"Magpie Dress" in Yunnan

In the Yunnan local dialect, a small intermontane plain is called a bazi. Baofengba in Puning County is a village inhabited by the Hans. When I saw Luo Meiying, the township leader, she wore a typical peasant dress: a black cloth scarf wrapped apron on her head, a white tight jacket covered with a black lace vest, an embroidered apron around her waist, blue pants and embroidered cotton shoes. Sensing my curiosity, she told me that it was called a magpie dress because the black head and body and white wings.


The Miao women in Guizhou are good at weaving, dyeing and embroidery. They use homemade cloth and embroidery to dress and decorate themselves and their children.
The magpie dress was introduced to this Han village by Luo Meiying from her Yi village when she got married more than 12 years ago. She then changed the chintz scarf and white vest to black, making her look like a magpie which is regarded by the Chinese as a lucky bird. They believe that if a magpie sings in the tree in front of your house, your family will be fortunate.

Yi girls are known for their simplicity, beauty and kindness. Young men from Baofengba think themselves very lucky if they can marry Yi girls. They get to know each other while cutting firewood in the mountains, at country fairs and singing, dancing or drinking mountain wine at local festivals or activities.

When I visited a Yi village called Tianba, I saw a tiyue (dancing) scene. According to the Yi custom, Yi girls can only dance with young men from Han villages bring wine, sausage and candies to the appointed place and start a fire while waiting. When the Yi girls arrive, they all get up and greet them before sitting down around the fire, while the Yi girl gathers some brambles and puts them on the designated meeting spot to show her disappointment, thus breaking up the relationship.

But if a young man breaks his promise by not showing up at the appointed place, the Yi girl gathers some brambles and puts them on the designated meeting spot to show her disappointment, thus breaking up the relationship.

At Tianba, the old Yi houses with thick walls made of sticky soil look as a castle. In the past, there was always a dog crouching on the flat roof to watch our for people who came to attack the village. The frequent contact over the past few decades between the Yi and the Han has also resulted in intermarriage between the Yi and the Han. When the Yis found that the Han's brick houses with slanted roofs were durable and good for drainage, they also started to build their houses as the Hans do.

I was invited by a Yi family of Guo Xiaolan. They lived in a two-story house. Entering the arched gateway, I found myself in a small yard with a sitting room and bedroom in front and two rooms on each side: one that served as a kitchen and the other that served as a storehouse. It looked quite similar to the houses found in the Han village of Baofengba.

It was the slack winter season. A few young people from the Tianba amateur singing and dancing troupe were practising the Flower Lantern Opera, a folk opera which used to be popular among the Hans in Yunnan and Guizhou. During the Spring and Lantern festivals, a group of three to five performers would bring simple costumes with them and give performances from village to village.

After generations of intermingling with the minorities, the Han people have also been influenced by them in clothing and customs.

The Miao women are good at dyeing, weaving and embroidery. Not only do they wear colourful embroidered dresses, but they also dress their children in colourful clothes. Even the bundle cloth they use to carry baby on the back is also embroidered with beautiful patterns. Imitating the Miao women, the Han women also make embroidered hats for their children and carry their babies with embroidered bundle cloths on their backs. It is difficult to tell a Miao woman from a Han from their back. Assimilating and developing the best of different minorities, some Han women in minority-inhabited areas dress themselves in colourful minority costumes, and yet no one can identify them with any particular minority group.

The Han women living at Baofengba of Jinning all wear embroidered cotton shoes. As the shoe has an upturned tip which looks like a turtledove's head, it is known as turtledove shoe. Though most of the minority women living in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces also wear embroidered shoes, no one can say for sure who the originator is.

the Moon Festival

On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) Festival. The round shape to a Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible.

On that day sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents' house for a reunion. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will come back to visit their parents on that day.

As every Chinese holiday is accompanied by some sort of special food. On the Moon Festival, people eat moon cakes, a kind of cookie with fillings of sugar, fat, sesame, walnut, the yoke of preserved eggs, ham or other material. In Chinese fairy tales, there live on the moon the fairy Chang E, a wood cutter named Wu Gang and a jade rabbit which is Chang E's pet. In the old days, people paid respect to the fairy Chang E and her pet the jade rabbit.

The custom of paying homage to the fairy and rabbit is gone, but the moon cakes are showing improvement every year. There are moon cake

hundreds of varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of the Moon Festival this year. Some moon cakes are of very high quality and very delicious. An overseas tourist is advised not to miss it if he or she happens to be in China during the Moon Festival.

Poems on Moon and Home

The Mid-Autumn Moon
by Li Qiao

A full moon hangs high in the chilly sky,
All say it's the same everywhere, round and bright.
But how can one be sure thousands of li away
Wind and perhaps rain may not be marring the night?

The Yo-Mei Mountain Moon
by Li Bai

The autumn moon is half round above the Yo-mei Mountain;
The pale light falls in and flows with the water of the Ping-chiang River.
Tonight I leave Ching-chi of limpid stream for the three Canyons.
And glide down past Yu-chow, thinking of you whom I can not see.

Sleeping Buddha

The Sleeping Buddha is Sakyamuni on his death bed entering nirvana. It can be seen in temples, grottoes or frescoes all round China, varied from stone engraving, wood cutting, jade carving, clay sculpture, coloured drawing to metal moulding. Its size can be so long as to tens of meters or as small as a grain of rice.

Mr. Zhao Puchu, the president of China Buddhism Association, such described the authentic sight of Sakyamuni's nirvana in the book of "General Knowledge of Buddha":

"Before the Buddha's death, he became severely sick. He walked northwest with his disciples and had the food offered by a blacksmith. His illness was getting worse. In the end, he came to a river and took a bath. Then he made a rope bed among eight sal trees, with each direction has two. He lied on his side, right hand supporting his head, the other resting on his body. All later reclining Buddhas (called Buddha's Nirvana) are in the same posture. The Buddha's disciples kept watch on him after they were told the Buddha was going to nirvana. At night, a scholar of Brahman went to see the Buddha, but was stopped by Ananda, a disciple of the Buddha. Hearing this, the Buddha called the scholar to his bed and worded for him. Thus the scholar became the Buddha's last disciple. The final exhortation of theBuddha to his disciples was that they should not be sorry for losing their tutor. Their should take the Buddhism Doctrine as their guide, eager for progress, no indulgence. After his death, the Buddha's remains were cremated.

Sakyamuni died at the age of eighty years old. People excavated the vestige of the cremation of his remains and the reclining Buddha carved in stone at where he died.

The No.158 Cave of Dunhuang Grottoes in China built in Tang Dynasty has a 15-meter-long glazed figurine of reclining Buddha in clay. Though for art's sake it was exaggerated, it still authentically reflected the scene of Sakyamuni's death. The artists of Tang Dynasty depicted the eighty-year-old Buddha into an asleep woman with plump cheeks, half-opened eyes, deeply sunk corners of mouth and kind and tranquil smile. It is said at that time, he was giving his last expounding on "Nirvana Doctrine" to his disciples around.

The southern wall of this cave drew in color two elder disciples of Sakyamuni. One of them was listening with rapt attention, while the other was running. It is said the latter was practicing Buddhism in a mountain when he heard his tutor was going to nirvana. He rushed down to listen to Sakyamuni's last words.

On the western and eastern walls there is a colored "Sorrow Showing Picture" about Bodhisattvas, arhats and princes of all kingdoms in Turkestan. Bodhisattvas are the figures with higher awareness in Buddhism. They knew only the Buddha after nirvana could enter the Sukhavati (Western Paradise). Therefore, they showed nonchalance and indifference to Buddha's nirvana. For those arhats, as they had not reached such a high level as Bodhisattvas, their expressions are miserable when they knew the Buddha was leaving them. As to those princes, they cried out aloud, thumping their chests and stamping their feet. Some even cut their noses and ears with knives. Some laid open the bowel and committed suicide, deciding to follow the Buddha. What they had done showed their devoutness to the Buddha and their low awareness as well. These colorful pictures not only helped people historically understand the real sight of the Buddha's death, but get to know the folk customs of the ancient Turkestan people through the portraits on the drawings.

There are many reclining Buddha statues all over China, some of which have high artistic value. They have been listed as important cultural relics to be preserved by the nation.

Dragon & Phoenix

The dragon and the phoenix are the principal motifs for decorative designs on the buildings, clothing and articles of daily use in the imperial palace. The throne hall is supported by columns entwined by gilded dragons, the central ramps on marble steps were paved with huge slabs carved in relief with the dragon and phoenix, and the screen walls display dragons in brilliant colours (see the Nine-Dragon Screen in Beihai Park). The names in the Chinese language for nearly all the things connected with the emperor or the empress were preceded by the epithet "dragon" or "phoenix"; thus, "dragonstone dragon seat" for the throne, "dragon robe" for the emperor's ceremonial dress, "dragon bed" for him to sleep on, and "phoenix carriage", "phoenix canopies" and so on for the imperial processions. The national flag of China under the Qing Dynasty was emblazoned with a big dragon. The earliest postage stamps put out by China were called "dragon-heads" because they showed a dragon in their designs. Even today the dragon is sometimes adopted as the symbol of Chinese exhibitions held abroad or the cover designs of books on China printed by foreign publishers. "The Giant Dragon of the East" is becoming a sobriquet for the country.

Belief in the dragon, and drawings of the imaginary animal, can be traced back to primitive society when certain prehistoric tribes in China adopted the dragon among other totems as their symbol and guardian god. Some of the recently unearthed bronze vessels of the Yin Dynasty, which existed more than 3,000 years ago, are decorated with sketches of dragons of a crude form. Earliest legends in China described the dragon as a miraculous animal with fish scales and long beards. As time went on, it became more and more embellished in the minds of embroidery phoenixthe people, acquiring the antlers of the deer, the mane of the horse and the claws of the eagle -- in short, appropriating the distinctive features of other creatures until it became what we see today everywhere in the palace.

The Chinese phoenix, likewise, exists only in legends and fairy tales. Sovereign of all birds, it has the head of the golden pheasant, the beak of the parrot, the body of the mandarin duck, the wings of the roc, the feathers of the peacock and the legs of the crane; gloriously beautiful, it reigns over the feathered world. An early design of the phoenix can be seen on the silk painting discovered in a tomb of the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) near Changsha in Hunan Province.

The dragon and the phoenix often served in classical art and literature as metaphors for people of high virtue and rare talent or, in certain combinations, for matrimonial harmony or happy marriage. As an important part of folk arts, dragon lanterns, dragon boats, dragon and phoenix dances are still highly popular on festivals among the people of all localities.

Silkworm Raisers' Customs

Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces are prominent silkworm producers in China. In early May each year, every household begins preparing to breed silkworms when barley becomes yellow and the mulberry fields turn green.

A

The Mulberry leaves for silkworms must be fresh and clean. Women go to the mulberry fields to collect the mulberry leaves every morning.

dust-sized silkworm ovum will grow into an ant-shaped silkworm after brooding for a month, and then grow into a long white worm after four periods of quiescence and exuviation and then, the silkworm begins spinning pure white silk and finally turns into a pupa. There are many legends about the development of silkworms. One of them is a touching story, which goes as follows.

Once upon a time, there was a father and his daughter who depended on each other very much. They had a white horse, which the girl fed with mulberry leaves. Once, the father went out to do some trade and didn't come back on time. No one knew of his whereabouts. The daughter was very worried about him. One day, she prayed to marry a kind-hearted man who could help her find her father. When she had just finished asking for this, the white horse standing beside her nodded, circled around her three times and galloped away. Several days later, the white horse found the old man who had lost his way in the mountains and carried him home on his back. However, the white horse was always with the girl from then on and the father was puzzled by the matter. After he questioned her, the girl told the truth to her father. He got very angry, "It is natural that the horse looks for its owner, but how can an animal be a match for a person?" When the horse heard this, it began neighing and refused to eat anything. The father was very angry, and killed it with an arrow. He skinned the horse and dried the hide in the sunshine. After the daughter collected mulberry leaves, she returned home. Caressing the skin of the horse, she burst into tears. When her tears dropped on the horse, her body was wrapped up by the skin and flown to the sky. Later, seeing snow-white silkworms hanging on the mulberry trees, people said that theses silkworms were the girls wrapped in the horse's skin. Since the head of the silkworm is similar to that of a horse's head, Matouniang (a girl with a horse's head) became another name for silkworm. When the daughter missed her father, she spun out the long silk. This is a legend about the origin of how silkworms spin silk and become silkworm cocoons.

In the past, whenever there was a bumper

A Picture of the Goddess of Silkworms.

harvest of silkworm cocoons sericulturists would light an incense burner and offerings were arranged in the central room of a house to thank the Goddess of Silkworms. The statue of the goddess engraved on a wooden plate was a goddess in a horse-skin cloth. She had a vertical eye on her forehead which was deliberately drawn because no one could bear to see the arrow wound.

It is very interesting that Japan also has a legend about Matouniang with the spread of Chinese silkworms to Japan in the third century. However, in Japan the Goddess of Silkworms is a Japanese beauty in a kimono that rides a horse.

Sericulture in the region of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is as important as farming. A good or poor harvest of silkworms is directly related to the livelihood of sericulturists. Silkworms are tender and delicate, hard to raise and easily get diseases. If the diseases spread, all the efforts of the sericulturists will be wasted. Therefore, when the season for breeding silkworms comes, every household in the villages is very busy. There are also many taboos and regulations in this period.

There are taboos surrounding the raising of silkworms. Women are prohibited from visiting friends, children from shouting, and men from going without a shirt during the time when silkworms are being hatched. On seeing peach branches which are thought to avoid evil and red paper with the characters can yue zhi li (A man should be polite in the month of silkworms) inserted on the eaves of a sericulturist's house, an unexpected guest should go away quietly.

There are other taboos and regulations concerning the homes of sericulturists, such as forbidding a stranger to enter the house, prohibitions on shouting, crying, and knocking doors or windows in the house. Liquor, vinegar, and anything smelling of fish of mutton should not be brought into a sericulturist's house and it is forbidden to dig the ground, cut grass, husk rice with a mortar and pestle or to burn fur and hair around a sericulturist's house. In the past, before putting silkworm eggs into a round shallow basket woven out of bamboo, people always pasted a wood engraving of a cat on the basket. This was because mice are natural enemies of silkworms. The mice often climbed to the shelves of silkworms and ate young silkworms when night-watchers dozed off. Hence, every household not only raised cats, but also retains the custom of pasting a picture of a cat on the basket.

Of course, some regulations are superstitious, for instance, menstruating women or women about to give birth are forbidden to raise silkworms; when buying mulberry leaves from other villages, in order to dispel evil spirits, sericulturists use mulberry branches to lash the leaves three times, and then feed them to silkworms. However, the purpose of all these prohibitions is to avoid noise pollution and bad smells. Young silkworms grow healthily in a clean and quiet environment.

When harvesting silkworm cocoons, sericulturists will, according to tradition, buy fish and meat, kill chickens and arrange feasts to celebrate. At this time, friends and relatives bring loquats, duck eggs and zongzi (a triangular dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or other leaves) to visit these sericulturists. They come to send best wishes and ask how many can hua (harvests) these sericulturists get.

Can hua (literally "silkworm flower") is not a flower, but a word which indicates a good or bad harvest of silkworm cocoons. According to local custom, when young silkworms lie dormant for the fourth time, sericulturists will weigh these silkworms on a scale. For instance, if one catty of silkworms can spin out six catties of silkworm cocoons, the six-catty cocoons are called liu fen can hua (liu means six, and fen is a unit of measurement). The word can hua is often used in reference to the silkworm trade, but its meaning has various connotations according to the situation.

According to local tradition, women who raise silkworms wear flowers on their upswept hair, wishing to have an abundant harvest of silkworms.

For example, local people call women sericulturists can hua gu niang (gu niang means a girl). On the morning of the first day of the lunar year, a woman sericulturist must, according to tradition, sweep the floor from the outside to the inside of a house. It is called sao can hua di (sweep the floor of can hua), meaning that there will be a good harvest of silkworm cocoons when can hua is swept into a house.

On New Year holidays, people will greet each other by saying, gong xi fa cai (may you make a fortune) and can hua er she si fen) (wish you a good harvest of silkworm cocoons).

On the day of the Qingming Festival, at the beginning of April, can hua gu niang will insert can hua in their hair at the temples. Can hua here refers to small flower, or golden yellow vegetable flowers. The can hua gu niang will go to a monastery to pray together at an appointed time. They will also buy some silk flowers from the monastery and insert them in round shallow baskets. This is called tao can hua (tao here mean to beg). They believe that can hua coming from a monastery can expel all the evils in a sericulturist's house, so they will have a brisk silkworm business. At night, the woman of the house will prepare a delicious dinner. The family then gets together to drink. This is called can hua jiu (jiu means liquor). Drinking can hua jiu means that they will do their best to raise silkworms.

When a couple get married, the girl's parents will send the couple two young mulberries, two round shallow baskets of silkworms and silk clothes and bedding as a dowry. They hope that the bride will bring brisk business.

Kashi, a pearl on the Old Silk Road

This is a narrow, quiet lane. The road is lined with houses of one or two storied built of adobe or red brick. It is Saturday. A group of Uygur children are playing, bringing a joyful atmosphere to the quiet bane. At the end of the lane, a sign reading "Vegetable Bazaar Lane" reminds people of its past. The bazaar no longer exists, and people can only imagine the brisk scene here in the old days.

In the old districts of Kashi, many streets have "bazaar" as part of their names. Although most of the bazaars have ceased to exist except in name, there are still some that are still in use. From the names of these streets people can imagine the past glory of this ancient trading city on the Old Silk Road.

The animal market at the Sunday Bazaar.

Kashi, located in the southwestern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has a history of more than 2,000 years. It has occupied an important position in northwestern China since ancient times. Situated at the juncture of the southern and northern routes of the Old Silk Road, it attracted merchants from many parts of the world to trade here . So Kashi became a famous trading city, called a bright pearl on the Old Silk Road. Meanwhile, Kashi is also a sacred place of Islam. Atigar Mosque, the largest mosque in Xinjiang, situated on Atigar Square in the center of the city, is more than 500 years old. The city has produced many famous figures throughout its history.

Kashi is divided into two parts: the new district and the old district, the streets are wide and lined with high-rise buildings, little different from other cities in China ; in the old district, the streets are narrow and most houses are low brick or adobe one.

In fact, today's Kashi has preserved the old traditions. On streets one can find markets selling various commodities, such as vegetables, fruits, food, garments, tools and handicrafts.

Kashi's markets differ from markets in other places in that most of the commodities on sale are made by the vendors themselves. Here tourists can see the handicrafts actually being made in the workshops. Wandering along an ancient street in Kashi, it is as if one has traveled back in time. At the shoes and caps market, the caps and boots on sale are made on the spot.

Going ahead, one can hear the clanging of blacksmiths' hammers. If you hear the sound of an electric saw, then you can go and see carpenters making furniture and kitchen utensils. If you smell the fragrance of baked cakes, you will soon find an eating place serving nang, the staple food of the Uygur people. The nang is broken into small pieces and dipped in soup. It is said nang can be kept for weeks without going stale.

Abahuoga Mazar. It is said that the Fragrant Imperial Concubine of the Qing Dynasty is buried here.

These markets are open every day. The famous Sunday bazaar has been operating since ancient times, and the scale has become larger and larger, attracting merchants from all over Xinjiang and neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Kirghizstan.

Farmers from the suburbs of Kashi come to the bazaar early in the morning, using various means of transportation, such as bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, trucks and donkey-drawn carts. The highways leading to Kashi are crowded with these vehicles and pedestrians on Sunday mornings, as well as with flocks of sheep.

On Sunday the whole city becomes a big market. It is hard to tell the markets from the ordinary streets. Of the 20 markets, some are comprehensive ones, and some are specialized markets selling local produce, arts and crafts, garments, knives, timber, coal or animals. Among them, the animal markets are the largest. Each day, more than 1,000 head of cattle, horses, sheep and camels are traded here.

October is the best season to visit Kashi, as the weather is pleasant and the autumn harvest makes the markets more brisk. In autumn, many types of fruit are on sale, such as grapes, watermelons, Hami melons and figs. Other local products include Xinjiang knives and carpets, which make good souvenirs for tourists.

Uygur people make up most of Kashi's inhabitants. On the streets, one can seldom see people of other ethnic groups except foreign tourists and tourists from other parts of China.

On the ancient streets of Kashi everywhere there are men wearing Uygur skullcaps and women wearing brown veils. The Uygur language is universally spoken by the local people.

After visiting Kashi's Sunday bazaar, people will understand the saying" without visiting Kashi, one cannot say he has visited Kashi. If you have a chance to visit Kashi, don't miss the chance to visit its Sunday Bazaar.

The Bun Festival in Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau, a 2.4-square-kilometre outlying island situated to the southwest of Hong Kong Island, is a city dwellers's paradise: there are no skyscrapers, no vehicles and none of the disturbance of modern city life. However, in the fourth lunar month each year, this quiet island is transformed into a hive of activity when the fascinating Bun Festival, Cheung Chau's main claim to fame, takes place.

A Harbour Free From The Commotion of the City

Cheung Chau is 12 kilometres from Hong Kong Island, and it takes around an hour to get there by ferry. When the Bun Festival is not in full swing, visitors are soaked in the atmosphere of a typical fishing village.

Cheung Chau looks very similar to a dumbbell: it was formed by two separate islets linked together by a gradually-accumulated sand bank. As a result, both the north and south ends of the island are hilly while the central region, the isthmus, is narrow and flat, providing an ideal location for housing. To the east of the isthmus if Tung Wan, a beautiful beach with clear water and soft sand, while to the west is a pier with Chinese-style fishing boasts shuttling to and fro. The distance between the two spots is only 200 metres.

Strolling along the maze-like lanes on the island, you feel as if you have been taken back to a fishing village lost in time. The majority of the stalls lining both sides of the lanes sell seafood and dried sea produce; a fishy whiff assails you pass them. The rest are groceries and various restaurants.

Though the lanes zigzag, visitors will not get lost--simply remember that the main streets on the islands run from north to south down the narrow isthmus. Following them in either direction will bring you to the two main tourist attractions on the island: the Tin Hau Temple in the south, dedicated to Tin Hau, the Goddess of the Sea, and the Pak Tai Temple to the north, where the Lord of the North (Pak Tail), the fishermen's patron deity, is enshrined and worshipped.

Since Cheung Chau enjoys such tranquillity and ambience, it has emerged as a popular holiday resort for townsfolk. Many people, including some foreigners, even settle in Cheung Chau, treating this small island as their home town.

The Bun Festival: Entertaining Gods, Spirits and Men

The annual Taiping Qingjiao (Peaceful Taoist Sacrificial Ceremony) better known as the Bun Festival in English, is a thrilling carnival for the islanders. Each year, the peaceful fishing village is converted into a place bursting with joy and excitement: the bay is packed with fishing boats and yachts from near and afar; the streets are decorated with colourful flags; tens of thousands of tourists from Hong Kong and overseas pour into the area, bringing liveliness and jubilation to the island.

In high spirits, the inhabitants of Cheung Chau begin their preparations several days before the grand ceremony. Scaffolds are erected and decorated with multi-coloured paper flowers contributed by various associations and neighbourhood committees. Written on them are prayers for luck and good health, messages offering thanks for gods' blessing, and the names of the contributors. On the square outside the Pak Tai Temple, a bamboo stage and a temporary altar are built, and three gigantic "bun towers" are erected.

During the festival, there is a tradition that the residents stop slaughtering and give up meat for three days. Most of the restaurants on the island serve only vegetarian foods in this period of fasting. Respecting the local customs, foreigners living there generally follow suit.

Opinions vary concerning the origins of the Bun Festival. The prevalent theory goes like this: in the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Cheung Chau was devastated by a storm, followed by an outbreak of the plague which claimed many lives. The island was believed to be haunted. In view of this, a sacrificial ceremony was performed by the inhabitants, on the one hand to placate the lingering spirits of the dead, on the other hand to pray for the gods' favour for the living. The island was clear thereafter. This tradition passed on from generation to generation and has now transformed into a major Chinese festival held in the fourth lunar month.

In fact, the original ritual of the Bun Festival has undergone some changes. In the past, the festival reached its climax with the rite of "snatching the bun towers"' in which villagers competed with each other in scrambling up the mountains to grab the lucky buns. However, following an accident in the 1970s when the bun towers collapsed causing injuries, the rite ceased. Buns are now distributed, and an exhilarating parade has replaced the rite as the climax of the festival. Meanwhile, the objective of this Taoist service has changed too. Formely, the aim was to pay homage to the gods and to placate the ghosts, but now the living are also considered.

The Fascinating 'Float Procession' --Piaose

The ceremony is held in the open area outside Pak Tai Temple, and the venue is crowded with people early in the morning. The three giant bun towers, 16 metres high, are covered with numerous white buns, each garnished with a red mark. They are called the "nether buns", as no one can eat them until the ghosts have had their fill, but are also referred to as the "lucky buns"' since the locals believe that eating the buns will bring them good luck. Traditional Cantonese opera is performed on the stage at the centre of the square day and night throughout the festival. The temporary altar is decorated with several enormous effigies of deities and giant incense sticks, creating an extraordinary display.

The climax of the festival builds up gradually from the afternoon. The ceremony begins with lion and dragon dancing. The statues of various deities enshrined in different temples on the island are then respectfully transported to the square, where they are worshipped by the inhabitants. Soon after, the impressive parade starts.

A procession composed of members of lion and dragon dancing teams, martial art performers, folk dancers, and children of the piaose parade representing various organisations start out from the square of the Pak Tai Temple, proceeding along the main streets lined with an enthusiastic audience. They head towards the open area outside the Tin Hau Temple, the "stage" for these entertainers. Guests and overseas visitors gather here to admire the spectacular performances.

Overseas travellers are astonished by the Piaose (literally, "Floating Colours"), or the "Float Procession": children dressed up as characters from Chinese folklore--heroes, fairies, demons, scholars and beauties, as well as modern celebrities. They "float" shoulder-high above the crowd to the bewilderment of foreigners: how can the children "stand" on a cup, a paper fan, or even the tip of a sword? The truth is that each of the young performers is actually safely secured by an exquisitely -designed steel frame camouflaged with delicate props. creating the illusion that the children are "gliding through the air". The parents are proud of their kids being elected as a Pialse performer as they believe the child will be blessed.

The carnival still carries on in spite of the end of the procession. Several lion dancing teams entertain the crowd by showing their superb skills. Villages in the parade carrying the statues of deities in sedans compete with each other to send the "gods" back to the temporary altar for good luck, and devotees follow to flock to the altar, praying and offering sacrifices to the gods.

Exotic Sacrificial Ceremony and Bun Distribution

At dusk, in Pak Tai Temple's square, dozens of "nether feasts" are prepared--sacrifices composed of food, wine and daily necessities dedicated to the spirits of the victims of all kinds of disasters. Taoist monks pray for the ghosts so as to placate them; villagers burn incense sticks in front of the sacrifice, inviting the lingering spirits to enjoy the offerings. The surrounding spectators get the feeling that they, too, have entered the nether world.

Fifteen minutes to midnight and the rite is brought to its climax: the paper effigy of the "King of Ghosts" is set on fire in the open area. Without waiting for the extinction of the bonfire, the islanders hurry to grab the offerings of the nether feasts. According to local beliefs, the sacrifices will bring peace to them.

At midnight, the crowd gathers around the bun towers. This was formerly the time to snatch the buns, but today the buns are distributed. All the same, the inhabitants of the island still look forward to this annual event. Several men climb up the immense bun towers to "harvest" the buns with long hooked sticks. They are collected in large bamboo baskets and distributed to the villagers, who are pleased to have a share of these auspicious buns.

Most travellers disperse after this rite, but the locals stay on for the performances staged on the temporary "theatre" throughout the night, immersing themselves in the jovial atmosphere.

Chongyang Festival

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the nonth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing principles in nature. Yin is feminine, negative principle, while Yang is masculine and positive. The ancients believed that all natural phenomena could be esplained by this theory. Numbers are related to this theory. Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese.Chongyang has been an important festival since ancient times.

The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest -time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festive happy atmosphere.The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Many people go hiking and climbing in the country, enjoying Mother Nature's final burst of color before she puts on her dull winter cloak. Some will carry a spray of dogwood.

It is hard to say when these customs were created. But there are many stories which are closely related. The book Xu Qi Xie Ji ,written by Wu Jun in the sixth century has one such story. In ancient times, there lived a man named Huan Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang, who had become an immortal after many years of practicing Taoism. One day, the two were climbing a muntain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset. He told Huan Jing,On the ninth day of the ninth month, disaster will come to your hometown. You must go home immediately. Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family members and put a spray of dogwood in every one. Then you must all tie your bags to your arms, leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine. Only by doing so can your family avoid this disaster.

On hearing this, Huan Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening. When they got back home, they found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep,dogs and even the powerful ox. Later Huan Jing told his teacher, Fei Changfang, about this. Fei said the poultry and livestock died in place of Huan Jing's family, who escaped disaster by following his instructions.

And so it happened that climbing a mountain, carring a spray of dogwood and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Chongyang Festival.

The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance, and is often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in lalte autumn. So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people, especially young people in the cities, do not even know what a dogwood spray looks like.

Even thouht the tradition of carrying a few sptigs of dogwood dies out, that of climbing mountains is reaching new heights.

Early in the Western Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago, people used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang'an on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival. For many, it was the last outing of the year before the onset of winter. The custom evolved into its present form, when people go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

But what about those people who live in flat regions far from any mountain? The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating cakes. The Chinese word for cake is Gao, a homonym of the Chinese word for high. Mountains are high, so eating cake can, by a stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.

Since nine is the highest odd digit, people take two of them together to signify longevity. Therefore, the ninth day of the ninth month has become a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves. It has also been declared China's day for the elderly.

A Wedding Without Bridegroom

Occasionally the procedure of some of minority nationalities' marriage in Yunnan like this, engaged, married, the bride goes back her mother's home for living, pregnant, birth and bride come back to husband's home, then begin to fall in love and romantic life again. It is quite different from ours. It is happened to meet a wedding of Yi nation without the bridegroom in a county of Yunnan. A bride is sitting on the grassland and a colorful scarf covers the face, many people around her, it seems no any merry atmosphere on the wedding ceremony. The sisters of the bride prepare ready the wine, cooked pig head and eggs, the aunt of the bride takes off the scarf and combs the hair for her under the sun. She looks a little bit of shames on face. The wedding is going on officially. Every three eggs are put in five bowls separately, a half of pig head and a bottle of wine; all of these are set before the bride. An old man, Bimo (a priest with rich traditional cultural knowledge) prays for the happiness for her, then the relatives of the bride, who are the people with the red cloth strips around the heads, enjoy and share the pig head, eggs and wine. They pray the good lucks for bride together while they drink, they will send the bride back home before sunset. It is a greatly question that where is the bridegroom?

In the fact the bride had lived with her lover for a time, called common-law marriage, which had been considered as a very happy marriage by all people in the village, she can be living with her husband after 3 years of at her home. The bridegroom now is drinking at his home and waiting for her bride.

Mazu and Mazu Culture

Over 1,000 years ago, a beautiful young firl by the name of Lin Mu was born at the Xianliang Port of Meizhou Bay in Putian, Fujian Province. Clever, brave and kindhearted, Lin Mu could forecast the weather and was happy to help fishermen in distress at sea. She encouraged the people to conquer nature and defeat evil, so she was much loved and esteemed by the people in her hometown. Unfortunately she died an early death at only 28. As the legend goes, she ascended to heaven and became an immortal at Meizhou Bay located opposite to the Xianliang Port.

For more over 1,000 years, she has been living, with a composed and tender smile, in the hearts of the people. The people pay homage to her, respectfully calling her fairy, the daughter of dragon, goddness, the mother or Mazu ( a title of respect for an aged woman): rulers of past dynasties upheld her and granted her the titles of "Lady", "Heavenly Queen" and "Holy Mother"; the times have bestowed her a series of loveable and respected names such as "Goddess of the Sea", "Goddness of the the Straits" and "Goddess of Peace of the Straits".

She is none other than the world-renowned Mazu, goddess of the sea, of Fujian, China.


The hairstyle of Mazu
The respect for Mazu has turned into a wide-spread belief with the passage of time. Following the footprints of sea merchants and overseas Chinese, Mazu went out of Putian, out of Fujian and out of China, making her presence in many corners of Asia, America, Australia and Europe. Consequently, over 1,500 Mazu temples are found all over the world, where Muzu from Meizhou are consecrated. The belief in Mazu has become a sort of transnational folk belief with more than 100 million worshippers. However, different from a religion in the ordinary sense, is a special kind of ideology connected with thropology, religion, folklore, sociology as well as the history of sea commnication overseas Chinese, culture and the development of Fujian and Taiwan. This is the culture of Mazu which has aroused an extensive interest and great attention of Chinese and foreign scholars and is now under integral part of the culture of the Chinese nation and a part of the brilliant civilization of China.

In recent years, there are a number of academic groups, experts and schoolars working on research of Mazu and published special works on the subject in Taiwan, Hongkong and Macao regions and in such countries as Japan, the United States, France, Singapore and Malaysia. The research on the Mazu culture has a great appeal and cohesive force to the Chinese both at home and abroad. Now the achievements in the research on the Mazu culture have become valuable material in the research on the history of navigation, science, overseas Chinese, development of off-shore islands and economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries as well as the history of folklore and religion of ancient China.

For geographical and historical reasons, the belief in Mazu at Taiwan has turned out to be a popular belief. According to statistics, around two-thirds of the population in Taiwan believe in Mazu, and more than 500 Mazu temples are scattered on the island. In the wake of improving relations between both sides of the Straits, tens of thousands of Taiwan compatriots swarmed to the Meizhou Island to dedicate their piety at Mazu temples to fulfil their sincere wish which they had cherished for decades. The unique Mazu Pilgrim Tour will undoubtedly breakthrough the artificial hedge standing between the people on both sides of the Straits.

Chinese Gardens

Chinese garden design reached its fullest development during the late Ming dynasty, where gardens were commonly found in homes of the elite. Gardens were particularly prevalent in southeastern China south of the Yangzi, especially in Hangzhou (p308), Yangzhou (p233) and Suzhou (p243).

Rather than lawn and flowers, the three principle elements of Chi- nese gardens are rock, water and stone, arranged in formations that mimic well-known mountains or paintings. Gardening was considered an intellectual pursuit and calligraphy, poetic names, references to liter- ary classics and other complementary art forms are featured in many Chinese gardens.

Although many are park-like in scale, historically Chinese gardens were nothing like the public parks of today. They were compounds to which only a tiny portion of the population ever had access. The larger and grander of these were imperial, existing to please and entertain the emperor. In prosperous regions, private gardens also proliferated in cer- tain periods. At its peak Suzhou had hundreds of gardens, and the city was registered as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1997 in recognition of those that remain. The numerous pavilions dotted around the gardens were used for

everything from meditating and playing chess to musical performances and banqueting.

CHINA'S TOP 10 GARDENS

Beihai Park, Beijing

Summer Palace, Beijing

Yuyuan Gardens, Shanghai

Garden of the Master of the Nets, Suzhou, Jiangsu

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu

Slender West Lake, Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Cuihu Park, Kunming, Yunnan

Wuhou Temple, Chengdu, Sichuan

Shuzhuang Garden, Gulang Yu, Fujian

Du Fu's Cottage, Chengdu, Sichuan

Chinese Music

TRADITIONAL MUSIC
Musical instruments have been unearthed from tombs dating back to the Shang dynasty and Chinese folk songs can be traced back at least this far. Traditional Chinese instrumens are often based on ancient Chinese poetry, making them very symbolic in form. Two books of the Confucian canon, the Book of Songs and the Book of Rites both dwell on music, the first actually being a collection of songs and poems, formerly set to music.
The traditional Chinese music scale differs from its Western equiva- lent. Unlike Western music, tone is considered more important than melody. Music to the Chinese was once believed to have cosmological significance and in early times, if a musician played in the wrong tone,it could indicate the fail of a dynasty.
Traditional Chinese musical instruments include the two-stringed fiddle (erhu), four-stringed banjo (yue qin), two-stringed viola (huqin), vertical flute (dongxiao),- horizontal flute (dizi), piccolo (bangdi), four- stringed lute (pipa), zither (guzheng) and ceremonial trumpet (suona). Traditional music places a lot of emphasis on percussion, which is what you'll most likely hear at funerals, temples and weddings.
China's ethnic minorities have preserved their own folk song traditions;a trip to Lijiang in Yunnan gives you the chance to appreciate the ancient sounds of the local Naxi orchestra.The communist anthem 'The East is Red' developed from a folk song popular in northern China and later became a defining element of the Cultural Revolution. Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (opposite) contains many beautiful folk songs of this region.
Many department stores in China sell traditional Chinese instruments like flutes and piccolos and most music stores sell recordings of opera and instrumental music.

CHINESE OPERA

Chinese opera has been formally in existence since the northern Song dynasty, developing out of China's long balladic tradition.

Performances were put on by travelling entertainers, often families, in teahouses frequented by China's working classes. Performances were drawn from popular legends and folklore. Beijing opera became officially recognised in 1790, when perform- ances were staged for the imperial family.

There are over 300 types of opera in China, Beijing opera being the most familiar to West- erners. Other types include Yue opera and Kunqu opera, among others. Yue opera is commonly performed in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. Its singing and dialogue are all in Cantonese dialect. In addition to Chinese traditional instruments, Western instruments such as the violin, saxophone, cello and double bass are also used. Kunqu opera, originating in Jiangsu, is notable for its soft melodies and the use of the flute.

Chinese opera is fascinating for its use of make-up, acrobatics and elaborate costumes. Face painting derives from the early use of masks worn by players and each colour suggests the personality and attributes that define a character. Chinese audiences can tell instantly the per- sonality of characters by their painted faces. In addition, the status of a character is suggested by the size of headdress worn - the more elaborate, the more significant the character. The four major roles in Chinese opera are the female role, the male role, the 'painted-face' role (for gods and warriors), and the clown.

POPULAR MUSIC

China's thriving music industry came about in the 1980s, a time when many younger Chinese were becoming more exposed to international music trends. The energetic Hong Kong song industry had for years been popular in China, with its twinkle-eyed and pretty emissaries (Aaron Kwok, Faye Wong, Andy Lau, Kelly Chen, Jackie Cheung et al) warbling their catchy, saccharine melodies. Further north, however, their harmless songs of love and loss impacted with a growing rock scene. Cui Jian, the singer and guitarist whose politically subversive lyrics provoked authori- ties, led the way for a slew of gritty bands who hacked away at the edifice of rock and metal (Tang Dynasty) and punk (Underground Baby, Brain Failure). Nowadays, major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have a thriv- ing underground music scene and plenty of places to hear live music.

China Literature

China has a rich literary tradition. Unfortunately - barring many years of intensive study - much of it is inaccessible to Western readers.


Many of the most important Chinese classics are available in translation, but much of the Chinese literary heritage (particularly its poetry) is untranslatable, although scholars persevere.

PREMOOERN LITERATURE

Prior to the 20th century there were two literary traditions in China: the classical and the vernacular. The classical canon, largely Confucian in nature, consisted of a core of texts written in ancient Chinese that had to be mastered thoroughly by all aspirants to the Chinese civil service, and was the backbone of the Chinese education system - it was nearly indecipherable to the masses.

The vernacular tradition arose in the Ming dynasty and consisted largely of prose epics written for entertainment. For Western readers it is the vernacular texts, precursors of the contemporary Chinese novel, that are probably of more interest. Most of them are available in translation and provide a fascinating insight into life in China centuries past.

Classical

Book of Songs (Shijing) is the earliest collection of Chinese poetry includ- ing over 300 works that date back to the Zhou dynasty. Originally meant to be sung, the poems were compiled during the Han dynasty. This book belongs to the five Confucian classics (Wujing) which includes the / Ching (Yijing), Book of History (Shujing), Analects (Lunyu), Book of Rites (Lijing) and the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chun Qiu).

I Ching, or Book of Changes, is a divinatory system involving 64 hexa- grams that dates back to antiquity. The hexagrams are symbols composed of broken and continuous lines, representing the transitory nature of heaven and earth. If interpreted correctly, the hexagrams can advise on moral conduct and foretell the future.

Analects is a collection of sayings attributed to Confucius that were remembered by his followers and compiled over a period of years. The Analects contain all the essential tenets of Confucianism, including filial piety, respect to ancestors and adherence to ritual. Many still consider Arthur Waley's 1938 translation to be the best.

Vernacular

Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh (Shuihu Zhuan) by Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong is a rollicking tale of a group of outlaws (with good hearts) who fight against corruption and evil during the Northern Song dynasty. This book is considered one of the great historical epics of China, along with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo) by Luo Guanzhong is a swashbuckling historical novel about the legendary battles that took place during the latter half of the Han dynasty, when the country was divided into three kingdoms. The novel remains as popular today in China as it was when it first appeared in the Ming dynasty. The best translation is by Moss Roberts (University of California Press, 1999), whose English version of the novel is highly readable and entertaining.

Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou Meng) by Cao Xueqin, also translated as The Dream of Red Mansions and The Story of the Stone, is a novel of manners about the decline of a genteel family in 18th-century China. The preferred translation is by David Hawkes (Penguin, 1973), who provides a captivating rendition of the original.

Journey to the West (Xiyou Ji) by Wu Cheng'en is a delightful novel about the Buddhist monk Xuanzhang's pilgrimage to India, accompanied by the rebellious 'Monkey King' Sun Wukong. The monkey's rebellious nature causes a wild assortment of misadventures. Two of the best trans- lations of Journey to the West are by Arthur Waley (John Day, 1943) and Anthony Yu (University of Chicago Press, 1990).

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MODERN & CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

By the early 20th century, Western novels had begun to appear in Chinese translations in increasing numbers. Chinese intellectuals began to look at their own literary traditions more critically, in particular the classical one, which was markedly different in form from the Chinese that was spoken by modern Chinese.

After China came under the control of the communists, most writ- ing in 20th-century China tended to echo the CCP line, with formulaic language and predictable plotlines. Writing was rigid and unimaginative, with little allowance for creative embellishment.

Things changed after Mao's death in 1976, when Chinese artists and writers were finally able to throw off political constraints and write more freely. Writers for the first time dared to explore the traumatic events of the 20th century that had reshaped the Chinese landscape. China's economic progress and the excessive materialism of the 1990s have spawned a new generation of authors, many of whom remember little about the Cultural Revolution and instead are most affected by the day-to-day realities of growing up in the city. Growing up without war or poverty, young writers are instead writing about the loneliness and decadence of urban life.

The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun (Chinese University Press, 2002), and translated by Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi, was first published in 1921 by an author who is regarded by many as the father of modern Chinese literature. Lu Xun was the first of the major Chinese writers to write in colloquial Chinese. Ah Q is a moving tale of a simple-minded man caught up in the turmoil of the 1911 revolution.

Blades of Grass: The Stories of Lao She (University of Hawaii Press,1999), translated by William Lyell, is a collection of 14 stories by Lao She,one of China's most famous 20th-century writers. The stories contain poignant descriptions of people living through times of political upheaval and uncertainty. Lao She faced severe persecution during the Cultural Revolution and committed suicide.

Family by Ba Jin (Anchor Books, 1972) is the first in a trilogy that also includes Autumn and Spring. Influenced by the May 4th Movement, the novel offers a scathing view of Chinese feudalism.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang (Touchstone Books, 2003) is a gripping saga about three generations of Chinese women struggling to survive the tumultuous events of 20th-century China. This book has been banned in China for its frank depictions of modern Chinese life.

Half of Man Is Woman by Zhang Xianliang (WW Norton & Co, 1998), and translated into English by Martha Avery, is a candid exploration of sexuality and marriage in contemporary China and considered one of the most controversial novels to appear in the 1980s.

Love Must Not Be Forgotten (Panda Books, 1986) by Zhang Jie and translated by Gladys Yang is a novel by one of China's most famous female authors. This novel challenged the traditional

structure of mar- riage with its intimate portrayal of a middle-aged woman and her love of a married man.

Please Don't Call Me Human by Wang Shuo (Hyperion East, 2000) and translated by Howard Goldblatt is a mocking look at the failures of Chi- na's state security system. Wang Shuo has been dubbed China's hooligan author' for his criticism of government policies. Wang's works appeal to a broad spectrum of Chinese society, despite being banned.

Chinese Tea Culture

China, the Homeland of Tea

Of the three major beverages of the world-- tea, coffee and cocoa-- tea is consumed by the largest number of people.

China is the homeland of tea. It is believed that China has tea-shrubs as early as five to six thousand years ago, and human cultivation of teaplants dates back two thousand years. Tea from China, along with her silk and porcelain, began to be known the world over more than a thousand years ago and has since always been an important Chinese export. At present more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries producing 90% of the world's total output. All tea trees in other countries have their origin directly or indirectly in China. The word for tea leaves or tea as a drink in many countries are derivatives from the Chinese character "cha." The Russians call it "cha'i", which sounds like "chaye" (tea leaves) as it is pronounced in northern China, and the English word "tea" sounds similar to the pronunciation of its counterpart in Xiamen (Amoy). The Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as it is in Chinese, though pronounced with a slight difference. The habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century, but it was not introduced to Europe and America till the 17th and 18th centuries. Now the number of tea drinkers in the world is legion and is still on the increase.

The Categories of Tea

Chinese tea may be classified into five categories according to the different methods by which it is teaprocessed.

1) Green tea: Green tea is the variety which keeps the original colour of the tea leaves without fermentation during processing. This category consists mainly of Longjing tea of Zhejiang Province, Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu.

2) Black tea: Black tea, known as "red tea" (hong cha) in China, is the category which is fermented before baking; it is a later variety developed on the basis of the green tea. The best brands of black tea are Qihong of Anhui , Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.

3) Wulong tea: This represents a variety half way between the green and the black teas, being made after partial fermentation. It is a specialty from the provinces on China's southeast coast: Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.

4) Compressed tea: This is the kind of tea which is compressed and hardened into a certain shape. It is good for transport and storage and is mainly supplied to the ethnic minorities living in the border areas of the country. As compressed tea is black in colour in its commercial form, so it is also known in China as "black tea". Most of the compressed tea is in the form of bricks; it is, therefore, generally called "brick tea", though it is sometimes also in the form of cakes and bowls. It is mainly produced in Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

5) Scented tea: This kind of tea is made by mixing fragrant flowers in the tea leaves in the course of processing. The flowers commonly used for this purpose are jasmine and magnolia among others. Jasmine tea is a well-known favourite with the northerners of China and with a growing number of foreigners.

Tea Production

A new tea-plant must grow for five years before its leaves can be picked and, at 30 years of age, it will be too old to be productive. The trunk of the old plant must then be cut off to force new stems to grow out of the roots in the coming year. By repeated rehabilitation in this way, a plant may serve for about l00 years .

For the fertilization of tea gardens, soya-bean cakes or other varieties of organic manure are generally used, and seldom chemical fertilizers. When pests are discovered, the affected plants will be removed to prevent their spread, and also to avoid the use of pesticides.

The season of tea-picking depends on local climate and varies from area to area. On the shores of West Lake in Hangzhou, where the famous green tea Longjing (Dragon Well) comes from, picking starts from the end of March and lasts through October, altogether 20-30 times from the same plants at intervals of seven to ten days. With a longer interval, the quality of the tea will deteriorate.

A skilled woman picker can only gather 600 grams (a little over a pound) of green tea leaves in a day.

The new leaves must be parched in tea cauldrons. This work , which used to be done manually, has been largely mechanized. Top-grade Dragon Well tea, however, still has to be stir-parched by hand, doing only 250 grams every half hour. The tea-cauldrons are heated electrically to a temperature of about 25oC or 74oF. It takes four pounds of fresh leaves to produce one pound of parched tea.

The best Dragon Well tea is gathered several days before Qingming (Pure Brightness, 5th solar term) when new twigs have just begun to grow and carry "one leaf and a bud." To make one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of finished tea, 60, 000 tender leaves have to be plucked. In the old days Dragon Well tea of this grade was meant solely for the imperial household; it was, therefore, known as "tribute tea".

For the processes of grinding, parching, rolling, shaping and drying other grades of tea various machines have been developed and built, turning out about 100 kilograms of finished tea an hour and relieving the workers from much of their drudgery.

a ceramic teapot China's Tea-Producing Areas

Tea is produced in vast areas of China from Hainan lsland down in the extreme south to Shandong Province in the north, from Tibet in the southwest to Taiwan across the Straits, totalling more than 20 provinces. These may be divided into four major areas:

1) The Jiangnan area: It lies south of the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River, and is the most prolific of China's tea-growing areas. Most of its output is the green variety; some black tea is also produced.

2) The Jiangbei area: This refers to a large area north of the same river, where the average temperature is 2-3 Centigrade degrees lower than in the Jiangnan area. Green tea is the principal variety turned out there, but Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, which are also parts of this area. produce compressed tea for supply to the minority areas in the Northwest.

3) The Southwest area: This embraces Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet, producing black, green as well as compressed teas. Pu'er tea of Yunnan Province enjoys a good sale in China and abroad.

4) The Lingnan area: This area , consisting of the southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and taiwan, produces Wulong tea, which is renowned both at home and abroad.

Advantages of Tea-Drinking

Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China since time immemorial. Countless numbers of people like to have their aftermeal cup of tea.

In summer or warm climate, tea seems to dispel the heat and bring on instant cool together with a feeling of relaxation. For this reason, tea-houses abound in towns and market villages in South China and provide elderly retirees with the locales to meet and chat over a cup of tea.

Medically, the tea leaf contains a number of chemicals, of which 20-30% is tannic acid, known for its anti-inflammatory and germicidal properties. It also contains an alkaloid (5%, mainly caffeine), a stimulant for the nerve centre and the process of metabolism. Tea with the aromatics in it may help resolve meat and fat and thus promote digestion. It is, therefore, of special importance to people who live mainly on meat, like many of the ethnic minorities in China. A popular proverb among them says, "Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day."

Tea is also rich in various vitamins and, for smokers, it helps to discharge nicotine out of the system. After wining, strong tea may prove to be a sobering pick-me-up.

The above, however, does not go to say that the stronger the tea, the more advantages it will yield. Too much tannic acid will affect the secretion of the gastric juice, irritate the membrane of the stomach and cause indigestion or constipation. Strong tea taken just before bedtime will give rise to occasional insomnia. Constant drinking of over-strong tea may induce heart and blood-pressure disorders in some people, reduce the milk of a breast-feeding mother, and put a brown colour on the teeth of young people. But it is not difficult to ward off these undesirable effects: just don't make your tea too strong.

JADE

The jade stone has been revered in China since Neolithic times. Jade (yu) was firstly utilised for tools because of its hardness and strength, but later appeared on ornaments and ceremonial vessels for its decorative value. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was believed that jade was empowered with magical and life-giving properties, and the dead were buried with jadeware. Opulent jade suits, meant to prevent decomposi- tion, have been found in Han tombs, while Taoist alchemists, striving for immortality, ate elixirs of powdered jade.

Jade's value lies not just in its scarcity, but depends also on its colour, hardness and the skill with which it has been carved.

While the pure white form is the most highly valued, the stone varies in translucency and colour, including many shades of green, brown and black. China's most famous jade comes from Hotan (p798) in Xinjiang province; much of what is sold in Hong Kong is fake.

BRONZE VESSELS

Bronze is an alloy whose chief elements are copper, tin and lead. Tradi- tion ascribes the first casting of bronze to the legendary Xia dynasty of 5000 years ago.


Shang dynasty bronzes are marvellous specimens, often fabulously pat- terned with taotie, a type of fierce animal design. Zhou dynasty bronze vessels tend to have long messages in ideographic characters; they describe wars, rewards, ceremonial events and the appointment of officials.


Bronze mirrors had already developed into an artistic form by the Warring States period. Ceramics gradually replaced bronze utensils by Han times, but bronze mirrors were not displaced by glass mirrors until the Qing dynasty. The backs of bronze mirrors were inscribed with wishes for good fortune and protection from evil influence.

Chinese sculpture

Chinese sculpture dates back to the Zhou and Shang dynasties, when small clay and wooden figures were commonly placed in tombs to pro- tect the dead and guide them on their way to heaven. Often these figures were in the shape of animals - dragons, lions and chimeras, all creatures with magical powers that could quell lurking evil spirits. Sculptures of humans became more common in succeeding dynasties - perhaps the best example is the amazing army of Terracotta Warriors found in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang outside present-day Xi'an.

It wasn't until the introduction of Buddhism in China that sculpture moved beyond tomb figurines to other realms of figurative art. The Buddhist caves of Datong in Shanxi province date back to the 4th century and are an excellent example of the type of art that was introduced to China from India. The enormous figures of the Buddhas, carved directly into the rock, are stiff and formal, their garments embel- lished with Indian patterns and flourishes.

The 4th-century Longmen Caves, in Henan province, are similar in style to those at Datong, with great profusions of sculptures and Indian iconography. The later cave sculptures at Longmen, primarily those completed during the Tang dynasty, take on a more Chinese feel, with elongated features and less stiffness in form.

The best place to see early Buddhist sculpture is at the marvellous caves of Dunhuang, in Gansu province. Here, Indian and Central Asian style sculptures, particularly of the Tang dynasty, carry overtly Chinese characteristics - many statues feature long, fluid bodies and have warmer, more refined facial features. It's also common to see traditional Chinese dragons and lions mingling with the demons and gods of Indian iconography.

The caves in Dazu County, built during the Song dynasty, are another fascinating place to see cave art. The caves feature a wild assort ment of sculpture, including Buddhist statues, animals and people.

Many of the sculptures are more colourful and lively than those of Dunhuang and remarkably well preserved.

CERAMICS

The Chinese began making pottery over 8000 years ago. The first vessels were hand-crafted earthenware, primarily used for religious purposes. The invention of the pottery wheel during the late Neolithic period led to the establishment of foundries and workshops and the eventual develop- ment of a ceramics industry.

Over the centuries, Chinese potters perfected their craft, introducing many new exciting styles and techniques. Art thrived under the Tang dynasty and the ceramic arts were no exception. One of the most famous styles from this period is 'three-coloured ware', named because of the liberal use of bright yellow, green and white glaze. Blue-green celadons were another popular item and demand for them grew in countries as far away as Egypt and Persia.

The Yuan dynasty saw the first production of China's most famous type of porcelain, often referred to simply as 'blue-and-white'. Cobalt blue paint, obtained from Persia, was applied as an underglaze directly to white porcelain with a brush and then the vessel was covered with another transparent glaze and fired. This technique was perfected under the Ming dynasty and ceramics made in this style became hugely popular all over the world, eventually acquiring the name 'Chinaware', whether produced in China or not. Jingdezhen (p466) in Jiangxi province was es- tablished during the Yuan dynasty as the centre of the ceramics industry and still retains that importance today.

During the Qing dynasty, porcelain techniques were further refined and developed, showing superb craftsmanship and ingenuity. British and European consumers dominated the export market, having an insatiable appetite for Chinese vases and bowls decorated with flowers and land- scapes. The Qing is also known for its stunning monochromatic ware, especially the ox-blood vases, and enamel decorated porcelain.

Jingdezhen remains an excellent place to visit ceramic workshops and purchase various types of ceramic wares, from Mao statues to traditional glazed urns. Another place to pick up pottery is at Dingshan in Jiangsu province, which is famous for ceramic teapots.

China Arts

With such a long, unbroken history and culture, China has made one of the greatest artistic contributions to mankind. Sadly, much of China's an- cient art treasures have been destroyed in times of civil war or dispersed by invasion or natural calamity. Many of China's remaining great paint- ings, ceramics, jade and other works of art were rescued by exile beyond the mainland - in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

The West has also been guilty of ransacking China's heritage, making off with religious art and scriptures from such grottoes as Dunhuang. Fortunately since the early 1970s a great deal of work has been done to restore what was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.

China today has a flourishing contemporary art scene, with private galleries competing with government-run museums and exhibition halls. Chinese artists are increasingly catching the attention of the international art world and joint exhibitions with European or American artists are now common. The Beijing Biennale, held in the autumn of 2003, was the first international exhibit of its kind to showcase artworks from over 40 countries and serve as a representative platform for some of China's top artists.

Visual Arts

CALLIGRAPHY

Calligraphy has been traditionally regarded in China as the highest form of artistic expression. The basic tools, commonly referred to as 'the four treasures of the scholar's study', are paper, ink, ink-stone (on which the ink is mixed) and brush. These materials, which are shared by Chinese painters, reflect the close relationship between Chinese painting and calligraphy.

Calligraphy is still an extremely popular pastime in China and a major area of study. It can be seen all over China - on documents, artworks, in temples, adorning the walls of caves, and on the sides of mountains and monuments. There is an annual calligraphy festival held every year outside Shaoxing in Zhejiang province.

PAINTING

Chinese painting is the art of brush and ink applied onto xuan (paper), or silk. The basic tools are those of calligraphy, which has influenced painting in both its style and theory. The brush line, which varies in thickness and tone, is the important feature or a Chinese painting, along with calligraphy itself, which is usually incorporated in the form of an inscription or poem along with the artist's seal. Shading and colour play only a minor symbolic and decorative role.

From the Han dynasty until the end of the Tang dynasty, the human figure occupied the dominant position in Chinese painting. The practice of seeking places of natural beauty and communing with nature first be- came popular among Taoist poets and painters, and landscape painting for its own sake started in the 4th and 5th centuries.

From the 11th century onwards, landscape was to dominate Chinese painting. Towards the end of the Ming dynasty, a group of painters known as the Individualists diverged from traditional techniques with unusual compositions and brushwork; however it was not until the 20th century that there was any real departure from native traditions.

Since the late 1970s, the Chinese art scene has gradually recovered. The work of traditionally influenced painters can be seen for sale in shops and galleries all over China, while in the major cities a flourishing avant-garde scene has emerged. The work of Chinese painters has been arguably more innovative and dissident than that of writers, possibly because the political implications are harder to interpret by the authori- ties. For those interested in purchasing art, it's a good idea to head to the smaller independent galleries and inquire there.

TOP CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERIES

These galleries are the most well known in China and show work by some of China's top inter- nationally recognised artists.

The Courtyard, Beijing

Red Gate Gallery, Beijing

China Academy of Art, Hangzhou

Plum Blossoms, Hong Kong

Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong

Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai

ShanghArt, Shanghai

Art Scene, Shanghai

China Islam

The founder of Islam (Yisilan Jiao) was the Arab prophet Mohammed.

Strictly speaking, Muslims believe it was not Mohammed who shaped the religion but God, and Mohammed merely transmitted it from God to his people. The proper name of the religion is Islam, derived from the word salam, which primarily means 'peace', and in a secondary sense 'surrender' or 'submission'. The full connotation is something like 'the peace that comes by surrendering to God'. The corresponding adjective is 'Muslim'. The Prophet was born around AD 570 and came to be called Moham- med, meaning 'highly praised'. His ancestry is traditionally traced back to Abraham, who had two wives, Hagar and Sarah. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, and Sarah had a son named Isaac. Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be banished. According to Islam's holy book, the Koran, Ishmael went to Mecca, where his line of descendants can be traced down to Mohammed. There have been other true prophets before Mohammed, but he is regarded as the culmination of them and the last.

Mohammed said that there is only one God, Allah. The name derives from joining al, which means 'the', with Llah, which means 'God'. His uncompromising monotheism conflicted with the pantheism and idola- try of the Arabs. His moral teachings and vision of a universal brother- hood conflicted with what he believed was a corrupt social order based on class divisions.

The initial reaction to his teachings was hostile. He and his followers were forced to flee from Mecca to Medina in 622, where Mohammed built a political base and an army that eventually defeated Mecca and brought all of Arabia under his control. He died in 632, two years after taking Mecca. By the time a century had passed the Arab Muslims had built a huge empire that stretched all the way from Persia to Spain. Although the Arabs were eventually supplanted by the Turks, the strength of Islam has continued to the present day.

Islam was brought to China peacefully. Arab traders who landed on the southern coast of China established their mosques in great maritime cities like Guangzhou and Quanzhou, and Muslim merchants travelling the Silk Road to China won converts among the Han Chinese in the north of the country. There are also large populations of Muslim Uighur people (of Turkic descent), whose ancestors first moved into China's Xinjiang region during the Tang dynasty.

Christianity

The earliest record of Christianity (Jidu Jiao) in China dates back to the Nestorians, a Syrian Christian sect. They first appeared in China in the 7th century when a Syrian named Raban presented Christian scriptures to the imperial court at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). This event and the construction of a Nestorian monastery in Chang'an are recorded on a large stone stele made in AD 781, now displayed in the Shaanxi History Museum (p413) in Xi'an.

The next major Christian group to arrive in China were the Jesuits. The priests Matteo Ricci and Michael Ruggieri were permitted to set up base at Zhaoqing in Guangdong in the 1580s, and eventually made it to the imperial court in Beijing. Large numbers of Catholic and Protestant missionaries established themselves in China following the intrusion into China by the Western powers in the 19th century. Christians are estimated to comprise about 1% of China's population.

Judaism

Kaifeng (p441) in Henan province has been the home of the largest com- munity of Chinese jews. Their religious beliefs of Judaism (Youtai Jiao) and almost all the customs associated with them have died out, yet the descendants of the original Jews still consider themselves Jewish. Just how the Jews got to China is unknown. They may have come as traders and merchants along the Silk Road when Kaifeng was the capital of China, or they may have emigrated from India.