It is said that the Mid-Autumn Festival has been in existence in China for more than 2,000 years. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in the spring and to the moon in autumn. “The Book of Rites” records that emperors worshipped the sun in the morning in spring […]
Study Chinese with Keats School: 火huǒ There was no electricity or gas in ancient times. Heating food required the use of fire. The character “火” looks like a blazing flame. Since the people broke off a branch from the tree, drilled into the lumber and obtained fire from it, the civilization began to progress. The […]
Despite the food shortages in the ancient time, Chinese people didn’t lack creativity or sense of humor. Buying a kilo of meat would be enough to feed 10-20 people and feed them until they were “stuffed”. This is because the stuffing would include vegetables, tofu and other ingredients mixed in with the meat. China’s food […]
In an ordinary Chinese kitchen, you can often see ancient utensils: a mortar and pestle used as a garlic crusher, iron wire shelves used for baking bread, and wooden rolling pins. Chinese kitchen utensils emphasize the idea of “one tool, many uses.” For example, chopsticks can be used for eating and also in place of […]
The Guangzhou Flower Fair is held every year, starting three days before New Year’s Eve and ending the 1st day of the New Year. During the fair, the city becomes a sea of flowers, with people carrying them everywhere. The people of Guangzhou can’t celebrate the New Year properly without buying a cumquat, a daffodil, […]
According to the people of Nanjing, their special characteristics are really special. Their favorite market place is the Confucius Temple; their signature dish of salted duck; their favorite TV program is “Extraordinary Weekend”. The Confucius Temple is located on the busiest street in the entire southern part of Nanjing city. The Temple is over a […]
A man who asked his guest to stay for a cup of tea sent his servant to borrow some tea leaves from his neighbors. When the water started to boil he poured in some water, waiting for the return of the servant. Before long, the water started boiling again, so he had to pour in […]
The Nadun Festival is a time of socialization and entertainment for the Tu people to celebrate a good harvest. Starting at the end of summer harvest, the festival lasts for about two months till the arrival of autumn. It is considered as “the longest carnival in the world”. The annual festival consists of collective activities […]
When procession bearing the dowry reached the bridegroom’s family, there would be a great din of drums, pipes and fireworks over the sky to welcome its arrival. It was a complex process for people to unload the dowries. Usually a close relative of the bride’s family would present a list of the items and read […]
There are some cases of choosing the directions in the feng-shui divinations. One is “choosing the directions” through “the 24 ways”. That is the sum of the 4 trigrams from the Earlier Eight Trigrams—Qian, Kun and Xun, the 8 Heavenly Stems of “jia, yi, bing, ding, geng, xin, ren, gui” (there are actually 10 Heavenly […]