Not far away from     1     Tang Yin was born, a special exhibition (展览) featuring the original paintings and calligraphy of the famous master from the Ming Dynasty (1368—1644) was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in April, 2024.

In the exhibition showing the works of Tang, one particular painting stood out as the centerpiece— “two sparrows (麻雀) on a tree”. The masterpiece (杰作) shows the     2     (peace) beauty of spring.

    3     (remember) the 500th anniversary (周年纪念) of Tang’s passing, the Suzhou Bay Museum specially held this exhibition, marking the masterpiece’s     4    (one) public exhibition since 2010.

“It’s considered     5     treasure of our museum, and rightly so. Fewer than 200     6     (piece) by Tang Yin are known to exist. Among these, the works describing flowers and birds are especially valuable, with only two such paintings confirmed to be in     7     (exist) today,” said Ru Yuelai, director of the Suzhou Bay Museum. According to the museum, this masterpiece     8     (find) in the late 1970s once again. It reflects the skills of Song Dynasty (960—1279) artists.

Tang, better known by his name Bohu, was famous     9     his great talents in painting, calligraphy. and poetry. His works     10     (main) reflect the beauty of “Jiangnan”, the attractive region south of the Yangtze River where he was living.

It’d be hard to look at pictures of Fenghuang Ancient Town without feeling drawn to the place. Lying in the southwest of Hunan province, the scenic town     1     (regard) as one of China’s most attractive places.

Fenghuang Ancient Town is     2    exceptionally well-preserved ancient town and it features unique ethnic(民族的) languages, customs, arts and many     3     (impress) architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles. The careful     4     (select) of the town site, layout (布局) planning and construction have made wonderful use of the mountain landscape and the water flow    5     (create) a harmonious relationship between human residence and nature. Over 200 ancient residential buildings, some 20 large or small streets and ancient town gate towers are well preserved there. They have given a full display of the intelligence and wisdom of those ancient    6     (architect).

Another element    7    makes Fenghuang unique is its ethnic makeup. Many local residents, both historically and in the present, belong to either the Miao or, Tujia minority. As such, the local architecture, like the typical stilt houses (吊脚楼)    8    (be) unique within China.

Fenghuang Ancient Town has also received modern additions. Every night, the town’s buildings are    9    (beautiful) lit it up, with tourists wandering through the streets    10     fun.

According to historical records, the well-known historian Sima Guang from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) used a part of a round wood     1     his pillow throughout his life. This unique pillow had an unusual function.     2     Sima Guang moved a little during his sleep, his head would slide down off the pillow, causing him to wake up     3     (immediate) and continue his studies. This particular type of pillow came to be known as an “alarm pillow”.

The Chinese word for “pillow”, zhentou,     4     (believe) to be created by Cao Cao, a famous strategist and ruler during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). One night, while Cao Cao was reading in his tent and     5     (become) sleepy, there was no extra space useful to place several books stored in wooden     6     (box). In response (回应), a servant momentarily placed the books at one side of the bed, upon     7     Cao Cao fell asleep quickly, experiencing a deep and restful sleep.     8     (impress) by the comfort provided by this short-term arrangement, the servant then created a padded (有垫的) headrest using soft materials, copying     9     shape of the wooden box that held the books. When Cao Cao asked about the name of this new item, the servant referred to it as “headrest bedding”. Cao Cao     10     (late) named it zhentou, and from that point on, the use of pillows became popular among the common people.