中国文化英语教程复习课件综合版

中国文化英语教程复习课件综合版
Review Outline for "English Introduction to Chinese Culture Course"
Overview & Introduction:
See the picture on the right, and describe them in English.
Video: This is China
BBC: Wild China
Full Name of China:
PRC-People's Republic of China
National Flag:
the red five-star flag
Party in power:
CPC-Communist Party of China
CPPCC-Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
National Emblem
Key words:
Forbidden City/ Imperial Palace;
Temple of Heaven;
Summer Palace;
Ming Tombs;
The world-renowned Badaling section of the Great Wall;
to be added more...
Enjoy videos:
NBC北京奥运会片头
《北京欢迎你》
Geography
Location
Southeast Asia , the Pacific Ocean, the world‘s third largest country.
9.6 million square kilometers, 18,000 kilometers, a rooster.
northern end: Mohe, Heilongjiang Province,
south: Zengmu Ansha
west: Pamirs
east: the conjunction of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River and the Wusuli (Ussuri) River.
Boundary
East: Korea
North: Mongalia
Northeast: Russia
Northwest: Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
West & Southwest: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan
South: Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam
Marine-side neighbors include eight countries -- North Korea, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Topography
Terrain
--The vast land expanses of China include plateaus, plains, basins, foothills, and mountains.
Ladder topography ( 4 steps of a staircase)
---First Step: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of about 4,000 metres. The highest peak：Mt. Everest (Mt. Qomolangma)
The second step: large basins and plateaus, most of which are 1,000 - 2,000 meters high.
--the Inner Mongolia Plateau; the Loess Plateau; the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau; the Tarim Basin; the Junggar Basin; the Sichuan Basin. Enjoy the following pictures. The third step: the foothills
and lower mountains, with altitudes of over 500 meters.
The fourth step: along the sea; a continental shelf.
Rivers and Lakes
More than 50,000 rivers have drainage areas that exceed 100 square kilometers; more than 1,500 exceed 1,000 square kilometers.
Famous rivers
The Yangtze, the longest in China and even in Asia, is the third-longest in the world.
The Yellow River, 'Mother River of the Chinese People', is just behind the Yangtze, both flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
Lakes
Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ——most Lakes here
---In southeast China, most lakes are fresh water. Poyang Lake,Dongting Lake, Taihu Lake and Hongze Lake are all fresh water lakes.
---Qinghai Lake, the largest ,a beautiful natural salt-water lake.
Nam Co Lake, saltwater lake
Man-made Canals: the Grand Canal between Beijing and Hangzhou.
Climate
Temperature (from south to north):
Equatorial--
tropical--subtropical--warm-temperate--temperate--cold-temperate zones. Precipitation: gradully declines from the southestern to the northestern inland area.
An Outline History
Chinese people: the descendants of Yan and Huang.
Three Sovereigns:
Fuxi (伏羲)
Nüwa (女娲)
Shennong (神农)
Yao: Lunar calendar
Shun: a man with great virtues
Yu the Great: conquering the floods; founder of
Xia Dynasty
Qin Shi Huang: the first emperor of China
Administrative Divisions
A three-tier system: provinces, counties, townships.
23 provinces; 5 autonomous regions;
4 municipalities directly under the control of the Central Government;
2 special administrative regions (SARs）
Population
Huge; No.1 in the world;
Unevenly distributed; populations density;
The policy of “ family planning” or “one child policy”
Birth rate; mortality rate
Ethnic Groups
56 ethnic groups: Han nationality and other
55 minority ethnic groups;
Political System
Fundamental law: The Constitution of t he People’s Republic of China
Highest organ of state power: the NPC (National People’s Congress); NPC and its Standing Committee have the rights of legislation, decision, supervision, election and removal Parties: Communist party; eight democratic parties.
Executive body: the State Council
Chinese Philosophy
a collective designation for various schools of thoughts, among which the Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are the most influential in Chinese culture. One of the three philosophy systems in the world. (the other two: Western and Indian philosophy)
Origin: Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. Yi Jing ("the Book of Changes) prosperity: the Spring and Autumn Period; the Warring States Period. "A hundred schools of thought contend" (百家争鸣）The Development of Ancient Chinese Philosophy
The Philosophy in Pre-Qin times（先秦子学）
The orthodox Philosophy during the Han Dynasty (两汉经学）Metaphysics during the Wei and Jin Dynasties (魏晋玄学）
The Buddhist Philosophy during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (隋唐佛学）
Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties (宋明理学）
Application Philosophy in the Ming and Qing Dunasties (明清实学）
The Philosophy in Pre-Qin times
Hundred schools of thoughts (诸子百家）
Main representations:
Confucianism(儒家); Taoism (道家); Mohism (墨家); Legalism (法家); School of Yin-yang(阴阳家); Logicians（名家); School of Agriculture (农家); School of Diplomacy (纵横家); The Miscellaneous School (杂家); School of "Minor-talks" (小说家); School of the Military (兵家）
Most influential: Confucianism(儒家); Taoism (道家); Mohism (墨家); Legalism (法家)
Confucianism：Confucius Mencius
Confucianism：The Analects (Lun Yu）
Some well known Confucian quotes:
"To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue." (“知错能
改，善莫大焉”）
"What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." （“己所不欲，勿施于人”）
"Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't." （“知之为知之，不
知为不知，是知也”）
"Reviewing the day's lessons. Isn't it joyful? Friends come from far. Isn't it delightful? One has never been angry at other's misunderstanding. Isn't he a respectable man?"
（“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎?人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”）Confucian Thoughts on Heaven and Humanity
"Heaven does not speak in words. It speaks through the rotation of the four seasons
and the growth of all living things. ("天何言哉？四时行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？
“）
Confucian "Heaven " also had a certain sacred element, which was related to it being the source of life. Thus Confucius required people to hold Heaven in awe. ---天人合一的哲学基础。

Confucian "Heaven " was not a a supernatural, personified deity, but was the world
of ever-generating life. Thus human should take to heart the purpose of Heaven
by cherishing life.
"ignorant and disrespectful of one's heavenly mission"(不知
天命而不畏）-- “He
who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray" ("获罪于天，无所祷也”）
Question: What's the significance and enlightenment of this belief to our modern society?
(Respect other creature's life; protect out nature)
Confucius on People: ren (仁） and li （礼）
ren: Love of people. (仁者爱人); Universal love (“泛爱众，而亲仁”）Some translate
it as "benevolence".
To love all should begin with loving one's parents. "Filial piety （孝）and fraternal duty (悌）are the essence of ren. The Doctrine of the Mean (《中庸》）quotes:
"The greatest love for people is the love for one's parents."(仁者，人也，亲亲
为大）
“Children should not travel far while their parents are alive. If they have no choice but to do so, they must retain some restraint"(父母在，不远游，游必有方）
Li: rituals, traditions and norms in social life.
Confucius placed emphasis on li with the aim of preserving social order, stability
and harmony. The Analects says, "The role of li is to maintain harmony among people." (“礼之用，和为贵”）
Confucius on the State of Life:
the first one in Chinese history to initiate private education.
3000 disciples. 72 of them excelled in the "six arts“,i.e.,ritual （礼）, music （乐）, archery（射）, (carriage) driving（御）, calligraphy（书）, and mathematics （数）. "Sage of sages".
Goal of education: cultivate "persons of virtue".
General principles of education: lofty ideals, great virtue, love of people, and the "six arts". Of these, which one is the most important? Virtue.
The highest state of life: harmony among people and harmony between people and nature.
Taoism
Dao de jing quotes:
道可道，非常道。

名可名，非常名。

无名天地之始；有名万物之母。

宠辱若惊，贵大患若身。

何谓宠辱若惊？宠为下，得之若惊，失之若惊，是谓宠辱若惊。

上善若水。

水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶，故几于道。

居善地，心善渊，与善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，动善时。

夫唯不争，故无尤。

有物混成，先天地生。

寂兮寥兮，独立而不改，周行而不殆，可以为天地母。

吾不知其名，强字之曰道，强为之名曰大。

大曰逝，逝曰远，远曰反。

故道大，天大，地大，人亦大。

域中有四大，而人居其一焉。

人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。

Laozi's philosophy:
Naturalness and Non-action(自然,无为): "Great ingenuity appears to be stupidity" (大智若愚）;
Non-contention(不争）：“overcoming the strong by being weak"(以柔弱胜刚强); "The greatest virtue is like water"(上善若水); ”Water nourishes everything but contends for nothing" （水善万物而不争）
Returning to a newborn state (回到婴儿状态）
The orthodox Philosophy during the Han Dynasty
Emperor Wudi Dong Zhong Shu
The campaign of "banning all schools of thought except
Confucianism“
(罢黜百家，独尊儒术）
The power of the emperors are authorized by Heaven (君权神授）
Heaven affects human affairs and human behavior finds response in Heaven (天人感应）
Human moral conduct, and the political and social upheaval, in turn, will effect changes in Heaven.
Metaphysics during the Wei and Jin Dynasties
"Three profound studies (三玄)" ：The Book of Changes (《易经》）；Lao Zi (《老子》); Zhuang Zi (《庄子》）
Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties
the School of Principle （理学）: Zhou Dunyi (周敦颐), Zhu Xi (朱熹）；
the School of Mind (心学): Lu Jiuyuan (陆九渊), Wang Shouren (王守仁）Application philosophy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties Focus on "self-examination".
Stick to the application of philosophy on the state affairs.
The Basic Features of Ancient Chinese Philosophy
Five stresses:
Spiritual existence; Practice; Morality; Harmony; Intuition
Characteristics of Chinese Ethics and Morality
Seeking harmony and maintaining equilibrium (平衡)
Collectivism over individualism
Spiritual life over material life
Chinese Religions:
Indigenous Taoist religion;
Religions of foreign origins: Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
The Taoist Religion
“The Chinese roots are deep in T aoism. If one tries to
comprehend Chinese history and culture, he must first comprehend Taoism and the Taoist religion.” ----Lu Xun Highest belief: Dao
Bible: Dao De Jing by Laozi
Founder: Zhang Daoling in the Eastern Han dynasty.
“Religion of Five Dou of Rice” (五斗米教）
The Eight Taoist Immortals
“When the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each demonstrates his/her divine power （八仙过海，各显神通）Buddhism
Originated in India in the 6 century BC. Introduced into China in the first century and flourished during the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Together with Confucianism and Taoism, it constituted the foundation of Chinese culture.
Great founder: Sakyamuni (释迦牟尼）and his story.
The theory of samsara around the six spheres of heaven, hell and earth. (六道轮回）
The cornerstone of Buddhist philosophy: all life is suffering.
The doctrine of Four Noble Truths (四谛): life is suffering (苦); the cause is desire (集); the answer is to quench desire (灭); the way to its end is to follow the Eight-Fold Path(八正道）: right knowledge(正见), right thought(正思维), right speech(正语), right behavior(正业), right livelihood(正命), right effort(正精进), right mindfulness(正念）and right concentration(正定）. Buddhist Temples
Buddhist architecture: Pagoda(塔),temples, grotto(石窟)
Four statues in front of the temple: the Four Heavenly Kings; the Statue of Maitreya (Laughing Buddha 弥勒佛）
The Great Buddha Hall(大雄宝殿)
The Eighteen Arhats(十八罗汉)
The first Buddhist temple
The famous Buddhist mountains
Chinese Literature
Chinese Classical Poetry
Two orthodox genres of Chinese literature:
Verse and prose
The two peaks of Chinese earliest poetry
(verse):
The Book of Songs 《诗经》Poetry of the South 《楚辞》
The Book of Songs (诗经)
a collection of 305 oldest poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle Spring and Autumn Period.
the earliest realistic literature in China.
four-character (四言) lines.
Three sections according to the rhythms: Feng (folk ballads; Ya (dynamic hymns); Song (sacrificial songs).
Writing techniques: fu (narration), bi (metaphor), xing (evocation)
Cu Ci (Poetry of the South)
Sorrow after Departure 《离骚》
Ask Heaven 《天问》
Nine Elegies 《九章》
Nine Songs 《九歌》
"The Journey is long, I'll search up and down"
(路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索）
"Long did I sigh and wipe away my tears,
To see my people bowed by griefs and fears."
(长太息以掩涕兮，哀民生之多艰)
"For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart，
I’d not regret a thousan d times to die"
(亦余心之所善兮，虽九死其犹未悔。

)
Han Dynasty Literature
(Hanfu and Yuefu folk songs)
Hanfu: elaboration & description; poem & prose ;
long essays (大赋）& short essays （小赋）
Most outstanding hanfu writer:
Jia Yi "On Faults of Qin 《过秦论》Lamenting Qu Yuan 《吊屈原赋》Master Void Rhapsody 《子虚赋》Rhapsody on Great Man 《上林赋》
Yuefu folk songs:
in five-character lines; the reality and life of lower-class working people; Figurative speech and personification.
"Southeast the Peacock Flies" 《孔雀东南飞》"The Ballad of Mulan" 《木兰诗》The Literature in the Wei, Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties
Two main genres:
Literary criticism;
Stories recording spirits & anecdotes (志人志怪小说）
Several masters:
The "Three Caos" （三曹）：Cao cao--"The Sea" 《观沧海》"A short Song" 《短歌行》
The "Seven Masters of the Jian'an Period"( 建安七子）
Tao Yuanming : Master of the five-character-a-line poetry and description of nature. "The Peach Blossom Spring" 《桃花源记》
Liu Xie: "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons" 《文心雕龙》; in parallel
prose (骈文）.
The Tang Poems （"The Complete Anthology of Tang Poems"
《全唐诗》）
Early Tang period: The Four Literary Eminences:
Wang Bo; Yang Jiong; Luo Bingwang; Lu Zhaolin
(Wang Bo: Friendships across the world/ make near neighbours of far horizons (海内存知己，天涯若比邻）High Tang period: Twin master poets--- prosperity and stability of the society. Li Bai, the "Celestial Poet", romantic ("Thinking in the Silent Night", "Hard is the Road to Shu","Dreaming of Sightseeing in the Tianmu Mountains".
Du Fu, the "Saint Poet", realistic ("Three officers; Three Partings")
Frontier poets: Gao shi & Cen Shen
Pastoral poets: Meng Haoran & Wangwei
Middle Tang Period: Social corruption of the time.
Bai Juyi: Satirical and allegorical poems. " The Old Charcoal Seller" "Song of Eternal Sorrow""Song of a Pipa player".
Late Tang Period: "Young Li Bai and Du Fu"---Li Shangyin and Du Mu.
Nostalgia feeling. Hopeless and helpless feeling of the people.
Ci in the Song Dynasty
A kind of poetry, but express more refined and delicate feelings with irregular meter.
---Xiaoling (小令short, less than 59 characters）
Zhongdiao (中调 medium, 59--90 characters)
Changdiao (长调 long, more than 90 characters)
Masters: Northern Song: Su Shi---the Powerful and Free School (豪放派） Southern Song: Lu You; Xin Qiji; Li Qingzhao Yuanqu in the Yuan Dynasty
Fictions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Four Famous Chinese Classics of literature:
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Dream of the Red Mansion".
Other masterpieces:
"Three Volumes of Words and Two Volumes of Slapping", "Strange Tales from a Scholar's Studio", "The Scholars".
Fictions details:
A. One theme is brotherhood;
B. Basic expressive technique is realism;
C. The earliest full-length Chinese novel; the author is Luo Guanzhong;
D. The main characters are Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhangfei and Guanyu;
E. The plot centers on the rise and fall of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
A. It reached the pinnacle of Chinese novels; the greatest novel in Chinese literature.
B. The novel is really a panorama of feudal society and has been considered an encyclopedia of Chinese literature.
C. The author was born into a noble and powerful family, which was later reduced to poverty from extreme prosperity.
D. The novel describes the prosperity and decline of a large feudal family.
E. The central thread of the novel is the tragic love story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu.
"Dream of the Red Mansions"
A. It contains many descriptions of daily life of townspeople, so called the "worldly novels".
B. It is composed of two anthologies of vernacular novelettes
from Ming Dynasty.
C. The author are Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu.
D. One part is "Lasting word to Awaken the world".
"Three Volumes of Words and Two Volumes of Slapping"
A. A masterpiece about deities and spirits.
B. The author exposed the darkness and corruption of feudal society, criticized social realities and implicitly expressed people's different forms of resistance.
C. The author is Wu Cheng'en。

D. Main characters are the Tang Dynasty monk, Xuan Zang, and his disciples Sun Wukong, the monkey king, Zhu Bajie, the piggy, and Sha Wujing, the sandy. "Journey to the West"
A . The first novel to deal with the subject of peasant revolts in China.
B. The end of the story is that the rebels are defeated and accepted amnesty and surrendered to the government.
C. It tells the story of the rebellion of the 108 heroes at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
D. The author is Shi Nai'an.
"Water Margin"
A. A collection of about 490 short stories.
B. It inherits the tradition of the mystery tales in the Wei and Jin dynasties and the tales of marvels in the Tang and Song dynasties.
C. The stories are mostly about love affairs between men and foxes, ghosts or demons.
D. The author is Pu Songling.
"Strange Tales from a Scholar's Studio"
A. China's first colloquial and satirical novel.
B. The first openly challenge the idea of making academic
studies only for the sake of taking official position.
C. The novel portrays a group of feudal scholars and directs criticism at the eight-part essay and imperial examination system.
"The Scholars"
Chinese Arts
Calligraphy-the Art of Lines or Strokes
Chinese Characters: Poetic Symbols
English -Phonetic (语音的） language
Chinese-Pictographic (象形文字的) language
The evolution of Chinese calligraphy
The square-shaped pictographic characters
Symbols of Sentiment
---Some pictograpic symbols of Chinese characters express people's keen observation and experience of the world. Some European poets have found Chinese charaters inspring to their imagination and creativity.
-- The earliest written languages in the world with a history of 6,000 years. -- The prototype and development of Chinese characters can be traced back from the inscriptions on primitive painted pottery.
-- During the Shang Dynasty, the inscriptions on turtle shells and animal bones (oracle) are similar to present day Chinese characters.
-Chinese calligraphy as a fine art has many styles, such as zuanshu (seal script/form), lishu (official or clerical script), xingshu (running-script), kaishu (standard or regular script), caoshu (cursive script)
Pictographic Characters Examples
the sun rising on the horizon: 旦
The sun rising from a forest: 东
Supplementary knowledge:
The calligraphic symbols for the Beijing Olympics were designed to represent the "Beauty of Seal Characters".
Two types of seal characters: the dazhuan, or the greater seal, and the xiaozhuan, or lesser seal.
The greater seal often known as bronze inscription (金文）, because it was often used for carving inscriptions on bronzeware in ancient times.
The lesser seal was the script the First Emperor of Qin adopted for the whole country, when he united China in 221 BC.
Wang Xizhi and his Calligraphy
The Preface of the Lanting Collection of Calligraphy
"Hidden Style" of the Yan Script
Four Treasures of the Study: Hu Brush, Hui Ink Stick, Xuan Paper, Duan Ink Stone. Tradional Chinese Painting-- Ink Wash Painting
Since similar tools and lines were used for the earliest painting and writing, painting is said to have the same origin as calligraohy. (书画同源）
Chinese painters dip their brushes in ink or paint to creat classic pictures with lines and dots.
Human figures, landscapes, flowers, birds, andpavilions are common subjects of Chinese inn wash paintings.
Popular objects of traditional Chinese painting: flowers,birds, mountains, bamboos, pine trees, houses, etc.
Prominent Modern Painters: Xu Beihong; Qi Beishi
Xu Beihong's "Running Horse", "Drinking Horses", "The Foolish Man Moving Mountain";
Qi Baishi's "Shrimp", "Vegetables" etc.
Other Types of Chinese paintings: Mural Paintings
advocating Buddhism, Wood-cut block print for illustrations in novels and dramas, Chinese Lunar New Year Pictures show folk people's joy, happiness and best wishes for the New Year.
Chinese philosophy and Chinese people's views towards life and natutre are deeply embedded in Chinese Calligraphy & Paintings.
Artistry of Performers--Beijing Opera
An overal introduction of Beijing Opera
Perform story by dancing and singing-- -- Wang Guowei
Beijing Opera combines：
Music音乐 Mime哑剧 Dance舞蹈 Acrobatics杂技 Martial arts 武术 Poetry诗词Mythology神话 History 历史and so on History of Beijing Opera:
Kunqu opera--1790 (Qing Dynasty) Hui Ju (徽剧）came to Beijing---1828, Han Ju (汉剧） came to Beijing too---combined together and evolved to Beijing Opera
At the beginning of 20th century Beijing Opera became the most popular opera form of China. Many famous and outstanding actors appeared at that time.
Four Artistic Means and Four Basic Skills: Sing, Speak, Act and Fight. (唱，念，坐，打）
The Beauty of a "virtual world": gestures, footwork and other movements express actions such as riding a horse, rowing a boat, opening a door, going up stairs, climbing a hill or traveling, Each action by the performer is highly symbolic. Roles in Beijing opera Sheng(生)：The main male role in Beijing opera.
laosheng （Elderly men) 老生 xiaosheng (Young men) 小生
wusheng (Military men) 武生 wawasheng (Children) 娃娃生
Dan（旦）refers to any female role in Beijing opera.
laodan (elderly women)老旦qingyi (young or middle-aged
women) 青衣
huadan (agile young women with a frank and open personality) 花旦
wudan (women skilled in martial arts) 武旦 caidan (clowns in farces and comedies) 彩旦
Four examples of famous Dans are Mei Lanfang(梅兰芳）, Cheng Yanqiu（程砚秋）, Shang Xiaoyun（尚小云）, and Xun Huisheng（荀慧生).
Jing（净）is a painted- face male role, also known as hualian (花脸）.This type of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice and be able to exaggerate gestures.
Zhengjing (正净, 大花脸: primary face-painted role) ：roles that mainly sings. Most zhengjing characters are serious, loyal officials and generals who firmly uphold justice.
Fujing ( 副净: secondary face-painted role)：roles that mainly move about, speaking and striking postures.
Wujing (武净：martial and acrobatic roles with minimal singing and speaking, usually brave and strong men. Some are immortals while others are demons.) White: slyness (狡猾）--Caocao曹操, Yansong严嵩
Black: justice, roughness --Baozheng包拯，Zhangfei张飞
Red--courage, loyalty: Guanyu关羽
Green--wildness: Chengyaojin程咬金
Blue--staunchness（坚定可靠）, ：Xiahouyuan夏侯渊
Yellow--fierceness, ambition: Dianwei典韦
Chou （丑）is a male clown role. Also called xiaohualian. Which a only small patch of white painting oils around the nose. Chou often perform as a small and funny role, made whole play more interesting and comic.
wenchou 文丑（Comic civilian roles)
wuchou 武丑 (acrobatic-fighting comic roles)
Beijing Opera Costumes:
There are 20 major kinds of costumes, including the ceremonial robe(Mang 蟒袍); the informal robe(Pei 帔) and the armor(Kao 靠) for soldiers, and so on.
Ten colors are used, half of which are the five primary.
five primary colors (上五色: red, green, yellow, white, black) Another five colors are labeled secondary colors.
five secondary colors (下五色: pink, purple, bronze-coloured 古铜色, nattierblue 淡青色, blue)
Rules of Costume Tradition ：
(1)A performer's costume primarily designates his or her role on the stage no matter when or where the action takes place.
(2) Beijing Opera costumes must enable the audience to distinguish a character's sex and status at first glance. The “Mang ” for men has dragon; The “Mang ” for women has phoenix.
(3)Opera costumes often give expression to sharp distinctions between good and evil or loyal and wicked characters.Guess which gauze hat (纱帽) is for the loyal official?
Oblong （长方形） Wings attached to a gauze hat indicate a loyal official.
A corrupt official is made to wear a gauze hat with rhomboidal(菱形) wings. Some headdress may bring about more dramatic effects on the stage. For instance, the plumes (lingzi 翎子) pinned to a helmet.
Example: Mang
Mang is the general costume for the emperor and nobles, but there are differences between these costumes. The Mang with an opening mouth dragon on it is for the emperor. The
dragon on the Mang for the ministers has its mouth closed. There are clear distinctions between the use of colors, for example, the red Mang stands for majestic and noble
the green Mang indicates mighty and bold
the white one fits the handsome young people
And the yellow is for the emperor.
Introduction to some well-known Beijing Operas
Drunken Beauty 《贵妃醉酒》
Brief plot:
The story of Tang emperor Li Longji and his concubine, Yang Yuhuan. Lady Yang prepared a banquet in imperial garden and waited for the emperor. Unexpectedly, the emperor went to the palace of his another concubine. Lady Yang got disappointed deeply and drank a lot to divert herself from sorrow.
Mei Lanfang ’s most representative role Mang Pei Kao
Mei Lanfang performed in this opera in the United States in the 1930s.
His portrayal of the gestures and attitudes of the drunken concubine was so stunning.
It literally surpassed description, and was widely acclaimed by American audiences and theater critics.
Farewell My Concubine 《霸王别姬》
Brief plot
The play tells the story of Xiang Yu and his concubine, Yu Ji. Xiang Yu is surrounded by Liu Bang's forces and is on the verge of total defeat. He then calls for the company of Yu Ji. She begs to die alongside her master,
but he strongly refuses this wish. Afterwards, as he is distracted, Yu Ji commits suicide with Xiang Yu's own sword.
Other Major Traditional Chinese Operas (for your self-study)
Yuju Opera, Kunqu Opera, Sichuan Opera, Yueju Opera, Guangdong Opera, Hunan Flower-drum Opera, Huangmei Opera, Qinqiang Opera, Heibei Bangzi Opera, other operas.
Chinese Handicraft: Porcelain 瓷器, cloisonne 景泰蓝，Tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty唐三彩，Paper Cutting剪纸，Paper Folding折纸，Chinese Knots 中国结，Embroidery
刺绣，Silk，Chinese Fans中国扇，Guizhou Batik贵州蜡染（a traditional Chinese folk art which combines painting and dyeing），Hubei Wood carved boats 湖北木雕船，Kernel Carving 榄核雕， Qingdao Shell Carving青岛贝壳雕. Etc.
Chinese Quyi (Performing Arts): Acrobatics杂技, Puppetry木偶戏, Shadow Play 皮影戏, Face Changing变脸, Cross-talk相声--monologue comic talk (单口相声）; comic cross-talk（对口相声）; multilogue cross-talk（群口相声); Clapper Talk 快板, Storytelling 评书, Xiaopin--Short, light comedies in the huaju(spoken drama) style. Popular since 1983 on Chinese Television's New Year Gala Show); Shuang Huang---A kind of two-person folk art,w ith one acting in pantomime and the other hiding behind him or her doing all the speaking and/or singing.
Chinese Instruments
Instrument family
The eight souds (八音）：
Silk（丝）--Plucked(弦), Bowed( 弓),
Struck (敲击）
Bamboo( 竹）--Flutes (笛), oboes(管)
Wood (木);
Stone(石);
Metal (金);
Clay (土);。