There are two types of presents that I know of which are taboo to the Chinese.
One is an umbrella (or parasol): 傘 / 伞 / sǎn. It sounds like 散 sàn / to scatter, to part ways, to split up, therefore would apply mostly to people who are in a relationship, particularly a romantic one.
The other is a clock: 鐘 / 钟 / zhōng. To give something as a present = 送 sòng, so "give [as a present] clock" = 送鐘 / 送钟 sòng zhōng, which unfortunately matches 送終 / 送终 / sòng zhōng / "see-off-sb final[-journey]" / to attend a funeral.
A few years back, pre-Covid I think, I saw an article in one of the newspapers here about the UK's Trade Minister (or someone representing some UK high-level body) presenting a small Big Ben to her counterpart in Taiwan on her visit there.
The article carried a photo of the handing over of the present, with the journalist drawing attention to the face of the recipient as he was accepting it and posing for the camera.
Well, if she was there to drum up trade between the two countries, I'm not sure what the lack of homework prior to her going over would say about her side as a prospective trade partner. In this day and age, and at that level, surely it's a shocking oversight?
No comments:
Post a Comment