It is possibly translated into English from a Chinese poem, and may have first been published in a magazine calle Jintian around 1978, Beijing.

It is titled "The Whole" circa 1949, Beidao (?)

The excerpt I have is:

 The whole is destiny

 The whole is smoke or clouds

 The whole is the beginning without completion and

 The whole is the groping in the dark which vanished to the last

Your typing scripts turn out to be very good on my monitor. The website recommended by Ming is very good also. As so much have already been done here in the discussion group, I wonder if Ming can create a separate icon on the homepage. It seems many people are interested in this particular field.

Michael, your posting sounds pretty interesting, could you give us more information on this topic (maybe also add some of your sources).
As far as I can understand, you're referring to a language family a lot older than e.g. the Indo-European - hence this family being part of that one you're calling Dene-Caucasian? The Basque language is regarded as a 'fossile' language, a unique remnant, and thus being subject to many linguistical speculations. (E.g. our local historians here in Bavaria suppose the names of rivers etc. perhaps going back to the Basque, but at least to another language much older than the Celtic languages.
Do you really believe that the Basque has something in common with Asian languages of isolated type such as Chinese? As far I'm informed, those languages you're calling Caucasian are clearly separated from the Far-Eastern idioms.
The various types of Native American languages are very, very different from each other: what features has the Dene-Athabascan languages family to be related to Chinese - not to speak of the Basque or 'Caucasian' languages? Can you give examples?

Alfred

http://www.fa-kuan.muc.de
Traces of Butterflies' Dreams - ½º¹Ú²ª
My Poetry

Take a look at Chinese solar calendar web site.

I made some re-formating of the table as shown below.
It may not look right on every person's monitor, becasue the original text uses a mixtue of "tab" keys and "space" keys. Since each one may set his "tab" differently, the results will not be uniform.

One more observation: The table is very wide, with a mixture of English and Chinese. When you scroll to the right, the Chinese text may not show up properly due to "refresh" problems with double-byte characters. The trick is to scrill quickly.. I mean very fast. Not slow.

													

Month	¡B¤ë¡B	¸`¡A®ð	¡B    Period	¡B      Translation		¡BGregorian ¡B	(+/- 1 day)	¡BConstellations	 (South)	¡B¬P±J	¡BCelestial Creatures	¡B¥|¶H	

Zi	¡B¤l¡B	¤j³·	¡BDa xue    	¡BHeavy Snow		¡BDec. 07¡B	08		Aries		¡B	Wai	¡B­G	¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Zi	¡B¤l¡B	¥V¦Ü	¡BDong zhi	¡BWinter Solstice	¡BDec. 21¡B	22		Pleiades	¡B	Mao	¡BÎö	¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Chow	¡B¤¡¡B	¤p´H	¡BXiao han	¡BLesser Cold		¡BJan. 05¡B	06		Taurus		¡B	Bi	¡B²¦	¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Chow	¡B¤¡¡B	¤j´H	¡BDa han		¡BGreat Cold		¡BJan. 20¡B	21		Orion		¡B	Zi/ Shen	¡BàC¡A °Ñ¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Yin	¡B±G¡B	¥ß¬K	¡BLi chun	¡BBeginning of Spring	¡BFeb. 04¡B	05		Gemini		¡B	Jing	¡B¤«	¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶	

Yin	¡B±G¡B	«B¤ô	¡BYu shui	¡BThe Rains		¡BFeb. 19¡B	18, 20		Cancer		¡B	Gui	¡B°­	¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶	

Mao	¡B¥f¡B	ÅåÁ±	¡BJing zhe	¡BAwakening of Insects	¡BMar. 05¡B	06		Hydra		¡B	Lui	¡B¬h	¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶		

Mao	¡B¥f¡B	¬K¤À	¡BChun fen	¡BSpring Equinox		¡BMar. 20¡B	21		Alphard		¡B	Xing	¡B¬P	¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶	

Chen	¡B¨°¡B	²M©ú	¡BQing ming	¡BClear & Bright		¡BApr. 05¡B	04		Crater		¡B	Zhang	¡B±i 	  ¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶	

Chen	¡B¨°¡B	½\«B	¡BGu yu		¡BRain for the Crops	¡BApr. 20¡B	21		Corvus		¡B	Yi/ Zhen	¡BÁl ¡A ÜH ¡B	Bird		¡B¦¶³¶	

Si	¡B¤x¡B	¥ß®L	¡BLi xia		¡BBeginning of Summer	¡BMay    05¡B	06		Spica		¡B	Jue	¡B¨¤	¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Si	¡B¤x¡B	¤pº¡	¡BXiao man	¡BSmall Fill (of Grains)	¡BMay    21¡B	21		Virgo		¡B	Kang	¡B¤®	¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Wu	¡B¤È¡B	¨~ºØ	¡BMang zhng	¡BGrain in  Ear		¡BJun. 05¡B	06		Libra		¡B	Di/ Fang	¡B¥Â¡A ©Ð ¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Wu	¡B¤È¡B	®L¦Ü	¡BXia zhi	¡BSummer Solstice	¡BJun. 21¡B	22		Antares		¡B	Xing	¡B¤ß	¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Wei	¡B¥¼¡B	¤p´»	¡BXiao shu	¡BLesser Heat		¡BJul. 07¡B	08		Scorpius	¡B	We-ai	¡B§À	¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Wei	¡B¥¼¡B	¤j´»	¡BDa shu		¡BGreat Heat		¡BJul. 22¡B	23		Sagittarius	¡B	Jing	¡Bºß	¡B	Dragon		¡B«CÀs 	

Shen	¡B¥Ó¡B	¥ß¬î	¡BLi qiu		¡BBeginning of Autumn	¡BAug. 07¡B	08		Sagittarius	¡B	Dou	¡B¤æ	¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ 	

Shen	¡B¥Ó¡B	³B´»	¡BChu shu	¡BEnd of Heat		¡BAug. 23¡B	24		Capricorn	¡B	Niu	¡B¤û	¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ 	

You	¡B¨»¡B	¥ÕÅS	¡BBai lu		¡BWhite Dews		¡BSep. 07¡B	08		Aquarius	¡B	Nu	¡B¤k	¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ 	

You	¡B¨»¡B	¬î¤À	¡BQiu fen	¡BAutumn Equinox		¡BSep. 23¡B	24		Aquarius	¡B	Xu	¡Bµê	¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ 	

Xu	¡B¦¦¡B	´HÅS	¡BHan lu		¡BCold Dews		¡BOct. 08¡B	09		Aqua. / Pegasus	¡B	Wei	¡B¦M	¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ 	

Xu	¡B¦¦¡B	Á÷­°	¡BShuang jiang	¡BFrost Descents		¡BOct. 23¡B	24		Pegasus		¡B	Shi/ Bi	¡B«Ç¡A¾À¡B	Turtle/Snake	¡B¥ÈªZ

Hai	¡B¥è¡B	¥ß¥V	¡BLi dong	¡BBeginning of Winter	¡BNov. 07¡B	08		Andromeda¡B	Kui	¡B«¶	¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Hai	¡B¥è¡B	¤p³·	¡BXiao xue	¡BLight Snow		¡BNov.22¡B	23		Aries	¡B	Lou	¡B°ú	¡B	Tiger		¡B¥Õªê	

Rudy, thanks for the lot of work you did setting up this astrological chart. You ask how to arrange the text in English & Chinese in a circular form, with vertical text.
There are no means to do this in HTML format to have it displayed on the screen, but one could generate a circular graphic in gif file format and include this in a HTML page. Do you have an adequate graphic program to generate circular objects plus the capability to insert Chinese character text (in horizontal & vertical order)? If not - maybe I could try it for you although I never did it before. If you want me to do, please give me some more information on the display you're thinking of.

Alfred

http://www.fa-kuan.muc.de
Traces of Butterflies' Dreams - ½º¹Ú²ª
My Poetry

Germany charges U.S.A.
with Violation of International Law
- Governor Hull doesn't care -

Dear friends, I luckily belong to that German generation being freed from Hitler's cruelties and contempt for humankind by American troops when we were still children. Many a GI of 'our' liberation army (white, black or native American) left 'his special trace' in our people, i.e. their German offspring often living in poverty - with the longing for an identity, searching for their American fathers never known. (So, some time ago I had to sentence a Bavarian Cherokee for killing a friend under influence of alcoholism). There also were two Bavarian brothers obviously also seeking their real identity - in America: Karl and Walter LaGrand, sentenced to death in Arizona 17 years ago. Both were executed these days, Walter today, Wednesday, March 3, 1999. Arizona didn't care for those two man being German citizens although having signed the international contracts, thus bound to the rule e.g. to inform the foreign state respective of the case/trial etc.. They didn't although since long knowing that the brothers were German citizens. So Germany has charged the U.S.A. at the International Court in Den Haag/Netherlands, but that 'Lady' could not be stopped going on with her disgusting job ('widerlich' as members of the German government would call it)...

I feel deeply offended and disappointed about 'America' (I was so proud of in my younger days) - and would not feel good at all if I had to live in many a state of the U.S. - now I'm happy again living in good old Europe (although not being 'God's own country').

Here's a letter written to a lawyer here in Munich/Bavaria I'm acquainted with since many years:

Karl H. LaGrand, #44849
Arizona State Prison
P.O. Box 3400/SMU II.
Florence, Arizona 85232
(U.S.A.)

February 10, 1999

STEFFEN UFER,
Attorney at Law
Sophienstr. 3/II Munchen
80333 (Germany)

Dear Steffen,

Greetings. This is perhaps one of the most hardest thing I'd ever had to do - to say goodbye know that we've only recently met and been corresponding to one another, and I appreciate all the help you've given us to assist with our appeals, etc. As you know by now, the Arizona State Supreme Court has issued in our case, "Warrants of Execution" on both my brother and I. I am scheduled to be executed on "Wednesday, February 24, 1999". And Walter's execution date is scheduled for "Wednesday, March 3, 1999.

As is the case, I thought it best to take this time to get my personal affairs in order, and to send my final goodbyes to those of my friends and loved ones. I just wanted to tell you that if you don't hear from me after the 24th, then you'll know that the State of Arizona went ahead with the execution!

I just want you to know that I appreciated your friendship, the visit last year, and the assistence in which you'd provided for us. We thank you for all the interest and kindness in which you show during these very difficult times. I know that whatever may happen, I shall be fine - and if I must part from this world, then I know to, that I'll be in a much better place, so I'll not be worried!

Please know that although I'm currently on what they call "death-watch" status, we are still in the process of attempting to obtain a "stay-of-execution," and will continue to do so even up until the very last minute if necessary. So we'll just have to pray and hope for the best! So I again must say, thank you for being there for us, and we thank you for your continued support and prayers... we will certainly be needing it! Please know that as I part from this world, I'll not have any hatred or bitter feelings in my heart toward anyone because of my demise - I shall maintain a spirit of love and hope, and of forgiveness in the end. I just hope that with all the attention on this case in Germany and over here, it'll help - if not us, then hopefully it'll help the Apelt-brothers! I'll close now, please take care of yourself, and I pray that God blesses, and watch over you and yours.

Lovingly Always,

Karl

http://www.fa-kuan.muc.de
Traces of Butterflies' Dreams - ½º¹Ú²ª
My Poetry

If you go to the "Buy Book" icon of this home page, you will be able to find books on Pu Yi, the last emperor of China.

I made a search for you and here are some of the books :

From Emperor to Citizen : The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi Vol 1

Emperor of China, ChIng HsUan-TUng

From Emperor to Citizen : The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, W.J.F. Jenner (Translator)

The Last Manchu : The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China Paul Kramer(Editor), Kuo Ying Paul Tsai (Translator)

It is more practical and useful to count the years using (a) 12 year cycle, and (b) 60 year cycle. Right now : Counting with the 12-year cycle, it is the 4-th year (also known as the year of the rabbit). Counting with the 60-year cycle, it is the 16-th year.

FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
- Monday, March 01, 1999 at 11:44:47 (PS

The phrase " I will always remember " can be translated as: §Ú ·| ®É ±` °O ¦í
FROM:Julian Yiu
Canada - Wednesday, February 24, 1999 at 12:21:29 (PS

You are correct. The proper pronunciation of the words of ¥i¦½ in Cantonese is ¤^ ´H . But when you input it by Unionway, you still have to input it as "ho hon". The software is unable to recognize the proper pronunication . I am glad you bring this up as many young readers may not know the proper pronunication of this common term.
FROM:Julian Yiu
Canada - Monday, February 22, 1999 at 14:22:59 (PS

Hope this answers your question.
FROM:Julian Yiu
Canada - Monday, February 22, 1999 at 07:44:24 (PS

The above work has been translated and included in the book of "Gems of Chinese Literature " ( ­^ Ķ ¥j ¤å Æ[ ¤î ) by ªL «T ¤d . I bought this book way back in 1960 in Hong Kong. The publisher is ¥@ ¬É ¦L ®Ñ À] . See if you can find this book via the internet bookstores.
FROM:Julian Yiu
Canada - Sunday, February 21, 1999 at 07:28:51 (PS

Ming
FROM:Ming L Pei
- Saturday, February 20, 1999 at 13:02:09 (PS

I was wondering why the city fathers of Suzhou did not set up a site for Wu ZiXu and SunZi for those addicts of Chinese history. At least visitors to a SunZi memorial site can imagine him demonstrating military disciple to HeLu court ladies, ending up with the execution of HelU's favourite concubine. Other sites like the temple of Han ShiZhong and Liang HongYu and the home of Ming poet, Tang BoHu (Tang Yin) were not very well kept and supported by state funds. History is down the drain in Suzhou. Maybe, the Suzhou people will need entrepreneurs like the Shanghainese or Singaporeans to boost their tourism. I intend going to see amy ancestral city of Quanzhou in Fujian. Apparently it is a small town compared to its heyday as the one of the largest sea-port in the world. Can you advise me of any historical site besides the museum and the Arab tombs?
Many thanks
Tin-Kay
FROM:Dr. Tin-Kay Goh
- Saturday, February 20, 1999 at 12:42:56 (PS

Ming
FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
- Saturday, February 20, 1999 at 12:33:41 (PS

IMHO, English depends more on the tone of the voice to convey the precise meaning in this instance, which is hard to retain in writing.
In Chinese it is more precise by adding the words ѽ and À² to help the verb "come".
FROM:Ming L Pei <pei@chinapage.org>
- Saturday, February 20, 1999 at 07:08:50 (PS

FROM:Ming L Pei
- Saturday, February 20, 1999 at 06:44:48 (PS

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