China's culture: beautiful and multifaceted

Why do people travel? There is no such question, and there can not be an unambiguous answer. Someone is waiting for the new impressions from the trip, someone dreams about the luxury of a five-star hotel, someone is attracted to the opportunity to complete an album with photos from the series "I am against the sights". And some people do not hope for anything, when choosing a voucher, relying on the opinion of friends, recommendations of fashion magazines or tour operators. The desire for such goals is inherent in the modern man, the foreground for which goes consumption. Consumption of fun, entertainment, material benefits, comfort and smiles of the local population. And it's not so bad. But if you think about the true, scale meaning of travel, it seems that words that can describe it sound like this: knowledge and sensation - culture, mentality and features of the country and people of interest. Going to a country surrounded by the Great Wall, it is necessary to adjust exactly in this way.

Everything is amazing here: the magnificent indestructible thousand-year pagodas are the true masterpieces of China's architecture, a very special and exquisite cuisine, the horrifying "not forgiving mistakes" road, embossed in the rock above the abyss, the most powerful economy and industry and the world's oldest culture of China, In non-existence, along with numerous wars and changes in the political regime. Even the communist party of convinced materialists who came to power realized that it is the centuries-old spiritual culture of China that is the most solid core of the country, not only its past, but also the future.

The spiritual wealth of the state, in the modern world called the PRC, is the highest moral qualities, such as morality, virtue, respect, honor, loyalty and justice. And all of them are true beauty. The foundations of these qualities were laid by the three greatest sages: Confucius, Lao Dza and Buddha, and for centuries were being introduced into the consciousness of the Chinese with the help of works of art - instructive philosophical stories, myths and legends, symbolic painting and handicrafts, refined poetry and original theater. Perhaps that is why the culture of China, its art is so syncretic, inextricably linked and interpenetrating.

All the paths lead to the "Book of Changes"

As already mentioned, China's culture has very deep mythological roots and an extremely developed system of images and symbols that simultaneously exist at all levels of art, be it the poetry of ancient China, philosophical literature or painting.

In the parable of the moth from the treatise "Chuang Tzu" reveals the philosophical concept of difference and identity. Chuang Tzu dreamed that he was a moth. When he woke up, he began to doubt whether he had dreamed of a moth or a butterfly who dreamed that he was Chuang Tzu. The image of the moth, who in his life knows a lot of metamorphosis, illustrates the philosophical idea that identity is one of the forms of difference. The motif of the moth is one of the most common in Chinese painting and poetry. So, the symbols in the culture of this country are not just a secret, conditional real sign, but a separate philosophical category that forms consciousness and subconsciousness, perception and attitude from the earliest times.

That is why there is a huge gap between the European connoisseur and Chinese art. The thing is that the European ascribes to Eastern painting and literature those qualities that they do not possess, incorrectly arranges accents and incorrectly interprets the ratios. So, for us the traditional eastern branch of flowering plum is a lyrical spring painting filled with impressionistic freshness and spontaneity. Meanwhile, for every ordinary Chinese who does not have an art education - this is not at all an object of abstract pleasure. This is a concrete and very deep symbol, which at the same time is an entity. The flowering branch of meihua, like everything in this world, is created on the principle of in (flowers) and yang (the branch itself). The five petals of the flower symbolize the same number of primary elements, the stamens growing from the middle of the flower - 5 planets, the Moon and the Sun. Similar examples can be cited with the very first symbol, and with the aesthetics of empty space, and with other equally well-known symbols.

So, we can conclude that the culture of China - is incredibly multifaceted and full of water. Having studied at least a small part of it, having reached the bottom, even in the smallest question, we become internally and spiritually better and richer. So, our journey was not in vain.