Chinese Sources

Origin and purpose of 24 solar terms There are two spellings for the 24 solar terms, one is a traditional Chinese 二十四節氣, another spelling is the simplified Chinese二十四节气. The twenty-four solar terms have a history of over 2000 years. It was adopted in ancient times to serve as a supplementary calendar for guiding agricultural affairs. Owing to the extremely large territory of China, the formulation of the twenty-four solar terms mainly took account of the climatic conditions of the yellow river valley. Therefore, the twenty-four solar terms could be used only as a reference for farming of different regions.  China 24 Solar Terms How 24 solar terms work? The twenty-four solar terms are evenly arranged into the 12 months of a year, with each term (a climatic period) lasting 15 days or half a month. The beginning of spring, the beginning of summer, the beginning of autumn and the beginning of winter usher in the four seasons.  The spring equinox, the autumn equinox, the summer s...

Origin of the double ninth festival There is another traditional festival of China, its official name is Chung Yeung Festival (重陽節) (重阳节) (also spelling Chong Yang Festival). Chong Yang festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The ancient Chinese thought the number “nine”had a lucky and vigorous meaning. So it came from the coincidence that double nine meaning “double lucky”.  What most Chinese people do on the double ninth festival?  One of the traditional activities is mountain climbing. On such an autumn day, when the sky is high and the air is brisk, people stand on top of a mountain, feasting their eyes on the surrounding beauty of nature.  Another custom of the festival is eating double ninth cakes . Because in Chinese “cake” 糕 "gāo" and “high” 高 are homophones, people would eat cakes to symbolize scaling heights. As every Chinese traditional festival has its corresponding food, Most people drink chrysanthemum tea. The festival is also an occasion...

Brief history background  There are two spelling for "Peking Opera" , traditional Chinese京劇 and simplified Chinese京剧. Its literal meaning is Capital drama. Beijing opera arose in Beijing in the middle of the 19th century. It was based on the combination of Anhui opera and han opera, absorbing some merits of other local artistic forms. Peking opera is a performance art incorporating singing, reciting, acting, martial arts. The opera performances were mainly practiced in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.  Peking opera and its stylistic elements have appeared in many Chinese films. In 1993, there is a remarkable film “Farewell My Concubine” by Chen Kaige. It tells a love story of Peking opera actors, their romance on performance stage and sad truth behind the stage.  Performers and roles There are five main role types in Peking opera, sheng (gentlemen), dan (women), jing (rough men), mo (middle-aged man)and chou (clowns). You can easily recognize them from their make-up and app...

What preparations to do to learn Chinese calligraphy? In China, calligraphy is referred to as shūfǎ or fǎshū (書法/书法, 法書/法书), literally meaning 'way/method/law of writing'. Traditional Chinese 書法 法書 Simplified Chinese 书法 法书 History of Chinese Calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters. There have been many outstanding calligraphers throughout Chinese history, who have just left us with many great and valuable pieces of work. In china, anyone who has gone to school can write characters, but to write them well is not easy. A beautifully written piece is just like a beautiful painting. It is an art.  The art of calligraphy enjoys a long history in which it has been practiced for thousands of years, during which the artists keep learning from and modeling on the previous works and develop independent styles on the basis of their own characteristics. The combination of different characters produces a totally different visual effect. In 2009, Chinese ...

I ntroduction of Chinese Calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters. In 2009, Chinese calligraphy was added by UNESCO to the representative list of the Intangible Cultural heritage of Humanity. There have been many outstanding calligraphers throughout Chinese history, who have just left us with many great and valuable pieces of work. In china, anyone who has gone to school can write characters, but to write them well is not easy. A beautifully written piece is just like a beautiful painting.  Benefits to learn Chinese Calligraphy Unique Traditional Art. The art of calligraphy enjoys a long history in which it has been practiced for thousands of years, during which the artists keep learning from and modeling on the previous works and develop independent styles on the basis of their own characteristics. The combination of different characters produces a totally different visual effect. To practice calligraphy is a form of visual art training. It is commo...

This is the Loess Plateau in northern China and the valley of the Yellow River. The traditional cave houses are commonly distributed on the Loess Plateau of northern China, mainly in four provinces: Gansu, Shanxi, Henan, and the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia. It is called a yaodong (Chinese: 窰洞; pinyin: yáodòng) or "house cave". That is a particular earth dwelling， popular in the Loess Plateau in northern China. The Chinese people generally choose a hillside to carve out of a central sunken courtyard. Let me show you video and some pictures.  How do people feel living in a yaodong? The earth surrounds around the indoor rooms like an effective insulator, so people feel warm in cold winter and cool in hot summer. That is why it was generally comfortable in the old days.  The history of yaodongs goes back thousands of years ago, and they continue to be alive at present. In 2006, we estimated forty million Chinese still in living in yaodongs. Our researchers find these traditi...

100年前的清朝小学的语文课本欣赏 在这电脑打字普及的年代，人们似乎对动手写字冷落了许多。如果你翻开100多年前的清朝小学语文课本，你一定会感到惊讶的！这本是其中的第二册，因为是四年制，相当于现在的一年级下或二年级初。虽然这仅是其中一册，但当时的教育理念依然展露无遗。 知识之外，感受到的是对生活的热爱，对美好的向往，对文化的认同以及对做人的引导，对成为有用之人的期待。开学第一课，由拜孔子开始。 古语有云：“国将兴，必贵师而重傅”。仪式，有时并不是形式，这是一种虔诚，一种尊重，一种珍视。随随便便的习惯一旦养成，轻浮以待也是早晚的事儿。 这里是以实践告诉学生，尊师重道的道理。再想想如今，纯粹的师生关系往往夹杂着额外的东西，实在让人唏嘘。 第二课，讲清楚其他学习内容。　 让学习计划、学习目标变成学习内容，这点很利于学生学习习惯的养成。而习惯的养成，其实对于人的一生都非常重要。人生最怕的就是漫无目的，无所适从。 后面，就是正式开课了。除了识字，你将真切感受到什么是内容丰富，文辞优美，言短而意长。 认识周围的世界 理解生存的常识： 明白生活的不易： 端正求学的态度： 学会人与人之间的相处： 知道做人要有礼有节： 更要知晓国家的意义： 故事，也不可少： 总之，我们的语言，可以述尽世间美丽： 中华的风骨，千年依旧： 最后一课，再次提醒：对于学生，学习仍是第一要务。 以上就是100多年前的语文课本和教育理念。 动动手指，保存一下，给孩子看看吧！感受到满屏的书法艺术之美和生活气息，点个大赞，这是晚清中国刚打开国门时的书吧。 ___________________________________________________________________ 网友点评语录： + 现在子孙们读书太辛苦了！什么课后班、兴趣班…累的睡眠不足。当初，我们读初中时书包两斤重左右，加一架算盘也不到三斤。学费三元五角钱。我认为，要求学生负担不要太重，人人身心健康，能写一手好毛笔字，闲时静下来下下象棋、围棋、会点音乐，多点体育活动，再能帮家长做做家务活这该多好！ + 那時的教育與當下不一樣，那時重啟蒙，講常識，當下則教育為政治服務。 + 文字正楷，表述简单易学，内容涉及天文地理人际（社会）关系，还有礼仪规范，很客观。值得一读，重温中华文化博大精深！ + 晚清已腐败透顶，但对孩子的教育没放松。特别是文字...

Ansai waist drum dance is a unique, large-scale folk drum dance, which is popular in Ansai county in the northern part of Shanxi province. It can either be performed by several people or as many as 1000 people together. Due to its thundering drums and grand spectacle, it is known as the “No. 1 drum dance in the world.”  Ansai, located in the northern part of Yan’an, Shanxi province, was once a place of great military importance in history. According to the local people, waist drums were an indispensable armament for soldiers in times as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. They were used to send alarm messages when being attached by surprise, to boost soldiers’ morale in battlefields or to celebrate victories.  In the cultural center of Ansai county, there is a bric of the waist drum dance portrait from the Song Dynasty on display, which was unearthed in northern Shanxi. The portrait vividly shows the waist drum performance at that time. As time goes by, the waist drum dance is...

Learn Chinese through Chinese songs 老外学汉语, 爱听的中文歌曲，视频汉语字幕 Pan XiaoFeng is a native Chinese pop singer, born in 1972 and raised in JiLing province of China. Pan XiaoFeng became well-known after his first CD album "Western Dao Lang" was released. His CD album used the same name “Dao Lang” as another Chinese pop singer, which had caused an uproar and lawsuit. But that did not change his important role and influence among the fans. Later, there was a starring role casting opportunity in a movie describing the life of Wang Luobin, the king of Western singer. The casting opportunity was considered to Pan Xiaofeng, which aroused fierce controversy among the Chinese fans and audience.  Since the release of another album "What the hell I am" in the end of 2006, the singer Pan Xiaofeng, a powerful singer under Feilo Records agency, has been very popular and has won the resonance of the majority of listeners. In the first year of 2007, in the search survey of major websites, t...

Story of dragon boat festival : Duanwu festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. “Duan” means “beginning” and “wu” is synonymous with the figure 5. It is an important traditional festival of China. Dragon boat racing has a rich history of ancient ceremonial and ritualistic traditions, which originated in southern central China more than 2500 years ago. The legend starts with the story of Qu Yuan, who was a minister in one of the Warring State governments, Chu. He was slandered by jealous government officials and banished by the king.  Out of disappointment in the Chu monarch, he drowned himself into the Miluo River. The common people rushed to the water and tried to recover his body. In commemoration of Qu Yuan, people hold dragon boat races yearly on the day of his death according to the legend. They also scattered rice into the water to feed the fish, to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body, which is one of the origins of zongzi, one Traditional Chinese Rice Du...

《再别康桥》诗歌里“康桥”是指哪座桥呢？我们一边欣赏徐志摩的诗，一边鸟瞰剑桥大学的风景。 这是中国近代诗人徐志摩脍炙人口的新诗《再别康桥》。“康桥”是指哪座桥呢？1920——1922年徐志摩曾在剑桥Cambridge, 是英格兰的一个城市，河流名字也叫Cambridge，过去翻译为康桥，现在翻译剑桥，是英国著名的剑桥大学所在地，也因此驰名于世。 1928年秋天，徐志摩最后一次重访英国剑桥，事先谁也没有通知，一个人来到康桥找几年前的英国朋友。遗憾的是一个英国朋友也不在，只有他熟悉的康桥古镇。一幕幕过去的生活图景，又重新在他的眼前展现……在他乘船回国路途中，面对汹涌的大海和辽阔的天空，执笔记下了这次重返康桥的切身感受。把剑桥的景色和依恋之情融入诗中，表达告别剑桥的淡淡哀愁。 这首诗最初刊登在1928年12月《新月》月刊上，后收入《猛虎集》。可以说“康桥情节”贯穿在徐志摩一生的诗文中，而《再别康桥》无疑是其中最有名的一篇。 《再别康桥》表达了诗人对康桥的爱恋，对往昔生活的憧憬，对眼前的无可奈何的离愁，对康桥的依依不舍、留恋之情。全诗以离别康桥时感情起伏为线索，抒发了对康桥依依惜别的深情。语言轻盈柔和，形式精巧圆熟，诗人用虚实相间的手法，描绘了一幅幅流动的画面，构成了一处处美妙的意境，细致入微地将诗人对康桥的爱恋，对往昔生活的憧憬，对眼前的无可奈何的离愁，表现得真挚、浓郁、隽永，是徐志摩诗作中的绝唱。 这首诗表现出诗人高度的艺术技巧。诗人将具体景物与想象糅合在一起构成诗的鲜明生动的艺术形象，巧妙地把气氛、感情、景象融汇为意境，达到景中有情，情中有景。诗的结构形式严谨整齐，错落有致。 —————————————————————— 《再别康桥》 作者：徐志摩 轻轻的我走了， 正如我轻轻的来； 我轻轻的招手， 作别西天的云彩。 那河畔的金柳， 是夕阳中的新娘； 波光里的艳影， 在我的心头荡漾。 软泥上的青荇， 油油的在水底招摇； 在康河的柔波里， 我甘心做一条水草！ 那榆荫下的一潭， 不是清泉，是天上虹； 揉碎在浮藻间， 沉淀着彩虹似的梦。 寻梦？撑一支长篙， 向青草更青处漫溯； 满载一船星辉， 在星辉斑斓里放歌。 但我不能放歌， 悄悄是别离的笙箫； 夏虫也为我沉默， 沉默是今晚的康桥！ 悄悄的我走了， 正如我悄悄的来； 我挥一挥衣袖， 不带走一片云彩。 英语译文 Very qu...

Best Chinese Songs Playlist – New Pop Star on 2021 China CCTV Gala Show Why we like the music we do？New study suggests that musical tastes are cultural in origin, not hardwired in the brain. We are conducting an experiment and ask anyone who reads this post to participant and rate the pleasantness of three new Chinese pop songs by Mr. Wang Qi. The reason to start the test to Wang Qi’s songs is because Mr. Wang Qi is a native Chinese pop singer. He was born in a countryside of Liao Ning province, China. He is a Han nationality, he cannot speak English and has not received classic music training in the schools. But he became immediate famous in one night by presenting one pop song, The shepherd of Cocotohai, at the China CCTV Gala show in Feb. 2021. Another reason is Wang Qi’s talent in both lyrics writing, music composing and singing. All popular songs are created by himself. Wang Qi wrote one popular song in 2017, “lover fan”, a folk style song initially widely spread in the northeast ...