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Dining of Beijing(2)
It is said that there are two things that you must do when you come to Beijing. One is to enjoy the roast duck and the other is to take a stroll on the Great Wall. There is no set order in which to do these two things but a walk on the Wall is sure to give you a good appetite for the duck! It may be said that this adage is a little exaggerated but it does emphasize just how delicious the duck can be. There are literally dozens of restaurants that serve the Beijing Duck Dinners but perhaps the best known and most famous are the Quanjude and Bianyifang. They each adopt a different method of preparing their duck but each produce a delicious result. The prices charged at the Quanjude tend to be rather higher that those at the Bianyifang.
Partial Tones of Chinese Characters
Two major elements of Chinese characters are grapheme and pronunciation. In some cases, pronunciation becomes the only measure to indicate the meaning of a character. Besides this, there are a number of Chinese characters with the same pronunciation and these characters have different graphemes and meanings though they are pronounced the same. It is through these characters with similar pronunciation that partial tones of Chinese characters convey profound meanings.
In the old days, ordinary people dared not express their agony and resistance against oppression and tyranny in a straightforward way, so they produced many ballads related to politics making use of partial tones in Chinese characters, that is, they used characters that meant differently but were pronounced the same to form ballads and express their inner feelings in an indirect way.
After repeated use of partial tones, a rhetoric method of the Chinese language was formed –Xieyin Ti(partial tone style). In this style of writing, characters at the end of certain lines should have partial tones.
Partial tones not only appear in folk songs but also are widely used in people’s daily life. For instance, the character (Fu) means good fortune. Characters (inverse) and (arrive) have the same pronunciation ofDao. Making use of these partial tones, Chinese households usually post the character(Fu) inversely on their doors during the Spring Festival to mean that Good fortune has arrived at their houses.
China – The Silk Kingdom
Silk. as a symbol of ancient Chinese culture. has not only weaved an excellent picture in the nation`s civilization history. but also has made indelible contributions for the advancement of human beings. For thousands of years. Chinese silk has been known for its superior quality. exquisite patterns. and rich cultural connotations.
Several thousand years ago. when the silk trade first reached Europe via the Silk Road.it brought with it not only gorgeous silk apparel and decorative items. but also the ancient and resplendent culture of the Far East. From then on. silk was regarded as the emissary and symbol of Eastern civilization. The earliest silk article discovered to date is approximately 4700 years old. unearthed from a tomb dating from China`s Liangzhu Culture (c. 3300-2200 BC).
According to an ancient Chinese legend. the Silkworm Goddess appeared to the Yellow Emperor. the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people. after he had vanquished his adversary Chi You. She presented him with silk fibers spun from her own mouth as a sign of respect. The Yellow Emperor ordered the fibers woven into cloth and made into silk apparel. which he found exceedingly soft and comfortable.
Lei Zu. the Yellow Emperor`s wife. searched until she found some caterpillars capable of spinning silk fibers from their mouth. She raised these silkworms by feeding them mulberry leaves she picked herself. Later generations came to worship Lei Zu as the Silkworm Goddess. and the Yellow Emperor as the God of Weaving.
Sericulture. including cultivating the mulberry plant. raising silkworms. and producing silk fabric. has been an essential form of labor in China throughout the millennia. as China is the birthplace of sericulture. Raising silkworms and reeling the silk from their cocoons was ancient China`s greatest achievement in the use of natural fibers.
As long ago as the Neolithic Age (c. 12.000-2000 BC). the Chinese ancestors had invented flat-weaving and figured-weaving techniques. and were tinting cloth using natural (red pigment) vermilion dye. With improvements in looming devices and printing and dyeing methods. more varieties of silk were developed and a comprehensive system of cloth dying evolved. China possessed the most advanced silk dying and weaving techniques of the ancient world.
Brick Sculpture
Bricks carved with patterns in relief were used for decorative purposes on the exterior of old houses-mansions of officials and the rich, shrines and temples, landscape buildings in parts. They are also found on the entrance gates, windows and screen walls in houses which once belonged to big business and the landed gentry, to bring honor to the owners and their ancestor.
Chinese Papercut
Chinese Papercut
Paper cutting is a traditional art in China which has been making its way along the route of the long history of paper. The kind of art went after the invention of paper in Han Dynasty, once became one of the main form of arts, and was popular to the people of the time; even in royal families ladies were also judged by the ability at papercut.
Most of the papercut artists are women. The themes of their works usually include everything in people’s daily life from dumb things to the surroundings. Familiarity makes them understand the real spirit of the art.
The main tool for papercut is scissors. Once they are owned by a master of papercut, they will become so supernatural that the papercuts beyond imagination flow out of his/her hands in the chattering of a common pair of scissors. Another tool for paper cutting is engraving knives which are necessary to enhance a sharpened effect or to make a delicate job.
No doubt that arts come from life and serve life. Papercuts are very popular in the countryside. The bright colors of red, green or light blue papercuts provide a strong foil to set off a merry atmosphere. So they are often found in wedding ceremonies or festivals in China. And people like to decorate their windows and doors using colorful papercuts.
Chinese Folklore Story
Fox Assuming Tiger’s Identity
A hungry tiger happened to have caught a fox and desired to make a nice meal of it. The cunning fox immediately made a protest saying: “How Dare you take me as your food? You must know that I am sent by God to this forest to be the king of all the beasts here. If you eat me you are going against the will of God.“
Seeing that the tiger was almost convinced. the fox added: “If you don`t believe what I say. you may follow me and see that every beast. without any exception. fears me.“
Finding this reasonable. the tiger agreed to the proposal. The fox went ahead. and the tiger followed closely. All the wild beasts in the forest ran when they saw the tiger coming.
So the tiger was convinced that these beasts running for their lives were really afraid of the fox. Therefore. he didn`t dare to eat the fox. The story tells people to be clear-minded and not to be fooled by outside appearance of matters and so not to be fooled by those who tease people by others` force
Learn Chinese Lunar Calendar (1)
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history. dating from 2600BC. when the Emperor Huangti (the Yellow Emperor) introduced the first cycle of the zodiac.Like the Western calendar. the Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one. with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore. because of this cyclical dating. the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. This year it falls on February 12. A complete cycle takes 60 years and is made up of five cycles of 12 years each. The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from Earth. Only 12 came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality. saying: `This is the animal that hides in your heart.`
Learn Chinese Lunar Calendar (2)
The Chinese calendar is a combined solar/lunar calendar which strives to have each year coincide with the tropical year and each month coincide with the synodic month. It is not surprising that a few similarities exist between the Chinese and the Hebrew calendars:
An ordinary year has 12 months and a leap year has 13 months. An ordinary year has 353. 354. or 355 days. a leap year has 383. 384. or 385 days.
When determining what a Chinese year looks like. a number of astronomical calculations need to be made:
Firstly. the dates for the new moons must be determined. In the lunar calendar a new moon is a completely “black“ moon (when the moon is in conjunction with the sun). not the first visible crescent that used in the Islamic and Hebrew calendars. The date of a new moon is the first day of a new month.
Secondly. the dates when the sun`s longitude is a multiple of 30 degrees must be determined. (The sun`s longitude is 0 at Vernal Equinox. 90 at Summer Solstice. 180 at Autumnal Equinox. and 270 at Winter Solstice.) These dates are called the Principal Terms and are used to determine the number of each month: Principal Term 1 occurs when the sun`s longitude is 330 degrees.
Principal Term 2 occurs when the sun`s longitude is 0 degrees.
Principal Term 3 occurs when the sun`s longitude is 30 degrees.
etc.
Principal Term 11 occurs when the sun`s longitude is 270 degrees.
Principal Term 12 occurs when the sun`s longitude is 300 degrees.
Each month carries the number of the Principal Term that occurs in that month.
Chinese Kitchen God
The Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival is the most important event for the Chinese. Traditionally the Spring Festival actually begins its course a week before the Chinese New Year (the 23th or 24th of the last month from Chinese lunar calendar), with the practice of offering sacrifice to the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God as believed by the Chinese is sent by the Jade Emperor from Heaven to each family to take charge of family’s affairs and make a report on what the family has done in the past year to the Jade Emperor annually on the 23th or 24th. Strangely enough, the sacrifice to the Kitchen God is a lotus root-like sticky cake made of a kind of confection, a typical Chinese traditional candy, instead of the usual cows, pigs or sheep. The purpose of the practice is compromising, for people are making full use of the sticky cake to prevent the Kitchen God from speaking ill of the family in Heaven by sticking his mouth. Of course, it seems to be quite a tacit agreement between the Kitchen God and his prayers; he is always accepting the sweet food from the people around. This tradition is no longer popular in cities now, but may still be observed in some rural areas.
From the 24th to the 29th, it is the seed time for the important festival. People are usually found themselves buying various things which vary from new clothes to delicious food, as the saying goes:
on the 23th, making sticky cakes;
on the 24th, house sweeping;
on the 25th, milling bean curd (tofu or doufu);
on the 26th, to buy meat;
on the 27th, getting chicken ready;
on the 28th, to buy liquor (or wine);
on the 30th, making Chinese dumplings (jiaozi).
Beijing Snacks Streets,Triggering Your Appetite
Wangfujing Snack Street
Two snack streets, Wangfujing Snack Street and Donghuamen Night Snack Street, are situated in the Wangfujing area. The streets are unique: The experiences customers have at the stalls can be different from grabbing a hot dog on the street of a city in the West. Instead of a hot dog, a customer is likely to buy a scorpion or snake.
Most of the snacks at the stalls are available, at cheaper prices, throughout Beijing. But there are advantages to buying the snacks in the Wangfujing area; for example, there is a much greater selection, the vendors are concentrated in one area, and the hygiene standards are guaranteed.
Donghuamen Night Snack Street is lined with vendors at booths displaying and selling a myriad of snacks. On Wangfujing Snack Street, the buildings reflect the architecture of ancient times, and visitors can occasionally hear the neighborhood residents singing Peking Opera from their balconies.