Ancient Towers in Chinese Literature

(中国文学中的楼阁) 6 min read   Certain ancient buildings hold profound significance in Chinese literature as enduring symbols of cultural and historical expression. Among the most celebrated are Yueyang Tower (岳阳楼), Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼), and Tengwang Pavilion (滕王阁). Often referred to as the “Three Great Towers” (三大名楼), they inspired some of the most renowned works […]

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Following the Footsteps of Tang Poetry

(追寻唐诗的足迹) 6 min read   The Tang dynasty (唐朝), spanning the 7th to the 9th centuries, marked the golden age of classical Chinese poetry. Even today, Tang poetry remains widely read and memorized by Chinese speakers around the world. The Tang educated-elite maintained a strong tradition of travel—first to sit for the progressively demanding civil

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River Journeys in Poetry

(古代诗歌中的江河) 4 min read   China possesses one of the world’s most extensive waterway systems, composed of natural rivers, artificial canals, and interconnected channels. From the Pearl River (珠江) in the south to the Yellow River (黄河) in the north, these waterways have long inspired poetry, serving as both physical settings and sources of metaphorical

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Ode to Friendship

 (友谊颂歌) 5 min read   Friendship is one of the key cardinal relationships emphasized in Confucian ethics. The long-standing tradition among China’s literati of celebrating friendship through poetry reflects the deep value placed on interpersonal bonds. From the Book of Songs (Shijing, 诗经; early 1st millennium BCE) to Tang poetry (Tang shi, 唐诗; 7th–9th centuries

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Chinese—a Living Language

(活生生的中文字) 5 min read   Chinese is spoken by more than a billion people, primarily in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and in diaspora communities around the world. Like all living languages, Chinese evolves over time. Over the past three millennia, Chinese writing has taken on new forms, and new words and

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Enduring Idiom-Stories

(历久不衰的成语故事) 6 min read   Chinese idioms (成语) are concise expressions that convey complex ideas, moral lessons, or life philosophies. Idiom stories explain the origins and meanings of these expressions and, in some ways, resemble Aesop’s Fables. They are an integral part of Chinese culture. People who grow up in Chinese-speaking communities are deeply familiar

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How Chinese Characters are Created

(中文字如何形成) 4 min read   Chinese characters are logograms: each character is a standalone symbol that represents meaning, rather than being written with letters of an alphabet. Korean and Japanese also use logographic writing systems, whereas the majority of the world’s languages are based on alphabetic systems. Although Chinese characters are often thought to depict

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Mulan—A Worldwide Cultural Icon

(木兰—享誉全球的文化偶像) 5 min read   Sigh after sigh Mulan sadly sighs, (唧唧复唧唧) Facing the door while she weaves. (木兰当户织) Not a hint of the loom-shuttle’s sound, (不闻机杼声) Only the daughter’s sighs. (唯闻女叹息) Ask the daughter who’s in her heart, (问女何所思) Who’s on her mind? (问女何所忆) “No one is in daughter’s heart, (女亦无所思) No one is

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Oracle Bone Script—the Origin of Chinese Writing

(甲骨文—中国文字的起源) 4 min read   One day in 1899, Wang Yirong (王懿荣), a renowned scholar of ancient Chinese texts, noticed unusual markings on a bone fragment floating in his herbal tonic. At the time, bone relics, commonly known as “dragon bones”, were widely prescribed in traditional Chinese medicine. What Wang found in his soup turned

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