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Chinese Pinyin - The Forbidden City

2009-01-31T04:24:00.001-08:00

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The Forbidden City

( 2008-07-08 )

The palace grounds are divided into two parts: the Front Palace (Qianchao) to the south and the Inner Palace (Neiting) to the north. The Front Palace consists chiefly of three halls -- the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), the Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian) and the Hall of Preserving
Harmony (Baohedian). Here, important ceremonies, such as the accession of a new emperor to the throne and the emperor's birthday and wedding, were held.

The Inner Palace mainly includes the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), the Hall of Prosperity (Jiaotaidian) and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunninggong), where emperors and empresses lived. Behind them is the Imperial Garden.

On each side of the inner three great halls are six eastern palaces and six western palaces, respectively, which were used as residences for concubines.

The Palace Museum in the Forbidden City has the country's largest collection of ancient art works, some of which are invaluable national treasures. Art works in the museum's collection total 1,052,653, including paintings, pottery, bronze wares, inscribed wares, toys, clocks and court documents,
etc.

In 1987, the Forbidden City was included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

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News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

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* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

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Learn Chinese - Hunting and Archery on Horseback

2009-01-31T00:11:00.001-08:00

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Hunting and Archery on Horseback

( 2008-07-07 )

Hunting was one of the productive activities carried out by the primitive man as a means of survival. In the latter stage of the primitive society it began to be incorporated into the military training programmes of the ruling class. By the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods (770-221
BC) it assumed enormous dimensions as the rulers "taught the civilians ways to fight" by training them in such combat skills as marching, archery on horseback, and hand-to-hand fighting.

In the early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), hunting gradually became a kind of recreation for the emperors and the nobility. Emperor Liu Che (140 BC- AD 88) had a hunting ground opened up in a forest west of the city of Xi'an. Named Shang Lin Yuan Park, it covers a large area with a
circumference of hundreds of kilometers. Li Yuanji, son of the Tang emperor Li Yuan, is said to "prefer going without food for three days to going without hunting for one day." This shows what great favor hunting was among the nobility.

Rulers of the Oing Dynasty (1644-1911) hailed from northeast China where people depended on hunting for their livelihood. Following an old tradition, they practised marching and fighting through hunting. Emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) had a hunting ground named Mulan Ranch opened up in Rehe (a region
comprising parts of today' s Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia), where large-scale hunting was carried out in the seventh and eighth months of the lunar year for six decades on end. Oianlong (1736-1796), another Oing emperor, issued a decree to make his officials understand the importance of
hunting to both military exercise and physical training.

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* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
* Environmental Emblem of Beijing 2008 ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing 2008 OYC ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival ( 07-10 )

News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

Meet in Beijing More

* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

　 Online Tour

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Chinese Class - Where Can I Find Siheyuan-style Hotel to Stay in Beijing

2009-01-14T09:53:00.001-08:00

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Where Can I Find Siheyuan-style Hotel to Stay in Beijing

( 2008-06-27 )

Q: Where can I find Siheyuan-style hotel to stay in Beijing

A: Touring around Beijing, you'll see lots of modern hotels. Have you thought of staying in Siheyuans Hiding in hutongs, the Siheyuan hotels have red walls, old chairs and embroidered pillows, all those reminding you that here is Beijing, a modern city with long history as well.

It is normal for a Siheyuan (courtyard) has four rooms positioned along the north-south, east-west axes. The room positioned to the north and facing the south is considered the main house and would traditionally have accommodated the head of the family. The rooms adjoining the main house are
called "side houses" and were the quarters of the younger generations or less important members of the family.

Those Siheyuan hotels listing below make experience old Beijing life style.

Haoyuan Hotel

Having a big front yard and quiet back yard, Haoyuan is a typical Siheyuan. In the front yard there is stone chair under a giant tree. Sitting there in the sun, you'll feel warm though it's still winter.

There are single rooms, double rooms and suits in Haoyuan. Every room has wooden chairs and the wooden windows are decorated with paper-cut. In the afternoon, sunshine will penetrate into the room through the window.

Haoyuan has started receiving foreign guests ever since the early 1990s and part of the hotel's annual turnover has been contributed to charity organizations.

The dining department at Haoyuan serves both Chinese and Western breakfasts and also provides courtyard barbeque.

Location: No.53, Shijia hutong, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-65125557

Price: Chinese luxury suite (RMB1,960 per night)

Chinese feature room (RMB680 per night)

Standard room (RMB550 per night)

Lusongyuan Hotel

As the mansion of a prestigious general in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the yard is rather complicated. Thanks to the guidance of an old man dressed in ancient Chinese suit, you won't get lost.

The room is usually dimly lit, with dark colored desks and chairs, white china cups, red embroidery silk blanket, red lanterns and red curtains, which deliver a vivid representation of old Beijing atmosphere.

The hotel's restaurant offers Beijing homemade dishes, which makes you feel at home.

After meal, have a cup of tea in a teahouse next to the restaurant. Take off your shoes, crouch on the couches and enjoy a sunny afternoon. Don't think of too much about the properties, you will find many others do the same. Sometimes, the hostess will sit over there, doing some embroidery. How
relaxed!

This is the place you may stay for long time, and indeed you'll find there are some people do live there for weeks. Lusongyuan is also a member of the Youth Hotel Association China.

Location: No.22, Banchang hutong, Kuanjie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-64040436

The Bamboo Garden Hotel

Compared with other houses in the same Hutong, the bright red door of the Bamboo Garden Hotel is very noticeable.

Like its name, Bamboo Garden, there are lots of bamboos inside the Siheyuan. Especially when you go to the back yard, you'll be astonished by the green world.

Location: No.24, Xiaoshiqiao hutong, Jiugulou Dajie (old Drum and Tower Avenue), Xicheng District

Tel: 010-64032229

　 Emblems More

* Dancing Beijing -- Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
* Environmental Emblem of Beijing 2008 ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing 2008 OYC ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival ( 07-10 )

News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

Meet in Beijing More

* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

　 Online Tour

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

| About us | E-mail | Contact |

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Copyright 2003 Ministry of Culture, P.R.China. All rights reserved

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Study Chinese - One With Everything

2009-01-13T04:28:00.001-08:00

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One With Everything

The title of the sculpture exhibition, Looking for Spiritual Space, suggests Taiwan artist Li Zhen's inner contemplation of Buddha and nature.

Now on at the National Art Museum of China, the exhibition displays some 30 pieces of Li's bronze sculptures. Polished in silver gloss, most of the works are based on such Buddhist images as Sakyamuni and the Goddess of Mercy.

Ranging from half-a-meter to three meters in height, the works look imposing and convey a feeling of auspiciousness. The sculptures are done in different poses - some standing, some sitting and yet others lying down.

Li has done a lot of research on Buddhist and Taoist classics. Combining his comprehension of tradition and modern techniques, he comes up with his own personal sculptural language. Simple compositions and a streamlined design make for an integral whole.

The works are imbued with a philosophical spirit and a sense of meditation.

For his representative work Avalokitesvara Rides on a Dragon, which was created in 2001, Li employed round-modeling and symmetrical composition. The surface of the sculpture is glazed black, transmitting both heavy and light effects. Avalokitesvara, Goddess of Mercy, opens up his arms to embrace
the sky, the earth and all human beings. His gesture is full of momentum while his facial expression is calm and warm. Under his feet, the strength of dragon is vividly executed. Stepping on pearls, lotuses and auspicious clouds, the dragon and its master transcends through space and time.

Born in 1963, Li made traditional Buddhist sculptures in his early years. Many of his works have been selected for international art shows around the world.

9 am-5 pm, until May 11

National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District

6401-7076

Editor:Wang Nan

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HSK - Dan (female)

2009-01-12T04:17:00.001-08:00

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Dan (female)

Yang Yuhuan

Yang Yuhuan was a concubine of Tang Minghuang, Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Emperor Tang Minghuang and Yang Yuhuan, his concubine, made an appointment to drink at the Hundred Flower Pavilion. After waiting for a long time in vain for the arrival of the Emperor Minghuang, Yang was so
angry that she drank a lot till she got drunk. She returned to her residence with great disappointment.

Repertoire:The Drunken Beauty

Wang Zhaojun

Wang Zhaojun was the former concubine of Emperor Han Yuandi. She was later married afar to the Chieftain of the Huns. The Han regime was not strong enough to resist the invasion of the Huns due to weakness of the Emperor and incompetence of the court ministers and officials. Wang Zhaojun, filled
with grief and indignation, was forced to assume her mission of marrying afar to the Chieftain of the Huns in order to defend the Han from foreign invasion and seek a cease-fire between the two belligerent parties.

Repertoire: Zhaojun Married Abroad

Yu Ji

Yu Ji was the beloved concubine of Xiang Yu, overlord of the State of Chu, in the period when the states of Chu and Han were engaged in war. In the late period when the states of Chu and Han were in war against each other, Yu Ji performed the sword dance in profound agony, to comfort the then
defeated Xiang Yu, before she ended her life with the sword, encouraging Xiang Yu to break out of the siege.

Repertoire: Farewell, My Concubine

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Learning Chinese - A Time for Space

2009-01-11T04:23:00.001-08:00

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A Time for Space

Public Space No. 26 by Wu Yang.

Today's red-hot Chinese art market is always looking for something new and it appears abstract painting has become one of the coolest new discoveries. Renowned curator Fang Zhenning says the Chinese community has long understood the fine art of creating and appreciating abstract essentials in
visual imagery thanks to Chinese characters, calligraphy and painting.

"But we never relate calligraphic artto a painting, because its function as a language was established," he says.

"However, there have always been abstract elements in Chinese painting from the very beginning. The most outstanding example is Master Badashanren from the Qing Dynasty."

Fang now has a new favorite abstract artist Wu Yang, who has blown away critics, curators and foreign artists with a breakthrough new exhibition.

Wu Yang

Flying White is the fourth solo exhibition for Wu Yang, who comments on China's fast developing urban landscapes by painting striking black-and-white abstract acrylic images on photographic paper.

The artist's combination of photographic paper and Chinese ink images of the urban landscapes has interested foreign art critics who have praised her traditional-modern fusion technique.

Indian artist Sarbajit Sen has said he was very inspired after seeing Wu's paintings because it gave him special insight into the Chinese psyche.

"I felt a strong energy and discovered very familiar poetry of an urban mindscape where things are fragmented and are in a constant state of flux and uncertainty."

Sen said the discovery of new art ideas inspired him to be a better artist himself.

German art critic HD Schrader said he was very impressed by the subject of urban spaces presented on photographic paper.

He said Wu's language was very contemporary yet the painting naturally creates feels of Chinese ink painting.

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Chinese language - Items on Display (III)

2009-01-10T04:17:00.001-08:00

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Items on Display (III)

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Free Chinese Lesson - A Princess Re-born

2009-01-09T04:34:00.001-08:00

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A Princess Re-born

The Chinese version of Turandot features a splendid "Forbidden City".

Giacomo Puccini was suffering from throat cancer as he tried to complete his last masterpiece, Turandot, in 1924. The composition of a final duet between Calaf and Turandot remained pending when he died after surgery in Brussels. Puccini's colleague, Franco Alfano, completed the duet as well as a
finale, using Puccini's notes and sketches. This full-length version is the one that has been performed worldwide ever since the opera premiered in 1926, two years after Puccini's death.

In 2000, Italian composer Luciano Berio was commissioned by Casa Ricordi, the company owning the rights to Puccini's score, to elaborate a new composition and orchestration for Turandot's finale as an alternative to that of Alfano. Now, Chinese musician Hao Weiya will compose yet another - the
third - version of the opera's ending.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth, the newly-open China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA, also known as National Grand Theater) and Ricordi have commissioned Hao to write the first "Chinese edition" of Turandot which will premiere at the NCPA on March 21 through
26.

"Opera is universally considered the most complete and varied form of theater as it involves music, singing, acting and often dancing set in a scenic context," says Chen Zuohuang, music director of NCPA.

"We want to produce one opera ourselves in the first season of the new theater. Puccini's Turandot tells the story of a Chinese princess and uses the tune of the Chinese folk song Jasmine. It is, naturally, a good choice for us. We would like to have a Chinese composer to create a real 'Chinese
ending'," says Chen.

"There have been hundreds of productions of Turandot since it premiered in 1926, but in most cases, Chinese history and culture have not been well represented. Our production will feature the Rome-based Chinese conductor Lu Jia, who is an expert both in Italian opera and Chinese culture. It will
also have a Chinese director and a cast of Chinese singers."

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Learn Chinese online - Terracotta Warriors Exhibited in Netherlands

2009-01-08T08:02:00.001-08:00

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Terracotta Warriors Exhibited in Netherlands

The exhibition, engaged to run through Aug. 31, is a joint effort of the Drents Museum, and the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center in Xi'an, China.

The objects, all discovered near Xi'an of the Shaanxi Province, provided a glance of the magnificent Qin and Han civilization, Wu Yongqi, director of the Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors Museum said, adding that the exhibition would hopefully help Dutch people to get acquainted with traditional
Chinese culture and promote mutual understanding between the two peoples.

At the exhibition, many Dutch visitors were visibly struck by the images of the clay artifacts.

The exhibition gave visitors an insight into the extraordinary lengths craftsmen went to in order to delight the emperors, in both life and death.

"I'm surprised at the immense power of the ancient Chinese emperors and the way they try to maintain their kingdom in the afterworld," said M. Bakker, who had just watched a 3-D film about the genesis of the terracotta army at the museum.

He was also fascinated by the statues. "They are so beautiful, even more beautiful than I thought," Bakker said.

"Even nowadays, artists seldom make horses as beautiful as this," he said pointing to a life-sized horse from the Qin Dynasty.

Others were also impressed. "The height and the posture of the terracotta statues are very impressive," a 60-old Dutch woman said.

"Look at their faces, the expressions are so lifelike and each one is distinct from another," said the woman, who drove two hours from the southern part of the country to see the exhibition.

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Chinese Studies - The Replica of Cultural Relics

2009-01-07T04:23:00.001-08:00

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The Replica of Cultural Relics

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Learning Mandarin - Track to Ancient Oriental Civilization

2009-01-06T04:24:00.001-08:00

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Track to Ancient Oriental Civilization

China, along with ancient Egypt, Babylon, and India, is known as one of the four great ancient civilizations of the world. The distinctive culture that arose in China was both far-reaching and highly refined.

In approximately the 21st century BC, a primitive agricultural society first appeared in the areas around China's Yellow and Yangtze rivers, and animal husbandry joined hunting and fishing as a means of human sustenance. Approximately two millennia later, the Xia Dynasty (21st-16th century BC)
emerged as China's first dynastic government, followed by the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC) and the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-771BC), which further refined the national system. The subsequent Spring and Autumn (770-476BC) and Warring States periods (475-221BC) were a time of
constant struggle for supremacy among numerous small states.

China's Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods saw a great upsurge in science and technology, as well as in ideology and culture. Much as ancient Greece gave rise to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, China produced a number of great scholars who possessed abundant ideas and extensive
knowledge, including Kongzi (Confucius), Laozi, Mozi, Xunzi, and Mengzi (Mencius). The atmosphere of free debate among the different schools of philosophy founded by these Chinese thinkers was characterized by the saying, "Let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend."

Like their contemporaries in ancient Greece, the Chinese philosophers established schools and took on pupils, brilliantly discoursed and debated, pondered military and governmental affairs, and served as strategists and advisors to their country's leaders. They left future generations a valuable
legacy in philosophy, politics, education, and the military, and had a profound influence on the culture of China and the entire world. One of these illustrious figures was the military strategist Sun Wu (Sunzi), whose renowned work, Sunzi's Art of War, is still used extensively in the areas of
military and economic affairs.

In 221BC, at approximately the same time that the Roman Empire was establishing hegemony in the Mediterranean, Qin Shihuang, the first Qin Emperor, conquered the warring states and founded the Qin Dynasty (221-207BC) -- the first united, centralized, multi-ethnic nation in Chinese history. The Qin
Dynasty was followed by many dynasties, which have left a legacy of fascinating stories, and have provided a wealth of inspiration for modern Chinese art, literature, film, and television.

Traditional Chinese culture -- drawing from philosophy, religion, and ethics; art and literature; science and technology; and even ecology and the environment -- embodies the development and wisdom of the Chinese people. It is not only the priceless inheritance of the people of China, but also a
great treasure belonging to all humanity.

China's many inventions (especially its Four Great Inventions of paper, printing, the compass, and gunpowder) and wide range of knowledge have had a far-reaching effect on human development.. When Christopher Columbus embarked on his great voyages to the New World, the Chinese compass provided him
with vital assistance. Floating pontoon bridges were in use in China before 1100BC, and the world's earliest astronomical treatise, Gan Shi Xing Jing (The Classic of the Stars), was written in China during the Warring States Period.

Zhang Heng invented the celestial globe, used to study star-related phenomena, and the seismograph, used to measure seismic activity, during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), Zu Chongzi calculated the value of pi (π) to be between 3.1415926 and
3.1415927, becoming the first person in the world to accurately determine the value of pi (π) to seven decimal places. Li Shizhen's famous Compendium of Materia Medica, written in the 16th century, lists over 1,800 different medical remedies and over 10,000 prescriptions.

Traditional Chinese culture is recorded not only in historical books and documents, but also in architectural records, such as ancient city walls, palaces, temples, pagodas, and grottos; artifacts, such as bronze objects, weapons, bronze mirrors, coins, clocks, jade and pottery objects, and
curios; and folk culture, including song and dance, embroidery, cuisine, clothing, tea ceremonies, drinking games, lanterns, riddles, martial arts, chess, and kites.

Imbued with the distinctive romance and charm of the East, Chinese art has garnered acclaim all over the world. Chinese calligraphy and painting, which appeared and evolved in tandem, are the guiding force of China's fine arts. They embody China's humanist spirit, and are unparalleled in the arts
of the world.

The number of cultures that have produced the art of calligraphy can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Of them, China has the most ancient calligraphic tradition. Calligraphy has its source in writing. The earliest known form of Chinese writing, consisting of primitive pictographs, has been
found engraved on 5000-year-old Neolithic pottery shards.

The Chinese system of writing, which employs pictographs rather than alphabets, has been in existence for several thousand years. Chinese writing is not only an expression of Chinese culture, but also one of the great achievements of early human civilization. Pictographic Chinese characters
resemble an ancient fossil record in that they vividly capture the natural, social, and spiritual face of the ancient world, and reflect the evolution of both the Chinese people and human society. Chinese language and writing are inseparable from the achievements of Chinese culture, maturing
alongside society to become steadily more expressive and refined.

China's painting tradition is extremely ancient as well. When tracing the origins of Chinese painting, what first comes to mind are the elegantly engraved prehistoric pots produced by China's "painted pottery" culture, dating from 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. By the time of the Warring States Period,
Chinese painting had developed into a distinctive and mature art form. Colored drawings on silk from this period, unearthed from the tomb of the King of Chu in Changsha (Central China's Hunan Province), are the oldest existing drawings in China and the world. Chinese painting continued to develop
during the Eastern and Western Jin Dynasties (265-420), and flourished during the Sui (581-618), Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties.

Chinese sculpture has its origins in the Xia Dynasty (21st-16th century BC). During the Qin Dynasty, lifelike terracotta burial figures of soldiers and horses were created for the tomb of Qin Shihuang, the First Qin Emperor. The discovery and excavation of thousands of these figures from the
Emperor's tomb in Xi'an shook the world, and they were hailed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by foreign archeologists.

China's Four Great Grottos -- the Mogao and Maijishan Grottos at Dunt1uang in Northwest China's Gansu Province, the Yungang Grottos at Datong in North China's Shanxi Province, and the Longmen Grottos at Luoyang in Central China's Henan Province -- are storehouses of ancient Chinese art, and
treasures belonging to the entire world. Of these sites, the Mogao Grottos are the most ancient and contain the most magnificent cliff paintings and sculptures.

The ancestors of the Chinese people were gifted in both song and dance. Musical instruments have existed in China since remote antiquity. Ancient historical documents generally trace the history of Chinese music back to the time of the legendary Yellow Emperor, 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.

A set of sixty-four cast bronze bells, made in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period, has been discovered in Central China's Hubei Province. Each bell produces two notes, with the set covering a range of over five octaves. A wide range of classical and modem music, including symphonic
works by Beethoven, can be performed on the set, which is tuned to a diatonic scale in the key of C major. The bells have a beautiful tone, harmonious and pleasing to the ear. The fact that such a musical instrument was created in China 2,400 years ago is truly a miracle in the history of world
music.

China has numerous exquisite traditional arts and crafts. Among the most famous are carving and metalwork, embroidery and painting, ceramics and porcelain, and cloisonné (a kind of finish) enamel inlay. Bamboo furniture, woven bamboo and grass objects, paper cuts, lanterns, kites, and toys are
popular traditional craft items, while Chinese jade and ivory ornaments, cloisonné, and embroidery are treasured by people all over the world.

Ceramics and porcelain are among the most well known inventions of ancient China. The most outstanding porcelain is made in China's porcelain capital, Jingdezhen in East China's Jiangxi Province. A famous saying describes Jingdezhen porcelain as "white as jade, bright as a mirror; thin as paper,
tone like a chime." China's ceramics capital, Yixing in Jiangsu Province (East China), is the home of purple sand pottery. Produced using the area's unique purple sand clay and special firing techniques, Yixing pottery is both beautiful and distinctive.

Embroidery is a traditional craft that has flourished over the ages. China's four main styles of embroidery developed in Suzhou (Jiangsu), Hunan Province (Central China), Sichuan Province (Southwestern China), and Guangdong Province (South China). An embroidery artist may use several dozen
different stitches to portray flowers, people, animals, scenery, or any number of meticulously designed patterns.

Traditional Chinese philosophy is both profound and simple, intimately linked to both society and the individual. It propounds the theory of "as above, so below," and replies to the vexations of the "ten thousand things" -- that is, the material world -- with the concept of Harmony ("he" in
Chinese). Harmony appears weak but is actually strong. There is nothing it cannot absorb and nothing it cannot penetrate. The Chinese character "he," or Harmony, appears in the Chinese words for peace, compromise, concord, and unison, and may be interpreted to include all of these meanings.

The philosophic concept of Harmony is expressed in both the Confucian ideal of Benevolence and the Daoist idea of Non-Action. The taijitu, or Yin-Yang symbol, offers a visual representation of this concept. It depicts two opposing forces, each of which includes elements of the other and may
transform into its opposite under certain conditions. The balanced interaction of these opposing forces creates a unified and harmonious whole. The ancient philosophy of balancing opposition to create a harmonious whole has fostered an individual and collective love of peace in the Chinese people.

Chinese civilization has its source far in the distant past. With a continuous history of 5,000 years, it has undergone frequent transformations to produce a rich and vital cultural heritage.

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Chinese Character - Prescriptions of Universal Relief

2009-01-05T04:25:00.001-08:00

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Created in China>Traditional Chinese Medicine >Books

Prescriptions of Universal Relief

Pu Ji Fang(Prescriptions of Universal Relief) is the most extensive prescription book in Chinese history, with 61,739 prescriptions in it.

It was published in 1406, compiled under the leadership of Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).Pu Ji Fanggathered great mass of data. In addition to the contents of prescription books before the Ming Dynasty, it has also collected data in other aspects, such as biographies, magazines
and so on, so its contents are very rich and detailed. As the number of printed copies was very small and the book was so useful, many people made copies by writing from one to another. The rarer, the more valuable.Pu Ji Fangwas very precious at that time. After some times, the original
block-printed edition ofPu Ji Fangwas already lost.

The original ofPu Ji Fangwas in 168 volumes, and later it was changed into 426 volumes, containing 217 categories and 788 therapies. There are 239 pictures in the whole book. The contents include the general remark, the human body, miscellaneous diseases of enteric fever, surgery, gynecology,
pediatrics, acupuncture and moxibustion and so on. The book described the treatment of many diseases, such as decoction, massage, acupuncture and moxibustion, and so on.Pu Ji Fangis a very practical medical formulary. Under each disease, some prescriptions are listed,so, what the scholar or doctor
has to do is just to find the prescriptions according to the disease, and then choose one from the many prescriptions. The book also serves as a very precious medical literature.

In 1959, the People's Medical Publishing House of China proofread and reprinted the bookPu Ji Fangon the basis of manyfragmentary copies of earlier times.Pu Ji Fangpublished by the People's Medical Publishing House is in 10 volumes. Volume 1 is on physiology, Volume 2 on the human body, Volume 3
to Volume 6 on miscellaneous diseases, Volume 7 on skin and external diseases, Volume 8 on women, Volume 9 on children, and Volume 10 on acupuncture and moxibustion. Thus, the book becomes concise and clear.

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Learning Mandarin - Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art

2009-01-04T04:23:00.001-08:00

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Exchange>Exhibition

Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art

The ability to think about cultural problems and the ability to search for personal expression are two parallels that exist between artistic expression in both the East and the West. Artists trained in China during the 20th century received very strict training in the realist styles of painting.
Though artists from the East and West have different reasons and approaches to abstract art, they share the same aesthetic logic in their decision to break away from the orthodox training to seek free expression and a thorough an understanding of one’s in innermost being.

Artists: Li Huasheng, Lin Yan, Liu Zijian, Qiu Shihua, shen Chen, Wang Chuan, Chihung Yang, Zhou Li

Curator: Huang Zhuan

Organizer: OCT Contemporary Art Terminal of the He Xiangning Art Museum

Co-Organizers: Art Now Gallery, Hanart TZ Gallery, Artist Commune, ChinaSquare

Sponsor: J&J Art Fund, USA

Dates and Venues:

June 1 to July 1,2007 OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen

August 2 to Sep. 1,2007 Art Now Gallery, Beijing

Sep. 29 to Oct. 17,2007 Artist Commune, Hong Kong

Feb.1 to March 1, 2008 China Square Gallery, New York

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Free Chinese Lesson - Chinese Culture Center

2009-01-03T23:30:00.001-08:00

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Chinese Culture Center

Cairo

Comprehensive Activities:

The 5th Chinese song competition

Culture Center, April 15

Chinese Cultural Week (co-organize with cultural department of Hebei)

Cairo Opera House, May

Exhibitions
Exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return Central Exhibition Hall

Movies and TV: Central Multinational Hall 7:30pm

2 become 1

April 2

Heroic Duo April 30
Beautiful homestead May 7
Riding Aolne for Thousands of Miles May 28
Gimme Kudos June 3
Together June 24

Teaching:

Advanced oral classes (Elementary classes, Secondary classes, Junior classes, Senior classes)

April 27, 2008 to June 25,2008 Sunday, Tuesday or Monday, Wednesday 17：30--20：30 Venue: Venue: Central Classroom

Martial Art Class Third Phase: Southern Fist and Southern Broadsword; 24 Forms Simplified Tai Chi; 42 Forms Tai-Chi Boxing, Sword and Pushing Hands (Shui Shou)

February.24 to May.21 Sunday, Tuesday, or Monday, Wednesday 18：00--19：30 Venue: Central Multinational Hall

Library:

22000 books in collection, more than 20 kinds of periodicals in Chinese and other languages

16：00--19：30 Sunday to Thursday

Paris, Cairo,Benin, Malta,Mauritius,S.Korea

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Chinese Character - Chinese Culture Center

2009-01-03T04:11:00.001-08:00

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Chinese Culture Center

Cairo

Comprehensive Activities:

The 5th Chinese song competition

Culture Center, April 15

Chinese Cultural Week (co-organize with cultural department of Hebei)

Cairo Opera House, May

Exhibitions
Exhibition commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return Central Exhibition Hall

Movies and TV: Central Multinational Hall 7:30pm

2 become 1

April 2

Heroic Duo April 30
Beautiful homestead May 7
Riding Aolne for Thousands of Miles May 28
Gimme Kudos June 3
Together June 24

Teaching:

Advanced oral classes (Elementary classes, Secondary classes, Junior classes, Senior classes)

April 27, 2008 to June 25,2008 Sunday, Tuesday or Monday, Wednesday 17：30--20：30 Venue: Venue: Central Classroom

Martial Art Class Third Phase: Southern Fist and Southern Broadsword; 24 Forms Simplified Tai Chi; 42 Forms Tai-Chi Boxing, Sword and Pushing Hands (Shui Shou)

February.24 to May.21 Sunday, Tuesday, or Monday, Wednesday 18：00--19：30 Venue: Central Multinational Hall

Library:

22000 books in collection, more than 20 kinds of periodicals in Chinese and other languages

16：00--19：30 Sunday to Thursday

Paris, Cairo,Benin, Malta,Mauritius,S.Korea

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Learning Chinese - Chinese Lesson

2009-01-01T16:48:00.001-08:00

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Guide to Chinese
Living in China

Showing results 1 to 4 of 4
Search took 0.01 seconds; generated 3 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: trevelyan

Forum: Adsotrans.com Forum 25th December 2007, 09:49 PM

Replies: 12

Basic Python module for adso

Views: 2,121

Posted By trevelyan

Re: Basic Python module for adso

I'm heading down to Australia at the end of this week and will be back in China January 10th. Will
be getting a new server then and will look into setting up a revised API then. If you need
anything...

Forum: Adsotrans.com Forum 21st February 2007, 05:04 AM

Replies: 12

Basic Python module for adso

Views: 2,121

Posted By trevelyan

Re: Basic Python module for adso

Ok. First file here takes in GB2312. The second takes in UTF8. Because of the need to support both
simplified and traditional, both files return content in...

Forum: Adsotrans.com Forum 12th February 2007, 11:28 PM

Replies: 12

Basic Python module for adso

Views: 2,121

Posted By trevelyan

Re: Basic Python module for adso

Currently takes GB2312 as input, but it will make sense to switch to UTF8. I'm not sure which
server to put it on. Probably the new one. Ping me if anyone is clamouring to set anything up
using it...

Forum: Adsotrans.com Forum 12th November 2006, 02:04 AM

Replies: 12

Basic Python module for adso

Views: 2,121

Posted By trevelyan

Looks good. Let me know if any changes are...

Looks good. Let me know if any changes are necessary on this end to help out. It would be possible
to create a script that just spat out the information delimited in a more convenient way for...

Showing results 1 to 4 of 4

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Chinese Mandarin - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-24T04:09:00.001-08:00

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Living in China

Showing results 1 to 1 of 1
Search took 0.01 seconds; generated 4 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: PollyWaffle

Forum: Speaking and Listening 6th June 2003, 02:12 PM

Replies: 20

Hardest sound to pronounce?

Views: 6,838

Posted By PollyWaffle

yes, i find ri difficult to say without stopping...

yes, i find ri difficult to say without stopping & thinking about it. in fact i hate saying
anything that begins with 'r'.

it also depends on the sentence too. sometimes a word that is easy to...

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Learn mandarin - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-23T04:08:00.001-08:00

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Guide to Chinese
Living in China

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Search took 0.01 seconds; generated 3 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: jjlu001

Forum: Speaking and Listening 2nd February 2005, 01:39 PM

Replies: 43

Why Do You Learn Chinese?(ple help me with the survey)

Views: 6,910

Posted By jjlu001

Why Do You Learn Chinese?(ple help me with the survey)

:clap My kindest friends, ple help me with this survey!!

1. Why do you learn Chinese? Because you have a Chinese partner? interested in the cousine,
pottery, opera, or you just move there?

2....

Showing results 1 to 1 of 1

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Chinese Character - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-22T04:07:00.001-08:00

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Living in China

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Search took 0.05 seconds; generated 3 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: KTFO#1

Forum: Speaking and Listening 13th August 2006, 10:47 PM

Replies: 38

dashan 大山, Igor(from taiwan) and any others who have disgustingly good chinese

Views: 8,318

Posted By KTFO#1

Jeff Locker/傑夫 on Taiwanese TV

Hi there everyone.

Has anybody seen an American called Jeff Locker/傑夫on Taiwanese TV? His Mandarin is incredible!
He's published a lot of books in Chinese and he astounded me everytime I saw him on...

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Free Chinese Lesson - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-21T04:07:00.001-08:00

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Living in China

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Search took 0.01 seconds; generated 4 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: mlomker

Forum: Speaking and Listening 5th April 2006, 09:45 AM

Replies: 49

Tips for beginners?

Views: 5,746

Posted By mlomker

skunkpuppy, my instinct would be that people that...

skunkpuppy, my instinct would be that people that speak tonal languages would have better luck. I
think there's a reason why Asian people love karoake--their tonal languages give them better
control...

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Learning Mandarin - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-20T04:12:00.001-08:00

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Showing results 1 to 6 of 6
Search took 0.04 seconds; generated 4 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: atitarev

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st July 2005, 09:01 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

Thank you.

Thank you.

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st July 2005, 08:28 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

Thanks for answering. This calls for a new...

Thanks for answering.

This calls for a new topic, doesn't it? I want to check with my mainland China penpals, what they
think about it. They think they have freedom of expression. For example, we...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st July 2005, 07:12 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

>>Could anyone teach me how to do that, or...

>>Could anyone teach me how to do that, or we let roddy to do it?
Yes, that's what I meant. Can we let moderators rename it? Anyone can make a typo but because it's
an interesting topic and anyone...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st July 2005, 06:57 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

Thanks, Pangu. I know the attitudes towards the...

Thanks, Pangu. I know the attitudes towards the simplified characters in Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Macau - of course, you can live normal lives just knowing your own language and script. In
S.A.R.'s...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st July 2005, 04:09 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

No, it's not. Not sure, what you mean. If you...

No, it's not. Not sure, what you mean. If you mean the keyboard layout - then Q matches with
Russian Я ("Ya"). There is no letter Q in Russian or similar, nor it matches the transliteraton
of Chinese...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 20th July 2005, 03:09 AM

Replies: 52

Pinyin used in Taiwan?

Views: 4,972

Posted By atitarev

I agree that Q was a good choice because you...

I agree that Q was a good choice because you really have to differentiate between Q and CH (what
they currently signify) the sounds are very different but there are not enough letters.

Showing results 1 to 6 of 6

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Learn Chinese online - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-19T04:10:00.001-08:00

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Living in China

Showing results 1 to 1 of 1
Search took 0.01 seconds; generated 4 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: taibeihong

Forum: Speaking and Listening 23rd January 2004, 04:13 PM

Replies: 61

most embarrassing moment while learning Chinese

Views: 17,258

Posted By taibeihong

praising the High Tide

I was on a short trip with a delegation of Chinese and foreigners, and they had taken us to see
the High Tide someplace near Shanghai, when the sea level rises more than the river level, causing
the...

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Learn mandarin - Chinese Lesson

2008-12-18T04:11:00.001-08:00

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Showing results 1 to 21 of 21
Search took 0.02 seconds; generated 4 minute(s) ago. Search: Posts Made By: semantic nuance

Forum: Speaking and Listening 3rd April 2006, 08:45 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Thank you, HK. Now I learn a new simplified word...

Thank you, HK. Now I learn a new simplified word 只 for 隻. Also, my apologies for my hasty
mistake. Thanks for the correction.:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 2nd April 2006, 09:41 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Marvelous! HK! 8....

Marvelous! HK!

8. 画蛇添足
画蛇添足这个成语是说一个人画蛇的时候，给蛇加上了几隻脚。蛇，本来没�
��脚的，他给蛇加上了脚会有什么结果呢？
据说在战国时代，楚国有一个人请了几个人给他管理寺庙。那天天气很冷，�
��人就叫一个人拿了ㄧ壶酒给这几个人喝。可是一壶酒不够他们几个人喝的��
�他们商量了一会儿，就决定比赛画蛇。谁先画完蛇谁就喝那壶酒：...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 30th March 2006, 02:18 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Good job, bomaci 他养了一大群猴子....

Good job, bomaci

他养了一大群猴子. 因为他天天跟猴子接触所以他能了解猴子的性情.
现在我们就用朝三暮四形容一个常常改变注意,不可相信的人,或是欺骗人的��
�.

Hope it helps!:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 30th March 2006, 08:50 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

我还校稿了好几次 Hope it helps!:)

我还校稿了好几次

Hope it helps!:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 29th March 2006, 10:38 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

守株待兔

It seems that no one keep working on this project. I'll post another one.

守株待兔

守株是守在一棵樹的旁邊.待兔是等ㄧ個兔子來.
你看,這個農夫守在這棵大樹旁邊等著兔子來呢!
他為什麼不種田而在這兒等兔子呢? 兩千多年前的ㄧ天,
宋國的ㄧ個農夫正在田裡除草的時候,
忽然看見一隻兔子飛快地跑過來撞到一棵大樹上....

Forum: Speaking and Listening 23rd March 2006, 11:36 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

you may check #30 on page 3 of this thread. 走馬看花...

you may check #30 on page 3 of this thread. 走馬看花 was done by HarishiKata.:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st March 2006, 07:44 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

She did pronounce zi4 for sure. yes, you can. ...

She did pronounce zi4 for sure.
yes, you can. Here in this case 什麼樣-- what kind--=什麼種(類)

Hope it helps!:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st March 2006, 07:11 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Your ears are absolutely sound. She does...

Your ears are absolutely sound. She does pronounce feng2li4 in the first part. But you know
sometimes when we speak or read out, we'll mispronounce. Sometimes when I speak very fast, I will
say 我素...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 21st March 2006, 10:13 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

矛跟盾都是古時候打仗用的武器。自相矛盾這個成語是怎麼來的呢﹖戰國時�
��,有一天,在一個熱鬧的市場裡一個...

矛跟盾都是古時候打仗用的武器。自相矛盾這個成語是怎麼來的呢﹖戰國時�
��,有一天,在一個熱鬧的市場裡一個人賣矛也賣盾。他自誇他的矛跟盾如何如
何好﹐他先拿起他的盾說﹕我做的這個盾是世界上最結實的盾。任何尖銳的�
��西都刺不穿它。他等了半天,看沒有人要買他的盾,他就把盾放下﹐拿起來他
的矛說:我作的矛是世界上最鋒利的矛.不管什麼樣的盾﹐ㄧ刺就可以刺穿。��
�說完了以後﹐一個人問他:你說你的矛是世界上最鋒利的矛。可以...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 19th March 2006, 06:26 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

不用客氣, HarishiKata. 用一枝箭同時可以射下來兩隻大鳥. Sorry, my...

不用客氣, HarishiKata.

用一枝箭同時可以射下來兩隻大鳥. Sorry, my typing mistake. :P

As for 長孫, you're right, it's a double surname, and it's pronounced as Zhang3sun1 . Also,
these two characters are a set used to...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 19th March 2006, 12:51 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

十四一箭雙雕

十四一箭雙雕

雕是一種大鳥. 這個成語的意思是說一個人很有本事,
用一隻箭同時可以射下來兩隻大鳥. 在中國南北朝的時候,
有一個人姓張*叫孫晟, 他雖然書讀得不多, 但是武藝高強, 尤其會射箭.
皇帝派他出使突厥國.突厥的國王攝圖知道長孫晟的本領很好, 非常賞識他,
常邀他ㄧ起去騎馬打獵. 有一天, 他們又率領大隊人馬去打獵.
他們到了森林以後, 沒看見有什麼野獸, 很失望. 正在這時候,...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 19th March 2006, 08:39 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Well done!!! only very very minute mistakes. 9....

Well done!!! only very very minute mistakes.

9. 东施效颦

What I heard is 模範 from the narrator. However, I think she tried to say 模仿 instead of
模範, though her pronunciation is 模範. 模範 can only be used as...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 16th March 2006, 11:28 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

两千多年前，杞国有一个人，膽子很小，什么都怕。
如果天掉下来了，我们躲到哪去呀？我们一定死定了。...

两千多年前，杞国有一个人，膽子很小，什么都怕。

如果天掉下来了，我们躲到哪去呀？我们一定死定了。 Yes, you're correct.

This 杞人憂天 reminds me of another similar chenyu--吳牛喘月, which means to be frightened
or fear something too much.

Hope it...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 16th March 2006, 04:51 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

I was thinking if I deprived the chance of others...

I was thinking if I deprived the chance of others to practice their listening comprehension by
transcribing those chenyus. No problem. I'd be glad to help correct some words if I can.
HarishiKata, I...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 16th March 2006, 08:02 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

the phonetic 'ㄋ' is pronouced 'n' as in 'n-an...

the phonetic 'ㄋ' is pronouced 'n' as in 'n-an (nan2 難 difficult)', and 'ㄟ' ,'ei' as in 'hei
(黑 black). so, combined together, ㄋㄟ is prounced 'nei'(sometimes the first tone, sometimes
the fifth). You...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 16th March 2006, 12:12 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Hehe! It beats me. I think the function of ㄋㄟ is...

Hehe! It beats me. I think the function of ㄋㄟ is like that of 喔, 啊, 咦, etc. It's the
sound when we say it cute. My guess is that it is a variation of 不好意思呢! But I'm not
sure. We just say it that way....

Forum: Speaking and Listening 15th March 2006, 11:00 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

nipponman, 真不好意思ㄋㄟ. 我下次改進改進!:mrgreen:...

nipponman,

真不好意思ㄋㄟ. 我下次改進改進!:mrgreen: 我會把其他的都留給別人去聽寫.
不是故意的!:mrgreen:

SN

Forum: Speaking and Listening 15th March 2006, 08:08 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

三. 亡羊補牢

Hi,

I'll contribute another one--三. 亡羊補牢

三. 亡羊補牢

亡羊是羊丟了.補牢是修理羊圈.這個人的羊丟了以後,是不是應該去修理羊圈�
��?很久很久以前,在一個鄉村裡,住著一個牧羊人,
他的名字叫張三.張三家裡養了十幾隻羊,每天早上他都去牧羊.ㄧ天早上,他去
牧羊的時候,發現羊少了一隻. 羊怎麼會丟了一隻呢?...

Forum: Speaking and Listening 15th March 2006, 07:36 AM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

这个人到一个姓范的家里去偷东西，范家已经搬家了，东西都搬走了，没有�
��么东西可以偷了，只有一个大钟还留...

这个人到一个姓范的家里去偷东西，范家已经搬家了，东西都搬走了，没有�
��么东西可以偷了，只有一个大钟还留在院子里。

六. 對牛彈琴

那条牛一听见这手像牛蝇飞来飞去的曲子就立刻停止吃草.摇着尾巴,
好像在要赶走牛蝇一样.

Hope it helps!:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 14th March 2006, 11:16 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Oops! I didn't know you didn't want it to be done...

Oops! I didn't know you didn't want it to be done so soon. My apologies! Hope I was not in the way
of some project.:)

Forum: Speaking and Listening 14th March 2006, 08:40 PM

Replies: 62

Listening Exercise (and 成语)

Views: 4,508

Posted By semantic nuance

Hi, Ok. Let me be the first to try 揠苗助長...

Hi,

Ok. Let me be the first to try 揠苗助長
(http://www.wellesley.edu/Chinese/Chinese_Fables/spoil/spoil_fable.html). Here's the transcription:

揠苗助長

揠苗是把秧苗拔起來的意思.助長是幫助秧苗長大的意思. 你看,
這張畫上的農夫在拔他田裡的秧苗呢!...

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2008-12-17T04:10:00.001-08:00

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Forum: Speaking and Listening 22nd December 2006, 05:29 PM

Replies: 63

Chinesepod.com-Does it really work?

Views: 10,684

Posted By onebir

Re: Chinesepod.com-Does it really work?

I suspect the FSI course, which has hundreds of hours of drills forcing you to make speak out
loud, might get you pretty close to fluency in producing sentences if you were dogged enough about
using...

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2008-12-16T04:09:00.001-08:00

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Forum: Speaking and Listening 13th June 2007, 01:46 PM

Replies: 63

Chinesepod.com-Does it really work?

Views: 10,684

Posted By mirgcire

Re: Chinesepod.com-Does it really work?

Great question. But a little vague. What do you mean by "work"?

Maybe a good question to ask is: If someone started with no knowledge of chinese, and studied
chinesepod exclusively for one year...

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2008-12-15T04:10:00.001-08:00

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Forum: Speaking and Listening 5th May 2007, 04:43 AM

Replies: 71

Steve Kaufmann - How good is he?

Views: 9,086

Posted By kudra

Re: Steve Kaufmann - How good is he?

The two books "A New Text for a Modern China" are both by the same authors, except the one from
Beijing Univ. has an additional author. Based on the link, the BJ Univ. pub. has only simplified,
while...

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2008-12-14T04:11:00.001-08:00

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Forum: Speaking and Listening 22nd January 2006, 09:55 PM

Replies: 77

which chinese dialect(s) do you like most?

Views: 8,451

Posted By yorkie_bear

I have to agree that Shanghainese does really...

I have to agree that Shanghainese does really sound like people are having a right argy bargy (and
often they are!).

I like Cantonese, but what I love about it are the Chinglish words like diksi,...

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2008-12-13T00:08:00.001-08:00

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Forum: Speaking and Listening 9th February 2007, 02:35 PM

Replies: 82

How could I get better at tones?

Views: 18,328

Posted By heifeng

Re: How could I get better at tones?

Yeah, I would agree with this. All my tone learning stopped after my 1st yr of Chinese when I had
to learn more characters then I could keep up with. Big mistake! Any new learners of Chinese
should...

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Chinese Character - Breakthrough in learning Characters? - Page 5 -

2008-12-11T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Breakthrough in learning Characters?
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Page 5 of 5 First < 34 5

beirne -

Quote:

It seems obvious that the 4 dots can't represent legs on the horse since those same dots appear in
the symbol for fire and fish and birds which neither have four legs. Can anyone offer any proof
for that meaning of the 4 dots--as legs?

Looking into the history of 鱼 and 鸟 it looks that the 4 dots occurred somewhat by accident but
do have some relation to the animal. For 鱼 the 4 dots are the tips of the upper and lower fins
and the two tips of the rear fins (dorsal, anal, and caudal fins to be technical). The fin tips
got pushed to the bottom of the character over time. There is a video on Youtube showing this.
Wenlin has an even clearer example but I don't have the image online anywhere handy.

For 鸟 the dots are a combination of clawtips and the tail. No real logic on why it ended up at
four, probably to make it look like other animal characters. There is a Youtube of that too.

Quote:

In my plan above, I'm stuck on the very first, most popular character. What does a ladel in the
(rising) sun have to do with genitive as well as simple and composed adjectives? It appears I will
need help in connecting characters ideas into the meaning especially in the case of abstract ideas.

That's the trouble with this sort of system. It works on enough characters to make it look
plausible, but in a lot of cases you are back to plain memorization, or come up with elaborate
stories like the one about the magic spoon. Use these tricks where you can, but understand that in
most cases the components of the characters don't supply a whole lot of meaning. One of the first
illusions broken when learning Chinese is when you find out that most characters aren't pictures
of anything. Next is when you discover that most characters aren't formed on meaning, but rather
are something akin to a rebus. Then you find that the rebuses were done a long time ago when
characters were pronounced differently. This doesn't mean that you can't take advantage of the
more pictographic characters, or the ones that have meaningful components or the ones that provide
good sound clues. You just can't expect there to be a system based on these that will work
everywhere.

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About Ads (and how to hide them) -- Your message here

imron -

This is the book I was talking about. 汉字书写入门.

hhjk9901 -

Quote:

And when you look at the characters 量liáng, 查chá and 昼zhoù, all of which have the 旦
component, you can see how useful this approach is.

Interesting topic!

查

It's shape follows 木 and it's pronounciation follows 且 in ancient. So it's lower part 旦 is
just an evolved form. (By <<说文解字>>)

Someone may ask me why 查 is pronounced as 'Cha2' instead of 'Qie 且'.This deal with the ancient
chinese pronounciations. The ancient chinese has more than 4 tones.

In ancient China, 查/阻/咀 have the same pronounciation.

I am an English learner. My english is not good. Hope you can understand.

m.ellison -

There are two new books on this principle, by Matthews and Matthews and by Heisig and Richardson.

The Heisig book (which has not appeared yet) is the subject of its own thread in this forum.

Volapuk49 -

I went to Professor Tienzen Gong's site: http://www.chinese-word-roots.org/

This describes the book which began this entire discussion. It is back in print.

Here is what especially got my attention. The ordering info:

Buy now (paper back) $400, new edition, 305 pages. (No return)

I sent him an e mail asking how he arrived at this price.

Any substantive comments? Has anyone actually used this book?

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Chinese Studies - Mandarin and Japanese - Page 3 -

2008-12-10T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Extras > Other cultures and language
Mandarin and Japanese
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usna_mori -

I have a question , I´m studing simplifies chinese , but got a comic in traditional chinese and
it has (name)-大人 for honorific , and is used like - sama in japanese , is it used in
simplified chinese too???? =)

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About Ads (and how to hide them) -- Your message here

skylee -

usna_mori, it has nothing to do with simplified or traditional Chinese. The term is just used to
translate "-sama". Nowadays, 大人 is not used in either simplified/traditional Chinese or
Mainland China/Taiwan to address a person of a high status. It was used in the past (like
pre-1911). In HK, however, sometimes you might find the term used in some court drama in the form
of "法官大人" ("your honour" when address the judge in a court).

fireball9261 -

Nowadays, 大人 could also be used in joking with your friends or parents or wives or girlfriends.

I think the term 閣下 is still used formally in certain situations in Chinese societies. I
usually use it when I am using it as a term to speak to someone who I want to express my feelings
of wanting to keep the listener as a far away stranger and a possible enemy. It is a way for
respectful sacarsm.

muyongshi -

Quote:

I think the term 閣下 is still used formally in certain situations in Chinese societies.

I see it all the time at restaurants here in mainland!

fireball9261 -

Yes. 閣下 would be used in a very well mannered and formal setting, especially if the
businessmen want to make people feel respected and upper class. The same thing as "夫人" for the
wives of higher level Chinese.

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Speak Chinese - translation help -

2008-12-09T08:10:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
translation help
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holger -

Hi,

I recently saw these characters in a calligraphy wondering what they might mean.

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muyongshi -

It is very unclear what some of it is but here is what I am able to surmise:

但有学, 向___能
未有__, (combination of 文 and 子) 而能

But those who have studied are able to face/towards (something)
Their future has (something), and (something) has the ability

Sorry that can't get any more specific but those 2 characters make no sense and have no clue what
they are. The 文 and 子 combo is not a character but in my mind may be an attempt to say 文字
so maybe saying an education gives ability....

Li Yuzuo -

但有学而不能，未有不学而能

there is only someone who has learned but he can not do all things,
never will be someone who has not learned but he can do all things.

neverain -

in fact there are several characters that I can't figure out.....

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Speak Chinese - Help teaching English to Chinese postgrads - Page 2 -

2008-12-08T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China > Teaching English in
China
Help teaching English to Chinese postgrads
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Page 2 of 2 < 1 2

Senzhi -

Quote:

I bought a large variety of cheese and brought them in so now the students have a vocabulary that
includes brie, camembert, Edam, cheddar and philadelphia. There is no way they would have learned
any word beyond 'cheese' without personal experience.

In case anyone is interested, they liked Edam and brie. They didn't like cheddar. Favorite was
German smoked cheese and philadelphia cream cheese which I now sell to the students and my
colleagues.

Can I please please come to your class?!!! Not much of all this heavenly food to find in Shantou
...

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Chinese Studies - Short Story by 郁达夫 (Yu Dafu) - 春风沉醉的晚上 (Spring Night) - Page 2 -

2008-12-07T08:13:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Resources and General Study Issues > Book of the Month
Short Story by 郁达夫 (Yu Dafu) - 春风沉醉的晚上 (Spring Night)
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gato -

There's hypothetically a danger of giving away the plot, but in this case, I don't think that's
too much of a problem. Just be discreet.

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imron -

What I find both appealing and annoying about this story is that it offers us a brief glimpse into
the lives of these characters, but then stops without filling in the details. I realise this is
quite possibly the author's whole intention, but after reading the story, there's so much more I
want to know about the characters, that we can now only guess at through idle speculation - like
for instance how does someone who speaks at least 4 languages end up living destitute in a slum.

I also think that going by passages is a good way to go, as it gives slower readers and/or busy
people time to read along and participate. Otherwise you'll get people wanting to move onto the
next story, or talking about future events, before everyone's finished reading. Remember, it is
after all suppossed to be book of the month.

muyongshi -

Quote:

What I find both appealing and annoying about this story is that it offers us a brief glimpse into
the lives of these characters, but then stops without filling in the details.

I agree with you. I personally don't like the idea of a story missing the whole conclusion of the
matter. (oh wait have we spoiled the ending ) but in terms of the way he writes I enjoy the style.

I guess though his intention wasn't, as you said, to give us a biography but to simply illustrate
a certain time of his life...

imron -

I don't like it from a story perspective, but I like it for the effect it has - that it makes you
think about the characters and the lifes they lead. After all, if he went on to fill in all the
backstory, and then what happens next, there would be nothing left for you to think about. That
would make for a more complete story, but wouldn't stimulate the mind so much.

muyongshi -

Quote:

but wouldn't stimulate the mind so much.

Exactly...I hate stories that stimulate my mind

文言訓開班 -

Alright, it's Tuesday and I'm just sitting down to start 第二回 My apologies. I've got an idea
as to where this is going to go, though I'm not positive, but I don't mind if people give
spoilers, frankly. The biggest two things I want to get out of my first few ventures into contempo
Chinese lit is vocabulary and getting accustomed the the writing voice, or style. So please, feel
free I didn't know if people wanted to read these pieces, then discuss together at the same
time....while I acknowledge that everyone being on the same piece at once makes things easier,
this is the internet, and what each one of us says isn't going to disappear if we're not around to
listen like it would in a face-to-face discussion group

So, first thoughts. First, I'm not convinced that 破书 means dilapidated books. The story starts
pretty abruptly with him unemployed and kicking around the slums of shanghai, and by the end of
the chapter, I feel like I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of character this is. I know
beatniks like this, and they keep books forever. I think 破书 are books he's read, and he's
trying to establish himself as a beatnik or something to that effect.

I don't really feel confident on judging the writing style. I think I find the Chinese
light-hearted and kind of fun, though.

Also, Imron

Quote:

Remember, it is after all suppossed to be book of the month

While I am busy and would love to drag this out for a month, I'll acknowledge that I'm the
straggler here....it's book of the month, but it's book of the month, and this ain't no book

文言訓開班 -

As for where this story's going (第二回正短了), I was way off. I actually think I'm going to
like this story a lot, though I'll see where it goes from here. From here, I'm interested in
seeing how the author develops or what he learns in the rest of this story. My guess is that this
is going to be a guilt trip about him worrying so much about theoretical questions as to what type
of person he is while people right next to him are happy to just make it through the day before
breaking even. My sense is, though, that the author's more clever than this.

Also, does anyone know what 煙 are in this context? They're cigarettes, right? The girl packages
cigarettes? does 吃煙 mean to smoke?

文言訓開班 -

also, this story's dated to be from 1923. can we forget i called him beatnik?

gato -

Quote:

吃煙

吃香烟 is Shanghainese for 抽烟. The story was written when Mandarin still wasn't
standardized, and the author uses some Shanghainese phrases in the story. In Shanghainese, you'd
even 吃汤 instead of 喝汤 (I think).

studentyoung -

Quote:

I realise this is quite possibly the author's whole intention, but after reading the story,
there's so much more I want to know about the characters, that we can now only guess at through
idle speculation - like for instance how does someone who speaks at least 4 languages end up
living destitute in a slum.

Quote:

“你家在什么地方？何以不回家去？”

她问到了这里，我忽而感觉到我自己的现状了。因为自去年以来，我只是一�
��一日的萎靡下去，差不多把“我是什么人？”“我现在所处的是怎么一种��
�遇？”“我的心里还是悲还是喜？”这些观念都忘掉了。经她这一问，我重
新把半年来困苦的情形一层一层的想了出来。所以听她的问话以后，我只是�
��呆的看她，半晌说不出话来。她看了我这个样子，以为我也是一个无家可��
�的流浪人。脸上就立时起了一种孤寂的表情，微微的叹着说：

“唉！你也是同我一样的么？”

I think it might be the author’s intention, too. Maybe 郁达夫tried to express the meaning of
the famous verse by 白居易，”同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识Fellow sufferers
sympathize with each other, why bother to know who you are.”

Cheers!

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Learn Chinese - Handwriting Thread!! -

2008-12-06T08:10:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Handwriting Thread!!
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aafrophone -

Okay everyone, this is your chance to show your Handwriting Skills. All you have to do write a
paragraph or a few sentences (in Chinese) by hand. Then, Scan it, and upload it to here. Then you
can be giving suggestions for improvement for your handwriting. Everyone should try it!

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yonglin -

is this thead for native speakers or for learners of chinese...?!

if you're looking for the former, there are already a good couple of threads about that around
already.

if you're looking for the latter, i doubt your responses will be very interesting. a quote from a
chinese teacher of mine: 欧美同学写汉字都写得像小学生一样. i don't think this is
very far from the truth, although there are of course slightly better and slightly worse varities.

lokki -

Ok, I'll have a go. Comments?
- Incidentally 像小学生一样 does not strike me as a particularly bad rating. I'd be proud to
be at that level

adrianlondon -

Oh that's cheating! That's not just something you knocked up using a Bic and a scrap of paper you
had lying around, that's proper paint, brush and shufa stuff.

And it's pretty good! I did a few lessons of calligraphy and although some of my characters looked
fantastic, consistency wasn't one of my skills.

lokki -

Quote:

that's proper paint, brush and shufa stuff.

Faber Castell "PITT artist pen" actually. One of those pens with a soft pointed tip that bends and
adapts to pressure giving similar results as with a brush. Very handy for shufa. Sorry for
cheating, though I take it as praise. But I'll run a scan of my "normal" scribblings as well a
little later.

And thanks for the comment. I know what you mean about consistency. I guess this is another one of
those things that ultimately boil down to the three familiar P's: Practice, practice and practice.

bottledpoetry -

wow. looks like something I'd read off an instant noodle cup. Nice!

skylee -

Also see this thread -> Requesting some handwriting samples

shibole -

Have you compared the PITT artist pen against others? Mine in order of best to worst:

1. Pentel ColorBrush
2. Sailor Profit Brush Pen
3. Sakura Pigma Brush

The Pentel ColorBrush is the closest to the real 毛筆, with real hairlike bristles. The sailor
profit has bristles that are a bit too inflexible and isn't as good, but you can fill it like a
fountain pen with a converter (don't need to buy refills). The Pigma Brush really sucks as it has
a felt tip, most similar to your PITT artist pen though hopefully yours has a better tip. The
pigma brush tip seems to frey very easily.

Others I haven't tried yet:

- Kuretake Brush Pen (similar to the Sailor Profit, but no converter)
- Pentel Pocket Brush (synthetic bristles, no converter)
- Sailor Superscript (a fountain pen with a special bent nib)
- Other Chinese Calligraphy Fountain Pens similar to the Sailor Superscript

I get decent results with a normal fountain pen too. I really think people should learn to write
Chinese with a normal fountain pen. Fountain pens are just cool regardless though as I can mix my
own ink and fill them from bottles of ink.

BTW, the brush pens are called 軟毛筆 in Chinese.

LiYuanXi -

I think it's a nice idea to start the handwriting thread so that new users like me (perhaps I am
not so new but I disappeared for years!) can take part.

I will post up mine when I am free

lokki -

Thanks shiluobote for that list of different pens. No, I haven't tried any of the other ones yet,
but your info will come in handy when I do.

Here's a sample of my "normal" handwriting ("Pilot DR drawing pen"). It's just a scan of one of my
daily exercises - I didn't sit down and write it specifically for this thread.

You can probably see that I am still at a stage where I draw each character separately and rather
carefully and slowly, without the characteristic "flow" of handwriting proper. When I try doing it
more quickly the result deteriorates very rapidly.

I'd appreciate suggestions on how to progress from this point on towards a more natural
native-like flow in my handwriting. Comments are welcome.

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Learn Mandarin online - 但...却 -

2008-12-05T08:08:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
但...却
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laser2302 -

Read this line:

古代人40多岁已是人生尾巴阶段，但现代人40多岁却正处日正当中。

In the last part of the sentence '但现代人40多岁却正处日正当中' --- 但 is followed
by 却. Both of these words mean 'But' or does 却 has a different meaning, or is it some sort of
a pattern of 但...却. I also see the same pattern in other sentences. I just don't understand
why we put two 'buts' in the same sentence? Please help me understand that.

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JasonTsia -

Here, "却" means "..., on the contrary, ...".

Etwood -

Yes, 却 means something like 'contrary to logical belief', so with 但, it sort of has the
meaning of 'but contrary to popular belief'. Hope that helps!

magudo -

usually i will say
"古代人40多岁已是人生尾巴阶段，现代人40多岁却正处日正当中"
or "古代人40多岁已是人生尾巴阶段，但现代人40多岁正处日正当中"

I think use "但" and "却" in a same sentence is kind of wrong

JasonTsia -

I can't see any wrong in sentence like "但现代人40多岁却正处日正当中". Of cause , you
can say "现代人40多岁却正处日正当中" and "但现代人40多岁正处日正当中". But
by adding "却" after "但"， you emphasize the contrast between the two parts. Similarly, you
can say “然而...却..." , “而...却...".

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Chinese Studies - Chinese beer + Sichuan food = really bad headache? -

2008-12-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

> Chinese Culture > Food
Chinese beer + Sichuan food = really bad headache?
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cdn_in_bj -

It has happened to me twice recently where I'll have a bit of beer at lunch and end up with a
really bad headache later in the afternoon that lasts until the next morning. And it's not like
I've gotten myself drunk - we're talking one big bottle of Yanjing, so it's not even enough to get
a good buzz going.

At first I thought that maybe there was methanol in the beer or that I had somehow become alergic
to alcohol, but after some analysis I wonder if's a combination of the beer plus what I ate. Both
times I did have fish-boiled-in spicy-oil, so could it have been a bad reaction between the beer
and Sichuan pepper? It wouldn't surprise me if there's something about the Sichuan pepper as it
was banned in Canada for a long time.

Has anyone else experienced this? I have a friend coming to visit me next week, and it would
really suck to not be able to drink!

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muyongshi -

Never! I don't think it has a connection as I have spicy (and do I love my spice) Sichuan food
everyday and more often than not it is accompanied by a nice cold one (well I imagine it's cold
more than it really is).

Maybe you are just turning Chinese and get drunk after one or two small cups

chabuduo -

Yeah I've never had a problem with Sichuanese food and alcohol. Although a drink in the middle of
the day is best followed by a glass or two of water and a short nap.

That being said I've never experienced bad headaches after just one big bottle. Could it be that
the particular restaurant you visited used way too much MSG in their food and you had a reaction
to that? But if that was the case you'd be getting headaches after every meal no matter where you
ate.

Could be that the beer was fake.

Colossus -

You sure it wasn't the fish? Everyone I've spoken to here says to stay away from the fish.

imron -

I don't drink much, but I've noticed that sometimes I'll also get similar headaches from some
Chinese beers. Again this is from only drinking small amounts, like for example sharing half a
bottle with someone or from one glass of draught. Yanjing was one in particular that I noticed it
would happen with, and now, on the occasions where I'm likely to have a drink, I'll avoid Yanjing
beer if I can help it.

pandaface -

Maybe you got fake one

trevelyan -

Different restaurants?

Tommi -

It could be because of 香菜 (coriander), it's happened a couple times to me before figuring out
the source, so now I always ask for no 香菜 in anything. I really don't drink any alcohol, so
that couldn't be the reason either. And there's really nothing wrong with sichuanese or the fish
here, you can rule out those reasons too.

flameproof -

If it's not an allergic reaction it could be:

You are sensitive to that brand of beer (I am very sensitive to the wrong beer and get a terrible
headache. However, Yanjing has quite a high standard. But I presume your Yanjing is "local". Or
maybe it was fake, Yanjing is a famous brand and certainly gets faked in China too.

You are sensitive to MSG (I get an itchy skin with too much).

Something in the food. Coriander is a little unlikely since it's common all over China. Typical
for Sichuan, and only there, they often add "Flower Pepper", that spicy numbing stuff.

imron -

Quote:

It could be because of 香菜 (coriander), it's happened a couple times to me before figuring out
the source, so now I always ask for no 香菜 in anything

Not for me, I love coriander. Anyway, as for the headaches, it was probably just the formaldehyde.
Sure it's a carcinogen, but formaldehyde levels in Chinese beer are lower than WHO standards,
which makes it all ok

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Speak Chinese - 該 -

2008-12-03T08:07:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
該
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82riceballs -

該:
i know that this word means "should," but how come I often see it used in confusing ways?

e.g. 該資訊中心表示，患者罹病的形態輿去年秋天的情況非常相似，。。。
他企圖改變話題而將該問題一帶而過。

thanks in advance (how would u say that in chinese?)

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Quest -

It can mean "this".
先谢了。

Han-tiger -

該（该），has several meanings and can be combined with other characters to form a phrase.

A. “该” , short for “应该”, means “should/ought to”.
For example, 你应该努力学习了。你该努力学习了。

B. “该”, means “this”.

C. “该”, means “be one's turn to do sth”.
For Example, “In a class, a teacher asked his students to tell a joke one by one. You were the
fifth student to do it. When the fourth finished, the teacher said to you, Hey, 82riceballs,
该你了! / or该你讲了! /or 该你讲笑话了！”

D. “活该”, means deserve.
For Example, 你活该！You deserve it!

E. “该死”, means damn it.
For Example, one day you invited your girlfriend to have dinner together in a beautiful
restaurant. When you both finished the meal, you said to your girlfriend,
“该死！我今天忘记带钱包了！”

82riceballs -

thanks!

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Pnyin - What's Your Favourite Character? - Page 2 -

2008-12-02T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
What's Your Favourite Character?
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muyongshi -

I also like 子 in writing calligraphy.... don't know but I prefer the simpler ones... they look
better

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lokki -

Quote:

衣 or anything with an 衣 like thing in it.

Same here. My absolute favourite is 袁, mainly for being so dynamic. It really looks like it is
on its way somewhere. Other favourites are 说 and 总.

Other ones conjure up funny associations, like 某, which looks like a cow coming towards you,
legs astride, on a motorcycle. I normally stick to simplified characters, but the traditinonal 萬
is funny. It looks like a raging bull charging straight at you, with the horns on top of its head
and you-know-what hanging between its legs .

Then for some reason I have taken a dislike to 青, especially in the many combinations where it
makes up one half of the character. Can't explain it but I just find it boring to write.

ayala -

My favorite character is

安

i jusy love everything about it!
the shape (almost symmetrical but still soft), the sound, the meaning.

if i had the courage i would have tattooed it on my body.

Lu -

Quote:

like 某, which looks like a cow coming towards you, legs astride, on a motorcycle

Great association. And it even sounds like that! (mou)

liuzhou -

串

Perfect simplicity - on a stick.

skylee -

Quote:

串

Perfect simplicity - on a stick.

On a stick as a 串 of fishballls.

xuuuu -

how about "爱"？In Chinese it means LOVE

skylee -

Quote:

how about "爱"？In Chinese it means LOVE

Now that you've mentioned it, I just wanna say that IMHO the traditional character "愛", which
has a heart inside, is so much nicer than the simplified "爱", which only has a friend inside.

Yiwan -

Speaking of which, I do like traditional Chinese better for looking more beautiful. When comes to
actually writing, I prefer simplified. You get the point.

Rrina -

I'm actually surprised nobody has yet listed here yu3, the rain character:

雨

Now that I'm trying in earnest to learn to read I've found so many beautiful characters but this
one has a special place because it was the first one I was able to remember. ''Rain falling
through a window'' was the way it was described to me.

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Learning Mandarin - The Dragon Festival 端午节 Duanwu Jie -

2008-11-24T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Chinese Culture > Chinese History
The Dragon Festival 端午节 Duanwu Jie
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shunyadragon -

When the stories of Chinese holidays and festivals come to us in condensed versions we do not
always get the whole story. When I lived in China I made an effort research in more depth the
holidays and festivals of China. What is called the Dragon Boat Festival is somewhhat misleading
as to the true nature and origins of the festival. It is indeed the Dragon Festival, and there is
much more to the story than most Chinese and foreigners realize.

Dragon Festival

The Dragon Festival, 端午节 Duanwu Jie or 端阳节 Duanyang Jie, sometimes called the Dragon
Boat Festival, is celebrated some time in June on fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The origins
of the festival are likely very ancient. According to Wen Yiduo 闻一多(1898-1946), a modern
poet and scholar this festival had its beginnings over 5,000 years ago in the ancient kingdoms of
Wu and Yue located in present day Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. The celebration of this festival
was likely inspired as ceremonies, sacrifices and offerings to the Dragon of the Eastern Sea to
prevent the floods, drought, and plagues of insects and disease that often occurred around this
time of year.

This day was considered to be the beginning of an important period in the change of seasons that
could make it a bountiful year or a very bad year. It was considered a day that could possibly
bring bad fortunes, because of the potential for spring and summer disasters. The purpose of most
of these ceremonies was to appease the great Father Dragon of the Eastern Sea and other gods to
prevent drought, floods, plague, insect swarms like grasshoppers, and diseases. The throwing of
zongzi in the river was originally part of this ceremony. Many of the ancient ceremonies and
traditions are still commonly practiced on China, though they mostly do not have the same meaning
today. The overwhelming threat of floods, drought, plagues and disease is not as great today.
Modern science and technology has replaced these beliefs with alternative solutions to these
problems.

Traditionally in ancient times offerings, like 粽子zongzi first described as rice or millet
filled bamboo tubes were thrown into the river or sea to appease the dragon. Zongzi is a popular
traditional dish eaten all year in South China, and it became the central food representing the
tradition of Dragon Festival all over China. It takes many forms and uses different fillings
around China, but the most common form is a triangular four point wrapping made of a wide bamboo
or reed leaf common in China. The practice of wrapping the zongzi in leaves is said to begin
during the reign of Emperor Guangwu (25-26 AD) of the Han Dynasty when Qu Hui saw a man near the
traditional site where 屈原Qu Yuan committed suicide on the Miluo River. The man told Qu Hui he
was the Minister in charge of three aristocratic families of the Chu Kingdom. He also told him,
“It is okay to make offerings in memory of me by throwing packaged rice into the river. In the
past the fish ate all the rice in the bamboo tubes, therefore in the future please wrap them in
Chinaberry leaves and tie them with colored thread. The fish will be afraid of these two things
and will not eat your offerings.”

Today zongzi filling varies, but the main filling consists of white millet called glutinous rice
and possibly yellow millet, or a mix of the two. In the south the zongzi are usually larger and
contains salty dried pork, beef or chicken, or a salty egg yolk. In the north they are smaller and
may contain Chinese dates, peanuts, walnuts, or other stuff, and they are often eaten with sugar.
Some eat their eggs before sunrise, and some dye the eggs red.

"Fetching noon water" was the traditional practice of getting water from a well at noon, believing
it had special medicinal properties to cure illness, and an egg that is stood on its end at twelve
o'clock means a whole year of good luck. Some. Especially childern knock two eggs together and
which ever one does not break promises the winner good luck, health and fortune.

Rainbow colored decorations and adornments are common today as a part of the festival. The
decorations range from simple forms of folded paper to elaborate colorful folk crafts. Many people
wear bracelets made of five colors of thread or string on their wrists or ankles. The colors vary
but seem to always include red, yellow and blue. Other colors used are white, pink, black and
green. In some places the traditional colors chosen are the same as those that are use to paint
the dragon boats in the race. These ornaments were believed to offer protection against disease
and misfortune. They put these on sometime between the first day of the fifth lunar month, Dragon
Festival Day and take them off and throw them into a running stream during the first heavy rain
after that day. One story I was told is that the five color thread turns into a baby dragon as it
journey’s to the sea. Other colorful items include red or rainbow colored paper gourds, and
mythical figures.

Mythical persons also play a role in the festival. Placing a picture of 钟馗Zhongkui, the
legendary ghost catcher, on the front door to guard the house is still commonly done today. Small
stuffed colorful human figures, and the animals of the Chinese astrology are hung around the
house. Monkeys with a club in their hand are especially popular in some areas.

Dragon boat racing is an important part of the festivities, particularly in the soth along the
larger rivers and in is reality older than the death of 屈原Qu Yuan, whom some believe the race
commemorates the search for him after he jumped into the river. It began in the south along the
Chang Jiang River and its tributaries, but they are now performed elsewhere in China today where
there is a large river. Dragon boats are about 20 to 40 meters long, made to look like a dragon,
and painted red, white, yellow, green and black. The races begin with a ceremony honoring the
Dragon King.

Other traditions focused on traditional medicines and practices that were intended to prevent or
cure illnesses that were common in the summer. The herbs used in this period included wormwood,
mugwort, elsholtzia (Aromatic Madder) and cattail. These leaves are placed around the house
usually above doors and windows. Baths, salves and balms using herbal medicines are widely used.
Children wear necklaces with bags of herbs. Some use a branch from the peach tree with immature
peaches, and sometimes wrap it with the herbs. Other traditions include placing wormwood or
mugwort leaves behind the ear before sunrise on Dragon Festival.

Realgar was believed to be an antidote for poisons, cure for disease, and effective in driving
away evil spirits and insects. Traditionally many men drank ‘Spring red liquor’, which was
white liquor colored with realgar, and it was used to write wang, the character for king on the
forehead of male children. Some still drink this or some variation of traditional white liquor
with their zongzi. Unfortunately Realgar is Arsenic sulfide and potentially very poisonous.

Later the people of the Chu Kingdom began to commemorate the death of 屈原Qu Yuan (~340-278 BC),
the famous poet and advisor to the king during the last years of the Chu Kingdom during the
Warring States Period (475-221 BC). At about the young age of 36 Qu Yuan became an important
advisor in the royal court of the three aristocratic families of the Chu Kingdom. Qu Yuan proposed
the development of peaceful relations and alliances with other states in this turbulent period,
because the Chu Kingdom was relatively weak. He was opposed by the more ambitious and corrupt Jin
Shang, the king’s aide, and Zhenxiu, the Queen’s consort. The honorable devoted Qu Yuan lost
favor in the court and he was banished by the king.

Living in exile Qu Yuan wrote many poems expressing his sorrow and distress for declining corrupt
state of affairs of the Chu Kingdom. At about 278 BC the Qin Kingdom defeated the Chu and captured
the capital.Qu Yuan was heart broken, because his beloved Chu Kingdom lay in ruins, disgraced and
betrayed by the corrupt royal families. In despair Qu Yuan committed suicide by holding a stone in
his arms and jumped into the Miluo River near present day Changsha in Henan Province. The
traditional belief among the Chu people is that Qu Yuan committed suicide on the fifth day of the
fifth lunar month. This symbolic self-sacrifice by Chu Yuan may have be made at this time in the
tradition of Chinese custom to make sacrifices at this time to prevent disasters from befalling
the people of the Kingdom. In commemoration of Chu Yuan’s passing the people of Chu continued
the tradition of throwing bamboo tubes filled with rice into the Miluo River on Dragon boat
Festival Day in memory of him as people all over China continue to do today. Chinese chose this
day as a memorial to patriots, because of Chu Yuan’s sacrafice to his country. Today, throwing
zongzi in the river is said to feed the fish and/or the dragon to prevent them from eating Chu
Yuan.

Many of China’s traditions, festivals, cultural characteristics, early technological
achievements can be traced to the region of Zhijiang and Jiangzu Provinces indicating that it is
the likely primary region of origin of Chinese culture and civilization.

Frank

Go with the flow the river knows

Turn weapons into peace and friendship with gifts of jade-silk.
化干戈为玉帛

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Chinese Tutor - 这 dots -

2008-11-23T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
这 dots
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OneEye -

Sometimes I see 这 written with 2 dots over the radical and sometimes it is only one. In Pleco it
has 2 dots (but not in the magnified frame) and in other places it has only one. Pleco isn't the
only place I've seen this (HanziHelper has it too, but only when you print out character practice
sheets). Is it a variation or is it an error?

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muyongshi -

Which radical? I just checked my pleco and there isn't two dots (at all). Not sure what it is that
you are seeing...

skylee -

The difference may be due to different print fonts.

As far as I know, this is how the character should be written ->
http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/azi/d5e2j.gif

OneEye -

Skylee, I think that's what it is. Some of the characters look like different characters in Pleco
than in other fonts. 还 is another, and 着. I think some of them have to do with the size of the
fonts, so certain strokes don't show up or they get distorted. I'll have to tinker with it (just
got Pleco two days ago).

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Chinese Mandarin - Pronunciation in dictionaries and in reality -

2008-11-22T08:13:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Pronunciation in dictionaries and in reality
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Luoman -

I`ve noticed that the pronunciation of some characters in dictionaries and in reality differs a
lot.
For example:

熟 in 成熟. Dictionaries say shu2. But everyone seems to say shou2.
血 is xue4 in dictionaries and xue3 in reality.
处 in 处女. It is chu3 in dictionaries and chu4 in reality.
灸 in 针灸. Dictionaries say jiu3, but everyone including Chinese doctors pronounce it as jiu1.

So I want to ask: is it that the dictionaries do not keep up-to-date or everyone`s prononciation
is not right?

Any more examples of this phenomena?

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gougou -

塑料 - suoliao.

muyongshi -

Quote:

So I want to ask: is it that the dictionaries do not keep up-to-date or everyone`s prononciation
is not right?

It's both in a way but think about how much work it takes to update a dictionary. It doesn't
happen every year. According to the standard everyone's pronunciation then is wrong. But they do
realize that language morphs and so there is always discussions going on of what changes to make.
But those thing take time. Until they can come to conclusions to change the things everyone's
pronunciation is wrong. But since it takes time all the dictionaries aren't keeping up to date.
Make sense?

Here's another one 一模一样 and even my input has the wrong pronunciation. It should be yi mu
yi yang (don't believe me 查一下) but I think a majority of people say yi mou yi yang.

Quote:

风/ 風 should be fēng in 普通话 but almost everybody pronounce it 'fong'.

Never heard this (regional difference?) so I don't think everyone says it.

Luoman -

Quote:

but think about how much work it takes to update a dictionary. It doesn't happen every year.

But isn`t there a new edition of 新华字典 nearly every year? So I guess this dictionary is
just being reprinted, not changed, right?

gougou -

Quote:

So I guess this dictionary is just being reprinted, not changed, right?

It is being changed, sometimes to public outcry...

muyongshi -

But pronunciations don't change...

And I just talked to some of the profs at my uni (that sounds funny) and they said the majority of
language experts don't believe that they will ever change the official pronunciation system. The
bigger problem in their mind is to get people to say it right. But they also made a odd
distinction between pronunciation 成熟 shou or shu and tone 针灸. How did they make this
distinction you ask? By saying 那是声调的问题。。。

Luoman -

便秘. Everyone says bianmi. Dictionaries say bianbi.

trufflepig -

Mold 模具
dictionary has mu2ju4

everyone else says mou2ju4

yes - someone PL-ease explain 血 - xie3 xue4 ....xue3 to me.... this has been bugging me for years

muyongshi -

Do a search please...this has been discussed so many times it hurts my head!

But because I'm so bloody nice...

http://www. /showthread.php?t=4593

http://www. /showthread.php?t=9706

模 character is very interesting it is pronounced wrong now in two situations... hmm
要研究一下

muyongshi -

And don't you mean they say it mó not móu?

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Chinese Online Class - A question about the Unihan Database by Unicode -

2008-11-21T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Computing and Technology
A question about the Unihan Database by Unicode
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Xi'Er Dun -

I have a question about the Unihan Database by Unicode, it regards the amount of
Chinese-Japanese-Korean-(Vietnamese) [CJK (V)] Characters (ie. Hanzi, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm/
Hán Tự/ Chữ Hán) included in the encoding Unihan Database Unicode character set(s).
How many CJK Characters (ie. Hanzi-Traditional 繁體漢字 and Simplified 简体汉字,
Kanji-Kyuujitai/Shinjitai 舊字體/新字体漢字, Hanja 漢字, Chữ Nôm 字喃/ Hán
Tự漢字/ Chữ Hán字漢) are included in the general Unihan Database, and how many are
there in the Unihan extended database(s) too?
Does the Unihan Database include all Characters that are entries in Morohashi Dai-Kan-Wa-Jiten
大漢和辭典, Cihai Zidian 辭海字典, Kangxi Zidian 康熙字典, Hanyu-Da-Zidian
漢語大字典, etc.

Is there a Unicode Unihan expert on this forum, if so could they please answer my questions?

謝謝您

如何も有り難う御座い升

希爾頓從

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imron -

I'm not sure what you mean by the extended database. Unihan is just one big collection of chinese
characters. Perhaps you are confusing this with the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) and the
Supplementary Multlingual plane (SMP)? Altogether though, the Unihan database contains information
for 71226 unique code points (and obviously, some code points have more information than others).

Regarding the dictionaries you mention, I'm not sure if Unihan contains all the entries from those
dictionaries, however it does list information about the dictionaries it uses.

If you visit this page, it lists dictionary indice information for all the dictionaries used to
compile/cross-check the database. Following the link to a given dictionary will tell you how many
dictionary indices exist in Unihan database for that dictionary. Therefore there will be at least
that many characters in the database from that dictionary and possibly more (I say at least,
because the information is listed as provisional and so might not be complete).

E.g There are dictionary indices for 55812 characters from the 汉语大词典 Hanyu Da Cidian,
70205 from the Kangxi etc.

Suffice to say, regardless of whether it contains all the characters in those dictionaries, Unihan
is almost certainly the most comprehensive database of CJK characters.

trevelyan -

I'm under the impression it doesn't contain all of the entries in the 康熙字典, although the
missing entries are mostly variants.

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Speak Chinese - Random new word of the day - Page 32 -

2008-11-20T08:06:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
Random new word of the day
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Page 32 of 32 First < 223031 32

rob07 -

而立之年 (er2 li4 zhi1 nian2) - 30 years of age. Literal translation would be something like
"the age at which one stands firm" based on the passage below by Confucius where he explains where
he was at each stage in his life. I saw it in 阿Q正传, where it is heavily sarcastic.

子曰：吾，十有五，而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六�
��而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。

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roddy -

超级党代表, chāojí dǎngdàibiǎo - super-delegate

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Study Chinese - Database Error -

2008-11-19T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Announcements > Bug Reports / Help
Database Error
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muyongshi -

For the last couple weeks at least I have been getting many "database error" messages. Won't let
me connect for anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes and then I have to re-login. Any idea what is
going on?

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woliveri -

I just got the same thing about 20 minutes ago.. now it's ok (without relogging in).

muyongshi -

I had it again (I've lost count by now) for about 5 min over an hour ago and i was on of the first
to log back on because there was NO users online.

gato -

Server problem probably.

roddy -

Yeah, I'm currently trying to clear my inbox of several thousand automated error reports, seems
like a server problem caused a bit of trouble. Hopefully back to normal now.

Muyongshi, are you getting any specific error message? Or just a generic 'database error'. If
there's anything specific can you email it to admin@ when it happens - it seems this happens to
you more often. I can see that there have been almost daily episodes of this, but it's normally
something like a minute at a time and it would be unusual for any one user to repeatedly come
across it. Plus it shouldn't require logging back in, hence I'm wondering if there's something
else at work (though I have no idea what )

muyongshi -

I am pretty sure that it is just a generic database error but I will check carefully if it happens
again (keeping my fingers crossed). In regards as it seems to happen to me more often...I think I
just get unlucky more often.

roddy -

Well, someone's got to be unlucky. Fortunately, it's not me

Sometimes database records can get mixed up and cause problems, but I've only seen it happen with
topics before, never a user so I doubt it's that Usage figures are up quite a bit (maybe 25% over
the last couple of months) so it's also possibly we're outgrowing the current hosting set up.

As for this particular episode, seems to be associated with a massive number of requests from
someone in the Ukraine. IP ban in place . . .

muyongshi -

Good. For a minute I was worried that I was doing it. You never know with this being Mianyang. All
the military set-up's, nuclear research, space program, and the like. Oh is that top secret?

muyongshi -

Just happened again and it is just a general error. The error reads as follows:

Database Error
The database has encountered a problem

Wonder if our Ukraine friend is back...

roddy -

Nobody worry about the five minute outage just then, I know exactly why it happened. Oh yes,
exactly why . . .

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Chinese Mandarin - Rate next Australia Prime Minister's Mandarin -

2008-11-18T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Rate next Australia Prime Minister's Mandarin
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rob07 -

Kevin Rudd is the current Australian Leader of the Opposition. If you believe the polls, he will
be prime minister before the end of the year. He previously worked as a diplomat for several years
in Beijing and claims to be fluent in Mandarin.

Hu Jintao is in Sydney for APEC, so Kevin took the chance to try out his Mandarin. One of the
Australian newspapers posted a video and this should be a link to it:
http://media.smh.com.au/?rid=31424&c...reaking%20News

I'd be interested to know how good people think he is.

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carlo -

Pretty good, very understandable (with some Aussie accent but that's reasonable -he's not running
to become China's Prime Minister LOL).

I would be proud of having a PM who can speak a foreign language like that. Some politicians can
barely speak their own language properly. uh, and I wondered why they cut the video, I was
interested in hearing the whole story...

gato -

He sounds like he's at least conversationally fluent. His pronunciation is above average. It does
sound like he learned his Mandarin in Beijing as the "er's" are fairly noticeable.

skylee -

Not bad.

wannabeafreak -

Depressing. I wish I could speak like him.

johnd -

Sounds pretty impressive to me - the Chinese visitors will really appreciate it.

md1101 -

very decent. and im glad he's confident enough to use it. i was wondering why they cut it off...
then i realised.. most people watching that video wouldnt have had a clue what he was saying!

md1101 -

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...783466709.html

Looks like our foreign minister Alex Downer itsn't too happy Rudd is getting points for speaking
mandarin. (jealous maybe?)

And he seems to be trying to say he learnt French in 2 months:

Quote:

"I did the French language course and Mr Rudd did the Chinese language course. I did mine in two
months and he did his in two years, that could say something about him and me or something about
the two languages. I think the former but that sounds a tad partisan."

muyongshi -

I don't know to much about the guy but that is a bit big-headed and quite self important. Makes
himself look kind of stupid too in mind.

edit: these comments are referred to Downer's response to Rudd.

tiffsmith -

Bleh, you know he had that rehearsed since the day he decided to get into politics. ;)

我是妒忌的 :P

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Chinese language - help with a chinese quote for a tattoo - Page 2 -

2008-11-17T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
help with a chinese quote for a tattoo
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Lu -

I would translate 无毒不丈夫 as 'if you are not evil/bad (lit. poisonous) you are not a man'.
Not sure if that is what you mean, what I get from your explanation is more that the world
sometimes forces people to be bad, but that in an ideal world being bad would not be necessary.

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bnguye22 -

hmm... is it not possible for chinese sayings to have more than one meaning?

does anyone know who the author actually is? was he/she a horrible person?

Bryan

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Chinese Class - lovemandarin.com - Page 2 -

2008-11-16T08:07:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Resources and General Study Issues
lovemandarin.com
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Luobot -

Elina,

Sorry I wasn’t being clear. I should have said, “tabbed browsing” rather than just tabs.
Here are the Chinese characters that I found to say this: 选项卡浏览. I’m not sure if this
is the generally used translation of “tabbed browsing” or just Microsoft’s translation for
PRC simplified characters. For Taiwan, Microsoft uses: 索引標籤式瀏覽. Perhaps someone else
knows if this is the current, commonly used, popular term. It seems like too much of a mouthful to
me.

Fortunately, Gato provided an excellent explanation of what I was referring to. Just to be
perfectly clear, if you look the graphic in Gato’s post, you can see 3 tabs open in the browser
window.
From left to right, they are:
Cnn.com – Breaking news, U.S., World …
The New York Times – Breaking news, World …
WSJ.com – U.S. Home

When the [X] in the upper right hand corner of the window is clicked, then the entire browser
window, including all 3 or 300 tabs, will close. This is a function of the browser rather than how
your site is coded. Both Firefox and IE7 has this functionality. Since this is a feature of the
browser, it’s not necessary to code your site any particular way. Whichever way you code it, the
user can open links in a new “tab” of the same window rather than as an entirely new window.
Then the user can easily move from one tabbed screen to the next and back without opening,
closing, or reloading pages again and again. It’s a more efficient way of working, I think, and
it’s probably why tabbed browsing is so popular that Microsoft felt compelled to copy it from
Firefox.

However you decide to code your site, some will be unhappy with links that open in the same
window, and some will be unhappy with links that open in a separate window, but you can tell users
about tabbed browsing and that it will solve their problem either way. For anyone not familiar
with tabbed browsing, I suggest just trying it out, and it will become quickly clear. For a free
download of Firefox, see here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

(Full disclosure: I use Firefox and I recommend it over IE. )

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elina -

We use IE6.0 and have never used Firefox before. Yesterday afternoon we downloaded it from the
link given by Gato. Today we had more time and began to learn it, many thanks to the patient and
excellent teachers of Gato and Luobot, we understand it very fast.

At present we think our site is convenient for the following 3 kinds of people to surf:
1. visitors using IE6.0, if they want to open a link in the same window, other than in a new
window, now it’s the situation on our site, but before our site opened a link automatically in a
different new window.
2. visitors using IE6.0, if they want to open a link in a new window, SHIFT+click can do.
3. visitors using Firefox (or maybe IE7.0 judging from the above 2 posts, we have not learnt it
yet), CTRL+click can let people open a link in a new tabbed browsing in the same window.

Quote:

(Full disclosure: I use Firefox and I recommend it over IE. )

Going to love Firefox than IE for this “tabbed” characteristic, and maybe other advantages we
still have not found.

gato -

Quote:

Going to love Firefox than IE for this “tabbed” characteristic, and maybe other advantages we
still have not found.

Firefox doesn't give websites as much control over your computer as IE. Therefore, there's less of
chance that bad programs (e.g. spyware) will infect your computer. However, many mainland websites
are designed for IE 6.0 and may not work perfectly with Firefox or even IE 7.0. I use Firefox as
my primary browser and keep IE around as a backup.

A great thing about Firefox is the ability to add features with "add-ons." One of the best add-ons
for Firefox is "Scrapbook," which allows you to save web pages into organized folders (like you do
with bookmarks), with an ability to search the saved pages easily.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/427
ScrapBook

There are also many add-ons helpful to those learning languages such as these below for Chinese:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...inese&status=4

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Study Chinese - A list of online Chinese-English dictionaries -

2008-11-15T08:12:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
A list of online Chinese-English dictionaries
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xuechengfeng -

I'm not sure if this has been done, or if this is the right area to even post this, but I think we
should collectively supply links to good Chinese-English English-Chinese online dictionaries. It
seems like every time someone helps me with a translation, they have a good dictionary I never
knew existed.

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skylee -

Even if we list them here soon they would be forgotten and then people would still keep asking
what this and that means. And the problem of typos in the original material won't be solved.

Anyways, these are in my favourite (some of them accept traditional only; some of them simplified
only) ->

英漢字典 - English-Chinese Translation Dictionary

Dict.CN 在線詞典

愛詞霸-在線詞典

百度词典搜索

林語堂《當代漢英詞典》電子版

國語辭典

新华字典

MDBG free online chinese english dictionary

教育部成語典

異體字字典

榮陽數位化醫學字典

Chengyu Dictionary - An english dictionary of chinese idioms (I've bookmarked this site but have
not really used it)

Chinese Computer Terminology System

wai ming -

I think it would be good if we could make this list a sticky

gato -

Quote:

I think it would be good if we could make this list a sticky

Or maybe just adding the best of them to this thread:
http://www. /showthread.php?t=9739

Luobot -

Quote:

Or maybe just adding the best of them to this thread:
http://www. /showthread.php?t=9739

That thread is so long, it needs its own "Best of the Best" index.

gato -

Quote:

http://www. /showthread.php?t=9739
That thread is so long, it needs its own "Best of the Best" index.

The idea was that the best would be listed in the first two posts.

Luobot -

Quote:

The idea was that the best would be listed in the first two posts.

Oh, now I see. Thanks for pointing that out to me. And then I was going to suggest that it should
be a "Link to Love" only to realize that the link to that thread is a sticky under "Resources and
General Study Issues" -- so there is a method to the madness here!

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Chinese Mandarin - Is Raksha another name for Iron-Fan Princess? -

2008-11-14T08:10:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Is Raksha another name for Iron-Fan Princess?
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antoineblanche -

Hello eveyone:

Sorry for this silly question of mine.

I came across the movie title Jade Raksha (Yu Luo Cha). If I am not mistaken, Luo Cha is another
name for Iron-Fan Princess in "Journey to the West". However, many websites - including Wikipedia
- indicate that Raksha means "protection" and is designated to someone benevolent

I am confused because the name Luo Cha is used for women with short temper just like Iron-Fan
Princess.

Isn't that a little off to compare "Luo Cha" to "Raksha"?

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skylee -

You can find an interesting theory on this webpage ->
铁扇公主的来历（不要笑，这是很严谨的考证）

Quote:

这鸠摩罗什原为一个印度婆罗门教徒之子，后来皈依了佛教，曾卜居西域诸�
��国之一的龟兹（今新疆库车）。他父亲名叫鸠摩炎，其祖原籍印度，世代��
�国，将嗣相位时舍俗出家，东度葱岭，到达龟兹。龟兹王听说他舍弃荣华富
贵而修道，心里十分敬佩，亲自郊迎，尊为国师。龟兹王有个妹妹，年方二�
��，聪慧超群，过目能诵，一见鸠摩炎，心生爱慕。龟兹王得知，即迫使炎��
�其妹成婚，婚后生罗什。鸠摩罗什后来在这里也娶了当地一位已经出家修行
的公主；当时在西域并不严格奉行僧侣的独身生活，因此鸠摩罗什也生了孩�
��。

看到这里，兄弟如醍醐灌顶，恍然大悟。真相大白，一切水落石出。很明显�
��，这“鸠摩罗什”乃是梵语kumarajiva的译音，“鸠摩”是姓，“罗什”是名�
��“鸠摩”、“牛魔”，读一下，发音是不是很像啊，还有“罗什”、“罗��
�”，是不是也很像啊？哈哈。原来这铁扇公主罗刹女就是嫁给鸠摩罗什的龟
兹国的公主啊，因为是“罗什”的媳妇，所以自称为“罗什女”，中原内地�
��译音不同，给叫成了“罗刹女”。想着“罗刹”是西方鬼国的名字，其国��
�貌丑且凶，而铁扇公主端庄娴淑、温婉大方，怎么会自称“罗刹女”？（关
于这一条，到现在都有很好的例证，例如美国总统bush，内地翻译成“布什”
，香港翻译成“布殊”）。龟兹国的这位公主可能叫“铁珊”或者“缇莎”�
��么的，龟兹国地近火焰山，而《西游记》里也有提示，说红孩儿是在火焰��
�修行的，估计实际上就是在龟兹，红孩儿当时如此弱小，铁扇公主肯定要照
看，那地方又异常炎热，铁扇公主当妈妈的经常拿着个大芭蕉扇给孩子扇风�
��结果被人传说成了拿着个芭蕉扇的仙人，到了内地，就给叫成“铁扇公主��
�了。

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Learn Chinese - ZDT: Most annoying things about the ZDT - Page 2 -

2008-11-13T08:07:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Computing and Technology > ZDT Flashcards Forum
ZDT: Most annoying things about the ZDT
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bogleg -

Tiantian -

Yeah, I realize the Handedict (and Adso) dictionaries are quite a bit slower then cedict. The
handedict dictionary is actually almost 3 times larger then cedict. I've been playing around with
things like database indexes and such, and while I've been able to speed up 'exact match' queries
for character and pinyin, it doesn't help much with 'contains' or definition queries. Anyway, what
I'm really saying is I need someone with more database experience than I have to help me out.

I like your font idea. Let me see if I can get it in to the next release. I've also thought about
integrating Hanzilookup before, but it's licensed under the GPL which doesn't seem compatible with
the ZDT's EPL license. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse...#Compatibility

Chris

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bogleg -

Luobot -

1 & 2) Let me see what I can do for this next release.

3) Not going to get into 0.7.0 final, but I definitely would like to make it one of the major
highlights of the next, next release.

Chris

PJPoon -

Could you create a feature and provide an update site so that I can install ZDT in Eclipse instead
of running it as a stand alone RCP application?
Other than that ZDT is an amazing program.

peterjez -

I want to echo what most people have said. ZDT is not annoying. It's a great program.

Here are some ideas I have:
1. Have some information about categories next to the category name: (number of words, maybe like
an average score to tell you which category you should study).
2. Use flash cards from multiple categories. What if I wanted to just do this overall test that
tested from all my categories at once, or maybe a specific category?
3. Make categories more like folders. I've been reading Dragonball Z in Chinese and I have a
category for each book that I read. Now I have read 20 different books, and have 20 different
categories and it's hard to navigate through. I wish I could just group them all into one
Dragonball category. This could help with my idea #2. Previously I was just creating another
category called AllDB and putting words in there from all the DB categories.
4. I want to be able to search a category for a word. Sometimes I find a mistake in one of the
flashcards (like maybe the pinyin is wrong), but then the list is 300 words long. Finding that
word is kind of annoying.
5. Are there really other plugins for ZDT? Because I haven't found any.
6. We need an online place to share categories. I've spent many hours just creating my dragonball
categories for example. If only I could share them.
7. Here's a far out idea: what if I could enter in some text and then ZDT automatically extract
flash cards for me. For example, maybe I read an online article that I want to study. Then I input
all the article's text and then ZDT could extract all the relevant words (maybe based on your own
scores of words, or frequency that the word appears in the language).
8. Why are scores stored in the word in the category and not universally? For example, I can have
one word that I have in two different categories, but my score for that same word could be
different. Scores should be stored in the dictionary itself or something, that way each time you
access that word, you can update your score for that word.
9. Like Idea #1, why not put your scores next to the words in the category list?
10. My final idea which I brought to you in another post: make this tool usable for Chinese
learning English.

Hahah sorry to overload you and thanks for hearing me out

rabbit -

Dear Chris,

ZDT is really excellent!

There's just one small thing which I'm actually missing a lot: I'd like to have the option to see
the definition instead of the character in the pinyin recall test mode.

If that functionality would be included, ZDT would be perfect for me!

Thank you so much!
Uwe

bogleg -

@PJPoon - Can you explain why you'd like to do this?

@peterjez - I like a lot of your comments. I'm adding a link to your post to my todo list. Let me
comment on a few of them though.

2) You can already use flashcards from multiple categories. In the flashcard dialog where you pick
your category to test, use ctrl-click (Windows) to select more than one category.

5) Right now, the plugins not included with the main program install are the dictionary ones
(adso, and handedict) and the sound plugins. I've written a simple chinesepod one for demo
purposes, but I haven't published it.

6) Email me (fongcn at gmail dot com) any word lists you've created. I have a bunch of user
submitted lists posted here: http://zdt.sourceforge.net/main/wordlist_index/

Chris

PJPoon -

Well, I always have Eclipse open and I pretty much do everything with Eclipse, so wouldn't it be
great if ZDT could also be used in Eclipse without having to run ZDT by itself? Since it's an RCP
application, it shouldn't be too difficult to do this right?

cming -

1. From a beginner's perspective the default font size is too small, just make it a few points
bigger. (I know this is easy to do once installed, but better if you could somehow make it larger
by default). I also agree with other comments here about having a different font for pinyin and
hanzi, that would be a lot easier on my eyes.

2. Being able to jump straight to the stroke order when you are in the flashcards, without having
to reset or end your session would be great.

bogleg -

@PJPoon - Well, I'm not sure. I don't think you could just drop in the plugins into your Eclipse
folder and have it just "work". Would you have a ZDT perspective? I myself have Eclipse open all
day for work, and I've never had the urge to have ZDT embedded in it. Still, if you're an Eclipse
guy, maybe you could do the proper modifications and show me the light.

@cming - The program just uses your system's default font and size. I don't really want to mess
with the defaults since it's different on the every platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) and everyone
has their own preferences for what they like. For example on my Mac, the text is very tiny by
default, but I just hit Ctrl + a couple of times and I'm good to go. I will try and incorporate
your stroke animation idea though.

Chris

toads -

Three small requests:
* The ability to batch import files into their own category. As it stands, if I want to import
say all 11 wordlists for colloquial chinese into zdt it takes a *lot* of mouse clicks.
* The ability to see the stroke order of the characters on the current flashcard (maybe a
keyboard shortcut?), as was mentioned before.
* The ability to give an "importance score" to a vocabulary item in flash card mode, i.e. a
number from say 1 to 5 representing how important something is; a higher score could give the
card a bigger weight in the interval filter or something.

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Chinese Mandarin - Chinese Exams - Page 3 -

2008-11-12T08:06:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Resources and General Study Issues
Chinese Exams
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heifeng -

Quote:

Pinyin for most, but not all.

hey, roddy, i've been looking through that book recently and it seems like the words that don't
have pinyin are for the "practice" sets, and are listed in 50 single character and word sets, just
as they would be on the putonghua exam. For the most part everything else has pinyin though.

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heifeng -

Ok, Here is my write up for the CATTI level three consecutive interpretors exam: ( I reserve the
right to add more as I recover my memory and reflect more on it)

So the exam basically has 2 parts: zonghe, which is English listening comprehension and the Shili,
which is divided up like this: duihua: (20 pts), Eng=> Chi (40 points about 300 words), Chi=>
English (40 pts about 200 characters). We took the zonghe in the am, and the shili in the Pm.

I don't really need to comment too much on the zonghe since if someone is really interested in it
you can look up info here: www.catti.net.cn. Basically it is English listening comprehension were
you get some true and false questions and some A-D questions, fill in the blank of an article that
they read word for word, and then summarize in English an article that you hear. I had to take
this section..but I am assuming I am the only native speaker that took it~but Karma's evil and
I'll get to that at the end...[see below}

the Shili exam left me with the following impression:

Vocab: Nothing was really terribly hard, or not as hard as I thought it would be (class and
practice exams were harder), but you need to regularly read newspapers, know about the olympics,
about trade, the environment, current events...etc. If youdo, then you should be fine. I was
getting kinda nervous before the exam and memorized a ton of UN departments, and various US and
China Government Department/Ministry names...etc. They didn't pop up, but it was good to know them
once and for all. If you are NOT well read on such things then you will bump into problems. I
think the hardest thing they had was just talking about low carbon emissions and energy
efficiency, so they don't get really specialized, but general knowlege is important.If you get the
exam booklets prep materials, those are HARD! but very very very interesting, so I highly
recommend them as a tool to improve your Chinese studies, listening comprehension (gotta get the
tapes too though), etc. Otherwise you can look at the UN website and find some biligual articles
and such.

Numbers: You really can't bs with the numbers. In note taking (you only hear everthing once, the
longest segments are probably 3 sentences long, and then they give you time to record) you need to
take them down correctly, then you have to make sure you convert them correctly. I had practiced
this and have overcome my general number confusion I suffered from before, but I know didn't write
down some numbers in the Chi=> Eng section because to many came up at once..ughh. On some I didn't
get them to the last 'one's' place, so I just said more than 2 thousand or something~So definitely
lost some points there. Oddly NO number scame up in the Eng=> Chinese sections! drats! There
numbers probably are one of the areas that will hurt me in my score. I think I got a majority of
the numbers correct, but I think that when I interpreted some things that had percentage increases
and decreases my grammar and word choice had some issues. Note to myself and anyone else, make
sure you are very good with giving correct numbers and correctly expressing what you are trying to
say.... I should have definitely practiced this even more....(although to be honest I was dreaming
about number conversions all last week)

Speed: The general speed is OK. It's not super slow or anything (very 'near' to normal speaking
pace) and since it is an exam mainly for Chinese students the Chinese seemed faster than the
English to me, but it's just probably my inaccurate assessment.

Recording: In the duihua section the time they gave you to record was very quick so you couldn't
really think about it, you just had to go for it and interpret right away. In the other longer
sections the time is fairly long, but the people talking around you will get quiet towards the end
so somehow this ends up affecting your own speaking speed. However, there IS a bit of time to
first organize your thoughts and then speak, which helps a bit. Also you are 'permitted' to a
certain extent to listen to the person next to you. I mean you can't make it obvious, but if you
get stuck and can't remember what one of the details were you can listen a bit. However I got
stuck next to someone who would listen to my English and repeat me which threw me off so I had to
talk a bit lower hehe..

Paper: Oh, they give you 4 sheets of paper for notes which is more than adequate. I think I use 1
sheet both sides if I write small, but probably used about 2 sheets.

Scoring: I have no clue whatsoever. You need a 60 in the zonghe and shili section to pass.

Me: I think I did decent, if I were to give myself a grade based on my past practice exams I would
give myself a 65 in the Shili. Nothing great, but enough to scrape by. I'll report my score
later...unless it is really bad, then don't come asking! But it'll be interesting to see how I
think I did and how they tell me I did....kinda frightening

General Thoughts: This exam has helped me realize that I really want to work on my Eng=> Chinese
translation skills (yes, written first, then interpreting). I think that in terms of general
communication I don't run into any problems, but once I want to express something very
complicated, especially to interpret accurately what someone just said, completed with a long
sentence and a ton of modifiers, things get a little messy. (of course depending on the type of
interpreting simultaneous or consecutive and how you shorten sentences and the order that you
speak can vary....but i'm just generally sayingI had to go back to my grammar book and look up the
order of adjective modifers 名词修饰语的排列秩序in Chinese because I kept screwing those
up when I listened to my recordings. Oh, by the way listening to your recordings is a very
tramatizing, but helpful tool in general. I think that my Chinese=> English was ok and besides my
numbers I made only 1 silly mistake I think ( the passage said 2 countries
were名副其实的近邻 and instead of playing it safe I somehow convinced myself in that
fraction of a second that they said 金邻 (yes I know different tones! hindsight is 20/20!!),
which isn't a word I guess but I thought (once again in that whole fraction of a second) that
those Chinese expressions are so abundant they must be saying something about being such super
good neighbors being good as gold and somehow I ended up saying something to that extent and I
dunno, I'm hoping they already paid attention to the begining and completely forget about my very
last sentence) . Also my English to Chinese..hmm...how do I say it... I tried my best, it's not
pretty, but I think it gets the idea across somewhat well enough. The C=>E, E=>C are equal in
scoring but quantity wise there is more E=>C which is a bit nerve wracking

Karma & Don't Assume the proctors know what they are doing, or even that you know how to properly
read the exam instructions listed in the website: Ok, so as the likely only native English
speaking person taking this exam you would think that I should get a perfect score on listening
comprehension, right? Well, I 'SHOULD", but let's just say (and I've already been torturing myself
over this for the last 2 days) that I didn't quite realize that we had to use pen on the written
portion of the listening comprehension score and now my test in that section may be disqualified
since I used pencil all the way through. ( The most tragic, yes tragic part of this is that this
was TRULY a "cough cough cough" ran exam in the level of disorder at the exam, the procters were
watching me write in pencil lalalala and then pointed out to me and said, write your name in PEN
on the scantron and the booklet. I then asked pencil for everything else, right? and got a
yes/grunt in response. Later on I realized (as I thought to myself why is everyones summary pen,
that's not right!!!) that the exam regulations (NOT PRINTED ON THE EXAM, but on the 3rd sheet of
our 准考证, which I of course didn't take outta my bag since we had to check those) stated to
use PEN in the 主观section of the exam....but since this was the first time I took it , i guess
I was under the assumption the actual EXAM would say use pen RIGHT HERE...but now I probaly failed
the English listening comprehension, and even if they grade it they will have think I cheated
since I can guarantee you that I have a 100 percent in that section, but it's all in pencil so
they are probably burning my exam as we speak wondering which reader I must paid off to fill in my
answers......sigh...

So that's all I can think of now. Besides from my uncertain score b/c of pencil-gate, I did find
this a very positive and motivating experience. I took classes on the weekends for this exam for
the last 2 months, and in the end our 班长and two students were picked for getting a special
'improvement' award. I was one of the students, which I don't think I just got b/c of the laowai
factor, but towards the end of the training I was suddenly able to hear things and organize them
in my mind and then just spit it out while many students where still trying to hide behind their
desks praying not to get called on. Aside from that I've had fun (yes, fun) sitting down and
taking notes during the nightly news and reading back and forth with my Japanese classmate who
will take the Japanese version of the exam in April.

Regardless of my score, I'm going to go for the level 2 exam next, and try to improve my
Eng=>Chinese 笔译 to build a sturdier foundation and this exam has definitely given me that
language goal that I needed to keep pushing myself.

----
I also reserve the right to fix all the typos later...yawn...

[edit] even thought the passing rate is less than 10% i am mildly optimistic b/c this was a
generally good experience, but also because many people who actually take the exam have not
prepared at ALL. I mean, even our teachers said that they get recordings of pure silence and even
the guy sitting next to me seemed to give up after a while. Therefore I think that if you
eliminate those people, the passing rate should be much higher Plus, what they say is true, just
speaking a foreign language isn't really enough to be good at translating/interpreting~ memory is
quite improtant, plus a bunch of other things...

roddy -

Excellent stuff, thanks for doing the write up. Hope they don't take offense at your use of pencil.

heifeng -

yeah, me too. sigh.

Josh2007 -

Can you take a translation test that is just one-way? Eg Chinese into English but not t'other way
round? I understand that usually translators are not expected to translate into a language that is
not their mother tongue, right?

heifeng -

[edit] apparently the bnu putonghua ceshi in february is just for current degree students so ya'll
have to go to
shoudushifan daxue where satan's lil' helper works to take the exam if you are in bj ...since they
have it there almost every month

roddy -

Here's another one for you which I at least haven't heard of - the 汉字应用水平测试. As
far as I can tell this is a new one, and has only been trialled in 2007, and is due to be rolled
out nationwide 2008-2009.

Covers 5,500 Chinese characters (for comparison the HSK totals 2,800 I think, so you're looking at
about double that), divided into three levels of 4,000; 500 and 1,000. Odd distribution.

There doesn't seem to be much information out there about this one, but there is a 大纲
published.

Not sure that this one is actually of much use - it seems to be being touted for entry to public
servant positions, journalism and so on, but there are already exams for that - 公务员考试,
and one for reporters - not sure how widely used these are though. But could be useful for anyone
who wants to learn loads of characters. I had a look round for an online 子表, but no joy. There
are some sample questions though.

Anyway, will look forward to your post-exam report, heifeng. Good luck!

Jenny311 -

It's interesting to read your experi ence. I was on the same boat with you, but opposite
directions.-- I just finish my MA degree learning on Translation & Interpreting, going throught
all those painful note-taking and memerizing stuff. But I'm a native Chinese. Maybe we can be
helpful to each other.

Looking forward to your exam result, too.

heifeng -

Congrats on finishing your degree! What exams have you had to take to become certified in the UK?
I am definitely interested, and I am sure there are others that are quite interested, in your
experience pursuing your M.A. degree if you would like to share

Hmm, I'm not really looking forward to my results since they may potentially put me in a bad mood
for a while. Even so I will ~probably~ post them online....they are out in just over a week or
so....

By the way happy new year and Chinese exam taking in the upcoming new year to all the forum
members hehe

roddy -

Not sure if this would be better off as a separate topic or not, but will have one of our admin
folk split it off if it becomes necessary. I'm asking here as it's relevant to the
普通话测试,but it's maybe not only relevant to that.

I've been presented with a copy of the 普通话测试指要, which is apparently out of date but
features the 现代汉语常用字 (2,500) and 次常用字 (1,000). I wanted to have these as I
like lists, even if they're not of much practical value. Lists allow me to calculate, divide and
plan, without the need for any actual study.

Anyway, the book has these lists, in pinyin order. However, I can't find online any versions of
this list which are even ordered by pinyin, much less contain pinyin or any other value added
information. All that's available is a stroke-ordered version, ie.

Does anyone know of anything in electronic format for these lists? I have looked, but only as far
as page two of Google.

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Speak Chinese - Politically correct term for 农民 - Page 2 -

2008-11-11T08:10:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
Politically correct term for 农民
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889 -

I have no problem calling 农民 nongmin "peasants" in English, but for those who do I'd suggest
"villagers".

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Luobot -

The term “peasant” seems to go through periods of trendiness, for example, peasant skirts and
peasant dresses, and best of all, vegan peasant bread.

roddy -

Depends on the context and who I'm translating for - I'm under instructions not to use it for one
client - but I'll usually end up with either peasant, farmer or rural resident. Sometimes
villager, maybe. Locals.

The word peasant does sound odd, but you'll see the likes of the BBC use it, and I'm quite happy
to defer to them on matters of style. In some cases you are talking about people with little if
any money, no land or an insecure hold on the land they have, no power to speak of, and who are at
the mercy of those who have money, land and power. If there's a better word than peasant I don't
know what it is.

alexamies -

I think that countryside people or countryside residents is the best suggestion that I have heard
although it is not perfect. I have not been referring to migrant workers specifically but the
suggestion prompts me to think that maybe there is scope to use a different term depending on
context.. Several sentences like this from an article on Xin Hua's web site led me to ask this
question:

农村税费改革取消了延续２６００多年的农业税，农民人均减负约１４０元�
��农村改革正步入以促进农村上层建筑变革为核心的综合改革新阶段。

However, I hear the term 农民 many times daily in conversations, particularly because I am
staying in the outskirts of Beijing at present, and watch them as I catch the bus into town. I am
glad to hear that the BBC uses the term peasant - there couldn't be a much better reference for
style and I am sure that they have battled with the use of the term too.

mandel1luke -

agricultural folks?

ABCinChina -

Well me and my girlfriend have thought about this one and just use "farmer". It fits the best, but
I suppose countryfolk could also work.

studychinese -

I thought that 农民 = farmer. If 农民 is peasant, then what is 庶民? Also, if 农民 is
peasant, then how do you refer to someone that is a person on a farm?

muyongshi -

I think farmer should be the correct term in translations even though the dictionary refers to it
as peasant.

The thing about a peasant though is that it was used under a feudal (I sure hope I am getting that
right) where a peasant (also called a surf) was the caretaker and planter of the land which
belonged to the Lord's. The land was solely taken care of by them for sustenance by the Lord's
would take the majority of the crop as a "fee". So, the word peasant in English just doesn't work
as it carries a certain connotation.

Maybe we should make this a poll and vote on it...

zhwj -

Context makes a difference: On a recent subtitling job, one woman in the film was talking about
anti-rabies campaigns, and how the local farmers were handing their dogs over to the authorities
because they were afraid of steep fines. She was using 农民, which I translated as "farmer"
throughout.

Then another woman chimed in with the single word 农民, said very dismissively and drawn out. I
figured that "peasant" captured her tone of voice fairly well.

muyongshi -

Quote:

Then another woman chimed in with the single word 农民, said very dismissively and drawn out. I
figured that "peasant" captured her tone of voice fairly well.

I would agree with you on this that peasant would definitely have the feel of "those peasants"
(the last part being spit out). Definitely has the feel of an insult to it. Farmer can too but
that would depend on the tone but since you are subtitling there is no tone. Quite clever.

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Learn mandarin - Today I saw a rainbow plunging into the ocean - Page 4 -

2008-11-10T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
Today I saw a rainbow plunging into the ocean
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madizi -

老王卖瓜，自卖自夸。

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roddy -

ahem. He's praising a sentence from last month Unless he didn't read the thread and came up with
exactly the same thing, in which case it must be right

skylee -

If he was praising that sentence, then I apologise for not having read the whole thread through.

fishyqs -

I try to explain the usage of "倾没" in this sentense, but I worry my poor English can't manage
it. So I will use some chinese in my explaination, please excuse me.

In my opinion, we can't tranlate this sentense by it's literal meaning for the expression of the
word "qing mo" is vivid in chinese but not in English. As you know, words of chinese are always
consisted of chinese character, and in this sentense, the word "倾没" also include two character
"倾" and "没", each character means a movement.

"倾没", which is consisted of two coherent movement, can describe the static state of rainbow to
a conherent process, especially the movements "qing" and "mo" have 独特的意象.
“倾”是带有强大力量快速弧线下落，“没”是缓慢的无声的动作，有凝固�
��感觉。这两个字的连用描写了一幅运动的庞大的彩虹图画。So I think if we
want to translate this sentense, we should use the English with the same power , instead of
translating it literally.

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Free Chinese Lesson - Translation of advertisement -

2008-11-09T08:10:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
Translation of advertisement
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billam -

Hi everyone,
Could someone please translate the following into English?
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6272/adjz9.jpg

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chinlearner83 -

The advertisement's about a skiing trip. I think 'skiing' is the right word. Anyhow, it contains
the rates based on where you stay and where to meet the driver. Costs are for gratuities, rooms
(based on occupancy) and classes. Sounds like fun..... at least they have heat!

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Learn Mandarin online - A Cantonese idiom : “唱念经歌”. -

2008-11-08T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Non-Mandarin Chinese
A Cantonese idiom : “唱念经歌”.
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Myriam -

I recently learnt that “唱念经歌” is a Cantonese phrase to express one's discontent at
listening to a singer who apparently doesn't connect with*/relate to their audience.
Is there a 普通话 equivalent for “唱念经歌” = 不好听的歌，
因为*我/你觉得*歌星不知怎么connect with* their audience, 所以我/你不喜欢?

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studentyoung -

Quote:

I recently learnt that “唱念经歌” is a Cantonese phrase to express one's discontent at
listening to a singer who apparently doesn't connect and/or relate to their audience.

“唱念经歌”? Hmm, I haven’t heard of it. What I often hear in my daily life is
“唱歌唱到好似念口簧” or “唱歌唱到好似喃无念经”. Are these what you’re
talking about?

Quote:

Is there a 普通话 equivalent for “唱念经歌” = 不好听的歌，
因为歌星不知怎么connect to their audience, 所以我/你不喜欢?

I don’t know the 普通话 equivalent in such a case, but you can try
“唱歌唱得好像背书一样，一点感情都没有” or
“唱歌唱得没有一点感情”to express the similar idea.

Thanks!

skylee -

Quote:

“唱念经歌”

I've never heard such an expression.

Myriam -

It's often light-hearted humour (ie ) as opposed to sarcasm and the like. eg :
我：*lalala, singing along* "我好鍾意聽。。。唱歌，你呢?"
朋友："哦，我覺得唔好聽，我哋話。。。唱念經歌!"
我：*stopping the music* "噉樣啊...，噉我哋聽。。。啦。"

Quest -

Maybe 朋友 was saying “唱歌唱到好似念经噉。” It's not a 成语。

Myriam -

Nevermind then. She said : "我哋話。。。唱念經歌 "
Thanks for your help Quest.

realyunzhi -

"唱歌唱得好似念经咁“

it's common to hear when sb' s singing is unpleasant or less of sentiment。

not ”唱念经歌“！

Myriam -

I used a dictionary to make this :

skylee -

I suppose there is no way to convince the OP that "唱念經歌" is not an idiom / phrase in
Cantonese. Everyone responded (#2, 3, 5, 7) said that there was no such an expression but hey here
comes a recording.

Makes me feel that I've wasted my whole life speaking Cantonese. I should probably have myself
傾沒在海洋裏 ...

Myriam -

Quote:

I suppose there is no way to convince the OP that

You can call me Myriam, I think it's a pretty name for a girl .

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Chinese Mandarin - A question website... -

2008-11-07T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
A question website...
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SeekerOfPeace -

Where could I find a website like Yahoo Answers! in Chinese?

Yahoo Answers doesn't seem to exist in Chinese for some reason.

Is there anywhere else I could go on the web to ask questions in Chinese?

Thanks.

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jukebox -

http://ks.cn.yahoo.com/
http://zhidao.baidu.com
http://www.iask.com

SeekerOfPeace -

谢谢你，
JUKEBOX.

Will definitely look these sites up.

Thanks!

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Chinese Tutor - One-way or Round-trip -

2008-11-06T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China
One-way or Round-trip
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xianu -

If you were studying for an academic year in China, would you buy a round-trip ticket or a one-way
to get there? The prices seem so high for OW tickets.

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imron -

2 One-way trips are usually always more expensive than 1 return trip. If you know you're only
going to be staying a year it's more cost effective get a one year return ticket.

xianu -

a quick search found 1, to buy a RT ticket, you can only book 330 days in advance, and the school
year doesn't end until the end of June, so if I buy a RT ticket now, the latest return date I can
get would be around the end of May. Prices for those tickets booked way in advance seem pretty
much the cost of 2 OW tickets. Plus I don't know when the actual return date would be. Can you
even buy a OW ticket to China, or does the visa office make you have a RT ticket?

angeikim -

yep, you can buy open end ticket, 0-6 mons usually. prices differ a lot. and usually airline will
charge u more during x-mas, such heavy travelling seasons.
try this website: http://www.ua858.com
it seems like they offer very good deal~.

Lu -

I'd buy a round trip. Cheaper than two one-ways, you know you can always go back even if you'd be
out of money by the end of the year. You can usually change the return date after buying the
ticket, so it doesn't really matter if you're not sure yet when you'll go back.

imron -

Just remember that you can only change it up to a year from the initial flight date. You should
confirm this when you buy the ticket though because some tickets have 1/3/6 month restrictions on
extending the ticket date.

Xiao Kui -

don't know where you're flying from . . I got a one way flight from NYC to Kunming last year for
$600 from Air China, which to me is pretty reasonable and gives me a lot of flexibility as far as
when I'm going to buy a tkt to return. But I think to get a good deal on a one-way you'll have to
go with a Chinese airline, where it only comes out to abt half the price of a round-trip. For
other airlines, round-trip is the less expensive option.

sandeehoo -

I'm glad this post is created. I'm having the same problem as Xianu.
I realised that you cannot book a return date that is more than about 330 days in advance. Given
how unpredictable life is, a one year study course in China will most certainly go over the 330
day mark. But buying 2 one-way tickets is definitely relatively expensive.

By the way, what is a Round-trip? Is that the same as a Return ticket? Excuse my ignorance.

Kristyx -

You're right, a round trip is just the same as a return ticket.
I'm in a similar situation, but yesterday took the plunge and bought a one-way ticket. Just out of
curiosity I priced a return ticket with the airline, returning in 330 days time (too early but I
was just interested) and it was 5 times the price of my single ticket! haha I'm sure I could have
gotten a cheaper return ticket with a different airline but I wanted the convenience of this
particular airline.
You can't plan every last detail, so I'm quite satified with booking a one-way ticket at the
moment. It also gives me the freedom to fly back from a different city if I want to go travelling
after my course ends.

imron -

You cannot *book* a return date more than that far in advance, however I believe you should be
able to change the dates up to a year from your departuare date, you just have to wait until it
gets closer to that date before changing i.e. you book the return date for 330 days from now, but
then when it gets to 300 days (or whatever) then you change the date closer to 360 days. At least
I have been able to do this before on several different occasions. Make sure you check with a
travel agent that this is possible though, just to be sure you can do this with your ticket.

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Chinese Character - Reporting and Recommending Posts -

2008-11-05T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Announcements > Bug Reports / Help
Reporting and Recommending Posts
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roddy -

Can I draw attention please to the rather lovely icon, which you should see sitting under the
username on all posts.

To date this has allowed you to report problematic posts - spam, etc - to admin staff. It now has
the additional function of allowing you to use it to recommend posts for inclusion in the recently
launched forums newsletter, etc.

It's very useful if users can make use of this - there's no guarantee admin staff will read
everything and even if we do we might not be aware of how useful something. And it's nice to say
hi. So click on it now.

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Chinese Pinyin - 介意, 在意, 在乎 -

2008-11-04T08:09:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
介意, 在意, 在乎
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HashiriKata -

The three items seem to be almost the same to me but I'm very likely to be wrong. Does anyone know
of any differences among them?

我不介意
我不在意
我不在乎

你介意吗？
你在意吗？
你在乎吗？

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trien27 -

我不介意 = I don't mind
我不在意 = I wasn't aware
我不在乎 = I don't care

你介意吗？= Do you mind?
你在意吗？= Were you aware?
你在乎吗？= Do you care?

HashiriKata -

Thanks Trien27. I think your translations help a bit but are not sufficient to keep the three
apart, especially because 我不在意 can also be easily translated as "I don't mind / I don't
care".

Actually, I went to bed after posting the question and woke up this morning (still 6:40 AM now! )
having the feelings that 介意 and 在意 are pretty the same whereas 在乎 is slightly
different from the other two. I'll try pursuing this line and if it proves to be correct, I'll
believe that our mind does do the work while we're sleeping!

againstwind -

Quote:

having the feelings that 介意 and 在意 are pretty the same whereas 在乎 is slightly
different from the other two.

I feel that 在意 is slightly similar to both 介意 and 在乎, but 介意 and 在乎 are a
little different.
Acccording to my sense, there is some tiny semantic difference between 介意 and 在意. 介意
emphasizes that 'to keep something annoying or offending in heart', while 在意 is just 'to
object, to care or to mind'. Try to taste of the two sentences:
你介意我在这里吸烟吗？
x你在意我在这里吸烟吗？

你介意我把声音开大一点吗？
x你在意我把声音开大一点吗？

我不在意你说了什么。
我不介意你说了什么。

And 在乎 is similar to 在意 for 'to care about or to care for', but 在乎 seems more written
or formal while 在意 more spoken or informal.

我很在意她的感觉，因为我不想伤害她。
我很在乎她的感觉，因为我不想伤害她。
x我很介意她的感觉，因为我不想伤害她。

我一定要得到她，不在乎要付出多大的代价！
？我一定要得到她，不在意要付出多大的代价！
？我一定要得到她，不介意要付出多大的代价！

Besides, I feel that all of 介意, 在意 and 在乎 more appear in negative sentences.

semantic nuance -

Sometimes 介意/在意/在乎 are interchangeable but sometimes they're different.

我不介意 can mean I don't have personal preference about things done to me. Generally, nothing
will affect the Subject's emotion/mind or make the Subject react towards it. In other words, doing
or not doing things is ok with the Subject; The Subject can take it.

我不在意 can mean I don't care (about things which may provoke any emotions.) in 2 ways: one
is similar to the above 我不介意, and the other is the Subject does not give a damn about
things been done or not. The difference is the Subject can leave it.

我不在乎means the same as 我不在意 in the second sense: I don't give a damn.

在乎/ 在意 is often in the dialogues between lovers or couples.
你在乎/意過我嗎? Have you ever cared about what I feel?
But you won't say 你介意過我嗎? when it means the above.

Read the following dialogues:
A: 我覺得每個人都應該要結婚. 不結婚很不對.
I think everyone should get married. Not getting married is totally wrong.
B: 我不介意/不在意你有這樣的想法, 但我也不在乎/不在意你的想法.
誰說人就一定要結婚的?!
I don't mind you have such a thought. But I don't care what you think. Who says that people should
get married?!
A: 可是如果沒有結婚, 別人就會用異樣的眼光看你,
你不介意/你不在乎/你不在意嗎?
But if you're not married, people will look at you differently. Don't you mind/care?
B: 我不會! 你介意/在乎/在意嗎?/
I won't! Do you?

Hope it helps!

EDIT: Thank you, HK, for your correction. The original wrong characters 意樣的 has been
corrected into 異樣的.

HashiriKata -

Thank you both againstwind and semantic nuance for spending the time. Through your explanations, I
feel a bit more confident with these words now, and I'm sure they'll gradually sink in. They also
reminded me of the love song: 我只在乎你.

SN, from your translation of the example, there seems to be a 不 missing. Or is this the way it
should be ?

A: 可是如果沒有結婚, 別人就會用意樣的眼光看你,
你不介意/你不在乎/你不在意嗎?
But if you're not married, people will look at you differently. Don't you mind/care?

=> 可是如果沒有結婚, 別人就會用不一樣的眼光看你,
你不介意/你不在乎/你不在意嗎?

semantic nuance -

Oops! Typo, typo, typo!! It should be 異樣的眼光.

Sorry about the typo!

39degN -

我不介意 I don't mind (something wasnt but may be happened)
我不介意你打我两巴掌.
I don't mind if you slap me in the face.

我不在意 I don't mind (something happened already)
她这么对我, 我不在意.
I dont mind she treated me this way.(coz i love her or whatever)

我不在乎 I don't care/ I won't pay attention to
爱怎么着怎么着,我不在乎.
Whatever, I don't care.

Just MHO.

trien27 -

My translations aren't enough to keep the definitions apart? They're telling you all three mean
the same and that's good enough to tell them apart? how can "I don't care" and "I wasn't aware/
paying attention" ever be the same? No matter what language you speak, they never mean the same
thing!

olayie -

介意 and 在意 to me are interchangable. however, 介意 is more formal than 在意。both
means "mind"

在乎 means care, not bothered.

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HSK - Pinyin Translation -

2008-11-03T08:08:00.001-08:00

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Pinyin Translation
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brethart88 -

I need a translation for this questions in pinyin
i just started studying chinese so i don't know these questions

1. Ni zhu zai na?

2. ri ben zai shen me di fang?

3. ni ba ba mei tian zen me shang ban?

4. ni xiang zuo shen me gong zuo?

5. zhong guo da, hai shi tai guo da?

6. qi zi xing che, zuo chu zu che, na yi xiang jiao tong gong ju zui kuai?

7. xian zai ji dian le?

8. yi tian ou ji ge xiao shi?

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kdavid -

1. Ni zhu zai na?
Where do you live?

2. ri ben zai shen me di fang?
Where is Japan?

3. ni ba ba mei tian zen me shang ban?
How does your father go to work?

4. ni xiang zuo shen me gong zuo?
What type of work do you want to do?

5. zhong guo da, hai shi tai guo da?
Is China big, or is Thailand big? (maybe the intended quesiton is to ask which one is bigger?)

6. qi zi xing che, zuo chu zu che, na yi xiang jiao tong gong ju zui kuai?
Of riding a bike, taking a taxi or using public transportaiton, which is the fastest? (I'm not
quite clear on "yi xiang jiao tong gong ju", but I know that "jiao tong" is traffic. If you could
provide the characters I'd be able to clear this up.)

7. xian zai ji dian le?
What time is it?

8. yi tian ou ji ge xiao shi?
I'm not sure what "ou" should be here--I'm assuming its you3, or have. If so, the question should
be "How many hours are in a day?"

imron -

Quote:

I'm not quite clear on "yi xiang jiao tong gong ju"

This will be 哪一项交通工具⋯⋯, i.e. which mode/method of transportation⋯⋯, p.s. you
should probably let people do their own homework, or at least make an effort at it before giving
them the answers

yohosuff -

3. ni ba ba mei tian zen me shang ban?

this should be:

How does your dad go to work everyday?

Everyday could be implied but this would be a clearer translation.

ni baba zen me shang ban?

this should be:

How does your dad go to work.

HashiriKata -

Quote:

1. Ni zhu zai na?

2. ri ben zai shen me di fang?

3. ni ba ba mei tian zen me shang ban?

4. ni xiang zuo shen me gong zuo?

5. zhong guo da, hai shi tai guo da?

6. qi zi xing che, zuo chu zu che, na yi xiang jiao tong gong ju zui kuai?

7. xian zai ji dian le?

8. yi tian ou ji ge xiao shi?

If one doesn't already know the vocab, I can imagine how difficult it is to look up the vocab in
toneless pinyin.

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Chinese School - 13 months of Dog Year -

2008-11-02T08:11:00.001-08:00

> Chinese Culture > Art and Literature
13 months of Dog Year
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imron -

13 months of Dog Year, is a page made by a couple of Chinese artists who have made photographic
representations of several different news stories. From the website:

Quote:

The year of 2006 was the year of the dog according to the Chinese lunar calendar. It consisted of
13 months and four Valentine's Days, totaling 385 days. In the same year, Liu Bo and I launched an
art project entitled "13 Months in the Year of the Dog." We picked out two local news stories from
newspapers in Wuhan, restaged the reported scenes, and shot large photographs of them. During this
process, we brought our own imaginations and other everyday experiences such as the secondhand
experiences we had obtained from films, TV and news photos into this project.

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Ding Yiyi -

That's really cool, are there any other Chinese artists that you follow, or do these artists have
any other work?

imron -

Not really, I just came across this somewhere else, and thought others might be interested.

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Free Chinese Lesson - 在了 - Page 3 -

2008-11-01T09:12:00.001-07:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
在了
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Pipas -

HashiriKata Interesting point! Thank you!

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laser2302 -

Have a look at the following sentence:
此时，出租车驾驶员吴金龙正在市政府门前待客，因为挎包丢在了后排座上�
��吴金龙根本没有察觉。

In this part of the sentence 因为挎包丢在了后排座上, we have 丢在了. I don't
understand why do we have 了 particle placed after 在 and not after 丢, since 丢 is a verb I
believe. As far as I know, the 了 particle either comes at the end of the sentence or just after
the verb, then why in this sentence it is placed after the preposition 在.

imron -

Moved laser2302's question to thread discussing the same topic.

skylee -

Re #22, I would use 丢了在, as I said in my #7.

HashiriKata -

Quote:

Re #22, I would use 丢了在, as I said in my #7

One can be forgiven for being head-strong , but with structures such as "Verb+在", "Verb+到",
the 了 should be placed at the end, and not split the units in the middle.

skylee -

Quote:

One can be forgiven for being head-strong

Only if one wants to be forgiven.

HashiriKata -

Thanks for your kind confirmation, skylee!

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Chinese Character - Need suggestions for interesting topics in Chinese linguistics -

2008-10-31T09:11:00.001-07:00

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
Need suggestions for interesting topics in Chinese linguistics
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miranets -

This is not strictly a question about grammar and such but rather a request for members to give me
some ideas about currently interesting/difficult/controversial issues in Chinese linguistics - I
need help to pick an essay topic and I have no clue! Your contributions will be greatly
appreciated.

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Chinese language - SOS:need visa advice - Page 2 -

2008-10-30T09:08:00.001-07:00

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China > Teaching English in
China
SOS:need visa advice
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David W Jackson -

Well, thanks to everyone for their input. I now have my letter of release and a new job in BJ. For
anyone else struggling to get their heads round the visa thing this link at Dave's is useful:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/vi...1087ffcd5f4c20

Have a great holiday.
David

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David W Jackson -

My sense of relief was premature it seems. Here's the actual sitrep: I am due to start a new job
on the 14th of May in Beijing. On the one hand my new boss says he doesn't know whether he must
apply for a new Z visa for me whilst at the same time telling me my existing papers (by which he
must mean my - now invalid if previous posts are correct - resident permit in my passport) will be
fine for at least 2 months! This seems to run counter to what has been posted earlier re the
permit/visa situation. Earlier posts suggested that once a contract of employment was ended the
permit was no longer at all valid, does also extend to the visa component? My contract is now
ended. I understand that this means my permit is no longer valid. My permit in my passport say it
is valid until May 2008. Is it not? Am I now accruing 500RBM per day debt? Does anybody know the
real score?!? Is my boss right to believe that I have two months grace within which to do what?:
apply for a new Z visa? Upgrade the existing/no longer valid passport permit?

I'm so confused my head hurts and I can't sleep. Help anyone? Thanks.

roddy -

I am not a lawyer, this is all just as I understand it, etc . . . .

He might not need to get you a new Z visa - the visa just gets you in the country - but your
residence permit should be updated with the new employer and address details. You shouldn't
(although you could quite possibly get away with it) be working in Beijing on a residence permit
that says you are in Qingdao. I wouldn't worry about a transitional period of a month or so,
assuming you can see that they are actually working on it and not just saying 'yeah, we'll get
around to it'.

imron -

Agree with roddy. You probably don't need a new Z visa, but your new boss almost certainly does
have to apply for a new Foreign Expert Certificate and go through the formalities of updating your
residence permit. For this, you will need the letter of release from your previous school, saying
that you are no longer working for them. It shouldn't be too difficult for your school to do this,
and there's no reason why they can't start working on this now, rather than once you start
employment.

roddy -

Yeah, forgot about the FEC - that may also be necessary. You may also hit upon a problem I've had
in the past whereby the Beijng PSB won't take you onto their books until you're officially off the
books wherever you used to be. This meant I once had to EMS my passport from Beijing to Harbin,
but it all worked out.

Basically it's all doable and it's nothing to get worked up about, as long as you can see progress
being made. However, because it's a slightly unusual process - usually people come in, do a job,
leave, rather than change jobs, there's more uncertainty about how to do it all.

David W Jackson -

Thanks Roddy, Imron et al. OK, I think I'm beginning to get it. Don't need a new Z visa. Need to
upgrade/change the resident permit. (From Tianjin to Beijing). There is some grace to do that
without racking up daily fines. I'm assuming - always dangerous - that since I won't be doing the
dancing monkey routine any longer, the FEC is no longer required. As for the Release Letter. All
done and dusted. So it's time for some Bob Marley, a lazy lunch and a chill pill or two or three.
And who knows, maybe tonight I'll sleep like a baby. Duo xie!

roddy -

You'll probably need something to back up the residence permit changes - could be a foreign
experts certificate, could be the less-commonly seen work permit 外国人就业证(?) which comes
via the Ministry of Labor rather than the foreign experts people. Let us know how it works out.

Rincewind -

David you can relax. Even though you don't start working until the 14th, you've signed the
contract. So are employed. Your new employer just has to go down to the PSB with you and their
paperwork and get things rubber stamped. Wouldn't leave it as long as 2 months, but sometime soon.
There is a grace period for all these things, but I wouldn't test how long that grace is. Don't
really see any reason to wait as it only takes a short time to submit the forms. Your employer
probably knows no more about this than you do so take the upper hand and tell him what you want.

imron -

Signed contract or not, if the PSB determines you overstayed your visa/residence permit you'll
still be fined, and your new school will probably also be fined for not processing your paperwork
in a timely manner. This happened to a teacher at the school I used to work at. Get your new
employer to sort things out asap.

Rincewind -

My point was that once you have signed the contract, there is no need to wait untill you are
actaully teaching classes. Tell the empoyer to get on with it. There is no reason to wait other
than that your employer probably wants the May holliday clear.

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Chinese Class - Name translation - Page 2 -

2008-10-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
Name translation
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钵钵bobo -

Maybe you can name "候艾伦": HOPE sounds like Chinese family name "候", and your name Alan can
be translated into Chinese name "艾伦".

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trien27 -

I have a problem with this: '霍普' as a translation for Hope
First, it's an approximation:
The above two characters when read:
in Mandarin, would read like "huo pu"
in Cantonese, would read like "fok poh"
My question is this: If the above characters were shown to people who don't know either Mandarin
or Cantonese, it would be rendered totally different using different dialectal pronounciation.
From this point onward, nobody could recover the original pronounciation as "Hope" in English. So
why even bother?

HOPE sounds like Chinese family name "候", and your name Alan can be translated into Chinese name
"艾伦"

I beg to differ: In Cantonese, Alan would be used by employing different characters (do a search
for Alan Tam, a Chinese singer from Hong Kong). The surname suggested above 候 is pronounced
"Hou", which in Cantonese would sound nothing like Hope or even "Hou" in Mandarin.

here2learn -

I.) My first piece of advice is to think about if people will really call you/her this name. I
mean will people really actually say the name out loud and expect you/her to respond?
.......A.) If no one will probably ever use it in daily life, I'd go for meaning, hands down.
(that's what I did)
.......B.) If people will really call you/her this out loud, decide if you want to:
............1.) get used to a new sound (going for meaning), or
............2.) if you won't be learning Chinese, but need to recognize your name if someone calls
you, you may want to go the "sounds-sorta-like-it" route.

For example, if your name is Anna, it may be much more natural for you to turn your head in an
office or classroom when you hear something that sounds like "Ahn-na" than some completely
different sounds. It will likely be almost meaningless, but it'll get the job done with ease. If
you go for meaning you'll have to repeat it a lot, have people call you it to get used to it, etc.

II.) My next piece of advice is after you've decided which route to go, ask CHINESE people (or
non-chinese with a lot of experience with names). Don't just use random online tools without
double-checking them with real live humans who are Chinese or have a lot of experience with
Chinese names.

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Learn Chinese online - the third tone -

2008-10-28T09:07:00.001-07:00

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
the third tone
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rezaf -

i have been told that the third tone changes in the sentence but i don't understand it. please
someone help me by correcting this example:
qing3 ni3 xie3 zhe4ge ci2.
ok in this sentence when i speak i change the tones to qing2 ni2 xie3(half tone) zhe4ge ci2. is it
right?

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againstwind -

You may have a look at http://www. /showth...ghlight=sandhi

trien27 -

qing3 ni3 xie3 zhe4ge ci2. I don't know what the other guy was talking about: sandhi? Explanation
of sandhi doesn't makes any sense to me,
All I know is, what's been talked about, is related to music, not spoken words!
I've been taught that when 2 words of which both uses 3rd tones, you change the first one into a
2nd tone>qing3 ni3 xie3 zhe4ge ci2: because xie3, to write, which is the main verb, will not
change tones in this sentence, you will need to change it to >qing2 ni3 xie3 zhe4 ge1 ci2. Ni3
hao3 becomes> Ni2 hao3. qing2 ni3 xie3 zhe4 ge1 ci2 means: Please write out this phrase (for me).
Why are you calling it a sentence, if you wanted someone to write out a phrase?. But if you want
to request something, and know the other person might not do it, use nin2 instead of ni3 in the
above phrase. Nin2 is the more polite term for Ni3. A phrase is shorter than a sentence. A phrase
is a few words, but a sentence requires much more. Exception: Some phrases could also be sentences.

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Learn Chinese online - 300 野狼300 -

2008-10-27T09:09:00.001-07:00

> Extras > Other cultures and language
300 野狼300
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skylee -

I saw this film today and generally I think my money was well spent. Immediately after the film I
called my brother to tell him to see it too. I think it is what most audience want, an
entertaining and exciting film with a simple plot. I like the colours and the visuals very much. I
find them powerful and highly enjoyable. A local writer here has described this film as “man
到震".

There are reports about Iranians complaining about the image of Persians in the film. The reports
say that they get to watch the film on pirated materials. IMHO the best way for them to fight back
is to make a highly entertaining film that most people would like to see to tell their side of the
story. Oh but this is none of my business.

Trailer with chinese subtitles.

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Peng -

I saw it last Tuesday. Its battle/fight choreography and cinematography are great, kinda eye
candy. I am bit disappointed with historical accuracy. Also, I am amused by how it portray
Orientalism, by having Immortals acted like Ninja, hand grenades, and etc.
but again, it's just a movie. I still recommend this film for visual entertainment.

Why 戰狼/野狼? Because Spartan soldiers pack like wolves? Sometime I see
300/三百斯巴达勇士.

Although it's screened in Hong Kong/Taiwan, is it screened in Mainland China (not pirated one)?

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Chinese language - Chinese character for "existence" or "I am"? -

2008-10-26T09:16:00.001-07:00

> Learning Chinese > Chinese Tattoos, Chinese Names and Quick Translations
Chinese character for "existence" or "I am"?
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the_one10100 -

Hello everyone,

I say "nice to meet you" to all since this is my first post here.

The reason I come here hoping I'll find the answer is that I'm looking for the chinese sign(s) for
"existence" or "I am" or something close-related to these terms. If you could give me the answer
and the way to spell it I'll be very grateful.

Thank you in advance and have a nice day!

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nipponman -

Quote:

The reason I come here hoping I'll find the answer is that I'm looking for the chinese sign(s) for
"existence" or "I am" or something close-related to these terms. If you could give me the answer
and the way to spell it I'll be very grateful.

Firstly, they're not signs. They're characters. Secondly, there are different characters for
different situations. The most basiccharacter of existence would be you3 有.

Pravit -

It'd be pretty funny to see "有" used as a tattoo or the logo for some organization, though, if
that's what you're getting at, the_one.

skylee -

You could consider 存在. But if it is for a tattoo, I consider it a bad choice. Why? Take a look
at this post.

amandagmu -

Am I reading into this too much or would you like to know the definition of "I am"/"existence" in
the Descartes or Sartre sense of the word(s)? If so, then it might be helpful to ask someone
proficient in intellectual Chinese terms. I do know that there is no precise definition of
"privacy" in Chinese and that questions of self and individual might be harder to define in
Chinese than in English... they definitely hold more weight in English. Anyways, maybe you should
clarify what kind of definition you're looking for first.
~Amanda

skylee -

Quote:

Originally Posted by amandagmu

I do know that there is no precise definition of "privacy" in Chinese

I am not sure if there is really no precise definition of "privacy" in Chinese. In Hong Kong, a
Chinese territory, there is a Privacy Commissioner's Office to look after the relevant laws. I
would think that if there are laws, the term privacy should be pretty well defined. The Chinese
name of the office is 個人資料私隱專員公署. And 私隱 is a common translation for
"privacy". Here you can find some dicitionary entries for the chinese terms for "privacy".

This however probably is not related to the OP's original questions.

djwebb2004 -

I saw a copy of Heidegger's Being and Time - a work abstruse in any language - translated as :

是于时

djwebb2004 -

是与时

amandagmu -

Well, I was referring to it more in the conceptual sense of the meaning behind the word "privacy"
in English, which usually refers to someone saying they need "privacy" when they want to be alone.
That is, people tend to treasure "privacy" and therefore give it more weight. It's just a simple
difference in terms of meaning. It's like trying to tell people in English what guanxi means in
Chinese. It's not just "relations" or "connections" right?

Anyways, what I think the OP is trying to do is somethin similiar--translate something into
Chinese that has a lot of weight in English but not in Chinese (or which might use a different
word in Chinese to give the same connotation that "I am" or "existence" does in English).

skylee -

Oh then maybe I misunderstood you. I thought you were teasing us for not understanding the concept
of privacy, thus the non-existance of the a definition for the term "privacy" in our language. My
apologies if that was not what you meant.

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