A very brief journey into Chinese Language and History

(Alas, the wonders of the World Wide Web! Google and Wikipedia are your friends!)

大清国国旗国歌
This is a great account of the history of the Qing Dynasty's flag and anthem The Cup of Solid Gold, and the The Tune of Li Zhongtang. More about the various Chinese Anthems here.

文悦
The famous Song Dynasty general and patriot 岳飞 (Yue Fei) who wrote the poem 满江红 (Mǎn Jīang Hóng). This is written in relatively comprehensible Classical Chinese, a beautiful language which isn't exactly the most friendly. You can read about the good general in 文言文 on 文言維基大典...

Yet there are always exceptions, and the 施氏食狮史 (The story of the poet Shi eating lions). Seriously, the poem itself (written by the poet 赵元任 to make a point) is eminently comprehensible on sight, but try reciting the poem out loud!

石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。
氏时时适市视狮。
十时，适十狮适市。
是时，适施氏适市。
氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。
氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。
石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。
食时，始识是十狮尸，实十石狮。
试释是事。

切記: 丙戌年十二月十五 (公曆二千零六年二月二日)，萬國氣候變更會（IPCC）曰：「吾人所見氣候變更，當屬人為也。」