The ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar is the Double-Ninth Festival (Chongyang Festival). Ancient people thought nine a positive number, so the festival was regarded double positive (Chongyang in Chinese). Ancient customs included mountain climbing, drinking, admiring chrysanthemum, arranging dogwood branches, eating colorful steamed cakes and so on. The Double-Ninth Festival […]
The useful declines to be used, whereas the useless asks to be used. Make use of the useless. It is not I who seek help from the callow youth but the callow youth who seeks help from me. According to popular Chinese myth, the spirit of a deceased, except for extreme cases when it is […]
Take the opportunity to put in your foot and seize the heart of the enemy, proceed step by step. When a host is so awkward that he does not know how to accommodate a guest, the guest may dictate the necessary proceedings on the host’s behalf. Thus the roles of the host an guest are […]
Each Chinese has a unique name. The naming methods can be generalized in this way. The 1st one is the situational method, which is to name a baby according to the signs around its birth, parents feeling and the situation of the birth. Confucius named his son Kong Li (Li means carp in Chinese) because […]
Chinese people are noted for their discerning eating habits. Prior to the 1980s, straitened financial circumstances prevented access of the majority to their epicurean heritage, but an improved diet was of primary importance for opening up and reform. The problem of “feeding the stomach” was, therefore, resolved 20 years ago. There is more concern now […]
When a Chinese baby is born, he/she is already considered to be one year old: age is calculated from the date of conception not the date of birth. Praise should not be given to a new-born Chinese baby as this is believed to invite the attention of demons and ghosts. Instead, the baby should be […]
In Chinese’s eyes, the dragon is an auspicious deity full of magic power. It has always been respected by Chinese. In the ancient mythology, there was a myth to the effect that the Yellow Emperor went to Heaven on the back of a dragon. It was Liu Bang, the 1st emperor of the Han Dynasty […]
In traditional Chinese opera, the emperor is called “wansuiye” and people have to exclaim “wansui” (ten thousand years old) three times when they meet the emperor. As the living condition was poor in ancient times, to live a long life was the greatest wish for all people. In ancient times, except for “wansui”, there were […]
China is known as a state of etiquette and ceremonies. Many proverbs have been passed down from generation to generation such as “civility casts nothing” or “courtesy demands reciprocity” and so on. Once upon a time, a man went on a long tour to visit his friend with a swan as a gift. But it […]
“Let loose the noose only to catch later” is a tactic of deliberately leaving someone at large to give a false impression that he is safe, and then making a sudden move to catch him when he is off guard. This is a very tactic that Chinese are familiar with because there are many stories […]