498 replies to this topic

[snowybeagle]

How did getting married changed a woman's appearance (dresscode, hairstyle etc) in historical China, at least among the Han communities?

[Altan Urag]

Why are there so many Chen's and Chang's?

[Aaron]

that was from the Yin Yang. Yin is feminine, negaive and right; Yang is mascular, positive and the left. It's mainly used for palmistry.
actually, it would be easier. remeber you write vertically from right to left. ^_~

Actually I believe it would be easier with your right hand while writing caligraphy. If you used the left hand, your sleve would end up sitting in the already written ink, and smudge it. Writing with your right hand wouldn't do this (sleeve sitting on blank scroll) thus you would not have to keep re-writing the text. (That is, if my knowledge of caligraphy is correct. When writing, does the sleeve sit on the paper, or does the writer hold the sleeve? As I've seen in CTHD.)



A question, I've never known what the Chinese used for shoes except when they were into foot-binding. Did they use some sort of sandal, or what?

[Moon]

Actually I believe it would be easier with your right hand while writing caligraphy. If you used the left hand, your sleve would end up sitting in the already written ink, and smudge it. Writing with your right hand wouldn't do this (sleeve sitting on blank scroll) thus you would not have to keep re-writing the text. (That is, if my knowledge of caligraphy is correct. When writing, does the sleeve sit on the paper, or does the writer hold the sleeve? As I've seen in CTHD.)

I am right-handed. So every after my calligraphy writing class, my right hand is always filled with black ink chinese characters, as we still write the traditional way, ie from right to left, up to down. Fortunately these are not permanent ink, otherwise I would have tatoos on my right hand.

So I make sure I dont wear long sleeves during calligraphy writing. I am not sure whether it is right or wrong if I place my hand on the paper is the right way of writing, I shall ask my teacher next lesson. I want to know too.

[Snafu]

Based on what I've seen in art from various periods I get the impression that the most common types of footwear in ancient China were slippers, boots, and sandals. Slippers and sandals seem to have been the most common.

Edited by Snafu, 09 July 2006 - 09:19 AM.

[Centaur]

Most likely, male Li's and Wang's marry females of other surnames

True, considering the convention of not marrying someone with the same surname. I think I heard this is being made redundant. Anyone could help on this?

[Moon]

True, considering the convention of not marrying someone with the same surname. I think I heard this is being made redundant. Anyone could help on this?

When love strucks, one really dont care if they have the same surnames. Well I married my husband with the same surname, except that we belong to two different dialect groups. He is a Hokkien (Fujian), and I am a Cantonese (Guangdong). So he is a Tan and I am a Chan.

[NWOG]

The oldest use of toothbrushes by Chinese were aromatic twigs

What plant did these aromatic twigs come from?

[WangEnlai]

Neem (Azadirachtin Indica) trees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem

[snowybeagle]

I read from a comic book 漫画丝绸之路 published by 中国文出版社 that there were emperors from the central dynasties who richly rewarded any foreigner who came from the Silk Road and claimed to be envoys offering presents.

The value of rewards bestowed on the envoys far exceeded the value of the gifts given to the emperors by many times.

As a result, numerous people came impersonating envoys in order to get rich quickly. The word spread that Chinese emperors considered it humiliating not to over-compensate generously to any foreigner presenting gifts. When the finances went red, some emperors responded by refusing to meet any foreign envoy, legit and illegit.

Question : were there such silly emperors to really over-compensate the 'envoys'?

[mawguy]

How did getting married changed a woman's appearance (dresscode, hairstyle etc) in historical China, at least among the Han communities?

i think, at least with hairstyle, they put them up in a bun -- unmarried maidens usually had braids or just had their hair down and loose (although styled, of course).

[Snafu]

P.S. The Chinese have the same question regarding Western/ English names-- a.k.a. why is everybody a Tom, Dick or Harry or worse, a Joe or a John-- because Chinese names can be (technically) made up of any Chinese character/ word and are not restricted to established "name" words.

It's funny because in the west we have almost the exact opposite situation from the Chinese with names. In China the given names are much more diverse and unique than the surnames, and in the west it's the surnames that are generally more diverse than the given names.

[snowybeagle]

It's funny because in the west we have almost the exact opposite situation from the Chinese with names. In China the given names are much more diverse and unique than the surnames, and in the west it's the surnames that are generally more diverse than the given names.

Got to take into account the fact that in the West, they use the alphabets which can be more versatile in adopting and adapting names from different languages in Europe as well as Near East - that's why we got John, James, Erik, Mountbatten etc.

In China, though it is a mixture of many diverse ethnicities and cultures, the dominance of Han language meant that names of Chinese people originally from non Han backgrounds eventually got assimilated into the Han convention. E.g., would be the descendants of former ruling house of Qing dynasty - they discarded Aisingioro and went for a single surname now.

[Yun]

i think, at least with hairstyle, they put them up in a bun -- unmarried maidens usually had braids or just had their hair down and loose (although styled, of course).

Actually, the tying up of hair into a bun with a hairpin was for any female above the age of 14 (15 by traditional Chinese reckoning), married or not. The hairpin was a sign of adulthood, just like the guan headdress for the male.

This puzzles me, why do people join Falun Gong? (sorry if I offend any FLG members.)

Usually, because they've seen or felt something to lead them to believe it works.

[Centaur]

This puzzles me, why do people join Falun Gong? (sorry if I offend any FLG members.)

As far as I know, Falun Gong started out with just exercises and meditation, but as the movement grew, it kind of evolved. I believe the Chinese Government was fearful that the movement might become a threat and had named it supersititious, the movement turning into a cult.

I am not a practitioner or member and therefore could not say more than what I have read from the news and Internet.

You like to check out the following site for more details.

http://www.asiasourc...cfm?newsid=5308