This Is China: Essential Aspects of Chinese Culture

This Is China: Essential Aspects of Chinese Culture

Mo Xuqiang， Deng Jiong， Yu Shan

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

December 2020

69.00 (CNY)

This Is China: Essential Aspects of Chinese Culture is aimed at all domestic and overseas friends who are interested in the lifestyles and ways of thinking of contemporary Chinese. This series has been published in ten languages， including English， French， German， Japanese， Korean， Russian， Spanish， Portuguese， Arabic， and Thai.

Mo Xuqiang

Professor in the French Department of Nanguo Business School， Guangdong University of Foreign Studies， French major graduated from Laval University， Canada， Master of French， Mo has been engaged in language teaching and research for more than 30 years. His main research direction is linguistics and applied linguistics.

Deng Jiong

Dean and Associate Professor of the French Department of Nanguo Business School at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies， graduated from the National University of Lyon， France， with a Master’s degree in French. He has long been engaged in French language teaching and research， and his main research directions are French linguistics and Chinese-French translation.

Yu Shan

Lecturer in the French Department of Nanguo Business School， Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. His research interests are French stylistics and pragmatics.

Seven Major Ancient Capitals

China is an ancient civilization with thousands of years of recorded history. Even in ancient times， a lot of cities of considerable size were established， especially the capitals of different dynasties. The most remarkable seven major ancient capitals comprise of Beijing， Xi’an (Shaanxi Province)， Anyang (Henan Province)， Luoyang (Henan Province)， Kaifeng (Henan Province)， Nanjing (Jiangsu Province)， and Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province). With a long history， rich accumulation of culture， distinctive architecture， and a large number of historical sites， they were the political， economic， and cultural centers of ancient China， and are now windows for people to learn about ancient Chinese civilization.

Historical and Cultural Cities

Besides the seven major ancient capitals， there are a great number of historical and cultural cities throughout China and all of them have deep cultural roots. Many important historical events took place in these cities. By May 2018， 134 cities had been placed by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on the list of National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities， including Tianjin， Shanghai， Chengde (Hebei Province)， Pingyao (Shanxi Province)， Datong (Shanxi Province)， Suzhou (Jiangsu Province)， Yangzhou (Jiangsu Province)， Shaoxing (Zhejiang Province)， Quanzhou (Fujian Province)， Jingdezhen (Jiangxi Province)， Qufu (Shandong Province)， Wuhan (Hubei Province)， Jiangling (Hubei Province)， Changsha (Hunan Province)， Chengdu (Sichuan Province)， Guangzhou (Guangdong Province)， Guilin (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)， Kunming (Yunnan Province)， Dali (Yunnan Province)， Dunhuang (Gansu Province)， and Lhasa (Tibet Autonomous Region).

Famous Trading Ports

Of the well-known cities in China， some are famous trading ports. They can be classified into two types. One type includes the ones with a long history， e.g. Quanzhou， Ningbo， and Yangzhou， which were the three important trading ports that opened to the outside world early in the Tang Dynasty. Quanzhou， for example， was once a world-class international trading port as famous as the port of Alexandria in Egypt. The other type includes the ones which were mostly set up in contemporary times to meet the needs of commercial development， such as Guangzhou， Shanghai， and Hong Kong. Financial institutions， commercial centers， luxurious hotels， and skyscrapers are a common sight in these famous trading ports. When you enter these cities， you will be greeted by a palpable atmosphere of commerce. Most of the visitors are coming to these cities for shopping， and they truly are a shopper’s paradise.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal

With a length of 1，797 kilometers， the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest man-made canal in the world. With one end in Hangzhou in the south and the other end in Beijing in the north， it runs through Zhejiang Province， Jiangsu Province， Shandong Province， Hebei Province， Tianjin City， and Beijing City， connecting the five major river systems—the Hai River， the Yellow River， the Huai River， the Yangtze River， and the Qiantang River. Without the use of railways， it is easy to imagine how important the Grand Canal was for transportation between the north and the south in ancient times. The construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal began at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period in 5th century BCE， more than 2，500 years ago. According to historical records， a canal named Hangou was built near Yangzhou by the State of Wu， which was located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River， to lead the water in the Yangtze River to the north in 5th century BCE for the purpose of assaulting the State of Qi and taking control of the Central Plains. Afterward， the short canal was extended to the north and south. After it was extended and dredged on a large scale in the Sui and Yuan dynasties， it almost formed the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal as it is today. The canal used to be China’s important artery of transportation in the Yuan， Ming， and Qing dynasties， playing an important role in the economic and cultural communication between the north and the south. It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty with the construction of the north-south railways such as the Beijing-Hankou Railway and Tianjin-Pukou Railway， and the increasing use of offshore transportation， that the crucial transport role played by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal gradually began to diminish. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China， the Grand Canal was thoroughly dredged. Today， it is not only an essential waterway， but also a great irrigation system for thousands of hectares of fertile land. The fact that the Grand Canal was built at a time when technology was still so basic， relative to the present day， is a miracle in human history. This enormous feat of engineering is a living， moving testament to the ingenuity and effort of ancient Chinese builders.

The Ancient Land Silk Road

The ancient Land Silk Road refers to the business and trade routes that started in China and connected Asia， Europe， and Africa during ancient times. It started from Chang’an (now Xi’an)， went through the Western Regions (now Xinjiang)， Parthia (now Iran)， and Syria， and finally reached the Mediterranean countries. It was Zhang Qian， a Chinese diplomat in the Western Han Dynasty， who opened up the road. The Silk Road came into being in the Western Han Dynasty and reached its prime in the Tang Dynasty. As China’s longest terrestrial international trade route， for more than 1，000 years， the Silk Road played a vital role in enabling cultural communication between China and the West. In fact， the Silk Road was not one road， but a road network with no guideposts which went across mountains， rivers， and deserts. And silk was just one of the goods. Europeans called it one of the Silk Road because silk was the most popular goods transported by this ancient road network and it made up the largest proportion of trade.

During the Han and Tang dynasties， China’s silk products were transported to Western Asia and Europe via the Silk Road. They were greatly appreciated and admired by Westerners and China was called a “silk country”. It is said that an ancient Roman emperor went to the theater in a Chinese silk robe， which caused a tremendous stir. His ministers praised it as the best clothing in the world. After that， it became a custom in Roman high society to wear Chinese silk clothing. In the Tang Dynasty， a renowned Buddhist monk Xuanzang traveled along the Silk Road， starting from Chang’an (now Xi’an)， and despite difficulties and obstacles arrived at the cradle of Buddhism—ancient India. From there， he brought back over 650 sets of Buddhist scriptures. This was the historic “pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang to the West for the scriptures during the Tang Dynasty.” In the early Yuan Dynasty， the well-known Italian explorer， Marco Polo， traveled to China along the Land Silk Road. Today， this ancient road network which stretches across Asia， Europe， and Africa still matters. With its unique natural landscapes and rich cultural history， many sites along the Silk Road attract thousands of tourists from China and abroad.

Besides the Land Silk Road， there are the Grassland Silk Road for the nomadic people of Northern Eurasia， the Southern Silk Road for communication with Southern Asia， and the Maritime Silk Road.