While in the Shanghai Museum a month ago, I picked up a museum guide flier “Treasures in museum’s collection†which featured this instantly forgettable sentence:
“Yuan Ji (Shi Tao), Zhu Da (Bada Shanren), Kun Can (Shi Xi), and Zhan Jiang (Hong Ren) were the four monk painters of the late Ming and early Qing period.â€
It’s hard enough to internalize Chinese names if you don’t know Chinese (or if you do, but the characters aren’t alongside). But it’s even harder when everyone has two names, like all of these painters. The names in parentheses are their hao, what I would equate with self-selected pen names. Hao are often stamped onto paintings, in addition to signing. If the museum translated the hao after their names, the result would be as follows (my translation):
Yuan Ji (Stone Waves)
Zhu Da (Eight Big Mountains Person)
Kun Can (Stone Stream)
Zhan Jiang (Magnificent Compassion)
Now, those nicknames are much more approachable than the pinyin lets on! Visiting the Nanjing Museum on its free admission day over the May holiday, I found that the English translations alongside its artwork always gave just the pinyin names, too, even though everyone’s hao is interesting.
Someone should let these institutions know they need a new English translator. Do Chinese people not see the imagery of the characters like I, a non-native character reader, does? Hao remind me of Native American names because the symbolism is intentional, and are chosen to reflect the person’s personality. (Compare my dime-a-dozen “Lauren†to, say, “Buffalo Bull’s Backfat“).
Some famous Chinese have taken personalized naming to another level altogether: Qi Baishi (or should I call him Qi White Stone), a modern Chinese painter most famous for his beginning painting at middle-age, used a host of hao on paintings, since he kept changing them over the years.
He didn’t stop with hao either; he also completely changed his first and last names, finally settling on the Qi Baishi by which he is best known. His “nomography” (I made that term up), which I have below, is a good example of how transitory a Chinese name can be (my translations):
Original surname and given name: 纯èŠChun Zhi
First hao: æ¸é’Green, å…°äºOrchid Pagoda
Later surname: é½Qi
Later given name: ç’œHuang
Later hao: 濒生Bordering Birth, 白石山人White Stone Mountain Person, 红豆生Red Bean Born, 木居士Wood Inhabitant…[1]
Qi Baishi is pretty typical in the number of names he’s taken as an artist. It’s as if a name is impermanent to Chinese people—at least all the famous ones, like artists, writers, and emperors. I wish I knew the history of this practice in China, or if any other cultures follow it. I mean, how do people do Chinese historiography research? How can you keep track of who’s doing what if their names constantly change?
Anyway, I don’t have those answers, so I’ll stop here and hope that someone will tell me. How is this at all relevant to Lost Laowai like ourselves? Maybe we should open out minds to the possibility of renaming ourselves as we change in life.
Next time you think about getting a chop made with your Sinicized name on it, reconsider getting a personalized hao instead. Or several. Maybe we can modernize them, as in “Skyscaper Hermit”, or “A retreat avoiding the crowds”…
Beijing Museums are rittled with the same garbage translations.
In my six years here in the Middle Kingdom I have found that most people from top to bottom in the local pecking order are quite happy with the current translations.
Words like “Middle Kingdom” throw people and I have even had people tell me names like this are ridiculous and western inventions based on literal translations that are senseless.
I guess it would be the same as someone telling me that the Lauren is really just an ancient Chinese immigrant lawyer’s name.
basiclly ‘è’ in chinese means ‘æµ®è’. in english maybe you guys call it ‘duckweed’ which is a sort of plant grows on the top of water,and it will drift with the water. so this plant gives us a feeling of homeless. I personally believe that the reason QiBaiShi using this Hao is sometimes he thinks himself is a homeless guy. especially in his early ages.
@ Sean: I heard Beijing is on a campaign to clean up the crappy translations before, what else, the Olympics. I hope it extends to museums…Do you think “Middle Kingdom” is wrong? I remember learning in college that Chinese intended the meaning in calling themselves Zhongguo. I also remember learning that the “hua” in the other name for Chinese, “zhong hua” translates to, according to my professor, “cultural florescence”. I get the feeling that in general the Han Chinese felt pretty superior to the surrounding tribes.
@ Steven: thanks. That’s the sort of information that makes these names meaningful–they are insight into the personalities of their owners. Why did he feel homeless, any idea?
To understand why he felt homeless, we need to study his life. QiBaiShi was born in HuNan province, southern China,1864. During the time from 1902-1908,he travelled a lot of beautiful places in China to learn something new,for there is an old saying in China ‘读万å·ä¹¦ï¼Œè¡Œä¸‡é‡Œè·¯’.In the year 1919, his whole family was forced to move to BeiJing, and there he made a living by selling his paintings. I think these are good examples to explain why he felt homeless. 🙂
Lauren:
I think that the debates going on in Western universities across North America and Europe are are really questioning the meaning of names in a way that many people here do not.
Dahan 大汉, zhonghua ä¸åŽ, and dazhong 大ä¸, are just a few examples. They are definately an interesting look past the headlines of the China Daily and into the mindset of this and the last generation of policy makers.
When asked if Dahan is a good word, most Han will think nothing of it, but when I ask minorities esp Mongolians they have a very different view on it. They feel it represents the inequality between minorities in China and how the han have flooded into their cities and taken all the jobs and high ranking posts.
So what is there in a name?
About the Museums, they are trying, but as you have pointed out, some things are just too hard to translate and there is also the fact that most Beijing museums are old, dusty, Soviet era tombs.
If ever in Beijing one should check out the Military Museum. It is great. Inside are all the pre-1960 technologies and outside is all of the spoils of past wars rusting under a metal awning. Going upstair you will not only see bad English in some parts, but others like the Great War Against American Agression in Korea gives no translation. I guess they feel we should not be able to learn of the past ills that the UN commited.
I think the govt is more concerned about toilet signs and menus than political correctness.
Sean, I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot from you.
Political correctness in China would not be as fulfilling, I think, as just plain more information, other voices, like the Mongolian ones you listened to.
The problem is that Chinese are missing a bigger picture, a bird’s eye view, that would allow them to put words like “dahan” and “zhonghua”, and their connotations, into a non-politicized perspective. Of course, not everyone gets as excited about alternative history as you or I might, but just knowing that there’s more information out there–more than just the party line–is the first step for the general public in processing and having opinions on common ideas and facts.
Daily I see things here that make me sigh about the “suzhi wenti” (quality of character problem) I see in China; a whole generation of people have missed out on learning how to think critically and how to act responsibly. Actually, I could probably say the same about Americans now too, at least the critical thinking part. Sigh.
Update on Olympic English, Beijing has decided that the word “WC” is vulgar and rude so now all restrooms in China should now be called “toilet” before 2008
Lauren: totally agree with you on the critical thinking thing.
@Sean: I couldn’t be happier that they’re getting rid of W.C…. I’m tired of teaching my students that NO ONE IN AN ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY SAYS “I NEED THE W.C.!” (nor do they say, “I like drinking WC water…” – kids can be creative).
@Ryan: I agree that from a North American perspective it is a bad choice, but the Russians all us it and I am guessing they got it from the Northern Europeans.
I wish they would spend their time doing something a bit more useful, thats all.
BTW: Brits think Yanks are stupid when we say bathroom, and a yank would say what the f#@k is a lou? English is messed up enough without the Chinese making a bigger mess of it.
Hence the need to cut down on random, dated terms for bathrooms – toilet is 100% universal, and a whole lot more 21st Century than an acronym for ‘water closet’… I mean, c’mon.
And I think China stopped labeling things for the Ruskies around the time of Khrushchev. 😉
Sorry to lower the tone – but on the subject of poor translation generally, I recently received a picture of the sign indicating the direction of a Chinese hospital’s gynaecological department in Chinese and English.
Yes, you may have guessed the English: C*** Department.
I could have attached it, but fear offending.
Immense number of terms for the loo. Personal favourite is simple: bog. I’m learning Chinese and do not see the same wealth of vocabulary that exists in many other languages – not just for profanities, but in general. I find fine distinctions of meaning hard to pin down. Maybe I need a few more years…
I’ve noticed the same Jonas. It’s throughout the language though – so much of Chinese is implied by the context, and that extends to profanities as well I believe. Have a look a previous post I wrote – it’s got a list of Chinese swear words – they tend to be varied.
@Ryan and Jonas
I also agree that Chiense is lacking some of the colorful vocab we have in English. I think the key in China is to talk to the rural speakers and then you start to see a little more earthy language.
Chinese lacking in colourful vocab?!
Anyone who says that is simply displaying their ignorance.
Next time you’re in a gathering of mainly Chinese native speakers, tell them you’re collecting a list of Chinese words for “toilet”. I counted over 20 seperate terms when I tried this.
Or, next time you are with your tutor/language exchange person/sigoth, ask them to teach you some _really_ huang hua — the kind they would be ashamed to have their mother hear them say.
The breadth of colourful language in Chinese easily equals English/French/German/Spanish (the languages I am most familiar with, and I can only surmisthat it equals pretty much any language for colour.
@Shan
My meaning when talking about “Earthy language” is mostly from local dialects and not in anyway what we would call standard Mandarin. It is reflected in uneducated rural people. Whereas the English just to name one have made an art of making rude remarksusing the Queen’s English.
Anyway the whole subject is opinion for the most part. Using words like ingnorant is very young and cocky.
BTW I am a bit past language exchanges and tutors. I hear many elementary learners comment on the brilliance of the language. and it is in some realms, but not in swearing
@Sean
You’re digging yourself a bigger hole. Are you claiming that “standard English” is extraordinarily profane and has a huge variety of slang? “The English” (I wonder what you mean by that?) certainly have “bollocks” and “snogging” and “stick it up your khazi” — but that’s the language of uneducated suburban Londoners.
Anyone who is even moderately interested in linguistics would tell you that most slang in English comes from — gasp — regional versions of the language.
Exactly like slang in Mandarin. Amazing.
BTW great to hear that your Chinese is so fantastic that you’re “a bit past” tutors. Congrats! You must be a legend. The three top Chinese-English translators working in Beijing at the moment — friends of mine — all still have tutors. As does any non-native speaker at whatever level who doesn’t want their Chinese to stagnate.
Funny, I wasn’t able to detect your Chinese mastery from your ignorant comments about Chinese “lacking some of the colorful vocab we have in English”.
Not opinion, cobber, just Linguistics 101.
红豆生 is interesting… it reminds me of a famous poem from å”詩三百首 300 Tang Poems, that goes
紅豆生å—國 æ˜¥ä¾†ç™¼å¹¾æž é¡˜å›å¤šé‡‡æ“· æ¤ç‰©æœ€ç›¸æ€
MAO ZEDONG hated the ugly characters.
80% of children cannot write ugly characters.
Mao wished in 1950s that 50,000 ugly characters would to the way of dinosours.
china missed science-age
china missed industrial-age.
21st. century internet-age.. infomation-age.
china did Not discovered the Transitor, Internet, Fiber Optics or land on the Moon.
Google Internet Now has truth for the world.
Google all this free free free on web.
MAO ZEDONG happy in Heaven… HANZI will be replaced by Pinyin in 21st. century.
HANZI will go away like the dinosours.
MAO ZEDONG happy in heaven….. end of hanzi.