Class 5

中国人过去住的四合院，堂屋里放的是屏风，有钱人玩麻将，围棋，绘画用的是宣纸，内堂上贴的是年画和水墨画，大门上贴的是门神和对联，逢年过节赶庙会，生了病吃中药或用针灸，这些都为西方所没有。

The Chinese used to live in siheyuan (quadrangle courtyard dwellings) and set foldable latticed screens in the main hall. The rich used to play mahjong and the game of Go. They painted on Xuan paper (a kind of rice paper made in Xuancheng, Anhui), New Year paintings and ink-and-wash paintings were pasted on the inner chamber, door gods paintings and red antithetical(完全对仗的) couplets on the entrance. Besides, they would to temple fairs during festivals, and took Chinese medicine or had acupuncture (moxibustion) for treating their illness. All these unique lifestyles did not exist in the West at that time.

文房四宝是中国独具特色的书写汉字的传统工具，文房专指读书人的书房。因笔墨纸砚为文房中经常使用，故而誉为“文房四宝”。毛笔是文房四宝之一，历史悠久，秦朝的蒙恬为毛笔的始祖。文房之名，始于南北朝时期。四宝品种繁多，丰富多彩，以湖笔、徽墨、端砚、宣纸著称，至今仍享有盛名。

Wenfang Sibao, the Four Treasures of the Study are traditional tools/implements for Chinese calligraphy and writing. The study room specifically refers to the study room of scholars. They are known as the "Four Treasures of the Study Room" for the writing brush, inkstick, paper and inkslab are often used in the study room. The brush is one of the Four Treasures of the Study Room. It has a long history. Meng Tian of the Qin Dynasty is the ancestor of the brush. The name of the study room began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Four Treasures are of various varieties and rich in color. The Hu brush, Hui ink, Duan inkstone and Xuan paper are famous and still enjoy a high reputation today.

The Four Treasures of the Study, also known as the "Scholar's Four Jewels", namely the writing brush, inkstick, paper and inkslab, are te traditional tools with Chinese characteristics for writing Chinese characters. The writing brush enjoys an enduring history and was invented by Meng Tian, a general under the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE). The study got its name in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589 AD). Te Four Treasuresm varied and colorful, are famous for their Hubi (writing brushes made in Huzhou, Zhejiang), Huimo (inksticks made in Huizhou, Anhui), Duanyan (inkslabs made in Duanxi, Guangdong) and Xuanzhi (rice paper made in Xuancheng, Anhui). They still enjoy ther fame today.

  • affluent 十分富裕的人
  • common prosperity 共同富裕
  • bamboo pulp 竹浆
  • adhere to 遵循什么准则 攀附在
  • cult 邪教
  • figure paintings, bird-and-flower paintings, ink-and-wash paintings, landscape paintings
  • club 棍子打人 punch 用拳头砸 dig 打井
  • stitch 缝 sew 缝 knit a sweater 打一个毛衣
  • officals 领导干部 Officals should be prepared to be promoted and demoted.
  • primary-level democracy 基层
  • submitted to higher authorities 上报
  • polish 上光
  • run a hare 追上车不买票的人
  • run down a list 浏览一下名单
  • run over 偶遇
  • Handicapped 残疾的
  • take one's pulse 把脉
  • cupping 拔火罐
  • Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove 竹林七贤
  • posterity (有血缘关系的)后代
  • Ancestral Temple 宗祠
  • be deceived deception 上当
  • hang hanged(上吊) hung
  • 上访 Bureau of Letters and Calls 信访局
  • 上钩 the fish is hooked 诱饵 bait 浮标 buoy
  • get onto track
  • set off 出发 上路
  • capital punishment
  • mounting store 上马
  • aging 上年纪了
  • 上任 take office
  • 新官上任三把火 A new broom sweeps all.
  • 上台 The Republican Party is in and the Democratic is out.
  • 上照 photogenic
  • 上刑 put sb. to torture
  • 上演 perform on stage
  • 上阵 go into battlefield
  • 酒驾 drive under alcohol workaholic 工作狂 drag addict
  • cut in a joke 插科打诨
  • at one's finger-tips 了如指掌
  • fish in troubled water 浑水摸鱼
  • from the cradle to the grave
  • 充耳不闻 turn a deaf ear to
  • 出人头地 outstanding / be head and shoulders above others
  • 吹毛求疵 pick a hole in sb's coat
  • 破釜沉舟 be desperate
  • 大海捞针 look for a needle in a haystack(草垛)
  • hopping on a haystack 红杏出墙
  • 颠倒黑白 talk black into white
  • Ill news travels fast. 坏事传千里
  • 欲速则不达 More haste, less speed.
  • She is now betweem the devil and the deep sea on this matter.
  • 每况愈下 On the decline
  • 扪心自问 Knocking his own heart
  • 全力以赴 Go all out / do our utmost
  • 游手好闲 eat the bread of idleness
  • 引狼入室 to set the wolf to keep the sheep
  • black sheep 害群之马 scape goat 替罪羊
  • 花不完的钱 He has a lot of money to burn.
  • 结为良缘 to tie the knot
  • 家丑 a skeleton in the cupboard
  • 恻隐之心 who have the milk of kindness
  • 保密 keep sth. under one's hat
  • Hot potato
  • white elephant
  • don't count the eggs before they are hatched
  • (书本)折角 dog-eared
  • 反复无常 Capricious. It's hard to get along well with someone who blows hot and cold.
  • 好人和坏人 Sheep and goat
  • lick sb's boots
  • be in irons 坐牢
  • get cold feet 胆怯
  • walk on air 洋洋得意
  • poke one's nose into sth. 八卦