Calligraphy has traditionally been regarded as China's highest form of visual art - to the point that a person's character was judged by the elegance of their handwriting! Decorative calligraphy is found all over China, in temples and adorning the walls of caves and the sides of mountains and monuments. The basic tools of calligraphy - brush and ink - are also the tools of Chinese painting, with linework and tone the all-important components.
Despite the ravages of time, war and ideology, there's still a lot to see architecturally. Traces of the past include the imperial structures of Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the occasional rural village and Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples. Funerary art was already a feature of Chinese culture in Neolithic times (9000-6000 BC), ranging from ritual vessels and weapons to pottery figures, jade and sacrificial vessels made of bronze. Earthenware production is almost as ancient, with the world's first proto-porcelain being produced in China in the 6th century AD, reaching its artistic peak under the Song rulers.
China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin, but that's just the tip of the lingusitic iceberg. The country is awash with dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them are mutually intelligible. Of the seven major strains, Cantonese is the one most likely to be spoken in your local Chinese takeaway. It's the lingua franca of Guangdong, southern Guangxi, Hong Kong and (to an extent) Macau.
China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its untranslatability makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers. Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian) and the vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty). Chinese theatre is also known as opera because of the important role played by music, and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics, martial arts and stylised dance. Many Western film-lovers are fans of Chinese cinema, with releases enjoying success at film festivals and art-house cinemas. Recently there has been an emergence of talented 'fifth-generation' post-Cultural Revolution directors, including Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, Chen Kaige (Farewell, My Concubine), Wu Ziniu and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Add to them Hong Kong's East-meets-West action directors John Woo (Hard Boiled) and Ringo Lam (Full Contact) and you have a full-fledged, extremely successful film industry.
Chinese cuisine is justifiably famous, memorably diverse - and generally not for the squeamish. The Chinese themselves like to say they'll eat anything with four legs except a table. For the most part, however, it's a case of doing ingenious things with a limited number of basic ingredients. The cuisine can be divided into four regional categories: Beijing/Mandarin and Shandong (with steamed bread and noodles as staples), Cantonese and Chaozhou (lightly cooked meats and vegetables), Shanghainese (the home of 'red cooking' and wuxi spare ribs) and Sichuan (spicy, with lots of chilli). Tea is the most common nonalcoholic beverage on sale, although Coca-Cola (both original and bogus) is making inroads, while beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink. 'Wine' is a loose term which can cover oxidised and herb-soaked concoctions, rice wine and wine containing lizards, bees or pickled snakes. Another favourite is maotai, a spirit made from sorghum which smells like rubbing alcohol and makes a good substitute for petrol or paint thinner.
Yu Opera (Henan Bangzi)
Yu Opera, also named "Henan Bangzi" or "Henan High Tune", emerged during the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty.
Er'renzhuan
Er'renzhuan (Song and Dance Duet), was also known as "bengbeng". Speaking and singing alternately is the main performing form of this kind of drama.
Kun Opera
Kun Opera, also called "Kunshanqiang" or "Kunqu", originated in the Kunshan region of Jiangsu. It is one of China's classical operas, with a history of more than 500 years.
Facial Makeups in Operas
A plastic art peculiar to the Chinese stage, the facial makeups are various designs of lines and coloured patches painted on the faces of certain operatic characters.
Beijing Opera
Beijing Opera, also written as Peking opera, is a purely Chinese opera form which dates back to the year 1790.
Yangge and Waist Drum Dance
During the season in winter, young people in villages in northern Shanxi begin doing the yangge dance and waist drum dancing in order to greet Spring Festival (first day of the first lunar month) and Lantern Festival (15th of the first lunar month).
Northeast China's Yangko Dance
The Yangko dance is a traditional folk dance of the Han Chinese commonly performed in the northern provinces. Yangko dancers usually wear bright and colourful costumes, and their movements are vigorous and quick. During holidays such as lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, as soon as people hear the sound of drums and gongs they swarm into the streets to watch Yangko dance peformances, no matter how cold it is outside.
Tibetan Dances
Nearly every Tibetan can sing and dance. They sing anytime for any event and dance at festivals, weddings, gatherings and during their spare time. The Tibetan nationality, or Bo as it calls itself, has a population of about 3.87 million, scattered in Tibet, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, which are known for their highlands, grasslands, thick forests and abundant natural resources. The areas inhabited by Tibetans boats a great diversity of folk songs and dances.
Huangmei Opera
Huangmei Opera was formed in the 18th century, when Chinese local operas were flourishing. Originally it was a combination of local folk songs, dances and some widely spread ancient operas. Bordering on Anhui Province, Huangmei in Hubei is a count famous for its tea and tea-picking songs, from which Huangmei Opera got its original name, "tea-picking tunes" or "tea-picking opera".
Exorcising Ghosts Opera
I had heard a long time ago that Guizhou was the only place where an ancient opera of primitive culture, the exorcising ghosts opera (nuoxi), was still played. On my trip to Guizhou this time, I happened to see a few shows.
Di Opera and Masks
Di Opera is a traditional Chinese opera popularized in the Guizhou towns of Anshun, Huishui, Pingba and Zhenning. Originally without a name, the opera became known as Di because the audience watched on slopes rising in all directions from the stage.
Qing Dynasty Palace Food and the Full Manchu-Han Banquet
During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) there were all kinds of palace banquets. Grand banquets were held for a number of reasons; when a new emperor came into power, when the government changed its title of reign, when a war was won, for the Spring Festival, or for special birthdays. Fish, deer and pork were very important food in the Mancu's daily life.
Famous Snacks at the Temple of Confucius in Nanjing
Nanjing's snacks have a long history, and the Temple of Confucius is the origin of Nanjing's snacks and also the place where most of the snacks with a district local flavor are to be found.
The Cooking Techniques of Chinese
The Chinese steam food in woven bamboo trays that stack one atop the other. The beauty of this system is that several foods cook at one time , saving fuel.
Teahouse In Sichuan Province
China has the best teahouses in the world and Chengdu has the best teahouses in China."
Eight Cuisines
China covers a large territory and has many nationalities, hence a variety of Chinese food with different but fantastic and mouthwatering flavor. Since China's local dishes have their own typical characteristics, generally, Chinese food can be roughly divided into eight regional cuisines, which has been widely accepted around. Certainly, there are many other local cuisines that are famous, such as Beijing Cuisine and Shanghai Cuisine.
Chinese Tea Guide
Tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant, native to China and parts of India. Tea was supposedly discovered by Shen Nong (the Divine Farmer), sometime around 2700 BC. First mention of tea is found in the famous herbalist's "Book of Plants," which says: "When the Divine Farmer was tasting the plants of the kingdom, each day he would eat 72 kinds which were poisonous, but when he had tea, he was cured."
Chinese Dining Etiquette
A Chinese dinner host will not expect a visitor to know all the traditions associated with a Chinese meal. But the visitor who knows some of them will gain 'face' and give 'face' to his host!
Chinese Tea Culture
Of the three major beverages of the world-- tea, coffee and cocoa-- tea is consumed by the largest number of people.
Eating in Xi'an
People visiting Xi'an must be surprised by the numerous historical sites and interesting places, as well as being left with a deep impression of the food of the city.
First State Banquet
On September 1, 1999, Beijing Hotel officially offered the "First State Banquet." This is the first time in half a century for the hotel to demonstrate the dishes of the first state banquet celebrating the founding of the People's Republic of China. It aims to enable ordinary people to experience the grand event 50 years ago when the Chinese people are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the new China.
Noodles (Miantiao)
Noodles are a form of staple food very popular among the Chinese. They can be made either by hand or by machine and, by the way they are made, are divided into "cut noodles" or "dried noodles." Made in whatever way, they may be of different widths, varying from ribbons to threads. As a prepared dish, they can be served warm or cold, dressed with chilli oil or not, eaten with fried bean sauce, port or chicken sauce, duck chops, soup of any concoction and what not.
Roast Duck(Kaoya)
The Beijing roast duck is a dish well-known among gastronomes the world over.
Xinjiang-Style Cuisine
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is inhabited by many ethnic groups, and Xinjiang-style food is characterized by roast mutton, kebabs, roast fish and rice to be eaten with the hand.
Light refreshments
Light refreshments and pastry of great variety and meticulously made have a long history in China. The origin of Chinese pastry can be traced backe to the Neolithic Age when the stone grinder was invented to make the grinding of grain possible.
Drinking Gongfu Tea
It is a Chinese custom to treat guests with tea. However, people in east Guangdong and south Fujian have a special way of preparing tea, called gongfu tea.
Red Mansion Banquet
In Beijing, there is a famous resort called Grand View Garden. In the mid-1980s, it was a set CCTV established to shoot a TV program called "A Dream of Red Mansions." Later, it was opened to the public and has since then become a popular tourist attraction.
The Ming Imperial Food
Of China's 5000-year civilization, Chinese cuisine can be regarded as one of the richest heritages handed down from the ancestors. The real fine food should be a perfect combination of food, culture, etiquette, science, nutrition, health, art and aesthetics. In my opinion, the none-such naturally goes to the imperial food of Ming and Qing Dynasties.
China's Ancient Papermaking Tradition Preserved
About 1,800 years ago, during the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220), Cai Lun improved China's papermaking technique using bark and hemp. This then became one of the four great ancient inventions of China.
Four Types of Famous Writing Brush in China
The writhing brush produced in Huzhou, ink stick from Huizhou in Anhui Province, ink stone from Duanxi, Gaoyao country in Guangdong Province, and xuan paper, are regarded as the "four treasures of the study" in China.
Writings on Silk(Boshu)
From sometime in the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and over a long period of time in ancient China, plain silk of various descriptions joined bamboo and wood slips as the material for writing or painting on. Silk had advantages over the slips in that it was much lighter and could be cut in desired shapes and sizes and folded, the better to be kept and carried. But owing to its much greater cost, silk was never so popularly used as the slips.
Chinese Calligraphy(Shufa)
Calligraphy is understood in China as the art of writing a good hand with the brush or the study of the rules and techniques of this art. As such it is peculiar to China and the few countries influenced by ancient Chinese culture.
Traditional Chinese Painting
An important part of the country's cultural heritage, the traditional Chinese painting is distinguished from Western art in that it is executed on xuan paper (or silk) with the Chinese brush, Chinese ink and mineral and vegetable pigments.
Oracle Inscriptions(Jiaguwen)
These refer to the scripts carved by the ancients of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th to 11th century B. C.) on tortoise shells and ox scapulas (shoulder blades), which are considered to be the earliest written language of China.
The origin of the Chinese script
There have been various stories about the origin of the Chinese script, with nearly all ancient writers attributing it to a man named Cangjie.
The Four Treasures of The Study
Among the various tools of calligraphy, writing brush is peculiar to China. The brushes are varied, and white goat's hair, black rabbit's hair and yellow weasel's hair are three major types. On the basis of the function of tip, the brushes are classified into three groups: "Hard", "Soft" and "Both". The handle is made of not only bamboo, wood, lacquer and porcelain, but also some precious materials including mother-of-pearl inlay, ivory and jade.
Seals (Yinzhang)
Seal-cutting is traditionally listed along with painting, calligraphy and poetry as one of the "four arts" expected of the accomplished scholar and a unique part of the Chinese cultural heritage. A seal stamp in red is not only the signature on a work of calligraphy or painting but an indispensable touch to liven it up.
Mazu and Mazu Culture
Over 1,000 years ago, a beautiful young firl by the name of Lin Mu was born at the Xianliang Port of Meizhou Bay in Putian, Fujian Province. Clever, brave and kindhearted, Lin Mu could forecast the weather and was happy to help fishermen in distress at sea. She encouraged the people to conquer nature and defeat evil, so she was much loved and esteemed by the people in her hometown. Unfortunately she died an early death at only 28. As the legend goes, she ascended to heaven and became an immortal at Meizhou Bay located opposite to the Xianliang Port.
Silkworm Raisers' Custom
Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces are prominent silkworm producers in China. In early May each year, every household begins preparing to breed silkworms when barley becomes yellow and the mulberry fields turn green.
The Customs Of Tajik People
The Tajik people mostly live in southwestern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and are closely related to the Uygur people of that area. They have their own spoken language, but no written language.
Kashi, a pearl on the Old Silk Road
This is a narrow, quiet lane. The road is lined with houses of one or two storied built of adobe or red brick. It is Saturday. A group of Uygur children are playing, bringing a joyful atmosphere to the quiet bane. At the end of the lane, a sign reading "Vegetable Bazaar Lane" reminds people of its past. The bazaar no longer exists, and people can only imagine the brisk scene here in the old days.
The Customs of the Thousand Lakes Province
Hubei Province is so named because of its geographical position north of Dongting Lake (hu means lake and bei means north). In ancient times, this area was a wide expanse of marshland.
Flower Fair at Spring Festival Time
Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, is a beautiful old city. Legend has it that in ancient times five immortals in colourful colthes once descended on to Guangzhou on five rams. On their departure, each of them left a rice ear, expressing the wish that Guangzhou would be forever free from famine. Hence Guangzhou is also known as the City of Rams and the City of Rice Ears. A stone sculpture of five rams on Yuexiu Hill in the centre of the city had become the emblem of the city.
Dragon Dance in the Hometown of the Dragon
Tongliang County can be called the hometown of the dragon. Dinosaur fossils were unearthed from here. The dragon lanterns made in Tongliang County are known far and wide. There is a custom of doing dragon lantern dances during the Lantern Festival (15th of the first lunar month). When it gets dark various dragon dances are done on the streets with coulourful lights hanging from above. They look like dragons roaming in river of light. The dragon with red candle lights in each section is called a fire dragon and the one made of multi-coloured cloth is called a colourful dragon. There is another one called a bench dragon. A one-metre-long bench is divided into three parts, which are connected with iron rings and the dragon head and tail are put on each end. The giant vermes dragon is more than 20 metres long, and is made of 24 sections.
Tattoo in Chinese Minorities
The Chinese Drung and Dai minorities have tattoo customs inherited from their ancestors.
De'ang Customs
The De'ang used to be called Benglong in Chinese. In 1985, upon their request, the name was officially changed. They have but a small population and mainly live in compact communities in Luxi County and Lincang Prefecture in Yunnan Province, with a small number in Ruli, Longchuan and Lancang counties.
The Customs of the Hui Minority
The Hui are one of the largest among China's ethnic minorities, mainly living in Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang. In addition, the Hui Moslems can be found in most of China's counties and cities.
A Wedding Without Bridegroom
Occasionally the procedure of some of minority nationalities' marriage in Yunnan like this, engaged, married, the bride goes back her mother's home for living, pregnant, birth and bride come back to husband's home, then begin to fall in love and romantic life again. It is quite different from ours. It is happened to meet a wedding of Yi nation without the bridegroom in a county of Yunnan. A bride is sitting on the grassland and a colorful scarf covers the face, many people around her, it seems no any merry atmosphere on the wedding ceremony.
Ancient Chinese Fables
A fable is "a short story devised to convey some useful lesson, an apologue". A distinctive feature of the fable is that it contains a moral truth.
Chinese Poetic Literature
Chinese Poetry Literature is conventionally divided into four classes: poetry, ci , ge or songs, fu. Poetry proper has three forms. The first is " lü shi"
Selected Mythical Stories
Ancient Chinese myths were not recorded in a systematic way in any work, and , as a result, only fragments of them are extant today.
Shijing (The Book of Songs) (1)
Shijing (The Book of Songs) is the earliest collection ofChinese poems including 305 poems of the Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). It was originally called Shi (Poems) and Shi Sanbai (Three Hundred Poems). It was the Confucians of the Han Dynasty who gave it the name Shijing. It is also called Maoshi (Mao Poems) because it was by the hand of Mao Heng of the Han Dynasty that Shijing was passed down to the present time.
Shijing (The Book of Songs) (2)
The following are selected from Shijing:
Shijing (The Book of Songs) (3)
CHASING THE PHANTOM
Shijing (The Book of Songs) (4)
WE PLUCK THE BRACKEN
Chinese Myths and Fantasies (1)
The writing of such stories began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-420), when various writers, influenced by the alchemist's ideas and Taoist and Buddhist superstitions, were interested in inventing stories about gods and ghosts. Some of them show their unusual imagination and mastery of the written language. This practice was continued in the next period, the period of Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Chinese Myths and Fantasies (2)
Scholars and critics have written about the special features of Chinese mythology. Among the most obvious are:...
Chinese Myths and Fantasies (3)
In style and art of writing, both early and later mythical stories are superb. Classical Chinese is extremely concise. A few hundred, even a few dozen words are enough to tell a story complete with dialogue and behavioral and psychological descriptions. Take The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains. After he heard that the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain had begun digging the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains.
Chinese Stone Lions
Lion is a special animal to Chinese people. A pair of stone lions, a male and a female, can often be seen in front of the gates of traditional buildings. The male lion is on the left with his right paw resting on a ball, and the female on the right with her left paw fondling a cub.
Confucian Temple, a Sacred Hall of Art in Guizhou
The Confucian Temple is the place where Chinese officials in ancient times offered sacrifices to Confucius, the great ideologue, politician and educator. There are numerous Confucian Temples of various sizes all over the county. They also served as school of higher education in ancient times. All these temples were exquisitely constructed as a sign of local respect to the Sage.
Cave Dwellers In Shaanxi Province
On a freezing winter's day warmed by the sun we arrived at the peasant house of six stone caves which was our goal in Northern Shaanxi Province on the vast loess plateau. In the courtyard stood several leafless jujubetrees hung with bright yellow corn ears. On one side of the arched door were strings of red chilis-on the other, jade white gourds. The clucking of the hens as they pecked grain from the ground added life to this quiet country house.
Tiananmen Square
The Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, is said to be the biggest square in the world. It is 880 meters from north to south, and 500 meters from east to west, with total area of 440,000 square meters and can hold one million people.
Hutongs(Beijing's New Attraction )
new pastime -- roaming through Beijing's old, narrow streets, hutongs, by old-fashioned pedicab to visit siheyuan, the old quadrangles, and learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens-- has attracted more and more overseas visitors.
Beijing's Hutong
A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan (1206-1341), Ming(1368-1628) and Qing(1644-1908) dynasties. In the prime of these dynasties the emperors, in order to establish supreme power for themselves, planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette systems of the Zhou Dynasty. The center of the city of Beijing was the royal palace -- the Forbidden City.
Screen Wall
Foreign visitors may have noticed the isolated wall either outside or just inside the gate of a traditional Chinese house to shield the rooms from outsiders' view. Known as a "screen wall" in English, it is called yingbi or zhaobi in Chinese. It can be made of any material-brick, wood, stone or glazed tile.
Liao Dynasty Street
Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is a world-famous Buddhist pagoda in Yingxia County under the jurisdiction of Shouzhou City, Shanxi Province. Now a new Liao Dynasty Street has been built to the south of the noted pagoda. Running from north to south, the street together with the wooden pagoda constitutes in the county.
The Architectural Style of Old House in Wuxi
The Old houses that still remain in the ancient city of Wuxi represent the history of the development of the city. The walls, windows, small lanes, and houses built along the ancient canal reflect Chinese culture.
Suzhou Embroidery
Suzhou embroidery, Hunan embroidery, Sichuan embroidery and Guangdong embroidery are the four most famous in China. Suzhou embroidery has a long history. It has been excavated in Auspicious Tower and Mount Tiger Tower made in Northern Song in Five dynasties.
Four Famous Chinese Embroidery Styles
Embroidery is a traditional Chinese craft which consists of pulling colored threads through a background material with embroidery needles to stitch colored patterns that have been previously designed on the ground.
Dragon and Tiger in folk art
The tiger is a popular theme in chinese folk art.One may encounter numerous images of tigers in almost all forms of folk art:paper-cuts, embroidery sculptre, new year prnts and others.
Wood Block New Year Pictures
In China's cities and the countryside, New Year pictures are closely linked with the Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year). Pasting up New Year pictures is a part of the festive celebrations.
Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen, formerly spelt Ching Teh Chen and known as the "Ceramics Metropolis" of China, is a synonym for Chinese porcelain.
Ceramics & Ceradon
Ceramics & Ceradon
Chinese Fans
No one knows exactly how fans in China were invented. The invention or rather the discovery of the fanning function could have been as accidental as follows: a primitive man irritated with lots of flies and mosquitoes, picks up a big leaf off a plant next to him to drive the pests away. To his delight, his effort resulted in cooling air movements.
Dragon & Phoenix
The dragon and the phoenix are the principal motifs for decorative designs on the buildings, clothing and articles of daily use in the imperial palace. The throne hall is supported by columns entwined by gilded dragons, the central ramps on marble steps were paved with huge slabs carved in relief with the dragon and phoenix, and the screen walls display dragons in brilliant colours .
Chinese Potted Landscape
Chinese potted landscapes have been famous for centuries and often described as "soundless poetry", "stereoscopic painting", or "living sculpture". In a pot no larger than a wash basin, the ingenious craftsmen create a miniature reproduction of a natural scene using stunted trees and plants, rocks and sometimes water.
Interior Painting in Snuff Bottles
Snuff bottles are not native to China but were reportedly introduced from the West by Fr.Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit father who worked in Beijing in the early 17th century. Yet the art of interior painting in snuff bottles was born and developed in China and unique to the country.
The Clay Fertility Figures of Henan
On any given day of the week, working days as well as holidays, you will find the people of Nanyang and Zhoukou in Henan Province creating rustic-looking yet colourful clay toys. Children, who like to play with them, call them "Nini Gou" (clay puppy) since most of these moulded figures are in the shape of a dog or other small animal. Some of them also have small over holes and can be used as whistles.
New Year Pictures
The expression explains itself. The Chinese people have the custom of sticking up pictures to celebrate the traditional New Year--now called the Spring Festival. This was recorded in historical works of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The custom is particularly popular in the vast countryside, where just before the festival day every household will be busy spring cleaning and pasting colourful pictures or paper cuttings on their doors, windows, walls, even wardrobes and stoves.
Magpie Dress in Yunnan
In the Yunnan local dialect, a small intermontane plain is called a bazi. Baofengba in Puning County is a village inhabited by the Hans. When I saw Luo Meiying, the township leader, she wore a typical peasant dress: a black cloth scarf wrapped apron on her head, a white tight jacket covered with a black lace vest, an embroidered apron around her waist, blue pants and embroidered cotton shoes. Sensing my curiosity, she told me that it was called a magpie dress because the black head and body and white wings.
Chinese Cheongsam (QIPAO)
The cheongsam is a female dress with distinctive Chinese features and enjoys a growing popularity in the international world of high fashion.
Chinese Dress Adornments
Food, clothing, shelter and tranportation are usually regarded the four most basic neccessities of life by Chinese people.
Colours and Clothing
In Chinese culture there are three central colours: red, black and white.
Duan Wu A Day in Memory of A Patriotic Poet
The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar year is an important day for the Chinese people. The day called "Duan Wu" (meaning Day of Right Mid-Day) is observed everywhere in China. This unique Chinese celebration dates back to earliest times and a number of legends explain its origins.
Chongyang Festival
The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.
The Bun Festival in Cheung Chau
Cheung Chau, a 2.4-square-kilometre outlying island situated to the southwest of Hong Kong Island, is a city dwellers's paradise: there are no skyscrapers, no vehicles and none of the disturbance of modern city life. However, in the fourth lunar month each year, this quiet island is transformed into a hive of activity when the fascinating Bun Festival, Cheung Chau's main claim to fame, takes place.
The Moon Festival
On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) Festival. The round shape to a Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible.
Lantern Festival of Quanzhou
When we arrived at Quanzhou, it was the 15th day of the first lunar month--Yuanxiao Jie, known as the lantern Festival. Each year, there is an exhibition of coloured lanterns at night. Every family hangs red lanterns over their gates. Children carry all kinds of coloured laternns and in streets and squares, coloured lantern sheds are built for lantern exhibition. Everyone goes out to see the lanterns.
Spring Festival
Far and away the most important holiday in China is Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. To the Chinese people it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. The dates for this annual celebration are determined by the lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, so the timing of the holiday varies from late January to early February.
Anecdotes about Huabiao
Huabiao, as something typical Chinese, is actually an ornamental or symbolic column erected in front of palaces, bridges, city gates, tombs or other places. They used to be made of wood, hence their other name--Huabiaomu. They were difficult to preserve, however, and the Haubiao we see today are mostly made of marble.
Siheyuan, The Chinese Quadrangle
Traditionally most urban Chinese used to live in quadrangles called siheyuan or "four-side enclosed courtyards." These courts, as the name implies, are formed by inward-facing houses on four sides, closed in by enclosure walls.
The Number "Nine" and Imperial Buildings
It may not be common knowledge among Western visitors that the number "nine" carried a special significance in old China. Ancient Chinese regarded odd numbers as being masculine and even numbers as being feminine. "Nine", which is the largest single digit number was taken to mean the "ultimate masculine" and was, therefore, symbolic of the supreme sovereignty of the emperor.
Pavilions (Ting)
A common sight in the country, the Chinese pavilion (ting, which means also a kiosk) is built normally either of wood or stone or bamboo and may be in any of several plan figures-- square, triangle, hexagon, octagon, a five-petal flower, a fan and what not. But all pavilions described as ting have this in common: they have columns to support the roof, but no walls. In parks or at scenic spots, pavilions are built on slopes to command the panorama or on lakeside to create intriguing images in the water. They are not only part of the landscape but also belvederes from which to enjoy it.
Zoomorphic Ornaments
Chinese palaces, temples and mansions have on their roofs a special kind of ornaments called wenshou or zoomorphic ornaments, some on the main ridges and some on the sloping and branch ridges.
Archway (Pailou)
The pailou, also known as paifang, is an archway of a memorial or decorative nature. It could be made of wood, brick or stone, with or without glazed tiles, often carrying some inscriptions on the middle beam.
Categorizing Styles of Chinese Martial Arts
For simplicity, styles of Chinese martial arts may be broadly categorized by the terms Northern and Southern.Northern and Southern refer to the geographical region of o-rigin and/or development. The Yellow River, in China, is used as the arbitrary line of division. Northern styles are those which are derived from north of the Yellow River, and Southern styles are those which originate from south of the river.
Martial Ethics
Chinese Wushu embodies a profound philosophy and a sense of human life and social values (some people therefore call it "philosophic Chuan"). It emphasizes traditions, experience and rational knowledge, all of which are clearly reflected in the martial ethics of Wushu. That's why it can display the oriental civilization via combat skills and become an inexhaustible treasury of the human body culture.
Weapons
The weapons used by Wushu masters originate mainly from ancient military weapons. The Eigh-teen-Arms, the term used to describe Wushu weaponary includes the sabre, spear, sword, halbert, axe, battle axe, hook, fork, whip, mace, hammer, talon, trident-halberd, cudgel, long-handled spear, short cudgel, stick and meteor hammer. Some weapons are used to fight at a distance, while others at close range. Some are overt whereas others are covert. Some are hard while others are soft. Their functions are wide ranging-they beat, kill, hit, shoot and block with cutting blades, hooks, points or pricks.
Martial Arts
Wushu (also known as kung-fu or martial arts) is one of the typical demonstrations of traditional Ch-inese culture. It is a sport which utilizes both brawn and brain.
Tai Chi Chuan
Tai Chi Quan is also called "philosophical Chuan," meaning that its principles and techniques all contain the idea of Tai Chi in Chinese classical philosophy. To learn Tai Chi Quan calls, first of all, for under-standing this philosophical thought. This helps to know the techniques of Tai Chi Quan.
Tai Chi Chuan history and styles
The word Tai Chi first appeared in Book of Changes of the Zhou Dynasty. The essay says: "Where there is Tai Chi, there is peace and harmony between the positive and the negative." Tai Chi means supremacy, absoluteness, extremity and uniqueness. Tai Chi Quan takes its name for the implication of superiority. Tai Chi Quan got its name when Shanxi secular Wushu master Wang Zongyue used the philosophy of the positive and negative from the Book of Changes to explain the principles of the Chuan.
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shaolin Quan or Shaolin Chuan originated in the Shaolin Temple on Mount Songshan at Dengfeng in Henan Province. It was named after the temple. The founder of the Shaolin Quan was said to be an Indian monk, Bodhi-dharma. The proposition, though very influential, was proved to be false, for there was a monk named BodhHiharma but he knew nothing at all about Chinese Chuan. In fact, Shaolin Quan was the manifestation of the wisdom of the monks of the temple, secular Wushu masters and army generals and soldiers.
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