中国文化unit3.docx
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中国文化unit3
UnitThreeCultureElements&Custom
KongFu
KongFuisa Chinesetermreferringtoanystudy,learning,orpracticethatrequirespatience,energy,andtimetocomplete,oftenusedintheWesttoreferto Chinesemartialarts. Itisonlyinthelatetwentiethcentury,thatthistermwasusedinrelationtoChineseMartialArtsbytheChinesecommunity. TheOxfordEnglishDictionarydefinestheterm"Kung-fu"as"aprimarilyunarmedChinesemartialartresemblingkarate." ThisillustrateshowthemeaningofthistermhasbeenchangedinEnglish.Theoriginofthischangecanbeattributedtothemisunderstandingormistranslationofthetermthroughmoviesubtitlesordubbing.
InChinese,Gōngfu(功夫)isacompoundoftwowords,combining 功 (gōng)meaning"work","achievement",or"merit",and 夫 (fū)whichisalternatelytreatedasbeingawordfor"man"orasaparticleornominalsuffixwithdiversemeanings(thesamecharacterisusedtowriteboth).Aliteralrenderingofthefirstinterpretationwouldbe"achievementofman",whilethesecondisoftendescribedas"workandtime/effort".Itsconnotationisthatofanaccomplishmentarrivedatbygreateffortoftimeandenergy.In Mandarin,whentwo"first tone"wordssuchas gōng and fū arecombined,thesecondwordoftentakesaneutraltone,inthiscaseforming gōngfu.Thewordisalsosometimeswrittenas工夫,thisversionoftenbeingusedformoregeneral,non-martialartsusagesoftheterm.
Dragon
DeeplyrootedinChineseculture,dragonandphoenixwereregardedasthemostscaredanimalsandusedtobeemblemsofemperorandempress.TheChinesedragonistraditionallytheembodimentoftheconceptofyang(male),whilephoenixwaspaired(yin,female)withdragon.Theywereusedasdecorativesignsonthebuildings,clothingandotherdailyusesarticlesofimperialpalacetohighlyshowoffthattheemperorasrealdragonandsonofheaven.Eventhebedhesleeponwascalled"dragonbed",whilethronebethe"dragonseat",otherChinesevocabularieslike"phoenixcarriage"andsoonwerecommontoshowtheirheaven-sentstatus.
LungorChineseDragonisunliketheevildragoninthewest;itwasagraciouscreaturethatabletodoalmosteverything,flyingintotheskyandliveinthedeepoceanorlake.ForancientChinesepeople,Lungisanidealanimalthatwasworshipedastherulerofriver,lakeandsea,bringingrainandwatertotheearth.Heisfriendlyandwiseandhonoredinthetemplebeingbuilt.Lunggraduallyadoptedthemeaningofpowerandboldness,intelligentandambitious,heroismandnobility,andthenreferredtotheauthorityandpowerofimperialhouse.
ChineseMedicine
TraditionalChineseMedicinehasalonghistoryinChina.Itispracticalandeffectivetocuremanykindsofdiseases.ThatiswhytraditionalChinesemedicineexpediencessomanysetbacksandlivesthroughtilnow.
InChina,wheneveryouenteraclinic,thedoctorfirsttakesfourstepstolearnaboutyourcondition.Firstly,observation (to observe the facial condition,such as thetongue,faceetc.)Secondly,listening (to listen to the pattern of heart beat and sound frombody)Thirdly,inquiry(to ask detailed questions about such issues as quality of sleep,mood,preferredfood,dream,appetiteandstress)Fourthly, pulse-taking (to feel the pulsepatterninthewristtoknow internal body condition such as the blood circulation) Afterthefoursteps,thedoctorcan almost know your condition and make a diagnosis about thepatient’sconditionand what the problem is. As for foreigners who do not know muchaboutTraditionalChinese Medicine, they will feel surprised and doubted if they comeacrossthiscase.However, it is the way how Traditional Chinese Medicine works exactlyinaverysmallaspect.
ChineseTea
BeingavividChineseculturalspecialtyaswellasKungfuandtraditionalChinesemedicine,ChineseteahasbeenbeingdevelopedinChinaforalongtimeaccompaniedwithwhichaseriesofteaculturetookshape.WidelyknowninChinesehistoryasafortuitousdiscoveryofShennong(神农),arenownedChineselegendarychieftainandrespectedphysicianinthefarancienttimes,teahadbeenmentionedintheoldChinesemedicalwork"HerbalClassic(本草经)",whichwaswritteninthe1st century.
"TeaClassic",thefirstworkaboutteaintheworldwrittenbyLuYu(733-804,the"ChineseTeaSaint"livinginTangDynasty),representsthatnotonlydidChineseteaplayanessentialpartindietbutalsoteacultureseepedintoallaspectsofpeople'sdailylife,e.g.poetry,painting,calligraphy,religion,medicine.NowadaysinChinaagreatdealofknowledgeaboutteaisstilltreatedasinvaluablepatrimony,teaisstillacommondrinkonthetableandithasevenbecomeanidealpresentwhenpeoplehostorvisitothers.
Usedasmedicineattheverybeginningandthencookedwithotherfoodasdiet,teawasnotmadebysoakingtea-leaveswithhotwateruntilMingDynasty(1368-1644),whichisthemostcommonwayofmakingteainChinatoday.However,therearestillsomedifferencesinmakingteasduetothevarietiesofthetea-leaves.Itisacommonsensetomakeacupofteabyfillinghotwaterintothecupwithinstantorsmall-bagtea-leaves,butitiswidelyconsideredtobeabetterwaytomakemellowteabysoakingtea-leaveswithhotwaterinateapotforsometime(5-10minutesorlonger,dependingonpersonalpreference).Tea-leavesareusuallydiscardedafterbeingsoakedonceortwice.
Basedonthecolor,theteacanbeclassified:
GreenTea,YellowTea,WhiteTea
QingCha,BlackTea(HongCha),DarkTea(HeiCha)
Eightstepsofbrewingtea:
1.Washthecups2.Puttheteaintheteapot
3.Pourboilingwater4.Shavethefoam5.Puttheteaintothecups
6.Finallypoursometea7.Enjoythetea8.Drinking
InChinanowadays,teastillplaysanimportantroleinpeople'sdailylifeespeciallyathome,restaurantsandteahouses.Generally,eldersarefondofthetraditionaltea-makingforleisureandtheoriginaltaste,whiletheyouthpreferbottledteadrinksbecauseofitsconvenienceandvariousflavors.
BeijingOpera
BeijingOperaisaformof traditionalChinesetheatre whichcombinesmusic,vocalperformance,mime,dance,andacrobatics.Itaroseinthelate18thcenturyandbecamefullydevelopedandrecognizedbythemid-19thcentury. Theformwasextremelypopularinthe Qingdynasty courtandhascometoberegardedasoneoftheculturaltreasuresofChina. Majorperformancetroupesarebasedin Beijing and Tianjin inthenorth,and Shanghai inthesouth. Theartformisalsopreservedin Taiwan,whereitisknownasGuoju(国剧).IthasalsospreadtoothercountriessuchastheUnitedStatesandJapan.
Classificationofroles
TheroleonthePekingOperastagefallintofourmajorroles-Sheng(生),Dan(旦),Jing(净),Chou(丑).[42]
Sheng(生):
refertomen,dividedintoLaosheng(老生),Xiaosheng(小生),Wusheng(武生)
Dan(旦):
refertowomen,dividedintoZhengdan(正旦),Laodan(老旦),Huadan(花旦),Wudan(武旦),Daomadan(刀马旦)
Jing(净):
refertopainted-facerole,knowpopularlyasHualian,dividedintoZhengjing(正净),Fujing(副净),Wujing(武净),Maojing(毛净)
Chou(丑):
refertopainted-facerole,knowpopularlyasXiaohualian,dividedintoWenchou(文丑),Wuchou(武丑),Nüchou(女丑)
ChineseFood
Chinesefoodowningalonghistoryhasvarietiesofgenresandfeaturedstyles.Exquisiteandcomplexskillsareneeded,ifonewantstocookChinesefood.ChineseCuisineCulture isanimportantcomponentofChineseculture,whichmakesChineseCuisineoneoftheworldthreemaincuisines:
ChineseCuisine,FrenchCuisineandTurkishCuisine.
InChina,culturesindifferentregionsarerespectivelydistinctive.Soarethefoodcultures.Itgives rise to the different styles of food.Thereareeightmainregionalcuisines,EightGreatCuisines(八大菜系):
Anhui(徽菜),Guangdong(粤菜),Fujian(闽菜),Hunan(湘菜),Jiangsu(苏菜),Shandong(鲁菜),Sichuan(川菜),Zhejiang(浙菜).ExcepttheEightGreatCuisines, Beijing CuisineandShanghaiCuisinearealsofamousefromChinaandabroad.
TheChinesegastronomyischaracterizedbythemultiplicityofitsingredients,thecomplexityofitsmethodsofcutting,thesophisticationintheuseofcondimentsandspices,itsmethodsofcookingandfinallytheincrediblevarietyofitsdishes.
AccordingtoastatisticalstudypublishedinChinain1983,theremorethan60,000differentChinesedishes.
ChineseMusic
Accordingtothearchaeologicaldiscoveryofthebone-fluteunearthedinWuyangCounty,HenanProvince,Chinesemusiccanbetracedbackto8000yearsago.Overalonghistory,Chinesenationcreatedamarvelouscultureofmusicwhichalsohasafar-reachinginfluencetothecountry’sneighboringareas.
Chinaisknownasacountryofmusicinthefarancienttimes;theChineseancientmusicisofgreatimportanceinthecultureandetiquetteofthecountry.With alongstandingtraditionofmusicaleducationasearlyastheWarringStatePeriod(475BC-221BC),Confuciushadsetthestudyproceduresfrompoemstoetiquetteandthenthelastimportant,tomusic. Developedfromtheprimitivemusiccreatedincollectivelabouring,Chinesemusichasexpandedintoahugesystemforalong-termcreationwithrichinstrumentsandforms,andalargenumberofexcellentmusiciansandpieces.TalkaboutChinesemusic,theuniquefolkmusicandthe"essence"ofChinaculture,theChineseoperas,cannotbemissed,whiletalkaboutfolksongs,wehavetomentionTheJasmineFlowers,whichisaworld-renownedsongandidentifiedasthepremierrepresentativeoftheChinesefolkmusic.
TheChinesenationalmusicalinstrumentisthekeypartinChinesemusic.Withalonghistorystanding,thereareaseriesofnationalinstrumentsdevelopedinChina.Intermsofmaterial,the