Tag: Ancient Chinese

An ancient Chinese legend tells of a man-eating predatory beast called Nian, extremely fierce, with a long head and sharp horn. Nian dwelled deep in the sea the whole year long, but on every Chinese New Year eve it would climb onto the shore to devour livestock and harm humans in a near-by village. Therefore, every Chinese New Year’s Eve, all the villagers would take their old and young deep into the mountains to hide from Nian.

The Chinese and the Moon

In Chinese minds, the moon is associated with gentleness and brightness, expressing the beautiful yearnings of the Chinese. On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is full and it is time to mark the Moon Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round shape symbolizes family reunio. Therefore the day is a holiday for family members to get together and enjoy the full moon – an auspicious token of abundance, harmony, and luck.

Tang Tricolor Pottery 唐三彩

Tang Tricolor Pottery (táng sān cǎi 唐三彩), also called Tang Sancai, is a kind of handmade glazed ware of exquisite

Chinese Dumplings 中国饺子

According to an ancient Chinese legend, dumplings were first made by the medical saint—Zhang Zhongjing. There are three steps involved

三人行必有我师焉 – san1 ren2 xing2 bi4 you3 wo3 shi1 yan1

Literal translation :3 – people – walking – must – have – me – teacher – thus

Ancient Bridges of China 中国古代桥梁

Ancient Chinese bridges (zhōng guó gǔ dài qiáo liáng 中国古代桥梁) are universally acknowledged and have enjoyed high prestige in the

The Dragon, Chinese Food and Culture 龙与中国饮食文化

在中国先民的心目中，龙既然是神物，当然也就在观念上将龙同祥瑞联系到一起了。人们用龙比喻美好的事与物，龙的形象深入到社会生活的方方面面。在各种艺术作品中，在语言文字中，在各类物品上，都不乏龙的形象。 Ancient Chinese people believed that, since the dragon is holy, it is naturally connected with auspiciousness and fortune. People

身在曹营心在汉 – shen1 zai4 cao2 ying2 xin1 zai4 han4

Literal translation = body – at – Cao (name) – camp – heart – at – Han (name)

Legends of Spring Festival

Spring Festival is also called Guo Nian in Chinese. Guo means pass over and the Nian or "Year" in Chinese refers to a mythical beast that will bring bad luck.

Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫 – History of Chinese Kung Fu

Kung Fu (an Anglicization of gongfu [功夫]), means "hard-won achievement" while Wushu [武术], in today’s jargon, means "martial arts". However, the "wu" [武] of wushu is itself composed of two component characters – the one stacked over the other in the style of a mathematical fraction – which is often the custom in Chinese wherever the one syllable (usually the leading syllable) of a two-syllable word is itself a product of two older syllables: zhi [止], meaning "stop" (as in "to brake" or "to arrest"); and je [戈], meaning "cudgel" (or "sword" or "spear" – or, more generally, "weapon"). In other words, the "wu" of wushu means to fend off the armed attack of an aggressor. Shu [術] means "technique" – or, in the collective, as here: "art".