Chinese history and culture for Foreigners

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Agenda

! Introduction to Chinese history (Teng Yun)

! Languages, customs and festivals (Li Yanhui)

! Eating and playing in Chengdu (Zhang Yi)

! Miscellaneous (Wang Biao)

Tell me your own impression about China

China vs Europe: The big difference

! Most of the time, China is a unified country

! Imperial China (221 BC to AD 1912)

! Inner rotations between dynasties

Europe China Comments

Ancient Greece Chun Qiu Zhan Guo Period

Many states fighting

Qin dynasty China unified

Roman empire Han dynasty Han Chinese

Middle Ages Tang dynasty Famous poems

Song dynasty 80% of world GDP

Late Middle Ages Black Death

Yuan dynasty Always fighting

Renaissance Ming dynasty Science despised

Reformation Qing dynasty

The last dynasty Enlightenment

Revolutions

World Wars Fighting for new China

Chinese revolution

Cold War Chaos The great man’s mistake

Open to the world Soaring GDP

year

500BC

200BC

200

600 1000

1400

1500

1700

1800

1900

1940

1960 1980

! Many states fighting each other

! Unified by Qin in 221 BC eventually

! Imperial China starts

Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC)

Europe China Duration

Ancient Greece Chun Qiu Zhan Guo Period 722 BC -- 221 BC

Qin dynasty 221 BC – 206 BC

! Historical coincidence

! Prosperous in thoughts and philosophy

! Confucianism is still China’s moral foundation

Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC) Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC)

Europe China Duration

Ancient Greece Chun Qiu Zhan Guo Period 722 BC – 221 BC

Qin dynasty 221 BC – 206 BC

! Golden age

! Han Chinese (major ethnic group of China)

! Chinese characters as Han characters

Han character for “China”

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Europe China Duration

Roman empire Han dynasty 206 BC –220 AD

! Tang poetry – China’s national crystal

! Song dynasty – 80% of world’s GDP

Europe China Duration

Middle Ages

Tang dynasty 618 AD – 907 AD

Song dynasty 960 AD – 1279 AD

Li Bai (701 – 762) A poet of Tang dynasty

“River Side Scene at the Qing Ming Festival”

! Nomadic group

! Brave in warfare

! Non-Han Chinese

Europe China Duration

Late Middle ages (Black Death)

Yuan dynasty 1271 -- 1368

Yuan dynasty in 1294

! Bad rulers

! Science began to leg behind

Europe China Duration

Renaissance Ming dynasty 1368 -- 1644

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci Wan Hu (world's first recorded "astronaut”)

! End of Imperial China

! Semi-colony

! Overthrown by Xinhai Revolution

Europe China Duration

Reformation Qing dynasty

1644 -- 1840 Enlightenment

Revolutions

The Forbidden City

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925)

! Defeated Japanese (Part of WW II)

! Civil war followed

! People’s republic of China

Europe China Duration

World Wars Fighting for new China 1911 -- 1949

&

VS

Mao Zedong (1893-1976)

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975)

! Chaos due to Mao’s mistake

! Deng Xiaoping came to rescue

! China opens to the world

Europe China Duration

Cold War Chaos 1958 -- 1978

Open to the world 1978 -- Now

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997)

Shen Zhen

Chinese Language

The basics !  4 tones

!  Pinyin – the spelled sound

!  Frequently used characters: ~2000

Hello

Ni Hao

You try

Ni Hao

Please

Qing

You try

Qing

Thanks

Xie xie

Bye

Zai Jian

Traditional Chinese Festivals

Etiquette

!  Oldest person are greeted first

!  Address the person by an honorific title and their surname in formal environment

!  Don’t point to people with your index finger

!  Seat order matters when having dinner with client in formal circumstances

!  Don’t make the mouth of teapot point to someone

!  When you visit someone in his place, if he holds up tea and keep it at hand, that means you need to leave

Delicious Food & Snack In Chengdu, China

The Characters of Sichuan Cuisine

Hot Pot

Two Tastes Hot Pot

The first one pot in the World

Rice Dumpling

Dumplings Long

Pork Lungs in Chill Sauce

Mapo Toufu

Traditional Culture in SiChuan

Sichuan Opera

Playing Majiang

Teahouse

Chengdu’s Tour

Liang’s Temple

Du Fu That ched Cottage

Old Street

Sanxingdui

The Giant Stone Buddha at Leshan Mountain

Emei Mountain

Dujiangyan Irrigation System

Qingcheng Mountain

Chinese Kongfu in Qingcheng Mountain

Jiuzhaigou Valley

Wolong Panda Base

Panda Baby

Panda

Tourist Map around Chengdu

Money !  CNY (China Yuan)

Maximum value

Coins (not popular as OZ)

Exchange !  1 AUD = 6.5500

Exchange !  Bank support the Exchange

!  Credit card !  Visa or MaterCard are supported

Cost

!  Lunch !  10 – 30 � �2 – 5 $�

!  Beer !  3 – 20 � (1 – 3 $)

M

Subway

Beer - TSINGTAO

Beer - Snow

Beer - Local brands

Others – Budweiser, carlsberg

Network !  VPN

!  http://www.Google.com.hk

Tips !  Keep Right!

!  Most of the traffic light are automatically (no cross button like OZ)

!  110 vs. 000

!  Elevator !  Ground floor (B1, B2, 1 ,2 3) !  ground floor = level 1

!  Most important tip ->

Most important