Muju Opera is one of many existing traditional 【小题1】 (opera ) in China. As one of the only two local operas in Chun’an county, the opera boasts a history of more than 100 years. It 【小题2】(list) as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2011.

Muju Opera was developed on the 【小题3】 (base) of folk literature, songs and dances, and contains the essence (精华) of many folk performing arts such as the tea-picking opera, the flower drum opera and Huangmei opera, as well as the Chun’an local bamboo horse dance.

Muju Opera originated in 【小题4】 late Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) in Muzhou city. Later, it 【小题5】 (gradual) evolved into a popular artistic style.Muju Opera reached 【小题6】 (it ) peak between 1928 and 1934. A county-level Muju Opera troupe (剧团), 【小题7】was founded in 1954, carried out 【小题8】 (vary) in-depth research and brave adaptations on the repertory, tunes, and performances of the opera. The troupe was reformed after its disbanding in 1989.

Chun’an county is currently home 【小题9】 10 professional Muju Opera troupes and more than 30 performing teams. 【小题10】 (favor) by local residents, Muju Opera features a tone similar to folk songs sung in the fields during or after work.

Held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, Double Ninth Festival is also called Chongyang Festival. In Chinese, nine 【小题1】 (be) thought to be the number of Yang. The ninth day of the ninth month is the day 【小题2】 has two Yang numbers, and “chong” in Chinese means double. This is what the name Chongyang means. It is a day for people 【小题3】 (eat) Chongyang cake, drink chrysanthemum (菊花) wine, climb mountains, 【小题4】 enjoy chrysanthemums. These 【小题5】 (interest) activities add to the joy of Chongyang Festival.

It is said that by climbing a high mountain, diseases could be prevented. Many widely-known poems 【小题6】 (create) by poets in the Tang Dynasty (618~907) describing the scene and feeling of mountain climbing. Now, family members or good friends gather to climb mountains to enjoy the beauty of nature and share the 【小题7】 (happy) of the holiday with each other.

As chrysanthemums blossom (开花) during 【小题8】 festival, it is a pleasure to enjoy the chrysanthemums in parks. Grand chrysanthemum exhibitions (展览) are held, attracting a large number of 【小题9】 (visitor).

Wearing dogwood, a kind of plant that can drive away bad luck in people’s values, was very popular in the old days. Now, some people still decorate 【小题10】 (they) houses with dogwood on that day.

Why chopsticks created: The tool for cooking

Taking food with fingers 【小题1】 (be) originally a common way of eating for humans, but then East Asia and Western Europe developed different tableware (餐具) to meet social and cultural etiquette (礼节). Why did the Chinese invent and use chopsticks instead of 【小题2】 (knife) and forks like the Westerners?

The reason is probably related 【小题3】 Chinese living habits. 【小题4】 (compare) with other regions’ food culture, Chinese food prefers thoroughly cooked vegetables, meat, and grains. In ancient times, there were generally two methods of cooking food: roasting and boiling.

Since China had advanced pottery culture, it was natural that boiling became the traditional and fundamental cooking method. Boiling food in a pottery container required much water, and the cooking process often needed small wood sticks 【小题5】 (stir).

Chopsticks’ original name in Chinese is “Zhu”, 【小题6】 has the same origin as “boiling”. It suggests that chopsticks are the tool for cooking at very first. Since the Chinese were used to using pottery and 【小题7】 (prefer) boiled food, and China had plentiful bamboo and wood, these factors together made up the basic conditions for 【小题8】 invention of chopsticks.

The 【小题9】 (early) known chopsticks are copper (铜) chopsticks from the late Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC). But as bamboo and wooden chopsticks are easy to rot, 【小题10】 is believed that the chopsticks existed early.