Astronomers announced today the discovery of the smallest planet so far found outside of our solar system. About seven-and-a-half times as massive as Earth, and about twice as wide, this new extrasolar planet may be the first rocky world ever found orbiting a star similar to our own.

The painting was done with small Chinese paint brushes that capture fine details and makes use of a colour palette of a gentle layer of blue and green over ink water colours, which is a relatively more traditional Chinese painting style. Its view is from high and afar, meaning it moves from the bottom to the top and from the outside to the inside. The painting was completed starting at the bottom and then moving to the top.

When the buyer came to sign the sales contract, Lu Yuanfang told him, “This is a wonderful house. The only drawback is that there is no underground water source to make a well.” The buyer immediately changed his mind and decided not to buy the house. After the prospective buyer left, Lu’s sons and nephews complained to him. Lu replied, “I don’t understand you at all. How could you conceal the flaw of the house and deceive the man for money?”

The striking picture reveals an eclectic mix of embryonic stars living in the tattered neighbourhood of one of the most famous massive stars in our Milky Way galaxy, Eta Carinae. Astronomers say that radiation and winds from Eta Carinae and its massive siblings ripped apart the surrounding cloud of gas and dust, shocking the new stars into being.

When the elderly folks learnt the story, they were very impressed with Yu Yan’s moral character. They said, “This child’s morality goes above and beyond. It is true indeed that the most difficulty situations reveal a man’s true nature. He is truly admirable.” The village folks learnt something important from Yu Yan’s story: Illness can never invade a righteous man.

Emperor Tai Zong also told his imperial subjects, “Many people believe that the emperor is fearless because he is above everyone, but I don’t believe so. I fear god’s judgement. I fear my subjects will emulate my bad speech and behaviour so I have to be cautious at all times. I also fear that I might violate the mandate of heaven [1] and the expectations of my people.”

From the titles of the songs it's obvious that the inspiration came from both the mystical aspects of oriental spiritual practices, which are so very present in Falun Gong, as well as the perseverance and endurance of Falun Gong practitioners that manifest in their struggle to stop the persecution they are suffering in China.

Ni Shan attended the qualification examination for government officials repeatedly but he was never able to pass it. Some people laughed at him. “You give charity to the poor people almost every day. Why does a virtuous man like you repeatedly fail the examination? Perhaps God is blind after all?” Ni Shan was not discouraged by the scornful remarks. He kept on giving money to poor people as usual.

Xiong Zhiyi was a man from the Great Tang Dynasty in China. On his way to Chang’an, the Imperial City, to take the Imperial Examination for Government Officials, he was stuck in a hotel in Tongguan for over a month because of the incessant rains. One day he heard a man sighing in the adjacent hotel room. He knocked on the man’s door to inquire after him.

One day while Guan Ning was hoeing the rice paddy, he hit upon a rock that turned out to be a gold nugget. He threw the gold out of the rice paddy and continued hoeing. Hua Xin saw Guan Ning throwing away the gold nugget and picked it up. He held the gold nugget in his hands and examined it from all angles and then looked at his classmate for a long time before he too decided to throw the nugget back to the field.

On the east side of the front gate in the southern part of the city, there is the largest and most famous temple in Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, where emperors came to pray to heaven for good harvests on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year. Qiniandian is the main building in this temple. In Chinese culture, the name of the building means Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Wang Wei loved mountains and forests. He often took lengthy strolls in the woods alone to experience the feeling of being an integral part of the nature. It must have been a very beautiful and profound feeling, but Wang Wei found it hard to share it with others who were not in the same realm. This must be why Wang Wei wrote, “I savor the pleasant feelings with no one.” What he was truly saying is: “If only I could share this wonderful feeling with someone!”

"The baby swallows would open their big mouths and ate everything the mother swallow brought them. I watched the mother swallow feeding her babies every day. One day I put one of my fingers into the nest, and the baby swallows tried to eat my finger. I took three large thorny seeds and gave each baby swallow a thorny seed. They died shortly afterwards. When the mother swallow returned and saw her dead babies, she wailed sadly and flew away. To this day, every time I think of it, I still regret killing the three baby swallows.”

Stories about exemplary filial conduct abound in Chinese history. The Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety were chosen and compiled by Guo Jujing from the Fujian Province during the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368 CE) while he was mourning the death of his father. He recounted the feats of filial children towards their parents from the age of the primordial Emperor Shun down to his own era.

Pang Anchang said: “The baby had already come out of the placenta, but one of his hands mistakenly held onto the intestine and wouldn’t let go. Therefore, no medicine would do the trick. I only applied the needle on his Hukou point through her belly. The baby felt pain and drew the hand back, so he was born. There was no other special trick.”

In the thicket he found only frosted leaves and green stalks coated with snowflakes and ice. Look as he might, there were simply no fresh shoots growing in the winter. The thought of his poor mother lying sick on her bed, waiting for bamboo shoot broth, made his heart ache. Uncontrollably, tears began to fall in rivers to the ground beneath the tall, emerald canes. Even now, as his tears flowed down, he kept a light of faith in his heart. If he was truly sincere in his search, perhaps....

The Emperor sent Li Qi as Ambassador to Zhang Shicheng to call for his surrender. Zhang Shicheng didn’t follow the common courtesy between battling armies of not harming the messenger from the opposing army and incarcerated Li Qi. Soon after, the Emperor’s army resumed its attack on Zhang’s army of rebels. Zhang Shicheng was outraged. He took Li Qi out of the prison and ordered him to kneel down. Li Qi declared, “My knees are made of steel! They won’t bend for any bandit!”

One day Old Master Lai overheard his parents lamenting, “Look at our son, he’s already in his dotage! Surely our own days must be drawing to a close!” When he heard that, his heart could not endure the helpless feelings that arose. “I must find a way to lighten their hearts!” he vowed. Determined to keep his parents from lamenting over their increasing years, he hit upon a plan.

Sandstorm was made to help reveal the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners currently occurring in China. The persecution is well-documented by Human Rights organisations and various governments around the world, but it is very difficult to get information out of China, as there are extensive methods utilised to block information from getting to the outside world and to the citizens within China.