Few ancient Chinese rulers are worthy of the title of poet or man of letters. Yet Emperor Wu Du of Wei, Cao Cao by name, who was an outstanding statesman and strategist, was a distinguished poet as well. Su Shi, a famous man of letters in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), admired him so much that […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. 糊里糊塗 ho di ho […]
Pandas love to eat bamboo – save for one wild panda in Sichuan province who was spotted exploring new tastes. A villager in Leshan, Sichuan province discovered the panda foraging away from its mountainous habitat area, enjoying a goat meal. The panda lingered for a while after its meal before returning home. Though bamboo is the […]
Scholars, researchers and students in the humanities and social sciences were thrilled by news- that China’s National Center for Philosophy and Social Science Documentation will provide article download services – free of charge, Thepaper.cn reported. The center’s rich resources offer free access to almost all core journals in the humanities and social sciences. Registered users […]
New rules are being proposed to protect Suzhou City’s 2,500-year-old walls. The legislation includes a ban on advertisement boards, high-rise buildings and industrial and commercial structures being built next to the walls or in nearby neighborhoods. Experts will be invited to study the 15.5-km walls and repair brickwork. The city will also pay for the area’s […]
Cooperage, or barrel-making, is a traditional Chinese trade. Formerly regarded as an essential trade like carpentry and stonemasonry, it is now mostly known as an intangible cultural heritage. Qi Jianfei is one of just a few people who is still in the cooperage trade. “To me, cooperage is a family business. My father did it […]
If it had not been for archaeologist Fan Jinshi, 79, and her team, the world cultural heritage at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes (敦煌莫高窟) in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans. Fan has spent half a century working to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in northwest […]
In the ancient Chinese capital of Nanjing, part of a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) city wall collapsed due to a nearby construction. No casualties were reported following the collapse of the wall, built in Xiaotaoyuan Park, where residents regularly exercise. According to mainland laws protecting cultural relics, approval is needed before any infrastructure construction starts, but the […]
Anthropologists in central China are carefully preserving the mummies of a couple accidentally found in a tomb that is believed to date back some 500 years, according to media reports. The tomb was unearthed in Taikang county in Zhoukou, Henan province by a construction crew that was installing plumbing, the Dahe Daily reported. The buried […]
In 527 AD, the royal court of Northern Wei (北魏 386-534) appointed Cui Kai (崔楷) as the prefectural governor of Yin Zhou (殷州, in today’s Hebei province). Yin Zhou was newly established at the time. Food and weaponry were scarce. Cui Kai requested these items from the court but was not sent provisions. So some people […]