Posted in Chinese Culture on 03/04/2010 10:49 pm by Frank Li
Han Warrior and Qin Warrior
Terra-cotta figures were well made for the purpose of accompanying the deceased in their afterlife, a life strongly believed by ancient Chinese. Our ancestors considered death a beginning of another life, the dead should be looked after as they were still alive, they buried food, jade, pottery, weapons, implements, sometimes, even human being in the tombs for a prosperous afterlife.
Human sacrifice had always been too cruel to be human, Chinese began to make terra-cotta, wooden, and metal figures to replace the real lives. The style of burial figures varied in different period of time: Qin Dynasty Terra-cotta warriors and horses were made full-sized, Han Dynasty terra-cotta warriors were made 1/3 of the life-size. Besides, Han Dynasty burial horses were made of wood.
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Posted in Chinese Culture on 03/02/2010 08:41 am by Frank Li
Naked Han Terra-cotta Warriors
141BC, Han Dynasty Emperor Jing Di Liu Qi passed away after 16 years of struggle against his kinsmen and the Huns. He was buried in a chamber covered with a huge earth mound which was surrounded by an imperial mausoleum region–Yangling mausoleum, and his stories became legendary and even mythical.
He was almost forgotten until more than 2,000 years later. In May 1990, a highway connecting Xi’an city (the city where full-sized terra-cotta warriors were discovered in 1974) and airport was under construction. Because one part of the planned highway was in the protected archaeological site of the Yangling mausoleum, construction workers were very careful and they didn’t want to disturb the emperor’s afterlife.
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Posted in Chinese Culture on 02/27/2010 08:33 am by Frank Li
circular walled courtyards in Fujian Province
I’ve been to many relics of different walls: Qin Dynasty Great Wall, Ming Dynasty, Great Wall, Xi’an City Wall, my home town village wall etc, I can say in China almost everywhere you could find a wall.
6,000 years ago, our ancestors settled down thanks to the discovery of agriculture, fertile land along the Yellow and Yangtze River Valleys nourished the lives of several matriarchal villages which were encircled by huge ditches, which served as the best protection against wild beasts and seasonal floods. The earliest protection around the ancient communities started from this kind of circular ditch which later evolved into the moat.
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Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/16/2010 08:07 am by Leo Chu
Red Envelops
Another interesting tradition during the Spring Festival is that of giving and receiving Red Envelops. Money is put inside red envelops as a gift during the festival. Older generations typically give red envelopes to the younger generations in their families. I still remember when I used to receive red envelops from my grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and relatives. After New Years Eve, people would start to greet each other. The children would greet the older generations with wishes of happy New Year and good health while the older generations would give red envelops with money inside to the kids as a wish for auspicion and luck. The money inside of the red envelops is supposed to be used for buying gifts for the children. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/11/2010 06:33 am by Leo Chu
The Fireworks in Tiananmen Square for 60 Anniversary of Founding New China
Recently in big cities throughout China, people have not been allowed to set off fireworks whenever they want because there are so many high buildings in the downtown areas. The Government still allows people to set off fireworks during a 16 day period, from the last day of the New Year to the 15th day, which is our Lantern Festival. On the last and first days of the New Year, people can set off fireworks for the whole day, but from the second to the fifteenth days, the proper time is from 7 AM to 12 o’clock at night. Last year, in the last legal day of setting fireworks, the north building next to the New CCTV headquarters accidently caught fire as a result of a stray firework. It was nearing its completion as part of CCTV’s Headquarters and would be used as a five star hotel. This building was still unoccupied. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/09/2010 03:18 am by Leo Chu
People Use Fireworks to Cerebrate the New Year
Today I am going to talk about the most exciting part of the Spring Festival, the setting off of fireworks. When I was a little boy, setting off fireworks and receiving red envelopes were the best parts of the Spring Festival. People set off fireworks normally during the middle of the night after 12 midnight, symbolizing the coming of the New Year. At that moment, the skies of China’s cities are full of the flowers and the sounds formed by the fireworks. People like to show off by creating the biggest fireworks displays with the loudest sounds. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/07/2010 06:50 am by Leo Chu
The Dinner on the Spring Festival New Year Eve is considered the most important one.
Chinese New Years Eve
New Years Eve takes place the last day before the New Year. This is a very important time for family reunions. According to Chinese tradition people should stay together drinking, talking and eating until the midnight, which is a symbolic act of people cherishing the past year and also welcoming in the New Year. According to Chinese historical records, the tradition of Chinese New Years Eve was started during the North and South Dynasties (420 AD-589 AD). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/04/2010 07:27 am by Leo Chu
People are Buying Spring Festival Couplets in Market
The Spring Festival couplets are a very special and unique literary form of Chinese culture. It started during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907 AD-960 AD) and became very prosperous during the Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644 AD-1911 AD) Dynasties. It is still a very pouplar way for Chinese people to cerebrate the Chinese Spring Festival. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Leo Chu Stories on 02/01/2010 07:11 am by Leo Chu
The Painted Gate Gods on Doors
Spring Festival
Spring Festival is the biggest festival in China; this is the most important festival of the entire year. Chinese people adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1912, but the spring festival is still recorded by the traditional Chinese calendar. Each year the day is different according to the Gregorian calendar. This year, 2010, the first day of the year according to the traditional Chinese calendar is February 14th, but the spring festival normally starts 10-15 days before and ends the 15th day after the first day of the New Year. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Chinese Culture on 01/31/2010 11:17 pm by Frank Li
In Beijing, travelers would enjoy the local Peking duck, and TsingtaoBeer from Qingdao city. Some people will visit friends who’s studying in one of the best universities in China—Peking University. It sounds really odd to have different names for cities, how the names evolved?
In the 16th century, European traders and missionaries landed in a coastal city named Xiameng–once called Amoy. The local people were speaking Min nan (south of Fu Jian Province) dialect in which the capital of the great empire was pronounced very similar to Peking, hence the capital was named. And more likely the name was romanized by the French missionaries.
In the east Asian countries, to name the capital after its basic status was a tradition, such as Beijing which means North capital; Nanjing, South capital;
Japan’s Tokyo, east capital, old name of the capital of South Korea, Gyeongseong, simply means the capital, now it’s called Seoul.
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