Purple Culture

How to access Character to Pinyin converter from your website/blog

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:26:28 +0800

Purple Culture provides Chinese character to Pinyin converter that can be easily accessed from your own web page or blog. All you need to do is simply paste the following HTML source code on your web page.

Basic Chinese Pinyin Rules

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:13:07 +0800

1. Usage of y and w When there is no intials before finals starting with i, y shall be added as initial. If there is other vowels after i, i shall be changed to y. For example:...

Pinyin Overview

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:07:48 +0800

Pinyin, short for Hanyu Pinyin, which means "phonetic notation" or "phonetic symbols" while Pin means "spell(ing)" and Yin means "sound(s)"), is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. Pinyin was approved in 1958 and adopted in 1979 by the government in the People's Republic of China. It superseded older romanization systems such as Wade-Giles (1859; modified 1912) and Postal System Pinyin, and replaced zhuyin as the method of Chinese phonetic instruction in mainland China.

How to Read Chinese Menus

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:12:27 +0800

English name, pinyin pronunciation of popular Chinese dishes

The Twenty-four Solar Terms 二十四节气

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:08:02 +0800

Jieqi (or solar terms) are days marking one of the 24 time zones of the solar year in traditional Chinese calendar. Jieqi was used to indicate the alternation of seasons and climate changes in ancient China. It is a unique component and creative invention of Chinese traditional calendar.

Laba Festival 腊八节

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:04:48 +0800

Laba is celebrated on the eighth day of the last lunar month, referring to the traditional start of celebrations for the Chinese New Year. La in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and ba means eight.

Tomb Sweeping Festival 清明节

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:03:22 +0800

Qingming, meaning clear and bright, is the most important springtime festival. It is also called Tomb Sweeping Festival, on which people visit the gravesites of their ancestors, pay respects to the dead at their tombs and hold memorial ceremonies in honor of their ancestors. This is one of many ways to demonstrate filial piety. As part of honoring the dead, people would also spend some time cleaning the gravesite area. They would uproot the weed near the gravesite, plant some new trees, wipe the tombstones and decorate the tombstone with fresh flowers.

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:01:25 +0800

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivities in China, According to Chinese lunar calendar, the 15th day of the 8th month is the exact midst of autumn, so it‘s called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is an evening celebration when families gather together to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the round moon.

Dragon Boat Festival 端午节

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:59:03 +0800

The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar year is an important day for the Chinese people. The day is called Duan Wu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated everywhere in China. This festival dates back to about 2,000 years ago with a number of legends explaining its origin. The best-known story centers on a great patriotic poet named Qu Yuan.

Double Ninth Festival 重阳节

a@b.com (purpleculture) — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:56:28 +0800

The Double Ninth Festival, also named Chong Yang Festival, falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, hence it gets name of Double Ninth Festival.