與后宮(the imperial harem)其他許多女人不同，慈禧(Empress Dowager Cixi) 因讀寫漢字的能力而受重視。這給她提供了充足的機會來協助生病的皇帝處理國家日常事務。咸豐帝(Xianfeng Emperor)曾多次讓慈禧讀奏折(palace memorials) 給他聽，并讓她按照他的意愿在奏折上寫批復。因此，慈禧對國家大事十分熟悉，并且從生病的皇帝那兒學會了管理國家的藝術。國內外的歷史學家普遍都把她描述成王朝沒落的罪人(sinner)。

　　Unlike many other women in the imperial harem,Empress Dowager Cixi was known for her ability toread and write. This provided her ampleopportunities to help the ailing emperor in daily stategoverning. On various occasions, the XianfengEmperor had Cixi read palace memorials for him, and leave comments on the memorialsaccording to his will. As a result, Cixi became well-infonned about state af&irs, and learnedthe techniques of state governing from the ailing emperor. Historians both home and abroadhave generally portrayed her as a sinner responsible for the fall of the Dynasty.

　　龍深深地植根于中國文化之中。中國人經常稱自己為“龍的傳人”。龍看起來像 多種動物的組合。傳統意義上，中國文化認為龍是負責降雨的神仙(immortal)，象 征著帝王和權力。據說，龍年出生的人是強大的。在古代中國人心中，龍是一個神， 代表了中國人民的理想和意志。那時，沒有人曾懷疑過龍的存在，它看起來幾乎是萬能的。

　　Dragons are deeply rooted in the Chinese culture.The Chinese often consider themselves as “thedescendants of the dragon”. The dragon looks like acombination of many kinds of animals. Traditionally,it is regarded as the immortal of rainfalls in Chineseculture and symbolizes the emperor and power. It is said that people born in the year of thedragon are powerful. In the minds of the ancient Chinese people, the dragon was a god thatembodied the will and ideals of the Chinese people. Nobody had any doubts about the existenceof dragons. It seems that the dragon is capable of managing almost anything.