Different regions with different personalities

With a vast landscape, China has altogether 34 provinces across the country. As an old Chinese saying goes in the online Chinese lessons:“One place nourishes one kind of people.” It is a common sense that a certain group of people did form the fixed quality like characteristics of humans. Today, our teacher Mr. Wang in Chinese cultural lessons online will tell you many kinds of Chinese people in the country. Let us learn Chinese people together!

Constantly living in the coldest area in northeastern China, local people were recognized as the most warm-hearted people in the country. For example, people in northeastern China will not stand by when others are dire need of help. On the other hand, many doctors and psychologists say that they have a higher rate of        suffering from high blood pressure, etc. just because they usually have highly fat food leading to a wild temperament.

As the neighborhood of Dongbei province, people living in Inner Mongolia tend to be more enthusiastic about their guests, and they dare to sacrifice for their good friends. Instead of being nomads, their lifestyle changed dramatically, which they get down to eat more and exercise less. So they are easy to get diabetes.

As for Beijing, as the capital, people there are polite, talkative and easy-going according to a survey. There are some sayings on Beijing people: They are serious about matters and fight against unfair facts, such as traffic jams and environmental problems.

People from Hebei province are innocent. Why so? Being an industrial province next to the capital, Hebei made a great contribution to the development of surrounding areas. However, economy growth brought in ecological damages including pollution, noise, sand storm and so on. People there are like the ant boiled in the hot water!

It is widely acknowledged that people from Shanghai are very smart and even shrewd. There are many kinds of sweet food around the city, but it is not related with people’s personality/ People from Guangdong province are in favor of delicious cuisines, especially 粤（Yue4）cuisine, being regarded as one of the famous “eight Chinese cuisines.” If you are interested, join in our hanbridge lessons online for more details of those delicious cuisines’ cooking information. However, people are very stubborn. People living in Sichuan province are very hard-working and outgoing, and they love to make friends with strangers. As a matter of fact, women in Sichuan are more diligent than men, and they always burden the responsibility of feeding their family without any complaints. Men usually stay at home, tasting Chinese teas or playing mahjong on the street.

As for me, I come from Xi’an, Shaanxi province. There are very two provinces whose pronunciations are same. One is Shan3 xi1, while the other is Shan1 xi1. Even more, native Chinese learn to distinguish them when they are in primary school. As far as I am concerned, people from Shanxi are all upright and generous. Welcome to our hometown for an unforgettable trip! That is all for today’s cultural lessons online.

Source: 

http://chinesegrasper.page.tl/Different-regions-with-different-personalities.htm

            

What is The Pure Brightness Day?

Welcome to our hanbridge Chinese lesson. Here you will know today’s topic. Pure Brightness Day is a tradition in China，beginning approximately during the period of Zhou Dynasty, with a history of over 2,500 years．Its origin，according to legend，is from ancient times when the emperors，generals，and ministers offered sacrifices at tombs and left gifts．Later，this was later eagerly imitated by the commoners．On this day, offerings are made to ancestors and the tombs are swept in much of the same way as the previous generations，becoming a fixed regular custom of the Chinese nationality．To learn Chinese festival in today’s lessons can help you know much Chinese knowledge. Let us go head.

 

Pure Brightness Day(also called Walking amid Greenery Day in other online Chinese lessons)，according to the Gregorian calendar, takes place every year on April 4 to April 6．At this time，radiant spring sun and lush grasslands and forests constitute all opportune time to take a tour of spring( in ancient times called Stroll on the Grass)．Consequently，the ancients correlated the Pure Brightness Walking amid Greenery Day with traditional sporting activities. Another famous yet still long lost ancient tradition of the Pure Brightness Day is Cold Food Day．

Cold Food Day，as the name implies，constitutes refraining from using fire

to cook meals，eating only cold food. The original date is only one or two days difference from the Pure Brightness Day, so eventually the two days merged into one．But as Cold Food Day in the present is referred to as Pure Brightness Day，the custom of eating unheated food still resides

   

Local tradition of Pure Brightness Day are extremely abundant，including tomb sweeping，the planting of willows，hiking in the wilderness，and tree planting. Other various social custom exist, such as flying kites，swinging，cu4 ju1 (ancient Chinese soccer)，polo，and a series of sporting activities. Therefore，this day Chinese learn to  encompass offerings of sacrifice，sorrow and tears for parted relatives while sweeping the tombs，as well as all amusing tone that demonstrates an appreciation for nature，making it an important festival．

Source: 

http://echinesecatcher.blogrip.com/2015/02/26/what-is-the-pure-brightness-day/

The Chinese special Twenty-Four Solar Terms

The sun starts from the vernal equinox point(at this point，the sun’s rays are perpendicular with the equator，and advances 15 degrees during one solar term，circulating one cycle and returning back to the vernal equinox point．Today in our Chinese learning online lesson, this is called one tropical year，adding up to 360 degrees，exactly24 solar terms．

   

The twenty-four solar term calendar and the Gregorian calendar dates are approximately the same year, the first half of the year occurs around the date of 6 or 21 of every month (summer solstice), and the next half on about 8 and 23．By learning Chinese ancient schedules, the agricultural calendar，you can realize that solar term dates are difficult to ascertain. As the beginning of spring，for example，could begin one year as early as December 15，and the latest date could be January 15．

   

From the name twenty-four solar terms in our online Chinese lessons，one can speculate the division in the solar terms gives sufficient consideration to the seasons，climate，seasonal vegetation，and other changes of natural phenomena．The beginnings of spring，summer，autumn，and winter，as well as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices reflect the seasons’ change．These are determined by divisions on the ecliptic，astronomical angles，the reflecting and turning point of the sun’s altitude variation；differentiating the four seasons．with astronomical angles，the first four are the starts of seasons，and the later four are the turning points of the sun’s altitude variation．Due to China occupying vast regions，possessing extremely distinct monsoon characteristics, and having various continental factors，those result in great differences in the climate．Consequently，the various regions’ four seasons are different. Minor heat，great heat，limit of heat，minor cold，and major cold are five solar terms reflecting degrees of temperature．Rain，grain rain，minor snow, and major snow are four solar terms indicating rain and snow precipitation, the time periods，and the severity．cold dew, white dew, and descending frost are the three solar terms regarding water vapor condensation and appearance Yet this essentially reflects the process gradual temperature decline when the air temperature drops to a certain degree，water vapor emerges and forms dew.

   

As the temperature continues to decline，the condensation increases as it gets colder and colder．When the temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius，water vapor turns to frost full grain and grain in the husk are two solar terms indicating the maturing of domestic crops and harvest time. The terms wakening of insects and clear and bright reflect the occurrence of natural phenomena．In particular，the awakening of insects indicates the first thunderstorm from the heavens stirring. The underground insects from hibernation，indicating the return of spring. That is all for today’s Chinese online lesson as to how to understand Chinese 24 solar terms.

 Source: 

http://chineselanguage.bloggets.net/-chinese-special-twentyfour-solar-terms/

Further culture of Chinese Names

Hey, everyone! Welcome to today’s Chinese lesson online. We are going to present you with the culture of Chinese names.

One or two characters，sometimes three，generally form a Chinese surname．A one-character name is called a single surname，while a two-character name is called a compound surname．Although there is no exact figure about how many surnames there are in China，according to statistics，more than five thousand surnames appear in Chinese historical documents．Today, there are about 200 commonly used surnames in our Chinese lessons online. Zhang1，Wang2，Li3，Zhao4，Liu2，are the most commonly seen single surnames．Zhu1ge3，Ou1 yang2，and Si1 tu2 are examples of compound surnames. Influenced by Confucian teachings that we should respect our ancestors，Chinese pay close regard to surnames．Changing the surname means changing your ancestor, and this of the most humiliation．In modern Chinese novels，particularly in her novels，

In our Chinese online lessons, you will know the Chinese names that have their own tradition and characteristics, quite different from English names．Chinese surnames are placed before the given name the opposite of English names．“姓” xing4 is similar to an English speaker’s family name, passed down from generation to generation．“名” ming2 is the equivalent of an English first name，comprised of one or two characters. A Chinese name often has a specific meaning，expressing a certain aspiration．Some names include the place and time of birth，or natural phenomena，such as capital，morning，and snow.  Some Chinese names reveal hope or some kind of virtue，such as Loyalty，Righteousness，and Belief．Still other names reveal a yearning for health，long life，and happiness，such as Jian4 (health)，Shou4 (long life)，and Fu2 (fortune). Male names and female names are different Male names express prestige and fierceness, as in Hu3 (tiger)，Xiong2 (hero)，and Gang1 (strength)．Female names are expressed by warn]and beautiful characters，such as Feng4 (phoenix)，Yu3 (Jade)，and Juan1 (graceful)．

   

When Chinese give names，they often represent a person’s place in the hierarchy of the family, For example，a name can include a character that represents seniority,  while another character expresses the family name．In some names，a radical indicates family seniority in the clan．By learning online Chinese lesson, you will know that is quite different from that in English．Chinese also avoid as much as possible giving the name of an elder member to a junior member，which has been a taboo since ancient times．

Source: 

http://chinesetool.bloggets.net/further-culture-chinese-names/

Kinship Appellation In China

Chinese people reside in their nationality，reflecting a language of complicated kinship appellation．The bloodline is taken very seriously．According to statistics collected by our teacher in mandarin hanbridge online lesson，there are more than 230 words in Chinese regarding family appellation．In modern Chinese，there are just over 60 names，dating back three generations．Following the collapse off feudalism，many titles of hierarchy also vanished．In modern Chinese hanbridge class online，the rifles of appellation have been greatly simplified，but we still can see an obvious correlation to the ancestors’ language of hierarchy．

   

The great-grandfather is called old grandfather，and great-great grandfather being old-old grandfather)．Regarding the younger generation，there is ‘‘grandson’’ and “granddaughter,’’ adding “double” before the title expresses each generation as in double grand daughter，and double-double granddaughter．With respect to peers，the difference in age is extremely emphasized．In one’s own family, there are the titles

“older brother”，‘‘younger brother”, “older sister’’ and “younger sister”，so as not to confuse status and rank titles such as father’s older brother，father’s younger brother, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law, indicate one’s rank in the hierarchy. Our hanbridge mandarin of kinship appellation is completely different in English speaking countries，and the titles of siblings and other relatives are the same regardless of age difference．

   

Many more forms of address exist to refer to distant relatives，and distinguish clan bloodlines．These appellations have the particular characteristics．One’s title of rank corresponds to the mother or father’s side of the family，showing strict distinction. For example，according to our hanbridge Chinese lessons, the parents of the father are called zu3 fu4 and zu3 mu3(paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother)，while the parents of the mother are called maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother．The brothers of the father are respectfully called bo2 bo2 and shu1 shu1 (father’s older brother and father’s younger brother). Uncles on the other’s side of the family are all called jiu4 jiu4 (maternal uncle)，the order is denoted by adding a character to the beginning of the title as in big uncle (jiu4)，second uncle(er4 jiu4)，or small uncle (xiao3 jiu4) meaning brother-in-law，literally．In modern society the importance of ancestral relations has grown weaker，yet the extremely complex honorific language of the past has not completely dissolved. In villages located in vast areas of China，the diverse titles of nobility are still in rise．

Source: 

http://chineselanguage.bloggets.net/kinship-appellation-in-china/