Learn about a character that’s been fostering connections since ancient times
Festivals can be a headache for many Chinese. Peak seasons for celebrations and ceremonies, holidays also often mean, as per tradition, giving out money to relatives and friends. Even for long-lost schoolmates one hasn’t contacted, or (联系 liánxì) in Chinese, for years, gifts have to be handed over at, say, a wedding. After all, humans are social animals, and such human 联结 (liánjié, connections) have bound people together in China for millennia.
On the Character: 联 is a story from our issue, “Online Odyssey.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Dr. Huang Weijia is a senior lecturer in Chinese language at Boston University and a distinguished research fellow at Shaanxi Normal University. He has taught courses in modern and classical Chinese and Chinese culture at Harvard University, Brown University, and the Middlebury College Summer Program. Dr. Huang has authored a series of successful textbooks and reference books in the US, Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong, including the Readings in Chinese Culture series. He has also written numerous articles on cross-cultural and Chinese studies for newspapers and magazines in the US and China.
Tan Yunfei is the editorial director of The World of Chinese. She reports on Chinese language, food, traditions, and society. Having grown up in a rural community and mainly lived in the cities since college, she tries to explore and better understand China's evolving rural and urban life with all readers.
