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6 tips on learning Chinese

I contemplated Mandarin Chinese 15 years back. It took me nine months to arrive at a level where I could decipher paper publications from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English, read books and decipher for individuals, I did this in the age of the open-reel recording the device, sometime before the age of the Internet, online word references, language learning applications, MP3 documents, YouTube and cchatty Chinese learning center.

On the off chance that I think about what I did, I find that there were six things that helped me learn quicker than different understudies who were concentrating with me. Underneath I list every one of these tips on the most proficient method to learn Chinese, which you might need to apply to your investigations.

1, Tune in to Mandarin as Often as could be expected under the circumstances

The first month or possibly two, simply center around tuning in.

Begin by concentrating on tuning in. Simply become acclimated to the sounds. You should peruse whatever you are tuning in to, yet do so utilizing the phonetic composing framework, for example, Pinyin, to show signs of improvement feeling of what you are hearing. You should get familiar with the characters in the long run, yet you can forget about the characters from the outset, and rather, attempt to get a little force in the language.

It's too hard even to consider starting learning characters when you don't have any feeling of the words, what they sound like, or how they cooperate. Another dialect can seem like an undifferentiated commotion toward the start. The initial step is to get acclimated with the individual hints of the language, to figure out how to separate words from one another, and even to have a couple of words and expressions resounding in your mind.

My first prologue to Mandarin was tuning in to Chinese Dialogs, middle of the road content without any characters, only romanization, right now Yale form of romanization. Today Pinyin, created in China, has become the standard type of romanization for Mandarin. In Chinese Dialogs, the storyteller talked so quickly I thought he was tormenting us. In any case, it worked. Following a month or so, I was utilized to the speed and had a feeling of the language.

As an aside, I think it is a smart thought to start learning a language with the middle of the road level messages that incorporate a ton of redundancy of jargon, instead of excessively straightforward tenderfoot writings. Digital recordings and book recordings are extraordinary for this. The Mandarin Chinese small scale stories at LingQ are a case of the sort of perspective stories, with a lot of reiteration of high recurrence action words that are accessible today. These were not accessible to me 15 years back.

With a feeling of this energizing new dialect and some aural cognizance, my inspiration to become familiar with the characters developed. I needed to know the characters for the words that I had been tuning in to and becoming acclimated to.

So that is tip number one, to concentrate on tuning in and Pinyin for the principal month or two.

2, Commit Time to Memorizing Characters 

The investigation of Chinese, Mandarin Chinese is a long haul venture. It will acquire your contact with the language and the way of life of well over 20% of humankind and a significant effect on world history. Hence, I generally suggest learning Chinese characters in the event that you will gain proficiency in the language.

When you choose to consider Chinese characters, work at them consistently. Commit thirty minutes to an hour daily just on learning characters. Utilize whatever the technique you need, however, put aside devoted character learning time each day. Why consistently? Since you will overlook the characters nearly as fast as you learn them, and in this manner need to relearn them over and over.

You might need to utilize Anki or some other current PC based learning framework. I built up my own dispersed reiteration framework. I had a lot of 1,000 little cardboard cheat sheets with the most successive 1000 characters. I had sheets of squared paper to work on composing these characters. I would get one card, and record the character multiple times one segment on the squared paper and afterward compose the significance or elocution a couple of sections over. At that point, I would get another cheat sheet and do likewise. Before long I ran into the importance or sound of the last character that I had composed there. I at that point worked that character out again a couple of times, ideally before I had totally overlooked it. I did this for the initial 1000 characters. After that I had the option to learn them by perusing, finding new characters, and haphazardly keeping in touch with them out by hand a couple of times.

As we progress, learning new characters becomes simpler in light of the fact that such a significant number of components rehash in the characters. The characters all have "radicals", segments that give a trace of the importance of a character. There are likewise segments of the characters which propose the sound. These radicals are useful in securing the characters, despite the fact that not from the outset. As with such a great amount in language learning, an excess of clarification forthright is an interruption to procuring the language. I found that the endeavors of educators to clarify these radicals and different parts at the beginning periods of my learning were not to incredible profit. I didn't get them. Simply after enough presentation did I begin to see the segments and that accelerated my learning of the characters.

Tip number two is to truly invest consistently and committed energy into learning characters.

3, Perceive Patterns Rather than Rules Concentrate on designs. Try not to become involved with convoluted syntax clarifications, simply center around designs. At the point when I was contemplating we had a superb book by Harriet Mills and P.S. Ni. It was called Intermediate Reader in Modern Chinese. In each and every exercise they acquainted examples and with me, that is the manner by which I kind of got a feeling of how the language functioned. The examples were the edges around which I could manufacture anything I desired to state.

I have positively no feeling of Chinese language structure or punctuation terms, yet I am very familiar. I have seen books that present uncommon sentence structure terms for Chinese. I don't think they are important. It is smarter to become acclimated to the examples that Chinese uses to communicate things that we express in English utilizing English examples. Chinese has a somewhat uncomplicated language structure, one of the joys of learning Chinese. There are no declensions, conjugations, sexes, action word viewpoints, confounded tenses or different wellsprings of disarray that are found in numerous European dialects.

Tip number three is to concentrate on designs, work them out, say them to yourself, use them when talking or composing, and watch for them when you tune in and read.

On the off chance that you might want a free sentence structure asset to help supplement your learning, at that point I prescribe Chinese syntax assets.

4, Peruse More than You Can Handle Peruse a great deal. 

On the off chance that I learned quicker than my kindred understudies 50 years prior, it is on the grounds that I read all that I could get my hands on. I read considerably more than different understudies. I am discussing unique writings for students, but instead a wide scope of material on subjects important to me. I was helped by the way that the Yale-in-China had an incredible arrangement of perusers with glossaries for every section. We began with student material utilizing something many refer to as Chinese Dialogs, at that point graduated to a reviewed history content called 20 Lectures on Chinese Culture.

20 Lectures were an intriguing open door for me to find out about Chinese history and culture while learning the language. The book comprised uniquely of writings and a glossary, no entangled clarifications, no tests. At the point when I take a gander at a portion of the course readings accessible today focused on transitional and even propelled students, they are brimming with drilling content about anecdotal individuals in China, someone at college who met his companion or went to the stylist or went skating, trailed by clarifications and drills. Not a smart thought except if you are keen regarding these matters.

I moved on from 20 Lectures on Chinese Culture to Intermediate Reader in Modern Chinese out of Cornell University. This was a peruser with valid writings from present-day Chinese legislative issues and history. Every exercise presented designs and downplayed drills and clarifications. Or on the other hand, possibly I simply disregarded them.

Yale had a wide assortment of perusers on legislative issues, history, and writing, all with word records for every section. This was my learning material. The accessibility of word list per part implied that I didn't need to counsel a Chinese lexicon. Before the coming of Alec Tronic or online lexicons, it was very tedious and agonizing to counsel a Chinese word reference. Since we overlook the majority of the things we turn upward in the lexicon, this was a gigantic exercise in futility.

I developed my jargon utilizing these perusers with word records lastly had the option to peruse a book without jargon records, simply disregarding the characters and words that I didn't have the foggiest idea. Following seven or eight months I read my first novel, Rickshaw Boy or 骆驼祥子, which is a well-known novel of life right now during the fierce first 50% of the twentieth century, composed by Lao She.

Tip number four is to peruse as much as you can. This is a lot simpler to do today. You can discover material on the Internet, utilize online word references and applications.

5, Get the Rhythm of the Language to Master the Tones

Concentrate on tuning in. I attempted to tune in to whatever content I was perusing. Perusing encourages you to learn the jargon, yet listening causes you to associate with the language and get readied to talk. Listening cognizance is the center's expertise important so as to participate in discussions with individuals.

One of the difficulties of Mandarin is the tones. We gain proficiency with the tone of each character as we get jargon, however, it is hard to recall these when talking. It is critical to disguise the tones as a major aspect of expressions. Listening encourages you to do this. The pitch and cadence of Mandarin, or some other language, can just originate from tuning in to the local speaker. You can't learn it hypothetically.

Specifically, I discovered tuning in to customary Chinese comic discoursed, Xiang Sheng, 相声, an extraordinary method to get the beat of the language and of the tones since these entertainers overstate the pitch. These days you can locate these web-based, including the transcripts and even import them into a framework like cchatty. This was not accessible to me 50 years prior.

Actually, there is an enormous exhibit of listening material accessible for download on every single imaginable subject or you can purchase CDs on the off chance that you are in China. In our cutting edge world, all the material you find on the Internet, or material you may discover in CDs, can be changed over into downloadable sound records which you can have with you any place you go on an MP3 player or an advanced cell. Steady tuning in, in any event, for brief times of five or 10 minutes while you're standing by someplace, can significantly build the time accessible for learning any language, including Mandarin Chinese.

This was not accessible to me 50 years back. I truly needed to sit before my open reel recording device with my headphones on. The circumstance has changed significantly. I needed to scan book shops for a sound substance to tune in to on my recording device. Today there is no restriction on the material you can discover, and there is no restriction to where and when you can tune in.

Exploit and listen at whatever point you can. That is tip number 5.

6, Talk a great deal with a teacher in cchatty

The individual hints of Mandarin are not hard for an English speaker to make. The tones are an alternate story. You should rehearse a great deal with a guider, you can practice with a Chinese teacher in cchatty, both addressing yourself and addressing others. Work on emulating what you are tuning in to. Discover writings for which you have the sound. Tune in to an expression or sentence, at that point attempt to mimic the pitch, without stressing a lot over individual sounds. You may even need to record yourself to look at. On the off chance that you can get "contaminated" with the mood of the language, not exclusively will your control of tones improve, yet your selection of words will likewise turn out to be increasingly local like. At the point when you talk, don't re-think yourself on tones, or some other part of the language. Simply let the words and expressions you have heard and rehearsed stream out, missteps whatnot. Each time you utilize the language you are rehearsing and becoming acclimated to it. In the event that you appreciate communicating in Chinese, on the off chance that you appreciate getting in the stream, singing to the musicality, at that point your Mandarin will keep on improving. Try not to stress over acing elocution toward the start. We can't articulate what we don't hear, nor mirror sounds and pitch that don't impact us. So as to develop the capacity to hear the language and to feel the music of the language, we basically need to tune in to hundreds or even a large number of hours and permit the mind to become accustomed to the new dialect. You can't surge this procedure. Rather you should confide in the way that you will steadily and normally show signs of improvement. Accordingly whatever organize you are at in Mandarin, simply talk without dread and trust your impulses. In the event that you proceed with your perusing and listening exercises, and on the off chance that you keep talking, your talking abilities will normally improve. Here you can find out about: The most ideal approach to become familiar with a language.

So my 6th and last tip are simply put it all on the line and you'll get the cadence. Good karma!

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Chinese Clothing

Chinese clothing has a long history, which leaves a precious heritage for the world. With five thousand years of Chinese history and 56 ethnic groups, Chinese textile printing and dyeing technology had led the world for thousands of years. Almost every dynasty has its distinctive characteristics of clothing culture, and every ethnic group dresses differently. China is the most developed country in clothing culture in the world.

History

Chinese traditional clothing strives to be harmonious between heaven and man. Heaven and man are the relations between the universe and man. Due to the admiration of heaven and harmony with nature, traditional clothing was designed to be more relaxed and elegant, with little restriction on the human body, which is the corresponding relationship between heaven and earth.

1.Clothes in Shang and Zhou Dynasties

The clothing material in the Shang dynasty is mainly leather, silk, and linen. The slaveholders and nobles are usually wearing colorful silk garments. Slaves and commoners were generally dressed in natural linen, ko-hemp cloth or cilice cloth. The fabric color of this period is warm for many, especially yellow and red, between light brown and dark brown. The clothes don’t have buttons, usually a belt tied around the waist, and some hung with jade ornaments.

2.Clothes in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods

During the Spring and Autumn period, the Embroidery process made great progress, making the clothing materials more elaborate with more varieties. The clothes of upper societies are decent and the lower classes are narrow. In the style, the most popular ones are Shenyi and Hufu. Shenyi has the meaning of keeping your body inside. It was the casual dress of the scholar-bureaucrat and the formal wear of the common people. In 307 B.C., the King Wuling of Zhao State advocated dressing in Hufu, which was convenient for riding and shooting activity.

3.Clothes in Qin and Han Dynasties

The clothing in the Qin dynasty has no great difference with that in the Warring States period, and the basic style of Shenyi remained. Clothing for men and women both are overlapped and rightward collars with narrow sleeves, whose purfle and waist belt are decorated with a colorful, delicate pattern. The style of men’s clothing in the Han dynasty is roughly divided into two kinds: the curved hem and the straight-front robe. Shenyi is the style of curved hem. The straight-front robe is common in the Eastern Han, but not formal wear. In the Han dynasty, a costume system(Yufu) appeared. There were more than 20 kinds of formal wear, court dress and casual clothing for the emperor and all officials. The class distinctions in clothing were already apparent.

Hanfu is the traditional clothing of Chinese Han nationality. It formed a perfect clothing system in Han Dynasty and popularize to the masses, and also influenced the whole Han cultural circle through Confucianism and Chinese law.

4.Clothes in Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties

In the northern and southern dynasties, when the northern minorities invaded the central plains and interplay with locals, the clothing was also changed greatly. Especially a large number of Hu people made Hufu the most fashionable clothes at that time. Close-fitting, round collar, and slit are the main features of Hufu.

5.Sui and Tang Dynasties

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the development of clothing, whether in material and style, presented an unprecedented splendid scene. Whatever clothes of officials or common people, men or women, all showed their open mind and pioneering spirit, which fully reflected the distinct features of time and nationality.

6.Clothes in the Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties

The clothes in the Song dynasty basically kept the style of Han national dress, and that in Liao, Western Xia, Jin and Yuan's dynasties followed the style of Khitan, Tangut, Nvzhen and Mongolian respectively. The costumes of various ethnic groups are exchange and blending once more. Officials usually wore a robe with big sleeves and carried the rules of hanging “fish bags” with fishes in made from gold, silver or copper around the waist to see the difference of official rank.

The women of the Tangut often wore lapel Hufu, with exquisite embroidery on the collar. The Khitan and the Jurchen were generally in overclothes featured with narrow sleeves, round collar and knee-length, as well as long boots on foot, which were suitable for hunting at any time. The women wore a long gown with narrow sleeves, overlapped and leftward collar, which was long enough to the dorsum of the foot. Zhisunfu (Jisum in Mongolian) is the common clothes in the Yuan dynasty, tight and narrow, with many pleats at the waist, which was convenient for mounting and dismounting the horse.

7.Clothes in Ming and Qing

The clothes in Ming and Qing dynasties have great differences. In the Ming dynasty, Han traditional clothing was most common, while Manchu clothing dominated in Qing dynasty. Both had distinct features of the class. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty, the clothes were required to continue the styles of the Tang. The official’s costume also uses Futou and a round collar robe. The clothes of the Qing Dynasty had a substantial influence on modern fashion.

8.Clothes in Modern times

The clothing of the Chinese entered a new era. With more communication with foreign countries, class rules of clothing were break down and traditional clothing was increasingly influenced by western and replaced by many new varieties. Since the 1920s, women love cheongsam, which has gradually become a lasting fashion. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Zhongshan suit became the common clothes. Women’s wear was influenced by the Soviet Union and the one-piece dress swept the city.

Famous Traditional Chinese Clothes Types

1.Hanfu:

Hanfu, the traditional clothing of the Han nationality,“Began the Yellow Emperor, prepare for Yao and Shun”, came from the Yellow Emperor system Mianfu and was fixed in the Zhou dynasty. In different periods of history, Hanfu has some changes, but overlapped and rightward collars are invariable. A whole set of Hanfu usually consists of three layers: a small coat (underwear), a middle coat(inner garment), and an overcoat. Until the Han Dynasty, the Hanfu was adopted and promoted by the ruling class. The Mianfu of Topcoat-plus-Skirt style(separate tops and lower garment) is the official dress of the emperors and officials. Shenyi (Gown) is the casual clothing of the officials and scholars, and Served Ru skirt is worn by women. The laboring class generally wears short clothing in imperfect conditions.

2.Tang Suit

The name “Tangzhuang” was originally created by overseas Chinese people due to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. Chinese people are also called “Tang People” by foreigners. In fact, Tang suit (or Tangzhuang) has two varieties in Chinese culture. One is a kind of Chinese clothing, evolves from the Hanfu, featured with overlapped and rightward collars and tied with a sash. The representatives are Qixiongruqun(waistband above the chest), Tangyuanlingpao(round collar), Jiaolingruqun(collar in the shape of letter Y). The other one is a kind of pseudo-traditional Chinese jacket with a straight collar. This kind of Tang suit has four characteristics: mandarin collar with an asymmetrical front opening; one piece of sleeves and clothes, with buttons down the front and right angle button.

3. Cheongsam

Cheongsam or Qipao in Chinese, the traditional dress of Chinese women in the world, is honored as the quintessence of Chinese national culture and the national dress of Chinese females. After the 1920s, it became the most popular clothing of women, which was determined by the government of the Republic of China as one of the national dresses in 1929. After the 1980s, as the traditional culture being revalued and with the effects of film and TV culture, fashion show and beauty contest, cheongsam was gradually prevalent in the mainland, and all over the world. Cheongsams are close-fitting and draw the outline of the wearer’s body. The classical cheongsams mostly used straight lines, loose body piece and split ends into both sides. The chest circumference and waistline are closer to the size of the dress. Modern cheongsam is designed more close-fitting and accompanied with sleeves in western style. Its length of the body part and sleeves are greatly shortened. The design of Cheongsam got various inventions like a ruffled collar, bell-like sleeves, and black lace frothing.

4. Chinese Tunic Suit

Chinese tunic suit, also called Mao suit or Zhongshan suit, named after the Chinese revolutionary pioneer Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was designed on the basis of Japanese student costumes. It has a turn-down collar and four pockets with flaps. Mao Suit was named because the famous political figure Mao Zedong often worn it. It was once one of the most popular standard clothes for Chinese men. After the 1980s, with the deepening of reform and opening up, western-style suit and other fashions gradually became popular. It is worth mentioning that Chinese leaders are still used to wearing Chinese tunic suit when attending major domestic events.

5. Clothing of the Ethnic Minorities

Ethnic minorities wear their national costume in daily life and the occasion of festival etiquette. China’s 55 ethnic minority clothing, due to the difference in the geographical environment, climate, customs, and habits, economic, cultural, forms different styles, colors, and with distinctive national features. Generally, there are two types: long gown and a short coat. People in gown wear hats and boots, and the people in short coats wear headcloth and shoes. Some techniques of Chinese ethnic minorities such as embroidery and batik are much developed and are widely used in making clothing adornments. This is another feature of their costumes.

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clothing styles of Chinese ethnic minorities

In as early as the Warring States Period (475–221 BC), the sixth emperor of Zhao already realized that although the Zhao army had better weapons, the long robes worn by generals and warriors were too cumbersome for an army, especially when they had to drag their armors and supplies around. They had tens of thousands of soldiers, but few riders flexible to make a quick attack. He went against all objections and advocated for change towards the Hu or western minority clothing style of the nomadic riders. The Zhao soldiers wore shorter robes and trousers and soon became a better army. Economic development followed.

Moreover, this style that was once frowned upon and rejected became the daily wear of the ordinary folks by Wei, Jin and Southern and Western Dynasties (220-583 AD) in the central plains. One reason for this change, unfortunately, was the frequent migration of the people to run away from the incessant wars and chaos. This process also helped the exchange of clothing culture. (ref: Chinese clothing)

Kuzhe and Liangdang are the typical “Hu” or minority wear of that time. It is not hard to see that both styles are fit for riding and life in the cold climate.

The so-called Kuzhe is a style with separate upper and lower garments. The upper garment looks like a short robe with wide sleeves, a central China adaptation to the original narrow sleeves fit for riding and herding animals. What also changed was the closure of the robe, which moved from left to right. Interestingly, people of central China called the northwestern people “people with left closure.” The robes at this time were shortened significantly and varied in style. Historical materials show some styles of these upper garments in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which had left, right and middle closure, or even swallowtails at the front hem. A set of these clothing makes the wearer sharp and agile, as is frequently seen in clay burial figurines in the Southern Dynasty.

The lower garment of the Kuzhe is a pair of trousers with the closed crotch. Initially these trousers we reclose fitting, showing off slender legs that could freely move around. When this style appeared in central China, especially when some officials wore them in court, the conservative questioned the appropriateness of the two thin legs that cried out rebellion against the loose fitting traditional ceremonial wear. Widening the legs was a compromise so that the pants still appeared similar to the traditional robe.

When walking about, these pants were more flexible and convenient than the robe. To avoid being caught in thorns or dragged in the mud, someone came up with a brilliant idea of lifting the trouser legs and tying them up just below knee-level. This kind of pants can be frequently seen in the Southern Dynasty’s burial figurines and brick paintings. In appearance, they are quite similar to the bell-bottomed pants in the modern days, but in reality, they are only similar in profile, not in construction.

Liangdang or double-layered suit is another style typical of this period, and it came from the northwest into central China. It was no more than a vest, which can be seen in many burial pieces of that time. Judging from clay figurines and wall paintings in tombs, the vest was in two separate pieces fastened on the shoulders and under the arms. There were also Liangdangs worn inside in materials of leather or cotton, lined or unlined, close or loose fitting. The name has changed over the years, but the style remained.

The above mention garments were all the rage at that time for both women and men. The separate piece style has always been the prototype of the Chinese people, but modifications were made due to the exchange and fusion of different garment cultures.

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Ancient Chinese Clothing

From the day garments became part of people’s lives,they have been given different significance of social status, lifestyle, aesthetics and cultural concepts. Garments have always been the truest and most straightforward reflection of the social and historical scenes of any given time. In this sense, the history of garments is at the same time a vivid history on the development of civilization.

In the Chinese way of describing the necessities of life, clothing ranks at the top of “garments, food, shelter and means of travel.” In this country with a long history of garments and ornaments, there is a wealth of archeological findings showing the development of garments, as well as their portrayals in ancient mythology, history books, poems and songs, novels and drama.

The development of the Chinese garments can be traced back to the late Paleolithic age. Archeological findings have shown that approximately 20,000 years ago,the primitives who lived in the now Zhoukoudian area of Beijing were already wearing personal ornaments, in the form of tiny white stone beads, olive-colored pebbles, animal teeth, clam shells,fish bones and bone tubes, all meticulously perforated. Archeologists have a􀄴ributed these to be body ornaments. Aesthetics might not have been the only concern when people wore ornaments at that time – ornaments were used as a means of protection against evil. The unearthed bone needles were still intact with oval shaped needle hole, a sign that people at that time were no longer satisfied with utilizing animal and plant materials. They already learned the technology of sewing together animal skin.

Over 1,000 archeological sites of the Neolithic age (6,000 B.C.-2,000 B.C.) have been found in China, geographically covering almost the entire country. The major means of production have transformed from the primitive hunting and fishing to the more stable form of agriculture, while division of labor first appeared in weaving and pottery making. Ancient painted pottery pots from 5,000 years ago were found in Qinghai Province of western China, decorated with dancers imitating the hunting scene. Some dancers wear decorative braids on their heads, while others have ornamental tails on the waist. Some wear full skirts that are rarely seen in traditional Chinese attire, but more similar to the whalebone skirt of the western world. In the neighboring province of Gansu, similar vessels were excavated, with images of people wearing what the later researchers called the “Guankoushan,” a typical style found in the early human garments: a piece of textile with a slit or hole in the middle from which the head comes through. A rope is tied at the waist, giving the garment a dress-like appearance. Another vessel portrays an image of an attractive young girl, with short bangs on the forehead and long hair in the back. Against the delicate facial features and below the neck a continuous pattern is found with three rows of slanting lines and triangles. It may well have been a lively young girl in a beautiful dress with intricate patterns on the mind of the pottery maker. In addition to the clay vessels, images of primitive Chinese garments were found in rock paintings of the early people wearing ear ornaments. In the Daxi Neolithic site of Wushan, Sichuan, historical artifacts were found including ear ornaments made of jade, ivory and turquoise in round, oblong, trapezoid and even semi-circle shapes.

Along with the establishment of the different social strata, rituals distinguishing the respectable from the humble came into being, leading eventually to the formation of rules and regulations on daily attire. The Chinese rules on garments and ornaments started taking shape in the Zhou Dynasty (1,046 B.C.-256 B.C.), regulating the royalty down to the commoners, and these were recorded in the national decrees and regulations.

As early as in the Zhou Dynasty, garments were already classified into sacrificial attire, court attire, army uniform, mourning attire and wedding attire. This tradition was once broken during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.), in which numerous war lords fought for power and a hundred schools of thoughts contended. As a result, rigid rules on garments and ornaments were replaced by diversity of style, and the aristocratic class went after extravagance.

The rulers of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) used the Zhou Li – book on Zhou Dynasty Rituals as the blueprint and promulgated categorical rules on garments and ornaments. Dress colors were specified into spring green, summer red, autumn yellow and winter black to be in harmony with the seasons and the solar calendar, all in a style of sober simplicity. Women’s upper and lower garments became the model for the Han ethnicity of later generations.

The Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynsties (220-589) was a period of ethnic amalgamation with, despite the frequent change in power and incessant wars, ideological diversity, cultural prosperity and significant scientific development. In this period, there was not only the Wei and Jin aristocratic style that the intelligentsia took delight in talking about, but also the shocks and transformations on the traditional Han culture brought about by the northern nomadic tribes when they migrated into the central plains. These ethnic minority people settled down with the Han people. As a result, the way they dressed influenced the Han style, while at the same time it was influenced by the Han style.

When China was reunited in the Sui Dynasty (581- 618), the Han dress code was pursued again. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that followed, the strong national power and an open social order led to a flourishing of garment and ornament style that is both luxuriant and refreshing, typically with women wearing low cut short shirtdress or narrow-sleeved men’s attire. By Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Han women developed the habit of chestbinding, giving popularity to the popular overcoat beizi, whose elegant and simplistic style was favored by women of all ages and all social strata. Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) was established by the Mongols when they unified China.

As Mongols at that time wore maoli or triangular hat, and men commonly wore earrings, the official dress code became a mixture of the inherited Han system with the Mongol elements. When power again changed hands to the Han people, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) rulers promulgated decrees prohibiting use of the previous dynasty’s Mongol attire, language and surnames, returning to the dress style of the Tang Dynasty. The official uniform of the Ming Dynasty was intent on seeking a sense of dignity and splendor, as shown in the complex forms, styles and dressing rituals of the emperor down to officials of all levels. More than 200 years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was a period with the most significant changes in garment style. The Manchu dress style which the rulers tried to force on the Han people was met with strong resistance, but a later compromise by the government led to a silent fusion of the two dress styles. The mandarin long gown (changpao) and jacket (magua) style has become the quintessential Qing style whenever the topic of Qing dress is brought up.

After 1840, China entered the contemporary era. Seaport cities, especially metropolis like Shanghai, led the change towards western style under the influence of the European and American fashion trends. Industrialization in the textile weaving and dyeing in the west brought about the import of low cost materials, gradually replacing domestic materials made in the traditional way. Intricately made and trendy ready-to-wear garments in western style also found their way into the Chinese market, gaining an upper hand over the time-consuming traditional techniques of hand rolling, bordering, inlay and embroidery with its large scale machine operated dress-making.

Looking in retrospect at Chinese garments of the 20th century, we see an array of styles of qipao, Cheongsam, the Sun Yat-sen’s uniform, student uniform, western suits, hat, silk stockings, high heels, workers’ uniform, Lenin jacket, the Russian dress, army style, jacket,bell-bottoms, miniskirts, bikinis, professional attire, punk style and T-shirt, all witnessing the days gone by… The qipao dress, now regarded as the typical Chinese dress style, only became popular in the 1920s. Originating in the Manchu women’s dress, incorporating techniques of the Han ladies’ garments and absorbing styles of the 20th century western dresses, it has now evolved into a major fashion element to be reckoned with in the international fashion industry.

China, as a country made up of 56 ethnic groups that continually influenced each other, has undergone continuous transformation in dress style and customs. The distinction not only existed among dynasties, but also quite pronounced even in different periods within the same dynasty. The overall characteristics of the Chinese garments can be summarized as bright colors, refined artisanship, and ornate details.

Diversity in style can be seen among different ethnic groups, living environments, local customs, lifestyles and aesthetic tastes. Chinese folk garments are deeply rooted in the daily life and folk activities of the common people, full of rustic flavor and exuberant with vitality. Many of the folk dresses are still popular today, for example the red velvet flower hair piece, the embroidered keepsakes between lovers, coil hats and raincoats made of natural fiber, not to mention the handmade tiger hats, tiger shoes, pig shoes, cat shoes and the child buttock shields.

The progress of modernization is effacing the ethnic characters of the urban dress style. However in the vast rural areas, especially in areas with a high concentration of ethnic minority people, a wide array of beautiful garments and ornaments are still part of the local lifestyle, offering a unique folk scene together with the local landscape.

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Royal Ceremonial Wear

The mianfu and the dragon T robe are typical garments for ancient Chinese emperors. They serve as a micro cosmos that exemplify the unique Chinese aesthetic and sense of the universe.

In Chinese history there is a story of “Dressed with yellow robe” that occurred in 959 A.D. One year after a young emperor took over the throne at the death of his father, the old emperor, a general was dressed with the royal yellow robe by his supporters and made emperor. That was the beginning of the Song Dynasty. But why does the “yellow robe” represent the emperor? It all started in the Han Dynasty.

The Chinese theories of the Yin and Yang and of the Five Elements all try to explain the interdependence and mutual rejection of gold, wood, water, fire and earth. White represents gold; green represents wood; black represents water; and yellow represents earth. In Zhou Dynasty, red was regarded as the superior color for garments, but by Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-206B.C.) black ranked highest among all garment colors. All officials followed suit and wore black as much as they could. When Han Dynasty replaced Qin, yellow was promoted to the highest place, favored by the emperors of the time. By Tang Dynasty the court made it official that no one, except the emperor, had the right to wear yellow. This rule was passed all the way down to the Qing Dynasty. It was said that when the 11-year old Pu Yi (1906-1967), the last emperor, saw his 8-year old cousin wearing yellow silk as his clothes lining, he grabbed the sleeve and said: “How dare you use yellow!” The status of the color yellow was apparently supreme in their heart.

In ancient Chinese society, it was all strictly specified which class should wear what on what occasions. What the emperor wore on important occasions had a special name: mianfu.

Mianfu is a set of garments including the mianguan,a crown with a board that leans forward, as if the emperor is bowing to his subjects in full respect and concern. Chains of beads hang at front and back, normally twelve chains each, but also in numbers of nine, seven, five or three, depending on the importance of the occasion and the difference in ranks. The jade beads are threaded with silk, ranging from nine to twelve in number. Hairpins are used to fasten the crown to the hair, and two small beads hang above the ears of the wearer, reminding him to listen with discretion. This, like the board in front of the crown, has important political significance.

The upper garment of emperors is normally black while the lower garment is normally crimson. They symbolize the order of heaven and earth and should never be confused. Dragon is the dominant pattern embroidered on the emperors clothing, although another 12 kinds of decoration can be seen as well, including symbolic animals, or natural scenes with sun and moon.These patterns are allowed on the lords as well, but they differ in complexity according to different ranks and importance of the occasion.

Mianfu with upper and lower garments are fastened with a belt, under which a decorative piece called bixi or knee covering hangs down. This piece of decorative cloth originated in the days when people were wearing animal skins, used primarily for covering the abdomen and the genitals. This part of clothing remained until later years, becoming an important component of the ceremonial wear. Even later, the bixi became the protector of the royal dignity. The emperor’s bixi is pure red in color.

Shoes to go with the mianfu are made of silk with double-layered wooden soles. Another kind exists that uses flax or animal skin as the sole depending on the season. By order of importance, the emperor wore red, white or black shoes on different occasions. The most outstanding feature of the Chinese royal attire is the embroidered dragon. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, the robe had to have nine dragons embroidered,on front and back of the two shoulders and two sleeves, as well as inside the front lapel, displaying the royal prominence bestowed by the gods.

Refer the chapter 1, Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Ancient Chinese Clothing .

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Shenyi and Broad Sleeves

The ancient Chinese attached great importance to the upper and lower garments on important ceremonial occasions, believing in its symbolism of the greater order of heaven and earth. At the mean time, one piece style co-existed starting from the shenyi of the Warring States Period, and developed into the Han Dynasty robe, the large sleeved changshan of the Wei and Jin Period, down to the “qi pao” of the contemporary times, all in the form of a long robe in one piece. Therefore, Chinese garments took the above-mentioned two basic forms.

Shenyi, or deep garment, literally means wrapping the body deep within the clothes. This style is deeply rooted in the traditional mainstream Chinese ethics and morals that forbid the close contact of the male and the female. At that time, even husband and wife were not allowed to share the same bathroom, the same suitcase,or even the same clothing lines. A married woman returning to her mother's home was not permited to eat at the same table with her brothers. When going out, a woman had to keep herself fully covered. These rules and rituals were recorded in great detail in the Confucian Book of Rites.

The shenyi is made up of the upper and lower garment, tailored and made in a unique way. There is a special chapter in the Book of Rites detailing the make of the shenyi. It said that in the Warring States Period, the style of the shenyi must conform to the rites and rituals, its style fit for the rules with the proper square and round shapes and the perfect balance. It has to be long enough not to expose the skin, but short enough not to drag on the floor. The forepart is elongated into a large triangle, with the part above the waist in straight cut and the part below the waist bias cut, for ease of movement. The underarm section is made for flexible movement of the elbow, therefore the generous length of sleeves reaches the elbow when folded from the fingertips. Moderately formal, the shenyi is fit for both men of letters and warriors. It ranks second in ceremonial wear, functional, not wasteful and simple in style. Shenyi of this period can be seen in silk paintings unearthed from ancient tombs, as well as on clay and wooden figurines found in the same period, with clear indications of the style, and often even the patterns.

Material used for making shenyi is mostly linen, except black silk is employed in garments for sacrificial ceremonies. Sometimes a colorful decorative band is added to the edges, or even embellished with embroidered or painted patterns. When shenyi is put on, the elongated triangular hem is rolled to the right and then tied right below the waist with a silk ribbon. This ribbon was called dadai or shendai, on which a decorative piece is attached. Later on leather belt appeared in the garment of the central regions as an influence of nomadic tribes. A belt buckle is normally attached to the leather belt for fastening. Belt buckles are often intricately made, becoming an emerging craft at the Warring States Period. Large belt buckles can be as long as 30 centimeters, whereas the short ones are about 3 centimeters in length. Materials can be stone, bone, wood, gold, jade, copper or iron, with the extravagant ones decorated with gold and silver, carved in patterns or embellished with jade or glass beads.

By Han Dynasty, shenyi evolved into what is called the qujupao or curved gown, a long robe with triangular front piece and rounded under hem. At the mean time, the straight gown or Zhijupao was also popular, and it was also called chan or yu. When straight gown first appeared, it was not allowed as ceremonial wear, for wearing out of the house or even for receiving guests at home. In Historical Records, comments are found on the disrespectful nature of wearing Chan and Yu to court. The taboo may have come from the fact that, before Han Dynasty, people in the central plains wore trousers without crotches, only two legs of the trousers that meet at the waist, similar to the Chinese infant pants. For this reason, the wearer may look disgraceful if the outer garment is not properly wrapped to cover the body. When dressing etiquette is discussed in Confucian classics, the outer garment is said not to be lifted even in the hottest days, and the only occasion following for lifting the outer garment is when crossing of the river. People of the central plains had to kneel before they sit. There were written rules on not allowing sitting with the two legs forward. This rule has to do with the clothing style of the time, when si􀄴ing in the forbidden posture may result in disgrace. Later on, along with the close interaction with the riding nomadic, people of the central plains started to accept trousers with crotches.

Historical evidence, be it Han tomb paintings,painted rocks or bricks, or clay and wooden figurines, all portray people wearing long gowns. This style is found most commonly in men, but sometimes in women as well. The so-called paofu refers to long robes with the following features. First of all, it has a lining. Depending on whether it is padded, the garment can be called jiapao or mianpao. Secondly, it most often comes with generously wide sleeves with cinched wrist. Thirdly, it has low cut cross collars to show the under garment. And fourthly, there is often an embroidered dark band at the collar, the wrists and the front hem, often in Kui (a Chinese mythical animal) or checker patterns. The paofu differ in length. Some robes can reach down to the ankles, often worn by men of letters or the elderly, while others are only long enough to cover the knees, worn mostly by warriors or heavy laborers.

Even after paofu became the mainstream attire, shenyi did not disappear – it remained as in women’s garments. First the front lapel elongated and developed into a shenyi with wrap-around lapel. As can be seen in the silk painting in the Changsha Mawangdui Tomb of Han Dynasty, the lady in the painting is dressed in a shenyi with wrap-around lapel, fully embroidered with dragon and phoenix and already a high achievement in the development of female garments.

By the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties (220-589), style of paofu evolved into loose-fitting garments with open sleeves (as opposed to cinched sleeves of the previous dynasties). These were called bao yi bo dai or loose robes with long ribbons, exemplifying the carefree style of the wearer. Men’s long robes became increasingly casual and simple, while women’s long robes became more elaborate and complex. Typical women’s garments were well exemplified in the painting of the Gu Kaizhi (circa. 345-409), the great painter of the time. Women wore dresses with decorative cloth on the lower hems of their dresses. These pieces were triangular, and hung like banners with rolled edges and embroidered decorative patterns. When the top of the lapel is wrapped up, these triangles create a layered effect and lend rhythm to the women’s movement. Wide sleeves and long hemline, together with the long silk ribbons tying the decorative cloth around the waist, add to the grace of the wearer.

There are both similarities and differences between shenyi and paofu. They are both one-piece gowns but shenyi died out while paofu survived up until the present day. Even today in the 21st century, the mere mention of the changpao will bring up an image of a straight gown with side opening under the right arm, its simplicity in style enhanced by the elaboration of weaving and embroidery.

The style of paofu continually evolved in each dynasty. The Han Dynasty shenyi with wide sleeves, the Tang Dynasty round collar gown and the Ming Dynasty straight gown are all typical wide changpaos, mainly preferred by the intelligentsia and the ruling class. Time went by, and the changpao became a typical garment for those with leisure, as well as a traditional garment of the Han people.

Reference: 0verall of Tranditional Chinese Clothing . Chinese clothing .

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Buddha Jumps Over the Wall

With respect to Chinese dishes, individuals tend to think they are solid and scrumptious. Indeed, they are. Yet, today, I might want to acquaint with you a absurdly delightful and puzzling cooking from the place where I grew up: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a Chinese name which sounds exhausting. Give me a chance to give you its English interpretation — "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall". It's just plain obvious, amazing and funny! Actually, its name doesn't make any relationship with flavorful nourishment. Befuddled? I will disclose to you the story behind that.

Buddha jumps over the wall is a well known Fujianese (Fujian is a southeastern area in China) dish frequently served at luxurious meals. Setting up the dish is troublesome and tedious, for it unites a wide range of fixings. Buddha Jumps over the Wall is produced using various rarities and is viewed as one of the preeminent dishes in Chinese food. A run of the mill formula requires numerous fixings including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallops, ocean cucumber, abalone, shark blade, chicken, Jinhua ham (viewed as the best ham in China), pork ligament, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. A few formulas require up to thirty fundamental fixings and twelve sauces. Utilization of shark blade, which is here and there reaped by shark finning, and abalone, which is embroiled in ruinous angling rehearses, are disputable for both natural and moral reasons. Extraordinary expertise is required to set up the dish: in excess of 10 fixings must be stewed gradually for a long time with simply the privilege measure of warmth. The dish has a great fragrance and is basically powerful. All things considered, the aptitude to cook this riddle food is considered as a national mystery which is unbendingly ensured by the Chinese Government, which in part clarifies why it is so costly. About the starting point of its clever name, there are three forms of stories. The soonest specify of the expression "Buddha Jumps over the Wall" shows up in a book from the Song tradition (960-1279 BC). Stories proliferate with regards to the source of the dish's beautiful name. As per one adaptation, the fragrant scent of the dish was powerful to the point that it incited a Buddhist priest to move over the religious community divider to experience it.

Another variant says that a priest arranged the dish one day, adding numerous non-vegan fixings to his stew and that when he was gotten eating it he needed to jump over his cloister dividers to get away. In any case, it is difficult to demonstrate or invalidate both of these renditions. A third story says that amid the Qing tradition (1644-1911 BC), the dish was first arranged by an authority from Fuzhou (the place where I grew up where I burned through the multi-year before school), who was attempting to establish a decent connection on his predominant, Zhou Lian. He consolidated numerous fixings; including pork, duck, and chicken, and stewed them gradually in an urn that was utilized to hold Shaoxing wine (Shaoxing is a well-known city in Eastern China and well known for Eastern style Chinese sustenance and shocking customary Chinese water city landscape with the acclaim of Eastern Venice). In the wake of tasting the dish, Zhou lauded it bountifully and asked what the dish was called. The man answered that it was planned to bring "good fortunes and success, joy and lifespan," thus it was called Happiness and Longevity. Zhou's gourmet expert at that point recorded the formula and enhanced the dish, and at the point when Zhou served it to his visitors somebody composed a couple of lines, saying that "The fragrant scent invades the area, so priests overlook their Zen contemplations and come bouncing over the divider." Ever from that point forward the dish has been known as Buddha Jumps over the Wall.

Since Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is made of numerous valuable fixings and devour much time to be arranged, and even requires a gifted gourmet expert with rich experience to control the season of stewing, it is exceptionally costly for visitors to have a true Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in the place where I grew up. With respect to me, I just have tasted bona fide Buddha Jumps Over the Wall once amid a family get-together ten years back. In those days, that cooking cost around 100 USD in eateries. Today, you may need to pay up to 500 USD to get it in the couple of eateries that continue serving it. I don't figure I can portray how staggeringly delightful it is with my pale words.

Be that as it may, I do trust this cooking has an enchantment to influence you to feel fulfilled and glad since when I had it, at first spoon. It resembled a cluster of daylight illuminated my reality absolutely instantly, which influenced me to feel that it is such a fortune to be alive and that life is so beautiful; I couldn't resist going gaga for it. I swear that the remarkable flavor encounter it brought me is the best kind of joy brought by nourishment I have encountered up until now. Give me a chance to demonstrate to you some beautiful pictures to make you draw nearer to my most loved cooking— Buddha jumps over the wall .

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how to learn Chinese faster

Numerous individuals say Chinese is the most troublesome dialect on the planet. Some may not concur, but rather the truth of the matter is that Chinese is unquestionably difficult for apprentices. To begin learning Chinese, you have to genuinely set yourself up. Be that as it may, how to locate the correct method to contemplate Chinese for amateurs? How can one not end up detached to this dialect and keep on studying it notwithstanding when it appears as though it’s difficult to find success with it? Here, I might want to impart a few hints to the individuals who have quite recently begun to learn Chinese.

How about we begin with this: be ready that the start of taking in the dialect is the most troublesome period in concentrate Chinese. The principal month or month and a half of Chinese dialect classes will appear to simply be exercises of singing and drawing. The instructor will educate you on the most proficient method to legitimately sing the tones and draw the characters perfectly. However, at that point all of a sudden, a similar educator will request that you learn 30 new characters at the same time, influence you to rehash sentences a few times until the point that you effectively take after the tones, and gives you new syntactic developments. At this stage, numerous fledglings can’t stand such a hop from basic exercises to complex ones and surrender. Trust me, in the event that you conquer this and continue going, you will receive the benefits of your endeavors, and the characters and way of talking will, in the long run, get comfortable.

Second, contemplate for shorter eras, yet do it all the more frequently. It is smarter to give in any event 30 minutes consistently than to sit for a considerable length of time on Saturday endeavoring to remember such a significant number of new characters without a moment’s delay. In the wake of taking in another word, attempt to think of a sentence, to play with it. So on the off chance that you have learned “to contemplate” 学习（xué xí）, consider the things which you and your companions or relatives ponder and portray them, for instance, 我学习汉语，我姐姐学习英语（Wǒ xuéxí hànyǔ, wǒ jiějie xuéxí yīng yǔ）.

Painstakingly think about the characters and note their implications. Perhaps the word and the character help you to remember something? Possibly it causes some psychological affiliations? This can help apprentices a ton in recollecting new vocabulary. This sort of remembering is called memory helpers and is extremely valuable for taking in the Chinese dialect. A case of mental helpers in Chinese is this word: “to have rest” 休（xiū）. Here you can envision a man (the left half of the character), having a rest under a tree (the correct side of the character). This case is just a single out of many analogical cases.

Here’s another tip: don’t endeavor to put excessively numerous words into your head at the same time. Take ten new words and do with them everything that is said in the past passage. Do this to the point that the words and characters are planted in your memory, with the goal that they get comfortable and simple for you.

Next, I might want you to focus on the radicals. Chinese characters can be deconstructed into parts called radicals. When I began to examine Chinese with my colleagues, we were compelled to learn radicals and compose correspondences consistently. We genuinely did not comprehend why we expected to get the hang of something that can’t be utilized independently. Simply after some time did we understand that the radicals resemble the blocks for a house. They resemble the establishment of a symbolic representation. They are keys to help figure the significance of an obscure character, to help comprehend what sort of elocution it can have. The most essential thing is that knowing the radicals causes you to become acclimated to characters and figure out how to recognize them since when you simply begin to learn Chinese online, each character is by all accounts resemble a similar arrangement of lines. For instance, the character “brush” 笔 （bǐ）has two radicals – bamboo and fleece. On the off chance that we secure a bamboo stay with a bit of fleece together, we will get a brush.

Taking everything into account, I might want to accentuate this: don’t stop considering Chinese, regardless of what happens. Truly, toward the starting it will appear that the local speakers don’t comprehend anything you say, the characters you compose are appalling and abnormal, and sentence structure botches happen all of a sudden. In any case, Chinese is a delightful dialect that you should love on the off chance that you need to talk it. It took me quite a long while to love it truly. I attempted to change from Chinese to European dialects, yet inevitably I returned to the Chinese dialect, and I’m not going to quit considering it, regardless of whether it takes me my entire life to think about it.

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Chinese Idioms from Dragon and Phoenix

Animals have always been an indispensable part of the Chinese people’s daily lives. Naturally, many Chinese words reflect the close relationship between animals and the Chinese people. For example, in the Year of the Dragon, people will say “生龙活虎”(shēng lóng huó hǔ, which means doughty as a dragon and lively as a tiger); this describes someone who is full of vim and vigor. In this article, I will present to you a few frequently used animal-related Chinese words.

Dragon 龙

“龙”(lóng, dragon) is a fictitious animal (just like it is in Western cultures). This animal combines the features of many real animals such as the deer, ox, fish, snake, and so on. “龙” has a unique significance to the Chinese people. In the minds of the Chinese, “龙” is holy and sacred and can control the rain and wind. The Chinese people often proudly call themselves “龙的传人”(lóng de chuán rén, descendants of “the dragon”).

Below are some common Chinese words involving “虎”:

1) “龙潭虎穴”(lóng tán hǔ xué) Literally, “龙潭虎穴” means “dragon’s pond and tiger’s lair.”

Colloquially, “龙潭虎穴” means “a dangerous place.”

E.g.

警察经常深入龙潭虎穴去调查疑难案件。

(Jīng chá jīng cháng shēn rù lóng tán hǔ xué qù diào chá yí nán àn jiàn.)

The police often walk into dangerous places to investigate difficult cases.

2) “龙腾虎跃”(lóng téng hǔ yuè) Literally, “龙腾虎跃” means “dragon rises and tiger jumps.”

Colloquially, “龙腾虎跃” means “very active.”

E.g.

运动场上，同学们个个龙腾虎跃。

(Yùn dòng chàng shàng, tóng xué mén gè gè lóng téng hǔ yuè.)

The students on the playground are all very active.

3) “龙争虎斗”(lóng zhēng hǔ dòu) Literally, “龙争虎斗” means “a tiger and a dragon fight each other.”

Colloquially, “龙争虎斗” means “a fierce struggle between well-matched opponents.”

E.g.

这两队龙争虎斗，比赛非常激烈。

(Zhè liǎng duì lóng zhēng hǔ dòu, bǐ sài fēi cháng jī liè.)

The two opposing teams, having engaged in a fierce struggle with each other, presented the spectators with a very exciting game.

4) “龙蛇混杂”(lóng shé hùn zá) Literally, “龙蛇混杂” means “dragons and snakes jumbled together.”

Colloquially, “龙蛇混杂” means “good people and bad people mixed together.”

E.g.

这个小区龙蛇混杂，不利于管理。

(Zhè gè xiǎo qū lóng shé hùn zá, bú lì yú guǎn lǐ.)

There are both bad and good people in this community, which causes problems in management.

5) “鲤鱼跳龙门”(lí yú tiào lóng mén) Literally, “鲤鱼跳龙门” means that a carp leaps over the dragon’s gate.

Colloquially, “鲤鱼跳龙门” means “ordinary people succeeding in national exams in feudal China.”

E.g.

在古代中国，人人都想鲤鱼跳龙门。

(Zài gǔ dài zhōng guó, rén rén dōu xiǎng lǐ yú tiào lóng mén.)

In ancient China, everyone wanted to succeed in national exams and become government officials.

Other Chinese words that are related to “龙”:

“龙舌兰”(lóng shé lán): maguey

“龙须面”(lóng xū miàn): long, thin noodles

“龙井茶”(lóng jǐng chá): a famous green tea produced in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province

“龙袍”(lóng páo): a yellow gown embroidered with dragons worn by emperors

“一条龙服务”(yì tiáo long fú wù): one-stop service

Phoenix 凤凰

“凤凰”(fèng huáng, Phoenix) is also a fictitious animal. The Phoenix is called the “king of the birds.” Legendarily, “凤凰,” just like “龙”, combines the features of many real animals, such as the swallow, snake, fish, deer, turtle, and so on. Originally, a male phoenix was called “凤”(fèng), and a female phoenix was called “凰”(huáng). After the Qin and Han dynasties, people gradually didn’t speak of the male phoenix, and “凤凰” only refers to the female phoenix.

“凤凰” is considered the symbol of harmony and auspiciousness by the Chinese people. Across Chinese history, “凤凰” has always been an essential part of the Chinese culture and language.

1) “龙飞凤舞”(lóng fēi fèng wǔ) Literally, “龙飞凤舞” means “dragonflies and phoenix dances.”

Colloquially, “龙飞凤舞” means “lively and vigorous handwriting style.”

E.g.

我语文老师写的字如龙飞凤舞。

(Zhè wèi lāo shī xiě de zì rú lóng fēi fèng wǔ.)

The Chinese characters my Chinese teacher wrote are lively and vigorous.

2) “凤毛麟角”(fèng máo lín jiǎo) Literally, “凤毛麟角” means “phoenix’s feathers and qílín’s horns.”

Colloquially, “凤毛麟角” refers to “rare things or exceptional people.”

E.g.

在军队，女兵有如 “凤毛麟角。”

(Zài jūn duì, nǚ bīng yǒu rú “fèng máo lín jiǎo.”)

In the army, female soldiers are extremely rare.

3) “凤泊鸾飘”(fèng bó luán piāo) Literally, “凤泊鸾飘” means “phoenix berths and luán (also a mythical bird) wanders.”

Colloquially, “凤泊鸾飘” means that a couple is separated from one another.

E.g.

这对夫妇八年离散，凤泊鸾飘，团聚时，喜极而泣。

(Zhè duì fū fù bā nián lí sàn, fèng bó luán piāo, tuán jù shí, xǐ jí ér qì.)

This couple, separated from one another eight years ago, cried out of pure joy when they were reunited.

4) “攀龙附凤”(pān lóng fù fèng) Literally, “攀龙附凤” means “climb a dragon and stick to a phoenix.”

Colloquially, “攀龙附凤” means “playing up to people of power and influence.”

E.g.

James今天的成就都是攀龙附凤得来的。

(James jīn tiān de chéng jiù dōu shì pān lóng fù fèng dé lái de.)

James is what he is because he played up to people of power and influence.

Animals are essential to people’s lives. Such importance is reflected in animals’ roles in human language. Above I have shown you how the Chinese see some animals through a few Chinese words related to these animals, but these words are only the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for the second part of this article.

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Brief Chinese language

Lots of people could have experienced the difficulties of finding out a new language as a 2nd language, especially for discovering the Chinese language, because it doesn’t resemble any kind of western languages.

My discovery is that finding out the Chinese language could be less complicated if you know the rules. The hard component is to be persistent in memorizing exactly what you have found out. For functional use, Chinese language in daily real-time, all you require is 2,000 personalities for a start. While in English, this quantity of words to understand prior to an individual could practically use the language in day-to-day life can conveniently increase to 10,000 words. To get more information about it you can follow the Chinese language.

Does it take any dedications for discovering a new language? Yes and also obviously. It takes tremendous technique, devotion as well as years of practices for totally mastering a new language, and able to connect with complete confidence with an additional person utilizing that language. Nonetheless, if you apply some particular methods to a devoted function of utilizing the language, such as for short-term taking a trip, you can achieve your goal within a certain amount of time.

During my technique of training Chinese, I recognized the hardest component to discover the Chinese language is to bear in mind the Chinese characters and their pronunciation. When you have known enough Chinese characters, able to pronounce them as well as understand ways to place them right into significant words, things become much easier for you. All you need to do is only one thing: keep utilizing the Chinese personalities till you recognize with ways to put them into words and also sentences, and find out more characters at the exact same time. Consequently, to find the simplest way of keeping in mind the Chinese personalities is a crucial step in understanding the language in the fastest method.

To master the Chinese characters, writing is the hardest part. Thankfully a student could opt to discover the enunciations first, without learning the writing. This is typically a benefit for international pupils finding out Chinese as their Second language because it substantially shortens the time to master the singing skills for daily conversation making use of Chinese. So my referral is that if you don’t require the ability to compose Chinese personalities you can leave it at the beginning. Learn more about it by following the link Chinese characters.

Get more information about Chinese characters and language by following the link.

Currently, do you discover discovering the Chinese language is much easier compared to what you assume? I suppose the response to should of individuals are: “Yes, yet still not easy enough, the enunciation parts are still difficult.” Allow me to tell you some tips just to make it much easier. First off, the alpha bits for pronunciations are stood for by Latin letters, as long as you could bear in mind just how the English letters are pronounced in Latin, you could articulate every Chinese character. Second, there are 4 tones in the pronunciation of Chinese characters, and also each character pronounces 1 or 2 of the 4 tones. In a particular sentence, each character has just 1 pronunciation with a specific tone, based on the context of the sentence.

My ideal guidance to find out the Chinese language is that you start from finding out 1 sentence at a time. For every sentence you discover, aim to bear in mind each Chinese character: just what does it resemble, how does it articulate with the tone, and also just what does it imply. And afterward, purpose to exercise this sentence whenever you can. Accumulatively if you find out 1 sentence of 7 personalities each day, for a year you could master over 2000 characters, which suffices for fundamental discussions in every day online.

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learn Chinese for beiggner

Numerous individuals say Chinese is the most troublesome dialect on the planet. Some may not concur, but rather the truth of the matter is that Chinese is unquestionably difficult for learners. To begin learning Chinese, you have to genuinely set yourself up. However, how to locate the correct method to think about Chinese for fledglings? How can one not end up emotionless to this dialect and keep on studying it notwithstanding when it appears as though it's difficult to find success with it? Here, I might want to impart a few hints to the individuals who have recently begun to learn Chinese.

How about we begin with this: be ready that the start of taking in the dialect is the most troublesome period in concentrate Chinese. The main month or month and a half of Chinese dialect classes will appear to simply be exercises of singing and drawing. The educator will train you on the most proficient method to appropriately sing the tones and draw the characters wonderfully. In any case, at that point all of a sudden, a similar educator will request that you learn 30 new characters at the same time, influence you to rehash sentences a few times until the point when you effectively take after the tones and gives you new syntactic developments. At this stage, numerous fledglings can't stand such a bounce from basic exercises to complex ones and surrender. Trust me, on the off chance that you beat this and continue going, you will receive the benefits of your endeavors, and the characters and way of talking will, in the long run, get comfortable.

Second, think about for shorter eras, yet do it all the more regularly. It is smarter to commit in any event 30 minutes consistently than to sit for quite a long time on Saturday attempting to retain such huge numbers of new characters without a moment's delay. In the wake of taking in another word, endeavor to think of a sentence, to play with it. So in the event that you have learned "to contemplate" 学习（xué xí）, consider the things which you and your companions or relatives examine and portray them, for instance, 我学习汉语，我姐姐学习英语（Wǒ xuéxí hànyǔ, wǒ jiějie xuéxí yīng yǔ）.

Painstakingly consider the characters and note their implications. Perhaps the word and the character help you to remember something? Possibly it causes some psychological affiliations? This can help learners a considerable measure in recalling new vocabulary. This sort of remembering is called mental aides and is exceptionally helpful for taking in the Chinese dialect. A case of memory helpers in Chinese is this word: "to have rest" 休（xiū）. Here you can envision a man (the left half of the character), having a rest under a tree (the correct side of the character). This case is just a single out of several analogical illustrations.

Here's another tip: don't attempt to put excessively numerous words into your head at the same time. Take ten new words and do with them everything that is specified in the past passage. Do this until the point when the words and characters are planted in your memory, so they get comfortable and simple for you.

Next, I might want you to focus on the radicals. Chinese characters can be deconstructed into parts called radicals. When I began to consider Chinese with my cohorts, we were compelled to learn radicals and compose correspondences consistently. We genuinely did not comprehend why we expected to pick up something that can't be utilized exclusively. Simply after some time did we understand that the radicals resemble the blocks for a house. They resemble the establishment of a pictograph. They are keys to help figure the significance of an obscure character, to help comprehend what sort of elocution it can have. The most critical thing is that knowing the radicals encourages you to become accustomed to characters and figure out how to recognize them since when you simply begin to learn Chinese, each character is by all accounts resemble a similar arrangement of lines. For instance, the character "brush" 笔 （bǐ）has two radicals – bamboo and fleece. In the event that we affix a bamboo stay with a bit of fleece together, we will get a brush.

All in all, I might want to accentuate this: don't stop considering Chinese, regardless of what happens. Indeed, toward the starting it will appear that the local speakers don't comprehend anything you say, the characters you compose are revolting and slanted, and sentence structure botches happen all of a sudden. Be that as it may, Chinese is a wonderful dialect that you should love on the off chance that you need to talk it. It took me quite a long while to love it earnestly. I endeavored to change from Chinese to European dialects, yet sooner or later I returned to the Chinese dialect, and I'm not going to quit examining it, regardless of whether it takes me my entire life to ponder it.