In China, food and its preparation has been developed so highly that it has reached the status of an art form. Rich and poor, the Chinese people consider that delicious and nutritious food is a basic necessity. There is an old Chinese saying Food is the first necessity of the people.

This art has been cultivated and refined over hundreds of years. Legend has it that the culture of Chinese cuisine originated in the 15th century BC during the Shang dynasty and was originally introduced by Yi Yin, it’s first Prime Minister.

The two dominant philosophies of Chinese culture both had extreme influences on the political and economic history of the country but it is less well known that they also influenced the development of the culinary arts.

Confucius emphasised the artistic and social aspects of cookery and eating. The Chinese don’t gather together without involving food – it is considered to be poor etiquette to invite friends to your home without providing appropriate food.

Confucius established standards of cooking and table etiquette, most of which remain to this day. The most obvious example of this is the cutting of bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables during the course of the food preparation in the kitchen, rather than using a knife at the table which is not considered to be good manners.

Confucius also encouraged the blending of ingredients and flavourings to become a cohesive dish, rather than tasting the individual components. Harmony was his priority. He believed and taught that without harmony of ingredients there could be no taste. He also emphasised the importance of presentation and the use of colour, texture and decoration of a dish. Most importantly, cooking became an art rather than a task to be endured and certainly he was instrumental in promulgating the philosophy of “live to eat” rather than “eat to live”.

On the other hand, Tao encouraged research into the nourishment aspects of food and cookery. Rather than concentrating on taste and appearance, Taoists were more interested in the life-giving properties of food.

Centuries on, the Chinese have discovered the health-giving properties of all sorts of roots, herbs, fungus and plants. They have taught the world that the nutritional value of vegetables is destroyed by over-cooking (particularly boiling) and in addition have found that things with a great flavour also have medicinal value.

Home cooked Chinese food is extremely healthy, even though much of it is fried. This is due to the use of polyunsaturated oils (used only once and discarded) and the exclusion of dairy products. In addition the inclusion of animal fat is minimal because portions of meat are small.

Calligraphy and painting were two of the most prized art forms in antediluvian China. Calligraphy was considered to be the most eminent and most complete form of painting. The history of painting in China dates back to the 2nd century BCE. In the earliest times, painting and writing were made out on silk, until paper was later invented during the 1st century CE.

Chinese art, and in particular, Chinese painting is highly regarded around the world. Chinese painting can be retraced to as far back as six thousand years ago in the Neolithic Age when the Chinese have begun utilizing brushes in their paintings. Chinese art dates back even earlier than that.

According to subject matter, there are two major categories of Chinese painting: landscapes, character paintings and flower-and-bird paintings. In typical Chinese painting, Chinese landscape artwork embodies a sizable collection, depicting nature, especially mountains and bodies of water. Landscapes have customarily been the choice of the Chinese because they manifest the poetry characteristic in nature. Consequently, many esteemed paintings are landscapes.

The most popularly known form of Chinese art is “Water-ink” painting, where water-ink is the medium. Some of the vital things required for the Chinese painting include: paper, brush, ink or ink stick, ink stone, and color.

• Brush: The Chinese brush is a necessary element for Chinese painting. The brush should be strong and flexible. Two types of brushes are used. The more delicate brush is created from white sheep hair. This brush should be soaked first, and then dried to prevent curling. The second one is made from fox or deer sable fibers, which are very resilient, and tend to paint better. The way the brush is used depends on the different attributes of brush strokes one wants to obtain, such as weight, lightness, gracefulness, ruggedness, firmness, and fullness. Various forms of shades are applied to impart space, texture, or depth.

• Ink Stick: There are three types of Ink Stick: resin soot, lacquer soot, and tung-oil soot. Of the three, tung-oil soot is the most traditionally used. Otherwise, Chinese ink is best if ink stick or ink stone are ineffectual.

• Paper: The most generally used paper is Xuan paper, which is made of sandalwood bark. This is highly absorbent, so the color or ink diffuses the moment the brush stroke is laid. The second most well-known is Mian paper.

• Color: The earliest Chinese paintings employed Mo, a kind of indigenous ink, to produce monochromatic representations of nature or day-to-day life. Fabricated out of pine soot, mo is combined with water to get unique shades for conveying appropriate layers or color in a painting.

Chinese painting is called shui-mo-hua. Shui-mo is the mix of shui (water) and mo. There are two styles of Chinese painting. They are gong-bi or detailed style, and xie-yi or freehand style. The second is the most common, not only because the objects are drawn with just a few strokes, but likewise because shapes and sprites are drawn by uncomplicated curves and natural ink. Many ancient poets and scholars used xie-yi paintings to express their spiritual angst.