Chapter 7: Cultural Notes

中國

(China)

• located in the eastern part of Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

• largest country in Asia

• third largest country in the world

• most populous country in the world

• 喜馬拉雅山脈 (Himalayas)

• 崑崙山 (Mt. Kunlun)

• 天山 (Mt. Tianshan)

• 太行山 (Mt. Taihangshan)

• 秦岭山 (Mt. Qinling)

• 大兴安岭山 (Mt. Daxing'anling)

Famous Mountain Ranges in China

珠穆朗玛峰

(Mount Everest)

main peak of the Himalayas (8,848 meters); the ***roof of the world***.

沿江河

(Yanjiang River)

Longest river in China — a total length of 6,300 km and a basin area of 1.809 million square kilometers.

黄河

(Yellow River)

Second longest river — a total length of 5,464, km and a basin area of 752,000 square kilometers

淮河

(Huai River)

Third longest river — the dividing line between the natural climate of the north and south of China.

• 太湖 (Lake Tai)

• 鄱阳湖 (Lake Poyang)

• 洞庭湖 (Lake Dongting)

• 洪泽湖 (Lake Hongze)

Major Lakes in China

水

(Water)

It is the most basic resource for human production and life.

• 大熊猫 (Giant pandas)

• 金丝猴 (Golden Monkeys)

• 华南虎队 (South China Tigers)

Endemic Animals in China

• 水杉 (metasequoia)

• 银杉 (silver fir)

• 银杏树 (ginkgo trees)

Some of the Unique Plant Species in China

• 卧龙在四川 (Wolong in Sichuan)

• 福建武夷山 (Wuyi Mountain in Fujian)

• 吉林白山 (Baishan in Jilin)

• 湖北神农架 (Shennongjia in Hubei Province)

Boundaries between representative natural environmental zones and the natural habitats of rare animals drawn by the Chinese government

大熊猫

(Giant Pandas)

China’s national treasure

1. 北京 (Beijing)

2. 上海 (Shanghai)

3. 天津 (Tianjin)

4. 重庆 (Chongqing)

Four municipalities under the Central Government in China

1. 香港 (Hong Kong)

2. 澳门 (Macao)

Two special administrative regions of China

北京 (Beijing)

the capital of China; a famous historical and cultural ancient city

汉族 (Han Ethnic Group)

Ethnic group with the largest population in China.

孫中⼭ (Sun Yat-sen)

Father of the Chinese Nation

⾟亥⾰命 (Xinhai Revolution)

A nationwide revolution that took place between 1911 and 1912 to overthrow the autocratic rule of the Qing Dynasty and establish a republican form of government.

春節 (Spring Festival)

• It is the most important traditional festival in China.

• It is also known as the New Year or Chinese New Year.

• Here the whole family is reunited. People eat rice cakes, dumplings, and a variety of hearty meals.

端午節 (Dragon Boat Festival)

It is a traditional Chinese festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

中秋節 (Mid-Autumn Festival)

Celebrated every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month

重陽節 (Double Ninth Festival)

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Activities include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high to overlook, viewing chrysanthemums, eating cakes, and drinking.

孝 (Filial Piety)

The Chinese’s most important virtue

包公棄官 (Bao Gong Abandoning his Position)

The story of an official who abandoned his position for his parents and has been passed down to this day.

親嚐湯藥 (Taste the Decoction)

The story of the emperor tasting the drink boiled for his mother, to know if it’s bitter or hot; his filial piety moved the hearts of the whole nation.

⼦路負⽶ (Zilu Nemesis)

The story of a man doing everything for his parents to provide them healthy food to eat. However, they died; and made him decide to move on and become an official in Chu State. Here, he lived a prosperous life but often lamented that his parents died to early.

⼥媧補天

(Goddess Nuwa Mending the Sky)

The myth that reflects the initial understanding of the origin and natural phenomenon of the ancient Chinese labor force.

精衛填海

(Jingwei Reclamation)

The myth about a girl who died falling to the sea and died; which later on, she become a little bird. In order to prevent others from falling into the sea, she kept bringing branches and stones from the mountains and throwing them into the sea, trying to fill up the sea.

后羿射⽇

(Houyi Shooting Day)

The myth about a legendary god who is good at archery. The emperor called him to rescue mankind from the suns in the sky.

嫦娥奔⽉

(Chang’e Flies to the Moon)

The myth about a goddess from heaven; wherein she took advantage of her husband’s absence and drank all the elixir of immortality by herself - floating to and becoming all alone at the Moon Palace

⼤禹治⽔

(Dayu’s Flood Control)

A myth about a man who controlled the flood and saved mankind

鐵杵磨針

(Steady Efforts Can Work Miracles)

The story of the iron pestle sharpening needle tells us that no matter what you do, as long as you persevere to the end, you will definitely succeed.

東施效顰

(Dong Shi imitation)

The story tells us that if you deliberately imitate others, you will only leave a bad impression on others and even become everyone's laughing stock.

《紅樓夢》

(“Dream of the Red Mansion“ )

This literature reveals the darkness and shield of the end of China's feudal society through the description of the changes in the families of seven feudal aristocrats, and reveals the historical fate of the feudal society that is bound to perish.

《三國演義》

(“Romance of the Three Kingdoms“)

This literature describes the historical story from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, especially focuses on the struggle between the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, and provides a rich and colorful image of historical objects.

《⽔滸傳》

(“Water Margin“)

This literature truly reflects the darkness of feudal society in its unique art form, revealing the social reality of official coercion. The novel is based on the spoken language, showing a strong breath of life.

《⻄遊記》

(Travels)

The novel is based on the story of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang who took the scriptures, telling the story and shaping the image in a combination of divinity, humanity and materiality.

漢字

(Chinese Characters)

the written text that records the Chinese language and are one of the oldest scripts in the world.

象形文字

(Hieroglyphics )

This refers to the use of lines or strokes of writing to draw the physical characteristics of the object to be expressed.

中风 (strokes)

smallest unit of composition for Chinese characters

漢字) (Calligraphy)

the art of writing Chinese characters, and it is a unique plastic art formed in the process of the evolution and development of Chinese characters.

刷

(brush)

Used for Chinese calligraphy writing.

黑

(black)

Color of the ink most commonly used for calligraphy

米纸

(rice paper)

a white and soft paper, most commonly used for painting and calligraphy.

砚

(inkstone)

A tool used for grinding; Duanyan — the most famous example.

造型

(Styling)

The art of calligraphy is the art of shaping beauty through the combination of dots and lines.

抽象化

(Abstraction)

The reflection of the beauty of reality by the art of calligraphy is completed by the structure of dots, lines and glyphs. It is not as specific as painting to depict something.

表达

(Expression)

The art of calligraphy is imbued with the thoughts and feelings of the calligrapher, reflects the character and taste of the author.

景泰藍

(Cloisonne)

It is made of precious metals such as gold, silver and copper through various processes such as welding, blue burning, polishing, and gold plating, and at the same time introduces traditional painting and carving techniques, but it combines the essence of Chinese history, culture, art and other traditions.

剪紙

(Paper cuttings)

The former uses scissors, after cutting, several pieces of paper are pasted, and then the pattern is processed with scissors; The latter is to fold the paper into several stacks, place it on a soft dong and slowly carve it with a knife.

⾵箏

(Kite Flying)

A traditional leisure activity, the advantage of it is that it can be viewed from a close place and played from afar, and the whole body movement is conducive to nourishing and strengthening the body.

指南針 (Compass)

The invention and operation promoted the development of navigation and the exchange of economic globalization.

造紙術 (Papermaking)

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun invented _______ on the basis of summarizing the experience of his predecessors. He made fiber paper from bark, hemp heads, rags, old fish nets and other raw materials.

⽕藥 (Gunpowder)

Ancient alchemists used saltpeter and sulfur, which had been mastered as early as the Han Dynasty, and invented this in the Tang Dynasty after a long period of alchemy practice.

可移动打印 (Moveable printing)

Invented by Bi Sheng on the basis of woodblock printing. It is engraved with cement, one print per word, and made into a word print after burning.

傳統醫學 (Traditional Medicine)

This medicine takes the theory of yin and yang and the five elements as its foundation; looking, listening and smelling, inquiring, and palpating.

看

(Looking)

It is a purposeful observation of the patient's spirit, color, shape, and other aspects to determine the pathological changes of the internal organs.

聆听和嗅觉

(Listening and smelling )

_____ is to distinguish the patient's condition by changes in the tone, strength, and urgency of their speech and breath.

查询

(Inquiring)

It is to understand the patient's condition through questioning.

触诊 (Palpating)

The method by which a doctor uses their fingertips to touch, feel, press, and palpate a certain part of the patient's body to understand the patient's condition.

扁鹊

(Bian Que)

A famous doctor in the era of Emperor Yu and the ancestor of traditional Chinese medicine.

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华佗

(Hua Tuo)

He invented the drunken surgery, improved the technique and efficacy of surgical treatment, and expanded the scope of surgical treatment.

李时珍

(Li Shizen)

He spent 27 years working hard and referring to more than 800 books, and finally wrote a new pharmaceutical magnum opus, "Compendium of Materia Medica."

《本草纲⽬》

(Compendium of Materia Medica)

• This book contains nearly 2,000 kinds of medicines, each of which explains its origin, shape, color, and function.

• It also contains more than a thousand drug diagrams and records of more than 10,000 medical prescriptions.

故宮3

(Imperial Palace)

• Also known as the Forbidden City.

• The largest and most complete ancient building complex in the country.

四合院

(Siheyuan)

• a traditional form of residential architecture in China.

• characterized by a regular appearance and symmetrical midline.

• also known as courtyards

皇家花园

(Royal garden)

It is mainly a garden for the emperor to rest and enjoy, and its characteristics are grand scale, there are many real mountains and real water, the buildings in the garden are rich in color, and the buildings in the garden are tall.

私家花园

(Private garden)

It is a garden for the leisure of wealthy families, which is characterized by a small scale, commonly used rockeries, fake water, small and exquisite buildings, and elegant colors.

頤和園

(Summer Palace)

• It was built by Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty with funds from the navy.

• It is composed of Wanshou Mountain, Kunming Lake, and a group of exquisite buildings surrounding the mountains and lakes, including the political activity area, the main living area.

佛亭

(Buddha Pavilion)

The ______ in Wanshou Mountain is the symbol of the Summer Palace.

排云厅

(Paiyun Hall)

The palace-like complex centered on the was the ______place where Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her birthday.

昆明湖

(Kunming Lake)

Under Wanshou Mountain is _____, which has 273 houses and a 728-meter corridor, combining political activities, living and tourist areas.

京劇

(Peking Opera)

It is a comprehensive performing art. It combines singing, reading, doing, fighting, and dancing, and uses procedural performance methods to narrate stories, portray characters, and express ideas.

梅蘭芳

(Mei Lanfang)

He has led the Beijing Opera Troupe to perform in China, the United States and other countries for many times, and is an internationally renowned opera performing artist.

程硯秋

(Cheng Yanqiu)

His representative works include "Yingtai Resists Marriage", "Dou E's Grievance" and other plays, which mostly show the tragic fate of women in feudal society.

尚⼩雲

(Shang Yuyun)

His representative works include "Go to the Palace", "Zhaojun Go out of the Frontier" and so on.

荀慧⽣

(Xun Huiyu)

a native of Hebei Province, is good at playing the innocent, lively and gentle woman, who is famous for her plays such as "Hong Niang" and "Hong Lou You".

相聲

(Crosstalk)

a traditional Chinese folk art performance art. It originated from the rap and singing folk art in North China and flourished in the Ming Dynasty.

科舉制度

(Imperial Examination System)

• a kind of examination system for selecting officials in ancient Chinese feudal society.

• it adopts the method of taking the imperial examinations according to the different departments.

九年義務教育

(Nine-year compulsory education)

education measure that the compulsory education of the Republic of China was extended from six years to nine years in 1968 (57 academic year)

⾼考

(Gaokao)

China's entrance examination for higher education institutions, is one of the platforms for candidates to choose universities and enter university qualifications.

⾼等教育

(Higher Education)

includes higher vocational schools, junior colleges, and bachelor's degrees.

武術

(Wushu)

• also known as kung fu

• a sport formed by the Chinese ethnic group during the historical changes of the Chinese people.

少林寺

(Shaolin Temple)

• a famous Buddhist temple in China.

• built by Northern Wei emperor in order to arrange for Indian monks to spread Buddhism.

⿇將

(Mahjong)

• originally called "Sparrow", is a game played by four people together.

• a very popular in China, and its popularity involves all social strata and fields, and has entered thousands of households, becoming the most influential intellectual activity in the country.

舞⿓

(Dragon Dance)

• originated from the legend of a dragon from a river in Zhejiang; which is responsible for food problems.

• this dragon was killed; people regretted their actions and started to dance with it on the 16th day of he first lunar month.

舞獅

(Lion dance)

Chinese used these dances during the Lantern Festival and other major events to hope for auspicious and peaceful life.

周⼝店北京⼈遺址

(Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site)

* Here, the first Peking Man skull was discovered, providing a solid foundation for the study of ancient humans.

⿈⼭

(Huangshan)

• located in the south of China's Anhui Province

• divided into six parts: Hot Spring, Yungu, Songgu, Beihai, Yuping and Fishing Bridge.

四川⼤熊貓棲息地

(Sichuan Giant Panda Habitat)

• covers an area of 9,245 square kilometers, spanning several cities, autonomous prefectures and counties in the province.

• the largest and most complete giant panda habitat in the world.

• also home to endangered species such as red pandas and snow leopards.

卧龙自然保护区

(Wolong Nature Reserve)

this reserve mainly protects giant pandas and forest ecosystems.

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四姑娘山自然保护区

(Siguniang Mountain Nature Reserve)

This reserve mainly protects wildlife and alpine ecosystems.

金山自然保护区

(Jinshan Nature Reserve)

This reserve mainly protects rare animals and the ecological environment.

漢服

(Hanfu)

• also known as Han Clothing

• the traditional clothing of the Han people.

中⼭裝

(Zhongshan clothing)

* the representative clothing of Chinese men's dress.

旗袍

(Cheongsam)

a traditional Chinese women’s dress, which originates from the dress of the Qing Dynasty's clothing.

山东菜

(Shandong cuisine)

• It is also called Lu cuisine.

• These food pays attention to the use of soup.

• has a unique feature in cooking seafood

粤菜

(Cantonese Cuisine)

• It is also called Guangdong cuisine.

• dishes include "snake fat beef", "roast suckling pig" and "winter melon cup".

• uses a wide range of ingredients, a variety of colors, good at variation, and pays attention to freshness and tenderness.

川菜

(Sichuan cuisine)

• unique in terms of taste, especially in the use of spicy flavors, and the seasoning is flexible and changeable.

• chili pepper is the most common condiment

• pays attention to knife work and heat in terms of cooking methods.

江苏菜

(Jiangsu cuisine)

• It is also called Huaiyang cuisine.

• It is characterized by its attention to firework, mellow taste, and preservation of its original taste, and is famous for cooking mountain and sea delicacies.

• pays attention to the breadth of ingredients selection and scientific nutrition preparation.