Monday, May 28, 2012



Pandas, China's national animal, are a bit mysterious to say the least, for reasons I'll go into later. They've been used as a form of diplomatic gift for centuries since the Tang dynasty, when China's only ever empress, empress Wu, sent a pair to Japan


China reestablished this tradition in the 1950's; pandas are always given away in pairs so they can begin 'a happy family', although they rarely seem to want to. Since 1984 in fact, they've only been loaned to other countries, with a fee payable of up to one million U.S dollars. Any cubs born in that time, remain the property of the peoples republic of China. It kind of makes sense from a Chinese point of view really, as if every country has pandas, they no longer retain their diplomatic gift value.


 It's a bit unfortunate that pandas are used in this way, as has been commented by quite a few people. Taking them out of their natural environment isn't exactly the best way to treat an endangered species. Yet conversely, extreme care is given to most, in developed countries zoos; hopefully allowing for propagation of the species, although as I just mentioned, they are hardly very enthusiastic about this activity. Valentines day is always a non-event for panda bears.

To continue reading this article clickPanda Bears and go to the main site.

Ancient Chinese Art History


Chinese art is in many ways very different from most western produced art. By this I do not mean simply in style and in the use of materials, but also, very importantly, its application and the expectations of a piece. The first instances of what could be called Chinese art date as far back as 10,000 BC, and was in the form of simple pottery marked with patterns made by some form of cord, and also sculptures. 


 One of the strongest influences on Chinese art, and Chinese paintings themselves, is early Chinese calligraphy and writing, the first instances of which are found during the Shang Dynasty (1700BC - 1046BC). Chinese characters were in the form of pictograms that gradually developed into the present day characters, most of which are unrecognizable as their original image (one exception is the character 'fei', meaning to fly, that still looks like a bird.)

To continue reading this article clickAncient Chinese art history and go to the main site.

Thursday, May 24, 2012





China, the culture and country, are frequently discussed ad infinitum online and elsewhere. With people getting all hot under the collar as to what actually is 'Chinese culture', and the way they feel Chinese people should behave... or not behave as the case may be.

 Yet without knowing how their culture developed it's rather a moot point. So, as every good Chinese student knows, to understand the present, we must go to the past. A long, long time into the past.... Brace yourselves, as this is going to take a while (it's to be expected of culture with 3,200 years of actual, provable, recorded history)... I'll promise you one thing though, if you manage to read the whole thing, you'll understand things about Chinese culture that even native Chinese have trouble articulating in one fell swoop.

To read the rest of this post go to: Chinese Culture and the One Hundred Schools of Thought and visit the main site...