See China

Do city people eat artificial rice? How can you find your home in your city where all houses look alike? If a student acts naughty in class in the city, will the teacher see it from the computer? How do you ride a plane? Do you sit on its wings or in its belly? These are some of the 100 questions written by primary pupils from remote Chinese countryside in Yunnan province.

Treasure not the golden thread suit; treasure more your time of youth
Pluck straight the blooming flower - it begs to be; not till it wilts on an empty branch
劝君莫惜金缕衣，劝君惜取少年时。 花开堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝
A poem recorded by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu, a contemporary of  Li Shangyin, in honour Du Qiuniang (who might have been the author), who was once a imperial concubine [...]

 Once upon a time, the mulberry was an important plant in both eastern and western culture; the nursery rhyne “Here we go round the mulberry bush”

so similar to the may pole dance, is what remains of an old pagan fertility ritual; mulberry was once the plant associated with Minerva/Athena, the Roman/Greek goddess of wisdom, before [...]

Wu Guanzhong (吴冠中，1919-2010)，one of the most accomplished and outspoken Chinese painters, died at the age of 90 on June 25. He is famous for combining Chinese and western painting techniques, tenaciously pursuing beauty in adversities and calling for reform of China’s artistic administrative system.

Round heaven – square earth is an ancient and long lasting concept in China, so is the concept of yin and yang. The Book of Change has the passage “The Ultimate brings about two Aspects; the two Aspects bring about four Appearances; the four Appearances bring about the eight Representations”.

In the Spring-Autum Chronical of Zuo Qiuming an obscure entry dated around 640BC says: Lord Zang of Zheng liked to collect snipe feather hats; Duke Wen was offended, and ordered to have him assassinated. Why should a mere sartorial preference produce such a drastic outcome? We have to go back another 3000 years to find the answer.

 
European cultures have just a vague notion of the phoenix, being a mythological bird that is reborn in the fire. West Asia has a more specific notion: the phoenix is a bird associated with fire, but has its rebirth on the tree of life, which happens to be a palm – the tree of life [...]

 
the origin
The idea of the dragon arose from snake fertility worship. The story of Eve and the serpent showed that (a) Eve, the mother figure of the Hebrew tribe, could talk to the snake, meaning that the tribe had an affinity to the snake (b) The serpent taught Eve and Adam to have sex, [...]

Pymamids of grand styles and obvious religious significances have been found in Egypt and South America. They are not so well known in China, but have been located in both the Northern and Southern parts of the eastern seaboard. The five diagrams below show three found in southwest Manchuria, two in the Hangzhou region. They [...]

Can a joke kill a king? Retired professor Zhang Huicheng (张惠诚) recently published a book named “History of Chinese Court Coups” (中国历代宫廷政变), which recorded many seemingly ridiculous mishaps that accidentally led to the demise of a certain kingdom or dynasty.