余秋雨此前在国家汉办的一个专题讨论会上谈论中国文化时，认为：

中华文明博大精深，绵延5000年，一直延续至21世纪的今天，作为世界四大文明中唯一没有中断的文明，其生命根基源于中华文化的三大特点即三“道”，一是人格模式上的君子之道，二是思维模式上的中庸之道，三是行为模式上的礼仪之道。同时，他还用三个“缺少”辩证地分析了中华文化自身存在的一些不足，如缺少公共意识、缺少实证意识和缺少法制意识。

A 9.5-meter bronze sculpture of Confucius was erected in front of the China National Museum on the east side of the Tian’anmen Square, facing the Tian’anmen Rostrum, marking the revival of  popularity of this ancient philosopher in recent years.

凤凰网今天转载了一篇选自《中国青年报》的署名文章：禾刀：看中国酒桌社交的江湖式诚信。文章对现流行的“酒桌文化”做了一番分析，探讨了社会诚信危机与“酒”之联系。转载于此共享。

如今，越来越多的外国人了解了中国从北到南，从商场到官场的“酒桌社交”，甚至明白了汉语语境下“关系”一词的含义。但他们除了依旧不能适应中国的 酒桌文化外，还认为这背后隐藏着制度、体制问题。英国《金融时报》形容说，在中国，“关系”是一个迷宫般的网络，外人很难窥得其中的奥秘，维护这个迷宫需 要昂贵的成本，而酒是其中一项。（《西安晚报》8月17日）

别说外国人搞不懂，就是置身于酒桌社交中的国民，也常常深感既被酒桌社交所累，又常常难置身于外，否则，要么与社会格格不入，沦为孤家寡人，进而工作推动起来自然十分艰难。酒桌社交风潮之下，形成了许多灰色关系哲学，比如“酒杯一端，政策放宽；酒足饭停，不行也行；饭馆酒醉，不是也对”。灰色哲学的背后，终其根本在于一个“求”字，即有求一方向被求一方以酒饭表达原则之外的感情忠诚。

平级如朋友亲人也有以酒饭盛情的，但真正对社会构成危害的则是不同等级为“求”而来的酒饭款待。如同下级对上级，项目争取方对审批方，乙方对甲方， 政策公关者对把关者……一些从事业务的人深知，酒桌是沟通的理想渠道之一，许多业务正是在觥筹交错的杯光酒影中达成的。正因如此，敬酒者唯恐意不真情不 切，宁愿以醉“殉忠”，唯此才可能达成请客吃饭拉拢感情的最终目的，这点很像武侠小说里大碗喝酒称兄道弟式的江湖式诚信，只是，在这种酒饭铰接的江湖式诚 信链条的同时，原则业已沦为夯实个人感情的筹码。也不知道万科的王石，在深感不行贿被孤立被嘲笑的背后，到底有多少幕后交易达成于酒桌之上。

关于诚信，《小康》杂志最近的一项调查表明，农民、宗教职业者、性工作者、军人和学生被选为本年度最讲诚信的五个群体（小康杂志8月16日）。这五 个群体并非酒桌社交主流，虽然占据着社会的绝对多数，但缺乏足够支配社会资源的制度平台，加之本身工作特性抑或制度宗教等客观原因，导致他们被迫置身于江 湖式诚信体系之外，反倒成全了他们诚信的清白名声。

《小康》杂志的调查还着重提到，“49％的人对政府、人际、公司三类的信用危机表示‘都非常担心’”。很显然，这才是社会关系中的核心部分，本来应努力构建社会显性关系规则的“三类”，其诚信却颇受质疑，这或许可以成为潜规则盛行的原因。

以社会发展眼光看，个人感情至上的江湖式诚信理当为文明社会所抛弃。社会诚信体系失守，同时意味着原则政策等潜规则失灵，江湖式诚信必然打着各种幌子趁虚而入，积极上位。实际上，被请吃者往往寄望于此种途径，表面上是考察对方忠诚度，实则也是判断自己打的那些小九九的安全系数。这也就是讲，所谓的江 湖式诚信并非只是因为一时兴起，仅仅贪图那一杯杯玉琼良浆，一时的口感之快，往往更在于政策失守背后的利益勾结。引用一句老话:没有无缘无故的恨，也没有 无缘无故的爱，酒桌社交将这种爱恨演绎得如此逼真，只是晕头晕脑之时，犹如那些醉驾司机，什么原则制度只怕早就甩到耳朵背后。

新华网2008年5月18日发表题为大半个国务院入川 外报称中国式总理想学学不来的文章，转引新加坡《联合早报》18日刊登署名周兆呈的文章说，“中国的总理难为”，“中国式总理，无法复制，想学也学不来”。以下为文章摘要：

无论是2005年飓风“卡特里娜”袭击美国，还是2004年底印尼大海啸，世界其他国家很少有领导人会在灾难发生时，除赶到现场视察灾情、慰问群众之外，还要亲自担任救灾总指挥。毕竟前者属于政治职责，后者属于专业领域。

而在中国地震救灾的前四天里，温家宝几乎是把大半个国务院搬到了四川。他自己在震后仅仅几个小时就已经坐镇灾区，国务院秘书长马凯、公安部长孟建柱一直跟随身旁。副总理回良玉后来也赶到，5月15日晚间在四川列车上召开的国务院抗震救灾指挥部的会议上，也看到了教育部长周济、工业和信息化部部长李毅中等多位部长。

温家宝亲临一线，四处疲于奔命地指挥、调度、慰问。在中国的社会环境之下，总理的到场除了提高应变效率、争取黄金时间、督促地方官员、现场拍板解决问题之外，第一时间奔赴灾区，指挥救灾、慰问百姓，更是灾场和全国民心稳定的巨大精神力量。

中国总理这个职位，自周恩来时代开始，就被赋予了兢兢业业、克尽职守的形象，“周总理”三个字既是一代中国人对周恩来的永恒纪念，也是对继任者的道德标尺和衡量比照。

1966年3月8日，中国河北邢台地区发生6.8级强烈地震。周恩来于3月9日、3月10日、4月1日先后三次冒着余震亲临地震灾区，顶着寒风、踏着瓦砾、进窝棚、下地窖、慰问伤病员，站在木箱子上给父老乡亲喊话，还带领群众高呼口号：“自力更生、奋发图强、发展生产、重建家园”。

这是1960年代中共高层与民众在危机时刻的沟通渠道和方式，双方没有距离，充满信任。2008年的地震与之以及1976年的唐山地震相比，拯救能力变得更强、处理方式变得公开透明、舆论更为自由开放、举国救灾的机制更为有效，而总理与受灾民众沟通的语言、慰问的姿态、鼓励的方式，自三四十年前至今，仍是一以贯之，没有什么太大的差别。

当温家宝对着灾民喊“党和政府没有忘记你们”，当温家宝对着救援部队说“不怕牺牲、不怕疲劳”，当温家宝对着电视镜头向全国表示，“广大军民团结一致，众志成城，我们一定能够战胜这场特别重大的地震灾害”，正在灾区受苦受难的民众以及对痛苦感同身受的中国其他地方人民，从这样沙哑颤抖而坚定的声音中，都听出了其中的温情、决心和斗志，绝不是流于表面和形式的口号。

这些政治话语，一旦灾难来袭，政治领袖的喊话却有了强大的动员力量，这样非常具有“中国特色”的政治语言，能够发挥出巨大的鼓舞作用，让灾区民众焦虑、恐惧的心情得到缓和，对未来不会绝望；参与救灾的人员也能够被激发出战斗意志，团结拼下去。“人民生命高于一切”、“与汶川人民心连心”、“一方有难　八方支援”，这些在救灾、安置现场比比皆是的标语、横幅，看似套话，却有着强大的精神激励效果。

解放军和武警战士急行军数十公里奔赴灾区、没日没夜解救灾民的时候，除了人道精神，也有理想与光荣的信念追求，“军民一家”、“人民子弟兵”的词汇才如此令他们刻骨铭心；当温家宝哽咽着抚慰儿童说，“孩子，别哭，孩子”，“以人为本”的理念才不会是仅仅停留在会议公报和党报党刊上的文字。

中国总理作为执政党最高层领袖，除了管理日常事务之外，同时也需要成为政党理想和原则的贯彻者和执行者，或者是展示者，证明这些政治话语不是形式、不是套话，而是执政者坚持的信念。

中国式总理，无法复制，想学也学不来。

Photo Source: www.sohu.com

转载新华网 2008年04月10日文： 《南德意志报》：中国古老的茶文化再次苏醒。文章在编者按中说：进入21世纪，喝茶在欧美重新流行起来。鉴于中国的日趋繁荣，专家们预料：欧洲城市的咖啡馆中有更多种类的茶叶可供选择的一天即将到来。德国《南德意志报》4日就此刊登一篇题为《皇帝的发现》的署名文章，要点如下：

茶叶之于中国人，就如同葡萄酒之于欧洲人。虽然由于全球化，越来越多的中国人学会鉴赏葡萄酒，但中国茶也因其繁多的品种和古老的传统而被越来越多的欧洲人视为一流的奢侈品。其实这是个再发现的过程，因为自从1560年葡萄牙人第一次将茶叶带入西方以来，这种昂贵的植物叶子就成了除丝绸和瓷器之外，欧洲商人最渴求的商品。

不过，中国茶的历史要比这久远得多。传说3000多年前，神农氏游历南方时发现了茶叶。当时，仆人正在为他烧水，一片叶子恰好被风吹入锅中，水于是变成了绿褐色。神农氏决定品尝锅中之水，发现它令人气爽神怡。茶叶由此诞生。

中国的茶文化受到了佛教的深刻影响。不仅茶叶和佛教后来一起传入日本，而且公元800年问世的《茶经》也出自一位名为陆羽的和尚之手。《茶经》记载了极其精湛的饮茶技巧和礼俗，以及不同种类的茶叶对身体和心灵所起的作用。几个世纪以来，茶文化已经产生出需要用一生时间来掌握的深刻哲学和技巧。

“从理论上说，喝茶是一门学问，从实践上说，它是一门艺术”，一位在中国浙江做买卖的日本茶商说。”水温、沏茶技术和工具的使用因茶叶而异，需要很高的准确性、大量的知识和练习。”不过，并非只有精于茶道和学问高深的人才喝茶，茶道也是一种大众文化。

在中国，人们一日三餐都喝茶。紧跟潮流的中产阶级不仅能区分美式咖啡和卡布其诺，也能分清花茶和龙井。商人们在茶楼寻找适合谈生意的气氛。在茶文化气息历来比北方省份更为浓郁的广东省，人们早晨不是去”吃早饭”，而是去”喝早茶”。南方人喝茶时也更注重礼节。

与欧洲盛行喝红茶不同，绿茶是中国人最喜欢也是流传最广的茶叶。中国种植的茶叶差不多有3/4是绿茶。很受欢迎的一种绿茶是杭州的龙井，清朝的乾隆皇帝认为它是中国最好的茶叶。乾隆曾四下杭州，钦点了18株最好的茶树。这些茶树所产的茶叶属于非卖品，只能进贡皇宫。现在，最好的春茶每两最多可以卖到 7000元人民币。尽管如此，春茶通常在之前的冬天就已预售一空。

饮茶肯定正在中国复兴，一种古老的文化再次苏醒。

This article was seen on China Culture website. Under the column Chinese Way and entitled Secret of Attraction, it is talking about the Chinese perspectives on attraction and beauty. It covers from facial features to inner temperament. The picture of the ancient Chinese beauty is from the same article on China Culture.

Secret of Attraction

Feminine beauty has been celebrated over the centuries in China and the perception is ever-evolving, but an enduring beauty standard is as follows: a rosy plump oval face, new-moon-shaped eyebrows, delicate and soft limbs and fingers, and fine porcelain skin. More than skin deep, a Chinese beauty should also have good manners, temperament, tastes, and style of conversation.

Perfect Facial Features

Face

It is long held in Chinese ancient painting theory that an oval face makes for the best proportioned features.

According to this theory, the face can be transversely divided into trisections, or “Three Stops” – from the hairline to the eyebrow, from the eyebrow to the bottom of the nose, and from the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin. Vertically, the face can be divided into quinti-sections or “Five Eyes”- the distance between two eyes shall be the length of one eye, and the vertical distance between the outer canthus and the external opening of the ear shall be also the length of one eye. In addition, sweet dimples in the cheeks, or Jiuwo, literally a pit of wines in Chinese, are definitely a plus for female charm.

Eyebrows

Chinese people believe that the eyes and eyebrows of a woman can speak her mind.Shapes of eyebrows varied in different dynasties. In the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), long, bushy and curved eyebrows were in vogue while the following Han Dynasty adored “八” shaped eyebrows. Tang women loved to trim their eyebrows into the shape of the half moon or arched willow leaves. Thin, long and slightly curved eyebrows have been the major trend since the mid-14th century.

Eyes

Chinese poets often compare beautiful women to peach blossoms in spring. The eyes are long and slightly upcurved at the corners. Under the eyelashes is a pair of misty black pupils.

Lips

Chinese people adore a small, rosy, glossy, and gently up-curved mouth, the so-called “Cherry-like-little Mouth.”

Timeless Appeal of Slender Waist

The traditional Chinese theory of beauty says that a slender waist and a small waist-to-hip ratio are vital for feminine beauty. The “belle curve” showcases the softness and tenderness of women, fitting in with the aesthetic tastes of Chinese.

In ancient China a girl with an hourglass-shaped waist made for the perfect figure. Many ancient poems and legends have linked attractiveness with a thin waist. A legend dating to more than 2,000 year ago says that the King of Chu States lusted for narrow waists, leading to starving palace ladies. The Chu Waist was hence added into the vocabulary referring to a slender waist.

An Oriental Sexy Idol

What made a sexy idol for the ancient Chinese? Firm, uplifted buttocks and big breasts may not be the best answer. Instead, the Chinese thought the sexiest part of a woman was her eyebrows which, as mentioned before, were the coverts of her feelings, leading to its name “Rainbows of Affection.” A protruding collarbone and a long, elegant neck were also the focus of secondary erogenous zones in China.

Science of Romance

In fact, beauty was not only a matter of physical appearance, but more importantly, as the painting had indicated, was a demand of feudal etiquettes, to be exact, the three obedience and four virtues.”

Women’s appearance, along with their impeccable morality, proper speech, and diligent housework, were compulsory criteria of good women. In addition, a woman should be obedient to her father before marriage, to her husband after marriage and to her son after her husband’s death.

Chinese philosophy of beauty

Music

Music refers to the qin (a kind of seven-stringed plucked instrument, similar to a zither) that has a more than 3,000 year history. It was required that every scholar learn the instrument.

Chess

Chess refers to encirclement chess. The ancient women had no chance to do the same work as men. So they gathered and played chess to relax.

Calligraphy and literature

Writing calligraphy and poems was not the privilege of men. Women learned how to read, write and calligraphy no matter what their family background. They read to improve themselves, wrote poems to record their feelings and life, and did calligraphy for enjoyment.

Painting

There were many women who had a talent for painting in ancient times, though their skill was often overlooked in the male-dominated society of that time. The theme of their paintings usually related to flowers, little pets and beautiful women.

Needlework

Needlework is the symbol of diligent women and reflects female emotion and intelligence. It is also the standard of being a good wife.

It is a custom that has lasted to the present time. Women in the old days often made needlework for their lovers, while modern girls like to make gifts such as scarfs and cross-stitch embroidery.

We find the article very interesting, but one might come across very different views when you ask the younger generations, particularly those who were born after the opening-up, i.e. the-post-80s-generation. The above is a picture of the Super Girl of 2005, who was voted by millions through text messages. You might find it hard to match the ‘criteria’ by the article on China Culture.

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 zhōngqiūjié), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China’s Zhou Dynasty. This day is also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain have been harvested by this time and food is abundant.The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid- or late-September in the Gregorian calendar), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. This is the ideal time, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, to celebrate the abundance of the summer’s harvest. In 2007, the mid-autumn festival falls on September 25.

In the Chinese lunar calendar tradition, the seventh, eighth and ninth months comprise autumn. During fall, the weather is getting drier, and the skies are commonly clear and cloudless and the nights crisp and sharp. Thus the festival celebrates the moon’s appearance as the brightest and most beautiful throughout the year.

The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake. Mooncakes are typically round, symbolizing the full round moon of the mid-autumn festival. The round mooncakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness are made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. The picture above shows a typical mooncake and its inner and outer packages.

Nowadays there are many different varieties of mooncakes, and there are even square-shaped ones. Last month, a super large mooncake was made in Shenyang, Liaoning, weighing nearly 13 tons. This mooncake is 8.15 meters in diameter and 20 centimeters in height, and has a coating weighing one ton, and filling weighing 12 tons, and took ten chefs more than 10 hours to make it.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, and the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Quoting from Xinhuanet.com, and pictures added by the Journal:

The poet, Qu Yuan, lived in the state of Chu during the Warring States period (475 B.C. to 221 B.C.). He drowned himself in the Miluo River in today’s Hunan Province in 278 B.C., on fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, hoping his death could awaken the king to revitalize the kingdom.

The date has since been remembered as the Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu Festival, on which local fishermen row dragon boats along the Miluo river to search for Qu Yuan and scatter glutinous rice dumplings in the water to prevent the fish from eating his body.

And,

The appeal of traditional Chinese holidays is alleged to lie in the eating: mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival, sweet dumplings on Lantern Day, and glutinous rice dumplings for Duanwu, or Dragon Boat Festival.

The Lantern Festival (元宵节) is on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Year, taking place under a full moon, and marks the end of Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) festivities. For the year of 2007, it is today – the 4th of March. It is said that the Festival dates back to shrouded legends of the Han Dynasty over 2000 years ago.

The important festivity for this day is watching lanterns of numerous kinds, and “Guessing lantern riddles” is an essential part of the Festival. People write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns (or write them directly on the lanterns). Visitors who work out the solutions to the riddles can tear it off (or remember the numbers) and take it the lantern owners to check their answer. Sometimes, if the solution are right, they will be given a little gift.

The special food for the Festival is Yuan Xiao (元宵) or Tang Yuan (汤圆), or rice dumplings. Yuan Xiao are balls of glutinous rice rolled around a filling of sesame, peanuts, vegetable, or meat. Yuan Xiao can be boiled or fried. Tang Yuan are often cooked in red-bean or other kinds of soup.

It is said that the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth centuty, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods. The round shape symbolizes wholeness and unity.

Note: Some photos are from http://www.pingtan.com.cn/.

Today is the third day of the Chinese New Year. Most people are still on holidays enjoying themselves with family feast, delicious food, visiting relatives and friends, going to art performances, and firing fireworks and firecrackers. Spring Festival, known to the West more as the Chinese New Year and comparable to the Christmas holidays in the West, is the most important celebration for Chinese people every year.

There are various kinds of festivities during the Spring Festival period. Although the official holiday is usually about a week starting from the first day of the lunar New Year, the preparation and celebrations for the New Year actually starts from the last month of the previous year, as early as on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month when many families enjoy “laba porridge” (腊八粥) made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job’s tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko, and will not end until the day of the Lantern Festival on the 15^th of the first lunar month.

Spring Festival Couplets

As a tradition, before the New Year comes, every people would completely clean the indoors and outdoors and beautify their homes with traditional ornaments. In many places particularly in the countryside, people would decorate all their door panels with Spring Festival couplets, putting down the best wishes for good luck, bright future, happiness and wealth, bright future for the New Year. The Spring Festival couplets are usually done with Chinese calligraphy with black or golden characters on red paper.

Reversed “Fu”

Among all the decorations, the Chinese character “fu” (福) is a must. This character, meaning blessing and happiness, would usually be pasted upside down. In Chinese, the “reversed fu” is homophonic with “fu comes” or “fu arrives”, both pronounced as “fu-dao-le” (福到了).

New Year’s Eve Family Feast

People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. All family members will be together, and have dinner together. Typically, this meal is more luxurious than usual. And the menu is a set of meaningful dishes, such as fish – “yu” (鱼), which is homophonic with ‘abundance’, would be a ‘must-have’. Others dishes like chicken and bean curd, pronounced respectively “ji” (鸡), and “doufu,” (豆腐), meaning auspiciousness (吉) and richness (富), will also be dishes for that dinner.

After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV; some families will play Mahjong. According to the custom, people will stay up to see the New Year arrives. In recent years, the 4-hour Spring Festival TV performances broadcasted on China Central Television Station (CCTV) has become an essential entertainment for most of the families. People will watch the programs while waiting for the New Year.

Firecrackers

When the New Year comes, people will go out and fire firecrackers and fireworks. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits and tt was one of the most typical customs on the Spring Festival. It was banned for some years in some cities including Beijing due to security, noise and pollution reasons. It was re-opened in many cities last year and in many places you can only do it in the designated areas since it does cause a lot of above mentioned problems.

“Jiaozi” and “Niangao”

Waking up on the New Year, the first thing to do is still the burning of the firecrackers. Then people will extend greetings to their parents. Child will get money wrapped up in red paper as a New Year gift, literally named “Hongbao” (红包). People in northern will eat “jiaozi” (饺子­), or dumplings and the shape of the jiaozi is like gold ingot from ancient China. On this occasion, southern people will eat “niangao” (年糕) (cake made of glutinous rice flour), homophonic with “higher and higher year by year”

SMS Greetings

New technology also has its impact on the customs of Chinese New Year festivities. Nowadays, around the New Year’s Day, particularly in the New Year’s Eve, and on the first day of the New Year, people will exchange SMS (mobile text message) New Year greetings. It has now almost become a custom.

The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely. In the north, the second day of the new year is usually the time for daughters to come back home with her family to pay special visit to her parents. The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.