Fans of Chinese and Mandarin
A single Chinese symbol can mean “to hit,” “to fetch,” “to play,” or “a dozen.” How do seven-year-olds memorize dozens of definitions for one character? They don’t. The secret lies in how the language is structured and taught. Modern Chinese is overwhelmingly a language of compound words, not isolated characters. In school, students are rarely … Read more
安居乐业 Live in Peace and Work in Contentment 【Interpretation】 Live a stable life and work happily. Anju (安居) literally means a secure house and by extension living a happy life. Leye (乐业) means enjoying one’s work. Together they refer to the general state of good governance, with peace prevailing and everyone in their proper place, … Read more
This is an English version of a picture book written in Chinese. 《我們一家的快樂新年》 A Joyous Chinese New Year As Chinese New Year draws near, every family is busy preparing for its arrival. People will have their hair cut, buy new clothes, do shopping, and cook special food and snacks for this festive occasion. Everywhere is … Read more
爱民者强 Power Comes from Caring for the People 【Interpretation】 A state which takes good care of its people is one with true power. A ruler will be trusted and supported by the people, and the state under such a ruler will be a solid stronghold only when the policies and measures made and implemented meet … Read more
Attached to the Land and Unwilling to Move 【Interpretation】 Feeling attached to the native land and reluctant to move to another place. This was a widespread way of thinking and sentiment among the common people in a traditional agricultural society. In essence, it is because they depended on the land to make a living, since … Read more
Simple reason? They sound cute. Well, there is no explicit rule to repeat the same character in the name. However, it’s not uncommon to see the repeated characters in the real names and nicknames. The reason being that the Chinese parents would often spend a considerable amount of time deciding/thinking the names/nicknames of their (upcoming) … Read more
Xiao jie, I suppose you mean 小姐， was a honorific title like “miss” or “my lady” during the Republic of China in the first half of the 20th century. After the Communist takeover and the elimination of the classes, the term ceased to exist in mainland China, until it was reintroduced by overseas Chinese and … Read more
[Portugal & grapes: 葡萄牙 pútáoyá / pwutaurya & 葡萄 pútao / pwu.taur, GR Tonal Spelling (Gwoyeu Romatzyh)] 蒲陶, the Chinese word for grape, is attested over 2100 years ago in Records of the Grand Historian 《史記大宛列傳》西元前138年 (138 BCE) 「大宛在匈奴西南，在漢正西，去漢可萬里。其俗土著，耕田，田稻麥，蒲陶酒。 有蒲陶酒。」 Dàyuān zài Xiōngnú xīnán, zài Hàn zhèng xī, qù Hàn kě wàn lǐ. Qí sú tǔzhù, gēng tián, tián dào … Read more
Hua（华） Xia （夏） This is how the Chinese people refer to themselves. Hua 华 = beautiful clothing Xia 夏 = a sense of propriety. I believe that four or five thousand years ago, our ancestors used this term to distinguish themselves from the “barbarians.” The barbarians at that time probably still wore animal skins and … Read more
Many Chinese people take pride in the fact that their language is supposed to be impossibly difficult for foreigners to master (many westerners also assume this to be true). Shh…! Don’t tell anybody this secret! Actually, learning basic Chinese is quite easy, but only if you have the right attitude, the right approach and the right tools. Chinese … Read more