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- 偏旁部首所表示的意义 【贝】与钱货有关。如：贯，贝串，古人用贝作货币。贺，以礼物庆贺。质，用于抵押的财物。赋，敛收钱粮。贪，贪财物。贱，货物不值钱。
【髟】(biāo)与毛发有关。如：髡，剔发之刑。
【彳】(chì)与行走有关。如：循，顺着路走。徐，慢走。很，不顺从。《史记·项羽本纪》：“很如羊”。
【艹】(cǎo)与植物(多为草本植物)有关。如：蓝，草名，可以染青。薄，灌木业。葺，用草覆盖房子。落，叶落。
【虫】多与蛇有关，上文已述。又作为“烛”(“昆”虫”之“昆”的本字)的省形，与昆虫类有关。如：蟊、蠹、蠢、蚕、螽等不省。“蚊”、“蜂”等则省形。
【辵】(chuò)与彳的功能相同。如：遵，沿着走。述，本义为照着样走，引申为照着说。造，往，到。从，跟着走。徒，步行。
【刀】与刀或切割有关。如：副，破成两半。判，分开。列，分解。剂，斩截。制；裁。
【角】与兽角有关，如：触，用角抵撞。觥，角制的酒器。
【女】与妇女有关。如；好，本义指女子长得美好。《史记·殷本纪》：“九侯有好女，入之纣。”妪，妇人的通称。《史记·滑稽列传》：“巫妪弟子，是女子也。”
【立】与站立有关。如：端，正立。竦，敬立。
【缶】与陶器有关。如：缺，器破。罅，器裂。
【鬼】与鬼魂有关。如：魃，旱神。魄：阴魂。
【疒】(nè)与疾病有关。如：痕，伤痕。
【耳】与耳有关。如：聪，听力好，成语有“耳聪目明”。聩，耳朵不灵，“聪”的反义词。
【目】与目有关。如：督，察看。眷，回头看。相，本义指视察。《诗经·大雅·公刘》：“相其阴阳”，意为观察山的北面南面。
【老】与老人有关。如：考，父亲也叫考。
【口】与口有关。如：命，命令。和，应和声，《史记·刺客列传》：“高渐离击筑，荆轲和而歌于市中。”
【肉】与肉或肉体有关。如：腴，腹下肥肉。惰，干肉。脱，本义指消瘦。胡，下颔或脖子下的肉。
【人】从人的字，本义多与人有关。、如：伦，本义指人的辈份。引申指人与人的关系，如“五伦”指五种人际关系。作，本义指(由跪坐而)站起来。《论语·先进》“舍瑟而作”，意为放下瑟站起来。仞，相当于一人高的长度，约八尺(古尺)。
【手】与手或手的活动有关。如：把，握住。揭。高举。
【殳】多与打击有关。如：段，锤击。殴，拳击。
【力】与用力有关。如：劳，用力。劲，有力。
【言】与言语有关。如：许，允许。谅，说话守信用。访。咨询。诈：谎骗。
【见】与看有关。如：览，观看。觉，睡醒(眼睁开)。
【欠】与张口或出气有关。如：欧，古同呕，呕吐。
【食】与吃食有关。如：饶，饱足。(食，今作偏旁饣同)
【弓】与弓有关。如：张，张开弓弦。弛，弓弦松驰。弯，弯弓上箭。
【斤】与斧斤有关。如：新，“薪”的初文，本义是伐木。析：用斧子砍。
【耒】与农事或农具有关。如：耨(nòu)，除草农具。
【舟】与舟船有关。如；航，本义为渡河。
【车】与车有关。如：辐，车轮的条幅。轨，车轮辗过留下的印迹。
【】(yǎn)与旗帜有关。如：旋，挥旗旋转。旄：旌旗上的饰物。
【革】与皮革有关。如：鞍、(鞋)、鞭等都是皮革制品。
【韦】与熟皮有关。如：韧，(像熟皮那样)柔韧。撼，古袜字，熟皮制品。
【匚】(fāng)与盛物的方器有关。如：匡，古筐字。匪，古篚字。匮，古字。
【皿】与盆类器皿有关。如：盛，盛受。益，水满溢出。盍，蓝的初文，盆盖。
【瓦】与陶器有关。如：瓯，小盆。
【鬲】与釜锅有关。如：鬻，古粥字。融，炊气上腾的样子。
【金】与金属有关。如：销，熔化金属。错，镶涂金属。镜，古人用铜镜，所以从金。
【衣】与衣服有关。如：表，皮袍的外表。补，补衣裳。
【糸】(mì)与丝麻绳索有关。如：绪，丝头。经，纺织品的纵纱。续，接纱头。约，缠束。红、紫、绛、绿等表示颜色的字从糸，是因为颜色是抽象概念，必须依附于具体事
【巾】与布有关。如；幅，布帛的宽度。常，旗帜。帼，妇女的头巾。【网】与罗纲有关。如：罩，鱼网的一种。罗，用网捕鸟。罹(1í)，被网住。署，张网部署。
【黑】与黑墨有关。如：黥，在脸面染黑的刑法。
【乡】(shān)与修饰有关。如：修，修饰。形，(雕绘的)形象。
【示】与鬼神祭祀有关。如：社，土地神。祝，祷告求福。祸，神的惩罚。祖，已死的祖先神。禁，禁忌，怕冲撞鬼神而不敢做的事情。
【邑】与城邑有关。如；鄙，边邑。郭，城郭。郑，古邑名(也即国名)。都，有先君宗庙的城邑叫都。
【宀】(miǎn)与宫室有关。如：宗，始祖庙叫宗。定，安居，安定。
【穴】与洞穴有关。如：穿，本义是打通，穿透。《诗经·召南·行露》：“谁谓鼠无牙，何以穿我墉?”窦，洞。
【广】(yǎn)也与宫室有关。如：废，放置，存放。府，藏文书的地方。库，藏兵车的军用库。
【门】多与门户有关。如：辟、开门。闭，关门。间，门缝、缝隙。阉，受过刑的守门隶。
【囗】(wéi)与围墙、包围有关。如：圈，养牲畜的栏圈。固，四围不通。国，都城。圃，菜园。
【日】与太阳、季节、时辰有关。如：时，四季叫四时。暴，古“曝”字，曝晒。晴，天清无云。
【月】与月有关。如：朔，每月之始。朗，月光明朗。期，周月，又指周年十二个月。
【山】与山有关。如：崩，山崩。岐，山名。
【阜】与山陵或台阶有关。如：阳，山南面。阿，大山。除，殿阶。阶，台阶。陟，阶高。
【石】与石有关。如：研，研磨。确，坚石。础，柱基石。
【土】与土或土地有关。如：基．房基。型，土制的浇铸模型。填，填土。
【田】与田地有关。如：畔，田界。畿，都城附近的土地。略，占领土地并加以经营。
【火】与火有关。如：然，古燃字。
【水】与水有关。如：渐，浸湿。注，灌注。
【雨】与降雨有关。如：零，落雨。霹雳，雷声。
【仌】古冰字，与冰或寒冷有关。如：凌，冰块。冶，销熔(如冰块消溶)。凝，水结成冰。
【气】与气有关。如：氛，雾气。
【木】与树木或木材有关。如：样，橡树籽。枉，弯曲。成语有：“矫枉过正”。
【鸟】与鸟类有关。如：鸣，鸟叫。鸿，鸿雁。
【页】(xié)与人头有关。如：颇，偏头。顾，回头。顿
【行】与道路有关。如：行，本义为道路。《诗经·七月》：“遵彼微行。”
【心】与心理情感有关。如：惟，思维。慢，怠慢。忽，忘记。怪，感到奇怪。
【隹】(zhu)也与鸟类有关。如：雕，一种猛禽。雄，本指牡鸟。雅，古“鸦”字。
【鱼】与鱼类有关。如：鲠，鱼骨。鲍，咸鱼。
【羽】与羽毛翅翼有关。如：翁，鸟颈羽毛。翠，一种青羽毛的水鸟。翘，长尾上举。翻，飞。
【酉】与酒或酒坛有关。如：醒，醉后恢复正常状态。酸，酸酒。醢，肉酱。
【玉】与玉石有关。如：理，治玉。琢，凿玉。
【足】与足或行走有关。如；跟，脚跟。践，踏。
【子】与子女有关。如：孟，兄弟排行老大称孟，老二称仲，老三称叔，最幼称季，孟、季都从子。孤，幼而无父叫孤。
【竹】与竹有关。如：简，竹简。篇，竹简编成册，一卷叫一篇。筵，竹席。筹，用于计数的小竹棒。算，用筹计算。
【走】与行走奔跑有关。如：趋，快走。超，跳过。越，超越。趣，急走。
February 7, 200900 - 汉字的演变 <font color="#808000">在汉字的发展过程中，简化是主要趋势，但也有繁化的阶段。
简化指的是：
1、线条化、符号化。
2、删去重复的部分。
3、有简单代替复杂。
繁化指的是增加偏旁和增加笔划。主要是在文字发展过程的早期。
循化与讹化
循化指的是规律化。在文字的发展过程中，整个汉字的发展变化有规律循，使汉字字体的演变有踪迹可寻。
分化与同化
分化指字的分化和偏旁的分化。字的分化一个字分化为两个字。“母”和“毋”本是一个字，战国时代，有人把“母”中的两点连在一线，成了“毋”字。
同化是两个不同的字，混同为一字。如暴露的“暴”和暴虐的“暴”本是不同的字，后在隶书是混而为一。 </font><font color="#808000" size="3">一、简化
从总体上说，简化是汉字发展中体现出来的主要趋向。简化改变了笔画的造型和写法，为的是要加快书写速度。最初的简化主要是由图形为主转变为以线条为主，但同种字体亦存在着由繁到简的发展趋势。殷周之古体减为秦篆，秦篆减为汉隶，汉隶减为汉草（章草），汉草减为晋唐之草（今草）；汉隶的体势变为楷书，楷书减为行书；宋元以来，又减省楷书，参取行草，变成一种简体（即所谓“破体”“俗体”“小写”）。这都是最显着的减省笔画。而篆与篆，隶与隶，草与草，简体与简体，其中尚有繁简之不同，总而言之，汉字的字体，在数千年中是时时被减省的。从殷周之古体变到宋元之简体，时时向着简易的方面进行，可说是没有间断。</font><font color="#808000" size="3">简体字的大量流行是在唐宋以后。这时期，由于民间文学盛行，刻印技术进步，书籍出版大量增多，简体字也就在民间广为流行。在刘复、李家瑞编的《宋元以来俗字谱》一书中就收集到1,600多个简体俗字，但当时的简体字是难登大雅之堂的。 1909年，清末学者陆费逵在《教育杂志》创刊号上发表《普通教育应当采用俗体字》的文章，认为：“最便而最易行者，莫如采用俗体字。”“五四”以后钱玄同先生着文提倡简化字，认为汉字繁难是“学术上、教育上之大障碍”，汉字改革“已经到了火烧眉毛的地步”。他的《简省现行汉字的笔画案》得到广泛响应，学界成立了汉字省体委员会，从此简化字运动蓬勃发展起来。到1936年容庚先生出版《简体字典》，已收简体字4,445个。1952年，中国文字改革研究委员会成立，陆续确定的简化方法是：采用普遍通行的简体字，用草书楷化加以增补，根据行草书和简体字的偏旁适当类推。经过数年反复酝酿，1956年公布了《汉字简化方案》，1964年编印了《简化字总表》。《简化字总表》收入2,236个简化字，笔画数平均减少5画多。
根据王均先生主编的《当代中国的文字改革》一书的分析，《汉字简化方案》收入的简化字可分为以下八类：
1.简省原字形体，如“醫”作“医”，“瘧”作“疟”
2.保持原字轮廓：如“肅”作“肃”， “傘”作“伞”
3.草书楷化：如“專”作“专”，“長”作“长”
4.采用古字体：如“豐”作“丰”，“從”作“从”
5.用符号代替原字的一部分：如“漢”作“汉”，“僅”作“仅”
6.另造新形声字：如“驚”作“惊”，“護”作“护”
7.同音代替：如“裏”作“里”，“幾”作“几”
8.其他：如“舊”作“旧”，“靈”作“灵”</font><font color="#808000" size="3">二、繁化
汉字的结构会出现繁化的现象，因为有时为了区别、强调字音或字义，会给字形增加一些成分。例如为了区别被“假借”的独体字的各种字义，往往在独体字上加上声符或形符，产生了“形声字”。如“箕”字在古文字阶段就写作“其”，但后来它常被假借作虚词用“他的”的意思。为了区别字义，原先代表“簸箕”意义的“其”，反而要加上一个“竹字头”，写成笔画较多的“箕”。又如“然”，下部有个“火”，本义是“引火点着”“燃烧”，可是又常常被假借作代词“这样、那样”或形容词“对，是的”。这些假借意义甚至比本义更常用，后来用作本义时就再加“火”字旁作“燃”，形符“火”就变得重复了。
繁化使汉字的数量不断增加。例如，“辟”有多种意义，为了区别它们，人们把它们分别写成“僻”（偏僻）、“避”（躲避）、“辟”（开辟）、“譬”（譬喻）。这样，一个字变成五个字，因为“辟”字自身也仍在使用，如用“复辟”。</font><font color="#808000" size="3">三、异体字
汉字是用来记录汉语和传达汉语的工具。但是，在记录同样的汉语单词时，不同地方或不同的人会因为习惯问题使用一些不同的字。由于是记录同一个词，只是形体不同，因而这些词、字往往都会被社会承认，于是这些字之间就形成了异体的关系。汉字形体在发展演变过程中，是从异体繁多演变到字有定形的。甲骨文、金文中异体字就比较多。《甲骨文编》中收“鱼”字二十个，“马”字五十个。《金文编》中收“鱼”字三十九个，“马”字四十四个，而到小篆时就各采用一个。这也可以看作是汉字的简化。</font><font color="#808000" size="3">四、古今字
上古时代，特别是先秦时代，汉字的数量比后代要少得多。《说文解字》只收了9,353个字，到《康熙字典》已收汉字47,035个。一个原因是，新字随新事物的产生而产生，旧事物虽已灭亡，但其字却保留下来。另外，造字之初人们常用假借的方法使一字兼有数义，后来为了明确地传达语义，使文字易于辨认和区别，人们就将原先的字加上种种的部件，这样就产生了很多的新字。例如：“见、现”“受、授”“辟、避、僻”等。新字和原先的那个字在时间上有古今的差别，所以称为古今字。由于新字是在古字的基础上添加部首产生的，所以可以把这种变化看做汉字的一种繁化。
</font><font color="#808000" size="3">五、正俗字
在中国古代社会，文字曾被统治阶级利用来进行文化统治。一般说来，在正式的场合下使用的汉字，形体结构和书写风格都必须是规范的，是官方所认可的，因此这些规范字可以被视为正体。现在我们能看到最早的汉字正体，应算是出现在商代中后期的青铜器上的铭文。当时又有一些讲求便捷但又被官方承认的字体，它们相对于正体文字，只保留了各自的“区别性特征”。这种字体多是由地位较低的人员书写，例如一般的史官、卜筮人员等。相对正体而言，这些字体比较大众化，可视为俗体。</font><font color="#808000" size="3">事实上，在汉字的每个发展阶段都存在正体和俗体。小篆是秦朝文字的正体，而隶书就是当时的俗体。楷书作为其后直至今天广泛使用的正体，它是从后期汉隶的俗体，经过魏晋南北朝的演变才逐步定形的。正体、俗体的对立统一，彼此的消长转化，可以说是贯穿汉字发展史中的一条相当重要的线索。</font>
February 7, 200900 frankly speaking,its impossible to learn a language easyly and fastly,ha ha.
well,maybe u can try to listen some chinese music,chinese movies,and try to talk with chinese people,they r willing to help u:)of course,i can also help u:)
by the way,thx for join my group,hope u enjoy it.0 votedNovember 23, 20080- Winter solstice（冬至） <table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0" width="95%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr valign="bottom" align="left"> <td class="c12" valign="middle" align="left" width="96%">
冬至是我国农历中一个非常重要的节气，也是一个传统节日，至今不少地方仍有过冬至节的习俗。在二十四节气中，冬至节是被最早制定出来的一个，时间约在每年12月22日至23日左右。冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最长的一天，过了冬至，白天就会一天天变长,各地气候都进入一个最寒冷的阶段，也就是人们常说的“进九”，我国民间有“冷在三九，热在三伏”的说法。
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现在，一些地方还把冬至作为一个节日来过。北方地区有冬至宰羊，吃饺子、吃馄饨的习俗，南方地区在这一天则有吃冬至米团、冬至长线面的习惯。各个地区在冬至这一天还有祭天祭祖的习俗。
Winter solstice is a very important solar term in Chinese Lunar calendar.
Being a traditional holiday as well, it is still now celebrated quite often in many regions. Early during the Spring and Autumn period, 2500 odd years from now, Winter solsticewas first determined as the Chinese traditional solar term among the total 24 terms. In Gregorian calendar, it is around Dec 22nd or 23rd.
Midwinter day is the very day in North hemisphere with the shortest day and longest night year-round. After it, daytime will become increasingly longer and the coldest clime will invade all the places on the Northern part of the globe. We Chinese always call it "JinJiu", which means once Winter solstice comes, we will meet the coldest time ahead.
That conclusion is proved well founded. According to scientific results, on Winter solstice, a right angle is formed by the sun and the tropic of carpricorn. Thus, the North hemisphere receives the least sunlight and the shortest day and longest night occur.
Ancient china did pay great attention to this holiday, regarding it as a big event. There was the saying that "Winter solstice holiday is greater than the spring festival". Nowadays, many regions still celebrate it as a big holiday. Northerners may have dumplings and raviolis that day while southerners may have dumplings made by rice and long noodles. Some places even have the tradition to offer sacrifices to the heaven and earth.
（通讯员东南大学方姝琦投稿 英语点津陈蓓编辑 ）November 16, 200800 - 11月11日Singles Day“光棍节” <table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0" width="28%" align="left" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="middle" align="left"><img id="626975" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/easyEnglish/attachement/jpg/site1/20071108/0013204d7c5a089cc83b08.jpg" border="0" md5="" alt="" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="middle" align="left"><font face="Verdana" color="#000080" size="2">"Singles Day" falls on every November 11th and is celebrated only in China. It is a festival exclusively for singles. To find out more about this festival, read on.</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>"<font color="#808000">Singles Day</font>" falls on every November 11th, and as the name indicates, this relatively new holiday is one exclusively for people who are still living the single life. I was a bit surprised when I googled 'Singles Day' on the Internet, to find that China is the only country in the world that has set aside a special day for singles to celebrate their lives. To find out more about this celebration, read on.<img id="626976" alt="" hspace="0" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/easyEnglish/attachement/gif/site1/20071108/0013204d7c5a089cc83b09.gif" align="baseline" border="0" md5="" /> <font face="Comic Sans MS">Origin of Singles Day
</font>An old story goes that once there were four single men, leading very boring lives. None of them were married, or had lovers, or did anything exciting. They just sat around all day and played <em>Mahjong</em>.One day they played Mahjong from 11 in the morning until 11 at night. During the game, no matter who won, the winning card was always the 'four columns' card (the card shows four independent, parallel columns in two lines). Even more of a coincidence, it was Nov 11, or 11/11. In order to commemorate the day, they nicknamed it "Singles Day".<img id="626977" alt="" hspace="0" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/easyEnglish/attachement/gif/site1/20071108/0013204d7c5a089cc83b0a.gif" align="baseline" border="0" md5="" /><font face="Comic Sans MS"> University culture
</font>"Singles Day" was first celebrated at various universities in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province during the 1990s. It got the name "Singles Day" because the date is comprised of four "ones". These college students have since graduated, and carried their university tradition into society. Singles Day is now a special day for all fashionable youths.The main way to celebrate "Singles Day" is to have dinner with your single friends, but it's important that each person pay their own way to show their independence. People also hold '<font color="#808000">blind date</font>' parties in an attempt to bid goodbye to their single lives.<img id="626978" alt="" hspace="0" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/easyEnglish/attachement/gif/site1/20071108/0013204d7c5a089cc83c0b.gif" align="baseline" border="0" md5="" /> <font face="Comic Sans MS">Creative celebration
</font>For breakfast on "Singles Day", singles often eat four youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks) representing the four "ones" in "11.11" and one baozi (steamed stuffed buns) representing the middle dot.Many singles also choose to say goodbye to their single lives on this day. Many attend 'blind date' parties and many people choose to marry on this day. In addition to meaning 'single' the four 'ones' of the date can also mean 'only one' as in 'the only one for me.' Some people will use this date and this meaning to tell their special someone that they are the only 'one' in their heart.（China Daily）<center> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="95%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="e12b"><font class="english11b" color="#ff9900">Vocabulary:</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="e12"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="e12">Singles Day: 光棍节
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blind date: 不相识的男女第一次约会November 16, 200810 - Chinese Valentine's Day（七巧节）
<img id="531420" height="168" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/easyEnglish/attachement/jpg/site1/20070817/00123fc5bdb7082fc0a316.jpg" width="200" align="left" md5="" alt="" />Raise your head on August 19 and gaze at the stars, you will find something romantic going on in the sky.
VALENTINE'S Day in China, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, falls on August 19 this year.
That is, on Sunday evening, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu will meet on a bridge of magpies（鹊桥） across the Milky Way（银河）. Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.
Romantic legend
The legend has been handed down for nearly 2 millennia. The story has been recorded as far back as the Jin Dynasty (256-420 AD). Poets composed hundreds of verses on the love story and many types of Chinese opera tell the story.
The Chinese people believe that the star Vega（织女星）, east of the Milky Way, is Zhi Nu and, at the constellation of Aquila（天鹰座）, on the western side of the Milky Way, Niu Lang waits for his wife.
Zhi Nu was said to be the youngest of seven daughters of the Queen of Heaven. With her sisters, she worked hard to weave beautiful clouds in the sky, while Niu Lang was a poor orphan cowherd, driven out of his home by his elder brother and his cruel wife.
Niu Lang lamented over his lonely and poor life with an old cow, his only friend and companion. The magical cow kindly told him of a way to find a beautiful and nice woman as his life companion.
Under the direction of the cow, Niu Lang went to the riverside on an evening, where the seven fairies slipped out of their heavenly palace to bathe.
He took one of the beautiful silk dresses the fairies had left on the bank. When the fairies left the water, the youngest couldn't find her clothes and had to see her sisters fly back to heaven without her.
Then Niu Lang came out with the dress and asked the youngest fairy, Zhi Nu, to stay with him.
Several years passed on Earth, which were only a few days in heaven. Niu Lang and Zhi Nu lived happily together and had two children before the Queen of Heaven discovered Zhi Nu's absence.
She was so annoyed she had Zhi Nu brought back to heaven. Seeing his beloved wife flying in the sky, Niu Lang was terrified. He caught sight of the cowhide hanging on a wall. The magical cow had told him before dying of old age: "Keep the cowhide（牛皮） for emergency use."
Putting the cowhide on, he went after his wife with his two children.
With the help of the cowhide, Niu Lang was able to follow Zhi Nu into heaven. He was about to reach his wife when the Queen showed up and pulled off her hairpin to draw a line between the two. The line became the Silver River in heaven, or the Milky Way.
Zhi Nu went back to the heavenly workshop, going on weaving the clouds. But she was so sad, and missed her husband across the Silver River so much that the clouds she weaved seemed sad. Finally, the Queen showed a little mercy, allowing the couple to meet once every year on the Silver River.
Well-known poem
One of the most famous poems about the legend was written by Qin Guan of in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
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Fairy Of The Magpie Bridge
Among the beautiful clouds,
Over the heavenly river,
Crosses the weaving maiden.
A night of rendezvous,
Across the autumn sky.
Surpasses joy on earth.
Moments of tender love and dream,
So sad to leave the magpie bridge.
Eternal love between us two,
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Shall withstand the time apart.
(Translated by Kylie Hsu)
宋·秦观织云弄巧
飞星传恨
银汉迢迢暗度金风玉露一相逢
便胜却人间无数柔情似水
佳期如梦
忍顾鹊桥归路两情若是久长时
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又岂在朝朝暮暮Compared with love stories inWestern legends, the story of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu seems not as intense or passionate. Love doesn't kill or break up the barrier between them. They just wait patiently on the riverbank, believing that their love can withstand their time apart.
It is faith and emotional liaison instead of physical attraction and desire that is emphasized in the story as well as in many other Chinese folktales（民间故事） about love.
In only a few Chinese folk love stories can be found a description of the physical appearances of the hero and heroine.
In the "Butterfly Lovers", the heroine, dressed as a boy to attend school, falls in love with a classmate. After they have lived together as classmates for years, the hero did not have the slightest clue that his best friend is actually a girl!
Chinese ceremonies
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the only Chinese festival devoted to love in the Lunar calendar.
Unlike St. Valentine's Day in Western countries there is not so much emphasis on giving chocolates, flowers and kisses. Instead, Chinese girls prepare fruits, melons and incense（熏香） as offerings to Zhi Nu, the weaving maiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft（裁缝）, as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands.
In the evening, people sit outdoors to observe the stars. Chinese grannies would say that, if you stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what Zhi Nu and Niu Lang are talking about.
November 16, 200800 - Hungry Ghost Festival
<table bordercolor="#ffffff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" width="580" border="6"> <tbody> <tr class="Verdana9b" valign="top"> <td class="title2" align="center">The 14th and 15th of the seventh lunar month</td> </tr> <tr class="english9" valign="top"> <td class="english9" align="left" height="117">
<img height="147" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/18/20030807_2245_ghost_0.jpg" width="180" align="left" alt="" />Much like Western culture's Halloween, some Eastern cultures celebrate a Fall festival where they believe the gates of hell are thrown open, releasing hungry ghosts to wander the earth in search of food and taking revenge upon those who wronged them in life. This month-long festival is known as the Hungry Ghost Festival and takes place during the 7th lunar month.
Unlike other celebrations of the dead in Eastern cultures that seek to honor dead ancestors, the Hungry Ghost Festival seeks to pacify the hungry ghosts, the ghosts of strangers and the un-cared-for dead. These are the ghosts of those who died by their own hands, by accidents, by drowning or hanging who have been denied entry into heaven. Angry because they are forced to dwell in hell without food or comfort, when released, they search for souls to take their place in misery.
To Taoists（道教徒） and Buddhists（佛教徒）, these evil spirits are not to be taken lightly. They are most active at night and can take many forms including: snakes, moths（蛾）, birds, foxes, wolves, and tigers. They can even appear as beautiful men or women to seduce the living. When they possess an individual by entering the body they cause illness and mental disorders.
<img height="139" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/18/20030807_2245_ghost_1.jpg" width="180" align="right" alt="" />Throughout this month, to keep the angry spirits amused, people stage street operas and other forms of public entertainment. In the past, people did not view the street operas as they were performed only for ghosts. Other rituals（典礼，仪式）are performed to help souls enter into heaven. Taoists do their best to avoid late nights away from these amusements and rituals to steer clear of the evil spirits. To appease these wandering spirits, Buddhists and Taoists burn bundles of joss sticks, paper hell money, food, and other offerings by the roadside. Communities along rivers or near the sea float lanterns in the shape of the lotus or carved from fruit or gourds in the water to guide them away from their homes. They follow the lanterns from the river bank or sea shore till they can no longer be seen. This is done to redeem the soul of those who died by drowning.
The most important days of this month are the 14th and 15th, the days of the great feasts. On the 14th, a great feast would be held to honor family ancestors. Prayers and offerings would be made at family altars. On the following night, the 15th, they would feast for the hungry ghosts. Held outside under the full moon, these feasts feed the evil spirits so that they will leave the living alone and bribe（贿赂） the ancestors for luck with money and the harvest.
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>November 16, 200800
