The Shandong Culture

The Shandong Culture

Shandong is one of the birthplaces of the ancient Chinese culture. The Yiyuan ape-man fossil proves there were human beings in the area some 400,000-500,000 years ago. The Beixin Culture, Dawenkou Culture and Longshan Culture found in the province prove that between 7,000 to 4,000 years ago, the Dongyi people had changed from a matrilineal to a patrilineal society and even to a class society.

Some other historical finds in Shandong include Dawenkou and Longshan pottery characters, the earliest Chinese characters discovered in China, Chengziya Longshan Ancient Town, one of the earliest cities in China, the old Great Wall of the Qi State, the earliest defense works in China, the tombs of Han Dynasty Kings at Luozhuang, one of China's 10 Most Remarkable Archaeological Discoveries in 2000. Besides, Shandong is one of the birthplaces of ceramics and silks.

People from Shandong are simple, honest, bold, unconstrained, hospitable, and physically strong. Vibrant and diverse local customs embody Shandong’s love for family, friends, and most of all, their homeland.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

There are many festivals throughout the year which offer the opportunity to come together with the local people and experience thier joy of tradition. Come be a part of the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Pure Brightness Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival  or theDouble Ninth Festival.

You can join mountain or temple fairs and do the yangkodance, play the dragon lantern, print New Year pictures, prepare jiaozi, walk on stilts, fly kites, climb a mountain to appreciate chrysanthemums, pay homage to Buddha, eat zongzi(aka sticky rice dumplings – a traditional Chinese food, stuffed with glutinous rice and other fillings; all wrapped in bamboo leave) or take a class in moon appreciation. If you want to truly experience the Shandong lifestyle, you may stay with a local family and share their culture and traditions while building a more personal connection.

Zongzi

Yangko Dance

The Yangko dance, also called twisting Yangko dance, is a traditional Chinese folk dance commonly performed in the Northern provinces of China. The dance is smooth and compact in rhythm, featuring its jolly scene, abundant dance language, exuberant gestures, and vivid performing style. Therefore, people often take the Yangko dance during the spring festival or some other special celebrations.

The Yangko dance was created by the farmers when they worked in the rice field in the Song Dynasty, and is used to worship god of farming to pray for harvest in ancient times. Year after year, the Yangko dance constantly absorbed techniques and forms from farming songs, folk songs, folk Kungfu, acrobatics and dramas. Until the Qing Dynasty, "the Yangko dance" had been popular around the whole country.

Yangko Dance

Because of the differences of regions and customs, some variations exist in the Yangko dances. To identify different kinds of Yangko dances, the name of the region or the feature of the dance is often added ahead. For example, the “Drum Yangko dance” in Shandong Province, the “Shanbei Yangko dance” in Shanbei Area, the “Field Yangko dance” in Hebei, Beijing and Liaoning Provinces, and the “Manchu Yangko dance” in the Northeast China.

There are three types of performance in Chinese Yangko dance: the song-and-dance duets, Yangko performed on the ground and Yangko preformed on the stilts. The major accompanied instruments of Yangko dance include suona (trumpet-like wind instrument), small cymbals, drum, flute, erhu (alto fiddle) and zhuban (bamboo clappers). Yangko dancers usually wear bright and colorful costumes, and their movements are vigorous and quick, with distinguished local flavor.

Lu Opera

                                                                                                       
Lu Opera originated in Anhui 200 years ago, along with the more famous Beijing Opera. It is popular in the region of Changjiang River and Huaihe River around Hefei. Lu Opera was developed from the popular folk songs that used to pass by word of mouth around its region and it focuses more on the story and characters' emotion. Then, it has got a series of improvement on performance, dance, art, music and etc. Despite slight changes in the style and art of the performances, its original opera form can still be seen nowadays.Unrivaled in scope and brilliance, the Lu Opera, the Liuzi Opera and Shandong Bangzi Opera combine complex musical themes with unique instrumentation and dramatic flair for a dazzling show you will not want to miss.  And, perennial favorites with locals and tourists alike, are the famous martial arts and acrobatic ensembles which perform across the province.

Traditional arts and crafts

Time-honored traditional arts and crafts abound throughout the region, providing a mosaic of beauty and whimsy.  Shandong embroideries and brocades, kites, inkslabs, woodcut New Year pictures, and cloth toys are just a small sampling of the artistry being created daily here.  You will never find an artifact as lovely as  Shangdong bottle art with a stunning miniature landscape, figurine or flower meticulously painted on the inside!

                                 

                  Cloth Toys

    Embroideries

Woodcut New Year

Kites

The Mid Autumn Festival 

The 15th day of every 8th lunar month is the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. It is the most important festival after the Chinese Lunar New Year. The moon on the night of the 15th day of lunar August is believed to be fuller and brighter than in other months. A full moon is a symbol of togetherness. As such, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion. It's also called "Reunion Festival". Those unable to get home to join the get-together miss their family even more on the festival. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival derived from the tradition of worshipping the Goddess of Moon. The festival is also a time to celebrate a good autumn harvest.

Mooncake

Eating mooncakes is the most popular celebration of the day. Mooncakes are traditionally Chinese pastries, which is made of wheat flour and sweet stuffings such as sugar and lotus seed powder. Moon cake is a symbol of family reunion, and the cake is traditionally cut into pieces that equal to the number of people in the family.

Mid-Autumn lanterns are not as colorful as those of the Lantern Festival. There is no big lantern party during Mid-Autumn Festival, but children like making colorful lanterns very much. They make lanterns of different shapes and let them float on the rivers. They don’t leave the riverside until the light of the lanterns disappears. Sometimes, they make Kongming (Hung Ming) lanterns, which can fly because the burning candles heat the air in the lantern. The lantern rises with the heated air.

They send up prayers with Kongming Lanterns

Kongming Lanterns also named as Sky lanterns are traditionally used in Eastern Asia as part of religious or everyday celeberations, with a belief in their ability to bring good luck, and the coming true of wishes made as the lanterns are released and sent up into the heavens, most spectacularly at large scale sky lantern festivals such as the Pingxi festival in Taiwan.

Giant lanterns are displayed as part of Mid-autumn festival celebration

The Traditional Lantern For Kids

The moon looks extremely round, big and bright on the 15th day of each lunar month. People selected the August 15 to celebrate because it is a season when crops and fruits are all ripe and weather pleasant. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, all family members or friends meet outside, putting food on tables and looking up at the sky while talking about life. How splendid a moment it is!