Don't be ashamed of your culture

Cities in China are fast losing their architectural splendor to Western-style, glitzy skyscrapers. The ravages of modern life and the hunger for more land are swallowing up traditional houses such as those in Beijing's hutong. Despite all this, the imperial structures in the capital, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the magnificent edifices in lesser-known towns, and the Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples will remain on China's map for thousands of more years.

Everything in and about China has a history, a written history of more than 5,000 years. Texts written long before Confucius can still be deciphered, so long is its literary tradition. The prose epic reached its peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when three of the four Chinese classics Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh and Journey to the West, were written. Poetry had already reached its zenith in the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907). Such is the power and grace of the language that all subsequent Chinese poetry forms have been derived from it - right down to Guo Moruo and Ba Jin.

But then, writing has always been an art in this country. Calligraphy, rather than painting, is traditionally regarded as the highest form of visual art. In fact, any Chinese character is a work of art - so intricate are its stokes, so stylized the hand-written pattern, so full of vigor its appearance.