User Comments - changye

Posted on: Fortunate Cookies

Hi a1p2,

I agree with you. Edible fortunes are just great. You can enjoy it twice, both fortune-telling and eating it, unless the fortune you’ve picked is terribly bad. I believe that my chubby dog would definitely love them, regardless whether the fortune is good or bad.

By the way, one thing has been on my mind since I heard of Fortune Cookies a few years ago. Is it OK to put anything not edible in cookies, especially in a lawsuit society such as modern USA? I’m afraid that a fortune might stick in the throat of an “unfortunate” guy.

Posted on: Sightseeing at Tiananmen

Hi azerdocmon,

Thanks, 小拐 and 大拐 are completely new to me, probably because I myself don’t drive a car here in China. Let me try to shout “大家注意，我要大拐!” (da4 jia1 zhu4 yi4, wo3 yao4 da4 guai3) when riding a bicycle! 

Posted on: Sightseeing at Tiananmen

I’m not a busy guy, so let me give pinyin for auntie68. Anyway, I’ve also learned a lot of things from those nice examples.

小姑娘的样子好像她妈妈。
xiao3 gu1 niang de yang4 zi hao3 xiang4 ta1 ma1 ma
The young lady resembles her mother.

他生气的样子很吓人。
ta1 sheng1 qi4 de yang4 zi hen3 xia4 ren2
The way he is/ looks when he is angry is very frightening.

你姐姐长什么样子？
ni3 jie3 jie zhang3 shen2 me yang4 zi?
What does your elder sister look like?

看他的样子好像不太高兴似的。
kan4 ta1 de yang4 zi hao3 xiang4 bu4 tai4 gao1 xing4 shi4 de.
Looking at him he doesn't look too happy.

这种样子的大衣很便宜。
zhe4 zhong3 yang4 zi de da4 yi1 hen3 pian2 yi4.
This kind of winter coat is very cheap.

他穿衣服从来不注意样子。
ta1 chuan1 yi1 fu cong2 lai2 bu4 zhu4 yi4 yang4 zi.
He has always dressed without caring about how he looked.

我也有这种样子的书架。
wo3 ye3 you3 zhe4 zhong3 yang4 zi de shu1 jia4.
I also have this kind of bookshelf.

他们家的沙发样子很大方。
ta1 men jia1 de sha1 fa1 yang4 zi hen3 da4 fang.
The sofa in their home looks very tasteful.

Posted on: SBTG: Sun Yatsen

In my previous comment in Chinese, I wrote that “Sun Yatsen” is commonly called “孙文” (son-bun) in Japan, not “孙中山”, despite the fact that “中山” was named after the prominent Japanese duke “中山忠能” (nakayama tadayasu) who happened to be the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Meiji of Japan. Most Japanese people don’t even know the name “孙中山” itself. On the other hand, ironically enough, “孙中山” has been widely used in China. Why? Let me try to explain this.

Firstly, Sun Yatsen first came to Japan in 1895, and after that he gradually became known among intellectuals and democracy campaigners in Japan, who later would support Sun Yatsen earnestly, both physically and spiritually, during his asylum in Japan from 1913 to 1916, when “中山” was named by himself. And therefore, in a sense, “中山” appeared too late in Japan, which was about twenty years after Sun Yatsen’s first visit to Japan.

Secondly, the name “孙文” sounds more natural and powerful to Japanese people’s ears. Its Japanese pronunciation そんぶん (son-bun) is short and concise, and easy to utter / remember. Furthermore, Japanese people generally love the character 文 and its connotations, such as 文化 (culture) and 文学 (literature), and the character is often seen in Japanese names. In fact, the name of my PRETTY daughter also has 文 in it. I named her by myself!

Thirdly, contrary to the name “”孙文”, the newer one “孙中山” doesn’t sound “cool” in Japan and Japanese. There are two Japanese readings for 孙中山, i.e. one is “そんちゅうさん” (son-chu-san) and the other is “そんなかやま” (son-naka-yama) . The former one “son-chu-san” actually sounds rather comical and “lovely” in Japan. And the reading is very similar to that of 村長さん (son-cho-san, village mayor). You can’t call the great Chinese revolutionist “a village head”!

And to make matters worse, you sometimes have to call him “son-chu-san-san” since a Japanese equivalent of “Mister” is also “さん” (san), which is located just after a person’s name. If you say, e.g. “Ladies and gentlemen, now, let me introduce you a great Chinese leader and revolutionist, 孙中山さん! (son-chu-san-san!)”, it’s highly likely that the audience will start chuckling due to “san-san”. Now, how about another reading, “そんなかやま” (son-naka-yama)?

I must say this is much worse than そんちゅうさん (son-chu-san), simply because なかやま (nakayama) is NOT a foreigner’s name, but IS a Japanese name. If Japanese people hear the name そんなかやま (son-nakayama), they would definitely think of “a Chinese-Japanese” or “a Japanese-Chinese”. そんなかやま is, so to speak, something like “John Suzuki” or “Elizabeth Sato” in Western countries. I’m sure that his Japanese friends didn’t recommend him to call himself “son-nakayama”.

On the other hand, it’s very understandable why the name 孙中山 is so popular in China. I guess that Chinese people probably associate “中山” with “中国的山”, “中华的山” or something related to 中国. I myself suppose that Sun Yatsen picked up the name “中山” just to show his friendship to Japanese people, but at the same time, I imagine that he also remembered his beloved mother land when he happened to see the name plate of Mr. 中山’s mansion more than ninety years ago.

Sorry for a long post.

Posted on: Fortunate Cookies

Hi Clay,

Thanks for the pleasant information. Now let’s make it this way. That Japanese guy was a kind of “Steve Jobs” (斯蒂芬·乔布斯) in the fortune cookie world, and the Chinese immigrant was, of course, “Bill Gates”(比尔盖茨). Deal?

As for 地道 and 正宗, I think that the former one is “real, genuine”, but the latter seems to be something a little more “real, and traditionally authentic” in my understanding. I think that they are usually interchangeable.

Posted on: Fortunate Cookies

Hi Clay,

Is it technically possible to automatically show an English translation / pinyin pop-up for all the Chinese characters used in comments here, just like in your posting, or entries in John's blog?  It's a question that has long been on my mind.

Posted on: Fortunate Cookies

Let me "PROUDLY" tell you that fortune cookies are originated in (起源于) Kyoto, Japan, and the guy who introduced them to the US first was also Japanese.And that is why you can’t find fortune cookies in Mainland China.

Strangely enough, I’ve never seen them in Japan either, which I suppose has something to do with the food sanitation law or something like that in Japan, perhaps. Just a guess. Anyway, I've finally found a creation that Japan can boast to the world!

Posted on: Airplane Arrival

Hi shensw,

Thanks, again. I’ve found the phrase “千乘之国” in a dictionary. It is actually “qian1 sheng4 (not cheng2) zhi1 guo2”, as you said. I suppose that probably the same goes for “千乘万骑”. But I’m afraid that I couldn’t find 乘 (cheng4) in dictionaries. It seems to me that there are only two pronunciations, cheng2 and sheng4, for 乘 at least in modern Mandarin. I’m curious about where you found it?

Posted on: Airplane Arrival

Hi shensw,

Thanks for the phrase "我乘火车", actually I've never used this phrase so far. I usually only say "我坐火车", but I'll try to use "乘" versions next time! To tell you the truth, I'm not good at pronouncing second-tone characters such as "cheng2".

Posted on: 葬礼安排

Hi man2toe,

万一 if perchance, emergency, the worst
以防万一 provide for a rainy day, prepare for the worst