Chinese History
By Caroline Castellano and Laura
The Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty began when the Longshang people came to
China. They could weave silk, bake bricks, and they could use the
potter’s wheel. A wheel that spins quickly, so you can shape clay.
They founded the Xia Dynasty. In the time of the Xia Dynasty,
according to the story “The Story of the Wise Woman Loawnu”,
people probably went to the wise woman when they had
problems.
Some people who studied history didn’t believe the Xia Dynasty
to truly have existed, but one day, in 1959, people discovered
some proof. Fifty two years later, people still argue.
The Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty lasted 11-15 years, but affected many things for a while. The
Qin Dynasty was the first dynasty to take control of all China. For this reason,
he called himself the first emperor Qin. The first emperor of China. He took
China and changed it into 36 provinces. They were divided into districts. Two
people that emperor Qin trusted were in charge of each province. They had
people go into the districts, so that the people who were sent into the district
would report back. Then anyone they found who wasn’t abiding by the laws
could be found and sentenced to the “Slammer.” (or jail.) If the Xia Dynasty
was a myth then the Qin Dynasty would be the third dynasty. The Qin Dynasty
was the shortest dynasty, but what this Dynasty had done was not good at all.
The great wall was one of Qin’s building projects. One man called Liu Bang
overthrew him. That is why the Qin Dynasty only lasted 11 years.
Chinese Festivals
By Maya and Liesel
Chinese Dragon Boat Festival
There are a lot of Chinese festivals such as Ching’ Ming, Harvest Moon
Festival, Moon Cake Festival ,Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat
Festival. Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival are the most
important festivals in china. The Dragon Boat Festival is only in Southern
China. The dragon boats that people ride in are actually canoes. They race
with them at the dragon boat race. The Chinese have raced with the dragon
boats for about 2,000 years now. The Dragon Boat Festival is also a lunar
holiday. The Dragon Boat Festival memorializes the Chinese patriotic poet
Chiu Yuan , who drowned in a river and died on the fifth day of the fifth
lunar month.
Chinese New Year
There are a lot of Chinese festivals , Chinese New Year is the
most important festival in china. Chinese New year is the
longest and most important festival in china. Chinese New
year is celebrated for about 15 days in china. On Chinese
New Year red envelopes with money in them are given to the
children. Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival.
Chinese families clean the house from all bad luck. Chinese
New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the
new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later.
Food and Drinks
By Annie and Jonah
Food
China is the biggest producer of rice in the world. Rice,
wheat, millet, corn, buckwheat, potato and sweet potato are
some common foods in China. When people could afford rice
they bought or grew vegetables to put on it but on special
occasions. People put some meat on their rice as well. Some
of China’s foods are appetizer meat balls, apple pork chops
and fire roasted tomatoes. Rice is popular in China. Dim sum
is a popular food from China.
Drinks
Some of the teas are green tea, black tea and blue tea. Tea was
discovered by the Chinese. Chinese tea was used as a
medicine and then made into a drink. Tea is the most popular
drink in china. Tea is the oldest beverage in china. It is about
4,000 years old.
Chinese Art
By Lauren and Trisha
Chinese Jade
Jade is a stone valued for its beauty. The term jade is actually
applied to 2 different stones: Jadeite and nephrite. Jade is a very
rare stone. It is a common stone in China. Jade is only one color
which is green. Some people make fake jades. People buy them for
the same money as real jade. They are really fake and not a lot of
people know that still after they buy it. Jade in Mandarin is YU.
Asian people believe that wearing Jade is good. People will be
protected from bad luck, evil sprits, and danger.
Chinese Pottery
Pottery may be the oldest artwork of human beings. It is also the
oldest artwork in China. It started more than 8,000 years ago!
People began mixing clay and water, then baking it until it held its
shape. Ancient people attached the word ‘pottery’ to their
discovery and used it to create tools to improve the quality of life.
Over thousands of years, pottery was used in people’s daily life.
They used it cook, to store things, and many other things in a
house. Pottery is used all over the world.You can make bowls out
of clay and water, and its pottery! As time passed, pottery became
more and more popular. Different kinds of pottery started at
different times and places.
Chinese Calligraphy and Language
By Caroline Chin and Lilly Heller
Chinese Calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is a special art to China. Now many people
only use calligraphy to write poems.You would need black ink
made from pine soot and animal glue, and a brush made from
animal hair. Chinese calligraphy is an oriental art. Chinese
calligraphy is one of the four basic skills and disciplines of the
Chinese literature. In China calligraphy is a traditional art. Wang
Xizhi was a famous calligrapher and lived in the 4th century.
Chinese calligraphy is basically a painting. Chinese calligraphy is to
show people’s feelings. “ Shu Fa “ is how say calligraphy in Chinese.
Chinese calligraphy is about 2,000 years old.
Chinese Language
There are two basic languages in China, Mandarin and
Cantonese. More people speak Mandarin because if you know it
you can be understood in many other Asian counties. It has only
been around about 800 years. Cantonese has been around for
much longer, at least 2000 years. Mandarin is the main language
used today. It is used in public place such as schools, theater,
radio, and in movies. It shows that you are well educated if you
speak this language.
Chinese Schools
By: Joe and Maddie
Chinese Elementary School
There are many elementary schools in China. They learn a lot
of the same topics that we learn in the USA such as science,
math, Chinese, English, history, art, geography, and P.E. The
school week in China is Monday through Saturday. They go to
school from 7:00am to 4:00pm. Elementary school children
start school at age six and end school at age eleven. During
recess children do calisthenics and relaxation exercises.
Chinese College Test
To go to college in China a student must have to take an
exam called the gao kao (pronounced gow kow), or known as
the high test. It is a very hard test. Some students have to
study sixteen hours a day! The gao kao is kind of like the
American SAT, except it’s twice as long. The nine hour test is
how they know who they should accept and who they
shouldn’t. The competition is so fierce that many students
try to cheat to get in. 2,645 cheaters were caught last year.
Chinese Style
By, Brendan, Cory, and Madelena
Chinese Architecture
In the Mao Era families moved into concrete apartment blocks or
were jammed into courtyard dwellings built for a family of one
with several other families. The central courtyard filled with
brick compounds. In some cases houses in courtyards were torn
down and were replaced with work compounds where housing
and factories were combined within walls. Most of the concrete
apartment buildings that were built in the 1950’s and 60’s were
four to six stories tall. Ones that are built today are much higher.
Chinese Jewelry
In China, silver was used more often than gold. Silver and
gold were enameled in blue, a favorite color, and it was
decorated with blue kingfisher feathers. Jade is the most
valued among the precious stones. Under the Chinese
Empire, jeweled emblems such as the buttons on the hats of
mandarins indicated rank. Silver and gold filigree and
headdresses were worn by women that are in the high
positions. The dragons, phoenixes, and many of Buddhist
symbols were used for decoration or charms on necklaces,
rings, and bracelets.
Chinese Clothing
China has been making silk for more than 3,000 years.
Cocoons from butterflies produced silk. Back then poor
people wore dark colors and the rich and wealthy people
wore bright colors to show that they were happy. Tunics (long
t-shirts) were really popular. Women wore tunic all the way
to the ground and men wore them all the way to their knees.
Silk used to be really big in China it still is but not as much as
cotton because people came in and cut down all the
mulberry trees. They used the mulberry trees to make their
silk.
Chinese Public Transportation &
Buses
By Simon & Ben
Public Transportation
The Chinese want their own cars. The roads are more
crowded than ever. The government is trying to get drivers
out of their cars to ride public transportation. The Shanghai
Maglev train, an airport rail link service, opened in 2004
that travels 30.5 km in seven minutes and 30 seconds. The
line runs from Long-Yang Road to Pudong International
Airport in china.
Chinese Buses
Chinese cars have so much fuel. They can go 160 miles per
hour! They can go from country to country. Sometimes they
can sometimes even go from state to state. The wheels are
very strong. The wheels can crush all the garbage on the
streets. All of the Chinese cars have a lot of strong parts, like
the wheels and the motor.
Chinese Sports and Games
By Benjamin and Teddy
Chinese Sports
Martial arts are done to protect people from danger. Bike
races are done in China. In China they play tennis. In China
swimming is a popular sport. Daur field hockey is played in
China. Handball is played in China. Softball is played in
China. In China they do Chinese wrestling.
Chinese Games
They have dragon boat races in China. Ping- pong is a very
common game. Chinese checkers is played a lot. Chess is a
fun Chinese game. Chinese dominoes is another fun game.
One of Chinas favorite games is Go. Throw the Coins is a
traditional Chinese game.
Chinese Toys & Inventions
By Leo & Justin
Chinese Inventions
Nearly 1,900 years ago, a man who worked for the emperor of
china invented paper out of tree pulp. They also invented pencils
out of trees.
About 1,000 years ago, a man mixed up chemicals that can blow
up together. They began to spark and explode and fireworks were
invented.
Chinese invented kites more than 3,000 years ago. They don’t just
make them diamond shapes or rumbas shapes. They make them
animal shapes like dragons. Chinese kites are one of the most
popular inventions in China.
Chinese Toys
Dominoes were made in china 1,000 years ago people played
all the games that are played in modern times. Two thousand
years ago a hacky sack was played and invented in china you
kick it and keep it in the air.
Chinese kites were the most popular toy in china 3,000 years
ago they made shapes and animals.
Music and Dance
By Samantha and Madison
Music
China wants popular music. Some Chinese say a man, his name
was Ling luh, during the Chou dynasty about 10,00 invented the
early music to China. China has lots of music. Some music they
made are folk songs.
Usually some Chinese listen to a song that called C-pop. Another
popular song has something called Zai Zai. The first people who
came to China with music came in 5,000 B.C. They brought music
with them from Africa. The people who came there made music
by clapping their hand and singing songs. Some Chinese people
say that music is a way for them to think easier.
Dance
The dragon dance is one of the most coolest things in the
world. The dragon dance is preformed in late January or
early February. The dragon is a big puppet. People make
puppets and then they have a big puppet dance on Chinese
New Year. They do the dragon dance to scare the evil spirits.
At the end of Chinese New Year, they do the dragon dance.
The dragon is yellow and red for good luck. The head of the
dragon is made out of deer horns and cow ears.