Archive for March 25th, 2008
Chinese Character – 面 Face
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008Cri – Lesson 86
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
M: Dà jiā hǎo. Huān yíng nǐ men dào Xiàn zài Xué Hàn yǔ. Wǒ shì ML.S: Wǒ shì Stuart.
M: Stuart, 今天我们学什么 jīn tiān wǒ men xué shén me?
S: Well, we’re still trying to get to the Yǒu yí Shāng diàn. So, more about wèn lù, asking the way.
M. wǒ tóng yì.
S. Repeat everything. Try to guess what you don’t understand.
M: We’re at the south side of Tian’anmen Square. 我们在天安门的南边wǒ men zài Tiān ān mén de nán biān.
S. wǒ men yào qù Yǒu yí Shāng diàn.
M. Don’t know how to get there. 我们不知道怎么走 wǒ men bù zhī dào zěn me zǒu.
S: So, we’ll ask the way. 所以我们问路 suǒ yǐ, wǒ men wèn lù.
M. 先生，请问，友谊商店怎么走 xiān shēng, qǐng wèn, Yǒu yí Shāngdiàn zěn me zǒu?
MAN: Go north. 往北走 wǎng běi zǒu. When you get to Chang’an Avenue, head east到了长安街,往东走，dào le Chang’an Jie, wǎng dōng zǒu.
S: 往北走 wǎng běi zǒu. 到了长安街,往东走，dào le Chang’an Jie, wǎng dōng zǒu. Duì ma?
MAN. Duì le.
M. xiè xie nín.
MAN: 不客气。
S. Now the new stuff. 我们在天安门的南边
M. wǒ men zài Tiān ān mén de nán biān. 天安门 Tiān ‘heaven’, an1 ‘peace’, and mén here means gate.
S. At the site of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, is the famous Tiananmen Square.
M. 天安门的南边。南 NAN nán means ‘south, nán. 边 BIAN means ‘side’. Nán biān, south side, nán biān. So try to say, ‘Tiananmen’s south side’.
S. Duì le. Tiān ān mén de nán biān.
M. Mister, 先生， 请问，友谊商店怎么走? qiǐng wèn. qǐng wèn, is a polite way of saying, ‘may I ask’. Say it, qǐng wèn, qǐng wèn. Yǒu yí Shāng diàn zěn me zǒu?
MAN. Go north. 往北走。
M. wǎng běi zǒu. 往WANG wǎng, means ‘towards’, wǎng.
S. 北 is ‘north’, as in Běi jīng. 走zǒu, to ‘go’.
M. wǎng běi zǒu, towards north go, or, head northwards, wǎng běi zǒu, say it, wǎng běi zǒu.
S. 到了长安街,往东走.
M. dào le Chang’an Jie, wǎng dōng zǒu. Literally, ‘arrived Chang’an Avenue, towards east go’.
S: So what is ‘east’? Duì le. 东DONG dōng. wǎng dōng zǒu. ‘Head east’. Say it, wǎng dōng zǒu, wǎng dōng zǒu.
M. And Cháng ān, CHANG AN, cháng ān, literally, ‘long peace’. 街JIE jiē, is ‘street’. Chang’an Jie is the famous Chang’an Avenue, which runs east west through central Beijing and forms the north side of Tiananmen Square.
S. Before we xià kè, the dialogue again.
M. 我们在天安门的南边wǒ men zài Tiān ān mén de nán biān.
S.先生， 请问，友谊商店怎么走 xiān shēng, qǐng wèn. Yǒu yí Shāng diàn zěn me zǒu?
MAN. 往北走 wǎng běi zǒu. 到了长安街， 往东走dào le Chang’an Jie, wǎng dōng zǒu.
M. xiè xie nín.
MAN：不客气.
S. And now we xià kè. Zài jiàn.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
China Travel – Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 |
The real name of the Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County, located in the Fogong (Buddha’s Palace) Temple in the northwestern corner of Yingxian County, is the Sakyamuni Pagoda. Since it was built completely of timber, it has been well known as the Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County. Standing 67.31 meters high, it is the only extant large wooden pagoda in China and also the tallest among ancient wooden buildings of the world. The pagoda was constructed in 1056 during the Liao Dynasty. After several renovations throughout the dynasties, except for the wooden tower of the Liao Dynasty, other structures, like the Bell and Drum Tower and the Daxiong Palace, were all rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Around the upper edge and at the corners of the platform there are sculptures of crawling lions whose simple and unsophisticated style belonging to the Liao Dynasty. The exterior of the pagoda is divided into five levels, but there are actually nine levels in the interior, including four built-in storeys. The steeple of the pagoda is ten meters high, and the whole pagoda, built on a stone platform of 4 meters high, is 67.31 meters in height. The diameter of the octagonal first storey is 30.27 meters, the longest among ancient pagodas. The ground storey has two tiers of eaves, with steps attached to it.
The caisson ceiling is refined and beautifully structured. When entering the southern door of the pagoda, one can see a statue of Sakyamuni of about 11 meters high. On the inner walls are 6 pictures of Tathagata in different poses. On the walls of the doorway are mural paintings of warrior attendants, heavenly kings, and Buddhist disciples.
For nearly a thousand years, the wooden pagoda has withstood numerous strong earthquakes. Tire pagoda’s antiseismic strength, proved by these earthquakes, demonstrated the achievement of wooden architecture in ancient China.
During the repair work in 1974, a number of important and valuable cultural relics were found in the pagoda, including a picture of medicinal herbs and Buddhist scriptures, all belonging to the Liao Dynasty. Scripture scrolls include both hand-written and block-printed ones; some of them are more than thirty meters long when spread out and date back to as early as 990, 1003 or 1071. They are regarded as rare treasures both at home and abroad, providing important data not only for the collating of Buddhist scriptures, but also for the study of the development of printing technology in China.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
