Civilizations were usually situated along large river valleys, notably the Indus River in the Indian Subcontinent, the Yellow River in China, and Mesopotamia in the Middle East.
There is a province in China located at the south side of the Yellow River, and got it's name Henan 河南, which literally means "south of the river". The Yellow River is regarded as the Cradle of Chinese civilization, and Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 3,000 years of recorded history, because it is located in the center of the Chinese territory, it remained China's cultural, economical, and political center until approximately 1,000 years ago. Emperors chose to build their capitals in Henan, and a large quantity of treasures have been unearthed from here.
I was proudly born and grew up in the capital city of Henan province -- ♥Zhengzhou 鄭州. The only thing annoys me was that when people sit together talking their home towns, I had nothing to brag, I only knew it as a major transportation hub for Central China. There are so many cites in Henan are well-known for their historical culture, on the contrary, Zhengzhou looks pretty young.
Luoyang 洛陽 is south of Zhengzhou. For several centuries, Luoyang was the focal point of China. It went through 13 dynasties and 105 emperors. Kaifeng 開封is east of Zhengzhou. It was once the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, which used to be the richest, most skilled, and most populous country on earth. Emperor Huizong was as an artist more than an emperor, he was a skilled poet, painter, calligrapher, and musician. He sponsored numerous artists at his court, and the catalogue of his imperial painting collection lists over 6,000 known paintings. He created a unique style of calligraphy and porcelain. Ru wares, already fabled for their quality, since their creation they have been considered to be amongst the finest ceramics ever made. The glaze, once described as “the color of the sky after rain", which was demanded by Huizong. Anyang 安陽, is north of Zhengzhou, the last capital of the then-presumed-legendary Shang dynasty, right after Neolithic period. The people of the Shang culture developed a written language, a highly centralized government, and sophisticated bronze and ceramic technologies.
Luoyang has it's splendid stone carve buddha grottoes; the daily life of Kaifeng citizens in Song was recorded in the magnificent Along the River During the Qingming Festival; the earliest Chinese picture-like characters were found on tortoise shells and animal bone, which were unearthed at Anyang. Compared to those cities, what does Zhengzhou has？Finally, I found something about my hometown, I realized it's not a young city at all. At ♥ Zhengzhou, which is believed to have been the second of several Shang capitals, archeologists found the remains of workshops in which ceramic, bone, and bronze objects were produced. Shang potters had discovered that certain materials could be melted at high temperatures to form a glaze and that this glassy coating on the surface of a ceramic ware could be used both for decoration and to seal the clay surface. After all, Anyang is much famous than Zhengzhou, all of the important earthenware from Shang were unearthed at Anyang. The most treasured of Shang ceramics are the rare fine-grained unglazed white wares made from a clay that is closely related to kaolin, the main ingredient of the hard, translucent porcelain wares that would not be perfected until the 7th century. While many shards of white earthenware have been unearthed at Anyang, only a few whole pots of this type have so far been found.
In conclusion, "Cultivation of the moral and spiritual values of the Ancients appears to have most often combined with a curious neglect or indifference (even at times downright iconoclasm) toward the material heritage of the past, the most important and prestigious objects tended to fall prey to looting and burning of the imperial palace accompanying the fall of practically every dynasty." Many precious objects in history were destroyed, fortunately there were some survived. Through the antiques we perceive the aesthetic of our predecessors. Some dynasties were famous for their art achievements, such as Tang and Song; Some area of arts were developed to an outstanding grade due to the support of the emperors, and the art accomplishments of the emperor themselves. Emperor Huizong was an expert in painting and calligraphy; Emperor Yongzheng sent commands to the technicians directly, he even noticed the patterns on his handkerchiefs, and would give detailed instruction. In old times counties like Korea or Japan were influenced by the Chinese culture, as today we follow their popular trends. I don't know since when the Chinese aesthetic has gone, the exquisite art works have gone. Alright, I think I should stop complaining, my room is always messed up, how could I mention something like AESTHETIC.
