New Article: Spirituality and Heaven in Ancient China (Part 3)

The Legalist, Han Fei Tzu, approached spiritualism from the religious skepticism approach, too, but his version was drastically amplified. Han Fei Tzu was willing to forego Heaven and spirituality if it interfered with the authority of the ruler.

Read more on our official website, here.

New Article: Spiritualism and Heaven in Ancient China (Part Two)

The Confucians

Though Confucius prescribed that spirits be shown respect, his moral, social and governmental teaching did not have much reliance on Heaven. Confucius and the most important students of the Confucian school, Mencius and Xunzi, based their teachings on love, human nature, and virtue, which could operate without Heaven.

Read the article on our official Historian's Hut website, here.

New Article: Spiritualism and Heaven in Ancient China (Part One)

Deity and the Dao:

The Chinese ancients either attempted to understand Heaven, or they were respectfully skeptical of what they could not comprehend. Part One of this two-piece article looks into the active deity of Mo Tzu and the passive Dao of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.

Read the article on our official website, HERE.

New Article - Startling Saints: Saint Elesbaan of Ethiopia

Elesbaan became king of Axum in the early 6th century, likely somewhere between 514 and 518 CE. Suffice it to say; Elesbaan had significant power and influence. When he heard Christians were being persecuted in Yemen, he mobilized the powerful Kingdom of Axum for war.

Read more about this saint who invaded and conquered the Himyar Kingdom in Yemen. Find the article HERE on our official Historian's Hut website.

New Article: The Fascinating Life of Empress Dowager Cixi

 

Few queens have life stories as interesting, dramatic and odd as that of the last empress of China—Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908). She was the concubine and empress of Emperor Xianfeng, as well as the mother of Emperor Tongzhi and adoptive mother of Emperor Guanxu. 

Read about her incredible rise to power in our article, here.

New Article: The Brutal 1014 Battle of Kleidion

 

An event occurred in the middle of Basil II’s reign that would lead to Emperor Basil gaining the title of ‘Bulgar-Slayer.’  He received the name after the 1014 CE Battle of Kleidion, where Basil faced off against Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria. The battle, and events afterward, ascended to legend.

Read the full article HERE.

Historian's Hut Update Log (2)

This is a big week for The Historian's Hut. Here are some things that have happened and are on the way.

• Relevant articles have been added to the quote pictures page.
• Pages for Historian Hut authors have been set up where all of the articles they have written can be found along with general information about the author.
• 3 exclusive articles will be released this week (one on St. Bernard of Corleone was released yesterday). Here are hints about the other two upcoming articles.
• A Byzantine vs. Bulgarian battle
• A Chinese Empress

Best regards to all the Hut readers out there,
C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

New Article: Startling Saints - Bernard of Corleone

Bernard of Corleone seemed to be a perfect saint—he was penitent, extremely generous and could perform miracles. Saint Bernard was undoubtedly a distinguished Capuchin friar. Before this however, Bernard was the greatest duelist in Sicily.

Read our article, here, or click the above picture.

Strange, But Successful, War Tactics—The Wandering Soul of Vietnam (Exclusive)

The Psyops successful failure in the Vietnam War

In an attempt to break the North Vietnamese and guerilla spirit, the US began using unorthodox methods, including audio warfare. Spooky sounds were played at night to encourage North Vietnamese soldiers and communist guerillas to defect, retreat or surrender.

The audiotapes turned out to provide a different advantage to US troops in Vietnam.

Read our article on the U.S. military's strange psychological strategy, here, or click the above picture.

The Historian's Hut Update Log - (1)

Things have come a long way from the old blog days (this current page). The new official site build has gone well, allowing more space, creativity and a wide variety of article options.  Exclusive articles are being released every week and quote pictures should continue to be released daily. The Historian's Hut Facebook,  Twitter and Pinterest pages are all functioning, and more social media sites (Flipboard and Google +) are also on the way.

What is actively being updated now:

• A merchandise store is being planned and developed.
• The Historian's Hut will accept guest authors: email us if you are interested. (historianhut@gmail.com)
• More text and information will be added to the Quotation Pictures page. More information will also be added to the royalty-free image gallery.
• Updates will be made to the oldest of The Historian's Hut posts. The earliest posts (that linked to Historian Hut articles on other sites) were made for a blog format. Now they will be lengthened, improved and made more suitable to the official webpage.
• Obviously, this blog, here, will serve a role as an update log, while also continuing its current functions.

Heartfelt thanks to all of the thousands of viewers out there who have been taking time to read about the many strange and intriguing events and people found in history and philosophy!

C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

Startling Saints: Saint Sigismund of Burgundy

 

 Strangulation, War and Deadly Curses--this startling saint had it all. Sigismund was a king of Burgundy (modern south-eastern France) during the 6th century CE. He ruled beside one of the most competent early countries of medieval history: the Franks. With all the external pressures the king faced, there is no doubt that his reign was stressful, but just wait until you read about some of the un-saintly things this saint did in life.

Read our article, here.

Mythology Madness: Dionysus (Exclusive)

 

Dionysus was much, much more than a partying god of wine. In his mythology, he could create in his followers great ecstasy, or great rage. He had dominion over the earth, and over the creatures that lived off of the earth. He could summon water, milk and honey from soil and rock, and could even transform man into aquatic animals. For the most part, however, Dionysus was an easy-going, benevolent, god of wine and ecstasy with good intentions for the human race. 

Read more about Dionysus in our article, here, or click the above picture..