A guqin of the Ming Dynasty, part of the Chinese History Museum collection.

FIVE years ago, an ancient Chinese air was beamed to outer space as a PR exercise. To humankind, music is a universal language, so the tune seemed an ideal medium for communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. So far there has been no response, but it is believed that the tune will play for a billion years, and eventually be heard and understood. The melody is called High Mountain and Flowing Stream, and it is played on the guqin, a seven-stringed classical musical instrument similar to the zither.

Background to the Air, High Mountain and Flowing Stream

Old Chinese painting Listening to the Guqin. The player is said to be the Song Emperor Huizong.

Old Chinese painting Listening to the Guqin. The player is said to be the Song Emperor Huizong.

Composed over 2,000 years ago, High Mountain and Flowing Stream is one of the earliest Chinese airs. It describes lofty mountains, and pine forests blowing in the wind as clouds swirl in a valley below, while streams converge at a thundering waterfall and flow down to the sea. In intimating a beautiful natural landscape, the music gives free rein to the player’s expressiveness.

The tune is based on a story.On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival about 2,000 years ago, Yu Boya, a high state of Jin official during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), was on his way back from the State of Chu. Deciding to stop for a while, he moored his boat and began to play his guqin. Suddenly a string broke. This alarmed Boya, as he thought it might signal the arrival of an unwelcome guest, but on stepping onto the bank he found that a woodcutter had been listening to him play. To Boya’s surprise, the woodman knew a great deal about music and the guqin. He thereupon played another tune — High Mountain and Flowing Stream, to see how much the woodman understood, and was astonished by the full explanation of the air’s musical conceit that followed. He then laid down his guqin, bowed to the woodman, and asked his name. The man introduced himself as Zhong Ziqi. Boya was happy to meet such a soul mate, and the two became sworn brothers. Boya urged Ziqi to leave his home and seek a government post, but Ziqi refused, insisting that he could not leave his parents. Boya gave Ziqi gold in the hope it might improve the quality of his friend’s life. On parting, the two promised to meet at the same place the following Mid-Autumn Festival. Ziqi used the gold Boya had given him to buy books, and read them each night after spending the whole day cutting wood. He thus did his best to live up to Boya’s expectations and serve in the government. The tragedy of the story is that Ziqi soon spent all his energy and died of exhaustion at just 27 years of age.

Yang Chunwei, a guqin teacher at the Chinese Conservatory of Music playing the guqin in her family courtyard.

A year later, Yu Boya fulfilled his promise, but Zhong Ziqi was not at their appointed place. Concerned, he went to Ziqi’s home, and was told that his friend had died 100 days previously. Boya was filled with such remorse that he fainted. On coming round, he went to Ziqi’s tomb, and played a short tune as a tribute to his friend. He then smashed his guqin into pieces, making up his mind never to play the instrument again. Soon after, he resigned his post and took Ziqi’s parents to his home, where he supported them until their death.

It was not Ziqi’s musical talent alone that impressed Boya, but also his personality. The same was true of Ziqi, who respected Boya’s musical skills, and also liked him as a person. Theirs was an unconventional friendship, as in the Chinese feudal society of 2,000 years ago it was unheard of for a high government official like Boya to become sworn brother of a common woodman.

The story of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi has always been associated with the haunting High Mountain and Flowing Stream air. Composer Yu Boya made every effort to perfect his skills, one of which entailed living on a remote island for ten days, and facing the ocean as he played and sang in exaltation of nature and the inspiration it gave him. It is little wonder this tune is still known and loved by so many people, 2,000 years later.

The Human Concept of the Guqin

New Year painting Empty City Trick showing Zhuge Liang playing the guqin in the gate tower.

The contemporary guqin has seven strings, but in earlier times it had 25, giving the player a far wider scope of expression. In ancient China the guqin was considered a holy instrument, with an intelligence of its own. An example of this is apparent in a story about Confucius. One night he was playing the guqin in his room when his disciple Yan Hui entered. Yan sensed a certain menace about the tune he was playing, as if it were the carrier of murderous intent. On mentioning this to Confucius, his master answered: “As I played, I saw a cat chase a mouse, and hoped that it would catch it. The intention to kill was reflected in my playing.” Confucius was adept at music, and considered the guqin to be the most important instrument of his time. Learning how to play was a compulsory aspect of his teaching.

There are various taboos associated with the guqin. It should not be played in extreme cold or heat, or when there are gale force winds, heavy rains, sudden thunder, or blizzards. Neither is it played when there has been a death, if other music is playing, or in an atmosphere of trivia. Before taking it up, the player should be appropriately bathed and dressed. He must also burn incense, and be in the company of a good friend. Only then may the guqin be played.

The power of the guqin is exaggerated in many Chinese literary works. It was a feature of wars throughout Chinese history, and gallant Chinese swordsmen regarded it as a weapon. For instance, during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), the Kingdom of Shu underwent a series of defeats by the Kingdom of Wei. On one occasion the Wei general, Sima Yi, advanced with his armies to the gate of a Shu city, unaware that there were no Shu soldiers within the city to protect it. On seeing the Wei army advance, however, the Shu military advisor Zhuge Liang had gone to the gate tower, taking with him two pageboys, who drank wine as he played his guqin. As he listened, Sima Yi found himself in a quandary. He tried to tell from the nuance of the music whether the city was truly empty, or if Shu soldiers hid within it. Hearing its tranquil tones, he decided this was a trick of Zhuge Liang’s to tempt his army into an ambush, and so ordered a retreat. The ruse helped the Kingdom of Shu to avoid another defeat and ultimate destruction, and was inspiration for the folk opera, The Empty City Trick, which is still performed today.

A painted brick dating back about 2,000 years portraying Nie Zheng stabbing the Han King. The guqin air Guanglingsan was composed in tribute to the story.

There are other famous guqin tunes. Guanglingsan, a story of revenge, is one. During the Warring States period, Nie Zheng’s father, a swordsmith, delayed casting a sword ordered by the King of the State of Han, and was executed. Nie Zheng was determined to seek revenge. He practiced his guqin playing and sword fighting skills until he had achieved mastery of both. He then went back to Han in disguise. His excellent guqin skills attracted the King, who ordered him to come to the royal palace and perform. As the King listened, rapt, Nie Zheng took out the dagger secreted in his clothing and stabbed him to death. He then committed suicide to avoid involving any of his other family members. The beginning of the tune expresses sympathy for the grieving Nie Zheng, and later reflects his hatred for the king, and decision to take revenge. The final part is in praise of his spirit as he faces death without fear.

In ancient China, the guqin was an instrument played mainly by those of noble birth. Among the 3,000 or so guqin tunes that have been handed down, the majority are works by the then ruling class, expressing their aspirations.

The first guqins were made about 3,000 years ago. They were very simple, with just one or two strings. As aesthetic concepts flowered and playing skills improved, the instrument changed. By the 3rd century the guqin had seven strings, and was very similar to the instrument played today.

The body of the guqin constitutes a wooden voice box about 110 cm long. It is 17 cm wide at its head, and tapers to 13 cm at its bottom end. The upper surface is made from tung or fir wood, and the back, in which there are two holes of different sizes, from catalpa. On the instrument’s upper side are seven strings, on which the player makes notes with his left hand, and plucks with his right.

The most famous guqins have their own names, such as Haozhong and Raozhong of the Warring States Period, and Luyi and Jiaowei of the Han Dynasty. These four are regarded as the best guqin ever in China, the last of which, the Jiaowei, refers to Cai Yong, a famous musician of the Eastern Han Dynasty. On hearing an unusual sound emitting from the burning firewood on which food was being cooked, he quickly ran over and pulled a tung log out from the fire. Soon after he asked an expert to make a guqin out of it. The quality of sound from the instrument was extraordinary, but its bottom end was a little scorched. Cai Yong hence named it Jiaowei, meaning burnt tail.

Chinese people think of the guqin as an intelligent instrument. True or not, love of nature, and music that celebrates it, makes life more beautiful.

Pottery ox cart from the Northern Qi (550-577) of the Northern Dynasties, unearthed in Shanxi

AN excavated pit at the side of an expressway in Shandong’s Linzi contains visible 2,000-year-old remains of horses and wooden carriages. The horse skeletons are on their side, in an attitude of motion. The pit was discovered in the late 20th century, when the expressway was being built. These early ancestors of modern transport, no longer “roadworthy,” are now protected historic artifacts.

Ancient Vehicles

Among car enthusiasts are those to whom so-called vintage cars are a mechanical and historical work of art, yet these vehicles are no more than one hundred years old. Compared with the truly ancient horse-drawn conveyance, they are “modern”.

Two-thousand-year-old horse-drawn carriages are not, however, the oldest Chinese vehicles. In Henan’s Anyang ruins, archaeologists have painstakingly unearthed carriages from 3,000 years ago, but even these are not believed to be China’s earliest. It must therefore have taken the Chinese almost four millennia to go from the cart age to the automobile era.

The Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) bronze statue of a horse and carriage unearthed in Gansu

Vehicles used in ancient China were mainly horse-drawn carriages, ox carts, and wheelbarrows. The horse-drawn carriage was a mode of transport for the nobility. Prior to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), carriages were an important item of battle materiel in which warriors stood to fight the surrounding enemy. Ox carts were for freight transport, and the common people used wheelbarrows both as passenger transport and for carrying goods.

Early animal-drawn carts had standing room only. Wooden boards on all four sides protected passenger safety and also provided a surface against which to lean. There was usually a canopy on top for decoration and shelter from bad weather. The higher the canopy, the more beautiful the cart was considered to be. Carts for carrying warriors or criminals had no canopy.

Carts with seats came later. There were generally three, the one to the left for VIPs, the middle one for the driver, and the one on the right for his attendant. This arrangement accorded with the ancient convention of the left position being most honored.

By the Han Dynasty a greater variety of carriages had developed. Those for use by the nobility were sumptuously decorated and comfortable, to the extent of being able to recline while travelling. The ox cart was used for passenger transport as well as for carrying goods. As an ox had the strength to draw a large cart steadily, with no jerks, passengers would often put a table inside and enjoy a mobile drinking party. It is recorded that certain ancients put their conveyances to more practical use by placing stone mills inside their carts, which rotated as the carts moved.

Vicissitudes of Cars in China

Nature has been generous to the Chinese, sending them both subterranean and surface oil. As early as 1,000 years ago, Chinese ancestors used surface petroleum as fuel, calling it “fat water.” It was regarded as a utility similar to coal and firewood.

The ancient Chinese also developed special mechanized cart functions. Compass cart (upper): The wooden figure in the cart always faces south. Mileage cart (lowert): The two figures beat the drum when the cart completes a unit of mileage.

On being burned this “fat water” produced black smoke, a phenomenon particularly noticed by an ancient scientist named Shen Kuo (1031-1095). He developed China’s first oil product — a new type of inkstick, from its black residue. This black ink dried to a slick sheen, and was of a much better quality than that made from charcoal. He named his new product Yanchuan Stone Liquid, and renamed “fat water,” calling it instead “stone oil,” which is to this day the literal meaning of the Chinese for petroleum.

His position as government official prevented Shen Kuo from devoting himself entirely to science. He was nonetheless sure that “stone oil” would in future be of inestimable value and have comprehensive applications. He predicted: “As from my own invention, this matter (stone oil) will have myriad uses.”

Unfortunately, the true value of this blessing from nature was not, as Shen Kuo predicted, realized until 880 years later. The birth of the national auto industry in 1956 brought the matter of oil to public attention, but it was not widely used until the appearance of family cars in recent years.

The earliest motor car in China can be traced back to 1902. The first car owner was Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty. On her birthday that year, Minister Yuan Shikai sent her a foreign-made car as a gift. The car, with its wooden body and wheels, resembled a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage, with the driver’s seat at the front and two passenger seats behind.

Horse-drawn carriages depicted in a Han Dynasty tomb chamber mural.

Although the empress dowager liked the car very much, she never drove it, and neither is it certain that she actually rode in it. The story goes that she had problems with the driver’s dominant position in the car, and was unhappy at his being seated in front of her. She was less happy still that the driver sat, rather than kneeled, when driving. On the driver arguing with the empress dowager that he could not drive in any position other than sitting, in order to avoid further trouble hovering ministers stepped forward and anxiously urged Cixi not to ride in the vehicle. There are several versions as to what happened later, but one thing is certain — the car has never been used since. It was first placed in the Forbidden City and later moved to the Summer Palace.

In the decades following, only a handful of private cars appeared in the capital’s households. It was not until the 1990s that the number of family cars began to increase at such an astonishing speed. Today, if all Beijing residents in possession of a driver’s license were to drive a car, the number of cars on the streets would soar from 2 million to 3.5 million.

Under the Manchurian rule the earliest models of cars did not enter the Chinese market.

Cars are nowadays a popular topic of conversation among Chinese people, style, price, and special features being the aspects most discussed. Auto web sites and exhibitions have become commonplace over the past year, and new models emerge at a rate of knots. It is said that these days, Guangzhou has more car dealers than rice shops. This is not to suggest that rice is a purchase less popular than cars in the city.

The Changpu River.

IN August 2002, the Changpu River east of the Tian’anmen Rostrum saw daylight once more after 40 years concealment underground. In the late 1960s the river was boarded over and warehouses in which to store adornments for Tian’anmen Square pageants were built on it. Increasing concern for the Beijing eco-environment and preservation of its historic features in recent years has resulted in the municipal government’s launching of a series of measures, and that of renewing the city’s river network carries high priority.

The Imperial River Network

Despite measuring only 510 meters in length, during the 14th to 20th century the Changpu was one of Beijing’s two most important rivers, the other being the Golden Water River by the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City. As the Changpu runs outside the imperial compound, it is also known as the Outer Golden Water River. In the Ming Dynasty, the city of Beijing was divided into three concentric rings, with the downtown area at the periphery, the Forbidden City at the center, and the imperial city between the two. As domicile to the royal family, the Forbidden City was surrounded by water, with the Golden Water River to the south and the Tongzi River to the east, west and north. Both still exist. The downtown area was also encircled by moats. Moats extant in Beijing were constructed during the Ming Dynasty, when they performed the multiple functions of water supply, sewage treatment, transportation, and defense.

The Inner Golden Water River inside the Forbidden City.

Originating as they did in south China, the Ming emperors had a strong affinity for water. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the dynasty, selected Nanjing, on the Yangtze River, as capital of his empire, but after a coup by his son Zhu Di and his subsequent ascension to the throne, the capital was moved to Beijing. The reasons for this were that Beijing had long been Zhu Di’s sphere of influence, and that it had mighty economic and military strength. Its location was also strategically significant as regards defense against the enemy states in the north. After Zhu Di died in 1424, his son Zhu Gaochi succeeded the throne, and soon took the decision to move the capital back to Nanjing. He died, however, only two months later. Otherwise, the history of Beijing would have taken a completely different course.

Since ruling Beijing as Prince Yan, Zhu Di had stressed the need for the construction of its water works. In 1371 he gave the order to shift the Yuan (previous dynasty) city wall to the south, and make the Broomcorn River and Jishuitan its northern moats. In 1419 a new moat, Qiansanmen, was dug south of the imperial city, and the eastern and western Yuan moats were dredged and expanded to link with it. Later the external city moat was also excavated after a city wall had been built, and all these moats were channeled into the Tonghui River. Beijing was thereafter circumfused with rings of green waters.

Ancient Water Works

The Kunyu River was the imperial watercourse during the Qing Dynasty.

In ancient times Beijing was a busy port. After the city was made capital of the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century, its population underwent a sharp increase. At that time Beijing ruled 16 counties, and its local residents exceeded 400,000. Taking into account government employees, garrisons, and itinerants, the real population in Beijing approached one million. Feeding a population of this magnitude entailed regular shipments of grains to Beijing from south China, the “state granary,” via the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Freights were unloaded at Zhangjiawan Dock.

Located south of today’s Tongzhou District, Beijing, Zhangjiawan Dock handled all shipments of grain to Beijing throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Zhangjiawan city housed the Administration of Water Transportation of Grain to Beijing office, as well as large numbers of granaries, and was therefore heavily guarded. Cargo boats formed long queues along the canal a few kilometers away from the city.

In its capacity of political, economic and cultural hub of the Yuan Dynasty, Beijing faced two pressing tasks: to explore new sources of water, and to build a waterway linking Beijing to the Zhangjiawan Dock, so that grains could be shipped directly into the city.

The two projects were masterminded by Guo Shoujing (1231-1316), a renowned astronomer and hydraulic engineer. After careful hydrological and geographic reconnaissance Guo discovered Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain. He built the 30-km-long Baifu Weir in northwest Beijing to divert the spring water to the city, and then channeled it, via the existing river course, into the Grand Canal.

The Lotus Pool in Beijing was formerly a reservoir.

To solve the problem of the riverbed gradient, Guo built dozens of sluices along the canal to control the water level and runoff. The 80-km canal was built by 20,000 laborers in just over one year. On its completion, Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan was delighted at the sight of Jishuitan Lake crowded with boats from Tongzhou, and named the canal the Tonghui River. Today the river has been renovated, and a boat tour is in operation.

Spates of Disaster

Although Beijing now faces increasing water shortages, it nevertheless practices flood-fighting drills every year. This is due to the city having suffered serious floods in past centuries, when the main culprit was the Yongding River. According to historical documents, during the 834 years from 1115 to 1949 the Yongding River burst its banks 140 times, the time lapse between each occurrence ever shorter. During the 268-year reign of the Qing Dynasty it was breached 68 times, on average causing floods every four years.

In 1626, torrents from the Yongding River swept across the city from west to east, bringing a high death toll. In the 1890 flood, the eastern, western and southern regions outside Beijing were all immersed. Within the city, flood water could not be drained away, as all trenches and ditches were blocked up. All its residences were consequently inundated, and many collapsed.

Despite all the calamities it has caused, the Yongding River is nevertheless Beijing’s lifeline. Without it, Beijing could not have grown from a desolate settlement into a metropolis. The sweet and refreshing springs of Yuquan Hill were actually Yongding River water filtered through limestone. It was a source of irrigation for the farmland in rural Beijing, and the rivulets and lakes throughout the city were generally its tributaries. Centuries ago, there were vast waters in the west flank of the imperial city teeming with fish, lotus, and waterfowl, and temples, pavilions, gardens and villas were scattered over its banks.

Rescuing Beijing’s Rivers

Jishuitan was the main deport for grain transported by canal from southern China to Beijing.

Over the past century, owing to climatic and other reasons the waters in Beijing have shrunk. In the 1960s the Forbidden City western moat was transformed into an underground river, and in ardent urban construction drives of the 1970s more moats followed suit. Today only the southern moat and part of the northern moat are extant, and are half their original length. Cement-enforced banks present a further blemish on Beijing’s ancient rivers.

This situation is, however, to be changed with the drawing up by the government this year of the Plan to Protect the Historic and Cultural City of Beijing. This plan is specifically to protect Beijing’s water system, and according to it, special efforts will be made to harness and protect waters relevant to the city’s history and eco-environment. It also includes restoration of rivers and lakes of historic significance to Beijing.

Since 1998 the municipal government has invested one billion yuan in water system projects. So far the Beihai and Shichahai lakes and the Tongzi River have been dredged, and their banks and bounding walls repaired. Work on Qingshui, Bahe and Liangshui rivers is also underway. By the year 2005 the government will invest another 5.45 billion yuan in cleaning up 20 more rivers, with the aim of restoring Beijing’s former aquatic splendor .

Editor’s Note: Ms Lin Ying compiled and published a lengthy academic work entitled Celestial Horses in the Year of the Horse. Charles Willemen, a well-known Orientalist and member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences, commented that this is a well-documented and original study about the relationship between horses and Chinese civilization. The book has selected certain masterpieces showing images of celestial horses of special significance. The history of celestial horses is, of course, put in the general framework of Chinese civilization, and these horses also reflect the Chinese people’s sorrows, happiness and hopes over thousands of years. Following are some excerpts.

Jasper Horse-Dragon, Hongshan Culture.

THE ancestor of horses is called Tiansi, identified with the constellation Fang, namely the fourth constellation of the seven of the eastern quarter, commonly called Azure Dragon. The constellation Fang is said to be composed of four horses, (i.e. four stars in the head of Scorpio). Hence the constellation is also called Tiansi, a celestial team of four horses. Later generations added to these early beginnings, and the image of the horse became associated with that of the dragon.

During the Western Han Dynasty the great Chinese political explorer Zhang Qian (died 114 B.C.) traveled through Central Asia and went deep into the Western Regions. There, in Dayuan (now commonly identified with the Ferghana Basin) he found out about “blood-sweating” horses, said to be the finest in the world. Zhang Qian reported this to Emperor Wudi (157-87 B.C.), who immediately saw the strategic use of such horses. Emperor Wudi overran Dayuan, obtained the horse, which could travel 1,000 leagues a day (qianli ma), and wrote an ode to the Celestial Horse of the Remote West. By calling horses celestial, the Chinese endowed them with the qualities of heaven (e.g. consciousness and feelings, and omnipotence). The horse had divine power and spirit and was represented as such by the artistic world throughout history, up to the present day.

Chinese painting and writing share the same origins, because primitive pictographs are taken from painted images of nature. On the tortoise shell oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries B.C.) the character ?í (horse) and 3μ (chariot) can be found. There is still a kind of clan insignia in the texts inscribed on ancient Chinese bronze ware, which is around the time of the Zhou Dynasty (11th-3rd centuries B.C.) featuring a man leading two horses with his hands and a pig underneath his widespread legs. This figure is possibly the origin of the Chinese character ?ò jia (family, home). No matter what the tortoise shell inscriptions of this kind of clan insignia may mean, they hint at the domestication of wild horses.

Painted bronze chariot and horses, Qin Dynasty.

The original form of a dragon may have been a snake, used as a totem by a powerful clan. This clan continuously conquered weaker clans whose totems were deer, tigers or even fish. The dragon, which bore many features of these other creatures, eventually emerged as a frequently used symbol in China.

One example is a dragon relic of the finest jade that was made on the upper reaches of the Xiliao River, about 5,000 years ago. The anterior of the dragon’s head has the features of a horse, with long, up-slanting eyes, a long protruding mouth, but whose upturned lips are like those of a pig, and its mane flaring out, resembles that of a galloping horse. No wonder it is also called Jade Horse-Dragon. Perhaps a “Dragon” clan conquered one of that weaker clan whose totem had been “Horse” in early times!

It is evident that ancestors of the northern nomads enhanced the divinity of the horse by merging its image with that of the magic dragon. “The curling body hints ascent and its attitude of ease exudes a sense of vigor. It embodies in its magnificence a miraculous power that is all encompassing and omnipotent.” This ancient concept was superseded over later generations, until a language of dreams sprang up, associating the images of the horse and the dragon.

The horse, with its connotations of yang vitality and associations with the sun and the sun-horse, has made it a mythical funerary animal — an entity believed to have the power to resurrect life from the grave.

Tri-colored pottery horse, Tang Dynasty.

Zhouyuan, which is as famous as the Yin Ruins in Anyang, used to be the capital of the Zhou people before they overthrew the Shang Dynasty and established their own Zhou Dynasty. It was, therefore, a place where ancestral tombs and shrines were concentrated. Among the eight horse-and-chariot pits already excavated, the largest and the deepest one is at the center. It is about 2,900 years old. The overall length of this pit is 7.3 meters and 5.15 meters to 5.3 meters in width; and it is 12.6 meters below ground. The way the horses were buried here has been seldom witnessed. A group of live male horses was driven into the pit, and while they reared and struggled, earth was speedily dumped into the pit, burying them alive. Archaeologists have seen traces of the angry neighing horses and of fractures in their legs as a result of struggling. There were 95 horses in all. Such a mass immolation of horses is proof of man’s domination and cruelty to this animal. In those primitive days, when even people were killed as funeral offerings, how could horses be spared?

The importance of the horse to humankind was not felt until the Chinese Bronze Age (c. 2000-500 B.C.), an age when states came into being — an age of culture and war. The way of human civilization was full of hardship and constraint. The human nature and that of the horse blended together.

Immortal Rides on a Celestial Horse, white jade sculpture, Western Han Dynasty.

According to Shiji (Records of the Historian), King Xian of Qin, in the first year of his reign (384 B.C.), ordered the practice of immolation of living funeral objects to be stopped. This was a brilliant milestone in the history of Chinese civilization, and marked the beginning of using figurines to replace human beings and animals as funerary objects. This practice, which had hitherto been regarded as “proper,” was now considered “improper.” A hundred or so years later, the terracotta warriors and war-horses in the tomb of Qinshihuang (the First Emperor of China) became a phenomenon unprecedented in the history of sculpture. There are thousands of pottery horses among the majestic army of terracotta warriors. All this is an expression of this great change in funeral rituals. Owing to the progress of humanity and human civilization, and to the involvement of unknown slave craftsmen and artisans, the horse eventually emerged onto the artistic stage.

In the 1970s, during the excavation of the three pits containing Qinshihuang’s Buried Legion, large quantities of terracotta war-horses were unearthed — an estimated 1,000. Both the terracotta warriors and the war-horses are life-size. Thousands of horses and soldiers have been combined to depict a magnificent and impressive scene from a real battlefield. This is in keeping with Qinshihuang’s flair for strategy and success as a conqueror, which enabled him to stage full-scale wars through which he unified the whole country. No other ancient civilization has created a world in which the deceased were represented on such a life-size scale, and the war-horses are an important aspect of this tribute.

Liu Bang (?-195 B.C.) eventually emerged victorious and accepted the title of First Emperor of the Han Dynasty with the reign name Gaozu in 206 B.C. The feudalistic, centralized regime was consolidated until Liu Che (157-87 B.C.), Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, died. It was a time of prosperity and aspirations.

A mural in Cave 249 of Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, depicting a hunting scene, Northern Dynasties.

It was in this general historical context that Zhang Qian (?-114 B.C.) embarked on his westward diplomatic expeditions. As a result, this route, better known as The Silk Road, became an important route that facilitated exchanges between the Han people and the nomadic tribes. It was not until Zhang Qian, the great Chinese political explorer, and his entourage went deep into the Western Regions, that in Dayuan (Ferghana) he discovered the “blood-sweating” horses, and recognized them as the finest horses in the world at that time. Upon his return to China, Zhang Qian reported this to Emperor Wudi. It kindled the emperor’s desire for fine horses. According to the prediction of the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), “The divine horse would come from the Northwest.” So Wudi wanted to possess this fabled “blood-sweating” horse from Dayuan at all costs.

Wudi loved horses because he believed that fine horses were a vital factor in deciding the outcome of a war. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the cavalry of the semi-nomadic tribes known to the Han as the Xiongnu (Huns) rose to power in the north. At that time, these Xiongnu in the north kept harassing the borders. They rode on strong horses and moved quickly from one place to another, posing a threat to the Han Dynasty. Rulers of the Western Han Dynasty learned an important lesson from this, and realized the importance of horse breeding and the cavalry. After an unsuccessful expedition, in 104 B.C. Emperor Wudi sent a punitive expedition against Dayuan, which was 12,550 li (6,275 km) from the capital Chang’an. After four years, the troops returned with a selection of superior horses, which were named “Celestial Horses.”

Five Steeds (Section 5), ink outline drawing on a hand scroll by Li Gonglin, Northern Song Dynasty.

The Celestial Horse, as the term suggests, means Horse of Heaven. For the people in the Han Dynasty, heaven was omnipotent, omniscient and possessed human consciousness and feelings. When Wudi named the newly acquired Dayuan (Ferghana) horses “Celestial Horses,” he was actually endowing his horses with the will and personality of heaven. The high-sounding name took on the divine power and spirit of exploration of the Celestial Horse God. Moreover, the celestial horse was to become an aesthetic theme in Chinese art.

Cave 249, among the Northern Dynasties caves, is noted for the mural “Hunting.” Hunting is a frequently depicted subject in figure-and-horse paintings, where green, blue, brownish red, and black shades are painted on a white background. Lines and color converge to bring out the images of hunters, horses, mountains, trees and animals. It is romantically conceived and the whole picture is permeated with vitality and vividness.

The Tang Dynasty is acknowledged as the most creative era and also one in which horse painting approached its climax of glory and splendor in Chinese fine arts history. Before the Tang, horse painting was not a school of art, but since the Tang, painters have exalted and revived the Tang style.

Galloping Horses by Xu Beihong in 1942.

There are many stories about how Li Gonglin, a literati painter of the Song Dynasty, painted horses. In “Five Divine Horses,” all these five steeds are displayed directly before the eyes of the viewer. They stand in a peaceful and leisurely posture. Their heads have no particular significance, but are presented as component parts in harmony with the whole of the horse’s body and limbs. All five horses simply stand there, magnificent and relaxed. When looking at the horsemen standing by the horses, it is apparent that each is different from the other, indicating different nationalities, characters and social status. Their faces are by no means impressive, having no piercing looks, excessive emotions, ambitions or desires. Rather, they seem to be enjoying a peaceful and easy mood.

The versatile Emperor Kangxi (r. 1661-1722) loved the musical and painting skills of Western Jesuits. In fact, he prized them so highly that he summoned them to serve the Qing court, and even promoted them to the rank of master of music or master painter. Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), better known in China as Lang Shining, an Italian Jesuit of Neapolitan origin, a painter and architect, arrived in Beijing in 1715, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. He was the one most appreciated by Emperor Kangxi, and was summoned to the Qing court as a court painter. Until the year 1766 when he passed away in Beijing, his career spanned 51 years.

The classic piece among the earliest works of Castiglione, completed in China, is the scroll entitled A Hundred Horses. This painting was executed in 1728 when Castiglione was 40 years of age. It can be interpreted as a free world in which the horse nature fully emerges, and also as a Chinese pastoral poem idealized by an Italian priest.

Following the Western way of painting, Castiglione made a sketch of “A Hundred Horses” on paper before completing it. On silk Castiglione devoted all his attention to the rendering of the scientific perspective of landscape, which gives this picture a spacious and far-reaching sense. The proportions of the human figures and horses in the meadow are very accurately reproduced. The posture of all the horses differentiates one from another. Each of them is in a characteristic attitude seen from different angles: full face, three-quarter face or in profile. Some are drinking water, some are crossing the river, others are either standing still, frolicking two by two in the fresh air, grazing, or gamboling and rolling on the ground. Most of them are either in groups or alone. They all look free and relaxed. All this precisely observed detail in nature demonstrates the searching and exacting drawing skills of Castiglione. Finally, he transferred the sketched images onto a silk scroll. He also revealed his acquaintance with Chinese tastes by the utilization of the traditional Chinese gongbi (meticulous realism with bright colors), technical formulas, and deliberately rendered light and shadow effects. Consequently, the highlight on the coat of horses makes them look three-dimensional, and his way of drawing retains all its original freshness. His was an unprecedented approach with its accurate and meticulous truthfulness, something that had never been done by the Chinese.

Xu Beihong, the most famous horse painter in China of the 20th century, once studied fine arts in Japan and France. He painted horses not because it catered to the needs of politics, but because he had loved to paint them since childhood. Fine horses were the theme of his whole life. The galloping horses drawn by Xu Beihong all look animated, but their refined and elegant characteristics go beyond those of real horses. In Chinese eyes “these galloping horses are not wild horses. They have both a dragon and a human nature. They are running and stampeding, free of all restraints. They are an image of imagination. It is a synthetic characteristic symbol, a symbol of freedom, a symbol of rising, a symbol of the Chinese nation on the point of lifting its head.”

The history of Chinese horse painting is the history of Chinese civilization, a history that tells us that the Chinese are friendly as well as hostile to nature, their fellow human beings and horses. The spirit of horse painting also reflects all the sorrows, happiness and hopes of the Chinese nation over the last millennia.

IN China the epithet a “modern Bao Zheng” is the highest praise possible for government officials, especially those in judicial posts. Bao Zheng (999-1062), the best-known upright and incorruptible official in Chinese history, was born in today’s Hefei in Anhui Province. After working as county magistrate and prefect, he was promoted to a series of senior positions in the imperial Song court.

Image of Bao Zheng in Peking Opera.

Bao Zheng appealed for order in the local administration and reduction of corvee and tax. After assuming the office of chief justice, he soon established a reputation for impartiality, integrity and ability in settling lawsuits. According to historical documents, Bao: “…took decisive and rigorous measures to rectify the administration. Even senior officials and the peerage were intimidated into desisting from evil or illegitimate acts. Every malfeasant trembled at the mention of his name. Even women and children knew of Bao Zheng.”

Over the past centuries, Bao Zheng’s reputation has heightened, rather than falling into historical oblivion. There are numerous dramas, operas, and tales about Bao Zheng. People love, esteem and even apotheosize him, as there were few incorrupt officials in feudal times that genuinely safeguarded the interests of the populace.

When Bao Zheng ruled Tianchang County in Anhui Province, a farmer reported a case of the tongue of one of his farm cattle being cut off. Bao Zheng told him: “Keep this to yourself, and slaughter the animal.” According to the law of the Song Dynasty, unauthorized slaughter of farm cattle was prohibited, but as the animal was at its last gasp, and the county magistrate himself had given the order, the farmer returned home and killed the ox.

The next morning a person came to the court, informing on the farmer that had slaughtered one of his own cattle. Bao Zheng asked, point blank: ” Why did you cut out the tongue of his ox?” The man was dumbstruck, and later confessed that he had injured the beast due to an old grudge he had been nursing against the farmer.

In most of the plays about Bao, he is confronted by high-ranking officials, magnates, and even members of the royal family — those of the feudal society with vested interests that could always escape punishment after breaking the law. The indignation and dissatisfaction the people felt in the face of this inequality inspired them to create the image on stage of Bao Zheng — an incarnation of justice and power, who fulfills the dream of the masses for equity and equality.

The gateway bearing the 16-word admonishment of the Song Dynasty

In Beheading Prince Zhao, and Beheading Chen Shimei, Bao Zheng executed respectively the emperor’s brother and son-in-law both of whom had committed grave crimes. In Beheading Bao Mian, he sentenced his own nephew to death for malfeasance and taking bribes. In Beating the Imperial Carriage and Beating the Dragon Robe, Bao Zheng even went so far as to penalize the emperor by thrashing the articles that symbolize imperial power.

Bao utters lines such as: “Since I enforce the law in Kaifeng, I will execute corrupt officials, punish local despots and redress in justice…No wrong-doer, including princes and princesses, can escape their due punishment.”

This is a cry from the masses rather than the oath of an imperial official.

Apart from Bao Zheng, Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty and Yu Chenglong of the Qing Dynasty are also famous honest officials of China’s history. They were loved and revered by the people, and also acknowledged by emperors, as sound administration obviously contributes to social stability, economic growth and ultimately the solidity of imperial rule.

Zhao Guangyi (939-997), Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, once made an inscription, which was later carved on steles to be erected in all government offices:

“Your pay and allowance are the flesh and blood of the people. It may be easy to tyrannize the commoners, but it is impossible to cheat God.”

Sculptures in the Bao Zheng Memorial Temple in Kaifeng in Henan Province: Enforcing the Law Strictly.

This observation was handed down right through to the Qing Dynasty, when it was carved on the gateways outside government offices, so that officials on duty could see it whenever they raised their heads. Such gateways are well preserved in the former official buildings in Baoding in Hebei Province, and in Huozhou in Shanxi Province.

THERE are few people in Chinese history whose fame, be it for reasons of heroism or infamy, has lasted over centuries. He Shen is a name enshrined in ill fame.

The Xijin Study was built from nammu wood. Its architecture followed the imperial style, which made it one of He Shen

It is recorded that in 1799, when He Shen was brought to justice and his house searched, his household possessions acquired through graft amounted to a value of 800 million taels of silver — an amount equal to 10 years’ revenue of the Qing government. At the time of his downfall, He Shen was the highest and most powerful official in the overall operation of the Qing imperial government, and his massive wealth was obtained during his two decades of officialdom. In 1799, at the age of 49, he received an imperial decree ordering that he hang himself.

He Shen was born of a humble family and started his official career as an ordinary imperial bodyguard. Later he won the favor of Emperor Qianlong and underwent a rapid process of promotion. In his prime, he held a dozen or more official titles, including minister of revenue, minister of military strategy, minister of internal affairs, and minister of foreign and ethnic minority affairs. He was also granted the title of Duke of the highest loyalty. His daughter-in-law was Princess Gulunhexiao, the youngest and most favorite daughter of Emperor Qianlong, so He Shen was also related by marriage to the emperor.

All this prominence gave He Shen great influence within officialdom and tremendous wealth. His residence was larger and more magnificent than those of the imperial princes. After issuing He Shen with the order to end his life, Emperor Jiaqing, son of Emperor Qianlong, confiscated his residence and granted half of it to his younger brother, Prince Qing Xi. The residence then became known as Prince Qing’s Mansion, and was later ceded to Prince Gong, with whose name it has since been associated, and which is open to the public today.

For hundreds of years, and right through to the present, He Shen has been the stock villain role in theatrical, film and TV productions. It is still not generally understood, however, why he risked the lives of his whole family by exploiting his power, second only to the emperor, in order to engage in such extreme graft. On this point, perhaps only He Shen himself could give a clear explanation.

Fu Hall in the courtyard of He Shen

Corruption within government has been a problem since ancient times, and almost every dynasty had its own legislation and supervisory institution specifically for dealing with corrupt practices. Scholars have come up with three main reasons for this phenomenon: one, obsession with wealth; two, obsessive pastimes; and three, a relentless, insatiable compulsion to acquire. The second of these motivations may seem unlikely, but can be seen to have foundation when surveying recorded facts. He Shen, for example, was well provided for and had everything he needed, but had many expensive hobbies, apart from a love for wealth itself, which included owning opulent residences, valuable antiques and jewelry, and indulging in gourmet food and beautiful women. If he had been able to keep some kind of rein on these hobbies, rather than being completely possessed by them, his level of crime may not have reached such an excessive level. Emperor Jiaqing charged He Shen with 20 crimes, seven of which were directly attributable to his hobbies. One was his collection of over 200 pearl bracelets — several times more than those owned by the imperial family, and rubies, whose size exceeded the one encrusted in the emperor’s own crown.

According to an ancient Chinese saying, “A man of honor obtains his wealth in a rational way.” A greedy person, like He Shen, may be differentiated from such a man by his unbounded greed and unscrupulousness. Historic records show that on one occasion He Shen met another minister named Sun Shiyi at the gate of the imperial palace, and noticed he was carrying a box. On asking to see what was inside he beheld a snuff bottle made out of a huge pearl. He instantly desired possession of this bottle, and requested it, but to his disappointment, Sun told him that the bottle was for the emperor, who had already been informed of the gift. A few days later, when the two met again, He Shen told Sun proudly that he had acquired a piece of treasure very similar to Sun’s recent tribute to the emperor, and to Sun’s amazement showed him the very snuff bottle he had presented to the emperor. Sun assumed that the emperor had passed it on to He Shen, but later found out that He Shen had greased the palm of a eunuch and had him steal it for him.

Miaoxiang Pavilion in the garden of this residence.

He Shen was a handsome and versatile person. He was proficient in four languages — Manchurian, Chinese, Tibetan and Uygur — and was gifted in writing prose and poetry. It was on his recommendation to Emperor Qianlong that A Dream of Red Mansions was published. In the early years of his officialdom, he was diligent and upright and won the love of the people.

Many factors caused He’s corruption, one in particular being the flaws within the feudal system. He Shen had too much power, and there was no effective supervisory system to check his insatiable greed. He knew how to please the emperor and consequently won his favor and protection. All other officials, both at the central and local governments, were in awe of his power.

Upon Emperor Qianlong’s death, Emperor Jiaqing wasted no time in getting rid of He Shen. This was not only because of the extent of He Shen’s corruption and the consequently empty treasury, but also the corrupt practices it had engendered within Qing politicians, which affected the whole social ethos. Perhaps most of all, it was because his excessive power threatened the supremacy of the emperor. Of He Shen’s 20 crimes, “defiance of imperial supremacy” and “power transcendence” accounted for half.

He Shen’s downfall is also attributable to a few upright and fearless officials, of whom Wang Jie, imperial commissioner of supervision, was one. He persevered with his suit against He Shen and finally brought him to justice in 1799.

Tibetan Clothes

Years ago, a friend of mine went to the roof of the world — Tibet. Her initial physiological reaction to the high altitude made her feel depressed, until she saw the local men and women working and dancing in the thinnest air in the world. She was deeply affected by the splendor of their beautiful clothes, and by the good humor and confidence radiating from them. She felt that the optimism of the local people and their colorful clothes symbolized the charm and dignity of their life in this secluded outpost.

Indeed, clothes have unusual connotations on this snow-covered plateau. They reflect the history, culture, beliefs, character and wealth of the local people.

Long sleeved, broad robes worn loosely with a diagonal slant, and women’s aprons welted with colorful stripes, might be the general idea people have about Tibetan dress. There are, however, marked variances in the clothing of different localities, influenced by the different strands of their religion. Tibet’s isolated environment has allowed Tibetan clothing to evolve into a variety of distinctive and characteristic styles.

Tibetan clothing consists mainly of a Tibetan robe and shirt. The Tibetan robe is broad, and appears longer on the left than on the right, as it is often fastened under the right armpit. Robes are also secured with two cloth belts in red, blue, or green.

The weather in northern Tibet, where herdsmen lead a nomadic life in natural mountain pastures, is bitterly cold. As there is a huge disparity between day and night time temperatures, local herdsmen wear a furred robe all year round, which doubles as a quilt at night. In daytime, people wear their left sleeve only, or sometimes wear neither, and tying the two sleeves at the waist. Today, the fashion of wearing only the left sleeve, while exposing the right shoulder, is immediately recognizable as Tibetan dress style.

Tibetan Clothes

The Tibetan furred robe is very bulky and said to have enough room to accommodate a five or six-year old child in winter. It has no pockets, but being fastened at the waist there is plenty of room around the ribcage to carry daily necessities.

Clothes worn by herdsmen in pasture areas are distinctive for their decorative welts. They are also hemmed in black velveteen, corduroy, or woolen cloth at the front and lower edges, and cuffs, and the women wear aprons decorated with colorful cloth stripes. The vista of herdsmen, roaming about under the blue sky, white clouds, green grass, snowy mountains, among their sheep and cattle, is a sight more beautiful than any landscape painting.

Tibetan farmers, who live in the warm and damp climate of southern Tibet, make their clothes from tweed, a kind of hand-woven woolen cloth. Both men and women wear their clothes buttoned to the right. Men’s clothes are hemmed in colorful cloth or with silk at the collar, cuffs, front, and lower edges. Other than during the cold winter, women’s outerwear is sleeveless. The length of a Tibetan robe generally exceeds the wearer’s height, and when worn, the waist is lifted and fastened with a belt.

The weather in Lhasa and Shannan Prefecture is warmer and damper still. Here the men mainly wear double-layered robes, and women dress in close-fitting robes and long-sleeved shirts, with brightly decorated aprons at the waist.

The apron is one of the favorite items of clothing for Tibetan women. According to Tibetan custom, they are the privileged garments for married women only; single girls do not generally wear them. Gonggar County in the Jiedexiu area of Shannan Prefecture is synonymous with aprons, having produced them for 500 or 600 years.

Tibetan Clothes

Festivals are the best opportunity to observe and enjoy Tibetan clothes. Nagqu Town in northern Tibet holds a horse race every year, and Tibetans gather at this fair dressed in their best. Riders usually wear robes of azure, dark blue or pale green, with red knickerbockers, or blue or black sports trousers, and boots. Male spectators wear long furred robes in black, blue, or yellow, hung with finely decorated Tibetan knives, flints, snuff bottles, and silver coins at the waist. Women wear hats hemmed in colors that match the hemming on all their other garments, right down to the boots. They wear gold, silver, and copper adornments on their long braids, large earrings and necklaces, and strings of metal coins decorating their waists that jingle musically in the breeze.

Tibetan people like to be richly bejeweled, and regard dress and adornment as the symbol of wealth and beauty. No matter how poor a family might be, they buy jewelry to bolster their confidence before others. Today, the personal adornments worn by a wealthy Tibetan may be worth tens of thousands to over a million yuan.

Tibetan people are devout Buddhists. In the 7th Century, Songstan Gampo, the national hero of Tibet, married princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty, and a Nepalese princess, each of whom brought a statue of Sakyamuni, one from the east and the other from west. From that time onwards, Buddhism spread throughout Tibet and gradually evolved into the unique Tibetan Buddhism that has been practiced for centuries.

Tibetan Buddhism not only affects people’s ideas and behavior but also influences their taste in dress and personal adornment. In Buddhist culture, white symbolizes holiness, and in their daily life Tibetans adore this shade, regarding it as emblematic of purity and auspiciousness. Consequently, they like to wear white shirts or hem their skirts with white fabric. Tibetan people make lavish use of the colors red, yellow, orange, blue, and dark green for articles of personal adornment, which also reflects the Buddhist influence, as Sakyamuni wears a yellow kasaya, Guru Rinpoche wears a red hat, and Master Tsongkhapa wears a yellow hat. The beads and ga’u (amulet) worn at the chest by young men and women are also related to Buddhism. The ga’u is believed to bring its wearer safety and wealth.

With the improvements in transportation between Tibet and the hinterland, exchanges of materials, including clothes, have flourished. Today, traditional Tibetan clothes are disappearing and being replaced by modern Western-style suits, jeans, and other contemporary fashions. Middle-aged women, though less bold than younger people, might also wear a Western-style suit jacket over their Tibetan dress, along with a traditional hat decorated in gold and silver satin. This is a very popular way of dressing in Tibet, and demonstrates the Tibetan tolerance of outside culture.

The personal ornaments worn by girls in the hinterland, such as silver bracelets with turquoise inlets, and silver necklaces inlaid with agate and other local jewels also reflect the Tibetan influence.

Many fashion designers derive their inspiration from traditional Tibetan clothes. In July 2000, the first Chinese Ethnic Garment and Adornment Exposition, sponsored by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, was held in Kunming. Traditional Tibetan clothes evoked praise and admiration from all members of the audience. The designs of Wu Haiyan, Chinese female fashion designer, were all styled on the Tibetan model.

Among the displays at this exposition, the most valuable was that comprising four suits of Tibetan clothes, selected and sent by the Tibet Autonomous Prefecture of Deqen, Yunnan Province. TheTibetanrobes are lavishly embellished with gold, silver, pearl, and agate ornaments. From these finely made and exquisitely decorated garments, it seems possible to trace the entire history of the development of Tibetan clothes.

Being the carrier of culture, Tibetan clothing has not only aroused the curiosity but also the sincere respect of people the world over.

Teahouse are almost as old as tea production in China, and form an integral part of China’s unique tea culture. Teahouses appeared throughout urban and rural China as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907). During the Qing Dynasty, going to the teahouse was very common practice. Some teahouses were large and luxurious, while others were small and simple. Storytellers and folk singers were often hired to enliven the atmosphere.

Laoshe Tea House

With constant warfare during the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, teahouse culture declined. After Liberation in 1949, particularly during the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976), teahouses were labeled “remnants of feudalism” and discarded completely.

Today there is a Laoshe Teahouse in the busy shopping area to the west of the Qianmen Gate Arrow Tower on the southern edge of Tian’anmen Square. The teahouse is named after famous Chinese novelist and playwright, Lao She, and his masterpiece drama, Teahouse. It opened for business in 1988 as the first teahouse in new Beijing, marking the rejuvenation of the teahouse culture of old Beijing.

The predecessor of the teahouse, the Youth Tea Society, was an open-air tea stand. In 1979, the number of unemployed youth in Beijing suddenly increased to 400,000, mostly comprising those “educated youth” who had returned from the countryside. Their employment was a tough problem. At that time there was hardly anywhere for tourists and shoppers to stop for a cup of tea and a rest in Beijing, particularly around crowded public sites like Tian’anmen Square and the Qianmen shopping area. Yin Shengxi, then a government worker at the Dazhalan Sub-district Office of Xuanwu District, came up with the idea of these unemployed young people selling tea around Qianmen, thereby earning a living and providing a public service. He quit his government post and led a number of jobless youths in establishing the Youth Tea Society with a loan of a few thousand yuan. The tea stand created a sensation and business boomed immediately.

One day two foreigners chatted with Yin Shengxi as they drank a cup of tea at the stand. “Does any place else sell tea?” one of them asked. “Where was the teahouse described by Lao She in his play, Teahouse?” As Yin explained, an idea to establish a teahouse in the name of Lao She came to him.

In the late 1980s, Western influence started to prevail in Beijing, with pop music and disco dominating the public entertainment market, leaving little space for traditional Chinese performing art. At this time, Yin put forth the idea of “rejuvenating Chinese tea culture and performing folk art.” With support from various sides, the Laoshe Teahouse went into operation.

The teahouse is decorated and furnished in the late Qing Dynasty style, with dozens of old-style tables in the hall and a stage beyond. Palace lanterns hang from the ceiling, and scrolled traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy works from the walls. An electronic display over the stage subtitles the show in Chinese, English and Japanese. Customers sip tea from their covered fine porcelain tea cups and taste imperial and local style snacks as they savor folk performances and the leisure moments of old Beijingers.

TANG San Cai, or Tang Tri-color (tri-color pottery of the Tang Dynasty), was created specifically as a burial object. Its existence relates closely to the political system and burial rituals of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tragedy of Sumptuous Burials

In late 1999, a 2,000-year-old tomb from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-A.D.25) was discovered on Mount Lao in Beijing’s western suburbs, when it also transpired that this tomb had been robbed shortly after interment of its owner. In January 2000, the State Cultural Relics Bureau approved the excavation of this tomb in the interests of its conservation, and, for a time, this discovery was a hot topic in Beijing. People could not help wondering what possible treasure may have been buried within the tomb, but were at the same time concerned as to whether or not it had been robbed of all its original contents.

This speculation was well founded, since sumptuous burials and tomb robberies could be said to have gone hand in glove in ancient China, particularly during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-A.D.220). Within the imperial burial system of the Western Han Dynasty, it was stipulated that, the emperor should, one year after his enthronement, begin building his tomb, using a third of the state tax revenue. During the reign of Emperor Wudi (156-87 BC), the proportion of tax revenue used for this purpose was increased to 50 percent, and the length of time needed to build the emperor’s tomb was a full 53 years. According to historical records, rebels in the late Western Han Dynasty broke into Emperor Wudi’s tomb and stole numerous burial objects, but in the Jin Dynasty, 300 years later, the tomb still contained piles of rotten silk, pearls and precious stones. In 1968, the tombs of Prince Jing and his wife, of Zhongshan of the Western Han Dynasty, were unearthed at Mancheng, Hebei Province, and yielded more than 10,000 gold, silver, bronze, and jade objects.

As a consequence of this subterranean wealth, tomb robbery was rampant. It is commonly acknowledged by centuries of experts that “nine out of ten Han-Dynasty tombs are empty.” Statistics endorse this assumption: of the 39 Han-Dynasty tombs excavated in modern times, only three have escaped robbery. The tomb on Mount Lao turned out to be empty.

Progress of the Burial System

The ruling classes were appalled that they could not enjoy the prospect of a peaceful, wealthy afterlife underground, due to the risk of being victims of tomb robbery, and of being summarily evicted from their tombs. They consequently began to devise methods of protection against tomb robberies, such as building robber-proof walls, setting deadly traps, sealing the tomb channels, and even killing all the tomb builders. However, some more sober-minded rulers began to assess the vicissitudes of sumptuous burial.

The first emperor to propose simple burials was Liu Xiu of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). He abolished the rule that a new emperor should start building his tomb during the second year of his rule. He also opposed the building of large mausoleums and holding excessively ornate funeral ceremonies.

Of the rulers who advocated simple burial, Emperor Taizong, named Li Shimin, (599-649) of the Tang Dynasty was the first to put into practice simple burial. Li Shimin has always been considered a wise and accomplished emperor in Chinese history, having created a period of great prosperity during his rule. When his father died in 635, he was in a quandary as to whether or not to hold a simple burial (although this was his basic intention) for fear of being seen as unfilial. To decide the matter, he invited his ministers to an open discussion wherein they might express their views on the issue. Since the emperor was known to have had a relatively democratic style of rule, and a willingness to listen to different opinions, his ministers and subordinates expressed their true opinion, quite spontaneously without fear of repercussions. One minister catalogued the tragedies that had occurred after sumptuous burials since the Han Dynasty, and argued that “saints who buried their beloved in a simple way cannot be considered unfilial”. He went on to state his view that burying one’s beloved in an extravagant way actually invited trouble to the deceased. This was exactly what Li Shimin wanted to hear, so he acceded to the minister’s suggestion and held a simple burial for his father.

Another person who played a decisive role in Li Shimin’s determination to promote simple burial was his wife, Empress Zhangsun, who had great political influence over him. When she died in 636, she stated in her will that since she had contributed nothing in her lifetime to the people’s benefit, she could not, therefore, expect them to expend their hard earned cash upon her death ceremony. She requested a hill as her grave, and burial objects made only of pottery and wood. Li Shimin followed her will, and ordered a tomb be hollowed out of a hill. It is recorded that her tomb took approximately 100 people and just over one month to complete.

Despite Li Shimin’s efforts to promote simple burial, the age-old tradition of sumptuous funerals lingered on. In 714, Emperor Xuanzong promulgated a more severe decree: “No gold and silver may be used for burial objects. Any offenders will be punished by 100 strokes of the cane. Heads of prefectures and counties who fail to discover and prevent violations will be demoted.” This decree prepared the way for the prosperity of the Tang tri-color. Neither nobles nor imperial family members dared to use metal for their burial objects, opting instead for the fine workmanship and exquisiteness of tri-color pottery.

Tang Tri-colors

The early Tang Dynasty (618-907) was a manifestation of political harmony and economic strength. Manufacturing techniques improved, as did those of pottery. The emergence of tri-color pottery brought China’s age-old traditional ceramic industry to a new high. Although its production lasted only 100 years at its peak, tri-color pottery nevertheless had a great influence on succeeding dynasties, and was replicated both at home and abroad, resulting in Song-Dynasty tri-color, Liao-Dynasty tri-color, and Japan’s Nara tri-color, to name only three.

Tang tri-color is the generic name for color-glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty. Its colors include yellow, green, brown, blue, black and white, but the first three shades of yellow, green and brown are its major tones. The body was made from white clay, and after the clay mold had been fired into a fixed shape, a mineral frit containing such elements as copper, iron, cobalt and manganese was applied. The body would then be fired again at a temperature of around 900 degrees centigrade. Since the frit was high in lead compounds, its fusing degree was low, and it would therefore diffuse while being heated, allowing different colors to permeate. Though tri-color pottery took more time and went through a complex process in its making, it was not as solid and durable as porcelain, and had a high lead content. It was, therefore, used mainly for burial utensils, and rarely for items of daily use.

Since ancient Chinese attached equal importance to their earthly and after life, different types of tri-color were made to represent each aspect of earthly life, and included articles of daily use, human and animal figures, furniture, vehicles, miniature landscapes and buildings. The human and animal figures are notable for their excellence of workmanship, which is far superior to many contemporary plastic art works.

Most of the tri-color human figures are female. They range in size from a dozen centimeters to over one meter tall, and wear gorgeous, fashionable costumes whilst emanating grace and refinement. Their full figure and round face are in conformity with the criteria of beauty in the Tang Dynasty. Human figures also include depictions of Hu people (a general term for people of non-Han origin), which make them a unique feature of the Tang Dynasty.

Apart from its economic and technological strength, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty was also reflected in its broad contact and exchanges with the outside world. Under the ideological guidance of Emperor Taizong that it was “one family within the four seas,” the domain of the Tang Dynasty was genuinely a “country under heaven,” and the capital city of Chang’an, a true cosmopolis. According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Taizong, over 100 officials above the fifth rank in Chang’an were non-Han people, accounting for nearly half of the total officialdom in the capital.

Many Hu merchant caravans traveled along the Silk Road to and from Chang’an. They included Africans, who, during the Tang dynasty, were known as the Kunlun people. Tang-Dynasty literature contains detailed descriptions of the Hu and Kunlun people, further testified by vivid tri-color pottery figures from the period. A group of male pottery figures unearthed in the 1950s around Shaanxi’s Xi’an (known as Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty) and Xianyang clearly portray the physical features of African people. They are the earliest statues of Africans so far found in China. Much larger quantities and varieties have been discovered of Tri-color figurines of Hu people. They are depicted as standing, sitting, leading camels, riding on horseback, playing plucked musical instruments or dancing. They have deep-set eyes, high-bridged nose and full beards and are clad either in Tang attire or that of an outside culture.

Of the animal figures, horses and camels account for the greatest number. The Tang empire was won on horseback, so the Tang people had a special affection for horses. No artisans of any other dynasty were so skillful in their vivid representations of horses. Such works are consequently admired and avidly collected by people all over the world. In 1989, for instance, a Tang Tri-color horse (known as number 56) sold for 3.4 million pounds at a Sotheby’s auction in London. A simple standing figure could be imbued with a distinctive and irresistible charm by Tang tri-color artisans.

The camel was also an important means of transportation on the Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty, over 1,300 years ago. Many camel figurines of the Tang are described in a walking position, or with their heads held high, as if whinnying.

Although neither the whereabouts of Tang tri-color kilns, nor their makers are known today, the name of Tang San Cai itself represents a great historical period and a unique ancient art form.

NEW Year woodblock engraving

NEW Year woodblock engraving, a type of watercolor block printing, is a folk art that dates back hundreds of years. The whole process includes drawing, block cutting, printing and color processing. Woodblock engravings became popular in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and were an integral feature of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Where Peach Blossoms Bloom

Taohuawu, in the garden city of Suzhou in southern China, literally means Peach Blossom Basin. To the Chinese people, peach blossoms symbolize tranquillity and beauty. Tao Yuanming (376-427), a great scholar of the Jin Dynasty (265-420), described in his, “Source of Peach Blossoms,” a paradise on earth where misery and war are unknown, and where peach blossoms bloom everywhere.” Since then, the Land of Peach Blossoms is to China what Utopia and Shangri-La are to the West.

Suzhou has been a beautiful and prosperous city since ancient times. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Suzhou produced four outstanding artists. Tang Yin, the most popularly remembered artistic genius of the four, lived and died in Taohuawu, where he created a great number of masterpieces, much sought after by collectors in China and abroad.

Taohuawu also produced many folk artists. The area became known for its woodblock printing techniques during the Ming Dynasty, when many woodcuts and illustrations for novels and theatrical scenarios originated in Taohuawu. By the Qing Dynasty, its woodblock printing techniques had become widely used for the production of New Year pictures, which were wholesaled from Taohuawu, not only to other parts of China, but also to Southeast Asia and Japan. Many masterpieces were produced at that time.

During the Taiping rebellion, (1851-1864), Manchurian troops besieged Suzhou, and the city burned for seven days. New Year picture workshops and stores in Taohuawu also fell prey to the fire, and few wood blocks survived. Most of the older New Year Pictures found today are printed from blocks originating in the late Qing Dynasty, or are duplicates of those of the mid-Qing Dynasty.

In the first half of the 20th century, New Year picture production declined because of constant warfare and turmoil. After the founding of new China in 1949, great efforts were exerted in Suzhou to restore this folk art, and over 200 representative draft drawings were collated and printed. Old wood blocks were permanently shelved, and, unfortunately, during the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976), owing to insufficient storage protection, the blocks rotted. However, in the 1990s, this folk art was once more rejuvenated.

Deities and the Spring Festival

Before 1912 China had used the lunar calendar. The first day of the lunar year (usually in early February) is the most festive occasion for the Chinese people. In some places celebration of the Spring Festival can last as long as a month. According to Chinese philosophy, the Spring Festival ushers in the regenerative period of nature, and signals the start of a new cycle of life.

Posting and renewing New Year pictures is an important aspect of preparation for the Spring Festival, being the medium through which people express their expectations for the coming year. Themes of good fortune and happiness, manifested by deities and auspicious symbols, are, therefore, dominant in New Year pictures. ” Deities” from Taohuawu is representative of such works.

This new year woodblock engraving measures over a meter in length, which is unusually large for a new year picture. It contains 68 characters, in a composition on five levels, separated by auspicious cloud patterns. A cluster of characters in one picture is not rare in Chinese paintings, but a concentration of dozens of characters from different religious and philosophical schools is. The characters on the first level of the engraving include Sakyamuni, Confucius and Lao Zi, representing respectively Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. On the second level is the Goddess of Mercy, and Yan Di and Huang Di, two progenitors of the Chinese nation. On the third level is the Jade Emperor, and depictions of celestial temples and dwellings. The fourth level is devoted to warriors, such as Guan Yu, a great military figure from the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). The fifth level depicts the celestial, terrestrial and water officials.

The combination of celestial and terrestrial, and of imaginary and real figures is typical of folk Chinese art. The common people care little about differences between religious and philosophical schools. They simply believe that deities personify justice and protect their interests. To them, there is no strict delineation between deities and human beings. Deities must come from somewhere, and no small number of them are the sages of humankind. For instance, in his life on earth, Guan Yu was a great general and an upright person. Upon his death, therefore, he was worshipped as God of War. All of the 68 characters in this picture are figures of great virtue and merit in Chinese history, no matter what their origins.

Pictures That Tell Stories

In old China, education was limited to a small elite, and the majority was illiterate. Woodcut pictures based on theatrical works and folk stories were, therefore, very popular, being the most amusing and easily comprehensible.

Taohuawu has many such woodblock engravings. They mostly tell stories of loyalty, benevolence, filial piety, righteousness and retribution, as a means to instilling morals and norms of conducts. “Yang Family Generals,” comprises two engravings, each containing eight pictures that tell an episode in the Yang family story. The 16 pictures, spanning the entire Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), depict how the three generations of the Yang family fought foreign invaders and defended their country. Another engraving in this category describes the military genius and eventual tragedy of Yue Fei, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), who was wrongfully accused, framed and executed. Yue Fei has since remained an heroic figure in Chinese history, and Qin Hui, the vicious minister who caused his death, a target of condemnation and contempt.

“Spring Cattle,” a work created in 1899 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, contains six pictures. Other than cattle and mascots for happiness, emolument and longevity, there are four story pictures. The first picture tells of a devoted widow who supports her family by weaving, and whose son finally passes the highest imperial examination. The second is about a woman whose son dies a sudden death after she murders her own baby daughters. The third depicts an unfilial son who mistreats his mother and is then bitten by a snake. The fourth is about a woman who mistreats her daughter-in-law and who, in her following reincarnation is herself a daughter-in-law, frequently beaten.

All these engravings exhort people to treat others kindly and with respect, as this kind of treatment will surely be reciprocated. In old China, such picture stories and other folk art forms, rather than books, were the medium for disseminating the philosophy of life, morals and social etiquette.

Spiritual Enjoyment

To allay one’s hunger by drawing a pancake is a Chinese proverb, which suggests that things spiritual are no substitute for the tangible. However, in real life people often resort to spiritual appeasement. In old China, for example, no matter how penniless they were, poor people would buy a picture of the Door God to post on their door, in order to ward off debt collectors. Those who wanted children would buy the picture depicting Kylin (the Chinese unicorn) Offering a Son. Scholars might buy a picture suggesting officialdom, but every family would have pictures of the God of Wealth and the Kitchen God, since money and food were common concerns.

Beautiful women have always been a popular motif in traditional Chinese paintings, and this is also true of Taohuawu New Year pictures. Tang Yin was believed to be the best painter of the female form, and folk artists from Taohuawu are also skilled in this respect. Like traditional Chinese paintings, Taohuawu woodblock engravings celebrate formal Oriental beauty. They portray exquisite females, with the oval faces, pointed chins, fine, arched eyebrows, almond shaped eyes, straight noses and small mouths considered as features typifying classic Oriental beauty, clad in sophisticated and gorgeous costumes.

Ten Beauties Playing Ball is a masterpiece of such works. There is not much difference in the facial features and costumes of the depicted females, all being clothed in costumes of the Qing Dynasty. However, their expressions and postures are distinctive, particularly the three girls with the ball at their feet. These 10 gracefully feminine figures are further complemented by beautiful scenery.

Folk artists from Taohuawu have summarized the three main aspects of their artistic creations. One, a picture should tell a story, to catch the interest of observers. Two, the depictions and words in the picture should be auspicious, so they will feel rewarded. Three, characters in the picture should be good-looking, so the viewers might gain pleasure from looking at them. Taohuawu has many types of New Year pictures, and most of them are created according to these principles.