Brief history describing the purpose of yunjian, history, and changes overtime between modern period and past.
History
Chinese Gift-Giving Taboos: What Not to Give
Giving gifts is a great way to show appreciation, gratitude, or love, but there are a few things that shouldn’t be given as gifts in chinese culture. Some are due to double meanings, others due to symbolism, but just to make sure you don’t slip up and accidentally give your friend a taboo gift, pay attention to these key gift taboos!
8 Flowers in Chinese Culture
Different flowers have different but very important meanings in Chinese culture. Here are the basics on what some of the most important and commonly seen flowers mean.
The Mamianqun: History, Construction, and Features
The mamianqun, also known as 马面裙 or the horse-faced skirt, has recently attracted considerable attention, largely because of the Dior controversy. This article provides an in-depth look at the history, construction, and distinctive features of this celebrated skirt. A Brief History of the Mamianqun The mamianqun, or horse-faced skirt, is believed to have originated around […]
Chinese Mythology: Differentiating Gods, Immortals, Ghosts, Demons, and Monsters
Gods, ghosts, demons. These are terms we’ve all heard before, of course. When it comes to gods, you might think of the eclectic pantheons of Greek, Norse, or Egyptian tradition, or the capital “G” God of many huge, organized religions; for ghosts, you might think of translucent, ethereal, figures; for demons, horned and fork-tailed monsters. […]
Traditional Chinese Window Patterns
You might think, ‘Is the author crazy? A full article about windows?’ Yes and yes. But you know the saying – something about eyes and windows… I don’t know… So keep your eyes on THESE windows and let me make it even worse by inserting a poem. The article will not take more than 5 […]
Han Purple and Han Blue – Color in Ancient China
Let’s talk about Han purple and Han blue, distant relatives of Han Solo. Or perhaps not. ◑.◑ What are they then? As you may have guessed, these are artificial pigments, synthetic colors, created by the Chinese over 2,500 years ago. They were widely used in ancient artworks – such as wall paintings, for decorating ceramics, metalware, […]
Footbinding – The High Price of Beauty
Foot binding (simplified Chinese: 缠足; traditional Chinese: 纏足) was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size for aesthetic purposes. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet and the shoes made for them were known as lotus shoes. It has been estimated […]