Lost in Chinese / Found in Translation.

. In every culture there is one Goddess that stands out among all else and in the Chinese culture it is Nuwa 女娲 Nǚwā . The Earth created b...

. In an earlier post ( 千字文 – Line 13), it was mentioned that it was the beautiful concubine Daji 妲己 who caused the downfall of the Shang d...

. In the last post we mentioned the capable Zhou minister Jiang Ziya 姜子牙 Jiāng Zǐyá who is more popularly known as Tai Gong Wang 太公望 Tà...

. 吊民伐罪, 周发殷汤。 Diàomín fázuì, zhōufā yīntāng。 . 吊 (console) 民 (people) 伐 (attack) 罪 (crime) Oops, I did it again. This is the correct l...

. 坐朝问道, 垂拱平章。 zuò cháo wèn dào, chuí gǒng píng zhāng。 . 坐 (sit) 朝 (imperial court) 问 (ask) 道 (way), This phrase implied the emperor sit...

. The proverb 开天辟地 kāitiān-pìdì means the creation of the world . It also means “since the beginning of time”. Chinese legend told a tal...

. The Haiyantang 海晏堂 hǎiyàntáng was a water clock fountain that have 12 figures of the 12 animals that corresponds to the Twelve Terres...

. This morning I was watching a documentary on the sacking of China’s Old Summer Palace known as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness 圆明园 Yuá...

. 推位让国, 有虞陶唐。 (tuī wèi ràng guó), (yǒu yú táo táng)。 推 (deciline) 位 (position) 让 (let) 国 (country), Declining position for the sake of...

. 始制文字, 乃服衣裳。 shǐ zhì wén zì, nǎi fú yī shāng。 始 (begin) 制 (create) 文字 (Chinese characters), The first part means the beginning of Chine...

. 龙师火帝, 鸟官人皇。 lóngshī huǒdì, niǎoguān rénhuáng。 龙 (dragon) 师 (teacher) 火 (fire) 帝 (king) , 龙师 lóngshī 火帝 huǒdì 鸟官 niǎoguān 人皇 r...

` 海咸河淡, 鳞潜羽翔。 hǎi xián hé dàn, lín qián yǔ xiáng 海 (sea) 咸 (salty) 河 (river) 淡 (fresh), The sea water is salty while the river is fresh....

' 果珍李柰, 菜重芥姜。 guǒ zhēn lǐ nài, cài zhòng jiè jiāng 果 (fruit) 珍 (precious) 李 (plum) 柰 (crab- apple), The most precious of the fruits...

. At about the same time I made the boo boo on the color yellow 黄 (see earlier post by same title), I made another one regarding my own na...

. 剑号巨阙, 珠称夜光。 jiànhào jù què, zhū chēng yè guāng. 剑 (sword) 号 (named) 巨阙 (JuQue), Of all the swords, the most famous was named 巨阙 jùquè ...

. 金生丽水, 玉出崑冈。 jīn shēng lì shuǐ, yù chū kūn gāng 。 http://www.internationalrivers.org/china/jinsha-river 金 (Gold) 生 (exist) 丽水 (River L...

. In March this year, I was one of the guests of honor in a company annual dinner. After we were seated as is the Chinese dining culture, t...

' 云腾致雨, 露结为霜。 yún téng zhì yǔ, lù jié wèi shuāng。 云 (clouds) 腾 (rise) 致 (cause) 雨 (rain), When clouds rise and meet the colder at...

. (oops. I mix up the lines - line 4 is in the earlier post) . 寒来暑往, 秋收冬藏。 hánlái-shǔwǎng, qiūshōu dōng cáng。 寒 (cold) 来 (come) 暑 (heat) 往 (...

. . 闰余成岁, 律吕调阳。 rùn yú chéng suì, lǜ Lǚ tiáo yáng。 闰 (intercalary) 余 (extra) 成 (turn into) 岁 (year) Intercalary means inserting days...

. . 日月盈昃, 辰宿列张。 rìyuè yíng zè, chén xiù liè zhāng。 日 (sun) 月 (moon) 盈 (wax) 昃 (set) This refers to the cycle of the universe as in the ...

. 天地玄黄, 宇宙洪荒。 tiāndì xuánhuáng, yǔzhòu hónghuāng。 天 (sky) 地 (earth) 玄 (black) 黄 (yellow) This has been interpreted as the sky is blac...

. The Thousand Character Classic (千字文) was composed by 周兴嗣 Zhōu Xìngsì in the Liang Dynasty ( 梁朝 ; Liáng cháo ) (502-557). He was order...

. I was reading a book “Wit and Humour from Ancient China” 古趣集 gǔqù jí depicting 100 cartons of the famous Chinese artist Ding Cong 丁聪 ...

. In that car journey from Dongguan (see last post), my friend narrated his last meeting with his friend who questioned the life he had been...