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An accessible guide to writing Chinese at the intermediate level An easy way to add more writing practice to the intermediate Chinese curriculum, this guide helps Chinese learners express themselves correctly on common everyday topics and for common social purposes. It is structured around the MPG teaching methodology for writing, which is model based, process oriented, and genre focused, to improve students' vocabulary and sentence- and paragraph-building skills. By providing sample texts with vocabulary, tips, and strategies for success in using those texts as models, this book will teach students to write biographical, creative, business, and personal content.
This book addresses digital cultural formation through four dominant technological platforms over the past two decades in China.
Chinese for Working Professionalsis for learners who intend to use Chinese in a multinational global workplace. It has eight thematic units focusing on developing learners' transferrable skills in addition to expanding the cross-cultural competences required in a real-world work-place. Key features: Topical themesexpose the ongoing changes in China for working professionals such as career preparation, economic development, business etiquette, the working environment, and overall lifestyle. Authentic reading materialsand live videos on a companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/zhou) to incorporate understandings of the norm and expectations of the workplace and society at large, and also prepare learners for a quick transition from classroom to targeted scenarios. Abundant simulated real-life collaborative tasks, case studies, and projectsenhance learners' problem-solving skills in Chinese, in addition to work strategies in different scenarios such as communication for work and leisure, and teamwork projects necessary and crucial for professions in multilingual and cross-cultural global settings. This textbook is a key resource for learners of Chinese at an ACTFL Intermediate-High proficiency level and above, or CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Language) B1.2 to B2.1 level in terms of language control, extensive and applicable vocabulary and expressions, communication strategies, as well as cultural awareness.
Learning Chinese Language and Culture is an intermediate-level textbook intended to be used throughout the entire school year and designed mainly for students who have completed introductory courses of Chinese as a foreign language. Written in English and in both traditional and simplified Chinese, this book illustrates Chinese-language knowledge and introduces Chinese culture in twenty-two lessons, covering a variety of cultural content, including customs and manners, holidays and festivals, poems and idioms, calligraphy and couplets, myths and legends, feng shui and superstitions, and historical relics and sceneries and many others. In every lesson, the authors have strived to maintain a clear topic and a coherent structure. They have also endeavored to keep the contents lively and achieve a fluent writing style while closely controlling the structure and grammar of every lesson.
Talk to Me in Cantonese is a comprehensive and self-paced textbook tailor-made for English-speaking learners with a basic knowledge of Cantonese. It consists of 10 lessons, each covering a real-life situation using dialogues and stories. Through systematic explanations of the grammar and sentence patterns introduced in the text, readers are able to acquire crucial grammatical structures needed to express themselves fluently and precisely. Each lesson reinforces grammar usage with a review and a wide variety of exercises. The Cantonese pronunciation practice in Appendix 1 serves a dual purpose: it exposes the reader to the richness of the Cantonese language by using slang and colloquial expressions to practise every element of Cantonese pronunciation. This book is a sequel to A Cantonese Book, a popular textbook designed for beginning-level learners. Since there are very few books that help teach anything beyond survival Cantonese, Talk to Me in Cantonese is suitable for anyone who wants to continue their study, no matter what text they used to start with. The book is enhanced by downloadable audio files by native speakers for all dialogues, stories, vocabulary items, and grammatical practices in the text.
A Cultural Dictionary of the Chinese Language introduces the 500 most important cultural traits of the Chinese as reflected in language use, especially in Chinese idioms (chengyu), proverbs and colloquial expressions (suyu). Communicative competence, the ultimate goal of language learning, consists of not only linguistic, but intercultural competence, which enables the language learner to speak with fluency and understanding. The Chinese language is richly imbued with cultural wisdoms and values underlying the appropriateness of idioms in the Chinese language. The Dictionary provides Intermediate and B1-C1 level learners as well as scholars of the Chinese language with an essential reference book as well as a useful cultural reader.
In just thirteen brief, accessible chapters, this engaging little book takes "absolute beginners" from the most basic questions about the language (e.g., what does a classical Chinese character look like?) to reading and understanding selections from classical Chinese philosophical texts and Tang dynasty poetry. " An outstanding introduction to reading classical Chinese . Van Norden does a wonderful job of clearly explaining the basics of classical Chinese, and he carefully takes the reader through beautifully chosen examples from the textual tradition. An invaluable work." --Michael Puett, Harvard University
Among world's three major philosophic traditions, Chinese philosophy excels in ethical discourse. As a collective wisdom on a par with Aristotle's "Ethics" and Kant's "Critique of Practical Reason", Chinese philosophy now needs to be systematized and developed. Today, Chinese philosophy per se has often been reduced to the historical approach to it, hence its slower development in comparison with European and Indian philosophies. The author of this book avails himself of Kant's model of human psychic structure, synthesizes the basic elements of Chinese philosophy into a rigorous theoretical framework, and presents a panoptic view of the edifice of traditional Chinese philosophy.
Visual Culture in Contemporary China by
Exploring a wealth of images ranging from woodblock prints to oil paintings, this beautifully illustrated full-color study takes up key elements of the visual culture produced in the People's Republic of China from its founding in 1949 to the present day. In a challenge to prevailing perceptions, Xiaobing Tang argues that contemporary Chinese visual culture is too complex to be understood in terms of a simple binary of government propaganda and dissident art, and that new ways must be sought to explain as well as appreciate its multiple sources and enduring visions. Drawing on rich artistic, literary, and sociopolitical backgrounds, Tang presents a series of insightful readings of paradigmatic works in contemporary Chinese visual arts and cinema. Lucidly written and organized to address provocative questions, this compelling study underscores the global and historical context of Chinese visual culture and offers a timely new perspective on our understanding of China today.
Arts of China by
For the fifth edition of his internationally renowned The Arts of China, Michael Sullivan has thoroughly revised and expanded every chapter of this classic history of Chinese art from the Neolithic period to the present day. This new edition reflects the latest archaeological discoveries, pays greater attention to the art of calligraphy, provides more information on Chan (Zen) art, and takes a close look at contemporary art. New images have been added to almost every chapter: the work now features more than four hundred photographs, maps, and illustrations, with more than two-thirds of them in full color. Written in the engaging and lucid style that is Sullivan's hallmark, The Arts of China is readily accessible to general readers as well as serious students of art history. Sullivan's approach remains true to the way the Chinese themselves view art, providing readers with a sense of the sweep of history through China's dynasties. This organizational strategy makes it easy for readers to understand the distinct characteristics of each period of art and to gain a clearer view of how Chinese art has changed in relation to its historical context. With many improvements that bring it fully up to date, The Arts of China will remain the most comprehensive and widely read introduction to the history of Chinese art.
Everything under the Heavens by
From the former New York Times Asia correspondent and author of China's Second Continent, an incisive investigation of China's ideological development as it becomes an ever more aggressive player in regional and global diplomacy. For many years after its reform and opening in 1978, China maintained an attitude of false modesty about its ambitions. That role, reports Howard French, has been set aside. China has asserted its place among the global heavyweights, revealing its plans for pan-Asian dominance by building its navy, increasing territorial claims to areas like the South China Sea, and diplomatically bullying smaller players. Underlying this attitude is a strain of thinking that casts China's present-day actions in decidedly historical terms, as the path to restoring the dynastic glory of the past. If we understand how that historical identity relates to current actions, in ways ideological, philosophical, and even legal, we can learn to forecast just what kind of global power China stands to become--and to interact wisely with a future peer. Steeped in deeply researched history as well as on-the-ground reporting, this is French at his revelatory best.
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Language and social change in China : undoing commonness through cosmopolitan Mandarin by
Language and Social Change in China: Undoing Commonness through Cosmopolitan Mandarinoffers an innovative and authoritative account of the crucial role of language in shaping the sociocultural landscape of contemporary China. Based on a wide range of data collected since the 1990s and grounded in quantitative and discourse analyses of sociolinguistic variation, Qing Zhang tracks the emergence of what she terms "Cosmopolitan Mandarin" as a new stylistic resource for a rising urban elite and a new middle-class consumption-based lifestyle. The book powerfully illuminates that Cosmopolitan Mandarin participates in dismantling the pre-reform, socialist, conformist society by bringing about new social distinctions. Rich in cultural and linguistic details, the book is the first of its kind to highlight the implications of language change on the social order and cultural life of contemporary China.Language and Social Change in Chinais ideal for students and scholars interested in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, and Chinese language and society.
A History of the Chinese Language by
A History of the Chinese Language provides a comprehensive introduction to the historical development of the Chinese language from its proto Sino-Tibetan roots in prehistoric times to Modern Standard Chinese. Taking a highly accessible and balanced approach, it presents a chronological survey of the various stages of Chinese language development, covering crucial aspects such as phonology, syntax and semantics. Features include: Coverage of the key historical stages in Chinese language development, such as Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, Early Modern Chinese, Classical Chinese and Modern Standard Chinese Treatment of core linguistic aspects of the Chinese language including phonological changes, grammatical development, lexical evolution, vernacular writing, Chinese characters and Modern Chinese dialects Inclusion of many authentic Chinese legends and texts throughout the book, presented through a rigorous framework of linguistic analysis to help students to build up strong critical and evaluative skills and acquire valuable cultural knowledge Integration of materials from different disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, history and sociolinguistics, to highlight the cultural and social background of each period of the language Helpful appendices to aid students with no prior knowledge of linguistics or the Chinese language Companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/dongnbsp;offering a wealth of supplementary resources such as additional exercises, answer keys and audio recordings of the sounds of Middle and Old Chinese. Written by a highly experienced instructor, A History of the Chinese Language will be an essential resource for beginning students of Chinese Language and Linguistics and for anyone interested in the history and culture of China.
Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature by
Award-winning literary scholar and poet Yunte Huang here gathers together an intimate and authoritative selection of significant works, in outstanding translations, from nearly fifty Chinese writers, that together express a search for the soul of modern China. From the 1912 overthrow of a millennia-long monarchy to the Cultural Revolution, to China's rise as a global military and economic superpower, the Chinese literary imagination has encompassed an astonishing array of moods and styles--from sublime lyricism to witty surrealism, poignant documentary to the ironic, the transgressive, and the defiant. Huang provides the requisite context for these revelatory works of fiction, poetry, essays, letters, and speeches in helpful headnotes, chronologies, and brief introductions to the Republican, Revolutionary, and Post-Mao Eras. From Lu Xun's Call to Arms (1923) to Gao Xinjiang's Nobel Prize-winning Soul Mountain (1990), this remarkable anthology features writers both known and unknown in its celebration of the versatility of writing. From belles lettres to literary propaganda, from poetic revolution to pulp fiction, The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature is an eye-opening, mesmerizing, and indispensable portrait of China in the tumultuous twentieth century.
Cambridge History of Chinese Literature by
China has one of the longest continuous literary traditions in the world. These two volumes tell the story of Chinese writing, both as an instrument of the state and as a medium for culture outside the state. The chapters, organized chronologically, treat not only poetry, drama, and fiction, but also historical writing and other prose forms. Written by internationally recognized experts in the field, the History frequently challenges current scholarship, from taking recent archeological discoveries into consideration to understanding Chinese modernity not as a sudden rupture with the past but as part of a longer process. The History offers both an integrated narrative, situating literature in its larger cultural context, and an overview of the key developments of the past millennia accessible to non-specialist readers as well as scholars and students of Chinese.
Contentious Public Sphere by
Since the mid-2000s, public opinion and debate in China have become increasingly common and consequential, despite the ongoing censorship of speech and regulation of civil society. How did this happen? In The Contentious Public Sphere, Ya-Wen Lei shows how the Chinese state drew on law, the media, and the Internet to further an authoritarian project of modernization, but in so doing, inadvertently created a nationwide public sphere in China--one the state must now endeavor to control. Lei examines the influence this unruly sphere has had on Chinese politics and the ways that the state has responded. Using interviews, newspaper articles, online texts, official documents, and national surveys, Lei shows that the development of the public sphere in China has provided an unprecedented forum for citizens to influence the public agenda, demand accountability from the government, and organize around the concepts of law and rights. She demonstrates how citizens came to understand themselves as legal subjects, how legal and media professionals began to collaborate in unexpected ways, and how existing conditions of political and economic fragmentation created unintended opportunities for political critique, particularly with the rise of the Internet. The emergence of this public sphere--and its uncertain future--is a pressing issue with important implications for the political prospects of the Chinese people. Investigating how individuals learn to use public discourse to influence politics, The Contentious Public Sphere offers new possibilities for thinking about the transformation of state-society relations.
China's Political System by
Updated in a new 8th edition, China's Political System examines how the government of China is affected by ongoing efforts to harmonize its unique culture with external influences and ideas. Highly respected area specialist June Teufel Dreyer offers expert analysis of the historical context and current trends to show how this transition is challenging China's economic, legal, military, social, and cultural institutions.
Reinventing Chinese Tradition by
The final destination of the Long March and center of the Chinese Communist Party's red bases, Yan'an acquired mythical status during the Maoist era. Though the city's significance as an emblem of revolutionary heroism has faded, today's Chinese still glorify Yan'an as a sanctuary for ancient cultural traditions. Ka-ming Wu's ethnographic account of contemporary Yan'an documents how people have reworked the revival of three rural practices--paper-cutting, folk storytelling, and spirit cults--within (and beyond) the socialist legacy. Moving beyond dominant views of Yan'an folk culture as a tool of revolution or object of market reform, Wu reveals how cultural traditions become battlegrounds where conflicts among the state, market forces, and intellectuals in search of an authentic China play out. At the same time, she shows these emerging new dynamics in the light of the ways rural residents make sense of rapid social change. Alive with details, Reinventing Chinese Tradition is an in-depth, eye-opening study of an evolving culture and society within contemporary China.
Culture and Customs of China by
With great care and judicious inclusion of noteworthy material, Gunde has provided a one-stop reference on the contributions of the Chinese and their way of life. In one volume, the essence of China--past and present--is brilliantly captured. The extensive coverage includes chapters on the land, history, and people; thought and religion; literature and art; music and dance; food and clothing; architecture and housing; family and gender; and holidays and leisure activities. The volume is further enhanced by a chronology, guide to pronunciation, glossary, suggested readings, numerous photos, and volume map. China is ever-important on the global stage as the world's second-largest and most populous country. Up-to-date and written with warmth, eloquence, and authority, Culture and Customs of China will be a popular source for students and the interested reader seeking to understand the modern people and culture in the context of an ancient history.
China Questions by
Many books offer information about China, but few make sense of what is truly at stake. The questions addressed in this unique volume provide a window onto the challenges China faces today and the uncertainties its meteoric ascent on the global horizon has provoked. In only a few decades, the most populous country on Earth has moved from relative isolation to center stage. Thirty-six of the world's leading China experts--all affiliates of the renowned Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University--answer key questions about where this new superpower is headed and what makes its people and their leaders tick. They distill a lifetime of cutting-edge scholarship into short, accessible essays about Chinese identity, culture, environment, society, history, or policy. Can China's economic growth continue apace? Can China embrace the sacrifices required for a clean environment? Will Taiwan reunite with the mainland? How do the Chinese people understand their position in today's global marketplace? How do historical setbacks and traditional values inform China's domestic and foreign policy? Some of the essays address issues of importance to China internally, revolving around the Communist Party's legitimacy, the end of the one-child policy, and ethnic tensions. Others focus on China's relationship with other nations, particularly the United States. If America pulls back from its Asian commitments, how will China assert its growing strength in the Pacific region? China has already captured the world's attention. The China Questions takes us behind media images and popular perceptions to provide insight on fundamental issues.
Thinking Through China by
In this innovative book Jerusha McCormack and John G. Blair introduce China on its own terms. By explaining ten key concepts that frame the way most Chinese people think about the world, they compare these terms - which don't translate readily into English - with the ways most of us, as Westerners, think. The book then poses four questions that Westerners routinely ask about China. But rather than answer with Western assumptions, the authors respond using these ten Chinese key words. Not surprisingly, the answers differ in startling ways from standard Western responses. This intensive bridging work allows those without deep knowledge of China to understand the very different perspectives to be gained by looking at the world through Chinese eyes. As each of the ten words maps out new territory, the premises of a very dissimilar - but equally coherent - world view gradually emerge. Creating a cultural cartography through both text and image, the authors provide readers with a vivid sense of what is uniquely Chinese about China.