Traditional Culture and Arts

Traditional Festivals

Traditional Chinese festivals are diverse in form and rich in content, and are an integral part of the nation’s long history and culture.

The origin and development of the festivals is a process of gradual formation, subtle perfection and slowly influencing social life. It is the same as the development of society, which is the product of human society to a certain stage. Most of these festivals in ancient China are related to astronomy, calendar, mathematics and the 24 solar terms, which came out later. One could find the records of festivals in books such as Xia Xiaozheng and Shangshu. By the Warring States period, there appeared 24 solar terms, which were closely related to these festivals.

Solar terms provide the preconditions for festivals, most of which began to surface in the pre-Qin period. But it took a long process of development for the festivals to become rich and popular among the people. The earliest customs and activities are related to primitive worship, superstitious taboos. Mythical legends add some romantic color to the festivals. Besides, religions also had impact and influence towards festivals. Some historical figures have been given eternal memorials to be engraved into the festivals. All of these are integrated into the content of the festivals, adding to a deep sense of history.

By the Han Dynasty, all of China’ major festivals had taken shape. That is the reason that people said all these festivals were originated from Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty is China’s first major development period after the reunification of the nation. The stable political and economic situation and rapid scientific and cultural development has provided a good social condition for the final formation of the festivals.

In Tang Dynasty, festivals have changed from original worship, taboos into entertainment and etiquette. Since then, festivals have become cheerful and festive, rich and colorful in style, full of sports, hedonistic activities, and soon became a popular fashion, which kept developing and lasting.

It is worth mentioning that in the long history, men of letters and poets, have written tons of poems and articles for festivals. These works are so popular and widely recited that greatly enrich China’s traditional festivals with the profound cultural heritage and wonderful romance, which are admired by scholars and laymen alike. Chinese festivals have a strong cohesion and broad inclusiveness. The whole country celebrates lots of same festivals, which indicate that the Chinese nation has inherited a valuable spiritual and cultural heritage from ancient times.

The following are some of the major festivals in China. As a multi-ethnic country, China has dozens of ethnic groups who have their own cultural customs. Many ethnic groups celebrate their own festivals, which are a cultural treasure to be shared.

Spring Festival

Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year, is the first day of the first lunar month (Year’s Day). Commonly known as the New Year with different names, the Spring Festival has a long history and evolved from the annual sacrifices and rituals in ancient times. All things on earth belong to the god and the people are the later generations of ancestors. It is time to pray for a harvest and respect the heaven and ancestors at the beginning of the new year. The origin of the Spring Festival is of profound cultural connotations and carries rich historical and cultural heritage. During the Spring Festival period, all the country hold a variety of celebration activities with various regional characteristics amid lively and festive atmosphere. These activities welcome to the new, worship the gods of the ancestors and pray for a bumper harvest.

In ancient times, people began to prepare for the Spring Festival from 23rd or 24th of the 12th lunar month by offering sacrifice of the kitchen god. The New Year festival lasted to the 19th day of the first lunar month. In modern times, the Spring Festival is scheduled for the first day of the first lunar month, but it ends on the 15th of the first lunar month. Spring Festival is a happy and peaceful time, friends and family members gathered in the festival to promote bonding. Greetings are conveyed during the festival period, which is the reason to maintain the Spring Festival an important occasion.

The Spring Festival is China’s most important traditional festival, which not only embodies the Chinese people’s ideological beliefs, ideal aspirations, life entertainment and cultural psychology, but also illustrates blessing, cuisine and entertainment activities in a carnival way. Influenced by Chinese culture, some countries and regions in the world also have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 20 countries and regions have designated the Chinese New Year as an official holiday for the whole or part of the regions under its jurisdiction. Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are regarded as China’s top four traditional festivals. Besides, Spring Festival folklore was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Mid-Autumn Festival

The 15th of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China. It marks the middle of the autumn, so it is called mid-autumn. With a history of more than 1,000 years, Mid-Autumn became an official festival in the Tang Dynasty. It is China’s second largest traditional festival only after the Spring Festival. In 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival, together with Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, became a national holiday. The mid-Autumn Festival is named from the Chinese lunar calendar, which is divided into four seasons. Each season is divided into Meng, Zhong and Ji three parts, that is the reason the middle autumn is known as “mid-autumn.”

The Mid-Autumn Festival has many other nicknames: Because it falls on 15th day of the eighth lunar month, it is called “August Day” and “Half August Day.” Because the moon on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is more round and brighter than other months, the main activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are admiring the moon, so it is also called “Moon Night”, “Autumn Festival”, “August Festival”, “Chasing the Moon”, Playing the Moon Festival” and so on. Because the moon is particularly bright and round, it is regarded as a symbol of family reunion; therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called “reunion festival”

Eating Moon Cake

People eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is a traditional Chinese folk food custom. Moon cakes are also known as palace cakes, harvest cakes, round cakes and reunion cakes. Moon cakes first appeared in Tang Dynasty, according to the record. The Dictionary of Chinese Customs tells a legend: LiYuan, the Emperor Gaozu of Tang, once told the chefs to make colorful round cakes to celebrate the victory of his general Li Jing during a northern expedition. Li held the round cake at hands to worship the moon, saying, “The hu cake is dedicated to the moon first.” Since then, it has become a custom to eat moon cakes on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Later, Yang Yuhuan, who is the favorite concubine of Tang Emperor Li Longji, changed the name of “hu cake” to “mooncake”. To the Song Dynasty, there appeared golden flowers, hibiscus, lotus leaves and other flower-colored moon cakes. To the Ming Dynasty, moon cakes became the official food for Mid-Autumn Festival, and gradually accepted by the masses of the people. After the Qing Dynasty, the production of moon cakes becomes more exquisite, either in their quality, colors or their varieties thanks to continuous innovations. With the development of the times, moon cakes have become a kind of food and gift to each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival period.

Delicious mooncakes also serve as a mascot to symbolize family reunion, happy gathering and many other auspicious cultural connotations. People pray for a son and a happy marriage during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the old days, a saying goes that “men do not worship the moon, women do not worship the kitchen god”. There are two purposes of women’s moon worship: Married people pray for a son, unmarried pray for a happy marriage in the future. In addition, the moon cake also the symbolizes a bumper harvest. Mid-Autumn Festival is in the season of autumn and eating moon cakes represents a blessing for good weather for crops in the coming year to obtain a larger harvest.

Today, the banquet on the Mid-Autumn Festival is still very popular. People drink wine and enjoy the moon to celebrate a better life or wish the distant relatives health and happiness by “sharing the beautiful moon though miles apart.”

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival, also known as Taqing Festival, Xingqing Festival, March Festival and Festival of Sacrifice, which falls between middle and late spring. Qingming Festival originates from the ancestral beliefs in ancient times and the spring ritual. It is of both natural and humanistic connotations, and is not only a solar term but also a traditional festival. Qingming Festival is a major traditional day of spring ritual and tomb-sweeping. To commemorating ancestors is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation since ancient times, which is not only conducive to the promotion of filial piety and arouse common memory of the family, but also good for uniting family members and even the national cohesion and identity. Qingming Festival combines natural festival and human customs as one, representing the unity of the heavens and the earth and fully embodying the Chinese ancestors to pursue the harmony and unity between “heaven, earth and people.” It conforms to the demand and law of the nature. Qingming Festival is rich in customs. Tomb-sweeping and treading green outings are its two major ritual themes, which are two traditional ritual themes in China since ancient times.

As one of the ancient festivals of the Chinese nation, Qingming Festival is not only a festival of tomb-sweeping sacrifice, but also a happy festival for people to be close to nature, to play in the field and to enjoy the pleasures of spring. The sun yellow longitude is up to 15 degrees, and the festival in the Gregorian calendar falls around April 5. At this time, all things “exhale the old and inhale the new,” the earth shows the image of spring and sunlight.

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Duanwu Festival, Double Five Festival, Dragon Festival, Zhengyang Festival and Tianzhong Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. It is one of traditional Chinese folk festivals. Dragon Boat Festival originated from the worship of the heavens and the dragon. Mid-summer afternoon, the dragon flies high to the south of the sky. The Book of Changes, or I Ching, said the “flying dragon in the sky.” Dragon Star on the Dragon Day is both “getting in” and “getting right”, in the position of highly auspicious. The origin of Dragon Boat Festival roots in ancient star culture, philosophy and other content, contains profound cultural connotations. It combines various folk customs and festival activities. To hold dragon boat race and to eat zongzi, a kind of glutinous rice dumpling, are the Dragon Boat Festival’s two major rituals.

Dragon Boat Festival was a festival for ancestors who lived in the southern coastal areas to worship dragons. Qu Yuan, a famous poet from Chu Kingdom during the Starring States period, is said to jump into Miluo River to suicide on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. People after him began to commemorate Qu by celebrating this day. Others connect the festival with Wu Zixu, Cao E and Jie Zitui. In general, Dragon Boat Festival started from the worshipping of dragons in ancient times, with the addition of Qu Yuan and other historical figures. Meanwhile, there are different activities to be held in southern and northern regions when celebrating the festival.

Dragon Boat Festival, together with Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, is regarded as the major four traditional festivals in China. The culture of Dragon Boat Festival has a wide-spread influence around the world. Many countries and regions also celebrate Dragon Boat Festival. In May, 2006, the State Council adopted the Dragon Boat Festival into its first list of national cultural heritage. In 2008, it was ruled as an official holiday by the nation. In September 2009, the festival was approved by the UNESCO to be an intangible cultural heritage, becoming the first Chinese festival in the world cultural heritage list.

Spoken and Written Languages

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, making it a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-dialect and multi-text country. The national lingua franca is Putonghua and the standard Chinese characters.

Putonghua is the standard spoken language of Chinese people, with Beijing speech sound as the standard tone, the northern dialect as the basis and the exemplary modern vernacular writings as the grammatical norms. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates: “The State promotes Putonghua, which is commonly spoken throughout the country.” The National Common Language and Text Law, which was promulgated on October 31, 2000, defines Putonghua as the national lingua franca. Mandarin is also one of the world’s leading languages and one of the six official working languages of the United Nations.

Chinese is the most widely used language in China and the most widely used language in the world. In addition to the Han people using Chinese language, Hui, Manchu and She people also switched to Chinese, other ethnic groups have their own languages and many of them have used Chinese to some degree.

Modern Chinese is divided into standard languages (Putonghua) and dialects. There are 10 major dialects in China: official dialect, Jin dialect, Wu dialect, Hui dialect, Min dialect, Cantonese dialect, Hakka dialect, Gan dialect, Xiang dialect and Pinghua dialect. There are several sub-dialects and many kinds of “local dialects” in each aera. Among them, the largest number of official dialects can be divided into the Northeast official language, Beijing official language, Lu official language, Jiaoliao official language, Central Plains official language, Lanyin official language, Jianghuai official language, Southwest official language.

History of Chinese Characters

Chinese characters are one of the oldest written languages in history and the oldest one still being used in the world to date. Several thousand years have passed from jiaguwen, inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th Century BC), to today’s Chinese characters. The development of Chinese written language has evolved through jiaguwen, jinwen (inscriptions on bronze), dazhuan (big seal character), xiaozhuan (lesser seal character), li calligraphy, caoshu (cursive script), kaishu (regular script), xingshu (running hand). In chronological order, China’s written language can be divided into pre-Qin, Qin, Han and Tang, Song and Yuan, Ming and Qing and modern times and contemporary age.

The legend goes that Cang Jie created the Chinese characters. According to Shuowen Jiezi, or Origin of Chinese Characters, which is the first Chinese dictionary, Cang Jie was inspired by the footprints of birds and beasts when creating characters. He was revered as the “Greatest Creator of Characters.” During the Shang Dynasty, the earliest known mature Chinese characters jiaguwen appeared. During the Zhou Dynasty, due to its vast territory and long-term division of the nation, Chinese characters became more and more variant in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. After the unification of Qin, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered his prime minister Li Si, together with Zhao Gao and Hu Wujing, to compile characters with the aim to consolidate the rule. Based on Qin’s dazhuan as the standard font, they hammered out the xiaozhuan as standard characters of the nation. Later, there appeared lishu, which was popular and simpler among the people. At the end of the East Han Dynasty, with the formation of kaishu, the evolution of Chinese characters has been completed.

Since their birth, Chinese characters have witnessed the evolution of jiaguwen, jinwen, zhuanshu, lishu, caoshu, kaishu and xingshu. The development trend of characters is stepwise simplication from complication.

Since its establishment, the New China continued Chinese character simplification work, which was not completed during the New Culture Movement and the Republic of China period. The People’s Daily published the Resolution on the Simplification Program for Chinese Characters and the Chinese Character Simplification Program, which were drafted by the State Council, on January 31, 1956. The publication of List of Simplified Words, which gave legal status to simplified characters.

（信息来源：http://www.gov.cn/guoqing/2017-11/22/content_5241528.htm）

Traditional Arts

Chinese traditional arts, represented by calligraphy, music, paper-cutting, painting and operas, originated in the Neolithic Age. The heritage of traditional Chinese arts is very rich and brilliant. Traditional food and clothing are the fruits of thousands of years of development, which represent the profound cultural heritage of China’s 5,000 years of civilization.

This is the precious wealth not only of the Chinese nation, but also of all mankind. Chinese traditional arts, with their rich local flavor, profound artistic connotation and vivid historical traces, are becoming more and more loved and appreciated by the people of the world.

Chinese Painting

The origin of ancient Chinese painting started very early. About 5,000-6,000 thousand years ago the ancestors painted simple animals and plants and human-shaped patterns on the rocks with mineral colors, depicting various beautiful patterns on the pottery and then carved mysterious patterns and other graphics on the bronzes. Because of the long time, few of these works have been preserved, but they have given us a glimpse into the art of early paintings. The earliest paintings we can see today on paper are the items unearthed in tombs, which have a history of more than 2,000 years.

Early Chinese paintings were divided into several categories, such as figure, landscape, flowers and birds. Around the 17th century, European painting was introduced into China, which was named “Western Painting” to be different from traditional “Chinese painting”. Therefore, the original title of Chinese painting is relative to Western painting (generally referred to as European painting).

Meticulous Painting and Freehand Ink Painting

In most people’s impression, the traditional Chinese painting seems to be only ink painting. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. According to its technique and style, Chinese painting can be divided into two types, meticulous painting and freehand ink painting. Meticulous painting is also known as a fine painting, whose style is meticulous, with well-defined and expressive lines to outline the image, and pays attention to the details and then apply with thick and bright colors. Most of the pigments used in the painting are made of minerals, which can still maintain the original colors many years later. Because of the magnificent appearance of this kind painting, most of the royal painters in Chinese history used this method of painting to express the grand royal style.

Traditional Chinese Music

According to the carbon 14 analysis of the bone flute unearthed at the Neolithic site in Wuyang County, Henan Province, the history of Chinese music can be traced back to 7,0O0-8,OOO years ago. The distribution of these bone flutes’ sound holes proves that the Chinese music standard had reached a considerable height at that time. In addition, Neolithic instruments also include xun (an egg-shaped, holed wind instrument), pottery bells, chime stones and drums.

Like many ethnic groups in the world, music and dance have been inseparable in the early period of Chinese culture. At that time, there was no clear social division between music and dance. By the time of Xia Dynasty, music and dance finally became two independent art forms.

Since then, China’s music has entered 1,300 years of bell and drum music period from Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. In the period from Qin and Han dynasties to Tang Dynasty for more than 1,200 years, song and dance was the main form of Chinese music. There were two stages in this period: At the early stage, Han music was the main component; At the later stage, there appeared unprecedent exchanges between Chinese and foreign music, which was regarded as a peak of China’s music development.

Before Sui and Tang dynasties, music was only enjoyed by emperors and aristocrats. After Sui and Tang dynasties, the situation began to change. Temple fairs at Buddhist temples became the places that ordinary people listen to music. Customers can also enjoy the singing of songs and recitation of poems at restaurants. Especially in Song Dynasty, brothels, marketplaces, theatres and tea houses have become the place of music and dance performance. There also appeared drum words, dramas, Southern operas and many other forms of music performance.

After Song Dynasty, the piano music-based literati music got development along with the rapid progress of folk music. After the Song Dynasty, the musical instruments such as pipa, zheng, flute，sheng and Xiao were further developed. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the artistic varieties of comic dialogue and operas became more mature and diversified, such as tanci (storytelling to the accompaniment of stringed instruments), dagu (drum ballad),paiziqu and kunqu operas, which were the two major forms of music art in this period. And the development of instruments in the Qing Dynasty began to be mature, the Huqin-based bow-string instruments in the opera accompaniment and string and wind music showed an increasingly important function.

Since ancient times, the hard-working and intelligent Chinese ancestors have created lots of folk songs during their work and everyday life, which are the essence of Chinese music. The first Chinese poetry collection, The Book of Poems, reflects the broad grandeur and typical profound characteristics of social life and historical development, which can be regarded as the history of the Zhou Dynasty’s civil society in the form of poems. Later, the Han Dynasty’s Yuefu played an important role in recording and promoting folk songs. The Tang Dynasty maintained the vigorous vitality of Chinese fold songs in the context of cultural exchanges with foreign countries and wide absorption of the music from surrounding areas.

From the Song Dynasty to Ming and Qing dynasties, a number of new folk songs were created on the basis of continued dissemination of old ones with the prosperity of the commercial economy of the townships. Work songs, field songs, Shaanxi local melody and hua’er (folk songs popular in Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia) and other folk genres are also widely circulated. The Chinese folk songs have a long history and rich reserves, rich themes, diverse styles, concise techniques and refined language.

Chinese folk musical instruments are an indispensable component of Chinese music. After thousands of years of development, China has seen various sorts of instruments and numerous works, which can be roughly divided into two categories: ensemble and solo. Ensemble instruments are mostly gongs and drums, suona horn, erhu, pipa, yangqin, sanxian (three-stringed plucked instrument), flutes, sheng and xiao. Solo instruments mainly include guqin, pipa, erhu, banhu, flute and zheng.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced into China. Because of the demand of Buddhist rituals, Buddhist music began to be combined with local Chinese music. Buddhist music is generally divided into two parts, the recitation of Buddhism sutras and the song singing. Emperor Wudi of Liang Xiao Yan was an important figure in promoting the integration of Buddhist classics with Chinese music, while the Tang Dynasty was the period when Buddhist music finally merged with Chinese music. Taoism, a religion that originated in China, also resorted music as a tool for the holy gods in its rituals.

After entering the 20th century, Chinese music and art have opened a new page thanks to the intersection of East and West cultures. A group of new musicians, such as Xiao Youmei, Li Shutong and Shen Xingong, who learned from China and the West, became the pioneers of the new music movement. In the midst of the movement against Japanese invaders, thousands of music works stood out, reflecting the spirit of the times. In addition to song writing, historical achievements were also made in the creation of symphony, chorus, opera, piano, violin and many other fields. A large number of musicians, such as Xian Xinghai, He Luting, Ma Sicong and Lv Ji, have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government has adopted an open-minded approach in the fields of music education and music creation, encouraging the creation of a number of works of the times, such as the large-scale dance epic “Dongfanghong,” or “Oriental Red”, musical “Liu Sanjie”, opera “The Red Guards on Honghu Lake”, piano concerto “Yellow River” and so on. Especially since the reform and opening-up two decades ago, there has been another great integration and exchange between the East and the West in the development of Chinese music. The impact of this exchange on Chinese music culture in the new era is profound, ranging from music creation, performance, education, theory to music publication and marketing, almost into all the aspects of music art. It is forming a new era of music culture construction.

The strong rise of “new music” and the surge of popular music are the two most important phenomena in the development of Chinese professional music in this period. Over the past 20 years, Chinese musicians and performing arts groups have participated in a wide range of international music exchanges and competitions, many of whom have achieved outstanding results, their footprints all over the world, in the excellent traditional Chinese music culture to the people of the world, but also foreign outstanding music art, music trends Music theory was introduced into China. In order to enrich the people’s musical life and improve their musical literacy, there are also major music festivals held throughout China: such as “Shanghai Spring”, “Beijing Choral Festival”, “Sheep City Music Flower Festival” and so on. In addition, the mass amateur music performance activities are also very active: Beijing’s “May Flowers”, Shanghai’s “October Song Festival”, Fujian’s “School Concert” and so on, are regularly held every year amateur mass music activities.

Chinese Opera

The Chinese opera, together with Greek drama and Indian Sanskrit drama, is called the world’s three ancient theatrical culture.

Chinese operas include Song and Yuan Southern Opera, Yuan and Ming Zaju, Ming and Qing Legends as well as Peking Opera and various local operas in modern times, which are collectively known as traditional Chinese drama culture. Chinese operas took shape and became mature in the 12th century. After more than 800 years of development, more than 300 operas and tens of thousands of plays are still staged in China, showing a strong vitality and unfailing artistic appeal.

Singing and dancing are the two major means of Chinese opera performance. The Song Dynasty’s Southern Opera and the Yuan Dynasty’s Zaju formed a comprehensive performance that combines singing, speaking, acting and acrobatic fighting after continuous absorption of poetry, music, dance, painting, talking and singing, acrobatics, martial arts and other arts. Its musical dialogue – singing and speaking – and dance-styled action – acting and acrobatic fighting – and the virtual reality of stage and the stylization of performance are the characteristics of Chinese opera art.

In order to meet the needs of drama and performance, the various characters of Chinese operas are divided from types of facial makeup, clothing, singing voice and many other aspects according to the characters’ age, gender, identity and characteristics, which are highly summarized as four categories: sheng (male roles), dan (female roles), jing (painted roles) and chou (clowns).

Sheng, or male roles, refer to the main male characters in Chinese opera, including the old, the young and the actor playing a martial role.

Dan, or female roles, are mainly female characters. There are five types, such as Zhengdan, Huadan, Wudan, Old Dan and Caidan.

Jing, or painted roles, are commonly known as painted faces. There are big painted faces, second painted faces and martial painted faces. Faces of jing are highlighted by the use of various colors and patterns of facial make-up, to symbolize boldness, uprightness, wickedness, recklessness and honesty.

Chou, or clowns, refer to comedy roles, whose makeup is to paint white powder between the nose and eye sockets, which is called small painted face. Chou can play various types of role. According to the identity and characteristics of roles, chou are divided into two types: wenchou and wuchou.

After entering the 20th century, China has experienced intense fluctuations thanks to the inevitable impact and fusion between traditional culture and modern ideas from the West. Chinese operas encountered unprecedented embarrassment, which also provides the chances and possibilities for its prosperity. The democratic concept advocated by the Revolution of 1911 and the establishment of modern newspapers and magazines have nurtured the emergence of new theatres and troupes, all of which brought the art of opera to a new height. Peking Opera, which is known as the “National Opera,” has produced more talents than ever. Peking Opera had a history of more than 200 years and different drama characters have different faces. Performers sing, read, act and fight acrobatically with the use of exaggerated and symbolic virtual action. Though there are no doors, stairs, boats and horses on stage, actors perform with their movements to create a very realistic impression.

In the 1950s, some of the small folk dramas developed rapidly with the support of the government’s cultural institutions and the participation of intellectual artists. A number of dramas, such as Ping Opera, Yue Opera, Kun Opera, Cantonese Opera, Shanghai Opera, Huangmei Opera and Yu Drama are increasingly flourishing and developing. There appeared a great number of excellent dramas, such as “Third Sister Goes to Court”, “The White Snake”, “Fifteen Strings of Cash” and “Guan Hanqing.” The historical dramas of ethnic minorities were also on the rise on the basis of maintaining tradition. The creation of the new historical drama became a trend of Chinese opera in the 198Os, represented by Cao “Cao and Yang Xiu,” which was creation by the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre. Chinese artists also tried to resort traditional Chinese opera to reflect the contemporary life. Both Luohan Money of Shanghai Opera and “White Hair Girl” of the Peking Opera are successful works in this respect. Sichuan Opera “Uncle Shangang” and Jiangxi Tea-picking Drama “Legend of Oil-mill” and other plays, with rich rural land style together with the tradition of Chinese poetry by absorbing the essence of contemporary folk oral literature, depicted the real life in a romantic way.

Chinese opera keeps developing and upgrading with the warm vision of the future and the nostalgia for tradition, interwoven between traditional culture and modern consciousness.

With the gradual maturity of Chinese opera art, the construction of theaters in China is becoming better and better. Venues of Chinese operas are showing their distinctive national characteristics and unique artistic styles. The stage art of Chinese operas is the unity of character and scenery, with the focus on figure creation, so as to have the artistic features of dance, decoration and stereotype.

Four Famous Embroideries in China

Among the traditional Chinese embroideries, the “Xiang Embroidery” in Central China’s Hunan Province, the “Shu Embroidery” in Sichuan Province in western China, the “Yue Embroidery” in Guangdong Province in southern China and the “Su Embroidery” in Jiangsu Province in eastern China are jointly known as China’s “Four Famous Embroideries.”

Xiang Embroidery

As one of China’s Four Famous Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery is famous at home and abroad due to its long history, exquisite craftsmanship, unique style and a wide variety of themes. The earliest Xiang embroidery product found so far is a silk fabric unearthed in the tomb of the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220). The techniques used are similar to today’s methods, indicating that as early as more than 2,000 years ago the art of Xiang Embroidery had become mature. After centuries of development, Xiang embroidery gradually introduced the traditional characteristics of Chinese painting into it, thus forming its own unique style. By the end of the Qing Dynasty (early 20th century), the development of Xiang embroidery reached its heyday, and even surpassed Su embroidery, which was the leading place in China’s embroidery industry. After the founding of New China, Xiang embroidery workers in the inheritance of tradition on the basis of innovation, so that Xiang embroidery technology to a new level.

Xiang Embroidery is made of pure silk, hard satin, soft satin, transparent yarn, nylon and other materials with different colors of silk yarn. It takes Chinese paintings as models, gives full play to stiches to create vivid, colorful and rigorous images. There are not only artistic embroidery works but also beautiful articles for everyday use.

Shu Embroidery

Shu Embroidery, also known as Chuan Embroidery, refers to embroidery products produced in Sichuan’s Chengdu area with a long history. As early as the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), the name of Shu Embroidery has been well-known all over the country. The Han Dynasty set up a special Jinguan in charge of brocade products in Chengdu. From the Han Dynasty to the Five Dynasties (907-960) and Ten Kingdoms (902-979) period, the relative stability of Sichuan has created favorable conditions for the rapid development of embroidery industry to meet an increasing demand. By Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Shu Embroidery took the lead in its manufacturing, sales and art level. After the mid-Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the scale of Shu Embroidery industry got enlarged further. Governments at county level set up Quangong Bureau to encourage the embroidery production. After the founding of New China, the Chengdu Embroidery Factory was set up in Sichuan, and the development of embroidery entered a new stage, leading to technological innovations and the creation of more varieties.

Shu Embroidery originated from folk art in western Sichuan, which features a rigorous and delicate, bright, neat and graceful style with vibrant colors after long-term development process due to the special geographical environment, customs, culture and art.

Shu Embroidery works are rich in themes, ranging from flowers and trees, birds and beasts to mountains and rivers, fish, insects and portraits. There are 12 categories of stiches with a total of 122 kinds, such as halo stich, rolling stich, mixed stich and cover stich, etc. It stresses neat stiches with bright, tight and soft techniques. Shu Embroidery products, including quilt covers, pillowcases, clothing, shoes and picture screens, are all exquisite works which are both ornamental and practical, regardless of size.

Yue Embroidery

Yue Embroidery, also known as Cantonese Embroidery, is popular in Guangzhou, Chaozhou, Shantou, Zhongshan, Panyu and Shunde in Guangdong Province. According to historical record, a young girl named Lu Meiniang in Nanhai County, Guangdong Province, once embroidered seven volumes of Lotus Sutra on a piece of silken cloth, which is a foot square, in the year of 805. Cantonese embroidery has since become famous. During the Song and Yuan period (10-14 century), the prosperity of Guangzhou Port promoted the rapid development of Cantonese Embroidery, which was exported abroad. In Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Yue Embroidery artists were able to skillfully use a variety of silk threads in embroidery. They also used bird tail feathers as materials to make embroidery products more natural and vivid. To the Qianlong period (1736-1796) in Qing Dynasty, the first Yue Embroidery industry organization – the Yue Embroidery Guild was established in Guangzhou. At that time, there were a large number of Cantonese Embroidery employees, who continuously developed and perfected the art. After 1915, Yue Embroidery works were given numerous awards in Panama International Expo and other international competitions.

During its development, the Yue Embroidery has been influenced by folk arts of all ethnic groups. It formed its unique art style on the basis of eclectic and integrated integration. Yue Embroidery products mainly depict dragons, phoenix, flowers and birds, which are neat, symmetrical, colorful and magnificent. In the stich method, it shows the characteristics of being “evenly distributed and texture clear.” It can be divided into three categories, namely velvet embroidery, silk embroidery, gold and silver thread embroidery. Products include costumes, hall decorations, bed curtains, hanging screens and a variety of daily embroidery.

Su Embroidery

Su Embroidery refers to the embroideries produced in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Suzhou embroidery has a history of more than 2,000 years, which could be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). By the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Su Embroidery had become a popular business among the local people after continuous development and perfection. Nearly every family raised silkworms and engaged in embroidery in Suzhou. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Su Embroidery was famous for its “fine and elegant” style, earning Suzhou the reputation of a “city of embroidery.” In the middle- and late-Qing Dynasty, Su Embroidery technology has further developed with the emergence of exquisite “double-sided embroidery.” There are 65 firms in Suzhou alone specialized in embroidery business. During the Republic of China (1912-1949), the Su Embroidery industry suffered a decline due to the perennial war. After the founding of New China, Su Embroidery was resumed and developed. The nation set up a Su Embroidery institute in 1950 and organized embroidery training courses. Stich techniques of Su Embroidery expanded from the original 18 kinds to today’s more than 40 kinds.

Su Embroidery works are beautiful in patterns, crafty in design, exquisite and lively in embroidery, elegant in color and rich in local characteristics. The technology of Su Embroidery is “flat, neat, fine, dense, light, smooth and even.””Flat” means the surface of embroidered works is even; “Neat” means the edge of the embroidery is trim; “Fine” refers exquisite stiches;””Dense” refers to a compact arrangement of lines that do not reveal stiches; “Light “means dazzling, bright colors; “Smooth” refers to the silk circles; “Even” refers to fine and uniform lines. In its category, Su Embroidery works can be divided into zero scissors, costumes, hanging screens. Among them, “double-sided embroidery” works are the most beautiful ones.

Tri-Colored Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty

Tri-colored pottery is popular in the Tang Dynasty, with yellow, brown and green as the basic glaze colors.

Tri-colored pottery is a kind of low-temperature glazed pottery, which shows different colors due to the adding of different metal oxides. After being fired in kilns, it will form light yellow, yellow, light green, dark green, sky blue, brown, aubergine and other colors, but mostly yellow, brown and green. The colors of tri-color pottery are diversified, mutually infiltrating and mottled, showing the artistic charm of the grand and magnificent. Tri-colored pottery is usually used in tombs because its unfired pottery is loose and fragile and performs poor in waterproofing. As a result, tri-colored pottery is greatly dwarfed both by blue porcelain and white porcelain which has appeared at that time.

Tri-colored potteries are plump, vigorous and well-structured with an excellent balance in shape, which are consistent in the art style of Tang Dynasty.There are variety of pottery works, such as figurines, animals and articles for daily use. The proportion of tri-colored figurines and animals is accurate, the shape is natural and the figures are smooth and lively. The samurais are muscular and wide-eyed, confronting each other with daggers. Meanwhile, the maids are in upswept hairstyle with broad sleeves, standing tall and straight, elegant and very plump. Animals are dominated by horses and camels.

Unearthed in the tomb of General Youwei of the Tang Dynasty is a glazed camel carrying musicians. The camel stands straight and its color is brownish-yellow, with long hairs hanging down from the head to the neck, from the lower jaw to the abdomen and the upper part of both front limbs. There is a carpeted platform on the camel-back, which carries two foreign musicians sitting back-to-back on both sides. The musicians are playing instruments with another man standing in the center, dancing. Three of the musicians are deep-eye socket with a high nose, bearded, wearing a green lapel long coat and white felt boots. The fourth person in front wears a yellow shoulder-length coat. This figurine is exquisite and amazing.

Places of production of tri-colored pottery include Xi’an, Luoyang and Yangzhou, which are all the connection points along the ancient Silk Road on the land and sea. Camels were major transportation tools on the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty. You can imagine that an intimacy has taken shape between camels and people when they trekked through the desert together. The tall body and determined look of the camel indicates that it has travelled thousands of miles along the Silk Road.

Tri-colored pottery is the essence of the pottery in the Tang Dynasty, reaching its peak in the early and prime Tang Dynasty. After the rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Siming, the tri-colored pottery declined gradually with the falling of the Tang Dynasty and due to the rapid development of porcelain. Later, there appeared Tri-Colored Pottery of Liao Dynasty and Tri-Colored Pottery of Jin Dynasty, both of which were inferior to the Tri-Colored Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty in terms of quantity, quality and artistry.

Starting from early Tang Dynasty, the Tri-Colored Glazed Pottery of Tang were exported abroad, which were widely liked by foreigners. This multi-colored glazed pottery became a pearl of ancient Chinese pottery thanks of its beautiful glazes, bright lusters and exquisite designing.

Five Famous Kilns in Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was a glorious period for the development of ceramic manufacturing in China. In this period, the ceramic industry has made unprecedented achievements in its types, patterns and manufacturing process. In China, there appeared Guanyao, Geyao, Ruyao, Dingyao and Junyao, which were later called the Five Famous Kilns in the Song Dynasty.”

Guanyao of Song Dynasty

Guanyao of the Song Dynasty included the official kilns of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and the official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). The site of Northern Song Dynasty official kiln, which is also known as Bianjing Guanyao, has not been found so far. The official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty were built in today’s Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province after the royal family moved south. There are two official kilns, Xiuneisi Guanyao and Jiaotan Guanoyao.

Products of the Guanyao of the Song Dynasty mainly include bowls, plates, bottles, writing-brush washers and those that imitated ancient bronze and iron ware. Porcelains are beautifully shaped in their designing, whose glazed colors including has light greenish blue, bluish white, grey and beige. The surface of light greenish blue porcelains is covered with fine cracks, which were originally regarded as a kind of defect on porcelain, but later became a unique decoration, commonly referred to as Kaipian in Chinese.

Geyao of Song Dynasty

According to historical records, each of the two brothers surnamed Zhang of the Southern Song Dynasty operated one kiln in Longquan, East China’s Zhejiang Province. The senior brother was in charge of the kiln called Geyao, which produced a lot of handed-down porcelains. The site of the kiln has been found so far. The younger brother is in charge of the Longquan Kiln.

Products produced from Geyao belonged to the category of green porcelains, which mainly include bottles, stoves, washers, bowls, cans and so on. The surface of the porcelains was coated with glazed layer, which is smooth, crystal clear and moisturizing, not only porcelain sound bright, but also the shape is very generous, the contour soft and smooth. The co-kiln porcelain is famous for “opening pieces”, the opening piece is flat and tight, the piece sliver is cracked into a wide shape, the pattern is mostly black, commonly known as “golden wire wire”

Junyao of Song Dynasty

The kiln site of Junyao is located in Yuzhou, central Henan Province. It was established in Northern Song Dynasty and become popular in late Northern Song Dynasty.

The products of Junyao porcelains mainly include Zun, stoves, washers, vases and basin stands. The porcelains of Junyao are blue porcelains, whose bodies are delicate and solid and patterns are elegant and simple. The color of glaze is quite unique, blue with red after firing. One color into the kiln, diversified colors out. The Junyao porcelains have always been called “the Treasure of the Country,” which are truly exceptional among all the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty. The ancient people described the colors of Junyao porcelains with “sunset purple and green” to show its flexible and subtle beauty.

Ruyao of Song Dynasty

The kiln site of Ruyao is located in Baofeng County, Central China’s Henan Province. The county was called Ruzhou in the Song Dynasty, which is the reason the kiln was called Ruyao. The products produced by the kiln mainly served for the royal court during the reign of Emperor Huizong (1086-1119). That explains why fewer Ruyao porcelains have been kept than from other kilns.

The products of Ruyao were bowls, plates, bottles and washers for everyday use. The quality of Ruyao porcelains are exquisite with few decorative patterns. The color of glaze is crystal blue with tiny cracks. On the bottom of the porcelains, there are marks of small nails when firing.

Dingyao of Song Dynasty

Located in Quyang County, Hebei Province, Dingyao started its production in Tang Dynasty (618-907) and stopped its firing in Yuan Dynasty (127101368), which is famous for its white porcelains after Xingyao.

Besides white porcelains, there were porcelains glazed in green, black and brown produced in Dingyao kiln. It created the method of upside down firing, which was popular in latter dynasties. The quality of porcelains is white and exquisite. Its pattern is neat and cute with various of decorations. The simple but elegant flowered porcelains of Dingyao kiln were always regarded as treasure products in ancient China.

Paper Cutting

Papercutting, as the name implies, is to use scissors or knives to cut papersfor decorations or designs. Popular in China’s vast rural areas, paper cuttings are usually created by rural women.

Papercutting are divided into window and door decorations, wallflowers, ceiling flowers, lantern flowers, spring flowers, wedding and funeral flowers and so on. As a kind of folk art, papercuttings are related with the solar terms and rural customs in their emergence and circulation. For example, window flowers, door decorations and lantern flowers are hung during the Spring Festival or Lantern Festival periods. In the northern countryside, people used to paste a sheet of snow-white paper over a lattice window with red and green paper-cut window flowers on it. They also used paper cuttings at the door arcs and on lanterns during the Lantern Festival night. Paper-cut wedding decorations are usually pasted on furniture and indoor objects. Similarly, birthday and bereavement flowers are posted on birthdays and funerals. Wallflowers and ceiling flowers are laid on the wall and roof to brighten the rooms. In short, paper cuttings are mostly used as a setting environment and enhance festive atmosphere.

The themes of Chinese paper cuttings are diversified. Auspicious patterns mean good luck and happiness. Dolls, gourds and lotus flowers symbolize fertility and fortune. The images of poultry and livestock, melons,fruits, fish and insects are familiar to farmers, which are also the main content of paper cuttings. As a kind of folk art, paper cutting has a strong geographic style. Shaanxi window flower are rough and bold, simple and concise. Paper cuttings in Hebei Yuxian county and Shanxi Guangling are dyed and very beautiful. Their opera figures of paper cuttings are particularly impressive. Paper cuttings from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province are simple and chunky, sometimes with a subtle style.Paper cuttings in Yixing, Jiangxi Province are gorgeous and neatly done.Papercuttings in Jiangsu Province are beautiful and exquisite. Paper cuttings in Foshan, Guangdong Province are colorful,variable and decorative in style. Paper cuttings in Gaomi, Shandong Province are  delicate and meticulous.

（资料来源：https://www.mct.gov.cn/ggfw/whzyzg/ ）