Welcome to Learn Chinese Website. This website will provide some methods and skills for people who learn Chinese. Hope the website can help you to overcome the difficulties of studying Chinese language and Chinese characters.
鼠 refers to rodents in general - from the timid mouse to the aggressive rat. It is a pictograph of the rat, showing its head, whiskers and tail: 鼠. A young rat may know how to gnaw its hole but, warns the proverb: “A rat that gnaws at a cat’s tail invites destruction.”
兔 is a pictograph of the squatting hare or rabbit, with its tail perked up. Noted for its shrewdness in the struggle for survival, the proverbial hare has three holes to its burrow - and it does not eat the grass around it.
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In this Chinese character the phonetic 像 means elephant and also image. Tile radical 亻(human) clarifies its application to human and means image, portrait or resemblance: 像 (Human has been making Images of everything imaginable under and above the sun. So, reasons the proverb: “No image-maker worships the gods; he knows what they are made of.”
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This Chinese character is a striking image of the elephant, emphasizing its trunk and precious tusks: 象. Valuable possessions can pose a hazard to life; in the words of the proverb: “The elephant is killed because of its tusks.”
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Cen Shen (715-770) was as well-known a frontier poet as Gao Shi, and the Poetry Of White Snow written in 754 was considered typical of his frontier poetry. The first four lines of the poetry describe snow on the frontier before the farewell, and the second couplet surpasses all the snow poems before it for its ingenuity of winter snow to spring flowers. Lines 5-8 depict the bitter cold in the tent so as to form a striking contrast with the warmth of the farewell feast in lines 11-12. In line 14 the poet shows again his ingenuity in contrasting the frozen red flag on the one hand with the piercing wind and on the other with the white snow. Lines 15-16 describe the snow-covered mountain seen when the farewell is bidden and the last couplet only the snowy track seen after the farewell. In short, we see snow everywhere and all the time, before, during and after the farewell so that we may say snow and farewell are ingeniously interwoven together in this Chinese poetry.
SEE OFFICER BACK TO THE CAPITAL WITH POETRY OF WHITE SNOW
Snapping the pallid grass, the northern wind whirls low;
In the eighth moon the Tartar sky is filled with snow.
As if the vernal breeze had come back overnight,
Adorning thousands of pear-trees with blossoms white.
Flakes enter pearled blinds and wet the silken screen;
Nor furs of fox can warm us nor brocade quilts green.
The general cannot draw his rigid bow with ease;
E’ en the commissioner in coat of mail would freeze.
A thousand feet o’er cracked wilderness ice piles.
And gloomy clouds hang sad and drear for miles and miles.
We drink in Headquarters to our guest homeward bound;
With Tartar lutes, Pipas and pipes the camps resound.
Snow in large flakes at dusk falls heavy on camp gate;
The frozen red flag in the wind won’t undulate.
At eastern gate of Wheel Tower we bid goodbye;
On the snow-covered road to Heaven’s Mountain high.
I watch his horse go past a bend and, lost to sight.
His track will soon be covered by the snow in flight.
Note: Pipa is a kind of musical instrument in ancient times of China.
The Chinese characters 庆 meaning is celebrate; congratulate.
In ancient times it was traditional to go and offer, on a festive day, a deer’s skin with hearty wishes. The simplified character form for celebration puts it in a nutshell: something big (大) under cover or roof (广) - a big occasion indoors. Hence: 庆, to celebrate, congratulate or bring a blessing.
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The Chinese characters 闯 meaning is rush; clash; charge.
The idea of rushing suddenly or rudely is graphically expressed in this ideograph of a swift horse (马) dashing through a door (门). The character suggests rashness or impetuosity, something to guard against.
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马, representing a horse or beast of burden, is the radical. 各, the phonetic, means to go one’s way unconcernedly, without heeding others. This is a dominant characteristic of the self-sufficient camel: 骆, an animal blessed with great endurance and ability to go without food and water for weeks.
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The Chinese characters 骑 meaning is ride; sit astride.
THE phonetic 奇 means strange and wonderful. In association with 马 (horse) in the character for riding: 骑. To ride, therefore, is to sit on a horse - a wonderful experience. But don’t get carried away too easily, warns the proverb: “The best riders are sure to fall!’
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馬 is a picturesque representation of a brawny horse rearing. It has since undergone drastic changes, losing eyes and mane. The simplified character form reduces it to three strokes: 马 - a skeleton horse, advanced in age but rich in experience, inspiring the proverb: “The old horse knows the way.”
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