满族

　　2,000多年前，在中国东北的长白山以北、黑龙江中下游一带被称为“白山黑水”的地方，居住满族人的祖先——女真人。明朝末年，努尔哈赤b经过30年的努力，统一了中国东北的女真部落。1635年，皇太极命改女真为满洲，以后简称满族。努尔哈赤用一种军事建制来管理满族，他把满族人分别组织在正黄、正白、正红、正蓝、镶黄、镶白、镶红、镶蓝八旗之中，实行全民皆兵，所以，人们也称满族人为“八旗人”或“旗人”。1644年，八旗兵从东北打入北京，建立了大清帝国，从此，满族贵族统治了中国近300年之久。 过去，满族男子都要留发辫，穿马蹄袖长袍和“马褂”(套在长袍外面的短褂)。女子的发式也很独特，一般都把头发梳上头顶，盘成发髻，然后再戴上漂亮的头饰。妇女穿的是直筒宽袖的旗袍，后来这种旗袍逐渐演变出了各种样式，成为中华民族富有特色的服装。 满族的传统食品中有一种非常好吃的点心，叫“萨其玛”。“萨其玛”是用面粉、鸡蛋、糖、芝麻、瓜子仁等原料做成的。很多人都非常喜欢吃。 满族人注重礼节，平时见了面都要行请安礼。如果见到长辈，要请安以后才能讲话。 满族人曾经创制了满文，由于后来与汉族人共同生活，使用了汉字、汉语，懂得满文、满语的人就很少了。满族人勤奋好学，涌现了许多文化名人。如《红楼梦》的作者曹雪芹、语言学家罗常培、作家老舍、书法家启功、京剧表演艺术家程砚秋等。

　　The Manchu

　　More than 2,000 years ago, ancestors of the Manchu people "Nuzhena" lived in the area to the north of the Changbai Mountains and in the downstream region of the Heilongjiang River in northeast China, which was called an area of "white mountains and black river". At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhachib succeeded over a 30-year period in unifying the Nuzhen tribes in northeast China. In 1635, Huangtaiji ordered that Nuzhen be renamed as Manchuria, which was simply called Manchu later. Nurhachi used a military system to administer the Manchu people by organizing them into Eight Banners: Pure Yellow, Pure White, Pure Red, Pure Blue, Bordered Yellow, Bordered White, Bordered Red, and Bordered Blue. Thus, people also call the Manchu the "Eight Banner people" or "Banner people". In 1644, soldiers of the Eight Banners entered Beijing from northeast China, and set up the Great Qing Empire. From then on, Manchu aristocrats ruled China for nearly 300 years. Manchu men were supposed to wear their hair in a single plait, and dress in a gown with horse-hoof-shaped cuffs and a mandarin jacket. The women's hairstyle was also quite unique; they usually coiled their hair on the top of the head in a bun, and then wore beautiful headdress. Manchu women wore a cheongsam with a straight skirt and broad sleeves. Later, this kind of cheongsam gradually evolved into various styles, and became a feature of Chinese fashion. Among the traditional foods of the Manchu ethnic group, there is a very delicious snack called saqima (a kind of Manchu candied fritter). It is made of flour, eggs, sugar, sesame and kernels of melon seeds. The Manchu people stressed etiquette. When they met each other, they saluted by bending the left knee and dropping the right hand. If one met a superior, he should salute before talking. They had their own Manchu language. Since they later lived with the Han people and used the Han characters and spoken language, few people know the Manchu characters and spoken language today. The Manchu people are diligent and fond of learning, and among them were many famous men of letters, such as the author of A Dream of Red Mansions Cao Xueqin, linguist Luo Changpei, writer Lao She, calligraphist Qi Gong and performance artists of Beijing opera such as Cheng Yanqiu.