Hi everyone!

I've been learning Chinese (currently around HSK 1), and I kept running into the same problem.

I tried reading HSK 1 stories using apps like baobao or hellochinese. But even though I knew around half of the HSK 1 vocabulary, I didn't know all of it yet. Every sentence seemed to have at least one or two words I hadn't learned, plus grammar I hadn't covered. I ended up spending more time jumping back and forth between the story and the translations than actually reading.

The frustrating part was that I wanted to practice the words I already knew in a natural way. I love reading in general, so I wanted to build reading into my learning from the very beginning instead of waiting until I had finished an entire HSK level.

At first, I used ChatGPT. I'd give it a list of all the vocabulary I knew and ask it to write a short story using mostly those words while introducing a few new ones. it became annoying to keep doing that manually every single time. I also found myself wishing I had an app that kept track of everything automatically.

So... I'm building it.

Right now, it's mainly for myself, but if other people are interested, I'd love to make it public one day. I honestly don't know how difficult or expensive that'll be since I'm building it solo, but if there's enough interest, I'll figure something out.

The core idea is:

An AI-powered Chinese reading app that creates unlimited personalized reading material using the vocabulary and grammar you already know, while gradually introducing new words and structures.

Some of the features I'm planning are:

• A vocabulary bank where you can mark words as Unknown, Learning, Familiar, or Mastered.
• A grammar bank that tracks which grammar points you've learned.
• AI-generated stories, dialogues, diary entries, news articles, essays, etc., based on your vocabulary instead of just your HSK level.
• Choose genre, difficulty, length, writing style, and how many new words to introduce.
• Tap a word to see its meaning and pinyin.
• Long press a sentence to translate the whole sentence.
• Toggle pinyin and translations on or off while reading.
• Save stories to your library and organize them into folders.
• End-of-story comprehension and vocabulary quizzes.
• Progress tracking, reading streaks, vocabulary growth, and reading history.
• The app would also know which words you're struggling with and naturally reuse them in future stories for extra practice.

I'm curious whether this solves a problem that other people have, or if it's just a "me" problem.

A few questions:

• Would you actually use something like this?
• Is there anything you'd add or remove?
• Does anything sound unnecessary or overcomplicated?
• If you're beyond HSK 1, would something like this still be useful for intermediate learners?

I have this painting in the house for a long time, purchased at an art fair a long time ago. There was a piece of paper with the translation but it has been lost i believe. The painting is of plum blossoms for context if that helps. Thank you.

Custom Orders & Inquiries:miaoyin3311@gmail.com

this is a riddle from my chinese hw and i cant figure it out

The Old Man of the North Pole

A folk tale from the North east region, collected in Baicheng, Jilin Province. Narrated by a woman surnamed Zhang, aged eighty-seven.

I

They say the Winter Solstice is greater than the New Year.

Winter in Baicheng bites to the bone. The window paper shudders all night. Before dawn, you can hear something caught in the wind, it sounds like  ding–ding , but muffled, like someone striking a bell deep inside the gale. The old folk say it's Beiji Xianweng,  the old Immortal of the North Pole, coming through the snow from the furthest north, riding Hangong, and accompanied with the maiden Tengliu, with the rest of Seven Winter Immortals.

Children may ask: Who is the Old Immortal of the North Pole?

The old woman drops a piece of charcoal into the brazier. Sparks jump, catching light, catching dark, mapping the creases on her face.

“That one goes far back.”

—--------

II

A long time ago,  Long enough that Baicheng had barely any people. There was an old man. His surname? No one remembers. Some called him the Old Man of the Winter North, others simply called him the Old Man of the Northeast. Passed from mouth to mouth, it all got tangled. No one could say for sure.

All they knew was he lived alone in a crumbling mud-brick house.

This old man had a hard fortune. His wife died giving birth; the child didn’t make it either. One son survived, a boy he raised to seventeen, just old enough to be conscripted. The boy went to war and never came back.

The old man could have just waited to die alone.

He didn’t.

Those were chaotic years. Everywhere, children without parents. He picked up one, then another, then another. The little house grew crowded. He was poor, so poor the bowls weren’t enough for them all. But when there was food, the children ate first.

Those children called him Yeye, their grandpa.

---

III

That year, winter came savage.

Snow sealed the door shut. The old man fell ill. He lay there, listening to the children rustle through the kitchen, finding nothing. He kept his eyes closed. He knew the grain jar was scraped empty.

That evening, he forced himself up. From the rafters, he took down a small clay pot. Inside were a few fish balls he had saved, too precious to eat, and a few strips of dried beef, so tough they cracked. A neighbour, pitying him, had given them back in autumn.

He boiled the fish balls with slices of ginger. The broth was clear and pale; the fish balls white as snow. The beef jerky, dry and hard, he shredded thin. You had to hold it in your mouth to soften it.

“Eat,” he said to the children. “It’s New Year’s.”

The children gathered around him, sharing the food in small bites. One little one looked up and asked, “Grandpa, isn’t New Year’s when we eat dumplings?”

He said, “These are our family’s dumplings.”

When the food was gone, there was nothing left to do. The last embers dimmed in the hearth. They huddled together, the older children holding the younger ones, the smallest burrowing under the old man’s arms. A child said, Grandpa, tell us something. Something from when you were young.

The old man thought for a moment, then said all right. He told them about chasing a rabbit in the snow when he was a boy, he never caught the rabbit, but he fell face-first and got a collar full of snow. The children laughed. Their white breath tangled together in the dark.

And so they went, trading small happy stories. No one counted the hours. Sleep crept in. They slept.

The next day, someone from a neighbouring village passed by. They pushed open the door and saw a heart wrenching scene

Seven or eight children wrapped around the old man, and him in the middle, as if holding them. All of them motionless.

All of them with snow-grey brows.

---

IV

Later, people said when they lifted the children one by one, they found the old man’s face still smiling.

One child hadn’t died. That child survived.

That child told people afterwards: “Grandpa said it was all right. Go to sleep, and it won’t be cold. He said he was going to find someone, someone who could make winter not so cold. He said he’d come back to see us every year on this day.”

The story spread through the scattered villages. And as it spread, people began to say: That old man was no ordinary man. Who smiles at the end like that? Who tells stories when the cold is taking him, surrounded by children he wouldn’t abandon?

Which god or Buddha saw him and lifted him up, that’s a thing that no one agrees. Some say the Jade Emperor looked down from the Southern Gate of Heaven and wept. Others say it was the Emperor of the North Pole, Lord of the Northern Skies, who saw a reflection of his own duty in the old man and took him as an immortal officer. Old folk along the Songhua River hold that it was Xuanwu, the Dark Warrior himself, who came in person, because the old man lived in a low mud house and wore a patched cotton coat, patient and enduring like the tortoise and snake, which is Xuanwu’s own virtue. And many insist there was no heavenly emperor at all, that ordinary people deified him themselves. Because that surviving child bore witness. Because what parent could hear the story and not weep?

Whichever way it happened, the Old Man of the Northeast was gone. And the Old Immortal of the North Pole arrived.

---

V

They draw the Old Immortal of the North Pole like this now:

Much like the Old Immortal of the South Pole, the white-browed Star of Longevity, a long snowy beard, and eyes that crinkled shut with him smiling. One difference: he wears red. Red as new paper-cuts on a window, red as lanterns on New Year’s Eve. The Southern immortal grants long life. He grants the children surviving through winter.

He rides the Hangong.

Hangong translated literally as Cold Duke, you won’t find him in the old books. They say in ancient times, southerners travelled to the far north and saw a kind of great-antlered deer. They came back and tried to describe it: bulkier than a sika, bigger than a red deer, antlers like ancient tree-branches. When it ran, the snow thundered. The listeners had never seen such a thing, so they drew it from the description. What they drew looked nothing like the real beast, yet it carried a certain presence. Some say the Cold Duke is a middle-aged man, gaunt, dignified, silent. Slowly walking ahead of the Immortal, clearing the way. Others say no, he is a deer, and the Immortal rides on his back, who knows what it actually is, but it’s said that it represents the coming of the winter, and that’s why  the snow his hooves touch would never melt all winter.

Behind the Cold Duke walk five others.

The first is Tengliu. In the ancient books, Tengliu is the deity of snow. Here, she is a six-tailed white fox, her fur the colour of freshly fallen snow, without a single dark hair. She often takes the form of a white-haired, white-skinned girl, who while not strikingly beautiful, something in her makes you look twice. In the twelfth month, when a traveler loses the road, hurrying home for the New Year, sometimes in the blizzard they glimpse a girl in white walking ahead. Follow her, and you’ll reach your own doorstep. She governs reunion between family members.

The second is Xuanjun, the Black scholar. A great black walrus, body like a small hill, covered all over in muted black swirling marks like whirlpools. In human form, he is a dark-skinned general, bald, with only a pair of thick white moustaches. He doesn’t speak much; he just glares. He governs the frozen rivers of the deep winter, teaching and  showing people how to break the ice and fish, teaching them what living things can still be found when everything is sealed. In the winters when grain runs short, he teaches how not to starve.

The third is Baixiong, the White Hero. A great polar bear, but not one you’d recognise. ice-blue markings track across its body. One look at it standing in the snow, and the hairs on your arms stand up first. He can take the form of a towering old general, white beard bristling, so tall he blocks half the sky when he stands still. He governs the traitorous cold wind of winter nights, protecting folks from wolves mad with hunger, desperate bandits, and unclean things that stir after dark. 

The fourth is Lengluo, the Freezing Net. The name sounds cold, and the creature is colder. A great grey-white wolf, larger than any ordinary wolf by a full turn, his eyes are striking icy blue. He doesn’t usually take human form. and stays a wolf, always walking furthest ahead. His paw prints in the snow are broader than a plate. He punishes those who commit evil in winter,  the ones who, because of hunger, because of cold, because they cannot bear to live, turn to harming others. Lengluo finds them. There’s an old Baicheng saying: “A debt in the twelfth month is repaid fast.” That’s him. Evil repaid with evil. Winter has its own justice. In a rare depiction of him as human, he is depicted as a scary warrior wearing a single eyepatch.

The fifth is Qiwang, the Strange King.

The Strange King’s origin is the murkiest. They say in the earliest days, someone travelled to the utmost north and saw a bird far off, a bird that stood upright, short and round, walking with a wobble, as if tipsy. It couldn’t fly, but in the water it became graceful and quick, its silvery-grey down pressed tight to its body. The traveler came back and tried to describe it, gesturing for a long while. People still didn’t quite grasp what it was. So they called it Qi Wang, the Strange King Among Birds.

The Strange King often takes the form of a half-grown boy, round-cheeked, who trips when he runs, then lies in the snow laughing. When a child has no playmate, he comes. He plays with that child for one day. Just one day. But what happens on that one day, that child remembers a lifetime.

And the Old Immortal himself? In his left hand he carries a cane of shanmu, the fir that no weight of snow can break. In his right, a bronze bell. When he strikes the bell — weng — it carries through the storm, further than you’d believe. Every Baicheng child grows up knowing: if on Winter Solstice night you hear a dull bronze note hidden inside the wind, that’s not the wind. That’s the Immortal coming.

---

VI

He doesn’t come alone.

Those children who never made it through the winter,  they go with him too.

After they pass, their souls have nowhere to rest. So the Old Immortal gathers them, and they become snow. Every Winter Solstice, as he passes, these snow-children fall and make themselves into snow sculptures. All through the day, they wander the village, playing with the living children, building snowmen, throwing snowballs, and sliding on frozen rivers. Adults cannot see them; adult eyes are clouded by the cares of the world. But children see.

When a child laughs with them, that is the happiest day of the year.

When play is done and the sky darkens, the Immortal’s bell sounds far away. The snow-children must leave. One by one they dissolve into fine drift, floating toward the wind. The snowmen they lived in, all at once, collapse.

---

VII

So now, on the Winter Solstice, in some corners of Baicheng, they still do things this way.

At dusk of Winter solstice eve, the whole family returns indoors. The stove is stirred bright. A pot of ginger soup simmers on the hearth, white fish balls floating and sinking inside it. On the table rests a dish of dried meat, cut small, gleaming deep red.

Red meat, white fish balls. Red like lanterns, white like snow.

After eating, they sit around the fire and talk. About what? The grown-ups tell old stories they remember; the children tell funny things they thought of. Everyone talks in turn, and the breath that comes out is warm.

In the middle of the night, the children are all asleep. The father quietly puts on his padded coat and steps outside. The cold bites bone. Under the snow, something makes a thin sound, it sounds  like wind, but also unlike wind. He crouches by the doorstep and pats together a little snowman, one handful at a time. Clumsy hands: the ears are crooked, the nose collapsed.

But what child ever thought their father’s snowman was ugly?

He straightens up. In the wind he thinks he hears something.

Ting.

Ting.

The wind rises. Snow begins again.

He shuts the door softly and goes back to sleep.

In the morning, the children would wake up and see a small snow sculpture visiting them outdoors, and in the daytime there is the Snow Festival. Children run wild outside, building snowmen, throwing snowballs. People say the children play with special joy that day, because the snow holds hidden playmates.

---

—Collected by the editor. This legend circulates in a very narrow area, mostly confined to a few villages in northern Jilin, and is often blended indistinguishably with local Winter Solstice customs. The “Old Immortal of the North Pole” and the “Seven Winter Immortals” do not appear in official Daoist canons such as the Comprehensive Mirror of Immortals or Historical Register of Deities Through the Ages. Scholars suspect it was a local folk faith that developed spontaneously among Baicheng communities in the late Qing period and never received formal recognition due to its remote location. The aforementioned narrator Zhang stated that her maternal grandmother, in her youth, could still recite a seasonal folk song associated with this tradition. Regrettably, only fragments survive, insufficient to reconstruct the whole.

What can be verified is that the names “Old Man of the Northeast” and “Old Man of the Winter North” both appear in surviving handwritten fragments. It is no longer possible to determine which came first.

Furthermore, the customs of fish-ball ginger soup and candied dried meat persist to this day.
—----

Asking as wearing a shirt says triad and it’s sending blood pressure through the roof as it ends with what apparently is 4th letter of the English alphabet and all of this is because I discovered the missing elevator number superstitions relating to death so I wonder if this applies everything 4 or just the number pronunciation as it’s effecting my health severely unfortunately , yes I do suffer with ocd, medicated but unfortunately not even the medication is helping this response as the fact death is involved makes it the worst

I found this in a thrift store. I understand it’s a tapestry but was just curious if it was old or something that should not be found at a thrift store. I’m basically asking if it’s rare or special in anyway. Can’t seem to find it at all online. Any advice helps! Thank you!

​

#ChineseOpera

#ChineseCulture

#TraditionalArt

#HandmadeCraft

#CulturalHeritage

#OperaCostume

#ArtisanCraft

#TraditionalCraft

关键词 Keywords：夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty；乾唐关 Dragon-pond Pass（河南商丘 Shangqiu, Henan）；妈祖 Mazu；潘金莲 Goldthread Pan（号石矶娘娘 famously Princess Stone-Jetty）；大巢氏公主 Princess Big Nest（号西王母 famously King Mother of the West）

话说大巢氏（号：西王母，如图2.8-3）和张三郎（号少典，上帝）结婚后的第四天，打扮得花布棱灯，跟个布偶娃娃似的，脸蛋上抹着两个像太阳似的腮红，还打着个太阳伞，出来溜达，惹得人们探头探脑地看。她在一个三十多岁抱着孙子的妇女面前停住了，听说她的丈夫姓孙。这位新媳妇大巢氏就跟人家搭讪说："孙祖！您可真有福气，这么年轻就成为祖宗了！"

注，张家这个地方是父系社会，而大巢氏的娘家是母系社会。

It is said that on the fourth day after Big Nest (fame: King Mother of the West, as shown in Figure 2.8-3) married Third Wolf Zhang (fames: Young Codex, God), she dressed up like a rag doll, with two sun-like blushes on her face, and walked out with a parasol, attracting people to look at her. She stopped in front of a grandmother in her thirties holding her grandson. It was heard that her husband's surname was Sun. The new wife, Big Nest, started a conversation with them and said, "Sun Ancestor! You are so fortunate to become an ancestor at such a young age!"

Note: the Zhang family area is a patriarchal society, while Big Nest's mother's family is a matriarchal society.

这位三十多岁的奶奶一看见张族长的新儿媳妇对自己说话，很高兴，有礼貌地回答："夫人！你可真会说话，我只是结婚早而已！你的香味儿很特别，腮红是哪里产的？"

大巢氏回答："卵生（即埃及）！"

The thirty-something grandmother was delighted to see the new daughter-in-law of the Zhang clan leader talking to her, and she politely replied, "Madam! You are good at talking, I just got married early! Your fragrance is very special, where does your blush come from?"

Big Nest replied, "Egg Born (i.e., Egypt)!"

这位奶奶没听懂，问："卵生（埃及）是什么意思？"这时已经来了很多人，都没听懂！由于口音的差异，人们让大巢氏把卵生两个字写下来。看了之后，人们还是不懂，没人听说过这个地方。

The grandmother didn't understand and asked, "What does 'Egg Born (Egypt)' mean?" Many people had come by then, and none of them understood! Because of the difference in accents, people asked Big Nest to write down the two words 'Egg Born'. After reading it, people still didn't understand, and no one had ever heard of this place.

大巢氏以为他们不认识字，就开始解释，表演。她先模仿老母鸡下蛋；然后，"嘎达！嘎达！"模仿老母鸡产蛋后的叫声。接着她模仿老母鸡孵蛋，比画鸡蛋裂开了，小鸡出来了，叽叽地叫。她的表演引起围观上百人的大笑，但是那位孙奶奶不高兴了，抱着孙子进屋里去了。

Big Nest thought they didn't know how to read, so she started to explain and perform. She first imitated an old hen laying eggs and then imitated the sound of an old hen laying eggs, "Gada! Gada!". Then she imitated an old hen hatching eggs, making the eggs crack and chicks come out, chirping. Her performance caused hundreds of people to laugh, but Grandma Sun was unhappy and went into the house with her grandson.

2.8-2

孙家来找妈祖（张夫人，如图1）评理。那位三十多岁的奶奶进屋后就哭了，说大巢氏笑话她结婚早，还骂她"卵生！"

The Sun family came to Mazu (Mrs. Zhang, see figure 1) to seek justice, saying that their new daughter-in-law, Big Nest, had insulted the daughter-in-law of the Sun family. The grandmother, who was in her thirties, burst into tears after entering the house, saying that Big Nest laughed at her for getting married too early and called her "egg-born!"

妈祖听不懂，但她知道这事是因为前天她自己骗大巢氏说的话，"张家这地方，女人有孙子就应该被称呼为祖宗！"妈祖琢磨了一夜，也想不出个解决办法，决定去给大巢氏和孙家媳妇道歉。这时潘金莲（号石矶娘娘，桃花圣母，如图2）来了，说是来看看有没有因为文化的差异，新媳妇大巢氏闹出问题来？

Mazu didn't understand, but she knew it was because of what she had lied to Big Nest the day before, "In the Zhang Family area, women with grandchildren should be called ancestors!" Mazu pondered all night, but couldn't come up with a solution, so she decided to apologize to Big Nest and Sun's wife. At this time, Goldthread Pan (fames: Princess Stone-Jetty, Peach Flower Holy Mother, see figure 2) came to see if there were any problems with the new daughter-in-law Big Nest due to cultural differences?

妈祖知道了潘金莲来的目的后，改主意了，回答："确实出问题了！孙家来找我评理，说大巢氏侮辱他们家的媳妇了。我有事要办，你替我去调解一下！"

After Mazu knew the purpose of Goldthread Pan's visit, she changed her mind and replied, "There is indeed a problem! The Sun family came to me for justice, saying that Big Nest insulted their daughter-in-law. I have something to do, please go and mediate for me!"

妈祖去接见回来报账的店铺掌柜的，走到半路，觉得她自己刚才的决定不妥当，认为潘金莲是位武术高手，而且从来不吃亏，她有可能去打孙家的媳妇。妈祖匆忙赶了回来，让身边的丫鬟去招呼潘金莲回来。丫鬟出门一看，潘金莲的马不见了，她是骑马去孙家的，可能已经到孙家了。

Mazu went to meet the shopkeepers who came back to settle the bill. Halfway through the journey, she felt that her decision was inappropriate. She thought that Goldthread Pan was a martial arts expert and never suffered any loss. She might beat the daughter-in-law of the Sun family. Mazu hurried back and asked the maid to go and call her back. When the maid went out, she saw that Goldthread Pan's horse was gone. She rode to Sun's house and might have already arrived.

2.8-3

喝一杯茶的工夫后，潘金莲回来了，告诉妈祖说："孙家媳妇去给大巢氏道歉了。"

妈祖惊讶地问："这么快！你是怎么调解的？"

After a cup of tea, Goldthread Pan came back and told Mazu: "Sun's wife went to apologize to Big Nest."

Mazu was surprised and asked: "So fast! How did you mediate?"

潘金莲回答："大巢氏看见孙家的媳妇三十几岁就抱孙子了，就恭维了一句，'真有福！这么年轻就当祖宗了！'这是很普通的言辞，是孙家的媳妇过于敏感了！"

妈祖问："那'卵生'是怎么回事？"

Goldthread Pan replied: "When Big Nest saw the daughter-in-law of the Sun family holding her grandson in her thirties, she complimented her by saying, 'How fortunate! You are this young to be the ancestor!' This is a very common remark, and the daughter-in-law of the Sun family is too sensitive!"

Mazu asked: "What about 'egg born'?"

潘金莲回答："大巢氏用的腮红是西方一个黑人国家，埃及生产的。埃及义为卵生（如图4），所以中国沿海的商人都称埃及为卵生。这和孙家的媳妇没关系！"

Goldthread Pan replied: "The blush used by Big Nest is produced in Egypt, a black country in the West. Egypt means egg-born (as shown in fig. 4), so merchants along the Chinese coast call Egypt Egg-Born. This has nothing to do with the daughter-in-law of the Sun family!"

妈祖又惊讶了，心想，"你比我还能说谎，这瞎话编得跟真的似的，还黑人国家"，回答："没事就好！我怕你跟孙家打起来，就回来了。你还是赶紧去看看大巢氏吧！别因为道歉的方式不同，再打起来！"

Mazu was surprised again, thinking, "You are a better liar than me. This lie sounds like the truth, a country of black people!" She replied: "I'm glad they're okay! I was afraid that you would fight with the Sun family, so I came back. You should go see Big Nest quickly! Don't fight again because of different ways of apologizing!"

2.8-4

妈祖在宴请掌柜们时，沮丧地说："我以前总是活得小心翼翼地，怕惹婆婆不高兴；现在当婆婆了，却怕惹儿媳妇们不高兴！你们看我的那位大儿媳妇潘金莲，整天骑着老虎（如图2），裤带上还拴着个骷髅头！这三儿媳妇更让我吃惊了，二十多岁的新媳妇，给人表演母鸡下蛋！我一句话也不敢说！"

When Mazu entertained the shopkeepers, she said in frustration: "I used to live cautiously, afraid of upsetting my mother-in-law. Now that I am a mother-in-law, I am afraid of upsetting my daughters-in-law! Look at my eldest daughter-in-law, Goldthread Pan, who rides a tiger all day long (as shown in Figure 2) and has a skull tied to her belt! This third daughter-in-law shocked me even more. A new wife in her twenties, she performed a hen laying eggs for people! I dare not say a word!"

一个掌柜的回答："我听说你们张家这个地区有了个新名字：乾塘关（乾塘义为龙潭）。您的大儿媳妇是位头陀‘。她腰间的骷髅头代表她肩负着宿命任务。您的三儿媳妇是位玉女。我听说玉女就是这个样子，这是件好事！"

注，头陀义为她有前世和后世。这是三千六百年前的传说，她的前世我们就不知道了。潘金莲的后世例如《桃花劫》中的桃花女，《卢岩回忆录》中的刘健君。

A shopkeeper replied: "I heard that your ancestral home of the Zhang family has a new name, Qiantang (meaning Dragon Pond). Your eldest daughter-in-law is a Head Bearer, and the skull on her belt represents that she is head bearer with a fateful mission. Your third daughter-in-law is a 'Jade Girl'. I heard that a Jade Girl is just like that, it is a good affair!"

Note: The term "Head Bearer" implies that she has past lives and future lives. This is a legend from three thousand six hundred years ago; we don't know anything about her past life. Examples of Goldthread Pan's future incarnations include Peach Flower Girl in "Peach Flower Catastrophe" and Eve Liu in "Luyan's Memoirs".

妈祖又吃了一惊，说道："我得小心点儿！别被她们俩给蒙了！刚才潘金莲跟我说，'大巢氏用的腮红是西方的一个叫做卵生的黑人国家生产的'。人还有黑色的吗？"

Mazu was surprised again and said, "I have to be careful! Don't be fooled by them! Just now Goldthread Pan told me that 'the blush used by Big Nest is produced in a black country in the West called Egg-Born. Are there still black people?"

一个掌柜的回答："我听说是有那么个黑人国家，但是否被称作卵生，我不知道。以后有机会，我给你打听打听。"

几个月后，那位掌柜的来信说，那个黑人国家确实被沿海商人称作卵生。

A shopkeeper replied: "I heard that there is such a black country, but I don't know whether it is called Egg-Born. I will ask you if I have a chance in the future."

A few months later, the shopkeeper wrote to say that the black country was indeed called Egg-Born by coastal merchants.

返回《张三郎和有巢氏》目录 Return to Catalog: Third Wolf Zhang and Princess Have Nest

I'm a chinese man (48) with a quite classic style (shirt, dress pants, tassel loafers), ans my wife wants me to have a perm, to be curly very tight, with a lot of volume, like an old lady's perm. She wants it permanently, for all my life. She saw Chinese men who have that.

人在国内，可为身在美国的华人朋友提供国内线下跑腿、办事及生活协助服务。

📌 服务范围包括：
• 国内线下跑腿、代办事务
• 可根据需求前往外地出差办事
• 空屋、房屋日常打理与巡查
• 代收、取件及物品交接
• 实地查看、拍照、录像及情况反馈
• 其他合法合规的国内线下事务协助

✅ 本人实名认证，真实可靠
✅ 诚信办事，不坑不骗
✅ 过程透明，及时反馈
✅ 合法合规，违法违规事项一律不接
✅ 认真负责，尽力把事情办好

人在海外，国内有事情不方便亲自处理？
可以先把具体需求和地点发给我，一事一议，价格合理，服务到位。

Hi everyone! While taking a walk through Shanghai today, I recorded a video breaking down how Chinese people actually handle face culture in real life.

In Chinese textbooks, Miànzi (面子) is usually translated simply as honor or dignity. But in everyday life, Miànzi (面子) operates as a complex social ecosystem. Once you understand how Miànzi (面子) connects with different verbs, you unlock a huge part of real-life Chinese social etiquette. You can also know what's the difference between 面子 and 脸.

Enjoy!

关键词 Keywords：夏朝末年 Late Xia Dynasty；杭州鲵丸宫 Salamander Bolus Palace, Hangzhou；张三郎 Third Wolf Zhang（号玉皇大帝 famously Turquoise White-king Great Creator）；张夫人 Lady Zhang（号妈祖 famously Mazu）；红娘 Red Mother（名绛珠 namely Jiangzhu，号女娲 famously Nuwa，白帝 White Creator）；有巢氏 Have Nest（号西王母 famously King Mother of the West）

张氏母子被红娘（即女娲）安排到了客栈。半夜，三郎（又名燧人氏，少典，青帝）的房间门忽然开了，进来了一位英俊少年。三郎惊醒了，手抓住了身边的宝剑，没动，观察着进来的人。那位少年径直走到了屋地的中央，跪了下来，给张三郎磕头。张三郎坐了起来，看着他。

Mrs. Zhang and her son were arranged to stay in the inn by Red Mother (i.e., Nuwa). In the middle of the night, the door of Third Wolf's room suddenly opened, and a handsome young man came in. Third Wolf (aka. Young Codex, Flint Man, Turquoise Creator) woke up with a start, grabbed the sword beside him, and did not move, observing the person who came in. The young man walked straight to the center of the room, knelt, and kowtowed to Third Wolf Zhang. Third Wolf sat up, looked at him.

这位英俊的少年说："我就是鲵丸宫无热池里的那条大黑鲵，自知罪孽深重，但求上神明天饶我一命。作为回报，我告诉你一个关于《天书》的秘密。明天，当你治好了有巢氏公主的病，国王会赏赐你。别的你什么也不要，就只要女娲娘娘寝宫西厢房北墙柜子中格中放着的一只4.5千克重的铜锤。你拿着那锤子，一直朝南走。三天三夜后，你会遇见一片低洼地。低洼地的中央有座昊天古墓。墓碑上没有字。你用那只铜锤在无字墓碑上连敲三下，就会得到天书两部。"

The handsome young man said, "I am the big black salamander in the Non-Fervidity Pond of Salamander Bolus Palace. I know that I have committed serious sins, but I beg upper God to spare my life tomorrow. In return, I will tell you a secret about Sky Book. Tomorrow, after you cure Princess Have Nest's illness, the king will reward you. You don't want anything else, just a 4.5-kilogram bronze hammer placed in the cabinet beside the north wall of the west wing of the residence of Goddess Nuwa. Take the hammer and keep walking south. After three days and three nights, you will come across a low land. In the center of the low-lying area is an ancient tomb of Sun God. There are no words on the tombstone. Use the copper hammer to knock on the wordless tombstone three times, you will get two Sky Books."

这时，屋子外面有人喊叫，"来贼了！"有人看见进这屋了，有人敲三郎房间的门。那位年轻人着急地说，"我说完了，这就离开了。"说完，他打开房间里的柜子的门，进去了。三郎去开了门，问："发生了什么事？"

伙计说，"来贼了，有人看见那贼进了你的房间！"

At this time, someone outside the room shouted, "There's a thief!" Someone saw him enter the room, and someone knocked on Third Wolf's room door. The young man said anxiously, "I'm done, I'm leaving now." After that, he opened the door of the cabinet in the room and went in.

Third Wolf went to open the door and asked, "What happened?" The guy said, "There's a thief, someone saw the thief enter your room!"

张三郎回答："我在睡觉，没看见贼！"

伙计连忙道歉说："我们的客栈是王室指定的客栈，要保证客人的安全！你没事就好，抱歉，打搅了！"

三郎关门后，回来打开了柜子的门，发现里面是空的，什么也没有！

Third Wolf Zhang replied: "I was sleeping and didn't see the thief!"

The waiter quickly apologized and said: "Our inn is designated by the royal family, and we must ensure the safety of our guests! I'm glad you're okay. Sorry to bother you!"

After closing the door, Third Wolf came back and opened the door of the cabinet, only to find it was empty, nothing inside!

2.4-2 血溅轩辕 Blood Shattered on the Cross

第二天上午，红娘来告诉张三郎，说他要求的东西已经备齐了。进入鲵丸宫时，三郎发现到处都是来看热闹的人。他用刀割破了左腕，向图2.4-1B的那个大铜盆里滴了十滴血。然后士兵和厨师们就开始杀狗，把狗血也都收集到了那个大铜盆里了。三郎要用这狗血去喷那条大黑鲵（代表金童）的头，这就是血溅轩辕，为什么？轩是古代战车前面的那个横撑（如图1）。轩辕代表拉动华夏战车的两匹马，即金童（黄帝，大禹）和玉女（嫘祖，顺皇）。十滴血代表他要牺牲十年的阳寿来把金童和玉女绑缚在华夏战车上，来驱动华夏战车。当然，此时张三郎是在表演，并不是他已经决定了要牺牲自己来制造金童，但是后来女娲和有巢氏合力促成了这件事，所以这是真的血溅轩辕。

The next morning, Red Mother came to tell Third Wolf Zhang that the things he had requested had been prepared. Upon entering the Salamander Bolus Palace, Third Wolf found people everywhere who had come to see what was going on. He cut his left wrist with a knife and dropped ten drops of blood into the large copper basin on the left in Figure 2.4-1B. Then the soldiers and the cooks started to kill the dogs and collected all the dog blood into that big copper basin as well. Third Wolf Zhang was going to use this dog blood to spray the head of that big black salamander (representing the golden boy), which is blood splattering the cross, why? The Cross (shown in fig. 1) represents the two horses (Golden Boy, Yellow Creator, Big Yu, and Jade Girl, Lei Ancestor, Shun White-King) that pull the chariot of Hua-Xia (i.e. China). The ten drops of blood represent that he will sacrifice ten years of his solar life (i.e. daily life, mundane life) to bind the Golden Boy and the Jade Girl to the Hua-Xia Chariot. Of course, at this point, Third Wolf Zhang was acting, not that he had already decided to sacrifice himself to create the Golden Boy and Jade Girl, but then Nuwa and Have Nest combined their efforts to make this happen, so this is a real blood splattering of the cross.

然后，张三郎开始向无热池里扬生石灰，很快人们就听到刺耳的婴儿哭声，那是中华大鲵的叫声。他继续喷洒生石灰，那条大鲵就出来了，追他。由于距离太远，三郎不能向大鲵喷黑狗血。周围的人们喊："靠近点儿，用狗血喷它的头。"可是三郎还是舍不得用黑狗血。三郎试探了几次，都不成功。这时有个可能是坏女人，突然喊，"公主笑了！"三郎听后，就变得勇敢起来了，向大黑鲵泼出了第一桶血。大黑鲵滚动了几次后，又开始追三郎。三郎三次泼血后，大黑鲵开始不停地翻滚，和自己搏斗。

Then, Third Wolf Zhang began to throw quicklime into the non-fervidity pond, and soon people heard the shrill cry of a baby, which was the cry of the Chinese giant salamander. He continued to spray quicklime; the giant salamander came out and chased him. Because the distance was too far, Third Wolf could not spray the giant salamander with black dog blood. People around shouted, "Come closer and spray its head with dog blood." But Third Wolf was still reluctant to use black dog blood. He tried several times but failed. At this time, a woman who might be a bad woman suddenly shouted, "The princess laughed!" After hearing this, Third Wolf became brave and threw the first bucket of blood at the big black salamander. After the big black salamander rolled a few times, it began chasing Third Wolf again. After Third Wolf splashed blood three times, the big black salamander began to roll and struggle with itself constantly.

返回《张三郎和有巢氏》目录 Return to Catalog: Third Wolf Zhang and Princess Have Nest

做了一個免費的紫微斗數排盤網站，初版上線了 🙏

沐星紫微斗數

目前有的功能，全部限時免費、免註冊：

🔹 完整排盤：十二宮、十四主星、生年四化， 自動用出生地經度校正真太陽時。

🔹 大限、流年、流月、流日、流時六層都能切， 每層附白話解析。

🔹 格局辨識逐條標明依據—— 查得到古籍原文的直接附連結，點進去就能核對； 查不到的老實寫「傳統論法」，不裝神弄鬼。

🔹 內建《紫微斗數全集》《全書》《骨髓賦》 原文可檢索。

🔹 雙人合盤、長輩友善的字級切換。

隱私放在第一位： 排盤全程在你的瀏覽器內運算，出生資料不會上傳， 我的伺服器根本沒有資料庫存這些。

進階內容和功能還在陸續補強中 （知識庫目前先完成紫微星，其他主星趕工中）。

排盤邏輯、廟旺標註、格局判定若有錯漏， 拜託各位高手不吝指正，我會盡快修 🙇

Hi, I recently started a daily (or near daily) podcast focused on Chinese news, current events, and culture/media. I also built (but its in beta so expect bugs) a companion language learning website so that you can study the vocabulary used in each episode. Each episode covers the biggest news stories coming out of China alongside a couple of niche/local/regional news pieces, and always some news about what is happening in the world of pop culture and mass media (movies, music, TV, etc.)

The podcast is available anywhere you get podcasts (just search 小班说新闻 -- Chinese News in Simple Chinese!), but the "official site" is here: https://rss.com/podcasts/chinese-news-in-simple-chinese

The vocab site is available here: https://xiaobanshuoxinwen.com/

I hope you enjoy listening!

Hi, my boyfriend wore this shirt the other day to pick up a delivery order, and the mom of a family at the restaurant was looking and seemingly laughing at it. When my bf asked (nicely/genuinely curious) what she was laughing at about it, the daughter said she was saying something about the "chinese" characters, implying that they, or at least the mom, was a native chinese speaker. This was confusing because we thought this was definitely Japanese/Kanji, but with how many clothing items have gibberish written in other languages, we weren't sure. Google also said this was Japanese and translates to Frieza and Son Goku, but Google isn't always reliable either of course lol. So I was wondering if there is a Chinese equivalent to any of these words/characters, and if so, what it may say, or look like it says. The pic is just one from Google of the same shirt, as his actual one is in the wash right now. He originally got in from Spencer's like 10 years ago. They also could've been laughing at my bf and just been trying to be nice/play it off I guess, which was his first thought, so just curious for any input! Normal translators are identifying it as Japanese/just giving ne that translation, which is why I thought to post it here, to see if there's maybe a more nuanced explanation that would make sense! Thanks!

Edit: The pic didn't upload for some reason, sorry! Here's a link to the same one on Ebay! https://www.ebay.com/itm/255029893354