For some people when they think of Daoism, they are often referring to the works of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. These thought system may be seen as philosophies, rather than religions, as they include nothing within themselves about gods, worship or ritual. This type of Taoism is often referred in Chinese as “Daojia” or […]
In the past, there was once a pagoda called the Leifeng Pagoda, situated on the shore of the beautiful West Lake (in Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province). According to legend, over 700 years ago, there was once a whit snake that was transformed into a beautiful woman named Bai Niangzi (also known as Madam White Snake), who […]
The ancient Chinese incorporated their observations and awareness of nature into the shapes of Chinese characters. Learn Chinese: 日(“ri”, the sun) The archaic character for “日” resembles the shape of the sun. the small dot in the middle indicates that the sun is a luminous body—⊙. In ancient China, there was a story called “Houyi […]
The ancient Chinese people believed that the head was the most important part of the body and that it controlled all other organs. There are many Chinese characters related to the human body. The original meaning of the character “元” was “head”. Since the head is the “root” of the human body, “元” also means […]
It is a custom for people wearing scented sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival. Some bags are extremely delicate and feature ingenious designs such as a goldfish, a little white bunny, a litter tiger, a kitten, a bottle gourd with beautiful and exaggerating patterns, and lively and sleek lines. Scented sachets came into being before […]
Eating the small dumpling balls made of the glutinous rice flour is a popular custom shared by all the Chinese on the Lantern Festival. This kind of food originated from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and evidence can be found in “Ode to the Rice Dumplings” by a poet Jiang Kui. When boiled, the rice dumplings […]
Bian Que, also named Qin Yueren from Renqiu in Hebei Province, was the most ancient of the physician from the historical period (c. 500 BC). He was reputed to be an excellent diagnostician, excelling in pulse taking and acupuncture therapy. He is ascribed the authorship of “Bian Que Neijing” (“Internal Classic of Bian Que”). Han […]
The grand Kirgiz wedding ceremony consists of two steps: engagement and wedding. At the engagement, the boy’s family carries gift to the girl’s home on horseback, with some pure white cotton on the horse head as a symbol of engagement for marriage. The girl’s parents treat them to their best food. The Kirgiz wedding is […]
Xi’an’s Forest of Stone Tablets Museum, located on Shuyuanmen Avenue, and has been called China’s largest stele archive. It contains more than 11,000 cultural articrafts such as steles, engravings and sculptures from the Han and Tang Dynasties. It also boats a notable collection of ancient Chinese calligraphy. There are nearly 100 bookstores in the area […]
In 2007, Shenzhen became the first city in China to have a per-capital income exceeding 10,000 dollars. During the 1980s Shenzhen was transformed by the Chinese government from a small fishing village in the southern part of Guangdong into a Special Economic Zone. Several million immigrants flooded into the young city, and their motto was, […]