International Leadership Charter High School Ms. … Leadership Charter High School Ms. Sun Summer Packet 06/09/2016 II. Chinese Culture 1

International Leadership Charter High School Ms. Sun Summer Packet 06/09/2016

Name: ________________ Family: _________________ I. Basic knowledge:

1. Read the following pinyin based on the English equivalent sounds.

2. Do research and find out the English meaning of the following phrases.

你好！（nǐ hǎo!)

你好吗？（nǐ hǎo ma?）

我很好。（wǒ hěn hǎo.）

你呢？（nǐne?）

谢谢。（xièxie.）

不客⽓气。（bù kèqì.）

再见。（zàijiàn.）

⽼老师（lǎoshī.）

3. Copy the following greeting phrases in Chinese characters.


你

nǐ

好

hǎo

！

你

nǐ

好

hǎo

吗

ma

？

我

wǒ

很

hěn

好

hǎo

。

你

nǐ

呢

ne

？

我

wǒ

也

yě

很

hěn

好

hǎo

。

姓名: greeting

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谢

xiè

谢

xiè

！

不

bù

客

kè

气

qì

。

再

zài

见

jiàn

。

老

lǎo

师

shī

。

同

tóng

学

xué

。

姓名: greeting



4. Copy the following numbers in Chinese characters five times.

⼀一⼆二三四五六七⼋八九⼗〸十

yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

一一一一

二二二二

三三三三

四四四四

五五五五

yī

èr

sān

sì

wǔ

姓名: numbers



II. Chinese Culture

1. Read the article about the Chinese astrology, and answer the following questions:

The Chinese Zodiac - Zodiac Signs of the Chinese The Chinese lunar calendar dates back to the second millennium BCE. Unlike our calendar, which numbers the years progressively from a given time (the birth of Christ), the Chinese calendar is cyclical. Each cycle is made up of 12 years; after the 12th year, the cycle is repeated. The Chinese associate each year of a 12-year cycle with an animal, and they refer to the years as "the year of the dragon," "the year of the ox," and so forth. The 12 animals and the years associated with them are often represented on a circular chart, and for this reason they are known as animals of the zodiac. The use of the animal names in the calendar led to the development of Chinese astrology. Astrology can be defined as a pseudo-science linking human destinies to charts associated with heavenly

六六六六

七七七七

八八八八

九九九九

十十十十

liù

qī

bā

jiǔ

shí

姓名: numbers



bodies or the recording of time. The Chinese believed the characteristics of a given zodiac animal influenced the personality of every person born in that year. They used this information to create horoscopes, daily predictions based upon the year of one's birth. Although the reading of horoscopes is popular in modern Chinese culture, few people take the predictions seriously. The Chinese zodiac has twelve signs. Originally, these signs did not have animals associated with them but were signs used to record dates. They were called the 12 Earthly Branches and 10 Celestial Stems and their use went back to the Shang dynasty. Later, each of the 12 earthly branches came to be designated by an animal sign: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar. There is a folk story that describes how the animals were assigned to the cycle of years. A long time ago, the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals together to assign each of them a year. When the cat heard the news, he let his friend the rat know about it and the two animals decided to go together the next day. However, the next day the rat did not wake the cat who, being a cat and loving to nap, slept through the morning. Therefore, the cat did not make it to the assembly on time and did not get a year. This is why there is no year of the cat and this is why cats hate rats. The rat, on the other hand, made it first there and received the first year. He did not achieve this without trickery either. He knew that a small animal like him would not be able to compete with the others, so he begged the ox to let him ride on its head. The ox consented and they went together. Just when they were about to arrive, the rat jumped off the ox's head and got through the finish line first. This is why the year of the rat is the first year in the cycle and the year of the ox is the second. Discussion questions 1. How does the Chinese calendar work? 2. What are the 12 animals of the zodiac and how were they chosen? 3. What traits are associated with them? 4. How are the animals used as symbols? 5. Based on the story, what words (adjectives) could be used to describe the rat, cat, and ox?

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International Leadership Charter High School Ms. … Leadership Charter High School Ms. Sun Summer Packet 06/09/2016 II. Chinese Culture 1