There is a saying in Chinese, “The magistrates are free to set fire, while the common people are forbidden even to light lantern”. Here is a story. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279A.D.), a mahistrate named Tian Deng made it a taboo to say the word “deng” or its homonyms to show his dignity. At the […]
The Spring Festival Picture is a special type of painting in China. It is used during the Spring Festival. It is originated in the Pre-Qin Period (before 221 B.C.). People paste the images of various gods on both sides of the door, expecting them to ward off the evils and usher in good luck. In […]
The phrase “finding a new trail” is often used to mean independently developing a new style or method. There are many Chinese sayings that refer to “tunnel vision”, such as “Don’t stick to only one path until you walk into complete darkness,” “a single-track mind” and “one who refuses to turn back until running into […]
Initially made in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), “Tang Sancai” (tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty) is well-known for its gorgeous glaze and exquisite shape. “Tang Sancai” was mainly used as articles buried with the dead in the graves. They are based on brown, yellow and blue, with white, reddish brown, light yellow, jade […]
Ancient Chinese considered marriage as the origin of all ceremonies. Ceratin rules and formalities had to be observed and certain gifts had to be presented. In the Tang Dynasty, custom went so that tea was treated as a betrothal gift. Since the Song Dynasty, tea was even more closely related to wedding. A betrothal gift […]
In China, there is a Magpie Bridge. You may feel surprised and wonder if the bridge is made of magpies. Actually, it is true. So that isn’t a real bridge, but a bridge in a beautiful legend. There was once a fair girl named Zhinv who lived in heaven. She fell in love with a […]
The individual components of associative compounds represent meaning. In the pictophonetic characters, some components represent the character’s meaning and others represent its pronunciation. For example, “财(cai)”, “帐(zhang)”, “货(huo)” all have the character “贝” (bei) and all have meanings related to money. Actually, “贝” (bei) means “shell”, and in ancient China, people used shells as money. […]
According to the legend, when Cangjie created Chinese characters, he noticed not only everything in the universe, but also the human race itself. Chinese characters, therefore, reflect not only the Chinese people’s understanding of the world but also their understanding of the human body. Many Chinese characters are related to the human body. Study Chinese: 化 […]
In ancient times, the 5th lunar month was traditionally called “the poisonous month” or “the evil month”, with the 5th day being the most unlucky day. It was believed that women must avoid giving birth on this day. Later, children less than one year old would be sent to their maternal grandmothers’ homes to “to […]
The land-boat dance is said to commemorate Yu the Great, a legendary emperor who successfully led the people to fight floods. The land-boat dance represents various boating movements on land, and the performer is usually a girl or a young woman. The boat is not a real one, and it is merely made of two […]