FROM CHINA GROUP: UNIQUELY ASIAN

Bagwa Mirror

THE BA-GUA

Feng Shui has at its core the concept of the Ba-Gua. The Ba-Gua is an eight-sided diagram that is derived from the "I-Ching" -- the Chinese book of Divination.

Each side represents a different aspect of life such as Wealth, Career, Marriage, etc. . .(As shown in the diagram to the right.) Adjusting the energy in each corresponding area subdues negative energy or enhances beneficial energy already present in these locations.

The Ba-Gua is always aligned with the wall containing the front door or main entrance to any living/working space, so you can apply the Ba-Gua to the entire house or building or to a specific room. You can also apply the Ba-Gua to the main entry point of any exterior space such as the whole property, a backyard or a small garden space.

This Ba-Gua is used in conjunction with Feng Shui "cures" to positively influence one's finances, love life, creativity, health and other personal life issues.

In Feng Shui, "water" is used to beneficially enhance the "Career" and "Wealth" areas of the Ba-Gua.
Each Gua in the Bagua is associated with one direction. This is only determined by the nature of the individual Gua. It is called Xian Tian ( pronounce as sch-an, tee-an). It means pre-birth or natural Bagua.

Natural Bagua is often used to evaluate a house or apartment before it is occupied or the resident cannot be known. For example, a new apartment complex or a hotel.

The image on the left shows the directions of natural Bagua. As any ordinary map or directions, the North is pointing up. These directions are the directions of nature. It does not change except for one thing. If you are in the southern hemisphere, you need to rotate this image by 180 degrees.

Because the natural Bagua has this static character, we can associate each direction to a Gua. Each Gua is associated with one of the five elements. Therefore, each direction is associated with one of the five elements.

Source: http://chineseculture.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cwo.com%2F%7Eashlin%2Fwater%2Fbginfo.htm
http://www.fengshuihelp.com/Bagua_directions.htm

CHOPSTICKS

History of Chopsticks
While the precise origins of chopsticks are unknown (the first chopsticks may have been twigs used to spear a roast cooked over an open fire) they were definitely in use by the Shang dynasty (1766 BC - 1122 BC).

Their enduring popularity since that time may actually be linked to Chinese cooking methods - before stir-frying the food is cut into tiny pieces, making them easy to manipulate with a chopstick.

Here in the west, where fork eaters are in the majority, it is sometimes easy to forget that the fork has only recently become an essential item at the dinner table. True, the Byzantines used forks in the 10th century, and Catherine de M'edici introduced the pointed tines to the French court in the early 1500s. But in the United States, it wasn't until the eighteenth century that people felt the need for more than a knife and spoon. By contrast, chopsticks have been the utensil of choice throughout all of China since the Han dynasty (approximately 200 BC to 200 AD).

The Difference Between Chinese and Japanese Chopsticks
There are several differences between Chinese and Japanese chopsticks:

• Chinese chopsticks are normally made of unfinished wood or bamboo.
• Japanese chopsticks are normally made of lacquered wood or bamboo.
• Chinese chopsticks made for adults are normally about 10 ½ inches (shorter chopsticks for young children are available)
• Japanese chopsticks are normally about 9 inches
• Chinese chopsticks taper to a blunt end.
• Japanese chopsticks taper to pointed ends.

You can also find chopsticks made with inexpensive plastic, or more expensive materials such as jade or ivory.

Do You Need to Use Chopsticks?
Today, chopsticks are growing in popularity in non-Asian countries. And why not? After all, if you can handle rice with chopsticks, why not linguine? But I have a confession to make. Despite my love of Chinese cuisine, I am a bit of a klutz with chopsticks. Somehow I've never fully mastered that delicate art of holding the bottom stick stationary between my thumb and fourth finger, while using the tip of that same thumb and my index and middle fingers to manipulate the top chopstick, in order to capture a bite-sized morsel and steer it toward my mouth. Being left-handed only complicates the whole process.

Still, I must agree with Asian food aficionados who won't go near a plate of Ginger Beef without their "Kuai zi." (The word "chop" is pidgin English for kuai, which means quick or speedy). Just as coffee loses some of its tangy essence when served in a Styrofoam cup, Chinese cuisine simply tastes better eaten with chopsticks. And there are distinct benefits to having to work a bit harder to obtain your food: for one thing, it forces you to realize exactly how much you are eating.

Chopsticks - A Cultural Phenomenom
Given its prominence in Asian culture, it is not surprising that chopsticks have transcended the boundaries of food. Poems have been written about them, and researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University put the basic concept behind chopsticks to good use when designing the Mars Rock Corer. Studies have been conducted on whether chopstick usage helps improve memory, and whether it can aid children in learning to write Chinese. But whether you wrap your noodles around your fork or pick them up with chopsticks, here are some recipes for you to enjoy (and hopefully use to perfect your chopstick skills!)

How to Use Chopsticks?

Here's How:

1. If possible, use wood or bamboo chopsticks. Plastic chopsticks are more slippery and harder to hold.
2. Always grab the chopsticks in the middle, making sure that the ends are even and do not cross.
3. Pick up a chopstick and hold it so that it's resting comfortably between the tip of your fourth finger (the ring finger) and the hollow gap between your thumb and index finger. Keep the fourth finger straight. This will be the bottom chopstick.
4. Now pick up the other chopstick and place it on top, firmly between the tips of your thumb, index and middle fingers. The index and middle fingers should be curled.
5. When eating, always keep the bottom chopstick stationary and use the top chopstick to maneuveur and pick up food.
6. To pick up food, straighten your index and middle fingers as much as needed to move the top chopstick outward. Grab the food, then bring the chopsticks together by curling your index and middle fingers. The basic idea is to use the chopstick as a pivot, with the thumb being the axle.
7. Lift the food up to your mouth, leaning over if necessary.
8. For foods containing bones (such as chicken), hold the food with the chopsticks and eat around the bone.

Tips:

1. Children often find it easier to hold chopsticks nearer the bottom instead of in the middle.

Source: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/restaurantdining/a/chopsticks.htm


LOTUS SHOES

For over a thousand years, Chinese women's beauty was judged by the size of their feet. The ideal foot was three inches long, and shaped like a lotus bud. Few women achieved this ideal.

Footbinding began for most girls at about six years of age, and they would wear the bindings for the rest of their lives. Over 90% of women in China bound their feet, including women from all classes and regions.

A woman spent many hours making and embroidering her own shoes. She needed sixteen pairs of shoes before her wedding, four for each season, including sleeping slippers and red special occasion shoes.

Typically, a matchmaker carried one shoe to her prospective mother-in-law, rather than a portrait. If the shoe was small, she was judged to be obedient and able to withstand hardship. If the needlework was fine, she was considered to be self-disciplined and skillful.

In the 1920's, as Chinese women became more aware of western fashions, binding began to fall out of favor in some circles, especially in Shanghai. In 1949, with "Liberation", it was outlawed.

While we were in China in January, we saw three older women whose feet had been bound. One woman, in Yunnan province, was halfway up in the western hills outside of Kunming, a place only reached by a long, steep walk. She wore traditional embroidered slippers.

We brought back a number of old shoes for bound feet. In the Yunnan province, we purchased five pairs of the flat shoes used in that region. They have wonderful embroidery, mostly with flowers, but a few with dragons.

In Beijing, we found a wonderful variety of older silk slippers. We have a pair of red sleeping slippers with green embroidery, perhaps used on a wedding night. A pair of blue silk funeral slippers has soles stitched with the traditional lotus of long life and the ladder to eternity. We also have an impossibly tiny pair of red slippers with unusual starburst embroidery, and several other lovely examples of beautifully embroidered shoes.

These shoes are reminders of the extremes women went to in order to look beautiful. They are also beautifully crafted examples of Chinese women's main creative outlet for a thousand years.

Source: http://www.mingeiworldarts.com/shoes.htm