further exploration

Deeper In

For those who would like to explore further some of the ideas these musings were based on, there are lots of good resources available online. Especially for those contemplating visiting China, learning a little about the culture and some of the language will bring the experience to a completely different level.

Language

Language and culture being inseparably intertwined, language can be a window through which to view a culture. These sites are for those wanting to know more about the Chinese language, to learn Chinese, or to glimpse the roots of Chinese culture through its language.

http://sonicnovel.com/kanji.html (This site, calling themselves the cartoon university, is a poetic and informative flash presentation about the roots of Chinese characters. There are three presentations offered, called "five minute mind expansions" with animation and verbal commentary, and one more in the making. "Learn to Read and Write Chinese Characters" offers a glimpse into the cultural and historical basis of Chinese writing, as well as a comparison with other writing systems. "Beautiful, Subtle, Poetic Words" explores the roots of Chinese words with a poetic, romantic touch. "Moonlight Through the Doors" continues the tradition. As a journey simultaneously traversing Far Eastern thought, culture, language, and history, this is a most interesting presentation.)

http://www.zhongwen.com/noads.htm (There are answers here to many typical questions about Chinese, such as "how many characters does the Chinese language use?" as well as resources for language learning. The first link below is to the version of that site without advertisements. For those wanting ads, just knock off "noads.htm.")

http://www.mandarintools.com/ (Lots here)

Dictionaries

At the TigerNT site there are English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries. There is also, among other things, a Chinese cookbook and, for those advanced in the language, links to Chinese novels online. Using their dictionaries will require a little study of their pronunciation system:

http://www.tigernt.com/

Chinese Classics

Some of the background for these musings can be explored in these ancient chinese classics:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/index.htm (The "Tao Te Ching" and other Taoist texts)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/index.htm (The Analects of Confucius. For those up for some pretty scholarly reading)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ich/index.htm (The I Ching)

If you know of links that would fit in nicely here, please .