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Arts

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  • Art is considered as a crucial part of the Chinese heritage and culture.

  • Many of the master artisans have their skills handed down via one generation to the next so that they can treasure the skills.

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Chinese Calligraphy

During the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 BCE), calligraphy itself is one of the most important Chinese art forms other than painting. All educated men and some court women were expected to be proficient at it.

 

The four components of penmanship in Ancient China:

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a) Brush pen (笔 bǐ)

  • made from the hair of goat or wolf

  • round, neat, strong, and pointed.

  • The goat hair is soft, suitable for the writing of big characters, while the wolf hair is hard, suitable for the writing of the small ones

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b) Ink (墨 mò)

  • the ink used in traditional Chinese calligraphy is always black.

  • made primarily from two ingredients; lampblack (or some form of carbon soot) and glue made from animal hides or horns.

  • The ingredients are mixed until it is claylike paste then are put into wooden molds to be formed into various shapes

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c) Paper (纸 zhǐ)

  • xuan paper is a special type of high quality paper produced in Xuancheng and Jing Country of Anhui Province.

  •  Made in an 18-step process from the tree bark and rice straw

  • the paper is snow-white, soft, durable, absorbent and moth-proof.

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d) Ink stone (yàn)

  • typically made out of a fine, dark, solid natural stone that is flat and smooth, with a hollowed-out portion to hold ink.

  • come in all sizes; the biggest have to be carried by several people.

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Jade stones

Jade is a natural green, red, yellow and white metamorphic rock. Colours of jade stones can be vibrant when it is polished and treated. The most common type of jade is green that has an emerald green hue. In Chinese it is called 玉 (yù). Because of its beauty, practical use, and social value, it is very important to the Chinese culture.

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Types of jade

There are two types of jade which are soft jade (nephrite) and hard jade (jadeite). China only had soft jade until during Qing dynasty; hard jade is imported from Burma. Traditional jade is called soft jade.

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History of jade

Early period in history, jade was used as a material for practical and ornamental purposes, and it continues to be popular until today. From middle to late Neolithic periods, jade was an important part of ritual contexts. The Yellow River also found carved jade sites dated from the Longshan culture (3500-2000BCE); and the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties of the Bronze Age cultures (11th- 3rd centuries BCE). Jade was described as “beautiful stones” by Xu Zhen in the first Chinese dictionary.

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Uses of Jade

  • Jade archeological objects include sacrificial vessels, tools, ornaments, utensils, and many other items.

  • Yuxiao (a flute made of jade and played vertically) was made out of Chinese jade.

  • Was used as a sacrificial vessel and was often buried with the dead because of the beautiful colour as it symbolizes a mysterious stone to the Chinese.

Example, prince of the Zhongshan State, Liu Sheng was buried in a jade suit that consists of 2,498 pieces of jade stitched with gold thread.

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Importance of jade to Chinese culture

Jade is not only important because of its aesthetic beauty but also because it represents social value. There are 11 virtues that are represented in jade according to Li Ji (Book of Rites); benevolence, justice, propriety, truth, credibility, music, loyalty, heaven, earth, morality, and intelligence. Jade is highly prized for its beauty, grace, and purity as the Chinese saying goes: “gold has value; jade is invaluable”.

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Chinese Lanterns

During the Han Dynasty, paper lanterns were used as lamps. On the 12th day of the first lunar, monks will use the lanterns to show their worship of the Buddha. Emperor Liu was a Buddhist and he ordered the citizens to light their lanterns to worship Buddha and the customs became a grand festival among common people. People made lanterns to celebrate their peaceful life and the thriving, strong and powerful country during the Tang Dynasty. 

Lanterns are now used for decoration yearly during the Lantern Festival, and used for lighting before the introduction of gas and electricity.

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Types of Lanterns

 

a) Palace lantern

  • Used mainly in palaces during ancient times.

  • Known for its exquisite craftsmanship, elegant, dignifies pictures and courtly features.

  • To create frames, fine woods were used and were coated in silk or glass.

  • The covers have various kinds of patterns such as dragons and phoenix, and their shapes are

diverse such as hexagonal, octagonal, and diametric.​

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b) Gauze lantern

  • To cover the lantern, they used gauze.

  • Wires are used to make frames instead of bamboos, while bulbs are used to replace the candles.

  • Red lanterns are a symbol of blooming life and prosperous business in Chinese culture, so they always hang them on important festivals such as the Lantern Festival, Chinese New Year and Chinese National Day.

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c) Shadow-picture lantern

  • Used for entertainment 1,000 years ago in China.

  • The shape is the same as the palace lantern and there were two layers of covers

  • Pictures are drawn or paper-cuts are pasted on the inner layer

  • The wheel inside the paper causes the lantern to rotate when lit making the moving pictures

appear on the outer cover

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d) Modern Chinese lantern

  • Modern technology is used to make the lantern hence, there are a variety of shapes of lanterns.

  • There are lanterns with music, colourful bulbs and many more.

  • The shape changes over time. It can be cartoon characters, Chinese zodiac animals and even involves computer games to amuse the visitors and give a fresh impression.

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Traditional Chinese Clothing

Traditional Chinese clothing was an evolution for their loose, straight-ct jackets and gowns or trousers. Embodied traditional Chinese aesthetics, ideology, and social values as they evolved over more than 3,000 years of history. Every country in the world has its own unique traditional clothing, from which people can differentiate one country from another.

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There are 4 types of traditional clothing in China throughout the history;

Hanfu, Zhongshan suit, Tang suit and cheongsam (qipao).

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Hanfu

  • The Chinese-oriented name means “Han people’s clothing”, which includes all types and styles of traditional Han Chinese clothing.

  • The Chinese Han traces a shared descent to the Huaxia, a term for the early confederation of farm tribes settled along the Yellow River.

  • The word Huaxia describes the joint Neolithic confederation of agricultural tribes Hua and Xia who settled along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in northern China along the central plains.

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History of Hanfu

  • Has more than three centuries of history and is inseparable from silk from the beginning of its existence.

  • Discovered by the consort of the Yellow Emperor, Leizu.

  • Hanfu dominated the Chinese fashion from the reign of Yellow Emperor (2969 BC-2598 BC) to the end

of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

  • Each dynasty has its own aesthetics and styles.

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Cheongsam

  • Known as Qipao in Mandarin is a traditional dress whose origin dates back to the 17th century.

  • A form of famine body-hugging dress with distinctive Manchu-origin Chinese features.

  • Also called mandarin gown during 1920s-1930s and popularized in Shanghai by upper-class women.

 

Qipao history

  • China was ruled by Manchus in the Qing dynasty and used an administrative division called the ‘Structure of Eight Banners’.

  • The Manchus, and anyone living under the network of Eight Banners, wear different clothes from ordinary civilians.

  • Both men and women wear similar long robes known as changpao.

  • In the 19th century, females wore Qipao on both formal and informal occasions.

  • Cheongsam is now known around the world because of its simple yet exotic lines which has influenced many foreign adaptations.

  • Famous because it fits well with the female Chinese model and looks elegant.

  • Appropriate for both young and elderly groups to wear.

  • Modern day women do not wear cheongsam as an everyday attire.

  • Only worn during formal occasions such as weddings, parties, and beauty pageants.

  • Some Chinese restaurants, hotels and airlines used qipao as a uniform.

  • The wedding dress is usually in red and is embroidered with gold and silver patterns

  • Dragon and phoenix design traditional wedding dresses are  preferred by Chinese brides nowadays.

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Tang suit

Translated as Tangzhuang, it refers to modern Chinese jackets rather than Tang dynasty clothing (AD 618 - 907).

 

History of Tang Suit

  • A result of variations between the jacket elements of Manchu and the elements of Western Jackets.

  • In 1929, the Chinese government had introduced a new uniform scheme.

  • Tang suit has become one of the national formal wears for males.

  • Visible at the 2008 Olympic Games and World Trade Organizations.

  • Tang suit elements were used in popular Kung Fu movies and dramas several times.

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Zhongshan Suit

  • Known as the modern Chinese tunic suit that was originally known as Zhongshan suit in China (after Sun Yat-Sen, sometimes called Sun Zhongshan), and later known as Mao suit.

  • Sun Yet-sen adopted the styles as a form of national dress but with political and government implications.

  • The suit is based on the uniform of the Japanese Cadet.

  • Considered to have cultural significance with four pockets reflecting Chinese culture’s Four Virtues: Land, Liberty, Honesty, and Shame; and five buttons that reflect the five branches of government in China.

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Tai Chi

Historians are debating when Tai Chi was first taught between the 12th and 17th centuries. Zhang San-feng is an immortal Taoist who was inspired to establish the practice after he witnessed a duel between a cobra and an eagle. He was impressed with the snake’s defenceless tactics by suppressing fear and maintaining complete focus on the eagle’s lungs, the cobra managed to avoid being struck by the lethal pecks of the eagle. 

Tai Chi has definitely left its mark on China’s history and present.

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Benefits of Tai Chi

  1. Reduce risk of falls - A 2016 study of 10 random controls investigating the effects of tai chi on fall reduction showed that the ancient Chinese exercise has a significant protective impact on the risk of fall prevention among older adults.

  2. Reduce prenatal anxiety and depression - A 2013 review of tai chi and yoga therapy showed that the tai chi community had lower scores of depression and anxiety, as well as lower scores of sleep disruption at the end of the once-per-week 12 week sessions.

  3. Live longer - tai chi encourages longevity; in addition to the much-researched benefits of decreased mortality from moderate-intensity exercise such as frequent walking and jogging.

  4. Improve COPD symptoms - An Australian study showed that a revamped tai chi program - sun-style tai chi has helped improve exercise ability and reduce symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among the participants. It also has clinical effects in people with COPD in terms of stamina and peak exercise capacity.

  5. Improve symptoms of fibromyalgia - tai chi contributed to an improvement of the symptoms comparable to or better than aerobic exercise. Long-duration tai chi provided greater results.

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