Chinese Folklore Tour (10 volumes, hardcover)

Author: Lin Yanjiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: ★16K paperback, published by Hebei Education Press. The "Chinese Folk Custom Tour" series is a guide for readers interested in Chinese folk customs, Chinese culture, and Chinese folk arts. It serves as a guide for domestic and international tourists planning to visit China, presenting the rich and captivating folk customs and social landscapes of various ethnic groups across China in a vivid, illustrated format. The series covers festivals, life cycle events (birth, marriage, life, and death), dining customs, daily routines, local delicacies, ethnic and regional songs and dances, folk arts, belief customs, local specialties, and more. It allows readers to gain an in-depth understanding of the real-life practices of China's ethnic groups, experience the beauty of Chinese life in a three-dimensional way, and appreciate the national spirit and life philosophy of the Chinese nation. For those planning to visit China for folk custom tourism, this series provides a comprehensive and systematic introduction to Chinese folk customs, enabling them to plan their trips more effectively. For those who have already experienced Chinese folk culture firsthand, the series can serve as a reference to validate and supplement their impressions. Even for those unable to travel to experience Chinese folk customs, lying on the sofa for a daydreaming "armchair travel" can be a delightful and enriching experience. The entire series consists of 10 volumes. In addition to detailed and engaging textual introductions, each volume is accompanied by approximately 240 images to provide readers with a more vivid and concrete understanding. These images are primarily in color, with occasional hand-drawn diagrams, complementing the text and making the series even more intriguing. Based on the division into seven folk cultural circles, each volume is further organized into chapters by various folk custom themes. The main content includes the folk customs, cuisine, folk arts, ethnic crafts, and local specialties of different regions in China. While introducing these topics, the series also touches on related aspects such as ethnic overviews, the origins of folk customs, legends, distribution, characteristics, and other relevant historical figures, events, processes, historical sites, anecdotes, and geographical contexts to reveal the social and cultural backgrounds of various folk customs. The specific content mainly includes:
1. Production or Economic Customs: Mainly covering unique production methods, folk production rituals and taboos, and regionally distinctive trades or crafts.
2. Life Customs: Mainly covering dining customs and local delicacies, housing customs, clothing customs, and traditional transportation methods.
3. Ritual Customs: Mainly covering unique ceremonies and rituals held during important life stages and social interactions, such as birth customs, birthday customs, wedding customs, funeral customs, and etiquette customs.
4. Festival Customs: Mainly covering important festivals, celebratory and recreational activities during festivals, as well as related competitions and entertainment.
5. Belief Customs: Mainly covering the main beliefs and worship practices of different ethnic groups in various regions, as well as offerings and sacrificial rituals, and major folk taboos, as well as art and collective activities related to beliefs.
6. Folk Arts: Mainly covering folk songs and dances, local operas, folk storytelling arts, and folk crafts.
7. Local Specialties: Mainly covering regionally distinctive plant and animal products, as well as various handmade goods.
8. Other Customs: Mainly covering unique social life customs of places or ethnic groups that do not fall under the above categories.
The above content, as presented in the main text, generally takes folk customs as the starting point, naturally introducing related ethnic groups, figures, events, historical facts, cultural backgrounds, and myths and legends. Due to the vast scope of Chinese folk customs and the limitations of this series, some selections and omissions were necessary. During the writing process, the series focused on traditional and representative folk customs that are still existing or prevalent today, while also including some emerging folk customs that have appeared more recently. Folk customs that were historically significant or famous and still have a considerable impact are included, while those that were once practiced but are no longer in use are generally excluded. For folk customs related to production, economy, life, rituals, and beliefs, only key aspects are introduced and described, while non-key content is omitted. To enhance readability, the series also incorporates some poetry, couplets, quotes from famous figures, and classical texts, enriching its cultural depth and ensuring its intellectual and literary quality. In terms of writing style, the series aims to be both profound and accessible, blending simplicity with elegance while reflecting a certain artistic flair. While maintaining cultural depth, it also emphasizes popular accessibility to engage readers in a relaxed and approachable manner, allowing them to explore the wonders of Chinese folk customs and enjoy both knowledge and leisure through reading.
In addition to the above eight categories, each volume also includes several knowledge boxes that provide specialized introductions and explanations on important topics discussed in the main text. These boxes cover general knowledge about ethnic groups, folk customs, figures, events, and locations, neither overlapping with the main content nor disrupting its flow, but rather serving to supplement and deepen the reader's understanding. For topics such as festivals, folk arts, and local specialties, comprehensive summaries are provided in appendices to broaden readers' perspectives. Appendices also include introductions to folk tourism projects, folk tourism sites, folk museums, and local specialty restaurants and shops, offering valuable references for interested readers.
Want to learn more about the folk customs and traditions of the Chinese mainland? Open this series and discover the wisdom of "reading is beneficial" for yourself!