Belfast is a peculiarly religious community. This may be said of the whole of the North of Ireland. About one-half of the people are convinced Protestants (清教徒) and the other half Catholics (天主教徒). Each party does all it can     1    (make) its own doctrines (信条) popular and draw the affections of the irreligious toward them.    2    hears constantly of the most touching instances of this passion. A week ago a vast crowd of Catholics assembled at Armagh to dedicate a new church; and when they started home again the roadways     3     (line) with groups of meek and lowly Protestants who stoned them     4    all the region round about was marked with blood. I thought that only Catholics argued in that way,    5    it seems to be a mistake.

Every man in the community acts like a minister and carries a brick to argue against     6    holds different ideas. The law has tried to break this up, but not with perfect success. The law says that persons uttering (说) irritating “party cries”    7    be fined forty shillings (先令) and costs. And so, in the police court reports every day, one sees these fines     8     (record). Last week a girl of twelve years old was fined the usual forty shillings and costs     9    claiming in the public streets that she was “a Protestant.” The usual cry is, “To hell with the Pope!” or “To hell with the Protestants!” according to the utterer's system of salvation.

One of Belfast's local jokes was very good. It referred to the uniform and inevitable fine of forty shillings and costs for uttering a party cry--and it is no economical fine for a poor man, either, by the way. They say that a policeman found a drunken man lying on the ground, up a dark alley,    10     (amuse) himself with shouting, “To hell with! To hell with!” The officer smelt a fine--informers get half.

“What’s that you say?”

“To hell with!”

“To hell with who? To hell with what?”

“Ah, ye can finish it yourself--it's too expensive for me!”

I think the seditious disposition (倾向), restrained by the economical instinct, is finely put in that.

Are you familiar with pop star Jay Chou’s Blue &White Porcelain? Its original lines, just     1     the composer Fang Wenshan described, were inspired by Ru porcelain (汝瓷).

Ranked best among famous kinds during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Ru porcelain is known for its unique pale blue glaze (釉). Oceans     2     Ru porcelain flooded onto the market around the year of 1100, but the     3     (exist) of Ru ware now is actually rare. Thanks to the efforts of Ru porcelain inheritors, people can now appreciate it     4     (close) at hand than before.

Born in Ruzhou, Henan province, Li Chao has spent a decade     5     (better) crafting skills. Ru porcelain goes through 72 steps, the    6     (one) of which is knead (揉) mud. Any small errors could lead to disaster, said the 41-year-old inheritor. He then stressed that a Ru porcelain inheritor must be patient enough. Every item of artwork     7     (full) deserves our admiration.

Techniques of making Ru porcelain will     8     (lose) with senior inheritors gradually passing away. So,     9     Li spares no effort in doing is introducing it to wider masses.     10     (achieve) this goal, he creatively uses Ru porcelain in making daily ware popular among young people. Now he’s aiming to expand the market by introducing it to the whole world.

Tai Hang, a modern-looking neighborhood in Hong Kong, is home to the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance,a folk art form that    1    (perform)during the Mid-Autumn Festival for over 100 years.    2    started as a way to rid this fishing village of bad luck has become a cultural treasure.

The dragon is about 70 meters long and weighs more than 200 pounds,with its body     3     (wrap) with pearl grass.More than 70,000 incense sticks(香柱)are lit and strung along the dragon’s back and head to make the“fire”of the fire dragon.At the festival,hundreds of people work    4    turn to parade the burning dragon through the streets of Tai Hang.The     5    (strong)man among the group has    6    honor of supporting the 30-kilogram head. Dozens of performers    7    (move)the dragon smoothly up and down through the air attract rounds of cheers and    8    (applaud)from surrounding crowds.

The inheritors of the dragon dance have set up workshops to demonstrate various aspects of the traditional art from the making techniques to    9    (base)dance skills.In June, 2022,the Hong Kong Tai Hang Fire Dragon Museum was opened    10    (inspire)more people to learn more about this traditional dance culture.

Lantern festivals add magic to     1     (celebrate) and their designs are deeply inspired by traditional culture. Shortly after organizing the lantern carnival in Hong Kong on Sept 24, Wan Songtao and his team hurried back to their hometown of Zigong in Sichuan province, where another grand lantern show was on the cards.

“The older I grow, the more     2     (attach) I become to lantern making” the 54 year old craftsman tells China Daily Early in     3     morning, Wan went to inspect work at Chinese Lantern World,     4     on Sept 27 was transformed into an ocean of light and color by massive lanterns in the shape of humans, flowers, animals and buildings, made to celebrate both the Mid Autumn Festival     5     the National Day.

“For this lantern fair, we derived inspiration from ancient Chinese poems,” Wan says, adding that Tianshang Gongque (the moon palace), a centerpiece as well as one of 21 core lantern installations ( 装 置) at the fair,     6     (inspire) by Su   Dongpo’s The Mid-Autumn Festival. The installation, which was composed of 19 palace style     7     (structure), stretched 270 meters and     8     (rise) high into the sky, drawing visitors’ eyes up to a “full moon”, a round LED screen showing Chang’e, goddess of the moon, flying toward her palace.

The eight-day holiday attracted over 210,000 visitors from around China to Zigong, a city which is     9     (remote) situated in the southwest of China but is home     10     one of the world’s best lantern shows.

The Han Dynasty was one of the heydays in ancient China. Han has a history     1    (date) back thousands of years and the traditional clothing of the Han people is called Hanfu,     2     charm has also flourished for centuries.

Hanfu is     3     important carrier of Chinese civilization, with etiquette (礼仪) as its core. Hanfu not only embodies the Chinese aesthetic taste,     4     reflects a unique meaning in etiquette, religion and culture. As long as people put on Hanfu, they should behave in accordance with     5     the “etiquette” system requires.

Hanfu is composed of yi, chang, headgear, hairstyle, shoes, etc. There are two types of “yi”.     6     is the kind with the separation of the upper and the lower garments, while the other is the one-piece kind that unites the upper and the lower garments together. The decoration on the garments represents the faith and customs in the Han culture. The Yin-Yang and all the subjects on earth     7    (picture) on Hanfu profoundly reflect the Chinese ancients’ understanding of the universe and nature.

In recent years,     8     people’s enthusiasm for traditional culture growing, wearing Hanfu in a trip or in a party     9    (become) a new trend among young people. The revival of Hanfu is a new exploration of the beauty of Chinese clothing by contemporary people, and also represents the new     10    (recognize) of the value of traditional culture by the younger generation.

The 78th United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution (决议) on Friday, officially     1     (announce) the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, as a UN floating holiday. Experts said the move shows the     2     (significance) influence of Chinese culture and will contribute     3     the promotion of the Global Civilization Initiative.

The Lunar New Year not only bears the ideas of peace and harmony     4     (value) by Chinese civilization but also carries the common values of humanity such as family harmony and harmonious coexistence between humans     5     nature.

The reason why the Lunar New Year can pass national borders and is increasingly welcomed by many countries     6     (lie) mainly in the rich cultural heritage of China and the driving force of globalization. As the world’s second-largest economy, China’s cultural elements have spread alongside its economic influence. In the trend of globalization, people’s interest in diverse cultures is     7     (gradual) increasing, and the Lunar New Year has become a major means for people     8     (communicate) and connect.

Therefore, the official     9     (recognize) of the Chinese New Year as a UN holiday fully reflects an emphasis on the inheritance and innovation of civilization,     10     will promote exchanges and mutual learning among diverse world cultures and actively embody the UN’s values of diverse and inclusive cultural ideals.

As a distinctive visual art symbol of China, Chinese paper cutting, has been around for centuries. With     1     (simple) a piece of paper and a pair of scissors, diverse patterns ranging from portraits to animal zodiacs     2     (create) with delicate designs.

Due to their     3     (culture) value and low cost, Chinese paper cut-outs are popular ornaments used to decorate windows and mirrors. When light shines through the negative spaces of the cut-outs,     4     elegant pattern is formed indoors.     5     (refer) to as ‘window flowers’, the pretty cut-outs decorating windows are significant in Chinese traditional culture.

The oldest     6     (survive) paper cut-out is a symmetrical (对称的) circle from the 6th century found in Xinjiang, China. The art of Chinese paper cutting is believed     7     (originate) in China even before the invention of paper by Cai Lun in 105 CE. There have been documentaries     8     record the Chinese using other thin materials such as leaves, silk, and leather to carve hollowed patterns. It was found that during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC), people had already cut tree leaves into various art forms     9     given them out as presents. They created paper-cuts to depict beautiful things, worship, and express good     10     (wish) .

10 . 24 Solar Terms: 8 things you may not know about Frost’s Descent

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Frost’s Descent (霜降), the 18th solar term of the year, begins this year on Oct 23 and ends on Nov 6.     1    , during which time the weather becomes much colder than before and frost begins to appear. Here are four things you should know about Frost’s Descent.

Frosty autumn

    2    . During Frost’s Descent, frost begins to appear. But in the lower reaches of the Yellow River region, frost first appears in late October or early November. As Frost’s Descent comes, the world is filled with the atmosphere of late autumn.

Eating fruit

Eating persimmons during Frost’s Descent can help people resist the cold and protect their bones. In the countryside, people believe that their lips will crack if they don’t eat persimmons during this period. The apple is one kind of recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent. Apples can moisten the lungs, quench one’s thirst and help one’s digestion.    3    . It can promote the secretion of body liquids, clear away heat and reduce sputum.

Eating duck

It’s a custom to eat duck on the first day of Frost’s Descent in south Fujian province. There is a saying in Fujian which goes, “Even nourishing all year is not as good as nourishing the human body on the first day of Frost’s Descent.”    4    .

    5    

People in areas such as Daxin county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region celebrate the first day of Frost’s Descent. In the Frost’s Descent Festival, the Zhuang people offer sacrifices, dance and sing folk songs. With a history of more than 360 years, the festival is to commemorate Cen Yuyin, a heroine in battles against foreign aggression.