Traditional Chinese is made up of characters that are like building blocks. However, a simple inversion of these characters can drastically change their meanings and implications, which can be crucial in some special situations. Turning the tide in battle by changing the Chinese characters Zeng Guofan, a famous general in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), led ...
At this very moment, the words you are reading are entering your mind at the speed of thought. Below your awareness, strings of letters are retrieving words and meanings as effortlessly as oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream. This efficiency is the result of careful refinements over time. The simple letters of the Roman alphabet ...
The Chinese character 藥 (yào) refers to medicine or drug. It is composed of two parts. The top part 艹 is the Chinese radical that indicates grass and grass-related plants, including herbs. The lower part 樂 (pronounced yuè or lè) is a Chinese character in its own right. It has two meanings: music, as well ...
Through several thousand years of history, the Chinese language has been enriched with phrases based on historical stories. These Chinese idioms have been passed down over the millennia and allow people to express profound meanings in just a few words. Here are some popular Chinese idioms based on the Chinese character for cow (牛). Chinese ...
In understanding and learning Chinese characters and writing, it’s best to understand the various strokes used in writing Chinese characters. You also need to understand the individual components that come together to make up each character. Once you have a grasp on these two elements, you will understand how to use most Chinese dictionaries. Chinese ...
Kings ruled societies in ages past. Just a few centuries ago, a hundred thousand kings ruled a hundred thousand kingdoms on Earth. China, too, was a land of kings. The emperor was the supreme ruler, but not every period in history had an emperor. Those were the times dominated by kings and the great king symbol. ...
Ordinary people are no comparison to Emperor Kangxi, who with a pious heart, fasted and cleansed himself for three days before writing the character “fu” about a half-meter tall, which enabled his grandmother, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, to miraculously recover her health. (See Part 1 here). However, can displaying “fu” bring you good fortune as well? It ...
As we celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Ox in 2021, we wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. We hope your new year is filled with good fortune and blessings. As part of Chinese traditions, the Chinese people welcome the New Year by cleaning their homes thoroughly, hanging red couplets, and a ...
Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning. Chinese people love certain characters in particular. A list of the top 10 most auspicious ones follows. Please note that the Chinese phonetic system for characters, pin yin, is also used here. For example, “fu” is pin yin for good luck in Chinese, but “fu” is only ...
With the continuing rise of China as a global economic and trading power, there is no barrier to prevent Chinese from becoming a global language like English, according to Flinders University academic Dr. Jeffrey Gil. Dr. Gil, who teaches English as a second language at Flinders University’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, has ...
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