Culture

The culture of China is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex civilisations. China boasts a history rich in over 5,000 years of artistic, philosophical, political and scientific advancement. Though regional differences provide a sense of diversity, commonalities in language and religion connect a culture distinguished by such significant contributions such as Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history and strongly influenced other countries in East Asia. Mastery of Confucian texts provided the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy.

With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, Western systems of social and political organisation gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures.

Architecture

Chinese architecture, examples of which can be found over 2,000 years ago, has long been a landmark of the culture. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific region or use.

The most important is its emphasis on the horizontal. In contrast to Western architecture, which tends to grow in height and in depth, Chinese architecture stresses on the width of the buildings. The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City, for example, have rather low ceilings when compared to equivalent stately buildings in the West, but their external appearances suggest the all-embracing nature of imperial China. This of course does not apply to pagodas, which are relatively rare.

Another important feature is its emphasis on symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses. One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow, to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself.

Feng shui designed architecture plays an important role in Chinese Culture. For example, Paifang is a Feng Shui designed gate of China town.

Arts

Chinese art has varied throughout its ancient history, divided into periods by the ruling dynasties of China and changing technology, as well as influenced by great philosophers, teachers and religion. Early forms of art in China were made from pottery and jade in the Neolithic period, to which was added bronze in the Shang Dynasty. The Shang are most remembered for their bronze casting, noted for its clarity of detail. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the Book of Songs, Confucius and the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to string and reed instruments.

In early imperial China, porcelain was introduced and was refined to the point that in English the word China has become synonymous with high-quality porcelain. Around the 1st century AD, Buddhism arrived in China, though it did not become popular until the 4th century. At this point, Chinese Buddhist art began to flourish, a process which continued through the 8th century. Around this period, several well-known Chinese poets influenced Chinese poetry, which included Cao Cao and his sons and Tao Qian. It was during the period of Imperial China that calligraphy and painting became highly appreciated arts in court circles, with a great deal of work done on silk until well after the invention of paper.

Buddhist architecture and sculpture thrived in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Particularly the Tang Dynasty was open to foreign influence. Buddhist sculpture returned to a classical form, inspired by Indian art of the Gupta period. Toward the end of the Tang Dynasty, all foreign religions were outlawed to support Taoism. Also during this period, Chinese poetry thrived and the Tang is considered the 'Golden age' of Chinese poetry. In this period, the greatest Chinese poets, Li Po and Du Fu composed their poems. Late Tang poetry was marked by the influence of two poets, Li Shangyin and Li Yu, the latter of whom introduced the stanza form. Painting from the Tang dynasty period mainly consisted of landscape that was to grasp emotion or atmosphere to catch the 'rhythm of nature.' Also in the Tang dynasty, Chinese opera was introduced.

In the Song Dynasty, poetry was marked by a lyric poetry known as Ci which expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. Also in the Song dynasty, paintings of more subtle expression of landscapes appeared, with blurred outlines and mountain contours which conveyed distance through an impressionistic treatment of natural phenomena. It was during this period that in painting, emphasis was placed on spiritual rather than emotional elements, as in the previous period. Kunqu, the oldest extant form of Chinese opera developed during the Song Dynasty in Kunshan, near present-day Shanghai. In the Yuan dynasty, painting by the Chinese painter Zhao Mengfu greatly influenced later Chinese landscape painting, and the Yuan dynasty opera became a variant of Chinese opera which continues today as Cantonese opera.

Late Imperial China was marked by two specific dynasties: Ming and Qing. Of Ming Dynasty poetry, Gao Qi was acknowledged as the greatest poet of the era. Artwork in the Ming dynasty perfected colour painting and colour printing, with a wider colour range and busier compositions than Song paintings. In the Qing dynasty, Beijing opera was introduced; it is considered the one of the best-known forms of Chinese opera. Qing poetry was marked by a poet named Yuan Mei whose poetry has been described as having 'unusually clear and elegant language' and who stressed the importance of personal feeling and technical perfection. Under efforts of masters from the Shanghai School during the late Qing Dynasty, traditional Chinese art reached another climax and continued to the present in forms of the 'Chinese painting' (guohua). The Shanghai School challenged and broke the literati tradition of Chinese art, while also paying technical homage to the ancient masters and improving on existing traditional techniques.

Chinese art was heavily influenced by the New Culture Movement in the 20th century, which adopted Western techniques, introduced oil painting and employed socialist realism. The poetry was also influenced by the Cultural Revolution, but several poets attempted to resist the Cultural Revolution by incorporating pro-democratic themes. Contemporary Chinese artists continue to produce a wide range of experimental works, multimedia installations and performance 'happenings' which have become very popular in the international art market.

Cinema

Shanghai was the original centre of Chinese filmmaking, giving birth to 1940s and 1950s Chinese movie stars such as Zhou Xuan, Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die. After the Communist takeover, the movie scene transferred from Shanghai to Hong Kong, where it has remained a centre of Chinese filmmaking. In Hong Kong, the majority of films made cantered around the common themes of martial arts (Wu-xia films), organised crime (in particular Triads), and other traditionally Chinese themes. While these films were always popular in the domestic Hong Kong market, they were also popular around the globe, and especially in the United States.

Now, in the 2000s, Asian-made films seem to be having a resurgence in popularity abroad. In the last two decades, Mainland China has also become a hotbed of filmmaking with such films as Farewell My Concubine, 2046, Hero, Suzhou River, The Road Home and House of Flying Daggers being critically acclaimed around the world. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino plans to shoot his next film, a traditional Wu-Xia movie, in China and have its dialogue in Mandarin Chinese.

Another genre of films that become better known internationally is those depicting the exotic past of China with remarkable traditional and nostalgic symbols, notably under the directors Wong Kar-wai (Mandarin: Wang Jiawei) and Zhang Yimou.

Opera

Opera in China dates back to the Tang dynasty with Emperor Xuanzong (712-755), who founded the 'Pear Garden', the first known opera troupe in China. The troupe mostly performed for the emperors' personal pleasure. To this day operatic professionals are still referred to as 'Disciples of the Pear Garden'.

Religion

Many Chinese (59% of the population, or about 767 million people) identify themselves as non-religious. However, rituals and religion - especially the traditional beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism - play a significant part in many lives.

About 6% of the Chinese population are avowed Buddhists, with Mahayana Buddhism and its subsets Pure Land and Zen being the most widely practiced. With an estimated 100 million adherents, Buddhism is the country's largest organised religion. Other forms of Buddhism, such as Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the Chinese mainland. Official figures indicate that there are currently about 20 million Muslims (mostly Hui).

Sports and Recreation

China has one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world, spanning the course of several millennia. There is, in fact, evidence that a form of football was first played in China around 1000 AD, leading many historians to believe that the popular sport originated from China. Besides soccer, some of the most popular sports in the country include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming, basketball, and more recently, golf and rugby. Board games such as Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and recently Chess are also commonly played and have organised competitions.

Physical fitness is widely emphasised in Chinese culture. Morning exercises are a common activity and often one can find the elderly practicing qigong and Tai Chi Chuan in parks or students doing stretches on school campuses. Young people are especially keen on basketball, especially in urban centres with limited space and grass areas. The NBA has a huge following among Chinese youths, with Yao Ming being the idol of many. The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China, and as a result the country has put even more emphasis on sports.

Many traditional sports are also enjoyed, such as the popular Chinese dragon boat racing that takes place during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, sports such as Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are a part of traditional festivals.