12 animals

The 12 animals astrology commonly found on place mats in Chinese restaurant is both educational and inspirational. It reminds me of a story that a Chinese man told while several foreigners joked about the connection between the Asian zodiac and Western horoscope. He started his story by explaining, “Chinese ancestors used animals as signs because of their practical attitude. Indeed, the 12 animals are 6 pairs that reflect the experience of our ancestors.”

The man continued, “the first pair is mouse and cow. Mouse represents wisdom and the cow is the emblem of diligence. Wisdom and hard work must be tightly bound together. If a man held wisdom but didn’t make any effort, he would become sharp but petty-minded. Meanwhile, if he was a hard worker but lacked judgment, he would become foolish. We need to have both and these are the expectations and wishes of our ancestors. It is the most important pair.”

The second pair is the tiger and rabbit. Tiger, stands for courage and the rabbit portrays caution. The tiger and rabbit have to be maintained together in order to be bold and attentive. If a man was fearless without being attentive, he might become reckless. If he didn't possess courage, he could be timid. This pair is also very important to Chinese since they tend to be modest people, although it’s not owing to their lack of courage.

The third pair is dragon and the snake. The Dragon is fierce and snake represents flexibility. It is often noted that firmness can be fragmented easily. Even so, if a man had a faint side, he might lose his strength and assertiveness. Accordingly, our ancestors wanted to teach us how to be firm and flexibility.

The forth pair is the horse and the sheep. The horse shows true grit and the sheep is agreeable and gentle. If a man is focused only on his goals without consideration for his surrounding, he will struggle to achieve his goals. Just the same, if a man patronized, he may not discover a true direction for himself. So, it is our ancestors’ wish that a man keep his bold and confident side along with a gentle and agreeable one.

The fifth pair is monkey and chicken. Monkey is characterized as nimble and chicken is the sign of persistent. The nimble and persistent must be tightly bound together. If a man was skillful but not persistent, he would not make it to harvest no matter how skillful he was. There is a need for stability, and to maintain harmony and order, but be flexible with unfaltering energy. It is the most basic principal.

The last pair is the dog and pig. Dog is the sign of loyalty and pig represents easy-going. If a man was loyal but not sociable, others would reject them. If a man was too affable, he would lose his principles. Whether it is the loyalty for a nation or to personal beliefs, we must be both trustworthy and pleasant, so that we may maintain balance to our thought, actions, and interaction with our surroundings.

Chinese grammar variation from English

 In the 1920s, The New Culture Movement brought modern theory to Chinese society. The movement called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based on global and western standards, especially democracy and science. Younger followers favored western influence and reflected the western fashion in politic, education, speaking, writing and more. In contrast to Classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese came to be more common whether in expressing emotion or analyzing circumstances. Notwithstanding the good that new fashion would bring its adaptation left some bad effects. Yu Guang-shong wanted to draw attention to traditional Chinese principle. This article was written in 1987, but what the author identified as the bad habit of manipulating Chinese language with English grammar is still prevalent in Chinese society and many students make grammatical mistakes and leave them un-corrected.

            Chinese Idiom 成語 is widely used in Classical Chinese. Good writing embraces fair and keen Chinese Idiom. A writer who uses numerous Chinese Idioms doesn’t represent his/her skill for creative writing, but shows the duplication of ancient scholars’ thinking. In spite of that, many students have little know of how to use Chinese Idioms today or use them properly in writing. The examples that Yu Guang-shong references in his article are both scathing and a sad commentary to our education. He said that many students in Hong Kong always say “總的來說” and forget the use of “總而言之”. These students probably don’t know the use of “一言難盡” and frequently use “不是一句話就能夠說得清楚”. 

            There is always a story behind every Chinese Idiom. Scholars chose them with consideration for their meaning, tone, situation, balance, harmony, and aesthetics. The lack of and often inapt use of Chinese Idiom symbolizes the lack of discipline and respect for culture within a society. Yu Guang-shong commented that many students have not obtained proficient English skill but started to employ awful Chinese.

           

            There is certainly an undeniable contrast between English and Chinese language. For example, we say in English “His reduced income affects his life style.” Within this phrase, “his income” is called an “abstract noun” which is used often in English. However we can’t use an “abstract noun” while speaking in Chinese. In Chinese, we have to say “He changes his life style because of his reduced income.” (他因為收入減少而改變生活方式). The grammar for the use of an “abstract noun” affects how people choose the verb for the event being described. Here are the examples that Yu Guang-shong raised in the article: 

(一) 本校的校友對社會作出了重大的貢獻。

(二) 昨晚的聽眾對訪問教授作出了十分熱烈的反應。

(三) 我們對國際貿易的問題已經進行了詳細的研究。

(四) 心理學家在老鼠的身上進行試驗。

Because of the impact of English grammar thinking habits, the verb in Chinese sentences have become tedious phrases. We could say them more simply like these:

(一) 本校的校友對社會貢獻很大。

(二) 昨晚的聽眾對訪問教授反應十分熱烈。

(三) 我們對國際貿易的問題已經詳加研究。

(四) 心理學家用老鼠來做試驗。(或：心理學家用老鼠試驗。)

In his article, Yu Guang-shong raised many issues of people’s habits for using adjectives, adverbs, present tense, or trying to ‘decorate’ sentences in wrong ways because of influences from learning English. Here are also additional examples of quite common mistakes where Chinese writing is influenced by English grammar:

(一) 我不會被你這句話嚇倒。

(二) 他被懷疑偷東西。

(三) 他這意見不被人們接受。

(四) 他被升為營長。

(五) 他不被准許入學。

we could just as easily say:

(一) 你這句話嚇不倒我。

(二) 他有偷東西的嫌疑。

(三) 他這意見大家都不接受。

(四) 他升為營長。

(五) 他未獲准入學。

Additionally, in English sentences we use “about” commonly, but Yu Guang-shong considered it an overuse in Chinese. Many Chinese learners thought adding 的 for creating the adjective word in a sentence. However, Yu Guang-shong pointed out how people overdo the use of these adjectives in the Chinese vernacular, and the less use of 的 is the number one lesson for the modern Chinese writers. I do need to keep it in mind as well.

It’s a long and deep article and Yu Guang-shong concludes it with a comment on how good or bad changes in writing could shape a society’s cultural development. Chinese language has been created with thousands years of history and we need to reflect that legacy and amplify it with coherent creativity.

http://hktext.blogspot.hk/2013/04/121.html?m=1

嫁 (Jià) and 娶 (qǔ)

It’s a spring time, as the rest of the world, is a time for natures renewal and love is in the air. It is also a popular season for getting married. This also makes me think of the different Chinese characters used for expressing marriage.

In Chinese, marriage is translated to 婚姻 (Hūn-yīn). Many Chinese people like to joke that someone wants to get married because they have 昏了 (Hūn le) ‘blacked out’. While learning more about these two characters 婚 and 姻, let’s take a close look at 嫁 (Jià) and 娶 (qǔ) first to see how they are used to express marriage.

From a female’s perspective, you would say “she 嫁 (Jià) 入 ‘enter’ 夫家 ‘husband’s home’”. But a male would say “我 (Wǒ) ‘I’ 娶 (qǔ) 老婆 or 妻子 ‘wife’”. Note, there is a 女 (Nǚ) ‘female/woman/girl/daughter’ radical on both characters: 嫁 and 娶, so what is the difference in between these two characters.

The character 嫁 is a combination of 女 (Nǚ) ‘female/daughter and 家 (Jiā) ‘home’, which means quite literally that the female moves to a new home. Her parents would say their daughter moved to a different home. Another way to express this event would use the character 女 (Nǚ) for ‘daughter and 取 (Qǔ) ‘get’ for the character 娶 to show that the husband’s home has received or gotten someone’s daughter. The parents of the husband would say “我 (Wǒ) 娶 (Qǔ)  媳婦 (Xífù) ‘daughter-in-law’”.

Many people knowledgeable of Chinese culture would tell you that marriage for Chinese emphasizes the interaction of two families. We will learn more about marriage in this context while interpreting `the characters 婚 and 姻.

Computer

Last time, I mentioned how people in China and Taiwan called a computer differently; 電子計算機 (Diàn-zǐ jì-suàn-jī) in China and 電腦 (Diàn-nǎo) in Taiwan. Let’s look at these interpretations more literately today.

The characters 電子 (Diàn-zǐ) mean ‘electronic’ and 計算機 (jì-suàn-jī) mean ‘calculator. So people in China call the computer an “electronic calculator”. 電 (Diàn) is also translated to “electricity’ but the character 腦 (nǎo) means ‘brain’. People in Taiwan refer to a computer as “electricity brain”.

With an event more nuanced look we see that people in China view the computer as an “electronic calculator”, when people in Taiwan hold in much higher admiration by describing it as a “super brain”. Why the difference in expression between two common cultures? One explanation could be simply because early on in the development of the computer Taiwanese people had a much greater exposure to science fiction, literature, and media. For example, see this work by a popular Hong-Kong author, 倪匡.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni_Kuang

Use of Phrase in China and Taiwan

All cultures use phrases or colloquial language in everyday conversation. It is essential part of communication in countries through the world.

Sometimes, these nuances in language can play a significant part in understanding communication even within similar cultures. Since the relationship between China and Taiwan become more open over the last two decades, work, study, and travel occurs more freely between the two islands. In order to avoid the improper interpretation or understanding of common elements of the two societies, some people work hard to help people in China and Taiwan understanding the phrases and language used for describing common elements of their cultures.

For example: The cornstarch is called 生粉 (Shēng fěn) in China but 太白粉 (tài bái fěn)  in Taiwan. The clay that students play for their art class is called 橡皮泥 (Xiàng-pí ní) in China but 紙黏土 (zhǐ nián-tǔ) in Taiwan.

I have had a similar example from my interest of digital media and technology, I remember I would always try to note distinctions while saying computer, 電子計算機 (Diàn-zǐ jì-suàn-jī) in China but 電腦 (Diàn-nǎo) in Taiwan. There is certainly a different thinking using a literacy interpretation of the two description.

Recently, I’ve discovered these videos that are quite useful for understanding the differences and nuance cultures between China and Taiwan.

http://chinese-linguipedia.org/clk/media/chPage/1

甲骨文 (Oracle bone script)

Ancient Chinese characters found on 甲骨文 (Oracle bone script) were constructed from animal bones or turtle shells used as part of divination during the Bronze Age of China. The royal family used it to divine and chronicle their experiences.

The first record was dated by Anyang examples in 1200-1050 BCE.  

The oracle bone scripts of the late Shang dynasty constitute the earliest significant corpus of Chinese writing, which is essential for the study of Chinese etymology, as Shang writing is directly ancestral to the modern Chinese script.

Learning to identify Chinese characters

Simply, we can learn to identify the Chinese character based on their look and story. As a teacher, my favorite part is explaining how characters are created with syllables, tone, and varied combinations.

First, we need to use our imagination to understand the evolution of how the characters were created. This is a process called “Pictogram”. We can easily see the similarity of the character, 日, 月, 木, 水 , as they relate to the drawings depicting their meaning. Please view the image below.

Next, we can see the story each character created by combining together.

In English, we learn the language convention of Prefix and Suffixes. Similarly, Chinese has included a “radical” for each character. For example, there is usually the “radical” 手 for characters referring to people, 水 related to water, and 虫 used for insect references. Please view the image below as example.

In conclusion, there are 3 Basic concepts for identify Chinese characters.

1. Character: Pictures, stories, prefixes, suffixes, meaning, categories.
2. Syllable: Tones, sounds, initials.
3. Combination: root + story + sound