Showing posts with label Ceremony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ceremony. Show all posts

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節 (Pesta Tanglung)

Mid-Autumn Festival also called as Moon cake Festival or Lantern Festival, it fall on the 15th day of the 8th lunar calendar (Chinese calendar) which it full moon night, it usually fall on September in our calendar. I sure every know what should do in this month, Yes that right eat moon cake and play lantern, kid love this festival, they like to walk along with friend during the night at the park together with the lantern holding on their hand. While parent will enjoy the moon cake and serve it with Chinese tea. Well do you know how moon cake coming from? Moon cakes were used stating with Ming Dynasty revolutionaries. On that dynasty there is a war between china with Mongolian, the Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) and his advisor Liu Bowen (劉伯溫) putting a letter inside a cake and distribute it to it backup soldier, and they planning to ambush Mongolian at the full moon, they spread out the cake so the Mongolian will not know what there are try to do. At last they manage to take down the Mongolian. According to the old folk, there is a lady name Chang'e 嫦娥, Wu Kang 吴刚 and a Jade Rabbit玉兔 live on the moon, but this langandary been break by USA when they sent people to moon and see nothing at there. Beside that there is a lot of story about this Festival, from example the Houyi (后羿) and Chang'e’s (嫦娥)story but there is a lot of vision on this story. Never mind I will pick up my favorite vision. Chang'e and Houyi were immortals living in heaven. One day, the ten sons of the Jade Emperor transformed into ten suns, causing the earth to scorch. Having failed to order his sons to stop ruining the earth, the Jade Emperor summoned Houyi for help. Houyi, using his legendary archery skills, shot down nine of the sons, but spared one son to be the sun. The Jade Emperor was obviously displeased with Houyi’s solution to save the earth. As punishment, he banished Houyi and Chang'e to live as mere mortals on earth. Seeing that Chang'e felt extremely miserable over her loss of immortality, Houyi decided to journey on a long, perilous quest to find the pill of immortality so that the couple could be immortals again. At the end of his quest, he met the Queen Mother of the West, who agreed to give him the pill, but warned him that each person would only need half a pill to regain immortality. Houyi brought the pill home and stored it in a case. He warned Chang'e not to open the case, and then left home for a while. Like Pandora in Greek mythology, Chang'e became curious. She opened up the case and found the pill, just as Houyi was returning home. Nervous that Houyi would catch her, discovering the contents of the case, she accidentally swallowed the entire pill, and started to float into the sky because of the overdose. Although Houyi wanted to shoot her in order to prevent her from floating further, he could not bear to aim the arrow at her. Chang'e kept on floating until she landed on the moon. While she became lonely on the moon without her husband, she did have company. A jade rabbit, who manufactured elixirs, also lived on the moon. THE END Now talk about the story of Jade Rabbit 玉兔who manufactured elixirs for Chang’e. Old folk say you may find that the dark areas to the top of the full moon may be construed as the figure of a rabbit. The animal's ears point to the upper right, while at the left are two large circular areas, representing its head and body. In this legend, three fairy sages transformed themselves into pitiful old men, and begged for food from a fox, a monkey, and a hare. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the hare, empty-handed, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh instead. The sages were so touched by the hare's sacrifice and act of kindness that they let him live in the Moon Palace, where he became the "Jade Rabbit". THE END Well there are more story on this festival, there is too much vision and no one know which one is true. So enjoy you Moon Cake festival and your moon cake too.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Fu Wa - 福娃

The Fuwa (Chinese: 福娃; pinyin: Fúwá; literally "good-luck dolls" and can be known as "Friendlies"), are the mascots of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The designs were created by Han Meilin, a famous Chinese artist. The designs were publicly announced by the National Society of Chinese Classic Literature Studies on November 11, 2005 at an event marking the 1000th day before the opening of the games. There are five fuwa: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. Together, the names form the sentence "北京欢迎你", Běijīng huānyíng nǐ which means "Beijing welcomes you". Originally named 'The Friendlies', they were promoted as 'Fuwa' when there were concerns the name could be misinterpreted. While originally given artistic licence in his commission, Han Meilin was subsequently requested by officials to include various Chinese design and fauna in the Fuwa. Han Meilin drew 1,000 models of possible before settling on the five characters. He has since disowned the Fuwa and did not include them in his museum.
Below are 2008 Olympics in Beijing's mascots :
Name: Bèibei (贝贝) Gender: Female Cultural inspiration : Chinese sturgeon; Traditional Chinese New Year decorative picture of lotus
and fish; fish design from Neolithic artifacts.
Olymipic ring : Blue
Element : Water
Personality : Gentle, pure
Represented ideal: Prosperite
Represented sport : Aquatic sports
In traditional Chinese culture, the fish represents prosperity, as the character for fish (魚) sounds the same as that for surplus (餘 / 余). The "carp leaping over the dragon gate" is a traditional allegory of following one's dreams and achieving them. The patterns from Beibei's headgear comes from artifacts unearthed at Banpo, site of a Neolithic village of the Yangshao culture.
Name: Jīngjing (晶晶)
Gender: Male
Cultural inspiration : Giant panda; Song Dynasty lotus-shaped porcelain.
Olymipic ring : Black
Element : Wood
Personality : Honest, optimistic
Represented ideal: Happiness
Represented sport : Weightlifting, judo
As an endangered species, the panda is both a national symbol of China and an international symbol of environmentalism. Jingjing's forest origins also symbolize the harmonious coexistence of humankind and nature.
Name: Huānhuan (欢欢)
Gender: Male Cultural inspiration :Olympic flame; Fire design from the Mogao Grottoes.
Olymipic ring : Red
Element : Fire
Personality : Extrovert, enthusiastic
Represented ideal: Passion
Represented sport : Ball sports
Huanhuan represents the passion of sports, the Olympic spirit of "faster, higher, stronger", and the passion of the Beijing Olympics. Huanhuan's headgear comes from a fire design in the Mogao Caves, the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes.
Name: Yíngying (迎迎)
Gender: Male
Cultural inspiration : Tibetan antelope, Tibetan and Xinjiang ethnic costumes.
Olymipic ring : Yellow Element : Earth Personality : Lively, vivacious Represented ideal: Health Represented sport : Track and field
The Tibetan antelope is an endangered species native to the Tibetan Plateau, known for its swiftness. Yingying's headgear incorporates elements of Tibetan and Xinjiang ethnic costumes.
Name: Nīni (妮妮)
Gender: Female Cultural inspiration : The swallow; Beijing's shayan kites. Olymipic ring : Green
Element : Air
Personality : Innocent, joyous
Represented ideal: Good fortune
Represented sport :Gymnastics
The swallow is a messenger of spring and happiness in Chinese culture, and is seen as a symbol of good fortune. The Chinese character for swallow (燕) is also used in Yanjing (燕京), an old name for Beijing; thus the swallow alludes to Beijing. Nini's headgear uses the design of Beijing's shayan kites, which are colourful cross-shaped kites modeled after swallows.
There are 100-episode Olympic-themed cartoon series featuring the Fuwa was released in China, primarily on BTV (Beijing's municipal television network), on August 8, 2007. Titled The Olympic Adventures of Fuwa (Chinese: 福娃奥运漫游记), it was jointly produced by BTV and Kaku Cartoon.