As I have noted in previous blog entries Chinese people are always ready for the worst to happen while always hoping for the best. This has led us to be very frugal: why commit resources to something that might be swept away on a whim by the 天 tian? A less superstitious explanation is that we believe things don’t last forever, so grab the opportunity while you can. But always keep something in reserve in case your luck changes. This has given us an opportunistic and frugal approach to life, which in turn is one key to understanding the Chinese perception of quality and value.  The Chinese people are masters of the application of the law of diminishing returns.  (more…)

Read time: 5 minutes

Noise

The Chinese people often appear loud, especially while talking among ourselves in Mandarin or some other Chinese dialects. With the largest or second largest population in the world and most of it inhabitants in crowded coastal areas, Chinese people “suffer”, according to the Western standards, from overcrowding and lack of privacy. One inevitable result of this squeezing together of people is noise. People tend to shout to be heard or just to get attention. Imagine that there are always three or four conversations going on simultaneously. That is why when we are chatting we always seem to be fighting; especially while we are teasing each other.  A friend of mine once told me the way he identified the Chinese people from Japanese people in an airport was that: if they queue up quietly and have a pocket book in their hand while waiting, they must be Japanese. If the people split into different queues and later remerged after securing an advantageous position is the fastest moving cue, they must be Chinese. Before then they talk loudly. Apparently they hold a forum to discuss their strategies. Then they throw a party to celebrate their success by opening their luggage and loudly inviting their friends/ families to share their food while waiting. (more…)

What’s your name?

名míng 字zi means ‘name’.

Did you know that traditionally we Chinese people had two types of given names? One was called 名míng and the other ones were called 字zì, of which there could be more than one. So “你nǐ 叫jiào 什shé 麽me 名míng 字zi ？” is actually asking you for your given names.  Of course nowadays, people do not usually have more than one given name.

名míng was the name given by the father. It could be unbelievably ugly. Children might be called dog ( 大dà 狗gǒu 子zi, 二èr 狗gǒu 子zi….. big dog son, 2nd dog son…..) or hair (大dà 毛máo, 二èr 毛máo ….. big hair, second hair…..) for example. Many uneducated parents superstitiously believed that  their children did not deserve a good name.  That was why they were born in their poor suffering family. Carrying a good name meant being greedy, wanting something which did not belong to your social status. It could even be dangerous: a good name might attract unwanted attenti0n from a jealous god. It might anger the 天tiān. Being humble, keeping your head low was the best way to survive. You simply did not exceed your social standing. (more…)

What’s your valuable family name?

您nín is you (你nǐ) with a heart (心xīn). It is the formal form of ‘you’.

贵guì literally means ‘expensive’ or ‘valuable’.

姓xìng means family name.

I have been told many times by western friends that there is real equality in the Chinese society because a married woman often does not take her husband’s name.

REALLY?

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How many people are there in your family?

Do you know how many people there are in your family?

Couple days ago, I was lost for words ( a rare event believe me) when I asked my university class (in Europe) a fairly simple question: 你nǐ 家jiā 有yǒu 几jǐ 口kǒu 人rén ？(How many people are there in your family?) One student raised his hand and asked: How do you count the family members? Does it include all half-brothers and half-sisters? How about step-brothers and step-sisters? Are they also included? (more…)

Compare these two characters, you may notice that the ‘人(person)’ part of 夫 goes through the top and the ‘人’ part of  天 is under ‘sky’.

夫fū means a grown man who is expected to be a ‘man’. He is supposed to be able to not only stand up to 天tiān, but also stand straighter and even taller than the capricious superior being, showing no fear whatsoever, yet still be respectful.

夫fū also means a married man who has the resposibility to protect his family to deal with the moody 天tiān who represents  fate. His wife, meanwhile, is expected to treat him with more respect than 天tiān. After all, her man 夫fū is taller than 天tiān.