A Special Spring Festival

Minor Snow is the 20th of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese culture. It falls     1     November 22 this year. From this day onwards, temperatures will continue to drop.

During winter, strong fronts of cold air will sweep many parts of China,     2     (generate) a fall in rainfall and a higher chance of snowfall. The snow in this period is likely to be light and short.     3     will fall at night and melt away during the day. Chinese people usually observe it by eating     4     (vary) food with the arrival of Minor Snow. People often eat sticky rice cakes     5     are a symbol of family reunion and a good harvest due to their round shape. As the temperatures continue to drop, people tend to drink hot soup     6     (stay) warm in winter. Mutton and radish soup is one traditional winter favorite. Additionally, honey water, white radish water, and pear water are all     7     (incredible) good choices to prevent dryness and disease. After Minor Snow, the temperatures will sharply decline and the air     8     (become) drier. This is the best time to make     9     (preserve) pork and pickled vegetables. Whether food shortage occurs or not, these kinds of food are intended for     10     (celebration) of winter and Chinese New Year.

The 32nd World Hakka Conference was grandly opened at the sports center of Longnan City, Jiangxi Province     1     the evening of November 7th. About 2500 Hakka people from all over the world had a happy reunion and enjoyed a     2     (culture) feast.

World Hakka Conference is one of the most influential Chinese     3     (event) in the world and an important platform for Hakka reunion. With the theme of “Hakka Voice from Five Continents and Love Spreading across the World”, the opening ceremony gave a vivid     4     (describe) of the Hakka people through singing and dancing, Hakka music, and modern visual arts, etc.

The opening ceremony was wonderful by     5     (use) multimedia presentation, and the naked-eye 3D visual effects and virtual images throughout, allowing the audience     6     (enjoy) an audio-visual feast. “I     7     (watch) the entire opening ceremony on the spot since the beginning. As a student from GanZhou, it’s really     8     honor to be here. It has     9     (full) demonstrated Hakka civilization,     10     has taken thousands of years.” said Li Sha, a college student at the scene.

8 . When the day is dawning, the Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings of the old town Liliang welcomes his owner, He Runyuan, who is dressed in a traditional Naxi clothing. Every day, He explains Dongba culture to tourists and teaches them to write Dongba characters. “Dongba characters are not only the soul of Dongba culture, but also a treasure for the whole world,” said He. Enjoying a history of over 1,000 years, Dongba characters are an ancient system of pictographic glyphs (象形字形). They are praised to be the “living fossil (活化石)” in writing.

As a member of the Naxi group, He first learned Dongba characters at the age of 13. He loved them immediately when he first looked at the symbols. “These characters have pictographic drawings that look like humans, animals, plants etc.” He said. “They are usually colorful and recognizable.”

Though the characters are interesting, learning them is never easy. Dongba culture is always mastered by Dongbas, the Naxi priests (祭司). Without Dongbas in his village, He has to travel far to the Old Town, where many Dongbas are gathered. “In most cases, I need to walk for more than one day to the destination. To get more learning time, I always set off very early when the city is still in darkness,” said He.

But the love for Dongba culture keeps him going. For the past 30 years, He has been studying these characters every day. In 2016, He set up the Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings Where He beautified fans, glasses and even T-shirts with Dongba characters, hoping to pass down Dongba culture and let more people know about it.

“Our life is limited, but so long as everyone makes an effort, the life of a culture can exist forever,” He said.

Li Zhuang, an ancient village located by Yantze river     1     over 1000 years of history, is the birthplace of Yan from Inkston. However, due to     2     (politic) reasons, the village was “hidden” from Chinese history till early 21st century.

    3     (consider) as a museum of traditional Chinese architecture, Li Zhuang has over 40 temples built between Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, the village plays     4    important role in traditional Chinese architecture history and has attracted many architects. The History of Chinese Architecture,    5     was written by famous architects Liang SiCheng and Lin HuiYin, referred to many ancient buildings in Li Zhuang. For example, Luo Xuan Dian built in 1596 was a     6     (complete) wood-structured temple, a perfect example of traditional Chinese building structures.

In 1940s, when Japan was invading China, this village made a great decision to invite top Chinese universities that had no place     7     (move) to. Suddenly this small village attracted over 12,000 scholars and students. During 1940s, quite a few academic achievements     8     (make) in Li Zhuang.

In the recent ten years, this ancient village     9     (arise) in Chinese official history. Though it is still quiet and calm, soon it will attract numerous     10     (tourist). I hope tourism will not disturb the calm and beauty and more people will know what was happening here in the 20th century.

Short and simple as they are, fables teach people important life lessons and reveal the truths hidden in ordinary events. In fact, many parents find     1     less laborious and more effective to instill (逐渐灌输) correct concepts into their children by leading them to read interesting and     2     (inspire) fables than just through lectures. The following is a good example of how an ancient Chinese fable     3     (help) modern readers understand the world. The story goes like this: A man was attempting     4     (sell) his horse in the market, where he had stood for three days, but none of the passersby would come to take     5     look. So, he turned to Bo Le, a specialist     6     (fair) famous for his skill in selecting fine horses,     7     help. All the man asked Bo Le to do was to walk around the horse three times and turn his head to look at it several times while     8     (leave). Bo Le agreed and did so. In an instant, the man sold the horse at a high price. The moral of the fable is     9     people tend to blindly follow others’ or experts’ opinions rather than make their own     10     (judge) . It can’t be more true of modern society.