By staff reporter LI XIA.

Golden monkey.
Title: Culture of China (Series of Picture Albums)
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press, Beijing
Price: 58 Yuan per copy

The first four albums in this series were reviewed in our China Today November issue. In this issue we look at the remaining four.

Traditional Chinese Residences

Traditional-style residences in Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu.

Chinese residences occupy a prominent place in world architectural history. The fengshui principles guiding the location and construction of early dwellings meant that they blended in with and complemented their surrounding topography.

Chinese fengshui -- geomancy, is based on the theories of qi (vital energy), yin/yang (positive and negative forces), and the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. In combination with these principles, geomancers also used The Eight Trigrams from the Book of Changes to divine an appropriate site for a new building.

Chinese residences were built according to a strict hierarchy. The History of the Song Dynasty states: "The home of a prince in office is known as a fu, that of an official a zhai, and that of a commoner is called jia." There were stipulations as to the size and style of dwellings at each hierarchical level. During the Ming Dynasty, this tradition ostensibly continued, but many high officials, rich merchants and landlords ignored it. Historical records show that certain people owned palatial houses of up to 1,000 rooms, with splendid gardens, and covering an area of several thousand square kilometers.

The "void/solid" convention of building apparent in traditional Chinese residences, whereby the void sets off the solid, which, in turn, defines space, has been a significant and influential aspect of world architectural aesthetics. The beauty of contrast this principle embodies is defined as: "Density to the point of impermeableness, and emptiness to the point where horses might gallop through." Within this concept, railings, pierced stonework or brickwork, and window lattices act as frames and distancing agents -- intermediaries for exterior views and inside settings. Structures that partition and connect materialize the principle of the void accompanied by the solid. Rhythmic variances of the void and the solid imbue a residence with tranquillity, and a sense of solitude.

The album shows various examples of the wide scope of Chinese residences, such as the courtyard houses (siheyuan ) of Beijing, earthen dwellings in Fujian Province, and Tibetan fortified manor houses.

Folk Paintings

Folk painting Lion Dance.

The two hundred or more recently painted art works in this album by peasants, herdsmen, and fishermen of various regions were selected from among ten thousand. It may thus be seen that folk painting is by no means an exotic rarity on the Chinese artistic scene. Over the last two decades, it has undergone a revival throughout the provinces.

China's huge regional diversity of folk paintings is attributable to the folk artists among her diverse ethnic minorities. Apart from Han artists, there are also those of the Manchu, Tibetan, Korean, Hui, Yao, Uygur, Yi, Miao, Tujia, Bai, Hani and Bouyei minorities.

During the 1970s, the vigor, simplicity and typical central Shaanxi flavor of paintings by rural dwellers in Huxian County, Shaanxi Province drew attention to the folk art of this province. Later, the bold yet mystical works in the rich folk-art traditions of rural inhabitants of Ansai, Luochuan and Yijun emerged.

The visual themes of contemporary folk paintings are the customs, habits, folklore and work of China's various ethnic groups. Although artistic styles differ from place to place, they generally have a local focus, reflecting the lives and emotions of the laboring people. Works of artists of a different genre may follow the contemporary Western vogue, departing ever further from images of everyday life. Traditional styles of folk art are also influenced by new aesthetic standards, but while following its own path of creative awareness, contemporary folk art is nonetheless based on China's land and the people that live on it.

Taoism

Lao Zi, Taoist father.

Taoism is a native Chinese belief system. It was established 1,900 years ago by celestial master Zhang Daoling, during the reign of Emperor Shundi (126-144) of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Dao De Jing by Lao Zi is the principal Taoist canon, and its symbol is the well-known diagram of the cosmological scheme, comprising a circle bisected by a wavy line that separates the white (yang) and black (yin) halves.

There are more than 1,600 temples of the Taoist Quanzhen and Zhengyi Sects, attended by 25,000 Taoist priests or more. The number of common Taoist believers is practically impossible to assess.

Taoism upholds the way of Tao and Virtue, which is that of nature, wherein the myriad species are all facets of nature's continuous, harmonious system. "Universal love" is the essential spirit of Taoism, and benevolence to all people, be they family members or strangers, great or humble. The highest Taoist aspiration is immortality through the way of Tao and Virtue, on whose fundamental principles Taoists base their personal and social conduct. As Tao is cultivated, so Virtue accumulates. From this foundation the state of non-action (wu wei), encompassing absence of passion and desire, and non-struggle may be reached, leaving the follower free to live in simplicity and truth. Immortality is attained by inner and external cultivation of Tao. The former entails physical and breathing exercises, meditation, and the taking of elixirs. The latter involves benevolent behavior and good deeds, thereby accumulating merit and virtue.

The Taoist emphasis on health and longevity has resulted in many followers excelling in medicine and becoming respected doctors and pharmacists. Ironically enough, gunpowder, one of China's four great inventions, was actually a Taoist formulation that occurred by chance during the formulation of a particular elixir.

Someone once said: "China is rooted in Taoism," and its role in the evolution of traditional Chinese culture is undeniable. Knowledge of the Tao is, therefore, the key to a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture.

Rare Wild Animals

Giant pandas.

China's vast area, diverse landscape and broad climatic variations nurture an abundance of wildlife. It is one of the ten countries with the largest numbers of biological species in the world. China's 4,640 vertebrate species include 450 mammals, 1,329 birds, 387 reptiles, 274 amphibians and over 2,200 fish, accounting for ten percent of the world's vertebrate species. Among them, more than one hundred species such as the Giant Panda, Chinese River Dolphin, Golden Monkey, Black-necked Crane, and Chinese Giant Salamander are native to China.

The world-renowned Giant Panda's natural habitat is in the western mountainous areas of Sichuan Province, on Min Mountain and the southern slopes of the Qinling Mountain Range.

Of the total 15 species of cranes in the world, nine are found in China, as are 61 of the world's total 281 pheasant species, 20 of them either unique to, or mainly living in China.

The Chinese government is keenly aware of the need for wildlife protection and construction of wild life reserves. So far more than 1,000 sites covering 120 million hectares have been designated as nature reserves. Certain endangered species have also begun gradually but steadily to increase their numbers.