内容简介
the authors acknowledge their debtto professor louise edwards whocontributed most significantly bymaking inspiring suggestions andwriting the foreword of the book.our gratitude also goes to gaik-hoonevelyn ng who refined the manuscriptand pauline si who helped in theediting. their valuable commentsand inputs have greatly improvedthe book's readability and are highlyappreciated.
作者简介
Chung Mou Si,Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts,The University of Hong Kong.
Yun Cheng Si,Research Assistant,Northumbria University.
目录
Foreword
Chapter 1 Myths and Legends
1. How the World Was Created
2. The Dog from the Sky
3. Shooting down the Sun
4. The Old Man under the Moon
5. Zhaojun the Peace Ambassador
6. The Brotherhood of Liu-Guan-Zhang
7. Joining the Army for Her Father —— Mulan
8. The Butterfly Lovers
9. The White Lady
Chapter 2 Festivals and Folklore
1. The Spring and Yuanxiao Festivals
2. The Qingming and Hanshi Festivals
3. The Dragon Boat Festival
4. The Qixi Festival
5. The Mid-Autumn Festival
6. The 24 Solar Terms and the Chinese Calendar
7. The Interesting Story of the 12 Zodiac Animals
8. Yin-Yang and the Five Elements
Chapter 3 Scenic Spots and Historic Sites
1. The Yellow River
2. The Yangtze River
3. The East and West Mountains
4. The Yellow Mountain
5. The West Lake and Tai Hu
6. The Great Wall
7. The Forbidden City
8. The Ming Tombs
9. The Capital of the Ten Dynasties ——Xi'an
10. The Qin Terracotta Warriors
Chapter 4 Food and Sports
1. The Wide Variety of Chinese Cuisine
2. Table Manners and Dining in China
3. Wine Culture
4. Tea Culture
5. Martial Arts and Sports
Chapter 5 Arts and Crafts
1. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain
2. Precious Stones of China
3. Needlework and Paper-cuts
4. The Four Treasures of a Study
5. Chinese Paintings
6. Architectural Beauty
Chapter 6 Language and Literature
1. National Language and Local Dialects
2. Fascinating Chinese Characters
3. The Three Great Poets —— Li, Du and Su
4. Romance of the Three Kingdoms and All Men Are Brothers
5. Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber
Chapter 7 Thought and Enlightenment
1. The Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought
2. Confucius the First Private Teacher
3. Talent Recruitment Systems
4. Filial Piety and Marriage
5. Taoism and the Harmony with Nature
6. Buddhism and the Truth of Life
Chapter 8 China and the World
1. Fifty-six Ethnic Groups as a Nation
2. China's Expansion and Its Interactions with the West
3. Prosperity and the Spread of Buddhism
4. Communication between China and the World
5. The Four Great Inventions
6. Other Scientific and Medical Breakthroughs
7. New Culture Movement
Appendix
A Brief Chronology of Chinese History
摘要
On the way, the rat met the ox, so it jumped on the ox andthey travelled together. When they were just about to arrive at theHeavenly Palace, the rat jumped off suddenly and sprinted to thedestination, reaching it ahead of the ox. Later on, other animals,including the pig, arrived. Then the king asked the pig to list theanimals in the order that they arrived. On the list, the pig put itselfin the first place, and the king was angry about this. He pointedto the pig and said, "You are too selfish！" The king put the pig atthe end of the cycle as a punishment, and ruled that the other 11animals to be ranked in the order of their arrival at the HeavenlyPalace. The order is as follows: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit,the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster,the dog and the pig. Of course, it was too late when the cat woke upfor it to be included. Since then, cats and rats became enemies.
When you tell others which animal year you belong to, thatperson culd probably guess your age！ This is because the animalsare in that particular order as mentioned above, and they repeat onlyevery 12 years. Therefore by correctly estimating your age range, inaddition to the knowledge of the animal you belong to, it would beenough to accurately tell your age. One of the cycles started in theyear 2008, so people bom in that year would belong to the year ofthe rat, people bom in 2009 would belong to the year of the ox andso on, until 2019. Then in 2020, the cycle starts all over again fromthe rat. From this, you can then calculate which animal year youbelong to as well.
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