C h i n e s e A r t & C u l t u re
What do you think of when you hear the word “China”? Dishes? Dragons? Noodles? Cell phones?Chinatown? China is one of the world’s largest countries and home to some of the
world’s most ancient and advanced cultures. Familiarity with Chinese art and culture is essential for preparing students for the global future that we will all share. This knowledge is also important to understanding the changing characteristics of American neighborhoods.For example, the Chinese population in Boston increased 57 percent between 1990 to 2000 and has continued to increase since then.For many American students, China can appear dauntingly foreign. The written and spoken languages of China have different linguistic roots than English or other European languages, and the written characters look
different as well. China’s culture has traditions and practices that are very different from those found in the United States. These types of cultural barriers are often reinforced by the representations of China in popular
American culture and the media, which emphasize the “mysterious” and “exotic” elements of Chinese culture without context or explanation.At the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, we are fortunate
to have Yin Yu Tang, the only freestanding Qing dynasty Chinese home on exhibition in a U.S. museum. This house and the museum’s collection of Chinese art and culture provide many opportunities to learn about China from authentic sources and highlight artistic accomplishments ranging from architecture, poetry, and philosophy to porcelain and painting.
The 200-year-old house shows layers of cultural influence that range from the ancient to the modern, the local to the global. By examining this one house—from one particular region (Huizhou, in Anhui province), with the possessions and history of one particular family (the Huangs)—
students can learn not just about Chinese art and culture but also that life in China is neither mysterious nor exotic after all.Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly spoken language in the world. The population of the People’s Republic of China as of July 2005was approximately 1.3 billion people, about a fifth of the world’s total population. Taiwan is home to an additional 23 million people, and there are approximately 34 million Chinese people living outside of China, with approximately 2 million living in the United States.
Introduction to Qing Dynasty China
hina is one of the world’s oldest and most advanced civilizations. It has been home to many accomplishments
in the arts and sciences, and it has a highly developed economy and a sophisticated central government. At the height of the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911), China enjoyed achievements in many arenas,
including economic prosperity, population growth, and the arts. There was a flourishing of textile art, ceramics, religious artwork, architecture,furniture, paper crafts, and basketry as well as the esteemed arts of
Confucian scholars: painting and calligraphy. The Qing dynasty was also characterized by periods of political upheaval; internal conflict; and interactions and conflict with Japan, Europe, and the United States.
Most of the objects in the collections of Chinese art and culture at the Peabody Essex Museum date from the Qing dynasty, and many of them reflect the myriad international influences on China. The Qing dynasty
was the last imperial dynasty before the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911. The ruling family during this period was ethnically Manchu, a seminomadic people from the northeast of China, not the Han ethnicity,of which the majority of the population was (and still is) comprised. The Manchu conquered China with their elite military forces after the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), which weakened due to internal corruption, revolts,and incursions from the Mongols and the Japanese.In the 18th century, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, China underwent a period of expansion and prosperity.
For the Huizhoumer chants of southeastern China (the original home of Yin Yu Tang), the Ming and Qing dynasties were times of prosperity. There was significant growth of the merchant networks that dealt in salt, tea, and porcelain as well as the growth of pawn brokerages, the predecessors to modern banks.This period of economic strength was accompanied by a flourishing of the arts, spurred by increased wealth among the populace and patronage by the emperor. Huizhou merchants had long maintained businesses in areas
of literati culture, and they incorporated the values and pastimes of the scholar-official class into their own lifestyles by collecting art, supporting scholarship, and building elegant homes. The construction of Yin Yu Tang began during this time (around 1800).The reign of the Qianlong Emperor was also a time of dramatically increased contact with foreign states in the form of both trade and diplomacy. The emperor received gifts of art and technology from foreign dignitaries and was not hesitant to incorporate foreign-made goods and their designs into the collections of artwork made for him in his imperial
studios.Foreign trade became increasingly profitable as Europeans’ desire for Chinese goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain increased. Foreigners were restricted to doing business with Chinese trading companies (hongs) in Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou (called Canton by Europeans and
5 Chinese Art & Culture Americans). Chinese trading companies were keen to adapt their wares to
the needs of foreign commissions, producing a diverse body of work now categorized as Asian Export Art.
At the end of the 18th century, foreign countries became desperate to increase their trade relations with China. In addition to trading commodities such as furs and ginseng, British and American interests
turned to the illicit importation of the drug opium, which had been banned in China in 1729. The economic and social ills associated with the narcotic, the subsequent Opium Wars (1839 – 1842 and 1856 – 1860), and frequent peasant rebellions led to the weakening of the dynasty for the Qianlong Emperor’s successors, the Jiaqing (1796 – 1820) and Daoguang (1821 – 1850) Emperors.The Qing Dynasty finally ended in 1911 with the abdication of the 6-yearold Xuantong Emperor (called Puyi) and the establishment of the Republic
of China.
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C O N F U C I A N I S M
Confucianism is a set of ethical values based on the studies and teachings of Kongzi (ca. 551 – 479 bce), called Master Kong or Kongfuzi and romanized as Confucius. He was a philosopher and teacher who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 bce) of the late Zhou dynasty (1030 – 221 bce), a time of great political upheaval. Kongzi did not set out to found a religion but rather to study the moral and social
relationships of the Zhou dynasty and their ancient roots. In so doing, he hoped to establish a society with morality based on filial piety, loyalty, and humility. His teachings stress the importance of moral character for an individual within society, as well as the proper relationships among family members, friends, and a government and its citizens. These teachings are often practiced with fervor even today and are connected with practices such as ancestor veneration but do not address issues of gods or deities.Sometimes called a “civil religion” or “diffused religion,” Confucianism is integrated into every aspect of Chinese culture. The practices of Confucianism include formal offerings and ceremonies as well as the social practices of courtesy and respect, which Kongzi felt were the basis of a strong civilization. Controversial during Kongzi’s lifetime and repressed during the subsequent dynasty, Confucianism became the state ideology during the reign of the Han Emperor Wu (Han Wudi, r. 140 – 87 bce), who founded a school for the study of Confucian texts and instituted a policy that government administrators must be trained in these texts. This served as the basis for the imperial civil service examination system through which officials were selected for positions based on merit rather than family connections. The system evolved over the centuries and was part of
imperial government processes until 1905.After the establishment of Confucianism as the state ideology, the Chinese government supported Confucian teachings across the nation in towns and cities by having Confucian texts inscribed on stone monuments,publishing books on morality, and promoting lectures on Confucian ethics. Government awards were given to citizens who embodied these principles, including sons who were filial and widows who were chaste.Yin Yu Tang’s Huang family documents include such citations, including a banner inscribed by the newly established Nationalist government for the funeral altar of Madame Cheng (1858 – 1915, wife of Huang Yangxian, 32nd generation of the Huang family):
B U D D H I S M
Buddhism originated in India and is based on the teachings of the historic Sakyamuni Buddha, born Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century bce as a prince of the Sakya royal family. The Sakyamuni Buddha
taught that life is suffering but that human beings can attain freedom from suffering by eliminating desire. Mahayana Buddhism, the branch practiced in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Tibet, and Vietnam,
developed in India as a more liberal interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Sakyamuni Buddha is viewed as an earthly manifestation of a celestial being, one of many Buddhas in its
pantheon. This school of thought emphasizes the role of bodhisattvas and posits that all beings can achieve personal enlightenment Buddhism had arrived in China by the Han dyanasty (206 bce – 220 ce) via the trade routes that connected China with India and Central Asia known today as the Silk Road. As Buddhism became popular in China over the centuries, it was also sinicized, drawing on existing Daoist and Confucian
practices and emphasizing core Chinese values such as filial piety. The two types of Mahayana Buddhism most evident in China today are Chan (Japanese: Zen; Korean: Son) and Pure Land (sometimes called Amidism).Chan Buddhism includes traditions of monasticism, meditation, and a
focus on the inner world in order to attain enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism focuses on the Amitabha Buddha, also called the Buddha of Infinite Light or the Buddha of the Western Paradise. Practitioners who
invoke the name of Amitabha will be granted rebirth in the Pure Land (Western Paradise), where enlightenment can be more easily achieved.Among the pantheon of Buddhist deities, certain ones became popular with practitioners in China. The bodhisattva Guanyin (Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara), for example, known for showing compassion and granting relief from suffering, became one of the most popular deities in China.
Like many deities in the Hindu and Buddhist pantheons of India, Guanyin is said to possess great power and is represented with both male and female characteristics. Chinese representations of Guanyin were originally
depicted with mostly male characteristics but started to take on more female attributes during the Song dynasty (960 – 1279) and were usually shown as fully female by the 12th century. Guanyin was also incorporated into the Daoist pantheon as one of the immortals.
Chinese Porcelain in World Trade History
C hina developed the technology to make porcelain from a unique white clay called kaolin during the Tang dynasty (618 – 907), and by the Song dynasty (960 –1279), the porcelain industry was
fully developed. During the Yuan dynasty (1271 –1368), a period of Mongol rule, trade was encouraged, notably with Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East. Porcelain was in high demand in part because it could be formed into large plates, bowls, and serving vessels that were especially conducive to the style of serving and eating food in India and the Middle East. As a result of this and the Middle Eastern taste for vibrant decoration, Chinese porcelain began to be decorated with blue from the mineral cobalt,
imported from Persia. When cobalt was discovered in China, during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), production of blue and white porcelain reached new heights. It continues to this day.Also during the Ming dynasty, Portuguese and Dutch merchants began trading with China and exporting Chinese porcelain to Europe and the Americas, where it was extremely popular. Porcelain became so synonymous with its country of origin that European enthusiasts began to call the valuable porcelain wares “china.” A German version of porcelain was developed in Meissen in the early 18th century, but demand for Chinese porcelain continued throughout the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1910). Ship captains commissioned Chinese artists to create porcelain in styles and shapes for European tastes and usage. These items became mainstays of Western homes. Improvments in kiln technology during the Qing dynasty helped the porcelain industry become more efficient.Americans began to trade with China shortly after the American Revolution, and ships returned to American ports full of tea, spices, silks, and porcelain. Many of these ships sailed out of the port of Salem, Massachusetts. In 1799, Salem sea captains established the East India Marine Society, which was the basis for the Peabody Essex Museum and its Chinese and Asian export porcelain collections, among the earliest and largest in the world.
Traditional Chinese food and cuisine
Food in China is not consumed merely to satisfy hunger,but for health promotion, treating diseases and, most
importantly, building relationships among people and enhancing family values. Chinese cuisine has long been a creative and individualized art. The variety and combinations of food served at each meal should never be the same. Meal styles also differ regionally, so that a specific food pattern has been established in each province. Chinese traditional foods, thus, play a unique role in Chinese culture and are important to people’s everyday lives. Chinese people have a keen taste for food. Sophisticated flavor and
unique texture are most emphasized for food processing and preparation. Unlike Western food, creaminess is not a preferred texture; traditional foods generally are less greasy, relatively low in caloric value, and require longer preparation times to achieve the desired sensory characteristics.
Many traditional Chinese foods, such as sesame oil chicken and clam soup, are associated with a therapeutic or health promoting effect besides their pleasing taste and basic nutritional values, while others are linked to a
historical or folkloric story, with zong zi and Beggar’s chicken as examples.
Drying, salting and pickling are mankind’s oldest and most widely used methods of food preservation. Traditional Chinese foods rely greatly on these basic processing and preservation methods. These foods encompass a wide range of products, such as pickled vegetables, salted fish and jellyfish, winterized (semidry) meats, and salt-cured eggs. Fermentation has also been used in the preservation of foods for centuries. Almost all food from both animal and plant sources can be fermented. There are numerous
kinds of traditional fermentation products including, to just name a few, sauces, vinegar, rice spirits, fermented vegetables, stinky tofu, etc., and the processes used to make them vary extensively based on the product to be fermented. Traditional Chinese foods can be characterized by their materials, ingredients, processing methods, functions or styles. A brief description of selected traditional Chinese foods based on the food categories is given in this paper. Their processing methods used to prepare them are also described herein and summarized in Table 1.Salted vegetables Salt has long been known to be a preservative that keeps foodstuffs from spoiling.1,2 Salting of fresh or semidried vegetables was originally used to preserve surplus vegetables.The salted vegetables impart a distinctive flavor, are low in caloric values, and are easier to store due to their reduced bulk. Salted vegetables are frequently used as a main dish cooked with meat or other vegetables or as a side dish in China, especially in rural areas where a variety of salted vegetables are kept year round and appear on the table at almost every meal. The processing methods used
for salting vegetables include dry salting and brine salting, depending on the raw materials and end use.
Washing, desalting or cutting usually is necessary before further flavoring the products for different use.
Rice and rice snack foods
Rice is the most important staple food in China. As much as 80-90% of the daily caloric intake of people in China is derived from rice. China contributes 38% of the world’s rice production using 24% of the world’s growing area.6 There are many forms of rice products that are produced as alternative food sources due to their nutritive values and special sensory attraction. In China, rice cereals are consumed as cooked rice and are served simultaneously with prepared vegetable dishes, pork, poultry, beef, seafood, and others. In addition to its standard form, rice is consumed in the form of noodles, puffed rice, breakfast cereals, rice cakes, fermented sweet rice and snack foods made by extrusion cooking.5 Rice is also used in making
beer, wine, and vinegar.
