Buddhism is the only foreign religion that has been widely accepted in China. It is also the most important religion in China. It was first brought to China from India by missionaries and traders along the Silk Road that connected China with Europe in the late Han Dynasty. It has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine. Zen, with its meditative techniques, and Pure Land with its stress on faith in the Amitabha Buddha as the way to salvation, became the dominant forms of Chinese Buddhism. During its development in China, it has a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, and has become one of the most important religions in China at that time.
Category: Chinese customs
Huanghuali furniture
The Chinese term huanghuali literally means "yellow flowering pear" wood. It is a member of the rosewood family and is botanically classified as Dalbergia odorifera. In premodern times the wood was know as huali or hualu. The modifier huang (yellowish-brown) was added in the early twentieth century to describe old huali wood whose surfaces had mellowed to a yellowish tone due to long exposure to light. The sweet fragrance of huali distinguishes it from the similar appearing but pungent-odored hongmu.
Chinese religion: Taoism
It represents the wisdom accumulated over 5,000 years of Chinese history. Like the Confucianists, Daoists looked back to a golden age. The good ruler, they thought, guided his people with humility, not seeking to interfere with the rhythms of social life conducted within the larger patterns of the natural world and the whole cosmos. The Daoist adept was concerned to achieve 'immortality', seen as transmuted earthly existence. Unlike Buddhism, Daoists do not believe that life is suffering. Daoism believes that life is generally happy but that it should be lived with balance and virtue.
Hongmu furniture
No early references to hongmu have yet been discovered; however, the equivalent southern Chinese term 'suanzhi' appears during the middle Qing period—its literal meaning, 'sourwood' describes the pungent odor emitted when it is worked. Most of the dark heavily carved Qing period furniture is made from hongmu. Also called 'blackwood', it can resemble zitan but lacks the latters deep lustrous surface and its 'crab-claw markings'. There is also a light variety which can be difficult to distinguish from huanghuali.
Chinese religion: The Confucianism
Confucianism may be the cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture at the same time as a comprehensive ideological system produced by Confucius, depending on the conventional culture from the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It formed the basis for the social order in China because 200 BC. It supplied the working guidelines and ethical precepts for Chinese to adhere to. Even right now majority of Chinese nonetheless behave in line with these guidelines. Confucianism views person as a social creature obligated to one another through relationships. These might incorporate the relations among sovereign and subject, parent and kid, elder and younger, husband and wife, and even buddy and friend. Confucianism defined the rules in the engagement, action, and responsibilities in all these human relationships and interactions. Proper conduct proceeds not by way of compulsion, but via a sense of virtue and self-consciousness achieved by studying, observing and practicing.
Zhazhen furniture
Commonly termed zhazhen or zhajing, this furniture-making wood is associated with the mulberry species. Furniture made from zhazhen wood is commonly found in the Subei region of Jiangsu. The wood is dark reddish-brown and layered with coffee-colored tissue; it has a fine grain pattern with medullary rays visible in the radial cut. The material is of medium density, but has low resistance to decay.
Folk Religion in China
Chinese folk religion comprises the religion practiced in much of China for thousands of years which included ancestor veneration and drew heavily upon ideas and beings inside Chinese mythology. Chinese folk religion is occasionally observed as a constituent a part of Chinese classic religion, but more typically, the two are regarded as synonymous. It's estimated that there are a minimum of 800 million adherents to Chinese folk religion worldwide.Chinese folk religion is composed of a mixture of religious practices, including Confucianist ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Buddhism and Taoism. Chinese folk religion also retains traces of a few of its ancestral neolithic belief systems which contain the veneration of the sun, moon, earth, the heaven, and numerous stars, also as communication with animals.
Yumu (Northern Elm) furniture
Northern Elm is the most common furniture-making wood found throughout northern China. It is referred to throughout the catalogue as Northern Elm to differentiate it from the somewhat similar appearing Zelkova, which is also commonly called elm, or Southern Elm.
Religion in China
Chinese religion is just not an organized, unified program of beliefs and practices. It has no headquarters, no leadership, no denominations and no founder. Rather, "Chinese religion" can be a common term utilized to describe the complex interaction of different religious and philosophical traditions that have been especially influential in China. It has often been said that the Chinese aren't deeply religious. It is really accurate that they have shown a comparative indifference to metaphysical speculation; Chinese culture was maybe the very first to develop an intellectual scepticism regarding the gods.
Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism considering that the starting of Chinese background. The Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand the exclusive adherence of members. Some scholars doubt the usage of the term "religion" in reference to Buddhism and Taoism, and suggest "cultural practices", "thought systems" or "philosophies" as more proper names. The concerns of what really should be known as religion and who really should be referred to as religious in China is up for debate.
Xinjiang Muqam 新疆木卡姆
中国新疆维吾尔木卡姆艺术”是流传于新疆维吾尔族聚居区的各种木卡姆的总称,是集歌、舞、乐于一体的大型综合艺术形式,以“十二木卡姆”为代表。木卡姆音乐现象分布在中亚、南亚、西亚、北非19个国家和地区,中国新疆处于这些国家和地区的最东端.Muqam Art of Xinjiang of China is a general reference to all the Muqams of various kinds popular in Uygur areas in Xinjiang. It is a large-scale comprehensive art form consisting of opera, dance and music, represented by 12 Muqams. The Muqam is available in 19 countries and regions in Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa.