Tag: multiculturalism

The 4-Winged Angel

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What is it?

In the Quanzhou Maritime Museum in Quanzhou city, you can see a Nestorian Christian tomb carving that is nicknamed “The 4-Winged Angel”. It is an angel with 4 wings, wearing Mongolian-style clothing. The crown the angel wears is a Buddhist motif. The clouds the angel sits on are the auspicious clouds from Taoism. He also holds a lotus, which is a motif that is linked to both Hinduism and Buddhism. This tombstone was found in Quanzhou city. This carving demonstrates how Quanzhou integrated the religions and cultures of their residential foreign merchants into their local culture.

Interesting Tidbit

One staff member at the Quanzhou Maritime Museum explains that having a combination of different religious motifs in one carving was quite rare for China and the ancient world. However, for Quanzhou, this was a regular occurrence because Quanzhou has been a religiously diverse city and its people have been open to new ideas since the tenth century.

Connection to Guiding Questions

This carving demonstrates that foreigners and the religions they brought influenced the local culture of Quanzhou. Before Quanzhou became a multicultural trade city, Quanzhou and the rest of China had Taoism and Buddhism, but during the maritime trade era, Quanzhou welcomed foreign clerics and merchants, and allowed them to practice their religions in peace. However, it could be said that they did more than just “allow” religious tolerance. From looking at this artifact and many others, Quanzhou residents integrated these foreign religious motifs and beliefs into their own customs. Now, Quanzhou city is still considered a religious and cultural diverse city, and the locals are quite proud of that.

Li, S. (2014, December 14). [The Christian stone carving featuring a winged angel from the Quanzhou Maritime Museum]. China Daily. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/fujian/images/attachement/jpg/ site1/20141218/eca86bda385d15fcc53f1c.JPG

China Quanzhou 2017 City Promo Film

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Screenshots from the video

Summary of Video

This short ten-minute video is a promotional video for the city of Quanzhou. First, the video explains Quanzhou’s ancient history. Under the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou was both a huge maritime trade port as well as a city with many religions and ethnic groups co-existing peacefully. Since the city has maintained their historical sites and cultural relics so well, the city is listed in both the Cultural Heritage List and Memory of the World Register. Second, the video explains how Quanzhou has been a pilot city for China’s “real economy”, which promotes and expands private industries. Quanzhou has several major industries: textiles garments, shipbuilding, footwear, home furnishing, petrochemical, and mechanized equipment. The surrounding areas are also doing well in growing tea, designing ceramics, and making aromatics. The video concludes that Quanzhou is a city that strives towards industrial transformation and technological innovations.

Interesting Tidbit

Although this isn’t related to my guiding questions, it was interesting to learn that Quanzhou and Fujian’s local Chinese population under the Song and Yuan dynasty created special types of music. Known as the “living fossils”, these musical styles include Nanyin music and Liyuan opera. The Nanyin includes the playing of local instruments and lyrics from the local Fujian dialect.

Connection to Guiding Question

I watched this video because I wanted to see how much of the old Quanzhou is present in the modern-day Quanzhou. It still is. Like the Quanzhou that was ruled under the Song and Yuan dynasties, modern-day Quanzhou relies on manufacturing and cash crops to boost its economy. Quanzhou and its surrounding areas manufactures ships, grows tea, and designs textiles and ceramics, like Quanzhou did under the Yuan Dynasty. Of course, modern-day Quanzhou has expanded its industries to include manufacturing buses, creating home furnishing, and designing footwear. From 900AD to 2017 AD, Quanzhou is a city that strives towards industrial transformation and technological innovations.

YANG, J. (2018, September 7). 中国福建泉州2017城市宣传片(China Quanzhou 2017 City Promotional Film) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/cTWCdHqS3Dc

Quanzhou: Where world cultures meet

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Screenshots from the video

Summary of Video

An Australian Youtuber, Amy or “Blondie”, who has traveled and lived in China for five years, presents an informative overview about the culturally diverse city of Quanzhou. In this video, she first explains that Quanzhou was a cultural city that valued religious freedom and openness. While walking, she shows that the Qingjing Mosque, the Guanyu Temple, Quannan Christian Church, and Kaiyuan Temple are all a short walking distance from each other. In Quanzhou, she elaborates that you can see a mixture of religions through Hindu motifs on the Kaiyuan Temple’s two pagodas and the 4-Wing Angel carving that resides in the Quanzhou Maritime museum. She also discusses the popular items that Quanzhou exported around the world, which includes white porcelain made in Dehua and Tie Guan Yin tea produced in Anxi. From 900-1200AD, Dehua area, which is located in the outskirts of Quanzhou, produced white porcelain, which was sent around the world and known for its color and quality. It was a sought-after item by Europeans during the Ming dynasty. Tie Guan Yin tea was produced in Anxi, an area located in periphery of Quanzhou, and is still known for its sweet taste and nice fragrance.

Interesting Tidbits

There are a lot of interesting tidbits she discussed during this video. One of them was the everlasting multiculturalism of Quanzhou. Along the alleyways or houses, one can still see the Arabic influences. When asked about it, one staff member at the Quanzhou Maritime Museum explains that around 60,000-70000 of the Quanzhou population are descendants of Arabic maritime traders. Another interesting tidbit is the meaning behind the inscription on the stones on Jiuri Hill. According to Blondie, these inscriptions are prayers in the wind that wishes “travelers, traders, the businessman at that time safe travels, good winds, and smooth sailings”. Blondie believes this shows that Quanzhou loved the foreigners that came to Quanzhou.

Connection to Guiding Questions

This video answers both questions. It provides an explanation for the cultural and economic reasons why Quanzhou became a multicultural city. The cultural reason is that Quanzhou was open to foreigners, their culture, and their religions. Foreigners are more likely to stay in a place and make that place their home if the city and the community welcomes them. The economic reason is that the major exports that China gave the West was tea and porcelain, and those were developed in the periphery of the city. However, these two sites could have been created because Quanzhou was already a port city and developed sites closer to Quanzhou.

Blondie in China. (2019, December 19). Quanzhou: Where world cultures meet [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Ubs8a89sWL4