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Chinese Symbols - Country
The Peoples Republic of
China was established on the 1st October 1949 and its capital city is
Beijing. The currency of China is the Renminbi, also commonly known as
the Yuan. In Chinese villages, farming is extremely important and crops
include rice, cotton, wheat, potatoes, maize and sugar cane. Orchids,
Bamboo, Gingko and Tea are examples of China's most important plants and
trees. Tai Chi is an ancient martial art and traditional form of
exercise which originated in China and is taught all over the world.
Chinese Symbols - Hope
The Chinese have many
symbols of hope and their love of celebrations and festivals is a sign
to people all over the world how strong and important their culture is
to its people. The biggest festival in China is Chinese New Year and
lasts for fifteen days in January and February. Its start date is
dictated by the date of the new moon. The Mid-Autumn or Moon festival celebrates the harvest
each year. The Chinese New Year celebrations and the Moon festival are just two examples of celebrations of hope for the
future and symbols of hope include the national symbol of China, the
dragon as well as the gift envelopes which are the children's favorite!
Children are presented with red envelopes containing money by friends
and relatives at Chinese New Year and also at other celebrations.
Chinese Symbols - Luck & Happiness
The color red is
symbolic of good luck and happiness in China. Children are given red envelopes
containing money and brides traditionally wear red on their wedding day.
The character Fu is usually hung on the walls of Chinese homes all over
the world during the new year celebrations. It represents good luck and
happiness and the ideogram is often stitched in fabric. The logograms
for both the luck and happiness symbols are shown below.
Chinese Symbols - Peace
There are many different
ethnic groups in China, the largest of these is 'Han' followed by 'Zhuang'.
Religions practiced in China include Christianity, Islam, Buddhism,
Taoism and Confucianism. The main religions are Taoism and Buddhism.
Each individual religion has its own specific symbols. The Chinese
translation of the word peace is shown below.
Chinese Symbols - Tattoos
Dragons are an extremely
popular choice for those wishing to use Chinese symbols in their tattoo
design. In China, dragons are symbols of strength and good luck. The
logograms below show the most popular choice for tattoo designs, they
are simple images using traditional Chinese symbols but portray an important and personal message. Each
picture shows the English translation underneath.
Chinese Symbols - Love
Love is defined as
affection, kind feeling, friendship, strong liking, desire and fondness.
Perhaps you are
looking for a way to tell that special person how you feel about them?
Why not include the Chinese symbol for love in your message? The Chinese
symbol for love is shown above, why not include it in a message to your
loved one or as a tattoo design?
Chinese Symbols - Alphabet
The Chinese alphabet uses
logograms as opposed to letters to represent words. Logograms are
similar to ideograms, the difference being that ideograms represent
letters where logograms represent a particular word. The following
Chinese phrases are shown with their English
translation:
Nee how - Hello
Chying - Please
Dway - Yes
Boo dway - No
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Symbols
Fact 1: Confucianism is a religion based on the
teachings of Confucius, a wise man who lived over 3,000
years ago and is based around a set of rules for living |
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Symbols
Fact 2: The Taoist religion teaches its followers
how to live in balance with nature |
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Symbols
Fact 3: Buddhism teaches people how to find peace
and perfection and they also believe in reincarnation |
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Symbols
Fact 4: The Yangtze river divides the north and
south of China |
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Symbols
Fact 5: The color red in the Chinese flag symbolises
revolution |
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Symbols
Fact 6: The Kiwi Fruit is the national fruit of
China |
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Fact 7: The Giant Panda is the national animal of
China |
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Fact 8: The March of the Volunteers (Yiyonggjun
Jinxingqu) is the Chinese national anthem |
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Fact 9: The Chinese refer to their country as 'Zhongguo'
which means 'Middle Kingdom' as the ancient Chinese
believed their country was the centre of civialisation |
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Fact 10: Traditional Chinese boats are called junks |
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Fact 11: The Terracotta army guard the tomb of
Emperor Qin Shihuang near Xi'an. They consist of 10,000
clay figures and chariots |
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Fact 12: The world's second highest mountain, K2 is
on the border of China and Pakistan |
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Fact 13: The 'Clay forests' are rock formations
found in the Tibetan Plateau |
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Fact 14: The official language of China is Mandarin |
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Fact 15: The forbidden city is the largest palace in
the world and one of the worlds most popular tourist
attractions. It was originally the home of the rulers of
China (Emperors) |
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Fact 16: Dragon boats carry 22 people, they are made
from wood and have been made in China for over 2,000
years. They compete in races including the Qu Yuan Cup
where the boats are decorated in bright colors. In order
to help the team row at the same time one of the team
members hits a drum |
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Fact 17: The national symbol of China is the Chinese
dragon |
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Fact 18: Mooncakes are a popular treat in China,
they are pastries with a sweet filling |
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Fact 19: The 'Silk Road' is an ancient trade route
which linked China, Europe and the Middle East |
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Fact 20: The Jade Emperor appears in Chinese culture
and is one of the most important gods in Chinese
religion |
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Fact 21: There are five stars on the Chinese flag,
the single large flag represents Chinas government and
the four small stars are symbolic of its people |
Chinese Symbols
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