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Chinese
Culture (3)
Chinese
Marriage
Chinese marriage was
systemized into custom in the Warring States period (402-221
B.C.). Due to vast expanse and long history, there are different
customs to follow in different places, although they are generally
the same. Visitors still get chance to witness traditional
marriages in the countryside.
In the ancient times, it
was very important to follow a basic principle of Three Letters
And Six Etiquettes, since they were essential to a marriage.
 Three letters include
Betrothal Letter, Gift Letter and Wedding Letter. Betrothal Letter
is the formal document of the engagement, a must in a marriage.
Then, a gift letter is necessary, which will be enclosed to the
identified girl's family, listing types and quantity of gifts for
the wedding once both parties accept the marriage. While the
Wedding Letter refers to the document which will be prepared and
presented to the bride's family on the day of the wedding to
confirm and commemorate the formal acceptance of the bride into
the bridegroom's family.
Six Etiquettes
Proposing: If an
unmarried boy's parents identify a girl as their future
daughter-in-law, then they will find a matchmaker. Proposal used
to be practiced by a matchmaker. The matchmaker would formally
present his or her client's request to the identified girl's
parents.
Birthday matching: If
the potential bride's parents did not object the marriage, the
matchmaker would ask for the girl's birthday and birth hour record
to assure the compatibility of the potential bride and bridegroom.
If the will-be-wedding birthdays and birth hours does not conflict
according to astrology, the marriage will step into the next
stage. Once there is any conflict, meaning the marriage will bring
disasters to the boy's family or the girl's, the marriage stops
here.
Presenting betrothal gifts:
Once birthdays match, the bridegroom's family will then arrange
the matchmaker to present betrothal gifts, enclosing the betrothal
letter, to the bride's family.
Presenting wedding gifts:
After the betrothal letter and betrothal gifts are accepted, the
bridegroom's family will later formally send wedding gifts to the
bride's family. Usually, gifts may include tea, lotus seeds,
longan, red beans, green beans, red dates, nutmeg, oranges,
pomegranate, lily, bridal cakes, coconuts, wine, red hair braid,
money box and other stuffs, depending on local customs and family
wealth.
Picking auspicious wedding
date: An astrologist or astrology book will be referred to
selecting an auspicious date to hold the wedding ceremony. Wedding
ceremony: On the selected day, the bridegroom departures with a
troop of escorts and musicians, which will play happy music all
the way to the bride's home. After the bride is clustered to the
bridegroom's home, the wedding ceremony begins.
Dragon
and Chinese
In Chinese culture, dragon
symbolizes the Chinese people and the people from Chinese origin
considered themselves, with a certain amount of pride,
'descendants from the dragon'. The question what this dragon
really is and where it comes from has puz led whole generations of
scientists and researchers.
According to ancient texts
the dragon was a creature 'with a pair of antlers like the one of
a deer, a camel head, the eyes of a hare, and the neck of a
serpent. Its belly looks like the one of a shen (a mythical water
dragon that resembles a crocodile). Its claws look like the ones
of an eagle, its paws like the ones of a tiger and its ears like
the ones of a buffalo. The dragon was able to morph from one form
into another within a few instances, from fat to thin and from
tall to short. It could also rise to heaven and descend to the
depths of the sea. It seems to be that the dragon is a
supernatural creature that can accept any type of form. The
Chinese sign for the dragon appears during the Yin and Shang
dynasties (from the 16th to the 11th century B.C., the period of
the earliest Chinese hieroglyphs), between inscriptions on bones
and turtle shields. These inscriptions depicted a horned reptile,
teeth, scales and sometimes paws as well. Above the sign there's
often a symbol that seems to indicate that the dragon is
considered to be a violent, evil, unfortunate bringing creature.
Based on this symbol Chinese scientists concluded that the
'dragon' was in fact an alligator.
Throughout the centuries
scientist came up with many explanations and theories about the
dragon. It's beyond any doubt that it must have been, in its
earliest appearances, a reptile; a snake, alligator, or lizard.
Relics and archeological sites dating from 5,000 to 6,000 years
from now have shown that lizards, alligators and dragons were
adapted in domestic messes of honor and rituals. By researching
the icons on these findings we can trace down the earliest
description, evolution and the final appearance of the dragon.
Though the first dragons
had one single form of appearance, the different peoples from
ancient China, that got into contact with each other more and more
often, started to image their totems with more fantasy. After a
long time one picture evolved of which its properties mixed with
the ones of different dragons or totems.
Therefore the dragon is a
product of imagination; a mystical creature that has been
worshipped by the Chinese for centuries. Also in modern Chinese
art the dragon is depicted in many appearances. Ethnical and
cultural minorities depicted it in many forms, from a fish to an
alligator or human
Chinese
Tea
Chinese Art of Tea (Cha in
Chinese) Drinking Wherever Chinese go, the custom of drinking tea
follows. The Chinese were the first to discover the tea leaf, and
have drunk tea for uncounted ages. When you arrive in the
beautiful island of Taiwan, you may see some elderly gentlemen
seated in twos and threes, perhaps in a temple up some old
street...
China produces the widest
variety of teas in the world. No wonder so many western tourists
tend to get confused when they go to buy some souvenir tea to take
home. One question inevitably arises: What makes one tea different
from another?
Chinese
merchants mark the distinction by sorting teas according to
differences in processing. Basically, there are six categories:
green tea, oolong, black tea, white tea, yellow tea and dark tea.
Of them, green tea, oolong and black tea are the three most
popular ones.
Green
Yea ("lu cha" in Chinese ) eaves still look
naturally yellowish-green after they are processed, without
fermentation. Leaves are first pan-fried in temperatures between
200 degrees Celsius and 260 degrees to kill an enzyme in the leaf
that causes oxidation and discoloration. Then the leaves are
rolled for shape and fired for drying. The finest green teas are
usually dried by a hand-processing method. When the first harvest
of green tea comes to Shanghai markets in early May, tea
specialists often appear in tea shops to demonstrate the last step
of processing: firing. The leaves are stirred by a skillful hand
in a heated, large iron wok, leaving the leaves glossy. The
Shanghai Friendship Store has had such an exhibition at its tea
section on the ground floor in recent weeks. Green tea, in
general, has a slightly sweet taste and pleasant aroma. A cup of
fine green tea should be crystal clear with a light green hue. It
should not be dull. In China, the three best-known green teas are
Longjing (Dragon Wel), Huangshan Maofeng( Yellow Mountain
Hairpoint) and Biluochun (Green Snail Spring).
Oolong
Tea ("wu long" in pinyin) is a special
variety of tea grown mainly in the southern provinces of Fujian,
Guangdon and Taiwan. In Chinese, it literally means "black
dragon." The processed oolong leaves are stout and crinkled.
They feel thicker, looser and drier than green teas. Shaking the
withered the tea leaves in bamboo baskets bruises the leaves and
causes them to oxidize, leading to the key processing step of
fermentation. Partial fermentation makes oolong black in color and
creates a rich orchid-like aroma. A cup of oolong produces a
full-bodied beverage of reddish orange color. Oolong tea is a
little bitter but gives a lingering aromatic after-taste. Premium
oolong brands are Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) from Fujian
and Dongding (Frozen Mountain Top) from Taiwan. Southern Chinese
drink oolong in a cup as small as a shot glass. The serving of
oolong is quite ceremonial, often using a complicated tea set that
includes a small slim cup reserved for inhaling the aroma of the
tea. Good oolong is like good wine. Elements of color, aroma and
after-taste contribute to the pleasure of sipping it.
Jasmine
Tea ("huang cha" in pinyin) gets its name
from its unique processing. After being roasted mildly, the leaves
are wrapped in brown paper and stored in wooden cases for several
days so that the leaves turn pale yellow. Yellow tea mainly refers
to Yingzhen (Silver Needle), a tea that grows on Mt Junshan on a
peninsula on Dongting Lake in Hunan Province. The beverage of
yellow tea is a yellow-orange brew with a strong fragrance.
New
Year Pictures
In China,
when the Spring Festival comes around, people, especially in rural
areas, decorate the doors, windows, and walls of their houses with
brightly colored pictures. They hope the pictures will bring their
families good luck and prosperity. To many, it would not be a
"happy" New Year without the New Year pictures. No other
Chinese art form has enjoyed such widespread popularity.
New Year
pictures have a long history and can be traced back to the Eastern
Han Dynasty (25-220). Originally, people painted menshen (door gods)
on their doors with ink and colors to protect their families from
devils. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), pictures of door gods
were gradually replaced by those of people from real life. In the
Song Dynasty (960-1279) woodblock printed New Year pictures were
traded among the ordinary people. New Year pictures were gradually
popularized and developed into an independent art form. In the
seventeenth century, during the period of great prosperity of the
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), New Year pictures flourished along with
other handicrafts.
In China,
there are three major kinds of traditional New Year pictures: the
Yangliuqing in Tianjin, the Taohuawu in Jiangsu Province, and the
Yangjiabu in Shandong Province. Of these three kinds, New Year
paintings made by the peasants of Yangjiabu seem to be not only the
most primitive but also the most original. Yangliuqing New Year
pictures feature a combination of classical and folk-art techniques.
Taohuawu pictures carry on the traditions of previous dynasties and
also adopt Western perspectives and shadings.
In spite of
the differences between the three schools, all the New Year pictures
have some common characteristics. The people portrayed in New Year
pictures look healthy and happy and usually have complete bodies.
Heads are usually a bit larger than natural so that the face, which
is the most expressive part of a person, is emphasized.
New Year pictures portray
various topics from history to daily life. Originally, door gods or
kitchen gods dominated the pictures. During the Ming and Qing
dynasties, New Year pictures started to draw their themes from the
people's lives and also from history, folklore, mythology, novels,
and operas. The most impressive of the pictures are those from fairy
tales and stories. Heroes in Chinese classics such as Zhuge Liang,
Guan Yunchang, Zhang Fei, and Cao Cao in Romance of the Three
Kingdoms, Wu Song, Li Kui, and Song Jiang in Outlaws of the Marsh,
are all commonly pictured in New Year paintings. Figures in
well-known folk tales like "The White Snake" and
"Romance of the Butterflies" are also portrayed.
Another
characteristic of New Year pictures is the use of symbolism. For
example, a chubby, happy baby is often shown embracing a big fish,
with a lotus flower at its side. The word "fish" in
Chinese is yu, which sounds like another word meaning
"affluence", and the word "lotus" in Chinese is
lian, which is a homonym of another word meaning "in
succession". These symbols express people's hopes for
consecutive good harvests. Many other objects used in New Year
pictures also have symbolic meanings. The peony represents wealth
and honor; the peach symbolizes longevity, and the pomegranate and
red plum reflect a large number of children.
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.
The aim of
pasting up New Year pictures is to please children and promote the
values of hard work and integrity. Wood block New Year pictures
reached their zenith during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Pictures
of different subjects, themes and forms of expression were produced
in dozens of places in the country. Block engraving, printing and
color application techniques also improved during this period. The
subjects of the paintings covered all aspects of social life:
portraits of door gods, historical stories, fairy tales, folk
customs, scenes of production and labor, lucky mascots of birds and
flowers, humorous scenes, current affairs-almost everything. No
wonder New Year pictures are called "encyclopedias on
folklore."
Many New
Year pictures depict religious themes. Door Gods, one reoccurring
theme, appeared during the Tang Dynasty(618-907). The Four Beauties,
block printed pictures made in the Song Dynasty (618-907), were
considered state treasures. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) dynasties the art of New Year pictures spread
nationwide. According to statistics, there were more than 2,000
varieties of wood block New Year pictures in circulation. These also
spread to Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and Russia.
On New
Year's Eve, people pasted New Year pictures in their houses, and
welcomed in the God of Wealth. The time to welcome in the God of
Wealth varies from place to place. Some celebrate on the second day
of the first lunar month, or on the fifth day of the first lunar
month, but most celebrate at midnight on New Year's Eve. Jiaozi,
a dumpling with a meat and vegetable stuffing, symbolizes the wealth
sent by the god of people also paste up portraits of these deities.
There are
several different versions of the origins of this custom. The most
common practice was to worship Guan Yu, a famous general of
the Three Kingdoms Period (220-265), a figure from the classic novel
Romance of Three Kingdoms. He was canonized due to his loyalty,
bravery, persistence and selflessness, and people offered sacrifices
to him to pray for wealth. This custom continues to this day.
Chinese
Wood-carving
The art of
wood carving is an old-line art in China; it can be traced back to
the New Stone Age. Our ancestors made the articles for daily use
with the simple stone tools, and the primitive art of wood carving
accordingly appeared. Although wood works were hard to be preserved,
especially after thousands of years, we have handpicked some of
them, in order to give you a contour of this storied arts of China.
Red
sandalwood carving
A long time
ago the red sandalwood was regarded as the top grade. The tree is
mainly produced between Nanyang and Canton, Guangxi areas of China.
The growth of the red sandalwood is very slow, which needs at least
hundreds of years to become the real wood with hard rigidity and
high density. The furniture made of red sandalwood is extremely
black, just like the black lacquer that has seldom texture and shows
the nobleness, magnificence and connotation.
It is
recorded that people not only from China, but also from Europe and
America all enjoy the red sandal wood, and regard the wood as the
most noble in the world. It was said that in front of Napoleon's
grave had a half-ruler model in red sandalwood, which all of the
visitors felt extremely astonished. Someone came to China and found
all the top grade was gathered in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Since the
Ming dynasty, it was popular to use the red sandalwood in the palace
to make the furniture and furnishings. The sandal trees were cut out
very soon, and the emperors send the assigned persons to collect
them. During the course of early Qing dynasty, most of the red
sandalwood was gathered in China, which the reason why foreigners
believe it was a great works when the red sandal ware was on the top
of Napoleon's grave.
Chinese
Embroideries
Embroidery,
a folk art with a long tradition, occupies an important position in
the history of Chinese arts and crafts. It has a long history in
China.
According to
the classical Shangshu (or Book of History), the "regulations
on costumes" of 4000 years ago stipulated among other things
"dresses and skirts with designs and embroideries". This
is evidence that embroidery had become an established art by that
remote time. In The Book of Songs, it says that Song takes the place
of the particular period to uphold the atmosphere of embroidery
clothing, and gradually among the people extensive popular, this has
also urged the development of China silk embroidery worker's skill.
The art
became widespread during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.); many
embroidered finds date back to that period. Before the Tang Dynasty,
the embroidery was pragmatism and used for decorating. The contents
of it had something to do with people's needs and custom. In the
Song Dynasty, the reason that the embroidery was so developed was
that the government advocated and encouraged it. There are many
masterpieces of that period unearthed.
Embroidered
works have become highly complex and exquisite today. Take the
double-face embroidered "Cat", representative work of
Suzhou embroidery. The artist splits the hair-thin colored silk
thread into filaments-half, quarter 1/12 or even 1/48 of its
original thickness-and uses these in embroidering concealing in the
process the thousands of ends and joints and making them disappear
as if by magic.
The finished work is a cute and
mischievous-looking cat on both sides of the groundwork. The most
difficult part of the job is the eyes of the cat. To give them
luster and life, silk filaments of more than 20 colors or shades
have to be used. Recently, on the basis of two-face embroidery have
developed further innovations-the same design on both sides in
different colors, and totally different patterns on the two faces
of the same groundwork. It seems that possibilities hitherto unknown
to the art may yet be explored.
Chinese
Culinary Culture
Being
one of the important fruits of China's age-old culture, the Chinese
food and drink culinary art enjoys a high prestige both at home and
abroad. The whole world looks upon eating a Chinese meal as a
high-leveled enjoyment. The Chinese people whether living in or
outside the county all share a proper sense of pride for such a rich
Chinese food and drink culinary culture. Thus, to regard the Chinese
food and drink culinary art as a culture, a science, or an art is
entirely justifiable.
 The Chinese culinary culture
has a distant source and has become well established. The legend has
it that the Chinese culinary culture originated with Yi Yin, a
virtuous and capable minister of the Shang Dynasty (15th - 11th
centuries B.C). It can be seen that China initiated the culinary art
as early as the Shang and Zhou (11th century to 221 B.C.) times.
With the growth and development of production and economy during
various periods, the culinary techniques too registered step by step
heightening and improvement----from brevity to variety, from
rudimentary to advanced stage, from day-to-day snacks to feasts,
even to palatial dishes and delicacies. During about the time from
the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) and the Warring Stated
Period (CA. 475-221 B.C.), to the Sui-Tang period the Chinese dishes
began to be marked apart by Southern and Northern tastes. During the
period of the Tang (618-907 A.D.) and the Song (960-1279 AD)
dynasties, people went in a great deal for eating and distinct local
colors were added to the Chinese dishes, such as the Northern food
("Lu" or the Shandong dishes), the Southern food ("Yue"
or the Cantonese dishes), the Chuan food (Sichuan dishes), Wei Yang
(Yangzhou) and the vegetarian foods. Records respecting each kind of
dishes have been handed down. No matter the four oldest groups
(i.e., the Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong and Yangzhou groups) or the
eight groups that gradually matured after the Tang and Song
Dynasties (the Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, Yangzhou, Beijing,
Anhui, Zhejiang and Hunan groups) or the Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei,
Henan, Liaoning groups, as well as the Muslim feasts prevalent
throughout the country. Each of these famous groups has its own long
history and characteristic traditional techniques; these put
together have truly for the Chinese culinary culture produced a
rich, sublime fruit borne out of the policy of letting a hundred
flowers bloom and a hundred schools contend.
Shanghai is China's biggest
port city. Since the Opium War and the opening of the five ports to
foreign trade, it was thronged by traders from all over the world
and was densely populated by the Chinese and foreigners, and the
city became thriving and prosperous. In the wake of economic growth,
the several big culinary blocs poured into Shanghai one after
another. Till the 1920s, restaurants featuring the various kinds of
dishes, like the Cantonese food, Sichuan food, Beijing food,
Yangzhuo food, Ningbo food, Anhui food, Muslim feast, Tianjin food,
Suzhou and Wuxi food and Shanghai's local dishes together with
Western cafes, numbering near a hundred, had emerged in Shanghai. So
the saying "Satisfying eating is in Shanghai" is actually
not coined by the Shanghailanders of today, but prevailed already
some 80 years ago. Undoubtedly local people would enjoy their own
food quite much. each of these sayings is correct, because
in each place there are distinctly-colored
regional culinary blocs and the delicacies of different tastes
available in Chinese food, a fact acknowledged the world.
(
Arts)
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