Southern Fujian is said to have originated in the Yellow River and Luo River regions. During the Western Jin, it spread to Zhejiang, Guangdong, and other areas along with the southward migration of the gentry. Many believed that the official language of the Tang dynasty was Southern Fujian, so local opera troupes often chanted the poems of Li Bai and others.
My lover came riding on a bamboo horse, circling the bed and playing with green plums.
We lived together in Changgan Village, and neither of us ever suspected the other.
A love story between two people who grew up together was called "childhood sweethearts." Children also played roles in the ceremonial celebrations. From time to time, one could see a "little general," only six or seven years old and barely three feet tall, running past Nick and Lam Qua with a bow and arrows in hand, straddling a bamboo pole with a model horse's head on one end as if it were a real horse.
Their costumes were somewhat like those of children on Halloween, except they were dressed as figures from Chinese mythology.
Lam Qua intended to commission a lacquerware box. Though tradition held that Yangzhou lacquerware was the finest, Guangzhou lacquerware had its own distinctive qualities. He was probably a regular at that shop; the moment he appeared, the owner set down his work and came over to receive him. Lam Qua had not come empty-handed this time. He had brought sketches with him.
The Chinese had perfected the craft of lacquerware. Each lacquer workshop was divided into several smaller workshops. In one, carpenters prepared the materials and made the wooden articles. Next, a layer of coarse clay was applied to the wooden surface. Once it dried, hard stones were used to polish the clay away, leaving