Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CULTURE &
TRADITIONS
CHINA
KOREA
FAMILY LIFE
In traditional Korea, the
typical family was large
with three or four
generations usually
living together. Because infant mortality was
high and a big family was thought of as a
blessing, having many children was desired.
Ondol
Traditional Korean rooms
have multiple functions.
Rooms are not labeled or
reserved for a specific purpose; there is no
definite bedroom or dining room for
example. Rather, tables and mats are brought
in as needed. Most people sit and sleep on
the floor on thick mats.
gimjang
is the age-old Korean
practice of preparing
winter kimchi, which has
been passed down from generation to
generation. Since very few vegetables are
grown in the three or four winter month,
gimjang takes place in early winter and
provides what has become a staple food for
Koreans.
JAPAN
of Hindus, Jains,
and Sikhs with Muslims across
India
India is regarded by many
historians as the oldest living
civilization of Earth. Indian
traditions date back to 8,000
BCE, and have a continuous
history since the time of the
Vedas, believed variously to be
3,000 to over 5,500 years old.
Indian traditions and culture are
perhaps the worlds richest as it
unveils an amazing plethora of
mythical stories that astounds the
imagination. Ancient concepts
like karma, dharma, atman (rebirth) and yoga still govern daily
lives of Indians,
Ghantaa-naadam
(ringing of bell) Ghantaa or bell
has a significant place in the
process of worship. While the
bell made of gold and silver
produce mild sound it is said that
the bells made of copper or brass
help in controlling the evils and
; traditional
Chinese:
; pinyin: Chn
Rng; WadeGiles:Ch'en Jung; ca. 1200
1266)[1] was a painter of the
Southern Song Dynasty celebrated for his
depictions of dragons.
Four Treasures of
the Study, Four
Jewels of the
Study or Four
Friends of the
Study is an
expression used to denote
the brush, ink, paperand ink stone used
in Chinese and other East
Asian calligraphic traditions.
Abhishekam or
bathing the idol, is performed to
the idols with Panchaamrita,
which is a mixture of cow milk,
curds, pure ghee, sugar and
honey. Devotees also mix banana
and coconut water in
Panchaamrita. After completing
the abhisheka, the panchaamrita
is consumed by the devotees as
teertha. It is said that
panchaamrita has medicinal
values and will provide health
and nourishment to the body.
However, since it is used for
worshipping the god, there are
spiritual values too attached to
this teertha.
Pradkshina where
high magnetic values are
Brush
The oldest
brush so far
dates toHan
dynasty (202
BC220 AD). Brushes are generally made
from animal hair, or in certain situations
the first hair taken from a baby's head
(said to bring good luck in the Imperial
examinations). Brush handles are
commonly constructed from bamboo, but
special brushes may have handles
of sandalwood, jade, carved bone/ivory, or
other precious materials.
Ink
is an artificial ink
developed during
the Han dynasty. These
first writing inks were
based on naturally
occurring minerals
like graphite & vermilion; earliest inks
were probably liquids and not preserved.
The best ink sticks are fine grained and
have a light, slightly ringing sound when
tapped. They are often decorated with
poems, calligraphy, orbas relief, and
painted. These particular articles are
highly collectable, and often acquired like
Buddha's Birthday
the birthday of the Prince
Siddhartha Gautama, is
aholiday traditionally celebrated
in Mahayana Buddhism. According to the
Theravada Tripitaka scriptures (from Pali,
meaning "three baskets"), Gautama was born
in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the
year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu.
JUNGU Double Ninth Festival , Danpungnori(Viewing the changing color of maples
during autumn),9th day
of ninth month.
SANGDALGOSA
ritual performs to the
house of god, ten
months
Daeboreum
(literally "Great Full Moon") is
a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full
moon of the new year of the lunar Korean
calendar which is the Korean version of the
First Full Moon Festival. This holiday is
accompanied by many traditions.
removing of
shoes Shoes are considered dirty
in India, so we take off our shoes
before stepping into someones
house or their kitchen. We dont
step on anything important and if
you do, we immediately express
our apologies.
Samjinnal
which falls on the
third day of the
third month in
the Korean lunar
calendar. It was
called samjil in
old Korean
language and referred to in hanja. Samjinnal
implies the overlapping of Sam (three).
According to Choi Namseon, samjil was
derived from the consonants of Samil, and
Sangsa is defined as the first snake day of the
3rd lunar month.
zhongkui
In Chinese
NAMASKAR or
NAMASTE Namaste, namaskar
or Namaskara or Namaskaram,
Vanakkam(Tamil), Nomoshkaar
(Bengali), Nomoskar (Assamese)
is a common spoken greeting or
salutation, expressing deep
respect. However, the same hands
folded gesture is made usually
wordlessly upon departure. The
SjAMBOK
litupa is a heavy leather whip. It is
Braahmi
Muhurtham The time 90
minutes prior to sunrise is called
Braahmi Muhurtham. Braahmi
means Saraswathi, the Goddess
of intellect. The above specified
time is auspicious for gaining and
sustaining intelligence and
Throne
is the seat of state of
a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat
occupied by a sovereign on state
occasions; or the seat occupied by
a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions.
[1]
"Throne" in an abstract sense can also
refer to the monarchy or the Crownitself,
an instance of metonymy, and is also used
in many expressions such as "the power
behind the throne".
Claw Foot
traditionally made
from an
adult hippopotamus(
or rhinoceros) hide,
but is also commonly made out of plastic.
A strip of the animal's hide is cut and carved
into a strip 0.9 to 1.5 metres (3 to 5 ft) long,
tapering from about 25 mm (1 in) thick at the
handle to about 10 mm (38 in) at the tip. This
strip is then rolled until reaching a taperedcylindrical form. The resulting whip is both
flexible and durable. A plastic version was
made for the South African Police Service,
and effectively used for riot control.
chuseok
originally known
as hangawi, is a
major harvest
festival and a three-day holiday
in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the
8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many
other harvest festivals around the world, it is
held around the autumn equinox.
Chuseok, as well as the days before it and
afterwards, are statutory holidays in South
Korea. Within East Asia, the timing coincides
with that of the Chinese and
Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as
the Japanese Tsukimi.
Dngzh
Festival or Winter Solstice Festival is one
of the most important festivals celebrated by
The Ghost
Festival, also
known as
the Hungry Ghost
Festival in modern day, Zhong Yuan Jie
or Yu Lan Jie, is a traditional Buddhist and
Taoist festival held in Asian countries. In
Lantern Festival
or Yuan Xiao
Festival in
Chinese, falls on
the 15th day of
the lunar New
Year, which is also the last day but the
peak of the Spring Festival. Lantern
Festival can be traced back to Western
Han Dynasty
(207BC- 25AD),
about 2000 years
ago.
QingMing
Festival
Tomb-sweeping Festival or Qingming
Festival in Chinese, is a festival to
worship ancestors and deceased relatives
in China usually falls on April 4 or April
5. Tomb-sweeping Festival can be traced
back to Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC256BC), with a history of over 2500
years. According to the tradition, people
eat cold food during this festival.
RELIGIONS AND
BELIEFS
Pre-historic religion
Evidence attesting
to prehistoric religion in
the Indian "subcontinent"
derives from
scattered Mesolithic rock
paintings depicting dances
and
rituals. Neolithic pastoralis
ts inhabiting the Indus
Valley buried their dead in
a manner suggestive of
spiritual practices that
incorporated notions of an
afterlife.
father to the
gods Ganesha andSkanda.
Devotional poetry Tamil poetsaints of the seventh through
ninth centuries CE offer an
important perspective on the
south Indian worship of key
Hindu deities.
Their devotional perspective is
known as bhakti. These saints
and devotional poets wrote
numerous hymns dedicated to
Hindu gods, especially Shiva and
Vishnu.
Tamilas opposed to Sanskrit,
the language used in Brahmanic
Hindu ritualthe poems were
performed throughout the region,
generating deep devotion and
even inspiring the construction of
temples. A number of poet-saints
were from the lower classes.
Dance, one of many offerings to
the deity, was performed by
temple dancers or devadasis,
women who dedicated their lives
to sacred movement.
Bharata natyam is based on the
108 positions of Shiva's dance of
ARTS AND
LITERATURE
Zhong Kui
This painting
is a portrait of
Zhong Kui on
his feet drawn
in red ink. Zhong Kui is shown in
hight dudgeon at the evil spirits,
with his
sword
drqawn. His
martial stance
and his flying
sleeves lend a sense of movement
to the painting.
Pine and Cranes by Sea
This is
another
painting
to
celebrate
a
birthday, signifying Happiness
deep as the East Sea and longevity
comparable to the eternal pine on
South Mountain.
Imperial Concubine
This piece of ivory carving ware
is designed and carved by master
Yang Shihui. The lines are to be
Chinese porcelain
Porcelain, also called 'fine china',
featuring its delicate texture,
pleasing color, and refined
sculpture, has been one of the
earliest artworks introduced to the
western world through the Silk
Road.
Chinese opera
Chinese opera together with
Greece tragic-comedy and Indian
Sanskrit Opera are the three oldest
dramatic art forms in the world.
During the Tang Dynasty (618
Gaya
The Gaya confederacy was a group
of city-states that did not consolidate
into a centralized kingdom. It shared
many similarities in its art, such as
Korean painting
Korean painting demands an
understanding of Korean
ceramics and Korean pottery as the
glazes used in these works and the
textures of the glazes make Korean
art more in the tradition of ceramic
art, than of western painterly
traditions, even if the subjects appear
to be of western origin. Brush-strokes
as well are far more important than
they are to the western artist;
paintings are judged on brush-strokes
more often than pure technique.
CUISINE
Andhra
Pradesh The cuisine of
Andhra Pradesh belongs
to the two Teluguspeaking regions of
Rayalaseema and Coastal
Andhra and is part
of Telugu cuisine.
Assam
Assamese cuisine is a mixture
of different indigenous styles,
with considerable regional
variation and some external
influences. Although it is known
for its limited use of
spices, Assamese cuisine has
strong flavours from its use of
endemic herbs, fruits, and
vegetables served fresh, dried
or fermented.
Bihar Bihari cuisine is
wholesome and simple. Litti
Sichuan
Cuisines (or
Chuan
Cuisines)
Features: spicy
and hot, sour and hot
Classic Dishes: shredded pork with garlic
sauce, stewed beancurd with minced pork
in pepper sauce, saute chicken cubes with
chilli and peanuts, duck smoked with tea
leaves.
Hanjungsik, which is
one of the Korean
formal cuisine.
Dolsotbap, cooked
rice in a stone pot
(dolsot)
Kongguksu, a cold
noodle dish with a
broth made from
ground soy beans.
madyha Pradesh
The cuisine in Madhya
Pradesh varies regionally. Wheat
and meat are common in the
North and West of the state,
while the wetter South and East
are dominated by rice and fish.
for dishes
Classic Dishes: baked side pork, Huaian
braised meatballs, roast chicken wrapped
by lotus-leaves and clay, sweet and sour
mandarin fish, braised finless eel, boiled
salted duck.
Hunan Cuisines (Xiang Cuisines)
Features: spicy and sour, with steamed,
fried and smoked food as the favorite.
Classical Dishes: spicy and hot chicken,
steamed multiple preserved hams, Andong
chicken, Dongting wild chicken, sweet
semen nelumbinis
soup.
COSTUME
FEMALE CLOTHING
Traditional Indian
clothing for women in the
north and east
are saris worn
with choli tops; a long skirt called
a lehenga or pavada worn with choli and
a dupatta scarf to create an ensemble
called a gagra choli; or salwar
kameez suits, while many south Indian
women traditionally wear sari and
children wear pattu langa.
Sari and wrapped garments
A saree or sar is a female
garment in the Indian
subcontinent.A sari is a strip of
unstitched cloth, ranging from four to
nine meters in length, that is draped over
the body in various styles. These
include:Sambalpuri Saree from East,
Mysore silk and Ilkal of Karnataka and,
Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu from
South, Paithani from West
and Banarasifrom North
among others.
Salwar Kameez
is the traditional wear of women
in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal
Darker Colors
Darker colors were much more
favored than lighter ones in
traditional Chinese clothing so the
main color of ceremonial clothing
tended to be dark while bright,
elaborate tapestry designs
accented. Lighter colored clothing
was worn more frequently by the
common people for everyday use.
Colors and Seasons
The Chinese associate certain
colors with specific seasons:
green represents spring, red
symbolizes summer, white
represents autumn, and black
symbolizes winter. The Chinese
are said to have a fully developed
system of matching, coordinating,
and contrasting colors and shades
of light and dark in apparel.
Red Color
for most Chinese people since
Red symbolizes good luck in
traditional mind. Chinese people
prefer to wear in red when they are
celebrating some important
festivals or events in their life,
such as wedding ceremony.
The pienfu
is an ancient two-piece ceremonial
LANGUAGE
http://www.diehardindian.com/culture-customs-traditions
http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/indianart/poetry.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Korean_traditional_festivals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_cuisine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Korean_clothing