Chinese characters: 04 (蒲 pú)

Came across 蒲鞭示辱 ? biān shì rǔ / “? whip show disgrace/humiliate” in the Chinese proverb crossword puzzle game I’m playing on WeChat.

    The explanation for this phrase is:  to whip someone (an offender) with a 蒲 whip only for humiliating the person, not so much for the pain, just to teach the person a lesson.

    蒲 is obviously a plant, from the grass radical (艹 on the top), so a 蒲 whip wouldn’t hurt too much, unlike leather whips.

    I looked up the character 蒲 and found that it is part of the compound 香蒲 xiāng pú, which is a plant called cattail, so the 蒲鞭 in 蒲鞭示辱 is a cattail whip.

    This instantly flagged up the English word “cat-o’-nine-tails” which is a whip, but it does inflict a lot of pain.

    How interesting that the Chinese and English versions are each a whip that sounds so much like the other one, yet are completely different in the purpose of their respective uses!

(From googling)

(Traditional script) 對犯錯的人用蒲草做的鞭子象徵性地抽打，以示羞辱，但並不造成實際的皮肉之苦。這個成語出自《後漢書·劉寬傳》，用來形容為官者寬厚仁慈，通過輕微的懲罰來使人知恥，達到教育和感化的目的，而非嚴酷的刑罰。

(Simplified script) 对犯错的人用蒲草做的鞭子象征性地抽打，以示羞辱，但并不造成实际的皮肉之苦。这个成语出自《后汉书·刘宽传》，用来形容为官者宽厚仁慈，通过轻微的惩罚来使人知耻，达到教育和感化的目的，而非严酷的刑罚。

(google translate)  The person who made the mistake was symbolically whipped with a whip made of cattails to show humiliation, but it did not cause actual physical pain.  This idiom comes from the Biography of Liu Kuan in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty.  It is used to describe officials who are lenient and kind, using mild punishment to make people feel ashamed, so as to achieve the purpose of education and influence, rather than harsh punishment.

(From googling) Cattails are a genus of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, commonly found in wetlands and marshes. They are easily recognizable by their tall, slender leaves and distinctive brown, sausage-like flower spikes.  Various parts of the cattail are edible and can be used for food, while the plant also has other uses like water filtration and habitat provision for wildlife.

(From googling)  A cat-o'-nine-tails is a multi-tailed whip historically used for corporal punishment, particularly in the British Royal Navy and Army.  It typically consists of a handle with nine knotted cords or rope tails.  The punishment was severe, causing significant pain and potential injury.

後漢書 (/ 后汉书) (From googling) The Book of the Later Han, also known as the History of the Later Han and by its Chinese name Hou Hanshu, is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later or Eastern Han.

Chinese characters: 03 (乖 guāi)

 

乖 guāi is most commonly encountered in daily / colloquial language, meaning to be obedient and well behaved, as in a child’s behaviour, but also occasionally said in irony of a spouse, especially a male one (i.e., he doesn’t have a roving eye [or not to his wife’s knowledge anyway…]).

    Yet, in literary usage, it means perverse!

(From googling)

• 形容词: 机灵；伶俐。(Google translate) (adjective) Smart; clever.
• 形容词: (小孩儿) 不淘气；听话。(Google translate) (adjective) (child) not naughty; obedient.

(Literary usage)

• 动词: 违背。(Google translate) (verb) violate
• 形容词: (性情、行为) 不正常；不合情理。(Google translate) (adjective) (temperament, behavior) abnormal; unreasonable

Chinese characters: 02 (鮮 (鲜) / xiān, xiǎn)

 

鮮 (鲜) is made up of 魚 (鱼) / yú / fish and 羊 yáng / sub-family caprinae which includes sheep and goat.

    Pronounced in the first tone (level tone: xiān), it means “fresh”, which is easy to understand.  Fish and sheep/goat meat are strong in smell, especially if they go off, so they have to be fresh.  (I know, I know, the logic should be a character that indicates “not fresh” as they smell so strong, but then I tend to choose a path that makes it easier for my students to understand / remember.)

    Another reading for the same character, however, is a third tone version (xiǎn), which means “rare”, e.g., 

鮮有 / 鲜有 / xiǎn yǒu / “rare have” = to be few and far between 

鮮見 / 鲜见 / xiǎn jiàn / “rare see” = to be seldom met with 

鮮為人知 / 鲜为人知 / xiǎn wéi rén zhī / “rare by people know” = to be little known

    Now, isn’t that interesting:  that “fresh” and “rare” should share the same character!?

    Here's my personal theory.  In ancient days when the written script first came into being, technology hadn’t got to the point of making transporting fresh food fast and easy.

    Therefore, fresh fish would’ve been rare, because a huge tract of China is away from the sea and even from rivers.  

    Ditto fresh sheep/goat meat:  China doesn't have that much land for rearing grazing animals like cows and sheep, because so much of it is mountains or desert, so it’s not a country known for its dairy culture (haha, word play!).

Chinese characters: 01 (花 huā)

 

花 huā is most commonly known as “flower” as a noun, and “to spend / expend [money, time, effort]” as a verb.

    As an adjective, there’s the more obvious “flowery / floral” (patterned / multi-coloured, as in printed fabric), and the less obvious “blurred [vision]” and “scratched [surface]”.

    What a lot of students don’t get taught, even those at an advanced level, are the less common uses of this character.  Less common, and often derogatory.

    A long-standing student (on and off over 18 years) recently recommended me to his colleague.

    She’d learned some Chinese in London, after which she went to Taiwan where she got given a Chinese name, 花花 huāhuā / “flower flower”, which sounds sweet.

    My student then said in Chinese, “我也是花花 (wǒ yě shì huāhuā / I’m also 花花),” which made me do a double take.

    It turned out that (some of?) his Chinese friends had called him that — why, he knows not.

    I warned him not to say “我是花花 (wǒ shì huāhuā / I’m 花花)” ever again, adding that:

• No man has a name using the characters 花花.  If his name has a “hua” sound in it, it wouldn’t be the character 花 huā / flower.  (One cannot always account for parents’ choices, so this is not a 100% rule, which applies to all language rules anyway, I keep telling my students.)

• 花 has derogatory meanings / uses as well.

• He could at least say, “我的朋友叫我花花 (wǒ de péngyǒu jiào wǒ huāhuā / My friends call me 花花),” rather than “我是花花 (wǒ shì huāhuā / I am 花花).”  (Here, I have in mind the Chinese love of word play, so they’d pounce on his “我是花花 / wǒ shì huāhuā / I am 花花”, and invoke the derogatory qualities associated with 花 — see my list below.)

    Since then, the poor chap has been receiving those derogatory-meaning compounds and phrases whenever they surface in my knowledge bank.

    Here’s my list (off the top of my head for this blog), arranged alphabetically for ease of reference (not in any order of frequency of usage).

1. 花边新闻 huābiān xīnwén / “flowery edge news” = news of illicit love
2. 花船 huāchuán / “flower boat” / floating brothel
3. 花和尚 huā héshàng / “flower monk” / monk who violates religious discipline
4. 花花肠子 huāhuā chángzi / “flower flower intestines” = to be full of cunning
5. 花花公子 huāhuā gōngzi / “flower flower young master” = playboy
6. 吃 (/ 喝) 花酒 / chī (/ hē) huā jiǔ / “eat(/drink) flower alcohol” / to drink with prostitutes
7. 花柳病 huā liǔ bìng / “flower willow illness” = VD (venereal disease)
8. 花娘 huā niáng / “flower woman” / (a) prostitute; (b) entertainer (which in the old days wouldn’t earn much respect)
9. 花瓶 huā píng / “flower bottle” / (a) vase; (b) woman employed for her beauty [as decoration]
10. 花拳绣腿 huā quán xiù tuǐ / “flower fist embroider leg” = boxing for show and without strength
11. 花天酒地 huā tiān jiǔ dì / “flower sky alcohol land” / indulge in sensual pleasures
12. 花心 huā xīn / “flower heart” / unfaithful, fickle in love
13. 花言巧语 huā yán qiǎo yǔ / “flower speech clever/cunning language” / slick talk
14. 花招 huā zhāo / “flower move” / a ruse

(From googling) “花”还可以引申出一些负面的含义，比如“花招”、“花言巧语”等，表示虚伪、欺骗或不切实际的东西。

(Google translate) “Hua” can also be extended to some negative meanings, such as “tricks”, “sweet talk”, etc., which means hypocrisy, deception or unrealistic things.

(From googling) “花娘” 在中文里有多重含义，最常见的指旧时从事歌舞表演或娼妓行业的女性，也可指司花的女神，或者在某些方言中，用来形容人三心二意、喜新厌旧。

(Google translate) “Hua Niang" has multiple meanings in Chinese. The most common one refers to women who were engaged in singing and dancing performances or prostitution in the old days. It can also refer to the goddess of flowers, or in some dialects, it is used to describe people who are indecisive and easily bored with the old and love the new.

Thinking outside the box: 06 (Interpreting)

 

One of my interpreting assignments two decades ago was at a school, rather than the usual medical appointment.

    It turned out to be for the father of two girls who were fostered out to a couple until they became of legal age.

    His wife had died of cancer not long after giving birth to their third child, a boy, who was being legally adopted by a British couple.

    The school had to report regularly to their students’ parents what and how their children had been doing thus far.  As the father didn’t know any English, an interpreter was called in.

    The agency that booked me for medical appointments never had the time (or the inclination) to tell me more about them, apart from when and where.  The “when” was almost always the next day at 10am.

    So it was that I turned up at a school in Southend in Essex, not knowing what to expect.  (I never knew what to expect with the medical appointments, anyway.  For my first couple of assignments, I used to diligently ask the agency to give me some inkling of the details, e.g., what kind of illness, so that I could do some prepping of the medical terms, but they never responded, so I gave up after that.)

    The school’s side was represented by two members of staff for each of the reports:  the form teacher of each of the girls, plus the head mistress.

    I started interpreting in Mandarin, which was the default language I’d registered at the agency (with Cantonese being the emergency language if the patient couldn’t understand any Mandarin at all), but found the father looking very vague, just uttering an occasional and vague “Mmm”.  

    I commented on this to the school staff, but they said there wasn’t anything they could do about it, that we were to carry on as they needed to get the report conveyed (it’s part of their list of duties to the family of their students).

    (In hindsight, after having interpreted for the man on a number of occasions, I think they’d had experience of the father not always being intellectually engaged with school reports and other proceedings, so they could only go through the motions and tick the boxes on their side.)

    At one point, they decided to take a tea break.

    It was during the break that I made a breakthrough which was to help me for all my future appointments involving this man.

    For some reason, I decided to write down on the sheet of paper I was making notes on, “我是新加坡人”, which is “I’m Singaporean”.  The father grabbed my pen and wrote, “我是香港人”, which is “I’m a Hong Konger.”

    It turned out that he was deaf but wouldn’t wear his hearing aid because it was uncomfortable, hence his vague “Mmm” responses to my interpreting before the tea break.

    After the break, the interpreting went smoothly with him having time to read my written translations.  He was even responding to questions put by the school side, writing down his answers.

    Thereafter, every time the school or the social services (who were looking after the three children’s cases) had a staff meeting about them, which required the father to be present so that he’d know what they were doing to or about his children, I would be specially singled out to the agency for doing the interpreting.

    I’ve since taught this strategy to my students, especially those who have difficulty with listening (because of the tones / accent / speed):  write it down for both parties to read, even if it takes time; better than being in a complete fog.

    I now have a couple of students who can’t read the Chinese script, never mind write it, so I’ll have to go and think of a new strategy.  Maybe dictate to AI for translating into the written form…

(Southend, Essex, mid-2000s)

Good practices: 03 (Receiving payment and giving change)

This blog is prompted by a scene in the mainland Chinese series I’m watching at the moment.

    A customer claims to have given the staff member a bigger note, which couldn’t be proven either way as the staff member had put the note into the till before giving the customer his change.

    A good practice, as a matter of routine/default, is not to put payment straight into the till, but to leave it on the till for both parties to refer to, should there be any dispute*.

    I’ve seen this good practice being in place at a few retail outlets, but it should be universal, I feel.  It’s such a simple, obvious common-sense idea that I’m surprised not more places have adopted it.

* See https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-assertiveness-of-americans-02-london.html for a first-hand-witness illustration of my point here.

How to prompt a decision (London)

 

I was helping out Olivia, a fresh PhD graduate from mainland China, with her job applications.  A friend of hers, also from mainland China, turned up at the end of our session to speak to her about something.

    He turned out to be doing a PhD in syntax, a pet subject of mine, so I asked him some questions about his focus:  what it is; how he goes about testing out the theories he’s putting forth; how he picks his informants; how he can be sure that what they say is right; etc.

    Olivia texted me later saying he told her, after I left them, that I’d asked him some questions that were very professional, hitting the nail on the head.  My reply: “He should, therefore, be glad that I won’t be one of his examiners.”

    This reminds me of what happened with Jurek, a chap one year below me at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) who had then gone on to do his PhD in some classical Chinese grammar topic.

    When it came to submitting, Jurek wasn’t sure if he should pick Professor Angus Graham as his external examiner, or to check his thesis.

    A bit of background here:  Prof. Graham had a fearsome reputation, to which I can testify, as I’d studied under him for three years.  He was so erudite that he found everyone else not quite worth spending his time with.

    We Chinese Section students used to go to the SOAS bar at opening time, as a default — no need to check if anyone else was going; just turn up and there’ll be at least one person there, or someone will come along in due course.  The teachers would put in an appearance as well.  The Japanese Section students used to complain that their peers were so boring, no one ever wanted to go for a drink, and asked if they could join us.

    Prof. Graham loved a tipple or two, but not only for the alcohol.  He’d like to have some kind of discussion about ancient Chinese poetry or philosophy, say, which we undergraduate students, even in our final year, were not quite up to in terms of providing enough cerebral challenge.  This is a constant theme in ancient Chinese literature:  poets and artists with a brush in one hand and a drink in the other.

    Graham would sit there at the table with us, reading some book, waiting for the conversation to become interesting.  After a couple of pints, he’d snap his book shut, get up and leave in silent disappointment.

    Mr. T’ung (Ping-cheng / 佟秉正 Tóng Bǐngzhèng) was once present, and said, “Graham 失陪了.”  失陪了 shī péi le / “lose accompany” is an expression used by the person taking leave early, apologising for not keeping the others company any longer.  So Mr. T’ung was saying, “Graham has just excused himself,” in his typical dry humour.

    That was Graham’s reputation:  he didn’t suffer fools gladly.

    Back to Jurek.  As Graham had by then retired, Jurek could have him as his external examiner, but then Graham couldn’t be invited to check his thesis.

    Jurek approached Dr. Paul Thompson, his supervisor, about this.  With his brilliant mind for analysing situations, Paul Thompson put it this way* to Jurek:

[*my words from memory but conveying the spirit of what Paul Thompson was saying to Jurek at the time]

    “With Graham and his fearsome reputation, do you want him to be on your side, checking your thesis for flaws and warts, from which you can make improvements to your thesis, or do you want him to be on the other side, tearing your thesis apart, which will affect the final result?”  

    Put that way, it took Jurek half a second to decide.

(London, late 1980s)

* See also https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-guardian-angels-in-ones-life-03-ex.html for how Paul Thompson also helped me decide whether to do an MA or not.