Chinese Valentine's Day - Double Seventh Festival is Coming!

In China, the Double Seventh Festival, or Ingenuity-begging Festival (the festival to plead for skills) falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The festival originates from the legend of the loyal love between Niulang (cowherd) and Zhinv (weaving girl).

The Double-Seventh Day refers to the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar. The day is not as well-known as many other Chinese festivals. But almost everyone in China, young and old, is very familiar with the story behind this festival.

In ancient times, the Double-Seventh Day was a festival specially for young women. Girls, no matter from rich or poor families, would put on their holiday best to celebrate the annual meeting of the cowherd and the Girl Weaver. Parents would place an incense burner in the courtyard and lay out some fruit as offerings. Then all the girls in the family would kowtow to Niulang and Zhinu and pray for ingenuity.

On the festival in China, girls beg for bright heart and knitting and needlecraft skills from the goddess in heaven. There are various folk customs of ingenuity tests in ancient China. And the maids in palace also paid great attention to the activities, which are usually supported by the emperor.

Celebrations are also held in the theme of the Double Seventh Festival everywhere in China, such as the customs of "seed plant for child", "catch dew" and "sworn sisterhood under the moon". In the romantic evening, girls prepare melons and seasonal foods under the moon before worship and prayers for skills and a good marriage.

In the Tang Dynasty about 1,000 years ago, rich families in the capital city of Chang'an would set up a decorated tower in the courtyard and name it :Tower of Praying for Ingenuity. They prayed for various types of ingenuity. Most girls would pray for outstanding sewing or cooking skills. In the past these were important virtues for a woman.

Girls and women would gather together in a square and look into the star-filled night sky. They would put their hands behind their backs, holding needle and thread. At the word,Start,they would try to thread the needle. The one who succeeded first would be granted her wish by Zhinu, the Girl Weaver.

The same night, the girls and women would also dislpay carved melons and samples of their cookies and other delicacies. During the daytime, they would skillfully carve melons into all sorts of things. Some would make a gold fish. others preferred flowers, still others would use several melons and carve them into an exquisite building. These melons were called Hua Gua or Carved Melons.

The ladies would also show off their fried cookies made in many different shapes.They would invite the Girl Weaver to judge who was the best. Of course, Zhinu would not come down to the world because she was busy talking to Niulang after a long year of separation. These activities gave the girls and women a good opportunity to show their skills and added fun to the fesstival.

Chinese people nowadays, especially city residents, no longer hold such activities, Most young women buy their clothes from shops and most young couples share the housework. More and more men are learning to cook, so it is perhaps not so important for the woman to develop her cuisine skills. In fact, many men can cook better than their wives.

The food customs in each place for the festival are not necessarily the same but are all called having propitious food. Dumplings, noodles, deep-fried twisted dough sticks and wontons are mostly included, among which the most famous is the Qiaoguo (Fried Thin Paste).

The Double-Seventh Day is not a pulic holiday in China. However, it is still a day to celebrate the annual meeting of the loving couple, the Cowherd and the Girl Weaver. Not surprisingly, many people consider the Double-seventh Day the Chinese Valentine's Day.

In the Chinese cities, the Western Valentine's Day is more favored than the Double Seventh Festival by young people. They spend the latter as the Valentine's Day. Although some traditional customs have been changed or been lost, the legend of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu is still passed down from generation to generation. Like the presents of Valentine's Day, flowers and chocolates are also the popular ones.

Whatever way the festival is spent, great love is expressed between the young.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China

West Lake(Hangzhou), The 41th World Heritage Site in China

On June 24, 2011, The 35th World Heritage Committee held in Paris(France) include China's "Cultural Landscape of West Lake in Hangzhou” in the "World Heritage List" officially.



West Lake (Chinese: Xi Hu) is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic center of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China. The lake is divided by the causeways of Sū Tí, Bái Tí, and Yánggōng Tí. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.

Now, today, after a 12-year wait, West Lake,Hangzhou, has finally made the list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO recognized the West Lake as a classic landscape reflecting traditional Chinese esthetics.

The West Lake of Hangzhou in East China has been named as a World heritage site. The 35th UNESCO World Heritage Committee made the unanimous decision on Friday to approve the area, bringing to an end the long application process, that began in 1999. This is China's 41st World Heritage Site, and the 29th Cultural Heritage Site.




As part of the recognition process, Chinese officials have made 6 promises to preserve the authenticity, integrity and outstanding universal value of the West Lake.


Wang Guoping, Director, West Lake Heritage Committee, said, We will not change our objective of returning the lake to people; we will not increase ticket prices, or charge for gallery entries; we will not sell any land that belongs to the heritage site, nor will we damage any cultural relics, or use any as public resources. I believe people in Hangzhou are certain to keep these promises.
Francesco Bandarin, the director of the WHC, encouraged the on-going protection of the heritage site.



Francesco Bandarin said, The city of Hangzhou has already realized the importance of protecting the West Lake, it has also protected the environment well. This effort needs to be continued, and we will continue the protection work together with you.

The West Lake landscape was initially developed in the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty. Now, after 12 centuries, it has finally become a treasure for the whole world. For a nation that recognizes 12 as a cycle of heaven and earth, maybe it's appropriate after all that the nation waited 12 years for the West Lake to get the recognition it deserves.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China

Tradtitonal Chinese Art Treasure - Xuan Paper

Xuan paper is a kind of paper originating in ancient China used for writing and painting. Xuan paper is renowned for being soft and fine textured, suitable for conveying the artistic expression of both Chinese calligraphy and painting.

Xuan paper is produced in Jing County of East China's. Anhui Province. The county was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou Prefecture in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Jing County paper was first shipped to Xuanzhou. and then transshipped to other ports. hence the name of Xuan paper.

Due to different producing methods, Xuan paper can be classified into Shengxuan, Shuxuan, and Banshuxuan. Shengxuan (literally "Raw Xuan"), which is not specially processed, excels in its ability to absorb water, causing the ink on it to blur. Shuxuan (literally "Ripe Xuan"), however, is smeared on by Potassium alum during its production, which results in its texture being harder and its ability to absorb water weaker. This feature makes Shuxuan more suitable for Xieyi rather than Gongbi, and more easily torn at the same time. Banshuxuan (literally "Half-ripe Xuan") has intermediate absorbability, between Shengxuan and Shuxuan.

The paper is soft and fine in texture. suitable for both Chinese calligraphy and painting. Xuan paper has the reputation of being able to last for a thousand years as it can be kept for a long time.

There are numerous kinds of Xuan paper. such as dan. jia. luowen. coral. tiger-skin. and jade-plate. The quality depends on whether the paper is unprocessed. processed. or half-processed.

Unprocessed paper absorbs water easily. Ink filters through this paper easily, too. People must put their brush on this paper to make sure the thickness or thinness of their liquid ink is suitable.

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Processed paper goes through a process whereby gelatin made from bones and alum (a kind of sulfate) is added. This kind of paper does not absorb water easily and is stiff or hard to the touch.

Half-processed paper has a neutral character. in that it absorbs water. but it does not filter through easily.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China

Happy The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival!

Guide: One of the most important tratidional Chinese festivals - Dragon Boat Festival now is coming soon, now let's know something interesting and unique customs about this Chinese festival and the same time make a warm celebration with all Chinese people in home and overseas.



Origins

The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a significant holiday celebrated in China, and the one with the longest history. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish end first.

The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are traditional customs to attempts to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating tzungtzu and rice dumplings.

The celebration's is a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year. It is done so by different practices such as hanging healthy herbs on the front door, drinking nutritious concoctions, and displaying portraits of evil's nemesis, Chung Kuei. If one manages to stand an egg on it's end at exactly 12:00 noon, the following year will be a lucky one.



The Modern Dragon Boat Festival in China

Starting from that time to this day, people commemorate Qu Yuan through Dragon Boat Races, eating zong zi, and several other activities, on the anniversary of his death: the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Dragon boat races date back more than 2,000 years as a Chinese ceremony to celebrate the summer rice planting and to venerate the dragon water deity. In Chinese folklore, there’s another story: In 278 BC, during the Warring States period, popular statesman and poet Qu Yuan tied himself to a rock and walked into the Miluo River, in today’s Hunan province, to drown himself when he learned of an impending invasion. When the local villagers found out, they rushed to their fishing boats to save him while beating a drum to scare the fish away from his body. Every year since (or so the story goes) there’s been a Dragon Boat Festival to mark Qu Yuan’s death.




Custom Fine Food：Zong Zi

The traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival, Zong zi is a glutinous rice ball, with a filling, wrapped in corn leaves. The fillings can be egg, beans, dates, fruits, sweet potato, walnuts, mushrooms, meat, or a combination of them. They are generally steamed.


Talisman and Charms

Another aspect of the Double Fifth Day is the timing: at the beginning of summer, when diseases are likely to strike, people also wear talisman to fend off evil spirits. They may hang the picture of Zhong Kui, guardian against evil spirits, on the door of their homes, as well. Adults may drink Xiong Huang Wine, and children carry fragrant silk pouches, all of which can prevent evil. It is said that if you can balance a raw egg on its end at exactly noon on Double Fifth Day, the rest of the year will be lucky.


* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts in China

May 31 2011: The World No Tobacco Day

31 May:World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" as the theme of the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on Tuesday, 31 May 2011.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the world's foremost tobacco control instrument. The first treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO, it represents a signal achievement in the advancement of public health.

At the same time, WHO recognizes that challenges remain for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world's most powerful tobacco control tool.

In force only since 2005, it is already one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with more than 170 Parties. An evidence-based treaty, it reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health and provides new legal dimensions for cooperation in tobacco control.

Implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Since it was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003, 172 countries and the European Union have become Parties to the WHO FCTC. Among other measures, the Parties are obliged over time to:

• protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke
• ban tobacco advertising and sales to minors
• put large health warnings on packages of tobacco
• ban or limit additives to tobacco products
• increase tobacco taxes
• create a national coordinating mechanism for tobacco control.

This year, the tobacco epidemic will kill nearly 6 million people, including some 600 000 nonsmokers who will die from exposure to tobacco smoke. By 2030, it could kill 8 million.

"The treaty's ultimate success against the tobacco industry depends on the extent to which the Parties meet all of their obligations," says the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan. "More needs to be done for the treaty to achieve its full potential. It is not enough to become a Party to the treaty. Countries must also pass, or strengthen, the necessary implementing legislation and then rigorously enforce it."

Tobacco use is one of the biggest contributors to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases - such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema - which accounts for 63% of all deaths, nearly 80% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Up to half of all tobacco users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.

World No Tobacco Day 2011 Event: Supporting the FCTC

Time: 18.00 - 20.00, 31 May 2011

Avenue: Members’ Salon, European Parliament, Brussels

Host: Glenis Willmott MEP

Event Brief:

This event will provide an opportunity to celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2011 in a relaxed atmosphere over drinks and food and to acknowledge all EU officials and Parliamentarians that have supported the aims of the WHO FCTC.

The FCTC is the world's foremost tobacco control instrument. The first treaty ever negotiated under the auspices of WHO, it represents a significant achievement in the advancement of public health. In force only since 2005, it is already one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with more than 170 Parties. An evidence-based treaty, it reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health and provides a new legal dimension for cooperation in tobacco control.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts

The Art and Life of Chinese Great Artist Master Wu Guanzhong

Wu Guanzhong Painting Work Appreciation - Hometown of Lu Xun

Art is for Everyone

A pure artist who devoted his entire life to artistic exploration, Wu's works have been hotly pursued on the domestic and international art markets, however, he never considered art as a way to make money, or as a legacy that he would leave his children.

Wu Guanzhong donated almost all of his work to museums, even the ones he loved the most. Although many pieces have fetched high prices and commanded tens of millions of yuan each (more than $1.5 million), he still lived a very simple life, never trying to make a fortune.

Through his true belief that his work should be seen and enjoyed by most people, Wu always insisted that it should never fall into the hands of collectors, but instead be hanging in museums.

His philosophy is part of the reason why such a large-scale retrospective could be organized without much effort as almost all of the items are owned by domestic and overseas museums and could be borrowed, according to Li Wen from the education department of Zhejiang Art Museum.

Aside from the 72 pieces that Wu donated to Zhejiang Art Museum and a series of sketches in Yunnan that he painted in 1978, the rest of the exhibition was borrowed from seven museums, with all works previously donated by Wu himself.


Always Innovative

Just as he insisted that his work should be seen and enjoyed by many, Wu also considered that his work should be judged by everyday people, while at the same time he pursued difficult techniques that belonged to Western art.

In one of his essays he once compared art conceptions of the modern West and ancient China to "a couple who are both deaf," who cannot communicate with each other but are still deeply in love.

"They have many similarities, many times," he wrote, spending his whole life trying to perfectly integrate the two different art approaches.

He used oil painting techniques to reflect Chinese landscapes, many of which are about the beautiful jiangnan (the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), capturing the essence of the area with visual effects that were magically similar to traditional ink paintings created by ancient Chinese art masters.

"He was one among the few great artists ever in China that was devoted to making the two different styles integrated," commented Xu Jiang, director of China Academy of Art. "He made his own achievements in this way and thus made great a contribution to the Chinese art world."

* Brief of Artist Wu Guanzhong:

Mr. Wu Guanzhong, alias Tu, who was born in 1919, and come from Yixing city, Jiangsu province, China.

In 1942, Wu Guanzhong graduated from the Hangzhou National College of Art, during this period, Wu very fond of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and prefer to use strong colors such as red and purple in his oil painting works, and he entitled a pen name for himself as “Wu Tucha”, later changed as “Tu”.

In 1947, Wu went to France to study abroad on state scholarship, and studied in the Paris National Higher School of Fine Arts.

In 1950, Wu returned home and acted as a teacher at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1953, he was appointed as an associate professor of architecture at Tsinghua University.

In 1956, he acted as teacher at the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1964, he taught at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts.

In 1970, Wu was been sent to villages in Hebei province for labor practice in the famous Chinese “Cultural Revolution” term.

In 1973, he was been transferred back to Beijing and to attend the hotel drawing creation.

In 1978, The Central Institute of Arts and Crafts held an individual exhibition of Wu Guanzhong Works.

In 1979, Wu was elected as an executive director of the Chinese Artists Association

In 1987, the Hong Kong Arts Center hosted “Wu Guanzhong Art Retrospection Exhibition”

In 1991, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Wu Guanzhong “The Highest Order of French Literature and Art”

In 1992, The British Museum broke its routine practice that only antique relics can be shown, and held it first art exhibition for living artist Wu Guanzhong, which named as “Wu Guanzhong – Chinese Artist in The Twentieth Century”, and collected a huge size color painted oil painting work titled “Birds Paradise” finished by Wu Guanzhong lately seriously.

In 1993, France Paris Sayniuche Museum held an art show titled “Walk to The World – Wu Guanzhong Sketch of Ink Painting Show”, and presented him a “Gold Medal of Paris”.

In 1994, Wu Guanzhong was selected one Standing Committee Members of the Chinese People & Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

In 1999, the National Cultural Ministry held “Wu Guanzhong Paintings Exhibition”

In 2000, Wu Guanzhong was elected as a communication academician at The Art Academy at the French Institute, and he is the first Chinese artist who obtained this laurel, and he is also the first Asian who obtained this occupation in nearly two hundred years since the set up of the French Institute.

* Original address of this China gift post: China Gift and Fine Arts & Crafts