Report 5: Chinese Cultural Festival

Festivals and Ceremonies

 

In the Luna calendar there are eight festivals that the Chinese people celebrate each year. These festivals are: Spring Festival, Lantern festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Seventh Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double nine Festival and Winter Solstice Festival. Each of these festivals has its own meaning to the Chinese culture, some of these festivals require performing rituals and praying to the gods and ancestors. These Festivals are:

–       Spring Festival: it is the most important festival of the year, where all families come together and celebrate the new year of the Luna calendar. For this festival people would clean and decorate their house before this day, because it’s a new year and hence people want to start the year with a fresh start. There is this saying that what you do and react on the first day reflect on how the rest of your year will become. Therefore on the new years day people would wear new clothing and visit family and friends and give out red pocket as a sign of gesture. This festival would go over 2 weeks. Shops would ask academy to perform lion dancing and having firecrackers to cleanse the shop.

–       Qingming Festival: every April 4-6 of the Luna Calendar, people would go to their ancestry’s grave, temple or at home and perform rituals. The family would prepare foods, tea, wine, incense and gift to burn and present it to their ancestors in hell. It would be like an offering to the ancestors.

–       Mid-Autumn Festival: on the 15^th day of the 8^th month of the Luna Calender. On this day the moon would look particularly large and round, and it is set in the season when the fruits are all ripe and the weather is pleasant.  At midnight of the 15^th day, people would worship the god for the food they gave us.

These festivals serves a purpose and in Sydney city on these day the community would set up festival for the people to enjoy and have fun. However, the festival I am proposing reflects on the performing art of Chinese culture, the Peking Opera. Peking Opera is a form of art that is slowly diminishing as people are drawing to other entertainment and art form.

Check out the site on further information on each festival,

Site: http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78131.htm

Impression West Lake

Report 6

TRADITION MUSIC

In today’s society, Chinese music has slowly adapted and incorporated modern western style music. Chinese popular music that everyone is listening to be classified as soft rock, rock and dance music. However from an interesting note, what makes Chinese music unique and flavourful in their rhythm is the blend of two different styles of instruments. My intention for the festival is to explore the authentic notion of the Chinese cultural performances, hence mainly focusing on the traditional ways of music making.

 A breath history:

Chinese music started back around 3000 thousand years ago, when the European music just started their phase. A complete musical theory and sophisticated musical instrument started to appear in China as they became more interested in mastering music. In 206 B.C to 220 A.D, the Han dynasty set up a Music Bureau to collect and edit ancient melodies and folk music. Then with commercial contact with central Asia and foreign music entered, China modified and improves their music.  

The variation of traditional Chinese music (rhythm, beat, tone, and quality) makes it distinct and unique to western style music. Chinese instruments are divided into four basic categories on the way they are played; browned, bowed, plucked and struck instruments. Examples of Chinese instruments:

Bowed string: Erhu, Banhu, Gaohu and Zhonghu, Gehu, Bass Gehu

Plucked String: pipa, guqin, liuqin, ruan, yangqin, guzheng

Wind instruments: di, bawu, Suona, sheng, guan

Percussion: gongs and drums

Site: http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/g_perform_arts.html

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING

In the past, the Tunic suit and Cheongsam was vital to Chinese civilian daily life. But in the present, many Chinese civilians wear clothing similar to western cultures and only wear traditional clothing during ceremonies and festive events. Hence, the authenticities of Chinese culture slowly decay away in comparison to other cultures like India, Pakistan and others. The basic features of traditional clothing are cross collar, wrapping the right lapel over the left, tying with sash and a form of blouse plus skirt or long gown.

Reference: Travel China Guide 2013, Chine Clothing, accessed 17/10/13, http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/clothing/

Some examples of Clothing:

 (http://rememberingletters.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/china-people-in-traditional-clothes.jpg)

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D4BV4ZZ0gLI/ShdVt-r7ChI/AAAAAAAAACw/rnJDSNumeKw/s400/chinese+cheongsam+woman+13.jpg)

IMPRESSION WESTLAKES

This production is called the “the Impression West Lakes”, directed by Zhang Yimou. It is a staging outdoor theatrical production expressing the impression of China.  It’s an outdoor performance containing traditional music, dance, pop culture and visual display. The word impression is used to theme the production; an experience that draws emotion from the audience and a mark left by pressure. Hence, it is a production that engages the audience and provides a spectacular sensation. From the photo above, we can see Zhang Yimou has used famous story from the history of China, such as the Legend of the white lady snake and Xu Xian.

For further information – Article: http://www.creativetransformations.asia/2012/01/zhang-yimou-and-impressions-of-west-lake/

 This production has drawn my interest in how I would produce my festival. By having the performance played in the middle of a natural environment, like having the Peking Opera performed on a grass patch in Hyde Park, surrounded by trees. Hence this opens a range of opportunity of adapting nature into the performance, hence providing a sense of naturalism. This also creates a new experience where audience don’t need to watch it in a hall as the nature can add to their whole experience.

                                                                              

Report 4: The Traditional ways

In most place the performing arts of China has grown to influence and inspire people across all nations. The differentiations and uniqueness of Folk arts, Acrobatics, Opera, Dance and Puppetry enhance smiles and enchantment to its viewers for both Chinese and foreign. The amazement of impossibility and synchronisation of the talents the performers shows. However, in China and also in foreign nation, the Chinese culture became diluted and adapting the modern ways, in lifestyle, performances and culture. Even though the modern way of life may be efficient and effective to our day-to-day activities. It loses its touch of authenticity and its cultural nature. But on the interesting note, the Chinese culture is one to understand how both sub-culture (modern and tradition) co-exist with each other.

In China you can see high-rise building and people wearing western style clothing, however you can see the “traditional festivals being celebrated, tributes to ancient styles and artefacts, the integration of tradition sounds and in modern music, celebrations of traditional art and design through stores and classes, and special concerts and programs shown both live and on TV devoted to the tradition culture.” (Thinkquest 1998) Even in Sydney, we can also experience similar events here. Like the Moon Festival that have pass a couple of weeks ago. It was fun and enjoying however, it didn’t have the authenticity feel of the celebration of moon festival. It came to me as a multicultural event with different cultured foods, rides and firework. From this I took interest in creating something more traditional, an exploration mainly on the performing arts of Chinese culture. Showing the difficulties and amusement of the Chinese performances and flooding the atmosphere with the string and wood instrument floating in the air.

With modern influence, Chinese people slowly creep away from Chinese performances. It’s either because they don’t have interest or they were too old to learn the form. From clips or live event we question, “How exactly do those dancers move about and leap with such alacrity and synchronization? How can those young acrobats flip and throw each other and shoot bows from arrows by the feet? How can those opera singers act so well and sing from this note to that with such accuracy?” (Thinkquest 1998) This takes years of practice and even rehearsing from a young age, hence some were born to grow up as a performer. These hard works pays off for the respect and admiration they receive from their audiences.

In presenting such powerful performance on the stage of Sydney, I would invite these professionals over from China. Even though there maybe some minor schools in Sydney, however, by inviting the performer draws inspiration and knowledge of the Chinese culture in a western country.

Thinkquest Team 1998, Old and New, Destiny: the culture of China, accessed 10^th Oct 2013, <http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/g_music.html&gt;

Kids dress up

Empress and concubines

Chinese New Year Parade

This is a video showing the Chinese New Year Parade and was named as one of the words best events. China is known for its beauty and vibrant colour of the festival. This Parade contained Dragon dance, lion dance, other culture signs and other key features of the Chinese culture.

In which, i was thinking of have a small parade around Hyde Park. Highlighting large floats, dragon dance, lion dance, acrobatics, peking opera, martial arts and sponsors.

A wide again of the Lanterns on the water

Lantern of the dragon and flowers

Lantern of the Palace