1 . Many years ago, China was in the middle of a great war. The emperor said that one man from each family must leave his family to join the army. Mulan was a teenage girl in a small village. She heard the news when she was outside washing clothes.

Mulan ran into the house. Her father was sitting in a chair. “Father!” she said. “Did you hear what the emperor says each family must do?”

“Yes,” said her old father. He stood up and walked very slowly to his room.

“Wait!” said Mulan, “Father, you are not healthy. Why at your age must you keep up with all those young men?”

“What else can I do?” said her father. “Your brother is a child. He cannot go.”

“Of course, that’s true,” said Mulan. “He is too little. But I have an idea. Please sit for a minute. I will be right back.”

Mulan went into her room. She cut off her long black hair. She dressed up, putting on her father’s clothes. Going back to her father, Mulan said, “Look at me. I am your son now. I will go in your place.”

The daughter said goodbye to her family. And she went to join the army.

In the army, she tried hard not to let others know she was a girl. During the 12 years, Mulan and her army fought for their country. Life was hard for them and they all missed their families. At last, they won and saved their country. Mulan returned to her village finally.

2 . Modesty is a valuable quality in many cultures around the world. In China, this is no different. However, the phrase “毛遂自荐” seems to disagree with this.

During the Warring States Period, the Qin army marched (进军) on Handan, the capital of Zhao. Seeing that Handan was in danger, Prince Pingyuan asked for help from the state of Chu. He wanted to pick 20 talented people to go with him. However, he could only find 19 people who were good enough. Then, a man named Mao Sui volunteered.

Prince Pingyuan looked at Mao Sui with doubt. “How long have you been here with me?” “Three years,” Mao Sui answered. “I hear that a person with talent is like an awl in a cloth bag. Its sharp point will soon pierce through the bag. You’ve been here for a long time, but I haven’t seen any of your achievements. Maybe you don’t have any talent,” said Prince Pingyuan.

“What I’m asking you now is to put me into that bag. If you do that, I will pierce through it. But not only the point—the whole awl,” Mao Sui said confidently.

Impressed, Prince Pingyuan allowed Mao to join his team, and Mao proved very helpful. Now the phrase “Mao Sui recommending himself” is used to describe someone who volunteers to do a task.

However, there is a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance (傲慢). It’s important to believe in yourself, but a strong ego (自我) can harm your career and professional relationships. So we recommend letting your work speak for itself.

Du Fu, one of the greatest poets (诗人) in China. However, Du has still been unknown in the Western world. Recently, the BBC’s one-hour documentary (纪录片) Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet is spreading through the Internet.

The film introduces the great poet and his poetry (诗歌) to Western audiences (观众). As the first English language documentary about Du Fu, it compares him to Dante and Shakespeare, two of the greatest writers of the West.     1     Du was born in 712 and lived a hard life. Du Fu never stopped writing, although life was difficult for him. Even though he never held a high position in the government, Du Fu still cared about common people.     2    

The documentary explains why Du Fu’s works have been popular for centuries. Chinese people really value the recording of history.     3     That’s because historical events were mirrored (反映) in his own life.

Du Fu’s 1,400 poems have been collected by Stephen Owen from the USA. He spent eight years translating them into English and published a book.     4    

There is no doubt that Du Fu is a cultural symbol (文化标志) of ancient China, but his brilliant (极好的) works and spirits have also inspire (激励) people abroad.

4 .

To Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats

One day, Zhou Yu ordered Zhuge Liang to make 100, 000 arrows in ten days. Zhou Yu thought it was impossible, but Zhuge Liang said,“Give me three days.” Then he asked Lu Su to lend him 20 boats, and the soldiers put some scarecrows (稻草人) in line on the boats. He reminded Lu Su not to tell Zhou Yu what was happening.

When Lu Su came again to see Zhuge Liang, he found nothing unusual. Nothing happened on the second day, either. In the small hours (凌晨) of the third day, Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su for a boat ride. The 20 boats were tied together with strong ropes. Zhuge’s fleet went towards the camp of Cao Cao. The surface of the river was covered with thick mist (雾) all over. People could hardly see each other on the river. When Zhuge’s fleet got close to the Cao camp before dawn (黎明), Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums heavily to pretend an attack. But Zhuge and Lu Su only sat inside one boat drinking wine to enjoy themselves.

As soon as the Cao camp heard the shouting and drum beating, they mistook it for a surprise attack by the Zhou Yu camp. Since they could see nobody on the river,they had to order 3, 000 soldiers to shoot arrows to stop the unexpected attack. The front of the scarecrows was quickly full of arrows. After a while, Zhuge Liang had his fleet turned around to get the other side of the scarecrows to face the Cao camp.When both sides were full of arrows, the day broke. Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to return. The soldiers shouted in excitement, “Thank you, Cao Cao, for your arrows.” After they got back to their camp, they collected more than 100, 000arrows in total from the scarecrows.

7 . Zu Chongzhi was one of the greatest mathematicians in ancient China. He was born during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. From a young age, Zu was taught natural science, astronomy (天文学), math and so on. The little boy was interested in all of these subjects, especially in math.

Zu was best known for his calculation (计算) of pi (π). According to historical records, he did all the work using nothing but wooden sticks. It took him lots of time to work out the value—between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. No one at that time was able to work it out more correctly than Zu. And now the achievement is still praised by people around the world. In order to remember Zu, some mathematicians suggest calling pi “Zu Lv”.

Zu was successful not only in math. He did a good job in astronomy, too. He worked out that a year should be 365.24281481 days long and created the Daming Calendar. However, government officials at that time did not agree with Zu. The great mathematician never saw his calendar put into use. After his death, his son Zu Gengzhi kept on using facts to show that the Daming Calendar was more correct. Almost ten years after his death, the new calendar was finally accepted.

Zu was also an inventor. He once made a vehicle that carried a pointer. No matter how the vehicle turned, the pointer always pointed to the south. Zu also invented the 1,000-li Boat. The boat could travel about 100 li (50 kilometers) in a day.

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Yan Hui (颜回) was born in the Lu Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期). His father was one of the earliest followers of Confucius (孔子). At the age of 13, Yan Hui became a student of Confucius and followed his teachings for the rest of his life.

Yan Hui was the youngest student of Confucius.     1     Because he did not wish to speak with them, the other students concluded (断定) he was stupid. Confucius watched his student carefully. After a short time, he realized that Yan Hui was very clever. Gradually, the other students realized this, too.

Although he was very clever, Yan Hui was always keen to learn.     2     He admired him, as people admire a holy (神圣的) person. Yan Hui once said, “The Master has taught me many things.     3    ”

Confucius liked Yan Hui for his good nature. Yan Hui lived in an old house, ate simple food and drank cold water.     4     Every evening, Yan Hui sat quietly by himself and went over his actions during the day. He asked himself if he was polite and kind. Perhaps the reflection on his actions made him a better person.

Yan Hui followed Confucius on his travels to various kingdoms, and took every chance to try to teach his Master’s principles (道德准则) of ren (kindness) and li (social norms). People did not always accept his teachings and none of the kingdoms agreed to his ideas.     5     However, Yan Hui was not one of them. He said, The thoughts of my Master are too deep to most people.They cannot understand. But the more our ideas are rejected (拒绝), the stronger we become.”

When Confucius heard these words, he said, “Only Yan Hui can follow my ideas for a long period of time.”