Chinese Culture & History

    十二生肖动物的故事 The legend of Chinese Zodiac

      Furious, the cat pounced on the rat. Knowing that it was his fault, the rat had to escape. From then on, all the cats will chase the rats and the rats have no choice but to run.  很久很久以前的一天,天神把所有的动物集合起来,对大家说:“我要从你们当中选出十二种动物,轮流在地面上当一年的大王,叫做十二生肖。”A long time ago, the Continue Reading

    十二生肖排序的来历 The Zodiac order history

    In this way, the 12 shichen and animals are matched and sequenced: zi rat, chou ox, yin tiger, mao hare, chen dragon, si snake, wu horse, wei sheep, shen monkey, you rooster, xu dog and hai pig. Later, people Continue Reading

    意思 (yìsi )in Chinese

    意思 yìsi 1.【meaning;i dea】意义;道理。 例如:不要误会我的意思 Please don’t misunderstand what I mean.2.【intention; wish; desir】意图;用意。 例如:文章的中心意思 the key intention of this article3.【a token of affection, appreciation, etc.】略表心意。 例如:这点东西送给您,小意思,别客气 This is a small token for you. I hope you like it.4.【suggestion; hint; Continue Reading

    Chinese Art:Dongtai Hair Embroidery 东台发绣

    如今,东台的发绣艺人们创新手法,变双钩为晕色,开发出双面发绣和双面异色绣,使得发绣作品的表现力更为丰富。 Dongtai in Jiangsu Province is well-known both domestically and internationally for its unique hair embroidery. Hair embroidery is made with different stitch techniques (pinning, cutting, winding and rolling needle) by using human hair as the “thread” with Continue Reading

    The I Ching, Ying Yang and 8 Trigrams

    TheI Ching(Wade-Giles) or “Yì Jīng” (pinyin), also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes or Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. The text of the I Ching is a set of oracular Continue Reading

    Chinese Art:Wedding of Sala Nationality 撒拉族婚礼

    撒拉族婚礼仪式在清乾隆年间编撰的《循化志》一书中有较为详细的记载,二百多年来,整个婚礼仪式程序未有太大的变化,传承体系较为完备,对研究撒拉族文化史有重要价值。 Wedding ceremony is the most important event of Salar people in their whole life. It takes place in the high time of winter and goes through, in about half a year, the procedures of match-making, go-between Continue Reading

    Manner to address people in Chinese 中文称呼的礼仪

    Children basically call their parents mother and father, and grand parents grand father and grand mother – here again differentiating between grand parents from the either side of the family. And, because the Chinese just love children, these are Continue Reading

    Chinese Art:Song Brocade Weaving Skills宋锦

    现在的传承人是苏州的钱小萍。 Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word “broccoli,” comes from Italian broccato Continue Reading

    Chinese Art:Dehua Porcelain Sculpture

    近年来,由于生活方式的改变和外来文化的影响,年轻人多不愿投身这一学习周期长、见效慢的传统行业,现在的艺人多在60岁左右,有人亡技失之忧,迫切需要有关方面予以重视和扶持。 Dehua porcelain sculpture firing and manufacturing skills are excellent in the world.Now the inheritor is Su Qinghe. 福建的德化瓷雕塑烧制技艺高超。现在的传承人是苏清河。 Dehua County is located at the central part of Fujian Province. Dehua porcelain can be manufactured in two ways: Continue Reading

    Chinese Art:Xinjiang Muqam新疆木卡姆

    “中国新疆维吾尔木卡姆艺术”是流传于新疆维吾尔族聚居区的各种木卡姆的总称,是集歌、舞、乐于一体的大型综合艺术形式,以“十二木卡姆”为代表。木卡姆音乐现象分布在中亚、南亚、西亚、北非19个国家和地区,中国新疆处于这些国家和地区的最东端. Xinjiang Muqam is a masterpiece of intangible cultural heritages in China.A muqam is the melody type used in music of Xinjiang, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and Continue Reading