Start of Winter

Start of Winter is one of the 24 solar     1     (term) in the Traditional Chinese Lunar Calender. As the first solar term of winter,     2     means winter is coming. The farmers will store up (储存) the crops harvested in autumn. In ancient times, the Chinese people thought of the Start of Winter     3     the beginning of winter. Actually, due to the     4     (change) climates and vast territory, the real starting time differs from place to place in China.

There are many traditions     5     are connected to this important solar term. On this day in history, the emperor would lead his officials to the suburbs and     6     (performance) the ceremony of “welcoming the winter”. Nowadays, people usually eat traditional food to memorize this day. In most places, the dumpling is the first choice. This is a food related to “Medical Saint” Zhang Zhongjing, who used this ear-like food filled with fillings of mutton and hot hepper to protect people from     7     (hurt) by coldness. In Southeast China, people tend to eat chicken, duck, beef, mutton and fish stewed with Chinese medicine     8     (prepare) for the oncoming cold winter. In Wuxi, people have a custom of eating Tuanzi,     9     kind of traditional Chinese food made with rice. Most citizens make this food by     10     (they), while some choose to buy ready-made ones.

What is the custom of your family on this day?

CCTV Spring Festival Gala mascot (春晚吉祥物) “Tu Yuanyuan”adopts a traditional pattern of Fengxiang clay sculpture in Shaanxi Province. This is also the     1     (three) cooperation between Fengxiang clay sculpture     2     the Spring Festival Gala.

Fengxiang clay sculpture is a traditional art in the Fengxiang County of the Shaanxi Province and one of the national intangible (无形的) cultural heritages. It appeared in the Western Zhou and Qin     3     (dynasty), became popular in the Tang Dynasty and was     4    (far) developed in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that during the Ming Dynasty, soldiers from Jiangxi Province were skilled in pottery making. When they     5     (have) nothing to do in their spare time, they would make clay with the soil and make clay of     6     (vary) forms as toys and paint them for people to see. After     7     (leave) the army, they continued using the skills for a living. Local people used     8     (wish) for good health and good fortune by putting clay sculptures in their homes.

Fengxiang clay sculpture is a folk art mixing Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang cultures southern cultures and many other cultures. The production of Fengxiang clay sculpture     9     shape is beautiful and vivid has to go     10     dozens of processes, such as mould —making, painting, color installation and so on.

Flames in kilns (窑) around China    1     (burn) since the Xia and Shang dynasties. Along the way, porcelain (瓷器) was born.

Porcelain is made by heating raw materials, often a mix between China stone     2     clay, in a kiln at a temperature as high as 1,200 degree Celsius. Temperature is key    3     making porcelain. Going through the fire of reinvention at a high temperature bestows (给予) porcelain with greater strength and a feast of colors.

Celadon produced in Longquan, Zhejiang province, a technique passed down for more than 1,600 years,    4     (be) a typical example of caftsmen’s pursuit of the perfect green glint (闪耀). It takes 72 steps    5     (produce) Longquan celadon’s jade-like green. Plum green and light green, or tianqing, are two colors of the best quality.

Porcelain has also been a carrier for cultural exchanges. Along with China’s silk and tea, porcelain was one of the commodities    6     (trade) worldwide. As it travelled around the globe through the ancient Maritime Silk Road, porcelain enjoyed great    7     (popular) among royal families and upper classes in Europe.

Porcelain began as a practical utensil and    8     (grow) into pieces of art. Even when shattered (打碎) into pieces and buried deep in mud,    9     (culture) values attached to porcelain would never dissipate.

As a memory    10     can be felt with both hands, porcelain is touchable history.

Watching the latest movies is a good way for Australian audiences to know more about both the history of,     1     daily life in, China. The 2023 Chinese Film Festival     2    (hold) in Darwin, Australia, last weekend.

    3    (joint) hosted by the Australia China Friendship Society’s provincial branch and the Chinese embassy (大使馆) in Australia,     4     festival presented three Chinese films, namely Hidden Blade, New Gods: Yang Jian, and My Country, My Parents.

Hilary Winchester, vice-president at Charles Darwin University, said at the film festival’s opening ceremony on March 30, “Up to now, I     5    (watch) some Chinese movies with English subtitles (字幕), and     6     I want to emphasize is that movies are a great way to bring people from all walks of life and cultures together.”

James Ashbridge, president of Australia China Business Council’s Northern Territory branch, said that he lived in Beijing and Shanghai for about 10 years and loved watching Chinese movies,     7    (add) that he feels their quality has improved a lot in recent years. “I can also practice my Chinese listening and speaking ability     8     means of watching such movies,” he said in Chinese.

Ashbridge noted that the Northern Territory, the closest part of Australia to China, has great potential     9    (cooperate) with Chinese partners in trade, tourism and     10    (educate).

Chinese writing uses symbols called characters.     1    (like) an alphabet, in which each letter usually presents a sound, characters are a     2    (combine) of pictures and sounds. Some characters, like ma, “horse,” look a little like     3     they represent.

Most characters combine meaning symbols and sound symbols. For example, the character for “lamp,” (灯),    4    (consist) of two parts. The part on the left comes from the character for “fire.” The part on the right gives a clue to how the character is supposed     5    (be) pronounced.

In the 1950s and 1960s, scholars in China wanted to make Chinese characters     6    (simple) by using fewer strokes. Today, 6000 of these characters are     7    (regular) used in China today.

Chinese characters are the oldest form of writing     8     use. They first appeared on Oracle Bones over 3000 years ago,     9     ancient kings used to predict the future.     10     wrote a question on a bone and then broke it. The way it cracked gave the answer.

Over time, people in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan learned to write Chinese. They incorporated the characters into their own language. In this way, Chinese characters become one of the many ways China has changed the world.