pele SciaSction - new media

CHINA
The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization
with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a welldeveloped
musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC
- 256 BC). Some of the oldest written music dates back to
Confucius's time. The first major well-documented flowering of
Chinese music was for the qin during the Tang Dynasty, though it is
known to have played a major part before the Han Dynasty.
Arts
Different forms of art have swayed under the influence of great
philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political figures.
Chinese art encompasses all facets of fine art, folk art and
performance art. Porcelain pottery was one of the first form of art in
the Palaeolithic period. Early Chinese music and poetry was
influenced by the Book of Songs, Confucius and the Chinese poet
and statesman Qu Yuan. Chinese painting became a highly
appreciated art in court circles encompassing a wide variety of
Shan shui with specialized styles such as Ming Dynasty painting.
Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which
later gave away to string and reed instruments. By the Han dynasty
papercutting became a new art form after the invention of paper.
Chinese opera would also be introduced and branched regionally
in additional to other performance formats such as variety arts.
Fashion
Different social class in different time eras boast different fashion
trends. China's fashion history covers thousands of years with some
of the most colorful and diverse arrangements. Fashionable but
questionable practices such as footbinding have also been part of
the culture. Many symbols such as phoenix have been used for
decorative as well as political purposes.
Architecture
Chinese architecture, examples of which can be found from over
2,000 years ago, has long been a hallmark of the culture. There
are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless
of specific region or use. The most important is its emphasis on
width, as the wide halls of the Forbidden City serve as an example.
Another important feature is symmetry, which connotes a sense of
grandeur as it applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses.
One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to
be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the
principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring
flow, to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without
prescription, as in nature herself. Feng shui has played an
important part in structural development.
Cuisine
The overwhelmingly large variety mainly comes from the emperors
hosting a banquet of 100 dishes each meal. Countless number of
imperial kitchen staff and concubines were involved in the food
preparation process. Over time, many dishes became part of the
everyday-citizen culture. Some of the highest quality restaurants
with recipes close to the dynastic periods include Fangshan
restaurant in Beihai Park Beijing and the Oriole Pavilion.
Leisure
A number of games and past-times are popular
within Chinese culture. The most common
game is Mah Jong. The same pieces are used
for other styled games such as Shanghai
Solitaire. Others include Pai Gow, Pai gow
poker and other bone domino games. Go
proverb and Xiangqi is also popular. Ethnic
games like Chinese yo-yo are also part of the
culture.
Chinese Science and Culture" was a sketch of a
global history of science and technology which
emphasized China as the source of many of the
prerequisite technologies of modernity--
printing, the compass, gunpowder, cast iron,
and so on-- and discussed the historical and
intellectual contexts of Chinese empirical and
theoretical knowledge of the physical world. It
was basically an effort to dismantle the
assumption that there is something essentially
"Western" about science and technology.
A common stereotype is that the Chinese
traditionally lack scientific and technological
ability, although, somehow, they stumbled upon
paper making, printing, gunpowder, and the
mariner's compass. Modern Chinese,
themselves, sometimes are surprised to realize
that modern agriculture, shipping, astronomical
observatories, decimal mathematics, paper
money, umbrellas, wheelbarrows, multi-stage
rockets, brandy and whiskey, the game of chess,
and much more, all came from China.
The sciences of astronomy, physics, chemistry,
meteorology, seismology, technology,
engineering, and mathematics can trace their
early origins to China. From 600 AD until 1500
AD, China was the world's most technologically
advanced society.
Scholars routinely discovered scientific
principles, invented new technologies, and
influenced the development of human
civilizations around the world. China: Ancient
Arts and Sciences tells the story of four of these
revolutionary Chinese technologies: printing,
paper making, gunpowder, and the magnetic
compass. Printing and paper making impacted
record-keeping and learning for Chinese
society. The invention of gunpowder gave the
Chinese a distinct advantage over their
enemies, changing the nature of warfare. The
compass enabled trade and exploration in
whole new ways.
OPEN TRADE 20
Oct-Dec 2007