Archive for February 20th, 2009

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 425

Friday, February 20th, 2009
 
 

   韩佳:大牛,不用猜我就知道是你。

  Daniel, I don’t have to guess. It’s you.

  大牛:你看的是什么书啊?

  What book are you reading?

  韩佳:这是中医药方面的书。你看不懂。

  It’s a book on herbal Chinese medicines.

  You don’t understand.

  大牛:我偏要看。“药方格律…君臣佐使…”

  But I’d like to read it. “Prescription Principle …

  jun-chen-zuo-shi …”

  韩佳:对了,大牛,这桐君山你转完啦?

  Oh, yeah, Daniel, did you see all the

  sights of the Tongjun Mountain?

  大牛:转完了。我发现有一个亭子、

  Yes, I did. I found a pavilion

  一座祠堂、祠堂中间有一尊雕像。

  and an ancestral temple with a statue inside.

  韩佳:看来没有我给你讲解还是不行。

  It seems it just won’t do without

  my explanations.

  好了好了。你就别看书了。

  Come on. Stop your reading.

  接着跟我快乐学汉语。

  Let’s learn Chinese the fun way.

  大牛:轻松又好记。好,出发。

  It’s easy to remember. Let’s set off.

  这里的树真多啊。

  There are so many trees here.

  韩佳:还有很多都是珍贵的药材呢!

  And also lots of rare medicinal herbs!

  别看这座山不高,

  Although this mountain isn’t very tall,

  却是中华医药的发祥地啊。

  it is the birthplace of herbal

  Chinese medicine.

  Biékàn zhè zuò shān bù gāo, tā què shì zhōnghuá yīyào de

  fāxiángdì a.

  别看 这 座 山 不 高,它 却 是 中华 医药 的

  发祥地 啊。

  Despite their size,these mountains are the

  cradle of traditional Chinese Medicine.

  大牛:药祖之乡!这药祖指的是谁啊?

  Home of the Founder of Herbal

  Medicine! Who’s the founder?

  韩佳:就是在桐君山上

  It refers to Tong Jun, who collected herbs

  采药、制药的桐君老人,

  and made medicines on the

  Tongjun Mountain,

  这座山也是以他的名字命名的。

  which was named after him.

  大牛:我知道了

  Oh, now I know

  在山上的祠堂里供奉的

  the statue enshrined in the temple

  on the mountain

  那尊雕像就是桐君老人。

  is actually the statue of him.

  韩佳:没错。

  Exactly.

  大牛:韩佳,桐君老人

  Han Jia, why is Tong Jun revered

  为什么被称为中华药祖?

  as the founder of herbal Chinese medicine?

  韩佳:因为他是中国有文字记载的

  That’s because he was the

  earliest medicinal

  最早的医药学者。

  scholar in recorded Chinese history.

  他生活在四五千年前的黄帝时期。

  He lived in the Emperor Huangdi Period

  some 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.

  专门采集中草药给人们治病。

  He collected medicinal herbs

  to treat patients.

  他制定了开立中药处方的原则,

  He set up a guideline for prescribing

  herbal medicines,

  至今仍在使用。

  which is still in use today.

  大牛:难怪他称作中药鼻祖了。

  No wonder he (is) revered as the “bi zu”

  of Chinese medicines.

  韩佳:你说什么啊?

  What did you say?

  大牛:鼻祖啊,就是创始人的意思。

  ”bi zu”, meaning the founder.

  英文是creator or founder。

  In English we say creator or founder.

  韩佳:我的意思是你刚才说了一个被动句,

  I mean you used a passive sentence,

  但缺少了最重要的一个字“被”。

  but left out the most important

  word “bei”.

  大牛:对对。落了一个字。

  Yes. I omitted the word.

  应该说他被称为中药鼻祖。

  I should have said he was revered as

  the founder of herbal Chinese medicine.

  Tā bèi chēngwéi zhōngyào bízǔ.

  他 被 称为 中药 鼻祖。

  He is honoured as the creator of

  traditional Chinese Medicine.

  今天的天气真是好。

  It’s a beautiful day today.

  我拿着锄头来锄草。

  Let me weed the ground with a hoe.

  您问我锄草干什么。种药材哪。

  You may ask why I am doing this.

  Because I want to grow herbs here.

  这里的杂草太多了。

  There are so many weeds here.

  看我把它锄掉。

  Let me get rid of them.

  韩佳:住手!

  Stop!

  大牛:韩佳,你来得正好。

  Han Jia, you are here at the right time.

  我锄草你撒药材种子。

  You just scatter the seeds while

  I am weeding.

  韩佳:大牛,你不懂可别胡来啊。

  Daniel, you don’t understand.

  ”bie hu lai”.

  大牛:这怎么叫胡来啊?

  What do you mean “hu lai”?

  韩佳:不按规程,任意乱做就叫胡来。

  Disregarding rules and messing things

  up is “hu lai”.

  大牛:不用解释我知道。

  I know it without your explanation.

  韩佳:你知道?你知道这是什么吗?

  You really know? Do you know

  what this is?

  大牛:杂草。

  A weed.

  韩佳:这叫马蹄金,专治传染性肝炎。

  It is called the dewdrop grass, a potent

  herb for treating contagious hepatitis.

  大牛:那,那个呢?

  And that one?

  韩佳:那个是功劳叶,专治咽喉肿痛。

  That is a herb effective for sore throat.

  你真是良莠不分。

  You are simply “liang you bu fen”.

  大牛:保准不是夸我。

  She is surely not praising me.

  韩佳:你算是说对了。

  You guessed it right.

  这“莠”是指杂草。

  The “you” here refers to weeds.

  良莠不分

  ”liang you bu fen” means

  就是说好苗、杂草都分不清楚,

  to be unable to tell crop seedlings

  from weeds,

  形容一个人不分好坏。

  often used to describe people who

  are unable tell right from wrong.

  大牛:那,那棵树是不是药材啊?

  Is that tree also a medicinal plant?

  韩佳:那当然了,我们日常生活中,

  Of course, it is. In our everyday life,

  有很多植物都是很好的中药材。

  we may often see plants which are

  good medicinal herbs.

  别看它们看着普通,

  They may look quite ordinary,

  但却能治大病。

  but they can possibly cure severe

  diseases.

  大牛,你这是在干什么啊?

  Daniel, what are you doing here?

  大牛:配中药。

  I am preparing a dose of herbal

  medicines.

  韩佳:配中药?那你知道

  Do you know how to prepare

  herbal medicines?

  配中药依据的是什么原则吗?

  What are the principles for prescribing

  herbal medicines?

  nǐ zhīdao pèi zhōngyào yījù de shì shénme yuánzé ma?

  你 知道 配 中药 依据 的 是 什么 原则 吗?

  Do you know what principles are to be

  observed when prescribing Chinese Medicine?

  大牛:当然知道了。

  Of course, I do.

  韩佳:哦,那你说说

  Oh, then tell me

  这君、臣、佐、使

  what the “jun, chen, zuo, shi”

  指的都是什么?

  refer to?

  大牛:“君”是指主药,是治疗主要病症的药物。

  ”jun” refers to the primary medicine

  used for treating a main symptom.

  “臣”是指辅药,

  ”chen” is a complementary medicine,

  是加强主药疗效的药物。

  used to strengthen the effectiveness

  of the primary medicine.

  韩佳:来来来。接着说。

  Come on. Go on.

  大牛:“佐”是佐药。

  ”zuo” is a supplementary medicine,

  它能够抑制主药的不良作用。

  used to control the negative side

  effects of the primary medicine.

  还能够协助治疗其他病症。

  It can also help treat other diseases.

  “使”是指引经药,

  ”shi” refers to the “yin jing” drugs

  它能够引导药物直达患病处。

  which help the primary medicine reach

  the diseased part of the body.

  韩佳:行啊大牛!

  You did great, Daniel!

  你这都是哪儿学来的?

  Where did you learn all this?

  大牛:这书不能白看!

  I wouldn’t have read a book for nothing!

  韩佳:这不是我的书吗?

  Isn’t this my book?

  大牛:是啊。我还知道君、臣、佐、使

  Yes. I also know “jun-chen-zuo-shi”

  是桐君老人制定的用药原则。

  is the prescription principle set

  up by Tong Jun.

  韩佳:要不说这大牛有悟性。

  No wonder Daniel is a bright man.

  一点就透啊。

  He can understand entirely once you

  give him a hint.

  大牛:你这不是夸奖我吗?

  Aren’t you praising me?

  这下我可以高高兴兴地

  Now I can watch happily

  和您一起看赏心悦目啦。

  today’s Feast for the Eyes with you.

  赏心悦目:

  桐君山是中国医药文化的发祥地

  The Tongjun Mountain is regarded as

  the cradle of herbal Chinese medicines.

  桐君山遍地是宝 被称作“药祖之乡”

  This treasure land is the birthplace of

  the founder of China’s herbal medicines.

  百草园里看似百花争艳

  The Baicao Garden is full of flowers.

  其实每株花草都是珍贵的药材

  Actually, every plant here is a medicinal herb.

  药祖殿供奉着中华药祖“桐君老人”

  Enshrined here is the founder of herbal

  medicines-Tong Jun.

  他制定的开立处方原则沿用至今

  The prescription guideline he set up

  has been in use till this day.

  整座山也是以桐君老人的名字命名

  The mountain is also named after him.

  大牛:这本书我全都看完了。

  I’ve read the whole book.

  以后您要是身体不舒服就来找我。

  If you have any ailments in future,

  just come to me.

  我免费给您治。

  I’ll treat you free of charge.

  韩佳:大牛,中国的传统医学博大精深。

  Daniel, traditional Chinese medicine is

  a profound and sophisticated science.

  你光看这么一本书哪够用啊。

  You cannot just rely on one book.

  来来来。还是出题吧。

  Come on. Set a question for today.

  大牛:也行。

  Okay.

  (问题部分略)

  合: 学说中国话,朋友遍天下。

  Learn Chinese and have friends everywhere.

(Source: cctv.com)

Beijing Olympic – Thousands line up for Olympic bank notes in Hong Kong

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Thousands of Hong Kong residents were lining up Monday through Tuesday in front of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) offices for commemorative HK dollar bank notes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, due to be on sale from Wednesday.

A long line wound its way around the BOC Hong Kong headquarters in Central, Hong Kong, on Tuesday, as some had started to queue there as early as 7:00 a.m. the same day. By afternoon, many more had gathered in the rather narrow space.

Some took with them little stools, takeout lunches as well as umbrellas, which could be used to deal with either the scorching sunshine or the thunderstorms. The elderly were also seen, with some taking with them children they had been taking care of.

A security guard put the number of queuers at around 2,000.

“I am queuing for the commemorative bank notes because they are rare souvenirs to the Beijing Olympics, the first such event ever hosted by our country. They are worth a lot,” said Tommy Cheung, who had been in the first four rows.

Cheung said he was buying the notes for private collection purposes.

“I did not have lunch,” he said with a smile.

A young man said on condition of anonymity that prices for the bank notes had been going up, making it possible to earn several thousand HK dollars for each set.

The zest for the commemorative Olympic notes had been similar as what had been seen recently in Chinese mainland cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, among others.

The Bank of China (Hong Kong), or BOC Hong Kong, planned to offer 4 million pieces of HK dollar-denominated commemorative banknotes for the Beijing Olympics, of which most will be sold in the special administrative region starting from Wednesday.

Many had started lining up in Hong Kong since Monday afternoon and hundreds held on late into night amid thunderstorms in front of the six designated branch offices of BOC Hong Kong, including the headquarters in Central and the Tuen Mun office.

It had been a sunny day with a few cloud patches during the day on Monday, but a rain storm came in the night, forcing the bank to register the queuing crowd. People started queuing again in the early morning on Tuesday, as the weather got better.

The BOC Hong Kong said in the afternoon that orders had been normal in the queues in front of their offices and that they have no plans for cutting the lines.

The bank said the 35-in-1 uncut HK dollar notes could be out of stock soon after they started selling the sets on Wednesday as scheduled.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

China Travel – Shanshan Assembly Hall in Liaocheng

Friday, February 20th, 2009

The Shanshan Assembly Hall is located near the east pass of Liaocheng City in Shandong Province.

 

Liaocheng City sat on the west bank of the Grand Canal in ancient China. With its sophisticated traffic system both on land and water, the city was a communication center linking the south and the north since early times. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, merchants swarmed the city, and in 1743, Shanshan Assembly Hall was built jointly by merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The hall then became a large-scale group of constructions.

 

Covering an area of 3,311 square meters, the assembly hall has over 160 halls and pavilions. The richly ornamented hall is green and gold with winged eaves. The construction is divided into two sections: the God Temple and assembly hall. In the front are constructions such as the mountain gate, opera tower, bell and drum towers, south and north viewing towers and stele pavilion; the back section includes the God Temple, Spring and Autumn Building, covered corridors and belvederes.

(Source: chinaculture.org)