Chinese Class - Dingcun Museum of Folk Customs

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Dingcun Museum of Folk Customs

The Dingcun Museum of Folk Customs, a regional specialized folklore museum in China, reflects the living custom of the Han people in southern Shanxi Province. The museum is located in the south of Xiangfen County of Shanxi Province. It began construction in 1984 and was opened to the public on
November 10, 1985.

The museum houses 33 residential houses arranged in three groups -- the north courtyard, middle courtyard and south courtyard, which were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). The oldest house dates back to the Reign of Emperor Wanly of the Ming Dynasty (1593). The houses feature
the typical layout ofSiheyuan(quadrangle) facing south. The building complex and various carvings are all excellent works of Ming and Qing residential architectural art. They represent the traditional life style and residential building design of the Han nationality.

The museum boasts over 10,000 pieces of collections, including pottery, furniture, costume, farm tools, transportation tools, textiles, folk art and unearthed relics. There are several folklore displays with different themes related to the Han nationality living in southern Shanxi at the end of
the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the begging of the Republic of China, including the Display of Seasons and Festivals, the Display of Customs and Etiquettes, the Display of Folk Art and the Display of Production and Life. The six Qing houses with an exhibiting area of 2,700 square meters display
over 2,400 cultural relics of folklore. Besides, the museum deploys displays on special topics such as Dingcun Culture, Dingcun Neolithic Age Culture, and Paintings and Crockery. The museum has also collected and compiled brochures such asSelected Traditional Folk Songs and Interesting Slang of
Dingcun VillageandSelected Folk Couplets of Dingcun Village.

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Learn Chinese online - Lu Xun Museum in Beijing

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Library>Museum>Celebrities

Lu Xun Museum in Beijing

www.luxunmuseum.com.cn

Located near Fuchengmen in the northwestern part of Beijing, the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing is a memorial of historical celebrities. The museum, built in October 1956, takes up an area of 12,000 square meters, of which 1,000 square meters is for the basic display of Lu Xun's life.

The museum boasts a collection of 21,842 pieces of cultural relics, of which 1,290 are of the first class. The main exhibits include manuscripts, letters, journals, photographs and other personal objects. The most important exhibits on display are the scrollSelf-Mockery Poemthat Lu Xun sent to Liu
Yazi as a gift and Liu Yazi later sent to Mao Zedong, more than 2,200 pages of Lu Xun's notes to ancient books, Lu Xun's collection of over 140,000 books, and some stone-engraving paintings of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), more than 6,000 pieces of rubbings of the past dynasties collected by him,
and so on.

The museum is split into two sections -- Lu Xun's former residence where he lived from 1924-1926, and a large exhibition hall. Lu Xun's former residence is a cultural site under the protection of Beijing government, and is an important part of the museum. It was officially opened to the public in
1949.

The exhibition hall features the basic display of Lu Xun's life, which displays Lu Xun's contributions to the undertaking of modern revolutionary literature, the new woodcut movement and the modern thoughts and cultures in his lifetime.

Publications of the museum includeManuscripts of Lu Xun and the Catalogue of His Books,Chinese Modern Woodcarvings Collected by Lu Xun,Photos of Lu Xun's Life,Lu Xun Museum, and100 Anniversary of Lu Xun's Birth, etc.

Lu Xun (1881-1936) was regarded as the founder of modern Chinese writing and was a revered scholar and teacher. He played an important role of the anti-imperialist May the Fourth Movement in 1919, and his greatest legacy was leading the revolution of simplified Chinese script.

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Pnyin - Double Ninth Festival

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Library>Culture ABC>Food & Drinks>Festival Food

Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival, also namedChong YangFestival, falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, hence it gets name of Double Ninth Festival. On this day, people would like to drink chrysanthemum wine and have chrysanthemum cakes.

The chrysanthemum is a plant often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed that, in addition to detoxifcation, chrysanthemum could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in late autumn. So, making and drinking chrysanthemum could be traced back
many centuries, and it became the traditional food on Double Ninth Festival, to avoid evil spirits and misfortunes. Besides, the Chinese word for wine isJiu, a homonym of the Chinese word for long, symbolizing longevity.

Another special food for this festival is chrysanthemum cakes. The Chinese word for cake isGao, a homonym of the Chinese word for high, symbolizing progress and promotion at work and in daily life and improvement in life year by year. In addition, mountains are high, so eating cakes can take the
place of going for a climb -- by a stretch of the imagination.

Since nine is the highest odd digit, people take two of them together to signify longevity. Therefore, the ninth day of the ninth month has become a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves. It has also been declared China's Day for
the Elderly.

Origin

The festival is based on the theory ofYinandYang, the two opposing principles in nature.Yinis feminine, negative principle, whileYangis masculine and positive. In ancient times people believed that all natural phenomena could be explained by this theory. Numbers were also related to this theory.
Even numbers belonged toYinand odd numbers toYang. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the twoYangnumbers meet. So it is calledChong Yang.Chongmeans double in Chinese.Chong Yanghas been an important festival since ancient times.

Legend

It is hard to say when these customs were created. But there are many stories which are closely related. As recorded in a historical book of the sixth century, in ancient times, there lived a man named Huan Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang, who had become an immortal after
many years of practicing Taoism. One day, the two were climbing a mountain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset. He told Huan Jing, On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, disaster will come to your hometown. You must go home immediately. Remember to make a red bag for each one
of your family members and put a spray of dogwood on every one. Then you must all tie your bags to your arms, leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine. Only by doing so can your family members avoid this disaster.

On hearing this, Huan Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening. When they got back home, they found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep, dogs and even the ox. Later Huan
Jing told Fei Changfang about this. Fei said the poultry and livestock died in place of Huan Jing's family, who escaped disaster by following his instructions.

Since then, climbing a mountain, carrying a spray of dogwood and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Double Ninth Festival, to avoid evil spirits and misfortunes.

A Day for Outing

The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest-time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festive happy atmosphere. The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Many people go hiking and climbing in the countryside,
enjoying Mother Nature's final burst of color before she puts on her dull winter cloak. Some will carry a spray of dogwood.

Therefore, it is now considered the last outing of the year before the onset of winter, for people to go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

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