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History

The people and moments that shaped China, told simply.

Choose a levelRead at your level

Every reading sits at the level where most of its words are taught

HSK 167 readings HSK 232 readings HSK 328 readings HSK 435 readings HSK 519 readings HSK 620 readings

30 readings

Article · 2 min audio紫禁城为什么叫紫禁城？Why is it called the Forbidden City?Ask for the Forbidden City in Beijing and people say, “You mean 故宫?” The purple in its Chinese name is not the walls but a star.HSK 6

Story · 2 min audio孟姜女哭长城Lady Meng Jiang cries down the Great WallHer husband is taken to build the Great Wall. She walks a thousand miles with his winter clothes, and her tears bring the wall down.HSK 4

Story · 2 min audio一片草叶Lu Ban and the saw: a Chinese legendChina's greatest carpenter has a palace to build and not enough time to cut the trees. Then a blade of grass cuts his hand.HSK 4

Story · 2 min audio牛的舌头Judge Bao and the case of the cut ox tongueSomeone has cut out a farmer's ox's tongue. Judge Bao Zheng gives the strangest advice: go home and kill the ox.HSK 5

Article · 2 min audio胡同是什么？What is a Beijing hutong?Your map app tells you to turn into a hutong, and the lane is barely wide enough for a bike. Where did these alleys, and their strange name, come from?HSK 6

Article · 2 min audio四大发明是谁说的？Who named the Four Great Inventions of China?Every Chinese child can name the four great inventions. The idea began with an Englishman who praised three of them without knowing where they came from.HSK 6

Article · 2 min audio拼音是谁发明的？Who invented pinyin? The story of Zhou YouguangThe pinyin you learned on day one was led by a former Wall Street banker who called himself an amateur and lived to 111.HSK 6

Story · 2 min audio伯乐和千里马Bole and the thousand-li horse (伯乐相马)An old horse hauls a salt cart up a mountain road until a stranger climbs down, weeps, and covers it with his own coat. The horse answers with a cry that reaches the sky.HSK 6

Article · 2 min audio高考是什么？What is the gaokao?One week in June, China goes quiet: building sites stop, horns fall silent, and mothers wait outside the gates in red qipao. All for one exam.HSK 6

Article · 2 min audio中国的龙为什么不喷火？What does the Chinese dragon mean?In western stories the dragon burns villages and is killed by a hero. In China people dance with it in the street. They are not the same animal at all.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio纸是蔡伦发明的吗？Who invented paper? Cai Lun and the older paperA letter to the emperor so heavy two men had to carry it. Then a palace official made paper cheap. But was he really the first?HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio筷子最早是用来吃饭的吗？The history of chopsticksThe oldest chopsticks were probably for cooking, not eating. And their Chinese name comes from boatmen who were afraid of one word.HSK 4