Painted Wooden Figurines

The making of figurines can be dated back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (475 B.C.-221), when, instead of burying slaves with the master when he died, figurines were made for burial. This was progress for the society. Most figurines were made of wood during the Warring States Period and the early period of the Western Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty pottery and clay were used instead of wood.     

Beijing Silk Figurines

The Beijing silk figurine is a traditional Chinese handicraft. It originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and has been around for more than 1,000 years. It is called a silk figurine because all parts of the handicraft are made of highquality Chinese silk. The figurine comes in sizes ranging from 16-46 centimeters to suit many decorating tastes. If you look closely you will find that the head and hands are quite exquisite, and the clothes and ornaments are true to lire. The process of making a figurine includes dozens of steps, from sculpting to painting, sewing to doing inlay work. The subjects of Beijing silk figures are wide-ranging and come mostly from Chinese     

Science,a Medium for International Friendship

THIS past fall, my colleagues, scholars from Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science under the State Bureau of Environmental Protection, left for the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), in the United States. They were the third group of visiting scholars to make this trip, thus completing a three-year cooperative program in agroecology. This friendship cultivated by Chinese and American scientists bears fine fruit. As a participant in the cooperative program, I was lucky enough to work at UCSC for two weeks and forged a profound friendship with my UCSC's colleagues. In the fall of 1993, I went to UCSC alone, the first visiting scholar of this     

Colored Clay Bodhisattva

Buddhism was introduced to Zhejiang Province during the Three Kingdoms (220-280). In the Song Dynasty the Buddhist doctrine developed with typical Chinese character. The flourishing commerce in cities and social consciousness toward real life greafiy influenced Buddhist statue art. As a result, the image of Buddha,which was a bearded male found in the Dunhuang Caves of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), changed to     

Figurines of Female Officials

Burying living people with the dead was a practice which existed in China for several thousand years. With the development of civilization, figurines began to take the place of people. Since the Qin and Han dynasties in the Third Century, officials and rich people usually prepared figurines made of wood, mud or clay, to be buried with them after their death. This practice ended in the-Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).     

Phoenix-Head Flat Kettle

The elegant ceramic style of blue-and-white porcelain (with colored drawings under glaze) emerged in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279), came to maturity in the Yuan Dynasty, and became popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Famous for its delicate blue flowers on a pure white background, this style of porcelainware possesses rich Chinese flavor and strong aesthetic appeal; pieces handed down to the present day still     

悦读

Delicacy of Spring Festival Life Week,published in January 2020.Chinese New Year's Eve dinner,or the family reunion dinner,is literally the most important dinner for Chinese.The annual family reunion dinner has more dishes than an ordinary dinner for Chinese.It is said the New Year's Eve dinner dates back to the Han Dynasty(202 BC-220 AD).China,a country with a vast territory,is home to a wide variety of dining customs.For example,northern Chinese are used to eating dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve.Southerners,however,prefer to eat sweet dumplings.In the modern,fast-paced society,with convenient transportation and Internet services,some boundaries related to dining customs seem to be breaking down.     

Attractive Fuyang

FUYANG in Zhejiang Province is only about an hour's coach ride from Hangzhou. Fuyang's Fuchun River impresses people with another kind of charm to its more famous watery neighbour. Li Huan, a noted Chinese poet of the Song Dynasty, once wrote a poem praising the beauty of the mountains and waters of Fuyang. And Yu Dafu, a famous Chinese writer of modern times, considered the scenery along the Fuchun unparalleled in the world.     

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     

More Than Just A Job

MY husband, Li Li, was among the first group of people to be laid off in China. It happened in 1987. The state-funded orchestra that he was working with had to reduce its size. Except for a few players of electronic instruments, all the members of the troupe were made redundant. Li Li, an oboe player, was one of them. Unemployment was still new to us at that time. Chinese people had     

Boat-shaped Inkstone Water-dropper

The inkstone water-dropper was used to prepare ink for brush writing. As a traditional object in a Chinese study it can be made in any shape or design and serves both a practical and decorative function. Unearthed from kilns of the Yuan Dynasty in Longquan, Zhejiang Province in 1956, this 9.3 cm high and 17.3 cm long porcelain inkstone water-dropper vividly depicts'a boat. Narrow at either end, the tiny boat has two cabins, one for goods and the other for passengers, and rails on the boat's sides. A man and a woman sit aboard chatting, looking carefree as they enjoy     

Enameled Porcelain Bottle with Coral-Red Background

Decorative enameled porcelain was used by the imperial court during the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It was a new kind of art which blended French enameling skills with Chinese traditional porcelain craftsmanship. First made in the reign of Kangxi, the porcelainware decorated with the     

席镇——中国古代实用艺术品(英文)

The two bronze leopards shown in the picture are more than two thousand years old. Hunched bodies. straining necks. eyes and mouths wide open—their realism is a credit to the artist. The bodies of the leopards are inlaid with gold and silver. Their eyes are white agates adhered with vermilion dye. so that the eyes have a fierce devil-like. red eyed stare. These exquisite bronze leopards are not only represent a rare example of ancient crafts manship. but also give an insight into life at the time. Ancient Han Chinese people's homes were always furnished simply In Han Dynasty(B. C. 206—A. D. 220) more than two thousand years ago. people sat only on floor mats. Their beds were also covered with mats To avoid the corners curling up as guests stood up or sat down. mat weights were used for the dual purpose of decoration and keeping the mat nice and tidy     

了不起的“半边天”

Chinese women have devoted themselves to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics,and they have played an important role in"supporting half of the sky,"with no less courage or effort than men,says Chinese President Xi Jinping.Xi made the remarks when he joined national political advisors from the education,medical a and health sectors during a group meeting on March 6.     

Dongpo Meat

Su Dongpo (1037-1101), a famous literary figure of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was fond of pork braised in brown sauce. He liked it so much that he wrote a poem about how to cook the dish. When Su took the post of Hangzhou Prefecture chief in 1089, he organized laborers to dredge the West Lake, store water and irrigate the fields. The locals, knowing that Su liked to eat meat, presented him with gifts of pork to show their gratitude for his good service. Soon, Su had so much pork that he did not know what to do with it He     

Food for Thought Man Ponders Life at the Market

IN the past, Chinese food markets were frequented only by housewives. Today, however, it is not strange to see men buying food for the household. I am one of those men. Actually, I often eat ready-made food. My wife never asks me to buy the vegetables. I have only occasionally helped her with that. At the food market, you can observeall kinds of people within a short distance. The food market provides sights hard to come by in cities. When you first go into the market, it seems like you've entered another world Greenery is everywhere in the form of Chinese chives, lettuce and peas, mingled with violet eggplants, red     

Mazu Culture Links the Two Sides of the Taiwan Straits

THE goddess Mazu has been held in great esteem by emperors since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Wherever the Chinese live, in Asia, Africa, South America and North America, there are worshipers of Mazu. According to statistics, there are more than 1,500 Mazu temples and more than 200 million Mazu devotees in the world. Mazu culture, with its unique style, affects people and promotes friendly relations of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.     

A Grand Gathering in Autumn

On behalf of 600 million Chinese women, over 1,300 deputies came to Beijing to attend the Eighth Chinese Women's National Congress. According to the materials supplied by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), 43.67 percent of the deputies to this congress were engaged in women's work; 56.33 percent were representatives from the fields of industry and agriculture, commerce, trade and finance, science and technology, education, medicine, social welfare, media, law and the army; one percent were from Taiwan; one percent were returned overseas Chinese or the family dependents of overseas Chinese. All 55 ethnicities were represented; ethnic delegates accounted for 15.5 percent of the total. The average age of these deputies was 46.     

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