Month: March 2021

(Peoples Daily Online)15:00, February 26, 2021

Yang Ding, a post-90s PhD graduate of the Yi ethnic group from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, showcases a product she designed. Founder of a woodware brand, Yang is committed to passing on and innovating traditional Yi culture. Photo/Chinanews.com

Yang Ding, a PhD graduate who is an ethnic Yi from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China鈥檚 Sichuan province, combines artistic elements of traditional Yi culture with her woodware products, bringing the beauty of Yi culture to more people.

The products made by Yang鈥檚 company are sold not only in Sichuan province, but also in overseas markets such as the U.S. and Canada. Last year, her company鈥檚 total output of woodware products exceeded 3 million yuan (about $463,800). Yang told the media that her company is negotiating business partnerships with companies from the UK and Italy.

Yang, whose major is furniture design, came up with the idea of showcasing her ethnic culture in woodware products because she believes that traditional Yi culture is crucial to the sustainable development of her hometown, which is also Chinas largest Yi community. She was saddened to see that with the acceleration of urbanization, the local cultures of many places across the country has gradually became extinct, and believes that the Yi culture will be the cornerstone for the region鈥檚 sustainable development, and particularly for rural rejuvenation in the future.

Before she started her business, Yang spent three years with her team collecting traditional Yi architectural patterns in 230 households scattered around 17 counties and cities in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

In addition, the woodware business also helped more than 300 people find jobs in related areas such as woodware making, lacquer painting, Yi embroidery, and felting weaving. 鈥淚 find starting my own business quite worthwhile, as I have helped more people live better lives while passing on Yi culture,鈥?she said.

As for the biggest reward that comes from starting up a business, the post-90s woman said it is the friends she has made along the way. 鈥淎 growing number of young people are returning to our hometown, bringing technologies and concepts for passing on our intangible cultural heritage,鈥?she explained.

(Xinhua)15:28, February 14, 2021

LANZHOU, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Chinese archaeologists have found a wooden lid engraved with the character love, which could have been a token of love crafted by a frontier officer back in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220).

The circular lid, with a diameter of 5.3 cm and thickness of 1.5 cm, was supposedly on the top of a utensil. Its two sides were respectively carved with the Chinese characters Zhong and Qing, meaning loyalty and love, said Xiao Congli, research director of the Gansu Jiandu Museum, where the lid is preserved.

The lid was discovered in the ruins of an ancient courier station in the city of Dunhuang, northwest Chinas Gansu Province, home to the UNESCO World Heritage site the Mogao Grottoes.

As most people during the Han Dynasty were illiterate, the person who had carved the love character was more likely an officer guarding the station, located along the ancient Silk Road and far away from the dynastys heartland, Xiao said.

It was uncommon for the word love to appear on Han-dynasty bamboo slips (the main writing materials back then), and it was even rarer for the word to be engraved on daily utensils, the researcher said. It was probably an expression of the soldiers dilemma between loyalty to the state (with his military service) and the urge to unite with his beloved.

Due to their high costs, bamboo slips were mainly used by the government and wealthy aristocratic families in the dynasty, so the soldier could have chosen the wooden lid as a more convenient option to pen down his love, Xiao added.

(Xinhua)11:05, February 28, 2021

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinas 2021 box office revenue has exceeded 15 billion yuan (2.32 billion U.S. dollars) as of Saturday.

The figure surpassed 14.5 billion yuan that was generated at Chinas box office during the same period in 2019, according to data compiled by box office tracker Maoyan.

It equaled three-fourths of the markets total ticket sales for the whole year of 2020.

More than 340 million moviegoers visited theaters so far this year, according to box office tracker Beacon.

Comedian and actress Jia Lings maiden directorial project Hi, Mom and Wanda Pictures long-awaited comedy Detective Chinatown 3, both released on the Spring Festival, or Feb. 12, contributed 30.7 percent and 27.8 percent of the total, respectively.

(China Daily)10:34, March 01, 2021

Tributes poured in over the weekend for legendary Hong Kong actor Ng Man-tat, who died of liver cancer in the city on Saturday.

Ng, 70, who worked in television and film his whole life, died peacefully in his sleep at Tai Wais Union Hospital, Hong Kong, surrounded by his wife and children.

His last post on Sina Weibo, Chinas Twitter-like social networking service, reads, I am Chinese.

A commentary posted on Chinese newspaper Peoples Daily online site said that although Ng never played a hero in his work, he remains a hero.

The commentary noted that his last Weibo post expressed his sincere love for the country. The legendary actor will be remembered and respected for his love of the arts and his clear stance on issues of right and wrong, the commentary reads.

It criticized some Hong Kong netizens for belittling, or even cursing at Ng because of his last Weibo post, saying that such people have no conscience or principles.

Many Weibo users expressed sorrow about Ngs passing. They also thanked him for the happiness he provided, the professionalism he demonstrated, the unending pursuit of the arts and his pure love for the country.

Ngs co-workers, including Andy Lau Tak-wah, Chow Yunfat and Wu Jing, sent their condolences and commended him for his kindness and devotion to his work.

Meanwhile, many netizens voiced regret that they would be unable to see Ng and King of Comedy Stephen Chow Sing-chi acting together in any new films.

In a mainland TV program aired in February, Ng said there would be a chance to work together again as long as he was not dead and Chow had not retired.

The pair became household names thanks to a series of slapstick comedies such as The Final Combat and The Justice of Life in the 1980s and 1990s. Their last film together was Shaolin Soccer in 2001. Chow released a statement saying that he is having a hard time accepting the news as Ng had been a longtime friend in life and partner at work.

Ng was born in Xiamen, Fujian province in 1951 and moved to Hong Kong at the age of five. Besides the movies he co-starred in with Chow, Ng also won mainland audiences heart with the 2019 sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth.

News of his death had attracted 4.74 billion views on Weibo as of Sunday noon.

(China Daily)10:02, March 07, 2021

Woman with pipa: Pipa virtuoso Wu Man.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Pipa virtuoso Wu Man has made a new album with shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) performer Kojiro Umezaki. The album, titled Flow, was released on Feb 19.

Both musicians are members of the Silk Road Ensemble, a music project initiated by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998. The two musicians composed and performed five songs in the new album by combining folk tunes, contemporary styles and elements of improvisation, which seem to create a conversation between these two ancient Chinese and Japanese musical instruments.

Their solo and duo works on this album portray seasonal changes in a traditional Chinese garden, offering the listeners a unique musical experience.

The Chinese pipa and Japanese shakuhachi are two of the most important and recognizable instruments in the East Asian musical tradition, says Wu. They both date back to ancient times, and each has its own unique story, sound, technique and expressive charm.

She adds that the music on this new album draws upon a wide range of influences－from Chinese and Japanese folk tunes to the contemporary styles that the two musicians have each cultivated over the course of their careers.

Improvisation and timbral interplay are also important elements throughout. The shakuhachi has a distinctive sonority that always reminds me of autumn in Japan, while the lute-like pipa distinguishes itself through its characteristic tremolos and unique style of melodic ornamentation, among other qualities. Together, these two ancient musical instruments create a musical experience unlike any other, says Wu.

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