Part One Chinese Seal Cutting， Calligraphy and Paintings
Part Two The Four Treasures of Study
Part Three Packaging and Shipping
Words and Expressions
Exercisese
Part One Chinese Seal Cutting， Calligraphy and Paintings
SA： Good afternoon， sir and madam. What can I do for you？
C： Good afternoon. We feel puzzled about the use of so many little pieces of hard and soft stones.
SA： Engravers cut seals on them. Seal cutting， as one of the typical Chinese traditional arts， which also includes calligraphy and paintings， is very popular with the social elite. Nowadays， many foreign friends who are interested in Chinese culture are fond of having their own name-seals cut.
C： That sounds great. But I'm particularly interested in traditional Chinese paintings. People tell me that Chinese calligraphy and paintings are the gem of Chinese culture. But I wonder what's the difference between Western oil paintings and Chinese ink paintings.
SA： Well， briefly speaking， Western oil paintings are created by colors and brush touches while traditional Chinese paintings are by lines and strokes. Traditional Chinese painting is a combination in the same picture of the arts of poetry， calligraphy， painting and seal engraving.
C： Thank you for your explanations. But are the pictures in your shop original or reproductions？
SA： They're all reproductions. But they retain so well the vividness and charm of the original that it is difficult to tell which is the original and which is not.
（The customer is looking through the pictures.）
C： Ancient beauties， flowers， galloping horse …… Oh， my， what a lovely landscape！
SA： Well， sir. I should say you've got artistic eyes. This is an imitation of the famous painting “Spring Outing” by Zhang Ziqian， a great artist of Sui Dynasty （581A. D. - 618A. D.）。 Zhang's painting is the earliest painting of landscape we've discovered to this day. Would you like to buy it？
C： Yes. How much is it？
SA： 1000 yuan.
C： That sounds reasonable. I'll take it. By the way， who painted this “Galloping Horse”？
SA： Mr Xu Beihong， one of the most famous painters of modern China. His paintings are characterized by typical Chinese as well as certain techniques of oil painting.
C： Wonderful. I'll take it too.
Part Two The Four Treasures of Study
SA： Good afternoon， sir. What can I do for you？
C： Good afternoon. I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow. I'd like to buy something special. Can you give me some suggestions？
SA： My pleasure， sir. I suggest you take something closely related to our ancient civilization. You may have heard that Chinese painting is closely related to the art of calligraphy. Both Chinese painters and calligraphers use black ink that could produce different shades and writing brushes that could make many kinds of lines.
C： I was told that they are the so-called “Four Treasures of the Study”。 What are they？
SA： Look here， sir. They are rice paper （Xuan paper）， inkbrush， inkslab， and inkstick. You may take them as typical souvenirs from China.
C： Sounds interesting. Would you please give me some more details？
SA： Sure. The “Four Treasures of the Study” was originally named for the rice paper produced in Xuancheng， inkslab in Duanzhou， inkbrush in Huzhou and inkstick in Huizhou. Xuan paper， honored as the “king of papers” and favored by Chinese artists， is soft and absorbent. It can bring the characteristic styles of Chinese paintings into full play. Duanzhou inkslabs， also called Duan inkslabs are the best among all the inkslabs produced in China. It bears a tinge of purple in color， with exquisite veins and smooth jade-like appearance.
C： How nice！ How about inkbrush and inkstick？
SA： Huzhou inkbrushes are famous for their material selection and elaborate craftsmanship. The materials for the brushes can be the wool of goats， hair of yellow weasels， of hares or a mixture. Huizhou inksticks are known as being “clear， moist， even and neat”。 The ink can always “stay firm and keep its original touches once on paper.”
C： That's very kind of you to give me so detailed explanations. But I'm afraid I can't write and paint with a writing brush， let alone using them in painting and calligraphy.
SA： It doesn't matter. You can learn how to use an inkbrush.
C： I even don't know how to use inkslabs and inksticks. Maybe I'm too old to learn any new tricks. Never have I dreamed that I could use inkbrush someday.
SA： One is never too old to learn， you know.
（The shop assistant shows how to make ink， how to grip the inkbrush and how to write with the brush.）
C： Ah， you are so persuasive. Please give me a dozen of Huzhou inkbrushes， a Duan inkslab and 40 sheets of Xuan paper. How much do they come to in all？
SA： Just a moment， please. …… Oh， 790 yuan in all. I'll wrap them up for you.
Part Three Packaging and Shipping
（C1 = Customer， C2 = clerk）
C1： Where is the parcel counter please？
C2： What is it you are sending？
C1： A set of porcelain that I've bought for a friend.
C2： Will you open it for inspection？
C1： But I have just packed it up nicely. I don't want to spend the next hour repacking it.
C2： I'm sorry， but it is a question of security. That is the rule. We will just look into the box and will be very careful with it.
C1： Okay， if that's the rule. In Rome， do as the Romans do， as they say.
C2： There is some embroidery here as well as the porcelain set.
C1： Right. They go with the set.
C2： You'll have to put them both on the form. Do you want to send it by air or surface mail？
C1： Airmail please. How much is it？
C2： That will be 72 yuan. Anything else？
C1： No， thank you.
Words and Expressions
puzzled
a. 纳闷的
engraver
n. 雕刻者
engraving
a. 雕刻的
seal
n. 印章
calligraphy
n. 书法
calligrapher
n. 书法家
elite
n. 社会精英
gem
n. 珍宝
briefly
adv.简略地
culture
n. 文化
brush
n. 刷，刷子，毛笔，冲突
touch
n. 笔法，一笔
stroke
n. （写字的）一笔一画
combination
n. 组合
poetry
n. 诗歌
original
n. 原作
reproduction
n. 复制品
retain
v. 保持
rigor
n. 活力
essence
n. 本质，精髓
Galloping Horse
奔马图
artistic
a. 艺术的
limitation
n. 限制
outing
n. 远足，短途旅行
landscape
n. 山水，风景
technique
n. 技术
Chicago
n. （美国）芝加哥
related
a. 和……有关的
ancient
a. 古代的
civilization
n. 文明
painter
n. 画家
shade
n. 荫，荫凉处，遮光物，细微差别
so-called
a. 所谓的
typical
a. 典型的
souvenir
n. 纪念品
inkslab
n. 砚台
inkbrush
n. 毛笔
inkstick
n. 墨
absorbent
a. 有吸收性的
honor
v. 给……荣誉
n. 荣誉，名誉
characterize
v. 具有……特色
bear
v. 携带，负荷，承受
tinge
n. 淡色，气味
purple
a. 紫色的
exquisite
a. 优美的，精巧的 vein
n. 纹理，静脉，叶脉
smooth
a. 光滑的
jade
a. 翡翠，玉
elaborate
a. 复杂的
goat
n. 山羊
weasel
n. 黄鼠，黄鼠狼
mixture
n. 混合，混合物，合剂
Exercises
Topics for Discussion
1. What is the customer especially interested in？
2. Are there many different kinds of traditional Chinese painting？
3. Is the guest satisfied with the painting the shop-assistant recommends to him？
4. What is the relationship between Chinese culture and arts and crafts？
5. Can you say something about the differences between traditional Chinese paintings and Western oil paintings？
Role Play
1. An American lady intends to buy a real jade bracelet. You are to recommend some to her and explain the differences between different kinds， and then tell her how to test the quality.
2. A Japanese guest wants to buy some typical Chinese ink-wash paintings （水墨画） （gouache 水粉画）， watercolor 水彩画， finger painting 指画， engraving 版画， lasergraph 激光画）。 The shop assistant recommends Li Moran's paintings to him.
Complete the following：
C： I wonder what those little stone carvings are for？ They're too small for display purposes.
SA： They're __________， madam. The Chinese like to have their names __________ on them， and then use them __________. When you look at a Chinese painting， you always find __________ such __________ stamped on it.
C： Oh yes， I've often wondered what those little red squares were. We can often find more than one on a painting.
SA： Nearly all Chinese artists， especially painters， engrave __________. It's quite normal that a painter possesses a dozen or __________ such seals.
C： Is that a method of preventing other people from faking their paintings？
SA： Yes， you're right. It's just another form of art __________ to the painting.
C： If it's a means of preventing forgery， surely the seals can be faked too.
SA： Not __________. Stone seals are difficult __________， particularly if you use two __________ on one painting.
C： I see. No wonder one always finds more than one seal on a Chinese painting.
Put the following into English：
1. 我想买几块石章。你能拿一些让我挑选吗？
2. 当今不少中国绘画大师将中国民族风格和西洋技法熔于一炉。
3. 中国画的题材（subject matters）主要是山水、人物、翎毛和花木。
4. 这位日本客人非常熟悉中国的文房四宝。她想买一方真正的端砚。
5. 这正是他多年来梦寐以求的宜兴紫砂茶壶。
6. 毛泽东同志擅长草书（cursive script）。他的书法作品备受国内外收藏者的钟爱。
7. 我们都想知道这许多小小的又硬又软的石头的作用是什么。
8. 对中国文化感兴趣的许多外国朋友都很热衷把他们的名字刻在印章上。
9. 你也许已听说过中国画与书法艺术密不可分。
10. 恐怕我不会用毛笔写字，更不用说去画画和写书法了。
Put the following into Chinese：
1. Well， briefly speaking， Western oil paintings are created by colors and brush touches while traditional Chinese paintings are by lines and strokes.
2. Well， sir. I should say you've got artistic eyes.
3. I suggest you take something closely related to our ancient civilization.
4. That's very kind of you to give me so detailed explanations.
5. One is never too old to learn， you know.
6. In Rome， do as the Romans do， as they say.
7. People tell me that Chinese calligraphy and paintings are the gem of Chinese culture.
8. Traditional Chinese painting is a combination in the same picture of the arts of poetry， calligraphy， painting and seal engraving.
9. But they retain so well the vividness and charm of the original that it is difficult to tell which is the original and which is not.
10. Both Chinese painters and calligraphers use black ink that could produce different shades and writing brushes that could make many kinds of lines.
Reading Material
“China” is probably as old as China. Excavations all over China confirm the use of pottery dating back thousands of years.
There are three particular words which are commonly used when talking about the craft for which the Chinese are internationally famous： Ceramics， Pottery， and Porcelain. Ceramics is the art of Pottery. The word is also used to refer to the products themselves， and in such cases it has the same meaning as pottery.
All ceramics begin as clay， and the type of clay used serves in part to determine the type of ware produced. Porcelain is made from very fine white clay which is fired in a 'kiln' to a temperature exceeding 1，200℃。 Porcelain gets its western name from the fact that， upon seeing it for the first time， Marco Polo said that it reminded him of the porcellus shells found on the southern coast of Italy.
Jingde Zhen in Jiangxi is well known for the production of Chinese ceramics. Here， we have the famous Shiwan ceramic workshops in Foshan. In the past， Shiwan probably produced only pottery for everyday use. The factory is now perhaps more aptly named as Shiwan Ceramics.
China has at least four main kinds of embroidery， named after four different provinces. They are probably too technical for any visitors to China. Embroidery was an important pastime activity in the past. For an industry， hand-worked embroidery is mostly done by machine. Only experts can tell machine embroidery from hand embroidery.
Chinese painting and writing are very closely linked together. When one is looking at a Chinese painting， one is also reading it. A good Chinese artist is one who can match his artwork with poetic literacy. In recent years， Chinese painting has taken on some creative approaches which deviate markedly from traditional art. Many top-ranking artists of international fame have skillfully combined traditional art with their own creative style， particularly in color ink painting. As a result， a new form of Chinese art has emerged in recent years.
China can probably rank top in the world in ivory carving. Our ivory balls are world famous. Other forms of arts and crafts include seal engraving， monochrome drawing， woodcut printmaking， wood sculpture， lacquerware and cloisonne.
Questions
1. What is the derivation of the name “porcelain” for some of our Chinese ceramics？
2. Can one easily distinguish the difference between hand embroidery and machine embroidery？
