Yangtze (Day 5 - part 2)

Every morning, Dr. George Zhang would lead a T'ai chi class on the deck. T'ai chi (more correctly written as Taiji) is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons. A multitude of forms exist, both fast and slow. Most modern styles trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu/Hao, Wu and Sun.


Dr. George taught the simplest version of the Yang style, with only 24 movements (the long form has 108). The Yang family first became involved in the study of t'ai chi in the early 1800s.


Trying to follow along


Mr. Chang, the ship's artist, captures me in motion.

Dr. George Zhang gave a lecture on Chinese medicine, including demonstrations of t'ai chi, pressure points, accupuncture and accupressure.


Testing to see how it works


Some acupuncture


This woman enjoyed this so much, she couldn't keep her enthusiasm contained, much to the amusement of the rest of us.

Alice taught about herbal facials. She demonstrated how to make a facial mask using gochi (berries that contain antioxidants and have other restorative properties), egg whites, pearl powder, ginsing powder, honey, and milk.

Mahjong is a game for four players that originated in China. There is still much debate about its origin and when. The game involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of luck. It's basically a gamblers' game, and most people play using either fake money or just a few yuan to keep the game fun.


A majong set has 144 tiles, which may be classified into four suits: bamboo, circle, character, and wind. In each suit, there are 36 tiles. The wind suit includes the flowers, dragons and winds. American mahjong sets usually have 166 tiles.


In the game, each player is dealt either 13 or 16 tiles in a hand (depending on the variation being played). On their turn, players draw a tile and discard one, with the goal of making four or five melds and one pair. Winning comes by drawing a new or discarded an old tile that completes the hand.

Jane gave a demonstration of Chinese paintings.


This one is on a long scroll. It is over 50 feet long and contains 10 million people on it.

Paintings in China first began as calligraphy.

5,000 years ago, the characters looked more like the item. For example, mountains and water:
Back then, there were no brushes or paper. Characters changed as new discoveries were made:
With the invention of the brush and silk, the characters transformed again:
Depending on the medium (silk, bamboo, rice paper) and hence the price, the characters mutated many more times, becoming wider or narrower, shorter or taller:
Eventually we arrive at the free-form characters of today, known as Chinese or Han characters:


Nature scenes

Chinese watercolor came about between the Qin (221 - 206 BC) and Han (206 BC - 220) Dynasties. Colors were made from plants, and ink was made from black ash.

While rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, the term is also loosely used for paper made from other plants. In the case of the Ming Dynasty, it was actually made of bamboo and tree bark.


The fish is a symbol of good luck.


This is one of Jane's paintings of a boat as it travels through the Three Gorges.


A close-up of the boat

Tobacco reached China toward the end of the 16th century. Snuff is pulverized tobacco inhaled through the nose. Mixed with medicinal herbs, it was believed to be a remedy for common illnesses such as colds, headaches and stomach disorders.

Snuff was carried in a small bottle like other medicines. Generally the bottles had a small spoon fixed in the stopper and were capped with a hemispherical piece of jade. They were made of a wide variety of materials including coral, ivory, jade, mother of pearl, quartz, gold, silver and more. Despite the number of exotic materials to chose from, glass remained the most popular substance, cut and polished like a precious stone.

As to the art of painting the interior of the bottles, legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty, an official stopped and sought rest at a small temple. He took out his crystal snuff bottle and found it was empty. He scraped off some of the residual powder using a slender, sharp bamboo stick, thus leaving lines on the inside of the bottle. When he left, his bottle was found by a young monk. The monk saw that the marks inside the bottle produced a pattern and thus the idea was born.


Mr. Chang shows his painting skill. Originally from Hubei Province, he has been painting bottles for over 20 years.


He uses a wolf-hair brush that he makes himself.


This artist was at the Three Gorges Dam gift shop.


All bottles come with their own little box. This marvelous one comes from a craft stand at the Yu Yuan bazaar in Shanghai.


A closer view of the other side


Another snuff bottle celebrating the year of the rat


Each side of a snuff bottle is different.

Chinese embroidery has a history of 5,000 years. Because of the quality of the fiber, most fine embroideries are made in silk. A single silk thread can be divided into 64 strands. In the 14th century, Chinese silk embroidery production reached its high peak. Today most handwork has been replaced by machinery.


This embroidery was double- sided, with one side being a tiger and the other a leopard.


Embroidery and crystal displays

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