Cultural Insight Of China: An Introduction

When it comes to culture, China’s heritage is hard to top. Few countries have as grand a cultural legacy- and so famous the world over. China’s culture has been enriched over the centuries, and in its long history has seen some impressive developments- in everything, from arts and crafts like brocade, jade carving, lacquer ware and Chinese paintings to temple and palace architecture and beautiful gardens. There are martial arts and there are forms of exercise- particularly tai-chi-chu’an. There’s music and dance and then there is Chinese cuisine, rated amongst the best in the world.  These are the tangible aspects of Chinese culture; there are many intangible ones too. There are philosophies like Taoism and Confucianism; there is feng-shui (a form of geomancy, which dictates the construction and positioning of any building in such a way that it harmonises with its spiritual surroundings.

Chinese architecture is notable for its use of cosmological themes, temples, palaces and cities are all laid out accordingly. Ceramic roof tiles, cantilevered ornamental brackets and pillars were decorated with animal and human figures. Buddhism brought with to China pagodas, stupas, cave temples and grottos.

Traditional Chinese crafts include some exquisite ceramic and porcelain; highly decorative pottery, bronzes and sculptures; the finest of pure silks and brocades; stylised brushwork paintings and calligraphy and jade and lacquer objets d’art.

Chinese dance and music dates back to imperial time. Opera and vocal music is more popular than instrumental, though China boasts of ancient tradition of indigenous pipes, drums, zithers and flutes. Contemporary rock and pop music, unfortunately, is largely influenced by the West.

It’s all culture, pure out-and-out Chinese and with the fine-tuning of centuries of creative hard work, thought and effort.