The khanbaliqist has written an informative and witty post, Spelling Pronunciations as a Method of Teaching, based on his own experiences learning Mongolian on the ground . . . in Inner Mongolia, I believe. His description of how written Mongolian is emphasized—almost to the point of banning spoken Mongolian from the classroom—reminds me of my … Continue reading Teaching Mongolian in the PRC: Written Trumps Spoken & Befuddles the Foreign Learner
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“Follow Me in Dai!” Soon to be Published
Two textbooks aimed at pupils in Yunnan have been approved and will soon be published (傣文教材出炉): Dai Reader IV for Xishuangbanna Elementary School Students (西双版纳傣文小学教材第四册) and Follow Me in Dai! (跟我学傣文). The Dai Reader consists of 30 texts, 19 traditonal Dai pieces and 11 translations (I assume from Chinese). Follow Me in Dai! will be … Continue reading “Follow Me in Dai!” Soon to be Published
China Ethnic Dictionary Project: Yunnan’s Lahu Next in Line
The compilation of a Chinese-Lahu dictionary officially began in Kunming on April 14, according to a report on the Institute of Ethnic Literature site (编篡工作在昆明启动). Some 100 Lahu scholars met to discuss the reference book, scheduled for publication in 2015, that will comprise over two million words of text. The Lāhù (拉祜族) are one of the 56 peoples … Continue reading China Ethnic Dictionary Project: Yunnan’s Lahu Next in Line
New Software for Yi, Zhuang, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Applications
Xinhuanet reports (Minority Language Translation Software) that the China Ethnic Languages Translation Bureau has announced the development of several software programs for non-Han languages in China: These programs include electronic dictionaries for the characters of the Yi and Zhuang ethnic groups [彝文电子词典及辅助翻译软件 and 壮文电子词典及辅助翻译软件], a proofreading tool for the Zhuang ethnic language [壮文校对软件], and transcoding applications … Continue reading New Software for Yi, Zhuang, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Applications
Tsering Norbu’s “Amerika”: Village Life in 21st Century Tibet – with a Twist
Only a handful of Tibetans who write fiction in Chinese have seen their work published in English, but Tsering Norbu has recently joined this elite. Here’s a brief intro to his Amerika (阿米日嘎，次仁罗布著): A farmer in rural Tibet invests his life savings and more to purchase a breeding bull imported all the way from “Amerika” … Continue reading Tsering Norbu’s “Amerika”: Village Life in 21st Century Tibet – with a Twist
Sinologist Wolfgang Kubin: What Makes for “Good Literature” and “Good Language”?
Controversial German Sinologist Wolfgang Kubin was recently in Shenzhen where he spoke at some length on three subjects: What makes for "good literature" (好的文学)? "Good language" (好的语言)? And if a Chinese author writes in a foreign tongue, what sorts of changes occur? On August 10, China Reading Weekly (中华读书报) published What is Good Chinese Literature … Continue reading Sinologist Wolfgang Kubin: What Makes for “Good Literature” and “Good Language”?
Hani Author Cun Wenxue: Questioning Value of Made-in-China Modernity
In An Author Who Confronts our Demons, Liu Jun (刘浚) highlights the writing of a contemporary Hani (哈尼族) author: Yunnan writer Cun Wenxue [存文学] grabs readers by the throat and thrusts them into the mountain-locked life of the Lisu people [傈僳族] on page one of his novel Biluo Snow Mountain [碧洛雪山]. No wonder a film … Continue reading Hani Author Cun Wenxue: Questioning Value of Made-in-China Modernity
Phags-pa Script: Tibetan Links to Kublai Khan’s Unified Script for his Empire
A volume devoted to a Yuan Dynasty script inspired by written Tibetan, Collection of Phags-pa Inscriptions and Annotations (八思巴文碑刻文物集释), will soon be launched. Editor Cai Meibiao (蔡美彪) says the book gathers some 60 years of scholarship. Chinanews.com has published interviews with two scholars who have spent years studying the script. Kublai Khan commissioned the creation … Continue reading Phags-pa Script: Tibetan Links to Kublai Khan’s Unified Script for his Empire
The Unsavory Side of Translated Fiction Publishing in China
In Book Publishers Scramble for Chinese Readers at the NY Times today, one China publisher in particular---Horizon Media---is featured as particularly savvy in recognizing early on the huge demand of Chinese readers for fiction from the West, and for picking winners that it brought to the market efficiently: Wang Ling, Horizon’s chief literature editor, cites as … Continue reading The Unsavory Side of Translated Fiction Publishing in China
Mini-review: Gao Ping’s “Tsangyang Gyatso, The Sixth Dalai Lama “
Leave me to myself. Go away. I have had enough of your demands on me. I didn't ask for it. What right do you have to make me your Dalai Lama? What right do you have to make me a eunuch, while still leaving my body and passions intact? (From Paul Williams' The Erotic Verse of the … Continue reading Mini-review: Gao Ping’s “Tsangyang Gyatso, The Sixth Dalai Lama “
Ethnic ChinaLit 