Introduction to Mandarin Chinese Splash 2010

Home , Chinese pronouns, Gold Mountain (toponym), Guo, Gu (surname), Jyutping, Liu Gongquan

Splash 2010 Educational Studies Program Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Instructors

Bruce Chang ([email protected]) Stephen M. Hou ([email protected]) Kelsy Lai ([email protected])

Contents

This packet contain the following sections: • Basic expressions in Mandarin Chinese • Numbers • Dates • Questions words and demonstratives • Pronouns • Basic words • Verbs • Nouns • People • Places • Dialogues • Comparing Chinese dialects • Chinese idioms

Notes

• All characters are written in traditional form, which is commonly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mainland China and Singapore use simplified characters. • In the vocabulary lists, characters are in Kaiti font (楷體), but in the text (such as this sentence), they are in Mingti font (明體). • Unless otherwise stated, all Romanization is in Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音). • Where Mainland China and Taiwan differ in pronunciation or vocabulary, both are provided. The characters 「普」and「國」indicate the Mainland version and the Taiwan version, respectively. These are single-character abbreviations for the official name for Standard Mandarin in the respective regions: 「普通話」means “common language” and 「國語」means “national language”.

1 Basic Expressions in Mandarin Chinese

你好。 Nǐ hǎo. Hello. (Lit: You good.) 你好嗎？ Nǐ hǎo mā? How are you? (Lit: Are you good/well?) 再見。 Zài-jiàn. See you later. (Lit: Again meet.) 明天見。 Míng-tiān jiàn. See you tomorrow. (Lit: Tomorrow meet.) 拜拜！ Bāi-bāi! Bye bye! 你叫什麼名字？ Nǐ jiào shé-me What’s your name? (Lit: You’re called míng-zì? what name?) 我叫 ___。 Wǒ jiào ___. My name is ___. (Lit: I’m called ___.) ___呢？ ___ nē? How/what about ___? 很高興認識你。 Hěn gāo-xìng Pleased to meet you. (Lit: Very happy to rèn-shì nǐ. know you.) 請 …… Qǐng… Please… 請問 …… Qǐng wèn… May I ask… 謝謝(你)。 Xiè-xiě (nǐ). Thank you. 不用謝。 Bú yòng xiè. You’re welcome. (Lit: No need to thank.) 不客氣。 Bú kè-qì. You’re welcome. (Lit: Don’t be polite.) 對不起。 Duì-bù-qǐ. I’m sorry. 不好意思。 Bù-hǎo yì-si. Excuse me. (Lit: Not good meaning.) 沒關係。 Méi guān-xī. It’s okay. (Lit: Doesn’t matter.) 我聽不懂。 Wǒ tīng bù dǒng. I don’t understand. (Lit: I hear not understand.) ___ 中文怎麼講？ ___ Zhōng-wén How do you say ___ in Chinese? (Lit: zěn-me jiǎng? ___ Chinese how say?) 你會講英文嗎？ Nǐ huì jiǎng Can you speak English? yīng-wén mā? 廁所在哪裡? Cè-suǒ zài nǎ-lǐ? Where is the bathroom? 哇! Wà! Wow! 天啊! Tiān ā! Oh my God! (Lit: Heaven ah!) 哎呀! Āi-yā! Geez! 酷! Kù! Cool! 超酷! Chāo kù! Super cool! 真的嗎? Zhēn-de mā? Really? 真的。 Zhēn-de. Really.

2 Numbers 九 jiǔ 9 零 or 〇 líng 0 十 shí 10 一 yī 1 百 bǎi 100 二 èr 2 千 qiān 1,000 三 sān 3 萬 wàn 10,000 四 sì 4 億 yì 108 五 wǔ 5 第 dì (ordinal prefix) 六 liù 6 正 zhèng positive 七 qī 7 負 fù negative 八 bā 8 點 diǎn point

The symbol「〇」for zero is not a real Chinese character, but it is frequently used in modern written Chinese, especially in dates and page numbers.

Sometimes, “1” is read as “yāo” in a series of digits, such as phone and ID numbers, because “1” rhymes with “7” in Mandarin. (Similarly, in the ICAO or NATO alphabet, where “ABC” is “alpha bravo Charlie”, “9” is read as “niner” to avoid confusing it with “five” when spoken quickly or over a noisy channel.) In Taiwan, the pronunciation “yāo” is only used by soldiers, police, and emergency services.

Forming numbers higher than ten in Chinese is quite straightforward. “11” is just “ten one”, or 「十一」. “Twelve” is just “ten two”, or「十二」. And so on up to 19. “20” and “30” are “two ten” and “three ten”, respectively, or「二十」and「三十」. A larger number like “3,748” is “three thousand seven hundred four ten eight”:「三千七百四十八」. This is easier than in most European languages: English, Spanish, and French have unique words for most of the “teen” numbers and multiples of ten up to 90. French is especially complex: “70” is “60 plus 10” (“soixante-dix”) and “80” is “four twenties” (“quatre-vingts”).

One area that gets tricky for speakers of European languages is very large numbers (100,000 and over). In European languages, digits are grouped by threes: after “one”, “ten”, “hundred”, we have “one thousand”, “ten thousand”, hundred thousand”. Then “one million”, “ten million”, “hundred million”. And so on. However, in Chinese and other East Asian languages, digits are traditionally grouped by fours! Thus, there is a separate character for ten thousand: 「萬」. Then, “hundred thousand” is “ten ten- thousands” (「十萬」), “million” is “hundred ten-thousands” (「百萬」), “ten million” is “thousand ten-thousands” (「千萬」). A number like “156,834,792” should first be thought of as “1,5683,4792”, then translated into a Chinese-Arabic mix as “1 億 5683 萬 4792”, or 「一億五千六百八十三萬四千七百九十二」.

Ordinal numbers are easy in Chinese: “Fifth” is「第五」.

3 Dates 號 hào day (informal) 公元 gōng-yuán Common Era 天 tiān day (informal) 民國 mín-guó republic 星期 xīng-qí (國), week (formal) (普) 年 nián year xīng-qī 禮拜 lǐ-bài week 月 yuè month (informal) 日 rì day (formal) 生日 shēng-rì birthday

Chinese is consistently a big-endian language, which means that information is always given from the largest unit to the most detailed unit. For instances, mailing addresses are written in the following order: country, state/province, county, city/town, street, number, floor, apartment number. Similarly, calendar dates are written as year-month-day.

Unlike in European languages, the months do not have names in Chinese. They are simply numbered one through twelve (in either Arabic or Chinese) with the character for month,「月」, following the number. For example, “March” is「三月」or 「3 月」. The date is「MM 月 DD 日」, but in colloquial speech, 「號」tends to replace「日」.

The days of the week also lack names; they are numbered one through six (in only Chinese characters), where Monday is “weekday one”, with the characters for week, either「星期」(formal) or「禮拜」(informal), preceding the number, and Sunday being a special day called「星期日」(formal) or「禮拜天」(informal). For example, “Tuesday” is「星期二」(formal) or「禮拜二」(informal).

Traditionally, Chinese used only a lunar calendar. This is still used for many holidays (especially Chinese New Year), birthdays, wedding dates, and other ceremonies. On 1 January 1912, China adopted the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. However, China retained the tradition of the era system, where years are numbered according the reign of emperors, with the first year of the Republic of China being 1912; this system is still in use in Taiwan, where the ROC government retains control. Upon its foundation in 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted Western numbered years. To avoid confusion, the Gregorian year is always written out in full in Taiwan (whereas in the United States, only the last two digits are commonly written) and 「公元」or「民國」precede the year.

For example, “Sunday, 21 November 2010” is written as:

公元 2010 年 11 月 21 日 (星期日), or 民國 99 年 11 月 21 日 (星期日)

4 Question Words and Demonstratives

哪 nǎ which 誰 sheí who 什麼 shé-me (國), shén-me (普) what 什麼時候 shé-me shí-hou (國), when (Lit: what time) shén-me shí-hou (普) 幾點 jǐ-diǎn what time (Lit: how many dots) 哪裡(國), 哪兒(普) nǎ-lǐ (國), nǎ-er (普) where (Lit: which place) 為什麼 wèi-shé-me (國), why (Lit: because of what) wèi-shén-me (普) 怎麼 zěn-me how 這 zhè this 那 nà that 這裡(國), 這兒(普) zhè-lǐ (國), zhè-er (普) here (Lit: this place) 那裡(國), 那兒(普) nà-lǐ (國), nà-er (普) there (Lit: that place)

Pronouns

我 wǒ I/me 你 (m), 妳 (f) nǐ (both) you 您 nín you (polite) 他 (m), 她 (f) tā (both) he/him, she/her 牠 (animals), tā (all) it 祂 (deities), 它 (inanimates) 們 mén (國), men (普) (pluralizes a singular pronoun) 的 de (possessive particle) 咱們 zán-mén (國), we, including the listener (generally zán-men (普) used only in the Beijing area) 自己 zì-jǐ -self

5 Basic Words

不 bù not (for all verbs except for “to have”) 沒 méi not (for the verb “to have”) 嗎 mā (國), ma (普) (question particle) 吧 ba (particle indicating agreement or a gentle request)

Verbs

是 shì to be (only as equative verb) 在 zài to be (at a physical location) 有 yǒu to have 要 yào to want or to ask for 會 huì to know how to 知道 zhī-dào to know (a piece of information) 認識 rèn-shì (國), rèn-shi (普) to know (a person) 可以 kě-yǐ to be permitted, may 喜歡 xǐ-huān to like 去 qù to go 看 kàn to see, to watch, to look at, to read 聽 tīng to hear, to listen 學 xué to learn 打 dǎ to hit, to play (sports involving hitting)

Nouns

電影 diàn-yǐng movie (Lit: electric shadows) 電視 diàn-shì television 球賽 qiú-sài sports games 籃球 lán-qiú basketball 網球 wǎng-qiú tennis (Lit: net ball) 書 shū book 外語 wài-yǔ foreign languages 數學 shù-xué mathematics (Lit: number study) 音樂 yīn-yuè music 新聞 xīn-wén news

6 People

媽媽 mā-mā mother 爸爸 bà-ba father 姐姐 jiě-jie elder sister 妹妹 mèi-mei younger sister 哥哥 gē-gē elder brother 弟弟 dì-di younger brother 朋友 péng-yǒu friend 男(女)朋友 nán (nǚ) péng-yǒu boy(girl)friend 老師 lǎo-shī teacher 學生 xué-shēng student

Places

中國 Zhōng-guó China (Lit: central nation) 中國大陸 Zhōng-guó dà-lù Mainland China (Lit: Chinese mainland) 北京 Běi-jīng Beijing (Lit: northern capital) 上海 Shàng-hǎi Shanghai (Lit: above the sea) 臺灣 or 台灣 Tái-wān Taiwan (Lit: terraced bay) 臺北 or 台北 Tái-běi Taipei (Lit: Taiwan’s north) 香港 Xiāng-gǎng Hong Kong (Lit: fragrant harbor) 美國 Měi-guó United States (Lit: beautiful nation) 麻州 or 麻省 Má-zhōu or Má-shěng Massachusetts (Lit: cannabis state) 波士頓 Bō-shì-dùn Boston 紐約 Niǔ-yuē New York (both the city and the state) 洛杉磯 Luò-shān-jī Los Angeles 舊金山 Jiù-jīn-shān San Francisco (Lit: old gold mountain) 芝加哥 Zhī-jiā-gē Chicago 華盛頓 Huá-shèng-dùn Washington, DC 英國 Yīng-guó England (Lit: heroic nation) 倫敦 Lún-dūn London 加拿大 Jiā-ná-dà Canada 多倫多 Duō-lún-duō Toronto 日本 Rì-běn Japan (Lit: land of the rising sun) 東京 Dōng-jīng Tokyo (Lit: eastern capital) 韓國 or 朝鮮 Hán-guó or Cháo-xiǎn Korea

7 Dialogue #1: Greetings

Ann, an American, and Bob, a Chinese, meet for the first time.

Ann: 你好。 Nǐ hǎo. Hello. Bob: 妳好。 Nǐ hǎo. Hello. Ann: 你叫什麼名字？ Nǐ jiào shé-me míng-zì? What’s your name? Bob: 我叫 Bob。 Wǒ jiào Bob. My name is Bob. 妳呢？ Nǐ nē? How about you? Ann: 我叫 Ann。 Wǒ jiào Ann. My name is Ann. 很高興認識你。 Hěn gāo-xìng rèn-shì nǐ. Pleased to meet you. Bob: 我也很高興認識 Wǒ yě hěn gāo-xìng rèn-shì I’m also pleased to meet 妳。 nǐ. Nǐ shì Měi-guó rén mā? you. Are you American? 妳是美國人嗎？ Ann: 是，我是美國 Shì, wǒ shì Měi-guó rén. Nǐ Yes, I am American. 人。 shì Shàng-hǎi rén mā? Are you Shanghainese? 你是上海人嗎？ Bob: 不是，我是北京 Bú-shì, wǒ shì Běi-jīng rén. No, I am a Beijinger. 人。 Ann: 你會講英語嗎？ Nǐ huì jiǎng yīng-yǔ mā? Can you speak English? Bob: 一點點。妳普通 Yī diǎn diǎn. Nǐ pǔ-tōng-huà A little bit. You speak 話講得很好。請 jiǎng de hěn hǎo. Qǐng-wèn Mandarin very well. May 問妳是怎麼學 nǐ shì zěn-me xué de? I ask how you learned it? 的？ Ann: 我男朋友教我 Wǒ nán péng-yǒu jiāo wǒ My boyfriend taught me. 的。 de. Tā shì zhōng-wén lǎo- He is a Chinese 他是中文老師。 shī. Duì-bù-qǐ, wǒ xiàn-zài (language) teacher. I’m 對不起，我現在 děi zǒu le. sorry, I have to go now. 得走了。 Bob: 再見。 Zài-jiàn. See you later. Ann: 拜拜！ Bāi-bāi! Bye bye!

8 Dialogue #2: Bargaining

Leslie is browsing a shop in Shanghai. She attempts to bargain with the shopkeeper.

Leslie: 老闆，這個東西 Lǎo-bǎn, zhè-ge dōng-xī Sir (boss), how much is 多少錢？ duō-shǎo qián? this item? SK: 二十塊錢人民 Èr-shí kuài qián rén-mín-bì. RMB¥20. 幣。 Leslie: 太誇張了！這應 Tài kuā-zhāng le! Zhè yīng- That’s ridiculous! This 該只要五塊錢人 gāi zhǐ-yào wǔ kuài qián should only be RMB¥5. rén-mín-bì. (Yǔ-qì yào (Tone of voice indicates 民幣。（語氣要 xiàng shì bèi qiǎng-jié le) a feeling of being 像是被搶劫了） robbed) SK: 這價錢很公道 Zhè jià-qián hěn gōng-dào This price is very fair! 啊！ a! Leslie: 再給你一次機 Zài gěi nǐ yī-cì jī-huì, qī I’ll give you another 會，七塊錢賣不 kuài qián mài bú mài? chance: Would you sell it for ¥7? 賣？ SK: 七塊錢不可能！ Qī kuài qián bù kě-néng! For ¥7, I cannot! At least 至少要十五！ Zhì-shǎo yào shí-wǔ! ¥15. Leslie: 哼！不賣拉倒！ Hēng! Bú mài lā-dǎo! Humph! If you’re not (動作：轉身準備 (Dòng-zuò: Zhuǎn-shēn selling, that’s your zhǔn-bèi lí-kāi) problem. (Action: turn 離開) around to leave) SK: 等一下！別走！ Děng yī-xià! Bié zǒu! Wait a minute! Don’t go! Leslie: 到底賣不賣？我 Dào-dǐ mài bú mài? Wǒ hái Are you really going to 還要趕飛機呢！ yào gǎn fēi-jī ne! (Dòng- sell? I also need to catch （動作：不耐煩 zuò: Bú nài-fán de yang-zi) a plane! (Action: appear 的樣子） impatient) SK: 不然十塊錢！ Bù-rán shí kuài qián! Otherwise, ¥10. Leslie: 八塊！(動作：馬 Bā kuài! (Dòng-zuò: Mǎ- ¥8! (Action: Immediate 上回答) shàng huí-dá) reply) SK: 好吧！我遇到搶 Hǎo ba! Wǒ yù dào qiǎng- All right! I met a robber. 匪了。 fěi le. Leslie: 請給我三個紙 Qǐng gěi wǒ sān-ge zhǐ-dài. Please give me three 袋。(交易成功) (Jiāo-yì chéng-gōng) paper bags. (Transaction successful)

9 Comparing Chinese Dialects

In any language, there are four main ways dialects differ from one another: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and usage. In Chinese, the differences are mostly in pronunciation, with minor differences in vocabulary, grammar, and usage.

For the sample sentences below, the Romanized script for Standard Mandarin is in Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音), Hong Kong Cantonese is in Jyutping (粵拼), and Taiwanese Hokkien is in Pe̍ h-ōe-jī (白話字). Unfortunately, as the three Romanizations were independently invented and were optimized for specific dialects, they have different rules for pronunciation. Thus, like European languages, the same letter or letter combination in the various Chinese Romanizations might be pronounced differently. Similarly, the tone marking systems are completely different. Mandarin has four tones (five, including the neutral tone), Cantonese has nine tones, and Taiwanese has seven tones.

Numbers Arabic: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hanzi: 一二三四五六七八九十 Mandarin: yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí Cantonese: jat1 ji6 saam1 sei3 ng5 luk6 cat1 baat3 gau2 sap6 Taiwanese: chı̍ t nēng saⁿ sì gōo la̍ k chhit peh káu cha̍ p

Sample Sentence #1 Mandarin: 你英文講得真好。 nǐ yīng wén jiǎng de zhēn hǎo Cantonese: 你英文講得好好。 nei5 jing1 man4 gong2 dak1 hou2 hou2 Taiwanese: 你英文講得成好。 lí ing bûn kóng tit tsiânn hó Literal: you English language speak (part.) very good English: You speak English very well.

Sample Sentence #2 Mandarin: 這個手錶跟那枝筆是不是你的？ zhè ge shǒu biǎo gēn nà zhī bǐ shì bù shì nǐ de Cantonese: 呢個手錶同埋嗰枝筆係唔係你㗎？ ni1 go3 sau2 biu1 tung4 maai4 go2 zi1 bat1 hai6 m4 hai6 nei5 ga3 Taiwanese: 這個手錶佮彼枝筆是毋是你的？ tsit ê tshiú pió kah hit ki pit sī m̄ sī lí ê Literal: this one wristwatch and (and) that one pen are not are you (poss) English: Are this wristwatch and that pen yours?

Sample Sentence #3 Mandarin: 我帶我媽媽去看醫生。 wǒ dài wǒ mā mā qù kàn yī shēng Cantonese: 我帶我媽媽去睇醫生。 ngo5 daai3 ngo5 ma4 ma1 heoi3 tai2 ji1 sang1 Taiwanese: 我帶我媽媽去看醫生。 guá tshuā guá ma ma khì khuànn i sing Literal: I take I mother go see doctor English: I’m taking my mother to see the doctor.

10 Chinese Idioms

Chengyu (成語, chéng-yǔ, literally: “set phrases”) are a type of Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of exactly four characters. The Chinese language is rich with thousands of such idioms (by even conservative counts, there are over 5,000). Like in other cultures, many of these idioms originated from historical events or figures, literature, and fables. Below is a sample of such idioms. All were adapted from the website www.cherriyuen.com.

青出於藍 (Qīng Chū Yú Lán) Indigo Blue Is Extracted from the Indigo Plant

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-589), there lived a young man named Li Mi (李謐, Lǐ Mì), who studied under Kong Fan (孔璠, Kǒng Fán). Li Mi was an extremely intelligent and hardworking student. He not only memorized everything his teacher taught him, but because he studied very intensively, he learned many new things. Several years later, he knew even more than his teacher did.

From then on, whenever Kong Fan had a problem, he would go ask Li Mi for advice. This made Li Mi very uncomfortable, so Kong Fan used a phrase of Xun Zi’s (荀子, Xún Zi, 312-230 BC): “Indigo blue is extracted from the indigo plant” (「青出於藍」, “qīng chū yú lán”).

This idiom “indigo blue is extracted from the indigo plant” is used as a metaphor for a student who has surpassed his teacher, much like the color indigo blue is a more beautiful shade of blue than the plant from which it is extracted.

自相矛盾 (Zì Xiāng Máo Dùn) To Contradict Oneself

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), a weapons manufacturer from the kingdom of Chu (楚, Chǔ) took his spears and shields into the street to sell. He held up a spear, and said to the crowd surrounding him, “My spears are the sharpest in the world. There is nothing they cannot pierce.” He handed a spear to the people so they could have a closer look. Then, he held up a shield, saying, “Look! My shields are the strongest shields in the world; there is nothing that can pierce them.” He handed a shield to the people for them to observe.

Just then, an old man raised his voice and asked, “If one were to use one of your spears to try to pierce one of your shields, what would happen?” At this question, the weapons manufacturer was completely at a loss for words. He did not know what to say.

Today, the Chinese phrase for “contradiction” (「矛盾」, “máo dùn”) literally means “spear-shield”.

11 瓜田李下 (Guā Tián Lǐ Xià) In a Melon Patch and Under a Plum Tree

Emperor Wen (文, Wén) of the Tang Dynasty (唐, Táng, AD 618-907) was a very democratic ruler. Before doing anything, he would always ask the opinion of his ministers. Once he asked Liu Gongquan (柳公權, Liǔ Gōng Quán), a famous calligrapher and minister, how the people felt about the government. Liu respectfully answered, “Concerning your sending Guo Ning (郭寧, Guō Níng) to be in charge of You- Ning (郵寧, Yóu Níng), some people are in favor and others are not.” Emperor Wen appeared very unhappy, and said, “Guo Ning is an upright and law-abiding official; of course he is qualified for the job.” Liu agreed, but added, “The people who are criticizing you think that he bribed you by sending you his daughters.” The Emperor explained, “They’ve misunderstood. Guo Ning's daughters came to the palace to pay their respects to the empress dowager, not to act as my concubines.” Liu replied, “Yes, but this is like the suspicion aroused by pulling on one’s shoe in a melon patch or adjusting one’s cap under a plum tree.”

The idiom “in a melon patch and under a plum tree” means that if a person pulls on his shoe in a melon patch, other people are likely to think he is stealing melons; and if he adjusts his cap under a plum tree, other people are likely to think he is picking plums. Thus, it warns people to avoid behaving in suspicious ways, even if the actions are completely innocent.

天衣無縫 (Tiān Yī Wú Fèng) Heaven’s Clothes Have No Seams

In ancient times, there lived a man named Guo Han (郭翰, Guō Hàn). One hot summer day, when he could no longer stand being in his stuffy room, he went outside to sleep in the yard. When he awoke, he looked up at the sky, and suddenly form far away, a beautiful girl flew down. Guo Han was very surprised, and asked the girl who she was. The girl replied, “I am the Girl Weaver.” Guo Han opened his eyes wide and stared at the Girl Weaver, and discovered that not only was she herself very pretty, but the clothes she was wearing were especially beautiful. Even stranger was the fact that Guo Han could find no place where her clothes had been stitched, so he asked her, “Why can I not see any seams in your clothes?”

At this, the Girl Weaver laughed and replied, “These are Heaven's clothes. Heaven’s clothes are not sewn, so how could there be any trace of a needle and thread?”

This idiom “heaven’s clothes have no seams” can be used to describe anything that was done very skillfully, in which no flaws can be found.

12 畫蛇添足 (Huà Shé Tiān Zú) To Draw a Snake and Add on Feet

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), there lived in the kingdom of Chu (楚, Chǔ) a temple caretaker who gave to the people who worked for him a pitcher of wine. But there were many workers and not much wine, and if they were to split it evenly among themselves, nobody would get very much. Finally, they agreed that they would each draw a snake, and whoever finished first would get the wine. One worker finished drawing his snake early, and he picked up the wine, preparing to drink. But upon noticing that others still hadn’t finished, he continued to draw, boasting, “I can even give my snake feet!” However, a second person finished his snake, and immediately grabbed the wine away from the first person, saying, “Snakes don't have feet; how can you add feet to yours?” And the worker who had begun drawing the feet looked sadly on as his colleague finished the wine.

This idiom “to draw a snake and add on feet” means that taking extra measures after one has already satisfactorily completed a task, or adding extra description after one has already explained oneself clearly, may be harmful rather than beneficial.

破釜沉舟 (Pò Fǔ Chén Zhōu) To Break the Cauldrons and Sink the Boats

At the end of the Qin Dynasty (秦, Qín, 221-206 BC), several regions declared independence and fought against Qin and one another for control of China. In 207 BC, the Qin army had 200,000 men surrounding the city of Julu (巨鹿, Jù Lù), which was controlled by the kingdom of Zhao (趙, Zhào). The kingdom of Chu (楚, Chǔ) sent a force to help Zhao. When the Chu army crossed a river on the way to Julu, their general, Xiang Yu (項羽, Xiàng Yǔ), ordered the men to break their cooking utensils and sink their boats so that they could neither re-cross the river nor cook any more food. This showed that he would rather die than retreat. Powered by this determination, Xiang Yu won the battle. Afterwards, other rebellion forces came to join Xiang Yu out of admiration for him.

Today, this idiom “to break the cauldrons and sink the boats” can be used to describe a person who, like Xiang Yu, risks everything in order to achieve his goal. Similar phrases or incidents are known in other cultures. For example, “crossing the Rubicon” is a metaphor for deliberately proceeding past a point of no return. The phrase originates with Julius Caesar’s invasion of Rome in 49 BC. He led his army across the Rubicon River in violation of law, thus making conflict inevitable. Therefore the term “the Rubicon” is used synonymously with “the point of no return”. The Latin phrase “alea iacta est” (“the die has been cast”), which Caesar said during the crossing of the Rubicon, is another expression used today. In AD 711, when the Muslim commander Tariq ibn Ziyad invaded Iberia (today’s Spain and Portugal), he ordered his ships to be burnt, so that his men had no choice but to thrust forward and conquer the peninsula. In 1519, the same strategy was used by the Spaniard Hernán Cortés, who sank his ships, so no other option was left than to advance into Aztec territory.