14
votes
Is “文化” borrowed from Japanese?
The usage of the characters 文化 as the translation of the modern, Western concept of culture does come from Japanese usage. Although the word 文化 existed in Chinese, its meaning was related but not ...
- 722
11
votes
Accepted
Is “文化” borrowed from Japanese?
Japanese people created many new words consisting of morphemes of Chinese origin, and created new meanings of some pre-existing words of Chinese origin. Some of these words, or new meanings, were ...
- 246
10
votes
警察 vs 武警 difference
警察: Police. In China the term 民警 (abbreviation for 人民警察 people's police) is used more often.
武警: Abbreviation for 武装警察 armed police. Although it is "police", actually it is a military unit. ...
- 681
10
votes
What is the story behind 逐日移山?
It is a combination of two idiom stories
逐日 = 夸父逐日
“夸父逐日”的意思是比喻人有大志，也比喻不自量力
移山 = 愚公移山
文章叙述了愚公不畏艰难，坚持不懈，挖山不止，最终感动天帝而将山挪走的故事
"夸父(Kua Fu) 逐日 (chasing the sun)" describes "chasing a ...
- 77.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Where does the middle name go in a name that has been translated into Chinese?
Very easy, just use Wikipedia to find examples, such as:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is listed as 沃尔夫冈·阿马德乌斯·莫扎特 on Chinese Wikipedia
Johann Sebastian Bach is 约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫 in Chinese.
Thomas Alva Edison ...
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8
votes
What does 放生矿泉水 mean in this news report?
放生 (verb) is a religious practice where you buy captured animals and release them to their natural habitat. It's believed to bring good luck to a person.
Here "放生矿泉水" is apparently an ...
- 1,254
7
votes
Accepted
How many days does a 节气 last for?
before 清 dynasty (1644-1911), the calendar system in china used 平氣, solar terms lasts 15 days+ (it's roughly 365.25 days / 24).
then, the 時憲曆 changed the method to 定氣, that 360° div 24 = 15°, upon ...
- 15.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Usage of 理由 vs 原因
理由 (logic + cause): justification; argument; reason
原因 (origin + cause): cause; reason
When stating a 理由 (reason) for an action, you need to explain the justification, logical argument for the action
...
- 77.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Who should be counted when responding to 你家有几口人 (nǐjiā yǒu jǐkǒurén) "how many people are there in your family"?
It is simple-- The "家" in "你家有几口人？" always refers to "家庭" (household)
Your answer should only list the family members living in the household .
Using 口 as a classifier also indicates it only count ...
- 77.1k
6
votes
Do many Taiwanese self identify as Mandarin speakers and if not, why?
Mandarin originally refers to the official language of Qing
By the end of the last dynasty in 19th century, the government KMT released some standard of 国语(national language), which is based on the ...
- 6,247
6
votes
How do Chinese people feel about the term 非中国人 to express non-Chinese people?
In my opinion, 非中国人 sounds more exclusive. 非 stresses 'are not' (they are not Chinese)
外国人 sounds more neutral. 外国 indicates 'where ones came from ( they are from outside of this country)'
非我族类(其心也异) ...
- 77.1k
6
votes
Is it allowable in Mainland China to use Traditional Characters?
some tidbits as i known, or heard:
calligraphy must be in traditional chinese, no matter in which scripts (cursive, regular, or seal)
so, signboards, billboards could be in traditional chinese, such ...
- 15.1k
6
votes
Accepted
How do Chinese musicians count beats in Mandarin?
My wife is a violinist and I just asked her. So this is what she said:
一嗒 二嗒 三嗒
or
一嗒嗒 二嗒嗒 三嗒嗒 based on the tempo she wants( just add more "da").
嗒 is just a sound as "da" in ...
- 2,679
5
votes
What is the meaning of the phrase 铁血丹心 ?
Although it looks like an idiom expression (chengyu), I believe it is actually a coined phrase, specifically for the TV adaptation of the Wuxia novel (射鵰英雄傳, 1983 TVB Hongkong) you mentioned.
...
- 935
5
votes
Accepted
What was the relationship between 诸葛亮和周瑜？
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
They may be "friends", but they are still enemies.
They are the minister of two different kingdoms, 蜀 and 吴, they just happen to have a stronger common enemy 魏 so ...
- 881
5
votes
Size of vocabulary of highly educated Chinese person
What differentiates Chinese characters from English words is that most Chinese characters are not only words but also morphemes.
e.g.
In the English word unlikely, there are three morphemes, un, ...
- 401
5
votes
What does it mean for a woman to be 贤惠 (xiánhuì)?
This might be a good example of how dictionaries, while correct, don't exactly capture everyday usage.
贤惠 is a very common everyday word, used when someone is:
good a cooking
good at cleaning up
...
Mou某♦
- 35.7k
5
votes
How is 你是哪里人 properly answered?
It is indeed a confusing question nowadays. For me, it is generally a question of self identity. For instance, one was born in Sichuan Province, then left after birth and raised in Beijing for first ...
- 51
4
votes
Why do Chinese people always use Chinese subtitles?
That is mainly to make sure deaf people can understand.
2012年实施的《无障碍环境建设条例》规定：公开出版发行的影视类录像制品应当配备字幕。
Ref: 为什么在中国流通的影视作品普遍显示字幕？ - 知乎用户的回答 - 知乎
- 2,606
4
votes
天干、地支、八卦和六十四卦 Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, 8 Trigrams and 64 Hexagrams
Brief answer.
Yes. Some modern Chinese words are developed from these conceptions.
坤 in 八卦 represents the earth, female, Yin.
From these meanings, words like 乾坤 (the world. lit. Heaven and earth), ...
- 10.3k
4
votes
What are the types of 剧 (theatrical work, opera, drama) in modern China?
中国戏曲 (Chinese Opera) has been a popular form of entertainment throughout China's history. The major difference between regional Chinese operas is each region uses its own local dialect. There are also ...
- 77.1k
4
votes
Accepted
What are the continents according to Chinese schemes?
Geographically, Chinese people say seven continents, as you listed above, except Oceania(大洋洲), which stands for Australasia and almost all small islands in Pacific ocean.
- 2,020
4
votes
Where does the middle name go in a name that has been translated into Chinese?
There are two ways to translate a non-Chinese name. The first is to use transliteration with the · character separating name parts. The order of name parts is not changed and the meaning of name ...
- 1,837
4
votes
What is the connotation for gay蜜 and 闺蜜?
gay蜜 is not a formal word, usually used on Internet or in oral languages by the young.
When a girl has a gay male close friend, she will call him "gay蜜".
e.g. "他是我的gay蜜。" means he's my close friend ...
- 166
4
votes
Size of vocabulary of highly educated Chinese person
It is unlikely you can find any satisfactory statistics. What you get is most likely the vocabulary list for learning Chinese languages (or with other subjects) by the education department of ...
- 1,994
4
votes
Accepted
What could be the meaning of 主治陳進陽草菅人命, 插管插到死, 腎臟料 and 人命?
草菅人命 (disregard for human life)
插管插到死 (cause death due to intubation)
腎臟科 (Division of Nephrology)
人命 (human life)
According to the website of the 台北榮總腎臟科, 陳進陽 is an attending physician (主治醫師) of ...
- 1,599
4
votes
Identifying Chinese tea
It is called '浮翠硒茶' (翠眉)
'浮翠' came from idiom '浮翠流丹' which is used to describe bright colors
'硒茶' means 'selenium tea' (tea that contains selenium)
From this web page https://chagardens.com/pages/...
- 77.1k
4
votes
What is the origin of 火黑暗?
On the talk page there is the following question:
Is this for real?
which reads:
I can't find any references to this supposed system anywhere outside of Wikipedia. A google search for 火黑暗 ...
Mou某♦
- 35.7k
4
votes
What exactly is an ancient Tang dynasty 壺?
doesn’t a google images search of “故宮” + “館藏” + “唐代” + “壺“ suit your need?
it would be something like these:
ok, these three are “執壺” (a 壺 with handle & spout)
update:
the photo provided in ...
- 15.1k
4
votes
Accepted
"Kids these days"
Generation gap exists in every culture, the older generation complains about the younger generation doesn't act like people in the good old days, and the younger generation complains about the older ...
- 77.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible