This proverb comes directly from Mark's China Blog in yesterday's post. It is about uphill struggles and challenges in one's life. Everyday I find new things which re-affirm in my mind that learning Mandarin is truly one of these struggles. But worth every second of it.

Todays proverb means to solve two problems through one action. This promotes effiency and the saying relates to adding value to certain decisions when it has extra or hidden benefits.

When a leader loses power, their followers become disorganised and often lose faith in the cause. The following phrase is now used to refer to people who ditch a lost cause because they weren't committed to it. The creators of a cause would however try and keep the cause afloat whereas the followers just there for the ride would just ditch it.

This proverb is likely to be used to describe fair weather friends, although in both cases is applicable.

树倒猢狲散
shù dǎo hú sūn sàn
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter

This is a quick post to help with your vocabulary when talking about things in time. This post relates to weeks, months and years. If you are wanting to talk about things in terms of Days please check my previous post.

This is a quote that summarises, the importance of snap decisions. People with good judgement and experience usually have an edge over others as they know the right time to start and finish, to buy or sell, to plant or harvest. People that make these decisions see the opportunities in front of them and seize them.

This is rather embarressing, and I feel like I have ruined a beautiful language. Whilst on the subject of reviewing my progress thus far. This was my first attempt at Chinese characters. Try and make out what it says. It is a fairly basic sentence. I will put the answer in white font, underneath the photo below of my handywork so you can check it.








Higlight the next few lines to see if you were right or if my writing was legible:

Whilst going over my first couple of lessons again tonight, I revisited some of the first things I learnt, and laughed when I realised my favourite Mandarin Phrase to say (so far) is the following, fairly menial sentence. The reason for it being my favourite is that it just flows nicely and sounds wonderful. This is my (anticlimatic, but) favourite spoken phrase in Mandarin.

The Chinese yo-yo (扯鈴 : chě líng) is a toy from China found dating back to the Ming dynasty; roughly 1386-1644 A.D. The Chinese yo-yo consists of two equally-sized discs connected with a long axle. It is kept spinning on a string tied to two sticks at either end. Each stick is held in one hand, and the yo-yo spins on the string inbetween.

In modern times, it is more commonly used as a children's toy and as a performance tool in juggling and sometimes in Chinese ethnic dance. It is possible to perform a large variety of tricks with the Chinese yo-yo which can be as easy as throwing the yo-yo up into the air or tossing it around the user's back.




The Chinese yo-yo has travelled around the world and even adapted to become a craze in the West, where it is called a diabolo in the UK and US and is commonly misspelled as diablo.

The diabolo is usually made of a rubbery plastic and is fairly flexible as opposed to its Chinese counterpart which was traditionally bamboo (although this made complex tricks difficult as it was so fragile) though more recently it's adapted a hard grooved plastic, much harder than we are used to with diabolos.



Aside the material, there are two main differences between the Chinese yo-yo and the diabolo. Firstly, the axle of the Chinese yo-yo is much longer than that of the diabolo. And secondly, the Chinese yo-yo has wheel-shaped discs, whereas the diabolo consists of two bell-shapes.

Some circus acts have adapted Chinese yo-yo within routines, Cirque du Soleil in their show Quidam had four young girls performing the Chinese yo-yo, incorporating backflips, dance and choreographed synchronisation of multiple Chinese yoyos. Culminating in the four young ladies clad in futuristic, silver-metallic dresses twirling them through the air while the acrobats themselves perform flips. I include a video of them performing from that show.

This is a quote that really questions the age of consumerism that we live in. Things cannot make us truly happy, it is ourselves that decides whether we are happy. Some people who have nothing are happier than people that have everything they could ever want will ever be. Most importantly they are content with what they have.

Today I wanted to quickly go over the days of the week in Mandarin Chinese. So, if you have been following this blog, you will already know the Chinese numbering system, and this is crucial in the logical system that the Chinese use for names of their days.





Weekdays

So here goes, the first day of the Chinese week: (Monday) is called 星期一 (xīng qī yī) which is literally "star period 1". (bearing in mind months and weeks are historically based on the moons movements) or "small amount of time 1".

Tyhoon Morakot has landed in the coastal area of Beibei in Fujian with heavy rain and winds of 118.5 kmp/h. The typhoon has already dumped 100 inches of rain on Taiwan in just 24 hours this weekend. Dozens are lost, and it is reported several have died in this storm. Morakot, which claimed 21 lives when it hit the Philipines on Friday, is the first major storm to hit Taiwan during this year's typhoon season which runs from July to September.

In China weather stations issued a "red alert" - the highest possible - in anticipation of Morakot's arrival which is expected to bring winds in excess of 70mph.

Early reports said that parts of Fujian already had 12 inches of rain from early Saturday until Sunday morning, Xinhua added.

More than 490,000 residents of Zhejiang and 480,000 residents of Fujian have been relocated and some 35,440 ships called back from the sea. So far; 155 passenger ship sailings and 34 domestic flights have been cancelled. Most major highways have also been shut down as a preventitive measure.

Beijing Airport has confirmed that airlines have canceled their flights bound for Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in east China. Precaution measures were put in place, there were no major passenger delays.



Some villages in Fujian and Zhejiang were already becoming cut off by rising waters, with official riding bicycles to distribute drinking water and instant noodles to affected households, according to Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. Many villagers from these regions have been on rescue missions to save the fish they have bred from the fish farms.

Photo Source
Huffington Post
Shanghai Daily

The World record for amount of people simultaneously performing Taichi was smashed last night, the anniversary of the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. Almost 34 thousand people from all walks of life gathered at the bird's nest for a 6 minute taichi performance.

The 33 thousand, 9 hundred and 96 people performed taichi at the 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium. They successfully created a new Guinness World Record, breaking the record that was made by 30 thousand and 648 people in 2004 in Henan province.

This is a quote from - Dao De Jing (Lao Zi) previously known as Tao Te Ching (Lao Tsu) in the Wade Giles Romanisation. But has been updated for the new pinyin format.

It is Chapter 11 of the second most sold book in the world. It is also one of my favourite Quotations of all time. Part of me really does want to be able to read this properly in its purest form, understanding the intricacies of such a profound book.


It describes the power vested in nothing, emptiness and how non-existance can be harnesed for purpose.

Chapter 11 : - Dao

三十輻共一轂，
當其無，有車之用。
埏埴以為器，
當其無，有器之用。
鑿戶牖以為室，
當其無有室之用。
故有之以為利，
無之以為用。

sānshí fú gòng yī gǔ,
dāng qí wú, yǒu chē zhī yòng.

shān zhí yǐwéi qì,
dāng qí wú, yǒu qì zhī yòng.

záo hùyǒu yǐwéi shì,
dāng qí wú yǒu shì zhī yòng.

gù yǒu zhī yǐwéi lì,
wú zhī yǐwéi yòng.

----------------------------------------
san1 shi2 fu2 gong4 yi1 gu3,
dang1 qi2 wu2, you3 che1 zhi1 yong4.

shan1 zhi2 yi3 wei2 qi4,
dang1 qi2 wu2, you3 qi4 zhi1 yong4.

zao2 hu4 you3 yi3 wei2 shi4,
dang1 qi2 wu2, you3 shi4 zhi1 yong4.
gu4 you3 zhi1 yi3 wei2 li4,
wu2 zhi1 yi3 wei2 yong4.


Thirty spokes join together in a wheel's hub,
It is the center hole that makes the wheel useful.
We shape clay to fashion jugs;
It is the hollowness within that makes a jug useful.
We cut doors and windows in a house wall;
It is these empty spaces that make the house useful.

Thus things are valuable because of what they have
And they are useful because of what they lack.

--------------------------------------

This is just one translation, and there are many. Dao De Jing has been translated into many languages, and even Chinese scholars still argue over the true translations due to the lack of ClassicalChinese punctuation marks, seperations of commas and full stops can drastically alter the meanings of passages.

This verse also for me is a metaphor; that we make sound; but it is the silence, which makes sound useful.


Translation Source:
English
Chinese Characters
Pinyin (I did myself, so I hope it is ok.)

Picture Source:
Flickr