好個孫猴子! (the end) (Literary figure)

from RoamAure flickr.com

So the monkey was imprisoned under the mountain. Before the Buddha left, he asked the deities of the mountain to feed the monkey, and said that five centuries later when his time was done, someone would come to his rescue.

Under the instruction of 觀世音菩薩(guan shi4 yin pu2 sa4), Bodhisattva Guan Yin, the monk 唐三藏(tang2 san zang4) or 玄奘(xuan2 zang4)was given the task of obtaining sacred text from the western regions. To protect the monk, 悟空 was assigned as one of his disciples to go with him.

Aware of how悟空was hard to discipline, Guan Yin gave Xuanzang a magical headband, which could never be removed once put on the monkey. The monkey was tricked to put it on, and when he became hard to control, the monk would chant 緊箍咒(jin3 gu zhou4), Tightening-Crown spell, which would tighten the headband and cause an unbearable headache to悟空.

Relating this緊箍咒 stuff to what a nagging mom or teacher can do with their “chanting,” you’re in the monkey’s shoes. This expression has been frequently used in our daily life referring to those effective measures to attack someone’s Achilles’ heel.

Literally the monkey’s name 悟空 means aware of emptiness. Some critics analyze the character from a religious point of view, asserting that the monkey is a symbol of our heart, which is so active, unleashed and uncontrollable. Before his journey to the west, he has been “monkey around” causing trouble and gone through the imprisonment. In some way, the journey to the west is a journey of the heart.

Others see it as a reflection of the political situation in Ming Dynasty, when the author 吳承恩(wu2 cheng2 en)was born. In the later half of Ming Dynasty, like any other precedent dynasties before they ended, it was a time of corruption and chaos. Through the novel, a fictional description of the deities and monsters on the surface, while in fact a reflection of the real world, Wu revealed his indignations and dissatisfactions.

However you see it, 孫悟空is a living image in the Chinese’s heart, with his brilliance, vividness, braveness and knight-errantry 行俠仗義(xing2 xia2 zhang4 yi4), though he did not emerge as so at first. In Min Nan, or Taiwanese, we often call little naughty boys 猴因仔, monkey boys, which sometimes also expresses parents’ or teachers’ affection towards them the same time when they’re accusing them as wild and undisciplined.

觀世音菩薩=观世音菩萨

緊箍咒=紧箍咒

吳承恩=吴承恩

行俠仗義=行侠仗义

好個孫猴子! (II) (Literary figure)

   

 RoamAure flickr.com

From the picture above, you see 悟空 standing on his 筋斗雲with his unique weapon, 如意金箍棒(ru2 yi4 jin gu bang4) in his hand, which he got from the undersea palace of Dragon King of the East Sea 東海龍王(dong hai3 long2 wong2) after he messed up the palace. When the weapon is not in use, the monkey would shrink it to the size of a sewing needle and keep it in his ear.

With his supernatural abilities and the unparalleled weapon, this wild wily money had really rocked the world upside down. Aside from the undersea palace, he went to 地府(di4 fu3), the nether, or underground world of the dead, and robbed the 生死簿(sheng si3 bu4), Book of Life and Death, which is believe to be the record of everyone’s 壽命(shou4 ming4), longevity. He crossed out his name so that he could live forever.

The Dragon King of the East Sea and the Pluto 閻(羅)王(Yian2 luo2 wong2)went to the Emperor of the Gods, or Jade Emperor to tell on the monkey‘s misbehavior. The latter sent some divine corps to conquer the bold monkey, but in vain. To ease and coax the monkey, the Emperor of the Gods conferred the title of 弼馬溫(bi4 ma3 wun), the horse protector, the lowest rank among the heaven officials, upon him.

At first悟空 was happy with the title, but when he learned about the fact he turned furious and went back to 花果山(hwa guo3 shan), Mt. Flowers & Fruit. He conferred himself as 齊天大聖(qi2 tian da4 sheng4), Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.

To avoid any more casualties or havocs the monkey could cause, Jade of Emperor gave him the title齊天大聖 as he wished but endowed him with no substantial power. 悟空 thus came to heaven again, as the keeper of 蟠桃園(pan2 tao2 yuan2), Garden of Peaches of Immortality.

In the Bible, we have a story of Adam’s and Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit. In the Chinese literature, we have a story of the peaches of immortality taken illegally by the monkey, who, as the keeper of the garden, was supposed to keep them from stolen. He went further to the feast of the Gods, drinking the wine and taking the pills of immortality. Again he left himself with no other options but to run away.

When I was younger, whenever I went to a scenic spot in Taiwan, I would find many subscriptions carved on trees or stones that went as “xxx 到此一遊(dao4 zi3 yi4 you2),” meaning “xxx (someone’s name) paying a visit here.” This practice of marking one’s visit certainly comes from the story of悟空.

To capture the runaway monkey, 如來佛(ru2 lai2 fo2), the Buddha, was sent for. He offered a bet to 悟空 that if he could escape from his palm, he would ask Jade Emperor to step down and crowned him in replace. The monkey accepted it with delight and considered it a piece of cake with his筋斗雲.

大聖 took a great leap and ran to the other end of the world in a blink of an eye. He saw five flesh-red pillars and took them as pillars to hold the sky, surmising that he’d been to the end of the heaven. To mark his trace, he wrote on one of the pillars “齊天大聖到此一遊” with a brush pen. He even peed on one of them as a mark.

The triumphant monkey went back to the Buddha and asked him to fulfill his promise. To his surprise, the Buddha showed him the evidence that he’d never left his palm. The five fingers then were turned into five mountains with the names of 金(jin) gold、木(mu4) wood、水(shui3)water、火(huo3) fire、土(tu3) earth respectively, together as 五行山(wu3 xing2 shan). The monkey, who considered himself equal to heaven, was oppressed and imprisoned under the mountains.

That’s why we always say, you can’t escape from the Buddha’s palm. 逃不出如來佛掌心(tao2 bu4 chi ru2 lai2 fo2 zhang3 xin), which has been part of our philosophy of life. Can you escape from the law of nature? The smug monkey thought he was insurmountable with the weapon and the jutsu. His 十萬八千里(shi2 wan4 ba qian li3) , a hundred and eight thousand li, after all has been proved to be within the palm of the Buddha.

Or, the Buddha’s palm could be that of a mean boss, a strict teacher, a tiger mom, a nagging wife, a violent husband . . . .

(TO BE CONTIUNED)

東海龍王=东海龙王

壽命=寿命

閻(羅)王=阎(罗)王

弼馬溫=弼马温

齊天大聖=齐天大圣

蟠桃園=蟠桃园

到此一遊=到此一游

如來佛=如来佛

觔斗雲=觔斗云

十萬八千里=十万八千里

好個孫猴子! (I) (Literary figure)

(from RoamAure flickr.com)

I recently read a review on the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, where the critic mentions how Mad-Eye Moody insists upon replicating Harry sevenfold so that the Death Eaters won’t know which the real one is when they come after him. Wow, did Rowling ever read Journey to the West 西遊記 (xi you2 ji4), a Chinese classical novel and get inspired?

In my previous writing豬八戒照鏡子in Feb, I talked a little bit about this novel. Aside from the pig豬八戒, the monkey 孫悟空(sun wu4 kong), is also a household name in the Chinese world. Of the three pupils accompanying the monk to the west, he ranks the first. We certainly have lots of daily expressions that are related to him.

One of his famed “kung-fu” is that he can replicate his own figure by pulling off his own hair, chewing them and spitting them out. Then he’s surrounded by hundreds, even thousands of “himself,” depending on how much hair he has pulled off. Each of this figure is called his分身(fen shen), clone, or incarnation, who is at his service. Imagine several of you working at the same time when you’re juggling around. How nice will it be?! Sometimes we’ll praise someone who just waltzes around finishing many things at the same time by saying that he’s 分身有術(fen shen you3 shu4). On the contrary, when you’re tied up, you can say you’ve been 分身乏術(fen shen fa2 shu4) to mean you can’t take more tasks or show up in two places at the same time.

In the past when people were more conservative, when kids asked the birds-and-bees questions, lots of Chinese parents would tell them, “You just popped out from a stone.” 從石頭裡蹦出來(zong2 shi2 tou2 li3 beng4 chu lai2). I think the parents were inspired by the way孫悟空was born.

In the beginning of the novel, the author introduced to us a very big rock on the top of a beautiful mountain long long ago, which absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon and would glimmer in the moonlight. One day, a thunderstorm hit and the rock was stricken by a thunder. It split open and a stone monkey emerged. The monkey just opened his eyes and became alive. Strong golden lights shot from his eyes that even Emperor of the Gods 玉皇大帝(yu4 huang2 da4 di4) in the heaven noticed it.

Originally the monkey lived happily as the chief of a community of monkeys. Like a lot of protagonists in the wuxia novels, he decided to get far away from home to a master to learn 法術(fa3 shu4), jutsu, supernatural abilities, after some bullies outside invaded to his territory. (But in wu-xia novels, it’s usually kungfu that the protagonists resort to.)

One of the monkey’s well-known jutsu is 七十二變(qi shi er4 bian), the seventy-two transformations, with which 悟空 has transformed into objects such as a bug, a tree, an old man etc. The jutsu has now often been used to refer to unpredictable tactics or strategies. Or sometimes it refers to a changeable situation such as a policy or a law.

In kungfu movies, you often see those kungfu fighters striding across the plain or above the water swiftly and lightly at an amazing speed, which is called 輕功, qinggong. What 悟空 does is to ride a “somersault cloud,” 觔斗雲(jin dou3 yun2), on which he travels a hundred and eight thousand li (里(li3), a unit of distance which equals about a third of a mile) with a somersault.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

好個孫猴子=好个孙猴子

西遊記=西游记

豬八戒照鏡子=猪八戒照镜子

孫悟空=孙悟空

分身乏術=分身乏术

從石頭裡蹦出來=从石头里蹦出来

七十二變=七十二变

輕功轻功

觔斗雲=觔斗云

Herbivore men (up-to-date term)

I grabbed a publication from teacher’s desk and skimmed it when proctoring an exam. There was an interview with盧廣仲(lu2 guang3 zhong4),a young Taiwanese singer, where he called himself a草食男(zao3 shi2 nan2), literally meaning a “vegetation-eating” man, or a herbivore man.

I had heard the term several times before and had my own assumption about the meaning of it. I think basically it’s about the mildness and unaggressiveness of a certain group of men. Contrary to carnivore, 肉食動物(rou4 shi2 dong4 wu4), they are not so “macho”男子氣概 (nan2 zi3 qi4 gai4) or男子漢(nan2 zi3 han4), nor violent, 暴力(bao4 li4).

To understand the term more, I checked online and found some information. It is said that the term was coined by a Japanese writer 深澤真紀ふかさわ まき(1967- ) and has triggered some discussions in Taiwan. Unlike Japanese men in their 40s or 50s, who had to compete intensively for job or women, there’s a growing group of younger generation, in their 20s or 30s, who are quite the opposite of the older generations. According to some girlie magazine, a herbivore man has the following traits:

1.     prefers staying home to going out.

2.     takes a keen interest in fashion and personal looks.

3.     won’t take the initiative or being aggressive in a relationship.

4.     believes in friendship between men and women without sex and doesn’t consider sex indispensable.

5.     thinks men and women are equal and the both sides should share the household expenses and chores.

As a Chinese saying goes, 物極必反(wu4 ji2 bi4 fan4), everything converts to the opposite direction when it goes to an extreme. The herbivore generation is really quite different from the traditional 武士道精神(wu3 shi4 dao4 jing shen2), Bushido or samurai spirits.

Since Taiwan had been colonized 殖民(zhi2 min2) by Japan for half a century (1895-1945), we’re no strangers to samurai spirits. My grandfather’s and great grandfather’s generations were educated in that era, and in them you see a lot of influences of this Bushido. A lot of my peers were very afraid of their fathers and had hardly talked to them as kids, because they looked so stern and serious, who never seemed to show their emotions. They were the kings who ruled the family with authority and never shared the chores.

What was once considered right has been now labeled as Chauvinism 沙文主義(sha wun2 zhu3 yi4) or 大男人主義(da4 nan2 ren2 zhu3 yi4) and reprimanded, especially by women, who used to play the role of 小女人(xiao3 nu3 ren2), little woman. With the rise of feminism and the changes of the society, there has been some interesting mixing of the stereotyped gender qualities. Men are not supposed to be always so “carnivorous” and women, so “herbivorous.” In fact, we have 肉食女(rou4 shi2 nu3), carnivore women, as a counterpart of herbivore men.

For those carnivorous grandfathers, it might be a great pain to see their grandsons to put on make-up and go shopping with their female friends. It might be very hard for them to hold back their impulse to lecture their grandsons about how they should not spend so much time at home or on their looks; how they should go out to get a wife or pursue a career. But I have to say that’s the way the world is running now, like it or not.

I always feel that women’s liberation not only liberated women, but men as well. For those women that are not so “herbivorous,” they feel free to go out to chase whatever they want. For those草食男 , they won’t feel guilty to stay home contented. The world won’t be so boring with multiple values and people won’t have to suffer because they’re forced to change into something they’re not. (The way our parents’ generation forced their left-handed kids to use right hand, for example.)

I wonder if the fact we had two world wars in the last century has anything to do with the fact that we had so many carnivore, but few herbivore men. As a woman, I love to see herbivore men coexisting with carnivore ones. The world could be more peaceful with more herbivore men, I guess. Instead of shouting “make love, not war,” perhaps all we have to say is “Eat more vegetation, less meat!” At least you get healthier that way.  

盧廣仲=卢广仲

肉食動物=肉食动物

男子氣概=男子气概

男子漢=男子汉

深澤真紀=深泽真纪

物極必反=物极必反

沙文主義=沙文主义

郎不歸鄉 (joke)

夏進興(xia4 jin4 xing), a former counselor of the president, wrote a humorous article mocking simplified Chinese characters. As someone who has used traditional Chinese ever since she started to learn to read and write, I’ve expressed the same regret that Chinese characters have been “twisted” and “abused” in so many ways in my previous writing. It’s like seeing a stunning beauty turning to an ugly by some crash-and-burn plastic surgery. Though I labeled this article under the catalog of “joke,” this is definitely no laughing matter to me.

In the article, Xia mentioned his two trips to China; how he’s not used to the simplified characters. He composed a couplet 對聯(dui4 lian2) to ridicule the simplified Chinese by pointing out their flaws in a funny way.

「麵無麥、愛無心、單翅能飛」

(mian4 wu2 mai4, ai4 wu2 xin, dan chi4 neng2 fei)
「餘不食、親不見、無門可開」

(yu2 bu4 shi2, qin bu2 jian4, wu men2 ke3 kai)

The former part of the couplet means “noodles without wheat, love without a heart, and single wing can fly.”

The latter part means “leftover without food, family love without seeing, and no door to open.”

To understand麵無麥, you have to know that many Chinese characters are combinations of meanings and pronunciations. For example, 麵(mian4) , noodles, is a combination of麥(mai4) , wheat, which carries the meaning, and 面(mian4), which carries the sound. So when you see the word 麵, you know it’s pronounced as面 and is something made of wheat. But it’s simplified as面in simplified Chinese, which also means “face.” This is what麵無麥means.

As to愛無心 , compared with the traditional Chinese愛(ai4), 爱, love, misses a心, heart, in it. How can you love without a heart? And when it comes to flying, 飛(fai), the simplified Chinese is飞. The double “wings” now become a single one. And the part 升(sheng), which means elevating, is gone.

The word 餘 means surplus, or leftover. Like麵 , it’s a combination of 食(shi2), food , and 余(yu2), which is the sound. In simplified Chinese, it’s changed into余, with食, the food, missing. This is the meaning of 餘不食.

As we go on to親不見, 親 is your family or relatives. The term親情(qin qing2) means love between parents and children or family members. In simplified Chinese it turns to亲, which means the part見(jian4), to see or meet, is missing. How can family members love each other if they don’t even get to see each other?

The last part of the couplet is無門可開. When you say “open the door,” it would be 開門(kai men2) in Chinese. The simplified for開, to open, is开, where the door, 門, is missing. As a result, you have no door to open.

After my explanation, which I hope you have the patience to understand, you see each part of the couplet refers to a character. Previously I mentioned that for a couplet, there usually will be a 橫批(heng2 pi), a third part that is put across the gate.

After his retirement, Xia has worked as a voluntary tour guide in the presidential building, who often entertains visitors from China. Sometimes he’ll mention the couplet to them, some of whom asked about its橫批and they started the brainstorming. The followings are some examples.

「不生而產」(bu4 sheng er2 chan3), to have children without laboring.  生產means to produce, or bear a child. But in simplified Chinese, 產  is written as产 , with the part “labor” 生 missing. How can you have children without bearing them?

Another one is 「死無全屍」 (si3 wu2 chuan2 shi), meaning dying without a whole body全屍. In the past, most Chinese hoped that when they die, they would have a whole and complete body, which means they die a ripe age in bed, but not untimely accidental death with their boots on, and they could go to their next life “complete.” Accordingly死無全屍is often used as a curse for someone you hate. The point here is the word body屍is simplified as尸, with 死, death, missing, so it’s incomplete.

The last one is郎不歸鄉(lang2 bu4 gui shang), meaning your beloved man doesn’t return home. 鄉, homeland, is simplified as乡with the part 郎missing. 郎means a male lover as used in 情郎(ching2 lang2). How miserable it is if your beloved man doesn’t return again!

As I know, many times in China’s National Political Consultative Reference, (政協會zheng4 xie2 huai4) the issue of restoring to traditional Chinese characters has been brought up. Though personally I wish it come true, in reality, I know it’s never easy for 1.3 billion people to change. (But not impossible since you’ve done it once before!) When it comes to non-native speakers who intend to learn Chinese, which one will they choose, one with 1.3 billion users, or the other with tens of million ones? Sadly I wonder.

郎不歸鄉=郎不归乡

夏進興=夏进兴

對聯=对联

麵無麥、愛無心、單翅能飛=面无麦、爱无心、单翅能飞

餘不食、親不見、無門可開=余不食、亲不见、无门可开

不生而產=不生而产

死無全屍=死无全尸

翹辮子 (Euphemism)

The way people call death more or less reflects their notion about it.

These days the most prevalent euphemism for death in Taiwan would be 往生(wang3 sheng), I think. Literally it means “toward life,” “heading for birth.” The term is strongly Buddhism-tinged and reveals Buddhist belief of reincarnation, 輪迴(lun2 hui2).

In Buddhistic world, life is an endless circle. When people die, their souls abandon their body, the flesh and bone, or what they call (臭)皮囊(chou4 pi2 nang2)-- a (stinky) bag of skin, just like they move out of a house. They don’t leave for good; they’ll come back some day in another (臭)皮囊. Their souls wait for the right time to get into a fetus胎(tai), and the process is called 投胎(tou2 tai).

Life thus starts all over again. You begin with a newborn and go on with the process of 生(sheng)、老(lao3)、病(bing4)、死(si3), birth, aging, illness, death. Death isn’t the end. It is only one point in the circle which is followed by生, birth. So here comes the term 往生. It turns death, which seems to be an ending, into a beginning.

The circulation of life does not limit to human forms. You might come back as an animal, depending on what you did in your previous life. Basically Buddhists regards the process of reincarnation as something bitter, something they’d like to avoid. According to them, the mundane world is a sea of bitterness, 苦海(ku3 hai3). The purpose for them to practice Buddhism is to get off from the reincarnation and go to paradise, which is located in the west, which they call西方極樂世界(xi fang ji2 le4 shi4 jie4). 西方 is the west. 極樂 means extremely happy. 世界, world.

That’s why sometimes we’ll use the term 駕鶴西歸(jia4 he4 xi gui) to mean death. 駕means to ride. 鶴 is a crane, 西歸 , return to the west. You ride a crane returning to the west.

Another common term for death is 過世(guo4 shi4), literally meaning to pass the world, which is similar to “pass away” in English. And the term升天(sheng tian), going up to the celestial world, or成仙(cheng xian), 做仙(zuo4 xian), turning to a celestial being, is similar to “go to heaven” in English.

There’s an old Taiwanese euphemism of death, 到蘇州賣鴨蛋(dao3 su zho mai4 ya dan4), go to Su-zho to sell duck eggs. Why Su-zho? It is said the original slang was 土丘(tu3 qiu), the tomb, which sounds like Su-zho in Southern Fujian dialect, or Taiwanese. Why duck eggs? According to Wikipedia, it has something to do with certain funeral rituals. And in Cantonese, it’s “selling salted duck eggs.” 賣鹹鴨蛋(mai4 xian2 ya dan4)

The Chinese people, men or women, wore plaits辮子(bian4 zi3) more than a century ago. When they were alive, their plaits drooped behind them. But when someone kicked the bucket and was put into the coffin, his plait would be put erect. Thus comes the term翹辮子  

Last but not least, my dear friends. Next time when you’re seeing someone off who’s going towards the west, do not say to him, “Wish you 一路歸西(yi2 lu4 gui xi).” When you mean “bon voyage west-bound,” to Chinese it means翹辮子!

翹辮子=翘辫子

輪迴=轮回

西方極樂世界=西方极乐世界

駕鶴西歸=驾鹤西归

過世=过世

到蘇州賣鴨蛋=到苏州卖鸭蛋

賣鹹鴨蛋=卖咸鸭蛋