Gauze Dress and a Mummy

Silkworm raising and silk reeling is a great contribution of ancient Chinese women to the world civilization and progress. When the Silk Road opened in the Hah Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, westerners used to call China the Kingdom of Silk. The gauze dress unearthed from the Mawangdui No. 1 Tomb of the Han Dynasty in Hunan's Changsha, is as thin as cicada's wings and only weighs 49 grams. Made of high quality silk, this dress is as soft and light as the dress made of georgette, revealing the ancient Chinese weaving workers' high skill and talent. It is a silk dress, the earliest and best preserved in the world currently. Also excavated from the same tomb is a mummified woman's body. The woman was the wife of a prime minister of a kingdom     

The Invention of“Traces”

THE main figure in the woodcut entitled "Traces" is a fairy maiden taken from a fresco located in the Taoist temple known as Yongle Palace; originally painted by an anonymous artist of the Yuan Dynasty, this supernatural image from Taoism has both an elegant poise and the wisdom of an ordinary woman. The remainder of the woodcut is made up of sections of "A Sightseeing Tour," a painting of scenery from the Tang Dynasty which harmonizes surprisingly well with the fairy. "Traces" reminds us of the spiritual wealth bequeathed to us by the ancient artists. The image of women that it presents reminds us of the Chinese mothers     

A Wine-Water Container

This exquisite bronze object is a combination wine container and water container. It was excavated from the tomb of Zeng Houyi, a prince of the State of Zeng. The upper part is a wine container, measuring 30. 1 cm tall and the lower part is a water or ice container, measuring 58 cm in diameter. The two parts resemble a     

Food Basin from the State of Xi Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.)

The State of Xi was a small kingdom in ancient times located between the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. It was overturned by leaders from the State of Chu in 680 B.C. This bronze basin, the only unearthed relic from the State of Xi, is 21 centimeters in girth, has a lid with a bugle-shaped handle and two symmetrical handles on the sides. The bottom of the basin is engraved with the characters meaning "Xing, the king of the State Xi has this as his food basin."     

The Changxin Palace Lantern

The Changxin Palace Lantern wasexcavated from the tomb of Dou Wan,wife of the Zhongshanjing Prince LiuSheng, in Mancheng, Hebei Province in1968. It is 48 cm high and gilded all over.The support of the lantern is in the shapeof a pretty maid of honor in a kneelingposition. The maid's dress specifically reflectsthe women's dressing during the HanDynasty. Under the conceal of her sedateappearance is a trace of sadness. Holdingthe lantern with her left hand, her right     

Hong Kong Women's Participation in Public Affairs——Myth or Reality?

This is a translation of a speech delivered by Rita Fan at the All-China Women's Federation on 28 September 1996. Ms. Fan is a member of the SAR Preparatory Committee and Vice President of the Hong Kong Women's Association. JUDGING from the current situation in Hong Kong, it is difficult for women to take an active role in public affairs. This is probably due to two factors. The     

Spotless, Jade-like Personality (traditional Chinese painting)

The interpretation of the traditional Chinese paintings done by Xie Lijun vividly expresses a woman's tolerance and silence. In traditional Chinese paintings black is the main component and the function of the color red is only to provide a striking contrast, so it is only used occasionally. On the contrary, in "Spotless. ,Jade-Like Personality." the color red is the main color in the painting. So different from its usual function, the red set against the quiet internal world passes from the expression of the figure's eyes. The red color adds more elegance and inlplicit meaning to the work.     

Gilded Silver Crown with Double-dragon Pattern

Unearthed from a Liao tomb at Zhangjia Yingzi, Jianping County, Liaoning Province in 1956, this gilded silver crown with double-dragon pattern is 19 cm high and 20.9 cm in diameter. Its shape is suggestive of a mountain: higher in the middle and lower on both sides. On the front is a carving in the shape of a pearl surrounded by an S-shape pattern symbolizing good fortune. There is a lively dragon on either side. The complete design is based on the old theme "two dragons play with a pearl." Traditions of the Qidan, an ancient nationality of northern China, are evident in the design of the crown. It is recorded in     

Guangzhou's Baozai Meal a Popular Fast Food

IN Guangzhou, where restaurants are plentiful and food from many places is served, the baozai meal, a kind of traditional Chinese fast food, has retained its place in the hearts of Guangzhou's caterers. The history of the baozai meal starts at least from the beginning of this century. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou was the largest trading port in south China with a developed, commodities-based economy. There were many dockworkers and porters living in the city at the time. They worked very hard and were often too busy to eat their meals at home. As a result, different kinds of meals were invented to meet their needs, such as the botou meal (bo is kind of earthen bowl), the dietou meal (die is small plate) and the baozai meal     

Single Parents

FOR some parents the responsibility of bringing up a child is a one person task. Shouldering parental duties of two, single parents not only raise the child, but bring home the bacon as well. This is life for many people—either because of the death of a spouse, divorce, living apart from a spouse, pregnancy without marriage, or abandonment—the parent and child     

《绿色中国》

China is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, and its habitats range from the vast deserts of the northwest and the Tibetan Plateau, to forested mountain slopes, to a myriad of rivers and lakes and the steamy tropical forests of the far south. China is home to many rare and threatened species. and conservation is now a firm priority for the Chinese Government. Interest in China＇s green heritage has never been greater,     

Marrying Far from My Hometown

WHERE I'm from, the countryside of Longsha Township in Wanxian City, Sichuan Province, most young women still find a husband with the help of a go-between. Families of this kind lack the bond of feelings and it is not uncommon that the husband beats the wife. Many wives go back their parents' home for asylum while those wives from     

A De'ang Wedding

Every wedding is different, but somehow they are all the same. That is what I felt when I attended the wedding of Yang Yubu, a De'ang young woman who is an acquaintance of mine. Chudonggua Village is located at the eastern part of Santai Township. It is about 30 kilometers away from tile seat of Mangshi. When I learned that Yubu was going to get married, I jumped onto a shuttle bus that would take me past the foot of the mountain where the village sits. Halfway along the journey, I disembarked and started     

MUSIC OF ANTIQUITY

BEAUTIFUL music is flowing out from the fingertips of a dozen old men. They hail from the remote snowcapped Yulong mountain of Lijiang, located in southwestern China's Yunnan Province. The music that they play has a history of more than one thousand years. Performed in traditional costume with antique-looking musical instruments, the thoroughly original concert of ancient     

Patima Abdurashit and Her Students

Every evening, beautiful melodies flew from a bungalow located at downtown Korla City. This is home of Patima Abdurashit, teacher with the Ounyi Art Studio of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture. Patima, 52, graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing).in 1966. The Uygur violinist is now member of the Chinese Musicians' Association and member of the standing committee of the Musicians' Association of the Bayinbuleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture. Her 30-add years of career is marked with outstanding achievements and awards, and albums of her solo performances. The more than 200 children Patima has taught come from different ethnic groups, and Patima is thus granted with award as the "Model of Ethnic Unification."     

Tibetan Students in Shanghai

THE campus of the Shanghai Middle School for Hui Nationality is very beautiful. In the middle of the campus is a round lawn and in the center of the lawn is a tall cedar. Around the lawn are the classroom buildings, students' laboratory building, the cinema and an office building. Shades of green and bright flowers are seen everywhere. Just after a spring rain, the campus appears especially fresh and pleasing to the eye. More than 400 Tibetan students are studying and living at this beautiful school. They are mostly the children of ordinary Tibetan families from the Tibet Autonomous Region; all are top students     

Carrying on the Tradition

EVERY Sunday. childish voices can be heard coming from the Erlizhuang Residential Quarter in Haidian District, Beijing. It is the children of the Benzhen Children's Peking Opera Art School. Wang Jinsheng, dean of the school, is not only a descendant of a well-known family in which several generations performed in the Peking opera, but also a teacher with more than 20 years' teaching experience.     

Silver Bell

Among the many exquisite burial articles excavated from Hua Fang's tomb in the western suburbs of Beijing, this silver bell has attracted much attention with its unusual design. The bell, dating back to the Jin Dynasty, is indeed a work of art. The upper half of the 2.6cm diameter silver ball is filigreed with eight musical figurines. A small bell hangs from each figurine. The lower part of the silver ball is decorated with an arc pattern. The     

One Woman's Bitter Medicine

ANGUO City in Hebei Province is a small one—only a few years ago, it was still a township—but it is well-known in Chinese medical circles as one of the four largest distribution centers of Chinese herbal medicine. Locals proudly call their hometown the "Medicine Capital." Anguo's streets are lined with medicine shops. In addition, the city is also home to a large medicine wholesale market, where hundreds of kinds of Chinese herbal medicine from all over the country Can be found. Both in the wholesale depot and in the small shops, it is striking that most buyers are men while most of the sellers are women. Song Mulan, the director of the municipal women's federation, is     

Bronze Dragons and Phoenix Table

The table is one of the oldest kinds of furniture in China.Most, however, haven't survived as they were made ofbamboo or wood, The discovery of this bronze table gives usa chance to see a real object from the Warring States Periodfor the first time. This bronze table was unearthed from the tomb of a kingof the Zhongshan Kingdom during the Warring States Periodat today's Pingshan County, Hebei Province. The stand isformed from four two-winged dragons and four phoenixes