The Tiger In the character of the oracle bone script for tiger, the tiger’s round head faces upwards, the tail faces downwards, and the body shows a striped pattern. The Chinese people believe that tigers have a “王” (king) character on their heads. Therefore, the tiger is regarded as the king of the animal world. […]
Five (wu, “五”) The ancient Chinese people believed that the world was composed of five basic substances: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. These five substances are known as the Five Elements (“wu xing”). The Five Elements can represent everything. For example, the Five Elements can represent the five basic directions: east, south, west, north […]
Study Chinese: 木(mu, wood/tree)，林(lin, many trees)，森(sen, forest) The Chinese character of the oracle bone scrip for “木” resembles a tree with roots and branches. In the old days, the character “木” meant “tree”. It is used as a component in many Chinese characters which denote the names of trees or have meanings related to “wood” […]
This phrase is often used by Chinese housewives, because it is them who are responsible to the “Chai mi you yan” of a family. Here, “chai” means “firewood”; “mi” refers to “rice”; “you” means “oil” and “yan” is “salt”. These are the basic materials for cooking. In the agricultural city, the basic concern of a […]
米mǐ(rice) Cooking requires the use of fire, but it doesn’t mean that once people had fire, they could cook. In China, there is a saying, “qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī”. In other words, without rice, even the wisest wife could not cook a meal. For the Chinese people, the rice is the […]
During the 20th century in China, the 4 most celebrated male performers of female roles (called “dan” performers) in Peking Opera were Mei Langfang, Cheng Yangqiu, Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng. They reached the peak of their art from by using their singing ability, expressive eyes and practiced gestures to perform the roles of quintessentially […]
Lijiang is located in China’s Yunnan Province and has become a favorite tourist spot over the past few years. Lijiang is described as a place where you can see running water from any street corner and babbling brooks from every doorway. Running water is always visible when walking along any of the streets. The water […]
People describe the weather in Guangzhou is “sauna-like humidity”, “the suffocating heat and humidity can tale your breath away”. The Guangzhou people have their own way to overcome the problem. Getting rid of the body’s excess heat and toxins is a number one priority. The most common way of cooling off is drinking cool tea. […]
In China’s history, towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the banks of the Qinhuai River were home to eight courtesans, who were surpassingly beautiful. During the turmoil and upheaval which marked the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, their fate was tied to several famous and important people […]
A robber and an alms-begging monk were pursuing their way together when a tiger suddenly appeared from nowhere and pounced upon them. The robber immediately drew a bow. The tiger, however, was not afraid and kept closing in on them. As a last resort, the monk threw his alms book at the tiger, which immediately […]