Ted

楓橋夜泊 "Mooring by Maple Bridge at Night" by 張繼 (Zhang Ji, 712 - 779 CE) 月落烏啼霜滿天， 江楓漁火對愁眠。 姑蘇城外寒山寺， 夜半鐘聲到客船。 English translation: mine

Interestingly, Taiwanese and Amoy Hokkien have a similar word for “stingy”—
凍霜 “tàng-sng” which literally means “freezing cold to the point of frost”

凍霜 doesn’t feel as poignant as 孤寒 but it reminds me of another famous Tang Poem 楓橋夜泊 by 張繼

江雪 "River Snow" by 柳宗元 (Liu Zongyuan, 773 - 819 CE) 千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅。孤舟簑笠翁，獨釣寒江雪。 English translation: mine

Of all the Chinese words for “stingy; miserly” (and there are many if you look up Wiktionary under 吝嗇 dialectal synonyms), my favorite is probably the Cantonese word 孤寒 “gu1 hon4”

孤寒 literally means “alone and cold” which I find poignant even poetic and reminds me of this Tang poem 江雪 by 柳宗元

Why did the pilot fly the plane back to Narita airport? The plane was like 30 minutes away from landing in Shanghai. Was it because the unruly passenger a Japanese national or a non-Chinese national (I haven't read that)? Isn't the rule-of-thumb to divert to the nearest suitable airport available?

Disability and Health Care: A Conversation with Activist Alice Wong Alice Wong is a disabled activist, writer and founder of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture. Wong previou...

She has left her mark in this world in so many ways—what an inspiration and inspired life especially in the times we live in when so many people especially those who are weak and vulnerable face the most cruel hostility

nursing.ucsf.edu/news/disabil...

大紅燈籠高高掛

This reminds me of another poem from the Book of Songs《詩經》國風：王風 · 黍離

知我者、謂我心憂，
不知我者、謂我何求。
悠悠蒼天、此何人哉。

Those who know me, whisper I bear sorrows;
Those who don’t know me, ask what I seek.
O distant Heaven, tell me what man (has brought us to this despair).

Imagine someone read this recipe and drove to an Asian store just to buy shaoxing wine to cook this egg drop soup 😅

I don't mind if someone wants to spend 20 minutes to make the soup stock with extra aromatics (I personally prefer the traditional simple taste), but what's up with the freshly ground black pepper? And the recipe called for the use of a Shaoxing wine-cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup, what the 😭

Southern Fujian (Minnan) and Hokkien architecture Photo source: https://vizal.medium.com/southern-chinese-architecture-hokkien-hakka-and-cantonese-style-3b2218dbab16

Ok I was wondering because the architecture of the houses doesn't look like the traditional Minnan style in Fujian (red bricks, adobe, & sloping, tile-covered roof). They look more like traditional houses one might see in Jiangsu except some of the details like the windows look "new" or remodeled

來的 regional, chiefly Cantonese-influenced Mandarin, colloquial synonym of 來著 / 来着 (láizhe)這是什麼來的？／这是什么来的？  ―  Zhè shì shénme láide?  ―  What is this? Synonyms (Cantonese) 嚟嘅 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BE%86%E7%9A%84

嚟嘅 (Jyutping: lai4 ge3) a modal particle to strengthen or confirm a statement, mostly when being used after a noun https://shyyp.net/hant/phrase/%E5%9A%9F%E5%98%85

I love Cantonese-Mandarin 粤式普通話

For example, 這是什麼來的 (what is this?) which ends with 來的 is not standard Mandarin from the north, but Mandarin influenced by the Cantonese construction 呢個係乜嘢嚟嘅 (what is this?) in which 嚟嘅 (synonym of 來的) serves as a modal particle to strengthen the tone of the sentence

I'm curious, where in Fujian was this photo taken?

My favorite use of 嗨：
自嗨 or 自high (“self-high”) 😅

This term started out as an internet slang around 2010 and is now widely used colloquially with a range of meanings—to get excited or hyper by oneself; to amuse or have fun by oneself; being self-indulgent or narcissistic

川普自嗨 Trump “self-high”

漢典 斿：字源演變 https://www.zdic.net/hant/%E6%96%BF

漢語多功能字庫 Multi-function Chinese Character Database 斿 形義通解 略說: 甲金文從「㫃」從「子」，或不從「子」而從「人」，象小孩子執旌旗出行之形。本義為出遊，是「游」、「遊」的初文。 詳解: 甲金文從「㫃」從「子」或「人」，象小孩手執旗幟出遊，本義是出遊，引申為旅遊。東周金文於「斿」字增「彳」、「辵」、「水」，「遊」為遨遊之專字，「游」是表示在水中游。參見「遊」、「游」。字義分化後，「斿」用來表示古時旌旗末端直幅、飄帶一類的下垂飾物，可能因為這些下垂的穗帶隨風飄揚，有浮游之貌。 https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E6%96%BF

宋 · 蘇舜欽（1009-1048） 行草墨跡《遊山五古帖》書法 https://www.jizifang.com.cn/s/shufazitie/caoshu/2020/0710/358.html

A big pet peeve of mine: using the character 游 for 遊 (旅游 instead of 旅遊)

The original form of this word “travel” in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions is 斿 (a child holding a flag and traveling)

Later scripts added 辶 (walk) → 遊 (travel) and 氵(water) → 游 (swimming) to differentiate the two meanings

You have a typo

It begins with 同治 not 同泠

同治 refers to the Qing emperor Tongzhi (1856-1875), son of Empress Dowager Cixi

戊辰年 is 1868

中伏 refers to the middle period of 三伏 which represents the hottest period in the year

唱 chhiàng Chinese-English dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy (1899) by Douglas, Carstairs, 1830-1877; Barclay, Thomas, 1849-1935 https://archive.org/details/chineseenglishdict00doug/page/78/mode/1up

日大辭典 (1932) by 小川尚義 chhiàng 唱 （語源應該是ùi官話轉變來。) (1)唱(chhiùⁿ)。 (2)講明。 (3)大聲hoah。 (4)(漳)＝[唱(chhiòng)]，提倡。 https://taigi.fhl.net/dict/gm.php?fn=B/B0150.png

Left:
Chinese-English dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy (1899)

唱 chhiàng: “to call out with a loud voice in a formal manner”

Right:
Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary
台日大辭典 (1932) by 小川尚義

chhiàng 唱
（語源應該是ùi官話轉變來。) (1)唱(chhiùⁿ)。 (2)講明。 (3)大聲hoah。 (4)(漳)＝[唱(chhiòng)]，提倡。

Image source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DL81TRP4c/?mibextid=wwXIfr

In Taiwan, the Mandarin term 嗆聲 qiàng shēng or simply 嗆 means “to loudly provoke or confront”

TIL 嗆聲 is actually derived from the Taiwanese term 唱聲 chhiàng-siaⁿ which means “to threaten”

In Hokkien, chhiàng (唱) means “to call out with a loud voice”

皇清職貢圖 (c. 1769) Right: 南掌國夷官 Left: 南掌國官婦 English description: Huang Qing Zhigong Tu. Français : Tableaux des peuples tributaires de la grande dynastie impériale de Chine / avec l'édit impérial de Qianlong et les dédicaces des ministres d'État. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Huang_Qing_Zhigong_Tu_-_019.jpg

Yeah I went down this rabbit (or elephant) hole also 😅

Vạn Tượng (萬象) in Vietnamese originally referred to the Lan Xang Kingdom (1354–1707; Lao: ລ້ານຊ້າງ, lān sāng, "million elephants")

Qing transliterated Lan Xang as 南掌. During Ming it was called 老撾 which is the name PRC uses for Laos

皇清職貢圖/南掌國

The historical Laotian kingdom of Lān Xāng Hôm Khāo (1352-1707) translates to “The Million Elephants and the White Parasol” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Xang#:~:text=L%C4%81n%20X%C4%81ng%20H%C3%B4m%20Kh%C4%81o%20is,the%20Burmese%20Linzin%20(%E1%80%9C%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%87%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8).

Kingdom of Lan Xang (map) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Xang#:~:text=L%C4%81n%20X%C4%81ng%20H%C3%B4m%20Kh%C4%81o%20is,the%20Burmese%20Linzin%20(%E1%80%9C%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%87%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8).

The historical Laotian kingdom of Lān Xāng Hôm Khāo (1352-1707) translates to “The Million Elephants and the White Parasol”

Lān Xāng Hôm Khāo is one romanization of the Lao name ລ້ານຊ້າງຮົ່ມຂາວ ([lâːn sâːŋ hōmkʰǎːw]), meaning “the Million Elephants and the White Parasol”

Viêng Chăn https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Vi%C3%AAng_Ch%C4%83n#Vietnamese

Vạn Tượng 萬象 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/V%E1%BA%A1n_T%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng#Vietnamese

Vạn Tượng Place name: Lānsāng Homkhāo https://vi.wiktionary.org/wiki/V%E1%BA%A1n_T%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3ng

Lānsāng Homkhāo: The historical Laotian kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao which translates to "The Million Elephants and the White Parasol" https://vi.wiktionary.org/wiki/L%C4%81ns%C4%81ng_Homkh%C4%81o

Vietnamese translations of the capital of Loas, Vientiane (Lao: ວຽງຈັນ, wīang chan):

Viêng Chăn
Etymology: from Lao ວຽງຈັນ (wīang chan)

Vạn Tượng
Etymology: Sino-Vietnamese word 萬象; place name for Lānsāng Homkhāo (ລ້ານຊ້າງ, Lānsāng, 瀾滄), referring to the historical Laotian kingdom Lan Xang Hom Khao

Americium (Am) location in the periodic table Image source: https://www.dreamstime.com/americium-chemical-element-sign-atomic-number-periodic-table-elements-weight-symbol-laboratory-science-image160969211

Interestingly, while Americium (Am) was discovered by Glenn Seaborg and his team during the Manhattan Project, it was not named after USA. It was named after the Americas because its analogous place in the actinide series is located under the lanthanide element europium (Eu) in the periodic table

Only 6 elements are directly named after countries. Somehow France (Gallia) got named twice😅

Francium (Fr): 鍅 Fǎ (TW); 钫 fānɡ (CN)
Gallium (Ga): 鎵/镓 jiā
Germanium (Ge): 鍺/锗 zhě
Nihonium (Nh): 鉨/鿭 nǐ
Polonium (Po): 釙/钋 pō
Ruthenium (Ru): 釕/钌 liǎo

Image from 元素の漢字bot https://x.com/gensokanji_bot/status/1105798503169646592?s=46&t=lm0n2CHCuZzzxNue_Kz8JQ

鈤 (rì) would’ve been a good choice if IUPAC ever named a chemical element Japanium. But a team at Japan's RIKEN research institute discovered a synthetic element in 2004 and proposed Nihonium in honor of Japan. Nihonium was officially approved by IUPAC in 2016 and is translated as 鉨 (nǐ) in Chinese

In 1722 黃叔璥 Huang Shujing, a Mandarin-speaking Qing official, arrived Taiwan where he spent 2 years. He recorded in 臺海使槎錄 “Records from the mission to Taiwan and its Strait” (1736) how the language spoken by Taiwanese was totally unintelligible—like barbarian gibberish and birds talking (鴃舌鳥語，全不可曉)

成語：鳥語花香 典源：宋．呂本中〈庵居〉詩（據《東萊先生詩集》卷三引） 鳥語花香變夕陰，稍閑復恐病相尋。 正應獨有江山分，素自都無廊廟心。 堂上老親雙白髪，門前稚子舊青衿。 兒曹不會庵居意，古澗寒泉疑至今。 https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=78609&q=1&webMd=2&la=0

While 鳥語 "bird speech" is considered a derogatory term when referring to speech or language of foreign peoples and southern Sinetic languages, the idiom 鳥語花香* (birds are singing and flowers are fragrant) is used to describe beautiful scenery, especially in spring

*first used by Song poet 呂本中

臺海使槎錄·卷一~卷二 by （清）黃叔璥 https://archive.org/details/06044602.cn/page/n127/mode/1up

Taiwanese Hokkien https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien 臺灣話 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E8%A9%B1

In 1722 黃叔璥 Huang Shujing, a Mandarin-speaking Qing official, arrived Taiwan where he spent 2 years. He recorded in 臺海使槎錄 “Records from the mission to Taiwan and its Strait” (1736) how the language spoken by Taiwanese was totally unintelligible—like barbarian gibberish and birds talking (鴃舌鳥語，全不可曉)

無啥物 bô-siáⁿ-mih (Hokkien) it doesn't matter; that's all right; never mind https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%84%A1%E5%95%A5%E7%89%A9

沒什麼 méishénme (Mandarin Pinyin) Adverb 沒什麼 1. nothing Interjection 沒什麼 1. it doesn't matter; that's all right; never mind 2. don't mention it; it's a pleasure; you're welcome https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B2%92%E4%BB%80%E9%BA%BC

In Hokkien/Taiwanese, bô-siáⁿ-mih 無啥物 (not have what) is used to mean “it doesn’t matter; that’s all right; never mind” (synonymous with 沒什麼 or 沒關係 in Mandarin)

In Mandarin, méishénme 沒什麼 (have not what; nothing) can also be used to mean “don’t mention it; it’s a pleasure; you’re welcome”

廣州話正音字典 ①呼吸；喘息：㪗氣（呼吸；喘息）．有氣冇掟㪗（連喘息的地方都沒有，比喻太忙）。②休息；歇：㪗下先（先歇一下）．早㪗（早點休息；晚安）．㪗工（工休）．㪗涼（乘涼） P.249 #3410 ①把包着或捲着的東西打開。②〈方〉同「唞」 https://jyut.net/query?q=%E3%AA%97

教育部台語常用辭典 敨氣 tháu-khuì 釋義：［動詞］情緒得以發洩。 https://sutian.moe.edu.tw/zh-hant/su/8446/

The “original” character (本字) for tháu in Hokkien/Taiwanese and tau2 in Cantonese is likely 㪗 which means “to open” (漢典/集韻：他口切，展也)

Interestingly, 㪗氣/敨氣 in Cantonese “tau2 hei3” means “to breathe” while in Hokkien “tháu-khuì” means “to to vent one's feelings; to get something off one’s chest”

粵典：「早抖 / 早唞」 https://words.hk/zidin/%E6%97%A9%E5%94%9E

粵典：「早抖 / 早唞」 https://words.hk/zidin/%E6%97%A9%E5%94%9E

Wait, I just learned 早唞 (zou2 tau2) in Cantonese, besides meaning good night or take an early rest, can also be used to tell someone who’s really annoying to piss off; drop dead; shut up; go away

Somehow I am not surprised 😅😆

Tang poet Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫 (772–842) wrote in 秋詞 "Autumn Song"

自古逢秋悲寂寥
我言秋日勝春朝
晴空一鶴排雲上
便引詩情到碧霄

Since ancient times, autumns are met with sadness and loneliness
I say autumn days outshine spring morns
As a crane soars above the clouds in clear skies
My poetic sentiments are drawn to the azure heavens

A meditation by W.S. Merwin on nature and the inevitability of change in life, as he speaks directly to the light of September:

you appear to be only
a name that tells of you

but they all know
that you have come

you
who fly with them

the whispering birds
the fallen blue plums

perfect in the dew