有时人们为了表示尊敬，把著名的专家称做”大家”，例如：说某人是书法大家，某某人是文学大家。遇到这类语句时我们要当心，不要把表示著名专家的”大家”，误解为我们平常说”请大家安静”的那个表示一定范围所有人的”大家”。家 means home. The character 家 (jiā) first appeared over 3,000 years ago on Shang Dynasty bronzes. At that time, it was just a drawing that depicted a house with a pig inside it. Looking at the pictures, you can Continue Reading

Like holidays from all corners of the world—be it Asia, America, Europe, or Africa—the Dragon Boat Festival is made of myth layered on top of myth, stories woven together and made new with each retelling. Legend surrounds the Dragon Continue Reading

One interesting household legend that many know about this festival is the romantic tale of the white snake turing into a maiden, going to West Lake in Hangzhou and falling in love with Xu Xian (许仙). The Dragon Continue Reading

The main food during this celebration is 粽子! This delicious food is basically glutinous rice stuffed with a variety of different fillings (red beans, pork, peanuts, dates, etc.) and wrapped in bamboo. Usually, they are steamed or boiled. Here’s Continue Reading

After Confucius’ death many other philosophical schools came up (the “hundred contending schools”) offering different concepts for the ordering of society. Daoists, with their soft attitude, can be called the originary ru, especially because they do not adhere to Continue Reading

In the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923), Jingshi Theatrical Troupe, which founded this type of drama, performed in Tianjin. Because the dramas they performed contained new meanings of punishing evil-doers and praising good-doers, warning and converting Continue Reading

也许这是无法避免的结果，这只6层楼高的黄色橡皮鸭人气之高，虽然目前正版的大黄鸭还在香港的维多利亚港游荡，但并不妨碍中国内地的许多城市抄袭。 Perhaps it was inevitable. Given the huge popularity of the six-story, yellow rubber ducky that’s been bobbing around in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, companies in a number of mainland Chinese cities have decided to copy it. 中部城市武汉、古都西安、北方港口城市天津和浙江省的影视基地横店，都相继涌现出了山寨版的“大黄鸭”。 New Continue Reading

Two branches of “heaven” study soon emerged: astronomy and astrology. Both disciplines influenced themes in Chinese philosophy, such as the Uniformity of Heaven and Man (天人合一 tiānrén héyī) and the Sympathy between Heaven and Man (天人感应 tiānrén gănyìng). Continue Reading

Whether you like it or not, there’s a chance your own Chinese cell phone has a ringback tone, and you’ve been torturing your friends with a polytonic symphony every time they call. Let us help you fix that. Get Continue Reading

During the First China Shakespeare Festival in 1986, audiences both at home and abroad watched with respect and inteest an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing” presented by the Anhui Provincial Huangmei Opera Troupe. British Prime Minister Margaret Continue Reading