The day began with a lesson in calligraphy – the ancient, revered art of stylised writing using brush and ink. Considered a supreme visual art form in traditional China. The significance runs far deeper than just making some nice-looking characters. Calligraphy is viewed as a discipline for cultivating moral character, inner peace, and self-expression. Great works reflect the artist’s personal integrity and vitality through the speed, pressure, and rhythm of each brushstroke. It was inscribed on everything from imperial scrolls and fans to massive cliff walls, and mastery was required for civil service exams. I was quite pleased with my attempt to write the Chinese character for “man” 男 and our teacher, a university professor of calligraphy, gave me a little red stamp of approval. After that it all went downhill a bit and my paper started to look as if the ink bottle had been knocked over onto it. We ended up watching our tutor draw a picture of some bamboo. Then we were invited into the showroom just in case we wanted to buy any of the many pictures displayed there. This was a well disguised carpet shop but still ended up being essentially a sales pitch.
Next, we were taken to a market area in the Muslim Quarter. Described as the hub of Xian’s Islamic community this is a small but busy area packed with food shops. On our way there, we were given a talk about how well China treats it minority communities and how everybody gets on with each other. There are about 25 million Muslims in China. This sounds a lot but is still less than 2% of the population. Many of the traders who used the Silk Road were Muslim. Apart from goods, they carried with them their culture and beliefs. Islam was one of the religions that spread this way in the 7th to the 10th centuries through war, trade and diplomatic exchanges. The Muslim quarter that we saw seemed to be mostly about food. All types of food in hot, busy, colourful stalls. The scene did not strike me as very Islamic. Dress mostly looked Chinese. There were no burkas. Very few women even wore head scarfs. We did not spot any mosques or hear a call to prayer. There was no obvious Islamic art. If the area was Islamic then it was in a lightweight, easy sort of Chinese way.
Although Muslims have been in China for a long time it has not always been an easy relationship. There are around 12 million Uyghur Muslims. They live mostly in the far-west Xinjiang region, are ethnically Turkic and speak their own language. According to Amnesty International the Chinese government has placed over one million Uyghurs into detention camps and prisons. Human rights groups claim that these people face severe surveillance, forced labour and limits on religious practices like fasting or praying. The Chinese government states that these camps are vocational “re-education” centres and counter-terrorism measures designed to stop separatism and religious extremism. Hui Muslims make up around 11 million people living across the central and eastern regions. The authorities have also placed pressures on these communities. Overall, the state policies appear to be aimed at creating a sanitised Chinese version of Islam. I think this is what we were shown.
Lunch was, yet again, a bit of a disappointment but then we got taken to a pub. A real ale pub at that. Part of the premises were given over to a micro-brewery where several types of beers were being made. Many people like the mildly flavoured wheat beer. Personally, I struggle with a beer that is cloudy and preferred the strongly flavoured IPA. There was also a pilsner type lager and fairly conventional bitter. We each got a free beer. This surprised me because generally on this trip they do not miss a chance to charge us for an optional extra. We also got a couple of hours lounging around in the pub buying our own beer and chatting. This was very pleasant and also made a nice break from all the rushing around.
Back in the days of the Tang Dynasty, Xian was known as Chang’an and was an important cultural and historical centre. In the evening we went off to see an optional show that was billed as an exciting exponent of this prosperous society that keeps alive the splendour of this period. Optional meant we had to pay for it. The other option was to sit in your hotel room.
The show however was excellent. We had good seats and we had beer from the pub. The Sheffield City Hall will throw you straight out if you walk in carrying a couple of beers. Here, however, it is fine. I have no idea what the show was about. There was a lot of solid drumming. Even a couple of drum solos. Some dramatic music, colourful lighting and pretty girls dancing. What was not to like?
