绕口令 (ràokǒulìng) tongue twister Usage: “绕口令”是一种语言游戏。它是用拼音和声调容易混同的字或词编成的句子，要求很快读完，不能停顿。口齿不清的人很容易读错。例如“扁担长，板凳宽，板凳没有扁担长，扁担没有板凳宽。扁担要绑在板凳上，板凳偏不让扁担绑在板凳上”。“绕口令(ràokǒulìng)” is a kind of language game. It is composed by the words or phrases that have the similar pronunciations or tones. “绕口令(ràokǒulìng)” is supposed to be read fairly quickly without any pause in between and thus people who speak lispingly tend to pronounce it wrongly. Here is a Chinese tongue twister serving as an example, “扁担长，板凳宽，板凳没有扁担长，扁担没有板凳宽。扁担要绑在板凳上，板凳偏不让扁担绑在板凳上(biǎndàn cháng,bǎndèng kuān,bǎndèng méiyǒu biǎndàn cháng,biǎndàn méiyǒu bǎndèng kuān. Biǎndàn yào bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng,bǎndèng piān bú rang biǎndàn bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng).
Tag: Pronunciation
Historical Hair Ornaments and Their Social Connota
Hairpins（发簪fàzān） and hair clasps were everyday embellishments(装饰品zhuāngshìpǐn) in old China. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911), women's hair ornaments expressed traditional Chinese thought and culture in exquisite, sophisticated techniques.
The generic term for hairpins and hair clasps is ji. A one bar ji keeps coiled hair in place, and a two bar ji is a feature of the hairstyle itself. Before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) both Chinese men and women wore their hair in a coiled bun with a ji to keep it in place.
Family Members
Chinese families are strongly paternal and hierarchical. There is a title for every family relationship on both the mother's and father's side. This is a list of Mandarin Chinese names of immediate family members, and each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice.
Your Guide to Chinese New Year Lantern Wishes
Chinese New Year includes two weeks of celebration with most activities taking place on just three days: New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the last day of Chinese New Year. Here's what you should know about the Lantern Festival, including the symbolism of the celebration and which characters to write on your own lantern to wish in Chinese.
Number 8 and Other “Lucky” Numbers
In Chinese culture, certain numbers are considered "lucky" because their pronunciations sound similar to words that have "lucky" meanings.
Intro of The Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.
Chinese forest frog
Chinese forest frog(中国林蛙Zhōngguó línwā) is called Hashima in the Man Nationality language. Because its meat is as delicate as chicken, it is renamed(if you rename something, you change its name to a new name) frog. It belongs to amphibian ranid. It lives in the bushes of the hillside in spring, summer and winter and in winter; it hibernates under the rock in the deep water. The meat of the frog is sweet, cool and intoxicated and contains profuse protein, sugar, moisture and a little fat. And it tastes delicious, fresh in spring and fragrant in summer. Thus, it is the cate of each season.
Lucky Number(2)
Five The number 5 (五wŭ) is associated with the five elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal) in Chinese philosophy, and in turn was historically associated with the Emperor of China. For example, the Tiananmen gate, being the main thoroughfare to the Forbidden City, has five arches. It is also referred to as the pronoun "I", as the pronunciations of "I" (我wŏ or 吾wú) and 5 are similar in Mandarin. In Cantonese, this word has the same pronunciation as the character 唔and means "not", pronounces (m̀h). This word has the same meaning and use as the word 不an therefore is usually negative.
Combinations with Chinese Number(1)
28, 38: As eight means prosperity, twenty eight equates to 'double prosperity', though most Chinese people will typically just read this as "easy to have luck", 38 being one of the luckiest, often referred to as 'triple prosperity' though most Chinese people might just read this as "you will grow to success."
Five五
The number 5 (五wŭ) is associated with the five elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal) in Chinese philosophy, and in turn was historically associated with the Emperor of China. For example, the Tiananmen gate, being the main thoroughfare to the Forbidden City, has five arches. It is also referred to as the pronoun "I"[citation needed], as the pronunciations of"I" (我wŏ, or 吾wú) and 5 are similar in Mandarin.
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