Chinese Culture, Featured

2022: Welcome the Chinese New Year of the Tiger

The tiger is one of the most recognized animal images worldwide and is the largest of the big cats. The year 2022 brings the Chinese Year of the Tiger. The Tiger replaces the Ox reigning supreme from February 1 until January 21, 2023 as the third sign of the Chinese zodiac.   Year of the Tiger ...

Helen London

Floral display in Hong Kong shopping mall in the shape of two tigers.

Chinese New Year: Who and What Is a Red Envelope For?

One of the most important and well-known traditions of Chinese New Year is receiving a red envelope/red packet from your boss, parents, or relatives. Red envelopes are given to kids and elders to share the blessing. If you are the family breadwinner, you will prepare and hand out the red packets for both young and old. It ...

Emma Lu

Red envelopes for giving money to young people during the Chinese New Year.

The Symbolism of Plants and Flowers Displayed During Chinese Celebrations

The Chinese frequently use plants and flowers to celebrate the holidays, including Chinese New Year. For the Chinese, all plants and flowers are symbolic. What plants and flowers symbolize Lucky bamboo: symbol of safety and peace Lucky bamboo looks like bamboo, but it isn’t bamboo. The name is given because of its beautiful shape, and it’s ...

Audrey Wang

Lucky bamboo in a saucer on a table.

Start Chinese New Year Right: What NOT to Do

For thousands of years, Chinese New Year has been celebrated, marking a fresh new start. There are many traditions followed throughout the year to ensure good luck, good health, prosperity, harmony, and balance in your life. Things NOT to do to ensure a good year of the Tiger Don’t start the Chinese New Year with ...

Max Lu

Chinese New Year decorations, miniature dancing lion, and mandarin orange on red glitter background.

An Inspiring Story From Feng Menglong’s ‘Think Tank’

Feng Menglong (A.D. 1574–1646) was a Chinese historian, novelist, and poet of the late Ming Dynasty. He was born in Changzhou County, now part of Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province. Feng’s literary output consisted of the compilation of histories and local gazettes, the retelling of folktales and stories from antiquity in the form of short stories ...

Emma Lu

Ancient Chinese village.

What Are the Concerns Over Famous Chinese YouTuber Li Ziqi?

Li Ziqi, the YouTube sensation from China, hails from a remote village in the Pingwu County in China’s Sichuan Province. The beautiful videos depicting nuances of rural life, culture, and cuisine have made her a sensation not only in China, but also overseas. Traditional Chinese culture and cuisine Li Ziqi has a calm composure and ...

Max Lu

Li Ziqi working in her yard.

How Kind Words Changed a Wicked Ghost Into a Bodhisattva

Sometimes kind words can change something wicked into something good, as a master sculptor discovered one moon-filled night long ago. In ancient times, there lived a well-known master sculptor in a remote mountain village. Due to his excellent carving skills, a temple in a nearby village invited him to sculpt a Bodhisattva statue. Unfortunately, the ...

Tatiana Denning

A small statue of Bodhisattva Guanyin.

Painting by Wu Daozi Comes to Life

Wu Daozi was a famous painter during the Tang Dynasty and was revered as the “sage of paintings.” His pictorial artwork has left many legendary stories that have been passed down through generations. The most notable painters in ancient China, including Wu Daozi, shared a similar characteristic in that their paintings were very lifelike. Behind ...

David Jirard

The brushwork in Daozi Wu's 'Eighty-Seven Celestials' is the best of its genre in traditional Chinese painting.

The Incredible Fate of Shanghai Real Estate Tycoon Cheng Decheng

Cheng Decheng and his son Cheng Linshen were well known among Anhui merchants for their honesty and scrupulous values when conducting business. The Anhui merchants, who followed the teachings of Confucius, used these values to guide their business principles. They emphasized honesty, trustworthiness, righteousness, and above all quality when doing business with others.     During the Tongzhi period of the ...

Max Lu

Shanghai.

Loyalty and Chastity: The Story Behind a Chinese Proverb

In ancient China, widows who decided not to remarry were considered models of loyalty (忠) and chastity (贞). The Chinese believed that it was Heaven, not mortals, that had the final say over one’s destiny. This principle is embodied in the folktale behind the Chinese proverb “Just as rain falls from the heavens, your mother ...

Max Lu

Rays of light from the sun shining through clouds.