What are the cultural characteristics of Guangzhou?

Guangzhou is a famous cultural city with a long history of more than 2,000 years. It is the center and birthplace of Lingnan culture. It is one of the first batch of historical and cultural cities in the country promulgated by the State Council.

The history of civilization of more than two thousand years has left behind many endless and colorful folk customs, which are reflected in all aspects of social life. Including food, housing, architecture, commerce, language, seasonal events, marriage, ancestor worship, etiquette, entertainment, etc.

Guangzhou is a famous city in southern Guangdong with rich folk customs. The essence of Chinese and foreign cultures is integrated here to form a unique Lingnan culture. Lingnan School of Painting, Lingnan Architecture, Lingnan Gardens, Lingnan Bonsai, Cantonese Music, Cantonese Opera, Cantonese Cuisine, Cantonese, urban landscapes, life customs, etc. all reflect the style of Lingnan culture.

Overview of Guangzhou Culture and Art

Cantonese Opera

Cantonese Opera is a major local opera in my country. It is rooted in the folk of Guangdong and is also popular in parts of Guangxi and Hong Kong and Macao. As well as Southeast Asia and Chinese residential areas, it has a history of more than 300 years.

Guangdong Cantonese Opera is formed and developed by the continuous integration and development of a variety of foreign opera voices, local opera and folk rap art. At the same time, Cantonese opera has successively absorbed local rap arts such as Nanyin, Cantonese opera, dragon boat songs, and wooden fish songs, as well as Guangdong popular ditties and ditties for use in this tune, forming today's Cantonese opera, which mainly uses bangzi and erhuang for local singing and ditties. Auxiliary, full of local characteristics and rich and colorful singing system.

Lingnan School of Painting

Lingnan School of Painting refers to a painting school that emerged before and after the Revolution of 1911 and was headed by Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng and Chen Shuren. Influenced by the ideas of democratic revolution, they advocated the renewal of traditional Chinese painting, opposed the imitation and conservatism of the national painting circles in the late Qing Dynasty, and advocated "eclectic Chinese and foreign, integrating ancient and modern". Because they were all Cantonese, they were called the Lingnan School.

The Lingnan School of Painting is one of the most distinctive and outstanding cultures of the motherland. Its works have a strong sense of life, both writing and painting, and they pay equal attention to color and ink. The Lingnan Painting Party has made important contributions to the development of Chinese painting. It is a revolutionary school in traditional Chinese painting. It, Cantonese opera and Cantonese music are known as the "Three Shows of Lingnan".

Guangdong Music

Cantonese music is a variety of instrumental music produced in the Guangzhou dialect area. It originated in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta at the beginning of this century. It is popular at home and abroad and enjoys a high reputation and a large audience. It is a local folk music that is based on Guangdong folk tunes, some Cantonese opera music and brand music, and absorbs the nutrients of ancient Chinese, especially folk music in the Jiangnan region. After nearly 300 years of gestation, it has been perfected and developed.

Cantonese embroidery

Cantonese embroidery, also known as Guangxiu, is one of the famous embroideries in China and is an embroidery product produced in Guangdong. It is said that it was founded by ethnic minorities and formed its characteristics in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The Forbidden City has the largest collection in the country. It is famous for its full layout, luxuriant patterns, lively scenes, rich colors, strong contrast, and bright red and green colors. Its biggest feature is that the layout is full, and there are often few gaps. Even if there are gaps, they must be supplemented by landscapes, grasslands, tree roots, etc., making it appear lively and compact. Another unique phenomenon of Guangdong embroidery is that most of the embroidery workers are male workers, and other embroidery workers. The difference is that all embroidery workers in the region are women. When embroidering large pieces, the embroidery workers often stand while holding long needles in their hands.

Guangdong embroidery uses a variety of threads. In addition to silk thread and wool thread, peacock feathers are also used as threads, or horsetail velvet is used as threads. The needle techniques are very rich, and factors such as the rise and fall of the needle thread, the intensity of the force, the direction of the silk texture, the density of the arrangement, and the curling form of the silk knots are all used to enhance the expressive power of the image.

Guangcai

Guang

Cai is the abbreviation of Guangzhou Colored Porcelain, also called Guangzhou Zhijin Colored Porcelain. It is painted on various white porcelain vessels. A kind of handicraft with strong oriental characteristics, most of which adopt Chinese brocade patterns and are famous for their bright and gorgeous colors. They are a unique variety of my country's overglaze colored porcelain.

Guangzhou colored porcelain began with Guangzhou three-color porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, developed into five-color porcelain in the Qing Dynasty, and gradually formed a unique artistic style during the Qianlong period. It has a history of more than 300 years. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, in order to process painted porcelain for European countries, white porcelain from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province was shipped to Guangzhou, painted in imitation of Western paintings, and then sold to foreign businessmen. When Guangzhou Thirteen Hongshang was founded, it already had porcelain shops and foreign companies specializing in the export of Guangcai.

Lingnan Bonsai

Lingnan Bonsai is one of the five major schools of Chinese bonsai art.

It covers the Pearl River Delta and the central and southern regions of Guangxi, with Guangzhou being the most representative.

Bonsai began in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and its unique style was formed after the founding of the Republic of China.

The characteristics of Lingnan bonsai are: they are made according to their materials. Tree embryos such as Jiuli Xiang, Fujian Tea, Shuihengzhi, Hackberry, Elm, Rudijin, etc. are mostly from the mountains and fields. The shape is unique. The stems are cut and branches are planted to achieve a natural shape, and the proportion between branches and stems is appropriate. He is also good at pruning, pays attention to the use of pots, and the meaning of the title.

Lingnan bonsai originates from nature, but is higher than nature. It is an organic combination of natural beauty and artificial beauty. Lingnan people, especially those in Guangzhou, love bonsai. Planting bonsai has become a part of people's lives. Bonsai is planted on the rooftops and balconies of every home to beautify the environment and adjust life. It can not only comfort the eyes and mind, improve health, but also Cultivate sentiment and bring fun.

Lingnan Guqin

Lingnan Guqin gradually developed in the Han Dynasty at least. There have been many famous qin players in the past dynasties, and they have written many classics on qin studies, created and preserved them. He has learned many famous Guqin instruments and scores.

The founder of the Lingnan Qin School was Huang Jingxing, a native of Xinhui, Guangdong during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. In addition, the most influential qin players include: Yun Zhigao, He Luoshu, He Yaokun, Yang Xiquan and others; in terms of qin collection, there are famous qins such as "Tianxue", "Songxue", "Zhenyu" and "Narcissus"; In terms of musical notation and musical treatises on musical instruments, there are Yun Zhigao's "Liao Huaitang Qin Pu", Huang Jingxing's "Wuxue Shanfang Qin Pu", and He Binxiang's "Qin Xue Huicheng".

Cantonese Opera

Guangdong Folk Art is the first to introduce Cantonese Opera. Cantonese opera is the most popular type of music in Guangzhou dialect area, with a history of about 150 years. Cantonese opera was originally a tune of Cantonese opera, and later became an independent genre. Cantonese opera has strong musicality, pays attention to the art of hearing, pays attention to singing skills, and does not chant tables for a long time. Its singing style belongs to the banqiang style of Pihuang system. Bangzi, Erhuang, paizi tunes, ditties and ballads form the whole, which is divided into flat throat and sub throat. , large larynx and three main laryngeal cavities. Cantonese opera is popular in a wide range of areas, with Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao as its main bases of activity. Cantonese opera can be heard all over the world where Cantonese overseas Chinese live together.

Zengcheng Olive Carving

The Zengcheng area of ??Guangzhou has been rich in olives since ancient times. The olives have large kernels and small kernels, which are suitable for carving, thus giving birth to the exquisite folk handicraft of Guangzhou Olive Carving. Its development history can be traced back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Representative figures include Chen Zuzhang, a palace craftsman from Guangzhou in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and Zhan Gusheng, a folk artist from Xintang, Zengcheng in the fourth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1854).

Guangzhou olive carving craftsmanship inherits the style characteristics of Lingnan culture, with beautiful and elegant shapes, smooth lines, a combination of movement and stillness, and delicacy. Its overall artistic features can be summarized as follows: the carving is meticulous, the shape is small and exquisite, and its techniques Mainly relief sculpture, round sculpture and hollow sculpture.

Guangzhou Gray Sculpture

Guangzhou Gray Sculpture is mainly distributed in Guangzhou

urban area, Zengcheng and Conghua. It is a traditional architectural decoration technology in Guangzhou. According to "Guangzhou City Chronicles", Zengcheng Zhengguo Temple, which was built in the third year of Qingyuan (1197) in the Southern Song Dynasty, has a gray sculpture work - a gray sculpture of a dragon boat spine. Gray sculptures in Guangzhou were most popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially in ancestral halls, temples, monasteries and wealthy mansions.

Guangzhou gray sculpture has distinctive characteristics and bright colors, mainly red and green. In terms of material selection, gray sculpture artists adapted to local conditions and used lime materials suitable for Guangzhou’s hot and humid climate—acid-resistant, alkali-resistant, and temperature-resistant. In terms of the production process, Guangzhou gray sculptures must be made at the site of the sculpture building at room temperature without firing. During the production process, based on actual needs, artists will skillfully leave decorative ventilation holes in the scenery or between each group of patterns to reduce the violent impact of typhoons on the ridge decorations. In terms of inheritance, it takes about 10 years to master the art of gray sculpture, that is, independent construction.

Guangzhou Wood Carving

Guangzhou wood carving has a history of more than 2,000 years. According to the "Guangzhou Han Tombs", it appeared as a handicraft and was first seen on the warrior figurines and equestrian figurines unearthed from the Han tombs in Ma Penggang, Sanyuanli, Guangzhou in the early Western Han Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, due to the development of foreign trade, precious wood from Southeast Asian countries was imported through Guangzhou, which stimulated the rise of Guangzhou's wood carving industry.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guangzhou wood carving received more attention as architectural decoration. Its unique artistic style has been formed and its skills have become increasingly perfect.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the further development of foreign trade and the influence of foreign culture, the style of Western-style furniture, structure and decorative patterns was absorbed, forming the local characteristics of Guangzhou wood carving.

Guangzhou brick carvings

Guangzhou brick carvings are mainly distributed in Panyu District. As early as the early Han Dynasty, the prototype of brick carving - Han bricks with carved patterns - appeared in the Royal Garden of the Ancient Nanyue Palace (now Zhongshan 4th Road, Guangzhou). Guangzhou brick carvings were widely used in the Ming Dynasty, forming a unique style of folk architecture in Lingnan water towns. The influence reaches all parts of Southeast Asia. In the Qing Dynasty, he was even more appreciated by the court.

In the late Qing Dynasty, with the prosperity of modern architecture, the art of brick carving was gradually replaced by modern sculpture craft decoration. By the early Republic of China, it was relatively rare to use brick carvings for decoration. At present, there are only a few brick carving artists in Shawan, and only He Shiliang is still pursuing it persistently.

Guangzhou Jade Carving

Guangzhou’s jade carving craft has a long history. Among the Neolithic human sites discovered in Feieling, Guangzhou, there are one complete jade ring and one fragmentary jade ring, dating back about 4,000 years. . In the Han Dynasty, the government-run jade handicraft workshop in Guangzhou was directly under the control of the Shaofu or Gongguan, and production was carried out according to the emperor's preference or the needs of the court. Jade carving handicrafts in the Tang and Song Dynasties were mainly used for sacrificial artifacts, palace decoration, and playthings and treasures. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the jade carving industry gradually prospered. After the "craftsmanship" management system was abolished in the early Qing Dynasty, skilled craftsmen from all over the country gathered in Guangzhou, and folk jade production flourished. Guild organizations emerged, and strict rules and apprenticeship systems were formulated.

Talking about ancient times in Cantonese

"Talking about ancient times" means telling stories and telling stories. Cantonese ancient storytelling is a language art form in which artists recreate and tell novels or folktales in Guangzhou dialect. This folk skill comes from the ancient art of singing and singing; formally speaking, it is directly inherited from the storytelling and storytelling since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and combined with the Cantonese dialect. It is said that in the late Ming Dynasty, Liu Jingting (1587-1679), a master storyteller in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, served as the secret agent of Zuo Liangyu, the anti-Qing general, and introduced the art of storytelling to Guangdong when he accompanied the army on the southern expedition.

Shawan Piaose

Shawan Piaose is a traditional art activity spread

among the people in Guangzhou. It has a history of more than 100 years. It is said that During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, wandering artists from all over Guangdong would dress up as opera characters and perform in costumes during temple fairs, which were called "Sai Sheng" or "Color". Later, it developed into "horse color" decorated on horses, "water color" decorated on water, and "piao color" decorated on a support and carried in parades by many people. Shawan Piaose is divided into "boards", and each board is played by 2-3 children. Each board has a story, mostly based on myths and historical stories. Structurally, it consists of three parts: the first is the color cabinet, which is a small stage for activities; the second is the color stem, which is the steel branch used for support; the third is the actor who plays the "color", and the one sitting below is called the "screen", generally It is played by young actors aged 10-12 years old. The one above is called "Gone with the Wind" and is usually played by children around 3 years old.

Panyu Watercolor

Panyu Watercolor is a water performance activity that uses rafts as a carrier and uses drama or folklore stories as the main content. It is mainly spread in Panyu

Shiqiao Town, Shawan Town and other places in Yu District. In ancient times, Qu Dajun's "Guangdong Xinyu" recorded the story of Dazhou's dragon boat performance on the water; "Chuting Barnyard Pearl Record" written by Tan Cui of the Qing Dynasty recorded more details about the city bridge phoenix boat performance; the Tongzhi edition of the Qing Dynasty "Panyu County Chronicle" describes the situation of the phoenix boat: "There are colorful boats behind the boat, decorated with water colors, and all use prostitutes to act out stories." This is the earliest document that clearly records the word "water color".

Panyu Water Color is a parade on the water, focusing on water performances, reflecting the local characteristics of Lingnan Water Town. The figures are fixed on wooden rafts, standing on the waves, and fluttering with the waves, as if they were illusions and reality. Its performance is similar to the Vietnamese water puppet art. Panyu water color art combines drama, painting, acrobatics, modeling and other arts. This plastic art has extremely high aesthetic value.

Cantonese-style furniture

Cantonese-style furniture craftsmanship is the representative of Guangzhou’s traditional folk handicrafts. Its history can be traced back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Cantonese-style furniture appeared in the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, the luxurious shape of Cantonese-style furniture satisfied the rulers' pursuit of wealth and became the main source of furniture for the Qing court. In the mid-Qing Dynasty, Cantonese-style furniture was influenced by European Baroque and Rococo artistic styles and reached its peak in shape and decoration.

The war in the late Republic of China caused the Cantonese furniture industry to decline. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the furniture industry gradually recovered.

Chinese time-honored brand - "Chenliji" Pharmaceutical

Chenliji was founded in 1600 by Chen Tiquan and Li Shengzuo, and has a history of more than 400 years. From the early days of its founding until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, it was a small-scale front store and back factory. However, its pharmaceutical tradition of "fire combines civil and military skills to regulate the spirit, and medicine distinguishes the emperor and his ministers' heart to help the world" has been passed down. In 1900, the British and French forces invaded, and the old shop in Guangzhou was destroyed by artillery fire. It was temporarily moved to Foshan. After the war subsided, the factory was restored to Guangzhou. Later, branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Macau and other branches were opened one after another, and the scale continued to expand. After liberation, "Guangzhou Chenliji United Pharmaceutical Factory" was formed through "public-private partnership". In 1998, it was relocated and expanded, and a new factory was built in Haizhu District, Guangzhou City.

Chinese time-honored brand-"Pan Gaoshou" Pharmaceutical

As an outstanding representative of Lingnan pharmaceutical culture, Pan Gaoshou is based on tradition and bold innovation as its main characteristics. Pan Gaoshou pioneered the unique production process of Chuanbei loquat dew. At the same time, Pan Gaoshou, listed as a "Chinese time-honored brand", is also a representative of Lingnan business culture and is currently the most prominent century-old store in Lingnan that protects intellectual property rights.

Overview of Guangzhou Folk Customs

Guangzhou Folk Customs

Jasmine Flower Market

Jasmine Flower Market Guangzhou has the custom of visiting the flower market during the Spring Festival. It was gradually developed from the ancient flower market and night flower market. Guangzhou's New Year's Eve flower market was formed in the 19th century

During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, there were two flower markets, one in front of the feudal administration (today's intersection of Zhongshan Road and Beijing Road) and the other in Shibafu. The New Year's Eve Flower Market, also known as the Spring Festival Flower Market, is held on the last three days of the lunar year every year. During these three days, the flower market is open to the public from early morning to midnight, reaching its climax on New Year's Eve and ending at 2 a.m. on the first day of the first lunar month. During the flower market, the long streets along Yueyue Road, Duobao Road, Binjiang West Road, Dongchuan Road, Fangcun Luju Road and Liwan Road are like brocades, with hundreds of flowers blooming, crowds of tourists, jostling and joking, making it very lively. There are generally three types of flowers sold on the market: branches, pots and loose flowers. The branches are mainly peach blossoms and plum blossoms, with most bell flowers; the pot heads have many names, such as kumquat, four-season orange, red orange, cinnabar orange, golden egg fruit, Daidai fruit, camellia, orchid, peony, rose, smile. , daffodils, peonies, crabapples, etc.; scattered flowers include chrysanthemums, cockscombs, sword flowers, silver willows, etc. ?

Guangzhou’s tea-drinking customs

Guangzhou’s tea-drinking customs

Customs, centered on morning tea, tea drinking is combined with Guangzhou’s characteristic refreshments, including a series of tea Tea etiquette customs, folk customs and folk culture.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were written records of Guangzhou people using tea to treat guests. Various teahouses and teahouses appeared in the Qing Dynasty. Especially due to the needs of social interaction and business negotiation, a group of teahouses such as Sanyuanlou and Taotaoju were created in the Thirteenth Line area where export trade was prosperous. They were responsible for catering, communication, and leisure. It has multiple functions such as entertainment and entertainment. As a carrier of tea drinking customs, it has become an important folk custom and lifestyle for Guangzhou people.

Lettuce Club

Lettuce Club is popular in Guangzhou, Nanhai, and Shunde. It originated in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.

It declined in the early days of liberation and has a history of more than 300 years. history. Lettuce will eat lettuce, initially to "welcome anger". "Guangzhou Fu Zhi" records, "On the Spring Festival day... eat lettuce and spring cakes to welcome the vitality." After the meeting, many people also bought "full baskets" of green lettuce to take home "to get the vitality" (see the first issue in 1884 "Dianshizhai Pictorial"). Later, the Lettuce Society was associated with the Guanyin belief and "developed in the pragmatic and mercantile social atmosphere of the Pearl River Delta, with obvious utilitarianism" 4 (in the words of Mr. Ye Chunsheng, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University). The purpose of holding a lettuce party becomes to seek wealth and children. The Lettuce Party is scheduled to take place on the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, the birthday of Guanyin in White. The venue is near the Guanyin Temple. In addition to watching operas and listening to music, the activities include worshiping Guanyin and touching snails to seek children. Eating lettuce wraps is a must. An essential activity.

The Birthday of King Pangu

King Pangu is the man who created the world in mythology. Legend has it that he was born in the chaos of heaven and earth. Later, the sky and the earth opened up. The sky was ten feet high, the earth was ten feet thick, and his sun was ten feet long. For eighteen thousand years, the sky was extremely high and the earth was extremely low. All the sun, moon, stars, wind and clouds, mountains, rivers, fields

earth, grass and trees, gold and stone were all transformed from the parts of his body after his death. In order to commemorate him, later generations chose a geomantic treasure land and carried out extensive construction work. They hired skilled craftsmen to paint pillars and carved beams to build the Pangu King Temple.

Panguwang Temple has been popular for many years and is famous far and wide. Every time King Pangu's birthday falls on the 12th day of the eighth lunar month, people from Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde, Guangzhou, Qingyuan, Sanshui and other places gather in groups, beat lions and dance to celebrate, and the scene is very lively. Pilgrims climb up the mountain road behind the Pangu King Temple. There is a half-mountain pavilion built on the mountainside behind the temple. On its west side, there is a huge boulder called Qiankun Stone, commonly known as King Pangu's Recumbent Stone. The Qiankun Stone is about 4 meters high, with a surface area of ??more than 30 square meters. There is a crack in the middle, which is more than 30 centimeters wide and more than 10 meters deep. There are several staggered large rocks nearby. A spring springs from the bottom of the rock all year round. It is called Longkou Spring. People call this spring "holy water". All those who go up the mountain to worship bring water home to pray for evil spirits and disasters to be warded off, and for the safety of their families.

Bolo Dan

Boluo Dan began in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370) and has a history of more than 600 years. Every year on the 11th, 12th and 13th day of the second lunar month is the time for Polo's birthday. February 13th is the official birthday. In the past few days, the surrounding areas of Nanhai Temple, including those on the water, on land, and in neighboring villages, have become very hot.

Dancing Fire Dog

According to legend, at the beginning of the establishment of Mache Village in Shitan Town, people would set up draftsmen in every house in order to pray for safety and eliminate disasters. Plug incense and place it at the door to smoke to pray for disaster and evil. After that, some people used sweet potato vines, or used "fire gorgon" vines, hemp ropes, etc. to simulate dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns, put incense, and dance in the streets and streets of the village to wish good luck. It was held every September and has been held to this day. A folk nursery rhyme goes: "The fire dog comes to the door, bringing blessings and wealth." A unique fire-colored parade is formed.