Personality Traits Determined by Your Zodiac Animal 1

In our Chinese conversation lessons, we learned that there are 12 different zodiac animals in China. Today, we will further explore the myth of the Chinese zodiac system.

In the western astrology, a horoscope is an astrological chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. While in Chinese astrology, people uses a zodiac system based on twelve different animals which are called 十二生肖(shí èr shēnɡ xiāo). According to Chinese astrology, each zodiac animal (or Chinese horoscope) is used to symbolize the year in which a person is born.

Do you know which animal is your zodiac sign? What does it mean if you belong to, say, the year of the Dragon. Today, we will learn the personality of traits different zodiac animals have.

The Chinese Zodiac uses the details of your birth to uncover your personality traits, best lifestyle, career direction, and degree of happiness throughout your lifetime. The year you were born can tell a great deal about your personality, likes, dislikes and even who you will be compatible with as a mate. If you have figured out your Chinese zodiac animal, now it’s time to know what kind of personality traits you have.

Dragon Personality Traits

Dragon is the most vital and powerful one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals is born under a lucky star. People born in the year of the Dragon are expected to possess the following personality traits: energetic, excitable, short-tempered and stubborn. And because the dragon is a yang sign, so they are expected to have a lot of energy and bravery in whatever they do.

Pig Personality Traits

Another zodiac animal that Chinese people favor is Pig. Those born in the Year of the Pig can be relied upon for their loyalty and often make true friends for life. They have sweet temper and are always optimistic about the future. However, they can be easily taken advantage of by others because of their idealistic and naïve nature.

Dog Personality Traits

People born in the year of Dog are loyal, faithful, and true. They often inspire confidence in others and are always willing to help those in need. Like Pig, Dog people are those who can make best friends of.

Rooster Personality Traits

People born in the year of Rooster has the personality of being loyal and trustworthy, Rooster people are also sociable, very accomplished and usually very well-dressed.

Monkey Personality Traits

They have the character of being charming, charismatic and extremely inventive. People born in the year of the Monkey are most noted for their intelligence and clever genius in working out difficult problems for themselves and others.

Sheep Personality Traits

Sheep is the most creative sign according to the Chinese zodiac. People born in the year of the Sheep are often artistic, sensitive, sweet and charming. They have a sweet and easy temper and are easy to get along with.

Stay with us to learn about the personality traits of the other 6 Chinese zodiac animals. If you have any question, you can join our online mandarin tutor.

Chinese Upside-down Blessing

Chinese New Year is the biggest and most important festival in China. Many people especially those who are learning Chinese online like it very much, not only because it’s the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, but because of its various traditional customs. 

Of its many special traditions, pasting red paper signs with the word “blessing” on walls and doors can be very interesting.  The Chinese character for “blessing” is “福”, which Chinese people like very much. The character is a prayer for a happy life and a better future. The interesting thing or the seemingly weird thing about the tradition is that Chinese people pasted the papers sighs upside down. This has confused many foreigners who don’t know much about this traditional Chinese custom. Did the Chinese people did this by mistake? If not, why are these paper signs pasted upside-down?

Emperor of the Ming dynasty commanded his soldiers to kill selected families. The doors of the selected families would be marked by a blessing sign. The kind-hearted Empress Ma heard this and wanted to prevent it. She secretly commanded the whole city to paste the blessing sign on their doors, so the soldiers would have no idea which families they were supposed to kill. But one family pasted a “blessing” sign upside-down as they had been in a hurry.

Since the emperor couldn’t decide which one to select, she simply picked the family who pasted the blessing upside down. When the emperor was about to kill the family, Ma quickly intervened and said the upside down blessing has a special meaning.

The Chinese character 倒 which means “upside down” or “reverse” has exactly the same pronunciation as the character 到 which means “to arrive.” She argued that this family knew the soldiers would be arriving that day and by pasting the sign upside-down, they meant that the arrival of the soldiers would be a blessing. She asked how the emperor could possibly want to kill this patriotic and kind family. The emperor heard this explanation and quit his idea of killing the family. Time passed by, and “pasting the “福” upside down” was carried on from generation to generation as traditional custom on Chinese New Year.

HSK grammar

Five donts with Chopsticks

Chinese culture is a big part of online Chinese learning. However good we are at the wording, we may not be able to use the language properly if we know little about Chinese culture. In this article, we will learn five don’ts when using Chinese Chopsticks. Actually learning mandarin is not just to learn Chinese characters, grammar or pronunciation.

Chopsticks or kuai4 zi are the most commonly used tools for dining in China. It is convenient, light and easy to wash. But we should be careful when using chopsticks because there are many taboos that you should avoid by all means.When you do business with Chinese people, you may have used chopsticks, but do you know the taboos of using this dining tool? The followings are five things you are not supposed to do at table.

No.1: Don’t point to people with chopsticks, which is easy to understand. This is just like pointing to someone with your finger. Both of them are considered impolite at dinner.

No.2: Do not hold chopsticks in your mouth and suck them. It is regarded as lack of behavior in China, especially for women. If you suck them, you are very likely to make strange noises, which is often quite annoying. When a kid does this, it is not as bad as an adult does it, but it is not right anyway, so the parents or teachers will stop him or her from doing so.

No.3: Do not use your chopsticks to hit the bowl or the plate, either when you feel bored or happy. That’s what beggars do when they beg for food.

No.4: Do not put your chopsticks in the middle of a bowl of rice before eating. In China, people stick up lighted incenses to remember their pass-away ancestor. This behavior is very like the activity of showing respect to the dead, so it is the biggest taboo you should avoid at a Chinese home.

The difficult part lies in the cultural aspect. That’s why we should attach equal importance to culture learning when learning mandarin.

Color black in Chinese

In the previous Study Chinese series, we have leaned the color of Green and its meaning in Chinese culture. Today, we will learn another color: Black.

The Chinese character for this color is 黑色. This character may be a little complicated when we write it, so we should really pay some efforts in learning Chinese characters.

In western or American culture, black may not be a pleasant word. For example, people in those countries may use “black day” to describe a bad or sad day. Another example is the “Black Friday”, which is believed by many Christians that Jesus died on that day. So, black Friday means unlucky day.

But, black, corresponding to water, is a neutral color in China. The Daoism regards black as Heaven’s color. That’s why the Taiji symbol uses black and white to represent the unity of Yin and Yang. Ancient Chinese regarded black as the king of colors and honored black longer than any other color. And the Dao School chose black as the color of the Dao. 

In modern China, black is used in daily clothing. And in some area, black may also be used during a funeral to symbolize the spirit's return to the heavens. A black ribbon is usually hung over the deceased's picture.

Color learning is a big part of Chinese language learning, because of its meanings underneath the word. You may study Chinese or learn pinyin with a tutor if necessary, because a face-to face guidance will certainly be more helpful.