One Dream Thousands of Years

The Chinese people call their best friend "Zhi Yin (知音)“. ”Zhi (知)", when used as a verb, means know/understand. "Yin (音)" is a noun meaning music/sound/voice. The literal interpretation of your "Zhi Yin" or best friend is hence somebody who gets your music. It probably seems a little odd but it will become intuitive after we tell you the story. Bo Ya and Zi Qi The story happened in around 300 B.C. Bo Ya (伯牙), a very famous composer and musician at the time, enjoyed playing his "qin (琴)*" in the nature. One cool summer day, Bo Ya performed at his favorite spot in the valley with a stream of the creek winding around. After a cup of wine, he started with the first movement, so deep and profound. "Ode to the mountains!", Zi Qi (子期), a nearby woodcutter heard the music and uttered, ”for its majestic rise!" Delighted, Bo Ya moved on to the second movement which began very softly with a barcarolle-like melody, so peaceful and e

Have you noticed that Chinese people harbor a special fondness of jade jewelry? In mandarin Chinese, it is pronounced as "yu" and written as "玉“. The Chinese character "玉" looks very similar to the character "王" which means the king. In ancient times, "yu" is a symbol of royalty and power. If you wonder since when "yu" became so important to the Chinese, we probably have to go back to around 3300 B.C. to 2000 B.C. About one thousand years after Hemudu , another representative Neolithic culture, the Liangzhu Culture, emerged in the Yangtze River delta of China, almost around the same area as Hemudu. Like Hemudu, Liangzhu Culture is named after the place where the relics were first discovered. A large number of exquisite jade handicrafts were unearthed since excavations began in the 1930s. Archeologists were stunned not only by the large quantities of jade art crafts but also by the advancement of carving on the extremely tough tra

Hemudu (河姆渡) Culture dates back to around 5000 B.C. to 4000 B.C. It originated in areas near present day Hangzhou in  Zhejiang Province on the southeast coast of  China  (Check HERE for the geographical location of Hangzhou). The Hemudu relic site was one of the most prominent archeological discoveries in China. It proves the Neolithic culture was also present in south China. What's it like for people living in Hemudu? Hemudu people were natural architects. They designed and built their houses on stilts to adapt to their local living environment with plenty of rivers, lakes and ponds and associated humidity and floods. They also invented the mortise-tenon structure to combine two pieces of wood and widely used it in building their houses. While men were out hunting for animals, women were busy cooking. Hemudu people were among the first to cultivate rice. Cooked rice was usually served in potteries. Hemudu people were talented craftsmen with strong aesthetic sense. T