Before the finish line, there was a huge river, which the exhausted rat cunningly crossed by convincing the ox to let it sit on its head. 鼠 ( shǔ) - RatĪccording to legend, the rat was the first to cross the finish line of a race organized by the Jade Emperor, or 玉皇 (yù huáng). You might know all 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, but do you know what each of them represents? To understand a little more about Chinese New Year’s customs, here are all the Chinese zodiac animals in their correct order, accompanied by brief explanations of their characteristics and symbolism. Instead of repeating what you already know, I’m going to share with you a whole list of animals that bear great significance in Chinese culture. Beyond the Farm: 50 Symbolic Animals in ChineseĬhances are you’ve already encountered the common animals in previous vocabulary lessons. Getting the right pet, as well as decorating one’s home and office with a certain animal motif is believed to help achieve what one desires in life, such as love, success and longevity. The symbolism behind these animals plays a huge role in many Chinese people’s daily lives. To understand their significance in everyday lifeĮver wonder why some elderly Chinese men and women keep cicadas as pets, or why Chinese aunties hang paintings of goldfish in their living rooms? Knowing the differences between different animals’ symbolic characteristics will help you determine the underlying messages or meanings in Chinese art and literature. While those are safe assumptions, there’s a lot more to animal symbolism in Chinese culture, such as love, nobility and protection. To understand animal symbolism in Chinese art and literatureįor those with minimal knowledge on the subject, you might guess that animals featured in Chinese artwork and literature signify things like longevity, luck or prosperity. Plus, knowing animals in Chinese is such a simple way to build your vocabulary in general, as you eventually work your way up to more advanced nature vocabulary. This is because there’s a good chance your film and literature choices will include animals. If you’re reading Chinese texts or watching Chinese animated movies for language practice, you’ll definitely benefit from having a substantial repertoire of animal vocabulary. (Download) Why You Should Study Animals in Chinese To expand your animal vocabulary
#Symbol for female in china pdf#
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Not only are you about to learn the Mandarin words for 50 real and mythical animals, but you’ll also learn their fascinating cultural significance and symbolism.
There’s more to animals in Chinese than just simple word for word translations, as you’re about to find out!
This is in part due to the significance of animal symbolism in Chinese. To an English-speaking woman, this might not be taken as a compliment, but the opposite is true to a Chinese woman. Mandarin also has its own share of animal idioms to describe human characteristics.įor example, a woman referred to as 虎背熊腰 (hǔbèixióngyāo) - with a back like a tiger and a waist like a bear is implying that she has an impressively strong and masculine figure. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: In English, being referred to as pig-headed or a one-trick pony isn’t exactly the nicest thing someone can say about you.
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