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Gaining New Insights Via Reviewing Old Material -- Shirley's 111st Friendly Greeting-- Sun, Oct 28, 2007
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Hi,Dear Friends
 How are you? I do hope that you are well and have an easy and relaxed weekend.
Saturday, when I thought of my topic of this letter, an idiom "Wen Gu Zhi Xin -- Gaining New Insights Through Reviewing Old Material" by the Chinese greatest ancient philosopher and educationalist -- Confucius (551B.C.-479B.C) jumped into my mind.
Do you know why? Since I started to adjust my Chinese Language Learning column, on the web site in my national holiday in early Oct, I have been reading some of my former textbooks in my student and teacher times and many reference books and last data online. The more reading, the more new things I have learned, the more weaknesses of mine to be realized, the more new ideas have jumped into my mind. A strong feeling is that much new knowledge is just coming from the old material.
I was quite confident about myself to be a Chinese language and literature teacher. I did not think it would be very difficult to do something in this field on the web site via my Chinese foundation. After all, almost all of my university classes had got marks 90 to 99. My Modern Chinese Language was 98, Chinese History was 100. After all, I passed the practice test by my former students who were more than 15 years older old than me. Can you imagine? They tested me via some Chinese classical Lyrics Tunes in the newspaper as soon as I reached their college. However, I won and my Chinese classical language and literature lesson got their warm applause and welcome, at least 7 of them wrote their first compositions as "My Teacher - Little (Younger) Ms. Zhang".
However, after I have re-read my Chinese Modern Language, Chinese Poetry History, Chinese Lyrics History and many reference books and data, I suddenly realized that I have forgotten something that I had learned and I did not really understand some of them in my student and teacher times yet.
For example, when I re-read the Chinese Pinyin Rules, I realized that I had not paid more attention to some Chinese characters's tones changing, when I was working on it. When I re-read Chinese Lyrics's history, I re-understood the relationship between lyrics and ancient folk songs and it is making me wonder what the affection of the modern folks to today's lyrics is? When I re-read the Chinese Character's origin and development, I just knew how Chinese radicals had been created and re-reviewed the distinguishing between Chinese radicals and Chinese character components and so on...
I have been involved myself into something I am studying deeply. I am learning something new, realizing my own weakness somewhere and thinking to create something new via researching the old material, just as Confucius had taught us 3000 years ago -- Wengu Zhi Xin -- "Gaining New Insights Through Reviewing Old Material".
Do you agree with this Chinese idiom? Do you have any similar experience?
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Shirley Created Art -- Chinese Xieyi 0159: Chrysanthemum
Chinese like chrysanthemum for it blooms when most of flowers have faded in the cold season, just like a gentleman who can live in a hard time. Chrysanthemum is considered as one of the 4 gentlemen in the flowers and you can see it everywhere from autumn to the winter, especial in the most important Chinese Spring Festival. Chrysanthemum has been planted in China for thousands years and it is also good food and traditional medicine. For training me to paint more freely, my teacher asked me to paint it with a very big brush and colors directly. I did and got 90 marks. Do you like this picture?
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Chinese Instrument Music--003: Piano Concerto: The Yellow River
Instead of singing, I would like to introduce a piece of Chinese instrument music this weekend. Do you know why? I found the new version of my 4th Italian song "Di Spagna Sono Labella - A Beautiful Spanish Girl", when I was recording last night, I would like to learn it befor recording. Also, I wanted to find a little comfort for missing two concerts of symphony and pipe organ for the work on the web site -- Just a Joke. This piano concerto expresses how our Mother River was like and how Chinese people loved it and protected it in the II World War. Hope you enjoy it.
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Chinese Classical Poem 0101 -- Lyric 002(By Wen Tingyun) & Shirley Created Music-0083-01: Meng Jiangnan -- Dreaming of the Southern Yangtze
Have you experienced to wait for someone with much hope and love for a long time, but, he or she did not come finally? The most important Lyrics Writer in Tang Dynasty (618-907), Wen Tingyun (813-870) wrote many lyrics to express this feeling of women. This lyrics expresses how a young lady freshened herself up in the morning and to wait for her husband or lover on a tower. All sails have passed, but he did not come back. There were only sunshine and water around of the island that she had sent him off. Her heart was broken in the dusk. It's good on a woman's psychology writing with 27 characters. So, I have created music to match it. And first time, I sang a Chinese poem-Lyrics in English and Chinese, hope it will be a little bit help to you to learn Chinese culture and language.
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Chinese Chracaters -- 003: Chinese Characters' Structure & Material
After introducing something about Chinese Character's Development Trade and Chinese Characters's Creating Models, I would like to introduce something about Chinese character's structure and materials. To help you to know how Chinese characters were built and what materials have built them. I do hope they are a little bit help to you to know more about Chinese culture and to write and remember Chinese characters.
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Do You Know What China’s TOEFL Is? -- Learning Chinese Character With Shirley Together
Since the Yin Dynasty (B.C 14 century - B.C. 11 century), Chinese people have created 91.251 characters and over 2 million words and phrases. Then in the real life, if we have mastered 3.500 characters, we can understand 99.46% of publications. In 2006, Chinese publications used 9.239 characters and 12.207 words and phrases, 99% of them were covered by 2.399 Chinese characters. So I would like to show you the most popular ones according to the different requests of the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) and hope they will be a little bit help to you to learn Chinese.
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I am just a learner on that art of painting, music, calligraphy, languages and to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a little bit things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be An Electronic Bridge Of Culture Exchange, Friendship and Language Learning. To help the others while to improve myself.
I appreciate your understanding, directions and supports. I do hope to get your friendly help...
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com. You are welcomed to publish your opinions in the forum.
Shirley Yiping Zhang
Written and Edited on Sun, October 28, 2007
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Merry Christams & Happy New Year! –Shirley’s 570th Friendly Greeting-- The 13rd one from Australia Dec 25, 2023
A New Travel & New Start –Shirley’s 569th Friendly Greeting & Thanks-- The 12nd one from Australia Nov 26, 2023
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! -- Shirley's 568th Friendly Greeting - Dec 25, 2022
Thanks on Thanksgiving Day! -- Shirley's 567th Friendly Greeting - Nov 25, 2022
Study Life -- Shirley's 566th Friendly Greeting -Aug 18, 2022
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