Archive for March, 2009

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 461

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

韩佳:快乐学汉语,轻松又好记。

Let’s learn Chinese with fun.

It’s delightful and easy to remember.

我是快乐的韩佳。

I am the happy Han Jia.

大牛:不对啊。凭我大牛对中国的了解,

Oh, no. Based on my knowledge

of China,

不会不知道它们是谁啊。

it’s impossible for me not to know

who they are.

韩佳:大牛,你干什么呢?

Daniel, what are you doing here?

观众都等着我们呢。

The audience is waiting for us.

大牛:韩佳,现在我们在哪儿?

Han Jia, where are we now?

怎么这些雕像我一个都不认识?

How come I can’t identify any

of these statues?

韩佳:被难住了吧?

You feel baffled?

咱们现在是在御窑厂的门前。

We are now standing at the entrance

of the site of the imperial kiln.

所谓御窑厂就是过去专门为皇室

The so-called imperial kiln was

actually a factory

烧制瓷器的工厂。

where porcelain wares for the imperial

family were made.

而大家呢习惯地称它为官窑。

And people prefer to call them official kilns.

这些人就是当时的督陶官。

These statues are of those officials

supervising the porcelain production here.

今天我们要介绍的就是官窑和民窑。

Today, we are going to see both an

official kiln and a private kiln.

大牛:我们马上出发。

Let’s set off now.

韩佳:大牛,官窑遗址就分布在景德镇市中心的

Daniel, the former official kilns were

concentrated at Zhushan

珠山这一带。

in central Jingdezhen.

大牛:这里的景色真不错。

The scenery here is pretty good.

当年的皇帝可真会选地方。

The emperor was good at choosing places.

您看看我们身后的这座阁楼。

Just look at the pavilion behind us.

真是气势恢弘!

Isn’t it magnificent?

Zhè zuò gélóu zhēnshì qìshì huīhóng.

这 座 阁楼 真是 气势 恢弘。

This tower is magnificent.

韩佳:这座阁楼始建于唐代。

This pavilion was first built in the

Tang Dynasty.

经过了多次重修和改名。

It was rebuilt and renamed several times.

直到1925年重修的时候,

When it was rebuilt in 1925,

才有了现在的名字——龙珠阁。

it was renamed Longzhu Pavilion,

as it is called today.

大牛:那这龙珠阁里有什么好东西吗?

Are there any good things in the pavilion?

韩佳:别急嘛。上去看看你不就知道了。

Be patient. You’ll find out when

we get inside.

大牛:这里的东西没什么特别的嘛。

There isn’t anything special here.

景德镇这种瓷器多的是。

Porcelain wares like these can be

seen everywhere in Jingdezhen.

韩佳:这你可说错了。

You are wrong.

这里陈列的可不是一般的瓷器。

The porcelain exhibits here are

not ordinary.

都是出土的官窑真品。

They are all unearthed genuine

official kiln products.

大牛:不就是个头大了一点儿嘛。

They are only a bit bigger in size.

我真没看出有什么特别的。

I really don’t see any other difference.

韩佳:说你不识货吧。

This shows your ignorance.

像这种明朝洪武年间

These unearthed porcelain objects

were produced

出土的瓷器。

in the reign of Ming Dynasty

Emperor Hongwu.

除了这儿,

Apart from these, there are only 37

pieces of such porcelain

世界上仅存37件。

still in existence in the world.

大牛:才37件?

Only 37?

那它们岂不都是无价之宝?

Aren’t they priceless treasures?

韩佳:那当然了。

That’s for sure.

“无价之宝”是指无法估量价格的宝物,

“wu jia zhi bao” refers a to priceless

treasure

比喻最珍贵的东西。

and is used as a metaphor for

something very valuable.

Wú jià zhī bǎo

无 价 之 宝

a priceless treasure

大牛:韩佳,我发现这里的瓷器都有修补的痕迹。

Han Jia, I found many of the porcelain

exhibits here show signs of repairs.

这是为什么?

Why?

韩佳:每年皇宫挑选瓷器的数量

There were a limited number of porcelain

objects to be selected

是有限的。

by the imperial palace each year

而官窑瓷器又不能流入民间。

And porcelain wares produced by official

kilns were not allowed to be in circulation.

所以只能现场敲碎毁掉。

So the unselected wares had to be

destroyed on the spot.

大牛:哎呀 太可惜了!

Oh, what a waste!

要是送给我大牛就好了!

How I wish they gave them to me!

韩佳,你说这里的瓷器

Han Jia, you said all the porcelain

wares here

都是供皇宫里用的。

were to be used exclusively by the

imperial palace.

那么普通老百姓用什么呢?

What kind of porcelain common

people could use?

韩佳:要想找到这个答案啊

The answer to your question

去民窑看看不就知道了。

can be found at some private kilns.

大牛,这就是你要找的答案了,

Daniel, here’s the answer you

are looking for,

湖田古窑遗址。

the site of ancient Hutian kilns.

大牛:哪儿啊?我只能看见几个土坑。

Where is it? All I can see are few pits.

哪有什么民窑的影子啊。

There isn’t any trace of a private kiln.

韩佳:你可不要小看了这些土坑。

You mustn’t underestimate these pits.

这可都是过去制作陶瓷的作坊遗址。

They are the sites of former workshops

making ceramics.

宋元时期的民用瓷器,

Porcelain wares for common people

甚至部分官用瓷器

and even part of the official porcelain

wares during the Song and Yuan dynasties

都离不开这些作坊。

were produced by such kilns.

大牛:可是我怎么也想不通

But I still can hardly imagine

这儿也能制作瓷器啊。

porcelain could be produced here.

Wǒ zěnme yě xiǎng bù tōng, zhèr yě néng zhìzuò cíqì.

我 怎么 也 想 不 通,这儿 也 能 制作 瓷器。

I can’t imagine how porcelain could be

made in a place like this.

韩佳:这些作坊的遗址虽然样子简陋,

These workshops might look

quite primitive,

但是分工相当精细,

but there were clear divisions

of labor then,

有釉缸、水井、沙池等等。

as shown by the glaze vats, wells

and sand pools.

这些可都是制作瓷器不可缺少的场所。

These are all indispensable for

porcelain making.

大牛:明白了。真有意思。

I see. It’s really interesting.

就像我们现代工厂里

They are like the various workshops

一个一个的小车间。

of a modern plant.

可是窑呢?不在这儿吧。

But where is the kiln? It is not here.

韩佳:你可真够细心的。我们接着看。

You are a meticulous visitor.

Let’s go on.

大牛你看,这就是烧制青花瓷的窑炉。

Daniel, this is the kiln for baking the

blue and white porcelain bisques.

大牛:还真像是个倒下来的葫芦。

It surely looks like a fallen gourd.

韩佳:这回你说对了。

You are right this time.

这座窑的名字就叫葫芦窑。

This kiln is called Gourd Kiln.

大牛:可是我以为烧瓷的窑炉都很大呢。

I thought porcelain kiln must be very big.

韩佳:那不是。这种窑是专门用来烧制

That’s not true. This kind of kilns

老百姓日常使用的瓷器。

were used to bake the bisques of

porcelain for common people.

所以规模不是很大。

So they are not very big in size.

大牛:那么当时这种民间小窑炉应该很普遍了?

These small private kilns must

have been very common then?

韩佳:嗯,没错。别看它们个头小,

Yes, you’re right. Despite of their

small size,

也为景德镇瓷器的发展

they made great contributions to

the development

做出了一番贡献呢。

of porcelain making in Jingdezhen.

大牛:这里还有什么好看的?

Is there anything else interesting

to see here?

我还想看。

I’d like to see more.

韩佳:还想看?那就看赏心悦目。

Want to see more?

Watch the Feast for the Eyes then.

赏心悦目:

位于景德镇市中心的珠山风光秀美

The Zhushan Mountain in the city of

Jingdezhen is a place of scenic beauty.

这里坐落着官窑遗址博物馆–龙珠阁

It is the location of Longzhu Pavilion, the

museum of former imperial porcelain kilns.

馆内陈列了大量官窑珍品

On display are large numbers of

rare porcelain masterpieces.

造型美观 用料考究

They are beautiful in shapes and

crafted with top quality materials.

依然可见昔日御用瓷器的华美精致

Visitors can see here the stunning beauty

of former imperial porcelain wares.

湖田古民窑是宋元时期的大型瓷窑

The private kilns in Hutian built during the

Song and Yuan dynasties are much larger.

岁月悠长 见证着古窑往日的辉煌

Despite the passage of time, they still

bear vestiges of their formers glories.

韩佳:湖田古瓷窑是中国宋元时期

The Hutian kilns were the ones

that conducted

瓷器生产规模最大、时间最长、

production on the largest scale and for

the longest period of time and produced

产品最精美的瓷窑。

the best porcelain in the Song

and Yuan dynasties.

大牛:但是因为御窑厂的兴建,

But due to the emergence of imperial kilns,

大部分匠人都被集中调过去。

most of the skilled porcelain workmen

were recruited to the imperial kilns.

湖田窑就只能生产粗瓷了。

Hutian kilns had to produce less

refined porcelain.

因此这里就逐渐逐渐地衰败了下去。

These kilns gradually declined.

韩佳:大牛,这么快你就全都知道了。

Daniel, you came to know everything

in such a short time.

大牛:那当然了,我大牛领会事物快着呢。

Of course, I am learning things fast.

韩佳:好好。既然这样,

OK. If that’s true,

你就赶快出今天的问题吧。

just set a question for today.

(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 – Photos: No pains, no gains

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Updated:2008-03-19
12

No pains, No gains
Smile training: Each girl has to bite down on a chopstick to practice smiling while showing 6-8 teeth. (Photo credit: bandao.cn)

The list of 110 Miss Manners scheduled to be on duty during the Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao was unveiled on Saturday, March 15. The 110 Miss Manners, most of whom were born after 1990, were selected from more than 2,000 applicants at 16 local middle schools. Behind their sweet smiles is rigorous training that even leaves some of them crying.

No pains, No gains
Handshake training: Keep a smile and look at each other when smiling. Each girl’s body has to lean forward by 45 degrees. (Photo credit: bandao.cn)

No pains, No gains
Learning how to kneel: Standing up after lengthy kneeling training can be tricky.

(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)

Chinese Conversation – lesson 393

Friday, March 27th, 2009

曼蒂指着玉蝉
曼蒂:这些蝉代表永生和轮回。它们会被放在往生者的嘴里。
丹:我们看的好多东西都跟死亡脱离不了关系。
曼蒂:其实你仔细想一想,一个文化埋葬死者的方式,其实透露了很多那个文化本身的讯息。
丹:我想那是真的。
曼蒂:而人们休闲玩乐的方式则能显示一个文化的性格。我们去看另一件玉器吧!
丹:嘿,我在电视上看过这个。这棵白菜很有名。

Maddie points to some jade cicadas
Maddie: These cicadas were for eternal life and reincarnation. They were put in dead people’s mouths.
Dan: So much of what we’ve seen is tied up with death.
Maddie: Well, if you think about it, the way a culture buries its dead says a lot about the culture itself.
Dan: That’s true, I guess.
Maddie: And the way people play shows the personality of a culture. Let’s look at another jade.
Dan: Hey, I’ve seen this one on TV. This cabbage is famous.

(Source: wwenglish.com)