Archive for December 28th, 2008

China Travel – Site of Bethune Model Hospital

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

The site of Bethune Model Hospital is located in Yankou Village, Wutai County, Shanxi Province.
Bethune, member of Canadian Communist Party, was a famous thoracic surgeon and a great International Communistic fighter. With the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, a medical team made up of Canadians and Americans came to China under the leadership of Bethune, helping to cure the wounded in the war. In June 1938, Bethune went to a rear hospital in the Jin-Cha-Ji (Shanxi-Chahaer-Hebei) Military Region. To improve the medical conditions there and help to nurture medical cadres, he participated the design and construction of a surgical hospital with facilities such as surgery, antisepsis room, infirmary, washing room and ward and the hospital was named Bethune Model Hospital by the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region command. It functioned as a good example to raise medical conditions of the military region and to cure the wounded.
The Bethune Model Hospital was burnt to ashes by the Japanese intruders in 1940 and rebuilt in 1974 following its original appearance. And an exhibition room for Bethune’s stuff was constructed that year in memory of him. In the yard of the site, an over 7-meter-tall white-marbled tower stands there with Mao Zedong’s works titled To Commemorate Bethune on its facade and epigraphs of Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen and Bo Yimo on the other three sides.

(Source: chinaculture.org)

Chinese Culture – Kiln Site at Yaozhou

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

 

Kilns from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

 

Location: Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province

 

Period: 8th century-16th century

 

Excavated in 1958

 

Significance: It has offered important material objects for the thorough study of the history of the Yaozhou kiln, and helped to date other kilns located in northern China during the period from the Tang through the Yuan and to the Ming dynasties. 

Celadon pot with loop handle: wine vessel (up, height 18.3 cm); Celadon incense burner in the shape of lotus: incense burner (bottom, height 7.4 cm)

 Introduction

 

The Yaozhou Kiln, known as “Ten-li Kiln” and one of the Six Famous Kilns in history, has a history of burning over 800 years, leaving behind the richest cultural heritage. More than 3 million pieces of various kinds of cultural relics and 200 of workshops and stoves have been excavated on the site, including about 1,000 pieces of Tang Can Cai. It is seldom seen in the ceramic history of the world that such big excavation areas, great numbers of the cultural relics, well-preserved ruins and rich cultural intensions, and it is a huge treasure for ceramic culture. 

 

Yaozhou Kiln was thus named because it was located in today’s Tongchuan City of Shaanxi Province, which belonged to Yaozhou in Song. Porcelain making in Yaozhou Kiln started in the Tang Dynasty, prospered in a period after mid-Northern Song, and ceased around the Reigns of Zhengde or Jiajing of Ming.

 

Its leading products embraced Tang San Cai, white porcelain, celadon, black porcelain, and ware in brown glaze, among which celadon was the most famous. With bowl, plate, disk, jar, vase, case, and censor as its leading ware types, various styles of small cups were also produced. Yaozhou ware features thin and pale gray eggshell, and glaze in even color. On the bottom or around the ring foot of the celadon ware, there usually showed spots in ginger brown as a result of the iron content in the eggshell fired at certain temperature, which was the unique feature of Yaozhou celadon. Yaozhou Kiln adopted incising and printing as the leading decorating techniques, forming bold yet smooth lines on the ware. Yaozhou Kiln exerted a great impact on the porcelain industry of the Song Dynasty.

 

Similar celadon was produced in Linru, Yiyang, Baofeng, Xin’an, Yuxian, and Neixiang, all in Henan Province, Xicun Kiln in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and Yongfu Kiln in Guangxi Province, and thus constituted Yaozhou Type System.

Source: chinaculture.org

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 371

Sunday, December 28th, 2008
 
 

  韩佳:快乐学汉语,轻松又好记。

  Learn Chinese with fun. It’s quite

  easy to remember.

  欢迎来到《快乐中国》。

  Welcome to this edition of Happy China.

  大牛:我是快乐的大牛。

  I am the happy Daniel.

  这位是我的好搭档,快乐的韩佳。

  And she’s my nice co-host, the

  happy Han Jia.

  韩佳:今天我们要带您

  Today we are going to take you to visit

  去参观博物馆中的博物馆。

  a museum in a museum.

  大牛:博物馆中怎么还会有博物馆呢?

  How can there be a museum in

  a museum?

  韩佳:这个嘛?去了你就明白了。

  Why? You’ll understand when

  you are there.

  大牛:好,我们就去看看

  Okay, let’s go there to see

  韩佳的葫芦里到底卖的什么药。

  what Han Jia has exactly up her sleeve.

  这些石头可真漂亮。

  These stones are so beautiful.

  韩佳:菊花石,

  The chrysanthemum stone

  大牛:这也是一种很稀有的石头吧?

  is also a precious stone?

  韩佳:那当然了。这种菊花石

  Sure. Chrysanthemum stones

  should have been

  应该是地壳发生造山运动

  formed through the pressing of

  rocks when

  造成岩石挤压,变质形成的。

  mountains cropped up from the

  earth’s crust.

  我估计啊,这块石头

  I guess this stone

  应该有两亿多年的历史了。

  should be over 200 million years old.

  大牛:两亿年?要这么久啊!

  200 million years? It’s quite a long time!

  韩佳:那当然了。

  Yes.

  这种酷似菊花的图案

  The chrysanthemum-like patterns

  可不是一两年就能形成的。

  were not formed in a couple of years.

  所以具有很高的科研价值。

  So they are of high value for

  scientific research.

  Tā jùyǒu hěn gāo de kēyán jiàzhí.

  它 具有 很 高 的 科研 价值。

  It is of tremendous value for

  scientific research.

  合: 八亿年!

  800 million years!

  大牛:没想到峨眉山的地质构造这么复杂。

  I didn’t expect the geological structure

  of Mt. Emei could be so complex.

  韩佳:嗯,这峨眉山真可以称得上

  Yeah, Mt. Emei could be virtually seen

  是一座天然的地质博物馆啊。

  as a natural museum of geology.

  这里除了有丰富的地质资源之外呢,

  In addition to the rich geological resources,

  还有着丰富的动植物资源。

  there are also abundant wildlife

  resources here.

  大牛:说到这动物啊

  Speaking of animals here

  我想起了峨眉山的猴子。

  reminds me of the monkeys of Mt. Emei.

  上回还有一只小猴偷喝我的饮料呢。

  A little monkey stole one of my bottles

  of water last time we were here.

  韩佳:对,对,对。

  Yes, that’s true.

  但这儿除了猴子啊,

  But in addition to the monkeys,

  还有很多种我们根本就

  there are also many other rare animals

  没有见过的珍稀动物。

  which we have never seen before.

  大牛:韩佳,你看这位是…

  Han Jia, look, this is …

  嘉宾:韩佳、大牛,你们好!

  Hello, Han Jia and Daniel!

  欢迎来到我们动物厅!

  Welcome to this hall of animals!

  有什么想知道的尽管问我好了。

  If you have any questions, don’t

  hesitate to ask me.

  合: 好,好。

  Okay, thanks.

  韩佳:那你给我们介绍一下

  Then tell us something

  峨眉山特有的珍贵鸟类吧。

  about some rare bird species of Mt. Emei.

  嘉宾:你们看,这就是白鹇,

  Look, this is the Silver Pheasant,

  它是我们峨眉山所特有的。

  native to Mt. Emei.

  是国家二级保护鸟类。

  It’s a bird species under the second-class

  state protection.

  你看,这白色的是雄鸟,而雌鸟是褐色的。

  You see the white ones are all male birds

  and the brown ones all females.

  大牛:那我们平时在哪里可以看到它们呢?

  Where can we find them normally?

  Wǒmen píngshí zài nǎli kěyǐ kànjiàn tāmen ne?

  我们 平时 在 哪里 可以 看见 它们 呢?

  Where could we see them normally?

  那我们平时在哪里可以看到它们呢?

  Where can we find them normally?

  嘉宾:在我们峨眉山九老洞那一带

  You can find them around the Jiulao

  Cave of the mountain.

  韩佳:哦。我听说啊

  Oh. I heard

  这里还有一种很有名的蝴蝶。

  there’s also a kind of renowned

  butterflies here.

  嘉宾:我知道了,你说的是枯叶蝶吧。

  I know you mean the leaf butterfly.

  走。在那边。

  Come on. You can see them over there.

  韩佳:天哪!如果你要说这是一片枯叶,

  Wow! If you said it’s a withered leaf,

  我肯定会相信的。

  I would definitely believe it.

  连叶子上的脉络都那么清楚。

  Even the veins are clearly visible.

  嘉宾:所以它才叫枯叶蝶。

  That’s why they are called leaf butterflies.

  你看,旁边这个展出的这个标本

  Look, this specimen on the side

  就是枯叶蝶在展开翅膀时的样子。

  has its wings spread.

  它如果遇到天敌啊,

  When they meet their predators,

  它就会变成一片枯叶,躲过袭击。

  they’ll disguise themselves as a

  withered leaf to evade attacks.

  大牛:这只蝴蝶还真能装蒜。

  These butterflies are capable of

  ”zhuang suan”.

  韩佳:大牛,在这里不能说装蒜。

  Daniel, here you shouldn’t say

  ”zhuang suan” (pretend).

  应该说“掩人耳目”。

  You should say “yan ren er mu”.

  大牛:掩人耳目?

  ”yan ren er mu”?

  韩佳:对啊。就是把别人的眼睛和耳朵

  Yes. It means to cover someone’s

  eyes and ears

  蒙起来,比喻用假象来蒙骗别人。

  or deceive people with a false appearance.

  大牛:哦。“掩人耳目”就是把别人的眼睛和耳朵

  Oh. “yan ren er mu” means to pull

  the wool over people’s eyes

  蒙起来,比喻用假象来蒙骗别人。

  or to trick people.

  掩人耳目。

  ”yan ren er mu”.

  Yǎn rén ěrmù

  掩 人 耳目

  to pull the wool over people’s eyes

  韩佳:这蝴蝶真是太有意思了。

  Such butterflies are really interesting.

  不过啊,咱们时间有限。

  But our time here is limited.

  应该去看看别的。

  We have other things to see.

  那谢谢您了。

  Thank you very much.

  合: 再见了。再见。

  Goodbye. Goodbye.

  大牛:这里有这么多花的标本啊。

  There are so many flower specimens here.

  韩佳:峨眉山的气侯和土壤特别适合植物生长。

  The climate and soil at Mt. Emei

  are ideal for the growth of plants.

  所以呢,这里植物的种类特别多。

  So there are many kinds of plants here.

  而且有很多都是名贵品种,

  And many of them are rare species,

  比如这峨眉山的四大名花。

  such as Mt. Emei’s four most famed flowers.

  大牛:哪四大名花?

  What are those four most famed flowers?

  韩佳:报春花、杜鹃花、兰花和珙桐。

  Primroses, azaleas, orchids and

  dove flowers.

  其中兰花和杜鹃花呢,又有很多品种。

  And there are many varieties of

  orchids and azaleas.

  大牛:那到了开花季节,

  In the blooming season,

  峨眉山岂不成了花的海洋。

  the whole mountain is a sea of flowers.

  韩佳:对啊,其实除了花,峨眉山还有很多药材。

  Yeah, apart from flowers, there is also

  a variety of medicinal herbs here.

  据说全山的药用植物有1600多种呢。

  They say there are over 1,600 kinds

  of medicinal herbs on the mountain.

  大牛:怪不得我以前听人们说

  No wonder I heard before that

  中国的药材基地在四川。

  China’s base of medicinal herbs is

  in Sichuan.

  四川的药材基地就在峨眉山。

  And Sichuan’s base of such herbs

  is Mt. Emei.

  我还想多看看。韩佳,这样吧。

  I really want to see more. Han Jia,

  你先带着观众朋友们去看看今天的赏心悦目。

  could you please take our audience

  to see today’s Feast for the Eyes now?

  我们一会儿在外面见。

  I’ll see you later off the screen.

  韩佳:哎,这个大牛

  Oh, Daniel

  肯定去找名贵药材了。

  must have gone to look for medicinal herbs.

  赏心悦目:

  峨眉山博物馆

  The Emei Mountain Museum

  自然景观与历史文化的完美融合

  is a perfect combination of natural scenery

  and cultural history.

  充分展现了峨眉山的丰富内涵

  It exhibits the rich contents of Mt. Emei

  珍稀罕见的岩石标本

  and its rare rock specimens.

  再现了”三起三落”的地质演变

  It shows the three-rise and three-fall

  geological changes of the region.

  林林种种的动植物标本

  The various plant specimens on display

  丰姿百态,栩栩如生

  are brought to life in the visitors’ eyes.

  韩佳:大牛,瞧瞧!

  Daniel!

  赏心悦目都看完了,他还没回来。大牛!

  You see, the Feast for the Eyes is already

  over, but he hasn’t shown up. Daniel!

  大牛:来了,来了。对不起。

  I’m coming. Sorry.

  韩佳,我终于明白了

  Han Jia, I’ve finally realized

  你为什么刚才说这里是博物馆中的博物馆。

  why you said just now this is a museum

  in a museum.

  其实你就是把峨眉山

  Actually you take the entire Mt. Emei

  比作一座巨大的博物馆,是不是?

  as a huge museum, right?

  韩佳:对,没错。他终于明白了。

  Yes, exactly. You’ve finally understood.

  真不容易啊。

  Not easy for you. Okay,

  好了好了,来出今天的问题吧。

  please tell us today’s question.

  (问题部分略)

  大牛:别忘了明天同一时间

  Don’t forget to continue to watch our program

  继续收看我们的节目。

  tomorrow at the same time.

  也别忘了我们的口号:

  Also don’t forget our slogan-

  合: 学说中国话,朋友遍天下。

  Learn Chinese and have friends everywhere.

(Source: cctv.com)