LITMIR.BIZ

      Chinese calligraphy scrolls displayed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

      The Book of Songs A collection of 305 songs or poems from the 10th to 7th centuries BCE, allegedly compiled by Confucius.

      The Book of History A record of events in ancient China, some as early as the 11th century BCE.

      The Book of Rites Written in the Han Dynasty, it describes the social customs, administration and ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 BCE).

      The Book of Changes A divination manual that dates back as far as 1000 BCE.

      Spring and Autumn Annals A history of the State of Lu (722–481 BCE), the kingdom Confucius came from.

      During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), four additional books were added to the canon. These were works compiled by disciples of Confucius. Further expounding on Confucian doctrine and ideals, the books were all written before 206 BCE.

      The Great Learning Originally a chapter in the Book of Rites, said to be written by Confucius, it also contains commentary by one of Confucius’s disciples.

      Doctrine of the Mean Another chapter from the Book of Rites, attributed to Confucius’s grandson, it describes how to attain perfect unity in society.

      Analects of Confucius A compilation of sayings by Confucius and his disciples, the Analects is heavily influenced by the philosophy and moral values of China.

      Mencius A collection of conversations that Mencius, a disciple of Confucius’s grandson, had with kings of the time.

      These important books became known as the Five Classics and the Four Books. They formed the cornerstone of the Chinese education system beginning shortly after the Han Dynasty up to the beginning of the 20th century. What this means is that anyone who was educated in China was well versed in these classics. The classics also became the curriculum of the Civil Service Examination System, which began in a limited way during the Han Dynasty up until the end of the imperial dynastic period. A system of exams based on knowledge of these classics was instituted to select those who would serve as administrative officials. The better one performed in the exams, the higher and more important the administrative assignment one received.

      CRAP EGGS WITH BAMBOO FLAVOR A TASTE OF CHINGLISH

      With increasing globalization, the Chinese are making enormous efforts to appear international and sophisticated by translating street signs, menus and other signages into English. They also want to help English-speaking visitors to China. A hotel that has English signage will appeal more to foreigners but also to well-heeled Chinese. The demand, unfortunately, has far outpaced those qualified to do these translations, often leading to hilarious results. I was recently staying at a Chinese hotel that caters to Chinese business people and Chinese tour groups. At the typical breakfast buffet, often provided to attract customers, was a small placard next to each menu item in both Chinese and English. I came across this one:

      PAN TRY BREAKFAST BOWEL

      This did not sound too appetizing knowing how much the Chinese love to eat entrails. But after lifting the lid on the dish, I discovered it was sausage. The literal translation of the Chinese would be something like ‘Fragrant-fry-breakfast-intestine’. A more appropriate translation would simply be ‘Pan-fried breakfast sausage’.

      Sometimes a single misplaced letter can make all the difference. Crap eggs are actually crab eggs or roe.

      Here are a few others:

      CAREFUL LANDSLIP

      SLIP AND FALL DOWN CAREFULLY

      DON’T FORGET TO CARRY YOUR THING

      DEFORMED MAN TOILET

      RACIST PARK

      EXECUTION IN PROGRESS

      MANDARIN OR CANTONESE?

      Although referred to as ‘dialects’, the languages of China are like the languages of Europe, really distinct languages though related to one another and having many common features.

      People in Cantonese-speaking areas such as Guangzhou or Hong Kong speak mainly Cantonese. But in northern China or Taiwan, they say that Chinese is Mandarin. The answer is that both languages are forms of Chinese. In fact, there are seven main language groups in China, each with its distinct pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. To make matters even more complicated, there are literally hundreds of regional dialects within each of these groups. What makes the language situation in China really complex is that these languages are not mutually intelligible. For example, a Beijing speaker of Mandarin (or more precisely the Beijing dialect of Mandarin) cannot understand the Cantonese spoken in the far south of the country.

      THE SEVEN MAIN CHINESE LANGUAGES GROUPS

      Mandarin (836 million speakers). Spoken in a broad arc from the northeast to the southwest. Beijing dialect is the prestige dialect.

      Wu (77 million speakers). Spoken in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Shanghainese is the prestige dialect.

      Yue or Cantonese (71 million speakers). Spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces as well as in Hong Kong, Macau and parts of Southeast Asia and among many overseas Chinese communities. Guangzhou and Hong Kong Cantonese are the prestige dialects.

      Min (60 million speakers). Spoken in Fujian Province, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia and in some overseas communities.

      Xiang or Hunanese (36 million speakers). Spoken in Hunan Province. Chang-sha dialect is the prestige one.

      Hakka (34 million speakers). Spoken in pockets of numerous provinces in southern China, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia.

      Gan (31 million speakers). Spoken in Jiangxi Province.

      THE LIFE OF MA: MOTHER, HEMP, HORSE, CURSE

      Chinese is a tonal language. Different pitches or intonations are attached to a syllable to give it a distinct meaning. Different words may have the same sound (i.e. homophones) but the different pitches give them different meanings. Take, for example, the syllable mā.

      Mā (妈) with a high level tone means ‘mother’

      Má (麻) with a rising intonation means ‘hemp’

      Mǎ (马) with a falling then rising intonation means ‘horse’

      Mà (骂) with a sharply falling intonation means ‘curse’

      Because Chinese has relatively few sound combinations (only 413), the addition of four tones to each sound combination allows for a much richer language. This is not to say that there are only 1,652 words in Chinese as there are many homophones as well. In fact, when you look up a word in the dictionary, let’s say the word fàn, you will get several different words, such as ‘cooked rice’, ‘to violate’, to float’, ‘a surname’, and so on. The words are distinguished by how they are written. Each word is written with a different character.

      It is extremely important when speaking Chinese to pronounce words with the correct tonal contour or you might be saying something that you didn't intend.

      THE COMMON LANGUAGE

Скачать книгу