This Chinese proverb serves to remind us that daily effort is needed learn and grow. Sporadic efforts and variation in your concentration levels and efforts do not help achieving goals efficiently.

This proverb is from Mencius and can be used to describe someone with a short attention span.

一暴十寒
yī bào shí hán
one day's sun, ten days' frost

Photo Source:
Flickr

This Chinese proverb refers to everything having its own purpose and that though you might not be good at everything. Each and every person, and each and every thing has something it is good at.

恭喜!恭喜!! 今天庆祝国庆!
gōngxǐ! gōngxǐ!! jīntiān qìngzhù guóqìng!
Congratulations! Celebrate Chinese National Day Today!

Whilst I was going to write a piece about the huge Chinese National Day parade today, I thought I would link to some other great references that have much better pictures and stories than I do. As it is the largest and biggest parade in the history of well... ever. I think I will let the bigger publications have their time with this one.



One question I have heard a lot from my friends is why celebrate 60 years?
60 is a big number for the Chinese to celebrate because of the 12 year cycles of the Chinese Zodiac. 60 Years marks 5 cycles of the entire zodiac.

Probably the best video of the day here from Dan Chung on vimeo

Here are the 30 Daily Chinese Proverbs I published and translated into English, Hanyu Pinyin and Mandarin during September. You may also be interested in the 31 Proverbs from August.

This Chinese proverb refers to the act of profiting from somebody elses misfortune.

This Chinese proverb is one that is important for society and for one's self. To lead by example and to set yourself as a standard for other people to follow. In other words, by setting your good behavious and polite manners as an example. Other people around you will respect you with the same kindness and politeness.

It is important for us to act in a way that we are happy for everyone else around us to act.

以身作则
yǐ shēn zuò zé
To set a good example / Set yourself as the standard

This Chinese proverb means to do something wholeheartedly. With all of your heart and belief behind something you will apply your mind much more succesfully. Most often this proverb is used to say "with all my heart" regarding missing or loving someone.

This is another Guest Post just in time for #MandarinMonday It is written by my friend Greg over at Mandarin Segments and is his personal experiences of learning Mandarin. Greg has been learning for about 2 years, although has made amazing progress in the last two months. Here is Greg's learning process.

Disclosures

Before describing my journey in learning Chinese, I need to be open with you:

When I began learning Mandarin: I did not have any Chinese relatives (I still don't), I do not have a Chinese wife, and I do not work for a Chinese company. I don't live in China, and I was not planning to move there. I do not have any ancient secret documents written in Chinese that I need to translate, I am not practising t'ai chi, and I am not studying acupuncture.

Nope, there was no obvious reason for me to learn Chinese whatsoever. And yet, there I was, subscribing to the "Teach Yourself Mandarin" series on iTunes - and really excited.

Pressing The Button

Just 6 months earlier I had been in Taiwan on business, and I learned to read my first Chinese word: exit = 出口. (You can read the story here.) And so my entry was 'exit' - then Mandarin started to creep into my thoughts.

I also learned a dozen basic phases (Hello, How are you, I am fine, Two beers please, Just a little, Don't want, ...) Chinese people are so complimentary when they find out a Westerner is learning their language. You don't need much more than "ni hao" or "zai jian" - to get lots of bubbling outbursts like "Wow - your Chinese is amazing!" and "You are so clever!"

And for 6 months, with just a dozen tone-less phrases, it felt like I was fluent. Until I realised that I wasn't ... but that I really wanted to be.

So I pressed that magic 'subscribe' button in iTunes.

The Laziest Path

By that stage in my life I had no spare time, and absolutely no desire to study any more. A couple of degrees and a professional qualification lay in the past, and 10-12 hour work days and a half-dozen international business trips a year lay in the present. I knew that anything extra that I took on would quickly get discarded - I definitely needed a better plan.

So I did nothing. Well, almost nothing. On the way to & from work - totalling 20-30 minutes a day - I listened to my Mandarin podcast. Most of the time I was thinking about something else, but those beginner podcasts played over & over in the background. Until one morning, after a month, I woke up from a dream repeating "Huan ying nin lai Beijing" to myself. That phrase must have played in my ears a dozen times by then, and even though I'd never really concentrated on it, here I was, saying it in my sleep, knowing exactly what it meant.

So I took a significant step forwards - I actually started to listen to the podcasts, rather than just playing them. I also subscribed to ChinesePod, and my conversational Mandarin continued to develop.

But I stuck to my original promise - I was not going to study Chinese, and I was definitely not going to waste time learning to read Chinese! I would plug into my podcasts, but it would not be like school. I was not going to memorise lists of vocabulary, and this was not going to feel like a big effort. (And yet, I was enjoying myself so much at the time that - looking back now - it was a disproportionate amount of time that I was spending with my Chinese-English dictionary!)

Steroids

Then in May this year, I changed gears again after spending a month in Asia on business (China, HK, Taiwan and Singapore).

When I took off from Heathrow Airport I was pleased with how much Chinese I could speak. When I landed here again a month later, I was frustrated and determined to up my game. There was going to be more effort, more podcasts, memorising lists, using flashcards - and learning to read. Although I was at a conversational level, I realised in trying to speak with people that I simply didn't have a wide enough vocab. I could speak & be understood, but they used so many words when speaking to me, I just couldn't keep up.)

So in the last 4 months, I have been listening to more podcasts, memorising lists, using flashcards - and learning to read. It has been fantastic.

Sometimes I wish I had been this fired up 3 years ago - I'd have a much better command of Mandarin by now. And yet, somehow, that's OK. If I had pushed too hard at the beginning I might have scared myself off. But that feels irrelevant ... this is where I am now. I've learned over 1000 Chinese characters in my reading experiment, and I am progressing all the time in my spoken Mandarin.

Discovering Mandarin

One of the things I did at the start of my 4 months of passionate learning was to start my blog, Mandarin Segments. And through blogging I discovered a world of people who are also learning Chinese, who have also experienced the same challenges as I have - and who are willing to provide input, and to debate in a way that keeps my moving forwards. Blogs are a great resource, and an excellent sounding board. Make sure you subscribe to a few with a Mandarin focus.

But perhaps I am preaching to the converted - after all, you're reading this on a blog, Charlie's excellent Discovering Mandarin blog.

A county magistrate named Wang Lu was very greedy and took many bribes. One of his secretaries was equally corrupt, and often schemed for Wang Lu's deeds. One day a man lodged a complaint against the secretary to Wang Lu. The secretary's crimes were almost the same as the crimes the magistrate himself committed. Wang Lu was so frightened that he forgot his proper role in handling the case. Instead of issuing a judgment, he couldn't help writing these words concerning the complaint: "By stirring the grass, you have startled me who am like a snake under the grass!"

This Chinese proverb represents the process of bullying others because of your position or contacts. The proverb also can also be used when taking advantage of one's connections with powerful people.

This Chinese proverb is used to describe someone that aggravates a situation, or someone that enrages people and make matters worse. Often this proverb will be used in English as 'adding fuel to the fire'. It is literally the act or intention of intensifying and making something worse.

This Chinese proverb is used in situations where you cannot explain someone's behaviour or times when anything else is tough to work out. It is very similiar in use to the English proverb "Unable to make head or tail of it". This proverbs translation, therefore could be much more simple in its ability to describe something that you are unable to explain. Such as 'inexplicable' or an 'unfathomable mystery'. I personally like the full translation though.

The Great Wall of China is currently a symbol of Chinese National pride and has become iconic around the world. Somewhat ironically though, the one monument that China built to keep foreigners out is actually now the biggest tourist attraction in the country.


The following statements about the Great Wall of China are all true and are then explained below. Please understand, I love the Great Wall, and it is an incredible testament to the people who built it. However, there are some very common misconceptions about the wall that I wanted to address.

1. The Great Wall of China Is Not A Single Entity

The Great Wall of China should be considered much less one great wall; instead as many lesser walls, built over many dynasties, shifting and merging. Pretty much what is left of the ‘great wall’ and made iconic today is the section built north of Beijing during the Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644). Very little, of the first walls joined together by Qin Shihuangdi, which were mainly mounds and small walls, remain today.

The Great Wall of Qi (齐长城 Qí Chángchéng), is the oldest existing Great Wall in China. Construction of the wall started in 685 by the state of Qi, to defend against an invasion by the Kingdom of Chu. It stretches from the area under the administration of the modern city of Jinan to that of the city of Qingdao. Its total length has been estimated at about 600 kilometres.

2. The Great Wall of China Is Not Great

The Great Wall of China, was never called great by the Chinese. The Chinese name for the ‘great wall’ is 长城 (Chángchéng) which literally means ‘Long Wall’, it is also sometimes referred to as 万里长城 (Wànlǐ Chángchéng) literally ‘Long Wall of 10,000 Li’. Though the walls are quite inspiring, they were never called ‘great’ in Chinese and only by foreign mistranslation with romantic overtones.

The Long Wall was initially formalised by Qin Shihuangdi (221-210BC) as a unification measure. This wall was mainly made out of beaten earth, and brushwood. The later (Ming Dynasty) stone ‘Great Wall’ did not really prevent invaders either, both Genghis Khan (Chengis Khan) and the Manchu’s both invaded despite stone walls. Either the walls could be avoided, by travelling until a weak point. On the other hand, with much less effort, the officials guarding the wall could be bribed. As Genghis Khan put it, “The strength of the wall depends on the courage of those who guard it”.

Maybe appearance counts for more than The Great Wall's performance.

3. The Great Wall of China Can Not Be Seen From The Moon


Probably the least surprising of the myths I am breaking here, The Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon, by the naked eye, or indeed with a camera. It is a rumour that has been spread around since 1750 by William Sturkley long before space expeditions were even conceived of, but has since spread to textbooks and trivial pursuit.

Stukeley wrote that, "This mighty wall of four score miles in length (Hadrian's Wall) is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe, and may be discerned at the moon."

Apparently, the width of the Great Wall, viewed from the moon is about the same as that of a human hair viewed from 2 miles away. In other words, to see the wall from the moon would require superhuman eyesight: (with spatial resolution 17,000 times better than normal 20/20 vision)

4. The Great Wall of China Is Not The Only Manmade Structure Visible from Space


Similiarly to the myth above The Great Wall is not the only manmade structure visible from space, and in fact is not THE most visible from space.

In 2003, a Chinese-American astronaut Leroy Chiao, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the great wall. However, it was so indistinct that the photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Cameras also have a much greater resolution than human vision rendering photographic evidence completely irrelevant to the issue of whether it is visible to the naked eye.

It is thought from a low orbit (100miles above Earth) that it is possible to just about make out the Great wall. However, it is less visible than many other manmade structures including the pyramids, airports, harbours etc. This also destroys the myth it is the ‘only’ manmade structure visible from space.

5. The Great Wall Of China Did Not Mark Boundaries Between China & Mongolia


Indeed, there is a great debate about when China first existed, and you can see in the map here that the boundaries moved often throughout these periods of instability. The word "China" was first used in 1555. It is derived from Cin, a Persian name for China, popularized in Europe by Marco Polo.

The wall morphed and changed shape through the dynasties, and is thought to have been built as a defensive structure to keep out the threat from the North. The mounds and wooden fortifications that would have been there initially certainly were defensive but not the boundary between ‘China’ and ‘Mongolia’ both of which did not yet exist. The problem with the Western perception of countries is that there were much more rigid boundaries in Europe at this time.

The people of Mongolia during this time were very much nomadic and this causes problems when bringing up the idea of countries and boundaries let alone marking them with incomplete walls. So the walls themselves cannot have been (at least intially) defensive boundries between China and Mongolia.

6. David Copperfield Did Not Walk Through The Great Wall Of China

He is an illusionist and is good at what he does, but no, he never walked through the great wall. All you see is him disappearing then his body double re-appearing. Clever, yes. but breaking through the Great wall, no. Once again, despite what is said in the commentary, Great Wall being the only visible manmade structure from space. No.



7. The Great Wall Of China Is Not One Of The Seven Wonders Of The World


Well actually it is, but not one of the first seven wonders of the world heralded by the ancient Greeks. However the Great Wall is typically included in the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World.

8. The Great Wall Is Made From The Bones Of Those That Built It

It is common to hear that the mortar used to bind the stones was made from human bones or that men are buried within the Great Wall to make it stronger. However, the mortar was actually made from rice flour; no bones, human or otherwise, have ever been found in any of the Great Wall's walls. It is thought that many thousands of people died in the walls’ construction. It has been known to some as the longest graveyard in the world.

9. It Is Only Possible To See The Great Wall in Beijing

Some people are mistaken and think that you can see the Great Wall anywhere in China. Although this is untrue, the most common tourist sites are just outside of Beijing to the North. There are four main tourist areas of the iconic Ming Dynasty Wall. Badaling section, Mutianyu section, Simatai section and Shixiaguan section (All of which are near to Beijing).

There are many other places to catch a glimpse of the wall though. I won’t pretend to know them but I would suggest if you are interested in visiting and do not want to get ripped off or find yourself crowded amongst tourists. I recommend visiting this forum which has an awful lot of information about where you can see the wall in its various states.



For more information and history about the Great Wall of China, I recommend http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/
and
http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum