吃亏是福
chī kuī shì fú
Taking a small loss is a blessing.
Said when someone is counting who got more. Let it go; keeping score costs more than the extra piece.
On sharing
Autumn palette · ochre and rouge from Zhao Mengfu's Autumn Colors
Chinese culture, kept at the family table
Started for the next generation, so the things our grandparents knew don't stop with them. Recipes, sayings and holidays, plus the ideas underneath them: philosophy, history, art and how people actually live. Anyone is welcome, whatever your background.
Everyday sayings you'll hear at a Chinese family table, and when people use them.
Holidays and seasonal markers follow the lunar calendar and the 24 solar terms, so the dates move every year.
Lunar New Year · 春节
New Year's Day falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027. Clean the house before, not after, so you don't sweep the luck out the door.
A solar term, and the day this site's palette turns to winter. Dumplings in the north; ginger duck, sesame oil chicken or lamb soup in the south and Taiwan. Read the guide
"Winter solstice is as big as New Year." Tangyuan in the south, dumplings in the north.
Reunion dinner the night before, red envelopes, firecrackers, a whole fish left unfinished.
The 15th day closes the New Year season. Lantern riddles and sweet rice balls.
Twelve animals and five elements make a 60-year cycle. Read it for fun, and as a way into how people talk about personality and luck.
For entertainment and cultural interest. Lunar years are worked out with your browser's Chinese calendar.
Calligraphy isn't one font. It's five script styles shaped over two thousand years, and a practice anyone can start with a brush and water.
Character of the month
Practice it before New Year. Lots of families hang one upside down, though sticklers keep the front door's right side up. 倒 (upside down) sounds like 到 (arrived): good fortune has arrived.
Even, rounded lines from the Qin dynasty. Still carved on name seals.
Flat and wide, from the Han. Strokes end in a flared "swallow tail."
Each stroke separate. What children learn first, usually by copying Yan Zhenqing or Ouyang Xun.
Strokes flow together. Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface is the model.
Fast and abbreviated. Hard to read even for people who read Chinese.
Starter kit: a brush, ink and a water-writing cloth (水写布) that dries clean, so kids can practice without mess. Affiliate picks go here.
Everyday home cooking, with real quantities and the substitutions you can find at an American grocery store.
Rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and the patience to let it go glossy.
The first dish most Chinese kids learn. Everyone's family argues about the sugar.
Coil, flatten, fry. Flaky layers from a simple hot-water dough.
Pork and napa filling, and how to fold them so they look like gold ingots.
These twelve bottles and jars cover most home cooking. Pick one to see what it is and what to look for at the store.
生抽 shēng chōu
The everyday soy sauce for seasoning and dipping. Thin, salty and the one you use most.
Buying it: Look for "light" or "premium" on the label. Pearl River Bridge and Lee Kum Kee are easy to find.
Many taboos are puns. Once you hear the wordplay, the rule makes sense.
送钟 (give a clock) sounds like 送终, attending someone's deathbed. All 10 gift taboos
年年有余, "surplus every year." 鱼 (fish) and 余 (surplus) are both yú.
It looks like incense offered to the dead.
分梨 (share a pear) sounds like 分离, separation.
四 sì is close to 死 sǐ, death. Eight, 八 bā, sounds like 发 fā, to prosper.
倒 (upside down) sounds like 到 (arrived), so it reads "good fortune has arrived." Sticklers say the front door gets it right side up; the upside-down one goes inside, on a rice bin or a cabinet.
Philosophy, history, art and architecture, written for today and for readers of any background.
Philosophy
A butterfly dream, a cook whose knife never dulls, a tree too crooked to cut down. Stranger and funnier than the quotes.
Architecture
Light, privacy and a room for everyone to gather.
Diaspora
Why so many Chinese American family trees have a second surname hiding in them.
Art
Zhao Mengfu painted it in 1295 for Zhou Mi, who had never seen his family's home in Shandong.
Values
What 孝 asks of us when your parents live three time zones away.
Symbolism
A field guide to the symbols of luck, long life and happiness.