Although ancient Chinese mythology does not haverelatively complete plot and mythological figuresdon't have systematic genealogy, they havedistinct features of oriental culture, among whichthe spirit of esteeming virtue is particularlysignificant.When compared with Western mythology, especially Greek mythology, this spirit ofesteeming virtue is even more prominent.In Western mythology, especially Greekmythology,the criteria for judging whether a god is good or not are mostly the god's wisdomand strength,while in ancient Chinese mythology, the criterion lies in morality. This way ofthinking is deeply rooted in Chinese culture.For thousands of years, this spirit of esteemingvirtue has affected people's comments on historical figures and expectations of real people.

　　一想到中國，人們腦海中閃現(xiàn)的第一件事便是絲綢。中國是絲綢的發(fā)源地，今天仍在生產(chǎn)一些世界上最好的絲綢。在中國，探索絲綢奧妙最好的地方是蘇州。正是在那里，誕生了第一批絲繡(silk embroidery)，如今蘇州仍在生產(chǎn)中國最好的絲綢。絲綢可以用合成纖維(synthetic fibre)和人造纖維等制成，但最優(yōu)質(zhì)的絲綢是由桑蠶絲(mulberry silk)制成的。桑蠶(silkworm)純粹以桑葉喂食。蘇州絲綢可以制成很多產(chǎn)品，最常見的是衣服和圍巾，但也能做成鞋、餐巾、玩具，甚至風(fēng)箏。

　　When people think of China, silk is the first thing that pops into their mind. China is the birthplace of silk, and still produces some of the finest silk in the world. In China, the best place to discover the wonder of silk is the city of Suzhou. It was there that some of the first silk embroideries were born, and Suzhou is still producing the best silks in China. Silk can be produced from synthetic fibre and artificial fibre, etc., but the finest quality silk is made from mulberry silk. The silkworms are fed purely on mulberry leaves. Suzhou Silk can be made into a great many products, the most commonly being clothing and scarves, and it can be made into shoes, napkin, toys, and even kites as well.

　　石獅(stone lion)由石頭刻成，是中國傳統(tǒng)建筑中常見的裝飾物。一般來說，石獅是指大門外的一對獅子;然而，他們的外表卻不是我們所熟悉的獅子。也許中國古代的大多數(shù)中原人從未見過真正的獅子。據(jù)說，獅子是在漢朝時由西域(theWestern Region)引入中國的。在中國文化中，獅子是神話中的形象，而非真正的動物。獅子被視為神獸(divine beast)。中國人認(rèn)為它可以驅(qū)除邪靈。一般情況下，根據(jù)中國傳統(tǒng)文化，石獅應(yīng)該是一對。通常雌獅子的兩爪之間會刻一只幼獅，而雄獅則是用一只爪子玩球。

　　Stone lions are carved out of stone, which is thecommon ornament in Chinese traditionalarchitecture.Generally, stone lions refer to the pairedlions out side the gate;however, their appearancesare not the lions we are familiar with. Maybe mostpeople in the central plains of ancient China hadnever seen a real lion. It is said lions were introduced into China in the Han Dynasty from theWestern Region.In Chinese culture, lion is a mythical figure rather than a real animal. Lion isregarded as the divine beast. Chinese people think that lions can drive away the evilspirits.Generally，it should be a pair of lions according to Chinese traditional culture.The femalelion is usually carved to have a child lion between her paws，while the male lion is playing a ballwith one paw.