12 Amazing Chinese Documentaries about Traditional Culture

Due to China’s long and continuous history, Chinese traditional culture has a profound influence on human civilization. Let’s have a glance at this abundant culture by watching 12 series of Chinese documentaries.

Chinese traditional culture is broad and profound. I tried my best to find documentaries to cover various aspects. Please read below to find more.

Hexi Corridor(河西走廊)

Keywords: politics, military, economy, culture, religion, history, Silk Road, Dun Huang…

The Hexi corridor got a Douban Score of 9.7 which is the best score in the list of Chinese documentaries.

Hexi corridor is an important historical route in western China. It was the most important route from North China to the Tarim Basin and Central Asia. It’s used for traders and the military.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English Subtitle)

Tencent Video: Click here (Chinese)

The Pilgrimage of Hsuan Tsang (玄奘之路)

Keywords: Hsuan Tsang, Buddhism, Tang dynasty…

Hsuan Tsang was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. During the early Tang dynasty, he traveled to India in the seventh century and described the interaction between Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism 

This documentary is about Hsuan Tsang’s life and his journey.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

Every Treasure Tells a Story(如果国宝会说话)

Keywords: antiquity, national treasures, cultural relics…

In the first season, 100 national treasures were introduced. Through each 5-minute episode, we learn not only the story about the treasure but also the Chinese spirit, aesthetics, and values behind them.

In the second season, the director team selected a greater diversity of historic relics. Compared to the first season, they paid more attention to video indexing.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin (梁思成与林徽因)

Keywords: reservation of Chinese ancient architectures, Republic of China, Second Sino-Japanese War, Cultural Revolution…

Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin is a pair of scholar couple. Lin is known to be the first female architect in modern China while her husband Liang is the famed “Father of Modern Chinese Architecture”.

They committed almost their whole lives to the exploration of the national style of architecture design and construction, and also the preservation of Chinese ancient architectures and cultural heritage.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

CCTV: Click here (English)

CCTV: Click here (Chinese)

Century Masters International Version (百年巨匠国际版)

Keywords: 20^th century, influential persons in Chinese history, Chinese painting, Chinese literature, Peking Opera, Chinese drama, Chinese music, Chinese calligraphy…  

The international version of the documentary Century Masters honors the life stories of 10 significant cultural figures from the 20th century.

These masters are from different professions but each of them had a significant influence in Chinese history: Zhang Daqian (painter), Mei Lanfang ( Peking opera artist), Liu Haisu (painter), Lu Xun (writer), Xu Beihong (painter), Cheng Yanqiu (Peking opera singer), Lin Fengmian (painter), Jiao Juyin (theater theorist), Liu Tianhua (musician) and Sha Menghai (calligrapher).

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

600 Years of KunQu Opera (昆曲六百年)

Keywords: traditional Chinese Opera, Kunqu Opera revival, World Intangible Heritage…

Kunqu Opera was listed as an intangible heritage of humanity in 2001.

As one of the oldest traditional Chinese opera forms, Kunqu Opera combines not only singing and dancing but also martial arts and lyrical recitation. It is performed in the melodic Suzhou dialect and has a history of 600 years.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English Subtitle)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

Tea: Story of the Leaf (茶，一片树叶的故事)

Keywords: Chinese tea culture...

Tea is one of the most important part of Chinese traditional culture.

The documentary explores the history of tea, types of tea, making, brewing, the people who drink it, the tea relationship between countries, the philosophy of tea and also the future of it.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

Yuan Ming Yuan (圆明园)

Keywords: classic Chinese garden, Qing Dynasty, the Second Opium War…

“Build a dream with marble, jade, bronze, and porcelain, frame it with cedarwood, cover it with precious stones, drape it with silk, make it here a sanctuary, there a harem, elsewhere a citadel, put gods there, and monsters, varnish it, enamel it, gild it, paint it, have architects who are poets build the thousand and one dreams of the thousand and one nights, add gardens, basins, gushing water and foam, swans, ibis, peacocks, suppose in a word a sort of dazzling cavern of human fantasy with the face of a temple and palace, such was this building. ”

–Victor Hugo

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (Chinese)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

The Tale of Chinese Medicine (本草中国) 

Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine, herbs…

The Tale of Chinese Medicine is a Chinese documentary on the culture and history of traditional Chinese medicine.

Nowadays, traditional Chinese medicine seems to receive more and more attention in the global medical community. However, many Chinese people still misunderstand traditional Chinese medicine, and they believe traditional Chinese medicine is outdated and isn’t effective. The development of traditional Chinese medicine in China also faces many problems, such as resource destruction and lack of learners. Therefore, the director directed this documentary to help enhance the public’s understanding of Chinese herbs and traditional Chinese medicine.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (Chinese)

iQiyi: Click here (Chinese)

Five Thousand Years of Chinese Characters (汉字五千年)

Keywords: Chinese characters, literature, archaeological research…

These series of Chinese documentaries introduce the history of Chinese Characters.

During two years of filming, the crew went to 12 countries and interviewed hundreds of scholars to investigate the origin of Chinese characters.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

Porcelain Story (瓷路) 

Keywords: Chinese ceramics culture, porcelain, Chinese documentaries…

“Porcelain Story” is a reflection of the history of Chinese culture and it also introduces the world’s major exchanges of cultural production.

Chinese ceramic culture has a profound influence on the world spatially and temporally, so lots of historic landmarks and time points have been marked by the stories of Chinese ceramics.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

The Four Treasures Of Chinese Study (中国文房四宝)

Keywords: brush, ink, paper, inkstone, calligraphy…  

Although Four Treasures of the Study are quite old stiles, every Chinese know they are referred to the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone used in Chinese calligraphic traditions.

These series of Chinese documentaries introduce you not only to the history of these four treasures but also to how Chinese people make these treasures and how they use them.

Furthermore, watch this documentary online:

Youtube: Click here (English Subtitle)

Bilibili: Click here (Chinese)

总结

Chinese traditional culture is far more than what mentioned in the above documentaries, there are still too much to learn and discover. Those cultures are heritage and treasures that ancestors have left not only to Chinese people but also to the rest of the world.

For most documentaries, I have listed the Chinese version and English version for you to watch, so I wish you will enjoy them and feel free to leave any comment.