China (中国)
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separating China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, have their sources in the Tibetan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long—the 11th-longest in the world—and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
The nation of China has had numerous historical incarnations. The ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (approx. 2000 BC) and ending with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Since 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China, founded in 1911 after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. In 1945, the ROC acquired Taiwan from Japan following World War II.
In the 1946–1949 phase of the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949. The Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to Taiwan, establishing its capital in Taipei. The ROC's jurisdiction is now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands, including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Since 1949, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (now widely known as "Taiwan") have remained in dispute over the sovereignty of China and the political status of Taiwan, mutually claiming each other's territory and competing for international diplomatic recognition. In 1971, the PRC gained admission to the United Nations and took the Chinese seat as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and the G-20. As of September 2011, all but 23 countries have recognized the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.
Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy. As of 2012, it is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. On a per capita income basis, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. In 2003, China became the third nation in the world, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to independently launch a successful manned space mission. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of academics, military analysts, and public policy and economics analysts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
Zhonghua minzu (中華民族)
Zhonghua minzu (simplified Chinese: 中华民族; traditional Chinese: 中華民族; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínzú), usually translated as Chinese ethnic groups or Chinese nationality, refers to the modern notion of a Chinese nationality transcending ethnic divisions, with a central identity for China as a whole. It includes people of all ethnic groups in China who have historically interacted, contributed and assimilated to various extents with Chinese civilization.
Professor Suisheng Zhao, University of Denver, using extensive reading of primary sources noted that because "Chinese" or Zhonghua minzu as a conscious national identity (自觉的民族实体 zijue de minzu shiti) only arose in the 19th century, since nationalism in the modern sense only appeared with the emergence of the nation-state system (Westphalian system) in Europe. Although the Chinese empire stretched back two millennia, it was largely a universalistic empire and not a nation-state before the 19th century.
The boundaries of Zhonghua minzu are fuzzy and controversial, but most Chinese today use the term to include all peoples within the territorial boundaries of China integrated as one national, political, and cultural group. It is sometimes also extended to overseas Chinese.
Zhonghua refers to the concept of "China" and is the term used in the formal names for both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. (See: Names of China) Minzu can be translated as "nationality", "people", or "ethnic groups".
Confusion can arise because the term "Chinese" in Western languages is often used to refer both to Zhonghua minzu and to the Han ethnicity, two concepts which are usually kept distinct among modern Chinese speakers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhonghua_minzu
Chinese language
Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Cantonese (Yue) (70 million) and Min (50 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility.
Standard Chinese (Putonghua / Guoyu / Huayu) is a standardized form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese, referred to as 官话/官話 Guānhuà or 北方话/北方話 Běifānghuà in Chinese. Mandarin Chinese history can be dated back to the 19th century, particularly by the upper classes and ministers in Beijing.[6] Standard Chinese is the official language of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, also known as Taiwan), as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is influential in Guangdong Province and Cantonese-speaking overseas communities, and remains one of the official languages of Hong Kong (together with English) and of Macau (together with Portuguese). Min Nan, part of the Min language group, is widely spoken in southern Fujian, in neighbouring Taiwan (where it is known as Taiwanese or Hoklo) and in Southeast Asia (known as Hokkien in Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia). There are also sizeable Hakka and Shanghainese diasporas, for example in Taiwan, where most Hakka communities maintain diglossia by being conversant in Taiwanese and Standard Chinese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
Chinese Proverb
Abandonment
¶ 自暴自弃 [zìbàozìqì]
To burn the candle at both ends.
Abundance
¶ 多多益善。
The more, the better.
Advice
¶ 吠犬不咬人。
A barking dog doesn't bite!
¶ 小洞不补，大洞吃苦
A small hole not mended in time will become a big hole much more difficult to mend.
¶ 不要害怕成长地太慢，唯一可怕的是原地不动。
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
¶ 良药苦口 [liángyàokǔkǒu]
Bitter pills may have wholesome effects.
¶ By looking into a mirror, one can make sure that he is dressed properly.
¶ 隐恶扬善 [yǐn'èyángshàn]
Conceal the faults of others and praise their good points.
¶ Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.
¶ 用人不疑疑人不用。[yòngrénbùyí yírénbùyòng]
Don't suspect your employee. If one is suspicious, don't employ him.
¶ 人孰无过 [rénshúwúguò]
Every man has his fault.
¶ 捷足先登 [jiézúxiāndēng]
First come, first served.
¶ If you don't scale the mountain, you can't view the plain.
¶ 想让别人看到自己的优点，就得先承认他人的长处。
If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people.
¶ Not been on the Great Wall, not a great man.
¶ 種瓜得瓜 [zhòngguādéguā]
Reap as one has sown.
¶ 種豆得豆 [zhòngdòudédòu]
Reap the fruits of one's actions.
¶ 逆来顺受 [nìláishùnshòu]
Take things as they come.
¶ 先到先得 [xiāndàoxiāndé]
The ear1y bird catches the worm.
¶ 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。[liúdéqīngshānzài, búpàméicháishāo]
You don't have to worry about firewood in forest.
¶ 入乡随俗 [rùxiāngsuísú]
When you are in a village，do as the village does.
¶ 喝水的时候，记住源泉。
When you drink the water, remember the spring.
Belief
¶ Listen to all, but follow no one absolutely.
¶ 新官上任三把火。 [xīnguān shàngrèn sān bǎ huǒ]
A new government official shines like three torches.
Confidence
¶ 酒香不怕巷子深。[jiǔxiāngbùpàxiàngzishēn]
Fragrant wine fears no dark alley.
or Quality goods need no advertising.
Courage
¶ Only the brave deserve the fair.
-- However, only the rich, fat and cowardly merchants can afford the same.
¶ 用力量抑制力量。
Use power to curb power.
Endeavor
¶ 事半功倍 [shìbàngōngbèi]
To get good results with a little efforts.
Exaggeration
¶ 小题大做 [xiǎotídàzuò]
To make a mountain out of a molehill.
Fact
¶ 事实胜于雄辩[shìshíshèngyúxióngbiàn]。
Facts are more eloquent than words.
Family
¶ It is not a father's anger but his silence that a son dreads.
Friend
¶ 衣莫若新, 人莫若故。
Friendship is like wine - the older, the better.
¶ Keep company with good men and good men you'll learn to be.
¶ 交友慢，失友快。
You can hardly make a friend in a year, but you can lose one in an hour.
Generation
¶ 長江後浪推前浪 [Chángjiāng hòulàng tuī qiánlàng]
The Changjiang River(長江) waves behind drive the waves ahead.
Genius
¶ 敎養重於家世。
Birth is much, but breeding is more.
Goodness
¶ 真正的善良源自一个人的内心。
True goodness springs from a man's own heart.
Greed
¶ 我田引水。
Draw water to one's mill.
Happiness
¶ If you want happiness for an hour? take a nap. If you want happiness for a day? Go fishing. If you want happiness for a year? Inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime? Help someone else.
¶ One joy scatters a hundred grief.
¶ 一天一苹果，不用请医生。
一天一苹果，医生远离我。
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Humility
¶ True goodness springs from a man's own heart.
¶ 美德并不孤独。
Virtue is not left to stand alone.
¶ 喝水的时候，记住源泉
When you drink the water, remember the spring.
Judgement
¶ 盖棺论定[gàiguānlùndìng]
Only when a man is dead can he be judged.
Knowledge
¶ 清楚自己的无知是知识最好的部分。
To know one's ignorance is the best part of knowledge.
Lapse
¶ 失之毫厘，差之千里。
A tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake.
Learning
¶ Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
¶ 不聞不若聞之，聞之不若見之，見之不若知之，知之不若行之；學至於行之而止矣。
Simplified: 不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之，见之不若知之，知之不若行之；学至于行之而止矣。
Not hearing is not as good as hearing, hearing is not as good as seeing, seeing is not as good as mentally knowing, mentally knowing is not as good as acting; true learning continues up to the point that action comes forth
Life
¶ A man may know the world without leaving his own home.
¶ 人过半生，方知天命。[rénguòbànshēng fāngzhītiānmìng]
Life is half spent before we know what it is.
Love
¶ 母爱永恒。
A mother‘s love never changes.
Money
¶ 金钱万能 [jīnqiánwànnéng]
Money talks.
¶ Our brothers keep careful accounts.
Nature
New
¶ Everything new originates in Canton(廣東).
Practice
¶ 熟能生巧 [shúnéngshēngqiǎo]
Practice makes perfect.
Reading
¶ Intention of required study, the word worth a thousand gold.
Wine
¶ There is no party without wine.
Wisdom
¶ A good rat will not injure the grain near its own hole.
¶ The cowl does not make the monk.
Writing
¶ 空行空返。
No song, no supper.
Writing
¶ Never write a letter while you are angry.
Notes
Chinese language
[5]^ Mair, Victor H. (1991). "What Is a Chinese "Dialect/Topolect"? Reflections on Some Key Sino-English Linguistic Terms" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers.
[6]^ "History of Mandarin Chinese". Languagetutoring.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Chinese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhonghua_minzu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinese_proverbs
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius
http://chineseaesop.blogspot.kr/
http://rodrixar.blogspot.kr/2010/04/chinese-proverbs.html
http://www.goldenproverbs.com/tp_chinese.html
People: China (中国)
China: China (中国)
Where: China (中国)