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Homophonic Puns In Mandarin Chinese
Standard Chinese, like many Sinitic varieties, has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory. The Cihai dictionary lists 149 characters representing the syllable "yì". (However, modern Chinese words average about two syllables, so the high rate of ''syllable'' homophony does not cause a problem for communication.) Many Chinese take great delight in using the large amount of homophones in the language to form puns, and they have become an important component of Chinese culture. In Chinese, homophones are used for a variety of purposes from rhetoric and poetry to advertisement and humor, and are also common in Chinese loans, for example phono-semantic matching of brand names, computer jargon, technological terms and toponyms. This article lists common homophonous puns in Mandarin Chinese, though many of the examples given are homophones in other varieties as well. Asterisks before the entry denote near-homophones. Terms in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture, and has been added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists#Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Humanity list by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2024. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of Spring (season), spring, this festival takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve (the evening preceding the first day of the year) to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February. The Chinese New Year is associated with several myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan Martial law in Taiwan, ruled under martial law until 1987. The KMT is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing party and the largest in the Pan-Blue Coalition, one of the two main political groups in Taiwan. Its primary rival is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the largest party in the Pan-Green Coalition. As of 2025, the KMT is the largest single party in the Legislative Yuan and is chaired by Eric Chu. The party was founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1894 in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the Revive China Society. He reformed the party in 1919 in the Shanghai French Concession under its current name. From 1926 to 1928, the K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shen Yanbing
Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his realist novels, including ''Midnight'', which depicts life in cosmopolitan Shanghai. Mao was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party and participated in a number of left-wing cultural movements during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the editor-in-chief of ''Fiction Monthly'' and helped lead the League of Left-Wing Writers. He formed a strong friendship with fellow left-wing Chinese author Lu Xun. From 1949 to 1965, Mao served as the first Minister of Culture in the People's Republic of China. In addition to novels, Mao Dun published a number of essays, scripts, theories, short stories, and novellas. He was well known for translating Western literature, as he had gained academic knowledge of European literature from his studies at Peking University. Add ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sichuan Opera
Sichuan opera (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan1ju4; ) is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Chengdu is the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei and Taiwan. Sichuan opera was listed among the first batch of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's "Intangible Cultural Heritage List", announced on May 20, 2006. Notable characteristics of Sichuan opera include quick changes of masks or personae (known as the face change) and the importance of the character of the fool. History Initially, there were five distinct opera styles.Stanton, Sarah. Banham, Martin. [1996] (1996). The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Theatre. Cambridge press publishing. The history of each style varies greatly. Before the Ming dynasty The origins of Sichuan opera can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. The Jiaodian opera of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dream Of The Red Chamber
''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and its observation of the worldview, aesthetics, lifestyles, and social relations of High Qing China. The intricate strands of its plot depict the rise and decline of a family much like Cao's own and, by extension, of the dynasty itself. Cao depicts the power of the father over the family, but the novel is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. At a more profound level, the author explores religious and philosophical questions, and the writing style includes echoes of the plays and novels of the late Ming, as well as poetry from earlier periods. Cao apparently began composing it in the 1740s and worked on it until his death in 1763 or 1764. Copies of his uncompleted manuscript circulated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cao Xueqin
Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. His given name was Cao Zhan () and his courtesy name was Mengruan. Family Cao Xueqin was born to a Han Chinese clan that was brought into personal service (as '' booi aha'' or bondservants of Cigu Niru) to the Manchu royalty in the late 1610s. His ancestors distinguished themselves through military service in the Plain White Banner of the Eight Banners and subsequently held posts as officials which brought both prestige and wealth. After the Plain White Banner was put under the direct jurisdiction of the Qing emperor, Cao's family began to serve in civil positions of the Imperial Household Department. During the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the clan's prestige and power reached its height. Cao ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces. Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include ''Crime and Punishment'' (1866), ''The Idiot'' (1869), ''Demons'' (1872), '' The Adolescent'' (1875) and '' The Brothers Karamazov'' (1880). His '' Notes from Underground'', a novella published in 1864, is considered one of the first works of existentialist literature. Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends and through books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died of tuberculosis on 27 February 1837, when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father John was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years, he returned to school before beginning his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed readings extensively; was a tireless letter writer; and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education and o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fat Choy
Fat choy (; ''Nostoc flagelliforme'') is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of black hair. For that reason, its name in Chinese means "hair vegetable". When soaked, fat choy has a soft texture which is like very fine vermicelli. Production Fat choy grows on the ground in the Gobi Desert and the Qinghai Plateau. Over-harvesting on the Mongolian steppes has furthered erosion and desertification in those areas. The Chinese government has limited its harvesting, which has caused its price to increase. Commercially available fat choy has been found to be adulterated with strands of a non-cellular starchy material, with other additives and dyes. Real fat choy is dark green in color, while the counterfeit fat choy appears black. Use China Its name in Cantonese sounds like a Cantonese phrase meaning "struck it rich" (though the second syllable, ''coi'', has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=wikt:元宵節, 元宵節, s=wikt:元宵节, 元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié) and Cap Go Meh ( zh, t=十五暝, poj=Cha̍p-gō͘-mê), is a List of observances set by the Chinese calendar , Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. Usually falling in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. As early as the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solving riddles written on them (). In ancient times, lanterns were fairly simple, and only the Emperor of China, emperor and Chinese nobility , noblemen had large, ornate ones. In m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangyuan (food)
Tangyuan are a traditional Chinese cuisine, Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice shaped into balls that are served in a hot broth or syrup. They come in varying sizes, anything between a marble to a ping-pong ball, and are sometimes stuffed with filling. Tangyuan are traditionally eaten during the Lantern Festival, but because the name is a homophone for reunion ( zh, t=團圓, s=团圆, p=tuányuán, first=t) and symbolizes togetherness and completeness, this dish is also served at weddings, family reunions, Chinese New Year, and the Chinese winter solstice festival, Dōngzhì (winter solstice) festival. Description Tangyuan is a versatile dessert with a delicate taste and soft, chewy texture. While it can be served in its simplest form as a plain white ball of glutinous rice, it can also be stuffed with either black sesame or other fillings such as crushed peanuts. They can also be colored, fried, and boiled. Tangyuan is made by wrapping the glutinous rice around the fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
