Origin Wontons(馄饨Húntun) can be dated back to the Han Dynasty over 2000 years ago. Wontons arecrescent shaped and were originally
Tag: Pronunciation
About Yazhou Folk Song
The Yazhou folk song(崖州民歌Yázhōu mín'gē) is one of the ancient styles of Hainan folk song. It is popular in Sanya, Huangliu Village of Ledong County and the affiliated territory to ancient Yazhou. The old Yazhou folk song is still popular nowadays. It is a kind of Chinese ballad intonated in Hakka dialect. The folk song has extremely precise rhythm and is an independent integration(if someone integrates into a social group, or is integrated into it, they behave in such a way that they become part of the group or are accepted into it), originating from countryside of "West Six Kilometers" in ancient Yazhou and spreading all around.
Winter Solstice Customs
The Origin of Having Dumplings on Winter Solstice During Winter Solstice of the traditional Chinese calendar, dumplings become the essential festival food. Every one in China will eat dumplings in Winter Solstice, so supermarkets and store are quick to sell out of the festival favorite. But why do people eat dumplings in midwinter? It is said this custom is to commemorate the great medical sage Zhang Zhongjing.
Chinese grammar: the self-evident with 嘛ma
The particle 嘛 (ma) is a sentence-final particle identical in pronunciation to the simple "yes/no question" particle 吗 (ma) you learned back in the day, but with a rather different function. It can be used when the speaker feels what he is saying is obvious (from his point of view).
About the origin of the Chinese script
It have been different stories about the origin of the Chinese script(汉字字型hànzì zìxíng), with nearly all ancient writers attributing it to a man named Cangjie(仓颉CāngJié).
Write 旁(páng)(side) in Chinese character
旁 (páng) Origin: “旁”的本义是“四面八方”。字的下部“方”表示“地方”,也表声;上部原是“凡”,表示“所有”、“一切”。
The original meaning of “旁” was “all directions.” The lower part is “方,” which means “place,” indicates pronunciation. The upper part used to be written as “凡,” which means “all” or “everything.”
Meaning:
Write 鸡(jī)(chicken) in Chinese character
鸡 (jī)
Origin: 在早期的甲骨文和金文中,“鸡”是一个象形字,字形很像一只公鸡,后来演变为形声字,以“隹”或“鸟”为形旁,以“奚”为声旁。
On oracle bone inscriptions and ancient Chinese bronzes in early times, “鸡” was a pictogram that looked like a rooster. Later, it became a phonogram, with “隹” and “鸟” representing meaning, and “奚” indicating pronunciation.
Chinese Festival: Double Ninth Festival
The Chongyang Festival(重阳节 chóng yáng ji é) falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival(双九节 shuāng jiǔ ji é). It is celebrated for over 2000 years but officially defined as a festival during the Tang Dynasty. As time goes on, the Double Ninth Festival gradually to be celebrated also as an Elder Day for young people to show their respects to the elderly as double nine symbolize the longevity in Chinese culture. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong in Chinese means "double." Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu(九九 jiǔ jiǔ )," the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebration. That's why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival long time ago.
Changing an English Name into Chinese Name
When choosing a Chinese name, it does not necessarily have to be a transliteration of an English name. Instead, a "real" Chinese name can be adopted. This is much like Chinese people adopting common English names such as "Paul" or "Jessica". Translating an English name into Chinese is really important for anyone who is learning Chinese, interacting with Chinese culture, and is useful for the business man or traveler who runs a business or likes to travel through China. Those who are interested in having their names transliterated into Chinese should consult with someone who has a good understanding of both Chinese and English to ensure that suitable and positive characters are chosen.选择一个中文名字的时候,并不是必须是一个音译的英文名字。相反,一个“真实”的中文名字可以被采用。这很像中国人采用常见的英文名称,如“保罗”或者“杰西卡”。将英文名字翻译成中文名字,对那些正在学习中文、被中国文化所吸引的人来说十分重要,同时对于来中国谈生意的商人或喜欢穿越中国的旅行者来说也十分有用。这些对将自己的名字翻译成中文感兴趣的人,应该咨询一些对中文和英文都很精通的人,以确保选择了适当且正确字符。
Chinese Cultural Taboos
It is like any other race,Chinese has their fair share of taboos, some of them are related to the language and culture. The following three tips of Chinese cultural taboos has been existed through many years for Chinese people. Like most deeply rooted ancient Chinese traditions, the younger generation is paying less and less attention to these kinds of habits, but foreigners living in China would still do well to avoid the following Chinese taboos.