15 个英文传统文化素材,高中三年高频考试热点!
传统文化热潮下,我们在英语备考过程中要对传统文化深层理解。这里
为大家总结了 15 个传统文化素材,这些知识和话题可以运用到书面表达中,
非常难得哟。
Dumplings 饺子
Dumplings are one of the Chinese people's favorite traditional dishes.
According to an ancient Chinese legend, dumplings were first made by the
medical saint---Zhang Zhongjing.
There are three steps involved in making dumplings: 1) make dumpling
wrappers out of dumpling flour; 2) prepare the dumpling stuffing; 3) make
dumplings and boil them. With thin and elastic dough skin, fresh and tender
stuffing, delicious taste, and unique shapes, dumplings are worth eating
hundreds of times. There's an old saying that claims, “Nothing could be more
delicious than dumplings”. During the Spring Festival and other holidays, or
when treating relatives and friends, Chinese people like to follow the auspicious
custom of eating dumplings. To Chinese people who show high reverence for
family love, having dumplings at the moment the old year is replaced by the
new is an essential part of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new
year.
饺子是深受中国人民喜爱的传统食品。相传为古代医圣张仲景发明。饺
子的制作是包括:1) 擀皮、2) 备馅、3) 包馅水煮三个步骤。其特点是
皮薄馅嫩,味道鲜美,形状独特,百食不厌。民间有“好吃不过饺子”的俗语。
中国人接亲待客、逢年过节都有包饺子吃的习俗,寓意吉利。对崇尚亲情
的中国人来说,“更岁交子”吃饺子,更是欢度除夕、辞旧迎新必不可少的内
容。
The Great Wall 长城
The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world that created by human
beings! If you come to China without climbing the Great Wall, it's just like
going Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower; or going to Egypt without visiting
the Pyramids! Men often say, "He who doest not reach the Great Wall is not a
true man."In fact, it began as independent walls for different states when it was
first built, and did not become the "Great Wall" until the Qin Dynasty. However,
the wall we see today, starting from Shanhaiguan Pass in the east to Jiayunguan
Pass in the west, was mostly built during the Ming Dynasty.
长城是人类创造的世界奇迹之一。如果你到了中国却没去过长城,就像
到了巴黎没有去看埃菲尔铁塔,或者到了埃及没有去看金字塔一样。人们
常说:“不到长城非好汉。” 实际上,长城起初只是一些断断续续的城墙,
直到秦朝统一中国后才将其连成长城。但是,今天我们看到的长城——东
起山海关,西至嘉峪关——的大部分都是在明代修建的。
Chinese Chopsticks 筷子
The Chinese way of eating with chopsticks is unique in the world. The
recorded history of chopsticks started more than three thousand years ago.
Chopsticks were named zhu in ancient Chinese. They look deceptively simple to
use, but possess multi-various functions, such as clamping, turning over, lifting
up, raking, stirring, scooping, poking, tearing, and so on.
Chopsticks were taken as an auspicious mascot by ordinary people in ancient
China. For example, the partial tone of chopsticks is often used by people as a
metaphor at weddings to indicate a blessing or benediction for the couple to
have a baby soon. Unlike using a knife and fork or one's own hands, a pair of
chopsticks also implies the meaning of “Harmony is what matters”. Chopsticks
are highly praised by Westerners as a hallmark of ancient oriental civilization.
中国人使用筷子就餐的方式在世界上独树一帜。有史记载用筷的历史已有
三千多年。筷子古时称为箸,它看似简单,但却同时具有夹、拨、挑、扒、
拌、撮、戳、撕等多种功能。中国民间视筷子为吉祥之物,如婚俗中将筷
子隐喻为快生贵子的祝福等。与使用刀叉以及手抓的方式不同,成双结对
的筷子含有“和为贵“的意蕴。西方人赞誉筷子是古老的东方文明。
Chinese kung fu 中国功夫
Chinese kung fu, or Chinese martial arts, carries traditional Chinese culture
in abundance. It is a traditional Chinese sport which applies the art of attack and
defence in combat and the motions engaged with a series of skill and tricks. The
core idea of Chinese king fu is derived from the Confucian theory of both “the
mean and harmony” and “cultivating qi” (otherwise known as nourishing one's
spirit). Meanwhile, it also includes thoughts of Taoism and Buddhism. Chinese
kung fu has a long history, with multi-various sects and many different boxing
styles, and emphasizes coupling hardness with softness and internal and external
training. It contains the ancient great thinkers’ pondering of life and the universe.
The skills in wielding the 18 kinds of weapons named by the later generations
mainly involve the skills of bare-handed boxing, such as shadow boxing
(Taijiquan), form and will boxing (Xingyiquan), eight trigram palm
(Baguazhang), and the skills of kung fu weaponry, such as the skill of using
swords, spears, two-edged swords and halberds, axes, tomahawks, kooks,
prongs and so on.
中国功夫即中国武术,是将技击寓于搏斗和套路运动之中的中国传统体
育项目,承载着丰富的中国民族传统文化。其核心思想是儒家的中和养气
之说,同时兼容了道家、释家的思想。中国武术源远流长、流派林立、拳
种繁多,讲究刚柔并济、内外兼修,蕴含着先哲们对生命和宇宙的参悟。
后世所称十八般武艺,主要指:徒手拳艺,如太极拳、形意拳、八卦掌等;
器械功夫,如刀枪剑戟、斧钺钩叉等。
Chinese characters 汉字
Chinese characters were initially meant to be simple pictures used to help
people remember things. After a long period of development, it finally became a
unique character system that embodies phonetic sound, image, idea, and rhyme
at the same time. The writing system, which was extremely advanced in ancient
times, began with inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells, and these are
regarded as the original forms of Chinese characters. Afterwards, Chinese
characters went through numerous calligraphic styles: bronze inscriptions,
official script, regular script, cursive script, running script, etc. Chinese
characters are usually round outside and square inside, which is rooted in
ancient Chinese beliefs of an orbicular sky and a rectangular Earth. The five
basic strokes of Chinese characters are “一“ (the horizontal stroke) “丨” (the
vertical stroke), “丿”( the left-falling stroke), “乀” (the right-falling stroke), and
“乛” (the turning stroke).
汉字是从原始人用以记事的简单图画,经过不断演变发展,最终成为一
种兼具音、形、意韵的独特文字。现存中国古代最早成熟的文字是甲骨文,
被认为是现代汉字的雏形。此后,汉字又经历了金文、隶书、楷书、草书、
行书等不同的阶段。汉字结构“外圆内方“, 源于古人”天圆地方“的观念。
汉字有五种基本笔画,即:横、竖、撇、捺、折。
Yangko 秧歌
Yangko is one of tradition folk dance of Han in China. It is usually
performed in northern provinces. The dancers usually wear colorful and light
costumes, and the performance is powerful and rapid. During some festivals
such as Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, if people hear the sound of drum and
gong, no matter how cold the weather is , they will come to street and appreciate
the Yangko. Recent years, the old people in city of east-northern of China
organized the team of Yangko by themselves, the teamers keep their health by
dancing Yangko the whole year.
秧歌舞是中国汉族的一种民间传统舞蹈,通常在北方省份表演。秧歌舞
者通常穿上明亮多彩的表演服装,他们的表演动作有力迅速。在农历春节、
元宵节等节日期间,人们一旦听到锣鼓声,不管外面天气有多冷,他们都
会蜂拥到街上看秧歌舞表演。近年来,中国东北某些城市的老年人自发组
织了了秧歌队,队员常年通过跳秧歌舞来保持健康,同时他们也乐在其中。
Acupuncture 针灸
Acupuncture is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In
accordance with the “main and collateral channels” theory in TCM, the purpose
of acupuncture is to dredge the channel and regulate qi and blood, so as to keep
the body's yin and yang balanced and achieve reconciliation between the internal
organs. It features in traditional Chinese medicine that “internal diseases are to
be treated with external therapy”. The main therapy of acupuncture involves
using needles to pierce certain acupoints of the patient's body, or adopting
moxibustion to stimulate the patient’s acupoints so as to stimulate the
channels and relieve pain. With its unique advantages, acupuncture has been
handed down generation after generation and has now spread all over the world.
Nowadays, acupuncture, along with Chinese food, kung fu (otherwise known as
Chinese martial arts), and traditional Chinese medicine, has been internationally
hailed as one of the “four new national treasures.”
针灸是中医学的重要组成部分。按照中医的经络理论,针灸疗法主要是
通过疏通经络、调和气血,来达到阴阳归于平衡,使脏腑趋于调和之目的。
其特点是“内病外治”。主要疗法是用针刺入病人身体的一定穴位,或用艾火
的温热刺激烧灼病人的穴位,以达到刺激经络。治疗病痛的目的。针灸以
其独特的优势,流传至今,并传播到了世界,与中餐、功夫、中药一起被
海外誉为中国的“新四大国粹”。
Chinese Dragon 龙
Dragon totem worship in China has been around for the last 8,000 years. The
ancients in China considered the dragon (or loong) a fetish that combines
animals including the fish, snake, horse and ox with cloud, thunder, lightning
and other natural celestial phenomena. The Chinese dragon was formed in
accordance with the multicultural fusion process of the Chinese nation. To the
Chinese, the dragon signifies innovation and cohesion.
对龙图腾的崇拜在中国大约已绵延了八千多年。中国龙是古人将鱼、蛇、
马、牛等动物与云雾、雷电等自然天象集合而成的一种神物。 中国龙的形
成与中华民族的多元融合过程同步。在中国人的心目中,龙具有振奋腾飞、
开拓变化的寓意和团结凝聚的精神。
Chinese Beijing Opera 京剧
Praised as “Oriental Opera”, Beijing Opera is a genuine national
quintessence of China. It originated from many kinds of ancient local operas,
especially huiban in southern China. At the end of the 19th Century, Beijing
Opera evolved and took shape, becoming the greatest kind of opera in China.
Beijing Opera is a blend of performing arts---song, speech, performance,
acrobatix fighting and dance. Beijing Opera portrays and narrates the plot and
characters through stylized acting. The main types of roles in Beijing Opera are
sheng (male), dan (young female), jing (painted face, male), and chou (clown,
male or female).
京剧被誉为“东方歌剧”,是地道的中国国粹。它起源于中国多种古老的
地方戏剧,特别是南方的“徽班”。到了 19 世纪末,京剧形成并成为中国最
大的戏曲剧种。京剧是综合性表演艺术,集唱(歌唱)、念(念白)、做
(表演)、打(武)、舞(舞蹈)为一体,通过程式化的表演手段,叙述
故事,刻画人物。角色主要分生(男性)、旦(女性)、净(男性)、丑
(男性女性皆有)四大行当。
Chinese Idioms 中国成语
Chinese idioms refer to comprehensive and integrated fixed phrases and
expressions. Idioms are established and accepted by constant usage and common
practice. An idiom is a language unit that is larger than a word, but has the same
grammatical function as a word. Most Chinese idioms consist of four characters.
For example, ziqiangbuxi (make unremitting efforts to improve oneself),
qingchuyulan (bluer than indigo), and houjibofa (success comes with time and
effort). Idioms are extrated from folk proverbs, ancient works of literature,
poems, fables, allusions, and well-known sayings. Idioms are a part of the
Chinese language that are concise and have great vitality.
中国成语是汉语中意义完整的表示一般概念的固定词组或短语。“成语”
中的“成”即是约定俗成。成语是比词大而语法功能又相当于词的语言单位。
绝大多数的中国成语由四个汉字组成,例如:自强不息、青出于蓝、厚积
薄发。成语主要从民间谚语、古代文学作品、诗歌、寓言、典故、名言警
句等方面提炼而成,是汉语语言中精炼而又富有生命力的一部分。
Silk 丝绸
China is the home of silk. Mulberry planting, sericulture, silk reeling and
thickening are all great inventions of the ancient Chinese. As early as the Shang
and Zhou Dynasties (1600BC-256BC), the Chinese people's silk-weaving
techniques had reached an extremely high level. During the Western Han
Dynasty (206BC-25AD), Zhang Qian, an outstanding diplomat, travelled around
central Asia and connected China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean,
opening up a new era of Sino-foreign trade, exchange and communication. From
then on, China's silk became well known for its extraordinary quality, exquisite
design and color, and abundant culture connotations. Hitherto, Chinese silk has
been accepted as a symbol of Chinese culture and the emissary of oriental
civilization.
中国是丝绸的故乡。栽桑、养蚕、缫丝、织绸是中国古代人民的伟大发
明。商周时期丝绸的生产技术就已发展到相当高的水平。西汉时张骞通西
域,把中原与波斯湾、地中海紧密联系起来,开辟了中外交流贸易的新纪
元。从此中国的丝绸以其卓越的品质、精美的花色和丰富的文化内涵闻名
于世,成为中国文化的象征。东方文明的使者。
Chinese Classical Garden 中国园林
The Chinese classical garden is a precious treasure of our ancient Chinese
architecture. It is a kind of environment art, which systematically combines
artificial mountains and rivers, plants and buildings with the natural landscape.
The construction standard of a Chinese classical garden is “artificial as it is, the
garden must look ingenious and natural.” When you go sightseeing in a Chinese
classical garden, you should be able to appreciate its artistic concept which
“makes use of the natural landscape to create the real fun of mountains and
rivers for viewers.” Of the world’s three major garden systems, the Chinese
classical garden is hailed as one of the origins of the world's garden due to its
long history and abundant connotations.
中国园林是把人造的山水、植物、建筑等与自然地貌有机结合的环境艺
术,是我国古代建筑艺术的珍宝。其建造原则是“妙极自然,宛自天开”。游
赏中国古典园林,能充分领略“假自然之景,创山水真趣”的园林意境。在世
界三大园林体系中,中国园林历史悠久、内涵丰富,被誉为世界造园史上
的渊源之一。
The Four Treasures of the Study 文房四宝
The writing brush, ink stick, ink stone, and paper were requisite treasures in
the study of the scholars of ancient China, and they are often referred to as the
“Four Treasures of the Study.” The writing brush and ink stick have been used
by the Chinese to write and paint since 5,000 years ago. In the Qin Dynasty
(221BC---206BC), people already used feathers of different hardness and
bamboo trunks to make brushes. During the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD),
man-made ink was used instead of natural ink. After paper was invented by the
Chinese, bamboo slips, wooden tablets, brocade and silk, which originally
functioned as writing surfaces, gradually faded out. The ink stone was first
developed with the use of writing brushes and ink. After the Song Dynasty
(960AD---1279AD), the “Four Treasure of the Study” particularly referred to
hubi, the writing brush produced in Huzhou, Zhejiang province; huimo, the ink
stick produced in Huizhou, Anhui province; xuan paper, a kind of paper
produced in Xuanzhou, Anhui province; and duanyan, the ink stone made in
Zhaoqing, Guangdong province (Zhaoqing was earlier called Duanzhou). Indeed,
the Four Treasures of the Study” have written the whole Chinese civilization, as
it is.
笔墨纸砚是中国古代文人书房当中必备的宝贝,被称为“文房四宝”。用
笔墨书写绘画在中国可追溯到五千年前。秦时已用不同硬度的毛和竹管制
笔;汉代以人工制墨替代了天然墨;有了纸张以后,简牍锦帛逐失其用;
砚台则随笔墨的使用而发展。“文房四宝”到宋朝以后特指湖笔、徽墨、宣纸、
端砚。可以说文房四宝书写了整个中华文明。
Chinese Seal 印章
A seal can also be defined as a stamp. Both the Chinese official and private
seal of various dynasties have different titles, such as stamp, zhu note, contract,
fu, lease and others. The seals used by the emperors of ancient China were
called xi, yin, bao, etc. According to historical records, seals were widely used
during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC). The making of a seal is to
engrave fonts, such as seal characters and official script and so on; or images in
the form of intaglio and embossment into the seal, basically shaped as round or
square. Covered with a vermilion overlay, the Chinese seal is not only used in
daily life, but it is also used to represent signatures on paintings and
calligraphies. It is gradually becoming one of China's unique artworks.
印章就是图章。中国历代官、私所用的印章有印信、朱记、合同、符、
契等等不同的称谓,而帝王所用的印章古时称玺、印、宝、章等。据史料
记载,印章在战国时代已普遍使用。印章的制作是将篆隶等字体、图像用
阴、阳的形式雕刻而成,形状以圆、方为主。印章用朱色钤盖,除日常应
用外,又多用于书画题识,逐渐成为中国特有的艺术形式之一。
Chinese Era 天干地支
The Chinese era is the symbol that the Chinese calendar uses for recording
and naming years. The ten Heavenly Stems are: jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng,
xin, ren, gui. The twelve Earthly Branches are: zi.chou, yin, mou, chen, si, wu,
wei, shen, you, xu, hai. After observing the lunar month, the ancients found that
the moon always wazes and wanes roughly 12 times a year, and two lunar
months account for about 60 days, so the order of the ten Heavenly Stems and
the order of the twelve Earthly Branches are properly matched in turn. In terms
of recording date, 60 years is considered to be a full time cycle. The Chinese era
chronology was first invented in ancient times and is still in use now.
天干地支是中国历法中用以记录和命名年岁的方法。十天干为:甲、乙、
丙、丁、戊、已、庚、辛、壬、癸;十二地支为:子、丑、寅、卯、辰、
巳、午、未、申、酉、戊、亥。古人观测朔望月,发现月亮圆缺 12 次大体
上是一年的天数,而两个朔望月约是 60 天。古人以十天干与十二地支的顺
序依次相配,记录不同年份,60 年为一个轮回。干支纪年法从古沿用至今。