What is the Origin of Duanwu Dragon Boat Festival? Boat racing and zongzi on Duanwu festival was initially created to pay tribute to Qu Yuan (343 BC – 278 BC), one of China’s greatest poets and statesmen. Qu Yuan was a high official of Chu Kingdom during the Warring States era. To be wrongly accused by a group of corrupt […]
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The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (长恨歌) is a true story about a tragic love between a Chinese emperor and his wife Yang Yuhuai, known as one of the four most beautiful women in Chinese history. Left: Emperor Xuanzong enjoying the cool air produced by maids in summer Right: Yang Yuhuai praying to the heaven for everlasting love with the emperor Colour […]
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Water Margin (水浒传), also known as Outlaws of the Marsh and All Men Are Brothers in English translation, is one of the greatest classic Chinese novels published during Ming Dynasty. The story was set in North Song dynasty in the 12th century, depicting a group of 108 outlaws who gathered on a mountain area against some corrupted officials and unjust […]
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Yuan Shuipai (袁水拍, 1919 – 1983) was one of China’s great contemporary poets with his best works being 400 satirical poems. The following is his famous Tiger’s Decree, depicting a self-appointed dictator in a jungle world, composed about half a century ago: I, the tiger, Declare to the world: My peace policy Is consistent. Protect the forest Is my holy […]
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A firewood collector watching two immortals paying chess in Mt. Lanke in Zhejiang Province – a coloured ink painting by Ming Dynasty scholar, politician and artist Zhang Yining (张以宁 1301-1370) The legend of Mt. Lanke During Jin Dynasty in the 4th century, a guy went to Mt. Lanke collecting firewoods and saw two men playing chess Weiqi (Go) on a stone. Like […]
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A love story about a pair of white butterflies is one of the most enduring Chinese legends that has been told for hundreds, probably thousands, of years in China. As the legend goes, the butterflies were initially humans, one is named Zhu Yingtai and another is called Liang Shanbo. Zhu Yingtai was an academically talented teenage girl. After a decade […]
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Broken Bridge is in fact never broken, but when both the bridge and the lake are covered by snow, the bridge seems broken when viewing it from one side because the bridge abruptly descends to a water level on the other side. Broken Bridge, the Witness to a Snake’s Love for a Man The initial bridge was said to be built a […]
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Chinese New Year’s Paintings are typically used to decorate the internal walls at the beginning of each new lunar year. The themes of New Year’s Painting are often closely associated with Chinese people’s common aspirations and unique language. For instance, a bat (蝠) represents fortune (福), a fan (扇) indicates kindness (善), a spear (戟) is a symbol for luck (吉) […]
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