Archive for June 8th, 2011

Learn mandarin – 为虎作伥 – Chinese Podcast

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

为虎作伥 (Wèi hǔ zuò chāng)

Act as a chang ghost for the tiger—Help a villain do evil

伥Chāng is the ghost of someone devoured by the tiger in ancient Chinese legend. Legend says, the 伥chāng  ghost helps the tiger eat other people. The idiom 为虎作伥(Wèi hǔ zuò chāng) has developed from a very old Chinese fable.

Long, long ago, once a tyrannical tiger was out hunting for food in the forest. To his delight, he caught sight of a man. The beast stole near, sprang on the man, killed him and made a nice meal of him. Ferocious and greedy, the tiger didn’t let the soul of his victim go. The soul now had become a ghost which is called the 伥chāng . The beast said he would let the 伥chāng  go only after the ghost find him another man to eat. Then the soul of the second man would take his place.

The chāng ghost was most willing to help the tiger. He guided the tiger to another man, and even helped undress the new victim so that the tiger could eat him more easily.

The popularity of this story shows people’s hatred for those who regard the enemy as kith and kin and serve as a jackal for scoundrels and villains.

为虎作伥(Wèi hǔ zuò chāng) is close to the English saying “To hold a candle to the devil”.

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Chinese Mandarin – Chinese vice premier urges better services for government-funded hospitals – Chinese News

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang feeds a child with sugar-pill in a health service center in Fangzhuang community in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2011. Li Keqiang on Monday attended activities celebrating the children's vaccination day and inspected the work of healthcare reform in Beijing. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) (llp)
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang feeds a child with sugar-pill in a health service center in Fangzhuang community in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2011. Li Keqiang on Monday attended activities celebrating the children’s vaccination day and inspected the work of healthcare reform in Beijing. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has urged the advancement of reforms in public hospitals in order to provide better and more efficient services for urban and rural citizens.

Li made the remarks on Monday as he took part in activities for the nation’ s vaccination day and inspected Beijing’s medical reforms.

“Children are our country’s future. Vaccinations are currently the most effective and low-cost method to prevent epidemic diseases,” Li said.

According to Li, China will provide medical coverage for another 48 million children in the child health care program, and 110 million more elderly people will receive physical examinations.

While visiting the Beijing Friendship Hospital, Li said that optimized services and innovative management are essential parts of the reform of public hospitals, adding that quality service will also improve the harmonious relationship between doctors and patients.

Li urged the city’s hospital reform to focus on three aspects: excessive charges for drugs and medical treatments, physicians’ moral characters and professional skills, and innovation in management and services.

Related:

West China children with heart disease receive free surgery

URUMQI, April 25 (Xinhua) — Forty children afflicted with congenital heart disease in west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are heading to Beijing, where they will receive free surgery offered by a charity program.

The children, from different ethnic groups including Han, Uygur, Kazakh, Xibe, and Dongxiang, boarded a train to Beijing with their parents on Monday. They will receive treatment at the Chinese Armed Police General Hospital.

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