Hangzhou Home to Ancient Cultural Heritage

Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province, long regarded as the nation's paradise city, is often associated with spots of natural beauty such as the resplendent West Lake and its leisurely lifestyle.

A city that has been the capital of many ancient Chinese dynasties, and given rise to many renowned literary and artistic personalities both throughout history and at present, Hangzhou is also home to sites containing relics of some of the earliest Chinese civilizations, such as the famous Liangzhu Culture and the more recently discovered Kuahuqiao Culture.

Chinese historians generally regard the Liangzhu Culture as the first peak of Hangzhou's development, while the history of civilization in the city dates back 8,000 years, starting with Kuahuqiao Culture of the Neolithic Age in its suburb Xiaoshan district.

Remarkable jade artifacts

Named after the place where it was first discovered in 1936, Liangzhu Culture is a late Neolithic (or Chalcolithic) culture dating back to 3310 - 2250 BC.

The Neolithic Age was a period when humans first learned to tend plants and animals and eventually domesticate crops and animals.

The Liangzhu Culture, and the making of black-based and black-burnished pottery, represent the earliest Chalcolithic Culture in southeast China.

Well known for its large number of marvelous jade artifacts, Liangzhu Culture succeeded the Majiabang Culture and later became part of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th Century BC).

The most remarkable feature of Liangzhu Culture is the large number and high quality of green jade artifacts, and their religious importance.

Many other cultures contemporary to the Liangzhu Culture also created jade items, but none could compare to those of the Liangzhu.

Unlike the later dynastic periods, the Neolithic jades are easily distinguishable by style, quality, and the technique used to make them. The Liangzhu jades are set far apart from those of other cultures.

Two types of jades, called "bi" and "cong" respectively, were prominent for their ritual use in Liangzhu culture.

The jade called bi is a circular ring used to worship heaven, and the cong is an elongated square tube used to worship earth.

Over 5,000 jades have been discovered in the Liangzhu ruins to date. These jades, especially the congs, also have the earliest taotie mask designs as a part of their inscriptions.

The taotie mask is an image formed when the elaborate carvings on a jade are arranged in such a way that the image of a face can be seen in the macro image. These taotie designs were later used and stylized by the Shang and Zhou cultures.

Exhibition, museum

An exhibition themed on Liangzhu Culture began in Sweden on July 1, in which more than 100 pieces of jade and pottery replicas have been put on display.

The exhibition, which will last more than one month, will also showcase silk, hand-made artifacts and other local specialty products from Hangzhou.

Located in Liangzhu Township in suburban Hangzhou, The Liangzhu Culture Museum, which is a must-visit for history and jade and antique-lovers, is only about 10 km from the city downtown.

The museum, covering 8,590 sq m, is divided into three main exhibition halls, where over 400 cultural relics are on display.

Before the three exhibition halls, the prelude hall summarizes the tenets of the Liangzhu Culture such as its significance and the role it played in its time.

The No 1 Hall mainly displays different cultural relics left behind in different stages of the Liangzhu Culture which, displayed against the backdrop of the pristine settings, reproduce a vivid picture of the Liangzhu Culture evidenced by the advanced pottery, textile and jade-making craftsmanship.

The second exhibition room displays jade artifacts and pottery. The jade artifacts, for which Liangzhu Culture is well known, represent the mysterious and exotic culture and the pottery shows the creativity and colorful life of the Liangzhu people.

The third exhibition room shows a replica of a large tomb found in Yaoshan Ruins and a number of small-sized tombs. The striking differences between them reveal the huge wealth disparity at that time.

Unique style

In addition to the more widely known Liangzhu Culture, Hangzhou is also the place of origin of the much earlier Kuahuqiao Culture - a Neolithic Age culture that once thrived in its suburban Xiaoshan district.

Although it is lesser known than Liangzhu, Kuahuqiao Culture is no less and probably even more significant than the former.

The discovery of the Kuahuqiao relic site actually pushes the history of civilization in Hangzhou to 8,000 years ago, much earlier than the Liangzhu Culture.

Located in Xianghu Village in Xiaoshan District in the outskirts of Hangzhou, the Kuahuqiao relic site was first formally discovered in 1990, which led to the unearthing of large quantities of cultural relics such as sophisticated painted pottery, unglazed pottery, stoneware and jade artifacts.

A second excavation was carried out in 2001, with more relics discovered.

Kuahuqiao Culture, which was regarded as one of the top 10 most important archeological discoveries in China in 2001, is also an unresolved mystery that still enthralls and puzzles archeologists.

While there were many wooden, stone and pottery utensils unearthed from the site, there were no tripods and stones with drilling holes, indicating that hunting may have been the main lifeline of the Kuahuqiao people.

"This means the site has got the characteristics of a very early age," said Yan Wenming, a Peking University professor and researcher at the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

"The culture of Kuahuqiao is very unique," said Yan. "It can hardly be compared to any other ancient cultures discovered in the province, and we found it difficult to put it into the cultural chronology within our knowledge," he added.

By Zheng Lifei

Traditional historical - Shaoxing wine

Shaoxing Wine is a famous local specialty of Shaoxing, a Chinese city renowned for its cultural importance and located in the south of Hangzhou and the north of Huiji Mountain. Shaoxing City is known for its bountiful human landscape, its picturesque rivers and lakes, and its attractive local customs. Many works of Lu Xun depict the strong flavor of the local culture. From Bai Cao Yuan (Hundred Grass Garden) to San Wei Shu Wu (Three Savor Study), Kong Yiji's (Kong Yiji, a character in Lu's book) aniseed beans to the village theatrical performance, Lu Xun's strong affection for his hometown lies between the lines.



Shaoxing is also a waterside city, with more than 4000 bridges. It is most famous for Jianhu Lake, in the south. The water there is very special, incomparably better for brewing Shaoxing Wine. Those who tend to make Shaoxing Wine at other places are doomed to failure, even with the best materials and techniques.

Why is it so special? Shaoxing was a marshland in ancient times. It was alleviated by the mountain torrents from Huiji Mountain in the south, and by the tides from the sea in the north. Jianhu Lake was also formed this way. There are two layers of coal mud under Jianhu Lake that contain a large quantity of nutrition and at the same time adsorb harmful ingredients. Due to these special geographic conditions, the water in Jianhu Lake is crystal clear, and contains abundant Ca and the trace element Li.

Using this water as the main water source, Shaoxing Wine is different from common yellow wine. It is brewed with glutinous rice and wheat with high qualities. It looks bright and lustrous. Its flavor is a mixture of sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, and rough. Despite the strong fragrant and elegant color, Shaoxing Wine is also rich in nutrition. It contains more than 8 types of aminoacid, which cannot be formed by our body and which are very important to our health. Drinking Shaoxing Wine can help stimulate blood flow, lower blood pressure, control blood sugar, protect the heart, nourish the stomach, and promote appetites.



Shaoxing Wine consists of many breeds, such as Yuan Hong, Jia Fan, Shan Niang, Xue Xiang and Tai Diao. Yuan Hong is known for its vermeil wine jug; Jia Fan, also called Hua Diao, is made on the basis of Yuan Hong; Shan Niang is brewed with Yuan Hong Wine, served as the main water source; Xiang Xue uses the distillers' grains of yellow wine as main source; while Tai Diao is a mixture of the other yellow wines.

It can also be categorized according to sugar content. There is dry wine, half-dry wine, slight sweet wine, and sweet wine. They are represented by Yuan Hong, Jia Fan, Shan Niang and Xiang Xue respectively. Yuan Hong Wine can be served with chicken and duck; Jia Fan tastes best with seafood; Shan Niang usually goes with delicacies and desserts; while Xiang Xue is the most delicious cold drink.

Today wine making has become the pillar industry of Shaoxing; and people there know how to fully use their rich wine culture to stimulate development. In Shaoxing, wine customs appear everywhere. One can find wine at weddings, funerals, festivals, business activities, and the daily lives of local people.

In fact, Chinese wine culture has a long history that dates back to 2400 years ago. In China’s Spring and Autumn period, Shaoxing City was the country of Yue. In 492 BC, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was defeated and enslaved by Wu. Three years later, he returned to his own country, and strengthened his resolve to end the national humiliation. He encouraged his soldiers by awarding them with wines. This indicates that the wine industry at that time had a scale of no modest dimension.

Wine customs and their long history enhance the wine industry in Shaoxing, and give the city a unique characteristic. When people mention Shanxing, they not only know its bountiful human landscape and picturesque rivers and lakes, but also are familiar with Xian Heng Wineshop, which was often visited by Kong Yiji (a character in Lu's novel), and also its famous wine culture.

By Zhang Xiaoxiao

Palace of North Tibetan-area—Dawu House

At the end of last century, a revival of the Shangri-La tale generated a Tibetan-area touring boom. The 'Tibetan-area' refers to not only Tibet, but also a large number of Tibetan residences in the Sichuan Province which borders on Tibet. It contains mainly the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze and Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba. In both areas live generations of Tibetan people, with their attractive customs and life-style. Take a walk along the road in any area, like the Dawu County, and you'll find yourself surrounded by eye-catching and fancy houses. They are the "Dawu House," palaces of the North Tibetan-area.



The word palace doesn't mean necessarily the king's residence. It refers to the homes of ordinary Tibetan people from Dawu County. The county, at an elevation of 3km, is famous for its beauty and provinciality, and Dawu House makes it one of the most famous.

Dawu House is 'Beng-ke' in Tibetan, 'a house of wood.' The house has wood girders and pillars, and the rest of it is built mainly with stone, sand and earth. By 1980s, severe earthquakes shook the counties of Zhaggo and Dawu in north Tibetan-area, forcing people to quakeproof their traditional house-style. Now a mature building style has developed.

A typical Dawu House, 2- or 3-storys with a height of 5m to 8m, is supported by bulky wood planks in traditional Tibetan patterns. Walls are built with superimposed sheet stones and earth, enclosing about 120-250 square meters for a normal house, and 350-450 square meters for a large one. The framework is crossed stake shaped in lunette for stabilization. Compared with patterns before the earthquake, thicker wood for pillars are used with a new jointed structure, drilling through floors in support.

Viewing from outside, the houses are L-shaped, saucer-shaped or square-shaped. Eaves and doors are colored with homemade dyestuff. The earth part of walls is painted white, the wooden part in maroon, and windows in polychrome drawing. The parapet is covered with shrubs and flowers, and fruit trees line the courtyard. You’ll be impressed by the color.



And what may impress you more is inside the house. Dawu Houses may look similar outside, but inside is a different story. The airing platform, typical rural houses, is located in different places according to the size of house, daylight conditions and owner preferences , as well as furniture and room-design. The ground floor of a house is generally used for storage or hoggery, and upstairs is where the whole family stays. There is a drawing room and worshipping hall in every house, the former for receiving guests and family gathering, and the latter for worshipping Buddha.

The drawing room has a circle of cushions aside the walls and a Tibetan-pattern table at the center. Guests and the family spent their time having tea and chatting here. To the west of the room is a pair of trunk beds resembling a put-you-up. A rich family may even have a chair-bed in their drawing room, which is large and has three sides of balustrade around it, all garishly sculpted to exhibit the greatness of the owner. Only a respected guest will be led to the chair-bed. And the worshipping hall is always lightened with gheelamp, keeping the Buddha figure inside and from time to time, some small religious activities will be held here.

What makes the Dawu House a palace is the sculpture and drawings on nearly the every interior surface of the house. Beginning in the 1980s, Dawu House ornaments have become more and more brightly colored and image-plentiful. Local craftsmen show their exquisite skills, and guests find themselves in a museum of Tibetan-painting. Traditional Buddhist figures and Chinese propitious images fly across the roof, entwine the pillars, hop onto windowsills and hide under corners. Even the furniture is covered with flower patterns and inwrought fabric. All of the figures and images have legendary origins or historical stories. Since the sculptures and paintings resemble those in Buddha temples, regarded as representing the best Tibetan arts and crafts, they are the center of the 'palace' in the everyday lives of ordinary Tibetan people.

To build a Dawu House, the owner will entrust a Lama—the Tibetan word for Buddhist abbe—or a Living Buddha to make an augury on the lucky day the project begins. Upon construction, relation and friends of the owner come and help. They use a lot of white fine stones to composite a beast caput on the highest wall of the house, in pray of breeding. On completion of the house a fire is started, and at a séance ceremony in the 9th month of Tibetan calendar every year, the owner brushes outer walls new and white to represent holiness and luck.

A completed Dawu House usually costs 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, and may reach a million if the owner can afford it. Most of the budget is spent on ornaments. Since the government has launched a policy on protection of wide wood, the cost will probably go even higher. According to travel notes of a tourist who visited an unfinished Dawu House completed four years ago, the sculpting carpenter there said he needed another 2-3 years. In other words, the house will take 7 years to complete. What a work!