Learning Chinese

The Chinese character cái is a pictogram that depicts a sprouting plant. As a noun and an adjective, it refers to ability, talent, or endowment.

The character 學 (xué), which means to study or learn, originated from the early Oracle bone script that ...

The left side of the character shows its meaning—silk threads tangled on a loom. Later, the right side, ...

The original meaning of the character 雄 was “the father of little birds,” or male birds.

Literally, the saying means “the appearance is born of the heart”; however, the character 心 (xīn) is often ...

The character 治 (zhì) can be traced back to the time of Dayu (大禹) (2200-2100 B.C.), or the ...

Doing good and helping others, which comes from a selfless heart and kind thoughts toward others, is the ...

It is often used to describe those who have a tongue of honey and a heart of gall.

The character 意 (yì) translates as “meaning” or “idea.”

The idiom means to “throw aside the writing brush [pen] and join the army,” or to renounce the ...

The composition of the character 紙 (zhǐ), which means paper, follows the development of “paper” in ancient China.

The Chinese character bǐ originally referred to a brush pen made of animal hair and a bamboo shaft.

The character 震 (zhèn) means to quake, shake, vibrate, or shock. The very basic meaning of the character ...

In ancient pictograph form, the character was often slanted slightly, making the two sides of the character representative ...

The Chinese character 運 (yùn) is a pictophonetic character—one formed by combining a component that indicates the meaning ...

The Chinese character for forbearance is formed by placing a “knife” over the “heart.”

To thoroughly understand the truth of a matter, first listen, then observe well and think carefully.

The character 和 (hé) portrays the traditional Chinese ideal of harmony between nature and humankind.

The Chinese character 法 (fǎ) stands for law or method.

The Chinese character 兵 (bīng) stands for soldier, the military, arms, or being related to war.

The Chinese character combination 戰爭 (zhàn zhēng) stands for war, as does the first character alone, 戰 (zhàn).

The Chinese idiom 諱疾忌醫, pronounced huì jí jì yī, refers to concealing an illness and avoiding treatment.

The Chinese idiom 不戰屈人, pronounced bù zhàn qū rén, refers to the idea of subduing the enemy without ...

Learn about the Chinese character for snake as we celebrate Chinese New Year 2013, Year of the Snake.

The Chinese characters for music literally translates as “the sound of happiness.”

CHINESE CHARACTERS: 和平 Peace.

Confucius placed much emphasis on the conduct of people, especially as it relates to customs and ethics. The ...