we continue with the 15 days of Chinese New Year and each of it’s respective spiritual and religious significances, rites, and associated folkloric magical practices.
EDIT FOR 2022: days 3,4,5 of New Year is February 3-5, 2022.
3rd day of New Year/”Day of the Crimson Hound” (赤狗日) This would’ve been February 14, 2021. It’s funny since it falls on St. Valentine’s Day. Because this is the one day that you are supposed to stay inside avoid all unnecessary social interactions and travels. Because you see, the third day of Lunar New Year is known as Day of the Crimson Hound, or Chi’gou Ri. “Chi’gou” (赤狗) is a God or spirit of wrath, anger, poverty, and strife in Chinese Traditional Religion & Folk Taoism. Keep unnecessary conversations and small talk at the minimum. Speak to no one except those who you live with, reschedule parties, gatherings, and New Year celebrations. For it is said that you will be cursed by Chi’gou to fight and feud with whoever you wish Happy New Year to on this day. This day is pretty uneventful, all due to the fear of attracting the attention or angering the Crimson Hound. He can bring strife and anger and destroy your relationships between you and your family, friends. He can also bring upon your household poverty, and undo all blessings the God of Wealth sent you the days before. Honestly, in very observant households, you won’t even hear people wishing each other Happy New Year at all on this day. Not even to your family members who you live with.
A bronze statue of the Hound.
The night of the 3rd day is also known as the night when the Rat God arranges weddings for his subjects (the various rodents on earth). It’s known as the “Day of Rat Weddings” (老鼠娶亲日). Their weddings takes place after sunset. Traditionally, people would go to bed early and keep quiet as to not disturb the rats’ wedding processions through the fields at night. Offerings of beans and grains must be left out, as well as a little portion of this past autumn’s harvest. These are to be left out in the kitchen, at the edge of the fields, and by the pantry or grain storage or barn as wedding gifts to them. This practice would obviously not make sense in modern, urban settings. However, if God forbid you got rodent problems in your home, maybe you should observe this so they would go easy on you.
a traditional paper cut-out of the rats’ wedding procession.
4th Day of New Year: Zao’jun ‘s homecoming This is the day when the Zao’jun (灶君), the God of the Hearth (commonly translated inaccurately as The Kitchen God in English), returns back to the hearth and home after spending time up in the Celestial Courts reporting on the household. At sundown, offerings, candles, and incense must be set up at the shrine or votive altar of Zao’jun (usually located above the hearth or stove). Firecrackers would also be lit at the door to welcome him back. One must treat the event as if one is welcoming a dear friend or family member’s homecoming. Offerings are not too different from the offerings to him. But traditional ritual protocol indicates there must be three different meat dishes, meaning three separate dishes of three different animals. Pork, poultry, and fishes are common. The other common meat for offerings, lamb or goat, are taboo on this day and to be avoided. Fruits, pastries, and a bottle of good liquor must also be present. It is said for this homecoming ritual, every single member of the household must be present and at home all day as to not confuse Zao’jun in terms of who to protect and look after. For more information on Zao’jun and his place in the domestic sphere, read my first post on Chinese New Year.
i just thought this lil’ drawing was adorable. Plus it depicts Zao’jun’s Homecoming perfectly.
5th day of New Year：Crossroads and Fire Welcoming the “Lu’tou Shen”: The other God of Wealth. One other God honored on this day is the Lu’tou Shen (路头神), also known by his title of Wulu Caishen (五路财神). Literally his name and title translates into something like “God of the road’s end”, and “God of Wealth & the 5 ways/roads). Apart from Cai’shen honored on the first day of new year, he is the other God of wealth. There are different Gods and Goddesses of abundance, wealth, and prosperity in Chinese folk religion. Caishen is just the main one and most widely worshipped. Lu’tou Shen is one example of wealth in relation to commerce and more specifically the flow of money and wealth. The coming and going of money. As his title suggests, he closely resembles “crossroads deities” found in other cultural traditions. As a crossroads God of Wealth, he can bring customers and foot-traffic to one’s business. And for a household, he can ensure your blessings and abundance flow into your lives without obstacles and keep those roads open. My nanna says in the old country, it’s a tradition for stores and shops to call all their employees to the store and erect little altars at the storefront. The owner of the business would lead the ritual and make offerings to him. This was also traditionally the day to fire any employees buy not inviting them to the ceremony or simply by telling them “No need to come to the store today”. The employee would understand that they’ve been sacked and will collect their stuff the next day. Different households on the same block would often band together and make one collective huge offering and sacrifice along with lots of firecrackers being blown up at the nearest crossroads. This act is called “welcoming the Lu’tou Shen). As his place of worship and shrine, if any, are often located at the crossroads. This act and offering of welcoming in the Lu’tou Shen is done precisely are midnight, when the 4th day turns to the 5th day. A cooked goat’s head, as well as a air of carp or other big fish must be present among the offerings to him.
A statue of Lu’tou Shen, the crossroads God of wealth, and commercial abundance.
Binding the God of Fire (绑火神) This is another practice done on the evening of the 4th day. The God of Fire takes a prominent role not only in the Lantern Festival, but also on this day. Towns and villages or individual households would gather corn and wheat stalks and braid them around a tall wooden pole that’s been erected at the town square. This is act of tying and binding is to symbolize binding the God of Fire so that his destructive side doesn’t burn down houses or destroy property in the new year. The pole would then be tossed into the river. In private households, no poles are used. But simply bundles of corn stalks are tied together and burned in the court yard.
6th day of New Year This day was traditionally when the market places at the town square reopened, as well as shops and businesses. Now the Lu’tou Shen has been appeased, abundance and wealth will start flowing in from the roads into your shops. Now that you got him making sure abundance is flowing in, it;s time to get rid of old stagnant energies. Which brings us to: “Chasing out Poverty” (送穷神), a ritual to chase away the Qiong’shen, the Spirit/God of Poverty. It’s fairly simple, one gathers all the old tattered items of clothing and objects that are broken from the pervious year. Then either burn them in a bonfire while striking the ground before the fire as if whacking somebody. One will keep striking the rod on the ground as one walks tout the front door. Someone else would have a dustpan with the dust swept up from the four corners of the house and have that dust thrown out the front door. Symbolizing the God of Poverty being thrown out. Sometimes the pile of dirt or garbage would be topped with 5 slices of flatbread (煎饼), as an offering to the God of Poverty. It would then be tossed out the front door along with the offering. This act is what is believed to chase the God of Poverty away from your home or business.
New Year’s Day / “Spring Festival” (1st day of the first lunar month). The start of the 15 days of celebration. The Chinese name for Chinese New Year, called Chun’jie, literally translates into “Spring Festival”. Due to it being the official start of the spring season in the Chinese calendar. The start of new beginnings, new blessings, and new zodiac sign. The first thing a household must do in the morning is to have firecrackers lit at the front door. To scare away any bad spirits and old stale energies away so new blessings may start flowing in. It is also the day to honor the Sui Shen (岁神), the God of the Year. More commonly known as Tai’sui (太岁), the Year God isn’t a single deity, but a group of Gods and Goddesses. There are sixty of them and they each correspond to a zodiac sign in the 60-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Bet y’all didn’t know that either! There’s much more to the Chinese zodiac, they each got a God or Goddess associated with them as well! it’s more than some cute picture on paper mat in your Chinese restaurant. Not to be confused with the Japanese Toshigami (岁神), which is a similar deity but as I understand is a singular spirit unrelated to the sixty year Gods in Chinese folk religion. For example, 2021 is the year of the Metal Ox. The Tai’sui corresponding to the Metal Ox is Yang’xin Dajiangjun (杨信大将军), or “General Yang’xin. So on this day, he would be worshipped. One would either visit a local shrine or temple where would be an altar erected to him, or erect an altar to him at home. It is advised everyone, no matter what year one is born, to pay their respects and give a lil’ something. Because the Sui Shen is in charge of their year’s fortunes, good and bad. Therefor it’s important to get on their good side and do a lil’ bootlicking, so to speak.
a small statue of General Yang’xin, the Sui Shen of 2021, the year of the Metal Ox.
Traditionally, the first meal of the new year is to be devoid of meat.A stark contrast to the gluttony of the night before. The breakfast or brunch of new year’s day would be close to a vegan meal. Because even eggs and dairy would be off-limits for the day. New year’s day is also sometimes called “fasting day” for this reason. It is taboo is wear any thing stained, dirty, ripped, or just old on this day. Usually folks would have an entire new outfit bought for this day. And as always, the ancestors would be fed the first thing in the morning and incense offered. It is also taboo to use the broom or mop on this way, for it’s said that you would be sweeping away all the new blessings of the new year.
Second day of New Year / “Day of breaking fast” (开斋日) As new year’s day is the day of fasting and abstaining from meat and animal products, this day is where one breaks the fast. The excessive drinking and foods returns! This meal on the 2nd day of New Year is called Kai’nian Fan ( 开年饭), or “year-opening meal”. Unlike the meal of New Year’s Eve, this meal is open to everyone and not limited to just family members or clan members. Friends, colleagues, roommates, whoever wants to join are all welcome to. The foods aren’t too different from the types served on New Year’s Eve, except that it must include carp, lettuce, and wontons (more about this below). This was also the day where couples would travel to the wife’s parents’ household to visit. They would stay and have this Kai’nian Fan meal with the wife’s side of the family and depart before sunset. A new tradition developed in the early twentieth century: family portraits. Since then this day is traditionally the day where family members all gather to have their family portraits taken.
The God of Wealth: The 2nd day of New Year is also one of the two days in the next 15 days dedicated to Cai Shen (财神), the God of Wealth aka Money God. Now I know y’all love that! Altars would be set up in shops, businesses, and courtyards of private houses. Small paper images of Cai Shen would be bought from the local shrines and placed upon the altar with candles and offerings. Ritual protocol demands that businesses and store owners offer what is known as the “Five Sacrifices” ( 五大供) along with other offerings. Depending on the region these 5 sacrifices could differ, but they are usually: a whole pig, a whole sheep, a whole chicken, a whole duck or goose, and a whole carp. They are then to be cooked appropriately and offered by the altar. The male head of the family, or the owner of the business would lead the ritual and then everyone present are to make an offering of incense and liquor. The paper image of Cai Shen would then be burned and the animal sacrifices be shared in the meal following. In this meal, wonton must be served. My nanna says it’s because wontons resemble the shape of gold nuggets back in the old days in the old country.
a statue of Cai Shen, the God of Wealth, Prosperity, and Abundance, appropriately gilded in gold
freshly made wontons, ready to be cooked.
It’s taboo to wash your clothes on this day for you will wash away the blessings and abundance Cai Shen bestowed on you. It’s always taboo is take naps on this day, as the God of Wealth detests any display of laziness. You want abundance? You better werk betch! Prayer without work is empty.
Another deity honored on this day is Shui Shen (水神), the God of Water. Also known by his title Shui’de Xingjun (水德星君). This is why on this day one avoid the unnecessary use of water, lest you offend him. Unlike other world religious systems, the God of Water in Chinese folk religion and Taoism isn’t a very gentle fellow. Quick to anger and generally seen as unpredictable and dangerous if provoked. This is someone who decided to crash the pillars holding up the sky once upon a time because he wasn’t happy he lost a battle and threw a tantrum. So no long showers, baths are out of the question, no laundry, and no sullying his sweet waters with mopping on this day. Observe these taboos and he will be appeased, and appreciate drinkable water that nourishes life. For even though water can be dangerous, it is also gentile and vital to life.
a statue of Shui’de Xingjun, the God of Water.
WHEW! i told y’all this was gonna be long. And we only on the 2nd day of the 15 days of New Year. Stay tuned for more.
UPDATED FOR 2022:
February 1, 2022 is the first day of Lunar New Year. It’s the year of the tiger. The Sui Shen, or Tai’sui of the year is He’E Dajiangjun ( 贺谔大将军 ). Or General He’E.
Aspirations occurs in English in initial onsets like in ‘pat’ [pʰæt], ‘tack’ [’tʰæk] or ‘cat’ [’kʰæt]. It is not phonemic, since it doesn’t distinguish meanings, but it’s distinctive in Mandarin e.g. 皮 [pʰi] (skin) vs. 比 [pi] (proportion).
Language that do not possess the grammatical category of “tense”, although obviously, they can communicate about past or future situations, but they do it resorting to adverbs (earlier, yesterday, tomorrow), the context (pragmatics), but mostly aspect markers, that show how a situation relates to the timeline (perfective, continuous, etc.) or modal markers (obligation, need, orders, hipothesis, etc.)
Tenseless languages are mostly analytic/isolating, but some are not. They occur mainly in East and Southeast Asia (Sino-Tibetan, Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Kra-Dai, Hmong-Mien), Oceania, Dyirbal (in NE Australia), Malagasy, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ewe, Fon and many Mande languages of Western Africa, most creole languages, Guarani, Mayan languages, Hopi, some Uto-Aztecan languages, and Greenlandic and other Inuit dialects.
I’m not going to dive into why—that’s a whole other post. But some of these transliterated names are seriously hard for me to say! And it seems like Chinese fans agree, because they have shorter nicknames for some foreign celebs.
The three celebs I mentioned above each have nicknames. I actually encountered all three nicknames while watching Chinese TV shows recently! So I can confirm that they are really used. Can you tell who is who?
小李子 xiǎolǐzǐ
阿姆 āmǔ
霉霉 méiméi
But where did these nicknames come from? What do they mean?
Leonardo DiCaprio / 小李子
The transliteration above starts with 莱 (lái), but transliterations are not universal. According to what I found online, 李奥纳多 is an alternative transliteration of Leonardo. As an American English speaker, I think this sounds closer to how I say Leonardo. So the nickname 小李子 likely comes from 李奥纳多. 小李子 is certainly much easier to say than 莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥.
Eminem / 阿姆
Interestingly, even though the simplified Chinese Wikipedia page for Eminem is titled 埃米纳姆, the body text uses both 埃米纳姆 and 阿姆. But the traditional version only uses 阿姆. The Baidu page only uses 埃米纳姆. 阿姆 is not only shorter and easier to say, but 阿+syllable is a known nickname structure, so my guess is that’s where 阿姆 came from.
Taylor Swift / 霉霉
According to these 百度知道 comments, Taylor Swift is called 霉霉 because 1) 霉 sounds like 美 and 2) she used to be unlucky when it came to charting on Billboard (霉 in this case as in 倒霉, to have bad luck/be out of luck). I would have guessed it was because she had bad luck in finding love honestly! You’ll have to decided for yourself which origin story you believe.
As you may or may not know, I really like learning chengyu. After a while, I started to notice patterns and similar structures, and I got curious. What are the common patterns for chengyu?
There are a lot of chengyu, and I’m not that ambitious. I decided to just focus on the chengyu I know. Fortunately, pretty much all the chengyu I know are in Anki, so I was able to export them for analysis! I identified 16 of the most common patterns. Let’s take a look~
不可_ _
不可思议 bùkěsīyì - inconceivable / unimaginable / unfathomable 不可理喻 bùkělǐyù - to be impervious to reason / unreasonable 不可避免 bùkěbìmiǎn - unavoidably 不可或缺 bùkěhuòquē - necessary / must have 不可救药 bùkějiùyào - incurable / incorrigible / beyond cure / hopeless
无所_ _
无所畏惧 wúsuǒwèijù - fearless 无所不有 wúsuǒbùyǒu - to have everything 无所顾忌 wúsuǒgùjì - to have no misgivings / to stop at nothing 无所事事 wúsuǒshìshì - to have nothing to do / to idle one’s time away 无所不谈 wúsuǒbùtán - to talk about everything
不_不_
不折不扣 bùzhébúkòu - a hundred percent / to the letter / out-and-out 不屈不挠 bùqūbùnáo - unyielding / indomitable 不理不睬 bùlǐbùcǎi - to completely ignore / to pay no attention to / not to be in the least concerned about 不言不语 bùyánbùyǔ - to not say a word / to keep silent 不闻不问 bùwénbúwèn - not to hear, not to question / to show no interest in sth / uncritical / not in the least concerned
A lot of these contain words within them: 折扣、屈挠、理睬、言语、闻问 are all words!
一_不_
一丝不苟 yìsībùgǒu - strictly according to the rules / meticulous (lit. not one thread loose) 一成不变 yìchéngbúbiàn - nothing much changes / always the same 一尘不染 yìchénbùrǎn - selfless and incorruptible / spotless (lit. untainted by even a speck of dust) 一蹶不振 yìjuébúzhèn - a setback leading to total collapse / unable to recover after a minor hitch (lit. one stumble, unable to rise) 一丝不挂 yìsībúguà - absolutely naked / without a stitch of clothing (lit. not wearing one thread)
无_无_
无影无踪 wúyǐngwúzōng - to disappear without trace 无穷无尽 wúqióngwújìn - endless / boundless / infinite 无声无息 wúshēngwúxī - silent / unknown (lit. not a sound nor breath) 无边无际 wúbiānwújì - boundless / limitless 无忧无虑 wúyōuwúlǜ - carefree and without worries
A lot of these also contain words within them: 影踪、穷尽、声息、边际、忧虑 are all words!
一_一_
一心一意 yìxīnyíyì - concentrating one’s thoughts and efforts / single-minded / bent on / intently 一言一行 yìyányìxíng - every word and action 一举一动 yìjǔyídòng - every movement / each and every move 一朝一夕 yìzhāoyìxī - in a short period of time / overnight (lit. one morning and one evening) 一生一世 yìshēngyíshì - a whole lifetime all my life
Once again, we have some words: 心意、言行、举动、朝夕、生世 are all words!
_天_地
惊天动地 jīngtiāndòngdì - world-shaking 铺天盖地 pūtiāngàidì - everywhere / coming with great momentum (lit. hiding the sky and covering the earth) 开天辟地 kāitiānpìdì - to split heaven and earth apart 冰天雪地 bīngtiānxuědì - a world of ice and snow 欢天喜地 huāntiānxǐdì - delighted / with great joy / in high spirits
_言_语
千言万语 qiānyánwànyǔ - thousands of words / having a lot of things to say 自言自语 zìyánzìyǔ - to talk to oneself / to think aloud / to soliloquize 不言不语 bùyánbùyǔ - to not say a word / to keep silent 花言巧语 huāyánqiǎoyǔ - flowery speech / elegant but insincere words / dishonest rhetoric 流言蜚语 liúyánfēiyǔ - rumors and slanders / gossip / lies and slanders
_心_意
三心二意 sānxīnèryì - in two minds about sth / hesitant / indecisive 真心实意 zhēnxīnshíyì - genuine and sincere / wholehearted 粗心大意 cūxīndàyì - negligent / careless / inadvertent 专心一意 zhuānxīnyíyì - to concentrate on 全心全意 quánxīnquányì - heart and soul / wholeheartedly
AABB
兢兢业业 jīngjīngyèyè - conscientious / assiduous 形形色色 xíngxíngsèsè - all kinds of / all sorts of / every different kind of 踏踏实实 tātāshíshí - steady / steadfast 轰轰烈烈 hōnghōnglièliè - strong / vigorous / large-scale 鬼鬼祟祟 guǐguǐsuìsuì - sneaky / secretive / furtive
ABCC
兴致勃勃 xìngzhìbóbó - to become exhilarated / in high spirits / full of zest 小心翼翼 xiǎoxīnyìyì - cautious and solemn / very carefully / prudent / gently and cautiously 忧心忡忡 yōuxīnchōngchōng - deeply worried and sick at heart 怒气冲冲 nùqìchōngchōng - spitting anger / in a rage 气喘吁吁 qìchuǎnxūxū - to pant / to gasp for breath
ABAC
善有善报 shànyǒushànbào - virtue has its rewards / one good turn deserves another 土生土长 tǔshēngtǔzhǎng - locally born and bred / indigenous / home-grown 相亲相爱 xiāngqīnxiāngài - to be kind and love one another / bound by deep emotions 蹑手蹑脚 nièshǒunièjiǎo - to walk quietly on tiptoe 难舍难分 nánshěnánfēn - loath to part / emotionally close and unwilling to separate
ABCB
人云亦云 rényúnyìyún - to say what everyone says / to conform to what one perceives to be the majority view / to follow the herd 大错特错 dàcuòtècuò - to be gravely mistaken 将错就错 jiāngcuòjiùcuò - to make the best after a mistake / to accept an error and adapt to it (lit. if it’s wrong, it’s wrong) 得过且过 déguòqiěguò - satisfied just to get through / to muddle through / without high ambitions, but getting by 讨价还价 tǎojiàhuánjià - to haggle over price / to bargain
AABC
井井有条 jǐngjǐngyǒutiáo - everything clear and orderly / neat and tidy 摇摇欲坠 yáoyáoyùzhuì - tottering / on the verge of collapse 栩栩如生 xǔxǔrúshēng - vivid and lifelike / true to life / realistic 格格不入 gégébúrù - inharmonious / incompatible 默默无闻 mòmòwúwén - obscure and unknown / an outsider without any reputation / a nobody
Split Words
There are other chengyu containing words that don’t fit any of the above patterns. I wanted to include them as well :)
不言而喻 bùyán'éryù - it goes without saying / it is self-evident -> 言喻 有缘无分 yǒuyuánwúfèn - destined to meet but not fated to be together -> 缘分 有条有理 yǒutiáoyǒulǐ everything clear and orderly / neat and tidy -> 条理 挑三拣四 tiāosānjiǎnsì - to be picky / to be choosy -> 挑拣 取而代之 qǔ'érdàizhī - to substitute for sb / to remove and replace -> 取代
Interspersed Words
Some chengyu actually contain two words interspersed. These ones are really cool!
功成名就 gōngchéngmíngjiù - to win success and recognition -> 功名、成就 胡思乱想 húsīluànxiǎng - to indulge in flights of fancy / to let one’s imagination run wild -> 胡乱、思想 生儿育女 shēng'éryùnǚ - to bear and raise children -> 生育、儿女 通情达理 tōngqíngdálǐ - fair and reasonable / sensible / standing to reason -> 通达、情理 门当户对 méndānghùduì - the families are well-matched in terms of social status / (of a prospective marriage partner) an appropriate match -> 门户、当对
Not long ago I shared that you can follow me on Spotify! Thanks to everyone who has followed me/one of my playlists. Anyway, I wanted to make a post dedicated to my Rock Out playlist (yes I know the name is lame—I couldn’t think of anything good). This playlist is also my most followed!
Before I got into Mandopop, I mostly listened to indie rock, alt rock, pop rock, etc. I used to listen to heavier music, but my tastes slowly shifted. As a result, I don’t really listen to straight-up Chinese rock, but I do love rock-ish music.
Today I’ll be highlighting some songs/artists from Rock Out. I hope you enjoy them. I went through to try and make sure none of these songs have been featured on my blog before (but I may have missed one or two).
周笔畅 / Bibi Zhou Bibi doesn’t have a lot of rock songs, but the few she has are soooo good. And the clips I’ve seen of her performing them live are great as well.
《别装了》 has a slightly-dated sounded, but I mean this in a good way. Everyone needs a go-to 2010 pop-rock song.
《沉默的真相》 is from a soundtrack, and it’s so good that I’m planning to watch the show. It starts out more dark and lowkey but really takes off.
《荷米斯》 is one of those songs that makes me feel effortlessly cool (which I am not).
孟慧圆 / Meng Huiyuan 《背比》 is a very bouncy song. It’s also short and snappy—just a lot of fun to listen to all around.
张惠妹 / A-Mei I mean, you already know the legendary A-Mei. I don’t even have to say anything. A-Mei has two great rock albums (AMITandAMIT2) plus some other rock-leaning songs here and there. But I wanted to feature some of her songs from other albums.
《发生什么事》 is loud and powerful. You can just let go and jam out to this song.
《不要乱说》 gives off strong don’t mess with me vibes. I feel empowered yet intimidated at the same time.
《不顾一切》 would make the most perfect spy or action movie theme song! And I would definitely watch the movie.
徐佳莹 / LaLa Hsu 《拉拉队》 puts me in a instant good mood. It’s very peppy, which is perfect because 拉拉队 means cheerleading squad.
林宥嘉 / Yoga Lin 《热血无赖》 is fast-paced and upbeat. It will definitely jolt you awake if you’re drowsy. I hope that 林宥嘉 makes more rock-infused songs in the future!
林忆莲 / Sandy Lam 《盖亚》 is arguably one of the least rock songs here, but it’s a true masterpiece, so you should listen to it anyway. It will 打动你 for sure. It’s very grand and powerful with a strong message too.
莫文蔚 / Karen Mok About a year ago I was listening to Karen Mok 24/7. And I still listen to her all the time today. She has some great rock songs from throughout her career.
《I Will Be Fine》 would be the perfect song to play while racing through the city at night with the windows down. Yes, that is very specific. But that’s how it makes me feel, and I think the lyrics fit.
《因为所以》 is mellow in a sad, wallowing way. The lyrics are quiet tragic, but they are a good opportunity to practice 因为……所以.
《野》 gets the blood pumping! It makes you want to get moving or maybe even headbang a little.
萧敬腾 / Jam Hsiao I’ve been meaning to explore 萧敬腾’s discography ever since I heard 《皮囊》 on 乘风破浪的姐姐. I think the best way to describe this song is wild and in-your-face. The delivery comes across as the perfect amount of unhinged.
蔡健雅 / Tanya Chua 《多米诺》 is not a style of song Tanya has explored a lot, which is a shame because she’s good at it! It’s not anything groundbreaking, but it’s a solid and catchy pop-rock song.
薛之谦 / Joker Xue 薛之谦 is my latest Mandopop obsession. I’ve been listening to his music nonstop lately. He has quite a few rock-ish songs, but he can truly pull off all styles.
《慢半拍》 has an addictive little bounce to it, but it also has a rather sinister feel. And it’s infectious from the first listen.
《野心》 to me sounds epic in a dark way? It’s hard to describe. It feels like there is a story with many twists and turns behind the lyrics.
《凤毛麟角》 was described as causing goosebumps in the YouTube comments. I find that very fitting. It’s kind of haunting, at least the quieter sections are.
许含光 / Lumi Hsu 《安森girl》 gives me the feeling of cutting loose. It sounds like youth and making mistakes.
路嘉欣 / Jozie Lu 《你不懂》 is a perfect teen angst song. It makes me feel oddly nostalgic. I think I would have liked this song a lot back in high school too.
邓紫棋 / GEM 《不存在的存在》 is the closest to rock I’ve heard from GEM. This song slowly and steadily builds to a crescendo, and then calms down again. It’s very dark and sorrowful.
郭顶 / Guo Ding 《落地之前》 is so smooth and atmospheric. There’s really nothing to dislike. And of course I just had to include a 郭顶 song. The whole album this song is from is perfection.
韦礼安 / WeiBird 《狼》 astonished me upon first listen because I had no idea 韦礼安 had this in him! And wow, he really pulled it off. This song is bombastic!
Lately I’ve been really interested in words that consist of two opposites smashed together, especially those used to mean “A and/or B.” I’m highlighting five of these words that I’ve encountered a lot.
生死 shēngsǐ - life or death 我当时知道生死就是一瞬间的事情。
去留 qùliú - going or staying 投票结果会决定选手的去留。
成败 chéngbài - success or failure 这项计划的成败取决于你。
真伪 zhēnwěi - true or bogus / authenticity 在缺乏知识经验的情况下，普通人应该如何分辨信息的真伪？
输赢 shūyíng - win or loss / outcome 我并不在意这场比赛的输赢。
Aren’t these words neat? I can’t wait to add more to my vocabulary!
The past couple years I’ve been taking efforts to expose myself to traditional characters. But after 12+ years of primarily being exposed to simplified characters, the adjustment process is difficult. Let’s look at some characters that have made my life a bit more frustrating or that I’m thankful I never had to handwrite in Chinese classes!
NOTE: My intention with this post is not to disrespect traditional characters. Sometimes I find that traditional characters are more beautiful! And even though I use simplified characters, I have family members who use traditional. My goal is simply to poke fun at myself and my struggles :-)
丰 / 豐 - This traditional character probably isn’t that hard to write, but I know from writing 幽默的幽 that I am not good at writing characters where there are elements inside the 山 component.
边 / 邊 - I was explaining the difference between simplified and traditional characters to someone. They asked me if I could write any traditional characters. I said that I probably could. I decided to try writing 邊. I soon realized I had literally no idea how to write it. 邊 and I are enemies now.
龟 / 龜 - I know a lot of people love this traditional character, but I butchered it so badly when my Chinese teacher made try to write it on the whiteboard. It haunts me to this day. I thought I understood strokes and stroke order well, but I look at 龜 and have no idea what is going on.
忧郁 / 憂鬱 - This doesn’t need an explanation. Writing 憂鬱 will make you 非常忧郁.
体 / 體 - This is a pretty common character, so I am very thankful I can get away with 体 instead of 體. My 骨s already don’t look great. A very thin 骨 would come out much worse.
铁 / 鐵 - In general I don’t like writing characters like 裁, 截, 戴, etc. because I am simply not good at getting the balance right. And the fact that the right side of 鐵 is so compressed/skinny is really just a recipe for disaster.
冲击 / 衝擊 - 6+5 strokes to 15+17 strokes? No way.
昼 / 晝 & 画 / 畫 & 书 / 書 & 划 / 劃 - I mentioned the first three of these in a recent post. I can’t really tell any of the traditional characters apart unless I put on my glasses and hold my face like an inch away from my laptop screen. 劃 is obviously more visually distinct, but I felt it should be grouped with its siblings. 10/10 not a fan.
为 / 為 / 爲 - 为 is so common—I really can’t imagine having to write so. many. strokes. every time I write 因为 or 为了 or whatever.
聋 / 聾 - Just 龙 to 龍 is already a lot. 龍 stacked on top of something else? I would not be able to cope. Poor 耳 will get squished down there!
断 / 斷 & 继 / 繼 - Too many 幺s. Yes, I know 幺 is very simple and only 3 strokes, but I can never manage to write it well! I get the angles wrong, of which I am very ashamed.
艺 / 藝 - I don’t know how to explain it…I just feel like 艺 and 藝 give off really different vibes, you know? So while I don’t have any trouble recognizing 藝 and associating it with 艺, something just feels off.
归 / 歸 - I have noticed that I don’t look how characters that can be divided into a 2x2 grid look, like 毁 for instance. So even though I actually don’t like writing 归 (t also comes out ugly and unbalanced), I don’t like 歸 either.
惊 / 驚 - I am incapable of writing 警 neatly so I just know I would not be able to make 驚 look nice.
飞 / 飛 - This one is not that complicated honestly, but just looking at it, I know 飛 would look so ugly if I tried to write it. I don’t even need to try.
听 / 聽 - I’m sure there is a sensible reason the two forms look so different, but I remember being so bewildering by this pair back in high school. So I’m going back to my roots by including 聽 here.
职识织 / 職識織 - Honestly I don’t think these characters are that bad, but I am incapable of recognizing the traditional versions no matter how often I see them. I really don’t know why. Every time I see them, I feel like I’ve never seen them before in my life.
几 / 幾 &机 / 機 - I remember these were the bane of my existence when I first began familiarizing myself with more traditional characters. I just could not associate 幾 with 几. Also the traditional characters have the 幺 and 戈 elements that we’ve already established I suck at writing.
灵 / 靈 - 3 little 口s in a row is too many for me. It’s good to know your limit, and this is mine.
钥 / 鑰 - This one bugs me because I think the right is the same as the right element of 輪, 論, and 倫 but it’s actually subtly different! And 3 little 口s in a row again!
艳 / 艶豔艷 - As you can see, this character has multiple traditional variants. I don’t think I have ever actually seen the middle one used, but regardless, I’m thankful that I do not have this character in my Chinese name.
卫 / 衛 - This is another traditional character that I hold a grudge against because I am simply incapable of remembering that 衛 is 卫. I think it’s because 衛 makes me think of 伟/偉, and 伟 obviously doesn’t look like 卫, so I can’t make the connection.
党 / 黨 - I know there is simply no way I could write this and have it fit in a square. It would come out like double the height it’s supposed to be. I can’t write 墨 well for my life either.
盐 / 鹽 - There’s a lovely song by 沈以诚 with this character as the title. It took me so long to realize what the title was because 鹽 displays so tiny on my computer that I couldn’t see the detail well enough to draw the character in Pleco!
单 / 單 - I am okay with 2 口s in a row, and I don’t mind 骂 for instance. But for some reason when I look at 單, it feels like the 口s are going to squish the bottom part!
Bonus: I thought it would only be fair to mention some simplified characters that I am not a fan of. My top pick is this group:
头 / 頭
实 / 實
买 / 買
卖 / 賣
读 / 讀
续 / 續
Whenever I write 头, it honestly looks so bad and unbalanced. I would prefer that the simplified versions of these characters be more faithful to the traditional versions just so I wouldn’t have to look at my ugly 头s!
mingling -> I exclusively read the English word “mingling” as 命令 now. I really cannot recognize it as English. There is no mingling anymore. There is only 命令.
name -> 那么那么那么. When I’m typing in Chinese and go to type 那么, my brain gets stuck when I see “name” in the character bar. Cannot compute. I can’t explain or rationalize it.
like -> I read the English word “like” as 立刻 the other week late at night when I was very tired. But I am at peace with this, and I accept it.
duo -> I feel dumb saying this, but I just realized recently that the pinyin for 多 is the same as the English word “duo.” I don’t know what to do with this information.
fuming -> I don’t even know a Chinese word with the pinyin “fuming,” but I read the English word “fuming” as if it were pinyin anyway. Isn’t multilingualism beautiful?
![Aspirated plosivesAspirations occurs in English in initial onsets like in ‘pat’ [pʰæt], ‘tack’ [’tʰæ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/336a13765fb031784e1593639b0bb427/49a2b1dfe50b20fa-60/s1280x1920/bacfce7c8a594925b494a66a1177334d9a84edb7.png "Aspirated plosivesAspirations occurs in English in initial onsets like in ‘pat’ [pʰæt], ‘tack’ [’tʰæ")
