Chinese Culture, Featured

Porcelain, One of the Most Exquisite Chinese Inventions

Porcelain, as indicated by its popular name “china,” or “fine china,” is one of the grandest Chinese inventions and dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (196-220). The Chinese term for it is Ci (瓷) or Ciqi (瓷器). The term comes from the Italian “porcellana,” which originally referred to a kind of white cowrie shell. ...

Max Lu

Porcelain plate with a decorative background showing details of the vintage blue and white willow pattern.

China’s Abacus Is an Invention That Is Still Mysterious to the West

The abacus is a counting tool that has been used in China for thousands of years. It is widely used in shops, restaurants, and anywhere where bills need to be settled. The calculator has a rectangular frame made of wood, bamboo, or steel. It is assembled with rods, and is divided into two parts: the ...

Max Lu

Chinese abacus with porcelain pearls.

Nan Fung: The Legend of a Scholar in the Qing Dynasty

There was a scholar at Jiangxi, Nan Fung, whose literary talent was outstanding in the Qing Dynasty. He wrote extremely well and authored thousands of essays in a short period. However, to earn more money, Nan Fung assisted criminals by adding lies in their defense to reduce their crimes. As a result, many criminals escaped ...

Max Lu

A closeup view of jail cell iron bars casting shadows on the prison floor.

Chinese Character Gives Insight Into Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Chinese character 藥 (yào) refers to medicine or drug. It is composed of two parts. The top part 艹 is the Chinese radical that indicates grass and grass-related plants, including herbs. The lower part 樂 (pronounced yuè or lè) is a Chinese character in its own right. It has two meanings: music, as well ...

Emma Lu

A silver trumpet and various other brass instruments lay in a circle on the ground on a patch of green grass in the shade.

How Do People Accumulate Blessings?

Chinese people are famed for being hard-working, especially those living in mainland China who understand that achievements or blessings depend on hard work, and if you do not strive to achieve, it means that you will accomplish nothing. Striving hard is only on the surface level. Whether or not there are achievements or blessings is determined ...

Michael Segarty

The Grand Hall, Wang Yangming's former residence.

The Four Anchors Are Traditional Chinese Virtues

The Chinese proverb of the Four Anchors, also known as the Four Social Bonds (四維 sìwéi), represents the sense of propriety, justice, integrity, and honor (禮義廉恥 lǐ yì lián chǐ), which are the traditional Chinese virtues. lǐ (禮) means proper rite, ceremony, propriety, etiquette, courtesy, manners; yì (義) denotes righteousness, justice; lián (廉) signifies honesty, cleanness, incorruptible; chǐ (恥) means shame, a sense ...

Billy Shyu

A Chinese temple.

Legendary Chinese Jade

Jade communicates a sense of mystery. In Chinese, jade refers to a fine, beautiful stone with a warm color and rich luster, skillfully and delicately carved. It symbolizes nobility, perfection, constancy, and immortality. For millennia, it has been an intimate part of the lives of Chinese of all classes. Jade is viewed as the most ...

Emma Lu

Carved jade ornament.

How Our Ancestors Viewed Wealth, Poverty, and Virtue

In this current cycle of time and space, many things around us, including poverty and wealth, follow certain laws. The criterion our ancestors used to measure wealth and poverty aligned with these laws, especially as far as virtue was concerned. This was quite different from that of our modern thinking. If we look beneath the ...

Tatiana Denning

An ancient Chinese building.

The Joy of the Waist Drum Dance

The waist drum dance is part of traditional Chinese folklore. Due to its inspiring sound and vigorous movements accompanied by rhythmic drumbeats, many waist drum teams have been established in many countries, including the United States, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, and Europe in recent years.  History of the waist drum dance It is ...

Billy Shyu

Taiwan Falun Dafa Waist Drum Team performs at the CKS Memorial Hall n Taipei City

Lu Yu, the Tea Sage Who Convinced the World to Drink Tea, Not Eat It

Lu Yu from China was also known as the Tea Sage. Tea is the favorite beverage for billions of people across the world, and nowadays, you can pick from hundreds of variants. You can get tea in many forms, including leaf tea, dust tea, and tea bags. And then there are so many green tea ...

Max Lu

Lu Yu Statue at The Grand View Tea Garden, a famous tourist spot in Anxi, Fujian, China.