This character refers to a door or a gate. Sometimes it serves as an abstract concept representing a family or clan, such as zhu men, or vermilion…[详细]

Building elements of a typical shikumen house Photo: SHANGHAI SHIKUMEN Commissioned during the urbanization of Shanghai, shikumen have shelt…[详细]

A painting of a bookstore in ancient China by the contemporary artist Wu Xujing (1945–) Photo: ARTRON The Li Wa Zhuan, or The Tale of …[详细]

When used as a noun, this character refers to books, letters or script. When used as a verb, it refers to writing, the form of which has evolved f…[详细]

This character usually refers to a word or a term. In terms of poetry, it refers to a form of verse with varying sentence lengths. 一叶叶，…[详细]

This painting depicts a famous ci poem by the Song poet Su Shi, “The Mid-Autumn Festival”— “How rare the moon, so round an…[详细]

This character has two tones, lè and yuè. When it is pronounced as lè, it has a meaning of joy, pleasure or happiness. When p…[详细]

This detail from “Playing the Qin under Pine Trees” in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) depicts a man enjoying a melody played by hi…[详细]

This character has multiple meanings. When used as a noun, this character refers to a picture, painting or plan, such as lan tu, which refers to a…[详细]