Writing brush, ink stick, paper and ink slab are known as “the four treasures of the study”. They are all indispensable tools for Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting. We can easily tell how Chinese calligraphers and painters value and treasure them from the name. Despite the evolution of the four tools, it is believed that [...]
Originally the Chinese tattoo was considered the mark of a criminal as anyone found guilty of a crime was tattooed on his face so that everyone would know of his character. Even today a person with a tattoo in China may be someone from the underground, although tattoos are considered a part of popular culture [...]
Oracle bones inscriptions were some of the earliest forms of Chinese writing. Ancient Chinese characters were carved onto animal bones or tortoise shells before the advent of paper and ink writing systems. Oracle bones were generally used for religious purposes, such as spiritual divination, or for record keeping. Oracle bone inscriptions date to the Shang [...]
Double Happiness is a well-known Chinese character. It is depicted either in paper cut-out or on a red piece of paper, and is affixed in such a position as to easily attract the eyes of young couples. This character is a sign of goodness. There’s a story behind it: During the reign of Tang dynasty, [...]
There are two sets of characters of Chinese language: Traditional Chinese Characters (used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Macau) Simplified Chinese Characters (used in Singapore, Malaysia, and Mainland China) In English, we have 26 characters or letters. Every word consists of some number of alphabetical letters or characters. For instance, for writing the word, [...]
Tattoo in the Chinese language is called Wen Shen or Ci Shen. The term means literally to puncture the body. Tattoo has been known and practiced in China for many years. But it was never considered to be something artistic, desirable, or even acceptable. A commonly held notion is that one’s body is a precious [...]
Finding the beginnings of a language is a complicated process. The problem is that historical records only date back so far. We can only guess at how they were spoken in the beginning years by looking at the written symbols, characters, and drawings. Another problem with learning about the written and spoken word is that [...]