Chinese Languages and Cultures

Welcome to our course website Chinese Languages and Cultures. Whenever you visit this site, please see if there is anything in English not yet translated into Chinese and make a Chinese translation beneath (one paragraph English, one paragraph Chinese). Any correction or improvement of earlier translations is welcome!

Organizational Things

• Please register for the Course Wiki.
• Please prepare each session during the week before, so that you come prepared to class.

Homework

Regular students

要网上找随便的中文句子，翻译成英文。每一次上课有一个Unit。Unit里面一般有3到5个题目（A、B、C……）。每一种题目要读文章、回答问题、然后在网上找跟这个题目有关的一个中文句子，考培到wiki上，并写上去翻译和签字。然后还要修改同学的翻译，也要签字。

Website Admin student

Thank you for helping to watch the Wiki website! Please make sure that it looks nice (formatting, especially if a fellow students makes a mess by putting the wrong format etc., should not look to crowded, so make sub-websites for homework etc.).

Online Survey students

There will be several online surveys conducted throughout the semester. Please watch your WeChat Subgroup for the first tasks.

Edits

Every student is required to edit something every week. This can be:

• Translate a pragraph from English to Chinese.
• Correct an earlier translation.
• Prepare an article (please link to from this page) and/or a powerpoint (please upload here) on a topic you will present during the semester.

Material

Please download the course textbook from the WeChat Group.

Schedule

1st Session

Introduction to the course. Organizational things. Working with the Wiki.

Students' Homework of session 1 in preparation for session 2

Ding Daifeng 丁代凤

小河宛如蓝色的缎带缠绕着一望无际的绿色田野。 The creek twines the vast green field just like a blue color satin ribbon.

燃放烟花也曾一度是春节的传统习俗。 Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival.

公元132年，张衡发明了古代的地动仪，以辨别地震的方向。地动仪由纯铜制成，看起来像个带盖的大杯子。 In 132 A.D., Zhang Heng made the ancient seismograph to identify the direction of an earthquake. It was made of fine copper, and looked like a big cup with a lid.--Ding Daifeng (talk) 15:03, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Kang Haoyu 康浩宇

井冈山是中国革命的摇篮，江西南昌是中国人民解放军的诞生地。 红色文化，又使江西比起古代的江南风情，更多了一分铿锵。Jinggangshan is the cradle of modern Chinese revolution and Nanchang is the birthplace of People's Liberation Army. The red culture has made Jiangxi Province more tough than it in ancient times.--Kang Haoyu (talk) 09:20, 24 September 2020 (UTC)--Kang Haoyu (talk) 09:20, 24 September 2020 (UTC) The red culture has made Jiangxi Province more tough than it was in ancient times.--Luo Weijia (talk) 01:23, 25 September 2020 (UTC) 祖

七月半属于非物质文化遗产，是一种文化，是追怀先人既古老又现代的一种传统，这一传统体现了古人“慎终追远”思想，其文化核心是敬祖尽孝。 As a kind of culture, Hungry Ghost Festival belongs to intangible cultural heritage. It's such a tradition, both ancient and modern, for people to reminisce their ancestors. With Worship ancestors and filial piety as the core culture, the tradition shows ancient people's thought of carefully attending to the funeral rites of parents and following them when gone with due sacrifices.--Kang Haoyu (talk) 14:02, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

张衡为中国天文学、机械技术、地震学的发展作出了杰出的贡献，发明了浑天仪、地动仪，是东汉中期浑天说的代表人物之一。 As one of the representatives of the theory of sphere-heavens in the middle Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng invented the armillary sphere and seismograph, making outstanding contributions to the development of astronomy, mechanical technology and seismology in China.--Kang Haoyu (talk) 14:02, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Lei Fangyuan 雷方圆

我喜欢中秋节。I like the Mid-Autumn Festival.--Root (talk) 08:02, 21 September 2020 (UTC)--Root (talk) 08:03, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Luo Weijia 罗维嘉

中国得天独厚，大部分地区土地肥沃，气候温和。 Nature is generous in giving most of China plenty of fertile soil, along with a climate that is most moderately.

清明节起源于寒食节，用以纪念春秋时期晋国大臣介子推。 Tomb-Sweeping Day originated from the Cold Food Festival which remembered Jie Zitui, a nobleman of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period.

中国人不仅是火箭的发明者，而且还是首先企图利用固体燃料火箭将人载到空中去的幻想者。The Chinese not only invented the rocket but also the first to fantasize about using the solid rocket to carry man into space.--Luo Weijia (talk) 01:08, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Tang Yiran 汤伊然

尘烟滚滚，人声嘈杂，夜色愈深，一切都陷入混乱之中。 As the night grew darker, flinging dust, billowing smoke and uproars send everything into a mess.----Tang Yiran1 (talk) 11:45, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Yang Ziling 杨子泠

中秋之夜，举杯团圆，叶已纷飞情义绵延。 On Mid-Autumn night, people propose a toast to the reunion when leaves are falling and people are happily gathering.

Yuan Tianyi 袁天翼

中国地处亚洲大陆东部，太平洋西岸，在总面积960多万平方千米的国土上，自然与地理环境多姿多彩，东西南北风光迥异，山川江河蕴藏着极为丰富的动植物资源，良好的地理环境造就了无数的天然名胜。

China, located on the eastern part of the continental Asia and the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, whose territory covers an area of over 9.6 million square kilometers, boasts colorful and miscellaneous natural and geographical environments, with distinctive scenery of the east, west, south, and north, as well as mountains and rivers that enjoy extremely rich fauna and flora resources, where gorgeous geographical environments give birth to countless natural scenic spots.--Yuan Tianyi (talk) 13:15, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

农历五月初五是端午节，这个节日在中国已有2000多年的历史。端午节起源于对伟大爱国诗人屈原的纪念活动。千百年来，人们用吃粽子和赛龙舟这两种形式来庆祝这个节日。粽子是端午节最受欢迎的食物。如今，粽子有各种各样的形状和馅料。

The fifth lunar day of the fifth lunar month is China’s Dragon Boat Festival, boasting a history of over 2000 years in China, which originates from the memorial activities for the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Over the thousands of years, people celebrate this day by eating rice dumplings—the most popular food on that day, and racing dragon boats. Nowadays, the rice dumpling has miscellaneous shapes and fillings.--Yuan Tianyi (talk) 14:04, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

说到中国古代的科技文明，就不能不说四大发明。人们普遍认为，指南针、火药、造纸术和印刷术的发明对中国古代的政治、经济、文化的发展产生了巨大的推动作用；并且，这些发明经由各种途径传至西方，也影响着世界的文明进程。

When it comes to ancient China’s science and technology inventions, we have to mention the Four Great Inventions. It is widely acknowledged that the inventions of compass, gunpowder, papermaking and printing have amazingly synergized the development of the politics, economy and culture of ancient China; moreover, those inventions were spread to the West through sundry approaches, causing effects on the process of the world civilizations.--Yuan Tianyi (talk) 14:04, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Zhang Hui 张慧

因位于黄河北岸而得名的河北省，在古代它的部分土地属于冀州，所以河北简称“冀”，人民政府所在地是石家庄。Located on the northern bank of the Yellow River, Hebei province got its name. In ancient times, part of its land belonged to Jizhou, so Hebei was referred to as "Ji" for short. The seat of the people's government is Shijiazhuang. 蒙古族在中秋的这一天，会组织大家一起来玩“追月”的游戏，一群人在圆月之下，飞奔在草原上，一直朝着西方奔去，因为月亮是从东方升起，在西方坠落，所以朝着西方奔去才算是“追月”，这一风俗符合了蒙古族的潇洒的性格。In the Mid-Autumn festival,Mongolians will group together to play the game of "chasing the moon".Under the full moon,a group of people will gallop on the grassland and run all the way towards the west.Since the moon rises in the east and falls in the west, it is regared as "chasing the moon" towards the west.This custom accords with the natural and unrestrained character of the Mongolian nationality. 煤，石油和天然气是现代能源的主要组成部分，它们的开发利用也最早出现在我国，大约都是从汉代开始的，不过当时还没有发挥太大的作用。Coal, oil and natural gas are the main components of modern energy. Their exploitation and utilization also first appeared in China and started from about Han Dynasty, but they did not play a significant role at that time.--Zhang Hui (talk) 01:54, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Zhang Peiwen 张佩闻

Geography, festivals,science and technology

地理学是研究地球表面的地理环境中各种自然现象和人文现象，以及它们之间相互关系的学科。地理是一门综合性的基础学科。 Geography is a subject that studies all kinds of natural phenomena and human behaviors on the earth. It is a comprehensive basic subject/subject comprising many aspects.

国务院将其列入首批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。自2008年起中秋节被列为国家法定节假日。 It has been listed into the first batch of state-level intangible culture heritage announced by the State Council, being deemed as one of the national holidays since 2008.

传统认为，科学是人类所积累的关于自然、社会、思维的知识体系。 Traditionally, science and technology is regarded as a system of knowledge about nature, society and thoughts accumulated by human.--Zhang Peiwen (talk) 13:34, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Zhang Yu 张瑜

中国地形、气候十分复杂，土地类型复杂多样，为农、林、牧、副、渔多种经营和全面发展提供了有利条件。 China's landform and climate are very complex, and the land types are various, which provide advantages for the diversified economy and comprehensive development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, side-line production and fishery. 清明节是中华民族古老的节日，既是一个扫墓祭祖的肃穆节日，也是人们亲近自然、踏青游玩、享受春天乐趣的欢乐节日。 The Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival. It's not only a solemn festival to sweep tombs and worship ancestors, but also a happy day for people to close to the nature, go for an outing and enjoy the fun in Spring. 四大发明对中国古代的政治、经济、文化的发展产生了巨大的推动作用，经各种途径传至西方，对世界文明发展史产生巨大的影响力。 Four Great Inventions greatly promoted the political, economic and cultural development in ancient China. It spreaded to west through various methods and had great impacts on history of world's civilization. --Zhang Yu (talk) 13:39, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

四大发明对中国古代的政治、经济、文化的发展产生了巨大的推动作用，经各种途径传至西方，对世界文明发展史产生巨大的影响力。 The Four Great Inventions have greatly promoted the development of politics, economy and culture in ancient China. They spread to the west through various channels, and had a great influence on the history of world civilization.--Ding Daifeng (talk) 15:17, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

清明节是中华民族古老的节日，既是一个扫墓祭祖的肃穆节日，也是人们亲近自然、踏青游玩、享受春天乐趣的欢乐节日。 The Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival. It's not only a solemn festival for sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors, but also a happy day for people to get close to the nature, go for an outing and enjoy the fun in Spring.--Kang Haoyu (talk) 01:41, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Zhao Xiaoyan 赵晓燕

云南省人民政府所在地昆明市，是中国的历史文化名城之一，也是闻名中外的“春城”，这里冬天不冷，夏天不热，气候温和，四季如春。 Kunming, the seat of the government of Yunnan Province, is one of the famous historical and cultural cities in China, and also known as the Spring city due to its warm climate.

据说，此夜月球距地球最近，月亮最大最圆，所以从古至今都有饮宴赏月的习俗。 It's said that the moon is closest to the earth this night, representing the biggest and roundest feature itself, so people get used to feasting and enjoying the moon in this night since the ancient time.

经过秦汉，即封建社会巩固和发展时期，我国科学文化的总体水平跃居世界前列，许多领域还在世界上处于领先地位。 After Qin and Han Dynasties, the development and cosolidation period of the feudal society, the overall level of science and culture in China leaped into the front ranks of the world, with many fields taking the lead.--Zhao Xiaoyan (talk) 01:30, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Zhu Meimei 祝美梅

五彩斑斓的吉林黑土地，种啥啥长人民币。Jilin, a multicolored province in China, produces abundant financial gains on its fertile farmland.--Zhumeimei (talk) 03:12, 24 September 2020 (UTC)--Zhumeimei (talk) 03:15, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Jilin, a province in China that boasts multicolored black earth, returns worthy financial gains to people no matter what is planted on its fertile land.--Yuan Tianyi (talk) 13:26, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

2nd Session: Unit 1

Text A Geography

Presentation by ...

Text B Traditional Festivals

Presentation by ...

Text C Traditional Science

Presentation by ...