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Part One Overview of Chapter 1 The Land and the People 地理条件与人文概况

Section 1

Geography China is located in the eastern part of the Asian continent, on the western Pacific rim, covering 9.6 million square kilometers. China is the third largest country in the world, ranking after Russia and Canada—approximately seventeen times the size of France, 1 million square kilometers smaller than all of Europe, and 600,000 square kilometers smaller than Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the south and central Pacific).

China’s additional offshore territory, including territorial waters, special economic areas, 中 and the continental shelf, totals over 3 million square kilometers, bringing China’s overall territory 国 to almost 13 million square kilometers. 文 化 Western China’s Himalayan Mountains are often referred to as the roof of the world. （ 英文 Mount Qomolangma (known to the West as Mount Everest), at over 8,800 meters in height, is the ） roof’s highest peak. China stretches from its westernmost point on the Pamir Plateau to the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers, 5,200 kilometers to the east.

When inhabitants of eastern China are greeting the dawn, people in western China still face four more hours of darkness. The northernmost point in China is located at the midpoint of the Heilongjiang River, north of Mohe in Heilongjiang Province. The southernmost point is located

at Zengmu’ansha in the Nansha Islands, approximately 5,500 kilometers away. When northern

002 China is still gripped in a world of ice and snow, flowers are already blooming in the balmy south. The Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea border China to the east and south, combining to form a vast maritime area. The Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea connect directly with the Pacific Ocean, while the Bohai Sea, embraced between the two

“arms”of the Liaodong and Peninsulas, forms an inland sea. China’s maritime territory includes 5,400 islands, which have a total area of 80,000 square kilometers. The two largest islands, and Hainan, cover 36,000 square kilometers and 34,000 square kilometers respectively.

From north to south, China’s ocean straits consist of the Bohai, Taiwan, Bashi, and Qiongzhou Straits. China possesses 20,000 kilometers of land border, plus 18,000 kilometers of coastline.

Setting out from any point on China’s border and making a complete circuit back to the starting point, the distance traveled would be equivalent to circling the globe at the equator.

China is bordered by in the northeast; Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan

in the north; Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and India in the southwest; and A P n a Burma, Laos and in the south. r t v e O r v

Across the seas to the east and southeast it faces Japan, the Philippines, , Brunei n i e e and Indonesia. w o f C

China s land drops off in escarpments ( ) eastward to the ocean, letting in humid air h

’ 急斜坡 i n currents and leading many rivers eastward. Among the rivers totaling 220,000 kilometers in a length in China, the Changjiang ( River) and the Huanghe (Yellow River) are world- known.

China has beautiful scenery, with mountains and ranges, highlands, plains, basins, and hills.

The highlands and hill regions account for 65 percent of the country’s total land mass, and there are more than 2,000 lakes.

China has 22,800-kilometer land borders. The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and south by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China Seas, with a total maritime area of 4.73 million square kilometers.

An integrated territory, a tidy shape, plus a combination of inlands and islands, constitutes an important characteristic of the Chinese territory. The integrated territory is advantageous to national defense, while numerous islands are advantageous to the exploration of ocean and international exchange.

003 Section 2

Climate and Resources China enjoys a superior geographical position. Located in East Asia, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, China faces the ocean in the southeast and stretches to the Asian inland in the northwest. Most of the national territory is distributed at middle latitude. It is thus characterized by a continental climate. The latitude spans nearly 50 degrees. The greater part of the Chinese territory is situated in the temperate zone, its southern part in the tropical and subtropical zones, and its northern part near the frigid zone. Temperatures differ therefore rather strikingly across the country. The northern part of Heilongjiang Province has long winters but short summers; while the Hainan Island has long summers but no winters. The Huaihe River Valley is marked by distinctive seasonal changes, but it is spring all year round in the south of the -

Plateau. In the northwest hinterland ( 内地), the temperature changes dramatically. China high tundra zone (冻土带) is situated in the -Tibet, where the temperature is low in all four seasons. Some desert areas are dry all year round. However, as a result of global warming, the climate is changing in some parts of China, especially in the north.

China abounds in natural resources. It leads the world in many proven mineral deposits. No country in the world boasts more wildlife than China, many of which are native to China, such as

the giant panda, the Chinese river dolphin (白鳍豚), and the Chinese alligator (扬子鳄); China’s dawn redwood (水杉) and Cathaya argyrophylla (银杉) are known as the living fossils of ancient plants.

中 To protect the nation’s native animals and plants, especially the endangered species, China 国 has established more than 700 nature reserves. 文 化 （ 英文 Section 3 ）

The Capital

Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China. It is not only the nation’s political centre, but also its economic, cultural, scientific and educational heart and a key transportation hub. Beijing has served as a capital for more than 800 years. The city has many places of historic

004 interest and scenic beauty, including the Imperial Palace (also known as the Forbidden City), the largest and best-preserved ancient architectural complex in the world; the Temple of Heaven, where and Qing emperors performed solemn rituals for bountiful harvests; the Summer Palace, emperors’magnificent garden retreat; the Ming Tombs, the stately and majestic mausoleums of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors; and the world-renowned and genuinely inspiring Badaling section of the Great Wall. Large-scale construction since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 has brought great changes to Beijing. Today’s Beijing still retains the alluring fascination of an ancient capital, but has added a small forest of skyscrapers and a complete range of municipal facilities, transforming itself into an attractively modern metropolis redolent (令人回忆或联想 的) of history.

Section 4 A P n a O r t The National Flag, National Emblem and National v e O r v n i

Anthem e e w

The national flag of the People s Republic of China is red in color, rectangular in shape, o ’ f C with five stars on it. The proportion between the length and height of the flag is three to two. The h i n five five-pointed yellow stars are located in the upper left corner. One of them, which is bigger, a appears on the left, while the other four hem it in on the right.

The red color of the flag symbolizes revolution and the yellow color of the stars symbolizes the golden brilliant rays radiating from the vast red land. The design of four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The national emblem of the People’s Republic of China is ’anmen in the center illuminated by five stars and encircled by ears of grain and a cogwheel. The ears of grain, stars,

Tian’anmen and cogwheel are painted golden, and the inner part of the circle and hanging ribbons are painted red because these two colors are traditional Chinese colors representing auspiciousness (吉祥) and happiness. Tian’anmen symbolizes the unyielding national spirit of the Chinese people in their fight against imperialism and feudalism; the ears of grain and cogwheel represent the working class and the peasantry; and the five stars stand for the great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC.

005 The national anthem was adopted in 1935, with the lyrics written by Tian , and the music by Er. This , originally named March of the Volunteers, is the theme song of the film Young Heroes and Heroines in Stormy Years 《( 风云儿女》). The film describes the people who went to the front to fight against the invaders in the 1930s when Japan invaded and the fate of the Chinese nation was hanging in the balance.

March of the Volunteers, inspiring and forceful, expresses the determination of the Chinese people to sacrifice themselves for national liberation, and their fine tradition of bravery, firmness and unity in their fight against aggression. It was for this reason that on September 27, 1949 the CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) and on December 4, 1982 the National People’s Congress officially decided to adopt the song as the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China.

Section 5

Administrative Divisions China is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Government, and two special administrative regions. The 23 provinces are Hebei, , , Jilin, Heilongjiang, , , , Guizhou, Yunnan, , , , Qinghai, Shandong, , , , , , , Taiwan and Hainan; The five autonomous regions are , , , , and Tibet; The four municipalities are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing; and are the two special administrative regions. 中 国 文 Section 6 化 （ 英文 ） Nationalities and Population China, as the world’s most populous country, has a population of about 1.4 billion (2019), which makes up about 18.1 percent of the world total. China is a multi-ethnic country with 56

ethnic groups. The largest group, the Han, makes up over 91.59% of China’s vast population, and the world uses the term,“Han culture”, to refer to . The 55 ethnic minorities,

006 nestling in China’s vast frontiers, maintain their own rich traditions and customs. Great contributions have been made by the ethnic minorities to China’s culture and science. Many of China’s beautiful poems, myths, folk tales, songs, and dances come directly from ethnic minorities.

Han Nationality

As mentioned before, the Han nationality is the largest among the 56 nationalities in China, making up about 92 percent of the total population.

The Han people are found in all parts of the country, but mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Pearl River as well as the Songliao Plains.

The Han nationality has their own spoken and written language, known as the , which belongs to the Chinese-Tibetan language family. It is commonly used nowadays throughout China and is one of the working languages of the United Nations. The Chinese A P n a O language has a history of four thousand years, originating from pictograph. Traditionally, agriculture r t v e O was the Han s main occupation. Agriculture provided the nation s basic wealth and was highly r

’ ’ v n i e e advanced, especially in irrigation and intensive farming. There was also a high level of handicraft w o production, such as bronze, silk, porcelain, architecture and painting. The Han culture belongs to f C h i the world’s oldest civilizations, boasting a lot of outstanding achievements in many fields including n a politics, military affairs, philosophy, literature, history, art and natural science, etc. The rich Han culture has given birth to many notable scientists, philosophers, artists and poets who, as the nation’s elite, have had a great impact on the course of Chinese history. China’s four great inventions — compass, papermaking, printing and gunpowder — have exerted a great influence on the history of human development.

In the Han culture, , whose concepts and teachings have dominated the thinking of the Chinese ruling class as well as intellectuals for the last two thousand years, is a philosophy rather than a religion. Ancestor worship is widely practiced across the entire country; although it has been simplified in modern times, it never fades away from the Chinese community. Buddhism is the most popular form of Chinese religion. Since its introduction in 400 A.D., Buddhism has slipped into and occupied almost every aspect of the Chinese lifestyle. Daoism (Taoism), named national religion, originated in the , but is not widely accepted.

The appellation (称谓) of“Han”originated from the Han Dynasty during the 2nd and 3rd

007 centuries, the first prosperous dynasty of Chinese history after unified China. It continues to be the majority population in China, once merged with many different tribal like the (

夷), Rong (戎), (狄) and Man (蛮). Before that, the people were called“Huaxia (华夏)”. The earliest Han people can be traced to the Huaxia tribe, who originally settled in the

middle area of the Yellow River. The legendary leader of the Huaxia tribe was Di (黄帝). The Chinese refer to themselves as the descendants of Huang Di, and describe the Yellow River as the cradle of their civilization.

National Minorities

China is a large country noted for its dense population and vast territory. There are altogether 56 ethnic groups in China. The defining elements of an ethnic group are language, homeland and social values. 53 ethnic groups use spoken languages of their own, and 23 ethnic groups have their own written languages.

The Han people can be found throughout the country, though mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River valleys, and the Northeast Plain. The national minorities, though fewer in number, are also scattered over a vast area, mainly distributed in the border regions from Northeast China to North, Northwest and Southwest China. The largest is the 16.9-million-strong ethnic group in Southwest China. Additionally, Yunnan Province, home to more than 20 ethnic groups, has the greatest diversity of minority people in China.

Equality, unity and common prosperity are the fundamental objectives of the government in handling the relations between ethnic groups. China exercises a policy of regional autonomy for 中 国 various ethnic groups, allowing ethnic groups living in compact communities to direct their own 文 affairs. 化 （ In most of China’s cities and county towns, two or more ethnic groups live together. Taking 英文 shape over China’s long history, this circumstance of different ethnic groups living together in ） one area while still living in individual compact communities in special areas continues to provide the practical basis for political, economic and cultural intercourse between the Han and the other minority groups, and for the functioning of the autonomous national minority areas system.

008 The 55 minority groups are: Achang, , Blang, Bonan, Bouyei, , Daur, De’, Dong, Dongxiang, Dulong, Ewenki, Gaoshan, Gelao, Hani, Hezhe, , Jing, Jino, Jingpo, Kazak, Kirgiz, Korean, Lahu, , Lisu, Lohba, Manchu, Maonan, Miao, Monba, Mongolian, Mulam, Naxi, Nu, Oroqen, Uzbek, Pumi, Qiang, Russian, Salar, She, Shui, Tatar, Tajik, Tibetan, , Tujia, Uygur, Wa, Xibe, , Yi, Yugur, Zhuang.

Section 7

Language and Characters Chinese is commonly used in modern China. It is one of the five working languages designated by the United Nations.

Origin of A P n a O r t v e O r v n i e e w o f C h i n a

As a written language, Chinese has been used for about 6,000 years.

Characters

Chinese characters have played a significant role in the development of Chinese culture. Chinese characters are one kind of the most ancient characters. In the world, there were originally ancient Sumerian and ancient Egyptian letters. However, the two disappeared successively and only Chinese characters remain extant.

Chinese characters, based on pictographs and combining shape, sound and meaning, are a kind of unique, block-shaped characters with meanings. Chinese characters originated from drawings.

009 Archaeological researchers found many signs carved on earthenware excavated from the Banpo

Village in Xi’an City and Jiangzhai Village in Lintong. These marks were carved during the Yangshao Culture Period some 6,000 years ago in the primitive society. More than 4,000 years

ago, people living in the Tai’an area of Shandong Province also carved some signs on earthenware. Take the character“ 旦 (meaning‘dawn’)”for instance. The ( 日) rises upward crossing mountains and passing through cloud layers to tell people the morning has approached. It is safe to say that signs on earthenware are the origin of Chinese characters. That is to say, Chinese characters originated from drawings.

The most mature, earliest Chinese characters that have been discovered are Jiaguwen (甲骨 文，inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones) of the Dynasty (1765-1122 B.C.) more than 3,000 years ago. The inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells really look like drawings. Up till now, China has unearthed 150,000 pieces of animal bones and tortoise shells and has altogether discovered more than 4,600 non-repeated Chinese characters, among which more than 1,700 have been identified. The inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells included phrases and simple sentences, providing much knowledge about the . Modern Chinese characters total more than 60,000, among which about 3,000 are frequently used ones.

Evolution of Chinese Characters

It has taken a long time for Chinese characters to evolve from Jiaguwen to the characters we use today.

In the Shang Dynasty (1765-1122 B.C.) and Western Dynasty (1121-771 B.C.), there was also one kind of inscription on bronze ware, which was called Zhongdingwen (钟鼎文). The 中 inscription on bronze ware also looks like drawings. After the first emperor of the 国 (221-207 B.C.) unified China, unified Chinese characters and formed Xiaozhuan (小篆, lesser 文 seal script), which is a very beautiful style of characters. 化 （ Since it was very time-consuming to write Xiaozhuan, people in the Qin Dynasty further 英文 improved the characters and created a new style called Lishu (隶书, clerical script). In the Han ） Dynasty (206 B.C.- 8 A.D.), Lishu became the main general typeface. It broke away from the pictograph characteristic of ancient Chinese characters and laid some foundation for the emergence of Kaishu (楷书, ). Kaishu came into being in the late Han Dynasty and was formed based on Lishu. After Kaishu appeared, the block-shaped Chinese characters were finalized. Kaishu has been used ever

010 since, and has become a standard calligraphy in general use for the longest time.

In addition, when Lishu was in general use, there was another type of calligraphy called Caoshu (草书, cursive script); after that there emerged Xingshu (行书, semi-cursive script).

Word-Formation of Chinese Characters

Chinese characters mainly have four ways of formation, namely pictographs ( 象 形), indicatives (指代), ideographs (会意) and pictophonetics (形声). Pictographs are characters describing the shape of an object. For instance, the character

“日”looks like the sun;“月”, the moon;“山”, a hill; and“鹿”, a running deer. Indicatives refer to characters that employ a kind of sign to indicate certain meaning. For

instance, the character“刃”is formed by adding a point to the knife-edge“ ( 刀”means knife) and it means the blade.“一”,“二”and“三”are simple characters to indicate the numbers one,

two and three respectively.“本”and“末”respectively refer to the root and the top of a tree A P n a O ( means tree). There are only a few indicatives among Chinese characters. Pictographs and r t

“木” v e O r

indicatives are both one-element characters. v n i e e Ideographs are characters formed by combining simple elements, which are usually w o f characters themselves, to provide new meanings. For instance, (rest) consists of C “ 休 ” “ 人 h i n

(person)”and“ 木 (tree)”and it means a person is leaning against a tree.“ 明 (bright)”is a combined by two elements:“ 日 (sun)”and“ 月 (moon)”;“ 林 (wood)”and“ 森 (forest)”are composed of two and three“木(tree)”respectively to indicate there are many trees;“采(pick)”is composed of“爪(it originally meant hand)”and“木(tree)”and means picking fruit on a tree with hands. Ideographs are compound characters. Pictographs, indicatives and ideographs do not have components indicating sounds and they all belong to characters indicating meanings.

Pictophonetics are characters formed with a component indicating the pronunciation and a component indicating the meaning. This way of word formation breaks away from the formation of those words just indicating meaning and makes the creation of characters much easier. More than 90% Chinese characters are formed in this way.

Chinese characters are known as square characters because each is independent. Each Chinese character is made up of three basic elements: form, sound and meaning. For example,

the form of the character“日”is a square with“一”in it, its sound is“ri”, and its meaning is the sun.

011 There are many interesting combinations and changes of these three elements. In terms of writing formation, the smallest unit of characters is stroke. Some characters have as few as one stroke, such as“一”and“乙”, whereas more complex characters are made up of as many as 40 strokes. There are eight basic strokes for characters: horizontal, vertical, dot, curve left, curve right, vertical plus right tick, vertical plus left tick, and horizontal plus vertical. There is a group of characters known as one-part characters that includes“日”,“月”,“人”, and“口”. However, most characters are compound characters and composed by two or more parts, such as“ 明 ”, “朋”“, 从”“, 唱”“, 谢”and so on.

Section 8

Surnames and Given Names Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago. There are more than 5,000 family names, of which 200 or 300 are popular. The order of Chinese names is the family name first and then the . For instance, the family name of a person called Bai Juyi is Bai, and the given name is Juyi.

Among these names, Li, and are the most commonly heard, given to about 250 million Chinese.

The surname is generally composed of one character or syllable, such as Zhang, , Li or . There are also two-syllable, three-syllable or even four-syllable , such as (欧 阳), ( 诸 葛), ( 司 马), ( 公 孙); Zhukehun ( 朱 可 浑), Buliugu ( 步 六 孤), 中 Houmochen (侯莫陈) and Jingjiangliushi (井疆六氏), etc. 国 A given name is usually two words but can also consist of just one syllable. A full Chinese 文 name always has two or three characters, but can also have four or more if there are both a 化 （ compound surname and a two-syllable given name. Since ancient times, the one-syllable surname 英文 and two-syllable given name has been the norm in China. ） Traditionally, a is often passed down through the father, and Chinese women always retain their family names even after marriage.

Today a Chinese person’s name consists of a surname and a given name. In ancient China, however, naming was very complicated and involved a lot of things, such as the name of the tribe and the place where a person lived.

012 In ancient China, one person usually had several names, and naming involved ( 姓, surname), shi (氏, name), ming (名, given name), and zi (字, ). Xing and shi together formed today’s surname, and ming and zi formed today’s given name. Today, people use xingshi to refer to a person’s surname, mingzi to refer to one’s given name. Xing and shi, ming and zi are not used separately. In ancient times, however, each of these four words meant a different thing. A person’s ming and zi were normally given by his or her elders. , a great patriotic poet of ancient China, for example, was given“”as his ming and“Yuan”as his zi. As a rule, ming was given shortly after one’s birth, while zi was given only when one came of age (usually at 20). In ancient times, xing was related to one’s family line, whereas shi to one’s social status or rank of some kind; shi was normally for the notable families, and generally ordinary people didn’t have shi.

Besides the above-mentioned names, some people in ancient times also had (号, literary name; sobriquet). Hao was different from both ming and zi in that it was chosen by oneself rather than by others. A person often had more than one hao. Hao was not used to address one another A P n but as a signature in one’s poetic and artistic works. Hao usually revealed one’s aspirations and a O r t v

moral values. For instance, , a great writer of the , named himself e

“ O r v n i

Yi Jushi ( , Six-one Recluse) in his later years, which meant an old man who amuses e

六一居士 ” “ e w

himself with one ten-thousand volume of books, one thousand volumes of ancient bronze and o f C stone inscriptions, one qin (a musical instrument), one game of chess and one pot of wine”. h i n In ancient times, ming was used when referring to oneself during social intercourse, and it was a considered a breach of etiquette to address other people by ming. Zi was used by one’s friends, people of the same generation or colleagues at the same level. Zi, which was generally composed of two characters, was related to ming in meaning and served as an explanation of or a complement to ming. Examples are 诸葛亮 (孔明), 白居易 (乐天) and 杜甫 (子美). Study of ancient Chinese documents shows that xing originally referred to the names of different matriarchal (母权的) tribes. It also had something to do with the place where people lived. Research shows that xing came into being during the matrilineal (母系的) society period, i. e., about four to five thousand years ago.

Ancient xing had several sources. The sources were generally from the following: 1. from certain totems, including Long (龙, dragon), Feng (凤, phoenix), (熊, bear) and (马, horse); 2. from noble titles, including Wang (王, king), (侯, marquis), and (伯, earl); 3. Others were taken from the names of ancient kingdoms, including (齐), (鲁), Han (韩) and Qin (秦); 4. Some were from feudal titles, such as Sima (司马, a high military official), Taishi (太

013 史, a high civil official), Shuai (帅, marshal or commander-in-chief) and (尉, military officer); 5. Still others came from job titles, such as Bu (卜, fortune-telling), (陶, pottery), Wu (巫, sorcery teacher) or (乐, music). Also, some were from the names of the places where one was born or where the ancient tribes lived. For example, according to the historical record, Shennong ( 神农) Di’s mother lived by the Jiang River, so her xing was Jiang; Xuanyuan (轩辕) Huang Di’s mother lived by the River, so her xing was Ji. In addition, Chinese surnames can be classified into several groups according to their meanings, representing number, season, direction, profession, animal, plant and color, etc.

These origins of names are not unique to China — English names also often come from job titles, such as Taylor, Carpenter or Smith, or place names such as York or Kent, or even natural formations such as Hill, Moor or Lake.

The surname is symbolic of blood relations and the given name is more individual and personal. Chinese people have traditionally attached a great deal of significance to how they

name a child. There is a proverb that says,“To help children learn a skill is better than to pass wealth on to them, but to give a good name to children is better than to help them learn a skill.” Given names reflect the cultural psychology, ethical traditions, values, aspirations and interests of Chinese people. As a result, popular names have varied with changing events in history.

The difference between xing and shi lay not only in the chronological order but also in the fact that xing showed the blood relation by which marriages were arranged while shi indicated

fiefs or professions which manifested people’s social status. However, xing and shi gradually merged into one after the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.) and their difference became meaningless. Xing alone has been used since then. 中 Also, in ancient China, xing might have followed the transliteration of minorities’names, 国 such as Chanyu (单于), Zhangsun (长孙) and Yuchi (尉迟), etc. 文 化 （ 英文 Categories of Chinese Surnames ） At present, there are about 300 most commonly used surnames in China. According to the latest statistics from China, Chinese with the surname Zhang alone number more than 100 million, making it one of the most popular surnames in China. It is said that the number is equal

to the sum of Britain and France’s population.

014 Another set of statistics reveals that the number of Chinese with the first 10 major surnames makes up 40% of the Chinese population. The 10 major Chinese surnames are Zhang (张), Wang (王), Li (李), (赵), (陈), Yang (杨), Wu (吴), Liu (刘), Huang (黄) and Zhou (周). Below are the next 10 major surnames: (徐), (朱), (林), Sun (孙), Ma (马), (高), (胡), (郑), (郭) and (萧) — Chinese with these surnames make up over 10% of the population. The third category of 10 major surnames includes (谢), He (何), Xu (许), Song (宋), Shen (沈), Luo (罗), Han (韩), (邓), (梁) and (叶). The following 15 surnames form the fourth largest group: (方), (崔), (程), (潘), (曹), Feng (冯), Wang (汪), (蔡), Yuan (袁), Lu (卢), Tang (唐), (钱), (杜), (彭) and Lu (陆).

Exercises 1. Choose the best answer.

1) The People’s Republic of China is ______largest country of the world. A P n a O r

a. the second b. the c. the third d. the fourth t v e O r v

2) China s vast sea surface is dotted ______more than 5,000 islands. n

’ i e e a. at b. with c. in d. about w o f

3) As a written language, Chinese has been used for ______years. C h i n

a. 6,000 b. 5,000 c. 4,000 d. 7,000 a 4) The Chinese language belongs to the ______language family. a. Uralic b. Indo-European c. Austro-Asiatic d. Chinese-Tibetan 5) Modern Chinese characters total more than 60,000, among which about ______are frequently used characters. a. 1,000 b. 2,000 c. 3,000 d. 4,000

2. Fill in the blanks. 6) In the world, there were originally ancient ______and ancient ______letters. However, the two disappeared successively and only ______remain extant.

7) The national flag of the People’s Republic of China is ______in color, ______in shape, with ______. 8) Each Chinese character is made up of three basic elements: ______, ______and ______.

015 9) The order of Chinese names is ______first and then the ______. In ancient China, one person usually had several names, and naming involved ______, ______, ______, and ______.

3. Translate the following Chinese terms into English.

10) a. 故宫 ______b. 自然保护区 ______c. 自治区 ______d. 特别行政区 ______11) a. 汉族 ______b. 道德传统 ______c. 社会地位 ______d. 汉字 ______

4. Explain the following in English. 12) The difference between xing and shi; 13) The main stages of the evolution of Chinese characters.

5. Answer the following questions. 14) What are the four main ways of formation of Chinese characters? 15) Why is hao different from ming and zi? 16) What is the general composition of a Chinese surname? Please illustrate it with examples.

6. Discuss the following question in groups. 17) Why are Chinese characters the only ones that remain extant among the three most ancient in the world, the other two being ancient Sumerian and ancient Egyptian letters? 中 国 文 化 （ 英文 ）

016