China Guide 2008

History of Nuo

In the West, people dress up at the end of October in masks and costumes to exorcise evil spirits haunting the towns. It’s called Halloween. It was originally a Celtic ritual to drive away the devil. Later, these activities developed into masquerades and festivals. China has its own version of this kind of ritual. It’s called “Nuo”.

“Nuo,” also called the “Nuo sacrifice” or “Nuo ceremony,” was originally a type of sacrificial and magical ritual held to expel evil spirits and pestilence. Its name is derived from one of such rituals, where people shouted “nuo, nuo” to drive away the devil.

Nuo has a long history. It started twenty thousand years ago. Nuo originally meant a patterned step to drive away evil during the last month of the Chinese lunar year. Later, Nuo evolved into a dance. The purpose of Nuo was to drive away devils, disease and evil influences, and to petition for blessings from the gods. At this time, Nuo was a sacrificial activity. (more…)

Tie-dye is a dyeing technique similar with the arts of batik, also adopts dye-resistant technique.  The difference is that batik parts of the fabric not intended to be dyed are covered with removable wax; but tie-dye parts of fabric are enlaced and bundled in order to resist to be dyed.  The bundled parts of fabric show the natural color transition generating various beautiful patterns, as the permeation of the dyestuff. 

Tie-dye has centuries-old history in China.  Far back to 1300 years ago, the cloth made by tie-dye technique had been popular in Tang Dynasty.  One emperor of Song Dynasty once claimed to forbid the civil use of tie-dye technique and title it for royal family only in 10^th centre.  The ancients of White Nation, a minority of China, already knew this dyeing technique greatly well over 1000 years ago, and had developed this technique to be a unique part of the culture of White Nation.  (more…)

The craft of making painted clay-figurines of Fengxiang has a recorded history of more than 3,000 years.

The images of clay figurines typically included flowers, birds, fish, insects, as well as auspicious birds and beasts, reflecting cultural characteristics of ancient China.  The figurines are painted with such bright colors and traditionally each color has a special meaning. Green represents longevity; red means a flourishing year. Also each design painted has meaning: pomegranate represents happiness and prospers offspring; butterfly brings good fortune; peony represents fortune and luck. (more…)

Batik is a method of producing colored designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed.

China has been using this method since Qin dynasty, some 2000 years ago. Batiks were especially appreciated by ethnic groups in Southwest China. And this method became very popular during Tang dynasty (618 AD – 907 AD). Some ancient batik items can be seen in museums around China. (more…)

Paper-cut is a traditional art in China which has been making its way along the route of the long history of paper. The kind of art went after the invention of paper in Han Dynasty (25-220), once became one of the main form of the arts, and was popular to the people of the time. Since paper is not suitable conserve for long time, only few works of paper-cuts have left. The earliest paper-cuts in China can be traced back to the period known as Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-581).

Paper-cut is a kind of engraving art, which is made of paper. The main tool for paper cutting is scissors. Once they are owned by a master of paper cutting, they will become so supernatural that the paper-cuts beyond imagination flow out of his/her hands in the chattering of a common pair of scissors. Another tool for paper-cut is engraving knives which are necessary to enhance a sharpened effect or to make a delicate job. (more…)