1) 壽 shou4: Longevity
It's going to take you a few years off your life trying to get this right.
2) 持/待/侍/寺 chi2/dai4/shi4/si4
to maintain/to deal with, to wait for /to attend on/temple
I especially hate dai4 and shi4
3) 乾/幹 qian2/gan4
Part of the name of a Qing Dynasty Emperor/ to fornicate
"I will smack any of you if you get this wrong" --- Former Chinese professor
4) ANY 4-word idiom, aka 成語
e.g. 囫圇吞棗：Out of confusion, swallow jujubes
This means when you encounter something confusing, you can't digest it, figuratively and literally. Just say I don't get it! Goodness!
5) 橙子，橘子，桔子 deng4zi1, ju2zi1, jie2zi1
These all mean oranges, but different sizes. My parents always scold me for not knowing the difference. It's all citrus!!!!
6) 纖 xian1: fiber
Ugly, just..., I can't....
7) 牽/宰/牢 qian1/zai3/lao2 : to pull/to butcher/to jail
I could never get these right.
8) 龜 gui1: turtle
I can draw a turtle faster than I can write this character.
9) 由/以/已/為/於/卻/而 you2/yi3/yi3/wei234/yu2/que2/er2
Imagine all the pronouns could use in English, and switch them interchangeably whenever you feel like for 3000 years. You end up with this monstrosity.
10) 瑞典/瑞士 rui4dian3/rui4shi4: Sweden/Switzerland
RAY-DIAN and RAY-SHI does not sound like "Sweden" or "Switzerland." I'm not to worried, the Chinese embassy can barely get this straight either.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Words of the Day
卑鄙bei1bi3
base; mean; contemptible; despicable; grubby; sordid
公佈gong1bu4
issue, announce
信函xin4han2
letter envelope
洩/泄xie4
wreak
**Note: Okay, how do these characters mean the same exact thing and sound exactly the same when they look completely different!!!??
垮kua1
fall, collapse
惠卿卑鄙公佈王安石的私人信函，離間他和皇帝的情感，王安石就垮臺，他晚年常一天寫【福建子】好幾次，以發洩心中的怒氣，呂惠卿就是福建人。
Huiqing contemptibly announced Wang Anshi's private letter, giving distance between Wang Anshi and the emperor's close relations. Wang Anshi then fell from his position. In Wang Anshi's later years, he frequently wrote "That Fujianer" during a given day on many occasions to express the rage of his broken hear. Lv Huiqing was a Fujian person.
base; mean; contemptible; despicable; grubby; sordid
公佈gong1bu4
issue, announce
信函xin4han2
letter envelope
洩/泄xie4
wreak
**Note: Okay, how do these characters mean the same exact thing and sound exactly the same when they look completely different!!!??
垮kua1
fall, collapse
惠卿卑鄙公佈王安石的私人信函，離間他和皇帝的情感，王安石就垮臺，他晚年常一天寫【福建子】好幾次，以發洩心中的怒氣，呂惠卿就是福建人。
Huiqing contemptibly announced Wang Anshi's private letter, giving distance between Wang Anshi and the emperor's close relations. Wang Anshi then fell from his position. In Wang Anshi's later years, he frequently wrote "That Fujianer" during a given day on many occasions to express the rage of his broken hear. Lv Huiqing was a Fujian person.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Mother's Day and the Mother Tounge
My graduation ceremony for my Chinese major was on Mother's Day. The best graduation speech I ever heard was my classmate talking about why so many languages use the phrase "mother" when describing a native language. In Chinese,母語 mu2 yu3 literally translates to mother language. I wish I had a copy of that speech, but my paraphrasing is only a shadow compared to the original.
He talked about how our relationship to language is as intimate as our relationships to our mother. If we think about it, the way we communicate and are able to exist in the world is through our mothers, and that our mother tongues frame the way we see the world. And of course he gave a shout out to his own mother as well.
Although I first learned TeoChew (a Chinese dialect) and English at the same time, TeoChew has a much more visceral and intuitive oomph. For me, I never empathized with English poetry until I hit college, but Chinese poetry was thoroughly enjoyable was I around 10. It was because I wanted to learn more about my mother tongue that propelled me to major in Chinese.
If you are bilingual, or event if you only know one language, think about how your native language feels compared to a secondary language. I like to describe this feeling as eating your grandma/mom's best dish versus eating a well prepared dish from a culture you are unfamiliar with. A good dish from a high end restaurant taste's good, but mom's good cooking hits you at a deeper level. Your cultural history, your biological mechanisms that evolved to process that particular food, and your mother's understanding of your personal preferences nourish your soul with that one dish. That's the feeling you get from speaking in your mother tongue.
So as you are talking to your mom, eating with your mom, or even thinking about your mom, remember that you think and speak with your mother tongue.
Happy Mother's Day!
**Personal note: I'm enjoying cheesecake with mom.**
He talked about how our relationship to language is as intimate as our relationships to our mother. If we think about it, the way we communicate and are able to exist in the world is through our mothers, and that our mother tongues frame the way we see the world. And of course he gave a shout out to his own mother as well.
Although I first learned TeoChew (a Chinese dialect) and English at the same time, TeoChew has a much more visceral and intuitive oomph. For me, I never empathized with English poetry until I hit college, but Chinese poetry was thoroughly enjoyable was I around 10. It was because I wanted to learn more about my mother tongue that propelled me to major in Chinese.
So as you are talking to your mom, eating with your mom, or even thinking about your mom, remember that you think and speak with your mother tongue.
Happy Mother's Day!
**Personal note: I'm enjoying cheesecake with mom.**
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Words of the Day
奸佞jian1ning4
crafty and fawning
為了便於認識三位奸佞小人，我把李定，舒亶和鄧綰的名字譯成容易拼的英文。
For the sake of convenience recognizing the names of three tricky lesser people, I took Li Ding, Shu Dan, and Deng Wan's name and translated them to easier English.
隱瞞yin3man2
conceal, hide
李定隱瞞母親的死訊，不願辭官，在儒家社會是大膽的冒犯。
卿qing1
A common surname
crafty and fawning
為了便於認識三位奸佞小人，我把李定，舒亶和鄧綰的名字譯成容易拼的英文。
For the sake of convenience recognizing the names of three tricky lesser people, I took Li Ding, Shu Dan, and Deng Wan's name and translated them to easier English.
隱瞞yin3man2
conceal, hide
李定隱瞞母親的死訊，不願辭官，在儒家社會是大膽的冒犯。
卿qing1
A common surname
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Words of the Day
甘gan1
willingly
庸yong1
lowly
強國的美夢破碎了，他自甘治庸才政府。
The dream of a powerful country was shattered. He [Emperor Shenzong] willingly governed a lowly government.
陷入xian4ru4
fall into a trap
牢籠lao4long2
cage, shackles, bonds
犧牲xi1sheng1
sacrifice, scapegoat
般ban1
just like
他陷入自己野心的牢籠，成為美夢的犧牲品，夢境增長廣大，然後就像泡影般破滅了。
He [Wang Anshi] fell into the trap of his wild heart, becoming a sacrifice to his dream. His dream kept increasing in size. Afterwards it would pop like a bubble.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Words of the Day
軌gui3
track marks, gauge
勃勃bo2bo2
thriving, vigorous
一邊是元老重臣，人數多得足以代表全體，一邊是神宗所支持的王安石，和一群新進小人，野心勃勃卻心懷不軌。
On one side you have old, experienced ministers, who's number mostly represents everyone. On the other is Emperor Shenzong chiding Wang Anshi, along with a group of new people of lower rank with wild, vigorous hears that are bad-hearted with no gauge.
牽涉qian1she4
To involve
列lie4
rank
為了便於參考，也為了不牽涉太多人名，我排出下列黨爭重要人名表，讓大家看看力量的排列：
For the convenience of examination, and not to involve too many people, I arranged a list of the rank of important members of the partisan battle. This will allow everyone to see the arrangement of power:
**The text then lists major members of reformists and anti-reformists. Su Shi belongs to the list of anti-reformists.
track marks, gauge
勃勃bo2bo2
thriving, vigorous
一邊是元老重臣，人數多得足以代表全體，一邊是神宗所支持的王安石，和一群新進小人，野心勃勃卻心懷不軌。
On one side you have old, experienced ministers, who's number mostly represents everyone. On the other is Emperor Shenzong chiding Wang Anshi, along with a group of new people of lower rank with wild, vigorous hears that are bad-hearted with no gauge.
牽涉qian1she4
To involve
列lie4
rank
為了便於參考，也為了不牽涉太多人名，我排出下列黨爭重要人名表，讓大家看看力量的排列：
For the convenience of examination, and not to involve too many people, I arranged a list of the rank of important members of the partisan battle. This will allow everyone to see the arrangement of power:
**The text then lists major members of reformists and anti-reformists. Su Shi belongs to the list of anti-reformists.
Monday, May 5, 2014
100th Post! Consciousness and Art
Last time I mentioned how during the Northern Song Dynasty, a piece of art called "Tearful Citizens" convinced the emperor to stop Wang Anshi's extremist economic policy. I like to believe that when Emperor Shenzong first saw the painting "Tearful Citizen," he realized he was a fallible human being. Instead of logic, an innate feeling for compassion for our fellow man shifted political dialogue to better society.
Can art still do that? Can art make us more conscious of the human state?
Recently I spent 6 hours at the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena. I forced myself to slow down and spend at least 5 minutes on a piece of art that attracted me. Specifically I'd like to talk about the biggest painting at the end of the 19th century hallway: The Ragpicker by Edouard Manet.
Can art still do that? Can art make us more conscious of the human state?
Recently I spent 6 hours at the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena. I forced myself to slow down and spend at least 5 minutes on a piece of art that attracted me. Specifically I'd like to talk about the biggest painting at the end of the 19th century hallway: The Ragpicker by Edouard Manet.
As I sat on the bench, staring intently at this painting for half an hour, I noticed many people would barely glance at the piece. Only one person bothered to appreciate standing for a minute before moving on.
The caption next to the painting explained how Manet was trying to romanticize the freedom of the paper collector, unbounded from the birth of urbanization and modernity in Paris.
At a glance our instinct is to dismiss the ragpicker as not worth noticing, but if we put ourselves in Manet's time, most paintings depicted opulence, joy and luxury. Why spend so much time and effort on something so low-brow, so common to reality?
I first noticed the tall sturdy stick the old man carries in is left hand. Though the hand is course and rough, the glow and roundness shows power in his hand. While the left hand provides balance, the right grips his earnings, and opportunity to live for another day. The ragpicker's hat tilts upward, and provides movement in his eyes. He's looking upward for another chance towards opportunity.
It's easy to live with money. Not only does the ragpicker have to live with the burden of carrying his garbage, what's heavier is the burden of poverty. His shoulders are slack, and his legs bow outward not because of the weight of the refuse he carries. Instead the brown sack he carries is empty. His body is distorted because he carries the burden of poverty.
In many ways, aren't we just like the ragpicker? Aren't we trying to sift through the junk and dirt of the human world to find value? Manet piece show's that even with nothing, we still are the same human being.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Words of the Day
頒ban1
to issue, to distribute
贈zeng4
to give as a present
虛xu1
empty, to empty, sky
銜xian2
rank
御史yu4shi3
A type of ancient government official
除了三省的御史，還有獨立的御史台，另外有各種機構供朝廷頒贈虛銜。
Aside from the ministers? of the three provinces, there are also independent minister? roles. Also there are many systems the royal palace uses to distribute rewards and strip ministers of rank.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Words of the Day
This is how Su Dongpo labelled Wang Anshi:
【天命不足畏，眾言不足從，祖宗之法不足用】
"Heaven's mandate is not worth fearing, everyone's words are not worth following, the ancestor's ways are not worth using."
拗ao4
To disobey, to go against
Chapter Title: 拗相公
The Disobedient Minister
籠罩long3zhao4
to envelop, to shroud
我們必須了解此一政治鬥爭的本質，因為蘇東坡的一生都被黨爭所籠罩。
We must interpret the source of governance conflict because Su Dongpo's entire life was shrouded by partisan bickering.
堅毅jian1yi4
Persistence
我們都知道堅毅是優良的美德，但是要看一個人決定做什麼事而定。
We all know that perseverance is a good moral quality, but we must look at what the person is doing in order to persist.
標籤biao1jian3
label
【天命不足畏，眾言不足從，祖宗之法不足用】
"Heaven's mandate is not worth fearing, everyone's words are not worth following, the ancestor's ways are not worth using."
拗ao4
To disobey, to go against
Chapter Title: 拗相公
The Disobedient Minister
籠罩long3zhao4
to envelop, to shroud
我們必須了解此一政治鬥爭的本質，因為蘇東坡的一生都被黨爭所籠罩。
We must interpret the source of governance conflict because Su Dongpo's entire life was shrouded by partisan bickering.
堅毅jian1yi4
Persistence
我們都知道堅毅是優良的美德，但是要看一個人決定做什麼事而定。
We all know that perseverance is a good moral quality, but we must look at what the person is doing in order to persist.
標籤biao1jian3
label
Friday, May 2, 2014
Words of the Day: The Tearful Citizens Painting
End of the Chapter:
It was only when a brave small official name Zheng Xia painted the atrocities outside the court walls did the Northern Song emperor finally retract his economic reform.
It was only when a brave small official name Zheng Xia painted the atrocities outside the court walls did the Northern Song emperor finally retract his economic reform.
**Unfortunately, the original painting lost with time, but here is a a Ming interpretation of the painting of the 【流民圖】or "Tearful Citizens". (Source)
拖垮tuo1kua1
to be tired out or collapse from burden
暴政bao4zheng4
tyranny
就算沒有異族侵略，暴政也能把國家拖垮。
This counts as not having foreign invasion. Tyranny can collapse a country.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Words of the Day
詼諧hui1xie2
Humorous, funny
有一天蘇東坡遇到他，就詼諧地說：“那麼 ‘滑’ 字一定是 ‘水之骨’ 囖。”
One day Su Dongpo encountered him [Wang Anshi], and humorously said, "'Slippery' must be 'the bone of water'."
**You have to know the Chinese to get this pun.
遵循zun1xun2
comply with, follow
符合fu3he2
conform to, to suit
後來有些中國學家者遵循西方集產主義的觀念，想洗刷王安石在歷史上的罪名，說他的思想 “符合現代社會主義”。
Later on some Chinese scholars followed western collectivism, and thought about erasing Wang Anshi's tarnished name, saying that his thoughts were "in accordance to modern socialism."
Humorous, funny
有一天蘇東坡遇到他，就詼諧地說：“那麼 ‘滑’ 字一定是 ‘水之骨’ 囖。”
One day Su Dongpo encountered him [Wang Anshi], and humorously said, "'Slippery' must be 'the bone of water'."
**You have to know the Chinese to get this pun.
遵循zun1xun2
comply with, follow
符合fu3he2
conform to, to suit
後來有些中國學家者遵循西方集產主義的觀念，想洗刷王安石在歷史上的罪名，說他的思想 “符合現代社會主義”。
Later on some Chinese scholars followed western collectivism, and thought about erasing Wang Anshi's tarnished name, saying that his thoughts were "in accordance to modern socialism."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)