Lantern Festival 元宵节 - 汤圆 tāngyuán

Lantern Festival 元宵节 - 汤圆 tāngyuán
Other than watching lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, people also eat Rice Dumplings. Rice Dumplings are also called 'Yuanxiao' hence the festival name, 'Yuanxiao Festival' 元宵节. It falls on the 9th February for 2009.

The other name that is more common to hear is 'tangyuan' 汤圆 tāngyuán. It is made into small balls using glutinous rice flour. The ingredients of the filling include rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil.



By boiling, frying, or steaming, you can make them easily at home. The taste is sweet and delicious. Basically the pronunciation of 'tuanyuan' has a meaningful connotation which means 'Reunion'. Hence, it is eaten to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

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Chinese Duplicated Words - AA, ABAB, AABB

Duplicated Words

AA: Duplicated characters (AA) are written together:
tiāntiān 天天，every day
xiǎoxiǎo 小小，little
màn màn 慢慢，slowly
mǎnmǎn 满满, to the brim, fully
hǎohǎo 好好, in a proper way

ABAB: two characters duplicated (ABAB) are written separated:
cānkǎo cānkǎo 参考参考 - as a reference
tǎolùntǎolùn 讨论讨论 - discuss
jiěshì jiěshì 解释解释 - explain

AABB: a hypen is written with the schema
lǎolǎo－shishi 老老实实 （ honestly; conscientiously; in earnest）
kāikāi－xīnxīn 开开心心 （happily)
jiājiā－hùhù 家家户户 （each and every family; every household)

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CNY Calligraphy - 吉祥如意

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Happy 牛 Year

扭轉乾坤 (reverse the situation, turn the tables, turn the Heaven & Earth) is a famous Chinese phrase. As 2009 is an Ox ( 牛 ) Year and 牛, New, and 扭 have almost identical pronunciations, Chinese sometimes say 牛轉乾坤 for 扭轉乾坤, especially 牛 is a strong and powerful animal and can reverse any situation. People also say "Happy 牛 Year" for Happy New Year in the Year of Ox.

牛 ox, bull
轉 turn, reverse = 转
乾 heaven, sky
坤 earth, ground
開 open ＝ 开
運 good luck ＝ 运
致 reach
富 prosperity, wealth

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Chinese New Year Calligraphy

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Chinese Folk Art - Paper Cutting 剪纸, jiǎn zhǐ

There are a number of distinct uses for the paper cut outs in Chinese culture, almost all of which are for health, prosperity or decorative purposes. Where it is different compared to other cultural style is the extensive use of red. Also it has a heavy emphasis on single or a few Chinese characters often symbolizing with the Chinese Zodiac animals.

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Chinese New Year 2009 : Year of Ox

Story of the Chinese Zodiac


Origins of the Chinese Zodiac
According to one legend, in the sixth century B.C. the Jade Emperor invited all the animals in creation to a race, only twelve showed up: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Lamb, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig, and according to their places in the race, the Jade Emperor had given them each a number starting with the Rat who was the winner of the race.

However, this Zodiac Race is the least credible of all explanations of the origin of the Chinese zodiac. Because the "twelve earthly branches" which correspond with the zodiac, was already in existence as early as the Zhou era, long before the advent of Buddhism.

The order of 12 Chinese zodiac animals was based on the number of toes/hooves, alternating between even and odd numbers. This more authentic explanation says, the Earthly Branches are divided into two categories: Yin and Yang. Each of them is paired with an animal of the same "gender". The gender of the animal is determined by the number of a specific part of its body. Odd numbers are Yang and even numbers are Yin. The tiger, the dragon, the monkey and the dog, all have five toes on each foot or paw, and the horse has one hoof. So we know they are Yang animals. 

The cloven-hoofed species such as the ox, the goat and the pig fall into the Yin category because their hoofs are divided into two parts. The rooster is also Yin since it has four toes on each foot. The rabbit has two upper lips and the snake has a two-point forked tongue. So they are Yin, too. The mouse had been a problem. It has four toes on each fore leg and five on each hind leg. It has both Yin and Yang qualities and there seemed to be no pace to put it. 

Fortunately, the first of the Earthly Branches, Zi 子 can be considered both Yin and Yang. The branches were also used to designate days and hours, and when symbolizing the hours, this branch covers a period from eleven in the evening to one o'clock in the morning. PM is Yin and Am is Yang. So the mouse goes together with this first branch. It is this double-gender feature, a kind of split personality, you might say, that makes the little mouse the leader among his colleagues.

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