Learning Mandarin...Part II
During the mornings and evenings recently, the air gets a bit chill and it's basically bright, sunny with clear blue skies and breezy. It gives you a sense of spring although we are in a three-season country - hot, hotter, hottest. How nice it can be sipping rum and dangling on a hammock between two coconut trees on an island paradise without a care for time and other parts of mundane life.
I hope you are done with all your spring cleaning. Some folks actually get hurt and injured during this time for they haven't use some of their body parts to screw or unscrew a cabinet hinge, paint their house especially the ceiling where in severe cases can leave you looking skywards with your nose in the air as your neck alignment could not be put back the default mode. I have decided not to subject myself to such abuse and slavery and having a good bath to clean myself is already spring cleaning. I have a prescription for very effective spring cleaning amd clearing cobwebs (please see link).
In the meantime, during Chinese New Year, I would like to share on things Chinese. In 5,000 years, the Chinese created and invented many things. They lay claim to Italian pizza, English soccer, Scottish golf. They gave the world the first calculator in the form of the abacus, gun powder and the list goes on. It is an understatement to say that to probe the world's oldest culture is exciting and interesting in the rich, graphic and picturesque language.
Shu Ching
One of the most venerated manuscripts of ancient China is the Shu Ching - the Book of History. It was found in the wall of Confucius's house when pulled down in 140 BC. The contents dated back to near the time of Noah and has clear records of the first three dynasties. Hsia, Shang and Chou from the period 24 to 721 BC and has foundation of their political system, history, religious rites, music and astronomy. The written language was popularly credited to Ts'ang Chieh, a historian and minister for the emperor "Hwang Ti". During the first three dynasties the Supreme Heavenly Ruler Shang Ti or 上 帝 was venerated. The earliest account of religious worship found n the Shu Ching records of Emperor Shun in 2230 BC, "He sacrificed to Shang Ti". This was the border sacrifice during the summer solstice when the Emperor offered a sacrifice to heaven on the northern border and the reverse at the southern border during the winter solstice.
Of the recitation scripts from the annual border rituals, the emperor as high priest participated in the sacrificial service: " Of old in the beginning, there was great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements had not begun to revolve nor the sun and the moon to shine. In the midst, no forms nor sound existed. O Spiritual Sovereign came forth in Thy Presidency and first did divide the grosser parts from the purer. Thou made Heaven; Thou made the Earth, Thou made Man. All things with their reproducing power got their being. This recitation extolling Shang Ti as Creator of heaven and earth sounded like the first chapter of Genesis... "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the the deep... It continued with the ceremony's conclusion" "Thy Sovereign goodness is infinite. As a potter, Thou hast made all living things. Great and small are sheltered by Thy Love. As engraved on the heart of Thy poor servant is the sense of their goodness, so that my feelings cannot be fully displayed. With great kindness Thou does bear with us and not withstanding our demerits, does grant us life and prosperity." This is compared to Isaiah 64:8 KJV "But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay and Thou our potter and we all are work of Thy hand.'
Pictograph & Ideograph
Most written languages construct words from letters of alphabet but the Chinese uses radicals,keys, roots or primitives as the basic units and building blocks for word characters. The radicals are the most primitive form of the language and many are clearly pictographs (word pictures). Examples are: 口, a gaping orifice which represents mouth not just as an oral cavity but for eating 吃, speaking 说话 or breathing 呼 吸. I found it fascinating the Chinese people were indeed ingenius as illustrated. 田, is a landed property, garden or field as it look well demarcated. A tree, wood or wooden 木 show the tree with branches and roots. 网 can be clearly seen here as a trap or sorts while 火 has the flames leaping upwards and 翅 included tresses of feathers to give wings and you can see the torrent of current in 川 a stream.
Two or more pictographs joined together gave new ideas giving birth to new words called an ideograph. Tongue 舌 comprised a combination of 千(thousand) and 口 (mouth) to depict thousands of movement of the tongue. 言 is words, speech, to talk just as vapour or breath rising from the mouth. 信 is sincere or trust and is a man combined with words. 侣 is companion or mate so you can see two persons joined as mates and when qualified with man 人 indicate human companions.
Phonetics
Phonetics are words formed from radicals brought together for sound and not meaning and these accounted for a great many written words. Once phonetic principles were applied, the language expanded rapidly. Chinese word for mother is "ma" or 妈 which is coined by using a radical with the sound of "ma" - horse 马 then combined it by adding 女 giving a new character 妈 which means mother.
Inventors
Inscriptions have been found on oracle bones and tortoise shells used for divination purposes during Shan Dynasty (1766-1122 BC). They consulted the Supreme God on every act of life from time for planting and harvesting to royal troop movements. Ancient forms of writing were also found on pottery, jade, vessels and stone carvings. The Chinese were inventors of paper 100 AD, had the first dictionary some twenty years later that contained almost 10,000 characters.They invented block printing and were greatly concerned with writing which also related to the arts and painting. Around 1750, the Chinese had printed more books than all the world. Wen hua is the transforming influence of writing.
Happy New Year!
In English, an uncle is an uncle and an aunt an aunt. In Chinese 姨 gives a direct suggestion that the aunt is from the female's side meaning the mother's sister while 姑 means the father's sister. Ditto for uncle.
I wish all friends and readers a Happy & Prosperous New Year! Above all good health and lots of love and plenty of golf!
新年快乐，年年有鱼.
在這牛尾虎頭交替之際，我向好朋友們拜個早年.
祝大家新年快樂，虎年行大運，「福」虎生「豐,
身體健康，萬事如意，心想事成。
身體健康，萬事如意，心想事成。
Chinese or not, we are all of the same stock and came from the same source. We diverged, some went to play soccer, others golf and there are those who just sat down to drink beer. It only makes sense that we spread joy and help one another eventhough we irritate one another at times. Cheers!
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