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
Naxi Script Resource Center: One-stop Resource for Naxi Dongba Script Fans
This new blog is hosted by Duncan Poupard, who studied Chinese and Tibetan at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and has studied the Naxi pictographic script at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (Lijiang). His mission: This site is designed to be an accessible, one-stop resource and blog for those who wish … Continue reading Naxi Script Resource Center: One-stop Resource for Naxi Dongba Script Fans
Fine-tuning the Spin: Xinjiang’s Awkward Not-so-Chinese Mummies
Uh-oh. Looks like those suspiciously Caucasian mummies from Xinjiang are making trouble again. Or so says an AP report in early January 2011: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A museum just days away from opening a long-awaited exhibit including two mummies and other historical artifacts from China is gutting the display of all objects at the request … Continue reading Fine-tuning the Spin: Xinjiang’s Awkward Not-so-Chinese Mummies
African Lit in Chinese Translation: Still Stuck on “Things Fall Apart”?
China’s 21-century investment in Africa is massive, multifaceted and a cause for anxiety to leaders in Washington, London, Paris and among the continent’s other former colonial masters, as well as New Delhi. But China is not just busy building airports and railways in Africa, or inking deals to monopolize the exploitation and export of valuable … Continue reading African Lit in Chinese Translation: Still Stuck on “Things Fall Apart”?
“Canticle to the Land:” Named One of Top Ten Books of the Year by “China Reading Weekly”
The last novel in Fan Wen's Yunnan-Tibetan trilogy, Canticle to the Land (大地雅歌), has been designated as one of the top ten Chinese books published in 2010 by China Reading Weekly (中华读书报), an influential B2B publication serving China's publishing industry. To learn more about this novel, visit: The Creation Story: An English-language excerpt from Canticle to … Continue reading “Canticle to the Land:” Named One of Top Ten Books of the Year by “China Reading Weekly”
La langue Shui: Objet de recherche
D'après l'edition française du quotidien China Daily (2010.12.24): Les Shui constituent une petite minorité ethnique des 400 mille habitants dans la province du Guizhou, dans le Sud-ouest de la Chine. Comme bon nombre des 55 autres ethnies de la Chine, les Shui ont un passé très ancien et mystérieux. On pense que les ancêtres des … Continue reading La langue Shui: Objet de recherche
“Chinese Book Publishing Industry Liberalizes”: But Where are Pederasty, Passion and the Dalai Lama?
It's always good fun to observe how the Chinese media exercises censorship even as it seeks to use the foreign press to trumpet the PRC's modernity and openness. An article in today's Cankao Xiaoxi (参考消息), China's Book Publishing Industry Gradually Liberalizes (中国图书产业逐渐变的开放), is a marvelous case in point. It is an edited translation of an … Continue reading “Chinese Book Publishing Industry Liberalizes”: But Where are Pederasty, Passion and the Dalai Lama?
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 “
《蒙古往事》及其汉化的蒙古语
我正在读冉平写的《蒙古往事》,也发现了经常出现蒙古人的一些有意思的说法。至少,作者在故事里告诉读者这些说法是来自蒙古语。 我在琢磨:作者会蒙古语吗?“拼法” 标准吗?科学吗?哪些是音译?如果蒙古语为母语的人看到了,认得出来吗? 无论如何,这些说法增加了《蒙古往事》的色彩和可读性,也值得去欣赏和研究。在这里先做点笔记,然后慢慢地加上一些想法和链接。下面的页数以新星出版社的 2010 版为参考。 长生天 (5) 蒙古人将腾格里称为 “Mongke Tengri”,意为 “长生天”,作为最高信仰 。(维基百科) 巴特(6) 《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“巴特,也称把阿秃,即蒙古语中勇士、英雄之意”。其实,好像 “巴特尔” 更正确,因为网上许多地方指 bataar 为蒙古语 “英雄” 之意。“乌兰巴托” (Ulan Bator)的意思是 “红色的英雄”。 苏鲁锭(7) 苏鲁锭的蒙语意思是“长矛”,也就是战旗。安答(20)《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“安答,即结拜的盟兄弟,生死之交”。帖卜腾格里(24) 《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“蒙古语:通天的人”。维基百科:腾格里(Tengri),是古代阿尔泰语系一些游牧民族对于天的称呼,是萨满教腾格里信仰的中心神灵。在中国古代典籍中,“腾格里” 一此最早出于匈奴,协作 “撑犁”,其君主单于的全称即 “撑犁孤涂单于”,意为 “天子般伟大”。其后,鲜卑、柔然、突厥以至蒙古等草原民族均继承了腾格里信仰。与突厥同族的敕勒发展出了 “苍天” (Koke Tengri)的概念,而蒙古人将腾格里成为 “Mongke Tengri”,以为 长生天,作为最高信仰。在之后,由于受到佛教、印度教等影响,腾格里被加上了各种称呼,分裂成为众多神灵, 17 世纪后甚至出现了 “九十腾格里” 的说法。今日土耳其语中,“神” 一词为腾格里转化而来的 “Tann”,其穆斯林信众不但以此词称呼基督教的上帝,甚至还在非正式的场合代替来自阿拉伯语的安拉之名。在欧洲可萨人与保加尔人,阿瓦尔人也曾信仰腾格里。 薛禅(48) 《蒙古往事》内文:“薛禅的意思在古代蒙古语里代表贤哲,就是有见识、有学问的人”。 虎不斯(59) 《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“虎不斯,蒙古古代的琴”。 纳可(59) 《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“纳可,伙伴、随从的意思”。 固姑冠(60) 《老年世界》:“也叫固姑帽,起源于蒙古草原,随着蒙古人入主中原而流传到内地。它是蒙古妇女的著名头饰。。。13 世纪访问蒙古草原的柏朗嘉宾和鲁布鲁克等人所写游记,也都谈到固姑冠的美丽及其造型与风格特色。《鲁布鲁克东行记》说:波克头饰,用树皮制成,它大如两手合掐,高有一腕尺多,阔如柱头。并把它用贵重的丝绢包起来,里面是空的。在柱头顶,即在顶面,插上也有一腕尺多长的一簇羽茎或细枝”。 《蒙古往事》编辑注释:“固姑冠,象征身份、地位的头饰”。 海青(77) 内文:“他们[铁木真等]把鹰叫做海青”。 … Continue reading 《蒙古往事》及其汉化的蒙古语
