Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao in Chinese, is based on a 12-year cycle, with each year represented by a different animal. According to the Chinese zodiac, your birth year tells you more than just the age. People who born under each sign are said to exhibit sets of personality traits unique to that sign, and somewhat associated with the animal itself.
These animal signs in order are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Chinese people believe that the years represented by the animals affect the characters of people in the same manner as the sign of zodiac adopted by western civilizations. Take this year of dragon for example, people born in dragon years are giving, intelligent and tenacious, know exactly what they want and are determined to get it. Further, they can easily influence their peers and often find themselves the center of attention in social situations.
One of the another important uses for the signs of the Chinese zodiac is to determine if people are compatible. The three animals which are evenly spaced from one another in the zodiac circle are generally considered to be good matches. Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger and Horse and Dog; Rabbit, Sheep and Pig are suitable for one another. Matching symbols on the Zodiac chart indicate compatible signs.
However, the signs which are opposite each other in the Zodiac Circle chart are poor matches. Generally a Rat and Horse; Ox and Goat; Tiger and Monkey; Rabbit and Rooster; Dragon and Dog; Snake and Pig will not get along with each other. These signs make poor partners in love and in business. Family members who have opposite signs may experience friction and disharmony in the home.
It seems interesting, right? Find out what your Chinese zodiac sign reveals about you now!

Chinese Traditional Lantern Festival

As all of us know, the Spring Festival is the most important festival in China, which usually last for 15 days. The Lantern Festival, falling on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, marks the end of the celebrations of the Chinese Spring Festival. You may know how to celebrate valentine's Day, Christmas Day, Thanks Giving Day, etc. But you may not know how to spend this Chinese traditional festival. I will make a brief introduction about it, and if you are interested in Chinese culture, please go through the following content.
According to Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day is the first night to see a full moon in that lunar year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky. Celebrations feature fireworks and folk dancing. Highlights include traditional public performances such as the dragon parade and the lion dance.
The Chinese families reunite and eat rice glue balls on this day. It is a kind of round, sweet, stuffed dumpling made with sticky rice flour that symbolizes family unity, completeness and happiness.
People hang thousands of colorful lanterns along the street to appreciate. It is said that people write auspicious phrases on the lanterns to ward off evil spirits and attract good ones; some will decorate their lantern with a riddle and award a prize to the first person who solves it. The light given off by the lanterns is said to attract heavenly spirits and allow celebrants the chance to see them.
Play fireworks, solve riddles, watch lanterns...all are so interesting and exciting, right? To learn more Chinese cultures, why not learn Chinese online with MasterChinese now?

Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army (Terracotta Warriors and Horses) is a clay army of more than 8,000 life-size terra cotta figures of soldiers and horses discovered in 1974 in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China after they were buried underground for more than 2200 years. The Terracotta Army is now regarded as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life.
The Terracotta Army was discovered in the spring of 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province by a group of farmers when they were digging a water well around 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Qin emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan), a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, there had been occasional reports of pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis — roofing tiles, bricks, and chunks of masonry — having been dug up in the area. This most recent discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, and they unearthed the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.
The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary.


Learn Chinese online with MasterChinese!

Rising Up upon Hearing the Crow of a Rooster to Practise Sword

Zu Ti of the Jin Dynasty (265-420) was a big-hearted and farsighted person who, however, was very naughty and did not like to study when he was a small kid. When he became a young man, he felt acutely that his knowledge was inadequate and that he could not serve his country well if he did not study hard. So he put all his energies into his study. He read extensively, seriously studied history from which he absorbed rich knowledge, and made good progress in his studies. He had been to the capital city Luoyang several times, and all the people who had come into contact with him said that Zu Ti was a talented person who was capable of assisting the emperor in governing the country. When he was 24, someone recommended him to be an official, but he refused the post. He was still making a sustained effort in his studies. Later, both Zu Ti and Liu Kun, his close friend since early childhood, were appointed chief clerks responsible for document administration in the Sizhou Prefecture. He and Liu Kun cherished a deep affection for each other. They not only often shared the same bed in sleeping, but also shared the same lofty ideals; to render meritorious service in rejuvenating the Jin Dynasty and play the part of the pillars of the state. Once, Zu Ti heard a cock crow in the wasteland in his dream at midnight. He kicked Liu Kun a wake, saying to him: "People say it is inauspicious to hear a cock crow in the wasteland. I don't think so. What about getting up and practicing sword playing the moment we hear the cock crow form now on?" Liu Kun agreed readily. So every day when the cock crow, they got up and practiced sword playing, the cold steel of the swords glinting and flashing. Day by day and year in, year out, they never stopped. As the saying goes, constant effort yields sure success. Through long periods of hard study and training, they finally become versatile persons versed in both civil and military affairs. They could write good essays, and were capable of leading troops in fighting victoriously. Zu Ti was invested with the title the General for Guarding the Western Regions, thus realizing his wish of rendering meritorious service to the country. Liu Kun became a governor, and at same time was in charge of the military affairs of the three prefectures of Bingzhou, Jizhou and Youzhou. In discharging his duties, Liu Kun also fully displayed his talent in both polite letters and martial arts. This story appears in "The Life of Zu Ti" in The History of the Jin Dynasty. From this story people have coined the set phrase" rising up upon hearing the crow of a rooster to practice sword playing' to signify that someone is exerting himself to do something worthwhile. It is also used to signify that a person of noble aspirations exerts himself in time.

Paper Cuts

Paper cuts are most popular in northern china where they are often put on windows, doors, ceilings, and bridal chambers. Paper cuts are originally consider a woman's art, in many Chinese rural village, girls have a learn paper cut at a young ages, some say that a girl's paper cut ability is a embodiment of her intelligence. Paper cut designs are often derived from figures found on ancient pottery and rock paintings. Paper cuts often resemble frogs, snakes, fish, birds, dragons and gods of the ancients. Paper cut tigers implicate longevity in Chinese culture. Tree and deer’s heads symbolize continuity. To express wishes for children, paper cuts are made to resemble fish, lotus flowers, gourds, dragons and phoenixes.

translate English to Chinese:
剪纸在中国北方特别盛行，窗户上、门上、屋顶上、新房里随处可见。 原先人们认为剪纸是女性的艺术，农村的许多地方，女孩子从小就要学习剪纸了。有人说女孩子剪纸的水平就是智慧的体现。剪纸的图样取材于古代陶器和岩画中的人物形象。有的像青蛙、蛇、鱼、龙，还有古代的神仙。剪纸通常具有象征性，老虎图案的剪纸暗含中国文化中的长寿；树和鹿头代表恒久；鱼荷花葫芦龙凤代表对孩子的美好祝愿。

The Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the significant traditional holidays in China. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish end first. The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are traditional customs to attempt to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating rice dumplings.

English Chinese translation:
端午节是中国的一个很重要的传统节日之一。人们会以赛龙舟的比赛活动来庆祝端午节，参赛小组划着龙舟朝着鼓声前进，最终达到终点。在端午节赛龙舟的传统习俗是为了试图搭救爱国诗人屈原。他在公元前农历五月初五投河自尽。中国人如今把裹着竹叶的熟糯米丢入江中平息江中的蛟龙，希望他们不要将屈原吃掉。这后来演变成中国人在端午节吃粽子的习俗。

Learn Chinese online with MasterChinese, get a free trial lesson now!

Waking of Insects

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Jīngzhé (pīnyīn) is the 3rd solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 345°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around March 5 and ends around March 20.

The word 惊蛰 has the meaning of awakening of hibernated insects. 惊 is startling, and 蛰 is hibernated (insects). The traditional Chinese farming culture said that during Jingzhe, thunderstorms will wake up the hibernated insects, which also means the weather is getting warm.

It's also referred to as Longtaitou Festival or Dragon-Head-Raising Festival. In the tradition of Chinese culture, the dragon is believed to be the king of all insects and at same time, it is also believed to be in charge of bringing rains, and both of these are important factors in ancient agricultural society.

Today, Longtaitou Festival is celebrated in various ways, most of which are still identical to those practiced in the ancient times, including eating Chinese pancakes and noodles. Perfume bags filled with the powder of ground fragrant herbs are made to be carried by women and children for good fortune, though they are no longer used as insect repellent as in ancient times.

English Chinese translation:

农历中将一年分为24个节气，惊蛰是第三个，通常指太阳位于黄经345度时的那一天，也即差不多在阳历3月5日到3月20日之间。

“惊蛰”意为“惊醒冬眠的昆虫”。惊蛰期间，雷雨增多，因此冬眠的虫类会被惊起，这也意味着天气会越来越暖。

惊蛰又被称作“龙抬头”，因为龙一抬头，就会下雨嘛。在农业社会，人们相当看重一年的降雨。

今天惊蛰日的庆祝方式多种多样，但是人们仍然保存着像吃春饼和面条这样的传统。妇女和小孩会佩戴香囊，以求好运，虽然今天的香囊已经不再像过去那样，主要是起驱虫的作用。

Learn Chinese online with MasterChinese, get a free trial lesson now!