Chinese Traditional Culture

Chinese Traditional Culture

                                      
Culture is a continuous movement. Every country, also every culture has its own history. It is no doubt that Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest cultures. As we all known is that Chinese culture originate from the Yellow River basin, and the important components of Chinese culture include martial arts, literature, music, drama, cuisine, etc.

Chinese Martial arts 

Shaolin Monastery

As the pictures portray, Chinese material arts exercise a combination of inflexibility and yielding. Chinese material arts are also called Kung Fu, which is the art of attack and defense. Chinese material arts are the precious heritage of Chinese traditional culture. China also includes the home to the well-respected Shaolin Monastery and Wudang Mountains. 




Shaolin Kung Fu

Shaolin martial arts is the widest range in the central plains, oldest and most wushu branches, practiser of zhong songshan shaolin temple in its name.

Wudang Mountains.

In wudang Taoism in "real WuXua Pai" as its core. Then branch out several influential tribe, such as "dragon Pai", "natural group Pai", "qingwei Pai", "qiankun Pai", "taiyi Pai", "hunyuan Pai" etc.

Wudang Taichi
T'ai chi ch'uan or Taijiquan, often shortened to t'ai chi, taiji or tai chi in English usage, is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. As a result, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of t'ai chi ch'uan's training forms are especially known for being practiced at what most people categorize as slow movement.Today, t'ai chi ch'uan has spread worldwide. Most modern styles of t'ai chi ch'uan trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu, and Sun.

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Afterwards, some art forms have branched off, while others have retained a distinct Chinese flavor. When it comes to Kung Fu，we will think of Bruce lee, Jackie Chan, Jet lee, etc. They are famous Kung Fu stars in the world and the films they played are well-received. The arts have also co-existed with a variety of weapons including the more standard 18 arms. Legendary and controversial moves like Dim Mak are also praised and talked about within the culture.

Chinese Music      

Why not have a listen and enjoy it personally? The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BCE - 256 BCE). The traditional instruments which are integral to Chinese culture include flute, Guzheng, drum, Guqin, pipa, and many others. Since the ancient times, music is supposed to purify the souls and make the society harmonious. Nowadays, 12 Girls Band is popular and they use traditional Chinese instruments to play both traditional Chinese and Western music. What’s more, 12 Girls band carry forward the traditional music and make it more and more ample.

Chinese Literature  

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song Dynasty (960–1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered the founder of baihua literature in China.

I Ching and the Classic of Poetry achieve the peak in the Western Zhou Dynasty(0c.11th century-771BC). I Ching reflects the philosophy and the cosmology of the ancient culture. In addition, the Classic of Poetry is the first collection of poems in China. Yuefu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style since Han Dynasty. The term originally literally meant "Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organizations originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the term YueFu was applied to later literary imitations or adaptations of the Music Bureau's poems. Of course, Ci and Novels are the shiny stars of Chinese literature.

Chinese Philosophy

The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought",[1] which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developments.[1] Although much of Chinese philosophy begins in the Warring States period, elements of Chinese philosophy have existed for several thousand years; some can be found in the Yi Jing (the Book of Changes), an ancient compendium of divination, which dates back to at least 672 BCE.[2] It was during the Warring States era that the major philosophies of China, Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, and Daoism, arose, along with philosophies that later fell into obscurity, like Agriculturalism, Chinese Naturalism, and the Logicians.

Chinese Opera  

(Chinese: 戏曲/戲曲; Pinyin: xìqǔ) is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE. There are numerous regional branches of Chinese opera, of which the Beijing opera (Jingju) is one of the most notable.

Chinese Opera is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. Yu opera, Peking opera, Ping opera, Yue opera and Huangmei opera are five types of drama in China. Chinese theater has a long and complex history. Today it is often called Chinese opera although this normally refers specifically to the popular form known as Beijing opera and Kunqu; there have been many other forms of theater in China, such as zaju.

Chinese Cuisine 

Delicious! You will lick your chaps when you face the meals like the picture portrays. In this picture, there are Chinese meal in Suzhou with rice, shrimp, eggplant, fermented tofu,vegetable stir-fry, vegetarian duck with meat and bamboo. The overwhelmingly large variety of Chinese cuisine comes mainly from the practice of dynastic period, when emperors would host banquets with 100 dishes per meal. There are eight famous cuisines in China now, such as Szechuan cuisine, which  has bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers; Huaiyang cuisine, which are usually more meticulous and light compared to the more “brash” eating styles of northern China. If you come to China, you should have a try and touch your sense of taste by delicious food. 

Chinese Tea

Chinese tea is a beverage from the leaves of tea plants (Camellia sinensis) boiled with water, which are ordinarily used for tea in China. Tea leaves are processed using traditional Chinese methods. The Chinese drink tea throughout the day, including during meals, as a substitute for plain water for health or simple pleasure.

Dress    

Clothes are a important part in people’s life and Human civilization. Clothes meet our needs and represent the culture in a certain period. To begin with, Chinese traditional clothing is not only the phenomenon of culture, but also a combination of material and spirit. Besides, Chinese clothing has varied by region and time, and is recorded by the artifacts and arts of Chinese culture. These pictures above are only a small part of Chinese clothing, that is to say, Chinese clothing are various and characteristic. The most famous is Hanfu, which is the oldest Folk costume in the world. If you are interested in Chinese clothing, you can have a try if it is possible.   Original Feiyue shoes online shoes online shop http://www.icnbuys.com

Traditional Chinese medicine 

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM; simplified Chinese: 中医; traditional Chinese: 中醫; pinyin: zhōng yī; literally "Chinese medicine") is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 5,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (Tui na), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy

The doctrines of Chinese medicine are rooted in books such as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon and the Treatise on Cold Damage, as well as in cosmological notions like yin-yang and the five phases. Starting in the 1950s, these precepts were modernized in the People's Republic of China so as to integrate many anatomical and pathological notions with modern scientific medicine. Nonetheless, some of its methods, including the model of the body, or concept of disease, are not supported by modern evidence-based medicine.

TCM's view of the body places little emphasis on anatomical structures, but is mainly concerned with the identification of functional entities (which regulate digestion, breathing, aging etc.). While health is perceived as harmonious interaction of these entities and the outside world, disease is interpreted as a disharmony in interaction. TCM diagnosis includes in tracing symptoms to patterns of an underlying disharmony, by measuring the pulse, inspecting the tongue, skin, eyes and by looking at the eating and sleeping habits of the patient as well as many other things.

Conclusion

Chinese culture is broad and profound. The aspects I described are only parts of it. However, the essence of it is beyond words. So, you should grasp it by heart. In any case, Chinese culture is a great treasure. What we need to do is to respect and propagate it.