China HighlightsDiscovery your new way from Culture of

China

Chinese symbol Chinese dragon

During the Qing Dynasty

Potent & auspicious powers

Dragon occupies a very important position in Chinese mythology. It shows up in arts, literature, poetry, architecture, songs, and many aspects of the Chinese conscience.

Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, and floods.

Historically, the dragon was the symbol of the Emperor of China, Many Chinese people often use the term “Descendants of the Dragon”

Chinese Language

Most spoken Chinese – Mandarin

Chinese writing system - Chinese character from Oracle bone script

The first 4,000 years of Spoken Chinese encompassed both Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, after which it began to split into various dialects and languages about 1,000 years ago. In the Ming Dynasty standard Mandarin was nationalized.

The ancient written standard was Classical Chinese. It was used for thousands of years, but was mostly reserved for scholars and intellectuals.

Chinese calligraphy (Brush calligraphy) is an art unique to Asian cultures.

The ink brush, ink, paper, and ink stone are essential implements of Chinese calligraphy: they are known together as the Four Treasures of the Study in China.

Confucius and Chinese Literature

The most popular of Chinese thinker and social philosopher

emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity

His work - Analects of Confucius

Chinese literature Chinese literature began with record keeping and

divination on Oracle Bones.

The extensive collection of books that have been preserved since the Zhou Dynasty.

Concepts covered within the Chinese classic texts present a wide range of subjects including poetry, astrology, astronomy, calendar, constellations and many others.

Many novels such as Four Great Classical Novels spawned countless fictional stories.

Chinese Ancient Architecture

The architecture of China is as old as Chinese civilization

The most important is its emphasis on width - Forbidden City

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in Asia over many centuries.

An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry, which signifies balance.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum.

Music of China a well-developed

musical culture as early as 1122 BC

Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre

Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums.

The famous dragon dance with music is also a remembered tradition. It is seen on Chinese New Year across the world by millions.

Chinese opera has been hugely popular for centuries, especially Beijing opera. The music is often guttural with high-pitched vocals, usually accompanied by suona, jinghu, other kinds of string instruments, and percussion.

Chinese martial arts One of main birth

places of Eastern martial arts

possibly be traced to 4000 years ago

Kong Fu

Chinese martial arts may possibly be traced to the Xia Dynasty which existed more than 4000 years ago. Their origin is attributed to self-defense needs, hunting activities and military training in ancient China.

Chinese martial arts, sometimes referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu, consist of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries.

Bruce Lee (1940–1973) was a Chinese American martial artist and actor who was considered an important icon in the 20th century.

Chinese cuisine

widespread in many other parts of the world

Traditionally there are eight main regional cuisines

good in color , flavor, and taste

Regional cultural differences vary greatly within China, giving rise to the different styles of food across the nation.

In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is prepared in bite-sized pieces, ready for direct picking up and eating. In traditional Chinese cultures, chopsticks are used at the table.

Traditional Chinese cuisine is also based on opposites, whereby hot balances cold, pickled balances fresh and spicy balances mild.

Color in Chinese culture considered auspicious or inauspicious

red - good luck and happiness

Yellow was also the color of the robes and attire of the emperors.

White and blackWhite and black are used in funerals

The End

Nicole Jiang EAP 2009