the island of Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan remains disputed.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China’s economy has been one of the world’s fastest-growing with annual growth rates consistently above 6 percent. As of 2016, it is the world’s second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is also the world’s largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world’s largest standing army and second-largest defense budget. The PRC is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as it replaced the ROC in 1971, as well as an active global partner of ASEAN Plus mechanism. China is also a leading member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), WTO, APEC, BRICS, the BCIM, and the G20. China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower.
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