Chinese New Year is a 15-day holiday that marks the new lunar year and the welcoming of spring. It is one of the most festive celebrations in Chinese culture, and different ways of celebrating the new year exist in different regions of China.
Tag: Chinese Culture
What Is a Red Envelope in Chinese Culture?
A red envelope (紅包, hóngbāo) is simply a long, narrow, red envelope. Traditional red envelopes are often decorated with gold Chinese characters like happiness and wealth. Variations include red envelopes with cartoon characters depicted and red envelopes from stores and companies that contain coupons and gift certificates inside.
Chinese Art
Chinese art is greatly influenced by the country’s rich spiritual and mystical history. Many sculptures and paintings depict spiritual figures of Buddhism, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
6 Facts You Should Know About Rooster Year 2017
The Chinese zodiac affects Chinese culture a lot in poems, paintings, art, and architecture. As well as China, many other countries pay attention to Chinese New Year by producing zodiac products and issuing zodiac money.
Red, Yellow and Green are Considered Lucky Colors
Red — Happiness, Success and Good Fortune lucky colors in Chinese culture
Red is the Chinese national color and represents happiness, beauty, success and good fortune. It is widely used during festivals and important events like wedding.
Number 8 and Other “Lucky” Numbers
In Chinese culture, certain numbers are considered "lucky" because their pronunciations sound similar to words that have "lucky" meanings.
Getting Good Luck in a Zodiac Year — Wearing Red
According to Chinese tradition, there are some things that people can do to fend off bad luck in a zodiac year.
The Wedding Banquet喜宴
Today let's take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named "The Wedding Banquet".The Wedding Banquet, the first film that made Ang Lee known in the international film circle, won the Golden Bear Award at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival and Best Picture at the Golden Horse Award. The most remarkable feature of the film is the way it deals with the homosexual issue – with the family ethic concept and balanced view point that are unique to the Chinese. The social issue that bothers almost all those families finally finds a comic solution in the film. The way they deal with the homosexual issue is kind of oriental, which can be found similarities even in classical Chinese novels. However, the story takes place in the most prosperous and modern metropolis – New York, where tradition and modernity blend, and old and new concepts conflict and compromise. As the story goes on, Ang Lee reveals the perplex, helplessness and tolerance of a traditional Chinese family towards the impact of modern conception.
Kung Fu Panda 功夫熊猫
Today let's take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named "Kung Fu Panda".The story tells a lazy and gluttonous panda Po, a kung fu fanatic, is mistakenly identified as “Dragon Warrior” – a legendary kung fu master, and forced to deal with the evil snow leopard Tai Lung, who has just escaped from the prison. Hence Master Shifu has to face the biggest challenge in life – training the lazy, clumsy, overweight panda Po to be a renowned kung fu master in a limited time.
Pushing Hands推手
Today let's take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named "Pushing Hands".The screenplay of Pushing Hands was written by Ang Lee himself in 1990 and it won Excellent Screenplay Award from Taiwan government. In 1992, 37-year-old Ang Lee directed his first film based on this story in New York. This is a comedy which reflects the generation gap and cultural shock in a Taiwanese-born family who lived in New York. The contrast between the Chinese old man who emigrated to America and the female American writer, Ang Lee said, actually mirrors his two-faced life during the first few years after graduation. The film not only won Best Film Award at Asia Pacific Film Festival, but also achieved three awards, including Best Actor, Best Actress and Special Jury Award for Best Director, of Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards. What’s more, it was also nominated for nine other awards at Golden Horse Film Festival.
The story of Pushing Hands centers on an emigrated family in America and shows the contrast between traditional Chinese culture and American customs and habits. Different cultural backgrounds lead to different views on family. In western culture, individualism is highly emphasized and the American hardly accept to live with the last generation; while in China family means living together and looking after each other. Focusing on this contrast, the story of Pushing hands goes like this: Retired tai chi teacher Lao Zhu emigrates from Beijing to live with his son, American daughter-in-law, and grandson in a New York City suburb. Lao Zhu cannot speak English and it is quite inconvenient for him to go outside. Therefore Lao Zhu has to stay at home and practice tai chi. His daughter-in-law Martha, who writes at home, is afflicted for having no clue at that time. They two cannot communicate with each other and their relationship becomes more and more intense.
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