The ancient Chinese incorporated their observations and awareness of nature into the shapes of Chinese characters. Learn Chinese: 雨(yu, rain) The character for “雨” offers a clear depiction of rainfall. The horizontal line on top represents the sky, and the outer structure looks like a house which represents a layer of clouds covering the world, […]
Below the eyes is the nose. The ancient character for “自” just look like a nose. The original meaning of this character was “nose”. Today, the character “鼻” (bí, “the nose”) still has the character “自”. When Chinese people point to themselves, they point to their nose. Therefore, the character “自” later come to mean […]
The Chinese people are very particular about eating. There is an old saying that says “food is the paramount necessity of the people”. This concept is also reflected in Chinese characters. Study Chinese with Keats School: 食shí The oracle bone character for “食” looks like a container filled with food. The character “食” can refer […]
Dumplings feature in many Chinese sayings, one being, “Dumplings are better than delicious food, lying down in better than simple comfort.” Other sayings with similar references are, “Dumplings as you leave, noodles when you return,” and “On the 1st, eat the dumplings, on the 2nd, eat noodles”. The 1st saying describes the lack of materials […]
When you contact with a Chinese, if it comes to marriage and questions about children, these sorts of inquiries are mainly used for getting to know people better. For Chinese people, being able to talk about one’s family, or martial situation, is a sign of closeness and mutual acceptance between two people. When friends meet […]
神(shén) In ancient times, people were limited in terms of both productivity and their cognitive abilities. At all times, nature threatened people’s survival. People were thus afraid of this kind of mystical power, and believed that the gods (神) were creating trouble. The character “神” consists of “示” and “申”. “申(电)” means “the lightning that […]
A magazine ran a column on the special characteristics of different cities, and Nanjing earned a peculiar superlative as the most mournful city in China. They believed that Nanjing had suffered a painful story, and had an air of suffering about it. However, the people of Nanjing don’t think so. A famous writer said, “total […]
Zhongyou, with Zilu or Jilu his literary name, was one of the favorite disciples of Confucius and came from the State of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period. He ws straightforward, brave and filial. In the early stage, his family was poor and he usually cooked meals with edible wild herbs that he picked […]
The Tu people mainly feed on highland barley, wheat and potato and make a dozen kinds of vegetables like radish, Chinese cabbage and lettuce. In their daily life, they have Chinese sauerkraut, with meat as supplement. They like milk tea and parched buttered flour. On happy occasions they make varieties of fried foods and handpicked […]
Before sending the dowries to the bridegroom’s home, the bride’s family would display all the dowries in the courtyard or on the empty ground. After the display, the trousseaux would be loaded onto the dowry tables one after another. The greater the display, the more respected the bride’s family would be. After that, the wedding […]