Gunpowder is one of the four greatest inventions of ancient China, let’s step into the journey behind gunpowder and fall in love with Chinese, learn Chinese, and learn about private Chinese lessons.
Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, which can burn rapidly and regularly under the action of appropriate external energy, and at the same time generate a large amount of high-temperature gas substances.
In the military, it is mainly used as the propellant of guns and artillery shells and the propellant of rockets and missiles and other driving devices of energy, and is an important part of ammunition.
An outstanding achievement in the history of human civilization. Gunpowder is its lethal and deterrent power, bringing mankind the role of stopping wars and security defense, and has become one of the important inventions of human civilization.
Gunpowder, a substance that undergoes a chemical reaction in the form of deflagration or explosion, was invented by Chinese alchemists. In the 7th century AD, the earliest record of gunpowder was recorded in the Dan Jing written by the medical scholar Sun Simiao.
Gunpowder was introduced to Arab countries in the 12th and 13th centuries, and then spread to Europe and the rest of the world.
Gunpowder in the Tang Dynasty: fire attack is a common offensive method used by military experts, at that time, in the fire attack, a weapon called a rocket was used, which was tied to the arrow some flammable substances such as grease, rosin, sulfur, etc., lit and shot out with a bow to burn the enemy’s position.
If gunpowder is used instead of general flammables, the effect is much better. Before the invention of gunpowder, siege and defense of cities used a stone throwing machine to throw stones and grease fireballs to destroy the enemy.
After the invention of gunpowder, stone throwing machines were used to throw powder packs instead of stone and grease fireballs. According to Lu Zhen’s “Records of the Nine Kingdoms” of the Song Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Tang (10th century), Zheng Wang Fan led an army to attack Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi), “sending a fire” and burning down the city’s Longshamen.
This is probably the earliest record of a siege of a city with gunpowder. Gunpowder in the Two Song Dynasty: In the Two Song Dynasty, gunpowder weapons developed rapidly.
According to the “Song Shi Bingji”: In 970 AD, the military department ordered Shi Feng to promote the rocket method, which is to tie the powder cartridge at the front end of the arrow shaft, and then use the reaction force of the gas ejected by the gunpowder combustion to shoot out the arrow cluster, which is the world’s earliest jet firearm.
In 1000 AD, Tang Fu, a soldier-turned-captain of the Divine Guard, presented rockets, fireballs, fire tribulus terrestris and other firearms he made to the Song court. In 1002, Shi Pu, the training envoy of the Jizhou regiment, also made rockets, fireballs and other firearms, and performed them.
The emergence of gunpowder weapons on the battlefield heralded a series of changes in military history. Transition from the use of cold weapons to the use of firearms. Gunpowder is applied to the first forms of weapons, mainly to take advantage of the burning properties of gunpowder.
Engels spoke highly of China’s first use in the invention of gunpowder: “It has now been undoubtedly confirmed that gunpowder was transmitted from China through India to the Arabs, and then by the Arabs and gunpowder weapons through Spain and into Europe.” “The invention of gunpowder greatly advanced the process of historical development and was one of the important pillars of the European Renaissance.
I was deeply impressed by the wisdom of the ancients! Chinese culture is vast and profound, interested children can try our private Chinese lessons, where we have a dedicated teacher one-on-one customized service.
Children can ask questions in the Q&A area in the private Chinese lessons if they don’t understand anything. I hope that the children’s Chinese learning journey can be easy and enjoyable, and I look forward to meeting you~
Self-taught Chinese is a worthwhile pursuit, Chinese the key to unlocking potential communication with another 100 million people on Earth – a truly remarkable skill. This article is an early guide for those embarking on this journey.
1.Learning Chinese is worth it
Learning a new language requires effort, patience, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. It is also a fun and fulfilling pursuit! While many people think Chinese a difficult language to master, it’s definitely not that hard.
Start learning that people tend to believe! In fact, after just a few months of diligent study, many students have been able to order, ask for directions, travel, talk about their interests, and even have basic conversations with other learners and native speakers.
The rewards don’t stop there! The name alludes to the fact that Mandarin, as a dialect of Chinese mainland, is spoken by more than 90 billion people worldwide, making it the most spoken language in the world! This is just another reason why learning Mandarin is so beneficial.
Knowing how to speak this versatile and engaging language, even just the basics, will open the door for you to travel and explore Chinese culture in China. In addition, China has become an international economic and business superstar, so being able to communicate in Mandarin will be a valuable asset and tool to use in your career.
2.Mandarin is a tonal language
Before you start learning Chinese, remember that just like pitch in music, different Chinese characters have different tones. This is what we mean when we say Chinese is “tone”.
Standard Mandarin has four different tones (or five tones if you consider neutral tones) that give multiple meanings to words that are made up of the same mixture of consonants and vowels. Since tone is an important aspect of a word’s meaning, knowing the correct tone is an important part of learning Chinese.
This in particular can make Chinese a difficult language to learn, but with enough practice, and by improving your Chinese listening, you will be able to distinguish and use the correct tone when conversing! Improving your knowledge of tone will help you avoid making common tone mistakes.
3.Chinese is different from English
Unlike English, which uses the Latin alphabet, Chinese characters are engaging, each with their own unique background, structure, and construction method (we call this stroke order).
As a new Chinese learner, reading and writing Chinese characters can be unfamiliar and will take some time and patience to learn, especially since there are more than 50,000 Chinese characters (although even educated Chinese usually only know about 5,000 Chinese characters).
Luckily, there are plenty of great Chinese reading and writing resources. If you make time every day to study and practice, you will find yourself understood and understood in no time!
4.Chinese speakers
If you’re just starting out self-taught Chinese, it’s often difficult to understand what native speakers are saying. This may be due to the speaker’s speed of speech, the use of unfamiliar words.
By the same token, if you don’t have the opportunity to practice your Chinese aloud with others, you may find, for example, that you use an incorrect tone that makes it difficult for your conversation partner to understand what you mean.
Therefore, it is very important to set aside time every day to listen and speak Mandarin. Depending on your learning style, this can be done in a variety of ways. If you prefer to study in groups, check online to see if there are Chinese clubs or groups that meet regularly in or near your city.
If you prefer to practice speaking in a one-on-one environment, consider hiring a Chinese tutor, or signing up for an online Chinese class. Outside of the classroom, there are some great listening tools such as podcasts, downloadable Chinese lessons, and more, all of which will help you improve your Chinese listening and comprehension.
We are as excited as you are that you want to learn self-taught Chinese and we hope this article helps you get started. If you’re looking to enhance your learning experience and even more, we hope we have fun with the sino-bus Chinese learning site!
Chinese is our Chinese native language, Chinese culture is broad and profound, what are the advantages of learning Chinese vocabulary? Today, I will give you an inventory of the ten advantages of learning Chinese:
🍁The largest number of users With a population of 6 billion, more than 200 countries and regions, and more than 2,500 ethnic groups, 5,651 languages have been identified. The most spoken languages are: Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, German, Russian, French, Bengali, Portuguese, etc.
🍁It has a long history and a long history
Oracle Chinese characters are among the three oldest writing systems in the world. Chinese is a relatively convergent and stable language. This enabled the inheritance and development of ancestral wisdom and civilization.
Today’s Chinese students can read the Chu poems of the poet Qu Yuan 2,000 years ago.
🍁Chinese characters use few words, strong word formation power, and large amount of information
Now, the English vocabulary has exceeded 1 million, and ordinary people can’t remember it in a lifetime. According to statistics, there are still 1~20,000 new words produced in English every year.
The new vocabulary of English has little connection with the original vocabulary, and millions of English words come out in this way. In Chinese, there is no need to create new characters, just rely on existing Chinese characters to form new words. All English vocabulary and neologisms can be expressed in 3,500 Chinese characters.
The ability to form Chinese characters is too powerful, and it can also be touched bypass, and the amount of memory is greatly reduced. The famous scholar Ji Xianlin said: “Chinese is the most concise language in the world. The same expression of one meaning, if English takes 60 seconds, Chinese 5 seconds is enough. ”
In English-speaking countries, there are no 20,000 words you don’t want to read a newspaper, and you don’t want to read Time magazine for 30,000 words. Professionals who have graduated from college for 10 years generally need to understand 80,000 words.
The standard for literacy of Chinese characters in China is 1500 words. College students in science and engineering generally master 3500 Chinese characters, and there is no problem in engaging in scientific research. As for reading, reading newspapers, and graduating from primary school, you can do it. The average person can read and write 2,000 Chinese characters.
🍁The Chinese language is open to the influence of Western culture
Classical Chinese is dominated by monophonic words, and vernacular Chinese is dominated by two-tone words. There are too few punctuation marks in classical Chinese to meet the needs of expression, and punctuation marks in vernacular are complete enough to meet the needs of expressing thinking.
There are many short sentences in classical Chinese, the structure of sentences is simple, and there are more long sentences and attached components in vernacular Chinese, and the structure of sentences is much more complex than that of classical Chinese, which greatly increases the expressiveness and logic of the article.
The advantage of vernacular writing is mostly that it accepts the enlightenment of Western languages. The transition from classical Chinese to vernacular is a revolutionary turn. This turning point shows that the Chinese language is open to the influence of Western culture.
🍁Chinese characters focus on right-brain thinking and can develop IQ
Scholars pointed out that learning Chinese vocabulary mainly uses phonetic code, which works in the left hemisphere of the brain, called single-brain writing. Chinese characters are a synthesis of shape, sound, and meaning, which act simultaneously on the left and right hemispheres of the brain, called compound brain writing.
Chinese characters, especially symbols symbolizing graphics, are very beneficial for the development of the right brain, and sound and meaning are simultaneously developed in the left brain, so that the left and right hemispheres of the brain are developed at the same time.
Based on this relationship between Chinese characters and the two hemispheres of the brain, psychologists in Philadelphia conducted an experiment to see if they could correct dyslexia by learning Chinese characters.
First, he taught an American dyslexic teenager to learn Chinese characters and Chinese, and then began the experiment: on a piece of paper, the upper line wrote English sentences, and the lower line wrote Chinese sentences with consent, asking the teenager to read English sentences by looking at Chinese characters.
The teenager, who suffered from dyslexia, pronounced English sentences effortlessly, and the experiment was successful. Such experiments have also been carried out in France and other countries, and have achieved initial success.
It is precisely because of their unique sound, shape and meaning characteristics that Chinese characters constitute more stimulation to the brain than pinyin characters. It should be these beneficial stimuli that promote the brain development of the population in the Chinese character circle country, thereby improving the IQ level.
By learning Chinese vocabulary, people can use both hemispheres of the brain more fully and in a more balanced way, and its significance is very far-reaching.
Printing is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, following the footsteps of history, let’s explore theChinese basic charactersin printing. From books, newspapers and periodicals to banknotes, printing is closely related to the life of modern people.
Located in Daxing District, Beijing, the China Museum of Printing, with an exhibition area of 5,500 square meters, is currently the world’s largest printing professional museum. Here, the audience can understand the history of the development of printing, see the results of various printing processes, and feel the great role of printing in promoting the progress of human civilization.
💐Inherit the wisdom of the ancients
Writing and papermaking are important conditions for the emergence and development of printing. Archaeological studies have shown that around 4,500 years ago, Chinese writing moved from budding to forming.
Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty invented papermaking with a complete process, and paper made of plant fibers became an excellent carrier of words.
“Chinese woodblock printing technique” is a treasure of traditional culture, and was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009. Woodblock printing originated in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty, and the book layout, font, paper, ink and binding form of woodblock printing have developed greatly, forming China’s unique book aesthetic culture.
The invention of movable type printing is another milestone in the history of ancient Chinese printing. According to the “Mengxi Pen Talk”, Bisheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented clay movable type printing. The typesetting wheel invented by Wang Zhen in the Yuan Dynasty greatly improved the efficiency of movable type printing.
💐Tell development stories
The Chinese basic characters in ancient Chinese papermaking and printing were transmitted to the West and had an important impact on Western civilization. The printing technology of modern Western industrialization has spread to China, promoting the development of China’s printing industry.
“Geographical Questions and Answers” published by Meihua Library in the late Qing Dynasty, the 1920 edition of the Communist Manifesto printed by the newly printed office, and the inaugural issue of the color monthly magazine “Art Life” printed in 1934… In the “Printing World” exhibition hall, the exhibits reflect the influence of modern Western printing technology after the introduction of modern printing technology into China and the rise of China’s national printing industry.
During the Republican period, the Commercial Press and China Book Company became outstanding representatives of national printing enterprises.
In the early 30s of the 20th century, the establishment of the printing house in the revolutionary base area kicked off the development of the red printing industry. A small and lightweight wooden printing press attracted the attention of reporters.
It is only the size of a small suitcase, weighs only more than 30 kilograms, and is easy to disassemble and assemble, and a mule can pull away. It was built for the needs of guerrilla newspapers during the Anti-Japanese War and was called the “printing press on horseback”.
After the founding of New China, national printing enterprises and red printing factories jointly formed the emerging Chinese printing industry and became an important force in the industrialization of New China.
The invention of printing has taken a big step forward for the development of mankind, and the invention of printing has also promoted the Chinese of basic characters, and the mass production of printed text has made the world better understand Chinese culture!
Of course, in modern times, China has absorbed modern Western technology and has its own inventions in printing, such as Lin Yutang’s bright typewriter and Wang Xuan’s Chinese character laser phototypesetting system.
Printing technology does not need a developed industrial system as a premise, the East and the West can easily learn from each other, will not form much advantage over each other, the key to modern social and cultural competitiveness lies in the free atmosphere and open mind.
As we all know, China’s papermaking technology is famous far and wide, children who want to learn Chinese common phrases come over, let’s walk into the invention and spread of Chinese papermaking.
Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. Compared with other writing materials, the surface of the paper is smooth, white and inked, and can also be dyed; The format is wide, there are many words, and it is easy to cut and make various types; Soft and fold-resistant, can be unrolled arbitrarily, easy to carry and store; Long life, easy to preserve; Papermaking raw materials are easy to find and low price; It is widely used for writing, printing, and packaging materials.
These incomparable advantages have made paper enduring, once invented, and spread all over the world and loved by the world.
From the cultural relics excavated by archaeology, it can be seen that early paper was made of plant fibers (hemp), so the “floc” in the Eastern Han Dynasty XuShen’s”Shuowen Jiezi” refers to hemp fiber.
In 1933, Mr. Huang Wenbi, a professor at Peking University, first discovered a piece of hemp paper at the Lop Nor Han beacon site in Xinjiang, “and at the same time, the unearthed person has a wooden simple from the first year of the Yellow Dragon (49 BC), which is the year of Emperor Xuan of Han, and this paper is also a Western Han dynasty.”
Until 1990, scholars found hemp paper made from the early to the last years of the Western Han Dynasty eight times in Xinjiang, Shanxi, Gansu and other places, all before Cai Lun “made paper” in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun summarized the experience of manufacturing hemp paper technology and carried out technological innovation on the basis of his predecessors, and organized the production of a batch of better quality hemp paper.
Not only that, he also broke through the papermaking technology of woody bast fiber, presided over the successful development of papermaking paper, made papermaking raw materials more extensive, and promoted the development of papermaking technology and papermaking industry.
By the time of the Wei and Jin dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, in addition to hemp paper and Chinese skin paper, mulberry and rattan skin paper were also produced; In the Central Plains, bamboo curtain bed molds were commonly used, making paper the main writing material in this period.
The Sui and Tang dynasties were the heyday of hemp paper, and the invention of woodblock printing further promoted the prosperity of the paper industry. Bamboo paper was produced in the south at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and gold-flowered paper, water-patterned paper and calender paper decorated with gold and silver powder on colored paper were also invented during this period.
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, leather paper and bamboo paper became the main paper due to technological progress, and hemp paper began to decline due to raw material problems. The Ming Dynasty was the culmination stage of papermaking, and its technology was also recorded by Song Yingxing in “Tiangong Kaiwu Killing”. After the invention of Chinese papermaking, it began to spread to all parts of the world.
Chinese papermaking technology was introduced to Europe through the Arab world. The first European countries to come into contact with paper and papermaking technology were probably Spain, France and Italy. Paper appeared in Spain no later than the 10th century. The manuscript found in Santo Domingo is the earliest known Spanish text, made of flax fibre and glued with starch, similar to Arabic paper.
After the 18th century, with the development of culture, education and science, the consumption of paper in European countries increased day by day. Due to the single production of hemp paper, there has been a severe shortage of raw material supply, and people are constantly looking for alternatives.
At the same time, they once again turned their attention to China, the place where papermaking technology was invented, and sought new information on the development of China’s papermaking technology, so that China’s papermaking technology was directly introduced to Europe.
With the change of papermaking raw materials and the introduction and use of bendable bamboo curtain paper making technology, the production of paper in Europe increased greatly in the middle of the 18th century.
The bendability of Chinese paper-making bamboo curtains reflects an advanced papermaking way of thinking, so it has great development prospects and becomes a necessary ladder to modern papermakers. Hunter, a famous American paper historian, said: “Today’s big “machine” paper industry is built on the original oriental (referring to China) bamboo curtain paper molds. ”
In short, the papermaking technology invented by Chinese not only promoted the development of its own culture, education and science and technology, but also spread to all parts of the world through the Silk Road, which played a huge role in promoting the development of human civilization, especially modernization. After seeing Chinese papermaking, did the children have an interest in learning Chinese common phrases?
Chinese common phrases are not difficult, as long as we are patient and careful, we will discover the mystery. With the help of card memory, we hope that children can find fun and potential in language learning!
There are many benefits to figuring out thefastest way to learn Chinese, and the importance of learning Chinese cannot be overstated. Proficiency in Mandarin, an important dialect of China, has become a highly valued skill for professionals, and more and more international businesses are requiring their executives to master both Mandarin and English.
There are many reasons why Mandarin is one of the best business languages to learn:
• It has 1.1 billion native speakers, making it the most spoken language in the world.
• China’s middle class grew from just 4 percent of urban households in 2000 to 68 percent in 2012.
• Mandarin is the official language of Taiwan, Singapore and the United Nations.
While the complexity of Mandarin, the multitude of Chinese characters, and the different subdialects can be daunting for new learners, figuring out how to learn Chinese also brings many personal benefits.
You’ll gain insight into Chinese culture, especially its rich traditions, arts, and philosophies, which date back to around 500 BC to around 1000 AD, when Middle Chinese was already spoken.
Modern Mandarin developed from Middle Chinese. Despite being simpler and having a more regular sound system, it is still one of the most difficult languages to learn.
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks in Mandarin, he often mispronounces many words. For example, in a 20-minute speech in Mandarin at Tsinghua University in 2015, he confused the tone of “heart” to make it sound more like “faith.”
But despite these mistakes, he persevered, as did Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk and Rose’s leather company’s marketing director Billy Ball. These entrepreneurs know the value of learning Mandarin.
So, what’s the fastest way to learn Chinese? Let’s take a look together!
1. Make friends with Chinese One of the most effective ways to learn Chinese is to make friends with native Chinese speakers. This will not only improve your language skills, but also give you an insight into Chinese culture. With leisure activities such as eating together, going to a bar, or exploring China together, you can learn the language easily and naturally.
Choosing to live with a Chinese family through homestay arrangements can help with this and help you build lasting friendships. Chinese is known for its hospitality. To speed up your language learning process, find someone who regularly talks about everyday life in the language. Real-world conversations are invaluable for sounding natural and fluent.
2. Immerse yourself in the culture If you have a tight schedule and assume you’re going to China to study and need to learn the language, immersing yourself in the local culture is the best thing you can do.
By exposing yourself to Mandarin through movies, songs, and books, you can grasp the nuances that online courses and other materials may not offer. Knowing cultural history can enhance your appreciation of the language and motivate you to learn more.
3. Set realistic goals The speed at which you learn Mandarin depends on your goals. If your goal is to acquire enough language skills during a short trip, a few months of specialized study may be enough.
However, becoming fluent and mastering the language as a native speaker can take years of sustained effort. Recognize the challenges of learning Mandarin and set realistic and achievable goals. As a beginner, you can start by challenging yourself to learn five new words a day. This goal is not only easy to achieve, but it also helps you build your vocabulary.
There are many fastest way to learn Chinese, and the most important thing is to choose the right one for yourself! Interested children can learn more, walk behind the history of Chinese, and let us learn and grow together!
The study found that contemporary Chinese courses, as one of the compulsory courses for foreign children, are also the cultural courses that they focus on learning. Based on this background, in order to create a good learning and further study environment, we will increase the intensity of innovation in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
I believe that integrating cultural teaching into the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language is conducive to improving the effectiveness of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and can strengthen the communication and interaction between language and culture.
For a long time, cultural teaching has occupied a leading core position in China’s education and teaching process. In the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language, cultural teaching plays a huge positive role.
Chinese as a foreign language is mainly for foreign learners, and because the environment of foreign students is different from China, its regional culture is quite different from China. Therefore, when learning the Chinese language, we must first do a good job in cultural teaching and master the foundation and characteristics of cultural teaching.
The significance of Chinese teaching of Chinese as a foreign language is reflected in the following three aspects:
(1) It is conducive to the organic unity of language and culture
In the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, teachers can help students master the basic knowledge of Chinese as a foreign language through effective language transmission. On the other hand, it can lead students to appreciate Chinese culture and feel the true charm of Chinese language in the cultural background.
Chinese culture has a long history, contains the diligence and wisdom of people of all ethnic groups, and reflects the thinking and soul of the Chinese working people.
Therefore, effectively integrating cultural teaching into the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language can obviously deepen students’ understanding of Chinese and improve their ability to understand culture to a certain extent.
It can be said that the Chinese teaching of Chinese as a foreign language is conducive to the organic unity of language and culture, and finally realizes the dual education mode of language education and cultural education, so that children can master Chinese language knowledge while having a deep and comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture.
(2) It is conducive to the improvement of students’ Chinese language comprehension
In the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, effectively integrating cultural teaching and realizing the organic unity of language and culture can improve children’s understanding and mastery ability to a certain extent, which is conducive to children’s in-depth understanding of Chinese knowledge and Chinese culture.
At the same time, through the continuous penetration of cultural teaching, it can improve children’s Chinese language cognition, which is conducive to the cultivation of children’s strong interest in learning Chinese knowledge and understanding Chinese traditional culture.
Since the main learning subjects of contemporary Chinese courses are foreign children, these children do not know much about Chinese culture, so in the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
If teachers can integrate cultural teaching thinking and start from the level of Chinese culture to guide children to understand and master Chinese as a foreign language, then substantial results will be achieved, which is conducive to the improvement of children’s interest and learning ability in learning Chinese as a foreign language, and finally can achieve the expected learning goals.
(3)It is conducive to the cultivation of students’ practical communication skills
The main learning object of this course is foreign students who come to study and further study, because foreign children do not know much about Chinese language knowledge and culture, and often communicate in their mother tongue.
Therefore, in the process of learning, it is inevitable that it will be interfered and influenced by the mother tongue, which will bring certain difficulties to learning Chinese knowledge and seriously affect the ability to understand Chinese knowledge.
At the same time, because foreign children come from different countries and regions, there are certain differences in their ability to learn Chinese knowledge, and some children do not even know what Chinese culture is and the inevitable connection between Chinese culture and Chinese language.
Therefore, cultural teaching needs to be integrated into the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language, and through cultural teaching, it can accelerate the mastery of Chinese culture by children, realize the docking, exchange and interaction between the two cultures, and then improve the cross-Chinese communication ability and Chinese language practice ability.
As a systematic and complex teaching work, contemporary Chinese courses must be closely integrated with cultural teaching in the actual teaching process to realize the dual education teaching mode in order to meet the real needs of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
If it is only simple Chinese teaching, it does not organically combine Chinese teaching with cultural teaching, that is, ignores cultural teaching, this teaching method is obviously unreasonable and unscientific.
