Six Chinese Characters

Dear students，our country has a long history．Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning and some of them are particularly loved by Chinese people．Here are the top six lucky ones．Please note we use “pinyin” here because “pinyin” is the Chinese spelling system for the characters．For example，“fu” is the “pinyin” for good luck in Chinese．“pinyin” “fu” is only the phonic（語(yǔ)音的）part of the character and if you want to know the meaning of good luck “fu”，you must read the Chinese character 福 because “fu” also represents（代表）other Chinese characters that sound the same．

1．福 “fu” 一一blessing，good fortune，good luck

Chinese character 福 “fu” is one of the most popular ones used during Chinese New Year．It is often displayed upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment．The upside down �！癴u” means good luck came since the character for upside down in Chinese sounds the same as the character for “came”．

2．祿 “l(fā)u” means prosperity

It is used to mean official's salary（薪水）in feudal（封建的）china．

3．壽 “shou” means longevity

Chinese character 壽 “shou” also means life，age or birthday．

4．喜 “xi” is Happiness．

The doubled character 喜 “xi” means double happiness．It is usually displayed everywhere at Chinese weddings．

5．財(cái) “cai” is wealth or money

Chinese often say “money can make a ghost turn a millstone”．It is to say money really can do a lot of things：but，still--money can't buy everything．

6．和 “he” means harmonious

People's harmony is an important part of Chinese culture．When you have harmonious relations with others，things will be a lot easier for you．

1．What does the word “character” mean in this passage?

A．性格                      B．漢字                       C．角色                      D．特征

2．We use ________ to show how to read the Chinese characters．

A．“pinyin”                 B．spelling                  C．Chinese                  D．letters

3．What does the upside down 福 “fu” mean?

A．It means coming．                                    B．It means that good luck came．

C．It means good fortune                                D．It means that “fu” is upside down．

4．Which sentence is right?

A．Money is a ghost．                                   B．Money can buy everything．

C．Money is everything．                                D．Money isn't everything．

5．After reading the passage，can we say that sound “he” only means harmony?

A．No，we can't．                                         B．Yes，we can．

C．I know several words read as “he”．            D．Yes，you can．