grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing on July 22, 2007
So the broadband crapped out this morning. At first I could load most of the university home page, just not that important little bit that allows me to log in and therefore surf beyond the university home page. And then not even the home page would load. I’m not happy about this. This dial-up does work, most of the time, but it’s not cheap and it’s about as reliable as any other dial-up. So in a minute I’ll get offline and read a book. Ahh, books, I have fond memories of books way back in the days before the internet….. Well, I just inherited a bunch of books from a friend who decided repatriation was a better idea than hanging around here forever, and they look pretty interesting, and I have been meaning to drag myself away from the computer and read them, so I guess a crapped out broadband is a good motivator.
Huh. Sometimes it seems like all our friends in Beijing are moving to America or trying to move to America or wanting to be trying to move to America.
And on that note, I will unplug myself and get reacquainted with the real world. And books.
But hopefully this crapped out broadband is only a temporary problem. I won’t be happy if I have to go back to spending extremely short periods of time on the dial-up or wandering over to the office to get a China Uselesscom signal. Alright, unplugging now. Really.
golden sands
Another interesting piece, also a China Daily article rep[ublished at china.org.cn, this time on the Jinsha culture of ancient Sichuan. Looking at the pictures of the relics, I was reminded of the Sanxingdui bronzes. Except, of course, that the Jinsha relics were gold, according to this article. But Wikipedia, in an extremely short article (so short that the China Daily article actually provides more information, if you can believe that) backs up my impression:
Jinsha (Chinese: 金沙; Pinyin: JÄ«nshÄ?) is an archaeological site in Sichuan, China. Located in the western suburbs of Chengdu, Jinsha was accidentally discovered in February 2001 during real estate construction. Located about 50 kilometers away from Sanxingdui, the site flourished around 1000 BC and shares similarities in burial objects with the Sanxingdui site. Ivory, jade artifacts, bronze objects, gold objects and carved stone objects were found at the site. Unlike the site at Sanxingdui, Jinsha did not have a city wall.
Yep, that’s the entire Wikipedia article.
And in looking for those Wikipedia articles, I managed to come across this article, which informs me that:
The years 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036, 2048, 2060 etc. (every 12 years — 8 AD) are considered the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.
The Chinese zodiac purports that people born in the Year of the Dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered, and stubborn. They are also supposedly honest, sensitive, brave, and inspire confidence and trust. The Chinese zodiac purports that people whose zodiac sign is the dragon are the most eccentric of any in the eastern zodiac. They supposedly neither borrow money nor make flowery speeches, but tend to be soft-hearted which sometimes gives others an advantage over them. They are purported to be compatible with people whose zodiac sign is of the rat, snake, monkey, and rooster.
Uh, right. Well, I suppose some of that is true of me, and my wife would assure you that I am stubborn and short-tempered, but that’s how astrology works, isn’t it? And how did I come across this? Wikipedia’s page of search results for Shu informed me that ‘Shu’ could be a Chinese word for dragon. Why? I don’t know.
surnames
So it seems the China Daily might have actually managed to publish something relatively interesting. Check out this article [republished at china.org.cn] about China’s surnames- no, it’s not the usual “Oh no! We’re running out of surnames!” handwringing, it takes a look at the origins and development of China’s surnames. Here’s one little bit I found interesting:
The origin of Chinese surnames can be traced back to the matriarchal age in primitive society, when Shi (early surnames) were used to distinguish different tribes. Most of the earliest Chinese surnames, or Shi, which are still in use today, have the word “woman” as a character component. Marriage within a tribe of the same surname was forbidden, and children were raised by and given the surname of their mother’s tribe. The development of surnames was a sign of societal progression, demonstrating that Chinese people were aware of the disadvantages of close inter-breeding.
Well, I’m not sure about the connection between surnames and the awareness of the disadvantages of inbreeding, but still, this might be worth further study.
and more boggling of the mind
Is the news that the story of the fake baozi being faked itself faked? Have we gone from fakes to fake fakes to fake fake fakes? Or did somebody slip something a little funny into my jiaozi? Why do I get the feeling that I am, in fact, living inside the bastard child of Catch 22 and Kafka’s entire oeuvre with Salvador Dali looking on approvingly?
journalists…..
So I’m reading this article because a friend showed it to me because he’s worried some of our oil worker former students may get caught up in the violence in Pakistan, if they haven’t been already. Can understand his concern, I mean the violence has been taking a rather anti-Chinese slant of late. But still, our former students chose to go there of their own free will, there was no compulsion and no persuasion stronger than perhaps irritating the boss, and some things (like not getting shot at or blown up) are worth irritating the boss for. Anyway, so I’m reading the article, and I come across this:
Pakistan traditionally has enjoyed close ties with China. However, relations were strained when members of the Muslim separatist movement in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Uighur sought refuge in Pakistan’s tribal region after fleeing from Afghanistan in 2001. They became closely linked to Pakistan’s radical Islamists.
[yes, that is my emphasis added]
And then I had to quickly wipe a mouthful of longjing off the monitor. What a waste of good tea. But really, “the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Uighur”! Note, the article is attributed to ” Zahid Hussain in Islamabad and Jane Macartney in Beijing”. Would that be the same Jane Macartney who wrote this blog? Let’s just hope for Ms Macartney’s sake that some idiot subeditor in England was responsible for that mistake. If it was Ms Macartney’s slip up, then I hope for her sake her editor doesn’t find out. One would expect a journalist based in Beijing to be reasonably familar with China’s provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. One would think that a journalist based in Beijing that went around carving up China’s adminstrative divisions into completely new provinces, be it out of ignorance, malice, or for any other reason, would very soon find herself looking for a new job, or quite possibly on the first plane out of the country and her name on a visa blacklist. Especially when the mistake concerns such a sensitive region of China. I mean, this isn’t just a minor spelling mistake, this is taking the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and turning it into “the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Uighur”. Astounding. The mind boggles. I’m lost for words. Other similar cliches.
a hole so big you could drive one of the biggest mass migrations in Chinese history through it
And even then you’d still have space for the other seven
Wikipedia is cool and I like like having open access to it again, but there are some pretty huge, glaring wholes in it. Take this section from the article on Shanxi for example:
 The Mongol Yuan Dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Shanxi as a province. Shanxi was formally established with its present name and approximate borders by the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911), Shanxi was extended northwards beyond the Great Wall to include parts of Inner Mongolia, including what is now the city of Hohhot, and overlapped with the jurisdiction of the Eight Banners and the Guihua Tümed banner in that area.
Now, that one little paragraph covers the period from 1271 to 1911, or 640 years, with only the scantiest of details. Normally that would be ok, I guess, I mean, it is only Wikipedia and it is an article about Shanxi as a whole. To cover all of Shanxi’s history in even merely adequate detail would take several large volumes, so much paper that it would consume all the forest left in Shanxi and then go to its neighbouring provinces looking for more if you were cruel enough to insist on a dead tree version. But the end of the Yuan Dynasty saw continual war, flood and famine in the Yellow and Huai River basins, which sent vast hordes of refugees into Shanxi, which had somehow managed to remain stable and prosperous, attract favourable weather, and generally be a nice place to live. And the early Ming Dynasty saw what was quite possibly the largest series of organised mass migrations in China’s history. The Ming government, in order to consolidate its rule, and probably for a few other reasons, organised to send vast hordes of migrants out of Shanxi to virtually every province of China. And those provinces which didn’t get any migrants directly from Shanxi tended to get them indirectly via the other provinces. These migrants settled every where from Dongbei to Xinjiang to Yunnan. Today, literally millions of Chinese right across the country can trace their ancestors to the Great Scholar Tree of Hongtong (thanks John for the correction) County in Linfen, where the Ming government established an office to organise these mass migrations. Here are some excerpts with my really awful translations from that article about the Great Scholar Tree:
 明æœ?ç?亡元æœ?å?Žä¸ºäº†å·©å›ºæ–°æ”¿æ?ƒå’Œå?‘展ç»?济,从洪æ¦åˆ?年至永ä¹?å??五年,五å??余年间组织了八次大规模的移民活动。
 When the Ming Dynasty overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, in order to consolidate its political power and develop the economy, in a period of over 50 years from the early years of Hongwu to the fifteenth year of Yongle, organised eight large-scale migration movements.
晋å?—是山西人å?£ç¨ 密之处,而洪洞å?ˆæ˜¯å½“时晋å?—最大,人å?£æœ€å¤šçš„ 县。æ?®è®°è½½ï¼Œæ˜Žæœ?时在洪洞城北二å?Žé‡Œçš„è´¾æ?‘西侧有一座广济寺,寺院å®?大,殿宇å·?峨,僧众很多,香客ä¸?ç»?。寺æ—?æœ‰ä¸€æ£µâ€œæ ‘èº«æ•°å›´ï¼Œè?«é?®æ•°äº©â€™â€?的汉æ§?,车马 大é?“ä»Žæ ‘è?«ä¸‹é€šè¿‡ã€‚汾河滩上的è€?é¹žåœ¨æ ‘ä¸Šæž„çª?ç‘巢,星罗棋布,甚为壮观。明æœ?政府在广济寺设局驻员集ä¸åŠžç?†ç§»æ°‘,大æ§?æ ‘ä¸‹å°±æˆ?了移民集è?šä¹‹åœ°ã€‚
The south is a densely populated part of Shanxi, and at that time Hongdong was the largest and most populous county. According to records, 2 li (1 km) north of Hongdong Town on the west side of Jia Village was Guangji Temple, a grand temple, lofty-eaved halls, many monks, and many worshippers. Next to the temple was a “thick trunked, shading a large area� Chinese scholar tree. The road passed under its shadow. The sparrow hawks on the banks of the Fen River built their nests all over the tree, an extrememly magnificent sight. The Ming government set up an office and stationed officials at Guangji Temple to centralise the management of migrants. Under the Great Scholar Tree became the place where the migrants assembled.
晚秋时节,æ§?å?¶å‡‹è?½ï¼Œè€?鸦çª?显得å??分醒目。移民们临行之时,å‡? 眸高大的å?¤æ§?ï¼Œæ –æ?¯åœ¨æ ‘æ?ˆé—´çš„è€?鹞ä¸?æ–地å?‘出声声哀鸣,令别离故土的移民潸然泪下,频频回首,ä¸?å¿?离去,最å?Žå?ªèƒ½çœ‹è§?大æ§?æ ‘ä¸Šçš„è€?鹤çª?。为æ¤ï¼Œå¤§æ§?æ ‘å’Œè€? 鹤çª?å°±æˆ?ä¸ºç§»æ°‘æƒœåˆ«å®¶ä¹¡çš„æ ‡å¿—ã€‚â€œé—®æˆ‘ç¥–å…ˆä½•å¤„æ?¥ï¼Œå±±è¥¿æ´ªæ´žå¤§æ§?æ ‘ã€‚ç¥–å…ˆæ•…é‡Œå?«ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Œå¤§æ§?æ ‘ä¸‹è€?鸹çª?。â€?这首民谣数百年æ?¥åœ¨æˆ‘国许多地区广为æµ?ä¼ ã€‚ï¼ˆæ?®æˆ‘ è€?å®¶çš„æ?‘民说,我们æ?‘就是那个时候从大æ§?æ ‘è¿?移出æ?¥ï¼Œä»¥å……实北部边防的,æ?‘é‡Œçš„å®¶è°±ä¹Ÿæ£æ˜¯ä»Žé‚£ä¸ªæ—¶å€™è®°èµ·çš„。)
In late autumn the scholar tree’s leaves whither and fall, the old crow’s nests catch the eye. Just before the migrants leave, they fix their gaze on the large, tall, ancient scholar tree, the old sparrow hawks perched in the crotch of the tree constantly call out plaintively, the migrants ordered to leave their native soil, with tears in their eyes repeatedly looked back, couldn’t bear to leave. In the end they could only see the cranes’ nests in the Great Scholar Tree. Because of this, the Great Scholar Tree and the old cranes’ nests became symbols of the hometowns the migrants hated to part from. “Ask where my ancestors came from, the Great Scholar Tree in Hongdong, Shanxi. What is my ancestors’ hometown called, the crow’s nest under the Great Scholar Tree.� Over hundreds of years this folk song has been spread to many parts of China. (According to the villagers of my hometown, our village also came from the Great Scholar Tree at that time, in order to strengthen the defence of the northern border, and the village’s genealogy also began to be recorded from that time)
明åˆ?从山西洪洞ç‰åœ°è¿?出的移民主è¦?分布在河å?—ã€?河北ã€?山东ã€?北 京ã€?安徽ã€?江è‹?ã€?湖北ç‰åœ°ï¼Œå°‘部分è¿?往陕西ã€?甘肃ã€?å®?å¤?地区。从山西è¿?往上述å?„地的移民,å?Žå?ˆè½¬è¿?到云å?—ã€?å››å·?ã€?贵州ã€?æ–°ç–†å?Šä¸œåŒ—诸çœ?。如æ¤é•¿æ—¶é—´å¤§èŒƒå›´ 有组织的大规模è¿?徙,在我国历å?²ä¸Šæ˜¯ç½•è§?的,而将一方之民散移å?„地,仅æ¤ä¸€ä¾‹è€Œå·²ã€‚
Of the migrants who left Hongdong and other parts of Shanxi in the early Ming, the largest number went to such places as Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Beijing, Anhui, Jiangsu and Hubei, with a lesser number going to the Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia area. Of the migrants from Shanxi to the places mentioned above, some later moved on to Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Xinjiang and all the northeastern provinces. Organised migrations over such a long time and of such a large scale are rarely seen in China’s history, and this is the only example of people scattering to every region.
 Yes, my translations are truly awful. Any corrections or constructive criticism would be most appreciated. And I wish I could figure out who the author was, but I can’t find a name, the only thing relevant to such things as IPR I can find on that page is “Copyright by www.tuuke.com 2005-2007 All rights reserved.” Anyway, I’ve linked to the page and I believe I’ve made it clear I’m not the original author, just quoting and translating, so I believe I’m in the clear. But I guess not being able to find who the original author is I can’t really vouch for the historical accuracy of the article. Let’s just say I’ve been reading other things, not on Wikipedia, though, that tend to back up the story.
Yeah, so anyway, huge, huge, massive migrations of an historically significant proportion, with the result that many Chinese people can travel throughout the country (and probably the world, these days) and find others with a link to the Great Scholar Tree of Hongtong. And they don’t show up at all in that Wikipedia article, even though they originated in Shanxi. I suppose I should stop ranting here and join Wikipedia and correct their gross oversight.
Whence my interest in this Great Scholar Tree and the migrations that began with it? My wife is one of those millions who can trace their origins back to Hongtong and the tree.
Yanqinghua
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on July 19, 2007
lzh just sent me this message, a dialogue written in Yanqinghua:
å±±è?¯:娘(nia读第4声)咋回事呢(ni)?å’‹ 出一下å?电视 人了呢(ni)?è¦?ä¸? ä½ åŽ»æ?£é¼“æ?£é¼“去,真æ“?蛋,å?“得我直干月.娘我喉摆特哄 ,快给我疙瘩å?«ç”Ÿçº¸.
娘:è¿™å©å©å?,å¿«å?ƒé¢—月,å’‹æ£æ•–巾人呢(ni)?å?œç”µäº†, 白薯玩æ„?å„¿.
è¿™æ˜¯ä¼ æ?¥æˆ¿é¡¶ 沙沙声.
å±±è?¯:娘,shuair声呢(ni)?ä½ åŽ»æ–™æ–™é‚£æ—®æ—¯å’‹äº†å‘¢?
娘:è?Žé‡Œè™Žå?,白 ä¸?咋地呀!
山�:� 是,那咋冒��冒��� �了呢?
娘:对了白 这个了,夜儿å?Žæ™Œä½ æ‹¿é‚£æˆ?绩å?•å“©,è€ƒåœ°å’‹æ ·?
山�:今儿晚了看�机米,明儿早起�料�.
娘: ä¸?行,给我拿å?–ç?¯å„¿æ?¥,我得ç?¢ä¹ˆç?¢ä¹ˆä½ è¿™æˆ?绩嘞别å?‘屈憋蛋 .
山�:别给我墨迹了.
娘:ä½ ä¸ªèƒŒå§“å©å?,勺å?光当 ,æˆ?天也ä¸? æ€?想shuairå“©.
于是æ¯?亲抢过æˆ?绩å?•,æ¯?亲看完å?Ž,勃然大怒,挥手而去,é¡¿æ—¶ 声,笑声,å?«å£°å‡¡æ‰€åº”有,æ— æ‰€ä¸?
I think I’ve reinserted all the ä¸?s that went missing thanks to MSNs bizarre and irritating habit of replacing certain characters with silly pictures.
Anyway, if you can understand that, you’re amazing. I can pick out parts of it, but I suspect I’d cope better if I was listening to it. But then again, it’s probably hammed up and exaggerated for some kind of 相声 or å°?å“? routine.
so now even the fakes are fake?
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on July 19, 2007
According to this report the fake baozi were faked.
Last month Beijing Television hired a hidden camera to “reveal” the making of the cardboard baozi allegedly sold in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.
The footage showed a man and his assistants mixing together 60 percent cardboard with 40 percent fatty meat to make baozi fillings. This supposedly fooled average buyers, who were said to be unable to taste the difference. This shocking report was quickly scooped up by various Chinese and international media. Even China Central Television aired the program nationwide last Thursday.
But the television station announced yesterday that the story was completely fabricated. They also apologized to the general public.
After the program was aired, the statement said, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce and Municipal Food Safety Department immediately sent investigators to thoroughly inspect and examine the city’s breakfast market. They never found any proof to support the shocking story and the existence of the cardboard baozi. Later Beijing municipal police joined in the investigation and discerned the truth on July 16.
So even the fakes are fake? We can eat baozi again?
Because Shanxi has had too rough a ride of late
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on July 19, 2007
Look what I found at Baidu Baike:
“女娲补天â€?çš„ä¼ è¯´å°±å?‘生在山西。å?Žå¤?æ°‘æ—?的始祖黄å¸?和炎å¸?都曾在山西活动。我国上å?¤æ—¶ä»£çš„三个å¸?王尧ã€?舜ã€?禹å?‡åœ¨å±±è¥¿å?—部建都,为“尧都平阳(今临汾市)â€?ã€?“舜都蒲å?‚(今永济市)â€?ã€?“禹都安邑(今å¤?县)â€?。
The legend of “Nüwa Mending the Sky” happened in Shanxi. The earliest ancestors of the Chinese peoples the Yellow Emperor/Huang Di and Yan Di were both active in Shanxi. The three emperors of China’s ancient times, Yao, Shun and Yu all built their capitals in the south of Shanxi, namely “Yao’s capital Pingyang” (modern Linfen City), “Shun’s capital Puban” (modern Yongji City) and “Yu’s capital Anyi” (modern Xia County).
Right. Now I don’t know how Nüwa got into this (and isn’t she more myth than legend?), and I have my doubts about just how much the real, historical Huang Di, Yan Di, Yao, Shun and Yu resembled the legendary versions. But it is interesting to see that these five ancient, legendary kings and emperors were not only active in the area, but in the case of three, including Yu, the founder of the Xia Dynasty, built capitals in Shanxi. Beat that, Henan.
I’m a little confused
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on July 19, 2007
I’m a little confused about 洪洞县. It seems to be romanised as “Hongtong” in most places, but neither of my dictionaries includes “tong” as an alternate pronunciation of æ´ž. Is this a local variation, but otherwise correct Putonghua? Well, this map at least backs me up, although you’ll have to squint, thanks to the poor choice of colour for Hongdong County. But this page of the exact same university website goes for “Hongtong” (scroll down to the bit about the Great Scholar Tree). The Great Scholar Tree is definitely located in 洪洞县, so it’s not me getting confused between two different counties with similar names.