For our meeting on November 17, we had to come prepared with questions from an online virtual tour of the Take Me to China exhibit from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. We each went around and talked a bit about a part of the exhibit that we had a question about, or we found interesting. Kwan would then answer the question or further explain the topic.
The first topic that was brought up was acupuncture. Acupuncture is a healing method where one sticks a needle in a point of a body. This is known to be affective when relieving pain, but it doesn’t always work. The exhibit had an interesting diagram that showed different points of the hand and what part of the body would be relieved of pain if acupuncture were to be performed there. If acupuncture were to be performed on the tip of either the index, middle, ring finger, or pinky, then the sinuses would be relieved of pain. If acupuncture were to be performed around the middle of the palm, then the kidneys would be relieved of any pain.
The second topic that we talked about was the mineral Jade. Kwan mentioned how Jade is a very durable mineral that comes in colors other than the typical green that we see. In fact, raw Jade is actually a mix of multiple colors. An interesting fact that Kwan brought up was that if you put a real green jade in clear water, the water will refract the light. Another interesting fact that Kwan brought up was that the highest quality of Jade comes from Birma. In terms of China, Jades represent wealth and power, and it shows one’s social status.
The third topic that was brought up was tea which Kwan said originated from China. In China, there are six important kinds of tea: green, yellow, white, oolong, red, and black. Green tea is fresh picked leaves that are dried either from the sun, a fan, or a pan. It is a little more on the acidic side, so if you have stomach issues, you should minimize drinking it. Also, if brewed incorrectly, it can be a bit bitter. Kwan mentioned chrysanthemum tea which comes from chrysanthemum flowers. He recommended that we add some sugar when drinking the tea to get a little more of the flower flavor.
Kwan also mentioned how the Japanese and Chinese tea ceremonies differ. Japanese tea ceremonies are more focused on the actual ceremony where they are brewing, pouring, and distributing the tea. Chinese tea ceremonies, on the other hand, are more focused on the taste of the tea and is overall not as sophisticated as the Japanese tea ceremonies.
The fourth topic that we talked about were the Chinese operas. The operas consist of choreography, music, and costumes and, is regional like how Chinese foods are. The regions are Beijing, Cantonese, Shang Hai or Eastern style, and Sei Chuan or Western style. Each regional opera has their own distinguishable feature while still having their similarities. The Cantonese operas have lots of emphasis on the design of the scenes and costumes. Eastern operas don’t have as much detail in the costumes and show a more softer style with plots of everyday living styles.
Beijing style, which is what the exhibit showcased, has plots with violence and wars. In Beijing style operas, the colors on the characters asks showcases characteristics of the characters. Some examples are, red indicated courage, black indicates being strong and powerful, blue indicates loyalty and steadiness, and white indicates an evil nature. Western operas have a feature where they change their face masks in a fraction of a section.
The last topic that we discussed was feet binding which is when women force themselves to wrap their feet up with band-aids and fabrics as a toddler. Binding their feet was an expression of social status and considered a privilege because only those that were in rich or powerful families could do so. When one binds their feet, you can’t really do much, so you have to have other people do things for you. The poor had to work so they couldn’t bind their feet because of that. This custom was eventually abandoned, but it was crazy to think that women would bind their feet in this way. It sounds really painful and terrifying.