Languages
Chinese (汉语/漢語; Hànyǔ or 中文; Zhōngwén) is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many other ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people (around 16% of the world's population) speak some form of Chinese as their first language.
There are about 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin (about 960 million), followed by Wu (80 million), Min (70 million), and Yue (60 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility. All varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic.
There are 129 Chinese native languages
traditions
costume
Festivals
China's Lantern Festival Date: Lunar calendar month 1 day 15 (February 11, 2017)
Importance: ends China's most important festival, the Spring Festival
Celebrations: enjoying lanterns, lantern riddles, eating tangyuan a.k.a. yuanxiao (ball dumplings in soup), lion dances, dragon dances, etc.
History: about 2,000 years
It marks the longest night and the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. In China, the Winter Solstice was originally celebrated as an end-of-harvest festival. Today, it is observed with a family reunion over the long night, and pink and white tangyuan are eaten in sweet broth to symbolize family unity and prosperity.
According to records from the mysterious book Yi Jing, the number 6 belonged to the Yin character while the number 9 was thought to be of the Yang character. So, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, both day and month are Yang characters. Therefore, the festival was named the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient times, people believed that the double ninth day was worth a celebration. Since folk people had the tradition of climbing a mountain on that day, the Chongyang Festival is also called the Height Ascending Festival. The Chongyang Festival also has other names, such as the Chrysanthemum Festival. As “double ninth” is pronounced the same as the word meaning “forever,” ancestors are also worshipped on that day.
Like people all over the world, the Chinese have special customs regarding dead people and their ghosts that are thousands of years old. The popular folk religion called Daoism includes days for dealing with errant ghosts in the land. When they visit in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, special precautions and ceremonies are necessary. The Hungry Ghost Festival is the most important festival of Hungry Ghost month.
The 24 solar terms, based on the sun's position in the zodiac, were created by farmers in ancient China to guide the agricultural affairs and farming activities. The 24 solar terms reflect the changes in climate, natural phenomena, agricultural production, and other aspects of human life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation. The 24 solar terms play important roles and have greatly influenced people's basic needs in life, and they still have an important function nowadays.
arts
- Painting
- Opera
