Welcome! Welcome! hunyng Significance of the Chinese Language In Race and Culture: A World View, Thomas Sowell states that since not all the conquerors always had a more advanced culture,... [conquerors of the British] were eventually absorbed by the English [language] as various conquerors were absorbed by the Chinese [language]. in 493, Emperor Xiaowen (r ) initiated a radical program of sinification under which all Xianbei officials below the age of thirty [were required] to speak Chinese at court (Ebrey 2 nd Edition, 65). The two most famous emperors in the Qing dynasty, Kangxi and Qianlong, who were non-Chinese, became experts of the language. Defining Chinese https://www.un.org/en/aboutun/languages.shtml Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan Family Analytic Language vs. Synthetic Language Word Order (I love you vs. You love me) vs. Conjugation (go, going, went, gone); A standard language based on the Beijing dialect in Pronunciation & Vocabulary (for the most part) Grammar defined & refined by modern literary works written in Vernacular Chinese since 1919 One of the six official languages of UNEnglish, French, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic Romanization Wade-Giles--Thomas Francis Wade (1867) & Herbert Allen Giles (1912) Yale--Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese (World War II) Taiwan Zhuyin--The Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation led by Woo Tsin-hang from 1912 to 1913; officially proclaimed on November 23, 1918 Pinyin (Mainland)--1958 Chinese Pinyin (1958) Adopted by the Library of Congress for its new catalogs Download a copy of Standard Pinyin atPinyin Song atDgsDgs Chinese Phonetics Five Properties 1. Chinese Alphabet V for in typing 2. Initials (Consonants) B P M F D T N L 3. Finals (Vowels) --Simple Finals -- a o e i/y u/w /yaoeiu --Compound Finals -- ai ao ou ei ia/yaaiaooueiia --Nasal Finals -- ian /yan, in/yin, iang/yangianiniang 4. Tone Marks (Four Tones on the main vowel) 5. Dividing Marks as in Xn , a famous historical city (instead of xian) or Hiu for seagull (instead of haiou) Make Up Your Mind! Chinese is a tonal language First tone: wnwarm( ) Second tonewnsmell( ) Third tonewnkiss( ) Fourth tonewnask( ) How to determine the meaning in Chinese? --word order (I love you vs. You love me_ --context (paper or plastic?) --tonal changes (You can embarrass yourself) Chinese Radicals (Latin Radix for Root) Tree/Wood grove forest Chinese Names Last name first; first name last Surnamexng Neesh Given namemng Courtesy name (Styled) z Artistic name or pseudonym, ho Posthumous title shho Temple namemioho Identify the last name Sima Qian/Sun Yat-sen or Sun Zhongshan (ca. 145 BC 86 BC)/1866 1925 Tricky Names A little Cultural Knowledge Could Go a Long Way ji jngl Manager or Director Jia / ji fake; sham z ngjngl general manager f a surname f deputy; assistant; vice- fz ngjngl ROC vs. PRC National Party vs. Communist Party Jiang Jieshi (Jiang Kai-shek) vs. Mao Zedong The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan nowadays, developed out of the Wuchang Uprising against the Qing Dynasty on 10 October (Double Ten Day) in 1911 under the leadership of Sun Yat- sen (Sun Zhongshan, father of modern China). The Peoples Republic of China (PRC, since 1949), commonly known as China, is the most populous state in the world with over 1.3 billion people. Located in East Asia, governed by CCP for Chinese Communist Party). Zhnggudt map of china China and Its Neighbors Administrative Divisions xngzhng qhu Political Administrative Divisions xngzhng qhu Direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by People's Republic of China (PRC, 1949, refers to the mainland China), zhxish directly governed city region (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing). Provinces (22 + Taiwan pending) Alphabetically Listed 1. Anhui ; 2. Fujian ; 3. Gansu ; 4. Guangdong ; 5. Guizhou ; 6. Hainan ; 7. Hebei ; 8. Henan ; 9. Heilongjiang ; 10. Hubei ; 11. Hunan ; 12. Jilin ; 13. Jiangsu ; 14. Jiangxi ; 15, Liaoning ; 16. Qinghai ; 17. Shandong ; 18. Shanxi ; 19. Shaanxi ; 20. Sichuan ; 21. Yunnan ; 22. Zhejiang ; Taiwan disputed status since 1949; Minority Autonomous Regions (5) & Their Capitals ninngg zzhq the Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) Autonomous Region (1947), Huhhot; xnjingwiw'rzzhq The Xinjiang Uygur (Uighur) autonomous region (1955), Wrumqi; gu ngxzhungzzzhq The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region (1957), Nanning; Nngxihuz zzhq Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (1957), Yinchuan; xzngzzhq the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region (1965), Lhasa; tbixngzhngq Special Administrative Region (2) One Country; Two Systems Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (18391842). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages so as to include the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories by It was occupied by the Japanese during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China regained sovereignty. The Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong shall enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign relations and military defense. Chinese Ethnic Groups 56 Han Ethnic Group 95.3% 55 Minority Ethnic Groups4.humanities.washington.edu/~WG/~1 88/Cultural%20Notes/4.humanities.washington.edu/~WG/~1 88/Cultural%20Notes/ Or on class website China Proper Geographical Features There are four areas within China Proper: In the north is the North China Plain (flat and vulnerable, easily taken over by invaders); In the south is a region of low hills and wet valleys; In the southeast is the Sichuan Basin, ringed by mountains and accessible mainly via the gorges of the Yangzi River/Yangtze River, an ideal place for taking refuge. Chongqing is a city of fog. In the northwest is a dry plateau; The Yangzi River/Yangtze River Chngjing 6,418 kilometres (3,988 mi) The Yangzi/Yangtze River about 6,380 km long The Yangzi River, meaning a long river, originated in Bayan Har Mountains, flows through Sichuan and across central China (passing 11 provinces: Qinghai, Xizang/Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai), to reach the Pacific near modern-day Shanghai; Note the Yangzi River marks the natural divide between the south and north; Jiangnan Region Two Crops a Year (Rice Cultivation) [jingnn] southern bank of the River a region in the lower Changjiang (Yangtze) valley, including southern Jiangsu and Anhui and northern Zhejiang (much celebrated in poetry for its beauties and joys) ym zhxing a land of fish and rice; a land of plenty; two crops a year; A natural barrier/protection The (Unpredictable) Course of the Yellow River 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi) The Yellow River passes the Loess Plateau hungt goyun The Loess Plateau is shaded. Taming the Yellow River Gun, in ancient times, used the method of blocking the flood; Yu the Great, Guns son, used the method of diverting the flood; Yu passed his own house three times but did not enter for a visit since he was so busy with taming the Yellow River Foolish Old Man Moving the Mountains vs. Yu the Great Taming the Yellow River ygngyshn the Foolish Old Man removed the mountains. to be resolute in one's endeavor, no matter what hardships one encounters Taming the Yellow River: the Way The natural way; shbngngbi get twice the result with half the effort. Mount Tai, a Holy Mountain tishn Mt. Tai, a leader among five mountains Mount Tai was originally known as Daizong or Daishan. Since Qin times (221207 BC) it has also been known as Dongyue (Eastern Mountain), one of the five holy mountains of China, and has usually ranked as the first among them; the other four are: Mount Heng in Hunan province (south), Mount Hua in Shaanxi province (west), Mount Heng in Shanxi province (north), and Mount Song in Henan province (central). Fengshan at Mt. Tai Historically important in the cult of official state rituals, Mount Tai was the site of two of the most spectacular of all the ceremonies of the traditional Chinese empire. One of them, called feng, was held on top of Mount Tai and consisted of offerings to heaven; the other, called shan, was held on a lower hill and made offerings to earth. These ceremonies are often referred to together as fengshan (worship of heaven and earth) and were believed to ensure a dynasty's fortunes or for cultural Legitimation. Emperors and Empires have to meet certain standards for Fengshan. They were carried out at rare intervalsduring the Xi (Western) Han dynasty (206 BCAD 25) in 110, 106, 102, and 98 BC; during the Dong (Eastern) Han dynasty (AD 25220) in AD 56; and by emperors of the Tang dynasty (618907) in 666 and again in 725. See Shiji 28: The Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices. Tintn in Beijing the Temple of Heaven The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism. Beijing National Stadium Bird Nest ni ocho Beijing National Stadium ; (Bijng Guji T ych ng), also known as the National Stadium ( ) or colloquially as the Bird's Nest ( ), is a stadium in Beijing, China. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. bdochngchngfih ohn He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (13681644). The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur (Lake Lop ) in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. Construction Principles On topography/terrain, use narrow passes to make a strategic point