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Chinese Chess
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altXiangqi (xiàng qí 象棋) is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. The first character (xiàng 象) here has the meaning "image" or "representational", hence Xiangqi can be literally translated as "representational chess". The game is sometimes called "elephant chess" after an alternative meaning of 象 as "elephant". Besides China and areas with significant ethnic Chinese communities, Xiangqi is also a popular pastime in Vietnam (yue nan 越南). The game represents a battle between two armies, with the object of capturing the enemy's "general" (jiāng jūn 将军) piece.

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Classical Gardens of China
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 Classical Garden
Classical Chinese garden design, which intend to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou (sū zhōu 苏州). They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Dating from the 11th-19th century, the gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous (yì sī bù gǒu 一丝不苟) design.

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Mid-Autumn Festival
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  Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōng qiū jié 中秋节), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people and Vietnamese (yuè nán rén 越南人) people (even though they celebrate it differently), dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty (shāng cháo 商朝).It was first called Zhongqiu Jie in Zhou Dynasty (zhōy cháo 周朝). In Malaysia (mǎ lái xī yà 马来西亚) and Singapore (xīn jiā pō 新加坡), it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival.

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Buddhism in China
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Early History of Buddhism in China
Buddhism (fó jiào 佛教) is the most important religion in China. Buddhism was introduced from India into China in 6th Century AD. One of the Hen Emperors sent a mission to the west of China and brought back the scriptures (jīng wén 经文), Indian monks and the images of Buddha. Since then Chinese translation was made available and the further exchange of scholars among altChina, India and other Asian countries brought about the rapid development of Buddhism in China. Buddhist monasteries (xiū dào yuàn 修道院) and temples were built to promote the Buddhism and some of the Emperors were also the followers of Buddhism. Buddhism, just like Confucianism (rú jiào 儒教) and Taoism (dào jiào 道教), guides people to behave, to be honest and responsible. It promotes harmony and peaceful mind, sharing and compassion. Buddhists never force people into their belief. Buddhism emphasizes in "awakening of mind". Through learning, one will develop intellectual capacity to the fullest so as to understand, to love and be kind to other beings.

Buddhism does not believe in God. It believes in People. In Buddhist teaching, there is no aggressive promotion of Buddhism or strong rejection of other religions. All these make Buddhism fall into the same scope of Confucianism and Taoist. Its ability to co-exist with any other religions makes it being developed into one of the largest religions in China.

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Ci (词)
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alt

Ci (cí 词) is a kind of lyric Chinese poetry. For speakers of English, the word "ci" is pronounced somewhat like "tsuh". It is also known as Changduanju (cháng duǎn jù 长短句 "lines of irregular lengths") and Shiyu (shī yú 诗馀).

Typically the number of characters in each line and the arrangement of tones were determined by one of around 800 set patterns, each associated with a particular title, called cipai (cí pái 词牌). Originally they were written to be sung to a tune of that title, with set rhythm, rhyme, and tempo. Therefore, the title may have nothing to do with its contents, and it is common for several ci to appear to have the same title. Some ci would have a "subtitle" (or a commentary, sometimes as long as a paragraph) indicating the contents. Sometimes, for the sake of clarity, a ci is listed under its title plus its first line.

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Tang Poetry (唐诗)
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Tang PoetryTang poetry (táng shī 唐诗) refers to poetry written during China's Tang Dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝), often considered as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. According to a compilation created under the Kangxi (kāng xī 康熙) emperor of the Qing Dynasty (qīng cháo 清朝), there were almost 50,000 Tang poems written by over 2,200 authors.

During the Tang Dynasty, poetry became an important part of social life at all levels of society. Scholars were required to master poetry for the civil service examinations, but the art was available to everyone. This led to a large record of poetry and poets, a partial record of which survives today. Two of the most famous poets of the period were Du Fu (dù fǔ 杜甫) and Li Bai (lǐ bái 李白).

 

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