In China before the first century BGC, the ground on which persons lived was thought at its limits to be square.  What was above that ground was thought at its limits to be round.  Denote the first space as earth, and the second, as heaven, while carefully ignoring current ideas, beliefs, and knowledge associated with [...]

“Of all the millions of people, nine of ten hold no official position: how could all of them be High-minded Men?” So observed Meng Lou, a scholar-recluse, quoted in the mid-seventh-century Chinese text, “Accounts of Reclusion and Disengagement.”  In Chinese history, refusing to take up an official position in the government bureaucracy was celebrated as [...]

The first generally circulating paper money is thought to have appeared in China in the tenth century.   In his travels through China in the thirteenth century, Marco Polo reported that the Chinese used paper money.  Paper money that closely imitated Chinese models is known to have been briefly used in Ikhanid Iran in 1294.[1] But [...]