Readers' Discussions, Comments & Inquiries
Archived pages
SUBJECT:
Story Gathering
COMMENT:
Trudy,
Julian Yiu has answered your query, and I think he is right. Where did you get the story of people traveling upstream to worship to their ancestors? This (i.e. pulling the boats) might have been a local necessity due to the special landscape. Was it a novel being set in a specific part of China?
BTW, offering (sweet)meat to the deceased of a family/clan goes back to the roots of chinese history: this was (and still is) a filial duty (§µ - hsiao4), carried out not only by love and respect, but also through fear, thus preventing the dead members of the family from doing evil to their descendants - and wandering about as
evil spirits or ghosts. Mencius said: "The nourishment of parents when living is not sufficient to be accounted the great thing. It is only in the performing their obsequies when dead, that we have what can be considered the great thing." Works of Mencius (Legge)
A.W.
FROM:A.W.T. <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Friday, March 06, 1998 at 10:54:07 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese culture to non-Chinese
COMMENT:
Siu, I just became aware of your question not at least being answered
to the bottom. So here some more reasons for western people's fascination
toward Far Eastern culture:
It is the philosophy behind: First of all the idea of 'wan wu' (¸Uª«), all
things of the universe depending on each other, being organical 'part'
of one entirety, also the most minute one having influence on the most
important and the whole. Hence the special attraction of TCM for modern
times' westerners, as it really seem to look at the human body/soul as
an entirety, thus defining health in its proper latin meaning of 'integritas'
(since long missed in western high-tech medicine and spare part surgery).
Then, the really intelligent principle of 'wu wei' (µL¬°), of having things
'done' by the forces of nature (much better than ours, in contrast of sailing
in the wind - and yet steering your desired direction without effort(!)
or rowing a boat): Hence the special attraction of martial arts to people
young and old.
The special philosophy of Zen Buddhism (ÁIªk) with the reduction of forms and
colours in all kinds of arts e.g. painting, ceremonies, calligraphy; its
highly refined 'nature-like' simplicity, its suggesting emptiness (I therefore
appreciate e.g. grass-style calligraphy (¯ó®Ñ), Japanese-like pottery/furniture
etc. rather than regular-style writing or items wholly covered with ornaments
and symbols), its capability of laughing, far off from any religious doctrine,
missionary zeal or fanaticism.
... and I like those pretty/good-looking chinese people with their ivory
complexion, dark hair and eyebrows - especially one other treasure of China:
the children - and all the nice girls too ;Ð).
Alfred
BTW, this now is the correct URL of my resumee, sorry!
FROM:A.W.T. <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de
>
DE - Friday, March 06, 1998 at 08:19:36 (PS
SUBJECT:
hello
COMMENT:
hai how are you may i make frind with you
FROM:yanyan <Luo_30@hotmail.com>
china - Friday, March 06, 1998 at 01:37:39 (PS
SUBJECT:
color symbolism
COMMENT:
I'm trying to find out about color symbolism in Chinese
culture. Can anyone direct me to a source on this, or
give me a quick sketch of the most important
colors and their symbolic meaning?
FROM:Siobhan Kelly <skelly@wscgate.wsc.edu>
- Thursday, March 05, 1998 at 14:28:25 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese culture to non-Chinese
COMMENT:
Siu,
the appreciation of chinese culture or language in the western world
is not at all homogeneous. The interest in far-eastern stuff (having encreased
during the last 10, 20 years) seems to be to a very, very great extent
quite superficial and a kind of fashionable trend. There are lots of 'well-educated'
people not knowing about e.g. Li Bai or even having heard this name. They
do not have the least idea about the structures of the chinese language
or that chinese characters do not represent a sort of alphabet, as I am
asked so many times ... (But you can meet European booksellers too, who
never ever heard about the greatest poets of e.g. Hungary or Romania, and
you are asked without any embarrassment to spell out their names to them.)
When I started to deal with Chinese language, there only was a handful
of sinologist students at Munich university - now, about 30 years later,
due to the commercial opening of PRoCh there may be more - but the bookstore
with Chinese literature has disappeared since several years already (a
well-known sinologist had had it for years, selling chinese food (!), some
other stuff and - books too, thus making his living by it). Now finally
he's got a job at the German ambassy in Peking - but the books have disappeared
from the shop!
My attitude toward Chinese language and culture (and I think also of
other interested people too) is fascination, mainly attracted by the written
language, really being unique and unparalleled in its beauty (and - at
a closer and more expert glance - also its capacity of 'storing thoughts').
Siu, I really am envious for your being able to read characters 'at one
glance' and your skilled handwriting - but, being familiar with it since
you were a child, can you ever have felt the fascination as I did - and
still am doing??
I tried to express my attitude toward chinese writing (and poetry) in
my anthology's introduction ("Reflective Thoughts") and also
on the info page in a kind of "Resumee". I absolutely agree with
Prof. Ledderose's understanding of the special and outstanding qualities
of chinese character writing. It was the famous French sinologist Granet
(you find his works' titles on my list 'Sources'), who first pointed out
the 'emblematic' function and capability of the chinese language, that
is, the characters' - but nevertheless the sound's(!). (With regard to
characters lavishly structured, this thesis is quite understandable, but
a revolutionary idea referring to spoken mandarin ...)
Alfred
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de
>
DE - Thursday, March 05, 1998 at 11:16:43 (PS
SUBJECT:
Ivory Artifacts
COMMENT:
Does anyone know where I can get information about an Ivory Tusk sitting atop two dragon heads on a wooden stand. I am interested in the history of the piece as well as how to authenticate it. The tusk measures appx. 6 1/2 feet in length and it has intricately carved figures running the full length of both sides. It appears to depict life in a villiage with cranes, fish, many people and a "dragon's door" with a dragon inside. There are four characters carved into the base of the tusk and also on an ivory plate inset in the wooden stand. I think the characters translate to "Personally commisioned by Kangxi, Qing Dynasty".
I am also possibly interested in selling the piece to a museum, but I don't know where to start. Mostly I just want to know what it depicts and what stories it has to tell.
Any suggestions? Thank you.
FROM:Michael Lewis <Michael_Lewis@phl.com>
USA - Thursday, March 05, 1998 at 10:19:14 (PS
SUBJECT:
Story Gathering - Springtime
COMMENT:
Trudy,
I read your email and I was hoping other readers would respond as I don’t know exactly about the Springtime tradition you talked about.
As far as I know, we have two festivity days, one in the Springtime around March and April, the " Ching-ming Festival" ²M ©ú and one in the Autumn time, the " Double-ninth Festival", « ¶§ so named because it falls on the September 9th of the Lunar calendar.
On both days, ( they are public holidays in Hong Kong and I am sure in other parts of China as well ), people will go to their ancestors’ tombs to pay respect to their deceased loved ones. They will bring along with them chickens, pork , wine and other food together with flowers, and such things. They will also clean up the tomb surroundings and we call this " sweeping the tombs".
Whether we have to climb over mountains or up along the rivers depends on where the tombs are. As land is very precious in China, most people can only afford to bury the dead in "cheap" or vacant land which can very well be up in the mountains or in remote areas far from the cities and towns. Regardless, people will travel back to the tombs to pay respect to the elders on these two days. In Hong Kong, many immigrants from China will travel back to their own provinces, cities to do just that. This tradition is still carried out up to this day.
You asked for which Dynasty this tradition originated and I don’t have an answer. All I know is this tradition goes back 2000 years to " Spring-Autumn"¬K ¬î î and " Warlord"¾Ô °ê periods. I hope some knowledgeable readers can answer this question for you.
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Thursday, March 05, 1998 at 10:09:13 (PS
SUBJECT:
Story Gathering
COMMENT:
I asked this question on Feb. 19. Is there anyone out there that knows anything about this? Or can you lead to a web site that has information? an someone tell me what Dynasty the Chinese tradition of Springtime going up the river is
from. The story I hear about it is that every Springtime, which could be up to four months,
the people will go up to the mountain by way of the river and by foot and pay respects to
their dead. They actually have people on the side of the river pulling the boats up against
the current using strong ropes. I believe they take beef, pork head and a whole chicken to
lay down, just as Americans lay flowers at a grave site. I'm really interested in this tradition
and want to know more about it and what Dynasty or era it came from and is it still being
practiced today?
FROM:Trudy Varin <tvarin@phnx.uswest.net>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 21:26:52 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese calligraphy tools
COMMENT:
Chloe,
Chinese calligraphy tools should be available from art supplies
stores in bigger cities. you need paper, ink and brush. The most important
tool is the brush. good ones are hard to find in US. There is someone trying to sell
calligraphy tools on the internet. You can do a search with
www.dejanews.com.
I would invite you to visit my calligraphy site at:
http://www.asiawind.com/pub/art/callig/
Most of the good references are in Chinese though. I have list of them on my site.
For English text, you can try Barnes and Noble's site. I recommend Chiang Yi's book. It is probably the only good one
in English.
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 20:01:15 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese Calligraphy
COMMENT:
I am wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of ink and papers are used in Chinese calligraphy and if the materials are still readily available. I also would like to know where I could get a book of all the characters and their English translations. It is so beautiful an art! I recently saw English director Peter Greenaway's movie,"Pillow Book", and would like to learn!
FROM:Chloe Kilman <ckilman@gent.centenary.edu>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 19:07:28 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese culture to non-Chinese
COMMENT:
Alfred, and all friends at this forum,
I have an enigmatic question that I feel highly significant:
How do non-Chinese people brought up in an environment with little
information of Chinese get into liking Chinese culture?
To me as a Chinese, it is a natural thing and may be I am
just more enthusiastic than many in pursuing
all sorts of cultural traits unique to China (instrumental
and vocal folk music, archaeology, calligraphy,
medicine, language, martial art, weiqi,..., which are all
outside of my own profession as a chemist).
At what point would Chinese culture become attractive to you? What is the
cultural element that intrigue you the most? How would you compare
Chinese culture to your own culture?
While aspects unrelated to language may be easily
understood, the linguistic part takes special cultivation.
I was amazed of the depth of knowledge you, Alfred, have in
this area. Attending the lecture at the National Art Gallery in Washington DC
by Professor Lothar Ledderose has further raised my interest
in this question.
Professor Ledderose(Univ. of Heidelberg) had a
very analytical lecture about the system of the
written Chinese language, which I always took for granted.
He feels the system is a highly developed tool that is
immensely condensed for information storage. One aspect
that caught my great attention is he mentioned that one
of the beauties of the written Chinese language is that
it is NOT a minimal system, and structural elements are
pictorial, complex and repetitive enough to let the
reader grasp the idea of a passage much more easily than
the alphabetical systems. Would anyone agree with that?
To this day, I can read and understand one page in Chinese
within seconds, but I find it hard to do the same in
English without missing something important.
By the way, Prof. Ledderose is giving 5 other lectures, one
each week. Unfortunately, I cannot attend them all. They
would be marvellously informative lectures on the language,
artifacts from Qin tomb, and calligraphy. Friends in Washington
DC should not miss them.
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 17:21:33 (PS
SUBJECT:
trivia question
COMMENT:
Hello. Can someone please tell me the 3 animals that aren't males in the chinese new year? Thanks for your time and have a nice day!
FROM:Paula Sauder <SunflwrRN@aol.com>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 07:42:00 (PS
SUBJECT:
trivia question
COMMENT:
Hello. Can someone please tell me what the 3 animals are in the chinese new year that aren't male by early tomorrow a.m. Thanks for your time and have a nice day!
FROM:Paula Sauder <SunflwrRN@aol.com>
USA - Wednesday, March 04, 1998 at 07:41:21 (PS
SUBJECT:
Lanting - ²M¡UÐá
COMMENT:
Dear A. W.,
I have in my collection a book " The three copies of Lanting Xu" by The Shanghai Bookstore, ( ISBN 7-80569-341-2/J.140 ).
As you know, the original Lanting Xu by ¤ý¿ª¤§ was, according to legend, buried with Emperor ð ¤Ó ©v when he passed away. The three copies that exist to-date as included in the book were copied by ¶¾ ©Ó ¯À ¡A ¸· ¥@ «n ¡A »u ¹E ¨} ¡C I looked up the text of the three copies and they all wrote the word ²M with three dots at the side and not Ðá with two dots. Hope this clarifies the whole issue.
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 17:47:51 (PS
SUBJECT:
Lanting - ²M¡UÐá
COMMENT:
thank you, Prof. Pei: the original brush text on your site shows clearly, that
Wang used to write the "water" radicals with one dot (dian ÂI)
stroke only (so I think, it's qing1 ²M - the meaning of the two characters
although not being very different).
I am just wondering, who composed Wang's (¤ý¿ª¤§) characters in a new order as in the calligraphy on my site (maybe Wang himself??)
A.W.
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
- Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 14:07:39 (PS
SUBJECT:
Calendar - followup
COMMENT:
I just checked, and discovered that the Newyear file
has been over-written by an old file!
The file in question is newyear.html
I no longer has this file anywhere. If anyone has
downloaded this file, please get in touch with me.
This is terrible!
Ming
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
- Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 06:33:20 (PS
SUBJECT:
Calendar
COMMENT:
Look under "New Year" page, which has a good deal of
information, including Chinese calendar.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 05:23:21 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese software
COMMENT:
Adam:
There is a very detailed explanation and step-by-step
instruction about installing chinese software at the
website. Look under software.
Microsoft has Chinese fonts you can download from their
site. They are free. You can install them and
work with your current system. For detail, see above.
Microsoft has announced a new cycle of upgrades for
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc. Korean edition is out,
but Chinese edition is not yet released. These are
supposed more fully integrated and easier to use.
There is no need to wait. There are a number of ways
you can read Chinese now.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 05:20:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
Lanting Xu
COMMENT:
Alfred:
They are both right. The word is ²M which means "fresh"
or "pure."
The sentence says," The sky is clear, the air fresh."
You can find the full text in China the Beautiful at:
lanting3.gif and wang1.gif
One is the transcription and other gif from the stone
rubbing.
Ming
FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Tuesday, March 03, 1998 at 05:12:31 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese Software
COMMENT:
I love your webpage, especially the poetry. I am looking for good Chinese software, so I can read the Chinese scripts downloaded. Does MSword have a Chinese font(pinyin), because they have several for Vietnamese, and I am curious about this service. Also, I would like some information on Character script fonts, which I could obtain via the Internet. Thank you for your time.
Adam
FROM:Adam Antoniewicz <Antonez@aol.com>
U.S.A. - Monday, March 02, 1998 at 23:16:54 (PS
SUBJECT:
Lanting Xu
²M¡UÐá
COMMENT:
Julian, thank you for your comment. Could you please give me some more explanation. Do you have
the character text of LTX? I know, that sometimes in running hand style
the "water" radical is written with only one dot. Is this the
case here?
Alfred
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de
>
- Monday, March 02, 1998 at 22:46:01 (PS
SUBJECT:
Where is calender?
COMMENT:
I remember I found the calender at this site.
But I can't find it now. Thank you!
FROM:Ashley
- Monday, March 02, 1998 at 17:36:34 (PS
SUBJECT:
Lanting Xu
COMMENT:
Dear A.W,
I looked up on the stone rubbing that you posed and the word should be ²M and not Ðá . S.L is correct.
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Monday, March 02, 1998 at 11:59:09 (PS
SUBJECT:
LanTing Xu
COMMENT:
Alfred,
I did the Lanting Xu at an art festival with a lot of distractions around.
I also did it mostly from memory, rather than copying. I found a reversion
of a sentence later and made a remark on it. However, the original Lanting Xu
had many errors also. So, I just present it as a calligraphy example.
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Monday, March 02, 1998 at 04:32:42 (PS
SUBJECT:
Book of Odes
COMMENT:
A.W.:
Just a quick response to your query about the Book of
Odes.
Yes. It is a truly remarkable literary work. Too bad
many people thought it too hard or too ancient to be
of interest.
Greg Gao wrote a piece about it which may answer your
initial questions.
http://www.okcom.net/~ggao/Asia/China/song2.html
His website has a good deal on poetry, and I highly
recommend it to all.
Ming
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Sunday, March 01, 1998 at 20:03:51 (PS
SUBJECT:
Word/Character
Book of Odes
Lanting Xu
COMMENT:
Sorry, this is the correct address of Erik Peterson's On-line Chinese Tools
A.W.
FROM:A.W.T. <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
- Sunday, March 01, 1998 at 12:29:01 (PS
SUBJECT:
Word/Character
Book of Odes
Lanting Xu
COMMENT:
Prof. Pei, you mentioned the really helpful features of Eric's site with his chinese online dictionary: This dictionary is a character, not a word dictionary - so you "only" can look after chinese characters (but e.g. getting informations on stroke order etc. etc.).
But anyway, I think Pamela was looking for chinese (one character) symbols - not for "words".
I never imagined to appreciate the Book of Odes as I am doing now: Could you please give me some more information on it. How are the lyrics gathered (composed?) in different books? Who did it, who gave the names to these "books/chapters"? Who did the numbering and in which order (which obviously does not go together with the "books" order?
Siu, I have discovered some lines of Lanting Xu calligraphy (apparently from a stone rubbing going back to Wang Hsi-chih): Is the order of the characters (differing from your prologue text) correct, or arranged by others? (Those lines seem to be a kind of poetry - and not prose as it is your complete text.) What do you think about the character "qing4" (Ðá) - your brush text uses "qing1" (²M) instead?
I have put the calligraphy on this page.
A.W.
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Sunday, March 01, 1998 at 12:08:01 (PS
SUBJECT:
Study Abroad
COMMENT:
Xiaofei: You do have to take the TOEFL. After that contact the Admissions offices of the schools you want to attend and apply to them. You can contact the schools simply by writing to the school or through their webpages.
One issue though, is that it looks like you are from People's Republic of China and not Taiwan, right?
You have to make sure you can show that you have enough money to support yourself when you are over here. There has been trouble getting Visas for people from PRC. This is for several reasons, which I won't get into on this particular forum.
You might want to consider an exchange program as well, in which case your school probably has arrangements with a US school, and you should look into that option at your College.
Good Luck!
Chandra
FROM:Chandra <reyer002@tc.umn.edu>
- Friday, February 27, 1998 at 15:39:14 (PS
SUBJECT:
Thank You for posting this WEB site
COMMENT:
I been searching for such a site for a long time, and finally
I got here, I haven't have the time to go through the whole
web site yet, but from what I see, I like it.
Thank you again for your time and energy for putting up the
site.
Netbaron
FROM:Netbaron <bfong@eng.sun.com>
US - Friday, February 27, 1998 at 09:43:26 (PS
SUBJECT:
about study abroad
COMMENT:
I am a college student ,and want to go to USA for
study ,but i don't know the complete procedure
about it , must i apply for one school before taking
the TOEFL test,there is someone can help me???
i will be very thankful!!
a china girl
FROM:xiaofei <fenggf@public.sxptt.zj.cn>
china - Friday, February 27, 1998 at 03:25:25 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese Astronomy
COMMENT:
I've read of a very old version of astronomy where the sky was divided into fourths. East, West, North and South.
Each section was governed by an animal god. Red Bird for the South, Black Tortoise for the North, White Tiger for the West and the Green Dragon for the East.
It's been mentioned in passing in some novels such as Red Chamber, as well as being adopted in early times by Japan and Korea. I can only find one webpage quickly. It's actually looking at this system of charting from the Japanese point of view, but this is basically the same as the original Chinese version.
It also lists several books for reference concerning Chinese and Japanese astrology.
The URL is:
http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/charts.htm
Chandra
FROM:Chandra <reyer002@tc.umn.edu>
- Thursday, February 26, 1998 at 21:25:53 (PS
SUBJECT:
WANTED: Dream Of Red Mansion REWARD: 200 US$
COMMENT:
WANTED: Dream Of Red Mansion on CD (Soundtrack 1993(?))
REWARD: 200 US$
Dear friends all over the world,
I`m a great fan of Chinese music. Now I am searching for a chinese record of "Dream of Red Mansion".
I would be very happy, if anybody could help me to get it.
You have the chance to get a reward of 200 US$ for getting me the original CD of "Dream Of Red Mansion".
The only condition is, that it must be the original CD of the sound files, which are placed in the internet on many different sites.
For sound examples please check following site:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/multimedia/chinese-music/Dream_Of_Red_Mansion/
There will be no risk for you, because you will be paid for your effords on delivery (COD).
You will get the reward of 200 US$ plus the costs of postage and the price of the CD!!!
If you can help me, please contact me via e-mail.
So don`t hesitate!
I am waiting for your e-mails.
My e-mail: Schubert2@aol.com
Best regards from Germany
Chris
FROM:Christian Schubert <Schubert2@aol.com>
Germany - Thursday, February 26, 1998 at 02:16:29 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese astronomy
COMMENT:
I would like to know where I can find information on
Chinese astronomy. I need to research about particular
culture myths, stories, constellations and time tracking
devises. I cannot find info. about the astronomical
history on the internet nor the library. Please e-mail me
back with information A.S.A.P. thanks!
FROM:Katherine <ladyyc@yahoo.com>
USA - Wednesday, February 25, 1998 at 19:34:22 (PS
SUBJECT:
English/Chinese Translation
COMMENT:
Hello Pamela,
the chinese words(!) you are searching for could be the following (but
there are others too):
desire: n¨D
determination: ÚÌ©w
perseverance: «ù¤[
I hope you are able to read BIG5 encoding!
Best wishes
Alfred
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de
>
DE - Wednesday, February 25, 1998 at 16:06:41 (PS
SUBJECT:
English-Chinese Dictionary
COMMENT:
Pamela asked about translation of English words into
corresponding Chinese words.
As Julian pointed out, you need a dictionary.
If you do not want to go to a library or bookstore,
there is a remarkable online dictionary written by
Erik Peterson. Goodbye Webster! Hello Peterson!
Simply go to his site at:
http://www.erols.com/eepter/chtools.html
type in the English word "honor" and you will get
back several Chinese words with the same meaning.
Now, my pet peeve! Each language has a set of words.
"Hello" is an English word. It is incorrect to refer
to it as an English character. Chinese words are
words - not "characters" or "symbols". Do use the
correct term please.
Peace! (word not symbol)
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, February 25, 1998 at 14:43:27 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese Characters
COMMENT:
Pamela,
I am not sure whether there is such a website that can give you the information you need. It seems to me that what you need is a English-Chinese dictionary. ^ º~ ¦r ¨å
and that should be easy to get from any bookstore.
Julian
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Wednesday, February 25, 1998 at 10:11:23 (PS
SUBJECT:
chinese characters
COMMENT:
Hello! I have enjoyed your site ... always have been curious..especially when I was younger...grandpa was overseas when I was young.
I am looking for the character/symbol that coinsides with the word(s): desire, determination, perserverence, etc. I am hoping you can help in my search on the net it is beginning to get futile...please help
Thank you very much!!
Sincerely,
Pamela
FROM:Pamela <sodapop@primenet.com>
USA - Wednesday, February 25, 1998 at 09:46:29 (PS
SUBJECT:
Poetry Sites
COMMENT:
Prof. Pei:
Thank you for reminding me of your beautiful sites for poetry. They are now linked to my page http://www.okcom.net/~ggao/O/othersit.html . I heard your voice of reciting poems, too.
Your sites are excellent indeed. Is the www.chinapage.org site your own domain name, isn't it?
All best wishes.
-g
P.S. The message was not able to send by your email address, so I turned to the Web site for help.
You can also use my other email ggao@okcom.net. Thank you
At 02:14 PM 2/23/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi,
>I note that you are constantly improving your site!
>Will you please not forget my site in your list of poetry sites?
>http://www.chinapage.org/poetry.html
>http://www.chinapage.org/poetry9.html
>http://www.chinapage.org/poet.html
>
>I also have a mirror site at www.chinapage.com as well.
>
>--
>Lives of great men all remind us
> We can make our lives sublime,
>And, departing, leave behind us
> Footprints on the sand of time.
FROM:Greg <gao@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>
- Tuesday, February 24, 1998 at 19:46:40 (PS
SUBJECT:
chinese symbols for snake and dragon
COMMENT:
i'm searching for chinese symbols. i'm not sure if they exist.
one symbol should represent a dragon, another a snake.
if you can help me, please send an email.
thanks for your help.
FROM:Stephan Christen <stephan.christen@usa.net>
switzerland - Tuesday, February 24, 1998 at 04:41:50 (PS
SUBJECT:
Mulan Statue
COMMENT:
Dear Sandra,
I am happy for you that you own such a beautiful statue. I just want to add my comment regarding the "holes in her ears" which you were told is " to let the spirit escape". I have a different opinion on this. According to the legend, when Mulan disguised herself as a male, she was at one time questioned by one very observant soldier who noticed that she had holes in her ear lobes. Only girls at that time had holes in the ears for earrings. Mulan defended that she was being posed as a girl when she was young for a parade or a show and they had her ears pierced. She narrowly escaped further questions from her peers. That is why, in my opinion that your statue shows holes in her ears. That is a very famous instance during her disguised career as a soldier. Do you like this story ?
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Monday, February 23, 1998 at 11:14:06 (PS
SUBJECT:
Mulan Statue
COMMENT:
My husband and I were stationed in Tainan, Taiwan from 1962-64.
As a going away gift we were given a 6" tall porcelain statue of what
we now now to be Mulan. It was said to have come off the Chinese
mainland over 50 years before it was given to us. It is white
porcelain, 6" tall, the figure is wearing ancient battle garb with
a wide-brimmed hat. She carries a bow and has a quiver of arrows
on her back. The overglaze is transparent. You can see the pupils in her eyes
and each fingernail on her tiny hands. She has holes in her ears
to let the spirit escape we were told. There are no markings on the
statue. We are now very anxious to trace its origin. Any leads would
be greatly appreciated.
Sandra Nichols
FROM:Sandra Nichols <snichols@creighton.edu>
USA - Monday, February 23, 1998 at 10:24:19 (PS
SUBJECT:
History of Chinese Calligraphy
COMMENT:
Ming,
I just visited your calligraphy section and found a very thorough history of calligraphy.
Wonder how you could manage to produce that. I am also gratified to see that almost
all the works you mentioned in the history are in my collection, except a few in the Qing dynasty.
Unfortunately, the works are so voluminous, it is hard to present them all. But I do a list of the books if
any one want to purchase the books, they know how to find them. The list is under
"reference" at my site:
http://www.asiawind.com/pub/art/callig/index.htm
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Friday, February 20, 1998 at 14:53:12 (PS
SUBJECT:
Judge Dee & chinese customs for birth, death, and marriage
COMMENT:
Prof. Pei poses the question, if it is possible that this is just a
novel written in an oriental setting? Like the opera Madame Butterfly?
If I understand this correctly, the question applies to the first (chinese)
text, that was translated by Robert van Gulik in the forties of this century
(all other novels to follow are fictitious - the author being van Gulik).
Pei, the first criminal story is a real chinese text handed down from
past centuries. I think the content nevertheless being quite fictitious,
but based on a kernel of reality, that perhaps had been tranported orally.
So Judge Dee surely had lived during the T'ang dynasty and some details
of his life are known (as described on my page respective). So the first
text is not at all but a (western) novel product written in an oriental
setting as you are seeming to assume.
Tom, this is a short question not at all to be answered briefly! I e.g. have a whole
book on this subject (referring only to those customs of Peking area) written
by Mrs. J.G. (Annie) Cormack and published in 1923 in English by "La
Librairie Francaise", Peking & Tientsin, with the title "Chinese
Birthday, Wedding, Funeral, and other Customs" (Sheng, Hun, Sang ¥Í±B³à). As this only was in a small edition, I think, you should try to find something else like that in a library, as this forum does not seem being suitable to publish huge texts necessary for this subject. :((
A.W.
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Friday, February 20, 1998 at 11:46:27 (PS
SUBJECT:
Chinese fonts for web
COMMENT:
Editor of the chinapage I have been your loyal reader for a couple of years. Recently I just got into webdesign and authoring myself, and I also plan to make a China related page. What I'd like to know is where could I get Chinese fonts software suitable for webdesign. Reply by email prefered, Many thanks. Eric
FROM:Eric lin <lin027@hotmail.com>
- Friday, February 20, 1998 at 11:44:07 (PS
SUBJECT:
Judge Dee
COMMENT:
Alfred commented about Judge Dee.
I have read about the stories of Judge Dee.
There are a great deal of details in his website.
But I have
never seen any references to the character by the
Chinese writers.
Is is possible that this is just a novel written
in an oriental setting? Like the opera Madame Butterfly?
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Friday, February 20, 1998 at 09:52:24 (PS
SUBJECT:
Manchurian Empress
COMMENT:
Thank you JULIAN YIU for your information. The portrait is definately of one of the Manchu empresses and I understand that I can identify her if I can find some book that will help me decipher the jade and gold ornaments on a silk cord hanging from her waist. I will try the libraries again, but have not been successful to date. I may have to go to a big city library such as San Francisco to find the resource book.
FROM:Cliff Harmon <pvcliff@directcon.net>
USA - Friday, February 20, 1998 at 01:30:35 (PS
SUBJECT:
Enquiry
COMMENT:
Dear Editor,
I have accessed your China Page for a long time. And I really enjoy reading it.
I would like to ask why http://www.chinapage.com/poetry1.html (one of my favaourite link in the China Page) has been disappeared recently.
Thanks for your effect on Chinese literature.
Daniel Chan
FROM:Daniel Chan <daniel@uxmail.ust.hk>
Hong Kone - Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 23:43:28 (PS
SUBJECT:
Story Gathering
COMMENT:
Can someone tell me what Dynasty the Chinese tradition of Springtime going up the river is from. The story I hear about it is that every Springtime, which could be up to four months, the people will go up to the mountain by way of the river and by foot and pay respects to their dead. They actually have people on the side of the river pulling the boats up against the current using strong ropes. I believe they take beef, pork head and a whole chicken to lay down, just as Americans lay flowers at a grave site. I'm really interested in this tradition and want to know more about it and what Dynasty or era it came from and is it still being practiced today?
FROM:Trudy Varin <tvarin@phnx.uswest.net>
USA - Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 23:04:31 (PS
SUBJECT:
Project Gutenberg and chinese literature
COMMENT:
I do volunteer work for a group called Project Gutenberg,
which publishes public-domain (i.e., free to everyone)
electronic texts on the web. In the past they've had mostly
English-language literature on their site, but they're starting
to add more texts in other languages as volunteers become
available. I've seen a lot of Chinese literature on the
web, and I was wondering if someone who speaks better Chinese
than I do (I've only been studying the language for a few
months) would be interested in helping to move some of it into
Project Gutenberg. Because PG is very careful about copyright,
texts would generally have to be digitized from pre-1923
editions and for existing etexts we would probably have to
contact the original digitizer for permission.
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer organization that's been putting
electronic text on line since 1971. They have over 1000 books
on-line, free for all comers. If you'd be interested in
helping with this project, either by researching and proofing
existing etexts or entering new ones, please get in touch
with me at chapka@best.com and/or visit PG at
http://www.promo.net/pg
Thanks for your support!
--Chris
FROM:Christopher Hapka <chapka@best.com>
USA - Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 15:35:07 (PS
SUBJECT:
chinese customs for birth, death, and marrage
COMMENT:
I am a high school student looking for info on chinese customs for when a child is born, when a couple gets married, and when a person dies. Thanks a lot!
FROM:tom stith
usa - Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 15:32:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
Imperial Memorial Portraits Paintings
COMMENT:
As a start, look at the pages on Dragons, and
on Emperors where you will see the royal robes.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 09:25:38 (PS
SUBJECT:
early chinese art
COMMENT:
Do you see any trends in the motifs in the early Chinese dynasties - up to the late Han? Do you think the bronzes fell out of favor over time?
FROM:tim cornell <tcornell@fas.harvard.edu>
usa - Wednesday, February 18, 1998 at 19:49:54 (PS
SUBJECT:
Imperial Memorial Portraits
COMMENT:
Cliff,
There are a few ways that may be helpful to you for identifying the portrait.
1. You can take a photo and post it on the website and ask the readers to take a look at it and see if they can identify the portrait.
2. Since you think the sitter was a Manchurian empress, I suggest that you go to a library or a bookstore and look up the books ( Chinese and English, it doesn't matter ) on the Manchurian emperors and empresses. Many of those books have pictures and photos of them. Hopefully you can match one of them to the one in your painting.
Good luck.
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Wednesday, February 18, 1998 at 10:52:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
Imperial Memorial Portraits Paintings
COMMENT:
I am still trying to find some resource through which I might be able to identify the imperial woman in a painting on silk which I have in my possession. Can you recommend anything?
FROM:Cliff Harmon <pvcliff@directcon.net>
USA - Tuesday, February 17, 1998 at 21:24:02 (PS
SUBJECT:
Book list and poem
COMMENT:
Dr Pei, I'd be happy to compile the book list for posting here.
I'd prefer to only recommend books that have been acually read and can be vouched for.
So if anyone on this group knows of any titles of interest, please email me at the address
below and I'll add them in! This will be a list of books in English about Chinese art, lit and culture.
So good history books, translations, even good Dictionaries will be welcomed.
On a side note, thanks Dr Pei for leading me to that poem about Zhuge Liang. :)
FROM:Chandra <reyer002@tc.umn.edu>
- Monday, February 16, 1998 at 10:19:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo and Zhege Liang
COMMENT:
Chandra talked about the discovery of Zhege Liang.
I would give a lot to have the pleasure of reading
about Zhege Liang for the first time again!
Zhege Liang is the principal character, above all others,
of the San Guo novel. But he is real, and his great
accomplishments are real
He is cited in many books and poems. As a start, read
the poem by Du Fu. From "poetry" to "Great Poets" to
"Du Fu" and read the first poem there.
After you read the story about the epic battle of the
"Red Cliff", then there are more to look at.
Sun Tze ("Art of War") was a great theoretician. But
Zhege Liang was a real military stregist who fought real
battles with real armies.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Saturday, February 14, 1998 at 15:11:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
Bronze plate & Dee Goong An
COMMENT:
Siu, you are right. As the mirror not being forged (thus the metallic
structure e.g. not being altered by compression), I do not know, if there
are technical ways to make the characters visible again. Anyway I would
appreciate any further informations on this subject.
Prof. Pei, do you have informations on Judge Dee ¨f¤½¦w (¨f¤¯ªN Ti Jen-Chieh):
Once I read the one and only real chinese detective story in English (transl.
by the author of all further Judge Dee novels, Robert van Gulik)? So many
people coming to my page about Judge Dee & van Gulik are asking for
some more literature. Is there also the chinese version of the real story
available?
A.W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A. W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Saturday, February 14, 1998 at 06:12:38 (PS
SUBJECT:
Bronze plate & Dee Goong An
COMMENT:
Siu, you are right. As the mirror not being forged (thus the metallic
structure e.g. not being altered by compression), I do not know, if there
are technical ways to make the characters visible again. Anyway I would
appreciate any further informations on this subject.
Prof. Pei, do you have informations on Judge Dee ®f§Å¶w (®f§¯™N Ti Jen-Chieh):
Once I read the one and only real chinese detective story in English (transl.
by the author of all further Judge Dee novels, Robert van Gulik)? So many
people coming to my page about Judge Dee & van Gulik are asking for
some more literature. Is there also the chinese version of the real story
available?
A.W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A. W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Saturday, February 14, 1998 at 06:11:48 (PS
SUBJECT:
Book list - again
COMMENT:
the url for the book list is
here
Sorry. My typing is really bad today. Ignore two previous
tries.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Friday, February 13, 1998 at 07:56:58 (PS
SUBJECT:
Book list
COMMENT:
the url for the book list is
pei@chinapage.org>
US - Friday, February 13, 1998 at 07:53:15 (PS
SUBJECT:
Reading List
COMMENT:
Chandra:
A good idea. Would you like to compile such a list?
You might like to start with
this url which has a reading list.
I do not have access to univerisity libraries anymore. So
if you make up a list, I shall be happy to put it up here.
Ming
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Friday, February 13, 1998 at 07:48:07 (PS
SUBJECT:
Guan Yu's picture
COMMENT:
I kept typing the wrong URL.
The picture is here.
There is a poem also.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.com>
US - Friday, February 13, 1998 at 07:37:49 (PS
SUBJECT:
correction!
COMMENT:
Oops, sorry, I should have proofread more thoroughly. The
book is titled "Oxford History of Art: Art in China".
Chandra
FROM:Chandra
- Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 21:29:57 (PS
SUBJECT:
Guan Yu, etc...
COMMENT:
Guan Yu's certainly an interesting character, although I've just encountered Zhuge Liang, so now I like him better. :)
I was impressed with Guan Yu's loyalty even when he was with Cao Cao, though.
Koei made the Playstation game I mentioned before as well. There is also a game based on "Water Margin".
I was wondering, do you think maybe compiling a list of interesting books in English about Chinese literature and art would be a good idea?
A kind of "suggested reading" list for non-Chinese speakers/readers for sources of information.
I found a nice book on Art in China that I thought some might be interested in. It's a good introduction as well as just a quick over-view reference with full color pictures and
with text that doesn't seem too much like a school book. It's called: "Ocford History of Art: Art in China" by Craig Clunas.
Some people on this webpage might find it by looking for the book with----Guan Yu on the cover! :) He's in green and reclining, it's a detail from a Shang Xi painting.
Chandra
FROM:Chandra <reyer002@tc.umn.edu>
- Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 21:27:39 (PS
SUBJECT:
The colour yellow ¶ÀÃC¦â
COMMENT:
Unlike the colour yellow in western thinking, huang ¶À in China ever
has had a positive and good connotation: yellow is the colour of the phase
of changes "earth" and standing for the fifth direction of the
windrose, that is "middle" (perhaps deriving from the yellow
earth of China, the Middle Land, that the northern winds have brought from
the Gobi desert).
Thus it became the colour of the land Zhong Guo ¤¤°ê and its emperor
ruling it. For the chinese people this colour was a symbol of fame and
progress, so talking of the "yellow dragon" means a lucky omen
and "yellow source" ¶À¬u is a water flooded "Hades"
and not sulphuric hells. Huang Di ¶À«Ò was the "Yellow Emperor"
- yet only with the sixth century of our time yellow was restricted only
to be the colour of the emperor: until then red has been the highest colour.
Through many centuries the colour yellow then was forbidden for common
people's dressing, except of buddhist monks.
Only since the last centuries yellow also connotates with pornographic
features, speaking of "yellow literature" or "yellow movies"
(perhaps coming down from Buddhist philosophy regarding earth - see above
- as mere vanity).
"Woman of yellow blossoms" on the other hand is an expression
for a virgin.
A.W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A.W. Tueting
<Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de
>
- Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 14:54:33 (PS
SUBJECT:
Joss Board
COMMENT:
It is my understanding that the term "joss" is mostly
used among the British expatriates in Hong Kong. It
means "luck." The term is rarely used by the Chinese
outside of Hong Kong area.
FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 11:49:13 (PS
SUBJECT:
A Judge
COMMENT:
S.L. Lee wrote:
| Alfred,
| I am amazed at you as a German has such an indepth knowledge of Chinese history,
literature and language.
Not only that, A.W. Tueting is a real-life judge dispensing
justices to murders, etc. in Germany, just like our famous Judge
Bao Gong did in China :-)
Do you know that the story of Judge Bao Gong is well known
in the English literature as well?
Ming
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 11:43:04 (PS
SUBJECT:
Guan Yu's mirror again
COMMENT:
Alfred,
I am amazed at you as a German has such an indepth knowledge of Chinese history,
literature and language. Your analysis of the inscription is certainly a good complement to mine.
My reservation to the authenticity of the mirror is more based on that
the inscription does not have any trace to imply the name of the other only possible
and true donor, Han Xian Di (ººÏ×µÛ). I have no doubt that the piece is still an important and interesting
relic by its own merit.
SL Lee
sllee@asiawind.com
Calligraphy page
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 05:09:35 (PS
SUBJECT:
Joss Board
COMMENT:
What is a Joss Board and what is its purpose.
It is related in any way to Feng Shui?
Thanks.
FROM:Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr. <keleihan@sprintmail.com>
U.S.A - Wednesday, February 11, 1998 at 12:20:18 (PS
SUBJECT:
Picture of Guan Yu
COMMENT:
The picture of Guan Yu is
here. Sorry about the typo.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, February 11, 1998 at 11:28:59 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo Ãö ¦Ð Romance of Three Kingdoms
COMMENT:
Guan Yu is one the major character in the novel.
A few years ago, a Japanese company Koei created
a video game called the Romance of Three Kingdoms, and
sold millions! It is a roll-playing game, and I
believe version 4 is out recently.
There are many sites devoted to RTK on the internet.
Here is a drawing of Guan Yu
The color of the robe is clear.
This is not a classic depiction of the character, however.
Guan Yu is often refered by his honorary name of "Guan Gung"
or "Kwan Kung" - which means literally "Honorable Guan".
He is often deified and worshipped by many.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, February 11, 1998 at 11:20:10 (PS
SUBJECT:
Meaning of yellow
COMMENT:
Yellow was the imperial color. It was restricted
for the use of the court in certain dress and decorations
on buildings.
Not necessarily in paintings, however.
FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, February 11, 1998 at 10:22:26 (PS
SUBJECT:
meaning of yellow
COMMENT:
FOR MY ART HIstory paper i need to find out if color yellow on early chinese paintings has a special meaning. If it does what is it? Thanks for your help
FROM:Elena <starostina@aol.com>
usa - Tuesday, February 10, 1998 at 14:25:14 (PS
SUBJECT:
calligraphy
COMMENT:
Your page is very nice and interesting.
I've an inquire for you.
Currently I'm designing a web page dedicaced to a martial art which is ju-jitsu.
I know this art is japanese, but I think japanese wrote some times like chinese. Is it right ?
So could you calligraphy for me the words Ju and Jitsu. I will send you these words by mail.
Thanks in advance,
Olivier
FROM:Olivier Peulen <olivier.peulen@ulg.ac.be>
Belgium - Tuesday, February 10, 1998 at 05:17:19 (PS
SUBJECT:
Funky Oriental Arts/Crafts/Clothing
COMMENT:
We have a website that provides some information about
popular cultural items from the Far East. To find out
more, visit http://www.goodorient.com and feel free
to join our mailing list. This site is also commercial
in nature.
FROM:James W.K. Lam <james@goodorient.com>
Singapore - Monday, February 09, 1998 at 23:57:30 (PS
SUBJECT:
Music
COMMENT:
Hi Everyone! I was wondering if anyone can tell me anything about classical Chinese Music.
For example: The different composers and their pieces, different instruments, and how it is used in Chinese Life.
If anyone has anyone has information on Chinese Music, can you tell me? Thanks for everything!!
FROM:Angela
- Monday, February 09, 1998 at 18:42:59 (PS
SUBJECT:
Thank you and a question!
COMMENT:
Thank you for establishing this wonderful site about the beauty created by the Chinese people.
Next, my question. I am fortunate to have a portrait on silk of an imperial woman whom I believe to be one of the Manchu Empresses. It is a large painting - 3 feet by 4 1/2 feet. The woman is seated on a wooden throne and is dressed in a red robe covered with dragons in gold leaf. On her chest is a panel showing a rising phoenix. Suspended from the belt at her waist is a cord with a series of gold and jade ornaments. There is no writing on the painting as it has obviously been cut-down in size to fit into a picture frame of the 1920's or '30's. Can you tell me if there are any publications which I might be able to read that will help me identify this imperial woman? I would be very greatful for any help you might give me.
Thank you,
Cliff Harmon
FROM:Cliff Harmon <pvcliff@directcon.net>
USA - Saturday, February 07, 1998 at 20:39:46 (PS
SUBJECT:
COMMENT:
can you plese show me your zodics signs
FROM:dana losich
darien , il USA - Friday, February 06, 1998 at 11:59:20 (PS
SUBJECT:
COMMENT:
can you plese show me your zodics signs
FROM:dana losich
darien , il USA - Friday, February 06, 1998 at 11:57:56 (PS
SUBJECT:
Bronze mirror plate
¤T°ê»ÉÃè¯u°°¿ë
COMMENT:
Siu-Leung Lee introduces a maybe ancient bronze mirror on his site and
raises the thrilling question, wether this piece derives from San Guo (San
Kuo ¤T°ê) or not.
I 'd like to start a discussion on this topic, because from its textual
content so far obvious, wether the plate comes down from San Guo - or seems
to be a product of fraud.
I have made some basic reflections and want to put a few question marks behind it:
In order not to occupy too much space in this forum, I have them on my
server - click here ! Please, tell me your opinion !
A.W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A.W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Friday, February 06, 1998 at 08:24:52 (PS
SUBJECT:
question about a specific character
COMMENT:
i've got to locate the origin of a specific chinese
calligraphic character and i was wondering if anyone would
know where or how to do that on the web? (i.e is there a
refernce site online? thanks for your help.
FROM:payal <jhaverpp@jmu.edu>
usa - Thursday, February 05, 1998 at 09:31:37 (PS
SUBJECT:
Old discussions are there
COMMENT:
In order not to slow down downloads, I moved the older
discussions out.
the older discussions
are placed in a separate file(s).
If you scroll down to the end of the current page, simply
click on the "previous page" button, you will get the
next (older) page.
At the moment, each page will hold about a month's worth
of discussions.
FROM:Ming Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Tuesday, February 03, 1998 at 13:02:55 (PS
SUBJECT:
Guan Yu's mirror and Goose tail stroke
COMMENT:
I will be brief on these two issues:
Mirror: I will limit the discussion on the
mirror to whatever is on the webpage, just to minimize
the embarassment of the owner.
LiShu stroke: I think I did answer to David's question.
But seemingly the forum only holds a limited number of msg and
the old ones are not found.
In my view, the correct saying should be Goose(duck) tail.
It came from the saying ²ÏÍ·Ñãβ(Can2 tou2 yan4 wei3)"silkworm head and wild goose tail" for
LiShu horizontal strokes. The left side of the stroke looks like the head of silkworm and
the right side of the horizontal stroke looks like the goose tail (not swallow tail, which is split).
The source of this error is two-fold: (1) identical mandarin pronunciation of
wild goose and swallow. Ñ㲻˫·É"Yan4 bu4 Shuang Fei" means no two
horizontal strokes in the same word should have the wild goose tail shape.
(2) ÑàË«·É"yan suang fei" appears often in poems to describe a couple like pair of flying swallows.
So, it looks like Ñ಻˫·É is the expression. But it is not.
That caused all the misunderstandings.
So, David, you are correct.
S. L. Lee
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Tuesday, February 03, 1998 at 10:34:42 (PS
SUBJECT:
Ãö ¦Ð
COMMENT:
Chandra,
In the book of the Three Kingdoms, Kwan Yu is depicted as one wearing a green dress. This detail is probably missed out in the translation. But it is there in the original text.
Julian.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Tuesday, February 03, 1998 at 07:46:52 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo and video games
COMMENT:
Chandra:
Is video game a good thing? Yes.
History, by its nature, is a dull subject for study. Very
students like it.
San Guo is a historical novel. It is based on historical
events; but it is a historical novel. Because it is
a immensely good novel, it gave generations of people
some understanding of that part of history. As it
now attains the status of a "classics", no one would
question its goal of popularization.
Long before TV and Video, there were many carton stories
in China dipicting this story. Kids loved to read them.
Parents would disapprove, as they are not "real" books.
I think movies, videos, and games are good, if they are
well made. They help. It is not enough to merely stop
there. But they help.
I will discuss the other questions separately.
Ming
FROM:Ming Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Tuesday, February 03, 1998 at 07:38:13 (PS
SUBJECT:
More San Guo and Guan Yu!
COMMENT:
Maybe we can get a discussion going, rather than just questions? :)
I've noticed that Guan Yu is often depicted in green clothes, even though I haven't
read anything to that effect. Of course, I'm going by a translation. I thought of this because I happened upon a video game
a few months ago, while in the Video store called "Dynasty Warriors". But the characters very clearly showed that the game was really based on San Guo.
You pick a San Guo character and fight other San Guo characters. I was surprised to see this in the US, since this story would be
pretty obscure for most kids here. I didn't know much about San Guo then, because
I was reading Dream of the Red Chamber at the time. I knew the title and the idea of the story, but I had no clue who
"Zhuge Liang" and "Zhang Fei" were! So guess the discussion should be, is a video game a good thing? Do you think
it'll help promote learning or at least curiosity? (And yes, Guan Yu was in green here too.)
FROM:Chandra <reyer002@tc.umn.edu>
- Monday, February 02, 1998 at 20:30:57 (PS
SUBJECT:
Tail
COMMENT:
All experts in Chinese Calligraphy:
(1) Does "horizontal stroke" in LiShu has tail or not?
(2) If so, what is it called? Swallow tail or Goose tail?
David Hsu
p.s. Don't get emotional.
FROM:David Hsu <dhsu@pepperdine.edu>
USA - Monday, February 02, 1998 at 12:12:10 (PS
SUBJECT:
tha dudical chineese culture
COMMENT:
duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude...i am so baked right now...dooooooooooooooooooooooooooood,dude.
FROM:dude <dude@aol.com>
dudeland - Monday, February 02, 1998 at 11:37:14 (PS
SUBJECT:
Wasting your time ?
COMMENT:
David,
You should have warned us before hand that if we are not the experts who can answer your question, not to bother to respond. And I can guarantee you I won't. My time is just as precious as yours and may be even more. Your email did not have Chinese characters and I could only guess half of what you typed in translation. I am no good in pin-yin and most of the time I can only guess what the readers mean by those translation. That explains why when I respond to the emails, I try to include Chinese characters as much as I can so not to confuse the readers.
When I write Chinese calligraphy, I don't care what those strokes mean or what kind of fancy terms they were given. And I can write very beautiful Chinese calligrapy. Thank you very much and have a good day.
Julian Yiu.
FROM:Julian Yiu
- Monday, February 02, 1998 at 11:32:09 (PS
SUBJECT:
Wu Shi Xian, Painter
COMMENT:
As a teenager in the mid to late 1950s I befriended an escapeefrom the Communist revolution who had brought his family toNew Zealand. (My mother's uncle had lived in Shanghai in the 1920s-1930s and he had sent my mother many gifts of Chineseporcelain, furniture and other Chinese arts, my growing up with which stimulated a lasting interest in Chinese culture. Hence my interest in this family at a time when there were not many Chinese in New Zealand.) In the course of this friendship, I bought various items fromhis shop. Among these things was a set of four Chinese scrollpaintings with inscriptions which revealed that they were paintedby Wu Shi Xian around 1896. As far as I can discover, he died around 1916, but his birth date is not certain. He apparentlycame from Nanjing (Fujian) and practised in Shanghai. Sadly I cannot find out much more about him and would appreciate any more information anyone could share regarding this certainly prominent artist of the late Qing Dynasty.I understand some of his pictures came up for sale in Chinalate last year and were rather popular. Any details anyone mightbe able to add to my understanding of this to -- to me, at least --remarkable artist will be gladly and gratefully received.Noël.
FROM:Noël <noell@ihug.co.nz>
NEW ZEALAND - Saturday, January 31, 1998 at 19:49:02 (PS
SUBJECT:
Ãö ¤ªªø¿û Ã誺¯u°° ¿ë
COMMENT:
Ãö ¤ªªø¿û Ã誺¯u°° ¿ë
Siu, from the BIG-5 text on your site I learned, that bronze mirrorwas not discovered somewhere in far east, but in a shipwreck's place inMediterranean Sea area. Do you know more exactly, where and under which the circumstancesit was found?
W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Saturday, January 31, 1998 at 10:34:40 (PS
SUBJECT:
Ãö §™™Ý¿¯ Ùº¯u°° ¿Ž
COMMENT:
Ãö §™™Ý¿¯ Ùº¯u°° ¿Ž
Siu, from the BIG-5 text on your site I learned, that bronze mirrorwas not discovered somewhere in far east, but in a shipwreck's place inMediterranean Sea area. Do you know more exactly, where and under which the circumstancesit was found?
W. Tueting
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:W. Tueting <Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Saturday, January 31, 1998 at 10:33:05 (PS
SUBJECT:
Answering precisely
COMMENT:
David Hsu complains about not having got "precise" answersto his question:
1) This forum is *not* a service station for answeringquestions in a sense of giving claims for answers or even precise answers,but a place to discuss interesting topics on chinese culture.
2) But evenif there were any obligation, it is not very polite to complain in a wayMr. Hsu did.
3) One has to admit, that the several contributions to thetopic respective have a touch a bit "fuzzy", but reading themall together, the question raised by Mr. Hsu is answered to the bottom,hence not any reason for complaining. I think, everyone contributing hadpayed a visit to the page Hsu pointed out, and so was aware of what hewas talking of (Li Shu character "Li 3", Heng-stroke). (BTW,"fuzzy" is deeply chinese and a special good quality of thislanguage - and thinking! In contrary to e.g. German or other western languages.)We/I could learn in extending our discussion's topic also including the"Na-stroke's question" and other styles of Shu-fa.
4) I reallydo hope, that the friendly and respectful way treating each other, up tonow kept in this excellent forum, also will remain in the future ...
And that's that now, Mr. Hsu ?
A.W.
http://www.muc.de/~tueting/
FROM:A. W. Tueting < Ti@fa-kuan.muc.de>
DE - Saturday, January 31, 1998 at 06:54:00 (PS
SUBJECT:
Tail
COMMENT:
Dr. Pei, If horizontal stroke (in LiShu) does not have tail, what do you call the last stroke of the character Li3 (ceremony) in E-Ching's LiShu example? I know "Na" has tail, but I also think that horizontal stroke sometime can have "tail" in "Lishu". My question started with the horizontal stroke in E-Ching's LiShu example. So let us stay with that. David Hsu
FROM:David Hsu <dhsu@pepperdine.edu>
USA - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 18:50:02 (PS
SUBJECT:
Goose/Swallow
COMMENT:
David Hsu wrote:On 1/21/98, I asked the question about the description of the unique "horizontalstroke" allowed in a Chinese charater in LiShu (whether it more resembles that of agoose' tail or a swallow's tail). But it was unfortunately misunderstood to be "Na". Ihope this is clear to readers who have responded to my inquiry. I suggest that readersfirst carefully read and understand the question before sending their response inorder to avoid confusion and waste in time. David Hsu
- - - - -David:
I am afraid that the misunderstanding is on your part. You ought tobe ashamed to complain about thekind readers who gave their time to respond to your question.
Your question is about the two names 'goose' and 'swallow'. You wantedto know which of the two words are correct.
Your mistake is to associate these (goose or swallow's tail) with "horizontal strokes".
In LiShu, the 'horizontal stroke' does not have any kind of tail.
There is no tail. None!
On the other hand, the "Na stroke" does have a tail. Various authoritieshave used different names for this, including "duck", goose or swallow.
There are two styles for the horizontal stroke. To quote the greatcalligrapher Chiang Yee, these two styles are: (1)It is written first to the left, then to the right,then slightly to the left again.
See this example, 
(2) The 'Flat hook'. The first part is written like a horizontal stroke,but as the brush reaches the right extremity it is lowered down andthen streches out to the left to form the hook. See this example.
So David, horizontal stroke has no tails. But 'Na' stroke has a tailwhich is called as either swallow or goose or duck.
I hope I have clarified this for you. In the future, "Think thrice before.."
FROM:Ming Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Friday, January 30, 1998 at 12:48:56 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo character - Guan Yu
COMMENT:
While we are at this topic. I have an interesting encounter on the internet:A European archaeologist sent me some pictures of a bronze mirror. The inscription says the mirror's owner was Guan Yuan Chang Ãö¤ªªø, the famous San Guo character.Validation using the wording on the mirror is an interesting experience. Please visit my calligraphy site for details.
Siu-Leung Lee
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Thursday, January 29, 1998 at 11:53:47 (PS
SUBJECT:
Goose/Swallow
COMMENT:
On 1/21/98, I asked the question about the descriptionof the unique "horizontal stroke" allowed in a Chinese charater in LiShu (whether it more resembles that ofa goose' tail or a swallow's tail).But it was unfortunately misunderstood to be "Na".I hope this is clear to readers who have responded to myinquiry. I suggest that readers first carefully read and understandthe question before sending their response in order to avoidconfusion and waste in time.David Hsu
FROM:David Hsu <dhsu@pepperdine.edu>
USA - Thursday, January 29, 1998 at 10:58:45 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo characters
COMMENT:
The question was originally asked by Chandra, not Judge A.W.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, January 28, 1998 at 10:14:25 (PS
SUBJECT:
San Guo characters
COMMENT:
A.W. asks about the names of 3 brothers in San Guo.They are: Zhang Jue , Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang.
In Chinese: ±i¨¤, ±iÄ_, and ±i±ç.
FROM:Ming L. Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
US - Wednesday, January 28, 1998 at 10:03:25 (PS
SUBJECT:
Shi Jing and GuQin music
COMMENT:
Ming,The GuQin music I mentioned was produced by Hugo (a company based in Hong Kong).I have two CDs: GuangLing QinYun (HRP718-2) [GuangLing Qin melodies]WuMen QinYun (HRP712-2) [Qin melodies by Wu Zhao Ji].I am not sure if GuangLing Shan was composed in the era of ShiJing, but according to references, it appeared as early as Han dynasty.The following reference books may be useful for further reading:1. ZhongGuo GuDai YinYue ShiGao (A draft on the history of chinese ancient music) byYang Yin Liu (1981) People's music Publisher.2.Zhongguo YinYue Shi Lue (A Brief History of Chinese Music) byWu Chao and Liu Dong Sheng (1983) People's Music Publisher.In (1) there is a good discussion of the early music in the ShiJing era.Another excellent recording company I like to introduce to you is:ROI Productions Rm2404, 24/f Cheung Tat Centre, 18 Cheung Lee St. Chaiwan, Hong KongFax (852)2976-0098. They have produced some of the best Chinese traditional music I know, all performed by the best musicians around.
FROM:S. L. Lee <sllee@asiawind.com>
USA - Wednesday, January 28, 1998 at 09:29:50 (PS
SUBJECT:
Ask about the rule of Chinese poem, idiom, etc.
COMMENT:
Dear sir/madam, I'm an overseas student and study in UK. Nowadays, I'm doing a project about Chinese language and I want to find some information about the rule, format and structure of Chinese poem, idiom/adage, classical poetry,rhyming Slang (two-part clever but commonly known saying, with the second part suppresed)and letters. This kind of information is very difficult to find out from intenet and UK libraries. I hope you can help me because the time is limited. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Your faithfully, Kin Chan.
Archived pages
<
