The Chinese Zodiac Signs Have a Beautiful Backstory
It’s the year of the ox! But what does that really mean? Feb 11, 2021
As the Lunar New Year approaches on February 12, you re likely to hear about the Chinese zodiac, 2021 being the Year of the Ox, and other traditions associated with the holiday. But
what is the Chinese zodiac? Will 2021 s Year of the Ox usher in more luck than 2020 s Year of the Rat? For those who are unfamiliar, the Chinese zodiac can give further insight into the Lunar New Year and the many celebrations that make the beginning of the Chinese New Year.
Lychee nuts: Close family ties
Noodles or peanuts: A long life
Seeds: Having a large number of children
Tangerines: Luck
Learn how to write your name in Hanzi Chinese characters, also called Hanzi, are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world. Hanzi is short for Han characters , these logograms can be traced back to as far as the Shang Dynasty about 1200-1500BC. The total number of Chinese characters ever to appear in a dictionary is in the tens of thousands though many are outdated and not used. A university graduate who is literate in written Chinese known on average between three and four thousand characters - more are required for specialised fields.
Did the Chinese Invent Money?
In the Introduction to this book, first published in English in 2010, I wrote: “The idea of sound money was present from the very beginning of modern monetary theory in the works of the sixteenth-century Spanish Scholastics. . . .” Recent research has shown that the seeds of the theory of sound money were already present in Chinese writings centuries before the Scholastics.[1]
China was one of the first countries to develop a metallic money that was valued and exchanged by weight. Evidence suggests that this monetary regime originated during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) or the Zhou Dynasty (1122-221 B.C.). China was also one of the first countries to use precious metals as money and may have invented coined money. The long experience with a purely metallic monetary system naturally stimulated Chinese state officials, royal advisers, and philosophers to investigate and debate the origins and functioning of such a system and the policies
Weekly snapshot of China s archaeological news shanghaisun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from shanghaisun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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