The Red Dragon

China is a world force with many inventions. Valsala R gives you interesting facts about the Chinese culture

Have you ever used the word ‘qin’ when playing scrabble? Yes, it’s an accepted word and ever so useful when you have a Q but no U to go with it! I use it often but had quite forgotten what it meant until I recently read a book on China and started exploring all things Chinese.

Qin, in Chinese, means venerated. But it is also the name of a dynasty that first unified all the many kingdoms built along the banks of the two main rivers — the Yellow River and the Yangtze. The Qin dynasty was founded in 221 BC. This is the dynasty that began the building of the Great Wall of China.

The famous terracotta army made up of 8,000 life size warriors stand guard at the tomb of the first Qin emperor. The name “China’’ literally means “middle kingdom” in Chinese. They, like much of the world before the discovery that the earth was round, thought themselves to be at the centre.

The Song dynasty made China a world force with inventions such as typography and the compass. However, this is also the time when the cruel custom of binding girls’ feet to make them small started. The Mongols defeated the Song and the Ming, in turn, defeated the Mongols. It was the Ming dynasty that completed the construction of the Great Wall (longest wall in the world) and built the Forbidden City which is the name of the 9,000-room palace (largest palace in the world) of the emperor.

The Manchus invaded China and set up the Qing dynasty which ruled China for the next 200 years until, in 1911, China became a Republic. The People’s Republic of China was established after a revolution in 1949.

Beijing, traditionally called Peking because of pronunciation changes, the capital, has a history stretching back over 3,000 years. It is one of the oldest inhabited places on earth as evidenced by the fossils of Homo Erectus (Peking Man) that were found there. A 2,400-year-old pot of soup was found in a place called Xian quite recently too.

Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect and is spoken by about 14% of the world’s population. China is currently the world’s most populous country and the fourth largest in size.

Did you know that pandas, all of them, no matter where they are, belong to China? They are only ‘borrowed’ by other nations. When a cub is born anywhere in the world, it is flown to China for proper care!

Another interesting tidbit is that China spans five geographical time zones but, unlike the US which is about the same size, follows a single time all through the country. That means that in some parts of the country, the sun doesn’t rise until 10am! Ketchup and bank notes all originated in China. Though perhaps, the ketchup isn’t quite the same ‘ketchup’ as the word seems to have come from a Chinese word for pickled fish sauce. Internet addiction is a recognised ailment in China and is treated. There are even special pathways for cell phone users to prevent accidents! But it’s not only the young who are taken care of… China has an elderly rights law which mandates that children must visit and support their parents.

The Chinese practice many religions but the most popular ones are Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. So, who was Confucius? He was a government official who lived about 3,000 years ago. He taught the values of kindness, of ‘doing the right thing’, of loyalty and of education and these have been the guiding principles of Chinese life for centuries.

Every year in the Chinese zodiac is represented by an animal in a 12-year cycle. 2022 is the year of the tiger and 2024 is the year of the Red Dragon associated in the zodiac with strength, nobility and peace. Were you born in 2012, a year of the dragon? You are honoured indeed.

(The author is a writer and a soft skills and communications trainer.)