
Chinese Acrobatics
The Chinese acrobatics has a long history and rich national flavor. It is an artistic form which is very popular with Chinese people. In a broad sense, acrobatics is the collective name of various kinds of feats. In ancient China, acrobatics was always performed together with music and dance. In the long course of development, the Chinese acrobatics has formed its own style. As an brilliant pearl in the treasure house of the traditional Chinese performing arts, acrobatics is very favored by people at home and abroad...
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Beijing Opera
Originating in the later 18th century and flourishing in middle 19th century, Beijing opera is regarded as one of the cultural treasure of China. It was originally only staged for imperial family and very popular with in Qing Dynasty court. Beijing Opera is a cultural gallery which displays the quintessence of traditional Chinese culture.
Beijing Opera is not only a feast for ears but also a feast for eyes. To a person who perhaps can not understand what the actors are singing or even to a foreigner, Beijing Opera is deserved to watch, for you will be absorbed in the facial make-up and costume. The facial make-up is one of the noticeable characteristics of Beijing Opera. Facial make-up varies from roles, symbolizing the personalities, characteristics, and fates of the roles. It is called” the picture of hearts”. Usually, eyes, foreheads and cheeks are painted like wings of butterflies, swallows and bats. The colors are very different from the roles. Red face symbolizes brave, faithful, and wise men. Purple face signifies wisdom and bravery. Black faces usually have neutral meanings, symbolizing just brave men; however, they can also represent uprightness. Blue and green faces symbolize the intrepid hero. Meanwhile, yellow and white faces have negative meanings that symbolize ferocious, treacherous, and crafty men. And gold and silver faces symbolize mysteriousness, and stand for monsters or gods...
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Chinese Painting
Chinese painting as an important part of China’s cultural heritage is known in Chinese “guo hua” which means native painting. Different from the western painting, the traditional Chinese painting with more than 5000years history was painted on xuanpaper or silk.
Traditional Chinese painting has its special materials and tools, comprising of brushes, ink and pigments, xuan paper, silk and various kinds of ink slabs. Based on different classification standards, Chinese traditional painting can be divided into several groups. Traditional Chinese paintings can be divided into figure paintings, landscapes and flower-and-bird paintings. Artists from the Han and Tang dynasty mainly painted the figure paintings. During Tang Dynasty figure painting flourished at the royal court and many artists showed the splendor of court life in painting of emperors, palace ladies, and imperial horses. Figure painting reached the height of elegant realism in the art of the court of Southern Tang. Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period is regarded as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". Flower-and-bird painting deviated from decorative art to form its own independent genre around the ninth century. According to painting techniques, Chinese paintings are divided into two major categories: free hand brushwork (xieyi) and detailed brushwork (gongbi). The former is featured with simple and bold strokes in order to represent the exaggerated likenesses of the objects, while the latter by fine brushwork and close attention to detail. Using different techniques, the two schools try to achieve the same purposes to create beauty...
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