If you know, just say you know. If you don’t know, just say you don’t know. You shouldn’t know and say you don’t know. And you shouldn’t not know and say you do know. You know?
In this article, Alex (Year 9) explores Confucius and Confucianism as a whole, as well as its influence on world culture, personal ethics, and morality.
Decorating your room with your own handcraft or painting? Josephine (Year 8) and Elodie (Year 8) have excellent ideas of how to make easy and beautiful art works. Check them out here.
This is a watercolour painting in Chinese mountain and water (山水画shānshuǐhuà) style by Elodie (Year 8)
How to make a lantern （灯笼 dēnglóng） with one piece of paper? Josephine (year 8) shown you step by step in the video below:
In this article, Eloise (Year 13) discusses the causes of sexism in China, including the effect of traditional concepts and values on Chinese people’s beliefs and actions. She then suggests some possible solutions, including the use of education and further investigation into the gender pay gaps.
Last year we went to Beijing for a school trip. Our Chinese class only has three students, so wepartnered with another school. This was fun because we made a lot of new friends. We arrived in Beijing on Monday morning. We were very tired because the flight was long. After lunch we went to the Olympic Park and we saw the Bird’s Nest Stadium and Aquatic Centre. We had Peking duck for dinner, and it was delicious!
Lama Temple
We had our first Chinese class on Tuesday morning. Our classroom was under a coffee shop, so during the break we ordered tea in Chinese. After lunch we went to Lama Temple and we burned incense. Then we went to the Confucius Temple, where we watched a Chinese dance show and it was very interesting.
We went to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park on Wednesday afternoon. The Forbidden City was huge, and we walked for three hours. We enjoyed learning about Chinese history. After going to the Forbidden City, we climbed the hill in Jingshan Park. We could see a panorama of Beijing, but there was a lot of pollution. After dinner we went to the night market and I bought bubble waffles. We went to the Great Wall of China on Thursday! The weather was hot and sunny, and we had a picnic lunch on the Great Wall, which was really fun. The view was amazing, and we took a lot of photos.
We went down the hill on a slide in the afternoon and we thought it was fun. On Friday after Chinese class, we went to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is in a big and beautiful park. We saw people dancing and doing other park activities. We also went to the Pearl Market, where we practiced speaking Chinese and bought souvenirs. In the evening we went to a restaurant for dinner; we had hot pot and it was delicious.
Saturday was our last day in Beijing. We went to Houhai, where we saw a beautiful lake and explored the alleyways. Then we went to Nanluoguxiang, which is a big shopping street. I bought Chinese tea, stationery and souvenirs. We returned home to England on Sunday. We had an amazing time in China; we had a lot of fun, made new friends, learned Chinese, ate a lot of delicious meals, and saw a lot of interesting places. I think our trip was great!
Chengyu are traditional idiomatic Chinese expressions and
consist of four characters. There are approximately 5000 official Chengyu, but
some dictionaries include over 20 000. The idioms mainly originate from ancient
stories and history and, similar to English idioms they are impossible to
understand, unless you are aware of the context. Here, I have decided to decode
a few of my favourite; giving a literal translation and an explanation of their
meaning.
对牛弹琴
Literal translation: To play the lute to a cow
Explanation: To address the wrong audience
画蛇添足
Literal translation: To draw a snake and add feet to it
Explanation: To ruin the effect by adding something
superfluous
亡羊补牢
Literal translation: To mend the pen after the sheep are
lost
Explanation: To lock the stable door after the horse has
bolted
青出于蓝
Literal translation: green is born of blue
Meaning: the student surpasses the teacher
一箭双雕
Literal meaning: To shoot two hawks with one arrow
Meaning: To kill two birds with one stone
盲人摸象
Literal translation: Blind people touch an elephant
Explanation: To mistake the part for the whole
覆水难收
Literal translation: Spilt water is difficult to retrieve
Explanation: Things done cannot be undone
守株待兔
Literal translation: To stand by a tree stump waiting for a
hare
Explanation: To trust chance, rather than show
initiative
