CHINESE CULTURE
In this section, the reader will find articles related to Chinese culture in English.
Many of them are of our own production, elaborated throughout the more than 15 years that this page has been in operation, others are extracts from books or articles that we have dared to publish (generally after translating them) because of the interest they have for the English-speaking readers.
We are in the process of converting all the articles to a more modern format, but given the hundreds of articles in the different sections, it may take a few months.
The main sections are:
GENERAL ASPECTS OF CHINESE CULTURE
HOROSCOPE AND ANIMAL SIMBOLISM
MOVIES
Last posts about Chinese culture
Violence and cannibalism in the Five Dynasties
l l Violence and cannibalism in the Five Dynasties When one begins to know the history of China, one concentrates its readings on its brilliant moments, on those great dynasties that expanded the territory, recreated surprising cultural forms and became the greatest...
DRAMATIC ART IN CHINA AT THE END OF THE DYNASTIC REGIME
oyaaDuring a break in my studies, the afternoon of Christmas Eve I was looking through a cabinet in which I have some somewhat old books bought on various occasions at flea markets in Beijing and Shanghai. After running into Lewis Morgan's "Ancient Society" and taking...
The value of the Taotejing, the sacred book of the Taoists
In Peter Goullart The Monastery of the Jade Mountain. Unlike the Bible and the Koran. the Taoteking does not refer to the historical processes which led men, or rather a particular tribe among men, to the idea of One God. Neither does it describe in detail how this...
The path to Nirvana in the Kunming Dharani Pillar
The path to Nirvana in the Kunming Dharani Pillar The main courtyard of the Kunming Municipal Museum houses one of the most original art-works from the time of the Dali Kingdom (937-1253 CE) in Yunnan. It is called the Dharani Pillar of the Dizang Temple. It is a...
Legends of the Mother Goddess: Intro
From Leyendas de la Diosa Madre. Pedro Ceinos Arcones. Miraguano, 2007. Anyone who approaches the literature of the minorities of Southern China will discover numerous works where the leading role is played by a female goddess or deity. Whether dedicated to the...
Buddha as a true man: a different tale
In the fourth chapter of India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought (edited by John Kieschnick and Meir Shahar, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), Nobuyoshi Yamabe contributes an article (Indian Myth Transformed in a Chinese Apocryphal Text:...
Yu garden in Shanghai: Archetype of Chinese garden
Pedro Ceinos Arcones. Yu garden in Shanghai: Archetype of Chinese garden. Dancing Dragons Books. 2019. (Excerpts from the book) The Yu Garden is Shanghai's main monument and the one that best summarizes the city's history over the past few centuries. A private garden...
The dog in China’s ancient tombs
Pedro Ceinos Arcones. La Magia del perro en China y el mundo. Dancing Dragons Books. 2019. (Excerpts from the book) The dog in China’s ancient tombs In China, dogs buried with their owners have been discovered in archaeological sites belonging to the most important...
Some philosophical schools in Buddha’s times
Peter Harvey. Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge University Press. 2013. (Excerpts from the book. Page 11 and ff.) In its origin, Buddhism was a Samana-movement. Samanas were wandering ‘renunciant’ thinkers who were somewhat akin to the early Greek...
Chinese characters
Chinese character for «snake»
Chinese character for "snake” The Chinese character to represent the snake has undergone over the centuries a curious evolution that, although seen from the cultural perspective of the XXI century may seem strange, it will not be so much if we remember the symbolism...
Ethnic groups
The first description of the Religion of the Yi
The first description of the Religion of the Yi By Father François Louis Crabouillet in 1872. The religion of the Lolos[i] is that of sorcerers: it consists only of conjurations of evil spirits, according to them, the only authors of evil. Without being devout like...
tRAVELS
The truth about the Great Wall
The truth about the Great Wall What would later come to be known as the Great Wall formed as a response to increased Mongol raiding after Esen was killed in 1455. Having failed to capitalize on the capture of Zhengtong, Esen lost the political momentum that had held...
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