Chinese Culture
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This section of our web site is
split into sections about our Language, Traditions and our Festivals.
Please scroll down to get a brief glimpse at our traditions and festivals. |
Chinese
Language
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Chinese Language
Also called SINITIC, Chinese HAN, the principal language group of eastern Asia, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese exists in a number of varieties that are popularly called dialects but that are usually classified as separate language by scholars. When spoken, the languages of Chinese are mutually unintelligible; they differ to about the same extent as the modern Roman languages. Most of the differences among them occur in pronunciation and vocabulary; there are few grammatical differences. All the Chinese languages share a common literary language (wen-yen), written in characters and based on a common body of literature. This literary language has no single standard of pronunciation; a speaker of a language reads texts according to the rules of pronunciation of his own language. Before 1917, the wen-yen was used for almost all writing; since that date it has become increasingly acceptable to write in the vernacular style (paihua) instead, and the old literary language appears to be dying out. The sound system of Chinese is marked by its use of tones to indicate differences of meaning between words or syllables that are otherwise identical in sound. Modern Standard Chinese has four tones. Chinese words often have only one syllable, A Chinese word is invariable in form and, within the range allowed by its intrinsic meaning, can serve as any part of speech Because there is no word inflection in the language, there is a fixed word order. Chinese has no definite article (“the”). The Chinese writing system is basically a logographic writing system using symbols of pictorial origin to represent words of the Chinese language. Dictionaries of Chinese record as many as 40,000 distinct symbols (usually called characters). |
Chinese
Traditions
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Martial Arts
The definition of the Martial Arts is that of any of the various fighting sports or fighting skills. Today, it mainly refers to those of Far Eastern origin, such as Kung Fu, Judo, Karate, Kendo, etc. Kung Fu (The meaning of which in Chinese is: “skill”), is actually both a form of exercise with a spiritual dimension stemming from concentration and self-discipline and a primarily unarmed mode of personal combat. It is also often equated with karate or Tae Kwon Do which originated from Japan and Korea respectively. While popularly referring to the fighting art, the term “Kung Fu” can also signify careful preparation for the performance of any skilful endeavour without interference from the intellect or emotions. As martial art, Kung Fu can be traced to the Chou dynasty (1111-255 BC) and even earlier. As exercise, it was practiced by the Taoists in the 5th century BC. Its prescribed stances and actions are based on keen observations of human skeletal and muscular anatomy and physiology, and it employs great muscular co-ordination. The various movements in Kung Fu, most of which are imitations of the fighting styles of animals, are initiated from one of five basic foot positions: normal upright posture and the four stances called dragon, frog, horse riding, and snake. There are hundreds of styles of Kung Fu, armed as well as un-armed techniques, that have been developed. Kung Fu performed as exercise closely resembles the T’ai Chi Ch’uan and is practiced widely amongst the Chinese throughout the world.
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Lion Dance (ref:
www.visitsarawak.com/wushu/liondance.html)
In
China, besides dragon dance, the lion dance is another popular recreation for
the Chinese during their new year season. However, the lion dances of
Northern China and Southern China have great differences in that of their
appearance and the art of demonstration. This
'Tai-pin' melody was composed as early as (951-960 A.D.) during the Chow
dynasty. it was recorded that the lion dance
was accompanied by 140 people singing the melody and 64 dancers. Lion
dance at the time was a grand occasion and it was of course different from
the lion dance now. Lion
dance was initially a noble entertainment which gradually spread to the army
and finally to the civilians. There
are many different sayings about the origin of the lion dance but none with any real historical records. One
saying quoted that 'Many years ago there was a lion which appeared in a small
village and it caused harm to the people and domestic animals. There
was a Kung-Fu expert who learnt of this and went into the forested mountain
to fight with the lion. He fought with the lion on three occasions but
was unable to capture it. So he called up some of the villagers and trained
them in Kung-Fu with the intention to kill the lion. A few months
later, they went up to the mountain again and finally they killed the
lion. The villagers, in order to celebrate this occasion, followed the
steps of those who fought with the lion and thus the 'lion dance' was
composed. Another saying was that the emperor of China of the Ching Dynasty had seen a lion dance in one of his dreams
and he ordered the guards of the palace to dance in accordance with what he
had seen after he woke up. Of course the above two sayings were just
legends. In
China, the lion dance differed in various places, especially the
appearance. In Northern China, the body of the lion was full of hair
except the head. It looked more like the real lion and they usually
dance in pairs. In
Southern China, the lion looked far removed from the real lion because it was
made of multi-coloured pieces of linen. They definitely dance
individually and never in pairs. The
melody of the dances were quite alike and it was difficult for a layman to
differentiate.
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Jades of China
When touched, jade is cold and unfeelingly hard; yet when gazed upon, it seems unbelievably soft and tender. Jade has not only endured the brutal onslaughts of time; it has been embraced by the Chinese people, and has assumed a special status since the beginning of Chinese history. The presence of artistic jade has been a specialty of Chinese culture since the late Neolithic period. For more than eight thousand years, the Chinese people have loved and valued jade. The curiosity and fear that the ancients had towards life and nature was manifested in various myths of animals and spirits. They thus wore various jade ornaments carved with various animal decorations, providing ornamental beauty and possibly, protection against the supernatural. Confucian scholars eventually rationalized these “superstitious” customs, and jade was identified with high and dignified moral character. Through further evolution of encompassing different cultures, different auspicious patterns, shapes and styles were also manifested on jade.
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Paper Cutting
Paper cutting is a traditional art that has evolved throughout the course of Chinese cultural development. Its origin is believed to have evolved during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 221 A.D.). As paper was highly precious in the early days, the art of paper cutting first became popular in the royal palace and houses of nobility as a favourite pastime among court ladies. However, the art of paper cutting was on the verge of dying out during the past century as old China experienced successive years of disastrous wars brought on by domestic turmoil and foreign invasion. Amidst a myriad of changes in their lives, most people had no leisure time to engage in the study of the art of paper cutting. Thankfully, the art never disappeared and today is practiced in many Asian countries, notably in Japan and Korea as well as in the western world.
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Chinese
Festivals and Holidays
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Harvest Moon Festival
Food is important to every person, so celebrating harvest is one of the most important holidays around the world. The Chinese celebrate this special time of thanksgiving with the Harvest Moon Festival. On this evening people climb hills and mountains to get a good view of the full moon carrying with them moon lanterns adorned with pictures of rabbits and toads which according to Chinese mythology are the moon’s companions.
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The Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival comes two weeks after the spring festival. During this celebration people carry lanterns like fish and birds and much in street and villages.
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The Chinese New Year
One of China’s most famous legends is that all the animals of the world were invited to come and visit the Buddha before he ascended to Heaven. Only 12 animals came, in order to reward the animals for their loyalty Buddha named a year after each of them. The cycle of animal names repeat every twelve years and each person is believed to have the characteristics of the animal sign they were born under.
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The Dragon Festival
This festival is celebrated on rivers in southern regions to remember the famous poet Qu Yuang. People race beautiful boats with prows carved in huge dragon heads. As many as 70 rowers are needed to power one boat and spectators cling cymbals and gongs and wave colourful flags. |