Adeline Yen Mah » From the Author

Protest

aileen — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:30:54 +0000

For thousands of years, the dragon has been a symbol of the Chinese people. Some Chinese call themselves ‘sons of the dragon’. The dragon is part of the logo of Hong Kong.

Chinese Zodiac

suzette — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:31:40 +0000

Zodiac is translated into Yellow Way Belt in Chinese astronomy. It is an imaginary band of the sky containing the positions of the sun, the moon and the main planets.

However, the Chinese Zodiac is translated from the two characters Sheng Xiao, which mean Living Resemblance. These two words, Sheng Xiao, symbolize the twelve different animals which represent the Chinese Zodiac. People born in the year of the dragon, for instance, are believed to possess the characteristics of a dragon.

The twelve animals are rat , ox , tiger , rabbit , dragon , snake , horse ,ram , monkey , rooster , dog , and pig . These animal years invariably follow one another in this order. For example, the year of the ox is always preceded by the year of the rat and followed by the year of the tiger .

The dragon is one of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. People born in 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988 and 2000 were all born in the year of the dragon. Dragon people are energetic, popular, fun-loving, honest and brave. They appear stubborn but are soft-hearted and sensitive. They are most compatible with people born in the year of the Rat , the Snake , the Monkey or the Rooster .

Nine Dragon Wall

suzette — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:29:19 +0000

There are many places in China named Nine Dragons. The most famous is probably Kowloon (Nine Dragons) Peninsula across the harbor from Hong Kong Island. The Nine Dragon Wall is a famous wall in the garden of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.

Nine Children

suzette — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:53:47 +0000

The dragon was said to have nine children. Each had a different temperament. A musical dragon would adorn a two-stringed Chinese violin; one which was quarrelsome would appear on the handle of a sword; one which was scholarly would be carved on a tombstone; one who liked to jump was placed on the corner of a roof; one which liked to eat would be on chopsticks; one which rode would be on a saddle; one which painted would be on a brush; one which like water would be on the stern of a boat; and one which like to run would decorate shoes.

Stem word and its modifiers

suzette — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:56:40 +0000

Announcement From Dr. Mah:
I have had several requests from readers for a guide to help them pronounce Chinese characters in pinyin. I have created this pronunciation guide to assist in learning Chinese for those who are interested. You may find the document here.

- Dr. Adeline Yen Mah

From time to time, I will send you something unique and fascinating about the Chinese language. Today, I want to tell you about Chinese stem words and their modifiers.

In the English language, hyphenated words such as absent-minded or cool-headed are occasionally used. Sometimes, two hyphenated words end up merging together and becoming one word. An example of this is the word land mine evolving from land mine to land-mine to landmine.

Although the hyphen is not used in Chinese, it is very, very common for two words to be placed side by side (like a hyphenated English word) in order to express a third concept.

For example, the two words 地理 when coupled together, mean geography. The word 地 by itself means land and 理 means logic or truth, but put the two words 地理 together and the single combination means geography.

Think of 地 as a stem word and 理 its modifier. Among the many other modifiers of the stem word 地 are the words 雷，球，契 and 址。

Taken individually, the word 雷 means thunder. 球 means ball. 契 means contract. 址 means location. Together, the second word modifies the first word 地 to express a third concept.

Thus

地理 = land logic = geography

地雷 = land thunder = landmine

地球 = land ball = earth

地契 = land contract = title deed

地址 = land location = address

‘Stem word and its modifiers’ forms part of the basic structure of the Chinese language. The stem word is usually the first word and its modifier the second word but not always.

Other examples are the following:

The stem word 电 means electric or electricity. Some of its modifiers are 话 (talk)，灯(lamp)，线 (thread)，脑 (brain)，池 (pond)，影 (shadow).

电话 = electric talk = telephone

电灯 = electric lamp = light

电线 = electric thread = wiring

电脑 = electric brain = computer

电池 = electric pond = battery

电影 = electric shadows = movies

The stem word 小 means small. Some of its modifiers are 便 (convenient), 产 (lay eggs, birth), 学 (learn), 气 (spiritual energy), 吃 (eat).

小便 = little convenience = urinate

小产 = little birth = miscarriage

小学 = little learning = primary school

小气 = little energy = stingy

小吃 = little eats = snack

There are numerous other examples of stem words and their modifiers. They form part of the basic structure of the Chinese language.

Nine in One (Cont’d)

suzette — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:44:11 +0000

Scholar Wang Fú during the Han Dynasty wrote that the dragon had the characteristics of nine different animals. It had the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the soles of a tiger and the ears of a cow

Nine in One

suzette — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:22:58 +0000

The number 9, the largest single digit, is associated with the dragon as well as the Emperor in Chinese minds. It is a lucky number in China because it is pronounced the same as another word which means a long time or long life. The dragon is supposed to have 117 scales, 81 yang or male scales and 27 yin or female scales. All these numbers are multiples of nine.

Emperor’s Symbol

suzette — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:07:57 +0000

We now think that the dragon idea may have been inspired by the giant Yangzi alligator, or earth dragon which lives in the lower Yangzi River and can grow to a length of nearly 2 meters 6 feet. The alligator is sensitive to changes in air pressure and appears to know when rain is coming.

EMPEROR’S SYMBOL

Chinese children were told that when the Yellow Emperor died, he became a dragon and flew into Heaven. From then on, the yellow dragon with five claws on each foot became a symbol of imperial power. The Emperor’s throne was called the Dragon Throne and his robe the Dragon Robe. Only the Emperor was allowed to wear clothes embroidered with a yellow dragon. In ancient times, any person who dared to wear such robes without permission was suspected of treason and might even be executed.

This is an excerpt taken from “China Land of Dragons and Emperors” by Adeline Yen Mah. This book is available as a free PDF download when you subscribe to Adeline Yen Mah’s free Chinese Character A Day Chinese Language and History Lessons. To do so, you may click here.

Power Over Storms

suzette — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:07:51 +0000

The Chinese dragon is a mythical animal which is connected with water and rain fall. In times of drought, government ministers used to offer sacrifices to the dragon and pray for rain. Dragons are also supposed to have power over moving bodies of water such as rip-tides, storms and tornadoes. They fly by magic and occasionally show themselves as twisters or water sprouts.

Chinese legend says a fish saw a beautiful mountain and decided to swim to the top. It fought its way upstream, struggled against rapids, overcame waterfalls and finally reached the summit. There it found the stream blocked by a locked gate. Undaunted, the fish jumped over the gate and was immediately transformed into a dragon. Thus an ordinary fish can turn into a dragon if it tries hard enough. (Many waterfalls in China are named Dragon’s Gate).

Enter The Dragon

suzette — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:37:55 +0000

Let’s start before recorded history in the mythical times when dragons were supposed to exist. They were said to have the eyes of a demon and the claws of an eagle. They were associated with power over water, with the lucky number nine and with royalty.