Archive for October 3rd, 2008

Children Chinese – Tri-Colored Glazed Pottery

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

The tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty was developed 1,300 years ago. This art form drew on the skills of Chinese painting and sculpture and employed techniques of clay-strip forming and incising. The lines produced from this process were rugged and powerful. Glazes of different colors were painted on and while chemical reactions took place in the process of firing in the kiln, they dripped naturally so that the colors mingled with each other and formed smooth tones.

The tri-colored glazed pottery flourished during a rather short period of time (the 8th century) of the dynasty, when pottery pieces of this kind were used by the aristocracy as funerary objects. Those in existence today are limited in number and are considered to be rare treasures, valued for their brilliant color and life-like shapes.

Excavated tri-colored Tang pottery are usually horses, camels, female figurines, dragon-head mugs, figurines of musicians and acrobats, and pillows. Of these, the tri-colored camels have won the greatest admiration. They are presented as bearing loads of silk or carrying musicians on their backs – their heads are raised as if neighing; the red-bearded, blue-eyed drivers, clad in tunics of tight sleeves and hats with upturned brims, represent true-to-life images of men from Central Asia of that time, as they trudged along the Silk Road.

(Source: ancienthistory.mrdonn.org)

Chinese Conversation – lesson 218

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

这种清晰就叫领悟。领悟的意思是你知道你心里所想但不为杂念缠绕。冥想需要练习,不过随着时间的推移,你就不会再畏惧考试了。学会了冥想,你会了解恐惧只是没有集中精神的结果。

This clarity is called “mindfulness”. Being mindful means that you are aware of what you are thinking without becoming caught up in your thoughts. It takes practice, but with time, that big test will not scare you anymore. You will realize through meditation that fear is just a product of not being mindful.

(Source: wwenglish.com)

Cri – Lesson 100

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

(mms://enmms.chinabroadcast.cn/new/lang/ch/studio/lesson214.wma)

Y: Dajia hao, hello everyone, perfect your Chinese your way in only 5 fenzhong a day. Wo shi Y.
B: And, wo shi B, ni hao Y. It’s Easter week and time to learn more about painting Easter eggs.
Y: Yummy. Let’s check our key words of the day.

Key words of the day
Hard-boiled eggs 煮熟的蛋We need to boil the eggs first. 先要把蛋煮熟。Paint brush 画笔Watercolor Paint 水彩颜料 Let’s begin. 咱们开始吧. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

B: I’ve been to the market and I’ve got the eggs. We need to boil them first. How do I say that Y?
Y: In Chinese it’s “xian1 yao4 ba3 dan4 zhu3 shu2.”
B: xian1 yao4 ba3 dan4 zhu3 shu2
Y: xian1 means first,
B: xian1,
Y: yao4 means need,
B: yao4.
Y: ba3 is often put before the object,
B: ba3,
Y: dan4 means eggs,
B: dan4,
Y: zhu3 means boil,
B: zhu3,
Y: shu2 means cooked, 
B: shu2,
Y: xian1 yao4 ba3 dan4 zhu3 shu2
B: xian1 yao4 ba3 dan4 zhu3 shu2 We need to boil the eggs first.

Conversation 1
A: 这些可以直接做成复活节彩蛋吗?
B: 不行,先要把蛋煮熟。

B: Ok, so the eggs are ready to paint. They are now hard-boiled eggs.
Y: You mean, zhu3 shu2 de dan4.
B: Yes, zhu3 shu2 de dan4.
Y: zhu3 shu2 means hard-boiled,
B: zhu3 shu2.
Y: eggs in Chinese is dan4,
B: dan4,
Y: zhu3 shu2 de dan4.
B: zhu3 shu2 de dan4. hard-boiled eggs. Good. Then where are the paint brushes? Yajie, what’s the Chinese for paint brushes?
Y: In general it’s called hua4 bi3.
B: hua4 bi3
Y: hua4 means paint.
B: hua4,
Y: bi3 means brush,
B: bi3,
Y: hua4 bi3.
B: It’s easy, hua4 bi3. paint brushes. 

Conversation 2
(1)A:你需要几个煮熟的蛋?
B:大概要5个。

(2)A: 画笔在哪儿呢?
B: 在这儿。给你。.

B: We’ve got the hard-boiled eggs and the paint brushes. Where are the water color paints?
Y: oh, you need水彩颜料。Here you are.
B: What’s that in Chinese again?
Y: it’s shui2 cai3 yan2 liao4.
B: shui2 cai3 yan2 liao4.
Y: water is shui2,
B: shui2,
Y: color is cai3,
B: cai3,
Y: paints is yan2 liao4
B: yan2 liao4
Y: shui2 cai3 yan2 liao4.
B: shui2 cai3 yan2 liao4. watercolor paint
Y:Or you can just say yan2 liao4 for short.

Conversation3
A: 画笔和颜料都准备好了。
B:太好了,咱们开始吧。

B: We’ve just learned how to say, let’s begin. Will you check I’m saying that right please Y?
Y: Dangran, of course.
B: zan2men kai1 shi3 ba.
Y: hen hao, very good. zan2men means we,
B: zan2men,
Y: kai1 shi3 means start,
B: kai1 shi3,
Y: ba is used at the end of a sentence, indicating suggestion.
B: Right. we learned that in the last show. Ba.
Y: zan2men kai1 shi3 ba
B:zan2men kai1 shi3 ba Let’s begin.

Conversation 4
A: 所有的材料都准备好了。
B:那咱们开始吧。

Key words reminder
Hard-boiled eggs 煮熟的蛋We need to boil the eggs first. 先要把蛋煮熟。Paint brush 画笔Watercolor Paint 水彩颜料 Let’s begin. 咱们开始吧. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

B: It’s all go here in the Chinese Studio kitchen, but time for us to go. Y, what’s our question of the day?
Y: Remind us how to say, “We need to boil the eggs first.”
B: And send your email answer to Chinese@crifm.com. Hurry along and you could win yourself a prize. Mingtian jian.
Y: zai jian..

(Source:english.cri.cn)