SURVEY OF CHINA

Introduction:
China has a 5000-year history and civilization.
People come to chance their antiquity but are more amazed by her unique creativity.
They say she is the epitome of elegance and fashion.

Questions to answer:
1. Is china old enough to undergo 21 dynasties
2. How can she seriously cook the most delicious food in the world?
3. How can she make the emperors mansions and the folks old houses clearly symbolic?
4. How could her peeking operans and kongfu be so popular with the world?
5. Her art, literature and philosophy are so profaned that they become a luxury people all over the
world.

The first seismograph of the world, whose inventor is Zhang Heng, a famous ancient scientist in the
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220).

1. Blue and White Porcelain

It takes us back more than 2000 years.
Derived from Asian china.

Developments Painting
Use for traditional garments Glazing
The blue colour is rich Kiln filling
Fce Baking
Crafts
Production stages Applications
Refining slurry Use widely nowadays. Such as pottery.
Wheel throwing With technology the status of white and blue
Stapling porcelain has heavily improved.

2. Chinese Folk Toys

They were called Shuahuo (play goods) among the folks, especially applying to amusement.

The features of Chinese folk toys:

Widely spread regional range
Plentiful skins
Diversified styles

Kite: a kind of Chinese traditional folk toys which is in bamboo-paper shape and can flowing into the sky
North china: paper eagle also called
South china: sparrow Hawk also called

Regional of characteristic of kite

1. Beijing kite
Produced the most representative traditional form of kite.
 It spreads it swings to fly
It exaggerates and emphasizes its stretched wings and scissor-shaped empennage, forming a very
beautiful and elegant shape.

2. Tianjin kite
Tianjin kite is a kind of lightweight elaborate folding kite
Colour decoration:
- Combined the local
- Means of artistic
- Expression of New Year picture
- Paper cutting and building painting

3. Weifang kite of Shandong province

The kite has abstracted the strong point of wooden New Year0s painting, making its appearance
more colourful, vivid and elegant.
 Exquisite in style
 Beautiful in painting
 Good in quality

4. Nantong kite of jiang

Can be two types:
A. Board sparrow hawk – usually be equipped with fipples of different shapes, textures and
tones. It can make fantastic sound after it flies into the sky. It has different patterns of
triangles, flat base pentagon and circle according to the logic of interested geometric shape.
B. Live sparrow hawk

The Factions of Kite

1. The traditional folk faction
The prodder of the folk kites, mostly farmers and craftsmen, generally speaking, there is no special
training in the arts. Folk kites with the ancient tradition of colour, in fact is a collective creation.
2. The traditional artisan faction
Due to the business of selling kites, flying also came into being.
3. The modern innovation faction
The main features of modern kites are the use of new technology and materials, modelling simply
and lively, with a distinct era.

Four Skills of Making Kites

1. Rolling
2. Paper-pasting
3. Painting
4. Flying

Customs
Kite flying is one of the traditional chines follow games.
In ancient times, there was an old custom. People wished to get rid of bad luck by flying kites.
People wrote their names on the kites, then put to the sky and deliberately cut lines with bad events.
3. The Story of Chinese Wine
Chinese people have been hostable since ancient times the first thing to greet friends is to take the
banquet. Chinese people think that family and friends get together will feel very happy and wine plays
an important role.

Important to know Chinese drinking habits:

 The degree of Chinese wine. Most Chinese drink baijiu, also known as shaojiu. It is made from
grain. It is a strong distilled spirit, and it has a d very high degree, the highest is 68% of alcohol. It
a person who is not good at drinking takes even a small sip he/she can get immediately
confused.
 Persuading wine. This means persuading guests to drink. When the dinner party begins, the
host begins to persuade guests to drink wine. After speaking a few words, the host drinks and
the guests drink wine to show respect to the host. The burden of drinking is sometimes too
heavy, so smart Chinese people have many reasons to refuse wine. In order to persuade you to
drink, there are many persuasive words to get you to drink. For example, how much wine can
you drink? Which represents the depth of friendship? If a Chinese friend says this to you, it
means you need to drink all the wine in the glass.
 Punishment – If you are late to a party of banquet in chine, the Chinese will give you three
glasses of wine as a little sweet punishment, if you do not like drinking you should not be late.
 Toast – reflected in two respects:
o The order of toasting – from the younger to the elder. The host to the gest, the lower to
the superior.
o The way of toasting – there are three main rules.
 The person’s wine glass must be filled fully.
 You must stand up when you have a toast and hold the wine glass with you two
hands.
 When you have a toast with other people, you cup edge must tough other’s cup
edge, meanwhile your cup must be lower than the other side.
 The most important thing is to show respect to the drinkers.
 Drinking game – Chinese people like playing drinking games while drinking. The winners og
game can designate lowers to drink, many in the form of:
o Dice
o Lottery
o Punching
o Guessing

4. Chinese Food Culture – Hot Pot

Hotpot is a unique form of Chinese cuisine and is popular in all ages.

Origin
Originated from Genghis Khan in Qing Dynasty. The soldiers used their own knives to handle the slightly
frozen beef and mutton. Sliced into thin slices and rinsed in boiling water, the tender slices were cooked.

Classification
There are three types:
1. Chongqing Hotpot – spicy and pungent. Because of the timid climate, the passionate personality
of local people.
 2. Beijing Hotpot – mutton (fresh and tender). Beijing is located in norther china and the weather is
cold. So, hotpot makes people warm.
3. Seafood Hotpot – It is fresh and originated. The found in the coastal cities and is famous for its
abundant seafood.

The Steps of Eating

1. Choosing the pot – Spicy Hotpot, Yuanyang Hotpot, 3-flavored Hotpot.
2. Rinsing and cooking – rinsing the slices of meat and vegetables that are easy to be cooked.
Furthermore, the food hard to be cooked requires more time.
3. Experience of eating pot should be first meat and then vegetables.
4. After eating hot pot – you can eat some cool fruits, such as pears and apples. They are good for our
digestion.

5. Square Dancing
Has a long history. Finger-popping music in a place where there is a lot of room.

The development of square dancing

The stages
1. Ancient square dancing – Used in the ruling class for religious worship. Deriving from the early
production and labour of human beings. It eventually evolved into the fitness square dancing
2. Modern square dancing – Ensure security, eliminate violence and defend the country. In the
1929, the ministry of education published a sports promotion plan case. This stage of square
dancing has political purposes.
3. Recent square dancing – Today growing faster and faster.

The New Changes

1. Countryside to city
2. Small group to big groups.
3. Stage to get closer to people’s life.

Has become a sport accepted by and loved by people.

Why has it become so popular?

 Body – good way of keeping fit.
 Heart – They can feel eased by the sound of good music, it enables people to release heavy
pressure.
 Brain – slow down memory loss.
 Shape – the more exercise, the more you look pretty and fit.

Problems
 Noise pollution 2. Individuals – People can create better
 Taking up large areas atmosphere of mutual tolerance.
 Conflicts with surrounding residents. 3. Society – Social contract between
people that like it and people that
Measure: don’t.
1. Government – should stress the 4. Technology – used to reduce the
entertainment function. surrounding noise.
6. Spring Festival
There are four meanings of giving red packets:
1. Care: It represents mother’s love and care for their children far away from home.
2. Promise: It means that couples will make a commitment when they fall in love deeply.
3. Understanding: It shows leader’s considerate understanding for their subordinates.
4. Gratitude: It often happens in the occasion that children give red packets to their parents.

Lucky coins are tied with red threads.

After the Republic of China, it has turned one hundred coppers wrapped with red papers which means
best wishes of longevity or flourishing wealth.

Now, red packets have changed. Electronic red envelopes take place of material red packets and
become the main stream in our society. When it comes to the different amounts of red packets, they
have different meanings.

88 or 888 represent the wish of making a fortune.

666 means brilliant and great which is particularly popular among teenagers and young adults.
520 means I love you between couples.

The number of red packets differ a lot in many provinces in China. People in Fujian province receive the
largest amount of new year’s red packets while Cantonese receive the smallest.

New Year’s red packets are always given from elders to children which carry care and wishes of elders.

 Red packets in marriages are not only the best wishes to the new couples, but also the
happiness of sharing jubilance.
 Red packets for newly born are the congratulations to new couples for having new babies and
also the blessing to the babies.
 Red packets for other’s relocating to a new house is to celebrate that their life is getting better.

Chinese worship the culture “Filial piety is the foundation of all virtues” in all ages. The red packets are
usually given from elders to youngers or among the same age. However, when elders get older and
youngers grow up, things turn differently. The young generation gives red packets to the elderly which
means a great improvement of concern and love between the two generations.

0. Overview of China
China is a country of more than 5000 years. China is a very large country with many different landforms,
different climate zones, and a great number of rivers and lakes. Chinese people – of the Han nationality
and other ethnic groups, have been living on this vast land, creating and developing the country’s
unique culture.

1. Symbols
The Chinese celebrate October 1 as National Day in honor of the founding of the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) which was established on October 1, 1949.

National Flag is red with 5 yellow stars. The red colour of the flag symbolizes revolution and the colour
of the stars the brilliant gold rays that radiate from the vast land. The design of four smaller stars
surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the
Communist Party of China (CPC).

National Emblem is made up of the National Flag, the Tiananmen Gate, a cogwheel, and ears of grain the
national emblem symbolizes the New-Democratic Revolution of the Chinese people.

National Anthem – The March of Volunteers was written in 1935 by the poet Tian Han and composed by
Nie Er.

Beijing is the national capital of the People’s Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in
the world. It is not only China’s political center, but also serves as its economic, scientific, cultural and
educational heart. The Forbidden city is a collection of some of the largest and best-preserved ancient
buildings in China. Also, in Beijing there is the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs
and the Bagaling section of the Great Wall.

2. Geography
China is located in eastern Asia, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. It has a land area of about
9.6 million square kilometers and is the 3rd largest country in the world, behind only Russia and Canada.
 It has a land boundary of more than 20 000km.
 Its coastal border extends from the Yalu River to the Beiunhe River. The coastline is more than
18 000km long.
 It is surrounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South Sea. The Pacific Sea.

China has a varied and complicated topography. It Has low, flat and wide plains, gently undulating hilly
areas, mountainous regions with towering peaks, high and vast plateaus and bowl-shaped basins.
 More mountainous regions than flat.

China is abounding with rivers. Most of the large rivers receive their water from the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, and the elevation drops significantly as the water travels from the plateau to the mouth of the
rivers. As a result, China is rich in water-power resources, leading the world in hydro-power potential.
 Yangtze River: longest river in China (6,300 kilometers). It is the 3rd largest river in the world. It
flows through 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. One of the main modes of
transporting goods between eastern and western China.
 Yellow River: China’s 2nd largest river (5,464 kilometers). Raised-bed river. The cradle of Chinese
civilization and the spiritual home of Chinese people.

There are also man-made canals. The most famous is the Grand Canal located between Beijing and
Hangzhou. It is more than 1,700 kilometers in length. 1,000 years open navigation in facilitating trade
between the south and the north. Once China’s transportation and information highway before the
creation of the railways. Today it is more for sightseeing.

Climate
Due to factors such as geographic position, atmospheric circulation, altitude and human activity, China
can be divided into 2 climates zones:
1. The east monsoon zones
2. The north-west dry and semi-dry zone
3. The Tibetan high and cold zone.
 Temperature gap between north and south China. In North China its snows, but in South China it
does not. Temperatures are warm in both the north and south in the summer.

3. Outline History
Recorded history of more than 4,000 years and is one of the four homes of the world’s earliest
civilization. The first primitive man known to have existed in China is Yuhanmou Man who lived about
1.7 million years ago. Peking Man, who existed more than 600,000 years ago at Zhoukoudian, close to
modern Beijing. They could walk upright, make and use simple tools, and make use of fire. So, they
possessed basic human characteristics.

China dynastic history can be divided into two periods:

1. The ancient period (ancient times -1840)
2. The modern period (1840-today)

Chinese history began with two legendary figures – Emperor Huan and Emperor Yan, who together with
their tribes, inhabited the drainage area along the middle reaches of the Yellow River. During the Xia
dynasty (2070-1600 BC), after centuries of living together, these two tribes had gradually merged into
one. Consequently, the Chinese people usually call themselves the “Descendants of Yan and Huang.”

Timeline of Chinese History:

1. Xia dynasty
2. Shang dynasty (1600-1046)
3. Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BC)
4. Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221 BC).

In 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the highly gifted, ambitious king of the Qin Kingdom ended the turmoil and chaos
among dukes and kings in the Warring States period. He stablished the first united, centralised, multi-
ethnic feudal monarchy- the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), styling himself “Shi Huangdi. (meaning the “First
Emperor).

The Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) was established by Lio Bang, with its capital at Chang’ an (Now Xi’an).
It is divided into two periods: The Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) and the Eastern Han dynasty (AD
25-220).

By the year 220. China evolved into the 3 kingdoms period, in a tripartite balance of the:
1. Wei Kingdom ( AD 220-265)
2. Shu Kingdom (AD 221-263)
3. Wu Kingdom (AD 222-280)

Following the 3 Kingdoms period were the Jin dynasty (265-420), the Southern and Northern dynasties
(AD 420-589) and the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618).

By the year 618, the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), commonly regarded as the glorious period in Chinese
history, was founded by Li Yuan.

Following the Tang dynasty cam ethe period for the 5 dynasties and the 10 kingdoms (AD 907-979). In
960, Zhao Kuangyin launched a rebellion. His lieutenants clothed him in the yellow imperial grown and
asked him to ascent the throne. He thus established the Song dynasty (960-1279).