Level 6 · Lesson 15

中国的文化和历史
Chinese culture and history

汉朝、唐朝、春节——文化就在这些词里。

A longer stretch of listening about dynasties and festivals, and how to keep going past a word you don't know.

听 · Listen

在博物馆
 安娜 —  李明，这个博物馆真大。中国的历史很长吧？ 
Li Ming, this museum is huge. Chinese history is very long, isn't it?  
 李明 —  很长。你看，这些东西是汉朝的，差不多两千年以前的。 
Very. Look — these things are from the Han dynasty, about two thousand years ago.  
 安娜 —  汉朝……跟汉语的汉一样吗？ 
The Han dynasty … the same 汉 as in 汉语?  
 李明 —  一样。汉语的汉就是从汉朝来的。后来的唐朝也很有名，那时候很多外国人来中国学习。 
The same. The 汉 of 汉语 comes from the Han dynasty. The later Tang dynasty is famous too — in those days a great many foreigners came to China to study.  
 安娜 —  中国最重要的节日是哪个？ 
Which is the most important Chinese festival?  
 李明 —  春节。春节是农历的新年，也是最重要的传统节日。到了春节，无论多远，大家都要回家跟家人一起吃饭。 
Spring Festival. It is the New Year of the farmers' calendar, and the most important traditional festival. When it comes round, no matter how far away people are, everyone goes home to eat with the family.  
 安娜 —  我们国家也有这么重要的节日。文化不一样，可是这个习惯很像。 
We have a festival that matters as much. Different cultures, but that habit is very much the same.  
 李明 —  那你今年来我家过春节吧。你会看见很多传统的东西。 
Then come to my house for Spring Festival this year. You'll see plenty of the old traditions.  

讲解 · Explanation

中国的历史很长。汉朝、唐朝、宋朝、明朝、清朝，都是中国的朝代。一个朝代有几百年，有的更长。汉语的汉、唐人街的唐，都是从朝代的名字来的。

A 朝代 is a dynasty, a stretch of centuries under one ruling house, and Chinese time is counted in them the way European time is counted in centuries. You do not have to memorise the list; you do need the two that turned into everyday words. 汉 gave its name to the language you are learning, and 唐 to 唐人街, the Chinatown of cities all over the world. That is what 文化 means in practice — history sitting inside ordinary vocabulary.

春节是农历的新年。

You have probably never met 农历, and you do not need a dictionary for it. Read the sentence around it: whatever 农历 is, a 新年 belongs to it, so it must be a way of counting the year — a calendar. It is the traditional Chinese one, which follows the moon, so 春节 lands on a different day of the Western calendar every year, somewhere in 一月或者二月 (yīyuè huòzhě èryuè). This is the habit to build now: when one noun in a long sentence is dark, keep going and let the sentence explain it.

春节的时候，一家人一起吃饭，孩子会拿到红包。农历八月十五是中秋节，那天晚上人们看月亮，想家人。

传统 is both a noun, 中国的传统, and a describing word, 传统节日 — the same shape as 中国菜 or 新书. Two festivals will carry you a long way: 春节 for the family meal and the red envelopes of money the children are given, and 中秋节, the mid-autumn night when people look at the full moon and think of family who are far away. Notice the register of this whole lesson: longer sentences, fewer 吗 questions, and connectives like 无论…都 doing the joining.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
文化	culture	中国文化, 文化不一样
历史	history	很长的历史
传统	tradition; traditional	传统节日
节日	festival, holiday	一个节日
春节	Spring Festival, lunar New Year	过春节
朝代	dynasty	汉朝, 唐朝

练习 · Practice

汉语的汉是从哪儿来的？ Where does the 汉 of 汉语 come from?

中国最重要的传统节日是______。 Which is the most important traditional Chinese festival?

到了春节，无论多远，大家______要回家。 Fill in the adverb that 无论 always needs in the second half.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Spring Festival is China's most important traditional festival.'

文化、历史、传统、节日、朝代 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你们国家最重要的节日是哪个？用四句话说一说。

Say four sentences aloud: the name of the festival, when it falls, what people do, and why it matters. Use the words from this lesson — 我们国家最重要的传统节日是…… ，那天大家都…… ，因为这是我们的文化 (wǒmen guójiā zuì zhòngyào de chuántǒng jiérì shì …, nà tiān dàjiā dōu …, yīnwèi zhè shì wǒmen de wénhuà). Then compare: 中国有春节，我们有…… ，虽然文化不一样，可是这个习惯很像 (Zhōngguó yǒu Chūnjié, wǒmen yǒu …, suīrán wénhuà bù yíyàng, kěshì zhège xíguàn hěn xiàng). Long sentences, joined up — that is the register this lesson is training.