Phoenix is a legendary bird in Chinese myth. It has been regarded as the head of all birds and a symbol of auspice for thousand of years. It is said that social stability usually follows the appearance of a phoenix. The phoenix is described to have a chicken’s head, snake’s neck, swallow’s jaw, tortoise’s back […]
There is a very famous picture in China named “song he yan nian”(the pine and the crane lengthen the life), it is to wish longevity. For thousands of years, Chinese people have been fond of pine because it is evergreen, cold-resistant and long-lived. Even two thousand years ago, Confucius said that pine withers later than […]
Chinese consider gifts as an important part to show courtesy. It is appropriate to give gifts on occasions such as festival, birthday, wedding or visiting a patient. If you are invited to a family party, small gifts like wine, tea, cigarettes or candies are welcomed. Also fruit, pastries and flowers are a safe choice. As […]
Neighbors seem to be an important part of community relationship in China. For instance, if a couple had a noisy fight and the neighbors heard it, they would come over to calm them down. Or, if both the husband and the wife are working, they will give their house key to the old woman next […]
“Li” in China not only refers to not only gifts, but more often than not, courtesy and modesty towards people. Politeness is extremely important in contacts among Chinese people. It helps you approach the other side and establish a good relationship. Politeness or rudeness is a key factor behind success or failure in China. When […]
In China, various customs are associated with the quality of fertility as symbolized by dragons. In Hunan and Hubei provinces, women wanting to be pregnant will let the dragon circulate their bodies and give money or gift to the dragon dance team as reward. A boy is placed on the back of the dragon and […]
If you have studied Chinese or are studying Chinese now, you may have heard of “Self-explanatory Characters” when learning Chinese characters. The pictographic character for knife is “刀” (dao), isn’t it look like a big knife? So in order to obtain the character “刃” (ren, “blade”), all we need to do is to add a […]
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: […]
There were countless boats, each of which had a dragon head and a dragon tail carved its hull (borrowing the implication of “wrath” from the figure of the dragon); 20 strong men were seated on both sides of the boat, each holding big wooden oars (borrowing the implication of “bold and intrepid” from the strength […]
There are a lot of folktales about the Lantern Festival, and the most believable one is that it originated from the custom of illuminating silkworm by peasants in the past. Illuminating silkworm fields meant that on the night of the festival, peasants, hoping for a bumper harvest, would insert a long bamboo pipe with a […]