Tag: Culture

Color Me Confused: Colors and Meaning in Chinese

Green with envy? Feeling blue? Irrespective of whether you’ve been forced to pour over the symbolism of a certain shade of gray, perhaps as part of a Literature degree, most Westerners have a decent idea of which colors equate to which emotions. But the Chinese palette is an entirely different animal, with the potential to ruin the best intentions – just try giving your Chinese girlfriend a white rose on Valentine’s Day.

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舞狮 The lion dance

Zài hǎi wài huárén jùjí de qūyù, měi féng zhòngdà jiérì huò qìngdiǎn, rén men zǒng néng kàn dào xǐqìng de wǔshī biǎoyǎn. Zhè zhǒng biǎoyǎn bùjǐn hěn hǎo dì hōngtuō le jiérì qìfēn, yě chéngwéi wàiguó rén liáojiě zhōnghuá wénhuà de yí gè chuāngkǒu.
在海外华人聚集的区域，每逢重大节日或庆典，人们总能看到喜庆的舞狮表演。这种表演不仅很好地烘托了节日气氛，也成为外国人了解中华文化的一个窗口。In big Chinese communities abroad, people will see lion dance on occasion of important festival or ceremony. Lion dance not only add more festivity to the special day but also provides opportunities for foreigners to know about the Chinese culture.
Wǔshī shì yí xiàng lìshǐ yōujiǔ de mínjiān biǎoyǎn yìshù, Nánběi cháo shí qī jiù kāishǐ liú xíng, zhìjīn yǐ yǒu yì qiān wǔ bǎi duō nián de lìshǐ. Fó jiào zhōng, shīzǐ shì Wénshū púsà de zuòqí, yǒu jíxiáng zhī yì. Lìngwài, shīzǐ tǐtài wēiwǔ, shì bǎi shòu zhī wáng. Rénmen jué dé wǔshī néng gòu xiāo zāi nà fú, qū xié bì guǐ, yīncǐ měi féng xǐqìng jiérì, dōu xǐhuān dǎgǔ qiāoluó, wǔ shī zhùxìng. “Diǎnjīng”shì wǔshī qián de yí xiàng zhòngyào huódòng, jiābīn bǎ zhūshā tú zài shīzǐ de yǎnjīng shàng, xiàngzhēng gěi shīzǐ yǐ shēngmìng . “Diǎnjīng ”zhī hòu, zhēnzhèng de wǔshī biǎoyǎn jiù kāishǐ le. Wǔshī zhě shēn pī xíng sì shīzǐ de dàojù, tà zhe yīnyuè de jiézòu, mónǐ shīzǐ de kàn 、zhàn 、zǒu 、pǎo 、tiào 、gǔn 、shuì 、dǒu máo děng dòng zuò, xíngtài bīzhēn , rě rén xǐ'ài.
舞狮是一项历史悠久的民间表演艺术，南北朝时期就开始流行，至今已有一千五百多年的历史。佛教中，狮子是文殊菩萨的坐骑，有吉祥之意。另外，狮子体态威武，是百兽之王。人们觉得舞狮能够消灾纳福，驱邪避鬼，因此每逢喜庆节日，都喜欢打鼓敲锣，舞狮助兴。“点睛”是舞狮前的一项重要活动，嘉宾把朱砂涂在狮子的眼睛上，象征给狮子以生命。“点睛”之后，真正的舞狮表演就开始了。舞狮者身披形似狮子的道具，踏着音乐的节奏，模拟狮子的看、站、走、跑、跳、滚、睡、抖毛等动作，形态逼真，惹人喜爱。The lion dance is a traditional Chinese folk performing art. With a history of over 1,500 years, it became popular since Northern and Southern Dynasties. In Buddhism, lion is the mount of Bodhisattva Manjusri, representing luck and blessing. Besides, lion is strong and powerful, generally regarded as the king of all beasts, and thus people think it is able to expel evils and bring good fortune. On a festive celebration, people like to perform lion dance accompanied by drums and gongs. Dotting the eyes of the lion is a very important procedure before the lion dance. Usually, an honorable guest would be invited to dot the lion’s eyes with red pigment, symbolizing giving life to the lion. The performance will begin after that. The performers are usually dressed up like a lion and imitate various lion movements such as looking, standing, walking, running, rolling, jumping, and shaking heads to the rhythm of the music, which are quite lively and adorable.
Wǔshī shì yí xiàng jí wǔshù 、wǔdǎo 、yīnyuè yú yì tǐ de zōnghé yìshù. Rú jīn tā yǐjīng zǒu chū guómén, zài Xīnjiāpō 、Mǎláixīyà hé Měiguó děng guó de huárén jùjí qū shēnggēn fāyá, fāyáng-guǎngdà.
舞狮是一项集武术、舞蹈、音乐于一体的综合艺术。如今它已经走出国门，在新加坡、马来西亚和美国等国的华人聚集区生根发芽，发扬广大。The lion dance is an art which combines martial arts, dance and music together. Nowadays, it has been made popular by overseas Chinese in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the USA.

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Chinese Cultural Tip： 荷花 （Hé huā ）Lotus

莲花与中国传统文化关系最为深厚。在中国，莲花常常被崇为“花中君子（huā zhōng jūn zǐ）”、“水中芙蓉（shuǐzhōng fú róng）”。作为一种长在水中的植物，莲花有许多美丽的别称，如：“中国莲（Zhōng guó lián）、荷花（hé huā）、芙蓉花（fú róng huā）、六月花神（liù yuè huā shén）、青莲（qīng lián）、莲（lián）”等，所以，它常用来形容女性的美丽、圣洁和高雅。自古以来,中国人十分喜爱莲花，也还因为它“出淤泥而不染”，是中国传统文化中一种理想人格的化身。在民俗中，中国还有许多与莲花有关的说法，存有十分美好的寓意，比如：“并蒂莲（bìng dì lián）”，说的就是“莲有一蒂二花者”，象征男女好合，夫妻恩爱。“莲”还谐音“廉”，即纯洁清廉之意，故而有“一品清廉（yì pín qīng lián）”之说。
The lotus flower has a profound connection with traditional Chinese culture. In this country the lotus is often referred to as the "Gentleman among Flowers". This graceful water plant has a large number of affectionate nicknames such as: Chinese Lotus, Lotus Flower, Furong Flower, the Flora of June, Green Lotus or simply Lotus. It is often used to symbolise female beauty, purity and elegance. Chinese people have appreciated the flower since ancient times as it “rises from dirt without being polluted”. This characteristic is highly respected in traditional Chinese culture. Chinese folklore also has many other favourable ways to refer to the lotus. “Bing Di Lian”, literally “twin lotus flowers on one stalk”, for instance, is often used to represent "a devoted married couple". “Lian”, or Lotus, sounds similar to another Chinese word "Lian”, which means “clean and pure” and is also used to represent a person with similar characteristics.

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Dragon Head Raising Day

Feeling fiery today? That’s probably because it’s Dragon Head Raising Day, which falls each year on the second day of the second lunar month, as recorded by the proverb: “On the second day of the second month in Chinese lunar calendar, the dragon is awaked, raising his head” (二月二，龙抬头 Èr yuè èr, lóng táitóu).

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Asian Tattoo FAILS 失败的亚洲纹身

Bitter Idiot Bitter Idiot
Well, there's this.    Asian character tattoos on English-speaking people are nothing new, with phrases like "hope," "dream" and "love" adorning many an ankle or lower back. Unfortunately, not all of those tattoos mean what the unsuspecting person might have thought.

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