Author: chinesemoment

Chinese cartoons: Adventure of Shuke and Beita

"Adventure of Shuke and Beita" is a classic animation by Zheng Yuanjie, who is known as King of Fairy Tales in China. Shuke and Beita are two mice who don't want to steal food like other mice. Shuke became a pilot and Beita became a tank driver, and the pair met accidentally and became good friends. Then they befriended a boy named Pipilu. With the help of PiPilu, they co-founded an airline named Shuke Beita Airlines to help other animals.

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Chinese Cultural Tip: 曹操 Cao Cao

Cáo Cāo shì Dōnghàn mò nián yí wèi jiéchū de zhèngzhì jiā 、jūnshì jiā 、wénxué jiā. Cáo Cāo (gōng yuán 155~220 nián), zì Mèngdé, ānhuī rén. Dōnghàn mò nián, Cáo Cāo zài zhènyā nóngmín qǐyì de guòchéng zhōng, jiànlì qǐ yì zhī qiángdà de jūnduì.
曹操是东汉末年一位杰出的政治家、军事家、文学家。曹操(公元155~220年),字孟德,安徽人。东汉末年,曹操在镇压农民起义的过程中,建立起一支强大的军队。Cao Cao (155-220 AD) was an outstanding statesman, strategist and man of letters of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.He was born in today's Anhui Province. He built up a powerful army in the course of suppressing peasant uprisings.
Zuòwéi yí gè jūnshì jiā, tā xǐ'ài yánjiū bīngshū, rènwéi dǎzhàng yào suíjī-yìngbiàn. Zài Guāndù zhī zhàn zhōng, Cáo Cāo jǐn yǒu 2 wàn jūnduì, tā zhèngquè fēnxī le dí wǒ xíngshì, yǐ shǎo shèng duō, dǎ bài le Yuán shào de 10 wàn dà jūn, zhuàngdà le zìjǐ de jūnduì. Jūnduì zhuàngdà le, jiù xū yào gèngduō de liángshí. Cáo Cāo biàn ràng shìbīng men zài bù dǎzhàng de shíhòu jìnxíng gēngzuò, zhè zhǒng "túntián "de bànfǎ, bùjǐn jiějué le jūnliáng, érqiě shǐ běifāng shèhuì de jīngjì zhúbù hǎozhuǎn.
作为一个军事家,他喜爱研究兵书,认为打仗要随机应变。在官渡之战中,曹操仅有2万军队,他正确分析了敌我形势,以少胜多,打败了袁绍的10万大军,壮大了自己的军队。军队壮大了,就需要更多的粮食。曹操便让士兵们在不打仗的时候进行耕作,这种"屯田"的办法,不仅解决了军粮,而且使北方社会的经济逐步好转。Devoted to the theory of military strategy, Cao Cao had some resounding successes in warfare. At the Battle of Guandu, with only 20,000 men, he soundly defeated Yuan Shao's force of 100,000. A strong army needed more food. Between campaigns, Cao Cao made his soldiers cultivate the land to supply themselves with food. This not only solved the army's food supply problem, it also improved the economy in the north.
Zài zhèngzhì shàng, Cáo Cāo kàn dào háoqiáng dìzhǔ shìlì de fāzhǎn, zào chéng le Dōnghàn mò nián de fènliè júmiàn, yīncǐ, tā hěn zhùyì kòngzhì háoqiáng dìzhǔ de shìlì. Tā céng zài guānfǔ mén qián shè lì yì xiē dàbàng, zhuānmén dǎjī nà xiē yǐqiáng-qīruò de rén, hái ràng gǎn dǎ jī háoqiáng dìzhǔ de rén zuòguān. Zhè xiē zuòfǎ, yǒulì yú gǒnggù tǒngzhì. Zài yòngrén fāngmiàn, Cáo Cāo tíchū "wéicái-shìjǔ "de fāngzhēn, yě jiùshì zhīyào yǒu zhēncái-shíxué, bùguǎn chūshēn zěnyàng, dōu bèi lùyòng. Yīncǐ, zài tā dāngquán de shíhòu, hěn duō yǒu cáihuá de rén dōu shòudào le zhòngyòng. Zhè xiē rén wèi Cáo Cāo tǒngyī běifāng chū le bú shǎo lì. Yóuyú zhè xiē yōushì, zài jiā shàng tā kòngzhì le Hànxiàn Dì, suǒyǐ cóng gōngyuán 200 nián Guāndù zhī zhàn hòu, Cáo Cāo xiān hòu xiāomiè le běifāng gè zhǒng jūnfá shìlì, jiéshù le běifāng fènliè zhuàngtài. Zhè bùjǐn yǒulì yú zhōngyuán dìqū shèhuì jīngjì de huīfù , yě wèi hòu lái Xījìn tǒngyī quánguó dǎxià jīchǔ.
在政治上,曹操看到豪强地主势力的发展,造成了东汉末年的分裂局面,因此,他很注意控制豪强地主的势力。他曾在官府门前设立一些大棒,专门打击那些以强欺弱的人,还让敢打击豪强地主的人做官。这些做法,有利于巩固统治。在用人方面,曹操提出"唯才是举"的方针,也就是只要有真才实学,不管出身怎样,都被录用。因此,在他当权的时候,很多有才华的人都受到了重用。这些人为曹操统一北方出了不少力。由于这些优势,再加上他控制了汉献帝,所以从公元200年官渡之战后,曹操先后消灭了北方各种军阀势力,结束了北方分裂状态。这不仅有利于中原地区社会经济的恢复,也为后来西晋统一全国打下基础。On the political stage, Cao Cao saw the rise of powerful landlords in the late Eastern Han Dynasty as a threat to the unity of the country. Therefore, he encouraged the local authorities to punish magnates who bullied the weak, and gave government posts to anti-landlord elements. In fact, Cao Cao insisted on promoting any person of talent, no matter what his background was. Because of these advantages, added to the fact that he had the Han emperor under his control, Cao Cao put down all the warlords one after another in the north after the Battle of Guandu in 200.
Cǐwài, Cáo Cāo hái hěn zhòngshì wénhuà, tā duōcái duōyì, tā de liǎnggè érzǐ Cáo Pī 、Cáo Zhí yě dōu shì yǒumíng de wénxué jiā.
此外,曹操还很重视文化,他多才多艺,他的两个儿子曹丕、曹植也都是有名的文学家。Cao Cao was not just a statesman and general; he was a man of cultured tastes too, as were his two sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.

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Chinese cartoons: Saving Mother (西岳奇童)

The classic film from Shanghai Animation Film Studio, "Saving Mother" was one of the most popular animations in China. The story is based on the traditional Chinese folklore about a boy named Chen Xiang. His mother was a goddess and his father a mortal. His uncle, Erlang Shen, punished Chen Xiang's parents because their marriage was against the rules of the heavens. Chen Xiang's mother was locked in a mountain until her son split the mountain and saved her.

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Chinese Cultural Tip:少林功夫 Shaolin Kungfu

Wǔgōng zuòwéi yì zhǒng rénwén wénhuà xiànxiàng, zuòwéi yì zhǒng réntǐ xíngtài wénhuà huò shì zuò wéi jiànshēn 、yùdí 、jìngjì zhuān'àn zài Zhōngguó zǎo yǐ jiāyù-hùxiǎo 、fùrú-jiēzhī ,yǐ chéng wéi zhōnghuá wénhuà de bǎoguì yíchǎn. ér Shǎolín wǔgōng yòu shì Zhōngguó wǔgōng zuì jù dàibiǎo xìng, zuì jù wénhuà nèihán, zuì jù zōngjiào wénhuà dǐyùn, zuì jù wánzhěng de tǐxì, zuì jù quánwēi xìng, yòu zuì jù shénmì gǎn de zhōngguó wǔgōng liúpài, tā wúyí yǐ chéngwéi zhōngguó wǔgōng de zhǔliú xuépài.
武功作为一种人文文化现象,作为一种人体形态文化或是作为健身、御敌、竞技专案在中国早已家喻户晓、妇孺皆知,已成为中华文化的宝贵遗产。而少林武功又是中国武功最具代表性,最具文化内涵,最具宗教文化底蕴,最具完整的体系,最具权威性,又最具神秘感的中国武功流派,它无疑已成为中国武功的主流学派。Shaolin Kungfu (Shaolin Martial Art) is one of the most influential genres of Chinese martial arts, and it’s named after where it originated — the Shaolin Temple, founded in 495 AD on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng County, Henan Province in Central China. The monks in the Shaolin Temple began to study martial arts during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581) and this tradition prevailed during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907).

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