The popularity of Christianity came to a peak during Matteo Ricci's time in China, but after his death, the Qing Dynasty vehemently opposed its practice in China.

Zamenhof had a plan to create a world language, an ambitious plan thwarted by the innate quality of language itself.

In 1870, Horace Carpentier hired a loyal servant from China named Dean Lung who would eventually come to teach him a lesson in loyalty and devotion rooted in Chinese culture.

Dean Lung, believing more people should understand China, made a great contribution to Columbia University.

This video tells the legend behind the Chinese firecracker.

In this episode, the origins of the Chinese characters for "illness" are explained.

This video explains how the character for illness evolved into its present form.

This video explains the origins of the Chinese character for pain.

Knowing the basis of the Chinese character for illness opens the door for learning many more characters.

The video describes the many ailments that can be treated with pine and cedar trees, the origins of Chinese medicine.

This story is about Han Prime Minister Cao Cao's six-year-old son, Cao Chong (196 to 208 B.C.). The theory this little boy used to weigh an elephant is similar to Archimedes' Principle (287 to 212 B.C.), which is that the weight of an object submerged in fluid is equal to the weight of the displaced fluid.

This well-known story commonly used to educate children on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves four-year-old Kong Rong giving up some larger pears to his older and younger brothers. Still employed in current times, this text has been used for elementary education since the Song Dynasty.

This idiom indicates that something seemingly bad may turn out to have been a good thing in the end, a blessing in disguise. The story in the video explains it quite well. And, while the idiom can also have the opposite meaning (a good thing becoming something bad), the former is more frequently used.

There are many different Chinese idioms out there that people use today in modern Chinese. "Dui Niu Tan Qin" literally means, "Playing the Zither for a Cow." It means that some people will just never understand or appreciate certain things.

This video concerns one of the stories from the very famous Chinese novel, "Journey to the West." It informs us from where the idiom, "to wolf down your food," originates.

This Chinese legend sheds light on the origin of the famous saying, "How you treat others is how you will be treated." It involves the famous and influential Chinese philosopher, Mencius, giving sage advice to a king during the Warring States period.

This idiom is used as a metaphor for the punishment of a person to alert others to correct their behavior.

Learn the story behind the saying, "To kill two birds with one stone."

Hear the story from which the saying, "Hun Shui Mo Yu" came about. It means to take advantage of a chaotic time or deliberately create confusion to obtain benefits.

Learn the story of Bole and the idiom derived from his tale.

Find out how a passage from Cao Pi inspired the saying "to draw cakes to allay hunger" (To comfort oneself with illusions).

This Chinese idiom advises people not to give up halfway through or leave something unfinished.

"Shou Zhu Dai Tu" means, "Sitting by a stump, waiting for a careless rabbit to hit the stump." Originally, it referred to the routineer in an ironic way. Later, the metaphor came to mean one does not take the initiative to work hard and wants to get a windfall.

Where does the term "Tui Qiao" (literally to "Push and knock") come from?