中国文化unit3.docx

1、中国文化unit3Unit Three Culture Elements & Custom Kong Fu Kong Fu is aChineseterm referring to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete, often used in the West to refer toChinese martial arts.It is only in the late twentieth century, that this term was used i

2、n relation to Chinese Martial Arts by the Chinese community.The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term Kung-fu as a primarily unarmed Chinese martial art resembling karate.This illustrates how the meaning of this term has been changed in English. The origin of this change can be attributed to th

3、e misunderstanding or mistranslation of the term through movie subtitles or dubbing. In Chinese, Gngfu (功夫) is a compound of two words, combining功(gng) meaning work, achievement, or merit, and夫(f) which is alternately treated as being a word for man or as a particle or nominal suffix with diverse me

4、anings (the same character is used to write both). A literal rendering of the first interpretation would be achievement of man, while the second is often described as work and time/effort. Its connotation is that of an accomplishment arrived at by great effort of time and energy. InMandarin, when tw

5、o firsttone words such asgngandfare combined, the second word often takes a neutral tone, in this case forminggngfu. The word is also sometimes written as 工夫, this version often being used for more general, non-martial arts usages of the term.Dragon Deeply rooted in Chinese culture, dragon and phoen

6、ix were regarded as the most scared animals and used to be emblems of emperor and empress. The Chinese dragon is traditionally the embodiment of the concept of yang (male), while phoenix was paired (yin, female) with dragon. They were used as decorative signs on the buildings, clothing and other dai

7、ly uses articles of imperial palace to highly show off that the emperor as real dragon and son of heaven. Even the bed he sleep on was called dragon bed, while throne be the dragon seat, other Chinese vocabularies like phoenix carriage and so on were common to show their heaven-sent status. Lung or

8、Chinese Dragon is unlike the evil dragon in the west; it was a gracious creature that able to do almost everything, flying into the sky and live in the deep ocean or lake. For ancient Chinese people, Lung is an ideal animal that was worshiped as the ruler of river, lake and sea, bringing rain and wa

9、ter to the earth. He is friendly and wise and honored in the temple being built. Lung gradually adopted the meaning of power and boldness, intelligent and ambitious, heroism and nobility, and then referred to the authority and power of imperial house. Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine ha

10、s a long history in China. It is practical and effective to cure many kinds of diseases. That is why traditional Chinese medicine expediences so many setbacks and lives through til now. In China, whenever you enter a clinic, the doctor first takes four steps to learn about your condition. Firstly, o

11、bservation(toobservethefacialcondition, suchasthe tongue, face etc.) Secondly, listening(tolistentothepatternofheartbeatandsoundfrom body) Thirdly, inquiry (toaskdetailedquestionsaboutsuchissuesasqualityofsleep, mood, preferred food, dream, appetite and stress) Fourthly,pulse-taking(tofeelthepulse p

12、attern in the wrist to knowinternalbodyconditionsuchasthebloodcirculation)After the four steps, the doctor canalmostknowyourconditionandmakeadiagnosisaboutthe patients condition andwhattheproblemis.Asforforeignerswhodonotknowmuch about Traditional ChineseMedicine,theywillfeelsurprisedanddoubtedifthe

13、ycome across this case. However,itisthewayhowTraditionalChineseMedicineworksexactly in a very small aspect.Chinese Tea Being a vivid Chinese cultural specialty as well as Kungfu and traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese tea has been being developed in China for a long time accompanied with which a s

14、eries of tea culture took shape. Widely known in Chinese history as a fortuitous discovery of Shennong (神农), a renowned Chinese legendary chieftain and respected physician in the far ancient times, tea had been mentioned in the old Chinese medical work Herbal Classic (本草经), which was written in the

15、1stcentury. Tea Classic, the first work about tea in the world written by Lu Yu (733-804, the Chinese Tea Saint living in Tang Dynasty), represents that not only did Chinese tea play an essential part in diet but also tea culture seeped into all aspects of peoples daily life, e.g. poetry, painting,

16、calligraphy, religion, medicine. Nowadays in China a great deal of knowledge about tea is still treated as invaluable patrimony, tea is still a common drink on the table and it has even become an ideal present when people host or visit others.Used as medicine at the very beginning and then cooked wi

17、th other food as diet, tea was not made by soaking tea-leaves with hot water until Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which is the most common way of making tea in China today. However, there are still some differences in making teas due to the varieties of the tea-leaves. It is a common sense to make a cup

18、of tea by filling hot water into the cup with instant or small-bag tea-leaves, but it is widely considered to be a better way to make mellow tea by soaking tea-leaves with hot water in a teapot for some time (5-10 minutes or longer, depending on personal preference). Tea-leaves are usually discarded

19、 after being soaked once or twice.Based on the color, the tea can be classified : Green Tea, Yellow Tea, White TeaQing Cha, Black Tea (HongCha), Dark Tea (HeiCha)Eight steps of brewing tea:1.Wash the cups 2. Put the tea in the teapot 3. Pour boiling water 4. Shave the foam 5. Put the tea into the cu

20、ps 6. Finally pour some tea 7. Enjoy the tea 8.DrinkingIn China nowadays, tea still plays an important role in peoples daily life especially at home, restaurants and teahouses. Generally, elders are fond of the traditional tea-making for leisure and the original taste, while the youth prefer bottled

21、 tea drinks because of its convenience and various flavors.Beijing OperaBeijing Opera is a form oftraditional Chinese theatrewhich combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.The f

22、orm was extremely popular in theQing dynastycourt and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.Major performance troupes are based inBeijingandTianjinin the north, andShanghaiin the south.The art form is also preserved inTaiwan, where it is known as Guoju (国剧). It has also s

23、pread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.Classification of rolesThe role on the Peking Opera stage fall into four major roles-Sheng (生), Dan (旦), Jing (净), Chou (丑).42Sheng (生): refer to men, divided into Laosheng (老生)，Xiaosheng (小生)，Wusheng (武生)Dan (旦): refer to women, divided i

24、nto Zhengdan (正旦), Laodan (老旦), Huadan (花旦), Wudan (武旦), Daomadan (刀马旦)Jing (净): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Hualian, divided into Zhengjing (正净), Fujing (副净), Wujing (武净), Maojing (毛净)Chou (丑): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Xiao hualian, divided into Wenchou (文丑),

25、Wuchou (武丑), Nchou (女丑)Chinese Food Chinese food owning a long history has varieties of genres and featured styles. Exquisite and complex skills are needed, if one wants to cook Chinese food. Chinese Cuisine Cultureis an important component of Chinese culture, which makes Chinese Cuisine one of the

26、world three main cuisines: Chinese Cuisine, French Cuisine and Turkish Cuisine. In China, cultures in different regions are respectively distinctive. So are the food cultures. It givesrisetothedifferentstylesoffood. There are eight main regional cuisines, Eight Great Cuisines (八大菜系): Anhui(徽菜), Guan

27、gdong(粤菜）, Fujian（闽菜）, Hunan（湘菜）, Jiangsu（苏菜）, Shandong（鲁菜）, Sichuan（川菜）, Zhejiang（浙菜）. Except the Eight Great Cuisines,Beijing Cuisine and Shanghai Cuisine are also famouse from China and abroad. The Chinese gastronomy is characterized by the multiplicity of its ingredients, the complexity of its m

28、ethods of cutting, the sophistication in the use of condiments and spices, its methods of cooking and finally the incredible variety of its dishes. According to a statistical study published in China in 1983, there more than 60,000 different Chinese dishes. Chinese Music According to the archaeologi

29、cal discovery of the bone-flute unearthed in Wuyang County, Henan Province, Chinese music can be traced back to 8000 years ago. Over a long history, Chinese nation created a marvelous culture of music which also has a far-reaching influence to the countrys neighboring areas. China is known as a coun

30、try of music in the far ancient times; the Chinese ancient music is of great importance in the culture and etiquette of the country. Witha longstanding tradition of musical education as early as the Warring State Period (475 BC - 221 BC), Confucius had set the study procedures from poems to etiquett

31、e and then the last important, to music. Developed from the primitive music created in collective labouring, Chinese music has expanded into a huge system for a long-term creation with rich instruments and forms, and a large number of excellent musicians and pieces. Talk about Chinese music, the uni

32、que folk music and the essence of China culture, the Chinese operas, can not be missed, while talk about folk songs, we have to mention The Jasmine Flowers, which is a world-renowned song and identified as the premier representative of the Chinese folk music.The Chinese national musical instrument is the key part in Chinese music. With a long history standing, there are a series of national instruments developed in China. In terms of material, the