Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – the Betrothal

The betrothal would begin when the two families were satisfied with each other. First, both parents would exchange family credentials as tokens of intention. They would have an agreement on a monetary amount and gifts for the girl’s family after extensive discussion.

The girl’s family would choose a special day from several the auspicious wedding dates suggested by the boy’s family after receiving the gifts. Meanwhile, the girl’s family would also choose a date for exchanging betrothal gifts.

Generally, the boy’s family would present betrothal gifs, such as money, tea, cakes, pairs of male and female poultry, etc. In exchange, the girl’s family would present gifts of food and clothing.

Cakes would be distributed by the girl’s family to their friends and relatives in order to announce the wedding. The person who received the cake was expected to give congratulatory gifts.




After the presentation of gifts, the girl’s family would send an inventoried dowry by way of messenger to the boy’s family house. The dowry consisted of practical items, such as land, a house, furniture, servants, grain, etc. The procession of the dowry to the boy’s house is considered a display of the social status of the girl’s family and their love for their daughter.

Source:www.chinancient.com

Ancient Chinese Wedding Custom – Preparing for the Wedding Day

As marriage also meant that the bride would leave her former life behind, she had to live for a while in seclusion, always in the family’s cock loft, with only her closest friends. During this period, they would mourn, or curse, the loss of the former life. For this reason, the bride’s emergence on the wedding day also referred to coming out of the cock loft.

For the part of the groom, he was charged with installing the bridal bed on the day before the wedding. The time was carefully selected to influence fertility and a‘good luck woman’ man or ‘good luck man’, the person who have been someone with many children and many living husbands or wives, would preside over the installation.



After that, children would be invited onto the bed as an omen of fertility. Fruit that represented abundance and fertility,such as red dates, oranges, lotus seeds, peanuts, pomegranates, were strewn across the bed.

Source:www.chinancient.com

Rice Culture of China

Chinese culture, boasting a lengthy history, is composed of numerous sub-cultures. The agricultural way of life, centered around rice, has played an important part in the country’s history.
For thousands of years, the Chinese have been diligently cultivating their land. Blood, sweat and tears have been shed over their soil in the pursuit of favorable harvests. This reliance on the land for so many thousands of years accounts for China’s strong rural essence. The need for rice production has led the Chinese to pay particular attention to irrigation technologies, improving cultivation. The agricultural way of life, centered around rice, has had a strong influence on the social, economic, political and ideological developments of ancient China. In this sense, traditional Chinese culture may be considered a “rice culture.”


While exploring the status of rice in Chinese culture a number of developments become apparent. According to Professor Zhang Deci, an expert on cultivation, rice first grew when people, who had lived mainly on hunting, fishing, and fruit collecting, happened to leave some seeds in low-lying areas. Later, these people began developing the land, making it more suitable for farming. Weeding, rice transplanting, and irrigating all originated in the Yellow River Valley region in the north, and Hanshui Basin region in the northwest. To date, traces of rice have been found in Hemudu of Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, Yangshao of Mianchi, Henan Province, Dachendun of Feidong, Anhui Province, Miaoshan of Nanjing and Xianlidun of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, Qianshanyang of Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, Qujialing and Zhujiazui of Jingshan, Shijiahe of Tianmen, and Fangyingtai of Wuchang in Hubei Province. Archaeologists have confirmed that China started planting rice at least 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. In the 1970s, seeds of long-grained non-glutinous rice were unearthed from the Neolithic ruins at Hemudu in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, the earliest records of rice planting in China, and the world.

By the time the western Zhou Dynasty (c.1100 BC - c. 771 BC) was in power, rice had become well accepted and extremely important, as can be seen from inscriptions on bronze vessels used as containers for storing rice. At this time, rice was a central part of aristocratic banquets.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), rice became an important part of the diets for Chinese people. Later, in southern China, especially with the development of meticulously intensive farming techniques during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), rice rose to occupy an important position in Chinese culture.

The cultivation of rice led to the development of an economic lifecycle centered around agriculture: ploughing in spring, weeding in summer, harvesting in autumn, and hoarding in winter. In ancient China, vast amounts of land, including the present middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region and North China region, were suitable for planting rice, with most Chinese working the land in particular ways during the different seasons.

Rice farming influenced many other aspects of the old Chinese economy. For instance, to be viable Chinese farming depended on sophisticated irrigation techniques. The importance of irrigation was outlined in the Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of books chronicling 4,000 years of Chinese history, which recorded dynastic histories from distant antiquity up until the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Books discussing rice agriculture appeared as early as the Warring States Period (475 BC - 221 BC), demonstrating the long history of China’s agronomy. Daopin (Strains of Rice), by Huang Xingsi, a book specializing in the rice planting techniques of the Ming Dynasty, was widely regarded as a complete collection detailing the improvements of rice through its many strains. The book also illustrates the significance of rice agriculture in traditional Chinese economy.

China was built on agriculture. During the period before the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), rice had become a specially prepared food. It was also used to brew wines and offered as a sacrifice to the Gods. What's more, rice was delicately made into different kinds of food, which played an important role in a number of traditional Chinese festivities.

First, rice is a central part of the Spring Festival (or lunar New Year) Eve dinner. On this occasion, Chinese families make New Year's cake and steamed sponge cake from flour turned from glutinous rice. The cake is called "gao" in Chinese, a homophony to another "gao," meaning high. People eat these cakes in the hope of a better harvest and higher status in the New Year. The cakes and the New Year's dinner symbolize people's wishes for a better future.


Second, rice dumplings are made on the 15th night of the 1st lunar month. This is the first day the full moon can be seen each New Year. People eat rice dumplings, known as Yuanxiao in the north and Tangyuan in the south ("yuan" means of satisfaction in Chinese), hoping everything will turn out as they wish.


Third, zongzi, eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, is also made of glutinous rice. It is said that people eat zongzi on this day to remember Qu Yuan, an official of the Chu State (about 340 BC - 278 BC), who committed suicide by jumping into the Miluo River. People throw zongi into the river to prevent fish eating Qu Yuan's body.


Fourth, rice is made into "Double Nine" festival cakes on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month each year. As people have just harvested their crops during autumn they can make these cakes with fresh new rice. Many people also follow the tradition of climbing a mountain on this day.

Finally, people eat porridge on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. The porridge is made with rice, cereals, beans, nuts and dried fruit. It is said that Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood on this day, drinking chyle presented to him by a shepherdess, which he believes led him to enlightenment. As a result people bathe Buddha statues and eat porridge on this day.


Sources:www:sars.china.com.cn.,www.foreigners-in-china.com

The chinese pantheon (popular deities of chinese buddhism)

Wen Shu Shih-Li P'usa or Manjushri Bodhisattva

The Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom

"Manju" : marvelous, gentle
"shri" : combination of power, glory and merit
The name "Manjushri" means "gentle glory".

He is the embodiment of great wisdom (Sanskrit language: prajna).

He appears to those who meditate on him. He instructs them in the Dharma and stimulates them to develop wisdom. The image of Manjushri Bodhisattva is often seen in meditation halls, libraries and scripture study rooms in monasteries.

Depictions of Manjushri Bodhisattva

His right hand holds a flaming sword, which represents the sharpness of prajna that can cut through the growth of suffering and the net of wrong views. The flame lights up the darkness, just as the light of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance.

His left hand holds a magnificent blue lotus flower in full bloom, on which rests the Prajnaparamita Sutra (Great Wisdom Sutra). This sutra contains the essence of the great wisdom teachings of the Buddha. The lotus is the promise of the future for all beings who follow the Teachings.

He is often depicted as riding a golden-maned lion, which symbolizes the stern majesty of prajna. The lion is the king of the beasts and is fearless. Similarly, Manjusri Bodhisattva teaches the dharma without fear or favour, like the lion's roar.

Sometimes, the golden-maned lion is replaced by a green lion which symbolises the wild mind which can only be transformed by meditation.

The Worship of Manjushri Bodhisattva in China

There is a famous place in China which is the centre for the worship of Manjushri Bodhisattva - the Wutai Mountain in the province of Shanxi in China.

As written in a sutra, the Buddha predicted that after He passed away in Final Nirvana, Manjushri Bodhisattva would reside on a mountain name Wuting in a country in the east called "Great China", where he would teach the dharma. Hence, Chinese people regard that mountain, now called Wutai Mountain, as a sacred place for worshipping Manjushri Bodhisattva. Many temples dedicated to Manjushri Bodhisattva have been built there.

The Mantra of Manjusri Bodhisattva: a prayer for developing wisdom: Om Ah Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhi


Pu Hsien P'usa: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Samantabhadra or Universal Virtue is known to the Chinese as Pu Hsien and Fugen, to the Japanese. She is the personification of love, sacred activity, virtue, diligent training and patience. In the Chinese Pantheon she is seen in the triad with Kuan Shih Yin (Compassion) and Wen-Shu (Wisdom) as the Three Precious Bodhisattvas whose qualities make up the Buddha's Essence. In many Japanese and Chinese temples she is also found in the Trinity with Sakyamuni Buddha and Wen-Shu Pusa (Manjusri).

Imageries of Pu Hsien usually show her seated on a white elephant in various ways and holding a lotus flower or a scroll or book. The elephant, normally in a standing posture, may be crouching and may either have three heads or one head with six tusks.

Pu Hsien Fusa is well known for her limitless offerings to the Buddhas as well as her Ten Great Vows, which are directed towards benefiting sentient beings. They are:

1. To worship the Buddhas
2. To praise the Tathagatas.
3. To make offerings to all the Buddhas.
4. To confess past sins and to reform.
5. To rejoice in the virtues and happiness of others.
6. To request Buddha to preach the Law
7. To request Buddha to stay in the world.
8. To study the Dharma in order to teach it.
9. To benefit all sentient beings.
10. To transfer all merit and virtue to others.

Pu Hsien's sacred abode in China is in the Ngo-Mei mountain of the Szu-Chuan province.

In Japan her devotees for prosperity as well as longevity often worship her and there are some who also revere her as the divine patron in their meditational practices.

In the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue (Pu Hsien Fusa) the Buddha lavished great praises on her and revealed that she was born in the Eastern Pure Wonder Land. Meditators who practise this meditation will generate great merits, which will free themselves from all kinds of hindrances as well as allowing them to see her excellent forms. The Buddha further gave a vivid description of her as follows:

"The Bodhisattva Universal Virtue is boundless in the size of her body, boundless in the sound of her voice, and boundless in the form of her image. Desiring to come to this world, she makes use of her divine transcendent powers and shrinks her stature to the size of a human being. She appears transformed as mounted on a great white elephant which has six tasks (representing the purity of the six senses). Under the legs of the elephant lotus flowers grow. The whiteness of the elephant is of the most brilliant of all shades of white which is so pure that even crystal and the Himalaya Mountains cannot compare with it!"

The Lotus Sutra has done much to attract great numbers of female devotees for Pu Hsien P'usa as they are promised that they too could attain Buddhahood, which is described in detail in the 10th Chapter of the Sutra. In Chapter 28 Pu Hsien Pusa also made this promise to the Buddha:

"In the latter five hundred years of the corrupt and evil age, whoever receives and keeps this sutra I will guard and protect, eliminate the anxiety of feeling away, and give ease of mind. Wherever such a one walks or stands, reading and reciting this sutra, I will at once mount the six-tusked white elephant king and with a host of great bodhisattvas go to that place and, showing myself, will serve and protect (him) comforting his mind, also thereby serving the Law-Flower Sutra. Moreover I will give them dharanis, and obtaining these dharanis, no human or nonhuman beings can injure them, nor any woman beguile them"

Still further on, one hears the Buddha extolling Pu Hsien with this promise: I, by my supernatural power, will guard and protect those who are able to receive and keep the name of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue"

Pu Hsien Fusa is not generally worshipped by the 'average Buddhists as temples dedicated to her are very scarce. However, those who would like to form a karmic link with this great Bodhisattva may do so in most of the Kuan Yin temples where her images can be found and one of the most popular prayers to recite to her is:

"NAMO TA HUNG PU HSIEN FUSN'

Like all other great Bodhisanvas she is able to grant those who have firm faith in her, all kinds of favours that they are seeking. Those who cultivate her dharma will enjoy a longer life?span and they will most certainly not fall into the three evil paths (animal, ghost and hell realms) in their future lifetimes. Moreover, they will be protected by Pu Hsien P'usa from the dangers of flood, fire, war and poisonous food, and they will be rewarded with position and abundant wealth. Many a childless couple have also been known to be blessed with children who are bright and healthy after praying to her and, most important of all, she is able to impart great wisdom, which will be the greatest help to any cultivator who seeks the Way. The festive day of this great Bodhisattva falls on the 21st day of the 2nd moon and it is a great day for us to bring her to our heart.

to be continued

Source:www.buddhanet.net

The History of Rocket Science

Early Fireworks and Weapons of War

Today's rockets are remarkable collections of human ingenuity that have their roots in the science and technology of the past. They are natural outgrowths of literally thousands of years of experimentation and research on rockets and rocket propulsion.
One of the first devices to successfully employ the principles essential to rocket flight was a wooden bird. The writings of Aulus Gellius, a Roman, tell a story of a Greek named Archytas who lived in the city of Tarentum, now a part of southern Italy. Somewhere around the year 400 B.C., Archytas mystified and amused the citizens of Tarentum by flying a pigeon made of wood. Escaping steam propelled the bird suspended on wires. The pigeon used the action-reaction principle, which was not stated as a scientific law until the 17th century.

About three hundred years after the pigeon, another Greek, Hero of Alexandria, invented a similar rocket-like device called an aeolipile. It, too, used steam as a propulsive gas.

Hero mounted a sphere on top of a water kettle. A fire below the kettle turned the water into steam, and the gas traveled through pipes to the sphere. Two L-shaped tubes on opposite sides of the sphere allowed the gas to escape, and in doing so gave a thrust to the sphere that caused it to rotate.


Just when the first true rockets appeared is unclear. Stories of early rocket-like devices appear sporadically through the historical records of various cultures. Perhaps the first true rockets were accidents. In the first century A.D., the Chinese reportedly had a simple form of gunpowder made from saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust. To create explosions during religious festivals, they filled bamboo tubes with a mixture and tossed them into fires. Perhaps some of those tubes failed to explode and instead skittered out of the fires, propelled by the gases and sparks produced by the burning gunpowder.

The Chinese began experimenting with the gunpowder filled tubes. At some point, they attached bamboo tubes to arrows and launched them with bows. Soon they discovered that these gunpowder tubes could launch themselves just by the power produced from the escaping gas. The true rocket was born.



The date reporting the first use of true rockets was in 1232. At this time, the Chinese and the Mongols were at war with each other. During the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled the Mongol invaders by a barrage of "arrows of flying fire." These fire-arrows were a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket. A tube, capped at one end, contained gunpowder. The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick. When the powder was ignited, the rapid burning of the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas that escaped out the open end and produced a thrust. The stick acted as a simple guidance system that kept the rocket headed in one general direction as it flew through the air. It is not clear how effective these arrows of flying fire were as weapons of destruction, but their psychological effects on the Mongols must have been formidable.



Following the battle of Kai-Keng, the Mongols produced rockets of their own and may have been responsible for the spread of rockets to Europe. All through the 13th to the 15th centuries there were reports of many rocket experiments. In England, a monk named Roger Bacon worked on improved forms of gunpowder that greatly increased the range of rockets. In France, Jean Froissart found that more accurate flights could be achieved by launching rockets through tubes. Froissart's idea was the forerunner of the modern bazooka. Joanes de Fontana of Italy designed a surface-running rocket-powered torpedo for setting enemy ships on fire.

By the 16th century rockets fell into a time of disuse as weapons of war, though they were still used for fireworks displays, and a German fireworks maker, Johann Schmidlap, invented the "step rocket," a multi-staged vehicle for lifting fireworks to higher altitudes. A large sky rocket (first stage) carried a smaller sky rocket (second stage). When the large rocket burned out, the smaller one continued to a higher altitude before showering the sky with glowing cinders. Schmidlap's idea is basic to all rockets today that go into outer space.

Nearly all uses up to this time were for warfare or fireworks, but there is an interesting old Chinese legend that reported the use of rockets as a means of transportation. With the help of many assistants, a lesser-known Chinese official named Wan-Hu assembled a rocket- powered flying chair. Attached to the chair were two large kites, and fixed to the kites were forty- seven fire-arrow rockets.



On the day of the flight, Wan-Hu sat himself on the chair and gave the command to light the rockets. Forty-seven rocket assistants, each armed with torches, rushed forward to light the fuses. In a moment, there was a tremendous roar accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan-Hu and his flying chair were gone. No one knows for sure what happened to Wan-Hu, but it is probable that if the event really did take place, Wan-Hu and his chair were blown to pieces. Fire-arrows were as apt to explode as to fly.

Source:www.inventors.about.com

Colors in Traditional Chinese Culture

For more than 2000 years, the Chinese people have used brilliant colors. Today in modern China, red is a very popular color. However, contrary to popular belief, ancient peoples did not pay special attention to the color red.

Traditional Chinese physics taught that the five elements are water, fire, wood, metal and earth, in that order. They correspond to black, red, blue-green, white and yellow, respectively. Ancient Chinese people believed that the five elements made everything in nature. Five thousand years ago during the reign of Huang Di (known as the Yellow Emperor) people actually worshiped the color yellow. From that period forward, through the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, China's emperors used the Theory of the Five Elements to select colors. Because people understood that "colors come naturally while black and white are first," they gradually established a relationship between colors and the principle of the five elements, which guided the natural movement of heaven and the heavenly Tao. People chose clothing, food, transportation and housing according to natural changes in the seasons--from spring to summer and autumn, and then to winter. Traditional Chinese views regard black, red, blue-green, white and yellow as standard colors

The I-Ching, or Book of Changes, regards black as Heaven's color. The saying "heaven and earth of mysterious black" was rooted in the observation that the northern sky was black for a long time. White represented gold and symbolized brightness, purity, and fulfillment. White also is the color of mourning.

The Chinese people, both ancient and modern, cherish the color red. Red is everywhere during Chinese New Year and other holidays and family gatherings for it symbolizes good fortune and joy.

Blue-green indicates spring when everything overflows with vigor and vitality. Yellow symbolizes the earth. The old saying, "Yellow generates Yin and Yang," meant that yellow is the center of everything. Color embodies an even richer culture in Chinese folk traditions. Yellow is the color for emperors. Yellow often decorates royal palaces, altars and temples. Yellow also represents being free from worldly cares. Therefore it is also a color respected in Buddhism. Chinese culture created a close and binding relationship between color and ceramics, murals, paintings, and poetry...even city planning. Many of the silk goods unearthed from ancient tombs have maintained their original colors of brown, red, black, purple, and yellow. Chinese pottery and lacquer ware uses rich color even more extensively. The formulation of richly colored glazes infuses these pieces with a brilliant and lustrous appearance. For ancient Chinese people, color feeds the spirit and expresses the depth of human experience.

Source:chinatownconnection.com

Du Fu poem- Overflowing

漫成

江月去人只数尺
风灯照夜欲三更
沙头宿鹭联拳静
船尾跳鱼拨剌鸣

màn chéng

jiāng yuè qù rén zhī shù chǐ
fēng dēng zhào yè yù sān gēng
shā tóu sù lù lián quán jìng
chuán wěi tiào yú bō là míng


The moon's reflected on the river a few feet away,
A lantern shines in the night near the third watch.
On the sand, egrets sleep, peacefully curled together,
Behind the boat I hear the splash of jumping fish.

Sources:www.chinese-poems.com,www.artnet.com

Chinese Chopsticks

(Kuaizi)

Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chopsticks are called "Kuaizi" in Chinese and were called "Zhu" in ancient times. Chinese people have been using kuaizi as one of the main tableware for more than 3,000 years.

It was recorded in Liji (The Book of Rites) that chopsticks were used in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1100 BC). It was mentioned in Shiji (the Chinese history book) by Sima Qian (about 145 BC) that Zhou, the last king of the Shang Dynasty (around 1100 BC), used ivory chopsticks. Experts believe the history of wood or bamboo chopsticks can be dated to about 1,000 years earlier than ivory chopsticks. Bronze chopsticks were invented in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 771 BC). Lacquer chopsticks from the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) were discovered in Mawangdui, China. Gold and silver chopsticks became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It was believed that silver chopsticks could detect poisons in food.



Chopsticks can be classified into five groups based on the materials used to make them, i.e., wood, metal, bone, stone and compound chopsticks. Bamboo and wood chopsticks are the most popular ones used in Chinese homes.

There are a few things to avoid when using chopsticks. Chinese people usually don't beat their bowls while eating, since the behavior used to be practiced by beggars. Also don't insert chopsticks in a bowl upright because it is a custom exclusively used in sacrifice.

If you are really interested in chopsticks, you may want to visit the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. The museum collected over 1,000 pairs of chopsticks. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty.

Source:www.chineseculture.about.com

Qipao / Cheongsam is an elegant type of Chinese dress

This close－fitting dress with a high neck and the slits on the sides, comes from China's Manchu Nationality.

Legend:

There is a legend that a young fisherwoman lived by the Jingbo Lake. She was not only beautiful, but also clever and skillful. But when fishing, she often felt hindered by her long and loose fitting dress. Then an idea struck her: why not make a more practical dress for work？ She got down to sewing and produced a long multi－looped－button gown with slits, which enabled her to tuck in the front piece of her dress, thus making her job much easier. As a fisherwoman, she never dreamed that a fortune would befall on her.

The young emperor who ruled China at that time had a dream one night. In the dream, his dead father told him that a lovely fisherwoman in Qipao by the Jingbo Lake would become his queen. After awakening from his deep sleep, the emperor sent his men to look for her. Sure enough, there she was！ So she became the queen, bringing her Cheongsam with her. Manchu women all followed suit and soon the Qipao became popular.




We do not know whether the story is true or not. But one thing is certain. The Cheongsam came from the Manchus who grew out of ancient Nuzhen tribes. In the early 17th century, Nurhachi, a great political and military strategist, unified the various Nuzhen tribes and set up the Eight Banners System. Over the years, a collarless, tube－shaped gown was developed, which was worn by both men and women. That is the embryo of the Qipao. The dress is called Qipao in Chinese or translated as "banner gown", for it came from the people who lived under the Banner System.

The Qipao became popular among ladies of the royal family in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Qipaos were fitted loosely and were so long that they would reach the insteps. Usually, they were made of silk and the whole dress was embroidered, with broad lace trimmed at the collar, sleeves and edges.

In the 1920s, Qipao / Cheongsam became popular throughout China. With the influence of Western dress styles, the Cheongsam underwent a change. The cuffs grew narrower and were usually trimmed with thin lace. The length of the dress was shortened as well. This new adaptation allowed the beauty of female body to be fully displayed.



In the 1930s, wearing a Qipao / Cheongsam became a fashion among women in the whole of China. Various styles existed during this period. Some were short, some were long, with low, high or even no collars at all.

Starting from the 1940s, Cheongsams became closer-fitting and more practical. In summer, women wore sleeveless dresses. Qipaos of this period were seldom adorned with patterns.

The Qipao became standard female attire until the 1960s. Following Western fashion, the tailors raised the hem, even to above the knee, so that the "long" was long no longer. In the West, during the sexual revolution of the 1960s the style was deemed something oppressive, like the Victorian bodice.

In Western popular culture, the qipao became synonymous with the 1960 movie character Suzie Wong and the sexual objectification of women.

Today, with its variety of styles, the Qipao / Cheongsam shows its charm at many markets. More and more women in China appreciate its beauty. For instance, when wives of China's diplomats attend important social gatherings, the Qipao is their first choice among dresses. In fact, quite a number of influential people have suggested that Qipao / Cheongsam should become the national dress for women in China. This shows that the Cheongsam remains a vibrant part of Chinese culture.

Wearing a Qipao nowadays has turned into something of a vogue, both at home and abroad. Due to its elegance and classical looks the Qipao becomes a source of inspiration for fashion designers. World-renowned brands like CD, Versace, and Ralph Lauren have all cited some Qipao elements in their designs. Many foreign women are eager to get themselves a Qipao should they visit China. Qipao is no longer a garment particular to Chinese women, but is adding to the vocabulary of beauty for women the world over.

Source:www.my-qipao.com

Beijing's hutongs

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.

One kind of hutongs, usually referred to as the regular hutong, was near the palace to the east and west and arranged in orderly fashion along the streets. Most of the residents of these hutongs were imperial kinsmen and aristocrats. Another kind, the simple and crude hutong, was mostly located far to the north and south of the palace. The residents were merchants and other ordinary people.



The main buildings in the hutong were almost all quadrangles--a building complex formed by four houses around a quadrangular courtyard . The quadrangles varied in size and design according to the social status of the residents. The big quadrangles of high- ranking officials and wealthy merchants were specially built with roof beams and pillars all beautifully carved and painted, each with a front yard and back yard. However, the ordinary people's quadrangles were simply built with small gates and low houses. hutongs, in fact, are passageways formed by many closely arranged quadrangles of different sizes. The specially built quadrangles all face the south for better lighting; as a result, a lot of hutongs run from east to west. Between the big hutongs many small ones went north and south for convenient passage.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty unified and closed China came under influence from abroad, having experienced change of dynasties and the vicissitudes of life. The stereotyped arrangement of the hutong was also affected. Many newly formed hutongs with irregular houses appeared outside the city, while many old ones lost their former neat arrangement. The social status of the residents also changed, reflecting the collapse of the feudal system. During the period of the Republic of China (1911-1948), Chinese society was unstable, with frequent civil wars and repeated foreign invasions.

The city of Beijing deteriorated, and the conditions of the hutong worsened. Quadrangles previously owned by one family became a compound occupied by many households.

After the founding of the people's Republic of China in 1949, hutong conditions improved. In recent years, the houses in many hutongs have been pulled down and replaced by modern buildings. Many hutong dwellers have moved to new housing.

The hutong today is fading into the shade for both tourists and inhabitants.

However, in the urban district of Beijing houses along hutongs still occupy one third of the total area, providing housing for half the population, so many hutongs have survived. In this respect, we see the old in the new in Beijing as an ancient yet modern city.

Sources:www.chinavista.com,www.chinahiglights.com

The chinese pantheon (popular deities of chinese buddhism)

Jade Maiden Golden Youth
Acolytes of Kuan Shih Yin P'usa - Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva



Kuan Shih Yin P'usa - Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva
The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion

The Sanskrit name "Avalokiteshvara" means "the lord who looks upon the world with compassion".

Translated into Chinese, the name is "Kuan Shih Yin"or Quan Yin.

Kuan: observe
Shih: the world / the region of sufferers
Yin: all the sounds of the world, in particular, the crying sounds of beings, verbal or mental, seeking help

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is the embodiment of great compassion. He has vowed to free all sentient beings from suffering.

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is has great powers and can help all sentient beings. His skilful means are limitless and he can appear in any form in all the six realms of existence to relieve the suffering of the sentient beings who live there. He vowed to rescue those who call on him when they are in suffering, for example, when caught in a fire, shipwrecked or facing an attack.

In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha said that if a suffering being hears the name of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and earnestly calls out to the bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara will hear the call and relieve that being from his suffering.

According to the Huayen Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into forms that suit the nature of those to be helped. His manifestations or transformation bodies are countless.


e.g. if a boy or girl is about to gain some enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into a boy or a girl to teach the child.

e.g. If a monk is about to attain some enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva transforms himself into a monk.

In short, he can appear as a monk, a nun, or a normal person like you and me. The purpose of such transformations is to make people feel close to him and willing to listen to his words.

In China, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is represented in female form and is known as Kuan Yin. Probably because of Kuan Yin's great compassion, a quality which is traditionally considered feminine, most of the bodhisattva's statues in China since the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 - 907) have appeared as female figures. In India, however, the bodhisattva is generally represented as a male figure.

In her hands, Kuan Yin may hold a willow branch, a vase with water or occasionally, a lotus flower.

The willow branch is used to heal people's illnesses or bring fulfillment to their requests.

The water ( the dew of compassion) has the quality of removing suffering, purifying the defilements of our body, speech and mind, and lengthening life.


In Buddhist art, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is sometimes shown with eleven heads, 1000 hands and eyes on the palms of each hand (Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva). The thousand eyes allow the bodhisattva to see the sufferings of sentient beings, and the thousand hands allow her to reach out to help them.


Sometimes, he is represented with one head and 4 arms. This is the Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara, worshipped by all Tibetans as "Chenrezig", the Holder of the White Lotus. It is in the male form which has two hands in the praying gesture while the other two hands hold his symbols, the Crystal Rosary and the Lotus Flower.

There is a sacred place for the worship of Kuan Yin in China - the Putuo Mountain. It is actually an island located near the city of Ningpo, in Zhejiang Province. There are many stories of Kuan Yin's miraculous appearances at Putuo Mountain.

Actually, anyone can be like Kuan Yin. You may say that you don't have a thousand eyes or a thousand arms or that you lack skilful means, but it is your compassion that can transform you into a Kuan Yin. With your eyes and hands, you can help others. With your compassion, you can bring peace and tranquility to this world.

The Mani Mantra (The Mantra of Universal Protection) : OM MANI PADME HUM



Golden Youth
Acolytes of Kuan Shih Yin P'usa - Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

Source:www.buddhanet.net

The "four treasures of the study - 文房四宝 wén fáng sì bǎo

Four stationery items indispensable to any Chinese scholar and calligraphy practitioner are brush pen, inkstick, paper and inkstone. They are main tools with which one carries out ones scholarly work, calligraphy and/or traditional Chinese painting. For this reason, they are called the "four treasures of the study" - Wen Fang Si Bao. It is only through these tools that the beauty of Chinese art receives concrete expression.


Brush pen (máo bî) 毛笔
The brush pen was invented very early in Chinese history. According to a few recent archaeological researches, the ancient oracle characters inscribed into the tortoise shells were first written with brush and ink, then carved with a knife. If this is proven, the use of brush pen can be dated as early as 11th century B.C. which is about 3,000 years ago.

Unlike fountain pens, ball-point pens, and other writing instruments with a hard tip, a brush pen is made from fine, soft animal hair. Hairs from goat, rabbit, wolf, horse, mouse and weasel are commonly used to produce various kinds of brush pens. Goat hair brushes are soft, flexible, and absorbent. Rabbit hair brushes produce bold, vigorous lines and are best suited to calligraphy. Sometimes, a mixture of two or three different kinds of animal hairs is used to satisfy a particular style or taste.

Some famous calligraphers even produced their own brush pens according to their own requirements.

The resulting flexibility of the point of the brush pen is perhaps its most outstanding and unique characteristic. An experienced calligrapher can manipulate a brush pen not only to the left and right on a two-dimensional plane , but can also to raise it up and push it down, thus creating lines of varying thickness.

Many aspects of the unique style of Chinese calligraphy evolved due to the special characteristics of the brush pen and how the brush pen is manipulated.


Ink (mò)墨
Ink is made from a mixture of soot and resin, molded into stick form. The most commonly used to make ink are pine soot, oil soot, and lacquer soot. A good ink stick is finely grained and has an even and smooth texture. It is firm and not sticky. It is pure, solid black in color, without murkiness or roughness. The control of hue is crucial to the success of a work in ink.


Paper(zhî)纸
One of the most important Chinese inventions, paper was invented by a Chinese scholar during the Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 A.D.). Since the paper is the medium which a piece of calligraphy is presented and preserved, it is utterly important to use the right paper. An ideal paper must be able to absorb ink quick and hold it well. The surface of paper can not be very firm and smooth. Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting require different kinds of paper


Ink Stone (yàn)砚
To use ink in the traditional stick form, an inkstone is required. As the name suggests, most inkstones are made of stone or bricks. The stone used must be of relatively fine whetstone materials to facilitate the grinding of the ink without harming the bristles of the brush pen. Today, many students use ink bottle to replace ink stick and ink stone.

Source:web.fccj.org

Different Types of Hanzi 不同的汉字

Introduction

Chinese characters have been used for thousands of years. In that time, they have changed and developed. The script used today is essentially the same as that used 2,000 years ago, but noticeable changes do exist. The types of changes that have occurred in the past are still going on today, and they can be seen where characters are different over short periods of time or across space. Characters are not exactly the same all across the world of people who speak and write in Chinese. They continue to be developed and refined as peoples needs arise and Change.

Mainland China

When he became the first Emperor of China in 221 BC, Qinshihuang (秦始皇) standardized the writing system of the Han people. After him, the characters used by the Han,汉字 Han4zi4, remained essentially unchanged for over two thousand years. With the exception of calligraphic styles and shorthand abbreviations, the tradition of writing Hanzi has been long and unbroken in China.

At least that was the case in China until the twentieth century. In the early party of the century, when the Qing Dynasty, 明朝 qing2chao2 (1644-1911), was overthrown, some progressives such as Hu Shi (胡适) and Guo Moruo (郭沫若) started advocating an alphabetic script. The movement was revolutionary because the literati involved spurned previous Chinese academic tradition of attending to precedent and studying according to the Classics. Instead, the intellectuals involved in the movement were independent thinkers—many of whom had studied abroad and returned to promote the use of Western scientific methods in academics.

Despite the strong influence of progressive academic thought, the movement to alphabetize Chinese failed in the first part of the century. By the 1930s and ‘40s, any thought of language reform was overshadowed by political unrest. The Nationalists (KMT: guo2min2dang3 国民党) and the Communists (CCP: gong4chan3dang3 共产党) were engaged in civil war, and all of China was at war with Japan. Naturally, it was not a convenient time for changing the way people wrote Chinese.

Nevertheless, language reform remained an important topic in the eyes of China’s leaders, and both parties had their own ideas about how to go about re-inventing the written language. As soon as the CCP came to power in 1949, it began planning written language reform. “Revolution” was the catch-phrase of the day, and the planned reforms would be truly revolutionary: the ultimate goal was to develop and institute a functional alphabetic system in place of characters; in the meantime, the government got to work on simplifying characters.

By 1950, the Communist shifted their priorities away from the alphabetic ideal—probably because it would have been nearly impossible to realize. Instead, the focus lay on the less revolutionary step of developing Simplified Characters, 简体字 jian3ti3zi4, for common use. In 1950, the first dictionary of simplified forms was published, and in 1956 the government issued the first official list of Simplified Characters. The publication of that official list effectively made Chairman Mao the first person to officially alter the Chinese script in 2,177 years.

Although the development of an alphabetic script was the original revolutionary intent, the CCP changed its official stance with the publication of the Simplified Character list in 1956. By this time, Pinyin had been developed as a suitable Romanization system, but the goal was no longer to replace characters with Pinyin. At that time, Zhou Enlai announced that “the purpose of Pinyin Romanization is to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters and to spread the use of the standard vernacular [Putonghua].”

The original list of simplified characters was updated in 1964. The new standard of simplified characters was called 简化字总表 jian3hua4zi4 zong1biao3, “A comprehensive list of Simplified Characters.” This list contains over 2,200 Simplified forms—about one-third the total number of characters needed to write Chinese. The list was updated again in the 1980s, but the new publication is essentially the same as the 1964 version.

Greater China

Today, Simplified Characters are the standard for any printed material in Mainland China. The islands Taiwan (台湾 taiwan) and Hong Kong (香港 xianggang) persist in using Traditional Characters, fan4ti3zi4 繁体字 for everything from printed materials to movie subtitles. Because Hong Kong is a media powerhouse in Asia, Hong Kong’s continued use of traditional characters infiltrates the mainland via television, movies and karaoke. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to live on the mainland without encountering Traditional Characters. In order to read older materials and overseas publications, Chinese must be fluent in both scripts.

Taiwan 台湾

Taiwan and Hong Kong’s reasons for continuing to use traditional script are quite distinct. Hong Kong never changed to Simplified Characters because it was a British colony until 1997. It seems that Taiwan persists in its use of Traditional Characters in order to prove that it is not the same country as the Mainland. Taiwanese tend to be proud of the fact that they continue using traditional forms, and they look condescendingly on the Simplified Characters as a corrupt form of writing.

Hong Kong and Macao 香港和澳门

The Linguistic situation of Hong Kong and Macao is slightly different than that of Taiwan. Owing to their long period of separation from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao naturally have their own political qualms with policies instituted by the People’s Republic of China. Having spent so much time as colonies, these islands never had to worry very much about the language policy in the rest of China. Furthermore, Hong Kong and Macao were not governed by the People’s Republic of China when simplified characters were introduced. Therefore, Hong Kong and Macao not only use Traditional Characters, but also uses Cantonese as their standard language for spoken communication.

Like Cantonese speakers on the mainland, Hong Kongers are particularly proud of their dialect. Chinese from Hong Kong have a reputation for their poor command of the common vernacular, Putonghua (普通话).

The tradition of exclusively speaking the local dialect has resulted not only in a sense of linguistic pride, but also in a peculiar writing situation. Some grammatical elements of Cantonese are quite different from those of Putonghua. There are also commonly used words in Cantonese that are rarely used in Mandarin. For these reasons, it is possible to write in a style that is distinctly Cantonese. This writing style is generally reserved for the scripts of operas and other “low” forms of writing. Although Chinese characters can be read in any dialect, the Cantonese writing style is so unique that it would be unintelligible to a non-Cantonese speaker.

All official writing throughout China is done in 白话 bai2hua4, which is the written equivalent of Putonghua. Written Cantonese differs from bai2hua4 in terms of style, and also in terms of the actual characters used. Some writing makes use of special Dialect Characters that are only meant to be read in Cantonese. Like all characters, these specialized graphs represent speech sounds. However, they represent sounds that have no equivalent in the standard dialect.

Overseas Chinese Communities

Living in isolation from the majority of Chinese has had its effect on overseas Chinese communities. Like Hong Kong, these communities were not under the PRC’s government when simplified characters were introduced. Therefore, many Newspapers, advertisements, and other text in overseas Chinese communities are produced in Traditional Characters. Nowadays, newspapers from the People’s Republic of China are available abroad, so it is possible to acquire Simplified texts. Nevertheless, in Chinatowns around the world, you are more likely to encounter Traditional Characters than Simplified.

Additionally, many overseas Chinese come from Southern China. They therefore tend to speak Cantonese or Minnanhua natively. Because overseas Chinese tend to trace their roots to the South of China, they historically have been more influenced by Hong Kong and Taiwan than the Mainland. Unless a text is produced by the overseas community itself, it is unlikely to come from the mainland. In other words, overseas communities simply do not have very much access to or use for Simplified Characters.

Source:www.interestingchinese.com

Chinese Papercuts - Artistic Creations from Nimble Fingers

Chinese Zodiac Papercut

Paper cutting is a traditional art that has evolved through-out the course of Chinese cultural development. Its origin should be closely connected with the invention of paper during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-221 A.D.). As paper was highly precious in the early days, the art of paper cutting first became popular in the royal palaces and houses of nobility as a favorite pastime among court ladies. Later, during the 7th through 13th centuries, paper cutting was immensely popular during folk festivals and celebrations. By the 14th century, the art had spread to the Middle East and Europe; and by the 15th century onward, paper cut art works had become and integral part of the everyday life of the people. However, the art of paper cutting was on the verge of dying out during the past century as old China experienced successive years of the disaster of war brought on by domestic turmoil and foreign invasion. Amidst a myriad of changes in their lives, most people had no leisure time to engage in the study of the art of paper cutting.

The Republic of China on Taiwan has been actively promoting the renaissance of Chinese culture since the 1980s. The art of paper cutting has again received a great deal of attention because of heavy publicity, resulting in even more innovative artwork.

The influence of paper cutting on continental Europe and Asia can be traced back to the seventh century. It spread to Japan and then to the Middle East and Europe via the Silk Road, thus leading to the development of many diverse styles. Today, many valuable ancient paper cutouts are kept in the national museums of these countries.

The art of paper cutting has remained unfading in China through the ages principally because its devotees used the skills of knife and scissors to dynamically depict splendid Chinese culture and folk festivals in all its many facets--in a most interesting and likable way that is felt to be more and more precious with the passage of time.


Fish and Lotus


For example, noble ladies in ancient times would often use paper cutting to practice their art during their leisure, while social calls by ordinary folk involved giving paper cuts as gifts and using paper cut fancy likenesses for pretty adornment to signify auspiciousness. Subsequently, mutual emulation and minute study led to a superb level of technique. By later generations, paper cut art ranged from clipping complicated patterns using a tiny pair of scissors to often making cutouts into window decorations, clothes-making stencils, or embroidery patterns for shoes.

As the art has been passed down through the generations, the mainstream techniques developed many diverse forms, but the themes of the subject matter have primarily remained folk motifs, with two-dimensional illustrations as the primary form. The technique they display consists of a combination of trimming with scissors and carving with a knife. The rendering of their visual appearance involves such methods as applying multiple layers of color, folding symmetrically, individually pasting, or uniquely engraving. These diversified cutting methods could be said to be quite beautiful, but manifestation of the unique, lively beauty of paper cut art still depends on the artistic mastery of every paper cut artisan.

Generally speaking, animated artistic creation is extraordinary because of the artist, time, place, environment, and disposition. Carved reproductions of paper cuttings for commercial purposes can only remain at the level of mere handicrafts.

In recent years, Mrs. Linda Pu-fei Sun Yeh has revived the art of traditional Chinese paper cutting through her diligent study and uniquely creative style. As a result of her uncanny cutting skill, the art has undergone a metamorphosis from ordinary folk handicraft to works of a sophisticated, cultural art standard. Every one of her paper cut art pieces is an animated, vivid, and fascinating image that seems to be three-dimensional. She has held many personal exhibitions in renowned museums and cultural centers in Taiwan and around the world. The worldwide acclaim has gained her greater respect and recognition in the international art arena.

Nonetheless, Mrs. Yeh feels that Chinese paper cutting art can seek future development in the following directions that she also intends to strive for. First, she calls on the public to accord due respect for the traditional classic and elegant style rather than cut reproductions and imitations with a knife. Second, she advises artists to capture the sense of rhythm in the folk art and explore new themes rather than being confined to the conventional Chinese folk festivals. Third, she has hopes that the art of paper cutting may blend the romantic charm of traditional Chinese painting, the fineness of embroidery, and the form in Western sculpture in order to create a realistic sense of three-dimensional imagery and revitalizing and animating the art form.

Aside from all this, engaging in the mastery and study of paper cutting is a delightful recreation that nourishes the mind. It cultivates patience and concentration among young people, and diminishes loneliness for the middle-aged and elderly. The art of paper cutting also contributes to close friendship among associates, resulting in a sharing of experience and wisdom. As a beneficial exercise for both the eyes and the hands, this decorative art is a recreation that transcends age limits.

The sense of fulfillment in mastering a pair of scissors, the sense of being uplifted in both the traditional and creative realms, and the satisfaction of achieving the lofty ideals of truth, beauty and goodness, fill the heart of an artist with indescribable joy.

Source:www.chinavoc.com

The chinese pantheon (popular deities of chinese buddhism)

Amitabha: the Buddha of Boundless Light.

According to Mahayana Buddhist sutras he was a king in the remote period of time. Renouncing his kingdom, he became a monk and was named Dharmakara, which means 'Treasury of Dharma'. Inspired by the teachings of the then Buddha of that time, Lokesvaraja Buddha, who taught him the way to supreme enlightenment many aeons ago, he made forty eight great vows for the saving of the sentient beings. The Eighteenth Vow, which is the basis of the Pure Land, ran like this: 'If upon the attainment of Buddhahood all sentient beings in the ten quarters who aspire in sincerity and faith to be reborn in my land, recite my name up to ten times and fail to be born there, then may I not attain the Perfect Enlightenment…'

Since then, the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, after five aeons of self-cultivation, finally attained the Supreme Enlightenment and became the Buddha Amitabha. This means that his grand and infinitely compassionate vow is now a reality, the paradise known as Pure Land or Sukhavati has been established, suffering beings must and will be delivered if only they will have the full faith to call upon his name.

Calling the Buddha's name with full faith is known to the Chinese as 'NIEN-FWO' meaning 'Prayer-recitation'. The Japanese term for this practice is known as 'Nembutsu'. In this practice three important qualities must be present in the mind: Sincerity, Faith and Aspiration to be reborn in the Pure Land. The simple prayer or formula that one needs to repeat is:

"NAMO O-MI-TO FWO"

One may repeat it in Sanskrit 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' which literally mans 'Homage to the Amitabha Buddha ' or 'I seek refuge in the Amitabha Buddha'.


Yao Shih Fwo, Bhaisajyaguru: the Medicine Buddha.

Yao Shih Fwo, one of the three foremost Buddhas of the Chinese Pantheon, is a Buddha of the past era. Better known to the people as the Buddha of Medicine or the Master of Healing, he is dear to the hearts of many, for they have indeed received his blessings in the forms of miraculous cures of all kinds of illness. The Buddha's efficacy in preventing calamities and granting prosperity besides curing illness has attracted a steady number of believers and devotees since the time of the Eastern Chin Dynasty (AD 317-420) to the present day. The Sutra of the Buddha of Medicine (Bhaisajyaraja Sutra) was also translated into Chinese at that period of time which provided a full account on the peerless Buddha, his Paradise and his Twelve Great Vows. However the later translation made by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Tsang, the famous monk of the Tang Dynasty, known as The Sutra of the Master of Healing (Bhaisajyaguru - Vaidurya - Prabhasa Tathagata), is the more popular Sutra which is widely read by most people today.

The title 'Master of Healing', is a literal translation of his Sanskrit name 'Bhaisajyaguru', the Buddha who favours worshippers with relief from the troubles of the world. Apart from curing illness, warding such calamities as famine, drought and plague, granting longevity and assisting the dead, Yao Shih Fwo is known to have dispensed all kinds of mundane benefits to those who pray to him. Despite his great popularity, temples dedicated to him are very scarce so that those who wish to worship him may do so at temples where his images can be found. He is often found in a triad with Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha, and his symbols are either the medicine bowl or the pagoda. When depicted alone, he holds his symbol with his left hand and he is normally attended to by his prominent disciples, the Great Bodhisattvas 'Radiance of the Sun' and the 'Radiance of the Moon'.


to be continued

Source:www.buddhanet.net

Qixi -- the Chinese Valentine's Day

If it rains heavily on Thursday night, some elderly Chinese will say it is because Zhinu, or the Weaving Maid, is crying on the day she met her husband Niulang, or the Cowherd, on the Milky Way.

Most Chinese remember being told this romantic tragedy when they were children on Qixi, or the Seventh Night Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is usually in early August.
As the story goes, once there was a cowherd, Niulang, who lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. But she disliked and abused him, and the boy was forced to leave home with only an old cow for company.

The cow, however, was a former god who had violated imperial rules and was sent to earth in bovine form.

One day the cow led Niulang to a lake where fairies took a bath on earth. Among them was Zhinu, the most beautiful fairy and a skilled seamstress.

The two fell in love at first sight and were soon married. They had a son and daughter and their happy life was held up as an example for hundreds of years in China.

Yet in the eyes of the Jade Emperor, the Supreme Deity in Taoism, marriage between a mortal and fairy was strictly forbidden. He sent the empress to fetch Zhinu.

Niulang grew desperate when he discovered Zhinu had been taken back to heaven. Driven by Niulang's misery, the cow told him to turn its hide into a pair of shoes after it died.

The magic shoes whisked Niulang, who carried his two children in baskets strung from a shoulder pole, off on a chase after the empress.

The pursuit enraged the empress, who took her hairpin and slashed it across the sky creating the Milky Way which separated husband from wife.

But all was not lost as magpies, moved by their love and devotion, formed a bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the family.

Even the Jade Emperor was touched, and allowed Niulang and Zhinu to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month.

This is how Qixi came to be. The festival can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

Traditionally, people would look up at the sky and find a bright star in the constellation Aquila as well as the star Vega, which are identified as Niulang and Zhinu.

The two stars shine on opposite sides of the Milky Way.

Traditional celebrations

In bygone days, Qixi was not only a special day for lovers, but also for girls. It is also known as the "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Daughters' Festival."

In the past, girls would conduct a ceremony to beg Zhinu for wisdom, dexterity and a satisfying marriage in the future.

This was not the case all over China, as the festival varied from region to region.

In some parts of Shandong Province, young women offered fruit and pastries to pray for a bright mind. If spiders were seen to weave webs on sacrificial objects, it was believed the Waving Girl was offering positive feedback.

In other regions, seven close friends would gather to make dumplings. They put into three separate dumplings a needle, a copper coin and a red date, which represented perfect needlework skills, good fortune and an early marriage.

Girls also held weaving and needlework competitions to see who had the best hands and the brightest mind, both prerequisites for making a good wife and mother in ancient China.

Young women in southern China used to weave small handicrafts with colored paper, grass and thread.

Afterwards, they competed to pass a thread through the eyes of seven needles in a single breath.

Tradition transformed



The love story of Niulang and Zhinu, and the Qixi Festival have been handed down for generations. Yet these ancient traditions and customs are slowly dying out.

Many modern Chinese, particularly youngsters, seem to know more about St Valentine's Day on February 14, characterized by bouquets of roses, chocolates and romantic candlelight dinners, than they do about their home-grown day for lovers.

Even Qixi is nowadays referred to as the "Chinese Valentine's Day."

Fewer people than ever will gaze at the heavens on Thursday to pick out the two stars shining bright on either side of the Milky Way, that is, if people even know on which day Qixi falls.

There are ready reminders dotted about, in the form of big ads saying "Sales on Chinese Valentine's Day!" in shops, hotels and restaurants.

But few young women will mark the festival with their boyfriends, or take part in traditional activities to pray for cleverness.

"I really have no idea about the 'Begging for Skills Festival.' I thought Qixi was only connected to the fairytale," said Wang Yilin, 24, a young woman working for a website in Beijing.

Wang's lack of awareness about Qixi's cultural implications is common among young Chinese women.

In modern society, a girl is no longer required to excel at weaving or needlework, so praying for dexterous hands holds no special meaning.

But this is not to say the interest in needlework is dead and buried, as the skill sets of some young women have evolved from mending clothes and sewing buttons to making unique handicrafts.



Wang Yilin is actually quite handy with a needle and thread, herself.

"I think my earliest creation was a hat. It was quite easy as I just tied a knot in every corner of my handkerchief," she said laughing.

She tried tailoring a skirt for her doll by sewing pieces of cloth together, but found it a hard task.

"I used to cover all buttons with beautiful cloth, and knitted colorful wool into different shapes to put them on my key ring," she added.

The need to operate sewing machines and knit has dwindled in recent years as there is a glut of quality clothing available in shops and on the Internet, which is a change from the time of their mothers and grandmothers for whom knitting was an essential tool in times of shortage.

Some young women have, however, fallen in love with knitting woollen scarves in recent years.

"My roommate at university knitted a white scarf for her boyfriend, and then gradually all the girls in our department joined in," Wang said.

Dong Yijun, 23, an office worker from Shanghai, is another scarf knitter.

"It is simple to knit a scarf. And it feels satisfying to wear a homemade scarf," she said.

A new form of needlework is now making waves the cross-stitch.

Imported from Europe, the cross-stitch is a popular form of counted-thread embroidery, in which X-shaped stitches are used to form a picture.

But this trend didn't sit well with Dong Yijun.

"It causes too much trouble. I don't think I am patient enough," she said.

Lin Yun, a 17-year-old high school student, is a spectator when her classmates spend time after class knitting and stitching.

"Years ago we really enjoyed weaving bracelets. Soon we all got tired of it. Now there are new fashions. But we are too busy with homework. And after all, we girls prefer shopping and listening to pop music," she said.

"Compared to the cross-stitch, I prefer traditional Chinese embroidery. Maybe one day I will take courses on it," Wang Yilin said.

"I hope to make all kinds of embroidery patterns on hebao (a silk pocket used in ancient China). That soft cloth and colorful thread always make me excited."

Source:www.china.org.cn

The Development of Characters 字体发展

Understanding that the notion of pictographic or ideographic characters is no more than a myth, there must be some explanation for Chinese characters. What exactly are they if not pictures or alphabet? A more accurate word in English for the Chinese type character is “logograph” or “logogram,” which means a sign (graph) that represents a word (logos).

Many people see Chinese characters and are reminded of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, 象形文字 xiang4xing2wen2zi4. Unlike Chinese characters, Hieroglyphics are not all logographs that represent spoken words. Some Hieroglyphics are purely phonetic symbols, like an alphabet; some are logographic, like Chinese; and some are determinative--words that specify the meaning of other graphs. While the two orthographies are not related in any way—Chinese developed independently—their histories do bear certain similarities.

Proto-Writing


In archaeological work done in both Egypt and China, artifacts have been unearthed that bear stylized drawings or proto-writing. In China, the earliest artifacts of this type were discovered in Shandong (山东) province, which lies between Beijing and Shanghai. These artifacts include shards of pottery that have been dated to approximately 2000 BCE. The pictures on these pieces are definitely not writing. They are a defined set of fairly realistic images that may have been used for ritual purposes, but were essentially decoration. The earliest Egyptian relics, which date to around 4000 BCE, are also considered decorative proto-writing.

Chinese tradition says that Chinese characters were created by a minister of the Yellow Emperor, 黄帝 huang2di4, named Cangjie, 仓颉. According to legend, he discovered the secret of writing by looking at animal tracks in the earth and stars in the sky. This discovery shook the confidence of the gods on high because writing was a powerful tool unknown to mankind. In similar mythological fashion, the Egyptians honored the deities Thoth and Isis for the gift of writing.

It is generally accepted that no one could have invented the entire writing system. However, if Cangjie was a real historical figure, then he may have played a role in stylizing and standardizing the proto-writing, and turning the ancient pictures into a true writing system.

Oracle Bones 甲骨



The earliest examples of actual Chinese writing are found on Oracle Bones, 甲骨 jia3gu3. Oracle Bones are pieces of tortoise shell or cow bone that were used for divination in the Shang Dynasty, 商朝 shang1chao2 (1766-1122 BCE). In comparison, the earliest Egyptian writing has been dated to the time of the Second Dynasty, which occurred during the third Century BCE.

In fact, many experts now believe that the Oracle Bone script is too refined to be China's original writing system. Counting many years of development prior to the Shang dynasty, it is is possible that Chinese started keeping written records at the same time as the Egyptians. As far as the Chinese are concerned, they have been keeping records in one way or another for as long as there have been Chinese people. According to mythology, before the development of writing, information was recorded using knotted ropes 用结绳来记事 yongjieshenglaijishi.

Whether or not they are the most ancient orthography, Oracle Bone inscriptions, 甲骨文 jia3gu3wen2, are the ancestors of modern Chinese characters. They represent true writing in that they are an orthographic representation of language (as opposed to a picture). Even after thousands of years of development, modern characters still bear a resemblance to the Oracle Bone script. It is even possible for an untrained reader of modern Chinese to recognize many of the ancient characters.

The Rebus and the Advancement of Writing

From Oracle Bones, it can be seen that Chinese characters were developed based on the rebus. Despite the intimidating and unfamiliar word, everyone who has been through elementary school is familiar with this principle. The rebus uses symbols to represent a word because of their sound rather than their meaning. In English, we commonly play such word games using simple pictures and single letters. For example, you might draw a picture of an eye to indicate the subject “I,” a picture of waves to indicate “see,” and the letter U to indicate “you.” In this manner you can use basic pictures to symbolize words that are difficult to draw:



It seems somewhat strange to say that an entire language can be based on a principle that is generally used in the West to create games for children. However, the Chinese use of the rebus system is quite sophisticated.

Naturally, the first characters that could have developed were pictographs that are essentially pictures of objects. When a symbol was needed for a more complicated concept, an existing character with the same pronunciation could be used to symbolize the pronunciation of the word. In other words, the written language is truly a record of the spoken language. For this reason, about 90 percent of characters have a phonetic element, and the number of pictograph and ideograph characters is quite low.

In the Oracle Bone script, the skeleton of this system is revealed. Some characters are reused without change to represent other words with the same pronunciation but different sounds. Although, such recycling of characters creates an accurate record of speech, it also creates a written language that is difficult to understand.

Radical Developments 部首发展

In addition to reusing characters for their sounds, Chinese uses the slightly more sophisticated system of radicals to clarify the meaning of a character. With the combination of phonetic elements and radicals, Chinese developed into a fully functional orthography that is radically different from that of any other world language.

From the Oracle Bone script of the Shang Dynasty, Chinese script developed into different styles in different places. These scripts were all built on the same foundation and principle, but diverged because China was divided into several warring states until the time of the Qin Dynasty, 秦朝 Qin2chao2 (221-207 BCE).

During the Qin Dynasty, the first emperor, Qinshi huangdi, 秦始皇帝, unified the warring states in China. He allegedly built the Great Wall, and he also standardized the writing system used throughout China. He had his code of laws carved on stone tablets in the capital using only one script, which is known today as the "Small Seal" script, 小篆 xiaozhuan.

With some slight alterations, the standard script used today is essentially the same as the Qin Script used over two thousand years ago.

Conclusion

While Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics bear some superficial resemblance to Chinese characters in terms of appearance and historical development, the similarities disappear quickly given more information about the methodology and tradition of the two systems. Also, it is important to note that while hieroglyphics originated before Chinese characters, they also stopped being used long ago. Modern Egyptian is actually a dialect of Aracbic, and it is written in Arabic script. Chinese writing, on the other hand, has enjoyed approximately three thousand years of continuous use.

Source:www.interestingchinese.com