Arts
Main article: Chinese art
Chinese art has varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling dynasties of China and changing technology, as well as influenced by great philosophers, teachers and religion. Early forms of art in China were made from pottery and jade in the Neolithic period, to which was added bronze in the Shang Dynasty. The Shang are most remembered for their bronze casting, noted for its clarity of detail. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the Book of Songs, Confucius and the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to string and reed instruments.
In early imperial China, porcelain was introduced and was refined to the point that in English the word China has become synonymous with high-quality porcelain. Around the 1st century AD, Buddhism arrived in China, though it did not become popular until the 4th century. At this point, Chinese Buddhist art began to flourish, a process which continued through the 8th century. Around this period, several well-known Chinese poets influenced Chinese poetry, which included Cao Cao and his sons and Tao Qian. It was during the period of Imperial China that calligraphy and painting became highly appreciated arts in court circles, with a great deal of work done on silk until well after the invention of paper.
Buddhist architecture and sculpture thrived in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the Tang dynasty was particularly open to foreign influence. Buddhist sculpture returned to a classical form, inspired by Indian art of the Gupta period. Toward the end of the Tang dynasty, all foreign religions were outlawed to support Taoism. Also during this period, Chinese poetry thrived and the Tang is considered the "Golden age" of Chinese poetry. In this period, the greatest Chinese poets, Li Po and Du Fu composed their poems. Late Tang poetry was marked by the influence of two poets, Li Shangyin and Li Yu, the latter of whom introduced the stanza form. Painting from the Tang dynasty period mainly consisted of landscape that was to grasp emotion or atmosphere to catch the "rhythm of nature." Also in the Tang dynasty, Chinese opera was introduced.
In the Song dynasty, poetry was marked by a lyric poetry known as Ci which expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. Also in the Song dynasty, paintings of more subtle expression of landscapes appeared, with blurred outlines and mountain contours which conveyed distance through an impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. It was during this period that in painting, emphasis was placed on spiritual rather than emotional elements, as in the previous period. In the Yuan dynasty, painting by the Chinese painter Zhao Mengfu influenced modern Chinese landscape painting, while Yuan dynasty opera became a variant of Chinese opera which continues today as Cantonese opera.
Late imperial China was marked by two specific dynasties: Ming and Qing. Of Ming Dynasty poetry, Gao Qi was acknowledged as the greatest poet of the era. Artwork in the Ming dynasty perfected color painting and color printing, with a wider color range and busier compositions than Song paintings. In the Qing dynasty, Beijing opera was introduced; it is considered the best-known form of Chinese opera. Qing poetry was marked by a poet named Yuan Mei whose poetry has been described as having "unusually clear and elegant language" and who stressed the importance of personal feeling and technical perfection.
Twentieth-century Chinese art was heavily influenced by the New Culture Movement, which adopted Western techniques, introduced oil painting and employed socialist realism. Twentieth-century Chinese poetry was also influenced by the Cultural Revolution but several poets attempted to resist the Cultural Revolution by incorporating pro-democratic themes. Contemporary Chinese artists continue to produce a wide range of experimental works, multimedia installations, and performance "happenings" which have become very popular in the international art market.
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Main article: Chinese architecture
Mix of old and new at Jing'an Temple in downtown Shanghai.Chinese architecture, examples of which can be found over 2,000 years ago, has long been a landmark of Chinese culture. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific region or use.
The most important is its emphasis on the horizontal. In contrast to Western architecture, which tends to grow in height and in depth, Chinese architecture stresses on the width of the buildings. The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City, for example, have rather low ceilings when compared to equivalent stately buildings in the West, but their external appearances suggest the all-embracing nature of imperial China. This of course does not apply to pagodas, which in any case are relatively rare.
Another important feature is its emphasis on symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses. One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow, to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself.
Feng shui designed architecture plays an important role in Chinese Culture. For example, Paifang is a Feng Shui designed gate of China town.
Ceramics and ceramic wares
Chinese porcelain - Porcelain - Potter's wheel - Glazes
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Cinema
Main article: Cinema of China
For many years Hong Kong has been a center of filmmaking. Traditionally, the majority of films made centered around the common themes of martial arts (Wu-xia films), organized crime (in particular Triads), and other traditionally Chinese themes. While these films were always popular in the domestic Hong Kong market, they were also popular around the globe, and especially in the United States. This reached its zenith in the 1970s, when martial arts films were very popular in the United States. Now, in the 2000s, Asian-made films seem to be having a resurgence in popularity abroad. In recent years Mainland China has also become a hotbed of filmmaking with such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers being popular not only in China but around the world. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino plans to shoot his next film, a traditional Wu-Xia movie, in China and have its dialogue in Mandarin Chinese.
Another genre of films that become better known internationally is those depicting the exotic past of Hong Kong as a colonial city and of China with remarkable traditional symbols, notably under the directors Wong Kar-wai (Mandarin: Wang Jia-Wei) and Zhang Yimou. However, some critics argue that both directors distorted the history so as to make the depiction more appealing.
Detail of Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden City, Qing Dynasty. Artifact circulating in US museums on loan from Beijing[edit]
Dance
Main articles: dragon dance
Music
Main article: Music of China
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Opera
Main article: Chinese
Language and literature
Chinese astrology - Chinese calendar - Chinese classic texts - Chinese constellation - Chinese dragon - Chinese mythology - Chinese New Year - Chinese philosophy - Confucianism - Confucius - Eastern philosophy - Five elements - Futs-Lung - I Ching - Qilin - Lao Zi - Listing of noted Confucianists - Listing of noted Taoists - Lung - Lunisolar calendar - Mohism - Qi - Taoism - Yin Yang - Zhang San Feng
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Language
Main articles: Chinese language, Languages of China
The majority of people in China speak one form or another of the Chinese language. In addition to their native local dialect, nearly all can speak Standard Mandarin. There has been ongoing debate as to whether "Chinese" is actually a defined "language" or in fact a family of many languages. The fact this debate exists is not only for political and unity reasons, but also partly due to the fact that written Chinese is a common standard throughtout China. For example a person who only speaks their local dialect is able to communicate with another person from a different area by using written Chinese. Although this written Chinese is itself based on one variety of spoken Chinese; Standard Mandarin or putonghua/guoyu. The written script across China is largely unified, and is the last of its kind that survives as a major language in the contemporary world. It is said, somewhat correctly, that Suzhou people cannot understand Shanghainese, despite them being less than 200km away from each other. This situation could be compared to the difference between French and Spanish.
Chinese character - Chinese numerals - Chinese written language - Classical Chinese - List of Chinese dialects - Pinyin - Zhuyin
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Literature
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Chinese proverbsMain article: Chinese literature
Chinese classic texts - Chinese poetry - List of Chinese language poets
Clothing
China's clothing varies by region, ethnic background, and economic situations. Contemporary urban clothing seemed to have developed an obsession with brand names (Giordano being one of the generic ones). In major urban centres, especially Shanghai, an increased western look is preferred, and there is an emphasis on formal wear over casual wear for adults on the streets. Teenagers prefer brand names. Children usually wear clothes that have a cartoon character.
Han Chinese clothing - Qipao - Ming official headwear - Manchu official headwear - Mandarin square
Contemporary Culture of China
Especially beginning in the late 1980's and early 1990's, China became exposed to more western elements, notably pop culture. American cinema is very popular in China. Young people tend to gather late at night at bars and nightclubs. The obsession with brand names is becoming more apparent by the day, and teen slang is incorporating more and more western language elements.
Cuisine
Main article: Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine - Boba milk tea - Cantonese cuisine - Cardamom - Chinese Buddhist cuisine - Chinese food therapy - Chinese Islamic cuisine - Chiuchow cuisine - Chopsticks - Chop suey - Dim sum - Double steaming - Fingerroot - Five-spice powder - Fortune cookie - Ginger root - Hakka cuisine - Hot salt frying - Hot sand frying - Hunan cuisine - Longan - Lychee - Mandarin cuisine - Monosodium glutamate - Shanghai cuisine - Soy sauce - Stir frying - Szechuan cuisine - Szechuan pepper - Taiwanese cuisine - Tofu - Wok
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