Climbing Stork Tower by Wang Zhihuan

登(dēng) 鹳(guàn) 雀(què) 楼(lóu)

 作(zuò)者(zhě):王(wáng)之(zhī)涣(huàn)　

白(bái) 日(rì) 依(yī) 山(shān) 尽(jìn)，

黄(huáng) 河(hé) 入(rù) 海(hǎi) 流(liú)。
欲(yù) 穷(qióng) 千(qiān) 里(lǐ) 目(mù)，

更(gèng) 上(shàng) 一(yì) 层(céng) 楼(lóu)。

诗(shī) 的(de) 解(jiě) 析(xī)：

Explanation of the poem

夕(xī)阳(yáng) 顺(shùn)着(zhe) 山(shān) 边(biān) 慢(màn)慢(màn)地(de) 下(xià) 沉(chén)，逐(zhú)渐(jiàn)地(de) 消(xiāo)失(shī)了(le)。

Slowly the sun sits down alongside the mountain, and then it disappears.

滚(gǔn)滚(gǔn)的(de) 黄(huáng)河(hé) 水(shuǐ) 向(xiàng) 大(dà)海(hǎi) 流(liú)去(qù)。

Roaring and trundling, the Yellow River flows towards the ocean.

如(rú)果(guǒ) 想(xiǎng) 看(kàn) 得(de) 更(gèng) 远(yuǎn) 一(yì) 些(xiē)，

If you want to see farther,

就(jiù) 需(xū)要(yào) 登(dēng)上(shàng) 更(gèng)高(gāo)的(de) 楼(lóu) 层(céng)。

you need to climb up higher level.

Other useful link:

East Asia Student

唐诗小网

The Legend of Wang Xizhi

Wang Xizhi ( 303–361) ) is one of the most famous calligraphers in Chinese history. He lived in the Jin Dynasty (265-420).  He was regarded as the sage of calligraphy. His calligraphy, especially his running script calligraphy, was most precious for anyone who is interested in Chinese calligraphy. Tang Taizong, one of the emperors of Tang Dynasty, loved his calligraphy so much that he ordered lots of copies of his work. It's also said that Wang Xizhi's most famous work, the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion was buried with the emperor in his mausoleum. So nowadays people can only enjoy the copies of the original one.
The following video from ChinaX will give you more detail of the legend of Wang Xizhi and his well-known Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion.

Auspicious Chinese Phrase 岁岁平安

岁岁平安 is a very common auspicious phrase that Chinese people use during the Spring Festival. You may see this phrase in many occasions.
The following video lesson will explain:
The usage of character 岁
Meaning of this phrase
How to write this phrase

Write auspicious phrase 出入平安

Peace and safety are big concern in people's mind. In the following video, I will explain the meaning of an auspicious phrase -- 出入平安, where you may see this phrase, and how to write this phrase with brush.

Chinese Calligraphy ( Fraction of a Beautiful Poem -- The Falling Flowers)

唐寅(1470-1523)是明代著名的画家。通常人们认为唐寅的画胜诗，诗胜字。因此其诗名书名长期为画名所掩，留传的诗作和书作也不多。
Tangyin was a famous artist in Ming dynasty. His name is well known for his paintings, which are far more popular than his poems and calligraphy. 

或许是机缘巧合，我开始学习写行书时，使用的第一本字帖就是他的《落花诗册》。
It's a karma I have with his poems that my first copybook for calligraphy is his Poems of Falling Flowers.

Translation:

Suddenly gone away the beautiful spring

Along with all the lovely scenery in my garden

No wine can take away my sadness

Even the plum doesn't taste good any more

生肖shēngxiào (Chinese Zodiac) ——虎 hǔ Tiger

虎 hǔ ,Tiger is the third animal in Chinese zodiac. 

The following video will tell you how to read, write this character. We will also learn a kid's song named Two Tigers in this video. 

I bet you already get the answer. Let's see whether you get it correctly:
English: 
I was born in the year of Tiger. 
Chinese: 
Wǒ shì hǔnián shēngde
我 是 虎年 生的。
or 
Wǒ shǔ hǔ 

我属虎。

          People who were born at the year of Tiger are also bestowed the personality of the wonderful creature. Tiger, the living symbol of strength and power, generally inspires fear and respect. Tigers' compelling dynamism, intense activity, independence and curiosity about others make them irresistible, persons of multiple charms; Tigers attract followers and admirers. The Tiger is courageous, active and self-assured, and makes an excellent leader and protector. However liberal-minded Tigers may be, they are passionate, rash, and resist the authority of others. Although they are selfish in the little things, they are capable of great generosity, even of altruism, in the larger. Tigers are men and women of action, thrust by destiny into the spotlight. 

           Chinese say the life of a Tiger born at night will be less hectic than that of Tigers born after dawn and above all, those born around midday. It will be a stormy life full of dangers, but the Tiger will never be bored. Neither Night Tiger nor Day Tiger will have an easy life. The Western term for a particularly fierce woman is "dragon lady," but the Chinese call her an "old tiger lady."  母老虎mǔlǎohǔ.

生肖shēngxiào (Chinese Zodiac) —— 鼠shǔ (mouse)

We will start to talk about the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac 生肖shēngxiào. Eleven of them are living in our real life, one lives in our imagination, that is the dragon. The symbol of 2012 is dragon. Here is another blog about 2012 the year of dargon.

There is a special sequence when these animals show up to represent each year. 鼠shǔ (mouse) is the first one. Why? There is a story. Long long ago, the God in heaven wanted to choose 12 animals to be in charge of each year. So there was a competition among all the animals. The first 12 animals who walked through the gate of heaven will become immortal. Here is the video of the story: 

 Now let's see how to read, write and use the character for mouse, 鼠shǔ .

Writing basic character 王 wáng

王 wáng is a very interesting character. It's simple but full of BIG idea.
The basic meaning of 王wáng is king. Why?  Some sayings is that the top first horizontal stroke represents the heaven, the second middle  horizontal stroke represents the mortal world, the third bottom horizontal stroke represents the underworld, and the center vertical stroke represents the ability to communicate between those different world. That's why this character means KING. 

王 is also a very common family name in China. Maybe you will wonder whether all those people named 王 are descendants of the kings in ancient China. The answer is some of them are.  But there were also many people who changed their family name as 王 for all kinds of reasons. Such as, some family were granted the surname 王 because they had made important contribution to the country; while some other changed their surname to 王 just for trying to escape from the enemy who was in power. There are also many minorities changed their family name as 王 when they wanted to blend into the Han people’s live.
Well, now it's time to learn how to write this character :)

2012—the Year of Dragon

Based on the theory of Chinese astrology, the year of 2012 is a year of water dragon.  It began on January 23, 2012 and will end on February 9, 2013. Among the Five Elements, the color of water is black. So the water dragon is also called as Black dragon. A black dragon can dive deeply into the ocean or lake to hide and wait. Your mind will be filled with all kinds of horrific, cunning, and mystery ideas when you think about it. So it is said that something unexpected may happen in this year. For someone it will be a big successful year, while for some others may be a very bad year.

Chinese people love dragon, because dragon is the symbol of being powerful, intelligent, and noble. Dragon patterns are used to decorate the emperor’s clothing, baby is named as Long (龙(lóng), the Chinese character for dragon) if the baby is a boy. Such as, the Chinese name of the famous action movie star Bruce Lee is 李(lǐ)小(xiǎo)龙(lóng); and Jackie Chan’s Chinese name is 成(chéng)龙(lóng).

There are 12 animal icons in Chinese zodiac; dragon is the only one being alive in human’s imagination. Dragons can swim in the water, crawl on the land, and fly in the sky.  Some dragons are the kings in the sky or under the deep ocean. Some fall down to the ground and become snakes. That is why snake is just behind dragon in the sequence of the 12 zodiac icons.  Since most of the time the dragons fly in the clouds or swim in the wave, nobody can really see them very well. A person whose zodiac symbol is dragon will be considered as very independent and hard to understand or the “deep one”.
The following video shows you how to write this dragon in Chinese.

本命年(bén mìng nián) Your Own Chinese Zodiac Year

The Chinese animal zodiac is a rotating cycle of 12 years, every 12 years a certain animal year recurs. 

For example, if a person was born in the year 2011, which was the year of the rabbit, then this person's animal sign is the rabbit. Every 12 years, when this person is 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 etc., the year of the rabbit recurs, which is this person's own zodiac year, or in Chinese is 本命年(bén mìng nián) (literally can be translated as 'the year of origin life' ).

 

According to ancient Chinese superstition, in one’s own zodiac year, he will offend Tai Sui, the god of age in Chinese mythology, and will have bad luck during that year. Then how to avoid bad luck during this year? The most common way is wearing something red given by someone else, such as socks, a ribbon, clothes, underwear, a waistband or a bracelet. 

flower bracelet

All kinds of red jewelry

Or you may wear jade jewelry. Jade jewelry can be worn anywhere on the left side of the body to increase your luck during this unfortunate year. But please notice that it has to be a gift from someone else though. You can' t buy your own lucky jewelry. For extra luck-enhancing benefit, small icons of your zodiac sign are recommended.

jade jewelry with carved dragon icon

all kinds of jade jewelry

Tradition of Birthday Party in China（for baby）

Here are lots of information about the Chinese birthday:
Information about Chinese birthday on About.com


And I want to tell you more detail about the celebrations for a newly born baby. :)




One-month old


办(bàn) 满(mǎn)月(yuè) 酒(jiǔ)( One-month celebration) 


The first celebration for the newly born baby is called 办(bàn) 满(mǎn)月(yuè) 酒(jiǔ), which is on the day when the baby is one month old. The baby’s parents will invite their relatives and friends to celebrate together. Nowadays, more and more people prefer to have the celebration at a fancy restaurant. The parents send out the invitation cards three days before the celebration. Relatives and friends of this family will bring their gifts and red envelops ( 红(hóng)包(bāo) )for the baby to the celebration. 


This picture shows how the invitation card may look :

Here is a picture of the presents a newly born baby got on her one-month celebration.

剃(tì) 满(mǎn) 月(yuè) 头(tóu)  ( Having a haircut)


Many people believe that the babies will grow beautiful and thick hair after they have a hair cut when they are one-month old. Some parents ask the barber to come to their home, while some others take their baby to the barber shop. There are mainly two kinds of hairstyle for the baby. Sometimes the barbers shave the baby’s head bald, sometimes they leave the hair in the center of the front head and back of the head untouched, according to the parents’ request. The hair in the center of the front head is called 聪(cōng) 明(míng) 发(fā) (smart hair), and the hair at the center of the back is called撑(chēng) 根(gēn) 发(fā) (roots supporting hair). So this kind of hairstyle is a way to wish the baby to become a smart and healthy person.

No matter which hairstyle the baby has, there will be much more things for the parents to do with the hair that has just been cut off. Guess what they will do with it?
Since the moment that the baby becomes one-month old is such a significant time for the family, the parents will find some company to turn the hair into some import souvenir to remember it.  Some of the hair is used to make a brush, some becomes part of a necklace pendant, a seal or even a picture. 

Sometimes the baby’s hand and foot print are also used to make a special decoration for the family. 

There are also many parents who are very cautious about the first haircut of their baby. They prefer that their baby has the first haircut when the baby is much older.
 
One-year old 


抓(zhuā)周(zhōu) (drawing lots)


When the baby gets one-year old, there will be another big celebration in the family. Drawing lots is one of the important parts of it. The baby is placed in a circle of objects and the first thing he touches foretells his future.  Such as, if it's wallet he will be rich, a pen means a scholar, an abacus means a good businessman, a stethoscope means a doctor, etc. But most of the time, the baby’s parents won’t be serious about the baby’s choice. It’s just fun to watch how the baby fumbling to try to grab something. And that is a big amusement for the whole family in the party.

And in the party, the baby is also fed  寿(shòu)面(miàn)（birthday noodles） to symbolize eating real food and a good healthy life in the future. 

长(cháng) 命(mìng) 锁(suǒ) ( longevity amulet)


The longevity amulet is also an important thing in the celebrations for a baby. The baby’s grandparents will give the longevity amulet to the baby as a gift when the baby is 100-day old or when the baby is one-year old. The longevity amulet is made of gold, silver, or jade. It looks like an ancient lock, with silk ribbon or chains attached to, so the baby can wear it on his/her neck. The longevity amulets are usually decorated with beautiful elaborate auspicious patterns, such as, lotus flower, golden fish, peach of immortality;  and auspicious words like 长(cháng)命(mìng)百(bǎi)岁(suì) (means long and healthy life)。 People believe that the lock can keep the baby’s life and protect him/her from the evil, sick… any bad thing in this world or unknown world. 

Yang Lan: The generation that's remaking China

Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China

What is China?

What is China? That's really a very big question, even for me, who has lived there for 36 years.  Fortunately, I found this link.The way they answer this big question is fairly interesting. Anyway, it's a good way to get a general idea about China in a short moment.
http://www.chinese4kids.net/what-is-china/

How to use 福（fú）to decorate your house 贴福字的讲究

In Chinese tradition, people will clean their house thoroughly and use 福 and Spring Festival couplets decorate their front door one or two days before the Spring Festival.  What is the proper way to decorate the front door with 福? There are some people who decorate their front door with a upside down 福. Because in Chinese the character "倒 (dào)” （means upside down）and another character “到(dào)” (means arrive, come) have the same sound. So they think an upside down 福 means the 福 is coming to their house. That's not right ! The front door is the main entrance of the family. The decoration should not be casual but solemn. So the correct way of decorating front door with 福 is an upright 福. Like this:

 

And this is not the right way:

Then where should we use the upside down 福?  If you want to decorate the furniture in the house, you may use upside down 福. It means the happiness and good luck already arrived in your house and will stay with you in this coming new year.

Better your understanding of 福(f ú) 福字含义浅议

 福(f ú) is a typical auspicious character for Chinese people. It has lots of wonderful meaning. The most important meaning of it is happiness and good luck. 
Chinese calligraphy is a lovely art. We write the same character in different style in different situation or to express different emotion. This is the Standard style （楷书 kǎi shū）of  福:

This is the Running style (行书 xíng shū) of  福：

And this is the Dancing style （草书 cǎo shū） of 福：

In China, during the Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival, you may see the character 福 (f ú) everywhere:. Such as, at the front door of the house:

or at the show window of a department store:

Sometime people even use the 福 in their dress design:

The left radical of 福( fú )  is 示( shì ), which is also used in some other words, like 祭祀（sacrifice）, 神明(God or spirit), 祈祷（pray) .  示( shì ) radical usually has some relation to the meaning of sacrifice, God or spirit, pray, hope and wish. 

The oldest style, Oracle style（甲骨文 jiǎ gǔ wěn ), of 福 will show its original meaning.

In the Oracle style, 福  is drawn as a picture, in which some spirits was sprinkled onto the altar from a special goblet. That is a vivid picture of the ancient sacrifice. So the original meaning of 福 is to  pray to heaven. Later on, 福 referred to the spirits and meat that were used for sacrifice.

As time went by, the character 福 had more and more extended meaning. Such as, being protected, or everything going on smoothly, or good luck.

We can see more detail of the meaning of 福 in the Book of History (《尚书》). It includes: longevity, richness, peaceful life, virtue, and a good ending of life.


While in the Book of Characters(《说文解字》), 福 means being protected from any evil.


Nowadays Chinese people think 福 means happiness and good luck. In some people's opinion, on the right side of the character 福, the 一 (yī) radical means house beam, the 口(kǒu) radical means big family, and 田(tián) radical means the field. Since these radicals are all in the character 福, it means to have a big family, your own house and land. That's a really good explanation of 福. :)


No matter how many different explanations about the meaning of 福 are there, one things is sure that the pursuit of happiness is everyone's dream.