Culture And Art

Pre-Historical Culture

The splendid pre-historical culture of long-standing in Zhejiang is best represented by the Hemudu Culture of about 6,000 to 7,000 years ago and the Liangzhu Culture of about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Among the cultural relics unearthed at the site of Hemudu in Yuyao City, eastern Zhejiang, there are all kinds of production tools and utensils made of bone, stone, china clay and wood. Moreover, there are also well preserved rough rice, wooden components of tenon-and-mortise work, bright colored lacquer bowls and egg-shaped porcelain wind instrument and bone whistle that can still produce melodious tunes. The Liangzhu Culture is known for its developed black pottery and exquisite jade ware. This culture developed large-scaled rice cultivation and construction projects as well as forms of social organization. The discovery of the Hemudu Culture and the Liangzhu Culture bears proof that the Yangtze River Valley is also a birthplace of the Chinese nation.

In history Zhejiang always led the country in culture and handcraft development, as in the case of sword casting in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (770-221BC) , porcelain production and bronze mirror making in the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220) , and silk production , engraving printing techniques , pagoda and temple construction , and the art of Buddha sculpture after the Tang Dynasty (618-907) . The giant Buddha in Xinchang County whose construction began in the Jianwu period (494-497) of the State of Qi (480-502) in the Southern Dynasties (420-589) is known as the No.1 giant Buddha in South China. The Pagoda of Six Harmonies in Hangzhou and the Feiying Pagoda in Huzhou are regarded as the best examples of pagoda construction technology in China. Construction of the Pagoda of Six Harmonies began in 970 during the Northern Song Dynasty, the inner part of the Feiying Pagoda was built in 884 during the Tang Dynasty and the outer pagoda was built during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Cultural Relics and Museums

Rich in cultural relics, Zhejiang has five state-level Historically and Culturally Famous Cities, namely, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Quzhou and Linhai. In addition, there are 12 provincial-level Historically and Culturally Famous Cities and 43 historical and cultural areas under provincial protection. Zhejiang boasts 73 cultural relics under state protection, including the Pagoda of Six Harmonies, and General Yue Fei's Temple in Hangzhou, Baoguo Monastery and Tianyige Library in Ningbo, the ancient towpath and the Mausoleum of Yu the Great in Shaoxing, the Confucian Temple of South China in Quzhou, and the Feiying Pagoda in Huzhou, to name just a few. In addition, there are 279 historical and cultural units under provincial protection. On the Tentative List of World Natural and Cultural Heritages are six sites including the Liangzhu Culture in Hangzhou, West Lake in Hangzhou, Mount Putuo in Zhoushan, Mount Yandang in Wenzhou, the Nanxi River in Yongjia and the three ancient towns in north Zhejiang: Nanxun in Huzhou, Wuzhen in Tongxiang and Xitang in Jiashan.

Museums were built earlier in Zhejiang than in most other provinces in China. Zhejiang Provincial West Lake Museum, the predecessor of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum today, was established in 1929, one of the earliest museums in China. Now there are 140-plus museums and memorialhalls of various kinds throughout the province. Among them, the Zhejiang Provincial Museum houses over 100,000 pieces of cultural relics. Besides, many theme museums like China Silk Museum, China Tea Museum, Hangzhou Southern Song Imperial Kiln Museum, Huqingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum, Museum of Hemudu Cultural Ruins in Yuyao, and Museum of Liangzhu Culture Ruins in Hangzhou are known in the country for their unique features.

The province has a fine tradition of book collection, a tradition well known in China since ancient times. Age-old libraries like Tianyige Library in Ningbo, Wenlange Library in Hangzhou, Yuhai Library in Rui'an and Jiayetang Library in the ancient town of Nanxun of Huzhou, which are known for their large collections of historical documents, have played an important role in bringing up talented people and promoting academic research.

Operas

A major form of operas in China, the Yue opera came into being in Shengxian County (now Shengzhou City) in the early years of the 20th century. It is characterized with beautiful singing and lyrical plot. In its early stage of development, all the roles in the play, male or female, were played by actresses. Since the 1950s, Yue opera has witnessed a rapid development, and increasingly become one of the most influential local operas in the country. Popular plays include Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (known as Chinese Romeo and Juliet), Dream of the Red Mansion, and Aunt Xianglin. In the last two decades and more, a number of Yue opera performing troupes with a contingent of outstanding actors and actresses have emerged, as best represented by the rising of the Zhejiang Little Hundred-flower Yue Opera Troupe . They have staged a number of outstanding plays, including Romance of the Western Chamber, Five Daughters Offer Birthday Felicitations, Love between Poet Lu You and His Cousin Tang Wan, and Mistake Made Through a Red Silk Braid.

With a fine tradition of dramas, Zhejiang is also the birthplace of the ancient South Opera. In addition, there are many other kinds of local theatrical forms such as the Wu opera, Shaoxing opera, Ou opera, Yong opera, Yao opera and Huzhou opera.

Painting , Libraries and Calligraphy

In Zhejiang, different schools of painting and calligraphy with varied styles and features hold a significant position in the history of Chinese painting and calligraphy. In history, distinguished painters and calligraphers in Zhejiang included Wang Xizhi (321-379 or 303-361), Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), and Wu Changshuo (1844-1927) etc. Contemporary and modern times have seen famous painters and calligraphers like Huang Binhong (1865-1955), Pan Tianshou (1897-1971), Ma Yifu (1883-1967), Lu Weizhao (1899-1980), Sha Menghai (1900-1993) . The National Academy of Art, the predecessor of today's China Academy of Fine Arts and China's oldest art college, was founded in 1928. Now it has become a cradle for talented artists. Founded in 1904, the Xiling Seal-engravers' Society is the earliest academic institution and press specialized in the studies of seals and the publication of epigraphs, paintings and calligraphic works, for which it enjoys great reputation both at home and abroad. Moreover, the Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing has been the calligraphers' holy land since the saint calligrapher Wang Xizhi wrote the famous Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection.

Zhejiang is also one of the first provinces to build modern libraries. Now there are 83 public libraries at or above the county level throughout the province. The century-old Zhejiang Provincial Library, one of the earliest of its kind in China, houses a collection of 4.2 million copies of books.

Folk Culture and Arts

A province rich in local artistic traditions, Zhejiang has cultivated varied and colorful folk culture and arts. Mass leisure activities are flourishing throughout the province, including the dragon dance, lion dance, hobby-horse dance, walking on silts, and various lantern shows. Folk songs can be heard in the fields, in the mountains, and on the rivers and lakes. Moreover, Zhejiang has varied folk musical instruments. Famous all over the world are ?three Kinds of Carvings and One Kind of Sculpture ?, namely, Dongyang wood carving, Qingtian stone carving, Wenzhou boxwood carving, and Ou sculpture. Besides, Zhejiang is also known for other folk arts such as paper-cutting, embroidery, knitting, colored lanterns and architecture. The farmers' paintings from Xiuzhou in Jiaxing, Cixi in Ningbo and fishermen's paintings from Zhoushan are well known throughout the country. Folk dance, music, opera and various other forms of folk art including ballad singing, story telling, comic dialogues, clapper talk and cross talk present themselves with unique features and styles and draw wide attention.

The Seventh China Art Festival

Zhejiang Provincial Government is to host the Seventh China Art Festival from October 12 to 24, 2003, in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, and Jiaxing. The festival will collectively demonstrate the highest achievements and results of Chinese culture and art at the beginning of the new century. Professional art troupes from home and abroad will present a list of 45 plays and operas on stage and compete for awards. Among them, there will be 30 plays and operas to be performed by mainland troupes and 10 by overseas troupes and those from Hong Kong, Marco, and Taiwan. Besides, five special folk art performances, several classic stage art performances, as well as exhibitions, symposiums, and various mass entertainment programs will also be staged during the festival.

Source: Zhejiang Online