Tag: budaya

Stringed and Woodwind Music in China

The Stringed and woodwind music(丝竹音乐sīzhú yīnyuè) of Jiangnan is the umbrella name of the stringed and woodwind music popular in the southern part of Jiangsu, the western part of Zhejiang and Shanghai City. The name is originated from the fact that the band mainly uses stringed and woodwind musical instruments such as urheen (erhu), dulcime (yangqin), lute, sanxian, qinqin, bamboo flute, Xiao and so on. The stringed and woodwind music had been popular among the people no latter than the Qing. It was closely integrated with folk activities, which brought about pervasive(something, especially something bad, that is pervasive is present or felt throughout a place or thing) mass foundation for the music of this kind.

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Auspicious Motifs in China

The traditional Chinese auspicious motifs(吉祥图案jíxiáng tú’àn) first appeared in the Zhou Dynasty, nearly 3,000 years ago. They later became widely popular among the general public. On every Spring Festival or other holidays, people would decorate their rooms and articles with these auspicious motifs to express their wishes for happy life and to celebrate the happy holiday. As a key component of traditional Chinese culture, the auspicious motifs are one of the symbols used to identify national spirits and goals. The silk auspicious motifs in the Ming and Qing dynasties covered a wide range of subjects that included trees, flowers, stones, insect, fish and birds. The seemingly(if something is seemingly the case, you mean that it appears to be the case, even though it may not really be so) ordinary motifs contained profound meanings and deep feelings. Generally, the motifs are in three forms: 1) motifs; 2) homophonic words; 3) illustrations in words.

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Chinese Tea 中国茶

、 The Origin It is said that tea shrubs were first discovered in the tropical and sub-tropical climate zone in the southwestern part of China, where primeval forests prevailed and the warm and moist setting was favorable for the growth of tea shrubs. Wild tea trees of 2,700 years old and planted tea trees of 800 years old can still be found in the area.

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Oolong Tea 乌龙茶

Oolong（乌龙茶，Wūlóng chá） is a traditional Chinese tea (Camellia sinensis) somewhere between green and black in oxidation. It ranges from 10% to 70% oxidation. It is among the most popular types of teas served in typical Chinese restaurants.

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Ethnic Minorities in China 中国的少数民族

China officially registers 56 ethnic groups. The ethnic Chinese, known as the Han Chinese, compose 93 percent of the population. Han Chinese speak seven languages, with Mandarin or Putonghua – which means "common speech" — being the official and most-used. Cantonese（广东话，guǎngdōng huà） , which is spoken in Hong Kong and in China's other southern provinces, is the second most popular. Most of the 55 other ethnic groups use their own languages.

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Chinese Culture: Chinese Couplet (对联)

Couplet (对联 duì lián) is a pair of antithetical phrases (sometime added a horizontal hung phrase) written on papers, silks hung on the columns of halls or just engraved on the columns, with concise characters but rich and deep connotations. It is a cultural gem of Chinese nation that has been listed into the non-material cultural heritages. Let's have a brief introduction of it.

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Wuxia

The Wuxia(武侠wǔxiá) is a broad genre of Chinese fiction that concerns itself with martial arts adventures set primarily in ancient China. Although traditionally a literary art form, it is now also found in art, comics, films, games, television, theatre, and other media. Wuxia forms a large part of popular culture for most Chinese-speaking communities around the world.

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