Book Review: Simple Strokes (Song Liwen)

  

I did a book review about the history of the Chinese language before and now it's going to be about the origin of Chinese characters. My former mandarin teacher explained to us a brief history of the Chinese characters that every character has its own story. She gave an example on the board. First, she drew a door. My classmates' reaction was it doesn't look like a door. I imagined the character looks like a door in a western movie, a swinging door. Next she drew an eye. I can't really understand how the character looks like an eye, maybe a single eye. I find the characters to be complex. 

The Chinese characters has really an interesting historical background. From the book, it says that, "In the history of civilization, many nations have recorded their native ideographic languages, but those have long been lost. Many people believed that Chinese characters were doomed to extinction. Chinese characters demonstrate  superiority over romanized language."

    Description from the back cover of the book. Do you know that every stroke in a Chinese character represents an idea or symbol that each Chinese character tells a story? Simple Strokes demystifies the Chinese language as it traces the history of each Chinese character and explains why the Chinese script is written that way.  With pictorial symbols to help readers especially first-time learners of the Chinese language. Simple Strokes is the fun way to learn and memorize complex strokes and their usage, and more importantly, how they put together a meaningful sentence. 

    As you can see from the photo that I posted here, there's a translation of the Chinese character. There is also a drawing on how the character evolved, past up to the present Chinese character. A description of its history in English, and also in Chinese. How to write it, order of the strokes, and usage of the character. The author of the book is Song Liwen, a graduate from Capital Normal University with a degree in Chinese language and literature. He is now an editor in the Department of Chinese and Linguistics at Peking University Press.

    I recommend this book to those who are interested in studying the Chinese language. Especially to Chinese studies enthusiasts like me. Looking beyond the art of Chinese writing. It will help you even more appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the Chinese way of writing.

Studying Chinese at Confucius Institute in Ateneo de Manila University

"If Spain has their Instituto Cervantes and Germany has their Goethe Institut, and France has their Alliance Francaise, China has Confucius Institute."

    I just finished my Basic Chinese 2 course at Confucius Institute in Ateneo de Manila University last week, June 14, 2014. It was my first time to take HSK test, it stands for Hanyu  Shuiping Kaoshi or Chinese Proficiency test for non-native speakers. I just got a fair score in this exam. My score is 31/40. My classmates got a high score, and some even got a near perfect score, only one mistake. I was heartbroken because I scored low, but that's not a reason for me to give up. Anyway, I'm glad that I was able to finish the course and get another certificate in Chinese language study. My first certificate was when I studied Basic Chinese at Languages Internationale in Katipunan, Quezon City during my college days. 

    I was a former ESL (English as Second Language) teacher to Koreans. Compared with the Korean language, Chinese language is not that easy to learn, it can be in fact quite challenging. Mandarin has four tones and from what I read Chinese characters are over 80,000 but not all of them are used today. In the year 2000 that was my first attempt to study Chinese. Even if my family/relatives think its useless to study Chinese I was really persistent. When I was in my junior and senior year in college, I took Basic Mandarin I and Basic Mandarin II as my foreign language. After 14 years, finally I finished another Chinese language course in Confucius Institute based in Ateneo de Manila University.

   Confucius Institute has three headquarters or branches here in the Philippines. Aside from Ateneo de Manila, it is also found in Angeles University Foundation and Bulacan State University. Confucius Institute has helped a lot of people from all over the world who wants to study Chinese, as well as learning more about Chinese language and culture. As you can see, Confucius Institute was named after the great Chinese philosopher, Kong Fu Zi (Master Kong). My blog 'quotes', one of Confucius famous saying about learning and teaching. The mission of Confucius Institute is to promote and teach Chinese culture and language all over the globe. This is also one way to promote harmonious relationship with the two countries. 

    It is really surprising that Chinese language enthusiasts have increased in number now. When I was in college Chinese studies was seen as unimportant by some of my classmates. I was amazed at the foresight of my former college university (Centro Escolar University) to replace their Foreign Language which was Spanish, to Mandarin. They say that in the coming years China will be a real super power and studying the Chinese language has really its advantage. I think, if Spain has their Instituto Cervantes and Germany has their Goethe Institut, and France has their Alliance Francaise, China has Confucius Institute! I'm proud to have studied in this institute.

  So to all Chinese studies language and enthusiasts like me, if you want to study Chinese as a hobby or to further develop your skill and knowledge with regards to Chinese culture then check out Confucius Institute at Ateneo de Manila, (they also have a Makati branch) and if your are in the province (Pampanga and Bulacan), check out the other two universities offering Chinese language. Like what my former Chinese teacher always says to me 加油 jia you! (cheer or encouragement in Chinese mandarin) it means go!go!go! or go for it!

Book Review: The Chinese Language It's History and Current Usage

   I saw this book while browsing at a local bookstore. When I saw it, I knew immediately that I got to have it. So the next day after work, I rushed to the mall and went straight to the bookstore and yes! The book was still there, waiting for me. 

   I'm studying Basic Chinese 2 at Confucius Institute and I have been trying to learn Chinese since I was in highschool, a friend of mine even gave me a Chinese phrasebook assuming that I'll be able to use it when I travel to China in the future. 

  Chinese language is a very challenging language to learn. As mentioned in the book Chinese language is the putonghua, it is the common and national (official) language of China. The sentence structure differs from the English language, and it is also tonal. Mandarin has four tones. Like the Philippines, China is comprised of different dialects. Mandarin is a Northern dialect. Filipino-Chinese speak Fookien (Hokkien) since a large number of Filipino-Chinese came from Fujian province in China. In Hong Kong, the dialect that is widely used is Cantonese.

  This book was written by Dr. Daniel Kane. It is not unusual for Caucasians to be good or even an expert in the Chinese language. In fact foreigners studying the Chinese language, their numbers are increasing even more. For Chinese language learners, and for those who are Chinese studies enthusiast this book is indispensable. This book is divided into six chapters. It talks about the Chinese language, the characters, history and dialect, grammar, pronunciation, and suggested books for reading.

   To those who want to study the Chinese language, and want to learn more of its history and origin, then this book is for you.

Movie Review: Aftershock (唐山大地震) Tangshan Great Earthquake

  

This is one of the Chinese movies 'must-see' films that I've seen on the internet. This is included in the list of the best Chinese films ever made. This is based on a true event that happened in China wayback, a great earthhquake that struck Tangshan (a city located in northeastern Hebei province of China). The characters portrayed in the film were just fiction, but on the last part of the movie, a survivor of the Tangshan earthquake was shown. 

   The cinematic effects was great. The collapsed buildings and structures, especially the rubble, will make you think that you it was filmed at the time when that event happened. It was really believable. I also like the portrayal of the lead actress, who played a mother who is forced to choose, and the consequences of her choices. She's really good in portraying her character. As if I can feel her feelings. Now, I somehow understood the sacrifices and hardships that a mother can experience. 

   This movie is very timely, since my country was also devastated by an earthquake last year. We should always be prepared, and we should be aware of what we're going to do, just in case an earthquake will hit our country. Anyway, whatever happens, GOD is in control. If you want to veer away from Wuxia (martial arts-hero) themed films. Then I suggest you see this movie.

Movie Review: The Twelve Animals (新十二生肖)

   Today is a holiday, so as usual, I just spent the day at home. I've watched another movie entitled, 'Xin shi er sheng xiao' 新十二生肖. It's a fantasy film about the Chinese Zodiac animals. I was interested because it was mentioned by my Chinese teacher in our class. She said that Chinese people often ask someone's zodiac sign. In that way they can somehow know the personality of a person by basing it on the year the person was born.

    At the beginning of the movie there's an explanation of how the 12 animals came to be assigned.

Long time ago the humans don’t know how to count the date.They ask heaven’s help. Buddha decided to use heaven’s river as the line to have an animal’s marathon. To pick the first twelve animals arrive the finishing point. As the human being’s guard of the year.

      My animal sign is a monkey. I remember, I really like the monkey character before. The monkey character designed by Paul Frank apparel became even famous when Barbie Hsu wore it in the hit series Meteor Garden.

     My Chinese animal year of birth sign is 'hou' 猴. Like the monkey, I really like bananas. Before I would always bring a banana with me at the office, and my officemates would sometimes makes fun of me calling me, 'banana girl'. My former boss told me that I should not eat banana always because she read in a newspaper that there's a chemical or component in the banana that attracts the mosquitoes. I had dengue thrice already, so I'm a bit alarmed by what she told me. Anyway, I still eat bananas up to now, for I've read they're very nutritious. My aunt even gave me a monkey fancy ring when I was still a teen but I lost it.

    Anyway, back to the movie. The movie is about a pretty young girl called 'Bai Ma', who's in search for the 12 animals, to fight the evil leader in the devil island. Her guardian who is always at her side and who protects her like a loyal guard dog is called 'Kan Chu'.  Even if the film is quite old I really enjoyed watching it. There's an animation that was shown at the beginning of the film. I'm just not that overjoyed since the monkey was not given a very good role and exposure. As we all know the dragon is said to have been the luckiest of all in the Chinese zodiac animals, so in the movie the dragon is one of the leading characters. I also like a bit of twist at the end of the movie, I never expected it to be like that. Overall the movie was good.

Into the Heart and Mind of a Chinese Culture Enthusiast

   Most of the people I know when they find out that I like Chinese culture, music, anything that's related with it they find it strange. Sometimes, I'm the butt of joke, a fried of mine wayback often say sarcastically, (whenever we encounter oriental or 'chinky eyed' people), "Oh your friends, your people!". 

   Sometimes I get annoyed and pissed when they do that to me. Even if I don't show what I really feel, deep inside I'm already fuming. Is it really strange? I don't really think so! We all have our own interests and hobbies in life. Some study Spanish, French and other languages. While others are addicted to Korean and Japanese music, and tv dramas. Maybe, the only thing that's different, in my case I kinda embraced everything, and have really fallen in love with the Chinese culture, anything that's connected with it. 

Also, I'm not following any fad. I remember it was the height of Korean dramas when I became an ESL instructor to Koreans. I know a thing or two about Korean culture because I have dealt with Koreans before. Still, my interest in China didn't change, it still there lying dormant. It was only now that this passion of mine has been awakened. I guess, you always come back to the one you love doing. Besides, I already have finished doing my masteral, and I'm not really that occupied now so I can really spend a lot of time doing what I love. That is studying and writing about my interest. 

   Someday, I dream of becoming like Dashan. I read a story before about Dashan in my Lonely Planet: China travel book. That was one of my expensive books with regards to China. I bought it during my college days. I remember in our Chinese class yesterday we learned how to say 'big'. The Chinese character for that is 大 it reads as 'da' using the pinyin system. You'll really be amazed because Dashan, Mark Henry Rowswell is his real name, speaks really good Chinese. Actually there are a lot of Caucasians who can speak Chinese very well. I won't mention them all here. My point is, I'm not the only one in love with the Chinese language and culture, and it's not strange at all.

In the music scene, I came to know Frankie P., he is an Italian-American born and raised in the U.S. He speaks and can sing Cantonese very well. Just check out his videos on YouTube. It's really encouraging to see someone who also has the same interest. I've got some encouraging words from him, to just keep on practicing. Another one is an English woman named Mary Jess, she won and bagged the grand price in a singing contest in China, entitled 'I Want to Sing to the Stars.' 民星唱翻天 (Min Xing Chang Fan Tian). "Mary-Jess began studying Chinese at the age of 13 when it was offered as an extra-curricular GCSE at St. Peters RC High School in Gloucester. At the age of 15, Mary-Jess travelled to China for the first time with the school and whilst there she sang at the opening ceremony the summer school that she was attending. Her performance was credited by a lot of local press coverage. During this trip she fell in love with China and knew that she would continue to study Mandarin Chinese." (source: mary-jess.com)

So it's not only me. A lot of people around the world likes and appreciate the Chinese culture. Why? there are a hundreds of reasons and maybe, because its the cradle of the civilization, as mentioned in a local newspaper that I've read wayback. Here in my country, you can't deny the influence and the role of the Chinese in the Philippines way of life and culture.

   I also don't understand why a lot of people blame the Filipino-Chinese here in the Philippines, saying they are controlling everything. Most of the successful leaders here are PBC or Philippine Born Chinese and of Chinese lineage. It's not their fault, if you knew the life of early Chinese settlers here in the Philippines, it was not easy for them. They were the first peddlers, selling 'taho', dimsum (Chinese snacks), etc. on the streets. (visit Bahay Tsinoy in Intramuros to see the life like dioramas, and to learn more about the Filipino-Chinese history). They are just simply hardworking, and the times back then if you really work hard success is not that far behind. That's one thing we should learn from them. In appreciating the Chinese culture and language, I hope I have proven my point, that truly, I am not the only one in love!

(All Photos here were taken from Google Images).

Chinese Oil Paper Umbrellas

   I came to appreciate the Chinese oil paper umbrellas or parasols when I saw it in a music video. An English woman named Mary Jess holding a beautiful oriental umbrella, and singing a beautiful song. When I researched about it I came to know that it is called oil paper umbrellas. 

   I recently saw an episode on CCTV News: Journeys in the Past wherein the host anchor Madam Dang Bing in Beijing talks about oil paper umbrellas. Dai Wang Shu (20^th century poet) poem Rainy Lane depicts a girl wondering alone holding a paper umbrella in her hand.

      Below are some of the information I've gathered about the Chinese oil paper umbrellas from the documentary that I have seen.

The visual appeal of an oil paper umbrella lies in the simplicity of its design. This is deceptive part in making an umbrella. In fact it is a complex undertaking. Consisting of 80 processes, all of them performed by hand. The materials, the bamboo, the paper, and oil, must be carefully selected and processed to achieve the most desirable effect.

The oil paper umbrella was already in use a thousand of years ago. The story of the paper umbrella begins in the city of Luzhuo. Traditional techiniques in producing oil-paper umbrellas are still used there today. Luzhuo grows elastic and flexible bamboos. They’re also producers of Tung oil. Without a good material no skilled craftsman can produce a good oil paper umbrella. The frame of the umbrella is made from a Moso bamboo (a type of bamboo). It takes only 59 days for a Moso bamboo to grow again after being cut down.

The origins of paper umbrellas remain a mystery even today. Many people believe they first appeared in the Tang dynasty. One thing is for sure they were made in Southern China, where  the damp rainy climate created a need for such umbrellas. It was in the the Ming dynasty that the umbrellas rose to the height of their popularity. People believed that red umbrellas bought in Luzhuo can protect good people and turn bad luck into good. 

In my China book, I read that Hangzhou also makes and produces oil-paper umbrellas. I have also found out in Hangzhou they also have an umbrella museum. Oil paper umbrellas can also be seen in Meinong a small Hakka town in SouthernTaiwan. It's really nice to know that people around the world appreciate this one of a kind craft. Each of these oil paper umbrellas are truly a labor of love.