Chineasy.Pdf

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THE NEW WAY TO READ CHINESE

by S H AOLA N aj!i\_ with illustrations by NOMA BAR

..., •• r .. • r~

HARPER DESIGN An Imprint ol Harper CollinsPublisheni For Mulan caJI) and MuAn (·~)

On the cover: The character for 'fire', *-.. (Illustration by Noma Bar; art direction by Crispin Jameson; © Chineasy Ltd)

The story on pages 159-179 is based on Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (1936)

Chineasy"" is a trademark of Chineasy Ltd, London

Published by arrangement with Thames & Hudson Ltd. London.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper Design, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.

HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business. or sales promotional use. For information please e-mail the Special Markets Department at [email protected].

First published in North America in 2014 by Harper Design An Imprint ofHarperColtinsPublishers 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 Tel: (212) 207-7000, Fax: (212) 207-7654 [email protected] www.harpercollins.com

Distributed in North America by HarperCollinsPublishers 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 Fax: (212) 207-7654

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951753

ISBN 9780062358028 CKF8)

Author and Concept: ShaoLan Hsueh Bi*Ji!. Graphic Design: Brave New World Publishing Ltd Art Director: Crispin Jameson Principal Illustrator: Noma Bar

Digital conversion by booqlab CONTENTS

1: INTRODUCTION

The Calligrapher's Daughter

How to Use the Book

2: THE BASICS

Building Blocks, Compounds, Phrases Advanced Sentences

STORY

Peter and the Wolf

3: REFERENCE

Building Block Plates Index of Characters and Phrases

Acknowledgments

•

8 The Calligrapher's Daughter

I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, the daughter of a Call me optimistic, but I see the melding of these calligrapher and a ceramic artist, so I grew up two cultures, East and West, as being instr:ument.al immersed in art and with a deep appreciation of in creating a more culturally literate world. I also the beauty of the Chinese language. Speaking and think that the East and West must understand writing Chinese is an integral part of who I am and each other in order for global economic growth to how I see the world. But it was only when I had be sustainable. There is, however, a giant roadblock children of my own that I properly understood preventing the East and West from communicating what a difficult language Chinese is to learn. effectively and connecting on a deep, cultural level: the Great Wall of Chinese. Being of Taiwanese descent while raising my children in the UK has made me acutely aware of The Chinese language has long been considered the differences, but also the similarities, between the most difficult major language to learn, largely Eastern and Western cultures. The ultimate goal on account of the vast number and complexity of Chineasy is to help bridge the cultural gap by of the characters. When I began to teach my demystifying the Chinese language, which acts as British-born children Chinese, I realized just how a barrier to so many people- my children included! challenging its characters are for a native English speaker. It was like torture for my children! So Chineasy is hugely personal to me. I have done I spent many years looking for a fun and easy many different things in my life. I consider myself way to teach them how to read Chinese. to be part geek, part entrepreneur, part dreamer, and this project is a culmination of all these After years of searching, I didn't think that any elements. My experience in technology ventures of the methods out there were engaging enough. and my background as an entrepreneur with an So I did what any entrepreneur would do: I created artistic upbringing have given me the building my own method to learn how to read Chinese blocks to make Chineasy possible, but it is my characters - Chineasy. And you know what? It works. childhood and my children that have inspired me to make Chineasy a reality. I am proud to share Chineasy's goal is to allow people to learn to read Chineasy with all who want to learn and appreciate Chinese easily by recognizing characters through the beauty of the Chinese language. simple illustrations. The magical power of the Chineasy method is that, by learning one small set of building blocks (see p. 10), students can build Why Chineasy? many new characters and phrases. Master a few China is home to ancient traditions, breathtaking sets of building blocks, and your learning can be artwork and what is currently one of the world's accelerated to a whole new level. strongest economies. It comes as no surprise to me that recent years have seen a cultural trend With very little effort, students can quickly learn of Eastern migration by both young people and to read several hundred Chinese characters and business-minded individuals. Everyone is starting phrases, and gain a deeper understanding of the to pay more attention to China, Taiwan, Japan, historical and cultural references of the vocabulary. South Korea and other Asian countries as they Even though there are tens of thousands of become increasingly popular tourist destinations Chinese characters, only a few hundred are actually and increasingly important as cultural, financial necessary to comprehend basic Chinese literature, and industrial hubs. and to begin to delve into Chinese culture and art.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... THE CALLIGRAPHER'S DAUGHTER 9 How to Use the Book

oooooooooeoooooooooo•oo•·····~o·•·••••••oooooooooooooooooto :····························-~····························· : : : •• : • ! • ..• • • . " A quick overview . ·...... :. : ....· .· .: . . • ·.•• .. 0 • : : : l ••_ . .• : ··. .. " i ··... _ . ~ ...... ·.. . Each character in this book is introduced in its I• .,, :• ! ·- .• ! . . l ···... 1. I ········· I •. .• Chinese form, followed by its English translation . . l • .• .• • .• .• • • • • l and then its pinyin (the approximate sound of .• .• • i '•• • • • ••• •• • • • • • •• • • • • • • • * •• •I !...... ~ : : • • • • the character; see p. 13). Each building block and •• • • • • • l .• .• i .• • .• .• compound character (these terms are explained • •• .• : . . . I .• .• .• l • ...... •• below) has a short introduction that teaches : ...· : : : :• : ... : !1 • : ..·· : -: ~ . • you some fun historical and cultural facts as you : ..· : . • • : .·· : ! • .: • • 0' • ,. •••• ••••••••••••••• ••••• • - · ··········••ooooooo •••••••• ·- ...... are learning the language. Also included are fire burning hot unillu.strated phrases (e.g. see 'heart' on p. 87) (building block) (compound) that will help to expand your vocabulary.

·····························-·················••ooooooooo, ,...... o. t . .a • • • 0 6 • • • 0 • • . .• . • •• • .• .• • . . - :• : . .: ::·. ... .: . At the end of the book there is a handy index •• • .• . . .•.• .• .• that lists every character and phrase taught in .• .• ..• .• .• .• Chineasy, and provides you with its traditional ..• .• ..• . . .• •. .• •. • • . . and simplified forms (see opposite) and its pinyin. I••••• • •• ••• ••••• •• I I• ••• • • •• • • ••••• • t· . . .• • • . . . . .• . .. . .• .• . . •. .• .• •. • • .• . . ..• .• .•.• .• Chineasy methodology • • • .• : .o• : . . : .• . : .. . . : .. o·· : : .• • .• • 0 • • . : : : . . . The Chinese language is traditionally taught ...... • . •...... oo-• • •••••••••• OIOJOOOOIIOOOO• •· ·····••••o• ••••••• ...... • • • through a series of between roughly 180 and • burning hot burning hot •• : • ·~···················· ··· ········· ·· ································~··················· ··· ···································· 215 radicals. These radicals are then used to form blazing (phrase) the characters of the Chinese language. Chineasy has broken down this c:;o llection of characters into their most basic and recurring forms, allowing students to learn fewer and simpler radicals that we have ter:med 'building blocks'.

One building block (e.g. the character :k for 'fire', see p. 28), or a specific compound form of the building block (e.g."" 'fire', see p. 28), cah be combined with one or more other characters to make a compound character (e.g. ~'burning hot', see p. 29). Two or more independent characters can be placed next to one another to make phrases (e.g. ~~'blazing', seep. 30). In compounds, a whole new character is created; in phrases, the placement of characters next to one another gives a new meaning to the collection of characters. This principle of building blocks is what makes Chineasy so easy!

o •• a o ~ · oo o o u oo o oo o O'! o o o o o o o • o oo-oo ~oo- o ,.,._... o • o oo o o -o ••o • oo o oo ooo o oo o •o oo o o oo u oo •'- ooo o -o o o o.o oo o o o o ooo o-oo oo o o oo o o -oo o.o• oo oo oo ooo ••• ooooo o ...... ooo • o oo oo.o o o oo-o o •• o o oo oo-o oo o oo o o o o-o• o t oo 0'! o o o oo o o •• o ••• 0'!0 o-o o o "" o o oo oo ooooo o o o o t o • o •• o 0-0 o 00 o o._. o oo o o o o o o • o o oo o ~••o-o o oo o t • ,_.., o o 10 HOW TO USE THE BOOK .········~····················~····························· . . :·····························--····························· ~ : 0 ..• - l .. .; . .: : ....•· :. . . . Traditional or simplified? . . ~ .- . . : .. ...~. . . . 0 • • .• .! . .: •0 • '.. • . . : ~ ! • •• .• .• .• .• Chineasy teaches mainly traditional Chinese, which • I • • .• •. .• • • • • •• • I • • is the written language of Taiwan and Hong Kong. .• . • .• .• •• • .• . J • . • - .• •• Simplified Chinese was adopted in mainland China •········· ·········•••••J •·············· ...... , • . : .• • . • • • -• • in 1949, after the end of the Chinese Civil War .• .J .• .• • -• • • . l - .• .• .i • and the establishment of the People's Republic • -1 •• • l -• • .• • . .• .• •• • • of China. Both traditional and simplified forms .• •• .• . • .• . . • • •• • . .• • •. • • still share a great humber of characters. Chineasy . •. .• •. .. .. ·-· • • •• • ...... -· ••• •• •• •• specifies in the character captions when the 'east' in traditional 'east) in simplified simplified form is used instead of the traditional Chinese Chinese form (e.g. 'to follow' ahd 'crowd' on p. 17). Where ._ ...... •••••••••••••••••• ··········-...... k, •• •• • • • . . . . .• •. . no distinction between forms is noted, the : : l • •. • ! • : !. • . . . . • ! .• • :• • • traditional and simplified forms of the character :. • •• .: l• .• . .: : • • • • • • •• .• .• .• .• are the same. • I • .• .• .•• • • • .• .• .• .• ...... !• • .• . •··········• .• l .• • • •• .• .• • The evolution of Chinese .• • .• .• .• • • • •• • • • I • ••• .• .• . • .:. ., As in the case of all languages, Chinese has . . -• •• .• .• I • : ·.. . . • .• .• .• l .• ~ ···..•.. ~ continuously evolved throughout the course of its . . • • • .• •• . -. ... . ! . : • ':. ~ ·. : •• •••• ••••• • • ••• u · - · •••• • OoOO o I•• I tOO OoOOo lt - o•ooo 101 oooooo u lOll 001.- existence. Political change, geographic expansion .... ···~·· ...... ,, 'sun' in oracle bone 'sun' in seal script and philosophy have all influenced the stylistic form of Chinese characters. Throughout the book,

_,.oottoootooootOUotoooooooooo~ot•oooooooo .... ooo•otoolooooU., you will see references to oracle-bone If!~ Jt .••• 0 ...... _ ...... • .• : : : .! • .• .• .: (c. 1400 scE), bronze script ~Jt (c. 1000 scE), :• .I . : • • • • .: .: • . . seal script J{C (c. 220 scE) and clerical script • .: .: :. :• .• .: . • .: • • l • I : ~-(c. 200 scE) characters. These terms refer to . • • .• • l : • , ...... ,. •··········· .•...... • • ...... periods in the evolution of Chinese writing from l .• .• .• : . .• .• • .• : : • . • • which the modern Chinese language is derived. •• .• • • • • .• . . • : I l • . . • • : : ! I • ! : : The most ancient Chinese characters were developed • • • • • • . .• • : : : • .• t . ~ • • . . • . ••• • • • • as logograms, and therefore do not usually indicate • ·... • • • ...... ·-·...... ~...... :...... ~···· how they should be pronounced (see p. 13). However, 'sun' in clerical script 'sun' in modern as the Chinese language became more sophisticated, Chinese two or more building blocks were used to form new characters; in this case, one of those building blocks was chosen as the basis for the new character's 4 pronunciation. For example, account/bill ~ (zhang ) on p. 85 comprises the building block for 'shell' (associated with wealth - see p. 130), indicating the meaning of the compound character, and the 2 character for 'length' (chang ) , which influences the pronunciation. (See also 'at' on p. 115.)

OO OOO OOOO OOO OO OOO O ~OOOOO OOO OOOOOO .. OOOOO OOOO·OO O OOOOOO O•OO•ooo OOOOOO OOOO•O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO•OOO .. OOOOO ~ OOOOOO OOOO•o•o I OOOOOOOO O •OO O"OOO ••• OO 000 OO ..... 0000 00.0-4 0 00 OfOOOOOO.O.o-OO ...... 1 0 ••• 00 OO -OOO O ~OOOOO ~- · · -O OOOO .. OO+-O -O OOOO O oo••·OOOO

_ side by side in the square, you must make thinner ...... ~···· ...... ~ ...... : ·.• ..·: •.• : ... .·• •• trees. When three trees are stacked together, all : ··.. .· ..... = •• •.. ••• : ·.. ..· •• : .. ...· ...... the trees are shorter in order to fit into the square. : ,, ·· • .. ... I • I • : • • .• In Chinese, certain building-block characters have • .. •··············• an alternate form that appears only when used • ! • • . i • as part of a compound. These characters are •• .• I ..··· • • .• : .. traditionally known as 'pianpang' .• ••·" • ••.. 1i5!? i • •• •• I ..··· I • • • I ,• . :• ...•• On the right, you can see an example of this • ••• i • • •• I . : •• ' -·· • • . .·· ...... • , • ... • ·. ... in the 'person' A = 1 compound form in the • two trees = wood person compound compound 'group' 1.*. Other examples of this form alternate character form can be seen in 'dog' ...... •.•..•.•..•.•• ...... ~~ : 1 • ... • •• :• .•· ! j ' I I / "fi:. ~ on p. 26 and 'fire' j( on p. 28. '•,• • ··...... = = '"' ! .. •• •' I : ·.. •• • ...• .• • • ..•• • ,• I Such compound forms are indicated by a note •••• l ,.i" .: !• • : • • ! I : • • I under the main caption for the building block. • •• •• • • i• f .• • !• • : .• • i • • .:.. i ...... l•••••t•• a ot; I •••••••••••••••• • .·":· • .•" : See p. 35 for more information about I • • • .• .•• : • •• .. writing Chinese. :• • I • i • : ..·· I . • ! / . Even though there are several different spoken .• ...•• •. : .• ··... Ii I ,• •• : ...· ..... • • • • •• •• • • • ••• t \'•• Chinese dialects, such as Mandarin or Cantonese, ' . .. •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••'•J they all share the same written characters; it is three trees = forest group only the pronunciation of these characters that will differ from one dialect to another- often completely.

The 'pinyin' pronunciation guide used in this book corresponds to Mandarin only, which is the most widely used Chinese dialect and counts over 960 million native speakers (out of a total of over 1.2 billion Chinese speakers) - see 'Speaking 101' opposite for more information about pronunciation.

• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • •• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • 0 ...... 0 0 ...... 0 ...... · -·· •••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••• ._•••••• 0 0. · - · 0 ...... 0-00 •••••• ···-· •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0. 0 ••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••• 0 •••••• 12 HOW TO USE THE BOOK ...... • .•• 0 ••. : .. : .·· : Spacing 101 ..• ••. .• .•• .• :. ••• . .0 .,•' .: ! ·~. ; .... : • 0 • 0. •• • I ··. : · . How can you tell if you are reading a character .: ·...... : ! .·• .• ..· . • .: ··. :: .· ..· .: ! ..• • • •· : (*)or a phrase (~fi))? A character, whether it's a ..• •.. .• ..• .• . . .: ·... ·,·.• : . ..-· .: !••• ...... •....•...••.• , .•.••••...... ••...... ••.••.. :~····························· building block or a compound, fits within one square. l .~ ·:~. : • .. . . : : : .• . • j ..· • ··. • • •. j : ..· ; ·.. : . • : ~· : ··. . • • : ..... ~ : When you see two people squeezed together .• l .. . •... . . • . .•. .. ~... . . •• . . • l :.. ...·· .: ~. .: in a single square, you know it's a character - for ...... ·. ... .• l . .. . .·. .. . •• ...... • •• • •• • . ..• J ...... • •• • .• •.. .• ·.• • example, the simplified character 'to follow' M. • •• • : : : .. .. • ..· • ·.. • ...... ••• •. •. 0 •. ·-·· ••• ... ' ..... ' ...... ··-··········· ········-········ A phrase, on the other hand, is spaced across to follow two or more squares. That means, if you see two .•·····························~····························· .• • ...... -:············· .. ········· . . . . • . or more characters spread across two or more • • •' •• • • .: . ; • • . . ' .• .• 1 • • squares, then you know it's a phrase - for example, •' l • .• . . .. • 1' . . • • :• • • . • 'everyone' A.A.. . 1 • • .• • .• • .• • • • • l • • • • . • .• • .. • The beauty of the Chineasy method is that you can ••••••••••••••••••••••••• t· •••o•••·········· • ·····················•••o•l .• ····················· .• .• .• • • • • construct many new 'words' by combining existing .• •.• .• .• • • .• .• .• .• .• .• . . • : : characters. Chinese characters rarely appear alone; .• .• • . • • • . . . . .• . . .• .• • •. .• it is often only in the context of a phrase that the .• •. •.• . . .• .• l .• .• ...... meaning of a character becomes clear. Learning .• .• .• ...... •...... -····················· ·····-··············· .... ············ ...... phrases is a giant but easy step towards improving 1 person person l • • ·······································~························································································ your Chinese study. everyone

Speaking 101

To teach Mandarin Chinese to non-native speakers, most teachers use pinyin, the only standard phonetic system for transcribing the sound of Chinese characters in the romanized alphabet. Chinese is a tonal language, so the pinyin system uses a series of either numerals or glyphs to represent tone. For instance, the pinyin for 'person' can be written as either ren2 or ren. Chineasy uses the numerical pinyin system. After every English translation, you will see a word in brackets followed by a number; this acts as a guide to the pronunciation of the character. See, for example, 2 p. 16 A person (ren ) .

Tone 1 = high level tone Tone 2 = high rising tone Tone 3 =falling rising tone Tone 4 = falling tone No number = neutral tone

•••• • •••••• 0 •••••••••• 0 • ...... ~··· ...... -... ~ ...... ~-··· ...... ~ ...... ~- ...... 0 ...... ~· •• 0 • •• 0 ...... ~· ...... , ...... HOW TO USE THE BOOK 13

THE BASICS

Building Blocks, Compounds, Phrases Advanced Sentences 2 A person (ren ) Hello. people! Our first building block is 'person'. This building block traditionally depleted a human in profile. Today it looks like the profile of a man walking .

...... --·· - ..., ...... , ., ... . 2 1 person ( ren ) This character is the form of 'person' that is used as a component in certain compounds (see explanation on p. 12). It is known as ¥A.~. which translates as 'single person side-radical'. See 'group' on p. 29 for an example of th1s character.

...... - .. -...... _ ...... -.....•...... •...... 16 PERSON BU;LD I NG B L OCK to follow

big man

2 4 M to follow (cong ) f:A crowd (zhong ) This character comprises 'Two's company, three's This character depicts a 'Man' is the compound two building blocks for a crowd.' Three building man stretching his arms for 'big' with an extra 'person'. One man leads, the blocks for 'person' make a wide. Imagine that he is line across the top of other follows close behind. crowd. This is the simplified saying, 'It WC!S this big.' the character, like wide This is the simplified form; form; the traditional form shoulders. This line the traditional form of this of this character is ~. represents the pins in a character is ~ . man's topknot hairstyle.

...... ·-···~······· ...... _...... '····to········ ...... '!'" ...... ' ..... 04 ··-··· ...... ~· · ...... _ ...... _ ...... PERSON COMPOUNDS 17 *.A. adult 4 2 (da ren ) Height doesn't always indicate maturity, but. in simple terms, an adult is just a big person. big + person = adult l\.f:A public 4 4 (da zhong ) • big person •. '.• .• •.••..•....•...... •••.. ' ..••••..••..••••••••.•••.•••••..•••...... •...... •....•...... •...••...... The public is made up of adult a large group of people. big + crowd = public f:AA. people 4 2 (zhong ren ) A crowd is made up of many different people. This phrase also means 'everybody'. crowd + person = people

~A madam l big crowd l 1 2 ~--·········•*••••········· · ···•··•·••·•••···•••••···•••·••·•••••·· · ···················~··········· ..••...•••.....••.....••.•. : (fu ren ) public In ancient Ch ina. a woman became her husband's property after marriage; she became her husband's person. man + person =madam

. . .• crowd person •. . .• ...... ···- . • •••••• ...... ···········--···----·--···--...... -...... people

: man person : .• • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••. madam

...... •..•.•..... ···· ········································~···································································································· .. ·······~······································································ 18 PERSON PHRASES 4 *. too much (tai ) This compound comprises 'big' and a stroke under the character, suggesting something even bigger. It also means 'extremely' or 'excessively'.

4 4 *.*. Mrs (t ai tai ) This is a strange phrase. To have double too much t oo much means 'Mrs' or 'wife'. Do you think this phrase is accurate? too much +too much = Mrs

*.*.. too big 4 4 (tai da ) A straightforward phrase: if something is too big, there is too much of it. too much + big = too big

• .• •. too much too much 0 0 • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••• ._...... _ •• • •••••• ._...... <00000 • ...... *..~ doctor Mrs (d ai4 fu) This phrase has two meanings. When pronounced ' da~ + fu', with a neutral and soft tone, it means 'doctor'. When pronounced 'da4 1 + fu ', it means 'senior official'. Both are rather archaic. big + man = doctor

• •0 0 too much big 0 : • ,. ' ~ • • t • ' ...... 0 • • ... • • • ... • • • .... • .... • • •• ...... • ...... • • • ... • • • • • • • • • • • ••• •• • • •• • •• •• ...... too big

:• big man !0 • • ~..•••..•....•.....•...•...... •...... •...•.....••...... ••.....••.•.•••..•••••••••••••.••.••••••.••••..•.•...... •. doctor

...... _...... _...... ~ ...... PERSON PHRASES 19

AA everyone 2 (ren ren2) person + person = everyone

~A heaven (tian ren2) sky + person = [literally] sky person = heaven or 1 person person i a person with universal I.•..•.•...... ······ •· ...... I 1nsight everyone

~* extremely big (tian1 da4) What could be a bigger space than the heavens? sky + big = [literally] big as the sky = extremely b1g

~~every day 1 1 (tian tian ) As we have already seen : sky person : • \,, ...... : • opposite, the character heaven for 'sky' also means 'day'. day + day = every day

! sky big i '······-············· ... ··············...... -+••·······-··········.. ···"···---··-···-··-··--··-·' extremely big

l sky/day sky/day I •·• •·•··•••··•·•··•·•·••·•······· ...... ·· ······· ...... • every day Depending on the size of the building block, this character means either 'mouth' (if it is small) or 'to surround' (if it is large).

•• · •••••• •· Oo ·• •t · ••~o· .. •••••·• •l · >fttu - uoo•· •••••· ••••" •••• · ••• 2 Q to surround (wei ) Can you tell the difference between these two characters? It is nearly impossible, but the d ifference is usually made evident by the meaning of the compound. It's useful to remember that 'to surround' never appears alone, so if you see a stand alone Q, it is the character for 'mouth' .

...... - ...... ······ ...... ··············...... 22 MOUTH BU ILDING BLOCK shout quality

to cause to return

1 3 QQ shout (xuan ) ~ quality (pin ) IBl to return (hu?) A mouth emits sound. Imagine that each mouth This character is a This character is a Two mouths emit even is an opinion. The quality combination of 'mouth' combination of a small more sound! This is a rare of something is judged by and 'big'. It also means 'mouth' and 'to surround'. character, so use it to show what people say about it. 'because of' and 'reason'. Imagine that it depicts off to your Chinese friends! This character also means I like to remember it by a swirling whirlpool, 'item', 'product' or 'grade'. thinking that a big mouth continuously turning causes problems (although, back on itself. in this case, r::l means 'to surround') .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... MOUTH COMPOUNDS 23 AD population 2 3 (ren kou ) When we start counting how many mouths we need to feed, we are talking about population. person + mouth = population

A~ morality 2 3 • person mouth : (ren pin ) .I I• ...... •· · ...... ' ·••·· ...... Remember, it is always populat ion wise to judge the quality of a person on the basis of their morality. person + quality = morality

§l A Hui people 2 2 (hui ren ) 'Hui' is used to refer to Chinese speakers of Muslim ancestry. They are one of the fifty-six recognized ethnic groups ! person quality i ·...... · ··· ·· ··· · ...... ••.. ········· ·- ··· ·· ········· · ...... : in China. to return + person morality = [literally] returned people = Hui people

A.fl mermaid 2 2 (ren yu ) In ancient China, this phrase referred to the giant sa lamander. Today it means 'mermaid'. person + fish = [literally] fish person = mermaid

: i to return person • ••••••••••••••••• .. .. - ···-········-··/ Hui peop le

l person fish i •...... ·····-· ··-·······-···-··• mermaid

...... - ...... -...... _ ...... 24 PERSON PI IRASES 2 ~fish (yu ) Traditionally a fish shape in oracle-bone and seal inscriptions, this character originally referred to 'an aquatic vertebrate', but has since been extended to mean 'fish'. Its simplified form is i!.

· · · · ··· ·· ········· · ···· · ···· ·· ··· · · · ······· ·· ··· ·· ··· · ·· ···· ·· · · · · ···· ·· · ·· ······ · · ·· ·· · · · ········ · · · ···· ·· · · · ··· · ···· · ···· · ····· · · · ·· · · · · ·· · ···· · ··· · ····· · ···· · ···· ·· ··· ··~ · · · · ··· ··4 ·· ····· ········· · ······· ·· ·· · ··· ·· ···· ·· ··· · ···· · ···· ·· ··· · ············· ...... FISH BUILDING BLOCK 25 3 lC dog (quan ) The regular form of this character is 'big' * with an additional dot on the upper right side. The earliest form in oracle-bone inscriptions was a drawing of a dog, with the extra stroke representing its tail.

...... · ·· ·· ···~···· ...•....•...... 3 ~ dog (quan ) This character is the form of 'dog' that is used as a component in certain compounds. See 'to stroll' on p. 113 for an example .

...... ~.-~..._...... ~...... 26 DOG BUILDING BLOCK to bark to cry utensil

This character is a combination of 'mouth' and 'dog'. When a dog opens its mouth to emit a sound, it is barking.

~to cry (ku ) This character is a combination of 'dog' : big to bark : .• .• and two 'mouth' building ··························-······-···-···-····················· ..... , ...... -· •· -· ••·- · ' .. .,, ...... to bark loudly blocks. As the crying sound of a human sounds similar to the whine of a dog, this character means 'to cry'.

4 a utensil (qi ) This character is a combination of 'dog' and four 'mouth' building blocks. It can also mean 'instrument'. i big to cry l ...... ·· ················· ...... '' ········· '.... ' . .. ..,,. ... ···················· :ko}t to bark loudly to cry out 4 4 (da fei ) big + to bark = [literally] big bark = to bark loudly

:k~ to cry out 4 1 (da ku ) This phrase can also mean 'to burst into tears'. big + to cry = [literally] big cry = to cry out

.• big utensil •. .• .• · ·• -· - -- achievement/ ...... ' ...... ···············-····· ····- ...... •...... *a 4 4 achievement/generosity generosity (da qi ) This phrase can also mean 'great talent'. big + utensil = [literally] big utensi I = achievement

············· · ·· · ······ · ·········· · ······ · ··· · · · ··· ·· ··· ·· ······ · ····· ·· ································· · ·············· · ···· ···· ··········· · ···· · · · ·· · ·· · · · · · ········ ··· ···~· · ·· ·· ······· · ····· · ···· · ······················· · ········· · ····················· ..• ...... •. .. DOG COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 27 3 J< fire (huo ) The building block for 'fire' represents a central flame with a smaller spark on either side. It reminds me of a campfire. I like to remember this character by thinking about a person waving their arms, saying, 'Help! I'm on fire!'

·······················•·············••·····•············•·•· 3 ·"" fire ( hu o ) This character is the form of 'fire' that is used as a component in certain compounds. When you see a compound with this character, it is normally related to fire or something hot. See 'lamb' on p. 41 for an example of this character.

...... ~...... 28 FIRE BUILDING BLOCK burning hot flames

2 4 "!K* burning hot (yan ) #f.:k flames (yan ) This compound comprises The building block for In ancient China, fires This character is a two 'fire' building blocks 'fire' represents one flame. were used mainly for combination of 'mouth' stacked on top of each Multiply that by three and cooking and for warmth. and 'fire'. It means 'to eat' other. They are burning you have a roaring fire. When people gathered or 'mouthful'. Chinese twice as hot as before. around the fire, they were food, especially food from This character also means considered to be part of Sichuan Province, can be 'inflammation'. the group. very spicy, like a fire in your mouth as you eat.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... FIRE COMPOUNDS 29 *:R."!R.. IJ.L blazing 2 2 (yan yan ) A blazing fire burns with incredible heat. You see this character used to describe weather, e.g. 'blazing summer' ~~ ;t: S. burning hot + burning hot = blazing I

~~ flames of fire 4 4 ( yan yan ) This phrase might seem redundant, but there are ! burning hot burning hot 1 ·.... ~-···· ...... ············· ...... : different types of flame, blazing such as flames of passion. flames + flames = flames of fire

*.{X folks 4 3 (da huo ) In ancient China, to light the fire meant that it was time to cook. People who would gather around the fire to eat together were 'partners', 'mates' or 'companions'. big + group = folks

: flames flames : : : •••• 0 •••• 0. 0 •••••••••••••••••••• ···• •••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••• 0 ...... •••• ·• ...... 0 • ••._...... 0 • ••• 0 • ••• 0 ...... 0 •••• 0 •••• 0 •••• flames of fire

... • : big group .• • • ·······················•· •...•...., ...... ••.•...... ••..••••.•••••••••••••••.••••••.. folks

, · ••••••••••••••· , 0000000000000 . , 000000000000 ooo•oo •••••oooooooooooo•••••~•••••••4ooooooo••••oooo4ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooootoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo••••••o••••••~4ooooooooo•••••••••••••••••••••••~•••••••••••••••••••••oooooooooooooooooo 30 FIRE PHRASES **angry A lesson in burning anger! (huo3 da4)

Fire (X) is one of the five elements in traditional Chinese When a person burns with medicine. Each person is born with a unique composition of all rage, we can assume that five elements; it is this unique blend of elements that forms the they are angry. This is quite an informal term. fire + big basis of your personality and constitution. The 'qi' (vital force) =angry of the five elements waxes and wanes in daily and seasonal cycles. The theory behind Chinese medicine is that a person ** big fire becomes sick owing to an imbalance of these elements. (da4 huo3)

Practitioners of traditional medicine believe that when there A very simple phrase. big + fire = big fire is an imbalance of the fire element, it results in a person suffering from anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. So the element of fire is associated with a person's temper. Theoretically, when a person's fire accumulates, so does the person's temper. They become angry!

l fire big : . : •••••••••••• 0 •• • • •••••••••••• 0 • ...... 0 •••• 0 ...... 04- 0 ...... ·-·...... 0 •• 0 ••...... 0 ...... 0 •••••••••••••••••••••• angry

: big fire : • • ••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• big fire

...... _... ._...... _...... FIRE PHRASES 31 The building block for 'tree' represents a tree trunk with hanging branches. When this character is used as an adjective, it refers to a wooden texture. When it is used to describe a person. it means 'clumsy', 'dumb' or 'numb' .

...... - .... , ,, ... - ...... _ ...... 32 TREE BUILDING BLOCK woods forest

foundation to come

1 3 ~ forest (sen ) ~ foundation (ben )

Two trees together mC~ke Three trees make a forest, The foundation of a This character is a a wood, which is greater which is greater than a tree house is the first step combination of 'tree' and than a single tree. This or a wood. When used as in its construction, and two 'person' building character is also a common an adjective, this character traditionally foundations blocks. In ancient China, surname, pronounced 'Lin'. means 'dense', just like a were made of wood. 'to come' was represented It's C!Ctually my mother's thick cluster of trees. This chC~racter also by a character based on surname. means 'origin'. wheat, which had been brought to China from Europe. The simplified form is*·

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... TREE COMPOUNDS 33 originally '**(ben3 lai2) origin + to come = originally

.21-' A one's self (ben3 ren2)

Remember: a person's origin often influences their sense of self. origin + person = [literally] person's origin = one's self

*A messenger ! foundation/origin to come l (lai2 ren2) ~--·~······················~·········~·······~...... originally Before the age of electricity, all messages had to be sent by person. This is quite an old fashioned or poetical phrase. to come + person = messenger

• • • foundation/origin person • • .• • •• ...... 0. 0 0. 0 • •••••• 0 ••...... 0 ••••••••• 0 ••••••• 0. 0 •• 0. 0 •••• 0 •••• 0 •• _, ••••••••••• 0 • 0 •••••••••• 0 •••••••• one's self

: to come person l • • .. , 0000000000000000 .. ,,. 00000ooooooooo.-.oo-..~ooo.-,.ooo.-.oo•Y""Otoo.-•t•••·••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••ooooooooooooooooooooooooo•••••" messenger

...... • ··················································4···············~··························································································~~································~······································· 34 TREE PHRASES

apricot idiot

not yet end

4 ~ apricot (xing )

This character is a This character is another In ancient inscriptions, It looks as if the topmost combination of 'tree' and combination of

• •• 0. ~ · •••• u ·~ 0 ••• 0'! •••••••••• ._•• ~··- ...... ~ • • •• · -· ...... ~·· •••••••••••• u •• 0'4 ••• · -· ...... 0 •••• · -·· ...... · -·· •••• ''! ...... '"'· -· ...... , ...... 0 ....._ ••••• , ...... 36 TREE COMPOUN DS ** future (w ei4 lai2)

not yet + to come = future

@] * to come back (hui2 lai2)

to return + to come = [literally] to return from where you have come = 1• not yet to come i• to come back ...... , ...... t••······· future *@] round trip (lai2 hui2)

to come +to return = [literally] to return to where you have come = round trip

~-*' medical industry ( xing4 lin2)

Today it is easy to forget that all medicine was : to return to come : once derived from nature, .• .• ...... _ ...... _ ...... ···················· and made from products to come back from the forest. such as fruits, herbs and leaves. apricot +woods = source of medicine = medical industry

. . .. to come to return .• .• '0 ••••••• 0 0 •••• 0 ...... 0 "* • .-•••.• .-...... -.-.-.-...... ' ·•• • • ..0 0 • ... ' ...... - ...... round trip

l apricot woods i .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••. medical industry

...... _ ...... _...... ,...... -·········· TREEPHRASES 37 This character is a combination of 'person' and 'tree'. I like to remember it by imagining a person resting against a tree.

This character is a combination of 'person' and 'foundation'. A person's foundation is their body. rest body This is the simplified form; the traditional form is ft.

A -1:* human body (ren2 t i3) person + body = human body

*-1* in general (da4 ti3)

This phrase can be used to mean 'in general', 'more or less' or 'basically'. big + body = in general

.• . • person body • • • ..... 0 ...... 0 •••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••• 0. 0 ...... 0 0 · -· •••••• 0 " ...... -4 • .._• . ••• .._••••• 0 •• --·· 0 • •••••••• 0 0 ...... human body

1 big body 1 •·············•········· ...... ···-··· ...... • in general

II\\

beautiful fresh

/1\\

lamb bleating of sheep

~ beautiful (mei3) ~ bleating of sheep (miel) This character is a This character is a This character is E1 combination of 'sheep' combination of 'fish' on combination of 'sheep' and This character is a and 'big'. In ancient China, the left and 'sheep' on the 'fire'. It represents a lamb combination of 'mouth' sheep were considered right. Originally it referred over a fire, which in certain and 'sheep', and refers to auspicious. This compound to a fish breed, but today parts of China would the sound emitted from is also an abbreviation for has been extended to have been how lamb was a sheep's mouth - 'baa'. the USA (see p. 79) . mean 'fresh'. prepared.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SHEEP COMPOUNDS 41

to get out to cry out in anger

immortal two mountains

1 1 ~ to get out (chu ) nm to cry out in anger iili immort al (xian ) 111111 two mountains (duol) (shenl) In the past, the Emperor This character is E1 sent people in exile beyond This character is a combination of 'person' This compound can either the mountains. As a result, combination of 'mouth' and 'mountain'. Remember be a surname or r-efer to this character used to and 'mountain', and can that a man who lives as two mountains. It's another mean 'exit'. Today it means also mean 'noise of rage'. long as a mountain w ill rare cha~acter that you can 'to get out'. appear immortal to use to show off to your other men. Chinese friends .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... MOUNTA IN COMPOUNDS 43 tB Q exit (chul kou3)

A mouth that tells you where to get out is an exit. to get out + mouth = exit tB * to come out (chul lai2)

This is such an easy phrase. to get out + to come = to come out tB ~ to publish (chul pin3) ! to get out mouth 1 ·.... ~-···· ...... ············· ...... : How do you get a exit product out to the people? You publish it. of course! to get out + product = to publish

: to get out to come : : : •••• 0 •••• 0. 0 •••••••••••••••••••• ·· ·• •••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••• 0 ...... •••• ·• ...... 0 • ••._...... 0 • ••• 0 • ••• 0 ...... 0 •••• 0 •••• 0 •••• to come out

: to get out quality/product : • • ...... •...... ··•· •...•...., ······•·· ...... •...... ••..••••.•••••••••••.. •••.••• ,.... to publish

X l.U [:::] crater 3 1 3 (huo shan kou ) volcano + mouth = [literally] the mouth of the volcano = crater

i*X l.U dormant volcano 1 3 1 (xiu huo shan ) fire mountain . .• ·~···· ...... ··········· rest + volcano = [ literally] volcano at rest volcano = dormant volcano

: fire mountain mouth ; • • • ••• 0 ••••• 0 •••••••••• " •••••••••••••• 0 •• 0 •••• 0 ••••••• 0 •• 0 • ...... _._._...... 0 0 ...... 0 .. ••••••••••••••• 0 0 ••••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••••• 0 •• 0 ••••••...... _._ ...... crater

. • • rest fire moutain .. • ...... ···········-······ ... ·················· •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• dormant volcano

...... _ ...... _...... ,...... MOUNTAIN PHRASES 45 "J(. woman (nu3) This character traditionally depicted an outline of a woman kneeling on the floor, showing her obedience to a man. I am very frustrated by the origin of this character! When used as an adjective, it means 'female' .

...... ·•·•·•··••·•··••••• ······························4···············~··························································································~~································~······································· 46 WOMAN BUILDING BLOCK Why two women together 1& argument ~r1~~2~a lly, two women means 'argument' were believed to be unable to be in the same room Sadly, it seems that when women are together, they quarrel. without arguing. The character showing two women together represents 'argument'. This meaning is a product of Chinese history.

In the old days, it was inevitable that women in Chinese households ended up arguing. For hundreds of years, Chinese married couples lived together with their parents-in-law and the rest of their extended family. It was not unusual for four generations to live under the same roof. And sometimes mothers-in-law took revenge on their daughters-in-law for 'stealing' their sons. It was also common practice for wealthy Chinese men to have several wives (for example, my great grandfather, who was a landlord in Taiwan, had three). To make sure that their own sons would inherit the lion's share of their 1 ~adultery (jian ) husband's wealth, mistresses and wives sometimes ganged up on the newest concubines that their husbands brought home. Any man with three women is cheating on someone. No wonder that domestic conflict was often the norm!

By now you may have noticed that, in Chinese, a character rarely appears by itself. You often need to add another character in order to clarify the meaning in different contexts. Many phrases are constructed by repeating a character. On the next page, you will learn that !I* means 'younger sister'. In real life, you will more frequently see 9*9* (where !I* is repeated) to express 'younger sister'. This is very common practice in the Chinese language; see the example on p. 156. The meaning of the phrase is made absolutely clear by repeating the character. Other examples you will see in this book are A.A. ('everyone', p. 21), ~~('every day', p. 21), 8 8 ('in vain', p. 63), ~~ ('mama'; see 'mother', p. 77) and 00 ('grandfather'; see 'public', p. 141).

As in the case of many English words, a character may have different meanings depending on whether it is used as a noun, a verb or an adjective. For example, "9:.. is 'woman', but when talking about 'a woman', you will more frequently see the phrase "9:.. A (p. 49), where "9:.. is the adjective 'female' and A is the noun 'person'.

Another example is 'forest'. The character~ on its own means 'forest' (p. 33), but when we talk about 'a forest', we often use the phrase~** (p. 156), where~ is the adjective 'forest-like' used to describe the noun ** 'woods'. A final example is 'tomorrow'. The character B~ can mean 'bright', 'brightness' or 'tomorrow' (p. 57). But you more frequently see the phrase B~ S used to refer to 'tomorrow' (p. 59), where B~ is used as an adjective to describe the noun S 'day' .

•• 0 • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••• ...... _ ••• ._••••• ._••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••• ...... 0 •••••••••••• ··• .••••• ·· ·• ...... WOMAN COMPOUNDS 47 to obey younger sister

daughter greed

~[] to obey (ru2) 9* younger sister ~ daught er (nanl) 4 This character is a (m ei ) This character is a This character is a combination of 'woman' This character is a combination of 'woman' combination of 'woods' and 'mouth!. A woman in combination of 'woman' and 'to surround'. Young and 'woman'. It also means ancient China didn't speak and 'not yet', so the literal girls were traditionally 'a great number' or 'a lot'. her own opinions, she translation is 'not yet a kept in their family homes, 'A lot of woman' means obeyed. This compound woman'. It is used to refer surrounded by their family, 'greed' - that's so negative! also means 'is like' (see to a younger sister. to protect their modesty p. 65) and 'if' (see 'to for their eventual marriage. forgive', p. 87) .

• •• 0. ~· •••• u ·~ 0 ••• 0'! •••••••••• ._•• ~··- ...... ~ • • •• · -· ...... ~·· •••••••••••• u •• 0'4 ••• · -· ...... 0 •••• · -·· ...... · -·· •••• ''! ...... '"'· -· ...... , ...... 0 ....._ ••••• , ...... 48 WOMAN COMPOUNDS 1ili ti:. fairy (xianl 5~~ the mythical immortals, fairies are most associated with women. immortal + woman = fairy

tz:..A. woman 3 2 (nu ren ) A female person is a woman. woman/female + person = woman

*11* eldest 1 immortal woman 1 younger sister ·...... ~············ ..··························· ···············~·········~··~···· 4 4 fairy (da mei ) Family hierarchy was extremely important in ancient China. Authority was based on age and sex. Men ruled the family hierarchy in age order, continuing with the women from eldest to youngest. The second youngest sister in the family would therefore be one above the lowest-ranking member of the family. big + younger sister = [literally] big younger sister = eldest younger sister i woman/female person j ·...... _ ...... : woman

• • big younger sister • % .• ...... ····- -····-····· ··············· ...... eldest younger sister

...... _ ...... _...... ~ ...... ,...... ~...... WOMAN PHRASES 49 In oracle-bone and seal inscriptions, this character dep icted a bird. The modern character represents a bird with four talons and a hanging tail feather. The simplified form of this character is ~ .

...... ~········ .. ··················· ················•·•····•····•····•·················································································•·········•····•··········· 50 BIRD BU ILDING BLOCK ~ feather (yu3)

I think it IS obvious that this character looks a lot like a feather!

... ····· ...... ·····...... •...... ' ...... ' ... . FEATHER BUILDING BLOCK 51 B sun (ri4) In oracle-bone and seal inscriptions, the character for 'sun' was a circle with a dot in the middle. It has since evolved to look very similar to a Western window. This character also means 'day'.

········ ...... ~···········~········ .. ···································•·•····•····•····•·················································································•·········•····•··········· 52 SUN BUILDING BLOCK sunnse• sparkles

east to check

.§. sunrise ~ sparkles * east (e:Jongl) ~ to check (cha2) rrl.an4) d iFl1s is an easy compoun fj.j~g~~ form of 'sparkles' This character is a The original meaning of to remember, as it depicts was written as three circles, combination of 'tree' and this character was 'raft'. the sun rising above the two on the bottom and one 'sun'. The sun rises in the To check and explore line of the horizon. on top, and meant 'brilliant' East, and a man would what lies beyond the or 'glittering'. have first glimpsed the horizon, you need a raft sun through the trees. of some sort. The simplifi-ed form is *·

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SUN COMPOUNDS 53

S ~ Japan (ri4 ben3) Japan is known as the 'land of the rising sun' in English. Japan lies to the east of China, which is where the sun rises. sun +origin = [literally] origin of the sun = Japan

EJ~A. Japanese person (ri4 ben3 ren2) . .• sun foundation/origin . Japan+ person = .•...... '• - Japanese person Japan

EJ~~ A Japanese woman (ri4 ben3 nu3 ren2) Japan + woman = Japanese woman

l sun foundation/origin person ; •o 0 0 0 0 0 o o 0 0 0 t o 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 o 0 0 ,.. o 0 0 o o 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 0 o o o o o • o o o o o o o o o.-o o o o o o o o o.-_o.o ._._. o o ..._. o o ._._. o o o o o o o o .._. o o o o o o o o o 0 o o o 0 o 0 0 0 0 o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 o t 0 0 o t 0 t 0 o 0 o o I t 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 ._. o o o 0 0 o o o o.-o o -..o.o.o. 0 o • 0 o ._._.. 0 0 -.o 0 0 0 '"-* • 0 0 0 °• Japanese person

.• • .• sun foundation/origin woman person .• ·...... ,...... Japanese woman

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••'"-•••--•••••••••••••••-"••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••·••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• .. ,,,,,,,.. ,,,,,, .• ,,,.,,,,,,,,o>oooo••••• SUN PHRASES 55 4 .F.l moon (yue ) The building block for moon originally derived from a pictogram of the crescent moon. It has now evolved to be a visual counterpart to 'sun'. This character also means 'month'.

·······-······················· ...... ,...... 4 ~ = .F.l flesh (rou ) The build1ng block for 'flesh' (or 'meat') ~ looks almost identical in its compound form to 'moon'. Can you tell the difference between the two characters? It is nearly impossible. but the difference is usually made evident by the meaning of the compound. If you see ~ or ~ as part of a character on a restaurant menu. it is likely to refer to some part of an animal - although not necessarily a part that you would like to eat.

...... ~ ...... ~...... 56 MOON BUI LDING BLOCK friend bright

gall bladder skin

.ruJ friend (peng2) a~ bright ( m in g2) 0§. gall bladder (dan3) In oracle-bone Inscriptions, When the sun and moon This character is a this character depicted two shine together, it creates This character is a combination of 'flesh' bunches of shells, which a character meqning combination of 'flesh' and 'man'. A mqn's were used at the time as a 'bright' or 'brightness'. and 'sunrise'. This is flesh is his skin. This is form of currency. This character also the simplified form; the the simplified form; the means 'tomorrow'; see traditional form is Jlli. traditional form is Jl. the explanation on p. 47. Both forms can also mean 'courage' .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... MOON COMPOUNDS 57 ~ tB to find out (cha2 chul) to check + to get out = [literally] to check out = to find out

~BJ3 to ascertain (cha2 ming2) to check + bright = [literally] to clarify what you check = to ascertain

* B in the . i to check to get out i comrng •...... ·····························•··•·················································•······•········• (j1~§Ji~ffii{g~l6ck for to find out 'sun' can also double as the character for 'day'. to come + day = in the coming days

: to check bright : .• .• ...... 0 0 • ...... , • 0 ••••••••• 0 ..... 0 •• 0 ••• 0. 0 •••••• 0 · -· ...... ·~· ...... · -· ••••••••••• 0 ••••• 0 00 ••••••••••••••• to ascertain

i to come sun/day 1 .························•••·· ...... ····· ...... in the coming days

·-············ ······ -···· ...... ' -············· ...... _ ...... _...... 58 SUN/MOOON PHRASES BJ:} S tomorrow (ming2 ri4 ) Remember, after a day and a night comes tomorrow. bright + day = tomorrow

* S today (ben3 . 4 ) 8n~in + day= today

* F.l this month (ben3 yue4 ) Just as the 'sun' building block can also mean 'day', • : • bright sun/day • • • •••••• 0 •••...... 0 •• 0. 0. ··-· ••••• 0. ·-•• ''"'' ...... ' • • ••• • •• • • 0 •• ' ••••••••• '0. ···~- 0 0 ..... so the 'moon' building tomorrow block can also mean 'month'. origin + month = this month

: foundation/origin sun/day : •• • '••• · o•••••• ··•••••• •••••••o-.o oooooo·• ..-ooo•ca.oaa.oc&oooolooooooo oooooooO-Ooooo o ooooooooooooooot •· Oo +·-·•••• -•ooooooooo ••oooooooooooOa-•o' today

I· foundation/origin moon/month : ...... ·- ...... ·············· this month

······································································--······················································································································-············ ·- ················· -····- · ··•· ..... ······························ SUN/MOON PHRASES 59 .r. work (gongl) In oracle-bone Inscriptions. this character was depicted as a tool shape, and 1ts original meaning was 'holding a tool' or 'carpenter's square'. Today it has been extended to mean 'work', 'labour' or 'skill'. Compounds that use this character Include: a: left (zuol) ~ right (you4) 21 wizard (wul) I A worker 1 2 (gong ren ) work + person = [ literally] working person = wo rker or labourer

AI artificial 2 1 • (ren gong ) person + work = [literally) person's work = man-made = artificial

1z. I female worker : work person l 3 1 : . (nu g ong ) ················-········-········-····· .. ·······.. ···-················ --· ...... worker woman + work = [literally] woman's work or needlework = female worker

•

• • • person work l • • *o 0 0 0 * 0 0 0 o• 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o• 0 0 0 0 0 Oo-0 0 o· • o ·o ..._. •• 0 0. 0 0 ••. • ._.. 0 oo o. 0 0 o o o 0 Oo o o 0 o o 0 o o o o 0 0 o 0 o o ,. 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0* ,. 0> o 0 0 ...... artificial

•

• : i woman work • • •·········· .• ...... ' ...' ...... ··- .······················· female worker

white + white = in vain/ for no purpose

8 A Caucasian 2 2 (bai ren ) An alternative but derogatory word for Caucasian is 'gweilo', which means 'ghost person'. white + person = [literally] white man = Caucasian

I : • white white l • • ...... ················ ·-···-···-····-····...... ··. ··•••> ' -.•••••••. . .. --·· ...... 1n vam 8 ~d aytime 2 1 (bai tian ) The character for 'sky' can also mean 'heaven' or 'day'. In this instance, it means 'day'. white + day = daytime

B to learn/practise 2 (xi ) This character is a combination of 'feather' and 'white'. It generally refers to learning to fly. Its simp lified form is :s:.J.

• • •• white person : I • ...... , ...... ······...... , ...• .. ' · I o o 0 U o o I 04 o o I o.e 0 ° Caucasian

i white sky/day : . : ...... ·················-·· -····· ··· ...... ···· ••• ··· .. ··· -·. - ·· -· ...... daytime

...... •...... •...... •...... •.•....•...... •....•...... •..•...•..•...... ·•··· ..... WHITE COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 63 mtiger (hu3) The buildmg block for 'tiger' also means 'brave' or 'fierce' .

...... '. -·---· ..-··--····-···············-· ······ Dht to scare (hu3)

Th1s character IS a combination of 'mouth' and 'tiger'. Imagine how scared you would be to hear a tiger roar in the middle of the night.

...... •.••...... ··································-·········--··-··-··-···-···-··-···-···························.. ·············.. ················· ...... 64 TIGER BUILDING BLOCK Tiger idioms

1 sheep to enter tiger mouth ! ••••..•••.••..••••.••.••..••••••..•••••.••••..•..•••..•.•..•••••..•..•••..•....•••..•••..•••..•....•••••..•..••...•...•...••.••..•..•••..•••..•..•.•••..•••..•..••••.••.• ,...•••..•...••.....••..•....•..•••..•.•.••••....•..•.•..•..•••••..•••..•....•..•••. t··········• a lamb in a tiger's den

~ Am IJ is a famous Chinese idiom that means 'a lamb in a tiger's den'. The phrase is a warning against entering a dangerous environment and becoming a victim as a result. You will notice that the second 4 character, A 'to enter' (ru ) , looks similar, to A 'person', but its meaning is totally different. The slight difference is in the length of the strokes. The right stroke of 'to enter' is longer than that of 'person'.

• .• l to obey tiger mouth • • . ··························~···················~·········~································~················································~··~·································--····~··········· as dangerous as a tiger's den

In this phrase, ~0 'to obey' means 'is like', while .J.1f, IJ means 'tiger's den'. The phrase means 'as dangerous as a tiger's den'. If you see this phrase, keep your wits about you. An extension of this phrase, ~~~~O m IJ 'the crossroad is like the tiger's den', is also seen at road crossings to remind people to be careful when crossing the road .

• • • • •• • • .... •• • • • •• 0 ...... -...... , ...... , ...... • ••••...... ' ••••••• f ...... , ...... ·· -·· ...... - ...... _, ...... TIGER IDIOMS 65 2 r~ door (men ) The building block for 'door' looks very similar to a pair of saloon doors from the Wild West. Saloon doors may be a much more recent invention, but the resemblance is uncanny! The simplified form is fl.

•· ...... -.- .... ' ...... ' ... -·······················-...... 66 DOOR BUILDING BLOCK to dodge to ask

space/room leisure

3 1 2 ~ to dodge (shan ) ~, space/room (jian ) IJ.J, leisure (xian )

Imagine a person running This character is a This character is a Before electricity, all work through a pair of saloon combination of 'door' and combination of 'door' and stopped when darkness doors. trying to dodge 'mouth'. To ask a question 'sun'. In seal script this fell and the moon rose. arrest. This character is the door to knowledge. character was identical This character also means also means 'flash'. The The simplified form is jE] . to 1m 'leisure', so it was 'idle', 'peaceful' or 'calm'. simplified form is j:AJ. changed to prevent Alternative forms are 1¥] confusion. The simplified and 1*1 · form is IBl .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... DOOR COMPOUNDS 67 * r~ front gate 4 2 (da men )

big + door = [literally] big door = front gate

P~ D doorway 2 3 (men kou )

door + mouth = [literally] door's mouth = doorway

l\.P~D mam0 entrance 4 2 3 (da men kou ) I • • big door .• • • big + doorway = [literally] •.....••.....•....•...... •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• big doorway mam0 front gate entrance

.• .• • door mouth • • ...... 0 ...... 0 • · -· •••••• 0 " ...... ~-- ...... 0 • 0 ...... 0 0 0 • •• 0. 0 • 0 ... 0 •••••• doorway

.• • . big door mouth •• .• .• •••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ...... ·-········· ..•.••.••••.•.••.••...••••...... •..•...... main entrance

...... ·················- ·······························~··· · ··························· ·· ···· · ·············································· · ······· ··· ······~ ····~·~· ·······~······························································ 68 DOOR PHRASES Are, world 2 1 (ren jian ) person + space = [literally] the space for people = world

fMl A idler 2 2 (xian ren ) leisure + person idler

~A to sneak out 3 2 (shan ren ) to dodge + person

I [literally] person dodging • person space .• • ...... 0 •••••...... 0 ...... ••• 0 •••••• 0 •• 0 •••••••••••••••• 0 0 •••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••• to sneak out world

j leisure person j ...... ~...... - ...... J idler

to d odge person : .I...... -···························.• to sneak out

...... _ ...... ,...... ····································· ...... DOOR PHRASES 69

foam

fountain plain

2 '.fl.J<7.X WI'd e expanse ~ fountain (quan ) 3 of water (miao ) This character is .a This character is a This character is a This character comprises combination of 'water' and combination of 'white' combination of 'water' and three 'water' building 'end'. Just remember that and 'water:'. It also means 'burning hot'. It also means blocks. It is logical that foam is the last form of 'spring'. Remember that 'light', 'bland', 'modest', multiple waters would be water as it crashes on to fresh spring water ofteh 'essential' or 'tasteless'. used to describe a large the shore. comes from melting snow, amount of water. which is white.

1 '-1-r 3 4 2 )I river (jiang ) )x you (ru) 5* to bathe (mu ) ~ to drip (li n ) water + work water + woman water + t ree water + woods

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... WATER COMPOUNDS 71 71< ~ crystal 3 1 (shui jing )

In this phrase, the 'water' building block alludes to the clear nature of water. water + sparkles = crystal

D 7J< saliva 3 3 (kou shui ) mouth + water = saliva : water sparkles i • • ·······································································································~························ crystal )iii7J< fresh water 4 3 (dan shui )

This is also the name of a town in the north of Taipei County, Taiwan. plain + water = fresh water

~.F.J quiet month for business 4 4 (dan yue )

A typical )~fi.l in China :• mouth water :• is July, which is Ghost .•·····•·•········· ...... ••...... •....•...... ••...•...... •. Month in the Chinese saliva ca lendar. In Asia, Ghost Month is an annual month of ancestor worship, w ith some similarities to the Western Halloween. light + month = [literally] light month = slack month = quiet month for business

. .• plain water .. .• • •••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••• - .... ' -- ...... -...... -...... fresh water

.: plain/light moon/month ;. •0 o o oOO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 o 0 0 00 0 ,_ oo ., 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 o ,. 0 oo o 0 , oo o 0 . o o o 0 0 oo o 0 o oo o IOooo 0 Oooo o oooa-0 o oooo o oo ..._.ooo 0 I_. I 6 6 Ill~ 0 II I I 601 II

······························•··•··••···•••••••••• ······························~·············· .. ··························································································~································~······································· 72 WATER PHRASES W-J 7_k scenery 1 3 (shan shui ) The majority of scenery comprises spectacular mountains and vast rivers, for example, Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Huangshan in China or Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, to name a few! mountain + water = : mountain water : scenery I : ····· · ········· · ··· · · ·· · ·· ·· ····· · ·· ·~ ···· ·· ·· · · ·· · ···· · ···· · ········ · ·· · ······ · ·············· ...•.....•...... •...•.....•..•. scenery 7..kP~ dam 3 2 (shui men ) This phrase was used to describe the Watergate scandal ofthe1970s. It is a literal translation of the English name given to the scandal that resulted in President Nixon's resignation. water + door = [literally]

• . water gate = dam • water door • • .• •...... 0 • ••••••• • 0 .._ ...... _•• ••••• • 0 • • •• 0 •• 0 ...... 0 •••• • •••• •• 0 . 0 • ••• • • 0 •• 0 ••• ,_,. 0 . ., • 0 • • . • 0 0 0 •• 0 • • • ••••• 0 •• • ••••• dam D 5* spit 3 4 (kou mo ) mouth + foam = [literally] mouth foam = spit

5}t7_k spring water ' 2 3 (quan shui ) ' spring+ water= spring water

.. . . mouth foam .• '0 o o 0 o t 0 o. o 10 0 .. t 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 .-o 0 o·o 00 o..-. 0 0 o,.-.-.-o o-....-. oo-. 0 .-o 0. o 0 0 o-. o 0 o• o 0 ,_ 0 0 1 0 •o o 0 o 0 000 0 ...... ''"' ...... spit

.• fountain/spring water •. .• . • .• •••• 101 •• ...... 0... 0 ...... 0 ._• ._••••• ._._._,_..... 0 •• 0 . . •• • • • • • • ••••• ' ••••• 0 0 • ••• 0 0 ' ...... ···· ·...... spring water

...... _...... , ...... ···· ··········· ...... WATER PHRASES 73 ~ cow (niu2) The original meaning of th1s character was 'ox', but since the clerical change in writing styles it has meant 'cow'. If you see 'cow' in a character, it tends to relate to stubbornness.

'-.-.- ...... -- ..... ······•····••••·••••••·••·•····•·········· 4= cow (niu2) This character is the form of 'cow' that is used as a component In certain compounds.

0' ' '0' ' ' ' ' It ' ' ' ' ' ' '0' ' ' ' ' ' ' • ' • ' I t t • II If • IIU • II If • II II • lilt 0 II.. • 0 ...0 ... oo- 0 I - to I I I 0•4 0 -·I I t OO_I _Itllllttlltlltltlltlttttl o lllttltltlt t I tt I IIII I 1 • 110 o lilt I ll I ttltt o o I tO o o o 1 o o o I t O o o t oo o 01 oo o o 10 t oo to 0 0 o 0 Olo 0 0 01 o 1 1 0 0 0 1111 o 11 Ito 11 I l l 111 1 tilt It111 1 111110 ttl o o 74 COW BUILDING BLOCK 7.}< tf buffalo 3 2 (shui niu ) The water buffalo with a large crescent horn is a major domestic animal used in southern China for paddy cultivation. water + cow = [literally] water cow = buffalo

~ tf longhorn beetle 1 2 (tian niu ) The longhorn beetle is black with small white spots resembling the stars in a night sky. sky + cow = [ literally] sky cow= longhorn beetle • • i water cow l ••..•.•.•...... •...•...... ••...... ••...•••...... ···•·········•· ...... ·••· ....••••.••....•....•..••• buffalo

• •

•• • I sky cow • • • ...·-···-···········--·"'-···· ...... _..... '"'...... - ...... longhorn beetle

...... _ ...... -· ········•· ...... COW PHRASES 75 ~~ horse (ma3) This building block traditionally looked like a horse on its side. Today you can see only the horse's torso. tail and legs. The simplified form is :Q;.

•

0 • • • • • • • • • • e • • • • • • • • • • • • · • o o • • • • • 1000 ••ooo 0 ••oo 0 ·• • • • o • • • • • • • • • o -...... o o oo -oooo o ooo 0 0 0 0 ....000000--000-0000eo•ooeoeooOOOOoOoOeooooooooooeooooeooooeo•o oeoooo OooooOo o o oeoo o o Oo o o o o o o o 0040 o o 0 00 o 0 OoOO oo o 0 o 00 o 0 o 0 o ••o I 0 Olo 0 0 0 Oo 0 0 o eo 0 0 o Oo oO 0 •ooO o IO 0 U IO aoo •••• ...... o 76 HORSE BUILDING BLOCK question indicator to blame

to charge in mother

Dl question indicator to blame (ma4) fll1 to charge in 9n~ mother (mal) 2 3 (ma ) This character is a (chuang ) This character is a This character is a combination of 'shout' and Pictog raphica II y, this combination of 'woman' combination of 'mouth' 'horse'. It means 'blame', character represents a and 'horse'. 9191 means and 'horse'. It is used at 'abuse', 'curse' or 'scold' horse charging through 'mama'. The simplified the end of a sentence to when used as a verb. The a door. The simplified form is '9E.J. indicate that a 'yes' or 'no' simplified form is~. form is I~. answer should follow. The simplified form is n~ .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... HORSE COMPOUNDS 77 4 .3S. jade (yu ) Throughout Asian history, jade has been more prized than silver and gold both monetarily and spiritually. The building block for 'jade' comprises a bottom stroke representmg earth, a top stroke representing heaven, and a middle stroke representing heaven's essence on earth. lh simplified Chinese, 'jade' and 'kihg' are both classified as radicals. In some characters, the 'jade' .3i building b lock does not take the extra dot, and so appears as 'king' ::E. See 'whole' opposite for an example.

•· ...... - ...... -.. -...... - ...... 78 JADE BUILDING BLOCK king country

master whole

2 .± king (wang ) ~whole (quan2) Traditionally more prized This character is .a This character originally This character is a than si lver and gold, jade combination of 'jade' and meant 'wick' or 'torch' combination of 'to enter' was worn by kings and 'to surround'. China is the but today means 'master', A and 'king' (in this nobles throughout Asian country of jade, so it is 'owner' or 'host'. instance, actually 'jade'). history, and represented logical that the country is It represents belongings the virtues of beauty, grace alluded to as the 'land of under a roof. It also means and purity. jade'. This is the simplified 'full' or 'treasure'. form; the traditional form is~ .

3 2 2 2 3 2 J;:.. J: queen (nu wang ) ~ J: king (guo wang ) J:~ kingdom ~ ~ USA (mei guo ) beautiful + country woman+ king country + king (wang2 g uo2) king + country

····················~···············~································································································~···········~···· .. •t·······················~·~················································································· JADE COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 79 JII river (chuan1) The oracle-bone inscnption of this character represented a river running between two shores. Today the character comprises three vertical lines. indtcating a flowing river. It can also be used to refer to the province of Sichuan, known for its four rivers.

...... ·••·. '. ··· ·· - ····· ~ ~·· · ·"·················· 1N state (zhoul) Add three dots next to the three lines of 'river' to form the character for 'state'.

··-·-·· .. ···-···-..·-··-····-···-··"-·--······--···-··--·-·-·-··-··········-··-····0, '...... ········ ...... ·l.o.·-·-...... _ ...... -.~...... 80 RIVER BUILDING BLOCK -J$1- boat (zhoul) This character depicts the shape of an ancient Chinese wooden vessel, which looks similar to a punt on a river.

· · ······ · ········· · ···· · ···· ·· ······································································ · ···· ·· ··· ·· ·· ···· · ·· ··· ····· ····· ··· · ··································~·········~···························· · ··· ·· ···· ·· ··· ·· ··· · ···· ·· ················ · ······ · · BOAT BUILDING BLOCK 81 ll!tii·~~ ~-~r.wk ~~ ~il ~~

£Sfld(~ ~~~~ §Ytl '~ --~'" ~ &-i~~ ~~ttl ~ ljfflitijlJfl tNt~~~ ~ dDMfcBftf~

A T tw~b~ -~~~It 'UJi~l+j~ -.~ra?Dtft~(ifm. ~ ftii~~~'tM~ ~ ·~~~~ Jt•-~ This character was based on the curled body of a poisonous snake; you can almost see the hood of a cobra tn the character. It also means 'worm'. If you see this building block in a compound character, it tends to refer to some sort of insect, reptile or shellfish - for example, 'snake' ~ . 'frog' ~ and 'clam' ~· Its traditional form is §I (see p. 127).

········ ...... - ...... ' .' ...... -·· ...... -·· ·- ···························································································································-·········-········································································· 84 BUG BUILDING BLOCK ft tall/length 2 (chang ) The original form of this character depicted a person with very long hair, indicating 'being long' or the idea of length. The simplified form is *·

~ account/bill 4 (zhang ) This character comprises the building b lock for 'shell' (see p. 130), indicating the meaning, and 'length', indicating the pronunciation (see p. 11). Shells are associated with wealth, hence the meaning of the character. The simplified form is IE·

...... _ ...... _...... ,...... ·············· ·· ...... -·········· TALL/LENGTH BUILDING BLOCK 85 :\ . 1 'L' heart (x1n ) This character originally depicted a heart, but it has since evolved to its present form.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••• 1' heart/vertical core (xinl) This character is the form of 'heart' that is used as a component in certain compounds. It is known as R'~'~. the 'vertical core'. See 'fear' opposite for an example of this character.

to forgive fear

4 4 ~must (bi ) ~ to forgive (shu ) 18 fear (pa4 ) This character is a This character comprises This character is a This character is a combination of 'heart' 'heart' inside 'door'. Imagine combination of 'if' (see 'to combination of 'heart' and and a line () ). The that it syrtlbolizes a heart obey'. p. 48) and 'heart'. 'white'. When someone is original form of the that wishes to leave You must often ask yourself scared or frightened, it is because it is bored. compound comprised if your heart can forgive often said that they have The simplified form /\ and ~. indicating Is~~. a wrong. It's a slightly scary gone white. 'using wood as a marker'. image, however.

r+-o :\. 1 1 1 3 1 3t 'l} contented (an xin ) J' 1Li' be careful ( xiao xtn ) ~ 'L' whole-heartedly peaceful + heart small + heart (quan2 xinlJ) (see p. 93 for 'peaceful') (see p. 132 for 'small') whole+ heart

to row to divide

/1\\

talkative to illuminate

2 1 1 ~IJ to row (hua ) 5.1" to divide ( fen ) q]J talkative (dao ) ~ to illuminate 4 This character is a This character shows 'knife' This character is a (zhao ) combination of 'weapon' under the number eight, combination of 'mouth' This character is a (see p. 124) and 'knife'. and represents a knife and 'knife', indicating combination of 'knife', As well as 'to row' cutting something in two. chatter or noise. 'sun', 'mouth' and 'fire'. (a boat), it can mean It means 'illuminate' or 'to pull' or 'to stroke'. 'light up' when used as a verb, or 'bright' when used as an adjective.

•o. BIR 1 2 /_ ~ 2 1 .3 5J' 'G' to distract 7J :n clearly (fen ming ) 7J J molecule (fen z1 ) 1 1 (fen xin ) to divide + bright to divide + son to divide + heart (see p. 96 for 'son')

···································· · ···········································~·····················~·····~······························································ .. ········.. ·· ················································••·······•••····••·••··•••··•• KNIFE COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 89 power to add

to construct to d rive

1 4 4 1JD to add (jia ) ~ to construct (jia ) ~ to drive (jia ) This character originally This character is a This character is a This character is a meant 'p lough'. Ploughs combination of 'power' combination of 'to add' combination of 'to add' require powerful animals and 'mouth'. It also means and 'tree'. It means and 'horse'. It also means to pull them. The meaning 'increase'. This is also an 'construct', 'build up! or 'to ride'. The simplified has been extended to refer abbreviation of California, 'stand' when used as a verb, form is ~. to the power to pull the USA (see below). and 'shed frame' when plough. used as a noun.

1.10 1~1 California 1 1 (jia zhou ) Ca lifornia + state

••• 0. ~· •••• u ·~ 0 ••• 0'! •••••••••• ._•• ~··- ...... ~ •••• · -· ...... ~·· •••••••••••• u •• 0'4 ••• · -· ...... 0 • ••• · -·· ...... · -·· •••• ''! ...... '"'· -· ...... , ...... 0 ....._ ••••• , ...... 90 KNIFE COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES

,..,.., roof (mian2) The building block for 'roof' is hardly ever seen independently of another character. It is mostly used as a component of many characters relating to habitation and architecture .

...... ····· ...... , ...... ···············-··---·········---·················-·······························································--························································································ 92 ROOF BUILDING BLOCK disaster peaceful

••

. pnson home

1 ~ 1 2 !J..!.. disaster (zai ) 3:( peaceful (an) ~ prison (liao ) This character is a This is a more positive Cows and buffalo were In ancient China, pigs combination of 'roof' compound featuring used as beasts of burden. were raised indoors to and 'fire'. I think anyone the building block for The original meaning of this keep them safe. Pigs in with a burning roof would 'woman'. Remember that, compound was 'pen', but the house then became consider it a disaster! This traditionally, a peaceful it has since been extended associated with a bountiful is the simplified form; the home was one run by to mean 'prison' when used home. This cha~acter also as a noun. means 'family'. traditional form is m,, a woman. a combination of 'river' and 'fire'.

3 1 1 .1]

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... ROOF COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 93

m rain (yu3) This character depicts water falling from the sky. The top horizontal line(- ) represents the sky, while the figure n represents the space outside a city. As a whole. the character alludes to 'water scattered outside the city' .

....•...... •...... •...... *m rain shower (da <~ YU 3) 1 big ram l big + rain = [literall y] •················-········-······--········· ·······················<···· --·· ············ ·- •• ·· ·· ... ,...... • rain shower big rain = rain shower

m71< rainwater (yU3 ShU13)

rain + water = rainwater

m~ rainforest (yu3 lim)

rain + woods = rainforest

• • • ram water : •• • ...... ~ ...... rainwater

· rain woods : .i .: ...... ·····•···· •·· .... - ...... rainforest

good character

plum twins

4 3 1 twins (zi ) * character (zi ) * plum (li ) H This character is a This compound is a This character is a This character comprises combination of 'woman' combination of 'roof' and combination of 'tree' two 'son' building blocks. and 'son'. In ancient China, 'son'. When boys are born and 'son' . Plums were Twins were considered a the foremost requirement under a roof, it means a considered a symbol of sign of either good luck of a good woman was growth of population, which endurance in ancient China, or bad luck, depending to bear a son in order to perpetuates civilization and as their flowers bloomed on the region. in winter. This is also a continue her husband's literature. So this means very common surname, line. The chqracter Cqn 'character' (or 'word') in translated as Li or Lee. also mean 'such'. Chinese literature. •

3 3 I :::Z.. ( 2 .3) 4 T "tl.. offspring (zi nu ) .I. T pnnce wang Zl S T day (ri zi) -p:f1f) good intention son/child + woman kihg + son sun;/day + son (hao3 xin1) good + heart

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SON COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 97 4 § eye (mu ) Traditionally, in oracle bone inscriptions. this character was eye-shaped. but its form was treated as straight lines in seal scnpt .

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 •••• 0 ...... 0 ...... ··--···-···-·································· ••••••• ·-··· ••••••••••••••••••••• 0 ...... 0 ••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 98 EYE BUILDING BLOCK oneself odour

' '

mutual tear

1 4 *~ mutual (xiang ) 5§ t ear (lei ) Th is character once meant This charact er is a This character is a The traditional form of 'nose', but it now means com bination of 'oneself' combination of 'tree' this character, 5Jl is a 'oneself', because people and 'dog'. It originally and 'eye'. Its composition combination of 'water' and usually point to their face meant 'to smell', because alludes to the idea of 'perverse'. This simplified (specifically their nose) a dog's nose is particularly taking a close look or form is a combination of observing. It has now been when they talk about sensitive. It has since 'water' and 'eye'. extended to mean 'mutual' themselves. evolved to mean 'odour'. or 'image' .

• • 0 •• 0 ••••••••• 0 • ••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••••••• 0 0 ••• 0 0 ••• 0 0 ...... 0 ••.••••••••••••••••••••• • •• 0 0 •• , •••• 0 ...... 0. 0 •••• 0 ••...... 00 ••...... 0 ...... _...... 0 •••••••••••••••••• • •••••• 0 0 •••••••••••••••• 0 •••••...... 0 •• 0 EYE COMPOUNDS 99 3 -=¥- hand (shou ) In oracle-bone inscriptions, the form of this character was an abstract depiction of five fingers w ith the lower part of the arm•

...... " ...... 3 1 hand (shou ) This character Is the form of 'hand' that Is used as a component In certain compounds. It is known as •••• the ·utttng hand'. See 'to assist' opl)oslte for an exampte of this character.

...... _.; • ••••••••• · · ···········-·-··-·· ·-·· $" •••• 5 ...... • ...... ,...... • ...... 'R 1 -·· T I-IIIlS ITihQ .... -IIIIUI I Ill .. IIA'T Ill 100 HAND BUILDING BLOCK to assist to dress up

to pat to plagiarize

2 4 ~ to assist (fu ) ffi to dress up (ban ) fY to plagiarize This character's This character is a This character is a (chaol) composition symbolizes a combination of 'hand' and combination of 'hand' and This character is a man being supported by 'to divide'. The building 'white'. 'Hand' indicates the combination of 'hand' and a helping hand. It can also block on the left indicates meaning; 'white' indicates 'little' (see p . 133). It means mean 'to support', 'to help', pronunciation. the meaning, while the 'to plag i arize ~ or 'to copy'. 'to protect' and 'to hold on'. compound on the right indicates pronunciation.

:J:1c~ handrail A~ manpower ~:f. to clap hands 'J"fY cheat sheet (fu2 shou3) (ren2 shou3) (pail shou3) (xiao3 cfldol) to ass ist + hand persoh + hand to pat + hand small + to p lagiarize (see p . 132 for 'small ')

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... HAND COMPOUNDS A ND PHRASES 101 to steal to fasten

to tie together to seek

2 4 tJ\ to steal (pa ) tD to fasten (kou ) mJ to tie together This character is a This character is a (kun3) This character is a combination of 'hand' combination of 'hand' This character is a combination of 'hand' and and the number eight. It and 'mouth'. It has many combination of 'hand' 'weapon' (seep. 124), and indicates a hand taking up originally meant 'to dig out', different meanings, and 'enclosure' m. arms, perhaps to search for 'to crawl' or 'to crouch', including the verbs To remember it, imagine an escaped prisoner. but has been extended to 'rein', 'knock', 'strike', 'tap', a captive's hands tied mean 'to steal'. Imagine a 'button', 'buckle', 'deduct', together. thief crouching by you and 'detain', 'smash'. When used digging out your wallet. as a noun, it means 'button' .

• •• 0. ~· •••• u ·~ 0 ••• 0'! ••••••••• • ._•• ~··- ...... ~ • • •• · -· ...... ~·· •••••••••••• u •• 0'4 ••• · -· ...... 0 • ••• · -·· ...... · -·· •••• ''! ...... '"'· -· ...... , ...... 0 ....._ ••••• , ...... 102 HAND COMPOUNDS

3 rAAJ net (wang ) This is the simplified form of 'net'. The traditional form ~ d1d not come into being until the clerical change. The traditional form 1s a combmation of 'silk' on the left. 7Rv.. indicatmg the materials, and 'net/to deceive' ~ on the right, representing the pronunciation and the meaning .

... · ··· ·· · ~ · · ~· ··· ·· ···· · ······················ · ············· 3 c::c net (wang ) This character is the form of 'net' that is used as a component in some compounds. Sometimes, owing to a person's handwriting, this character can look very similar to the number four ll9. See 'to buy' on p. 131 for an example of this character.

·······················································-·--···················································...... ~.- ... l ...., ...... ······················································ .... ' .. ·-·· . ··································•··········· ...... NET BUILDING BLOCK 105

many dream

name years

This character comprises This character is a This character is a This character is a two 'dusk' building combination of 'woods' and combination of 'dusk' combination of 'mountain' blocks, suggesting the 'dusk'. It is the simplified and 'mouth'. It alludes and 'dusk'. It is the accumulation of time. form; the traditional form to parents calling their simplified form; the Accumulation implies ~ is a combination of children's names as traditional form is ~· evening fell. The compound 'many'. 'unclear' lt•' person' and The most common usage also means 'famous'. of~ is to count a person's 'dusk', and means 'unclear age; for example, - pj, illusion'. ~j> how much means 'one year old'. 1 (duo shao3 ) many + t oo little (see p. l:P 3 for 'little')

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... DUSK COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 107 -- -1=1 In oracle-bone and bronze inscriptions, the form of this character was very similar to the character ~ · which means 'tongue'. The only difference was a short horizontal stroke added to the top o f the character, indicating that the tongue was in use. This character also means 'speech' or 'to speak' .

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2 i. t o t alk (yan ) This character is the form of 'to talk' that is used as a component in certain simplified Chinese compounds .

...... ~ ...... 108 TO TALK BUILDING BLOCK -

letter/trust to calculate

detailed language

4 4 2 1~ letter/trust (xin ) ~t to calculate (ji ) ~¥ detailed (xiang ) This character, which is a This character is a This character is a The character is a combination of 'person' combination of 'to talk' combination of 'to talk' and combination of 'to talk' and 'to talk', originally and the number ten, and 'sheep'. It means 'observe and 'myself' ~ · which is a referred to 'people's means 'to calculate' or 'to carefully' when used as a combination of the number speech', but has been count'. If you can count to verb, 'detailed' or' 'tiny! as five and 'mouth'. It means extended to mean 'letter' ten, then you can calculate an adjective, or 'details' or 'language' or 'words'. The or 'trust'. Do you trust basic maths. The simplified 'particulars' as a noun. The simplified form is '1!· simplified form is iff· everything people tell you? form is i.f.

~ 1"" self-confidence *~1g to believe B *~ Japanese ~~ official language 4 4 4 language ( ri ben3 yu3 ) (zi xin ) (xiang1 xin4 ) (guo2 yu3) oneself + trust mutual +trust Japan + language country + language

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... TO TALK COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 109

3 a self (ji ) The rope shape of th1s character refers to 'self'.

. . ' . - ' . . ' . ' ··-···············--·

oneself + self

·······················································-·--··································································································································· ...... ' ...... ·····································-········ SELF BUI LDING BLOCK lll ' 4 L walking (chuo ) You won't see this building block appearing by itself. If you recognize this as a component of a character, you will know that the compound has something to do with 'walking' .

...... ····· ..... ······ ...... ·········· ...... ············· ········· ...... 112 WALKING BUILDING BLOCK ' e

to reach to stroll

' '

to compel this

4 '6 4 to stroll (guang ) J.E. to compel (po ) m i§ this (zhe4 ) This is the simplified form This character is a This is the simplified form The traditional form of this of the character, and is a combination of 'walking' of the character, and is a character is a combination combination of 'walking' and 'crazy' H. which is a combination of 'walking' of 'walking' and 'to talk'. and 'white'. It .also means '~ and 'big', indicating combination of 'dog' and The simplified form ~ is 'to approach' or 'to force', reaching a destination after 'king'. Some would think a combination of 'walking) a long walk. The traditional that strolling around with and 'urgent' when used as an adjeetive. Its traditional .and 'literature' Jt. form is. m:. no destination in mind is a crazy waste of time. form is. e The simplified form is. i§.. ~ .

JtsA. expert H~ mad dog (da2 ren2) (guang4 q uan3 ) to reach + person crazy + dog

········· · ··········~· · ·············~································································································~···········~···· .. •t··················· · ···~·~·········· · ······································································ WALKING CO MPOUNDS AND PHRASES 113 You can imagine the bottom stroke is the horizon, and the cross towards the top is either a plant or some man-made structure. To differentiate this character from 'soldier' ± (see p. 116). just remember that the horizon must be longer than the cross. ± is also Earth. one of the five basic elements. When someone uses 'soil' as an adJective, especially in modern writing, it implies something Uhsophisticated.

..•.•..•.•.. ,...... •...... •....•....•....•.•..•....•.•..•...... •..•.....•...•...•.•...... •. ·······················~······················································ ..•....•....••.••.•..•...... 114 SOIL BUILDING BLOCK to sit fine

4 ~ to sit ( zuo ) This character is a This character is a This character shows two This character is a combination of 'talent' combination of 'flesh' and people sit ting on the soil. combination of 'person' 2 .:1 (cai ) and 'soil'. 'Talent' 'soil'. The stomach is where and what resE:!mbles two indicates the pronunciation; the fruits of the soil are ·~oil ' building blocks. It also 'soil' indicates the meaning stored. This character has means 'good' or 'nice'. (see p. 11) . Originally this an alternative pinyin: du3. character meant 'to exist', but it has been extended to mean 'at', 'in' or 'on'.

~ tE unrestrained :;k~±T pregnant ~1£ to sit at 1i.A beautiful lady 4 4 4 4 4 1 2 (zi zai4 ) (da d u zi) (zuo zai ) (jia ren ) oneself + at big + belly + son/child to sit + at fine + person

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SOIL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 115 4 ± soldier (shi ) Tl1is character has many meanings, including 'soldier' and 'scholar'. It is a combination of the numbers one - and ten +. indicating a man who can do all things well from beginning to end .

. . . . '.. -····~····~············. . . . . - ...... ,c,,± determination

(zhi'~) This character is a combination of 'soldier' and 'heart'. When a soldier or scholar sets his heart to something, he is determined - determined to win, to teach. to succeed.

..•••...... •.•.. •. •...... -·--·--·--·--·-·--·-··--··-···-······················· ...... &-••••-········ ...... 116 SOLDIER BUILDING BLOCK 4 ± scholar (sh1 ) In ancient China. it was not unusual for military leaders to be scholars too. since Confucius taught that leaders should be both wise and decisive. This is reflected in the character's dual use.

·· ···· ···· ·· ·· ·············· · ··· · ···· · ·······~···············

This character is a combination of 'scholar' and 'mouth'. Scholars were highly respected in ancient China: they were members of the highest social hierarchy. When a scholar opened his mouth. his views were considered aUSPICIOUS .

...... _.. _...... -··...... - ···-·- ····-···-··················-··· -...... ······-······ SCHOLAR BUILDING BLOCK 117

--- -

thunder from/due

helmet to explain

mthunder (lei 2) S3 from/due (you2) lfl helmet (jia3) $ to explain (shenl)

This character is a This is the character for Originally, this character In oracle-bone inscriptions, combination of 'rain' 'field' with an extended depicted a cracked seed this character looked like and 'field'. In oracle- upwards vertical stroke in a bud, and meant 'skin'. lightning in the rain, and bone inscriptions, this in the middle, indicating On account of its similar meant 'lightning'. character depicted thunder the road used to enter the pronunciation to 'armour', (represented by a circle farmland. it now also means 'helmet'. and dots) and lightning.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... FIELD COMPOUNDS 119 ' '

oil rich

male

)EB oi I (you2) ~ mile (lj3) .J15 male (nan2)

This chqracter is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of 'water' and combination of 'roof, the combination of 'field' and combination of 'field' and 'field ~, and alludes to the number one, 'mouth' and 'soil', and means 'village'. 'power'. In ancient times liquid made from minerals 'field', and alludes to a Over time its meaning has men worked the fields. The under the fields, oil. wealthy fC1mily living in a been extended to refer to character now refers to the comfortable home full of the stretch of ground that masculinity associated with possessions . a village occupies. manual labour.

oil + door = [ literally] oil door = gas pedal : oil field l I : •..•...... •..•...... •...... •...•.....•..•••...•••.•.•.••••••..•....•.... ' .•..•....•....•...•.....•..•. 1JO)EB to refuel oil field 1 (jia you2)

This phrase also means 'go on!' when used to cheer someone to victory. ' to add + oil = [literally] ' to add oil = to refuel ~~~ girl from a rich family 4 1 3 (fu jia nu )

rich + home + woman = .:. oil door .: t o u o o o o o o o o u o o o o o o o .._, o o o "-' o o 0 o o o 0-0 o o o o o .._, o o o .._, o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o ,._, o o o o o o o o o o o o o o U o o o o o o o o o o ,_, o o o • ., 0 o o o ., o o o o I o o o o o 0 o o o 0 o o o o I o o • girl from a rich family gas pedal/accelerator

' '

.. . . to add oil .• '0 u 0 o 0 0 o o o• 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 o-. t 0 0 o·o 0 .-o 0 o·o .-o oooo-.-o 0 , ,_-.-.-.-o-.-.-.-. o-. 0 .-o-.-. o-. 0 o-. o 0 0" to o t 0 o oo o o 0 0 to 0 00 0 o . o o 0 o 0 . 0 0 0 o oo 0 0 o o t t t o o 0 o" 0 0 o 0 0 0 ° to refuel

' ! ---

• . rich home woman • .• . ······················· ·· ·········~··············································· .••••.•••••.•••• ··•••••••••·•··· ·•··· ...•. ·······································••••o••················••o•••····· girl from a rich family

• 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 o o o o 0 o o o o o o o o 0 o o o o o o 0 o 0-00 o o o o o o •• o 0 0 o t-o• o o" 0 I 0 o 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o I o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0-0 o o o o 0 oo 0 0 0 o • 0 0 o 0-0-0 0 0 o o 0-0 o o 0 0 0 0 o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 I o o o • 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I ''' 0 0 •• ••• 0 0 0 oO o o o o - • I 0 o o o o o o o FIELD PHRASES 121 This character originally looked like a bow, but has since evolved into its current form, which looks similar to a bow missing its string .

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

This character is a combination of two 'bow' and two 'ice' (see p. 146) building blocks, and means 'weak' or 'brittle'.

.•..••••••••.•.•••..•..•...... ••••.....••.•.•...•••..•••..•••...... •...... ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 122 BOW BUILDING BLOCK 3 W wine vessel (you )

This character originally took the shape of a Jar. and meant 'w ine'. It has since evolved to mean 'wine vessel'. This building block ts also used in characters relating to the fermentation of wine or food .

.. .. . - ......

This character is a combination of 'water' and 'wine vessel'. If you prefer white wine at a restaurant, be sure to ask for 8 )lf .

...... •.. ..•...... ·-----···-....____ ._.. .·-···-· ...... -· ..-· .. -·· .-· .. -· .. -··. -·· ...... ·····-·· .... WINE VESSEL BUILDING BLOCK 123 This character depicts a type of weapon similar to a dagger-axe. with a horizontal blade at its head and a long handle.

...... - ...... ••...•....•.... .•...... •

This character is a combination of 'hand' and 'weapon', and means 'me' or 'I'. It's one of the most useful compounds of 'weapon' .

...... - ...... ' ...... ························-··········-····-··-··-·····--··-····-··········································-················· ...... 124 WEAPON BUILDING BLOCK

Three cows together means 'to flee' or 'to run fast'. Imagine a herd of cows fleeing a predator. The simplified form of this character is ~-

1 ~ whirlwind (biao )

Three dogs together means 'whirlwind'. Imagine a pack of dogs running around your legs. • • • • Three deers together means 'rough', 'coarse' or 'big'.

o .,, ··OO•. oooo o ·- o" o• •-oo o, . , ooo .... oo .. . .., ooo ., , •ooo • tooo oooto o oooooo oooooooooooooo0-ooooo I oo••oooooooooot oooo ooo ooo oo oooooooooooooooooooo o oo o oo oooto ot o too o ooo u otooooooo ooooo o oooo oo-o-oo oo..,ooo ,.._., oo ooooooo-oo ooooo ooooo oo oooo oooo Ott to 0 OOtoo oooo 01 ot ooootoooot •••• 0 • .... 0 0 126 TRIPLE ANIMAL COMPOUNDS 1 j¥ rank odour (shan )

Three sheep or goats together indicates 'rank odour of sheep or goats'. A group of farm animals is never going to smell good.

. a horses runnrng 1 (biao )

Three horses together means 'horses running'.

This is the traditional form of 'worms' or 'bugs', comprising three 'bug' building blocks. It is the more commonly used form of 'bug' .$. in traditional Chinese. This character also means 'insects'.

grass bud

tea bitter

This character is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of 'grass' and combination of 'grass' qnd combination of 'grass', combination of 'grass' and 'early' !f!. and means 'grass' 'field', and refers to the a component that 'o ld' ii. An old plant is not or ' herbs'. buds that sprout in fields. resembles 'person' and going to taste very good! 'tree', and can be translated This character also means as 'tea tree'. The original 'illness'. form of this character, ~ ' meant 'bitter herb'.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... GRASS COMPOUNDS 129 •money Tta:Sfriiplifiiill form Is Jl ' ---

to buy to sell

poor to congratulate

~ to congratulate 4 (he ) This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of 'net' and combination of 'scholar', combination of 'to divide' This character is a 'shell'. It alluded to using a 'net' qnd 'shell'. Originally and 'shell'. As shells were combination of 'to add! net to collect shells, which it was a combination of once currency, dividing and 'shell'. Congratulations you could use to buy 'to get out' and 'to buy', them would make you in China.are often given in things. The simplified form alluding to getting rid of poorer. The simplified the form of money. is~. purchases by selling them. form is~. The simplified form is~ . The simplified form is ~.

=-ll"i!. ~ commerce ~::E customer ~ liD to buy back ~* buyer 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 1 (mai mai ) (mai zhu ) (mai hui ) (mai jia ) to buy + to sell to buy + master to buy + to return to buy + home

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SHELL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 131 While the character 'big' * depicts a man stretching his arms out wide, indicating his large size. 'small' originally depicted a man kneeling with his arms by his side to appear small.

0 • o 0 o 0 0 0 0 o • 0 o • o • • , • o • , • • o • 0 o • o • • o I o 00 ot o o oot o 00 o o o • o o • o o • • • o • oo oo o o o oo o oo oo • ·•I oo o o o 00 .._.., 00 0 0 ooooo I U 00 0 ...... 132 SHELL BUILDING BLOCK / \

little sharp

/ \ I

grandchild

This character originally This character is a This character is a This character indicates meant 'little', 'minus', 'few' combination of 'small' and combination of 'small' and E1 little child. This is the or 'less', but has been 'big', and means 'sharp', 'soil'. This is the simplified simplified form; the extended to also mean 'pointed' or 'acute'. Imagine form; the traditional form is traditional form is ~. a 'young'. It has an alternative a triangle that is big or flj, a combination of 'deer' combination of 'child' and 4 pinyin: shao . wide at its base then tapers and 'soil'. It alludes to the 'system' ~, indicating the to a small, sharp point. dust kicked up when a herd continuation of children. of deer run.

3 2 4 3 ) j1}.:;r grandson ;J'A villain (xiao ren *'J' size (da xiao ) j1}~ granddaughter 3 1 small + person big + small (su nt nu ) (su n zl) grandchild + woman grandchild + son

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SHELL COMPOUNDSANDPHRASES 133 •

cat duck

+.+

• i small cat I : mountain cat i : I : : •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••• ••••••• ••• ...... kitten lynx

;J'ua kitten wm lynx 3 1 1 1 (xiao mao ) (shan mao ) This character is a This character is a combination of 'raccoon' combination of 'helmet' A very simple phrase; A lynx is a speeies of ft and 'bud'. Its simplified and 'bird'. A male mallard a small cat is a kitten. wildcat recognizable by form is Mit which Is a looks like it is wearing small + cat= kitten its tufted ears. Lynx are combination of 'dog' and a green helmet. The normally found in high 'bud'. $implified form of this altitude forests. mountain + cat= lynx charqcter is '~·

~.±. Elvis Presley 1 2 (mao wang ) cat + king

••• 0. ~ · •••• u ·~ 0 ••• 0'! ••••••••• • ._•• ~··- ...... ~ • ••• · -· ...... ~·· •••••••••••• u •• ,,. ••• · -· ...... · -·· ...... · -·· • • •• ''! ...... '"'· -· ...... , ...... 0 ....._ ...... 134 ADDITIONAL ANIMA L COMPOUNDS AND PH RASES

1 ~ to wrap up (bao )

This building block means 'to wrap up'. Its most common form is '22 .

• • • • ••• • •• ' ••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••• -· ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 136 TO WRAP UP BUILDING BLOCK sentence of

well distributed even

a~ of (de) 5J well distributed 2 (yun ) In oracle-bone inscriptions, This character is a This character is a this character was a combination of 'white' and This character can also combination of 'soil' and combination of 'rope' 4 'to wrap up'. It means 'of' mean 'to divide'. The 'well distributed/to divide'. It alludes to an even and 'mouth'. Unlike i!Jr and is one of the most combination of 'to wrap division of land. (below), which usually frequently used Chinese up' and the number two refers to a specific sentence, characters. alludes to treating two things equally. this character tends to be used when counting (e.g. 'there are 10 sentences').

4 1:i.JT- sentence (ju zi) frr89 yes (hao3 de) i5.J>.J to distribute evenly 1 2 sentence + son good + of (jun yun ) even + well distributed

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... TO WRAP UP COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 137 3 Jl how many (ji )

This is the simplified form of 'how many'; the traditional form is •· a combination of 'few' ~ and 'defence' fl. and originally meant 'fine' or 'slight'. This character has a number of alternative pinyins and meanings: 1 as noun = bench (ji ) 1 as adverb =almost (ji ) 1 as verb = reach/attain (ji ) 3 as pronoun = several (ji )

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••

This character is a combination of 'tree' and 'how many'. Its traditional form is W.

...... 138 HOW MANY BUILDING BLOCK ordinary quantity of flowers

male phoenix female phoenix

2 J'L ordinary (fan ) 5R quantity of Jil. male phoenix ~ female phoenix 3 4 2 flowers (duo ) (feng ) (huang ) In oracle-bone and bronze scripts, this character This character is a This character is a This character is a repr-esented building combination of 'how many' combination of 'how many' combination of 'how many', apparatus. It originally and 'tree'. It refers to a unit, and 'bird'. In Chinese 'white' and 'king', and refers meant 'mould for making such as a dozen flowers. mythology, the phoenix to the female phoenix of is the king of birds and Chinese mythology. Qbjects', and then evolved Jl~it? means 'how symbolizes good fortune. to mean 'ordinarY.'. many flowers?' (ji3 duo3 The simplified form is ~ hua).

Jl~ several days Jl~? how many days? ~r Jl several +Jl a dozen or so 3 1 3 1 3 3 2 1 (ji tian ) (ji tian ) (hao ji ) (sh i jl ) how many + sky/day how many + sky/day good + how many/several ten + how many/almost

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... HOW MANY COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 139 This character has looked rather abstract throughout its thousand years of evolution, so I think this illustration expresses its meaning well. The character has an alternative pinyin: mou3 .

...... 4000000001tt•••••···················································~························4······················· .. ·········•••···•···•·•·••·••••·••·•·•····••·•·········•······ .. •·• 140 PRIVATE BUILDING BLOCK public to go

. pme platform

1 2 0 public (gong ) i:l' platform (tai )

This character is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of the number combination of 'private' combination of 'tree' combination of 'private' eight and 'private'. It also and 'soil'. It alludes to a and 'public'. A different and 'mouth'. Normally an means 'grandfather' when person leaving a place character with the same orator is the sole person written i}i}, or 'male' to go somewhere. pronunciation ~ can to stand on a platform and when referring to animals. mean 'to relax' and 'loose'. deliver their speech. The other traditional form of this character' is B.

0~ police (China) ~~ police (Taiwan) 0 .±. princess 1 1 3 2 1 3 (gong an ) (jing cha ) (gong zhu ) pub I ic + peaceful police + to observe public + master

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... PRIVATE COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 141 ~ to reveal (shi4) This character originally meant 'stone table for sacrificial offenngs'. In ancient times, sacrificial ceremonies were intended to demonstrate devotion to the gods. Therefore. the character 7F means 'to reveal' or 'to show' .

...... ~ ...... f to reveal (shi4 ) This character Is the form of 'to reveal' that is used as a component in certain compounds. See 'auspicious' opposite for an example of this character.

...... 142 TO REVEAL BUILDING BLOCK . . a u spiCIOUS society

god blessing

4 ~ auspicious t± society (she ) 2 (xiang ) This character is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of 'to reveal' combination of 'to reveal' combination of 'to reveal' combination of 'to reveal' and 'soil', and originally and 'to explain'. God is the number one, 'mouth' and 'sheep', and also referred to a place of omnipotent and omniscient. qnd 'field', and also means means 'omen', 'good luck' worship. It has since He reveals secrets. 'good fortune' or 'blessing'. and 'happiness'. People evolved to mean 'society' It is commonly written on once sacrifrced sheep or 'company'. red paper during Chinese for luck. New Year.

t$U shrine ~~~ serene 2 4 1 2 (shen she ) (an xiang ) god + society peaceful + auspicious

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... TO REVEAL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 143

sweat flat

year

This character is a This character is a This character refers to This character is a combination of 'water' and combination of 'shield' the time required for the combination of 'shield' T , and the number eight. 'shield/dry', and alludes to a earth to orbit the sun once, 'soil' ± and 'to be' ". person being dry because It also means 'gentle', based on the Chinese Ironically, this character they have sweated out all 'equal' or 'level'. calendar. For example, the originally meant 'torture'. their water. phrase-~ means 'one Today it means 'fate' or year'. The character can 'good fortune'. also mean 'new year' or 'annual'.

SJL~ safe :$' ~&\ happiness 2 1 4 2 (ping an ) (xing fu ) flat/gentle + peaceful fate + blessing

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... SHEILD COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 145 ) ice (bingl) This character rarely appears by itself. Instead, it is used as part of a compound. It is commonly called JWa*. 'two dots of water'.

······································~··········· .. ······························································································~························~··································································· ··················· .. ··· 146 ICE BUILDING BLOCK 0 ICe frozen

winter to gallop

2 ;,~ to gallop (feng )

This character is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of the building combination of 'ice' and combination of 'slow' jz combination of 'ice' and blocks 'ice' and 'water'. 'east'. The coast of China ('slow' looks similar to the 'horse', and means 'to indicating frozen water. lies to the east, and in charaeter for 'dusk', but has gallop'. This character JJ.I

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... ICE COMPOUNDS 147 7:. to owe (qian4 ) The earliest form of this character in oracle-bone inscriptions deptcted a person kneeling with a wide-open mouth. It is believed that this represented a person in the act of yawning, because the meaning of the character was 'to yawn'.

Since the clerical change, the wide-open mouth is no longer discernible in this character. However, characters with !R.. as a component are often related to opening the mouth and exhaling. When one yawns, it means one is tired and short of energy. Therefore, an extended meaning of !R.. is 'to lack', which is commonly used in modern Chmese.

...... · ·- ·······························-·······-··-····-·······-········-································································································································································· 148 TO OWE BUILDING BLOCK to blow to cook

sequence Europe

This character is a This character is a This character is a This character is a combination of 'mouth' and combination of 'fire' and 'to combination of 'ice' and 'to combination of 'area' 'to owe'. In this case. 'to owe'. In this case. 'to owe' owe'. It is used to refer to ~and 'to owe'. This owe' means 'to yawn'. means 'to blow', and refers the number of times that character's pronunciation to blowing the embers to something happens. For sounds similar to the cook your food. example. the phrase =lj:.: English pronunciation of means 'twice'. 'Europe'. The simplified form is~ .

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... TO OWE COMPOUNDS 149

to compare t o transform

f inger f lower

3 1 tt to compare (bi ) {lj to transform n flower (hua ) 4 This character comprises (hua ) This character is a The character is a two 'dagger' building This character is a combination of 'hand' and combination of 'grass' and bloeks, and symbolizes two combination of 'person' 'purpose' ~ , which is a 'to transform'. Flowers people walking in unison, and 'dagger'. It is often combination of 'dagger' might look a b it li ke shoulder to shoulder. It seen in words relating to and 'sun'. Fingers are what transformed grass. now means 'to compare'. chemistry, especially when make your hands useful. referring to elements and The character also means substances. It also means 'point' when used as a verb. 'to melt' or 'to convert'.

...... ·-····· ...... ,. ~··························-············· ...... ' ...... ' ...... - ...... ···-··· ...... DAGGER COMPOUNDS 151 Advanced Sentences

.• .• • • ························ · ····· · ··~···· · ····· · ···· · ···················································~·······································~········· · ······· · ··································· Such a beautif ul princess

"Pf~ B'5J 0 .3:. (pages 97, 41, 137, 141)

t :• :• ················································· · ····························································· ·····~··············~····················································· · ·········· Such a long sentence

~r-& 8'51 1:!1 T- (pages 97, ss, 137)

.• . • • ••••.•••• 0 0 0 • 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 •• 0 •• ._••• 0 0 .4.. 0 0 • '"""" 0 ...... 0 ••• 0 0 ••••••••• 0 .._._._. 0 ...... 0 0 •••• 0. 0 0 0 0 •• 0 •••••• 0 • 0 •••••.._ •• 0 • 0 ... 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 ._.... 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 • 0- A- 0 0 0- 0 0 • 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 •• 0 0 0 •• 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 ... Sweat stinks

"Pf ~ ~ )f (pages 97, 99, 137, 145)

.• •. .• •. ··················································································································~··························~···········•••ooooooottt•••······················••o• The instruction from God

fEI3 B'5J t~ ~ (pages 143, 137, 151, 142)

o oo o o u o o o o-oo oo o oo o "'! o o o o oo o o o oooo ooo o o o 0-0 oo o o o oo o o o oo o 0 oo o o o oo-o o o o o •• ooo o •ooo oo •• 0-00 ooo o o o oo o o o o o oo o oo oo o o •o o oo o o-oo oo o.oo·o 0-0• ooo o oo-oo o o oo ooo •••• oO..o o o o •• o oo •• oo oo--o oo o oo oo o •• o o o o o ooo oo oo o o o.o o oo o •

~fi 811 U.J *~A (pages 145,143,137, s4)

. . • • • • ·········~·············~···························································································~· · ··········································································· Everybody be careful "ft:.. * 1J\ {,\ (pages 93, 87)

L..-.----·------·--·--·_.._..._.-·--·----·-·-.t-·---·---·------..- ·--·-·-·-·J Beautiful teenage girl

~j) "!;{ (pages 41, 133, 46)

~ ·" ''

• .• 1 ...... •... , ....•.....•.•..•....•....•.•...... •....•...... •....•...... •...... ••...... • . The fish is so fresh

~,-p:ffl (pages 25, 97, 41)

...... 0 • ••• 0 ••...... -...... • •••••••• 0 • ...... 0. f ...... +1"• •••••••••••••••• ~· •••• ~·· •••••• ~· ...... - •••••••••• ._...... ADVANCED SENTENCES 153 . • ••• ••• • •• • • 0 •••••••••••••••••• Ice-cold lad y

J7.J< UJ ~A (pages 147, 42, 41, 16)

. . .•...... • The lamb is going home I J\ $@] * (pages 13 2, 40, 23, 93)

. .• • .. .• . --. • ·····•••'"-""··· ...... ··- ' .. ········· ...... Everyone is safe

A A 3fZ- ~ (pages 21, 14 5) ''''' ''''',' ,, ,' • ,,,,,' ' '_,'

. • .• ''''' . .••...... •...... •.....•..••••••••••••••••••••..•...... •...... •...... It rains too much

j§ij 7.}< fr.. ~ (pages 95. 19, 107)

0 • ooooooooOOoooo• oOOOOOOOOOOOOO• •000000000000000000 oOOOOOOOOOOOOO•o••••oo••oooooo4oO••ooooooooooo4ooooooooooooooOoo•ooooOOOOOOOOOIOIIO•oo000000000000000000000.0000000oOeOOOOOOOOeo•oe••oooo~4oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~oooooooOOOOOOOOI0000.000000I00000000000 154 ADVANCED SENTENCES

: • . .• • • ·~· · ·············· · ········· · · · ············· The younger sister is going to Japan · ····· · ········t· ·· · · · ··~·

P*:P* ~ f3 7-1-' (pages 48, 141, 55)

•

•. .•. • •• ....._. 0 ...... 0 ..... 0 •• 0' ...... 0 ••••• 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 •• 0 0 • 0 ...... 0 •••• 0 ...... 0 ...... 0. 0 0 ..... 0 0 .... 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 0 ...... 0 ...... ··~ 0 0-...... 0 • 0 • 0 ...... _.._•• 0 ••• 0 0 0 • 0 ...... 0 0 •••• 0-0 ...... _ • .._. 0 •• 0 0 0 0 • 0-0 ...... 0 ...... 0 •• .._....._...... 0 ••••..._. 0 0 How much does this flower cost?

~1t tb 9/? (pages 113, 139, 1s1, 131 , 101, 133)

•

•. .• • • ...... ~ · ···...... ~~·································· Grandfather returned from the forest i}i}f~~~* §1 * (traditional Chinese); 00M~*f\@H~ (simplified Chinese) (pages 141, 17, 33, 37)

1i ••

.• .• •. .• ········~······· · ······~· · ·········· · ··············~··························~·····~·· ..···········~~············· · ··················~ · ·····················································•J••••••·············· · ········· · ········,······························· · · Madam Lin is returning in May

**~A Ji .F.J §1 :i;: (pages 33, 18, 82, 56, 23, 141)

•••• • oo~oooo~oooooo o ooooooo~oooooooo•••oooooooooooooooooooo o o~ooooo~oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o oooo o ooooooooooooo•o ooooooooooooooooooooooo o ooooooooooo o oooooooooooooooooooooo o oo~oooooo o oooooooooooooo~oooooooooooooo•••••••••••••oooo • • o •ooooooooooooooooooo o a o oooo• 156 ADVANCED SENTENCES .• . • .• •...... •...•.....•••.• ,...... •....•..••...••...... • • Mama is pregnant · · ~··· ······ ···· · ··············

~~ ~~ J\ ~± T (pages 77, 115)

•• •• l : • • ...... ~ ...... The brat is clapping his hands 1J\ T tB =f. (pages 132, 96, 101)

• fE '"'

i .• • • •• 0 •• 0 ••••• • ..._•••• .._ ... 0. 0 .._. 0 • ..... 0 ...... 0 ...... 0 •••• 0 ...... 0 0 .... 0 ...... 0 0 ..... 0 ••••••...... 04 ••• 0 ••...... 0 ...... 0 0-0 •••••.._. 0 •••••••• 0 ••• 0 0 •••• 0 ••• 0 •••• 0 ._._...... _._•• 0 •••• 0. 0 · -· • ._.... 0 · - · ...... _ ...... 0 • ••• 0 ...... ··-· ...... 0 0 ··-· •••••••••• 0 ...... 0 •• The mermaid princess burst into tears l fa I \ ' -+- 0.1;1 /\.. '"' './4 .:E /\. 7<:: (pages 24, 141, 27)

\ I I I n-

• . .• .• l '•••••,.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••-••••U••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••u••••••••••••••oo,ooo•••••••••••••••••••,.••••••••••oo•••••••••U••••••••••". The rich girl stinks

'i'~~ *~ (pages 121, 19, 99)

...... -...... , ••••••• f ...... ADVANCED SENTENCES 157 • • • • • . ,

The Story of Peter and the Wolf 'wolf'

IJil Once upon a time, on the edge of a forest clearing, there lived a boy named Peter. Early one morning, Peter left his home to go for a walk in the dark forest, leaving the gate to his house open.

• • • • • • • • • •

162 While t he duck was swimming, a bird flew down beside it and mocked, 'What kind of bird are you, if you can't fly?' To which the duck indignantly replied, 'What kind of bird are you, if you can't swim?'

,,,

A nearby duck, noticing that the gate w as open, decided to go for a quick swim in Peter's yard.

164 165 While the duck and the bird were arguing, a sly cat crept slowly towards them. The cat thought to itself, 'I wi II catch that I ittle bird while it's arguing with the duck!' But, before the cat could pounce, Peter warned the bird, who flew to safety.

•

,,,,

167 Hearing Peter's call, his grandfather, who hadn't realized that Peter had left the safety of the house, scolded him: 'Suppose a wolf came out of the forest!' he chided. straight towards them.

169 Hearing Peter's call, his grandfather, who hadn't realized that Peter had left the safety of the house, scolded him : 'Suppose a wolf came out of t he forest!' he c hided.

Peter scoffed, 'Boys like me are not afraid of wolves!' But at that very moment, unbeknown to them, a big, hungry grey wolf was stalking through the forest straight towards them.

169 II - •• - When Peter had returned to the safety of his home, the hungry wolf slunk out of the forest. In a flash, the bird flew up into the tallest tree, but the duck, who could not fly, was no match for the speed of the wolf. With one huge gulp, the wolf caught the duck and swallowed it whole! Seeing that his friends were in trouble, Peter fetched a rope and climbed into a nearby tree. As the bird distracted the animal, Peter lowered a noose and caught the wolf by its ta i I. While the wolf struggled, the noose became tighter and tighter until, at last, the wolf could struggle no more. A nearby hunter, who had been trying to track the wolf, spied Peter in the tree and offered to shoot the wolf, but Peter had another idea.

• With the wolf safely tied up, Peter led the hunter to a zoo in a nearby village, where the wolf stayed for the rest of its days.

176

1 = three (san ) One plus two is three. REFERENCE

Building Block Plates Index of Characters and Phrases Building Block Plates

~ "''

2 A person (ren ) 16 22

~ 3 2 /\. dog (quan ) 26 32 t'r bamboo (zhu ) 39

1 3 40 Ill mountain (shan ) 42 j{_ woman (m/) 46 ~~ bird (niao ) 50

3 4 1 ~ feather (yu ) 51 ~ moon (yue ) 56 I work (gong ) 60

182 BUILDING BLOCK PLATES • •

a white (bai2) 62 mtiger (hu3) 64 r~ door (men2) 66 l}< water (shui3) 70

.tt=- cow (niu2) 74 ,~ horse ( ma3) 76 .3S. jade (y u4 ) 78 JII river (chuanl) 80

fit boat (zhoul) 81 -one (yi1) 82-83 .$.bug (chong 2) 84 ~tall/length (chang2) 85

86 n knife (daol) 88 ~pig (shi3) ...... , roof (mian2) 92 91

BUILDING BLOCK PLATES 183 ''''''''' ,,,,,,,,,''''''''' ''' '' ''' ''' ''- ''' ''''''''' '''''''''''''''''' 94 § eye ( m u') 98 100

4 103 F household ( hu ) 104 105 106

• ' •

= 2 ' 4 i:i to talk (yan ) 108 110 lll L walking (chuo ) 112

4 4 2 114 ± soldier (shi ) 116 ± scholar (shi ) 83 field (t ian ) 118 117

184 BUILDING BLOCK PLATES 3 ~ 1 122 gj wine vessel (you ) 123 -Xi weapon (g e ) 124 125

3 128 130 132 jl ghost ( g u i ) 135

1 - 4 'l to wrap up x(bao ) JL how many Ci) 140 iJ' to reveal (sh i ) 136 138 142

4 144 146 !R. to owe (q ian ) 150 148

BUILDING BLOCK PLATES 185 Index of Characters and Phrases

Chineasy teaches mainly traditional Chinese (see p. 11). Where the traditional and simplified forms of a character are different, the traditional form is given first, followed by the simplified form. Where no distinction between forms is noted, the traditional and simplified forms of the character are the same.

l 4 boat (zhou) 81 ~ID!K account/bill (zhang ) 85 :J$T 3 *~ achievement/generosity 27 Hl'f* body (ti ) 38 4 4 bored (men)I (da qi ) ~~~~~ 87 1 bow (gong)I :bD to add (j ia ) 90 i:S 122 4 2 2 :*:A. adult (da ren ) 18 a~ bright (ming ) 57

1 2 Ji adultery (jian ) 47 m bud (miao ) 129 3 4 3 2 ** angry (huo da ) 31 71<4 buffalo (shui niu ) 75 4 2 ~ apricot (xing ) 36 AI$. bug (chong) 84, 127

2· 2 tk argument (nuan ) 47 ~ burning hot (yan ) 29

2 1 3 AI artificial (ren gong ) 61 'Jti!R:. to buy (mai ) 131 ~a~ 2 2 3 2 to ascertain (cha ming ) 58 'Jt ~I!*:.~ to buy back (mai hui ) 131

4 3 1 rc~ ll)j] to ask (wen ) 67 ~ 1#.1 '!*:. 1#. buyer (mai jia ) 131

2 4 ~ ~tltt ) to assist (fu ) 101 to calculate (ji 109 4 :bDtN 1 1 1± at (zai ) 115 California (jia zhou ) 90 t~ 2 m~~~ 1 auspicious (xiang ) 143 cat (mao) 134

'rT 2 SA 2 2 bamboo (zhu ) 39 Caucasian (bai ren ) 63

~FID!KF 2 A ~ 1 bank account (zhang hu ) 104 to cause (yin ) 23 lljt 4 ~ 4 to bark (fei ) 27 character (zi ) 97 :;1\:lljt 4 4 1111/1~ 3 to bark loudly (da fei ) 27 to charge in (chuang ) 77 )if\ ,J,r.P 4 3 1 to bathe (mu ) 71 cheat sheet (xiao chao ) 101 ~ 'J' 'G' 3 1 2 be carefu I (x iao xin ) 87 to check (cha ) 53

~ 3 ta-¥ 1 3 to clap hands (pai shou ) 101 1iA. beautiful (mei ) 41 :JJ' a,ij 1 2 1 2 beautiful lady (jia ren ) 11 5 cleqrly (fen ming ) 89

*t:J1s 1 4 2 Jtt to believe (xiang xin ) 109 *I* to come (lai ) 33 4 ~*~~* 2 belly (du ) 115 to come back (hu/ lai ) 37 l:lj *I l:lj * 1 2 4 * to come out (chu lai ) 44 big (da ) 17 'ltRI!R:.~ 4 3 3 4 ** commerce (mai mai ) 131 big fire (da huo ) ~~~ 31 tt 3 3 bird (niao ) 50 1313. to compare (bi ) 151 3 4 *CICI 1:11:1 I bitter (ku ) 129 to compel (po ) 113 ,~ .E:r -~~ 4 to congratulate (he)4 131 *1t$:X.JJ.l.. to blame (ma ) 77 M 2 2 4 ~ blazing (yan yan ) 30 3C'G' to construct (jia ) 90 1 1 1 1& bleating of sheep (mie ) 41 iX contented (an xin ) 87 2 1 ox blessing (fu ) 143 Ill~ to cook (chui ) 149 1 2 to blow (chui ) 149 country (guo ) 79

186 INDEX 4- 74 I\ 83 3 1 3 XJ.llr:l crater (huo shan kou ) 45 *P* eldest younger sister 49 4 4 4 1111-J:A crowd (zhang ) 17 (da mei ) 1 1 2 ~ to cry (ku) 27 ~It~rti: Elvis Presley (mao wang ) 134

4 1 4 *~ to cry out (da ku ) 27 * end (mo ) 36 1 4 Dlij to cry out in anger (duo ) 43 A to enter (ru ) 65

3 1 1 71<~ crystal (s hui j ing ) 72 ~~~ Europe (ou) 149

3 3 1 ~3::/~3:: customer (mai zhu ) 131 ~ even (jun ) 137

3 1 1 ~ dagger (bi ) 150 ~* every day (tian tian ) 21 7J

4 1 3 f:f-T day (ri zi) 97 ~r:l exit (chu kou ) 44 8~ 2 1 ).jJls.J.... 2 2 daytime (bai tian ) 63 expert (da ren ) 113 ft 4 $ 1 deer (lu ) 125 to explain (shen ) 119

~li¥ 2 1 4 detailed (xiang ) 109 ~* extremely big (tian da ) 21

4 § 4 determination (zhi ) 116 eye (mu) 98

1 {ili~ 1 3 disaster (zai ) 93 fairy (xian nu ) 49 lill 3 tD 4 dish (min ) 110 to fasten (kou ) 102

1 1 ~ 4 to distract (fen xi n ) 89 fate (xing ) 145

t8 4 to distribute evenly 137 fear (pa ) 87

. 1 2) 3 ( JUn yun feather (yu ) 51 ~ 1 2 to divide (fen ) 89 female phoenix (huang ) 139 ~I 4 3 1 ** doctor (dai fu) 19 female worker (nu gong ) 61 !).';! I IA.l EE 3 2 to dodge (shan ) 67 field (tian ) 118 7C ~~ 3 2 ,. r,;n dog (quan) 26 {i to find out (cha chu) 58 2 1 door (men ) 66 fine (jia ) 115 r, r:~ ;n r:~ m 2 3 3 1*XJ.ll doorway (men kou ) 68 finger' (zhi ) 151 * 3 dormant volcano 45 :k JJJ.I X 7k. fire (huo ) 28 1 3 1 3 1 +mt+JL (xiu huo shan ) fire disaster (huo zai ) 93 2 1 2 ~~~ a dozen or so (shi ji ) 139 fish (yu ) 25 4 3 :t?J dream (meng ) 107 five (wu ) 82 4 4 5f* to dress up (ban ) 101 flames (yan ) 29 2 4 4 iU~ to drip (lin ) 71 SfL flames of fire (yan yan ) 30 4 2 ·~~~·~ to drive (jia ) 90 ~~~ flat (ping ) 145 1 1 9 duck (ya) 134 ~ to flee (ben ) 126 1 4 ~~~ dusk (xi ) 106 71< JJJ.I 71< 7k. flesh (rou ) 56

2 3 1 dust (chen ) 133 :(t flood (shui zai ) 93

1 1 east (dong) 53 mrt flower (hua) 151

4 1 to eat (dan ) 29 to fly (fei ) 103

INDEX 187 4 3 2* foam (mo) 71 ~ helmet (jia ) 119 4 3 1 *1* folks (da huo ) 30 ~ home (jia ) 93 2 3 ~/M. to follow (cong ) 17 ~~~ horse (ma ) 76 . 1 1 ~ forest (sen ) 33 • horses running (biao ) 127 4 4 ~ to forgive (shu ) 87 PIF household (hu ) 104 3 3 * foundation (ben ) 33 m;JL how many (ji ) 138 2 3 1 jft_ fountain (quan ) 71 m~?IJLJZ? how many days? (ji tian ) 139 gg 4 1 3 four (si ) 82 :fbj> how much (duo shao ) 107 1 @]A_ 2 2 f!¥.1~¥: fresh (xi an ) 41 Hui people (hui ren ) 24 ~7}<. 4 3 2 3 fresh water (dan shui ) 72 A.RIA..f* human body (ren ti ) 38

2 Jill friend (peng ) 57 *A.** I am furious 35 fE from/due (you 2 ) 119 (ben 3 ren 2 huo 3 da4 ) \ 4 2 I 1 *-P~/J\:fl front gate (da men ) 68 ice (bing ) 146

4 1 '*/)* frozen (dong ) 147 '* ice (bing ) 147 4 2 ~ 1 **/** future (wei lai ) 37 idiot (dai ) 36 mill~. 3 ~jA./I*JA. 2 2 gall bladder (dan ) 57 idler (xian ren ) 69

~~~~~ 2 1m 4 to gallop (feng ) 147 to illuminate (zhao ) 89

5~P~ I5~fl 1ili 1 gas pedal/accelerator 121 immortal (xian ) 43

2 2 'J'.5a 3 3 (you men) imp (xiao g ui ) 135

:±1 1 *-R!J\:1:* 3 to get out (chu) 43 in general (da"' ti ) 38 3 *J3/* f3 2 4 * ghost (gui ) 135 in the coming days (lai ri ) 58 ~~~ as 2 2 girl from a rich family 121 in vain (bai bai ) 63 ~ 4 1 3 1 (fu jia nu ) it (ta ) 150 ~ 3i 4 4 fl1i to go (qu ) 141 jade (yu ) 78 2 B* 4 3 god (shen ) 143 Japan (ri ben ) 55 P:1- B*~/ 3 P:J'L' good Chao) 97 B*itt Japanese language 109 3 1 ( .4 b 3 3) ~/1/J\ good intention (hao xi n ) 97 B*A. n ·en yu 1 ~~/~J\~ grandchild (sun ) 133 Japanese person 55 1 3 ( .4 b 3 2) ~=fi~J\=f granddaughter (sun nu ) 133 B*~A. n en ren 1 -t+ grandson (sun zi) 133 Japanese woman 55

3 .4 3 3 2 1.! grass (cao ) 128 1113:/~ 3: (n ben nu ren ) 3 2 2 ~ grass (cao) 129 3: king (guo wang ) 79 2 2 1* greed (lan ) 48 3:~/3:~ king (wang ) 79 3 2 2 -¥ group (huo ) 29 IJ\11/IJ\~~ kingdom (wang guo ) 79 3 3 1 ~-¥ hand (shou ) 100 ]] kitten (xiao mao ) 134 2 3 ~ 1 ~~ handrail (fu shou ) 101 '"' knife (dao ) 88 4 2 $.fi3i 1 'L' happiness (xing fu ) 145 Rl=l 1=1 lamb (gao) 41 1 3 ~A. heart (xin ) 86 ~131 language (yu ) 109

1 2 2 heaven (tian ren ) 21 to learn/practise (xi ) 63

2 2 2 lucky (ji ) 117 )fij 83 oil field (you tian ) 121

1 1 1 I.DU\/1-D~l lynx (shan mao ) 134 - one (yi ) 82

1 3 2 8/fJL machine (ji ) 138 one's self (ben ren ) 34

4 3 4 H~ mad dog (guang quan ) 113 on·eself (zi ) 99

1 2 2 ~A. madam (fu ren ) 18 ordinary (fan ) 139

3 2 *~,Q/ main entrance 68 originally (ben lai ) 34

4 2 3 4 :*:fll=l (da men kou) to owe (qian ) 148 ~ 2 1 male (nan) 120 to pat (pai ) 101 ~ 4 ~ 1 male phoenix (feng ) 139 peaceful (an) 93 ~ T 'f!fi 4 2 man (fu) 17 A.! A A. people (zhong ren ) 18

A.-¥ 2 3 A. 2 manpower (ren shou ) 101 person (ren ) 16

~ 1 1-D*-AI 11'1any (duo) 107 person frol1'1 Shandong 54

:3:: 3 1-D*A. 1 1 2 master (zhu ) 79 Province (shan dong ren )

~ 3 3 me/1 (wo ) 124 pig (shi ) 91

4 2 1 ~** medical industry (xing lin ) 37 pine (song ) 141 A.i!!A.~ 2 2 1 mermaid (ren yu ) 24 to plagiarize (chao ) 101 ~* I:X *A.I*A. 2 2 4 messenger (lai ren ) 34 plain (dan ) 71 ~ 3 2 mile (li ) 120 platform (tai ) 141

1 3 3 molecule (fen zi ) 89 plum (li ) 97

4 1 1 moon (yue) 56 police (China) (gong an ) 141

2 3 -~ 3 2 morality ( ren pin ) 24 police (Taiwan) (jing cha ) 141 ttl~ 1 2 mother (11'1a ) 77 it.?I~F poor (pin ) 131 1 2 4 mountain (shan ) 42 A.l=l poor household (pin hu ) 104 3 2 3 mouth (kou) 22 }J population (reh kou ) 24 4 4 4 ~' Mrs (tai tai ) 19 :*:11±-T power (li ) 90 4 4 4 *H must (bi ) 87 .I:T- pregnant (da du zi) 115 1 . ( 2 .3) ~a 11'1utual (xiang ) 99 0:3:: pnnce wang z1 . 97 4 3 1 3 ~ myself (zi ji ) 111 $ princess (gong zhu ) 141 2 2 ~JJJ.I~'!k. name (ming ) 107 .b. prison (liao ) 93 1 1 ~~~ natural disaster (tian zai ) 93 :*:JJJ.I:*:i:J:. private (d) 140 3 4 4 11 net (wang) 105 0 public (da zhong ) 18

3 1 nine (jiu ) 83 tB&! public (gong ) 141 * CJ 4 1 3 ~[] not yet (wei ) 36 llll to publish (chu pin ) 44

2 3 to obey (ru ) 48 quality (pin ) 23

INDEX 189 3 3 1 ~ quantity of flowers (duo ) 139 m~Jll~ several days (j i tian ) 139 3 2 ~I queen (nu wang ) 79 Ill *I Ill * Shandong Province 54 2 1 1 D,~/0~ question indicator (ma ) 77 (shan dong)

1 5JJ.i~ quiet month for business 72 ~ sharp (jian ) 133

4 4 2 (dan yue ) ~ sheep (yang ) 40 3 4 ~ rain (yu ) 94 ~!.!n shell (bei ) 130

4 3 1 *~ rain shower (da yu ) 95 *IT shield (gan ) 144 3 2 QQ 1 ~** rainforest (yu lin ) 95 shout (xuan ) 23 3 3 2 4 ~7]< rainwater (yu shui ) 95 fltlt± shrine (shen she ) 143 1 ~ 4 • rank odour (shan) 127 tO sit (ZUO ) 115 2 4 4 /Jls to reach (da ) 113 ~a to sit at (zuo zai ) 115 ...J- :IJD 1 2 /'\ 4 )fil to refuel (jia you ) 121 six (liu ) 82

1 l\.IJ'\ 0 ( d 4 0 3) 1* rest (xiu ) 38 stze a xtao 133

@] 2 Jlfffjc 1 to return (hui ) 23 skin (fu) 57 71' 4 ~ 1 to reveal (shi ) 142 sky (tian ) 20 ==-c:t l3ia 4 IJ'\ 3 rich (fu ) 120 small (xiao ) 132

:l\:J51:l\:F 4 4 ~A.!~ A. 3 2 rich household (da hu ) 104 to sneak out (shan ren ) 69

~ 4 t± 4 right (you ) 60 society (she ) 143

JII ± 3 river ( chuan ~) 80 soil (tu ) 114 )I 1 ± 4 river (j i ang ) 71 soldier (shi ) 116 ...... =f 3 roof (mian'2 ) 92 son (zi ) 96 ra~/IEl 1 1 rough (cu) 126 space/room (jian ) 67 *@]/*@] aE3a 2 2 1 round trip (lai hui ) 37 sparkles (jing ) 53 ~IJ 05* 2 3 4 to row Chua) 89 spit (kou mo ) 73 SJL~ ~7]< 2 1 2 3 07]< safe (ping an ) 145 1N spring water (quan shui ) 73 3 3 I Dffl saliva (kou shui ) 72 tJ\ state (zhou ) 80 3 2 Ill 7]< to scare (hu ) 64 3R/ to steal (pa ) 102 1 3 4 ± scenery (shan shu i ) 73 to stroll (guang ) 113 4 * 4 t1t scholar (shi ) 117 s stupid (beh ) 39 3 4 a to seek (zhao ) 102 13. sun (ri ) 52 3 4 El1~ self (j i ) lll 0 sunrise (dan ) 53 4 4 2 -~~ self-confidence (zi xin ) 109 )f to surround (wei ) 22 4 = 4 to sell (mai ) - sweat (han ) 1:!1 131 ~ 145 4 2 Jq]=f sentence (ju ) 1.37 ll)J to talk (yan ) 108

4 1 IX sentence (ju zi) 137 ftliE: talkative (dao ) 89

4 2 ~~ sequence (ci ) 149 ~ tall/length (chang ) 85

1 2 2 1::; serene (an xiang ) 143 Jru5§ tea (cha ) 129

1 4 PT m1tff 1l seven (qi ) 83 + tear (lei ) 99 3 3 2 several (han ji ) 1.39 ten (shi ) 83

•• " " ••• .-,.,. -~ " " " ,... ~ ••, ...-... ,.,.,. ,., ,. .,,,. • o• •• , ,.,.., *·•·• f'01 .-n ••• ,., .,. " " " f'01 .., -. r •• .-.• •,. ,., ~- " "" • •• • ooo • •• • • •,. • .,. ,., ., ,.. .,. ,., -. • • • • • •,. n ~- " '" ,..,.,. .--oo ,.,-,. , • • ,.,,..,,, " " " -~ ••• • " " 0 0 1 .-. .. ..-o o " ooo ••• ..._, ,.-,., • • • ,..,, ..-. ,. ...,., """ • " " " " " .-,.., """ " " " • • • l'oo •• • •O"' • ·•·• ••• on ••• " """ " " " "'" .., -. roo • ••• Oo• ..-. • ••" h1 f'O • o 190 INDEX /~ this (zhe4) 113 ~ woods (lin2) 33 *.F.l this month (ben3 yue4) 59 I work (gongl) 60 - three (sanl) 82 I .A. worker (gongl ren2) 61 e!§ I=El thunder (lei2) 119 .A.rs~/ .A.Il3J world (ren2 jianl) 69 ml to tie together (kun3) 102 ~ to wrap up (baol) 136 m tiger (hu3) 64 1¥ year (nian2) 145 *s today (ben3 ri4) 59 IJ.!~ years (sui4) 107 B~ S tomorrow (ming2 ri4) 59 :tlfa'g yes (hao3 de) 137 ** too big (tai4 da4) 19 Yk you (ru3) 71 * too much (tai4) 19 ~ younger sister (mei4) 48 1t to transform (hua4) 151 * tree (mu4) 32 H- twins (zil) 97 Peter and the Wolf two (er4) 82 !lull two mountains (shenl) 43 ~~ to argue (chao3 jia3) 164-65 ~1± unrestrained (zi4 zai4) 115 J.ttl~ bird (niao3) 160 ~~~/~@! s USA (mei3 guo2) 79 tD button (kou4) 163 utensil (qi4) 27 frai~Ni cat (maol) 161 IJ\A villain (xiao3 ren2) 133 qtct chirp (zil zil ) 167 X Ill volcano (huo3 shanl) 45 ,, , ,~ duck (yal) 160 L' walking (chuo4) 112 ~ the end (zhongl) 179 7.}< water (shui3) 70 m~ grandfather (zu3 fu4) 160 ~ weak (ruo4) 122 ,~/."9.1 horse (ma3) 177 ~ weapon (gel) 124 B.A.!~ A. hunter (lie4 ren2) 161 ~ well distributed (yun2) 137 a+!ft!Jl miaow (miao3 miao3) 166 ~ nJll nJll 8 whirlwind (biaol) 126 quqck (gua3 gua3) 167 T- lit white (bai2) 62 son/boy (zi3) 160 ~ 'G'/it.'G' whole (quan2) 79 weapon (gel) 174 Whole-heartedly (quan2 xinl) 87 ~R ~ wolf (lang2) 161 wide expqnse of Wqter 71 )g3 (miao3) ~ wine (jiu3) 123 ~ wine vessel (you3) 123 & winter (dongl) 147 "9:. wizard (wul) 60 P:..A. woman (nu3) 46 lll*P:..A./ woman (nu3 ren2) 49 lll*"tl:..A. woman from Shandong 54 Province (shanl dongl nu3 ren2)

INDEX 191 Acknowledgments

The entire Chineasy project started out of a desire to teach my own children, MuLan (~.ll) and MuAn (~~)to read and appreciate the Chinese language and culture and a personal curiosity to see if I could tackle the enormous task of deciphering the Chinese language of my childhood.

Thanks to Bruno Giussani and Chris Ande.rson I was given the opportunity to share my private project on the global TED stage with a much larger audience than I ever intended, and I wish to thank Gary Sheinwald, Daria Pescador and Robert Leslie for their endless encouragement, constructive criticism and support during the four-month preparation leading up to my TED talk.

To execute the project I enlisted the help of Crispin Jameson and his Brave New World team, who have done a beautiful job. Throughout this process I also had the great pleasure of working with Noma Bar, whose fascinating illustrations have made my Chinese characters come to life. Isabella Schoepfer's assistance as project manager has been vital. I also want to thank Dimple Nathwani who has be.en looking after me for the past six years!

I very quickly realized that Chineasy was taking on a life of its own, and as more people have come on board the project has grown even bigger. The endless discussions with Crispin and Noma, designers Darren Perry and Carissa Chan and my research assistant,

Vanessa Lu ( 81~1Ji!). about each illustration and every single design detail have become my daily routine and I still bring my 'homework' back to MuLan and MuAn for their 'approval'. It sometimes feels like standing in front of a pair of critical judges!

I would also like to thank Judith Greenbury, who is the reason why I first chose to write a Chineasy book. She is turning 90 years old in February 2014 and I want to make sure that I wish her a happy birthday here.

Throughout the whole project a number of people have continued to help and support me: Myron Scholes, Susan Bird, Lulu Wang, Bill Gross, Chase Jarvis, Tim Ferriss, Stefan Sagmeister, Philip Rowley and the Woo family- to all of you, thank you.

And last but not least, Lucas Dietrich of Thames & Hudson gave me the opportunity to serve those who are willing to go on this incredible journey with me.

I left home at the age of 14, and have run around the world to try to understand myself, and my place in the world, ever since. I have looked for meaning and answers while walking barefoot through the Colombian Amazon, while sleeping in the Botswana desert listening to lions and hyenas, and while pushing myself to the limits of my endurance in some of the harshest, and coldest, climates in the world. After all the searching and fuss I finally realized that the answer to my question could be found where I started- home.

I hope my calligrapher mothe.r Lin FangZi C~*~T-) and ceramic artist father Hsueh RuiFang ( liflliij]5=) can finally stop worrying about me, their rebellious daughter, now that I have found my place, and as I raise my own rebellious children. I I I I tl I I

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