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February 14, 2007
words that make up the chinese
i am considered a "banana" in the chinese community - yellow on the outside but white on the inside. meaning, i am chinese (yellow) but i speak mostly english (white - though i can converse elementary cantonese, mandarin and hakka). i have always held a fascination for the chinese writing. i love calligraphy, its strokes are art. the fluidity of words captured so poetically. my love for this form extends to the meaning and reasonings behind the words.
as a child i'd stare at the chinese newspapers while my grandparents/aunties read, and i'd point out at curious characters, demanding knowledge - "what is this?", "why write like that wan?", "are you sure!", "how you can remember!". after many years of word gazing, and absorbing the patient explanations from my relatives, i began to understand the chinese psyche a little better - for it was all mirrored in their words.
like happiness. the chinese phrase for happiness is made out of two characters - kai sing 
(for chinese readers - i apologise! i dont know the proper hanyu pinyin, just spelling the words how i would pronounce them). translated literally, it means "open heart". so to chinese people, happiness is an open heart.
the character for friend, peng 
, is made up of two moon characters, yue 
, placed side by side. for true friendship is as rare as two moons together. that or, what can depict friendship better than two big ol' moons lepaking together?
one of my favourite words is the chinese letter for endure, ren 
it is made up of a blade (
) poised atop the heart (
) in an act of piercing it, which sums up the meaning of the word rather graphically.
put a child, tzi 
, and a female (the character depicts a female crossing her legs) nue 
, together and you get the word good, hau 
.
place a woman, nue , under a roof and you have peace, an 
:)
the word man, nan 
, subtly means "the strength of the field" as it comprises of the characters field, tian 
(looks like sawah padi kan?) and strength, li 
.
wood, mu 
, is an interesting chinese character. if you put two woods together, you get the word forest, lin 
. throw three woods together, and you get the word deep, or majestic growth - sen 
.
these are but a few that i can remember right now. i was taught many more and i continue to be fascinated by the meanings that make up the chinese words. it's a pity that simplified chinese letterings are more popular these days as the words are diluted of its graphical meaning. then again, who am i to express dissatisfaction when i, being the banana that i am, can't even read or write chinese?
posted by nyx at February 14, 2007 8:41 PM
Comments
wow..
Posted by: ? at February 15, 2007 12:38 AM
And two women under one roof is the character for...
I took classes in "Japanese brush calligraphy" and rose up the ranks to third Dan. Of course the class consists of copying ancient Chinese poems.
C
Posted by: Casius at February 15, 2007 2:37 AM
You don't sound that banana from what you wrote. I've seen bananas who really don't wanna speak in mandarin or not even interested to try.
Thank god for good Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas that makes our kids in SRK give more attention to the language ... :P
Posted by: soon yean at February 15, 2007 5:18 AM
Casius - you've piqued my curiousity! whats two women under one roof? i know that one woman stacked on top of two woman makes up the words rape...
Posted by: nyx at February 15, 2007 1:00 PM
this is interesting. Me also banana. Any coconut here?
Posted by: endroo G at February 16, 2007 5:07 PM
really interestin stuff going on in this site. do u no y foreigners likes chinese tatoos so much?
Posted by: nii at February 20, 2007 1:14 PM
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