Art & Aesthetics
337 articlesThe Forbidden City, Beijing
The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, is a vast imperial palace complex in the heart of Beijing that served as the home of Chinese emperors for nearly 500 years.
Chinese Gardens
Chinese gardens represent a distinctive tradition of landscape architecture that has evolved over millennia.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
A classic Chinese historical novel depicting the political and military struggles during the Three Kingdoms period.
Southern and Northern Dynasties
The Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420-589 CE) was a time of political division in China when the south and north existed as separate political entities.
Zhangjiajie City
Zhangjiajie is a prefecture-level city in Hunan Province, China, renowned for its unique quartz sandstone peak forest landscapes and as home to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.
Nianhua: Chinese Woodblock New Year Pictures
Traditional Chinese woodblock prints used for New Year decorations with over a thousand years of history.
Huagu Opera
Huagu Opera is a traditional Chinese theatrical form with multiple regional variations, particularly prominent in Hunan Province.
Legalism
Legalism was an influential school of Chinese philosophy during the pre-Qin period that emphasized law, state power, and administrative methods.
Qin Shi Huang
The first emperor of unified China who ended the Warring States period and established the Qin Dynasty.
Chu Ci
Chu Ci is the earliest anthology of romantic poetry in Chinese literature, compiled by Liu Xiang during the Western Han Dynasty.
Temple of Heaven
A complex of religious buildings in Beijing, China, used for imperial sacrifices to Heaven.
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday in China, marking the beginning of a new lunar year.
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) was a period of Chinese history marked by economic prosperity, cultural flourishing, and significant technological advancements.
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi was an ancient Chinese philosopher who lived during the Warring States period and is considered one of the foundational thinkers of Taoist philosophy.
Simplified Chinese Characters
The evolution and implementation of simplified Chinese characters across East Asia.
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BCE, known for its unification of China and short but impactful rule.
Lin Zexu
Lin Zexu was a prominent Chinese official of the Qing Dynasty known for his anti-opium stance and leadership in the First Opium War.
Standard Chinese (Putonghua)
Standard Chinese, known as Putonghua, is the official language of China based on Beijing dialect with Northern dialects as its foundation.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Oracle Bone Inscriptions are the earliest known systematic Chinese writing, dating from the Shang Dynasty.
Cheongsam
The cheongsam is a body-hugging Chinese dress for women that originated in the 1920s and has become an iconic representation of Chinese fashion.