Chinese Culture (General)

This article is quite interesting: 1. The article mentions that China was the only developing country that contributed to a 1 percent mapping of human genome. 2. How China is making an effort to map the genome of pigs or porkys. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, You will be `surprised' to learn that there are lots of books on Chinese culture. Especially before the communists take over but unfortunately, many are in Mandarin. This is why, they are hard to find. If one were to walk into a Chinese book shop, there are lots of titles and topics (Mandarin books). In Singapore, there are several good Chinese book stores devoted to selling Mandarin books on a wide range of topics. Many Chinese classics such as the Four Scholars etc... have been interpreted in English .... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, No, this is not true. China, does have its own commercial airlines. Like in the US, there are domestic, regional and international airlines. A few Chinese commercial airlines have offices in Singapore. In the past, it is quite `scary' to take their domestic flights because of the poor reputation of maintenance. Especially the poor safety. But things have improved today. For international flights, these are generaly safe as they conform to the International safety standards. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Article on how sharksfin was removed from the menu of Thai Airlines: 1. Part 1: The story 2. Part 2: Picture and comments 3. Part 3: Final part of the article.

Dear Anon, 1. It is very often to hear the phonetic sound of a word and relate it with being auspicious or inauspicious. It implies: "Hey, you want me to go `quickly' to my death is it?" Unfortunately, the pear in Mandarin is called `li' which can mean separation. 2. Thus it is inauspicious or considered inauspicious for married couples to cut pear in halves. Which symbolically implies separation. 3. There is some truth in what you have mentioned. 4. The Chinese dread the `7th month'. This is the month where it is said that ghosts are let free to roam on earth. It is far worse to give pears on the 15th day of the 7th month as it is said to bring more sadness to loved o…

Dear Anon, 1. In my opinion, many Chinese even before learning English, have to learn `many languages'. 2. For example, take the case of a Chinese in Malaysia. Usually, the child picks up one or two Chinese dialects in their home. This is because more often, each parent may speak one or more dialect even before they go to school. 3. When the child goes to school, he/she has to learn e.g. English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. Thus, imagine, a child this young has to grope with 5 languages! Each language has it own `gramma' etc... While in an `English' speaking country, one's mother tongue may be `English' and later on, the child gets to learn e.g. Spanish. In my opinion,…

Dear Anon, 1. In my opinion, it is indeed very disappointing to reflect on the achievement of Chinese in China. Other than bringing `stability' to the country, I believe not much achievement is made especially since the Communist take-over. 2. However, if one objectively look at some of the achievements made by overseas Chinese, many overseas Chinese have contributed to the development of their `adopted' country abeit some of them (in my opinion) being discriminated in some of their adopted countries. In my opinion, these overseas Chinese have either contributed to scientific field and many are good in commerce. In commerce, many Chinese hold prominent positions and earn…

Dear Anon, 1. Not all overseas Chinese eat dog meat. Especially the `English' educated or if they are staying in a more affluent country away from China. 2. In Hong Kong, it is still common for Chinese to eat dogs. These dogs are specially breed to be slaughtered unlike pet dogs. If you do go to a Chinese food store, or those that do stock Chinese canned food, it is equally common to find `Rabbit's meat'. To some of us, rabbits are considered pets and no way we want to eat them. 3. Like sharks fins, abalone, some Chinese find it a delicacy to eat dog's meat. There are even some Chinese shows that `suggest' that when these people eat dog's meat, when they go near to dogs…

Dear Anon, 1. It should be `charcoal' instead of coal. 2. Usually, this is kept inside a built in cabinet e.g. in the kitchen together with the charocal stove indefinitely. (Especially for at least one year). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anonymous, Yes I do understand what you are trying to say and you are quite right. I was probably just grumpy that day, but yes I do agree that the purpose of such forums is indeed to exchange knowledge and learn. Thank you for replying Robert B.

Dear Anon, There is indeed some validity to this idea. The traditional belief is that the East represents the dragon and the Yang side, while the West symbolizes the tiger and the Yin side - especially in a large macro environment. However, in modern times, this is less relevant concern to smaller spaces such as a home apartment. The impact of sleeping on one side or the other is minimal. What truly matters now is not the position in which one sleeps, but rather how to maintain a successful marriage. Understanding theoretical concepts is futile if it does not contribute to a lasting and fulfilling relationship. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, The best example would be Taiwan. Many Chinese fled to Taiwan from mainland China after the near defeat of Nationalist Army defeat is a good example. For other overseas Chinese, in the past, prior to the Communist rule i.e. many Chinese wanted to seek better pastures overseas. Thus, many Chinese immigrated to neighbouring countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia in the hope of making money. Many Chinese, the poorer ones would make money and remit it to their loved ones in China especially in the 1800s to 1940s. Many Chinese are thus very successful in their adopted country. Majority of them control vast empires of commerce and the wholesale, middlema…

Para 8. in the attachment tells of who inhabits China:)

Dear Anon, 1. Sharks fin soup is indeed a delicacy amongst the Chinese. 2. It is a tedious task to boil the sharks fins in broth until it becomes soft, yet `cruncy' (I hope I said this correctly). Sometimes, crap meat is added to the soup. 3. On other occassions, it comes concentrated with a `lump' of sharks fins. Depending on the quantity and restaurant, it can costs as much as US$30 or more for one small plate of this delicacy. 4. Usually, the restaurants buy the sharks fins in bulk and as they can easily be `kept' e.g. dried, they can be boiled whenever needed. Contrast this with the meat of sharks. Shark meat like other fish meat, need proper storage. 5. Sharks meat …

Dear Anon, 1. So far, if I can recall, no Chinese, who represent China has got a nobel prize. Anyway, I may be wrong about this. 2. One interesting thing to note thou is that in one of my books, I believe it was the Applied Feng Shui book, I mentioned that because of the Chinese hexagram or 8 x 8 combinations, one Nobel prize winner mentioned that he attributed his discovery to this: 2.1 This is where he jointly discovered the DNA structure which is based on 8 x 8 or the 64 hexagrams. 2.2 Another person said that the same 64 hexagram lead to the discovery of the binary numbers in computer language. 3. Chinese which has more than 4,000 year civilization, has quite an amazi…

Dear Anon, 1. In ancient China, camels were used as `workhorse' mainly to transport salt between China and Central Asia especially through the harsh Gobi desert. 2. Actually, the Chinese do not have a good impression of the camels as they considered it a lazy animal. 3. Only during one of the dynasties i.e. Tang that art and artwork on camels arise. Otherwise, it has always been an `uninteresting' animal as compared to the Dragon etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, 1. Yes, in a recent documentary on China, I saw that this is still popular especially in the rural areas. 2. The documentary includes how these simple kites were made. And even complex ones that looks like a dragon etc... 3. It is also interesting to note that glass is often pounded into fine grains of glass. `Glue' e.g. rice glue is used to coat the string with these fine grains of glass. Here, the kite owner would fly his/her kite close to another kite and try to pull or jerk the kite to `cut-it'. The action of the fine glass piece can easily cut another kite like a mini saw. This is considered `Kite fighting' and adds excitement to the activity for some peop…

Dear Anon, I believe, th Sung dynasty Chinese poetry and painting associates the horse with military greatness. The horse also symbolises courage and strength. The galloping horse represents engery, perserverance and speed. Thus overall, the hourse has many auspicous meanings and thus, featured widely even under the Sung dynasty. In fact, the horse, turned out to originate from the west and brought into China since as early as the Shang Dynasty period. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, 1. Traditionally, it is common to find a pair of Lions guarding each side of a main entrance in China. 2. Here, many Chinese especially overseas Chinese have followed this belief and placed similar sets of lions on both sides of their main door. 3. One good example is the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, where you find two bronze statues on each side of the main entrance. 4. While in China, these statues are carved in stone. But since Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank is in the Banking area (Metal element) it thus use Metal (bronze) lions instead of stone ones. 5. Usually, these lion guardians are simply statues and serves more to give an impression (to human beings) rather …

Dear Anon, 1. Yes, this is quite true for some overly superstitious Chinese. 2. Not all Chinese belief in this but there are some who considered it inauspicious to use water from the bathroom. 3. Anyway, these are just a `small group' of Chinese. 4. In modern times, so long as the water comes from the tap, many fish lovers have instead, collected water from the rain or use tap water. But if tap water is used, the water is not immediately poured into the fish tank but kept for several days (in order for the flouride and other neutralising agents to settle). Some hobbist even purchase neutralising agents and add a few drops to the water to neutralise this. So that the wate…

Dear Anon, 1. Yes, indeed, this is a popular belief that a home should not have too many `holes'. 2. Most importantly, the frontage of the house should have windows and main door in the right proportion ie. the windows should not be extremely large. At the same time, if the main door has sliding glass panels, avoid opening all the panels. Some houses have both sliding panels and main door. Avoid opening the sliding panels if you can. 3. Under commonsense approach, it is best to avoid having too many windows. This is to avoid, an unsecured home e.g. attractive to a `cat burgler' especially if the house is a corner house or there is a forest behind the house. Warmest Regar…

Dear Anon, Yes, this is true based on Chinese Astrology, taking into consideration, a person's YEAR Chinese Astrology chart. Reference: http://www.geomancy.net/love/cdragon.htm Under the above link, where possible, pairings `best avoided' is between a dragon and dog:- "A mismatch. There is a serious clash of personalities. The problem is that both have strong characters and unyielding character. There must be compromises and sacrificies but it is hard to relate to each other and there will be no communication between the two and tempers will fly. There will be constant bickering and the relationship may be short-lived." Need to work real hard on the above relationship. Ge…

Previously, I wrote the following:- "Furthermore, cutting down the bamboo, without removing the roots, cause little cups or catchment for mosquitoes as mosquitoes can breed in the circular tubes or hollowes caused by cutting down the trunk." Attached, please find the photos showing that unlike a single tree; bamboo trees grow sideways. Photos also shows that when we cut some of the bamboo plants; one may cause little cubs that may collect water & perhaps cause mosquito breeding in the wet season. > I read somewhere that chinese people consider it inauspicious to grow bamboo plants in the back or si…

A comical look at Chinese Names and their `meaning'/`significance':- Anne Chang (in Mandarin) - dirty Anne Chin (in Mandarin) - keep quiet Faye Chen (in Mandarin) - dusty Carl Chng (in Hokkien) - buttock Monica Cheng (in Hokkien) - touching your buttocks Michael Tan (in Cantonese) - selling eggs Tommy Huang (in Mandarin) - Tang Ming Huang : Ming Dynasty's emperor Lucy Liaw (in Hokkien) - you are dead Judy Soo (in Malay) - lost in gamble Jane Tan (in Mandarin) - fried egg Suzie Leow (in Hokkien) - lost till death Henry Tan (in Hokkien) - let you wait Henry Mah (in Mandarin) - hate your mum=20 Corrine Tai (in Hokkien) - poor fellow Paul Chan (in Mandarin) - bankrupt Nelson …

In China, it is quite common to find children catch crickets in the autumn. These children will train the crickets for fighting. And in some cases, the prize for a winning cricket is an handsome reward of an animal. The cricket signifies `fighting spirit'. Thus, it is generally considered auspicious. But it is not necessary true that it should be given as a gift i.e. the real insect. For a piece of jewellery, it depends on marketing of the piece as it is not a well known `object'. Warmest Regards, Cecil