The influence of Confucianism superseded that of Buddhism in this period, however Buddhist elements remained and it is not true that Buddhist art declined, it continued, and was encouraged but not by the imperial centres of art, or the accepted taste of the Joseon Dynasty publicly; however in private homes, and indeed in the summer palaces of the Joseon Dynasty kings, the simplicity of Buddhist art was given great appreciation - but it was not seen as citified art.

Goryeo Dynasty

Dragon-shaped Celadon Ewer.

The Goryeo Dynasty lasted from 918 CE to 1392. The most famous art produced by Goryeo artisans was Korean celadon pottery which was produced from circa 1050 CE to 1250 CE. While celadon originated in China, Korean potters created their own unique style of pottery that was so valued that the Chinese considered it first under heaven and one of the twelve best things in the world.

The Korean celadon had a unique glaze known as king-fisher color, an iron based blue-green glaze created by reducing oxygen in the kiln. Korean celadon displayed organic shapes and free-flowing style, such as pieces that were made to look like fish, melons, and other animals. Koreans invented an inlaid technique known as sanggam, where potters would engrave semi-dried pottery with designs and place materials within the decorations with black or white clay.

Neolithic era

Comb-patterned pottery.

Humans have occupied the Korean Peninsula from at least c. 50,000 BCE.[1][2] Pottery dated to approximately 7,000 BCE has been found. This pottery was made from clay and fired over open or semi-open pits at temperatures around 700 degrees Celsius. [1].

The earliest pottery style, dated to circa 7,000 BCE, were flat-bottomed wares (yunggi-mun) were decorated with relief designs, raised horizontal lines and other impressions. [2].

Jeulmun-type pottery, is typically cone-bottomed and incised with a comb-pattern appearing circa 6,000 BCE in the archaeological record. This type of pottery is similar to Siberian styles. [3].

Mumun-type pottery emerged approximately 2000 BCE and is characterized as large, undecorated pottery, mostly used for cooking and storage.

Bronze Age

Between 2000 BCE and 300 BCE bronze items began to be imported and made in Korea. By the seventh century BCE, an indigenous bronze culture was established in Korea as evidenced by Korean bronze having a unique percentage of zinc. [4]. Items manufactured during this time were weapons such as swords, daggers, and spearheads. Also, ritual items such as mirrors, bells, and rattles were made. These items were buried in dolmens with the cultural elite. Additionally, iron-rich red pots began to be created around circa 6th century. Comma-shaped beads, usually made from nephrite, known as kokkok have also been found in dolmen burials. Kokkok may be carved to imitate bear claws. Another Siberian influence can be seen in rock drawings of animals that display a life line in the X-ray style of Siberian art. [5].

Iron Age

The Iron Age began in Korea around 300 BCE. Korean iron was highly valued in the Chinese commanderies and in Japan.[citation needed]. Korean pottery advanced with the introduction of the potters wheel and climbing kiln firing.

Chinese tradition and culture

Chinese Traditions

Living in China, you soon learn that Chinese traditions play an integral role in everyday life for every person. It is at the very core of Chinese culture and revolves around values and how people interact with each other, gives a sense of personal identity and sense of self worth. These traditional values help people solve common human problems for survival and become the roots of tradition that Chinese people find important in their day-to-day lives.

Values for one society may seem strange to another society, but nonetheless, they are important to that society. For instance, the painful and debilitating Chinese tradition of foot binding, as bizarre as it may seem to our culture, to the Chinese people, it was the esoteric essence of pure beauty and signified status within the family structure, allowing young women with lotus feet better opportunities for marriage with well-to-do families.

Traditional Chinese courtyard life, in existence until the early 1900s, was a unique lifestyle where Chinese families and neighbours lived in very close quarters sharing a common courtyard and everyone knowing everyone elses business. Special rules applied for who occupied which space in certain directions. Read more about it by clicking the link above.

Chinese Chopsticks, born of necessity in the earliest times, highly influenced the eating and cooking traditions still followed today in China. Click on the link above to learn more about the history of Chinese chopsticks.

Have you ever seen those beautiful tied Chinese knots? Did you know that each different design is a good luck wish? One of the most popular knots is double happiness, which in Chinese tradition is given to newlyweds, signifying a wish for their luck and happiness to double.

Xing, Shi and Ming are the most common Chinese family names. There are only 22 ancient Chinese surnames still in use today. The family name indicated a blood tie within the Chinese social structure and was a symbol of class. In ancient China, 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, women were the clan leaders and marriages were only allowed among certain classes.

There are many colorful Chinese Festivals happening all year round. There are some major ones that span out over several days or several weeks that are celebrated all across China, and then there are the ones celebrated in different regions of China by the 53 different minority groups. Chinese Festivals offer a unique insight into the rich 5000 year history and traditions of China. If you are living in China, the Chinese people will graciously invite you to be part of their traditional celebrations. Click the link above to check out some interesting celebrations like Qing Ming - graveyard cleaning and picnic time, the Water Splashing Festival in Yunnan, Chinese Valentine's Day, Dragon Boat Festival and more.

Beijing Opera is a uniquely Chinese form of theatre that relates stories of romance, legend and battles. There used to be troupes that travelled China to put on the shows, but today, the best place to enjoy it is in Beijing. Chinese Shadow Puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling which was popular during the Song Dynasty during the holiday season. The stories of the shadow puppets told of events that had happened elsewhere in the country and stories with a Buddhist background.

Chinese Culture - Common Greetings

Nin hao is the common greeting for hello (sounds like KNEE-HOW) There are some terms for good morning(zao- sounds like ZOW), good afternoon (xianwu hao), good evening (wanshang hao), but most often you will hear just nin hao.

Goodbye is zaijian. Mintian jia is also very common see you tomorrow.

It is our custom, when we meet someone, to say hello, how are you? or more casually. Whats new?. In China, one of the more common greeting translates to, Have you eaten? (Ni chi le ma?) This confused me greatly the first year, as I was always afraid if I said no that there would be an invitation to eat together which would cause me to have to cancel my current plans or disappoint those asking me to eat with them. Another common greeting is "Where are you off to?" (ni qu nar?)

Chinese Culture - Children are Pension Plan

With the one child policy enforced in China, most families will rely on that one child to support them in their old age. All the money the family can afford is spent on the best education that they can buy for their child in hopes that their child will make it into a good university and have a good paying job in the future thereby, being able to support his own family and his parents. This puts an extreme amount of pressure on the child to perform well amidst tremendous competition for a place in a prestigious university. If a child does not do well in school, he is scorned by his parents and family and loses face. Those parents lucky enough to have a government party job will enjoy a small pension when they retire. But most Chinese have no social support to look forward to as they age so they must rely on their family. It is common for families to live together. The older parents will take care of the house, the cooking and any grandchildren, while their child and his spouse go out to work each day.

Chinese Culture - On Being a Playboy

Young Chinese students often asked foreign men how many girlfriends they had in their life. If the foreigner said more than 2, that would bring a chorus of ahhhs and accusations of being a Playboy (or a player). This actually garnered admiration among the Chinese students. In Chinese culture it is common for young people to have only one boyfriend or girlfriend and then marry that boyfriend or girlfriend. In the larger coastal cities, this is beginning to change and girls are finding that they like the freedom of earning their own money, having their own apartment, and choosing which boyfriend they prefer and waiting much longer to marry.

Chinese Culture - Best Chinese Hangover Cure

If youve had too much to drink with your friends dont be surprised if you end up in a restaurant and are served pig intestine soup sworn to be the best cure for a hangover!

Chinese Culture - One Child Policy

Most families in China have adhered to the one child policy. In the autonomous provinces, where Beijing does not have absolute control over the ethnic groups, they dont have to adhere to the one child policy. However, if you have the money, or if your family is connected to the right people for a price you can pay a fee to have a second child.

The one child policy has caused a lot of female babies to be abandoned so that the mother could have another chance to try to have a boy baby. A large part of the Chinese population still believe it is better to have a boy than a girl because a boy is more likely able to support his family in later life, than a girl. There are a lot of Chinese baby girls up for adoption and North American families are scooping them up. This one child policy, however, is creating a new problem. There is becoming a shortage of Chinese females in the population. Already, there have been kidnappings of women - to make them into wives in mountain villages. The situation is predicted

Mostly young baby girls are available for adoption because of the one child policy in China. When I first learned that North Americans were adopting Chinese babies I thought that was so wonderful, and that these babies would be offered a much better life in America as opposed to a life in an orphanage in China. Later, I learned that the Chinese government was charging $20,000 USD to adopt a baby and I was appalled thinking that the North Americans were doing such a big favour for these babies, why did the Chinese government feel they needed to make a profit off the sale of the children? Then I learned that the $20,000USD fee was to discourage adopters from other countries who had been taking the babies and selling them into slavery or using them for body parts or work camps. Then it all made sense.

Chinese Culture - Chinese Men Carrying Handbags

You will see Chinese men carrying two different types of handbags. They might carry a small personal bag like the French men do or you may see them carrying their girlfriends handbag as they walk or shop together. I found this quite amusing and even more so after I married my Chinese husband . . . as before we would go out he would choose for me which handbag I should carry so that his things could fit inside too and of course, he would carry it for me! It is almost like a sign of affection like a boy carrying a girls schoolbooks for her.

On the other pages in this section, we will look at Chinese homes, shopping, schools, drinking water, class structure, using chopsticks, transportation, drinking beer and other spirits, karaoke bars, naming babies, street beggars, dancing, laundry, mastering the Chinese toilet, nicknames, Chinese numbers and hand signs and much, much more.

The best advice anyone could ever give you is to relax and go with the flow. China will be full of surprises and unexpected events - but don't let it ruffle you. It's not fair to make comparisons and snap judgements - although as humans, we always will. But the more you get to know China and it's people - the more you learn that not everything is black and white and there is definitely more than one way to do things when living in China.

Living in China, you will experience days of frustration and days of bliss and soon you will start to look forward to what new, weird and wonderful thing you will discover next. Every day can be a new adventure - or a tribulation. It all depends on your personal outlook. Give yourself time to acclimatize. Learn as much about China as you can, BEFORE you live there. Know that you will suffer culture shock to some degree - and welcome the differences. After all, isn't that why you wanted to go to China - to be in some place different that your homeland? To have new experiences? To make new friends?

Another tip for living in China is to always remember, your time spent in China will be as good or as bad as your perspective and your expectations. Be open-minded and not quick to judge. There is a story behind everything and a reason for everything. It may not make sense in our society, but it will make sense in the cultural values that govern the Chinese society. People are people everywhere - so don't start to think you are better than the Chinese because you come from a more advanced country and the Chinese treat you like you are something special. This is an easy trap to fall into. It was the brilliance of these people that brought us many inventions that led to our own modern day civilization. While visiting, always keep in mind that you are a guest in the country of China. To have the best experience and to be respected by the Chinese people you interact with, act like an ambassador for your own country and bring on the best you can be!

Chinese Religion

This section will give a brief overview of the main religions of China and the emergence of Christianity.

These pages to follow:

Confucianism

Daoism

Buddhism

Islam

Christianit