Chinese Language Learning: Hou4 Yi4 She4 Ri4

For Chinese learners, how to learn Chinese efficiently is a heated question. To find the easiest way to learn Chinese is not easy, but what I want to emphasize is interest is the best teacher.

So, how to raise our interest in learning Chinese? How about telling you a story in this language course? By knowing a story, we can get to know some relevant Chinese culture, which will benefit us in learning Chinese language itself.

I am going to introduce you a Chinese mythic story——“后羿射日(hou4 yi4 she4 ri4)”. This is a famous legend in China, from which we can also learn many Chinese allusions and expressions.

Have you ever heard of it? Maybe you have known “嫦娥(chang2 e2), the goddess on the moon in Chinese mythology.” We all know she is beautiful but few of us know she is lonely in the moon palace. Actually, she is previously the wife of “后羿(hou4 yi4), the immortal”. Long, long ago, there are ten suns in the sky, which caused many disasters to people on the earth. To refrain the pain from these sun, “后羿”, the strong and super powerful shooter came out and shot down nine suns with bow and arrows. Later on, he was rewarded an elixir. However, his wife ate it secretly and then she flow to the moon and became the goddess and never came back to her home.

This is the story between “嫦娥” and “后羿”. There are some other expressions coming from it. “月饼(yue4 bing3), moon cake”, the traditional food of Mid-autumn festival, comes from this story. Actually, it is said that moon cake is invented by “嫦娥” and she endow it with her homesickness.

Interest plays an important role in Chinese language learning. It is a good chance for you to raise your interest. We have many other mandarin language courses. Join us and you will find great fun in learning Chinese.