Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow (马踏飞燕) stands out as a well-known work of sculpture in the history of Chinese art,     1     differs from the other sculptures of horses in that it represents motion, rather than the horse itself.

When a horse gallops at full speed, it     2     (look) as if it were flying in the air. So the ancient Chinese considered a fast horse     3     a “heavenly steed (天马) flying in the skies.” Usually, the sculpture of a swift horse had to be set on     4     top of a floating cloud.

Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow, however, has one of its back hoofs set on a swallow in flight, while the other legs are in the air. The horse holds its head high, with its eyes     5     (stare) and its ears up. Its body features strong, smooth muscles, and its belly is contracted (收缩) as it runs. As the galloping horse catches up with the tiny swallow, the latter turns back to look at it in     6     (astonish).

One would     7     (normal) imagine that a swallow flies     8     (fast) than a galloping horse. Now that the horse has caught up with the swallow, it inspires the viewer to imagine how fast the horse is running. Li Bai     9     (write) the poem “Song of the Heavenly Horse”. Two of the lines can be borrowed     10     (describe) this sculpture: “Looking back at the black swallow, the horse laughs at its slowness.”

The pingfeng screen(屏风) is a piece of traditional Chinese furniture.     1     (original), pingfeng were vertical objects that could offer protection     2     the wind. Later, they were used to divide a room, offer     3     (private), or even show off the owner’s power and wealth with their detailed designs.

At that time, screens were closely associated with imperial power. According to Rites of the Zhou Dynasty《周礼》, only the emperor could place a screen     4     (face) the front door. Confucius supposedly once criticized Guan Zhong,     5     powerful politician of the Qi State, for violating the norms of etiquette (礼仪规范), because Guan had once set a screen     6     faced his door.

At that time, nobles also used screens in their homes to divide rooms into individual spaces for different     7     (class) of people. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, when Lord Mengchang met guests at home, he     8     (have) his servants sit behind his screen and write down their conversation.     9     they were from a lower class, the servants could not be present with the nobility. Sitting behind the screen was the only way they could stay in the nobleman’s living room.

By the Han dynasty,     10     (wealth) people also used screens to decorate their homes. In short, screens played an important role in ancient Chinese people's political, cultural,and daily lives.

Tang Sancai (唐三彩) is a type of beautiful Chinese pottery (陶器). It mainly has three colors, yellow, green,     1     white. As the treasure of ancient Chinese pottery arts, it is said that Tang Sancai was first discovered in the last century,     2     a railway was being built in Luoyang, Henan Province.

Tang Sancai was made     3     adding metallic oxides (金属氧化物) and firing the object     4     (create) different colors.     5     great variety of colors appeared in the mixture of different metals. The materials in it     6     (gradual) took on different colors when heated, producing an     7     (impress) effect with an artistic attraction.

With unique shapes, Tang Sancai pieces cover almost every field of life, from     8     (model) of buildings to articles of everyday use, from horses, plants to toys. Figures on Sancai pieces are mostly women in the palace,     9     (show) the colorful life and the splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Sancai     10     (sell) to foreign countries in the early Tang dynasty and won great favor. It has always been famous for its bright colors and pleasing shapes.

8 . Scientists at the Sanxingdui Ruins in southwest China’s Sichuan Province continue to unearth over 500 relics from an ancient Chinese civilization that dates back over 3,000 years.

The findings unearthed in June include a fully preserved gold mask, which stands at 37. 2cm wide and16. 5cm tall. The new gold mask reminded people of the one found in March, which was far more damaged. Scientists said the gold mask is the largest, and most well preserved, of similar golden relics discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins, and it is consistent with the idea that gold was important to people of the area called the Shu state.

The gold mask has similar facial features to bronze statues discovered in the area. It has large eyes covering much of the face, a big nose, huge ears and a flat, wide mouth. The strange facial features led some people to suggest they were aliens. However, Wang Wei, the director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained, “There is no chance that Sanxingdui belongs to an alien civilization. These wide-eyed masks look strange because the makers wanted to copy the look of deities (神灵). They shouldn’t be considered as the look of everyday people.”

Besides the mask, other discoveries included bronze statues, a knife made out of jade and a series of relics made of ivory, among many others. Many of the bronze relics are brand new discoveries and unique to anything found before in China. Chinese scientists said they are highly detailed, with statues showing facial features that fit well with the gold mask, which make them as valuable resources for the research of ancient Shu and give better perceptiveness about the ancient Shu state, home to a mysterious civilization until the recent discoveries proved its existence. Chinese scientists believe they are entering a “key stage” and expect to find a series of relics that will change how people think about ancient China.

Pillows have been     1     (use) in China for thousands of years and hold     2     significant place in Chinese culture. The origins of pillows can date back     3     the middle Paleolithic (旧石器时代) period     4     (base) on archaeological evidence. During that time, people unconsciously used objects like stones, sticks, bundles of straw, or pieces of animal skin as head support, serving as the earliest prototypes (原型) of pillows.

The Chinese word for “pillow”, zhentou,     5     (believe) to be coined by Cao Cao, a prominent strategist and ruler during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). One night, while Cao Cao was reading in his military tent and becoming     6     (sleep), there was no extra space available to place several     7     (book). A servant spontaneously (即兴地) placed the books at one side of the bed, and Cao Cao fell asleep     8     (quick) on the books. Then the servant     9     (create) a padded headrest using soft materials,     10     shape was like the pile of books. Cao Cao later named it zhentou.