Archive for May 26th, 2008

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Chinese Culture – Thangka, A Unique Tibetan Culture(3)

Monday, May 26th, 2008

1. gos-thang

According to the different kinds of silk, gos-thang can be divided into five classes:

(1) tshem-drub-ma is made of different kinds of silk woven by hand.
(2) lhan-dr-ub-ma or dras-drub-ma: To make this kind of Thangka, different kinds of silk are first cut into different shapes and then connected with needles.
(3) lhan-thabs-ma: This kind is a little similar to the second , but to make this kind of Thangka, different shapes of silk are agglutinated by the glue water.
(4) thag-drub-ma: This is a Thangka woven by hand.
(5) dpar-ma: To make this kind of Thangka, moulding board is necessary to print the pictures into the silk.

The largest Thangka of gos-thang kind is called gos-sku which is too big to be put on. In fact, it is only used at some special religious rituals. In the Potala Palace, there is a gos-sku with a length of 55.8 meters and a width of about 46.81 meters, made during the 5th Dalai Lama period.

2. bris-thang

According to the color of the background, bris-thang can be divided into five classes:

(1) tsho-thang: The background is multi-colorful.
(2) gser-thang: The background is yellow.
(3) mtshal-thang: The background is vermilion.
(4) dpar-thang : The background is black.
(5) dpar-thang: The method making this kind of Thangka is the same as that of water printed.

The largest bris-thang is 3 meters long and 2 meters wide while the smallest one is about 30 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide.

  Genre

Different styles of Thangka represent different schools of paintings in Tibet:

1. Karzhi School

Karzhi is one of the schools of Tibetan paintings and sculptures styles. It is said this school follows the painting style which had been used by Karma Mikye Dorje in the Figure Measurement composed by himself and was famous for painting calm and kind-hearted personal figures.

2. ChenZher School

ChenZher School is founded by ChenZher ChanMou of KhongKarLdo in Tibet. This school was born out of ManThangPa painting style and prolongs this style.

3. Mansale School

The founder of Mansale School was Qiangpa-Quyang Gyel-tshap. Their painting style is close to the ManNiang School with characteristics of boorish lines, powerful faces, taller figures, dense color and fine painting techniques.

4. Karlri School

Karlri School was founded by the Living Buddha LanMuKar ZhaXi who combined the technique of measurement in Tibetan painting style with those of coloring and arrangement in Chinese painting. It has characteristics of large picture and various contents. The personage painted usually with a comeliness and pretty face and implicit smile.

5. JeJuBi School

JeJuBi School is a school of painting founded by Karma Quyhang Dorje who absorbed the painting style of Kashmir on the basis of Tibetan painting.
　
6. Manlu School

Manlu School is the collective name of ManNiang School and Mansale School.

7. DenLu School

It is the painting style of scholars named ChiJar and ManThang·CharKar, etc. They had written many art books like Figure Measurement Favonian Beads, etc.

8. ShiGamPa School

The painting style of ShiGamPa and schools that kept this painting style are all called ShiGamPa School. It is also called Nepal School because of been influenced by the painting style of Nepal.

9. Deri School

Deri School is a school that combined the painting style of Karlri School and ManThangPa School. They mostly pay attention to the sculpture, expression and connotation of the persons painted.

10. ManNiang School

Founded by ManlaThongZhu in the 14th century, it is the earlist painting school in Tibet. The persons painted in their works were almost with a smile or anger, with a slim and graceful figure and verisimilar expression, wearing magnificent clothes, finely colored, and the yardstick of every position of the body is moderate.

（Source: chinaculture.org）

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Cri – Lesson 148

Monday, May 26th, 2008

M: Dàjiāhǎo! huānyíng shōutīng Xiànzài xué hànyǔ, wǒshì ML.

S: Wǒ shì Stuart. ML, jīntiān wǒmen xué shénme?

M: Shall we continue learning more words related to computers and the Internet, hùliánwǎng, the Internet?

S: Wǒ bùfǎnduì. No objection! 我不反对。

M: Stuart, do you like the Internet? Nǐ xǐhuān hùliánwǎng ma? 你喜欢互联网吗？

S: Of course! I also like sending emails. 我也喜欢发电子邮件。Wǒyě xǐhuān fā diànzǐ yóujiàn. It’s both fast and convenient. 它又快又方便Tā yòukuài yòufāngbian. I don’t like chatting on the net. 我不喜欢在网上聊天 Wǒ bù xǐhuān zài wǎngshàng liáotiān.

M: Why?

S: Because, my typing speed is too slow. 我的打字速度太慢了 Wǒde dǎzì sùdù tàimànle.

M: Now let’s look at the new stuff. I asked Stuart, 你喜欢互联网吗？Hùliánwǎng, HU LIAN WANG, fourth tone, second tone, and third tone, 互联网，means the Internet. Hù here means mutual, and lián means to connect. So together, ‘mutual connected net’, the Internet.

S: Wǒ xǐhuān hùliánwǎng. 我喜欢互联网。Wǒyě xǐhuān fā diánzǐ yóujiàn. Tā yòukuài yòufāngbian. It’s both fast and convenient. 它又快又方便。

M: Tā yòukuài yòufāngbian. Kuài, fast; and fāngbian, FANG BIAN, 方便，convenient. Notice the ‘又…又…’ structure here? It is similar to the ‘both…and…’ structure in English.

S: More examples. If a dinner is both delicious and cheap, we can simply say, wǎncān yòuhǎochī yòupiányi. 晚餐又好吃又便宜。Cheap, 便宜，PIAN YI, piányi.

M: And you can say, ‘my friend is both clever and pretty.’ Wǒde péngyou yòucōngming yòupiàoliang. 我的朋友又聪明又漂亮。Piàoliang, PIAO LIANG, 漂亮，pretty.

M: Now let’s continue with our text.

S: I said, I don’t like chatting on the net. Wǒbù xǐhuān zài wǎngshàng liáotiān. 我不喜欢在网上聊天。

M: Still remember the phrase zài zhuōzi shang? Duìle, it means ‘on the table’. Zài zhuōzi shang. So, on the net, zài wǎngshang, 在网上。Stuart 不喜欢在网上聊天 Tā bù xǐhuān zài wǎngshàng liáotiān.

S: That’s because my typing speed is too slow. Nàshì yīnwéi wǒde dǎzì sùdù tàimànle. 那是因为我的打字速度太慢了。
M: Dǎzì, to type letters, 打字, DA ZI, third tone fourth tone. And sùdù, SU DU, both in fourth tone, 速度，means speed. So the whole sentence is –

S: 我的打字速度太慢了, wǒde dǎzì sùdù tàimànle.

M: With that we finish today’s lesson. See you next time!

S: Zàijiàn!

(Source:english.cri.cn)

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Beijing Olympic – Brief Introduction of the QUANJUDE Group

Monday, May 26th, 2008

QUANJUDE, a famous historied brand of China, was established in 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi of Qing dynasty). During the 136 years, QUANJUDE has experienced business vicissitudes and survived the arduous ordeal of time. Throughout the years, QUANJUDE dishes have been greatly enriched due to developing and innovation.

 

With its long history,  Quanjude roast duck enjoys a high reputation among domestic and overseas consumers for the peculiar roast technique and outstanding quality. It ranks the first not only in Chinese Famous Dishes, compiled by all-China famous chefs under the organization of Ministry of Commerce in 1958, but also in Elite of Chinese Famous Dishes, published by China and Japan in 1982.  In many cases, Quanjude lists the first among famous restaurants.

 

The well-known All-Duck Banquet is headed by QUANJUDE roast duck and supported by over 400 dishes with QUANJUDE characteristic flavor. Government leaders, officials and VIPs from nearly 200 countries and regions have visited  QUANJUDE roast duck restaurants and had dinner here..

 

The foundation of China Beijing Quanjude Group ooon May 20th of 1993 ushers in a new episode for QUANJUDE . The Group set its developing strategy as taking advantage of QUANJUDE brand and expanding the business by scaling, modernizing and franchising with quality playing the crucial role. Since the implementation of the strategy, QUANJUDE¡¯s business has been booming and more positive meanings are being brought to the image of the old renowned brand. Currently, the Group has over 60 company-owned and franchised restaurants in China. The annual sales reaches 500 millions yuan (RMB); the number of roast duck annually sold amounts over 2 millions; guests annually entertained top 5 millions. The Group lists one of the largest food service enterprises in China with 600 millions yuan (RMB) of assets and 700 millions yuan (RMB) of intangible assets.

 

In January of 1999, QUANJUDE was awarded the title of ¡°China Renowned Trademark¡±, which is the first and unique case as of now in the service trade. This honor also contributes to QUANJUDE¡¯s image of high quality, excellent taste, rich and profound culture.

(Source: ebeijing.gov.cn)

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