What is the Longyou Caves in China and what is the mystery surrounding their construction and purpose?

Back in 1992, a group of villagers in Longyou county, China stumbled upon an astonishing discovery. The area near the village of Shiyan Beicun was home to several ponds or rocky pools that were believed to be “bottomless” with depths that seemed to go on forever. Some of the ponds were even void of fish. … Read more

Do Mandarin and Cantonese incorporate (untranslated) English words or phrases in their language every day?

Well, I am a Mandarin speaker, so I just offer my view about this topic with regard to Mandarin. Words or phrases in English are usually translated into Chinese. And the translated version of many words or phrases in English are used in the Chinese language. However, there is a category called acronym, whose some … Read more

Did the Chinese Communists introduce simplified Chinese characters as a way to eradicate traditional Chinese culture and make it impossible to read older literature?

You may wish to ask if Korean wish to remove Chinese characters and make it impossible for the main public to read older Korean literature but remain their names has Chinese characters? Okay, let me show you something. This is the dictionary we use in primary school. This is the dictionary that made in communist … Read more

Why do the Chinese people use the characters system of writing instead of alphabets?

Characters travel better than sounds. An undubbed Hollywood movie requires at least 20 sets of subtitle to sell in Europe, even though many European scripts are based on the Latin alphabet. Why? Spelled languages work on the principle of transcribing sounds on paper, and one becomes hopelessly lost going from spelled French to English. In … Read more

How difficult is for a regular Mainland Chinese to read a text in Classical Chinese?

Well, it depends on situations. I mean, there are varieties of contents written in Classical Chinese, for instance, essays, philosophical tracts, biographies, history books, poems, plays, and novels. What kind of text you refer to, what era it was written and what level of understanding it demands for a modern reader also varies. Classical Chinese … Read more