Viewing movies with Chinese subtitle is one of the best way to learn Chinese.
Here is《王的盛宴》（The Last Supper）是一部陆川执导的中国历史剧情片，取材于历史事件鸿宴
http://www.iqiyi.com/dianying/20130117/64d9aa7fbbddd47c.html?vfm=m_103_txsp
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Chineasy
For foreigners, learning to speak Chinese is a hard task. But learning to read the beautiful, often complex characters of the Chinese written language may be less difficult. ShaoLan walks through a simple lesson in recognizing the ideas behind the characters and their meaning -- building from a few simple forms to more complex concepts. Call it Chineasy.
Source of information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=troxvPRmZm8
Source of information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FNvW19GbA
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Witty interpretation of zodiac Signs
周恩来妙语解释的十二生肖让全场外国人鸦雀无声
Zhou En-lai witty interpretation of zodiac Signs amazed an audience of foreigners
(text in Chinese)
Notes: The following translation was received via email forward by a friend. Original translation source unknown at this moment of posting.
It was said that Mr Zhou En-lai was once having a meal with his European friends.
A person by the name of Klaus passed an impolite comment when he was drunk.
“You Chinese carry the signs of pigs, dogs, and mouse at birth. “I can’t understand what’s going on in the mind of your ancestors?”
At that point, the distinguished group of friends started to laugh. They started to toast each other rowdily.
The cultured and serene atmosphere was broken.
Some
people believe that when someone insults your ancestors, even if you
don’t have a response to it, the least you could do is to overturn the
table against him.
Fortunately, nobody acted rashly or in violence.
For a while, not a single word was uttered. It was probably because they have not come across this situation before.
Then, Mr Zhou En-lai stood up and spoke to everybody in a calm and peaceful way.
===
===
“The Chinese ancestors were very wise. They arranged the twelve zodiac signs in pairs. Six pairs in a cycle.
In this way, they expressed their hopes and wishes for the generation that came after them.”
By then, the room was in complete silence. There were some skeptical looks among the audience.
Mr Zhou En-lai continued, ” The first pair of animals is the rat and cow.
“The rat represents wisdom and the cow represents diligence. Wisdom and diligence must operate in harmony.
“If there is wisdom but no diligence in applying it, it’s foolishness.
“On the other hand, if there is diligence but no wisdom, it’s an act of folly.
“That’s
why wisdom and diligence must go hand in hand.
This is our ancestor’s first wish for us. The first pair of animal also represents the most important hope.
===
This is our ancestor’s first wish for us. The first pair of animal also represents the most important hope.
===
“The second pair is the tiger and rabbit.
“The tiger represents courage and the rabbit represents carefulness. These two qualities must work closely together.
“In that way, it can have a better chance to achieve success.
“Without carefulness, courage becomes recklessness. Similarly, without courage, carefulness becomes cowardice.
“This pair of qualities is very important. That’s why it is the second pair.”
Mr
Zhou En-lai looked at the audience and then he added, “Therefore, when
we demonstrate our carefulness, please do not think that we do not have
the courage to fight for social justice.
“In
truth, what our ancestor is pursuing is wisdom through integrity,
harmony and balance. It’s never about a single hope or task.
===
===
When he saw that the audience was deep in thought, Mr Zhou En-lai continued, “The third pair is the dragon and snake.
“They represent strength and flexibility.
“Strength without flexibility becomes brittle. Without strength, flexibility becomes meaningless.
“That’s why strength with flexibility is an important lesson from our ancestor that has lasted through time.
===
===
“The next pair is the horse and goat.
“The horse represents the ability to gallop to success. The goat represents the ability to be considerate and have compassion.
“If
a person only looks after himself as he pursues his goal and with no
consideration for others, he will face obstacles from the people around
him.
“Finally, he may not even be successful.
“However,
if a person only looks after others and seek only to be amiable, he
will not have a sense of direction. His goal will eventually be lost.
“That’s
why the spirit of the horse and virtues of the goat must be applied in
harmony with each other.
This is our ancestor’s fourth wish for us.
===
This is our ancestor’s fourth wish for us.
===
“The next pair is the monkey and the chicken.
“The monkey represents agility.
“As for chicken, as there were no clocks in the days of old, it is needed to wake humans to start a new day.
“The chicken represents stability.
“The qualities of agility and stability must be tightly coupled together.
“If
you have agility but no stability, your best plan will not come to
pass.
However, if you focused on having stability and refuse to change, you will not have a better future.
However, if you focused on having stability and refuse to change, you will not have a better future.
“When
the two qualities are in harmony, on one side, there will be stability
in terms of having, for example, effective system and collaboration.
“On the other side, there will be a release of unrelenting creativity and innovation to achieve progress.
“When these two qualities operate in synergy, it is one of the basic imperatives to achieve success.
===
===
“Lastly, we have the dog and pig.
“The dog represents loyalty while the pig represents good nature.
“If a person is loyal but does not have a good nature, he will be blindly following others.
“On the other hand, if he has a good nature but does not have loyalty, he will have no people and principles to guide him.
“That’s
why whether its loyalty to a country, loyalty to a team, or loyalty to
an ideal, you need to ensure that good nature is tightly coupled with
and working alongside with it.
“In that way, you can have a deep-seated sense of loyalty that comes from the heart.
“This is why the Chinese believes that the outer core must be in alignment with the inner core (外圆内方,君子和而不同).
“At
the inner core, we must have a pure heart that subscribes to high moral
values. We must seek to live with ethos and positive principles.
“We must live up to our words and not do anything that will harm others."
“At the external core, we must be knowledgeable about the ways of the world. We must be wise in managing affairs around us."
“We need to focus on what matters in life and not be influenced by evil."
“We
need to live with integrity and in harmony with others and the
environment. We must not have any form of prejudice or seek to
discriminate against anyone.”
At the end of his speech, there was complete silence. They say that you can even hear a pin dropped.
---------------------
一次，周恩来和欧洲同学聚餐。
可能酒喝多了，一位德国同学站了起来， 讽刺说：' 你们中国人都是属什么猪啊！狗啊！老鼠啊！ 不像我们，都是金牛座、狮子座、仙女座……-
真不知道你们祖先怎么想的？'
当时这些贵族同学听完哈哈大笑，还互相碰杯，先前的优雅完全不见了。
按理说，人家在骂你祖宗了，你即使没有话说，起码可以掀桌子啊！
但所有人都坐着不吭声，也可能是还没反应过来，此时，周恩来站起来平和地告诉在场所有外宾：
"中国人的祖先是很实在的，我们十二生肖 两两 相对，六道轮回，体现了我们祖先对中国人全部的期望跟要求。"
这时 ，现场气氛虽然从嬉闹转为安静，但是他们脸上还是一副不屑的样子。
周恩来说 ：
===
第一组是老鼠和牛。
老鼠代表智慧，牛代表勤奋。 智慧和勤奋一定要紧紧结合在一起。
如果光有智慧不勤奋，那就变成小聪明；而光是勤奋，不动脑筋，那就变成愚蠢。
所以这两者一定要结合，这是我们祖先对中国人的第一组期望和要求，也是最重要的一组。
===
第二组是老虎和兔子。
老虎代表勇猛，兔子代表谨慎。 勇猛和谨慎一定要紧紧结合在一起，才能做到所谓的胆大心细。
如果勇猛离开了谨慎，就变成了鲁莽，而你没有勇猛，一味的谨慎，谨慎就变成胆怯。
这一组也非常重要，所以放在第二。
周恩来看着这些贵族，补上一句：
"所以当我们表现出谨慎的时候，千万不要以为我们中国人没有勇猛的一面。"
"实际上，我们祖先追求的是一种和谐的智慧和圆融， 从来不会单独给一个要求和任务。"-
看着大家陷入沉思，周恩来继续往下说
===
第三组是龙和蛇。
龙代表刚猛，蛇代表柔韧。
所谓刚者易折，太刚了容易折断，但是如果只有柔的一面，就易失去主见， 所以刚柔并济是我们历代的祖训。
===
接下来是马和羊。-
马代表勇往直前，直奔目标 ，羊代表和顺 。
如果一个人只顾自己直奔目标，不顾周围，必然会和周围不断磕碰，最后不见得能达到目标。
但是一个人如果光顾着和周围和顺，之后他连方向都没有了，目标也失去了。
所以一往无前的秉性一定要与和顺紧紧结合在一起，这是我们祖先对中国人的第四组期望。
===
再接下来是猴子和鸡。
猴子代表灵活，至于鸡呢，以前的年代没有钟，都是听鸡鸣声决定一天的开始，所以鸡定时打鸣，代表稳定。
灵活和稳定一定要紧紧结合起来。
如果你光灵活，没有稳定，再好的政策最后也得不到收获。但如果说你光是稳定，一潭死水、一块铁板，那就不会有我们今天的好日子了。
只有它们之间非常圆融的结合，一方面具有稳定性，保持整体的和谐和秩序，另一方面又能不断变通地前进，这才是最根本的要旨。
===
最后是狗和猪。
狗是代表忠诚，猪是代表随和。
一个人如果太忠诚，不懂得随和，就会排斥他人。 而反过来 ，一个人太随和，没有忠诚，这个人就失去原则。
所以无论是对一个民族国家的忠诚、对团队的忠诚，还是自己理想的忠诚，一定要与随和紧紧结合在一起，这样才容易真正保持内心深处的忠诚。
这就是我们 中国 人一直坚持的外圆内方，君子和而不同。
中国人每个人都有属于自己的生肖，有的人属猪，有的人属狗，这意义何在？
实际上，我们的祖先期望我们要圆融，不能偏颇，要求我们懂得到对应面切入。 比如属猪的人能够在他的随和本性中，也去追求忠诚； 而属狗的人则在忠诚的本性中，去做到随和。
解释完十二生肖，周恩来说：' 不知道你们那些宝瓶座啊、射手座啊、公羊座啊， 体现了你们祖先哪些期望和要求？也希望不吝赐教。结果呢，席间都没说话，全场鸦雀无声，一根针掉在地上都能听见。
最后贵族同学们纷纷由衷地表示对中国人和中国人的祖先非常敬佩：
“没有想到中国的十二生肖有这么多的寓意啊！”
阿比甲当嘎注：
现在是信息年代，很多人一味崇洋媚外，对于老祖宗几千年的智慧和文化嗤之以鼻，这是相当可怕的，想想吧！继续延伸阅读『详细图解初一到十五有哪些讲究？』
再推荐几篇跟过年相关的文章
按理说，人家在骂你祖宗了，你即使没有话说，起码可以掀桌子啊！
但所有人都坐着不吭声，也可能是还没反应过来，此时，周恩来站起来平和地告诉在场所有外宾：
"中国人的祖先是很实在的，我们十二生肖 两两 相对，六道轮回，体现了我们祖先对中国人全部的期望跟要求。"
这时 ，现场气氛虽然从嬉闹转为安静，但是他们脸上还是一副不屑的样子。
周恩来说 ：
===
第一组是老鼠和牛。
老鼠代表智慧，牛代表勤奋。 智慧和勤奋一定要紧紧结合在一起。
如果光有智慧不勤奋，那就变成小聪明；而光是勤奋，不动脑筋，那就变成愚蠢。
所以这两者一定要结合，这是我们祖先对中国人的第一组期望和要求，也是最重要的一组。
===
第二组是老虎和兔子。
老虎代表勇猛，兔子代表谨慎。 勇猛和谨慎一定要紧紧结合在一起，才能做到所谓的胆大心细。
如果勇猛离开了谨慎，就变成了鲁莽，而你没有勇猛，一味的谨慎，谨慎就变成胆怯。
这一组也非常重要，所以放在第二。
周恩来看着这些贵族，补上一句：
"所以当我们表现出谨慎的时候，千万不要以为我们中国人没有勇猛的一面。"
"实际上，我们祖先追求的是一种和谐的智慧和圆融， 从来不会单独给一个要求和任务。"-
看着大家陷入沉思，周恩来继续往下说
===
第三组是龙和蛇。
龙代表刚猛，蛇代表柔韧。
所谓刚者易折，太刚了容易折断，但是如果只有柔的一面，就易失去主见， 所以刚柔并济是我们历代的祖训。
===
接下来是马和羊。-
马代表勇往直前，直奔目标 ，羊代表和顺 。
如果一个人只顾自己直奔目标，不顾周围，必然会和周围不断磕碰，最后不见得能达到目标。
但是一个人如果光顾着和周围和顺，之后他连方向都没有了，目标也失去了。
所以一往无前的秉性一定要与和顺紧紧结合在一起，这是我们祖先对中国人的第四组期望。
===
再接下来是猴子和鸡。
猴子代表灵活，至于鸡呢，以前的年代没有钟，都是听鸡鸣声决定一天的开始，所以鸡定时打鸣，代表稳定。
灵活和稳定一定要紧紧结合起来。
如果你光灵活，没有稳定，再好的政策最后也得不到收获。但如果说你光是稳定，一潭死水、一块铁板，那就不会有我们今天的好日子了。
只有它们之间非常圆融的结合，一方面具有稳定性，保持整体的和谐和秩序，另一方面又能不断变通地前进，这才是最根本的要旨。
===
最后是狗和猪。
狗是代表忠诚，猪是代表随和。
一个人如果太忠诚，不懂得随和，就会排斥他人。 而反过来 ，一个人太随和，没有忠诚，这个人就失去原则。
所以无论是对一个民族国家的忠诚、对团队的忠诚，还是自己理想的忠诚，一定要与随和紧紧结合在一起，这样才容易真正保持内心深处的忠诚。
这就是我们 中国 人一直坚持的外圆内方，君子和而不同。
中国人每个人都有属于自己的生肖，有的人属猪，有的人属狗，这意义何在？
实际上，我们的祖先期望我们要圆融，不能偏颇，要求我们懂得到对应面切入。 比如属猪的人能够在他的随和本性中，也去追求忠诚； 而属狗的人则在忠诚的本性中，去做到随和。
解释完十二生肖，周恩来说：' 不知道你们那些宝瓶座啊、射手座啊、公羊座啊， 体现了你们祖先哪些期望和要求？也希望不吝赐教。结果呢，席间都没说话，全场鸦雀无声，一根针掉在地上都能听见。
最后贵族同学们纷纷由衷地表示对中国人和中国人的祖先非常敬佩：
“没有想到中国的十二生肖有这么多的寓意啊！”
阿比甲当嘎注：
现在是信息年代，很多人一味崇洋媚外，对于老祖宗几千年的智慧和文化嗤之以鼻，这是相当可怕的，想想吧！继续延伸阅读『详细图解初一到十五有哪些讲究？』
再推荐几篇跟过年相关的文章
Sunday, September 8, 2013
“觉”的能力
“觉”的上面是一个学习的“学”，下面是一个见到的“见”，学会看见，就叫作“觉”，
你就能觉悟、觉察。
你真的自己学会了去看见自己的问题在哪里、纠结的点在哪里，那你就能做到“觉”了，而且这个“觉”的能力，你一旦学会了，别人是永远都拿不走的。
张德芬
Source:
http://space.yoka.com/blog/1418757/12124415.html
你就能觉悟、觉察。
你真的自己学会了去看见自己的问题在哪里、纠结的点在哪里，那你就能做到“觉”了，而且这个“觉”的能力，你一旦学会了，别人是永远都拿不走的。
张德芬
Source:
http://space.yoka.com/blog/1418757/12124415.html
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