Archive for May 14th, 2008

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 143

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
 
 

                             Click to Watch Video Podcast

  (4月4日播出)

  王渊源:快乐学汉语,万里海疆行!

  Learn Chinese the fun way and enjoy

  a happy journey across China!

  韩佳: 大家好!

  Hello there!

  我是快乐的韩佳。

  I’m Merry Han Jia.

  王渊源:我是快乐的渊源。

  I’m Happy Yuanyuan.

  韩佳: 我们在台州的三门县

  Here in Taizhou’s Sanmen County,

  向您问好。

  we’re saying hello to you.

  王渊源:哎呀,说起来时间过得还真快!

  Oh, the fact is time has passed

  so quickly!

  我们的海疆行快走了一半儿了。

  We’ve been almost through half

  our journey along the coast.

  那我们今天要去哪儿呢?

  Where are we going today?

  韩佳: 哎。听说啊

  Yeah. I heard

  这三门县有个蛇蟠岛。

  In Sanmen County there is an island,

  called Shepan Island.

  要不我们就去那儿了?

  How about going there?

  王渊源:啊?

  What?

  那儿会不会有很多蛇呀?

  Are there many snakes there?

  韩佳: 有没有蛇呢我就不知道了。

  I don’t know if there are

  snakes there.

  我只知道啊

  I only know

  这蛇蟠岛

  Shepan Island is

  是三门县所有岛屿中很有名的。

  the most famous of Sanmen’s islands.

  很多人都说值得去看一看呢。

  Many people say it is worth seeing.

  渊源,你干什么呢?

  Yuanyuan, what are you doing?

  王渊源:我在看这儿有没有蛇呀。

  I’m trying to find out if

  there are snakes here.

  韩佳: 我刚刚已经打听清楚

  Just now I asked someone

  and found out

  这儿为什么叫“蛇蟠岛”了。

  why it’s called Shepan Island.

  王渊源:“刚刚”表示行为

  ”Ganggang” means just now or

  或者是情况发生在不久以前,对吧?

  a moment ago, right?

  韩佳: “刚刚”是个副词,

  ”Ganggang” is an adverb

  表示行为或者是情况

  meaning just now

  发生在不久以前。

  or a moment ago.

  王渊源:比如说,

  For example,

  我们刚刚坐船来到这里。

  we just arrived here by boat.

  韩佳: 也可以说,

  We can also say

  我们刚刚把这个问题弄清楚。

  I just found out the answer to

  the question.

  王渊源:那既然你都弄清楚了,

  Since you’ve found out the answer,

  就赶快告诉我吧。

  then tell me quickly.

  韩佳: 据我所知啊,

  To the best of my knowledge,

  这儿之所以叫“蛇蟠岛”呢,

  it is called Shepan Island

  是因为这里的山形

  because the shape of the

  mountain here

  很像一条大蛇。

  looks like a huge snake.

  至于真的蛇嘛,

  As for real snakes,

  这岛上以前有一些。

  there were some on the island

  in the past.

  王渊源:啊!

  Oh, really!

  韩佳: 不过现在已经看不到了。

  But people can’t see them

  anymore today.

  组员: 哎,我说你们俩怎么还在这儿呢。

  Hey, tell me why you two are

  still here.

  韩佳: 怎么了?

  What’s the matter?

  组员: 我听说这岛上有宝贝。

  I heard there are treasures

  on this island.

  合: 宝贝啊?

  Treasures?

  韩佳: 哪儿呢?哪儿呢?

  Where? Where?

  组员: 应该在哪个山洞里有一些线索。

  There should be some clues

  in a mountain cave.

  可是在哪个山洞我也不知道。

  But which mountain cave

  I don’t know.

  你们俩慢慢找。我先走了。

  Take your time for the search.

  I’m going now.

  王渊源:哎,你话还没说完呢!

  Hey, you haven’t finished

  your words yet!

  韩佳: 人怎么就走了!

  And he just left like that!

  王渊源:哎呀,看来找宝贝这件事儿

  Oh, it seems we’ll have

  只能靠我们自己了。

  to rely on ourselves to

  find the treasures.

  可是这儿有这么多洞。

  But there are so many

  caves here.

  到底会在哪儿呢?

  Which should be the right one?

  韩佳: 渊源,我看还是放弃吧。

  Yuanyuan, I think we’d better

  give up.

  王渊源:你这么快就放弃了。

  You gave up so quickly.

  韩佳: 唉,这座岛说大不大,

  Oh, this island isn’t very big,

  说小它也不小。

  but it is neither small.

  到处都是这种人工采石留下的洞。

  There are caves all over the place

  left over from people quarrying stone.

  要找到什么时候去啊?

  How long should we

  keep finding?

  王渊源:哎,你刚才说的“到处”

  Eh, you just said “daochu”

  意思是各处、处处,对吧?

  means everywhere, right?

  韩佳: 没错儿。

  Right.

  Zhèli dàochù dōu shi réngōng cǎi hí liúxia de dòng

  这里 到处 都 是 人工 采 石 留下 的 洞。

  There are caves all over the place

  left over from people quarrying stone.

  渊源,你知道吗,

  Yuanyuan, do you know

  在这座岛上

  on this island,

  有大大小小的洞一千多个呢。

  there are over a thousand caves,

  big and small.

  王渊源:啊,有那么多洞!

  Wow, that many caves!

  韩佳: 对啊。在这座岛上呢

  Yes. One third of the island’s

  山地面积占了全岛的三分之一。

  total area is mountainous.

  从宋代起,

  As early as the Song Dynasty,

  人们就开始大规模地开采山石了。

  people started quarrying stone

  on a large scale.

  所以经过千百年的开采,

  So after more than a thousand

  years of excavation,

  蛇蟠岛就成了“千洞之岛了”。

  Shepan Island has become a

  ”Thousand-cave Island”.

  王渊源:那看来,

  It seems that

  今天这宝贝是找不到了。

  we’re unable to find the

  treasures today.

  韩佳: 嗯。

  Right.

  王渊源:哎,你看那边。

  Eh, look over there.

  韩佳: 宝贝远在天边,近在眼前。

  ”The treasure seems far away,

  but actually is close at hand.”

  王渊源:哎,这是什么意思?

  Hey, what does that mean?

  远在天边,近在眼前?

  ”Yuan zai tianbian, jin

  zai yanqian”?

  韩佳: 这是一句俗语,

  This is a common saying.

  意思是不是在远处,

  It means something is not

  far away,

  而是在眼前。

  it’s right under one’s nose.

  王渊源:哦,“远在天边 近在眼前”

  Oh, so “yuan zai tianbian,

  jin zai yanqian”

  意思是不是在远处,而是在眼前。

  is a saying that means something is not

  far away, it’s right under one’s nose, yeah?

  韩佳: 看来这宝贝

  This shows the treasures

  就是远在天边,近在眼前了!

  are not far away, it’s right under

  our noses!

  Yuǎn zài tiān biān jìn zài yǎn qián

  远 在 天边, 近 在 眼前。

  It’s right under our noses.

  王渊源:就在眼前?

  Is’t right under our noses?

  可是这儿除了石头还是石头。

  But there is nothing here

  except these stones.

  韩佳: 哦,那我知道了!

  Oh, I got it!

  他们说的宝贝

  The treasures they said

  其实就是蛇蟠石!

  are actually these Shenpan stones!

  王渊源:哦,你说的就是这些

  Oh, you mean these

  到处都能看到的红色石头吗?

  red stones that can be seen

  all over the place?

  韩佳: 对啊。

  Yes.

  这蛇蟠石是很好的石材。

  The Shepan stone is an ideal

  building material.

  据说它的岩质本来很软,

  It is said its texture is very soft

  非常便于开采。

  at the time of excavation.

  但是运出洞外

  But after it’s exposed

  见光或者是遇水之后就会变硬。

  to light or touched with water,

  it will harden quickly.

  方便运输。

  So it’s quite convenient

  for transportation.

  王渊源:呵,这么神奇!

  Oh, it’s so fantastic!

  韩佳: 也正是因为蛇蟠石的这个特点,

  Just because of this propensity

  of the stone,

  所以人们对它采取了

  the quarries here adopted

  竖体洞窟式的开采方式。

  the vertical shaft excavation method.

  王渊源:竖体洞窟式?

  The vertical shaft excavation method?

  韩佳: 就是在山顶凿一个小洞。

  That is to say they first opened

  a hole at the hilltop.

  然后从上往下开采,

  Then they dug downward,

  越往下洞就越大。

  making the shaft the deeper,

  the wider.

  这样就可以避免

  Thus they were able to prevent

  洞内的石材接触到

  the quarried stone inside from

  being exposed

  从洞口漏下来的阳光和雨水了。

  to the sunlight or rain outside

  the shaft.

  王渊源:我明白了。

  Now I’m clear.

  所以我们现在看到的很多洞

  That’s why many of the caves

  we see here

  都是上小下大的。

  are small at the top and big

  at the bottom.

  这宝贝好是好,

  This is indeed a very

  good treasure,

  只可惜,我们根本就带不走。

  but the pity is we can’t

  take any home.

  韩佳: 哎,谁说的?

  Oh, who said we can’t?

  别说蛇蟠石了,

  The Shepan stone

  就连这蛇蟠岛

  and Shepan Island as well

  也已经在我们的镜头里了。

  have already been taken

  in our camera.

  您瞧。

  Look.

  赏心悦目:

  蛇蟠岛有着悠久的采石历史

  Shepan Island has a long quarrying history.

  一千多个大大小小的洞窟布满全岛

  Some thousand caves are scattered

  all over the island.

  这里有绮丽的自然风光

  The island also has beautiful natural scenery

  这里有奇绝的洞窟景观

  apart from its amazing caves.

  千百年的人工斧凿

  Excavation throughout the years

  铸就了气势恢宏的石景

  has created a magnificent spectacle

  of its own.

  也为蛇蟠岛赢得了“千洞之岛”的美名

  For this reason, it is also billed as Island

  of Thousand Caves.

  韩佳: 好,我们已经把美丽的蛇蟠岛

  Well, we’ve already brought

  the beautiful Shepan Island

  通过镜头带到了世界各地。

  to all over the world through

  our camera lens.

  那观众朋友们,

  Audience friends,

  现在您是不是应该

  do you think you should

  把我们的礼物带回家了呢?

  take home this unusual present

  from us?

  王渊源:我们现在就要给大家出

  Now it’s time for us to set

  今天的有奖问答题。

  today’s award-winning question.

  (问题部分略)

  好了

  Well,

  节目的最后还是要提醒您,

  at the end of this program, we’d

  still want to remind you

  别忘了明天同一时间,

  not to forget to continue

  继续收看我们的节目。

  to watch our program same

  time tomorrow.

  韩佳: 也别忘了我们的口号。

  And also don’t forget our slogan.

  合: 学说中国话,朋友遍天下!

  Learn Chinese and make friends everywhere!

  韩佳: 明天见。

  See you tomorrow.

     (Source: cctv.com)

China Travel – Main Hall of Nanchan Temple

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

The Main Hall of the Nanchan Temple is located at the Lijia Village, 22 km to the southwest of Wutai County of Shanxi Province.

 

 

The Nanchan Temple faces south. The main structures are the temple gate, the Dragon God Hall, the Buddha Hall, and the Big Buddha Hall, which enclose a courtyard, as well as small stone pagodas, and stone lions, etc. The time of its establishment is unknown.

 

The platform in front of the Main Hall of the Nanchan Temple is very spacious. Under the beam of the hall there is an epitaph that says that the temple was built in 782. It is the oldest wood structure built in the Tang Dynasty (618-917). The hall is three-bay in both width and length. The planar shape is near square. The layout of the structure is in symmetry. It is a typical structure style of the Tang Dynasty.

 

There is a big Buddha altar, 8.4 meters in length and 6.3 meters in width, in the Main Hall of the Nanchan Temple. Seventeen multicolor statues of the Tang Dynasty besprinkle the altar, and the main statue of them is Sakyamuni sitting cross-legged in Sumeru. The others line in both sides. In spite of repairs and repainting in the following dynasties, the statues still retain the style and features of Tang statues.

 

(Source: chinaculture.org)

Chinese Characters: abjection 卑鄙

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

abjection:

Chinese Pinyin: bei1 bi3

(Source: about.com)