Chinese Speech and Writing Gol Bellassen Lhang Pengpeng © = & Volume I SINOLINGUA ~His HURR, AEF 1950 4, 1973 4 35 1975 4 AEC R IB et PRE AE KEES, DER KF BA BE: DADLIR OND SEE, DUR CE ER, Ai Les idéogrammes chinois ou 'Empire du sens, Chinois mode d'emploi - grammaire pratique et exercices -, Joél Bellassen, born in 1950, studied at the Beijing Language Institute and jing University from 1973 to 1975. At present he is an associate professor at the Seventh University of Paris and chair- man of the French Association of Chi- nese Language Teachers. He is a special- ist in Chinese language didactics and author of Les idéogrammes chinois ou l'Empire du sens, Chinois mode d'emploi - grammaire pratique et exercices - , ec.NBeSXFaR A Key to Chinese Speech and Writing I Joél Bellassen University Paris 7 With the Collaboration of Zhang Pengpeng Beijing Language and Culture University Translator Christian Artuso BRS UR At SINOLINGUA — BEIJINGFirst Edition 1997 Fifth Printing 2009 Original title published in French Méthode d'Initiation 4 1a Langue et 4 I’ Ecriture chinoises @La Compagnie/Bellassen 1989 ‘The character $ on the front cover is the original handwriting of Yan Zhenging, A great calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. ISBN 978-7-80052-507-0 Copyright 1997 by Sinolingua Published by Sinolingua 24 Baiwanzhuang Road, Beijing 100037, China Tel: (86)10-68320585 Fax: (86)10-68326333 hp: /www.sinolingua.com.en E-mail: hyjx@sinolingua.com.cn Printed by Beijing Songyuan Printing Co. Ltd. Distributed by China International Book Trading Corporation 35 Chegongzhuang Xilu, P.O. Box 399 Beijing 100044, China Printed in the People’s Republic of ChinaPreface to the English Edition The two volumes that make up this method of learning Chinese were published in France at the end of 1989 (I) and 1991 ({1) respectively. They are intended for students with no previous knowledge of the language. We would like to express our gratitude to those colleagues in Germany, America, England, China and Scandinavia who, acquainted with the French manuals, first put forth the idea of an English edition. Our thanks go to them for the continued interest they have shown in the present volumes, in which there is, no doubt, room for improvement. This interest, we feel, has been kindled by an entirely different conception of learning Chinese. Departing from the usual form of teaching in vogue for the last forty years, this new approach is nevertheless intrinsically traditional, in that it shows a great respect for the originality of the Chinese language. In every aspect of life, only when we chose to look reality in the face, can we avoid encounters with conflict and disorder. In terms of learning Chinese, the written language is not merely a graphic duplicate of the oral sounds. Bearing this consideration in mind, Chinese students as well as their professors must adopt two separate approaches of the language which consist of distinguishing two systems of logic of thought. Those two systems are not identical and they may even conflict with each other. Meanwhile, one has to keep in mind that the Chinese characters as fundamental unit of written language should always be entitles to a specific place and that is what I strove to do in this book. We would like to thank Mrs. Anne Alexis and Ms Jocelyne Finazzi for their attentive editing. IB.TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations and Symbols Introduction Chinese Writing: Frequency Table- Pinyin-- Graphic Elements (Radicals) Table of 400 Characters---- Keysrrssessersseseeeseeees PREPARATION:-- --- -- Sequence 0. 0 -Lesson Sequence 0. 5 -Lesson 0, 5- Numbers and Dates: PART 1- Sequence 1.1 —Lesson 1-- Sequence 1.2 —Lesson 2-- Sequence 1.25 —Lesson 2, 5: Sequence 1.3 —Lesson “Snowball” Version Sequence 1.4 —Lesson 4: Dynasty Time Line--- Sequence 1.5 —Lesson 5+ Sequence 1.6 —Lesson 6- “Snowball” Version A Landscape Painting (Poem) PART 2--- Sequence 2. 1 -Lesson 7- Sequence 2.2 —Lesson Map of China: Sequence 2.3 —-Lesson 9: “Snowball” Version 3-- Sequence 2.4 -Lesson 10: Sequence 2.5 -Lesson 11 Sequence 2. 6 -Lesson 12 “Snowball” Version 4---+-- Zhuangzi and the Butterfly (Story) +++ PART 3---- Sequence 3. 1 —Lesson 13 Sequence 3.2 —Lesson 14--- Sequence 3.3 -Lesson 15: “Snowball” Version 5+ The Animals of the Horoscope: Sequence 3. 4 —Lesson 16: Sequence 3.5 —Lesson 17 Sequence 3. 6 —Lesson 18: “Snowball” Version 6---- Old Meat---- Nanniwan (Folk Song) Texts in Complex Characters: Translations--- Grammar Review: Vocabulary:- Table of Tapes:ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS interrogative -literally Measure Word negation particle ++ phonetic pronunciation + polite --preposition Qualifying Verb +++» Sequence s-verb lo lo | PDISOB EY tape tape counter decomposition by element stroke order dialogue handwriting narration originINTRODUCTION “Once upon a time in the north of China, there lived a farmer who, wanting to has- ten the growth of his new shoots, went every morning to pull them up slightly. After a short time the shoots withered and died. ” The ancient wisdom of the Chinese teaches us through this story that we must not fight against the nature of things. This is the first idea that guided me in devising this method. Many texbooks (Chinese ones included) westernise and “alphabeticise” Chi- nese. It is surely far more appropriate, however, to present the language as it really is, to reveal its own logic, its own spirit. Ii is generally agreed that learning Chinese is a question of memory. Memory, however, is afraid of emptiness; it needs supports. Any method of learning Chinese must be constructed accordingly, providing where possible the essential elements for learning every Chinese character or sinogram (we have borrowed this new term from Delphine Weulersse and Nicolas Lyssenko, authors of Methode programmée du chinois moderne). These supports will be visual (the student will readily observe a character’ s origi- nal design), auditory (the student who remembers things when he hears them will benefit from saying out aloud the elements that compose a character) and gestural (the stroke order and positioning). Futhermore, considering the effort involved in memorising them, the number of new sinograms in a text must not exceed a certain threshold: it is often far better to have two texts of ten lines than one of twenty. The Chinese language is made up of signs. This is an unavoidable fact generally ignored by textbooks that present only words without paying attention to the characters that make them up. Our method proposes to give characters the place they deserve and to reveal them in their many different facets .Some sinograms are extremely rare whilst others are very frequently used. Fre- quency of usage is a major, although not absolute criterion in selecting the characters that make up this book. The naming of the characters in the dialogues for example was used as a chance to integrate other frequently-used sinograms that had not previously appeared in the book. The 400 characters used in the texts were chosen in such a way as to per- mit the recognition of 66.27% of all characters appearing in current reading materi- al. They also constitute almost the entire list entitled SMIC(“Seuil Minimum Indispens- able de Caractéres”i. e. Indispensable Minimum Threshold of Characters) established by “L'Institut national de la recherche pédagogique” that serves as a standard for the level required for the (French) Baccalaureat. Chinese characters are constructed with a puzzle-like logic and they are combined with a logic much like that of dominoes. The character “bright” for example is com- posed of two “pieces”, the “sun” and the “moon” and when this character is combined with the character “white” it forms the word “to understand”. Is it not therefore advanta- geous to learn these new signs and to explore the different possible combinations? This type of synthesis as utilised in all three sequences of this book is the application of a “snowball” effect that is unique to Chinese. “Once upon a time in ancient China, a musician who had just finished composing a piece of music caught sight of a buffalo in a field and played for it the tune on his lute, The indifferent buffalo continued to browse on the grass. ” Let us know how to marry our thoughts and acts with our objectives. Let us know how to adapt to those we communicate with as this story tells us. The originality of a language such as Chinese can neither be without consequence for the way we learn it, nor for the writing of a textbook such as this one. Te this Fundamental Approach manages, not to bring solutions, but at least to outline the overall picture and open new doors, it will have served its purpose. Joél Bellassen Paris, Septembre 1989 4CHINESE WRITING On its own, Chinese writing gives the whole of the Chinese language a radically different appearance. It is a non-alphabetic, non-phonetic writing. Unlike the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic and Hebrew alphabets it is not a code that indicates sounds. It is the painting of meaning, of ideas. The meaning of a character can be leamt without go- ing through the stage of learning its pronunciation. A sinogram in isolation, to a certain extent, seems to be just like a logo, a road sign or an Arabic numeral. Owing to this fact, China, a true tower of Babel with regards to its different pro- nunciations and dialects, has found in its writing system a unifying ele- ment, Furthermore, such different languages as Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese have also adopted these Chinese signs. Leibniz, a German philosopher from the Age of En- lightenment even saw in Chinese a possible universal writing system. Consequently the present Chinese world is the only great civilisation of which writing has not known the tremendous leap towards abstraction that the appearance of an alphabet constitutes. Language and writing being far more than simple instruments of communication, we can appreciate that this is a major fact of which all the consequences are undoubtedly still far from being measured. On their own, sinograms are a whole world to be explored. Apart from the differ- ent meanings they can have, they also possess their own structure, their rhythm and their history. One can never “read Chinese”; one can know a certain amount of characters, and it is preferable that the number be as high as possible! However one is always at the mer- cy of “Meeting a tiger in one’s path” i.e. an unknown character. On the other hand, Chinese writing is such that a child can learn several signs at two or three years of age. UdSinograms have a consistent and independent form. They must be centred inside an imaginary square without occupying the entire square. The strokes, with their interior movement, order and orientation are the basis of sinograms in the field of calligraphy. There are eight fundamental strokes: © The point @ The left descending stroke © The horizontal stroke (left to right) @ The right descending stroke @ The vertical stroke (top to bottom) @ The bending stroke @ The upcutting stroke @® The hooked stroke The essential rules of stroke order are as follows: £0 | Horizontal then vertical | ey &o From top to bottom iat 1 | From teft to right dM 20 | The outside then the inside NA E | close after filling the frame nAB ED | Left descending then right descending stroke Daciahe #£o The middle stroke then the left side then the right side Jaas 0 | The point comes last x | “hoWith regards to memorising sinograms, it is the graphic elements, true “puzzle pieces”, making up each character that are the base units, Seen from this angle a sino- gram with many strokes is not necessarily a “complicated one”. Sinograms can be classified into four large families: 1) Pictograms: Stylised or symbolic representations of reality (e.g. the sign “tree” showing its branches, trunk and roots). 2) Ideograms: associations of ideas from simple elements (e. g. the sign “forest” is composed of two trees). 3) Ideophonograms: composed of a pictographic root or “radical” and another ele- ment suggesting the pronunciation of the new whole thus formed (e. g. the sign - “to listen” wén is composed of the semantic root “ear” and a phonetic ele- ment which in isolation is pronounced men). In a considerable number of cas- es the phonetic also plays a semantic role at the same time. 4) Borrowings: e. g. there once was a character “waist” which was pronounced yao like the verb “to want” which did not have a sign of its own. This character was therefore borrowed to mean “to want” and in order to distinguish the two meanings, the flesh radical was added to the character “waist”. The phonological scheme of a sinogram is a tonal syllable. There are about 400 syllables. One must not confuse the terms word and sinogram. A sinogram is not necessarily a word and in this case it cannot be used on its own. For example, the sinogram gué means “country” but it must be combined with jid (“family”) to form the word “country”. Towards the end of the 1950’s the People’s Republic of China began to simplify a certain number of characters by reducing the number of stroke. Books and newspapers are now printed in simplified characters as is also the case in Singapore. These are writ- ten horizontally from left to right. In Hong Kong, Taiwan and in foreign China towns the unsimplified characters written in the traditional way, vertically and from right to left, are still in use.> There is a magical dimension to Chinese characters. Some sinograms are believed to be good luck charms (on or above doorways) . Futhermore, the act of writing certain signs with a brush can have a deep symbolic significance. It confirms the prestige of their author and honours the person or the place they are dedicated to. > There is a gymnastic dimension to Chinese characters: To write a character presupposes breathing control, steadiness of gesture and great concentration. .. all those concepts that are found in martial arts. > There is an aesthetic dimension to Chinese characters: Calligraphic signs beautify homes and make up gallery exhibitions in just the same way as paintings. > Finally, Chinese writing by its own originality even leaves its mark on the brain, By the manner in which characters are used and the commitment of images to memory they ne- cessitate as well as by the very special motor skills required, Chinese writing employs the right brain as much as the left which is normally associated with language. FREQUENCY TABLE Frequency of usage of characters in modern readings (Source: Chinese Character Frequncy Dictionary — Beijing 1986) 100 80 60 40 20 %Character recognition © 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Number of charactersPINYIN There have been many different systems of transcription used for learning to pro- nounce Chinese. Once, the name of the Chinese capital could be written “Peking” or “Pekin”. Today the official transcription accepted on an international basis is the PINYIN alphabet developed in China at the end of the 1950's. Peking must now be written “Beijing”. 1-INITIALS m,f,n,I,h,and sh are pronounced as in English +F like “t” in “straight” (unaspirated) j like “g” in “genius” (unaspirated ) z like “ds” in “beds” zh like “j” in job ® db __like “p” in “spin” (unaspirated) g assoft unaspirated “k” sound x like “sh” in “sheep” but with the comers of the lips drawn back r somewhat like “ge” in lodge TC® Particular attention should be paid to the pronunciation of the so called “aspirated” consonants. It is necessary to breath heavily after the original consonant is sounded: P=p’ (like in “pop”) q=ch harder than “ch” in cheap t=’ (like in “tap”) ¢=ts’ (like in “cats”), with aspiration k =k’ (like in “kangaroo”) ch =ch’ (tongue curled back, aspiration) © © | ® Distinction between certain initials: a A 2 - FINALS Vowels do not present any particular difficulty in pronunciation. When they are combined they must not be pronounced separately. a =) ia ua 9 ° ie like “ye” in “yes” like “e” in “her” (open) +4 -ng (final) a nasalised sound like the “ng” in “bang” without pronouncing the “g’> an preceded by y or i = “yen” without stressing the “n! > In zi, ci, si, zhi, chi, shi and ri the i is not pronounced. It indicates that the consonant only is pronouced. E.g.zi = “ds” as in “beds” r” as in “right” ri = ® The consonants j, q and x are all followed by long vowels like the “ee” in “bee”. ®> When placed in the initial position -u and -i are written as w and y respec- tively © ©| ® Distinction between certain finals; co Civing en/eng an/ang 3-TONES The pronunciation of each syllable i. e. each sinogram includes a tonal melody. There are four accented tones, a high tone, a low tone, a rising tone and a falling tone. On a chart of the movement of the vocal chords and the muscles that control them , the high tone consists of a prolonged stretch, the low tone a prolonged retraction, the rising tone consists of a normal tension followed by a stretch, and the falling tone consists of a slight stretch and then a sharp retraction. mother hemp horse to insult 4 iNThe four tones are usually called: First tone: this is the high tone, high in pitch and even. It is conveyed (only above a pinyin transcription and not above sinograms) by the sign — (ma). Second tone: this is the rising tone, starting from a low pitch and rising briefly. It is conveyed by the sign /(m4) and corresponds roughly to the intonation of the English Eki Third tone: this is the low tone and is naturally inflected. It is conveyed by the sign v (ma). this is the falling tone, starting from a high pitch and descending briefly. It is conveyed by the sign \ (ma) and corresponds roughly to the intonation of “NO!”. ® — There is also a neutral tone. It is short and unaccented. Its pitch relies on a natural extensioin of the preceding tone. It is conveyed by the absence of a sign (ma). > — When one low tone follows another, the first one becomes a rising tone. Having a good pronunciation depends greatly on getting the tones right (of the sounds only the aspirated consonants pose any real problem). Of all the difficulties found in learning Chinese, the problem of tones is undoubtedly the most difficult. It would therefore be advisable to listen often to the cassette and to try to imitate the melody of the sentences as a whole. ——ee} — PRONUNCIATION EXERCISES Shandong fein fayin guanxin Shandong anvziane romodasion pew fe Zhongguo huach@ jinnign huanying China femnine tx ths yer welcome kaishur gangbi shentt jichang toiling water fountain pen beat sion gongzué__chifan_ yiyuan shangdian to work wen spt stop tamen zhidao dudshao gege they to know how many colder brother 7 — Nénjing shijian zuotian Changjiang Nanjing (period of) time esterday the Yangtze River 77 bongcha tongxué Huanghe changchang black tea schoolmate the Yellow River often yoy chaguén ligngshut chijid rénkéu tea house cold water lasting population YZ \ nigrou nankan bdicai yiyang beet ugh cabbage the same ? mingzi shihou xuesheng pengyou ame (point in) time/moment___student friend vy —_ ldoshi Béijing xihudn hudéché teacher Beijing to lke tain V7 Fagué xiGosht kénéng ‘shulping France our maybe level nihdo Kéngzi juan Beihai voy ie Conteh oo sen oly \ hGoxidaing zhtydao haohan it seems rain brave = mtgin ‘wanshang zaoshang ravioli mother evening moming \ = Sichuan shangban qgiché kéting Sichuan to go to work car parlour wr, jiuxie parén ditu sishi od shoe to be afraid map focy Lv Ribén Hanyti Shanghai fanguan Sagan Chinese Shanghai restaurant uixins Hanzi huabao: zaijian Se a inered magne pnd x diren difang xiexie baba spouse ace thank you daddy cr final 9 zher nar yidignr where? here over there a lie nanhair nuhdir boy sir TtGRAPHIC ELEMENTS (RADICALS) animal with claws tree - wood bow (archery) bamboo single door insect blue ~ green mouth cattle field chariot — vehicle horse de BO oe Fa He heart heart seashell knife knife melon cereal ghost divination eTSEPRAHN SE & dragon water wall, enclosure collar child place woman fire OP ar os fire son we arrow "hl Career wWin~ds Ee ee ae ee cr ee strength ice claw axe dagger-axe, halberd grass person with mouth open person upside-down person, dagger leg tongue scholar, literati, soldier ‘moon or flesh-meat hand right hand hand holding a stick sickness walk walk quickly sheep metal mother food eye bird with short tail bird with long tail ear omament west word step with left foot je Be Ne a aOR ES Wom pote > wD sak} lo aS foot stone stake, mace rain fish door thumb private rites rice king or jade container dividing up silk soya bean or vessel sun standing up small table sieve earth mound, knoll (when on left of a sinogram) cloth roof (two strokes) roof work head town (when on right of a sinogram) see clothingONAN FE WNH TABLE OF 400 SINOGRAMS ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST REN FPC A IEE Dp LAR ARAL A ES 1h WI MARA RRZK HBA Ret BAMA KAA AT KY BGS RIA ABET AR AAM SRILA RMA BRERA PAIRRF BGA ERA IR BS TRRER we HD RAE BARI G HT fe BRAG WRESEKROSEKMABILER A Lit PLY BASU KALAMA TRI LORE RRERT ROBES SE TIER HAO EAKEBLLERRELAZRARINER BRL HAL OPA eH HE MVE AER AS Be RE EUR EERMRRAAF WR BiB BERIEMAUVA ASE DAE, BAH PIM AR EH SF BML GF HAD Peewee KARMAKA BHA ABZ WA LERAELARALF WG EEF AM SRR PRES HS 1S BAT BARR ET SMFHREY UR ERVERSBRAAA RGEHABLEALBFT EHRRAEALE RYPsps Ss FEMA FY AAR EEKEY Ir is strongly advised to avoid any pinyin annotation under sinograms. In this area as in others, it is far better to go slowly but surely. @ The DIALOGUES are drawn up in such a way as to allow the reader to avoid refer- ring to the English at first. @The NARRATED PASSAGES employ the same vocabulary as the dialogues and can be learnt by heart. @The HANDWRITTEN PASSAGES will allow the reader to get accustomed to the ap- pearance of written manuscripts. @ The NEW WORDS are arranged according to word class, the words being classed as they would in Chinese grammar. @ The section SINOGRAMS - PRESENTATION presents new words composed with the new sinograms. The usage of these words can be varied according to the learner's level and objectives. At first they can be read aloud and then an attempt be made to guess their meaning. @ The section SINOGRAMS -MEMORY TECHNIQUE presents every sinogram in three aspects: the sroke order and orientation; analysis in graphic elements and the o- rigin of the sinogram (even if it is not a scientific work on this subject, the present method proposes however to indicate the most justifiable explanation so as to show a character’s source and to assist in memorising it). @ The GRAMMAR includes an EXPLANATIONS section with examples and an AP- PLICATIONS section with substitution exercises. @ The CIVILISATION section presents several points connected to the theme of the se- quence. @ The “SNOWBALL” VERSIONS capitalise the sinograms already learnt and bring them to life by using them to generate new words. OnPREPARATION Sequencesba SEQUENCE @, @ FOR PAA, BA, a a} PAA, AA), ° £; PRAY? 4: PERK, Z: AAR? BH: ARAK, IR, ¢ Y)A, OA) « ree eeeNEW WORDS col] P g Zhoénggud 8 Ke Ribén EE Wang 4 hén. me bu _— QUALIFYING VERBS kK da ay xidio wh ma China Japan [surname] [surname] very not, no to be big to be small [interrogative particle]SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION we zhéng middle, medium ? BA zhong to hit a target wang king, [surname] £B,BL,pz gud country KBB big, to be big, adult Kb, RA,VAR day, sun HRA small, to be small pA, Kb yy ma horse, [surname] ph [interrogative particle] [negation] no, not 4MEMORY TECHNIQUE + eb i an arrow in the middle of a target 4 eb Es weapon (machete), the bade tthe boom, symbol of power 5 gB Cab (1 + XE clement indicating borders + “jade” O + ¥ wall, enclosure radical + pieces of jade on a string bar A + — “person” + “one” eek ae a person stretching his arms outward yD eB oO the sun (shown as a circle) with an indication of either its matter, a sun spot or a legendary animal> HK + — we" oe” ebb s fa tree, marked at its roots = 7 eb i i a Qb & FP Bb a os] x 4 + §& “to make a step with the left foot” + phonetic element a eB ® Bb x z z : x | |GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS —— 1.1.1 In Chinese, the words that show appreciation of somebody or something's quali- ties (e. g. “to be big”, “to be difficult”, “to be friendly”... ) are all complete verbs on their own. They can be called verbs of appreciation, qualifying verbs or adjectival verbs. Eg PAK, AA, China is big, Japan is small, 1.2 These qualifying verbs also convey a relative sense. +, in fact, means to be relatively big, i.e. to be big in relation to other things. 2. If one wants to appreciate or qualify something in a more concrete way (China is big in its own right, not just compared to Japan) then the adverb 4& can be used to cancel the relative sense of a qualifying verb. An adverb which modifies a verb is always placed in front of it. Eg. PHARK, BARA, 3.3.1 The interrogative particle * is used to form simple questions. It is placed at the end of the sentence. Eg. PARA? 3.2. The word order for a question is the same as for a statement. The particle is not used when there is another interrogative word in the sentence. Eg. PERK, ¥ RA? APPLICATIONS CE emAm? PBRA? “hhCIVILISATION @ China is the most heavily populated country in the world. It has 1.2 billion inhabitants. @ = The area of China is seventeen and a half times greater than France. @ Imagine a country extending from north to south from Denmark to Niger and from east to west from the Ural Mountains to the Brittany coast. ... @ Half of China is situated at more than two thousand kilometres from the Pa- cific or Indian Oceans. © China is a country of every imaginable contrast: deserts, Himalayan peaks, paddies, tropical climates and Siberian cold... More than fifty ethnic groups, different languages and writing systems are found within its borders. © China is a civilisation that has fascinated the West ever since the vogue for Chinese silk during the Roman Empire.a SEQUENCE 0,6 OSH MRMBA? oo ARMA? : REKBA, » MATL BAG? : RA MWNEAZBAY PERAKAG? AL, DERPHA,DHRAAA, Bodh Both Boe REEMA MMNEZKBA. DE DSFALBAME APRA, DGRAKA, AR KRGDA wine Zoga. LBA ZtrRZ WA. 13k Y Ar VBRMRA,NEW WORD [eo] A nt ea wo RAY tamen A rén BA Faguérén ABA Mé@iguérén HRA Ribénrén PRA Zhdnggudérén & u w Tian Pa shi vaK na you they man, person a French person an American person a Japanese person a Chinese person [surname] [surname ] to be; That’s right! which? what... ? “aSINOGRAMS PRESENTATION 4 al oy MA z shi to be; That’s right! RAR? BB? of nd which... what... ? Ke rén man, person KA, KA PA | ES tr plum, [surname] spe w tion field, [surname] ON R wo I,me AM, RA fa law, method kee, Pie ele |* yé also, as well ta he, him 4) men [plural suffix] BAT MAT, AIT & mai beautiful, to be beautiful % A |MEMORY TECHNIQUE We + JR person radical + “you” (arch.) { IN ART rove an ecorat wine ts @eb E. “sun” + “straight, fair, correct” ORs a foot facing straight ahead, what is correct under the sun plo: 11 + AB “moun” + “that” ( * town radical) Oub ° @& a person standing up in profile, the arms hanging A to the left + HE vee” + “cha” S “a child”, fruit of a tree D+ feta witn its sividing paths, north-south, east-west Reb 5 eb. oO al CH % + F + KG astroke +thehand radical + “dagger-axe”, halberd @ “ type of large axe (a weapon or an agricultural tool?) x i aad Cy i + FE water radical + “to go” @ ve water’ s course and a person leaving a place wo fs Gy & a viper Re cy CF {+ 1, person radical + “also” nm 8 mera Cf +P] Pemonradical + “door” @ pa adouble door 2 + HK “sheep” + “big” x a person wearing a sheep mask — CabGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The verb £ shi “to be” has a far more restricted usage than in Engilsh. In gen- eral it is not used to qualify a word (see S. 0) nor is it used to mean “to be in/at a place”. E.g. RRIKBA, WII RABAS 2. af n& like all adjectives or interrogative pronouns is put in the same place where the question’s answer would be. E.g. REMPRA? RLKBA, 3. The adverb must be placed before the verb that it modifies. It cannot be used without the word on which it depends. E.g. teed PBA. He is Chinese too. Wy EAk 5 Little Wang as well. 4. 41 mén is a suffix mainly used to form the plural personal pronouns. E.g. #4] ARAN Hei)APPLICATIONS He RM BAL AREA, MANILA KBAG? RUNAR RBA. YCIVILISATION © Asa general rule there are two ways of forming the name of a foreign country in Chinese. >> The word “country” (1s) gud) is added to a character whose pronunciation is similar to the name of the country concerned. 3% Faguo: France 3%] Yingguo: England (Britain) (@ 8] Déguo: Germany HB] Méigué: America (U.S. A.) >> A purely phonetic translation is used: that is, the sound of a foreign country's name is transcribed using Chinese characters chosen for their phonetic value. SAI Viean: — ttaly i JE SL Kénniya: Kenya IEF Xibanya: Spain ’p HE Yindu: India © The familiar and friendly way to address someone is by using his family name proceeded by % ldo (“Old”), “J xido (“Little”) or K da (“Big”). This means, that first names are rarely used. © Children usually address adults as XX shiishu (“Mister”, lit. “Uncle”) or PU yi (“Lady”, lit. “Aunty”). @ Ina more general situation it is usual to address someone by using his sumame followed by his social function or his social title. £4) Wang ldoshi: “Teacher Wang” ALI fi Zhao shifu: “Master Worker Zhao” (to a worker or a driver, etc. )NUMBERS AND DATES eS m= NUMBERS The correct pronunciation of the numbers is very important. To learn them in the form of a rhyme helps in mastering the tones To know numbers well is not only to be able to count rapidly from one to ten but also from ten to one. \ one hundred one thousand wW a ten thousand [ordinal prefix ] ..e8t,.,.nd,.. 1d, ete. ByUb AHH O+ Cue an cssm NUMBER EXERCISES [oo az, —t#-+ aa —FaHRS at a4 AFRGATHA —® 10, 100 2, 310, 654 45, 986, 721 first second tenth ARG =HEt-FEAGLTS WFRGATARAF EG A+— g— Ra B+aoe ee | a nign year A yue month q ni day 2m xingqi week m DATE EXERCISES I January -A July +A February =F August AA March =F September nA April wA October eA May ZA November +-—A June *H December +=A 5th September 1989 —RANFAA LA 14th July 1789 —EAAFEATOA 18th June 1940 —AGEFAATAG 1th August 1947 —AWLEAAT—HA Monday Ay Friday EME Tuesday ZH Saturday EMA Wednesday 2me Sunday 28 Thursday 20 ‘Sunday EMR 21Ee a aa = ér two + gi seven QQ a 0 Cay liéng two Az’ ba eight & ean Oo = san three A jiu nine Qa OS a wy si four + shi ten cS My oO Ee x wt five a bai one hundred cl ae eee 4 Gidin one thousand F ss wan ten thousand (see S. 2. 1) # nian year (see S. 1.6) A yue month (see S. 1. 1) oe oN SA RRDR Ca BG + A “rain” + phonetic element % di [ordinal prefix] SS Bae C2 2% + BA bamboo radical + “younger brother” abr. @ astring coiled at different levels B xing star cy eee CG B+ 2 “sn +“tobebom” °, @ ap stars above a tree jod z wo E+ A “this” (arch. ) + “moon” Cob 3s asieve and the moon ee is ete caCIVILISATION © Throughout history the Chinese have always seen numbers as signs of almost magical significance. Numbers can allow ideas to be “fixed” and can be used to designate certain phenomena or certain realities. >> The three schools of thought (Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism) >> The three wishes of plenty (plenty of happiness, plenty of long years and plenty of sons) >> The four classes (scholars, peasants, craftsmen and merchants) >> The five relationships (sovereign /subject, father/son, husband /wife, the el- dest child/the youngest child and the relationship between friends) >) The six tastes (bitter, sweet, sour, acrid, salty and tasteless) >> The six arts (propriety, music, archery, chariot-driving, calligraphy and mathematics ) >> The six gossipers (the dentist, the matchmaker, the Buddhist nun, the fortune teller, the bone-setter and the midwife ) The nine ancient punishments (red hot iron, amputation of the nose, ampu- tation of the feet, banishment, castration, death, fine, whipping and beating) >) The seventy-two professions. . . Even though the calendar officially adopted in China is the Gregorian calendar, a traditional, essentially lunar calendar is still in use. It is the only important calendar that is not concerned with a point of origin, namely, an eventual year one. There is a cycle of twelve years (within a larger cycle of sixty): the year of the Rat (e.g. 1900, 1912... ), the year of the Buffalo (e. g. 1901, 1913), the year of the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Sheep, the Mon- key, the Rooster, the Dog and the Pig. A day is traditionally divided up into twelve parts. The first part, the hour of the Rat, is from eleven 0’ clock in the evening until one 0’ clock in the morn- ing. The second hour, the hour of the Buffalo is between one and three o'clock in the morning, etc. The important festivals are Chinese New Year also known as the Spring Festi- val, which occurs around February with its New Year pictures, couplets, its ravioli and its fire crackers, the Lantern Festival (fifteen days later), the Day of the Dead (4th April), the Dragon Boat Festival (June), the Mid Autumn Festi- val (September) and the national holiday (1st October).PART 1 Sequences Ue ley) Lei) LS eeicery [Ape enire Shier) Ma one 1.4 The House 1.5 Shopping 1.6 Transport “Snowball” Version 2SEQUENCE 1,1 HR Mie? se 9 ° wala, Hw? aes: AZ, Wah, ey Aae zr? Paet: 207 Ae BLM, tdebtipA? EZAX: WHE, Bae, URAL PRA? EAL: KR, MREBA, waa, MAMIL? ZAX: HEPA, a) RHE, MEZAXL, RRAABA APRA, KREME (Béijing) . € DALAM AA. ARAMA, AY QL. HAIG.NEW WOR 28 4% nin Ae, ta ae mingzi fa Uyang AX Yuéwén LE xing » jido & au THe guixing Ha shénme RIL nér you [polite form] he name [given name] [given name] to be called (surname) to be called (given name and surname) to go What is your surname? [polite expression] what? where?SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION you, your [polite form] & FE gui honourable [polite qualifier], expensive FH , ARH. HA pa & xing surname, tobe called BA fi to stand, to construct Pps, Pps sunny side of a hill, sun AY, —A—A eH wén (written) language, culture KA, RHEL PL moon, month | jid0 —_tobecalled, to call (name) 4h see 4 A A me se +4 4% ming name BK Fa Chinese character RF, TFAF HF qu togo(to) KE child [phonetic suffix] AJL KIL, SIL, FILMEMORY TECHNIQUE x ec oe ee ge CY wb + — 4 Ml “middle” + “one” + “seashell” aY 3 a bag filled with shells, symbol of wealth 2 & Geer GC ++ — “woman” +“to be bom, to give birth to” e@Y & X ‘a woman, the hands joined, one leg bent and a new shoot . eY he ‘a person standing on the ground mm CS 3 Bf infage SO b+ A mound radical + “sun” @ $ sun rays on the side of a hillop Or 1 “mouth” + phonetic element +e Ge ft + person radical + “ten” @ At a squadron of ten soldiers 28 & CQ ~ + Ly astroke + private radical 2 ee 292 ae CH F + 11 “twilight” + “mouth” @ X what one says at night to be recognised +m a eee GC ~~ + F roof radical + “child” @ a child at home, fed, educated... & Cy + Ly “earth” + private radical @ & fa person leaving a place = eB R a child, its legs and the unclosed fontanelle 3GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. Besides using the final particle % ma, an interrogative sentence can also be formed in alternative ways, e. g. Vb +neg + Vb or QVb +neg +QVb. Eg, RRA PHA? Hom Rm EAL? HERB? PEARK? MERE PA? APPLICATIONS HE? ABE, Pee PALA. Bede A? HED HARA PBA? RRP HAS Ue BH? RHE, SOK MIL? toe?Traditional Chinese courtesy requires that the person being addressed is praised: e.g. #4 guixing “your surname” (lit. “your honourable surname”). On the contrary the speaker will belittle him or herself: e. g. #4 bixing “my surname” (lit. “my dishonourable surname”), #1 zhudzhU. “my work” (lit. “my clum- sy composition”). Tn Chinese the surname always precedes the given name. A surname usually consists of only one sinogram, a first name of one or two sinograms. In 2, Mdo ZédOng, £, Mao is the surname and # & Zéd6ng is the given name. There are very few surnames (around one hundred). In order of popularity the most common are 4 Li, % Wang, #& Zhang, x] Lid, fk Chén, #% Yang and 4 Zhao. The Lis for example, number in the ten millions. A local saying goes “In Guandong it’s the Chens, in the universe it’s the Lis”. “The Chens and the Lis make up half the universe” is said in Fujian, not without a little exaggera- tion. On the other hand there are an infinite number of given names. A wish made by the parents, or the circumstances and place of birth are the factors that usually influence the choice of the sinograms that make up the given name. Given names therefore have a meaning. Sometimes a male given name cannot be distinguished from a female given name but the meaning of the sinograms will often give an indication. A female given name will often include a sinogram such as “flower”, “beauty” or “perfume”, etc. To translate a foreign name into Chinese two or three characters are chosen that more or less transcribe the name phonetically: >> Nonetheless one would look at the meaning of the characters in the given name. >) If possible one would attempt to make the first character (as it would be considered to be the surname) an already existing Chinese surname. >> De Gaulle: # #% #& Dai GaoLa (gao: tall, 18: happy).© a £ SEQUENCE 9,2 HOR mae =e] PE, KREM H? RAM. AREA VAS 3H? RRB MH, RBA, RK! ZAP hOB? 28h EPL, WRB FE? LAN HFS UPA? RPEX, Se BARE IG HFA. WE PL, RAH REP RL, RPFEL. SABRES. pene es REPL AR eex zhé ap na ENOUNSESE ae 4 sha ai laoshi e z xuésheng pee Zhongwen EL Fawen Az Dong Ea xué _ GRAMMATICAL WORD ay de (ESPARTICLE 2 eR ° _ INTERROGATIVE it shéi eH shide teacher student the Chinese language the French language [given name] to study [determining particle] Oh? who? That’s right.SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION to study; studies, school BH IA be, PEAR RE, AF LF LFF aS iRIL, 7% # [determining particle] BD MATA book; to write Bik, DAB, PLB old, to be old, always Gh Ek ee, BL, AF AGH master winter [exclamatory particle showing doubt or surprise] to be bornMEMORY TECHNIQUE + Bc CQ + FF 3-stroke roof radical + “child” @ we a child receiving signs passed down by two hands Bi e Cee 3K + A “tanguage” + walking radical Za wD) 2 foo # * © &6b 1+ FE word radical + “short tailed bird” ¥ & the tongue and a bird with its plumage i FA + 4) “white” + “spoon” 4 6 grain of rice? finger nail? sun? flame? 4a spoon and its contents evs | & + eB 2 a hand holding a brush above a space, 8 TA ag B town radical @ a people who wear furs, living over there on the YE western boundaries of China ee ss See SS ER Pet AE oldtage cotionl « ipekie down pertcanticall @ & ‘a person with long hair leaning on a cane % = Ces m “cloth” em a banner, symbol of authority, on the ramparts ye & G8 P& + F soot radical reversed +ice radical (frozen water) @ R the knotted end of a thread skein and ice: winter om CH + B “mom sr es eY ye vegetation springing up from the earth =GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The determining particle #4 de 1.1. The determining particle #4 de is the most common sinogram in modern Chi- nese. 1.2 It is used with noun phrases. 1.3 It attaches information to the nouns placed after it. Eg FEM 3 the student’s book Ge the teacher” horse fen de his surname 1.4 The noun can be understood. E.g. PA the student’s a mine 1.5 The # de particle must not be used when the noun and the information that describes it form a word, an entirety or a category. Eg BA the French PLB Chinese booksAPPLICATIONS BER HH HH? RARHH. MRA IG HB? MARA MAD HR Hoy BE? WALA VM FS, teeta? RFEX. BAPE? tet PX42 The famous At 3% Kangxi Zidién Kangxi Dictionary, written in the Qing Dynasty, comprised 47,035 characters. A very recent dictionary 38 F 3% Hany Dazididn included 56, 000 characters. These two dictionaries, in fact, consider the different ways of writing a character through the course of history as different characters. The total number of really different characters is most likely to be around 20, 000. Chinese printing presses usually have between 7, 000 and 10, 000 characters at their disposal. The length of a book is judged by its total number of characters and not by the number of pages it has. For example, the five volumes of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong inlude a total of 913, 000 characters. These volumes are composed of 3, 316 different characters. The average number of strokes that make up a character is 9. 8. The character with the fewest strokes is yi “one” with only one stroke. At the other end of the scale the character zhé “to chat” with 64 strokes disappeared around the 5th century AD. Today, the prize goes to nang “to have a stuffed-up nose” with a mere 36 strokes. = 9 nangTRY SAYING THIS QUICKLY... TERA S, 2K?SEQUENCE 1,25 2,5 ERE EAZR? ee (ai + MFI? RPE. Hi RIGG? RBI, 1? MALHL RIE, KUNAL WRB R EAR? BUTIRE HEE? RDFA. ARR BRR? BR eee eaten a) BATA FIP. RF LGE MPEG, RRIF, IL FERRH, MAERLARS ZLER URE, e PANTER SANE. AGRE HPA 42. AREAS BS RT BAG SH. Aes BIE VEAL EAS CAREY eB.Chinese language a foreign language Chinese character (sinogram) all to speak to write g00d, to be good [verbal suffix of appreciation] how? Howis...? [final interrogative particle]SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION ne han Chinese, Han DAG SF ees Re BK LK, BS bt shud _to speak, to say BLE , dh , Ait, RHE, FU aE de [verbal suffix of appreciation] language dé to obtain & zen see GAH 62, BH, REAM yong type, manner, model AEA, —4$, R—AF, SHE, ABE PAE ob wai exterior, outside SPB, Sb, Bb, ob, Sb af dou all ARR , RAB 4 hao good, to be good, well 4F °F , 375 AFR? hao —_to love, to like via ne [final interrogative particle] 5 xid to write SF BSMEMORY TECHNIQUE x ke A Cay f+ HR Water radical + “aguin” (right hand radical) e x ie + oO (imam CH 1 + H+ FD word radical + “five” + “mouth” & & B Cy i + +» +R Wor madical + older brother (abbr. 52.) @ 5 words and a person with his mouth open. .. saying HR words (role of the elder brother in ritual ceremonies) a & O97 f+A+—+4 “step with left foot” + “sun” + “one” + “thumb” @ 48 a hand picking up a shell on the road ( 10 obrain) c.f ay 7E +... Collar radical + “heart” @ v the collar of a piece of clothing and a heart# Be BP Ae Cy A + FF tee + hey" @ ® (andi ie 5p cy CH B+ fb “twilight” + “divination” @ to observe divination cracks in anticipation of nightfall pr (when one spends the night outdoors) as GS #* + A + B oldage radical + “sun” + town radical Ge GH K+ F “woman” + “child” @] BY a woman and her child % co GH 1 + JE “mouth” + phonetic element | GX — + 4A two-stroke roof radical + “and”GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS ia 12 ~ Z 3. The 3.2 3.3 3.4 fs dou is an adverb that refers to a whole group already mentioned or implied. Like all adverbs it modifies a verb and is placed before it Eg. MIRAE BAS We /all/are French. FAME PL, The students /all /study Chinese. There is a logical distinction between 4s dou +7 bu + Vb and % bu +48 dou + Vb: in the first case it is the verb that is negated and in the second case it is dou. E.g. ROTARA EBA. — They/all/are not French. None of them are French. MOIR ABE LA. — They/not all/are French. They are not all French. interrogative particle % ne is used to create a new question. Eg. *BM? And (what about) France? WH? And (what about) him? adverb of appreciation or complement of degree. This adverb is used to express the appreciation (the degree) of an action. This construction can be used to translate sentences such as “he studies well”, “children don’t eat very much” and “he speaks Chinese very quickly”. The adverb of appreciation is placed after the verb and is joined to it by the verbal suffix #$ de. The following rule is used when the verb has an object: the verbal suffix # is attached to the verb and is only used to qualify it. B.g. MiG E ZH? SAR LAR EAH? MBL BLA EZ? The verb can also be qualified in a negative way. The negation is logically placed together with the qualifying word or phrase. In the sentence “Little Wang doesn’t study well” it’s the “well” that is negated (Little Wang still studies). Eg. DEFHARI.APPLICATIONS HEINE? RENE HEALD RIE A? MAUR. RODE GLAS EAH? MOREA ARE52 CIVILISATION @ A language echoes its surroundings. It is a mirror of its environment, its culture, its mentality. In this way, in Chinese >> The word “country”, | % gu6jid, is composed of two sinograms, “country” and “family”. >> This word by itself covers both the concepts of “country” and “the state”. >> A single sinogram jj b&ng means “to die” when referring to an emperor. >> A single sinogram #] shudn means “to cook fine strips of meat by dipping them in a boilling stock”. . . at least that is in front of the consumer (another verb signifies the same action but performed in the kitchen! ). >> A single character 4 xido signifies “the respect and obedience that must be given to parents, elder brothers and sisters and superiors”. >> The word rice is 4% mifan when it is cooked. > dami in the raw state and #4% shuidao when it is still in the paddy-field. >> On the other hand the Chinese have no word for “logic” or “humour” and were obliged to borrow these words by using a phonetic transcription (28 4% ludji, #8 youmo). @ There are seven major dialects of Chinese. Among them, northern Chinese, Mandarin, has become the common language, the standard. The differences be- tween the dialects are grammatical, lexical and they are especially noticeable in the area of pronunciation. A Chinese from the North cannot understand a person from Canton or a Cantonese speaker from Hong Kong. The writing, however, re- mains the same. © The words designating foreign languages are generally based on the name of the country to which the characters # yi or < wén (“language”) is added. EX Yingwén English eX Déwén German BHFL Xibanyawen Spanish BRAK Yidaliwén Italian Maat Alabowén Arabic BE Ewen Russian aE Ladingwén Latin Fe EK xilawen Greek Fh RX Xib6ldiwén Hebrew HFK Putdoyawén PortugueseIDEOPHONOGRAMS CAN ALSO BE THE ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS... USE oe fe 4 = % 78, bao bao bao bao bao pao pao packet, envelope afterbirth, born of the same parents to wrap (in one’s arms) hail, hailstone to be satisfied bulb, bubble long gown around dress£ SEQUENCE 1,8 HR HMANP HY? EMEMS MEH EHS MBL, PARK? RA : BM? : RARKLA) KA, LEP HUB. : HAA IL? : PH ARIL, AAAARIL, : REM P HB? : RE, : HRAG? : MURAL PA. : RBALR HR LR PARA ARKLR, RRA PA, RRMA YP B, ABA MRA LS, CAPRA, LRA JL, AR ABIL PB RA SRA RA it P19). ARAL AH] RES. He Hw Pweg. ¥ 42, HF 4 ap.(eo) _ LOCATIVE WORDS 3)L zher ABIL nar 38 dita AG Béijing ae Nanjing LAR Shandong he Shanxi ENEGATION.. coy R méi a oes zai 28 xiang it guo there map Beijing Nanjing Shandong Province Shanxi Province not; without to see, to look at, to watch to be at... , to be in... to think, to intend to. .. [verbal suffix of past experience]SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION au | Guo [verbal suffix of past experience] gud to go across HK, HF, RL A kan, to see, to look at, to watch, to read At AAA, HA ba earth, soil, ground Bt map, drawing FE 2 to be in, at ER, RHE AQ méi [negation of past experience] BA, RHA #8 xiéng —_to think, to think of, to want to Be, B-B shan dong xT mountain east west “yi AG ARPA 8,5MEMORY TECHNIQUE 3t Ct + LL “tmumb™ + warking radical fs ee CS EPE AR CO F+ A “nana” + “eye” @ a hand over the eye —<— GO ++ th “earth” + “also” @ 1% the earth (a menhir standing on the ground) infested with vipers a —_— GO 1+ & watt rascal + “winter” =) @ & the boundaries of administrative divisions Ae ieee cieveat oak” @ He an object stuck in the ground fia CH i + JL + water radical + “how many” + right hand radical @ Kg ‘a whirlpool and a hand (to sink)GS FA + LD) “to observe” (“mutual”) + “heart” @Y oe to observe with the mind cy ; oD \t + psi @ db two people back to back (the direction one’s back is turned to) tofele 1S ceaohic clement + “mouth” + “tall” e@ gb => & elevated position to watch surroundings ranean oe $ the direction of the rising sun, behind trees B eb eb eS— 60 GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS e . The past experience aspect 1.1 In Chinese verbs do not have tenses, they have aspects. To indicate that one has already lived the experience of a certain action, that one has already done it at least once, the verbal suffix of past experience itt gud is placed after the verb. Eg ALPHA, T’ve alredy been to China. Mg Pt RISH? Have you studied Chinese before? 1.2 The negation of the past experience aspect is i méi or i A méiyu. The particle it gud is still placed after the verb. E.g. AK (A) KIL PBL, Thave never been to China. N 4 yébu: not either (also/not) Eg. RLRE, I’m not going either. oy In addition to adjectival verbs, 4 hén can also qualify verbs of emotion. Eg. A4RME PH. I would like very much to go to China. 4. There are two types of commas in Chinese. The normal comma which indicates a pause in the sentence and the semi-comma which indicates a short pause between two words or two groups of words. Eg. PERIL, AA ABIL, RBSLE HE OLAS, APPLICATIONS PAKAK? PERA,BAHAR? RAP ROA. AAEM? BAIL, Medi p Bh? RAP He it 4? RAP PL BP AY? PURGE PA.62 e An essential piece of knowledge of The Middle Kingdom is to know how to place the provinces on a map of China. In fact, these provinces are often in the geographical, cultural and human scale of a country. The # 4 Xinjiang Au- tonomous Region is three times larger than France and v9 )I| Sichuan Province has twice as many inhabitants as France. Knowing the meaning of some of the names of the provinces helps to locate them. For example, Xinjiang (“new frontiers”), on the western outskirts of China; #14 Hebei (“north of the river”) and #7) Henan (“south of the riv- er”), on either side of the Yellow River; 11) # Shandong (“east of the moun- tains”) and J) # Shanxi (“west of the mountains”), two provinces separated by a mountain range; 34 Hubei (“north of the lakes”) and 3]: Hunan (“south of the lakes”), of which the common border area is a set of lakes. Every sinogram corresponds to just one syllable. Chinese is the language with the most homophones. In the same way the names of two provinces, which in fact are neighbouring provinces, are pronounced in the same way in a similar tone: sl) Shanxi and Bex Shanxi. China has 23 provinces, five autonomous regions (4 #4 Inner Mongolia, * % Guangxi, # Tibet, “7K Ningxia and #7 4% Xinjiang), and the Special Ad- ministrative Region of #3 Hong Kong. Lif Shanghai, 4t-4% Beijing, % + Tianjin and & Chongqing are municipal- ities with a special status. The four largest cities in China are not part of any province. The rural population represents more or less 80% of China’ s total population. Shortly before the beginning of our era, the term [8] gud replaced the word #¢ bGng to mean “country”. Indeed, the name of the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty *] 3 Liu Bang included the character 38 bang, that character had be- come a taboo.“SNOWBALL” VERSION 1 eyed The “Snowball” Versions can be either used for translation, pinyin transcription or for dictation followed by an immediate oral repeti- tion. RMB RP MLA, MH HAR, RLF HAI . Hee ERAAFL,FLF, BERT WHER FL PERE AAt, RABNERF EG A. Bit MU CIR, HU AA BBL, RIAL ILA RF, PAD PEAAMERE KAMAE: POPE, BR HFo WS) SEQUENCE 4] ,4& RAR MRA VA? =e— KEN SM Sh SS HS + ARE MIL? RAR. REBMA? : Rha, Ama, be Uk RAIL AP wyarA, REABF? : Ho AA,—-A BRL, —tEBIL, MEARE IL LAE? > WEP ELH 1 WHE A LH? : WABI. RPHA, REEL, AIA, RA-PRBL,— KB, RAEN ARRZALAAMH, WEP FI. BAF DA . AGALB Hoer. AAT BG. FAG UL. ARAW RED LRE. en te Pe 24h,va kou h ge EaRRGNOIN Bn ta EGGS R iia LF béifang aa nanfang Lie Shanghai BF hdizi RBI nanhair +BRIL niihéir BA diren pe zhongxué LYE gongzud | PREPOSITION = He 201 ERS wy hu A you Le gongzud YE Zu | ie eS < (@} | LS) [Mw for number of family members] [Mw for individuals] she home, family north south Shanghai child boy girl spouse middle school work, job in, at to return to to have to work to do, to make How many... ? How much... ?SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION home, family, house to have how many... ? how much BRAKE, BE, LFE, BRE ZAR Ai AH, RA, AS AA 2 kdu mouth, opening vié,AD —] hui — retumto Bs, Fe 7 fang orientation, place, method RE MARA GA KA -E shang above, on, to go up,to geton EE 34, bb ie hdi sea HE ra We PR, WP RA 3 hai — child BFE ABT = a child eplaresnessrncacr zi [suffix] AF AFT HT EF LF AX g@ individual BRA, ABA A AIL 3% én boy, man, male BA, 32,540,237, BT ts ni girl, woman, female KA KE AE KF KIL Z a — wlove RB, RH XL_géng _ to work, to do, to make DEK A Be eee 4— zud to do, to make Mek ER we ta she, her RAT| MEMORY TECHNIQUE 38, oY + ZR roof radleal + “pig” @ a Siem Cot (AL ._ . CY 7° + A hand radical + “moon” (here itis the meat radical) eY Aa a hand holding a piece of meat Ce 1 +O walt radical + “mouth” @ 6 a whirlpool 7 @ af an agricultural tool? maybe an indicator of position? @ : a symbolic point above a line —3 MOS se Se ee eee & oS 4 sae Ce b+ FE CB) water radical + “every” (“mother”) @ water and a mother (the breasts of a mother and a a hairpin): the sea, mother of all water courses R oS TLE EEE FZ + AB “child” + phonetic element @ L a child wrapped in clothing y @]@ aA asalu ares toa (eee ry C> H+ HD “field” +“force” @ the blade of a plough working the fields = cy Loh k @ g a woman, hands joined and one leg bent Fea CY ~~ + 7 + BR claw radical + two-stroke roof _ “friendship” a two hands and the heart a tool Gey 1 + 7E person radical + collar radical @ Zi the cut (design) of a piece of clothing starting from YS the collar w op K+ thGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The measure word (or classifier) 1.1 Measure words can be used in two different situations: © between a demonstrative adjective (such as the interrogative %f n&) and a noun; * between a numeral adjective (such as the interrogative JU jl) and a noun. E.g. KAA ABA MBA? AS A, 1.2 Measure words are indicators of the category to which something belongs or the perspective from which that thing is viewed. There are many classifiers: * 4.98, Mw for individuals, it is often used as a general classifier. © & bén, Mw for bound objects (books, etc. ) * 1 k6u, Mw for people when counted as members of a family. Eg. RMISAA, There are three of us. RMETA, There are three people in our family. RAZA 1.3 The noun placed after a measure word can be understood. * 3&4 this one (referring to a book) T have three books. 2. The word “two”: In general when referring to two things or two people # lidng is used (followed by a measure word). In all other cases = ér is used. Eg. BNA/MAB/ THtA/=TAFH... 3. In general the basic plan of a Chinese sentence is as follows: subject (or general theme ) /circumstance (setting ) / verb/complement. 4, The determining pariticle #4 de is often omitted when referring to close relationships. E.g. HRA RET He RE_APPLICATIONS He MBIL? RAR, WRAL? RERELA 6 MRA ILA? RERBAA, WAIL BF? RABE « MRAZ MIL LE? Pee EOF. UME LAE? BABA.72 __ CIVILISATION Perhaps more so in China than in other places the differences between the North and the South are very easily simplified. Northern winters are as long as southern summers. In the North the soil is dry and yellow unlike the water and greenery of the South. The North is rural, slow and traditional; the South of China is commercial, active and open to foreign influences. Traditionally speaking there are five cardinal points—the four main compass points and the centre. Even today it is common to use these cardinal points as references. “You are looking for that place? Go south and then turn toward the west.” The set of beliefs that takes these cardinal points into account when determining where to place tombs, houses, etc. is called geomancy (J&.7k féngshul “wind and water”). >> Traditional houses usually have their entrances facing south as is the case for the emperor’ s throne. This allows protection from the evil spirits that are believed to come from the north. In the traditional cemetery on the island in the bay of Miro around Hong Kong the tombs are arranged according to the deceased’ s horoscope. A geomantic mirror is sometimes hung above certain entrances with the unbroken lines of Yang and the broken lines of Yin from the classic Book of Changes (3 # Yijing) drawn on it. It is said to be capable of diverting “bad winds” A husband and wife would address each other using their whole names i.e. surname and name (“Wang Liyang”), the surname preceded by “Old” or “Little” (“Xiao Wang”), or simply the first name alone (“Liyang”). Tn days of old, very young children were presented with miniature objects. If they tried to grab a book, a brush or an inkwell it was thought that they would later be scholars. It was thought that they would be merchants if they stretched their hands towards the abacus.DYNASTY TIME LINE 4% Qin (221 -207 B.C. ) (unification of the Chinese empire) i Han (206 B.C. - 220 A.D. ) = Three Kingdoms (220 - 265) + Jin (265 -316) ¥# Later Jin (South) (317 — 420) -++ Hj Sixteen Kingdoms (North) (304 - 439) 146.3) Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 - 589) Pe Sui(589 - 618) J® Tang(618 - 907) EX, Five Dynasties (907 — 960) at'® Northern Song (960 - 1127) #4 & Southern Song (1127-1279), 4 Jin (North) (1115 - 1234) A Yuan (Mongol) (1277 - 1367) #| Ming (1368 - 1644) # Qing (Manchu) (1644 - 1911)€ SEQUENCE 11,6 BSR MMH—RILA? fo} ° ee HEMEM SHE BMS > DEB RIL A? : BR. mR? : RMH-HRT OTR, : ARABTIOT RHF LEE. > KR 2BRGILA, HR, : QHRLAAR? AER AR? RHA RR’. 2 MAA BADR BHA? : BRB. Bt BY? : RA. RAABAKY? > RB, BRK. RALFA, ERBLE,. RAFEKBTOTR, Kay FEMREBA, MMNEK BG, EHALEKBAR, MAB ARR BRK RNAWAA SRYECF. KS FLY Ga0BH . AOZEHMRATL, BASE 2h oH 4, AWA we 2heht2% , 4A) °F AL MHF AL7 NEW WORDS = yidianr a béi e cha ToPRK kékoukale WA difang Rae chaguan BE huacha ae héngcha ge héi ‘a jit kdishui aK A liangshut % Da hé & yao Bx xihuan BR hdishi. . a little [Mw for the contents of a glass or a cup] tea Coca-Cola place tea house Jasmine tea black tea black wine hot boiled water cold water to drink to want to likeSINOGRAMS PRESENTATION % hé to drink am didn point, o’ clock, a little; to point out RS REL & cha tea FILIL FR __Da__cup, glass; (Mow] HF BR, RE sy -k6—_ can, permit ee, TRA, TH, TE RK yué music le happy | AS gudn — establishment, house for guests Bate | & yoo to want, must, to order (something) 2 ae 76 hua flower BARI 3 —hdi_—still hudn to give back a hong red one, e-+ F, ae gz héi black BH, BA ce xt delight; to like BE xk shun joy HR 3 — jG ~—_ alcohol, alcoholic drink, wine BK, BHAA, 26 # aK KGi to open, to turn on, to boil, to drive FR7%,, FF, HE shui — water WK, WK, BK coolMEMORY TECHNIQUE & Bb see if “to be thirsty” (Rh + O) + ow “foretell” (“divination” + “mouth” ) + fire radical > ub “© 4 A. + AK grass radical + “man” + “tree” @ % ‘a tree and its vegetation a Me ey ie eae @ ot breath exhaled by the mouth & Bo @ a musical instrument with a wooden support un- demeath; the silk on either side represents the strings 6 ie Gy T +E food radical + “mandarin” @ Ay a covered rice container and the guard of the 82 ame & CS BE + “west” + “woman” e two hands embracing a woman’s waist| GE ~~ + 4% flower radical + “to change” serasueaveeaveessomtsasesrsntunaantittannaanssaenenurinnasnansmuntonanensunmncananetanneseeuaeReU i. ae CH A + L “no” + walking radical -. CH £ +2 - sibk radical + “work” @ SI a skein of silk a. . og + + os “four” + “earth” + fire radical eY R the soot deposited by smoke escaping from a duct “aw ——— # cf Gy £ + B + Di “scholar” + “soya bean” (abbr. ) + “mouth” e@ Q a drum, a hand and a mouth k me ON CH M+ R “again” + person with open mouth radical @ R: a a person with his mouth open, singing . < jcascaaiaag Ce + BG water radical +container radical @ XS a decorated container ——— @ Rg two hands unlocking a door ee ee ee a On cre m Cy % + Rice radical + “capital” ”GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. Compare: * —#K yi béi shut a glass of water (the water being viewed from the perspective of being the contents of the glass) © —/2 46 yi gé shui béi a water glass (seen as an object) 2. The information i.e. the detail that the determining particle #4 de attaches to a noun, can in fact be an entire clause. Eg. aM the book that I am reading WEY WA the map that he wants RSH RF the sinograms that you write PEE WF the place where Little Wang goes ZMH R the tea that the teacher is drinking APPLICATIONS HAR — BIL A? RBH TR, AH AMA? RARE, =WENA? RAE-KE, Ag EAE ZB oe KP RBLE, MRP MAR AKA? RADA, MERA A? REKBB. Meek 189? Aare, RARA HH? LARA Ho 81The daily drink is hot water. The origin of this custom is not only a question of hygiene but it is also connected to a concept of traditional medicine according to which the body temperature must not be disturbed. Alcohol, for example, is sometimes heated up before drinking. The usual drink with a meal is soup: one says »% i hé tang (drink soup). It is usually drunk in the middle or at the end of the meal. Alcoholic drinks are essentially made from cereals. As well as Coca-Cola, other names of drinks are created by phonetic transcrip- tion: 1G pijii beer, # 4% i xiGngbinjii champagne, x + Si wéishijijit whiskey, so" KGf€i coffee (not a common drink in China). Tea, along with hot water, is the most common drink. It maintains a certain rit- ual character: it is served upon the arrival of a guest. Jasmine tea is preferred in the North, green tea 4 % liicha is preferred in the South. The most famous tea is Dragon Well tea, %, ## léngjing. Indian tea, also called black tea, owes its name to the colour of the fermented leaves; the same tea is called “red tea” in China in reference to the colour of the infusion. The quality of a cup of tea de- pends upon the choice of tea leaves (preferably the youngest and the highest), the type of soil, the exposure and finally on the type of water used. Etiquette has it that, when one drinks, one screens one’s cup with the free hand or, as in the old days, with one’s sleeve.jin ké kéng lai SOME FAMILY NAMES Bai Bao Chen Deng Feng Gao He Hu ti Jin Ke Kong Lai Li ae Bi et at FERRERS MI H HSH SB méng sang sun tian wong wei wén xf xia xie xt yang zhang Yang Zhang Zhou ZhuSEQUENCE 11,6 i UAH REP ? : RFA. TEAK? HE MER EKA? : RHEMA, BKEGR, : BKERILR? > BAR, BEMEPAP A. : MECMRI 4? ERA KRWAS KS? BREW Sw Bh w a RESEAAEP A. BMRA PH, BREBAR,H EMEPAD DH RRERKEKA MEK EM, KKH meee te: REAAECME, KRBZALECME,. ARALSEANA $Y. 2.4 Hie), BREBXK Ye oLBsosamt, WASP ek AERECHL. Ae SKHLE+F 3]. AZIM E CHE. HK Behe «vce.‘a NEW WORD a BAR shthou OF jinnian ‘’H feijt KE hudché R tian ap at xidoshi & pido ae Zud0 Be héi a zud BRA huilai & mai 3’ dud DB shto a le shénme shihou zénme Ga SP = * | (point in) time, (duration of) time this year aeroplane train day hour ticket by (means of transport) still to take (means of transport) to come back to buy (to be) numerous, many, much (to be) few [modal particle] when... ? how. ..?SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION hour, (point in) time, AW AOA, (duration of) time ited, aa 4& hou (ancient) period of five days; to wait eS jin present, current, today BR ign year EEE ee to sit down, to take, by (a means of transport) to fly machine hud fire Kah, Kb, kK, Kuk 4 ché chariot, vehicle (with wheels) Le FE be te lai to come to (direction), serve me AR, AR KF tian sky, day Fhe, oR eles RKxw,AA,AKA, RULAR mdi . to buy x K 8 tek £R,AR le {modal particle] RT (to be) numerous, many, much (to be) few = |e] 1] 46) 8 zMEMORY TECHNIQUE | a oN GS B+ sf “sun"+ “thumb” ® ¥ plants, manual work and the action of the sun 8s im &b {R + | “marquis” +a stroke (& “arrow” ) + 7 @ A a bell that announces the time by ringing (“jin! jin!”) 5 - ee? eee @Y ne cereal and a person, the annual harvest A XK + A+ two “people” + “earth” Ain two people greeting each other, sitting down eeb a a & K a bird unfolding its wings = = B CH A+ JL “tree” + “how many”‘one” + “rice” wheat a eRe CY — + K “one” +"big” @ R the celestial vault above a person, the canopy of heaven above oS CR 7 + Ka stroke +“heaa” FR\ i @ a shells in a basket 4 | Cy BR + FR “west” + “to reveal” @Y RF: ™ dolmen, a stone alter for offerings to the spirits B 2 + F wo “wwilights” CEb 5 the succession of many twilights B CH M+ “tte” and a stroke @ vty three grains of rice (variant of +I») rTGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. A new interrogative word 4% 814% shénme shihou “What time? When?”. Once again note the stability of the word order in the question and the reply. Bg 4 44H APH? & SHLAA EPAD 2. A new preposition 4 zud is used for means of transport except those that are ridden (bicycles, motorbikes, horses). It is a question of the action’s setting, of the circum- stances, The prepositional phrase formed in this way is placed before the verb. Bg & eM FAA, 3. & tidn and 4F nian are used without measure words becauuse as units of measure- ment(of time) they are themselves measure words. Eg. WR 4. 4.1 7 leis a final particle. It conveys a change of state which affects the whole ‘statement. E.g. RE EMBT~ (Now that) I’ve decided to buy plane tickets. Me PIGET . He’s learning Chinese now. RABIMT « (Now that) I’ve become a teacher. Roa AF To He has two children now. PRAST. (Now that) The population of China has in- creased. +4&AT! It’s July now. (July has just begun. ) 4.2 With verbs of action the negative is # méi or %& # méiydu (the negative sentence indicates that the change has not yet happened. Of course one can also use 63£ A hdiméi or 26% A méiydu). 5. 5.1 Idi can be used as a main verb, in which case it means“to come” and is placed together with its complement as is the case with the verbs & qu, =] hui and 7 zai. E.g. REA He’s coming to France.5.2 In = hullai, % Idi is a directional: placed after the verb of action, it indicates a movement towards the speaker or a place of reference. The other direction, a movement away from the speaker, is indicated by the directional + qu. Eg. a, He’ s going back. war, He’s coming back. 5.3. When the complement indicates a place it is placed between the verb and the di- rectional. Eg HMR, He’s going back home. APPLICATIONS tA A aba PB? BAF AS. wen UTE, EPH, LRERIUR? BAK. ME RPE TY? BRA foe? BT 4? HEPAT. EEWHA SFB? RS i ol92 CIVILISATION China is a country of discoveries and inventions. As well as paper, porcelain, the umbrella, matches, printing, paper money and gun powder, we also owe it, in the field of transport, the wheelbarrow invented one thousand years before it appeared in Europe. The Chinese also invented a wheelbarrow with a sail, the compass, the rudder and the parachute conceived one thousand five hundred years before the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci. The toy helicopter, from the fourteenth century A.D., went up into the air after a cord wrapped around the blade shaft was pulled. A text from the year 851 revealing the impressions of Arab merchants who reg- ularly followed the sea route towards India and China shows the first portrait of the Chinese to reach the West. It includes the following notions: >> “Poor or rich, old or young, all Chinese learn to write characters. ” >> “There is a school and a teacher to instruct the poor and their children in every town, These school teachers are fed with money from the treasury. ” >> “They have equipment to show and measure the time. ” >> “...a fragrant grass, strong and bitter. . . they drink it with hot water. ” (tea) >> “A pottery of excellent quality with which they make bowls as fine as glass bottles; one can see the water's shadow through them. ” (porcelain). Marco Polo took the route to China in 1272 and came back 23 years later. His account The Travels of Marco Polo had a long lasting impression on the imagi- nation of Westerners. When it is 10 a.m. in the U.K. , it is 4 or 5 p.m. (depending on the beginning of daylight saving time) in the whole of China.“SNOWBALL” VERSION 2 =e— AR, RKAKRRA-MRAB OUR, MMER, BH FRBAA MMM ARA-AER, LLP HR AERZA MM MBRADKS AARY Ky BAMBI MKF KAR HE ARR, SHAKE GM KMEKERL. FHA AH, KR A KALBF MAR, BAKFHEE, KAD ILA RBEB, MNHRKAERA EM, WEAAKF, LAMAKRA LH ZAMBAP A, ALIA RGARH, TEAM BER EHAKRG, ERKEABH, KRMREAQ HBB, LEMS BR? He ,see Sequence 3. 1SUPPLEMENTARY TEXT 1 nese “Just as in nature, in China the language offers Henri Michaud A Landscape Painting > & BEREX x A a Re hy A oT & & % hua picture iz yudn far & sé colour i jin close, near > ting listen Kk wi i& AT , without B® shéng noise & chin spring 4 nido bird tia jing to be afraid of A Chinese poem is read, is listened to. . . It is looked at as well: hE far... near (distance) A see. . . listen Week mountains. . . water (scenery) ase: K& to have. . . not to have (existence and non-existence) & t to go. . . to come (movement) we if oF % OFPART 2 Sequences 2.1 People 2.2 Studies 2.3 China “Snowball” Version 3 2.4 The House 2.5 Shopping 2.6 Transport “Snowball” Version 4SEQUENCE 2, 1 BTR tee [|_| RBA: DEM FARULT RULE AH? EAR: BTU, KAA: PAGE AT? EAR: £RAQ KAA: MPARIBP? EAR: RAMA, ELE, het: MMA AN RVR? ZAR: E#=A. RRA: USFSERKT? ZAR: =trxT? RRA: FRAT AMM MNREL. AL! ZAR: FR! ° a) RAD PRAA MY ZES, MIR-AALFALE DAR, FAH RAW RK, MRARAFHIM, A RAB OKBIL, AAR DIET , ARE, £ AA + pS Aae. “43P4, AME - ee ie: RWG. HAitde he LAKGER, wWH-74, Fok. Ars ae ALLik zuijin KE gunian EenOmNSIa ik Zhang BA Jidoyudn BR Wanmin ak huabdio MA péngyou Ze Lizhong R sul BY 1a] shjjian | PREPOSITION © 3] dao ADVERB & hdi [SEES RL jian Wy kéyi AK) kan (wan) K wan UR rénshi be zou QUALIFYING VERB We jit | EXPRESSIONS | MEE nihdo FL zaijian 3% duo lately, recently last year [surname] [given name] [given name] pictorial, illustrated magazine friend [given name] years old (duration of) time until still to meet, to see, to notice can, may, O. K. (to finish) reading to finish to know (a person, a character) to leave a long time hello! goodbye! how (big, long... )?SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION k a long time Rh to notice [resultative ] Pa the most. . . ik near, to be near ak apaee by means of VA VAS Kk zhang to stretch out; Mw Ke eq : Fk 4% io _ education BE RP, BI jido to teach aD 7 yuan first, unit AA, FA BR wan ten thousand Di, SF VAD: kK _min__ people AK, BK hud drawing, picture; to draw, 5L,32%,55,85 to paint (pictures) aA j& bao newspaper, to inform 4%, HAR, AAR, PIR % wan to finish [resultative] RTE, BE A peng friend you friend K ie I inside; li [unit of length] 3X B ARW RW, REA, 2 es & zhong heavy $£,E% WH fan to recognise KF HE i shi to know, to distinguish RF, RIF y sul years old BR x zu to walk, to leave KDA Ta) ian interval ? fa], Rial Ata i dao, until; to arrive at [resultative ] Es) Ri again Fi, BRMEMORY TECHNIQUE . a @ fee a person with a slowed down walk a —_— es 4 person and an eye : O Cy H+ (H+) . “sun” + “to take out”(“ear” + right hand radical) YT kR ga" remove a prisoner’s ear, an ancient sign of capture « A Bee ee | CR FF + 1 “pound” (weight) + walking radical . 3 re e@ le) a person using a ploughshare i. —_ CH + KK “bow” (archery) + “long” @ h a bow and a man with long hair. a [imams Cy + KL “filial piety” + hand holding a stick radical @ . an old person, a child and a hand holding a stick x EY ¥ , . Cy = + JL “two” + “cnitd” @ w fa person's head y s QB 8 centipede a pierced eye, a prisoner | | rca * eu Li + BE three strokes + “field” Dos instrument that draws out the boundaries of i cy Cy f+ BK hand radical + element of “submission” @ a person whose hands are immobilised being $y forced to confess = CQ 7 + FE roof radical + “unit” AA Gg A + AL two moons @ FF wo strings of jade 101R GS AF + MR hand radical + “again” @ 25 two hands joined together ew BR CO A+ ‘sun + “carn” @ Q a field and the earth (a hamlet) _——— Oy + Hh two strokes + “inside” @ a person carrying a load a @ 4 +9. word radical + “person” R RH CY 71 +A word sdica + “ony” BB CE pt F “mountain” + “ewitigne” @ ik two feet crippled by a weapon (therefore, annual sacri- 2 fice) ze Cy ais 4+: JE “earth” + “to stop” (foot radical) @ *K a person moving his arms and a foot Re CO TT + A “door” + “sun” @ Pg the moon seen through a crack in the door Weenies koateracieal (phonetic) a g an arrow stuck in the ground A oe BiosGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The construction #-- 7 bu (“Now that, . . not”). E.g. UAF ABT. He doesn’t study Japanese any more. RARFET I’m no longer a student. le corresponds to the English expression “no longer” 2. 2.1 A resultative is a secondary verb attached to the main action verb and expresses the result thus attained. The action verb and the resultative together form a complex verb. Directionals (see S. 1.6) are a type of resultative. 2.2 % wan is a resultative verb expressing the result of “finishing”. Eg. AZ finish reading (I read and the result is Ihave finished) WHE finish speaking Bw finish writing 3. The completed aspect or perfect aspect. 3.1 J le, placed immediately after the verb, is a completed aspect verbal suffix. It indicates that the action is seen to be finished. Bg RET ANF. I’ ve written three characters. LEMET ZA. Teacher Wang has bought three books. 3.2 The completed aspect is not the same as a tense, Like in English, the perfect aspect is not necessarily linked to the past. Bg. ABT REA. I will go to see you after having fin ished tea. RET EMBER. 1 will go to your home after having bought the plane tickets. 3.3. The negative sentence uses the negative 2& méi or 4 méiyou omitting the J le. Eg RA(A)EH. Ihave not bought any books. 1034.4.1 4.2 5. g 6. 3] ‘The construction % -+- #4) shi---de usually encompasses the part at the end of a sentence containing the adverbial phrase. It is an emphatic term of phrase indi- cating that the circumstances not the action are the most important (date, place, means... ). E.g. Ret — ILA IL-4 484. He was born in 1989 (the important fact being not that he was born but that he was born in 1989). PATRE FAR, We met each other last year. RAH KMEM © I went by plane. This construction is generally used for events that have already occured. It ex- cludes the use of the verbal suffixes J le and it guo. U6 linked to certain qualifying verbs is an interrogative of measure. Eg. HSK? How old are you? (How big in age?) ABA HLA BK? How big is that place? ABS HE? How heavy is this book? dao is a new preposition relating to destination. Eg AS] PAS, I'm going to China. APPLICATIONS ARABIA ALT 4? RAKT RELAMZ. BAAR IB? He AW MA 4ABARAT A BP ARIAT 64? PINREFH=AUVRH BREAZEM? RALEME Ho HAF SRKT? TAFT. HRT LA? RET ARH. HSI MILA TF? RILEE. 105To ask somebody's age, etiquette requires that the question “4k /L¥ T 2 Niji sul le?” is reserved for children and that “4k $ & # #& J ?Nidudddsuishule?” is said to adults. In ancient times to indicate one’s age, for example a thirty-year old person, a polite expression which literally meant “I have uselessly passed thirty years of my life” would be used. The signs of the Chinese Zodiac are connected to the year of birth. Knowledge of a person’s sign allows one to guess his age. Confucian wisdom teaches that “At thirty one’s opinions are already formed, at forty all doubts are overcome and at fifty one knows the will of heaven. ” Traditionally when a child is born he/she is already one year old. The child’s second birthday is celebrated as soon as the new year passes. Noodles are eaten when celebrating a birthday. They symbolise long life. The usual way of greeting someone is to say “vt 7%? Ni chifan le ma?” (“Have you eaten?”). At appropriate times other expressions can also be used such as £ #4 shdngbanqii (“You're going to work!”) or #2 jinchéngqu (“You’ re going to town!”). In the place of goodbye the expression 121% & manmanzéu (“Go slowly!”) is used in the same way. Laughter (% xiao) is a departure from convention and can be the expression of different emotions: >> It is sometimes a reaction to a tragic situation and in this case indicates a distancing from the events or the desire not to embarrass the other person (BX canxito). >> An expression of anger or a way of trying to control one’s anger (% % léngxido). >> An expression of lack of understanding; in this situation it is used to main- tain a bold front. The expression “maybe” (> #&, kénéng) often conveys information that is com- pletely certain (“Maybe he went to the shop to buy meat to make ravioli”) . This is a way of indicating that one does not want to interfere in other people’ s business.RIDDLE RIA LAL RAAWA@ = @QEQGRGSRS Ph BRASS Se Be SeSEQUENCE 2, 2 HSR MET SRM T? | Ue Pit IGG? Pit. MM? : RLALAFRE, > ETS KT? : MAGE PARE T HT ARETE. : RAP REAR? : SU—- KIL, KRAH 2 ERA AR, SPRL TET AES? : SRR. PREMERA. 2 PRMILR LR? RK: AREER, ARERR. RMAELAPZRIE, SRPMARER, LRFTR. RK AGEN FRG AE T FT RR ET FH MERI RIL, Riba oP RARE, AMARTH, AOR TAKE. @ ERR AY BEAK , HE IP BLAS TE AHR AL OTHE = MEM RR a RMA EAE. GRAMAN SLR ERE. Mazo dF 2s F 3-43 AS, AIRE MLK 2 RAD. PL 1S Ae AGEs Ae ROH EIE , wT eh, EVP Ei ik Hp TELAE xianzdi wR zuétian ee jintian ae dién HE ban ae tongxué + ban te hua RK kewén Ex zhéngzai R zhi 110 now yesterday today o'clock class, team classmate half word text (in a lesson) to be in the process of onlye hui ae, néng A (+) kan(shi) oT ting te dong ae nin ECR) shang (ke) FAR) xia (ke) /— QUALIFYING VERBS — k chéng [SEEXPRESSION = DORK mamahaha _ INTERROGATIVE — Skat iq dudchéng shijian CONSTRUCTION — oY AAR ++de shthou to know how (to do something) to be able to, can to read to listen to understand to read out aloud to go to (class) to finish (class) long so-so how long?(how much time?) when ll12 SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION xian resent, manifest zheng __ just, right, correct ay RL iE chang _ long, to be long KR zhting to grow up; boss [suffix] KR KK EK 3E ban class, team SEK, ERE, FH A tong together; the same Bat AB R zhi onl RAE, ban __ half FR, — FIL, SF HIL 4 bul to know how to do something, 2L,2K,L2, Retort FE, MA,—BIL, BRS fié__néng can; possibly; capable WH an) a course, class RA #& hud __ word, language thie, P BiG, RIF oT ting to listen HR, HS, Ie te déng _to understand BB ht tiger BF, we 2uU6 yesterday & nian —_to read aloud OH xia underneath; to go down, to get off EF, FR, FHMEMORY TECHNIQUE BD BO] E+ WM “hing” + “to notice” : = aay Gg — + JE “one” +“to stop” (foot radical) @ eu a straight foot in front of a line kt &R @ * ‘a perton with Jong hair BE CS E+ Y+ FE “king” +knife radical + “king” @ EF eo cree es Be rae (ee) A eY fal Where the lid and the mouth of a vase meet. R Cy 1 +J)\ “mouth” + “eight” a eee ee OB aeuepor ZN e CH A + Z “person” + “cloud” @ As a food container and its lid sS ._ - a co A+A+E “private” radical + “moon” + two daggers @ Bd a bear, its power 3114 % # egb 1 + FR word radical + “fruit” Be scevasti ae * ees 4. + FH word radical + “tongue” v5 words and a tongue sticking out of the mouth s & Bb 11 + FF “mouth” +“a pound” (weight) | ie Bb $ + 7% + EB heart radical + grass radical + “heavy” —_———— @ 4 ay a tiger RE CH A + 7E “sun” +collar radical & Cy FF + ve» “the present” + “heart” @Y 3 to make real in the heart — 10 keep something in mind - Qs “J a symbolic point under a lineGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The interrogative of duration (“for how long?”) is $ X #hia]“duéchéng shijian?” or “$A dudjiu?”. The duration of a completed action is placed after the verb. E.g. 4 T ¥ KATHY? How long did you study? 2. The sentence with two J le. A sentence can contain the perfect aspect verbal suffix T le and the final change of state partcle J le at the same time. Eg RPT =F, I have studied for three years. (I stopped studying at some undefined time in the past. ) RFT ZT. — rhave studied for three years. (until now) 3. The potential or the adverbial (phrase) of result. 3.1 The potential is a construction that is used to indicate whether or not the result of the action is achieved. 3.2. It is therefore constructed from the complex verb: Verb + Resultative (or di- rectional). To indicate that the result can be or has been achieved, the particle 4 de is placed between the verb and its resultative. To indicate that the result has not been or cannot be achieved the negative 7% bu is placed between the verb and its resultative. E.g. HFA TERS? Do you understand? Do you manage to understand (by listening)? RA RIE. Idon’t understand. I failed to understand, (I read and I failed to achieve the result of comprehension). 3.3 This construction does not incorporate the perfect aspect. Eg RATE I didn’t understand. I failed to understand. 15APPLICATIONS Ue Pit RIGG? RRP? RET SKM T? RFT SFT. Mi LY? RA AIL, MAP Hy? RA MAP KH 0 BIG AD TE ME AEE? RATE RABE. MAME ES? RARER. A FMAT IE LAR? FRAMARER, 116© Statistics tell us that the most common 560 characters represent 80% of all the characters used in books, newspapers and magazines. With the next most com- mon 940 characters, i. e. a total of 1500 characters, this represents 96% of all the characters found in such material. With the addition of a further 700 characters, ie. a total of 2200, one can cover over 98% of the sum of characters in modern reading material. © The character #) is far above all other characters in order of frequency. On av- erage it appears four times in very 100 characters. The next most common characters in order are —, 7 ,%,#,AR,#,H,A.... © If one views characters from the point of view of their combining capacity i. e. their capacity to compose new words, it is the character -} that is dominant, found in 668 words, followed by F,K,3,A,— and &. The official primary school programmes name the following objectives: to mas- ter 2500 characters by the age of 9 and 3000 by the age of 12. The learning of characters alone occupies almost half the time during the first years of primary education. China has handed down its examination system which first appeared 1500 years ago to the West. The candidates were recruited by the criterion of knowledge and not by heredity. They arrived at the exam site in boats decorated with flags bearing the name of the examination and were greeted by the sound of gongs and cannons. They were shown to wooden cubicles, two metres long and in poor condition. The contents of their dissertation were of little importance. However the candidate had to ensure that the eight-legged essay had a high standard of calligraphy and that a “dignified”, “informal”, “serious”, “grave” or “subtle” tone was adopted as required. 117MAP OF CHINAan) = SEQUENCE 2,8 ROR PRALAS 3) |_| Je ee De ar es me : RAR—AAM, PRADA SY? : AF AR Zr! : BARS AM, KK S HK? A Foih , THARK PC! ABR Ani HZ? RPEIIAGHY, PHAGARS, PHARRT Bo 2 Me Aai LF 0 EK EMILY? LR. 2 Mesh snii tA? > DRALSAL WHAM Hw, PR A—TAB ADRS, KE KARK. GMMR, EP RG, REM P HATERS, PHAMKT OM. RAUAF HER, WHERALA, VRALBARA, Dy SPM ABI AES NIOSH. WO 2 ee Ge, te ee ot: Ya - 5 «19. Athy o &52 Bsthe. BK ; “aFilow. Ase Sh POT HE i120 EW WORD aK na me wenti Aw rénkou Kin Changjiang #4 Hudnghé vg )i| Sichuan Bate zixingché RF kudizi BUF Kéngzi ER laojia wa Hunan wae Hubéi Rid d6ngbian mi nanbian A yong # zai a wen Fait zhidao TH kénéng vt, chi »t, (th) chi(fan) v2, ba dudshao Sal [oo] ] well then, in that case question, problem population the Long River, the Yangtze River the Yellow River Sichuan Province bicycle chopsticks Confucius country of origin, old home Hunan Province Hubei Province east south by means of again to ask to know it is possible that, maybe to eat to cat [final particle of consent, asking for con- sent] how may? how much?SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION wen to ask, to inquire rst, Fe, A ed theme, problem; to write 25 an inscription $a zh to know sq, ji do way WR, we, A ve, ba [final particle] jx jing river 24,08, ith 3 huang yellow KH HB 3] Ohé river Ahh, a Q) chuan river Ha oneself HAK, AF, AE 4% xing to walk, to go BRAG? ATA, AFH, BR, / hang — line of business 4F, AT, SMT FAL__yong to use, using; with, by Jk, AI RAIA, RAE means of $ —_kudi_—_ chopsticks »t& chi _—_toeat APG, 3F°C, RIFE 4h fin cooked rice, meal, food R48, BHR, PIR, FIR lL kong ___hole, [surname] RR 34 bin side Ce as bw Fee, YA hd lake A“SINOGRAMS MEMORY TECHNIQUE A Ce 11+ 0 “door” +*mouth” @ R q a mouth between a double door ) CH B+ W “tobe” + “page” (arch. “head”) $a rey CQ K+ A “arrow” + “mouth” @ an to achieve knowledge by words like an arrow ny Ec co CS B+ “head” +walking radical @ AN to be guided (head: eye and hair) in walking Ai ee | . & —aSmesteia Cy +E “mouth” +“boa” oe CH § + TL water radical +“boa” Ce ‘a water course and the space between the two banks a: 3 MP2SZ SSSR Cy + — +H + /\ grass radical + “one” + “origin” + “eight” @ z afield, the colour of light or fireWy CH § + A water radical + “power” ni @ tt a water way 4 CH ++ apoint +“eye” @ 8 ‘a nose (indicate oneself by pointing to the nose) oe Cee Bey ett: “make a step with the left foot” (arch. ) + “make a step with the right foot” (arch. ) a 1 A Ree e HH a bucket, a container (its use) ¥ i 3 # BB “bamboo” + “fast” or “mouth” + “breath” (abbr. “() a breath emitted by the mouth; to stutter Cees go Ne. B e eb Tat food radical + “to oppose” = eB $ a child, marked at the place of the fontanelle ( hole) 32 By H+ “Fone” + watking radical ma CH § + BCH + A) water radical + “barbaric” (“antique” + moon”) —124) GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS. . There are two interrogatives that mean “How many/much?”, JU ji and $s dudshdo. 1.1 JU jf used for numbers less than ten. It is followed by a measure word. E.g. SRILA ILAA? How many people are here? 1.2 $4 dudshdo can be used in any situation. It is generally used without a mea- sure word. Eg ASY PBA? How many Chinese are there? . "ba, as a final particle, can be either interrogative or exclamatory. It is used to gain the consent or the approval of the listener. It can therefore be used to tone down an order. E.g. Bre! Go on, write! (You write it! ) Ree P BAP? He is Chinese isn’t he? . The preposition J yong introduces an adverbial phrase of means, Like all preposi- tions, Ml yong is placed before the verb. E.g. PRAM RF°C4K. Chinese eat with chopsticks. HLA RRB, He drinks /is drinking tea from a tea cup. . To show location, locative words are placed after the noun. E.g. GPUS outside the plane Ae Bid inside the tea house 2A bit above the map SIRF under the illustrated magazine RRR east of my home Pee mid south of the middle schoolAPPLICATIONS Ae A LAS ASR? RAZA MM, BHAA SY? KREASK? PBA Ht 4 rete? PAAR RF OR. ala A AL BIL? A El & Rid,126 The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are among the longest rivers in the world (over 5000 km long). The former, in the north, has watched Chinese civilisation and the Chinese empire grow around its banks. The latter is a little like the Loire in France—it constitutes a geographical separation between the cultures of the North and South. Sichuan is the most populous province in China with 115 million inhabitants. There are more than eight million bicycles in the whole municipality of Beijing. Confucianism and Daoism are the two major schools of thought that have in- fluenced China, and to a certain extent other Asian countries, up to this day. >> The teachings of 314 Confucius (551-479 B.C. ) are a code of social morals and a complete set of governmental principles. This code stresses that everything (and everybody) should conform to its natural place. The ideas of % Laozi (put forward in the ti #& #4 Daodéjing or The Way of Virtue) and of #4 Zhuangzi (fourth century B.C. ), the origin of modern Daoism, are mainly philosophy. This school of thought is one of intuition, movements, relativity and nature and is manifested especially in Universal Daoism, its own laws, as well as in the movements of traditional gymnastics and landscape painting in Chinese ink. —“The virtue of the prince is like the wind, that of the people like the grass. When the wind blows the grass bends”. (Confucius) ——“We model clay to make vases but to use them we depend on the empti- ness inside.” (Laozi) ——“Nothing anywhere is more supple and less resistant than water; however, there is nothing which overcomes better what is cold and strong. ” (Laozi) ——“Whoever uses a hook, a string, compasses or set square to adjust things offends nature. Whoever uses rope, string, glue and lacquer to secure things goes against their natural qualities”. (Zhuangzi)RHUARGR, WRR—-HK,MREF EM. GIL BRE IRAE SPL, REWURAY , OH PK RAH, HK, REBMALHEAG OIL, H-LHG JL, LBP LAA T MH GH GARG A RK FT “MZ ME, "RB, —P SAA P BG ILG Hid A RASH, REMEPRSPEAGAHAEA, ROMA EELA-H. PA SILRG A. LEW REFRER LIE TUK GIL, REP HA LRG IL, KGW, ik BWLE RF BILEA WHS FRR BAF, AB MRR Hee PSF. KK, PRA, AMBER TR. TRAM AE AF APIA AE? 127YR Es YRS Heh ANY, EATS ey uA Ue {N) x Ze VE i Eas es ty a 7 ys ae q iS yA RIES (gS 7SEQUENCE 2,4 Pe Dee Lee ee aR? RZ. ADE. Hut! Ht! FH ASR? : MAR? WEAR? : RAM BA, LHAT. REARS : EAAMORT MATRT! RAFT 2 WRAP AME BIL? : HEMET CRABB, HRRRRRALA. 1: RRMA BE, TAG? : TR, RADE RH CIRARFE, WRALEM EZ PELE, MANA -ALMIL, WALD, MARTH PURE KA. DRAPE a BH HRA, RBH RRABMAREAHMM AR eB Ber rtd wh Ray. REF. eA FA OL. He FZ 4hEG GA Echhe . SEAR CMa eihiL . wre SE, ALAR IEA B MRSA A, 129NEW WORD [ee] BK mingtian ¥ shi 4k bao 4¥ gage BF fongzi weak dianbao. KE daléu wis dignhua z li oR gen Es géi Ri gang x tai e ging at jin ae gan we chiqu Ls shangbén thie xioxi te at 130 tomorrow thing newspaper older brother house telegram building telephone from with, accompanied by to (somebody) just now, just this instant too please... to enter to do to go out (leave) to go to work, to start work to have a rest to live at (reside) to hit to be far to be lovely (cute) [modal particle]SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION qing to invite, please. . . it HA BE jin to enter [resultative] Bh ER BEE F gan to do, to work HEF FS? gan dry +H 3 _shl_thing, even afar AF AE AF OEE RJ gGng just now, this instant I) A) i chi to go out [resultative] howe he weak 4 xi to rest, to cease i breath, message Ki t00, very AMAA ge older brother AF SF, VL 4% zh to reside, to live at/in [resultative] 4% fe Fe % & fang house, room Ii away from, to leave dian electricity ll RE BR AEG a BL, BA, BF, Bs & léu building with storeys, pavilion Be = yuan (to be) far 2 Sk ming clear; clarity gén with; accompanied by; to follow We A | a» aS géi to (somebody); to give to [resultative ] at dé to hit at FHL, tr KH, ATI, ATH 131MEMORY TECHNIQUE (te aia Ce 1+ BF ivocd radical + “blue green” @ #: SE a grain of cinnabar, symbol of colour and vegetation | a CFF + Bova went” + walking radical @ FH te opening ofa wer + HH @ 2708 8) a hand holding a writing tablet case | A} ay + WF phonetic element + knife radical _————_ | Cr —— Ka Foot tearing «place Ke CE f+ AK person radical + “tree” @ t fh a person lying against a tree & CB + ves “onesett” + “hear” @ GB tere and he ear K Cp variant of 132 aF GH WW + BH two “power” AE GS {1 + person radical + “main” @ Ay a person and a torch; a man, master of the house & Ce FP + A single door radical + “direction” @ FR ‘a house and the orientation of the compass points cea | See ee ees ce Co H+ L “suns astroke yY a rain and lightening going across a field He HE OK + K+ “tee” + rce” + woman” 3 EE + unit” + watking radical "A CS H+ “sun™+*moon” @ o)) the light of the day and that of the night cy 4 CX E+ Beg radical + phonetic element ew ¢ Ng leg radical + foot and knee cap a BCE + sit radical +“t0 close” @ @ an opening and its cover 4 cy §+T hand radical + “man” (arch. “nail”) @ ¥T ahand and a nail 133GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. In the following case the final particle %@, ne shows the absence of change, the action is taking place, and in the process of being completed. E.g. RARE. Tam reading the newspaper. 2. Three new prepositions appear: 3X gén (preposition of accompaniment), #4 gi at- tributive preposition) and 8 Ii (distance preposition). The latter is used in the fol- lowing way: AB BfRit A in relation to B(i. e. the distance between them) is far away. AB BR A in relation to B is not far away. Eg. MIRE, I'm going with him. MANE TI —AH [bought him a book. *P EE BV4R3Z, China is far from France. 3. In the clause E347 shdngban qui le, -.#t shangbin has the value of an adverbial of purpose. Eg. MEPET. He went to buy (with the purpose of buying) books. WERKGET. He went (with the purpose of) shopping. PEERET 5 Little Wang has gone to class. APPLICATIONS MEH AR? RAR.UAE ED BRPRAF RE HEPA MBL? WEB BKB RE , BARMIRIEA A te? RRREAL At Merde te 18? RASMAA BIE, RAAB IE, TAG? WA. ee ee136 Tradition requires that a bride goes to live with her husband’s family; the char- acter meaning “to get married” for a woman + ji is in fact composed of the woman radical combined with an element meaning family. A married woman keeps her own surname. The policy of birth control in China (“one child per family”) is the opposite of the Confucian attitude which holds that children must look to their parents and grandparents. This policy will surely, sooner or later, have significant consequen- ces on the usage of the terms for relatives. If there is any brain-racking task in learning Chinese it is not in remembering characters but rather in mastering the names of relatives. The Chinese language in fact has terms that are specific in collaterality and in generation, reflecting the importance of the family and of hierarchy: FF gége older brother AH didi younger brother HSE jidjie older sister dR meéimei younger sister WM nainai paternal grandmother tee \Golao maternal grandmother 4848 bobo uncle, father’s older brother AAR shishu uncle, father’s younger brother =Small seal characters (221-207 B.C. ) Grass style calligraph} (from 206 B.C. ) Oracle bone characters (14-11 B.C. ) Chariot |g Sh & & a 4(#) & Horse ¥ 4 §, 3 3 34h Z mo |P Rh Rm & ae & ae a oe oe Mounsin |) WW ely wi Ussintog: | Z B = % &(§) @ torick | f FF * % 4% To notice r z g Ry ap Regular script (from 220 A. D. ) Running style calligraphy (from 220 A. D. ) Bronze characters (11-3 B.C. )SEQUENCE 2,6 BUR “HAR? oe] 2 MAILE? BAA, : WASH ARIAL ALATA AEA, : R-MILAR,-QILEEA ECRMER UF? tPA AVAAE ORF MAA BURT RAR ve! 2 WIA RFS? RRB. RA EF CHA IK. MEM! att! Ar GE MA HRARAMACMR PRR, APE RAS, Aw, A AFA, RERT-—MILAK, RMABETI—PIL AL, MRR AAR BE T ORR AIRF HR BART PERK RRA EF PCR BMNPER @ ET ADD AT. a Wz AILA MRL SPOT IA. Aierbem EMS AY Ad APM. Ke$s-Gro SE AMLE SZ -USER ov AOMM, PAE OSHA Lo tha AMAL AG 3d QEebak. ATL MGS WEATERTE HACE wet at ant. 139140 39] MEASURE WORDS Ki wei IL fenr A lang NOUNS K cdi & yu a i a nidrou 4h yangrou at boicai $#H giiléoréu RMR mifan em jidozi BAR fanguén ADVERBS & xian IRE manman VERBS & \6i Hi zud He e rie tingshud QUALIFYING VERBS Be kudi EXPRESSIONS RR bucud aha xiexie NEW WORD [a polite Mw for people] [Mw for parts] [one tenth of a jin] dish (of food) fish chicken beef mutton or lamb Chinese cabbage caramelised pork (lit: ancient meat) cooked rice ravioli restaurant first, firstly slowly (here) bring me... to do, to make to be hungry to have heard about to be fast, quick not bad! thank you!SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION vegetables, dish, food Rib, BH, WHR, RR, ERR KK place, polite; [Mw for people] ya fish aF, 6K i chicken, fowl ah, K 2h beef, cow KA rou meat BY sheep, mutton, Jamb fen part, portion By UR bai white Hk, 4,978, #H, 8m |S [46 |S |e LB [le |e old, antique KX mi rice RADA, AB A jido ravioli TAR Be zud___to do, to make aL et cud error, erroneous; to make a mis- 4$it 44, 5 AE take, to be wrong [resultative] oe to be hungry x xian first, earlier HA HK iS kudi___ fast, quick, happy RS, RR KR RK slow, slowly to thank Sit it, Bit =142 MEMORY TECHNIQUE R cy GE ~~ +H grass radical +“to pick” @ % grass and a hand above a tree 4b GH {1 + person radical +“to stand up” @ Ag a person and an individual standing up - @ g a long tailed bird a eY Ma a buffalo head - 3 aii eY A ‘meat fibres & @ ¥ a ram's head with two horns . 8 aaa Cy { + DUN + TY) person radical + “to share out” (division radical + “knife”) Ny fa person, to separate with a knife a cE + BH astroke + “sun” @ 6 a grain of rice? a finger nail? the sun? a flame?CH ++ “ten” + “mouth” @ & to call up the distant past (ten, symbol of many years) @ x an ear of rice with its grains me BR CR GI T + 3B food radical + “to join” @ ‘a covered rice container and a person with his legs en crossed (to “join” up the two edges of a piece of pasta when making ravioli? What is eaten at the “junction” of two years?) person radical +“old” +a hand holding Co {++ sk stick radical a eR Cx & + FF metal radical + “formerly” @ 2 A two chunks of minerals buried in the ground ¥ 5 to speak of an ancient flood (water and mouth) th BR OST + BR food radical + “1” cy @ ¥ a foot above a person, to precede someone CH t + R__ heart radical +phonetic element CH ft + B heart radical +phonetic element a A GH 1 + B+ Ff word radical + “body” + “thumb” =GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The optative verbs 4 hui and ## néng can be modified by the adverbs 4 hén and tdi, which is also the case for qualifying verbs and verbs of emotion but not for action verbs. n . Three new measure words appear in this lesson: 4 wei which adds a nuance of dif- ference compared with 4+ g@; 4 fén views things in parts or copies and # ling, a unit of weight. E.g. X42) this teacher (polite and respectful) ZAP IL ALK AAR” — three copies of Beijing Daily — Ais a liang of alcohol APPLICATIONS ARAN TUE? BTA DAS MAE ZR? R-MILE RK, UAE RMB RUN F ? tRF |MAE IL ARF? BARF. HANS ARS? BMA. RBM. UR TB? BURT o BARE MAE AIF? BAER o Mee! HEH IRA RR? Biko T© Chinese cuisine has around ten thousand dishes and on the whole includes four major cuisines (some people distinguish eight and others even twelve! ). >> Cantonese cuisine: This is the most famous, most varied and most exported southern cuisine. It often has a sweet flavour and is famous for its ,& didnxin or dimsums, small steamed snacks. “The Cantonese eat everything that flies except aeroplanes and everything with four legs except tables”. This saying refers to dishes such as weasel, snake and even monkey brains, One of its most famous dishes is “The battle of the tiger and the dragon”, made with wild cat and snake. Northern cuisine: Represented above all by recipes from Shandong, this cuisine is characterised by its salty flavour and the use of spring onions. It includes Beijing roast duck which is not a dish but a whole meal of duck in itself: the giblets, the skin (roasted over glowing cinders of jujube wood and eaten with green onions; special paste and pancakes), the meat itself and capping off the meal a soup made from the bones or tongues. Rice is the cereal of the South but wheat dominates the North (ravioli, steamed bread and noodles). Sichuan cuisine: heavily seasoned. Shanghai cuisine: known for its soups and fish dishes. Chinese cuisine is a “philosophical” cuisine. It must respect the universal alternation of Yin and Yang. This occurs between the hot and cold, light and spicy flavours, soft consistencies (meat stuffing )and crunchy consisten- cies (water chestnut, crunchy chicken skin), light colours (fish) and lively colours (green onions). As each dish has its own norms, in a restaurant it is not possible to ask that the meat be cooked in a certain way. Rice is an accompaniment. It is usually served after a meal and is even absent from receptions. Shark fins have no particular taste of their own, they are appreciated for their consistency when cooked. Carrots are not appreciated for their taste but rather for their colour and for the fact that they can be carved. The French expression “tchin - tchin!” comes from the Chinese if, i qing, qing (“Please, please! ”).Vr WER mes bee wey 147SEQUENCE 2,6 RR REBH? =2— AR RA? EHRIRANUR. SVR—-ik? hd, M— He, MAILS] KB A ILSB? 3b ih) SIAR EREARE? FU SRRA+IBAF, = 25 # 5h AEM IL? FEE AHA, MRT A—BESE, S| ALK ER AMIUF #? Wi. RMMSRANEAZALA, MGIB Z SOBA RM +3 AGF, FT FRRATAK, ARENT. THE, BARRA, AMEILA BOM SRAL MOGHRE wR AL, € an) Ap BEATE OEE MUAH Tee VRRP E+ hoot. t 1h Beets h. aK wat. bE AHABERRK, MEE] mom REE, wok JEKILABD.,ak zhang & mado > fén aR kudi ak zhan 3h la REN Tidn’anmén Re qian BR yiyuan & che RE qiché #3 chézlian ay gin wn Qianmén ay Xisi BR cong 4 wang aw jiu & géi of xia *A gingwén scuperss hou 150 [Mw for objects with a flat surface] mao (a tenth of the money unit yuan) fen (a hundredth of a yuan) yuan, money unit [Mw for distance between two stations /stops] (Mw for bus routes] Heavenly Peace Gate money hospital car, vehicle bus, car bus stop, bus station in front Qianmen [name of a place] Xisi [name of a place] from, since towards so, therefore to give to to get off Excuse me; May I ask. .. afterSINOGRAMS PRESENTATION & an peace, tranquillity BR KEKE mén door, gate 17a, AN, 8 qian money APR TER MH & mao hair, mao (one tenth of E=> a yuan), [surname] to divide up; fen (one DH ADL FM, hundredth of a yuan), minute 4>4>,-+4> fen part FORD LD 3k kudi—_ piece, unit of currency RIL FRE céng _ from, following, since BR aly to be standing up; station BK, KASS HSS Bs, £2,7h,5R yuan internal courtyard, BF, RK, Fhe establishment yi medicine; to cure, to treat road, [Mw for bus routes] Mit BL, ay, 3% + FH steam, gas after, behind Heih R,BR FFE Aa WE, AB ABN towards, in the direction of, 42, 72°F (in the) past; to go ABAE, RAE HAW AM, BH AAR fz wang gian in front of, before i so, therefore 151152 MEMORY TECHNIQUE & GQ 7 + KX roof radical + “woman” @ a ‘a woman under a roof, symbol of stability elem io @ pq a double door a2 a A Ce + 3B metal radical + phonetic element . . = a ae Gy IN + J) eight (division radical) + “knife” @ ) NX separate by using a knife He wR CH +R “cath” 4“phonetic element” Bh BR PD A+ A wwo peopte @ \ 4 a person following another 3 Ce 2 + 15 “standing up” + “to foresee” i. Cy [LC + K graphic element + “arrow” @ & ‘medicine, the field of arrow woundshill radical + “to finish” & eg. at (see “a prince’ s residence surrounded by the é A steps on a hill, a chief under a roof ql wall radical”, arch. ) > witnantin rea 2 y Go ha EB + 2X + D1 leg radical + reverse foot radical + mouth 0 4 the leg and a foot in front of an opening | 3 =) SE sk a e “ c i” $+ AQ water radical + “air” He water and the steam rising from cooking rice 2 ideas achild behind an adult # + FE “to make a step with the left foot” + “main” 3 A A AY 2+ + F+W graphic element + “moon” +knife radical » the foot, symbol of movement and a boat ay ia a¥ eb e eRe ebeRBe BBGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. Six new measure words: # zhéng, for objects with a flat surface (sheets of paper, beds etc. ); 3 kudi, & mo and 4 fén, related to money (3& kudi also being a more general measure word meaning a piece of... ); 3 zhdn for the distance be- tween two stations and % IU for bus routes. Eg. KE three tickets SAHRA this newspaper —F (RR) one fen —4( KR) one mao HR (AR) two kuai (two yuan) — 35 (da) one station (the distance between two stations) BE bus No. 1 2. Two new prepositions: sA céng, which introduces a point of departure in space or time and 4 wéng which introduces a direction. E.g. AAS) A from January to June AGH S)_E A — from Beijing to Shanghai FEAL to go towards the north 3. In Chinese the expression “How much does. . . cost?” doesn’t need a verb. E.g. £4 SYA? How much does this book cost? (This book/how much money?) KARBBER, This book costs five yuan. (This book/five yuan. ) 4, The adverb #t ji is used to stress the arrival of a new situation. E.g. 4£ 37%, #2 — Go forward and (therefore) the number 22 bus stop =—+=%£35, — will be just there. RAR, RGLA If you don’t come, Wl go. If you don’t come, therefore, I’ll go.APPLICATIONS ARKH? A FARKSIAZNHE, SVR? ZR, MGEILAY RRNA USE? a HM, REBEL A? MEPaBAF, STAB ASE MIL? BHAKA. SA RABAMIL FF?On the Day of the dead or #88 Qingming (pure brightness) the custom is to burn false paper money in front of the grave so that it will reach the deceased and be of use during their long voyage. Tn ancient times the first money was cowry shells. This explains the presence of the shell radical in characters referring to wealth. The character 4% gidn, “money”, is composed of the metal radical and a pho- netic element which also seems to have a connotation of depreciation. It is also found in #% jian “despicable” and in 3% qidin “superficial”. The northern Chi- nese traditional idea of money is reflected in the character itself. @ The Chinese invented paper money between the ninth and tenth centuries A.D., more than 800 years before it appeared in the Western world. This didn’t fail to grab the attention of Marco Polo who wrote, “All these pieces of paper are issued with as much reverence and authority as though they were made of pure gold and silver. Different officials in charge of the printing write their name and affix their seal on every note.” @ The official name of Chinese money is Renminbi. The monetary unit is yuan; ff jiio and 3> fén correspond respectively to one tenth and one hun- dredth of a yuan. In colloquial Chinese yuan and jiao are called + kudi and &, méo respectively. @ Other currencies include: TERR falang the franc roa méiyudn the U. S. dollar Awa riyuan, the yen RE yingbang the pound sterling Kh gangbi the Hong Kong dollar 4 z% make the mark Bis ma the lira labo the roubleHERA — AB FMA BME T FULT, PRR FOR BA, BAUER MRE ROPER, FHA ROE BAR Y SR, BRR KAUR A-PDF ORD, AN BOAR, RA LAME ROBE, EMORK, REAKBR To AANA FO EKERARUR, RUAN, AHR KR, HARES F YH, MELLABRKK, WERE, SRAE ¥F, RAB LGR AK, BAR, ARP PRMAF Ko BRS. RAT CPILKMAR REAR T PIL LF PPL GH, REAM EKA MAAR RAM, BE RECN, RARRMPER, RPT R—RILMG ARI 18 id, ih EAR. LEIS RAISE ET AB, EM RARE, APB F. MHRA. MEMBER TAS AB AH EME SR. AR, ALE FAB IMREF 157SUPPLEMENTARY TEXT 2 ee Zhuangzi and the Butterfly EF Fo BAR R-K EF RED LIGT OMT AP, PLR RRA WR, CCAA, CAS RECT MAT MRLKT AF FR CREF. LMR, EFL. UK OMUOMERAMH EFL, CARRS BEF? WALK RPM T RE EMBL T 1b? aa AF Zhuangzi (ancient Daoist philosopher) RR hudié butterfly He huayuén garden REA shulzhéo to fall asleep SR méngjian to dream that R zhi [Mw for certain animals] € ta it RE zulhou finally K lei to be tired 4 xing to wake up K zhén really; true SINOGRAMS B zhuang village , [surname ] ¥ ho butterfly R dié butterfly ae shui to sleep ¥ méng dream 159160 PROVERBS RAZA When the wind blows the grass moves. Bow Without lips, teeth would get cold. FARCE, FRE AE SE, LEY Eat one’s fill at breakfast, eat well at lunch and eat little at dinner. BYR AE Th AR ak Trees wait for the calm but, nonetheless, the wind keeps blowing. PRES Make noise in the east to attack in the west. BARR, FLA Whoever watches a game of chess sees more clearly than the players. TERA BAT IFA When you drink water, don’t forget those who digged the well.PART 3 Sequences Bee ae ace) oe BR ueltay 3.3 China “Snowball” Version 5 3.4 The House 3.5 Shopping 3.6 Transport “Snowball” Version 6ahs 6 © Hergé / CastermanSEQUENCE 8, RZ At Aw? = KRE;, MAHAR? BLE: (TT). MARRRAMHMAH ER, KREG: RH? GRE, KAM, MALAAPYH? KE: Hit, HEKRAPRMALB? BP, MINKRERZAW, TRAREKIN. KA: GRA MAB F BRP, KWAK, TREAKEM AIL. KRG: ARB MAK AA CIR RBAA ARP, THARZ. WRASRKLAAT, WAFL elle, KG, BH RPRARAR. PURER(TT)RAB WRERTT EDA, RAH LM ALE AL, MUAH (TTILELM, REPL PLMRMALABRE, RREPEERERHA PHRMA 4, LB PRAMARK, PAE RIL, RTT TO @ MA. a AUER RTT EY, HthSh Tata. Wo Aa ka sp Ata ty. Ne ag. AAP LO. PRO ADE ap. ALO a BREE HET. Bet aey-K Fh PARRY Lv. we TT Maar. 163To o 6 TIME WORDS al gangcai mE wanshang ek zGoshang MEASURE WORD. x bén NOUNS 3h Guan BS Fanghué a Bao Rp Géngshéng TT Dingding QR figin we shangdian BRK Dubén Fe Dupéng AE xidnsheng AM rénwu RE miuqin LOCATIVE WORD xt duimian right now evening morning [Mw for bound objects (books ete. )] {surname} [given name} [surname] [given name] Tintin father shop Thomson Thompson Mister character (in a literary work) mother oppositeCONJUNCTIONS fa hé ae késhi PREPOSITION He bi ADVERBS RK Zui —#H yiyang Be zheyang VERBS SHR haoxiang & hui QUALIFYING VERBS 2 zhtiyao: 5 gao mst gaoxing CONSTRUCTION do Ret rigué---jit and but compared to the most the same in this way it seems. . . (here) it is possible that..., it may be that... main, to be (the most) important to be tall to be happy 165SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION guan toclose, to be concerned; [surname] #y % , eK, wh jp. BA HK, AK, fang to graze, to put, to place BF Ta & hud alive; life; to live WIL, FIL, BH bao packet, [surname] ;to wrap QF, #2, RE géng to change; night watch(es) BAPE AR géng more RY, LEK - shéng_ noise, voice PUPS OP ty ding adult man, diced food AT aT + cal talent; just now, just, only AH, RA ,AA, aA See fi) father Blog # qin close (relatives) RK, RAR x} dul right, exact, opposite SLA AR, is i — mian _ face, side, flour OF ,H8,mat —Fa Fa 7H, 2H,4m, LG, ka # ——shding_ business, commerce WAIB dian shop BEE ABBE Ht [surname] fe z and; with; harmony master (owner of property); ZA, , REZ, main Az, 2,4, AE & tall, elevated BP, Be mother iS, A, LA, FR if, like Yodo, Rae fruit consequence KR, FRR late, to be late evening BAR, BR, RS, ME, BF, BEE early, to be early; moming = -F4R, PE enthusiasmSINOGRAMS MEMORY TECHNIQUE = 7 - oss =a a — a 4 a wooden bar used to close a double door Gy A+ XM — “direction” + hand holding astick radical sky @ 4g to graze cattle with a stick ina place i CB} + BH water radical + “tongue’ 149 8, a child wrapped in its mother’s womb a — a hand holding a poker to change a pot * #£ A RES Seis eihech @ fa an ear listening to musical stones being played by a hand T a nail (derived sense: adult man) @ " “ aes og shortened form of 4 @ Vy a young shoot sticking out of the ground |x @ ‘a hand holding an axe, symbol of authority & CH] MW. + A “standing up” + “tree” + CO M+ SH right hand radical + “thumb” @ ww 3 human action concerning the growth of vegetation i cy ee @ G) a face showing the eye eye eer ere 2 a a. rAAae @ eS) ‘a mouth and a tongue under a roof (to debate) Jk oy T~ + tH “vast” (shelter radical) + “foretell” 3 cg K+ @ I fee and the earth, a wild pear tee “tree” + “earth” * “BS K+ TD “coral” + “mouth @ ah flutes and a mouth, harmony z oS + at @Y ¥ a torch for guidance 169170 Ca ee eae) CS AE + BD cate radical + negation @ ¥4 cattle and a ploughshare lifting up the soil . a ine @]@ UP an elephant and its rank BP 2 LE ELE eY ‘ f two people side by side % @ & a tall construction a drawing of a woman showing maternal breasts so Cy + TD svoman” “mouth” @Y By ‘a person genuflecting, conforming with an order R GY B+ HK suns ste” @ cy GE A t+ % “sun"+“w avoid” eY oW the sun and a person with a hat @ 2 the sun above the earth, early morning ~~ RF e& ¥ x44 two hands lihing a heavy object x & inGRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The comparative: Ld The comparative (of superiority) (“A is bigger than B”)is constructed in the following way: A Yt bi B+QVb Eg. HHAF HE. ‘A book is more expensive than an exer cise book. (Book/compared to/ exercise book/is expensive) If the comparison contains a measure, the original construction does not change: A 3 B +QVb + measure Eg PLAFHAD. The book costs five fen more than the exercise book. Re K— 2, Tam a year older than he. The comparison of equality is constructed in the following way: A sR gén (fe hé) B +—# yiyang + QVb E.g. AIR (Fe )R-A# Ho Lamas tall as you. ‘The comparison of inferiority (A is less than B) is constructed in the follow- ing way: A ik 4 méiydu B +QVb E.g. & HGRA PAX, — France is smaller than China 2. The repetition of an action verb (Vb + Vb or Vb +— yi +Vb) indicates a lessening of that action. Bg. A(—)Ao have a quick look H(—) Fo listen a little... 171APPLICATIONS Merete”? RRA WK, Arete, AR HOA KIL? RUMWKEY 4 UR a4 3B Hohe B JUARL? Rh Hoth SSA, PAG ky oh? PRATHER S. BASREM HAY? Hui —#E-X te 8A Ap? RBA A nt A MBA y ay 26 Bd %BAD x8 PB eH kit K&N AR 85 5 zB RAB Kn Te ait HRS py TR St pr we BORO reCIVILISATION Chinese cartoons or #34: lianhudnhud (chain images) are normally present- ed in frames with a format of 12.5 x10 in., one frame per page. Some of them are inspired by traditional painting techniques, others use foreign literary words such as The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexan- dre Dumas. e@ Although The Adventures of Tintin have had real success in China, of the As- terix series only Asterix in England has been translated, of all the famous al- bums of Goscinny and Uderzo. A TRANSLATION ERROR Sue! SciPl, tom Taiwceur )p| cest crer? EST RicHE SA fe Th? (ei Hii) aa 5 RE AY) “Slip! slip! Is it expensive?” “Are slips cheap?” “My tailor is rich. " “Yes, here all the tailors are rich.” © 1989 LES EDITIONS ALBERT RENE/GOSCINNY - UDERZO 173SEQUENCE 8, 2 FR l4H RAFHARR? = > + AARAR GRE FT Y WIR, RB? 2 Bo KK MAM ARERER? : RARE, RRA AAA. RANE BIS EER MREK PDP RET —H BPA, LAAGOPA, BPFAPHM' P’MBAF RACH SR’, LEPRALSZ SY, KAP BPR A RLF RK: ARF, BPFAAMLS HY? @: FX, AMLERH, KR: EPFELZRHHAZER? @: ‘HP RRA A RRA HER K: MEALFMHY? @: RES, REMFRLALHA. Ki MMA PAR? @: A PLMAPFERER. thé, RRL REY tio R a@ R B ¢ Pi BBs VG. ALES RF A ae wars: ; ix | u AEG ABV EON. ZAHS ONS 4G eo! apt RWG F CASHAML Zoe. KEE AEh 2th F. oeoo CONJUNCTION mit buguo TIME WORDS Fe xiawit NUMERATIVE WORDS 4 méi MEASURE WORDS ae xié NOUNS. #% visi sae, gangbi ae maobi jk shat Sik shénti but afternoon every some [Mw for an undetermined quantity] meaning fountain pen brush calligraphy healthPREPOSITION at dui ADVERB ree Lieve you--you VERBS Re fayin aR juéde HF jiang QUALIFYING VERBS cy cud xt dui Ee nanxié cae nankan mee nanxué rod mang INTERROGATIVE AWA wéishénme for, concerning. . . at the same time as to pronounce; pronunciation to feel that, to find that to talk about... to be wrong to be right to be difficult to write to be ugly to be difficult to learn to be busy Why? aa178 SINOGRAMS PRESENTATION So to emit RY RL RR, BA GRAY. = yin sound TR, FRE, VF, BF, BF, PH, RBG GPE, = yi opinion, meaning, intention EL, EPA, AE, E E HE, WHE g os thought RA, RAR, AER, RAER, APES ca) gang steel eee by writing brush £5,,2% ca jué to feel, to be aware of a, jido a short sleep, a nap Ba xe ndn difficult HES EOE EAR, EGE X you again He méi__ every BR BH 4 wit the seventh hour (from Ft, EE PE 11.00 to 13.00), midday 2 xi6 __some (Mw for unknown quantities) HE jing __to talk, to talk about, to explain, to tell hie 4 ~— shén body YAAD YEAS, ui DRY eet body, form, model KE, EK, FR A for AT, UWAWA ATA, to act, to become AAAS to be busy EBA BREDSINOGRAMS MEMORY TECHNIQUE OT Ae le a bow and a hand holding a weapon to re shoot an arrow BS R a QB + WZ +H “standing up” +“sun” Cg @ sounds coming out of the mouth ound” + “heart” @ ize thought, the sound of the heart & GO H+. “fica” + “heart” eY S the skull, the unclosed fontanel and the heart mom oS 4 45 Cx # + BA metal radical + phonetic element Ak RK kK bk EK * & Ae GE ™ + % bamboo radical + “hair” @ a a hand holding a writing instrument and bamboo coaNBeReRRIE x £ a eee BE M+ Th sco H eio sce” eyes 6, to wake up and see 2: 179180 Te @ x the right hand | —a Cx M+ FE the right hand radical + “short tailed bird” a mythical bird e . a Gey + FE two strokes + “mother” @ B a mother with a hair pin ca @ a a pole ci | By sak+ b+= foot radical + reverse person radical (1 cI) + “two” 4 + FF word radical + “a well” eR oS pa a @ a pregnant woman { + * i CO 4% @ ZB person radical + “root” x B a hand leading an elephant . 3 a cy t + heart radical + “to die”GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The measure word 2 xié allows things to be considered as an unknown quantity. E.g. —2635 some books Bee these students 2. The adverb % yOu means again. Unlike # z0i it usually refers to an already com- pleted repetition. Eg MRUART SRULAT WAUBBR. He came yesterday; he came again today and he wants to come again tomorrow. APPLICATIONS BAFAA BES 5? RR. BAFEAZRE? “Ba RS RAR aH? 0 181EAFAH AER? RAN HEB. ME IEFE RF He GY? ARES 9 EAE BEY HB? RW MAH LARP BR? |Tradition holds that a person from the 26th century B.C. “invented” Chinese writing while contemplating the movement of heavenly bodies and observing the prints of birds and animals on the ground. From primitive drawings to present day characters, Chinese writing has gone through many stages. First there came the oracle bone characters which ap- peared in the second millenium before Christ. The soothsayers of the era in- scribed questions on pieces of tortoise shell or on the shoulder blades of sheep or deer. They then held them over a fire and received their answer by interpret- ing the cracks that formed. Next came characters written on bronze, then about 2000 years ago “small seal characters”, the “official characters” and then finally modern writing appeared. The evolution in form of Chinese characters through the ages can be explained by the changes of writing material and instuments: from tortoise shell to paper, via bronze and bamboo strips on the one hand, and from a metallic blade to a brush via the etcher’s needle on the other. Calligraphy is a complete art. There are different styles of calligraphy just as there are different styles of painting. The regular style, with its clear strokes re- minds one of architecture or the sitting position. The cursive style, more in mo- tion, invokes walking. The free style or “grass style” is more subjective, more instinctive. It is the style or the movement that carries the structure, suggesting running, a gushing stream or drifting clouds. “The four treasures of a scholar’ s study” are the main materials and instru- ments used for writing with a brush. The brush is made from goat, deer, hare or mouse hair; the ink which comes in the form of small rods must have a nice gloss and a pleasant fragrance; the paper must be absorbent and finally the ink stone must be soft to the touch and produce a pleasant sound when the ink stick hits it.SEQUENCE 8,83 % Cea aaa Vitae : PRA FARA RRR? > ZRMRK, RAGS RRMHK-H. 1 HMA EET GD, HAARIEA RBI, AAR KA, ARIURK SET, Rita RMA A RM, BALK, RIREKAE MARK. RRR E A ARH A? 2H WEP ROTO P Ss, 2 AR MAIL? RK, MEAKRMIS BLA KR, : Rik, HFAHELAF UKHA. 2 TERA KMAEBIL’! REMRSKP HR, KUMP HLA PHA RMRA. AK GEE RAMA. AAAI ARIK HE EPR. PRRFARESE, MHARE, AHR. PMA RRA. HK, RKMSK, MRPKIENK WH KAAS EIB WP BA UPS, RAK € KES, RUM, LRAKAM SA HBA DRKR, “eR Aster sh AALS hk oF, wee LE EOANF . hand radical + “pellet” + fire radical . i oa CH £ + BR “earth” + "to become” @ t territory defended by an axe e Gy ~~ + TH two strokes + “cloth” @ a foot and the symbol of a shout, the lively cat place where people gather we CH {1 + E person radical +reverse person radical @ AY a person standing up and an upside-down person snasnannaaauoneaonenecennvensonaeuin cet miaenatanaenannannnaannaninnaanssanncaneaanasanoeaseanitananoeet 7 ee @]@ iy the cardiac muscle and the arteries _anvssaanananamansannananeoonesneoncnecesenreniricesenevuvnetinineniaanaansisaanaanenaneannnaatosanennabant Pr BR CO + HT apoint + “factory” @Y a troglodyte dwelling on the side of a cliff 7. cy £+h earth + phonetic element e@ ty the earth in the sun’s rays Xn CE IN + Ly “eight” +private radical @ 4) to share something private BB OD C1 + FC watt radical + “unit” + < aaiianiaaaal @Y ‘two wings unfolding in opposite directions. ro |GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS 1. The verb & shi placed before a preposition means “it is true that... ”. E.g. HA FeAAREMRK. It is true that there are great dif ferences between the North and the South. BR, FAERS, It really is cold today. WF RIE. It is true that he is learning Chi- nese, HA FoI A ZAR ERRA? 1s it true that there are great dif- ferences between the North and the South? AA FoLF LB|RAIRK, It is not really true to say that there are great differences be tween the North and the South. 2. 2.1 x cl is a verbal measure word just as —,% JL yididnr can be. It is placed after the verb. Eg REMARK. I’ve already been there twice. ee — BLP! Go on, drink a bit! 2.2 When its object is a personal pronoun the verbal measure word is placed after it. In all other cases it comes after the verb. Eg. RAitMw—K. I’ve already seen him once. RENBAPAL I've already been to China twice. 191APPLICATIONS PH fod RAAB RARA? RBAMRK, SRRARF RRA? mat FES? 2H, ae AAR IUK? Bk.@ Two famous sayings recall the beauty of Chinese scenery: >> “Above, there’ s Heaven; below there’s Suzhou and Hangzhou.” These two cities near Shanghai are both famous, the former for its canals and gar- dens, the latter which Marco Polo described as the noblest and the finest city in the world, for its lake. >> Around Guillin in the south of China there are numerous mountains that are said to be like “hair pins of blue jade”. The Great Wall, said to be the only human construction visible from the moon, extends for several thousand kilometres from east to west. Conceived by the emperor Qin Shihuangdi who unified China in 221 B.C., it was a defensive wall and a communication route that allowed even long distance messages to be delivered. Among Beijing’s many unique characteristics are the six thousand alleys or hutong with names like “Liu’s Vermicelli Factory Hutong”, “Reverence of Parents and Friends Hutong”, or “Dew Damp Garden Hutong”, even a “Sunny Before the Others Hutong”. In the north of China the change between the seasons is very clear. The warm and humid summer air quickly turns to the mild and dry air of autumn and then to the sunny but icy winter. This very distinct variation was perhaps a major factor in the forming of the Yin and Yang philosophy. >> Supplementary vocabulary: BR xiatian = summer xe Gugéng the Forbidden City RHE Tiantan the Temple of Heaven 193