Also, for most projects, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the client’s expectations with regard to translation before undertaking even a trial translation. We find that clients that request trial translations often have not clearly identified their communications goals. It is important to realize that the source Chinese (or other language) content written for one audience doesn’t necessarily translate well into English content for a different audience. Oftentimes, that is just not possible without adapting the source or translated content, requiring skills including, but also beyond, translation.

Moreover, there is the issue of who will be judging the translation test and whether or not it meets the client’s needs. Often, the judge/reviewer is not a native English speaker. And although such a person is capable of identifying translation errors and correct terminology, they often are not able to evaluate other aspects of the translation, such as the quality of the overall writing, correct usage, nuances of word choice, etc.

http://www.chinasmack.com/stories/sexist-chinese-characters-discriminate-against-women/

Escape from LanZhou

Following directions in a book, I went to a bus station and asked about tickets to LuoMen in eastern Gansu. They directed me to a bus station on TianShui road, where I was directed to another station, where I was directed to another station, where I was finally sent back to the station on TianShui Road.

The problem there was that while many buses ran to my destination, foreigners are not allowed to ride those buses for insurance reasons; the people at TianShui Road station decided not to tell me that on my first visit since it was funnier to send me off on a goose chase when they knew that theirs was the only station in town with service to my destination. They claimed that only two other foreigners had taken a bus to LuoMen in the last two years; those foreigners had insurance. So did I, but I had no proof. I went to a travel agency and tried to buy insurance, but my ID number didn’t have enough digits–Chinese ID numbers are long, as you might expect.

Finally, a driver told me to wait a few hundred meters away and get on after the bus turned a corner; that’s how most people do it. Only one passenger got on at the station. For several kilometers on the way out of town, a guy stands in the doorway of the rolling bus and shouts, “LuoMen!” Upon seeing their bus, some people wave their arms wildly, but some just nod and pick up their belongings off the street. You can learn a lot about people from watching them flag down buses in Lanzhou; I was having the time of my life.

After an hour or so on the freeway, we entered a network of small roads through hills that shouldered the remains of many mud forts. When I came through this area last time (without bus hassles), the bus had to detour around mudslides, adding hours to the journey, but this time, the bus was just slow, stopping in every town to wait for more passengers, driving over roadblocks made of wheat, slowing down at every cluster of homes that could harbor charming children who run out into the road without looking first. We didn’t reach LuoMen until after dark.

LuoMen had a beautiful moon and clouds, a sight not seen in Nanjing. The hotel was super cheap and had a basic but spacious room with a view of the sky. When I went out to find food, two young women approached; one had just graduated but was unemployed, while her friend was home on summer break. They wanted to practice English, and of course the conversation was very boring, for the most part. They showed me where to catch a bus in the morning and offered to lead me to a good restaurant. The roads were under construction, as the town is being developed for tourism. I asked about all the people burning garbage at the edge of the street, and they said this was standard practice throughout the town.

“That’s really bad,” I said involuntarily.

“We’re just starting to develop!” one of the girls pleaded.

After a ten minute walk, the restaurant was closed. The girls were embarrassed.

I was in LuoMen to see Water Curtain “Grottoes” (ShuiLianDong) after reading about the place in a travel book. I wouldn’t call them grottoes, since the art is simply protected from the elements by rock overhangs that are more like windowsills than caves.

Located among honeycomb hairdo bluffs, Water Curtain Concaves has a giant painted relief carving that dates back to the Northern Wei period (4th to 6th centuries), when much of northern China was ruled by Tuoba Turks, or the Turkic Tuoba, who came out of Manchuria and Mongolia back when Turkic peoples lived further to the east. Today, the most easterly Turkic communities are in southern Gansu. Wow, huh?

Anyway, all the art at Water Curtain Concaves was behind scaffolding, the trails to the best views were closed, and so I took pictures of the workmen. It was easy to see that I was missing great pictures of the largest Buddha cluster.

The second concave was oddly barren. Later, a cab driver later told me that, over the last decade, locals had heisted most of Water Curtain’s art; he said this as if it were common knowlege.

“How much do you think that stuff was worth? Quite a lot. You went to 1000 Buddha Concave, right? It was called 1000 Buddha Concave for a reason, but how many Buddhas did you see–three or four? That should tell you something.”

He said that locals knew the area would be developed sooner or later, and once the higher authorities moved in, it would become impossible to steal the art, so they took while the getting was good. He could remember when the 1000 Buddha Concave was spectacular. He didn’t need to mention that back then, the town had a real attraction. Now they have one Buddha that is too big to steal; the rest of the site could serve as a crime museum (check out the photos). The whole town lost money in the long run, but somebody got rich.

This is a modern desecration that can’t be blamed on the Cultural Revolution. Art theft on such a scale probably required the help of corrupt local officials. What makes LuoMen Water Curtain Concaves interesting is that it is the most incompetently managed historical site I’ve ever seen. A group of people robbed the future of a struggling town while ruining a cultural relic, and nobody did anything about it.

Eastern Gansu Fort

Eastern Gansu Fort

Shui Lian Dong

Shui Lian Dong

Shui Lian Dong

Shui Lian Dong

Shui Lian Dong

Shui Lian Dong

Helan Shan Yan Hua Xi Xia Script

Doing our best to choose articles and reports based on facts: Yeeyan and translation

Jun Fu Bets His Cow

Wang Jun Fu had a prized cow named BaBaiLiBo. He or someone else regularly polished the animal’s horns and hooves until they shined.

One fateful day, Wang WuZi said to Wang JunFu, “You are a better archer than I am. Let’s have an archery contest. I will bet a million cash if you bet your cow.” Wang JunFu was confident in his archery, so he agreed. He Let WuZi shoot first.

Wuzi hit the bullseye on his first attempt. He retreated to his shaded Hu bed and ordered his servants to quickly barbecue the heart and serve it to him. When they brought it, he took one bite and left.

Music Before Execution

Ji Kang faced execution in East City, but he remained calm. He even requested a zither so that he could play a tune called GuangLingSan. When he finished his performance, he announced, “Yuan XiaoNi begged me to teach him that song, but I didn’t want to share it with anyone else. Today, this song will die with me.”

3000 students had sent an appeal to the capital urging clemency and requesting that Ji Kang serve as their teacher, but the execution went ahead as planned.

After Ji Kang died, the king expressed regret.

Ji Kang Forges Metal

Zhong ShiJi was one of the famous bright guys in his times. He had never met Ji Kang, so he rounded up a group of distinguished contemporaries and paid a group visit to the well-known eccentric wise man.

When the visitors arrived, Ji Kang was forging metal in the shade of a tree. He gestured to someone named Zi Qi to work the bellows. Ji Kang hammered away as if nobody were there, saying nothing to his visitors. I guess he was really in the mood for forging metal. After much too long, Zhong ShiJi finally rose to leave, and Ji Kang said, “What did you hear that brought you here, and what did you see that brings you to leave?”

Zhong said, “I heard what I heard and came. I saw what I saw and left.”

睡垀恓奧懂, 睡垀獗奧?

Drinking in the Bamboo Grove

Ji Kang and friends were getting drunk in the proverbial bamboo grove. Wang Rong arrived late, so Ruan Xiang said, “A vulgar commoner has come to spoil the atmosphere.” Wang Rong said, “What is there to spoil?”

Wang Pretends to Sleep

Wang was Wang XiZhi, a 4th century calligraphy master. I happened to photograph printed copies of his calligraphy at the Shanghai Museum, so those photos are attached.

It would be hard for us to fit into China in those times, and if a bunch of ancient Chinese notables were to appear in our world, we’d probably have to lock some of them up.

“Before the age of ten,” Wang often slept in the same tent with a general who really liked him.

One day, the general went out early. A while later, Wang was alone in the tent when Money Phoenix and his friends gathered outside the tent and started talking about a plot (that’s all it says). Wang woke up and heard them talking. He knew he would not live if they found out he was listening. He had to pretend to be fast asleep. To enhance his acting, he slobbered spit all over his face, the pillow and the blankets.

After a while, a conspirator named Wang Dun remembered that Wang XiZhi was in the tent. He told the others and said, “The only thing to do is kill him.” However, when they entered the tent and saw the smeared saliva, they concluded that the boy had heard nothing.

At the time, everyone said Wang was a clever boy.

Also in his childhood, Wang was a guest at the home of an official. The text says that the official cut off a piece of cow’s heart and gave it to Wang; after that, many people took a second look at the young Wang Xi Zhi. Hmmm…

When Wang was really old, he started saying a lot of negative stuff about two of his best friends, who had died before him. They had been his closest friends for years, but now he had nothing good to say about them. Somebody finally had to tell him to knock it off.

Xu Yun’s Ugly Wife

Xu Yun’s wife came from a very important family. These people were well-connected. Her father was Ruan Gong, her elder brother was Ruan De (wow!!!)

However, she was really ugly, so ugly that Xu Yun just could not bring himself to enter the honey chamber on his wedding night. It looks bad when a groom does not consummate the wedding, so the families were in a real tizzy.

A visitor came to see Xu Yun. His bride sent a servant girl to find out who the visitor was. The 瞉躓 came back and said, “It’s Huan Lang.”

“Oh, good, Huan Lang. Nothing to worry about now. 遘檔 will set my husband straight.”

Huan Lang said to the strange groom, “So, the mighty Ruan family married their ugly daughter off to you. They must have had reasons for doing so, as well as certain expectations. Don’t you think you should get a bit more involved in your own marriage?”

Xu Yun went to the honey chamber, but when he saw his bride, he turned to leave. She knew that if he left, he wouldn’t come back, so she grabbed his garment.

Xu Yun said, “A woman should have four virtues. Which virtues do you possess?”

She said, “I lack only beauty. A Learned Gentleman such as yourself is supposed to possess all virtues, and there are hundreds of them! How many do you possess?”

Xu said, “I have them all.”

She said, “Of all virtues, the most important is 肅 (respectfulness), but you value sex appeal over goodness. How can you say you possess all virtues?”

She really had him there: He wasn’t showing much 肅.

Xu Yun probably cringed in shame, and thereafter, they lived in mutual respect.

Gu Rong Shares His Meat

Gu Rong went to Luoyang, the capital. He was invited to a barbecue. One of the cooks was looking at the meat as if he really waned some of it, so Gu Yong stopped eating and gave his portion to the chef. Everyone laughed at Gu Rong, but he said, “How can somebody handle this meat all the time and never eat it?”

Later, Gu Rong was surrounded by the YongJia uprising, so he fled across the Yangzi River to the south. Every time he was in danger, a stranger came to his aid. Finally, Gu Rong asked the stranger what was going on.

The stranger was the cook from the barbecue.

—————————————————————————————

The Boys Who Stole Liquor

Kong WenJu had two sons, aged five and six. One afternoon while Kong was napping, the younger boy came into his room, found dad’s liquor and started drinking. The older son asked, “Why didn’t you do the liquor ritual before you started drinking?” The younger boy replied, “I’m stealing it. I can’t do a ritual for stolen liquor.”

More Boys Who Stole Liquor

One day the Zhong brothers noticed that their father was napping. They decided to sample his medicinal liquor. Their father woke up and listened. Zhong Yu did the proper ritual before drinking, but Zhong Hui just started drinking like a godless wino. After a while, their father got out of bed and asked Zhong Yu why he did a drinking ritual. The boy said, “Liquor is used only for ritual purposes, so I wouldn’t dare drink it without peforming the proper ritual first.” The father then asked Zhong Hui why he did not do the ritual, and the boy said, “It’s against the spirit of ritual to steal liquor, so I didn’t perform the ritual.”

Southern Man, Northern Ghost (early case of lactose intolerance)

A military officer named Lu Ruan paid a visit to a minister named Wang Duo, who lived in the north. Wang Duo served him nothing but cheese. That night he got very sick.

The next day he wrote a letter to Wang Duo. “I had a bit too much cheese and was deathly ill all night. I am a man of Wu (in the south), but I nearly became a northern ghost.”

Shield Leaf Soup from QianLi Lake

Lu Ji went to visit Wang Wuzi. Wang produced a large quantity of goat cheese and said, “Do you southerners have any delicacies that can compare to this?”

Lu Ji said, “Well, we have QianLI Lake shield leaf soup. That can compare to goat cheese, but we don’t smother it in salt and fermented beans.”

Gao Zuo Doesn’t Speak Chinese

The Daoist master Gao Zuo could not speak Chinese. Somebody asked why not, and the emperor, Jin WenDi, said, “To save himself the trouble of banquets and socializing.”

Hero in Chaos

When Cao Cao was a young man, he met with Qiao Xuan. Qiao Xuan said to him, “These are troubled times, aren’t they? The world is a mess, the great men of our times warring against each other. Who but you can restore order? You truly are a hero in times of chaos, a scoundrel in times of peace. The pity is, I’m old and will not live to see you achieve greatness. All I can do is to entrust my children to you. Please take care of them for me.”

I highly recommend checking out the debate and even chiming in if you so move to do so:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/chinese-language-ever-evolving/

“Like modern-day explorers, the two academics featured in The Linguists travel to forgotten places around the globe to unearth rare treasures—in this case, endangered languages. On a shoestring budget, professors David Harrison and Gregory Anderson navigate difficult terrain, searching for speakers of these forgotten and mostly hidden languages. While more than 7,000 different languages are currently spoken around the world, many are rapidly disappearing. Language diversity is shrinking as colonialism and economic unrest destroy traditional tribal tongues. When young people abandon their ancestral language, the passive suppression of their culture begins, and soon those languages will cease to exist. Joining a traditional ceremony in a remote village in India, observing a Kallawaya healing ritual in Bolivia, and completing an arduous journey into Siberia are all part and parcel of heeding the urgent call. The word connoisseurs are well suited for the monumental task of researching and documenting native tongues; they speak 25 languages between them. These humble ethnographers are in a race against time to preserve the increasingly rare words, which are intricately linked to the vanishing traditions and heritage of Indigenous populations. Well-paced and laced with humor, The Linguists serves as an insightful, contemporary adventure film with a strong emphasis on cultural history.”

Online to see for a short time: http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#play|SEARCH,channelID:179855,order:FEATURED|3,3016880

Decisions from 中翊 ED on Vimeo.

Both are popular YouTube videos, which have had an impact beyond “cyberspace”.

YouTube and similar social Internet tools have opened up a rich world of new modes of expression in China. While the first video has landed a group of young men a recording contract, the second has become a popular video for both its innocent and profane meanings. But it is this second video that reveals the fluidity and thus difficult-to-filter nature of the Chinese language, especially on the Internet.

For a great read: China’s complicated Internet culture.