Riddles for the Lantern Festival (Xiehouyu)

Officially Chinese New Year ends tomorrow on the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first month on lunar calendar. Traditionally people would have a lantern show, a showcase for the delicate and advanced craftsmanship. Besides watching the lanterns, there would to be a riddle game, which was called 燈謎(deng mi2), Riddles on the lanterns. It was called so because the riddles were written on paper and attached to the lanterns, 花燈(hua deng) The activity of solving the riddles was called 打燈謎(da3 deng mi2) or 猜燈謎(cai deng mi2)

There are rules for making riddles. They are statements of double or veiled meanings, sometimes in poetic form. According to Wikipedia,

“. . . Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundrums, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.”

Since it’s Lantern Festival tomorrow, I’d like to give you some riddles to solve. Unlike the traditional riddles, mine are “version for foreigners.”

I’ll divide them into two parts. The first part for the characters and the second, Xiehouyu 歇後語 And I’ll give you the answers in my next article.

Part I: Each of the following questions has a key of a Chinese  character.

1. Woman.

2. Three women.

3. Fifteen persons

4. Two woods

5. Three woods.

6. A rabbit without its tail.

7. A king gets a tail.

8. Two worms under the spring.

9. A bird by the river.

10. It keeps raining in the spring and the widow is alone at home.

 (Hint: Start with the word spring 春(chun) Delete parts of it according to the riddle and you get a simple word.)

Part II: Guess the latter part of the following Xiehouyu.

1.     寡婦死了兒子(gua3 fu4 si3 le er2 zi3) A widow is bereaved of her son.

2.     廁所裡的石頭( ce4 suo3 li3 de shi2 tou2)A stone in the toilet.

3.     豬八戒照鏡子(zhu ba jie4 zhao4 jing zi3)  Zhu ba jie looks into the mirror. (This one I’ve mentioned in my previous writing with the same title.)

4. 大姑娘上花轎(da4 gu niang2 shang4 hua jiao4) A young lad gets on 花轎, a wheelless man-power transport for the bride.

5. 外甥打燈籠(wai4 sheng da3 deng long2)  A nephew handles a lantern.

燈謎=灯谜

歇後語=歇后语

寡婦死了兒子=寡妇死了儿子

廁所裡的石頭=厕所里的石头

豬八戒照鏡子=猪八戒照镜子

大姑娘上花轎=大姑娘上花轿

外甥打燈籠=外甥打灯笼

President must die? (chop suey)

These days there appeared an unorthodox set of春聯(chun lian2)*¹ in Taichung, Taiwan with the latter part as “總統也非死不可(zong3 tong3 ye3 fei si3 bu4 ke3),” literally meaning “president must die too.” What? A death threat to the president ?

If you look at the former part of the 春聯, 全民上線飆網路(quan2 ming2 shang4 wang4 biao wang3 lu4), everybody logs on to the Internet, you’ll get more of it. For the youngsters, there won’t be any difficulty understanding its meaning. They won’t be startled and panic, for they all know that 非死不可(fei si3 bu4 ke3) is jokingly used to call Facebook , generally called 臉書(lian3 shu).

To follow the trend, President Ma started his Facebook on January 15 this year. That’s what the 春聯 is about—even the president starts his own Facebook. It doesn’t mean what it seems to mean, president has to die too. In Chinese, 非 . . . 不可 means someone must do something. For example, 你非聽我的話不可(ni3 fei ting wo3 de hua4 bu4 ke3), you must listen to me.

It reminds me long ago at Disco’s age, instead of calling it 迪斯可(di2 si ke3) as it was generally translated, some people called it 踢死狗(ti si3 gou3), kicking a dead dog. In 80s when AIDS was first discovered, some people called it 愛死(ai4 si3) instead of 愛滋(ai4 zi) as we call it now. It implies not only the high fatality, but the connotation of “love to death.”

When I was teaching at junior high years ago, many of the students learned English vocabulary by changing them into similar Chinese. For example, 三個饅頭(san ge man2 tou2) , three man-tou*² for sentimental.

尖頭鰻(jian tou2 man4), pointed-headed eel, for gentleman.

There’s a joke wide spread on the net, which is a good example of how sometimes English is translated into Chinese hilariously, but in a wrong way.

On a test of English, students are required to translate English sentences into Chinese. Here are the answers of a student:

“How are you?”  --怎麼是你?  (Why is it you?)

“How old are you?” –怎麼老是你?  (Why is it always you?)

They are hilarious because the student ignores the differences of sentence patterns between the two languages and translate the English sentences word by word literally. Joke as it is, it does show a mistake we often make when learning a foreign language.

*Note 1: Please refer to my previous writing Obsessive with names and words (II) for more info about 春聯

2. Mantou :often referred to as Chinese steamed bun/bread--wikipedia

春聯=春联

總統=总统: president

網路=网路: the Internet

臉書=脸书

聽=听: listen

迪斯可=迪斯科

愛=爱: love

饅頭=馒头

東施效顰 & Idioms with directions (Idiom)

Last week we talked about 西施(xi shi), and today I’m gonna introduce her opposite, 東施(dong shi) to you.

You’ve known that 西施 was a beauty, who had a heart condition. When she had a fit, she touched her chest with her hand, wincing and frowning from her pain, which made her even more beautiful. It was called 西施捧心(xi shi peng3 xin)

Seeing this,東施, probably a fictional character and as her name東, the east, suggested , was quite the opposite of 西施, the west. She was extremely ugly. She especially looked so when she tried to imitate 西施’s act of frowning from pain. So when we’re referring to those who try to imitate others, only to end up exposing their weaknesses, we’ll use the idiom東施效顰(dong shi xiao4 ping2). 效 means mimic, imitate, while 顰means frown.

Now you know 東the east, and 西 the west. What about the south and the north? I might give you the two directions by introducing the idiom 南轅北轍 (nan2 yuan2 bei3 che4) 南 is the south while 北, the north.轅 is the wood put by the sides of the horses to pull the coach. 轍 is the tracks of the wheels. If you want to go to the south, but your coach is bound for the north, will you go to the destination? No. This is used to refer to the situation when what you do is the opposite of what you wish. Or sometimes it is used to describe the huge gap or differences between two things.

When a corps or a team is defeated in a battle or a game, we’ll use the term 敗北(bai4 bei3) Why the north? In ancient times, south was the direction for the emperors or temples. The emperors’ palaces or seats all faced south. Those who were defeated in the battle had to turn their back and ran to the north. That’s why we say敗北

And for the teachers, they were called 西席(xi xi2) , to be the opposite of the host, 東道主(dong dao4 zhu3) Since the seat for the host was in the east, the seats for the guests would be the west. To show respect for teachers, they would be seated in the west.

If you know how to play Majung 麻將, you’ll definitely remember the characters of the four directions, because they are part of the tiles. And each round of the game is represented by a “wind” 風(feng)of a direction. After the four directions go through a turn, the four people have to change their seats and start all over. We call this 搬風(ban feng), “move/shift the wind.” This Majung term is used in our life too.

For example, when a new mayor takes the office, there might be some major shits of the personnel. We will call this 人事大搬風(ren2 shi4 da4 ban feng)

東=东

敗北=败北

麻將=麻将

搬風=搬风

Valentine & 月下老人 (chop suey)

It’s Valentine’s Day in two days. Once I read about Valentine’s story about how he violated the Roman emperor’s forbidding law and helped soldiers to get married. For Chinese, we think our marriage is all up to月下老人(yue4 xia4 lao3 ren2), the man under the moon.

Legend has it that one night in Tang Dynasty a man named 韋固(wei3 gu4) met an old man, who was sitting under the moon leaning on a bag and reading a book. Out of curiosity Wei asked the old man what he was reading. “A book of marriage with the list of the couples all over the world,” answered him. “What’s inside the bag?” “They are red cords used to tie the feet of the couples.” That’s why we say千里姻緣一線牽(qian li3 yin yuan2 yi2 xian4 qian) , no matter how different or how far away two people are, once their feet are tied by the red cord, they will marry.

Some people are enthusiastic about fixing up for their friends. We call this act 牽紅線(qian hong2 xian4) , fixing up the red cord. And we usually call matchmakers 紅娘(hong2 niang), which comes from another story 西廂記(xi xiang ji4)Romance of the West Chamber. And brides wore red in traditional Chinese wedding. It seems that red is the color for marriage for Chinese.  

I just read a joke from the net about Valentine’s Day. I’d like to share it with you because it’s not only funny but you can learn some Chinese from it.

A boy asked a girl what kind of flower 花(hua) she’d like to have on Valentine’s Day. Very coyly the girl answered, “I’d like two kinds of floweres. 有錢花(you2 qian2 hua) and 隨便花(sui2 bian4 hua).”

“你真美(ni3 zhen mei3)! You’re so beautiful!” answered the boy.

“我哪兒美(wuo3 na3 er2 mei3)? Where exactly do you think I’m beautiful?” the girl asked.

“想的美(xiang3 de mei3)! Your thought is beautiful. ”

You get the point of the joke? For 花, flower, if you use it in the phrase 花錢(hua qian2), it means to spend money. When the girl answered the question as to what kind of flower she wanted, she distorted it into “spending money.” That’s why she said, 有錢花to have money to spend; 隨便花, to have so much money that you can spend it to your heart’s content. As to 想的美, it literally means “You’re thinking too beautifully,” with the denotation “No way!” “Don’t even think about it!”

I think I’d better end this writing with what we usually say on Valentine’s Day. That is, to wish all the lovers in the world a happy ending for their relationship—to marry and become family members to each other. 願天下有情人終成眷屬(yuan4 tian xia4 you3 qing2 ren2 zhong cheng2 juan shu3)

韋固=韦固
千里姻緣一線牽=千里姻缘一线牵
千: a thousand
里: a unit of length equal to half kilometer
姻緣: marriage
一線: a cord
牽: fix, tie
紅娘=红娘
西廂記=西厢记
有錢花=有钱花
隨便=随便
願天下有情人終成眷屬=愿天下有情人终成眷属
願: wish
天下: all over the world
有情人: people with love/lover
終: finally
成: become, turn to
眷屬: family member 

Betel nuts beauties 檳榔西施 (Historical figure)

Don’t get startled when you see someone spit out some bloody-red juice in Taiwan. Very likely that’s just betel nuts juice. Hold on before you call 911.

Betel nuts 檳榔(bin lang2), are seeds of a tropical plant, betel tree. They’re also called “Taiwanese chewing gum” 台灣口香糖(tai2 wan kao3 xiang tang) because many Taiwanese chew them like people do Chewing gums. Some medical researches have proved that betel nuts, especially with the additives, cause cancer. Still, you see many 紅唇族(hong2 chun2 zu2), the “red-lipped” so addicted to them. They get the name for their tongues and lips turn red after chewing betel nuts. And the blood-like juice that’s spit on the street is really not something pleasant to see.

You certainly cannot talk about betel nuts without mentioning檳榔西施 (bin lang2 xi shi), betel nut beauties. Along the sides of Taiwan’s high ways, you’ll see some neon-topped kiosks with young girls in revealing dress sitting inside wrapping betel nuts. They sell betel nuts as well as beverages. Those girls are what we call檳榔西施

It is said around 1970s, a mother decided to let her three young daughters to sell betel nuts for her. And the marketing strategy boosted their sales successfully. The other competitors followed their example and soon you saw lot of young girls taking the kiosks.

To boost their business, the girls started to work on the way they dressed. It seems the more revealingly they dress themselves, the more they sell. Sometimes they even walk out of their kiosks, waving at the passersby to get attention. Some accidents happen because the drivers are too busy doing what we call “eating ice cream with eyes.” 眼睛吃冰淇淋(yan3 jing chi bing qi2 lin2). They just can’t stop watching those girls.

I heard some of the girls even give their customers special “bonus” by letting them take their changes out of their bras. Is that part of the reasons for some people to stick to this habit that could lead to cancer?

Why use the name 西施? She was an extremely beautiful woman in the Chinese history. (506 BC-?) We use the term 沉魚落雁(chen yu2 luo4 you4) to describe her beauty, because when she looked at the fish, the fish would be so dazzle that they would stop swimming and sink. And when she looked at the birds, they would stop flying and drop.

She was offered to king of 吳(wu2) as a tribute by king of 越(yue4), an enemy of 吳. As king of 越 had expected, king of 吳 was so overwhelmed by her beauty that he forgot about his duty and ignored his state affairs, which led to his nation’s elimination.

That’s why we use her name to refer to those beautiful women. We have not only檳榔西施, but 豆腐西施(dou4 fu3 xi shi), 豆花西施(dou4 hua xi shi), or whatever西施 for those beauties who sell whatever it is.

In English you say “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In Chinese we say 情人眼裏出西施(qing2 ren2 yan3 li3 shu xi shi) And she even have a counterpart 東施(dong shi), whom I’ll introduce to you later.

This檳榔西施 culture, whatever view you take to see it, is unique to Taiwan. When you drive past some of the kiosks and find your teenage son unable to take his eyes off those檳榔西施, you know your son has grown up. If it’s your husband-- it’s the midlife crisis.  

檳榔=槟榔

台灣=台湾

沉魚落雁=沉鱼落雁

吳=吴

情人眼裏出西施=情人眼里出西施

東施=东施

守株待兔 (Idiom)

Since it’s the year of the rabbit, I might as well as give you another 兔(tu4) idiom today.

守株待兔  (shou3 zhu dai4 tu4)

Denotation:

守: stay and watch for

株: tree

待: wait for

兔: rabbit

To stay under the tree and wait for the rabbit

Connotation:

To describe people who dream about success but won’t make any effort, or those who

won’t change to cope with the situations.

Example:

 身為業務員，你必須努力爭取客戶，不可「守株待兔」。

= 身为业务员，你必须努力争取客户，不可「守株待兔」。(Simplified)

  (shen wei2 ye4 wu4 yuan2, ni3 bi4 xu nu3 li4

  zheng qu3 ke4 hu4, bu4 ke3 shou3 zhu dai4 tu4)

        As a salesman, you have to work hard to get more customers.

        You can’t just sit and wait for them to come.

Allusion:

There was once a farmer in Sung Dynasty, who was not very smart but he worked hard on his farm every day.

One day as he was working on his farm, he saw a rabbit rush past him and bump into a tree by the farm.

Immediately he dropped his tool, ran to the faint rabbit and captured it. He was thrilled with the unexpected gain.

From then on, he wouldn’t labor over his farm like he used to. All he did every day was stay under the tree, expecting another rabbit to come.

I don’t have to tell you what happened next, do I?

Ever since I started this blog with a flash of idea out of the blue, I’m glad to know I’ve got some readers. As I don’t know you, I can’t call you or email you to “promote” my blog or make you love to learn Chinese more. What else can I do except posting my writing and守株待兔 ? To my “rabbits,” I’d like to say thank you. And enjoy yourself learning Chinese, the damn difficult language!  (No offence, you see how smart Chinese speakers and readers are now?)

Chaufa & Chop suey (Chop suey)

The other day when I was watching Big Bang Theory, an American sitcom about 4 nerds and one girl, I noticed one of the nerds said “I got fired because I don’t kaotow.” Immediately I related the word kaotow to a Chinese resource 磕頭 (ke tou2), a traditional ritual practiced by Chinese to the emperor or their superiors, which requires your forehead, knees and palms all touching the ground.

Later I read a report on English vocabulary with Chinese origins and proved my assumption for kaotow. It’s not surprising to know this because languages interact, or even “marry” each other like people do. Yesterday I talked about Chinese smartly translated from English. Today I can do the reverse and chat about some English words with Chinese origins.

A lot of them are about Chinese cuisines. Tofu is 豆腐(dou4 fu3). If you know someone who has a very tender and sympathetic heart but doesn’t seem so because he often speaks of his mind straightforward and hurts people’s feelings, we’ll say he has a mouth of a knife but a heart of tofu. 刀子嘴，豆腐心 (dao zi3 zui3, dou4 fu3 xing) Dim sum is Cantonese for snacks, 點心(dian3 xing)

Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁(gong bao3 ji ding) is also a well-known cuisine. The dish is named after Ding Baozhen (1820–1886), a late Qing Dynasty official, whose title is宮保, a palatial guardian. Actually 宮保also refers to a way of cooking. You not only use chicken but other meats in 宮保 cuisines.

Another similar example is chop suey, or sometimes we call it 李公雜碎(li3 gong za2 sui4) Here李公 refers to 李鴻章(li3 hong2 zhang), a Qing Dynasty official. 雜碎 means assorted ingredients. Basically you use what is left in your kitchen and put them together to make this dish. So it’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that. That’s why I put my writing that don’t go under any catalog such as idioms, homophones, or xieuhouyu in “chop suey.” That’s a similar notion from cooking.

But be careful don’t call anybody chop suey, or you might get into trouble. When we use the term to call a person, it means “scum,” since the term implies something trivial and worthless.

Another thing you should take care is that chaufa, 炒飯(chao3 fan4), implies more than fried rice. In Taiwan, I don’t remember since when, it has become a euphemism for having sex, which inevitablly makes it on the list of what I try not to say in class.

磕頭=磕头

點心=点心

宮保雞丁=宫保鸡丁

雜碎=杂碎

李鴻章=李鸿章