Butterfly & Sword. 流星•蝴蝶•剑

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Something happened yesterday (Sunday) that made me wrote this instead of what I had intended. It had to do with the messy election of the Malaysian Chinese political party where the choices should have been who you wanted to vote out rather than in. The politicians involved were like the characters portrayed in 流星•蝴蝶•剑 liúxīng húdié jiàn (Shooting Star, Butterfly and Sword), a 1973 武侠小说 wǔxiá xiǎoshuō Wuxia or martial arts novel by Gu Long 古龙 gǔlóng, one of the two arguably most influential Wuxia novelists. Even the intrigues and betrayals of this complicated story pales in comparison with the actual events. What made it even more interesting was that after being betrayed by his trusted man and long-time friend (as also happened in the story), the politician affected quoted this very book.

This novel was made into a movie in 1976 with the unfortunate English title of “The Killer Clans”. It started my love for the world of Jianghu 江湖 jiānghú. (An imaginary Chinese martial arts world that intersects the real one. Literally, the term means rivers and lakes; real yet not solid like the ground you stood on. And on a misty morning, you are never really sure that the waters are real or just a figment of your imagination even though you have sailed it the night before.) It was remade in 1993 as “Butterfly & Sword” starring Michelle Yeoh but that adaptation was rubbish.

In the original movie, the leader of the 龙门 lóngmén Dragon Gate Society was forced to trust the assassin who was sent to kill him and when he was asked why, he gave this poignant reply “You are the only one whom I can trust for I know your true intention. You were sent to kill me.” Incidentaly, the politician concerned did not survive the election (but his ex-man did) but if I could vote, he would the last I voted out for he at least (too late) has the wisdom to see that the sword has no feeling.

This is the introduction to the tale of 流星•蝴蝶•剑 (truncated with apology).

流星的光芒虽短促,但天上还有什么星能比它更灿烂,辉煌
蝴蝶的生命比鲜艳的花还脆弱。它的生命虽短促却芬芳。

只有剑,才比较接近永恒。
一个剑客的光芒与生命,往往就在他手里握着的剑上,
但剑若也有情,它的光芒是否也就会变得和流星一样短促。

"The shooting star is brilliant although short-lived, but which star in the sky is more glorious.
The butterfly is more fragile than even the colorful flowers. Its life is short but beautiful.

Only the sword is more enduring.
The life and brilliance of the swordsman is that sword he held in his hand.
But should the sword have feeling, will its brilliance be as short as the shooting star?"

It is a pity that the characters in the tale and the politicians never realize that even if their swords are heartless, their glory will still be as brief as that flash of light, and less bright.

For Five Bushels of Grain 为五斗米折腰

“For five bushels of grain 为五斗米折腰 wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo, I bow like a servant.” This was the lament of Tao Qian (365 or 372-427) 陶潜 táo qián also known as Tao Yuanming 陶渊明 táo yuān míng, one of the most influential pre-Tang poets. 五斗米 refers to the miserly salary of a low ranking officer. Today, the proverb is taken to mean "swallowing one's pride in exchange for a meager existence".

Weary of the formal and corrupted life in court, he retired at the young age of 40 and celebrated his freedom with the poem “Returning to My Garden” 归园田居 guī yuán tián jū. The last two lines of that poem was –

久在樊笼里 jiǔ zài fánlóng lǐ
复得返自然 fù de fǎn zìrán
Long have I been in a cage
I return to my natural self.

He lived out the remaining 22 years of his life in peaceful retirement despite many attempts to lure him back. He devoted himself to be a gentleman farmer and a poet of nature. His poetry only came to be appreciated for its simple beauty during the Tang and Song Dynasties. He is a man worthy of respect. Wish I could emulate him.

Even Du Fu 杜甫 dùfǔ had this to say of him:

Only by wine one's heart is lit,
Only a poem calms a soul that's torn.
You'd understand me, Tao Qian.
I wish a little sooner I was born!

He is also the author depicting the mysterious and intriguing world in Peach Blossom Spring 桃花源 táo huā yuán to be found in the next post...

Three Smelly Tanners 三个臭皮匠

The other famous saying from the Three Kingdoms should of course belong to none other than Zhuge Liang (please refer to earlier post). But somehow I never quite like this proverb because of my high regards for Zhuge Liang and because I do not think the analogy is that good.

三个臭皮匠, 胜过一个诸葛亮 sāngè chòu píjiang, shèngguo yīgè Zhūgě Liàng –“ three smelly tanners, surpass one Zhuge Liang”. 皮匠 píjiang is both interpreted as cobbler or tanner. My personal take on this is tanner because of the word 臭 chòu (smelly). Tanners definitely smell worse than cobblers. And I am not joking about this either. The profession of tanner is also held in lower regards being involved in a dirty, smelly job involving carcasses.

The reason I do not like this proverb is that while three tanners may overpower Zhuge Liang by brute force, a thousand tanners will not match him in wit. Anyway the usage has evolved to mean “two heads are better than one”. It is also use to mean that the wisdom of the masses exceeds that of the wisest individual. In the time of dynasties, nobody really cares for the masses so I wonder when this meaning crept in. It did remind me of a recent book “The wisdom of crowds: why the many are smarter than the few and how ... By James Surowiecki” Maybe, he knows this Chinese proverb…

Speaking of the Devil 说曹操曹操就到

Cao Cao 曹操 Cáo Cāo (155-220), the chancellor of Eastern Han is another central figure in the story of the Three Kingdom. He was often portrayed as deceitful and ruthless. A critic by the name of XuShao 许劭 [xǔ shào] living during that period was famed for his ability to assess a person’s potential and talents. Cao Cao visited him but XuShao initially refused to say anything because he despised Cao Cao. However upon persistent questioning he said 治世能臣, 乱世奸雄 [zhì shì néng chén, luàn shì jiān xióng ]; “in time of peace a capable minister, in troubled time an ambitious scoundrel”. Cao Cao laughed and as was his nature, took it as a compliment.

Because 奸 [jiān] means treacherous and evil while 雄 [xióng] means powerful and associated with hero as in 英雄 yīngxióng (hero), there are several interpretations to 奸雄 jiān xióng. XuShao's choice of words may also be deliberate, Cao Cao was too powerful to offend yet he did not want to tell a lie, hence the ambiguity. A hero or a scoundrel? That is up to you. The partly fictional Romance of the Three Kingdom tends to portray him as the villain but historical facts tends to view him more kindly.

说曹操曹操就到 [shuō Cáo Cāo Cáo Cāo jiù dào] – “Speak of Cao Cao and he appears” is probably the most famous phrase to come out from the Romance of the Three Kingdom. The English equivalent is “Speak of the devil”. This phrase is still in common usage today.

When Emperor Han Xian 汉献帝 (Hàn Xiàndì) was attacked, someone recommended that he sought Cao Cao’s help. He agreed and ordered a message to be sent. But before it was delivered, Cao Cao arrived to save the king. Henceforth, the proverb became widespread.

Did you know that this ruthless general is also an accomplished poet? In future posts, I will share with you some of his poems…

Smelling with the Ear. 闻

Wanderlust in her comment said that another Chinese character for smell is 闻 'wen' which consist of an 耳 (ěr) 'ear' inside a door 门 mén. How confusing she said, do the Chinese smell with their ear?

Ah, but she forgets that another meaning of 闻 'wen' is hear as in 新闻 (xīnwén) which is a combination of two characters 新 xīn (new) + 闻 wén hear = “new things you hear” hence “news”. This is a compound word and the majority of Chinese vocabulary are made up of them. So 闻 wén is an 耳 (ěr) 'ear' listening at the door 门 mén (which also serves as the phonetic) making it a logical explanation for hear. But I am sorry I do not have an explanation as to why it is also used to mean smell as well. Looks like the Chinese can both smell and hear with the same word.

As in English, not everything about the language is logical. There are many instances which defy logic and make learning frustrating. You will just have to use your imagination. Or some logic may have just being lost through time. But this is not a scientific language so we should not expect everything to be in perfect order. I’ll leave you with this idiom about hearing - 百闻不如一见 bǎiwén bùrú yījiàn A hundred hearings are inferior to one look.

Zhu-ge Liang’s Advice Fell on Deaf Ears. 出师表

As we flew over the South China Sea, we talked about the famous strategist of the “Romance of the Three Kingdom” 三国演义 [Sānguó yǎnyì] fame – Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 [Zhūgě Liàng], the chancellor of the state of Shu 蜀 [shǔ]. Before he left for the Northern expedition in 227 against the state of Wei 魏 [Wèi], he wrote a famous memorial advising his emperor, the incompetent Liu Shan 刘禅 [Liúshàn] (207 – 271) of the art of proper governance. The state of 吴 [Wú] makes up the three kingdoms.

He advised his emperor not to lose himself in the pursuit of mean things, to enforce a just law that rewards the good and punish the evil; and to avoid sycophants. This advice is still valid almost two thousand years later for every power on Earth. He gave his reason for his military expedition which is why it is called 出师表 [chūshībiǎo] “Memorial on the eve of Departure”. I like this translation better as it is more poetic than the more accurate “Military Expedition Memorial” for 出师 means sending out an army. 师 by itself is more commonly used to mean teacher or master.

He exhorted his emperor to continue the unfinished work of his late father Liu Bei 刘备[Liú Bèi] (161-223 A.D.) to further the glory of the Kingdom of Shu. He should have saved his breath for his good advice fell on deaf ear. Zhuge Liang died of illness seven years later in 234 after the series of indecisive Northern campaigns. The state of Shu fell to Wei just two years later in 236 after his death.

As wise as Zhuge Liang was, he let emotion (loyalty) interfered with his judgment. For he himself did not heed Liu Bei’s words at his deathbed – “If he (Liu Shan) does not have the necessary qualities to be an emperor, you mustn’t make him the emperor of Shu in Chengdu.” It is for this reason that the childhood name of Liu Shan, "A Dou" (阿斗) is taken to mean an incompetent weakling.

In the next posts, I’ll share two of the most popular sayings to come out from the story of the three kingdom…

Warning the Crocodile. 祭鳄鱼文

My boss continued with the story of how Hán Yù 韩愈 (768-824) n. a leading Tang statesman, philosopher and poet warned the crocodile in a declaration named 祭鳄鱼文 [jì è yú wén] literally translated as “Sacrifice the Crocodile” when he became the governor of ChaoZhou. At that time, crocodiles were infesting the water of the Han river and were responsible for the deaths of many domesticated animals and even human.

That is intolerable, Han Yu decided. But before he attempted to get rid of them, he first sacrificed a goat and a pig to the crocodiles and wrote an essay to them. It went something like this – “This river belongs to my emperor and you are trespassing. I’m giving you 3 days to move out peacefully. If 3 days is not enough, I’ll make it 5. But if you are still not out by 7, I will take it you have no intention of leaving so I will declare war on you! And I will shoot with poisoned arrows till all of you perish. Now, don’t you regret then!” Not only are the Chinese language crazy, but they are too! Imagine making a formal declaration of war on crocodiles. No Pearl harbour here, you’ve been warned! But you can’t help admiring them for being so civilized. According to the legend, believe it or not; it was effective for not long after, all the crocodile were gone from Han river.

Before this declaration, Han river was known as "鳄溪" or "恶溪" both pronounced as [èliú]. 鳄 = crocodile and 恶= evil; and both of them are pronounced as è. Same sound for two different meanings but this case the two meanings mean the same for the crocodiles are evil, at least from the inhabitants standpoint. The Chinese are very creative with this type of word play…

Nose is Me. 自是我.

2.30 am this morning (Monday 3 Mar), cruising at 36,000 feet, halfway through my return from Shenzhen to KL, my boss seated next to me said “nose is me”.

“Is it?” I asked. “That is interesting!”

He was referring to the ancient time when the Chinese would point to his nose indicating “this is me.” Thus the Chinese character 自 [zì] is actually a picture of a nose. Since a nose breathe, it also mean” breath” when combined with other character components such as –

自 (zì) 'nose' over 心 (xīn) 'heart' = 息 [xī] breath, or
自 (zì) 'nose' over 犬 (quǎn) 'dog' = 臭 [chòu] stinking.

I don’t think I need to describe to you how a wet dog smells, do I?

But it is not that simple, for it never was. For 臭 can be read as [chòu] bad smell or [xiù] sniff, smell. If "xiu", we can used our nose to smell both the wet dog or the sweet fragrance of the wild rose. Did I lose you there? No surprise. Welcome to a language devised by the devil to torment us, English speakers. I could ignore it if only it were not so beautiful...