In the Song Dynasty, the large-scale commerce in tea and horses between the Chinese dynasties and the Tibetan developed very quickly. The government then required a large number of warhorses to defend against the invading northern nomadic. It established the tea and horse office in charge of the tea and horse trade and set up […]
On the lunar New Year’s Eve which connects and separates the old and new years, families get together for a reunion. All members sit together around a table with tea, pastries and fruits on it. Apple is a must, for it is the symbol of peace and safety. In the north, a bowl of rice […]
In ancient times, Chinese people had a tendency of preferring boys rather than girls. And they think boys should be the person to learn, to work and to do some important thing, while girls should stay at home and learn to look after the family, do some embroidering and making clothes such kind of things. […]
There were customs of “counting the nine-day periods” and “drawing the nine-day periods” among the ancient people. That is, people noted down the passage of the nine-day periods and the relevant weather changes with interesting pictures and poems. Sometimes, a painting of a plum tree with 81 blossoms was hung on the wall, and in […]
The Lord Rabbit is a typical Chinese toy for the children. In the past, the dolls of Lord Rabbit were customarily given to children on Mid-Autumn Festival. When people worshipped the moon, they would make an offering to the memorial tablet of “the Moonlight Buddha”. The offering was actually a sheet of paper. At the […]
In traditional Chinese culture, the wolf has always been the embodiment of ruthlessness and cunning and a natural enemy of mankind. A very familiar Chinese fable is, “Mr. Tung-kuo and the wolf”. It’s a story about a scholar who rescued a wolf that was being chased by soldiers, only to find himself at risk of […]
Cui Jian is known as “the Father of Chinese Rock.” He was born in Beijjing in 1961, and during the 80s he skyrocketed to musical fame in army camouflage and a red bandana. He wrote and performed such songs as “Nothing to my name”, “Rock and Roll on the new long march” and “Let me […]
study Chinese with Keats School. Here are a few tips for you to memorize the characters. The character “娶” is used to refer to a groom bringing his bride home to take her hand in marriage. This is also called “娶媳妇(qǔ xífù) ”. The character was written as “取” in the ancient times. The left-hand […]
In the Chinese Han Dynasty, the popular songs were mostly simple, straightforward, and expressive ballads about passionate love or bitter hatred. One example from that time contains the words: “Till the mountains are flattened, and all the rivers run dry; till it thunders in the winter and snows in the summer; till the earth and […]
In the Chinese language, there is a word very typical of China: 天命tiān mìng—literally “the will of the heaven”. Ancient Chinese people believe that something is destined, it is “天命”, you can not decide anything, but everything is decided by the will of heaven. The Will of Heaven is, however, imaginary. It only exists in […]