Through fasting Master Hong Yi began to adjust his lifestyle and mindset to fit that of a monk. Afterwards he shaved his head and formally became a monk.

When he was in Japan Master Hong Yi came in touch with Western art, which lead him to start his magazine. It was through magazines that he first heard of fasting.

Grandmother always took great care in her appearance and she expected the same from us. Red nail polish, makeup, earrings were an important part of her daily routine even into her later years.

This episodes is a continuation of our Art series! We will be talking about Chinese sculpture in the next few videos. Sculpture in China has a long history and even predates most Western sculpture.

My impressions of my grandma were mostly based on pictures we exchanged in letters. Her beauty and style influenced me a lot when I was younger.

My grandmother was not one to sit back in times of turmoil. She was politically active and performed across the country promoting Nationalism. Her courageousness even lead her to be detained by the Japanese.

For an early age you could tell my grandmother was different. She was precocious and beautiful. An artist, a spy and a beauty her life was a whirlwind.

In our lives we experience pain and sorrow, Master Hong Yi is no different. One of the most painful experiences he went through was loosing his mother.

Master Hong Yi grew up in a wealthy and prosperous family. He had everything he could possibly need. Why would he ever want to leave?

"Farewell" or "Songbie" was composed by Master Hong Yi. This song reflects the vicissitudes of Master Hong Yi's life. More importantly it talks about parting, something Master Hong Yi has experienced numerous times through out his days.

Hong Yi was a master painter, musician, dramatist, calligrapher, seal cutter, poet, and Buddhist monk. His calligraphy version of the "Xin Jing" is greatly beloved by all.

While we use Christmas trees and stockings to decorate during Christmas, let's see what kind of decorations the Chinese use for their New Year's celebration.

It is a Chinese tradition to put up a blessing as a decoration in the home during the Chinese New Year. This is quite similar to saying grace before eating Christmas dinner.

Cherish what you have now so that you will not regret it later.

Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honor their ancestors or loved ones at their graves.

We may not be able to live as extravagantly as the emperors before us, but we can still afford to live life with a bit of elegance.

The complexity underlying the simplicity of Song Huizong's art is especially evident in the Ru porcelain of his time.

Song Huizong had an uncanny way of making the invisible visible.

Song Huizong assigned very challenging subjects to his painters.

Song Huizong had greater ambitions with his self-created font, "Slender Gold."

Each one of us who comes to the Bund is adding his or her own piece to a beautiful puzzle.

Song Huizong was the Chinese emperor with the best taste of them all.

The Astor House Hotel was the setting for the story of American journalist Helen Foster Snow.

Which emperor could possibly restrain the "Eastern Heretic," Huang Yaoshi and "Western Venom," Ouyang Feng, as well as a host of other strange-looking fellows from the same era?