MetaFilter posts tagged with chinese

汉字不灭，中国必亡

moorooka — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:35:52 -0800

Widely regarded as the greatest Chinese writer of the twentieth century, Lu Xun was so deeply unimpressed by the Chinese character-based writing system that he is reported to have said "if Chinese characters do not fade away, China will perish!". In his 1934 "An outsider's chats about written language" (menwai wentan）, he discussed the matter using the pseudonym Hua Yu, which means both "China's Prison" and "China's Language". Lu Xun was by no means the first Chinese scholar to blame the writing system for his nation's backwardness. Indeed, Lu Xun had been preceded by dozens of individuals from the late-Qing period onward who had devised simple and more efficient writing systems, including alphabets, for the various Chinese languages. In the essay Lu Xun favorably compares Latinization of Chinese to the kana-like phonetic Zhuyin Fuhao or bopomofo alphabet, which is still taught (although soon to be phased out) in Taiwan.

Goodbye, "Leih Hou Ma," Hello "Ni Hao Ma!"

zarq — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:57:09 -0800

"Chinatown" communities across the United States (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco) are undergoing a shift in linguistic identity, as recent immigrants are more likely to natively speak Mandarin (the official spoken language of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,) instead of Cantonese. Also see these anecdotal reports about similar changes in Vancouver and Oakland, CA. Good news for the tri-literate: signs like this may soon become commonplace. :) The Language Atlas of China The PopUp Chinese Podcast and Arch Chinese site provide basic Mandarin lessons. Also see: Mango, ZhongWen and LiveMocha

Uh oh.

strangeguitars — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:21:24 -0800

It's armageddon all over again. Chinese have created a black hole.

Two Chinese Brothers

escabeche — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:03:57 -0800

"This is a novel born out of the intersection of two eras. The first is a story of the Cultural Revolution, a time of fanaticism, repressed instincts, and tragic fates, similar to the European Middle Ages. The second is a story of today, a time of subverted ethics, fickle sensuality, and every kind of phenomena, even more like the Europe of today. A westerner would have to live four hundred years to experience the vast differences of the two eras, but a Chinese would only need forty years for the experience." Yu Hua's Brothers, a sprawling, foul-mouthed, comic-historical epic, and the best-selling novel in China's history, is available in English. (The quote above comes from the afterword to Brothers, not included in the US edition.) The New York Times didn't care for the translation, by Eileen Chow and Carlos Rojas; Chinese litblog Paper Republic criticized the review, leading to an interesting comment thread in which both Chow and the NYT reviewer participate. Yu got even tougher treatment from local critics, who were baffled by Yu's abandonment of his previous restrained, literary style. Cang Hang (translation via Paper Republic) calls the book "a 500,000 character trash heap." Read an excerpt from Brothers and listen to the relevant podcast at NPR.

One giant leap for Chinese Internet Censorship

allkindsoftime — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:18:05 -0800

Chinese news site dispense with user anonymity. Includes an updated list of sites China actively blocks, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (?!? - both links work only outside of China). prev

It Fish Time!

vivelame — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:07:19 -0800

In rather unsettling news, it appears that a chinese corporation bought one of America's most reliable news sources. For now, the editorial line doesn't seem to have changed, but will it last?

Appetite for China

Joe Beese — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:55:56 -0800

Appetite for China - a food blog whose motto is "1.3 billion people must be eating something right". Today: Dried Fugu and Durian Pudding

Wu Xing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:04:56 -0800

Behind Chinese medicine, feng shui, acupuncture, diet, music and cosmology itself is the concept of Wu Xing. Created by Zou Yan in the third century BCE, it is a unifying idea of the universe, often called the "five elements". Although the term is generally translated as "five elements", this is incorrect. The word Wu does indeed mean "five". But there is no simple translation for Xing. Translations such as "five elements", "five agents", "five qualities", "five properties" "five states of change", "five courses", "five phases" and "five elementals", are all used.* Wu Xing in diagram format.

"Chinese poetry, as we know it today, is something invented by Ezra Pound." - T. S. Eliot

Kattullus — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:03:27 -0800

[Ezra Pound] worked on and for poetry as others might work on a major scientific discovery or a drawn-out military mission. Thus, as Sieburth reminds us in his introduction to The Pisan Cantos, when, on May 3, 1945, Pound was arrested at his home in the hills above Rapallo, he immediately put a small Chinese dictionary and a copy of the Confucian classics in his pocket. Working as he then was on his Confucian translations, he knew that, wherever the military police were taking him, he would need these books.

From Pound Ascendant by Marjorie Perloff. Ezra Pound's ability as a translator of Chinese poetry has long been disparaged by sinologists, such as George A. Kennedy in Fenollosa, Pound and the Chinese Character. Other academics have sought to defend him. Two examples are Zhaoming Qian's Ezra Pound's encounter with Wang Wei: toward the "ideogrammic method" of the Cantos and Stephen Tapscott's In Praise of Bad Translations: Ezra Pound and the Cultural Work of Translation (pdf). Eric Hayot draws the contours of this long-running debate and explores its significance in Critical Dreams: Orientalism, Modernism, and the Meaning of Pound's China. Pound's Cathay in full and a public domain audiobook version (iTunes link).

Zhang Peng’s photographic art

chiraena — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:23:43 -0800

Zhang Peng’s elaborate photographs have been called both "beautiful" and "disgusting". You can see some of them here and here.

Shanzhai: I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see one.

milquetoast — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:03:48 -0800

In Chinese, Shanzhai (山寨) literally means "mountain stronghold" and connotes a place with limited accessibility -- i.e. beyond the reach of authorities. In the past couple of years, it has come to refer to the manufacture of illicit tech gadgets by unauthorized factories: show us your shan zhai ji! But shanzhai can be used more broadly to describe knockoff culture, cheeky brand subversion, grassroots industrial creativity, and a certain DIY ethos. The latter may be best exemplified in these videos of a "Shanzhai Glider" in action. Apologies if the Chinese sites are slow-loading or unreachable for Western audiences. Mouse over links for descriptions, if so inclined.

Twenty-nine Tao te Chings.

Tufa — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:14:15 -0800

Twenty-nine Tao te Chings, a line at a time. For Sunday evening, a spare, meditative post. The Tao-te-Ching in 29 translations, line by line and side by side. I'll leave you to investigate the writings on your own; here alone are just the words to consider. Suggested: Mitchell. Previously: tao

Chinese Art

chuckdarwin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:59:29 -0800

The Great Chinese Art Revolution is a documentary exploring how Chinese art has become a sought-after commodity on the international market. Suppressed and co-opted by Mao, art in China was, for a long time, a subversive expression of discontent, starting with the Star(s) Group in 1979 and continuing with the "cynical realism" of the exiled artists of the 90s. Once considered off-track and exotic, contemporary Chinese art has arguably achieved a peak, selling for millions at auctions across the world. In a time of great change, as China struggles to balance capitalism with communism, a new wave of modern art has found its voice. The film features leading artists discussing their work, including Ai Weiwei: widely regarded as China's father of conceptual art and one of the designers behind Beijing's Olympic stadium, The Bird's Nest; and Zhang Xiaogang - possibly the best known and most collected of his generation. The film's selling point is simply the art itself: a cavalcade of vivid, otherworldly images that will be new to many viewers.

Someone's Mama Made This

netbros — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:38:32 -0800

In Mamas Kitchen was born in the experience of living in New York where a bodega exists within blocks of a Jewish deli which is around the corner from an Italian salumeria which shares space with Chinatown which abuts Soho's gourmet stores. While this speaks of the legendary variety available in New York, it also tells of similarity, for in every bodega, every salumeria is someone shopping for the food that sustains physical life with a recipe that nourishes our hearts.

Sometimes German Aesthetics Appeal To The Wrong Crowd

mhh5 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:14:38 -0800

The MaxPlanckForschung journal cover gets some extra attention when it tries to be 'cool' and get a Chinese tattoo. MaxPlanckForschung usually publishes fairly esoteric scientific papers, and for a special issue on China, it wanted a nice artistic cover with some Chinese writing on it... little did the editors know that they had just published an ad for a brothel. LOL.

Sleeping Chinese

Knappster — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:49:40 -0800

Photographs of Chinese people napping in public. via

Electric Shadows

Abiezer — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:25:14 -0800

China Film Journal "a bilingual website dedicated to Chinese-language cinema from around the world."

Internet premier of Princess of Nebraska on YouTube

skynxnex — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:07:31 -0800

The Princess of Nebraska premiered on YouTube this weekend (unrated by MPAA, but 18A+ rating, but on YouTube, so maybe mild NSFW). Often focusing on Chinese immigrants in America and culture gaps (NPR interview; text and audio) between both their new country and across generations, director Wayne Wang has returned to his roots after several more traditional Hollywood movies (Wayne Wang Is Missing). (Known for "Chan Is Missing" and "The Joy Luck Club", he has made movies such as "Maid in Manhattan" recently.) "Princess" is intended as a double feature with traditionally released "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers," "Princess" might "be the first feature feature film by a major director to premiere" only on the internet. Both are based on short stories by Yiyun Li.

I would have sworn he was 6' 3" and 225 lbs...

clearly — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:26:37 -0800

Yang Wei, the 2006 and 2007 mens gymnastics world champion, and number 13 on Time Magazine's 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch in Beijing 2008, is a symbol of absolute power and coordination. He stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 121 pounds.

Gold Medal in Piano!

grapefruitmoon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:14:34 -0800

Winning the Gold Medal in Young International Piano Superstardom is Chinese pianist Lang Lang. The 26 year old former prodigy compares himself not to Glen Gould, but to Tiger Woods. Given his "star appeal" and numerous endorsements, it's an apt comparison. Some performances by Lang Lang: Horse - a traditional Chinese piece played with his father on the erhu Valse Brilliante by Chopin Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, 1st movement: part 1, part 2, part 3

Your roots. They has a flavor.

spec80 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:09:30 -0800

Have Food Will Travel: Pearl River Delta is a travelogue teaser video from Leonard Shek, a second generation Chinese American from San Francisco. Shek traveled to the Guangdong Province as part of the SF Chinese Culture Center's In Search of Roots program. While the main purpose of the trips is for Chinese Americans to explore where their parents or grandparents came from, Shek wanted to explore the origins of the food he grew up with.

Chinese Poems

Kattullus — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:16:41 -0800

Chinese Poems is a simple, no frills site with over 200 classical Chinese poems, mostly from the Tang period. The poems are presented in traditional and simplified chinese characters, pinyin and English translation, both literal and literary. Here's Du Mu's Drinking Alone:
Outside the window, wind and snow blow straight,
I clutch the stove and open a flask of wine.
Just like a fishing boat in the rain,
Sail down, asleep on the autumn river.
Among other poets featured are Li Bai (a.k.a. Li Po), Du Fu and Wang Wei. As a bonus, here's the entire text of Ezra Pound's Cathay, most of whom are from Li Bai originals.

Hollywood Chinese

LinusMines — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:35:33 -0800

Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films (official site w/Flash) Filmmaker Arthur Dong covers the good (YT), the bad and the players (link to Flash video clips) in his latest award-winning documentary. Related MeFi post.

tasty Sinocentrism

plexi — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:38:34 -0800

"As American as Apple Pie" is an oft-repeated remark on the innate "Americaness" of the dish - but when was the last time you actually had apple pie? When was the last time you had General Tso's Chicken?

Jennifer 8. Lee gives an interesting talk on the cultural phenomenon of Chinese Food.

Zen on the 2nd floor of a Richmond BC mall (reservations required).

myopicman — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:27:02 -0800

According to the recently published book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, the best Chinese restaurant outside China is Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine, tucked away on the second floor of a mall along a section of Richmond, BC (a Vancouver suburb) that's known by the Chinese community as Eat Street. Will this affect business? Hopefully for the better, since the restaurant is approaching bankruptcy as it halves the prices of the tasting menus to bring in more customers. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles blog covers a lot of news and reviews regarding other Chinese restaurants, like the return of one in Baghdad and the Turkish substitute for fortune cookies.