User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 11, 2009 at 1:26 AMHi laodie
I did a little research about your thought-provoking question. It turns out that the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (牛郎织女) first took shape in the Eastern Han 东汉 dynasty, in the "Nineteen Ancient Poems" compiled by an anonymous scholar. The poem is:
迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女。
纤纤擢素手，札札弄机杼。
终日不成章，泣涕零如雨。
河汉清且浅，相去复几许？
盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语.
I don't have time to go through the whole thing right now (maybe a future Poems with Pete!) but we can see that the poem uses the word "河汉” to describe the Milky Way, not 云汉. I personally don't see evidence of a romantic connection between moon and shadow in "Drinking Alone..." But you have raised an interesting question.
Posted on: A Business Dinner with a Supplier
February 10, 2009 at 9:32 AMHi desmondlee
In 本公司, 本 means "this." 本公司 This company...
总公司 zǒnggōngsī is the head office. This is the same as 总部 zǒngbù.
Posted on: You First
February 10, 2009 at 9:28 AMHi light487
Jiaojie explains:
"第一" is an ordinal number: first,second。
第一天，first day
第一次，first time
第一个月 first month
先 is an adverb: You eat first. I'll leave first. etc.
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
February 10, 2009 at 9:11 AMHi matt123
Jiaojie just gave me some more information:
Pǔtōnghuà (Mandarin) is the standard national language in China. When foreigners study "Chinese," they generally learn Pǔtōnghuà.
If someone speaks a dialect and you don't understand, you can ask them: 你可以说普通话吗？ Can you speak Mandarin?
Zhōngwén includes Chinese speech and written language, and especially the characters of the Han race (as opposed to the minority ethnic groups in the PRC, some of which have their own letters--Pete).
Some sample sentences are:
我会说一点儿中文。 I can speak a little Chinese.
这是用中文写的，我看不懂。This is written in Chinese. I don't understand it.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 10, 2009 at 8:51 AMHi laodie
No problem. The beauty of this riddle is that the answer is the same regardless of whether you look at the traditional or simplified characters.
Keep the guesses coming, ladies and gentlemen!
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
February 10, 2009 at 8:49 AMHi matt123
This question, believe it or not, has some political overtones!
普通话 pu3tong1hua4 literally means, the common language. Can you guess which side of the Taiwan strait it is popular on?
Taiwanese （and overseas Chinese and to a degree people living in the south of China) are much more likely to say 国语/國語, “the national language".
中文 can really be used for written or spoken Chinese, although maybe a bit more for written. Same goes for 汉语/漢語. Broadly defined, 汉语 includes all the Chinese languages. But as it is generally used, it means Mandarin.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 10, 2009 at 6:56 AMHi norfolkblues
You got me! I should have been clearer that I was contrasting the ancient Chinese method of imbibing with today's broadly-defined Western style, which includes equal doses of judgmental, religious prohibitions and irresponsible, stupid binging.
The happy medium, which I believe the Chinese were and are closer to, is to treat alcohol like fire: it can be useful, fun and exciting, as long as you treat it with the respect it deserves.
I would prefer to keep this page focused on the poem, and not an argument over the glories of the grape versus the ravages of Demon Rum. The "Proof" blog at the New York Times is already doing a wonderful job if you are interested in such stuff.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 10, 2009 at 6:47 AMHi changye
Brilliant. Thanks for explaining this. It's awe-inspiring to see a master at work like this, matching form to function.
In an age when so much "poetry" is either completely opaque or from the "roses are red, violets are blue" school, these old classics have a lot to teach us.
Hi bababardwan
It's fun to watch you thinking out loud. I'll announce the solution at noon tomorrow, Beijing time, to allow our friends in the Western hemisphere to give their solutions.
Posted on: You First
February 10, 2009 at 5:35 AMHi bobm112
I just googled it and actually they just seem to say "terrible towel," although a literal translation would be something like 可怕浴巾 That really doesn't make much sense, though ；-）
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 11, 2009 at 1:33 AMHi mikeinewshot, monica5 and rjberki
Thanks for tuning in, and I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
Special thanks to van0000 for your enthusiasm and for providing so much background information. Li Bai did live during interesting times. I'm looking forward to discussing the turning point of the Tang dynasty, the An Lushan Rebellion 安史之乱, in future podcasts. This was a mega event, and much of what we know about it comes from contemporary poetry.
Hi murken456
You're right, this is the guy! I mentioned this briefly in the podcast but perhaps I should've emphasized it more. Wikipedia has an unsourced suggestion that Li Bai actually killed himself, but I have not been able to confirm or deny that.
I hope this series and the discussions on the boards are 1/10 as educational for poddies as they are for me. I'm learning all kinds of interesting things, and even more, directions for future inquiry.