Chinese character studies 中文字學

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie You're welcome! 

 

Chinese history periods (part 2/2):

 

 

To summarize:

 

1. Ancient China (Prehistory to c. 221 BC): 古代中國 This period includes the Xia 夏, Shang 商, and Zhou 周 dynasties, as well as the Warring States period 戰國時期.

2. Imperial China (221 BC–1912 AD):
   - Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC): 秦
   - Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD): 漢
   - Three Kingdoms (220–280 AD): 三國
   - Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD): 晉
   - Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589 AD): 南北朝
   - Sui Dynasty (581–618 AD): 隋
   - Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD): 唐
   - Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960 AD): 五代十國
   - Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD): 宋
   - Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 AD): 元
   - Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD): 明
   - Qing Dynasty (1644–1912 AD): 清

3. Modern China (1912 AD–present): 現代中國 to avoid political arguments, we will just leave it at that.

 

P.S. I will be prone to make mistakes and inconsistencies, feel free to correct or ignore.

[kealani]

University studies were long ago for me. If I remember correctly, the name "China" was labelled by early Western traders, missionaries, etc, during the "Qin Dynasty" when it was translated as "Land Of Qin". But, the people of "China" at that time did not call their lands that name. How countries carry the names "given to them" in the past is fascinating.

Beautiful post and picture. Thank you.

[2ouvenir]

@kealani I appreciate your insight  

 

 

For the pictographs of 羊 and 美, it will make more sense to look at the progression of these characters:

 

 

We can see two of these 羊-words in this somewhat well-known Chinese phrase:

 

 

Notes (to self):

• Main characters used in this post for convenience: 羊 美 善 義 真 .
• The character 善 was a bit tricky to write. All the six horizontal strokes have different lengths, the second (from the top) is the shortest (about the same as the fifth and sixth in the bottom 口), the third very slightly longer than the first. The fourth horizontal stroke is the longest, and sets the size and tone of the overall character, i.e. it is the main stroke 主筆. The center of gravity of this character would be between the third and fourth horizontal stroke, perhaps slightly closer to the fourth stroke. Yes, there is a center of gravity for each Chinese character, and I think this is the main thing to get right if you choose to get one thing right. I dare say getting this right will make it look authentic, more than anything else. After that, you can work on stroke order, spacing of the strokes, shape of each individual stroke, the subtle energetic differences you put in each stroke, the overall size of the character in relation to neighboring characters, ... (advice for myself, I do not want to pretend to know how to teach others Chinese calligraphy, as I do not know what stage one is at, what one's goals are and so on). (Do not use my character as reference for the ideal proportion of the horizontal stroke lengths, I already see that it is not ideal.) Okay back to the character 善, the difficulty is not just in the fact that the horizontal strokes are of different lengths; it's that the main stroke, the longest horizontal one that sets the size and tone of the character is the ninth stroke, and I would have to keep in mind this stroke's size and position when I do the first eight strokes (I would have to do some mental gymnastics before I do the first few strokes, like what size and position should the first horizontal be if I want the overall size of the whole character to be the right size in relation to the neighboring characters?). Also the fact that this main stroke is in an awkward position, not in a central location, makes it especially difficult. Will rate this character advanced level, you'd be super lucky to get everything right the first time, especially when you don't know what makes this character so difficult in the first place.
• As in the case for pictograph characters, the sound components of phonosemantic characters often only make sense in historical contexts, i.e. the sound component may no longer resemble the sound of the actual character anymore. Examples:
  • 義 : 我 is the sound component, but 義 yì and 我 wǒ don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.
  • 善 : in Cantonese 善 sin6 sounds somewhat similar to the sound component 言 jin4, but not so much in Mandarin : 善 shàn and 言 yán, suggesting that Cantonese preserved more linguistic features of ancient Chinese than Mandarin 
• I used Google Translate for Mandarin pronounciatons, and https://www.cantonesetools.org/en/cantonese-text-to-sound for Cantonese pronounciations.
  • Warning, warning! Beware that the same character may sound/mean drastically different depending on context. E.g. 覺 (觉 simplified):
    • Mandarin 睡觉 shuì jiào (to go to bed) and 觉得 jué de (to think), and
    • Cantonese 睡覺 seoi6 gaau3 (to go to bed) and 覺得 gok3 dak1 (to think).
    • 吃完晚飯覺得很想睡覺。吃完晚饭觉得很想睡觉。
  • Of course for some characters, they may sound/mean the same in all contexts. My guess, haven't verified. I don't actually know how often this happens that one has to worry about this. But uh, I have run into this scenario more than a few times. Perhaps, this is logistical matter: we only have about 10000 characters to work with in the Chinese language, and only ~2000 of them are commonly used (compared to over a million words in English). 
  • So please keep that in mind when using a translation/pronounciation tool, especially when you ask the translation/pronounciation of a single character, e.g. 覺, it may depend on the context.
  • One can say Chinese is more of a contextual language than English?
  • This may play a part in the difficulty of translating some text's full meaning from Chinese into English. Apparently, "one would have to have a deep understanding of both languages, their cultural contexts, and the specific nuances of the text being translated." I have none in either so, I will just have to trust my instincts, yikes. Sometimes I might unintentionally translate something into what I want it to ideally mean than what it actually means.
  • What am I? Writing a paper? No, I am just preparing for my future posts on FPN, lol.
• Interestingly, 真善美 is the Chinese translation of The Sound of Music (1965).
• You may see 真善美 as calligraphy art on walls of homes and offices though I haven't seen one in real life.

[RedPie]

Truth, goodness and beauty, what a great explanation. Reading all of your posts @2ouvenir, I am at the very beginning of learning. I am glad,  you started this thread. Thank you! 

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie I wish you a smooth and fruitful journey. 

[RedPie]

15 hours ago, 2ouvenir said:

@RedPie I wish you a smooth and fruitful journey. 

Thank you so much!

[2ouvenir]

A mini-post, using up blank pages in my Hobonichi Techo (Sanzen TR), to keep my brush flowing when I don't feel like extensive usage a particular day. 擊, as in 反擊咒語.

 

 

[RedPie]

I got something in the mail and now I can start practicing as well. 😊

[txomsy]

Nice!

[RedPie]

1 hour ago, txomsy said:

Nice!

Thank you!

[2ouvenir]

5 hours ago, RedPie said:

I got something in the mail and now I can start practicing as well. 😊

 

Woohoo! ☺️ 

[2ouvenir]

岳 as in 岳父

 

 

[2ouvenir]

陽 as in 陽光

 

 

[2ouvenir]

樓 as in 樓上•樓下

 

 

[2ouvenir]

記 as in 記得

 

 

[2ouvenir]

 

岳陽樓記 analysis (Part 1/5)

 

范仲淹 • 宋

 

慶曆四年春滕子京謫守巴陵郡越明年政通人和百廢具興乃重修岳陽樓增其舊制刻唐賢今人詩賦於其上屬予作文以記之

 

The first paragraph explains the reason for writing. From 慶曆四年春 "Spring of the Fourth Year of Qingli" to 百廢具興 "all the hundred industries were flourishing", it describes how after 滕宗諒 Teng Zongliang was relegated to be the governor of 巴陵郡 Baling County for a year, the local governance improved significantly and all industries flourished. From 乃重修岳陽樓 "therefore, the reconstruction of 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower" to 屬予作文以記之 "I am writing this to remember it," it emphasizes the purpose of writing, recording the reconstruction of 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower. The use of 乃 "therefore" indicates the reconstruction of 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower, emphasizing that it was based on political integrity and the well-being of the people, to establish a positive image for 滕宗諒 Teng Zongliang, indicating the sequence of his actions. 增其舊制刻唐賢今人詩賦於其上 "Augmenting its old systems, inscribing poems and essays by Tang and contemporary literati on it" briefly records the reconstruction, implying that the renovation of Yueyang Tower aimed to promote culture and education rather than ostentation. This passage not only clearly states the purpose of writing as recording the reconstruction of 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower but also subtly praises 滕宗諒 Teng Zongliang's political achievements.

 

to be continued...

 

 

 

[2ouvenir]

 

岳陽樓記 analysis (Part 2/5)

 

予觀夫巴陵勝狀在洞庭一湖銜遠山吞長江浩浩湯湯橫無際涯朝暉夕陰氣象萬千此則岳陽樓之大觀也前人之述備矣然則北通巫峽南極瀟湘遷客騷人多會於此覽物之情得無異乎

 

The second paragraph describes the magnificent scenery and myriad phenomena visible from 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower, imagining how the emotions of the visitors would vary under the influence of the scenery. From 予觀夫巴陵勝狀 "I observed the splendid state of Baling (Baling is the ancient name of Yueyang, Hunan.)" to 氣象萬千 "myriad phenomena," it describes the magnificent scenery visible from 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower. 范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan had never been to 岳州 Yueyang, but when 滕宗諒 Teng Zongliang asked him to write this account, he included the 洞庭晚秋圖 "Late Autumn on Dongting Lake" painting. With rich imagination, he depicts distant mountains, the 長江 Yangtze River, and the morning and evening scenes that are difficult to appreciate at once. The paragraph begins with 予觀夫 "I observed," targeting 洞庭湖 Dongting Lake's geographical environment, focusing on the distant mountains and the 長江 Yangtze River, presenting the vast water and boundless view visible from Yueyang Tower, i.e. 銜遠山吞長江浩浩湯湯橫無際涯. 朝暉夕陰氣象萬千 "Morning sun and evening shadows, myriad phenomena" generally describe how the landscape changes due to morning and evening weather conditions. This passage succinctly summarizes the grand view of 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower and sets the stage for more detail. The concluding two sentences summarize the previous text, responding to the earlier statement of 刻唐賢今人詩賦於其上 "inscribing poems and essays by Tang and contemporary literati on it," and then smoothly transitioning the narrative. 然則北通巫峽 "Then, how about the northern passage to Wuchang?" to 得無異乎 "What if it is not different?" correspond to the geographical environment where the northern and southern waterways converge, imagining the feelings of the unsuccessful literati who have gathered here over the years, ascending 岳陽樓 Yueyang Tower to view the scenery, whose emotions would inevitably be influenced by the scenery. 遷客騷人 "Wandering guests and wandering poets" refers to literati throughout history, echoing the previous reference to Tang and contemporary literati, including the then disgraced 滕宗諒 Teng Zongliang and the author himself. 覽物之情得無異乎 "The feelings when viewing things, are they that different?" uses a rhetorical question to introduce the following text.

 

to be continued...

 

[2ouvenir]

Interlude: Chinese grammar: 分段 Segmentation 

 

(I did mention somewhere I didn't want to talk about the Chinese language, and focus just on the calligraphy, right? Oh well. At least I think this is somewhat relevant.)

 

Historical texts often lack punctuation, which was acceptable in their time because readers could easily infer the intended punctuation from the context, resulting in minimal ambiguity. However, as the need for precision grew over time, mixing with cultures that do use punctuation, and so on, modern Chinese now incorporates punctuation marks.

 

Here is an interesting story about segmentation in Chinese text.

 

It's raining outside, and a host is hosting some guest at their house. As the rain pours down, the guest decides they'd like to extend their stay a bit longer, enjoying the cozy atmosphere indoors. To express this desire, they write a simple note with five Chinese characters:

 

下雨天留客

Rainy days are for keeping guests.

 

Now, the host, perhaps feeling a bit differently about the situation, decides to respond with their own note, also using five characters:

 

天留人不留 

The weather allows guests to stay, but the host doesn't want them to stay. 

 

The guest, perhaps amused by the host's response, cleverly breaks the ten characters into four sentences:

 

下雨天|留客天|留人不|留

Rainy day. Guest-stay day. Host wants guests to stay or not? Stay.

 

So yes, this example shows that something like 下雨天留客天留人不留 can be interpreted in more than one way depending on how you read/segment it, but in general, it should be obvious when looking at the broader context. And sometimes the ambiguity may be intentional.

 

As you can see, and as we explore more later (I forsee at least two more important grammar points), the Chinese language doesn't like strict rules that says you can't do this or you can't do that. It's at its best when it has no rules and lets context do all the talking.

[RedPie]

Your calligraphy is great, and so is the inside you give us on the history. Your explanations are interesting an easy to follow. Thank you very much @2ouvenir. I am spending more and more time here every day.  

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie Hearing your positive feedback makes me happy and motivated 🤗