my sushi chef is good for so many things
Jun. 10th, 2004 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
buggeryHe makes wonderful sashimi for me, of course. And he's damned easy on the eyes.
Being from from Indonesia originally but of ethnic Chinese ancestry, he can also speak and read Mandarin.
This came in handy for me when I got to wondering what the Chinese characters in last month's Richard Dragon #1 meant.
The more complex character at the bottom means "dragon." Perhaps obviously, given the context, sure. The titular character's name is Dragon, the little drawing between the two ideographic characters is a dragon...
And the other character means "dragon" too, actually, depending on where you are.
The character at the bottom has represented "dragon" for hundreds if not thousands of years, and is still used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Chinese-speaking areas which have had more contact with the West in modern times.
It's in the more insular mainland, ironically, where (sometime in the last 50-100 years; this part wasn't completely clear) the tremendously complicated traditional ideographic writing system has been simplified, producing characters like the more streamlined "dragon" at the top of the scan.
So what's the significance of this in the context of the comic? My reading say that it means Richard has studied under masters in both more Westernised areas and in the heartland of China.
Of course, it's possible that one or the other character is also used to represent "dragon" in Japan; many of the traditional ideograms are, in fact, common to both languages, in that they stand for the same concept. If that's the case, hopefully someone who knows more (written) Japanese than I or my friend will happen by and enlighten me.
edited to add:
Okay, apparently the second character is used to represent "dragon" in both Chinese and Japanese. The overall effect, I think, is to drive home the point that Richard has studied under masters in Japan and on the Chinese mainland as well (among, doubtless, other places; I'd be surprised if he doesn't know tae kwon do, for example). I'd thank the person who confirmed the Japanese theory, but they commented anonymously and didn't leave a name.
Being from from Indonesia originally but of ethnic Chinese ancestry, he can also speak and read Mandarin.
This came in handy for me when I got to wondering what the Chinese characters in last month's Richard Dragon #1 meant.
The more complex character at the bottom means "dragon." Perhaps obviously, given the context, sure. The titular character's name is Dragon, the little drawing between the two ideographic characters is a dragon...And the other character means "dragon" too, actually, depending on where you are.
The character at the bottom has represented "dragon" for hundreds if not thousands of years, and is still used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Chinese-speaking areas which have had more contact with the West in modern times.
It's in the more insular mainland, ironically, where (sometime in the last 50-100 years; this part wasn't completely clear) the tremendously complicated traditional ideographic writing system has been simplified, producing characters like the more streamlined "dragon" at the top of the scan.
So what's the significance of this in the context of the comic? My reading say that it means Richard has studied under masters in both more Westernised areas and in the heartland of China.
Of course, it's possible that one or the other character is also used to represent "dragon" in Japan; many of the traditional ideograms are, in fact, common to both languages, in that they stand for the same concept. If that's the case, hopefully someone who knows more (written) Japanese than I or my friend will happen by and enlighten me.
edited to add:
Okay, apparently the second character is used to represent "dragon" in both Chinese and Japanese. The overall effect, I think, is to drive home the point that Richard has studied under masters in Japan and on the Chinese mainland as well (among, doubtless, other places; I'd be surprised if he doesn't know tae kwon do, for example). I'd thank the person who confirmed the Japanese theory, but they commented anonymously and didn't leave a name.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-12 10:13 pm (UTC)"Deng Pi Tsieh doesn't even know how to write his own name in ideograph form."
Wow. That is a definite surprise. The only Chinese friend I have is second generation from Hong Kong, and even *she* can can write her name in...err. What is the Chinese word for 'written words', I wonder? Oh well, 'kanji' works for me! *laugh*
Huh. Verrry interesting. I can see a research project in my future, I think. *grin*
Thanks for the interesting tidbits. :)