32 Cultural Relics Discovered in South China Sea (Xinhua)
Li Jilong, deputy team leader of South China Sea underwater archaeology team, presents a piece of blue and white porcelain of Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), in south China’s Hainan Province, on June 1, 2010. After 35 days of underwater archaeological work, the team discovered 32 underwater cultural relics and found blue and white porcelain of Yuan Dynasty in South China Sea for the first time. [click to view photo gallery]
***************************************
Uncovering a 2000-year-old Chinese Pompeii at Sanyangzhuang (Heritage Key)
Disaster for an ancient town can be miracle for modern-day researchers. Excavations at Sanyangzhuang, China are offering archaeologists a view of China’s ancient rural past during the Han Dynasty. The dig promises a clear look at China’s hinterland at the height of the Han imperial state, which matched contemporary Rome in both size and wealth.
The village of Sanyangzhuang in the province of Henan was a rural farming settlement until about 2,000 years ago, when it was flooded by silt-heavy water from the Yellow River. With up to 70 centimetres of silt protecting it from the depredations of time, the site now offers an exceptionally well-preserved view of daily life for the lower class in Western China during the Han Dynasty. [continue reading]
***************************************
Relics Found Behind St. Paul’s Ruins (Macau Daily Times)
Archaeologists from Beijing discovered part of an ancient wall and some artifacts from the Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Republic of China behind the Ruins of St. Paul’s area.The team from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was commissioned by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM) to implement archaeological work starting April in Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro and Patio do Espinho respectively, an attempt to search for the historic sites of St. Paul’s College and the ancient wall.
The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), ICM and the archaeological team gave a press conference yesterday at the Museum of Macao to announce the findings in the first phase of the work. [continue reading]
***************************************
Palace Museum in Taipei to Display Top Treasures of Tibet (People’s Daily Online)
A special exhibition for every aspect of Tibetan arts and heritage titled “Holy Land of Tibet—The Treasure Closest to the Sky,” will be held at the Palace Museum in Taipei on July 1.
After three years of preparations, the special exhibition will be the highest-standard Tibetan culture and heritage exhibition in Taiwan in recent years. There will be a total of 130 exhibits, and 36 relics are grade one-level Chinese mainland relics. Since the spring of 2009, the exhibition has been on display in many places in Japan, including Kyushu, Hokkaido, Tokyo and Osaka and ended in Sendai at the end of May 2010. The exhibition will be on display in Taipei from July 1 to Sept.19. [continue reading]
***************************************
Curators Promote Cross-strait Ties with Exhibitions (Taipei Times)
From principal museums to provincial associations, the number of exhibitions in Taiwan of Chinese paintings and art collections has increased dramatically over the last two years, as has the scale of those exhibitions.
There has been much discussion recently about the possibility of displaying a famous Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) landscape painting Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains by Huang Kung-wang (黃公望) (1269-1354) in its entirety at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, a project that is still in the planning stage.
Other organizations are also planning to hold exhibitions and competitions to enhance the understanding and broaden the outlook of the younger generation. [continue reading]
***************************************
China has 870,000 Intangible Heritage Items (Xinhua)
China has over 870,000 intangible culture heritage items that need protection, according to a national culture survey, the Beijing News reported Thursday.
The Ministry of Culture did the survey before the opening of the fifth Chinese Culture Heritage Day, which is June 12, said Vice Minister Wang Wenzhang at a press conference Wednesday. China has already invested 1.79 billion yuan on intangible culture heritage protection, Wang said. [continue reading]
***************************************
Sticky Rice a Key Ingredient in Ancient Chinese Mortar (Epoch Times)
Scientists discovered that ancient Chinese structures, including a section of the Great Wall of China, had a special ingredient in the extremely strong mortar: sticky rice.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) published a report last week in the Accounts of Chemical Research which said that Chinese workers mixed in sticky rice into their mortar paste approximately 1,500 years ago. The report noted that the sticky rice mortar was combined with “slaked lime” or “limestone that has been calcined,” and was likely one of the first composite mortars ever created. [continue reading]
***************************************
Prehistoric Figurine Shows Our Ancestors’ Appreciation For The Female Form (InventorSpot)
Buxom beauties with Rubenesque figures have been the subjects of artists throughout history and, it seems even in pre-history. Exceedingly rare, the clay figure found in near Higashiomi in Japan’s Shiga prefecture is only the second one of its type to be found in the country – another female figuring was found by researchers in 1996 near the Mie prefecture town of Matsusaka.
Permits for archeological digs are hard to come by in Japan as many of the known sites are imperial tombs dating from the early Yayoi period, when the ancestors of today’s Japanese first built a historically documented society. [continue reading]
***************************************
Tripitaka Koreana Displayed at International Archival Exhibition (Chosun Ilbo)
The 2010 International Archival Culture Exhibition kicked off at COEX in Seoul with an enshrinement ceremony on Monday. Co-hosted by the National Archives of Korea and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the event first opened its doors in 2007 and aims to promote archival culture at home and abroad.
This year’s exhibition is special as visitors can get a rare glimpse of the Tripitaka Koreana from the Koryo Dynasty. Enlisted in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, it is Korea’s National Treasure No. 32 and one of the most comprehensive and oldest examples of Buddhist scripture. [continue reading]
***************************************
He’s Battle to Save China’s Classic Architecture (AFP)
Every week, He Shuzhong receives dozens of phone calls, emails and letters from people across China warning him that another piece of ancient architecture is about to be bulldozed.
The former university professor has spent nearly three decades battling to save traditional hutongs (alleys formed by lines of courtyard houses) and temples, some dating back hundreds of years, from the wrecking ball.
Thousands of historic buildings have been lost, but He said he takes comfort from the growing number of people joining the fight to preserve what is left. [continue reading]
***************************************
Is Feng Shui an Intangible Cultural Heritage? (Global Times)
Experts are debating weather to include some folk beliefs such as feng shui into the nation’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH), a Chinese culture official said Wednesday.
Vice Culture Minister Wang Wenzhang made the comment at a press conference Wednesday when he was asked whether feng shui should be nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO Representative List of ICH.
In 2009, Mazu, a goddess that many people in southern China believe protect sailors and fishermen, was added to the UNESCO ICH list, triggering interest about similar items. [continue reading]
***************************************
Mongolian Cultural Exhibition Hits the Road in Taiwan (Taiwan News)
To promote the knowledge service and exchange of Han cultures, the National Central Library today unveiled the “Mongolian Buddhist Image & Sculpture Art Exhibition,” a platform to share the public with the civilization from the mysterious country, local media reports said.
Former president of Mongolia Punsalmaa Ochirbat, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou and more than 30 ambassadors in Taiwan came to join the cultural feast with enchanting performances of traditional Mongolian instruments and dances. [continue reading]
Like this:
Like Loading...
