New Book, Knowing Your Roots, Prologue

 

Prologue

 

In a way, we have to thank the Qing (清) dynasty (1636–1912, 276 years) for what China is today, geographically speaking. Of course, land mass that the Yuan (元) dynasty (1271–1368, 97 years) controlled was even larger. The ruling classes of both Yuan and Qing were non-Han, the former being Mongolians, and the latter, Manchus. These were not the only two non-Han periods in Chinese history. As far back as the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), northern tribes Xiong-Nu (匈奴 Xiōng-Nú) had already begun to intrude into China. Fortunately, the dynasty was strong enough to survive and in fact expanded territorially somewhat.

During the Chin (晉, conventionally spelt as Jìn) period (265-420, 155 years), many parts of China fell prey to tribal forces from the north and established polities during the era, significantly the Wu-Hu (五胡Wǔ Hú) reigns. There were as many as 16 states ruling the various parts of the country during that period.

Even the heritage of the founding emperor of the Tang (唐) dynasty (618–690, 705–907, 274 years) is questionable. Many scholars believe he was Xian-Bei (鮮卑 Xiān-Bēi), a Pro-Mongolic people in origin. (But some think he was only 25% Xian-Bei.)

After Tang, China lapsed into another period of political instability, and the areas in the north were ruled successively by non-Han dynasties, most significantly of which is Liao (辽 Liáo) – of Khi-Tan (契丹) tribe – which ruled a large land mass in the north from 916 to 1125 (209 years). Even after the founding of Song (宋) (960-1129, 165 years), it had to share China with Jin (金), of Jur-Chen (女真 Nǚ-Zhēn) tribe. Jin existed from 1115 to 1234 (119 years).

There were also civil wars. The first lasted about 250 years, in a period called the Warring States (战国时代 – Zhàn-Guó Shí-Dài) [475–221 BC] during the Zhou (周 Zhōu) dynasty’s long, albeit weak, reigns. The second was during the Three Kingdoms period (三国时代 – Sān-Guó Shí-Dài) [220-265]. Much blood was shed because of the battles and the wars. Many million lost their lives.

No sooner had Sun Yat-sen ushered in a republic government than the warlords began to undermine its stability. And soon Japan invaded. Even fighting Japanese was not a coherent effort; there was much rivalry between Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (Kuo-Min Tang 国民党) government and Mao Zedong’s forces.  

It can therefore be surmised that China (or at least some parts of it) has been variously ruled by non-Han Chinese for more than 800 years of its existence, and in between there were also civil wars when Chinese fought Chinese. Even today, the US is doing everything possible to make sure that Taiwan does not become a part of China. A unified China is still very much a tall order.  

Today, there are 56 ethnic groups living in mainland China. Han Chinese account for about 90% of Its total population. The major minority ethnic groups are Zhuang, Hui, Manchu, and Uyghur. Everyone is equal, but the Chinese government does give the ethnic minorities some affirmative advantages especially in education and healthcare.

The Han culture is “magnetic” or suctional. Yuan’s Mongols and Qing’s Manchus became Sinicized when they ruled China-proper. So had many of the northern tribes who lorded the Hans during the various minor dynasties in China’s history.

Proud to be ethnically Chinese!

New Book, Knowing Your Roots, Preface

 

PREFACE

I was born in 1949 in the then colonial Malaya. World War II had ended, but Malaya was just entering into a period called The Emergency when the colonial government declared the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) illegal. Members of the party had to go underground; many retreated to the jungles to fight for their cause. The party had many sympathizers; new villages were formed by the colonial government to fence the more rural Chinese in, lest they became the lifelines of the Communists.

My grandpa hailed from Jinjiang (晋江- Back to my earlier argument, shouldn’t the pin-yin of it be Chin-Jiang? 😎), a county in the province of Fujian. He married a Peranakan of heavy Javanese heritage. My father was schooled in classic Chinese, and he married my mother who, although born into a “school-fragrant” family, was not sent to be schooled. Nonetheless, she had the opportunity to learn a great deal about wisdom and virtues from my maternal grandmother who was apparently very knowledgeable about Chinese classics and legends. My mother would always fill us with “historical” lessons when she had to discipline us. The morals in the stories she told have remained the guiding philosophy of my life.

Father and Mother had to start their own home; however, they had to leave their eldest child with Grandma, a common expectation then. My eldest brother was sent to an English school. The rest of us were sent to Chinese school.

My grounding for Chinese history and Chineseness was further reinforced during my primary school days. I loved to read about our great sages, legends, deities, and scholars and poets.

Reality sept in. There was hardly any “future” for Chinese school leavers then!

My family decided to switch me to English school when it was time to begin my secondary education. I had to do a year of “Remove” class before I could enter Form I. The school was quite discriminatory; it lumped all those from Chinese schools in the two bottom classes of the form until we sat for the Lower Certificate of Education at the end of Form III. We were an outcaste class. Hok-Kien (Hokkien), the Mǐn-Nán (閩南) version of Fujianese, became our lingua franca. We sought comfort in our own world, and most of us got engrossed with the books of the martial arts varieties. I was fortunate that my home was full of Chinese literature. I got the opportunity to read, besides the classics, Lu Xun (鲁迅) and other more modern scholars. (My older brothers were still studying in a Chinese high school.) We continued to identify ourselves differently from those who streamed in from the English schools.

I completed my degree at the University of Malaya in 1973. By then, English was already the “universal” language. Although we continued to practise Chinese culture and traditions, we neither looked up to China as our motherland. Few could be proud of mainland China at that time. Japan was fast rising, and China was still time-warped with Mao’s Cultural Revolution madness. Despite Japan’s atrocities to Chinese during World War II, we were willing to learn from them, even culturally.

Like most other parents, we sent our children to English schools, thinking that was the best way of assuring a good future for them. But I also engaged a tutor to teach my two children Chinese. Unfortunately, because of lack of emphasis, they hardly learned any Chinese from their tutor. My wife was born into an English-educated family and Chinese in Mandarin and in writing was totally alien to her. We spoke English at home. Apart from the Chinese customs, my two children have had hardly any knowledge about Chinese history and our sages’ teachings and wisdom. As their only source of geopolitical acknowledge is from western media, they naturally take a very negative view about news in or from China. I feel concerned. (I am not saying what you are reading or hearing from Chinese sources are authoritative. Many narratives are the Qian-Long^[1] variety – blind to truths and actual developments, and China is right wholesale, regardless.)

I believe there are many ethnic Chinese who are like my children. One does not have to swear allegiance to China. (Your loyalty must be given to the country where you are a citizen.) But China today, even if you do not agree with its “totalitarianism” (as the West want you believe), is a country that you certainly can be proud of – for what the “dictatorship” has achieved so phenomenally for the country for the past thirty or so years.

I am most dismayed by the worldview of many ethnic Chinese who seem to pride themselves as “Whites”. We love to use the term “Yellow Bananas” to describe them. You can excuse those who have been born into a Western environment, but for those who have emigrated, like the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s aide Yu Mao-Chun (Miles Maochun Yu), you just cannot imagine they can be so anti-China, even though they were the beneficiaries of China’s talent-grooming policy. I also have highly educated folks who live in Whites suburbs in Australia, who for reasons of their own, are quite negative about China. To them anything good about China is not to be believed!   

Chinese can only stand tall if China is respected. (We also can help change China in our own small ways!) To help disseminate this seemingly simple message is now my mission. And this is precisely the reason why I am compiling this book. (I cannot say I am writing this book, for much of what I am writing is “plagiarized” from somewhere. I only organise the contents to suit the messages I am trying to put across.)

Readers may find the book’s organisation somewhat strange – with boxes of “facts” or “legends” appearing all over the chapters. The dynasties and eras are written in chronological order. The “boxed” materials are facts and legends that first happened in the appropriate period, hence their sporadic appearances. Hope readers can live with them and appreciate their significance.

The Author/Kuala Lumpur/March 2023.

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[1] The Qin emperor who rebuffed George Macartney in 1793.

A Tour of the Northern Loop of Peninsular Malaysia

My wife and I decided to run in our new Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 4-Motion, an SUV we picked up after I crashed my brother-in-law’s Volvo XC90, with a trip around the northern loop of the Peninsula.

March 25-27 Penang

The journey along the expressway north was, as usual, a swift affair. However, we did swing to Teluk Intan to top up the car’s fuel tank. I could not recall if I had visited this royal town before, but since we were there, we thought we might as well visit the palace precinct. The colonial style palace is certainly impressive. Otherwise, the town is quite typical of the country’s.

Penang was our first destination. It is a city where my wife hails from and where I did my sixth form and where I met her. Of course, we loved to be in Penang again. We went to take a look at her old house; we could hardly recognise the new neighbourhood. Her old neighbours, especially Poh, were kind enough to help us recall long-forgotten names and landmarks.   

Penang’s hawker food is simply amazing. The varieties are also available in Kuala Lumpur, but those prepared by Penang hawkers somehow taste very heavenly. We would always be spoilt for choice there, but chendor is always a must for us.

Shangri-la’s hotels are always a cut above others. This time we put up at Rasa Saya. Although it has been around for decades, the hotel has not aged. Everything was great. And breakfast was fantastic. (I was in Jakarta’s Shangri-la just about a week or so earlier; it certainly lived up to being a Shangri-la too!)

As usual, we drove around the island. It is as thriving as ever.

My high school mate Huee Hong, who was also my roommate while we were both studying at the University of Malaya, bought us dinner. We met his wife Yvonne for the first time. They are lovely!

March 27-29 Kota Bahru/Golok

We had to pass Kulim on our way east. The outskirts are full of industries now. (No wonder the state government wants an international airport to be built there!) I do not mean to be chauvinistic; Chinese entrepreneurship is simply mind-boggling.

The road to Kelantan is hilly and windy; many parts are quite rough. Fortunately, traffic was light, and I could stretch my new Felali a little. The road also cuts through virgin jungles and scenic lakes. My wife was quick to spot a wild elephant along the way.

I first visited Kota Bahru probably in 1978 when I was with Bank Pertainian (now Agro Bank). The Kota Bahru branch was the bank’s biggest at that time. Poh Guan who was the bank’s branch manager there showed me around the town and even took me to the border town Golok. I made a second visit in the 1990s, when the late Tan Sri Low Yow Chuan was keen to set up a cement plant in Gua Musang. I did not remember much about the city.

The fasting month had just begun, the city looked very tired to me. Most buildings are in dire need of a new coat of paint. There are also few trees in the city. There was not much to see in its Chinatown. We put up at Hotel Grand Riverview. It has an impressive lobby, but the hotel as a whole has not been well maintained. Things were not well thought out and staff appeared a little lethargic. Our room looked pathetic; we were quite uncomfortable with the condition of the linen that was provided in the room.  

On the whole, we found Kelantan wanting. It is hardly keeping up with the rest of the country, economically speaking. There you do not see any decent factories, let alone industrial parks. There are few signs of prosperity amongst its people. Cars are mostly the lower-end Perodua varieties. Many of the last general election’s political flags are still flying high, but most of them are in tatters. (This certainly speaks volumes of the type of “tidak apa” attitude held by politicians there,)

Yes, Thailand’s Golok is just a stone throw from Rantau Panjang. We did not want to take our car across. There was a private car park which charged reasonably. One of the people attending there – a Malay gentleman probably in his early 60s – impressed me with his good Mandarin. He said he had done six years in Chinese school. No wonder!

The usual means is for one to be ferried across on a motorcycle. That was not an option for us; instead, we negotiated for a car to show us around Golok.

How much?

Two hundred Ringgit?

One hundred and fifty, can?

Okay.

What cropped up next nearly spoilt our intention. After scanning my passport, the Thai immigration officer took longer than usual to look at his computer screen. His computer record showed that I had not exited after a trip I made to Bangkok a couple of years ago!

How could that be?

He took me to his boss who believed that the mistake was theirs. But I had to show my old passport for him to see the “chop”. Not possible, I told him. How could he expect me to bring an expired passport along? I was about to give up; but he was genuinely interested to help. I called Caroline, my most able colleague in my Singapore office, to see if she had a scanned copy of my old passport. Not only did she send the copy, she also whatsapped me the itinerary, including the flight details of that particular trip.

I was all cleared to enter! I am going to write a letter of appreciation to Thailand’s Foreign Ministry! They have an extraordinary immigration officer at Golok!

There was not much to see in Golok. We had a meal in one of the restaurants. (We were the only customers!) The driver took us to a shop where we could pick up some local stuff.

Upon our return, I gave the driver MYR220. He was a little confused. “I have no change to give you”, he said. I told him it was all for his keep. He thanked me profusely; I must have made his day.

March 29/30 Kuala Terengganu/Kuantan

The journey from Kota Bahru to Kuala Terengganu was rather uneventful. The city is certainly more pleasing to see than Kota Bahru.

With the help of Waze, we navigated into the city’s Chinatown to have an early lunch and to pick up some dried Keropok.

There is a toll highway that can take one from Kuala Terengganu to Kuala Lumpur. We chose to travel by the coastal road to go to Kuantan first.

On seeing Resorts World’s signage at Kijal, we decided to turn in to take a quick look at the resort that I once had the opportunity to be associated with. In the compound, I suddenly saw a somewhat familiar face talking to another man. I stopped to ask if he was Mr Chuah. Yes! Are you Mr Chuah of Chikuyotei? Yes! “Who are you?” He asked.

This must be a one in a million-chance encounter!!!

Kin Tat is a long-lost friend! He used to own the famous Chikuyotei chain of Japanese restaurants, and a dear friend since the early 1990s. Together with a couple of other colleagues, we had even spent some days in this resort!

Kin Tat, who is now in his early 80s, but still very robust, is now living in the resort with his wife.

Swiss-Belhotel Kuantan is a typical local hotel with international pretensions. The size of the room is quite generous, otherwise, things are quite basic. It was just for us to break the journey, no big deal.

Kuantan was famous for its salted fish; I used to visit the town from time to time in the 1980s. But it is a big town today. I could not find the shops that sold salted fish anymore. Unwilling to give up, I stopped to ask a young lady if she knew any of these shops. Without hesitation, she told me I still could find it at Jalan Besar, near the Kuantan Tower. We had passed the place earlier; I backtracked but only to find that it had closed for the day.

Next morning, before we set out for Kuala Lumpur, we decided to return to visit the shop, even though it was hardly 9am. To our pleasant surprise, it was already open for business.

Back to Comfort

The toll highway is a pleasure to drive. We decided to break journey and turned into Bentong to pick up some yong-taufu. With Waze, it was easy to find.

Home sweet home! After six days and five nights of playing local tourists!

 And my new Felali has lived up to my expectations!

For-Prosperity Democratic Autocracy - An Oxymoron?

To those who have no affinity for China, or who feel that China is nothing but a obnoxious totalitarian regime, democratic autocracy must be an oxymoron term to them. How can democracy and autocracy co-exist? Are they not diametrically opposite?

Sure, that is what we have been led to believe all this while.

If China is such a monstrous state, how could tens of millions play deep-pocket tourists to all corners of the world every year? How could 90% of the population be happy with their government, based on surveys done not by their own political apparatuses but by Western think tanks? How could it progress so fast within the last twenty years? In the face of these facts and if you are still not convinced that China is doing something very right, then you must not go beyond this line to read the following, especially if you are Chinese ethnically.  

Indeed, China’s concept of for-posterity democratic autocracy or autocratic democracy can hardly be adaptable by any country or nation, hence its alienness and distantness to many. It is the final product of millennia’s brewing, infusion and filtration – feudalism, Ru teachings, fear of Dao retributions, civil wars, “barbarian” invasions, more than a century of Western and Japanese bullying and humiliation, and in the last one hundred years, Sun Yat-sen’s three principles of people-centric governance philosophy, Mao’s classless utopianism, and now the realities of the day – the West’s blatant intent to kick China to where it was a hundred years ago.

This distilled product is often described in China’s announcements and may appear rhetorical to many – if they do not want to see the truth.

Graham Allison thinks the world is now facing a Thucydides trap where two big powers – one existing and the other emerging - are fighting for supremacy. Many disagree, which I do too. It is an inevitability that is perceived by the US, certainly not by China. China has no interest to replace the US anywhere. It simply wants to give its people a better tomorrow.

In the case of Taiwan where the West are using it as a clear example of China’s aggression, the truth is simply this. It just wants the Taiwan – where the demography is no different from that the Mainland’s – to return to its fold under a one-country-two-systems framework. This one-China fact is even recognised by the US itself over its communiques.

To deter the new Xiong Nu, China must have a level of military and technology that is no inferior to the US’s.

Externally, China does not believe in intervening in any country’s internal affairs. People in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Venezuela, or even in some of the banana regimes in Africa, must sort put things themselves – through education and exposure to the outside world. Period.

China knows its concept of governance is not exportable. There is a prerequisite for this form of governance to happen. The society’s culture must be enabling. The first word that is likely to come to many readers’ mind is perhaps “subserviency”. Subserviency maybe is the very nature of the people in this type of society – pretty low intellect, and passive and blind to leaders who lead by force, fear or with “divine” or religious calling cards.

Is that true? It is certainly not a new political philosophy. Lee Kuan Yew had led Singapore for many years with exactly this form of statecraft. And Singaporeans are amongst the smartest people even by the First World standards. East Asians – Koreans, Japanese and Vietnamese – besides Chinese – are culturally enabling for this political system to take roots; however, many have succumbed to the Western concept of democracy and there is hardly any possibility that countries like South Korea or Japan can reverse gear now.

The philosophy behind a “mission” of this nature must be genuine. Leaders and citizens make decisions based on the long-term interests of future generations, not just the next four or five years of a leader’s political mandate. The execution takes into the need for sustainable policies that can benefit not only the present but also the future generations and they centre around the economy, the environment and the society, ensuring that the welfare of generations is not compromised by the actions of the present generation. Transparency, accountability and participation are all parts and parcels of the governance process.

This may sound all very utopian. But China is indeed practising it. When Xi took his oath to begin his third term in office, he swore to uphold the Constitution and rule of law and sustain China as a strong, democratic, harmonious, modern, socialist and beautiful nation.

What Xi has said may sound rhetorical to many. But he is indeed leading the country to achieve these goals.

Militarily, China is a country that is being encircled by the US and its allies now. And on the technologically front, the latter are strangulating China with chipmaking machines. China must fend for itself. Without the resolve – with its very own form of system – China will surely yield under another era of Western suppression.   

The US, hitherto a beacon of hope, has bastardized democracy and free trade. And it still thinks its very liberal but chaotic democracy is a supermodel that the world must follow. God bless America.

My New Book: Some Notes on Romanised Chinese Names, Places and Terms

Readers may find my Romanized Chinese Names, Places and Terms not consistent with what they are used to. Maybe I should explain a little: 

We have generally adopted what have been Anglicized for us in Romanizing geographic names in China – Beijing (earlier Peking), the capital of China; Xi’an, the city that is rich in history; Shanghai, Guangzhou (earlier Canton), so on and so forth. But come to think of it, we should ask ourselves this question: Are they right?

In Chinese, geographic names are made up of characters each of which has a specific meaning. Beijing is 北京 (Bei Jing). Bei is “north” and Jing, “capital”. Taken together, they mean the Northern Capital. Xi’an is 西安 – Xi is “West” and “An” is “Peace”. Similarly, Shanghai and Guangzhou are each made up of two characters with specific meaning or definition for each of the components. In the case of Shanghai, Shang 上 (more accurately to be pronounced as “sung”, the past participle of “sing”) means Upper, and Hai, Sea; and for Guangzhou, Guang 广 means “Vast”, and Zhou 州, a major administrative division.

While their Romanization or Anglicization is phonetically close to their Chinese names, they do not reflect coherency. The slipshod manner has resulted in some laughable results. A case in point is the name Xi’an, the Romanization of which has led many to pronounce it as “Sian”!) I would argue that the city should be spelt as Xi-An.

 

Another example: Kunlun Shan 昆仑山 – the character山 (Shan) tells us that it is a mountain, and Kunlun (昆仑) is its name. But Kunlun is made up of two separate characters and each has its own meaning. To me, this proper noun should be spelt as Kun-Lun Shan. But Kunlun Shan appears to be the accepted form now.

However, the non-conformist in me would like to play rebel when it comes to other names and terms. I especially want to find fault with the Pinyin varieties. Earlier, many counted on the Wade–Giles system, which was developed in the mid-19th century, to do the job. It has largely been replaced by Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音) now. Even the Romanization of this term Hanyu Pinyin is flawed to me. This proper noun should have been spelt as Han-Yu Pin-Yin to denote two important clusters: Han-Yu, which means, the Han language, and Pin-Yin, the near-pronunciation.

For example, Chiang Kai-shek is usually how the one-time president 蔣介石of China is spelt. But in the Wade-Giles format, it should be “Chiang Chieh-shih”. But the pin-yin way spells it out as Jiǎng Jièshí, the pronunciation of which is certainly closer to standard Mandarin than the Wade-Giles’. But it fails to convey to the uninstructed that the given name Jièshí is made up of two separate characters each with its own meaning. 蔣 (Chiang or Jiǎng) is the surname or the family name, and 介石 (Chieh Shih or Jiè Shí) taken together is the given name. In Chinese you cannot say 介 (Chieh or Jiè) is the middle name and 石 (Shih or Shí) is the last name, or for that matter, 介 (Chieh or Jiè) is the first given name and 石 (Shih is Shí) the second given name. The two components, though each has its own meaning, are meant to supplement the other.

The Wade-Giles and pin-yin versions do take into account the surname-given name protocol. But they are not quite correct in one respect. By using a lower-case alphabet to spell the S in Shih (also after the hyphen), Wade-Giles implies that shih or shí is ancillary or complementary to Jiè in the given name. In the pin-yin version, Jiè got lumped in to form Jièshí, like what mainland China does today. This does imply that it is a word by itself,

A case in point is the spelling for Mao Zedong (毛泽东) and Xi Jinping in the way they are Romanised in China’s pin-yin format.  

As a matter of fact, the anchor word for some Chinese given names is actually the second character. In the case of Soong sisters, the three were Soong Ai-ling 宋蔼龄, Soong Ching-ling, 宋庆龄, and Soong Mei-ling 宋美齡 (respectively, Sòng Àilíng, Sòng Qīnglíng; Sòng Měilíng in pin-yin). The common “denominator” in the three names is in fact “Ling” or龄. If the Wade-Giles is to be followed, then the given names should have been ai-Ling, qin-Ling, and mei-Ling!

I would argue that the correct way to standardize the naming system should be this:

蔣介石 – Jiǎng Jiè-Shí (or Jiang Jie-Shi, if you want to do away with all the tonal symbol needs),

毛泽东 – Mao Ze-Dong

And, 习近平 – Xi Jìn-Píng

Or better still, JIANG Jiè-Shí, MAO Ze-Dong and XI Jin-Ping or even JIANG Jie Shi, MAO Ze Dong and XI Jin Ping (a separate word for each, with the family name in upper case)! (Readers are not wrong in concluding that I am trying to split hair!)

As for non-person proper nouns, like the great novel “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (三国演义 Sān Guó Yǎn Yì), my logic calls for it to be spelled as “Sān-Guó” (Three Kingdoms), followed by “Yǎn-Yì” (“The Plays” (not “Romance”, really!)). The hyphens are to show that each pair has to be read and understood as a term separately.  

The pin-yin in this book generally reflects the author’s advocation along this line. (Maybe all the tonal symbols should also be done away with, since they make typing clumsy for amateurs like me! But without tonal differentiations, many totally unrelated Chinese characters would sound the same when Romanised!^[1] A compromise may be needed. Suggestion: When a more exact pronunciation is desired to carry its true meaning, like in Sān-Guó Yǎn-Yì above, then the tonal symbols are necessary; however, if it is a name where meaning is not important to listeners, then maybe they can be dispensed with. (Like my given name, who cares whether it is the more correct version Yǒu-Mù, or the name Yu Book that is registered as my identity in the country where I was born?)

Out of respect for tradition, where proper nouns – persons’ or places’ – are concerned, I will follow those that have already been established by the “authoritative” sources (examples: Xi Jinping, Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-shek, Tsai Ing-wen, Wang Gungwu, Xi’an, Chang’an, etc.) As for the rest, I shall use my own logic to present them. Readers, please feel to disagree. (Experts are not always right, though.)

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] A case in point is the “gou” without tonal emphasis. It can use to mean “dog” (狗), or “enough” (够), “drain” or “connect” (沟), or “purchase” (购) (and maybe more), but one needs to pronounce dog as gǒu, drain or connect as gōu, enough as gòu and purchase as gòu. They are all different characters in Chinese writings! There are many similar situations.

Yi can mean more than 100 characters in Chinese! Just to name a few: “One” is 一, “Second” is  乙, “right conduct” is 义, “hundred million” is 亿, “already” is 已, “to discuss” is 议. “native, barbaric” is 夷. “clothes” is 衣, “to heal” is 医, “to rely” is 依, “suitable” is 宜, and “to change” is 易! They sound alike, but they are all different characters!

Without tonal emphasis or differentiation, the context for each pin-yin has to be understood, lest it will be quite a task for one to pin it down to a particular Chinese character and vice versa.

Wonder why Chinese minds are so complex?

 

New Book, Knowing Your Roots - Chapters 1 and 2

 I am embarking on a new book. It is meant to be a compendium for ethnic Chinese. 

It is still very much a work in progress. There are about 20 chapters - in about 200 pages. 

I list out all the dynasties, eras, etc - from Huang-di about 5,000 years ago to Xi's China today. And in the chapters for each of these dynasties and eras I insert information that I think may be of interest to non-experts - about beliefs, festivals, classics, wisdom from certain idioms, art, culture and traditions. I hope ethnic Chinese will take pride of their roots.

I look forward to friends' and readers' support on this effort of time! I will be posting the chapters on this blog of mine on a regular basis. (Maybe only one or two chapters a week to prevent any syndrome of readership fatigue. I welcome all forms of feedback. Please privately message me at yubooklim@gmail.com if you have any.

The first two chapters are as follows:

Chapter 1

Huang-di 黃帝 and Before

 

Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60794173

Early evidence of millet agriculture in the Yellow River basin was carbonated to about 9,000 years ago and cultivated rice in the Yangtze River basin some 1,000 years later. With agriculture came an increased population. Pigs and dogs were the earliest domesticated animals in the region, and after about 5,000 ago domesticated cattle and sheep arrived from Western Asia.

Bronze artifacts (between 3100 and 2700 BC) have been found in the upper Yellow River region in eastern Gansu.

 The Xia (夏) and the Shang (商) are perhaps the earliest most definitive dynasties in Chinese history but before that there must be also organised societies of Huang-di descendants. Legend has it that China was already under a very enlightened leader called Huang-di (黃帝, the Yellow Emperor – Huang^[1] is yellow and di means emperor) some five thousand years ago (2697/8–2597/8 BC).

Huang-di is a deity (神 – shen) figure to Chinese. He is still being worshipped as the originator of the Chinese civilisation and ruler of a centralized Chinese state. Several texts – such as the Huang-di Nei Jing (黄帝内经) a medical classic, and the Huang-di Si Jing (黄帝四经), a set of political treatises – were attributed to him. To this day the Yellow Emperor remains a powerful symbol of Chinese nationalism.

 

 

Chapter 2

 

Early Dynasties – Xia and Shang

Xia夏朝 [2100-1600 BC]/Shang 商朝; [1600-1100 BC]

 

 

Left: Xia, Right: Shang

 After Huang-di, legends list Yü [禹], Yao [堯], Shuen [舜], Fu Hsi [伏羲] and Shén Nóng [神农] ^[2]as five of China’s subsequent leaders; they are generally credited with controlling floods which often devastated agrarian livelihoods in the Yellow River basin of that era. 

In a way the character 夏 (Xia, pin-yin Xià), preceded and taken together with another character 华 (Hua, pinyin Huá), i.e., 华夏 – Hua Xia – represents Chinese as a race – with a common cultural ancestry – by the various confederations of the pre-Qin China.

After Xia, it was Shang (商). Like Xia, Shang’s history is hazy; however, the dynasty did leave archeological evidence about its existence. The most famous of which are the oracle bones – the earliest known form of Chinese writing inscribed onto animal bones and turtle shells for divinations. Major discoveries have been made in the city of Anyang (安阳 in Henan), which is believed to be the last capital city of the Shang. Over 20,000 pieces of Chinese writing were discovered. Tens of thousands of artefacts, many of which were in bronze, were unearthed and the workmanship displayed demonstrates it was a highly civilized society. (Given this fact, obviously, the writing had been developed earlier.)

 

It is said that last Shang King, Xin (辛), was defeated in battle by King Wu of Zhou (周武王), forcing the Shang king to commit suicide. His son was kept on by King WU to rule Shang as a puppet leader.

Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of artefacts in a finding called San Xing Dui (三星堆) in Central China (Sichuan). There was indeed a parallel bronze-age civilisation then; however, it had mysteriously vanished.

 

 

Written Chinese (中文, Zhōng Wén)

 

Chinese is one of the oldest continually used writing systems still in use. The characters themselves are often composed of parts that may represent physical objects, abstract notions, or pronunciation. Literacy requires the memorization of a great number of characters: college-educated Chinese speakers should know about 4,000. 

 

Various current Chinese characters have been traced back to the late Shang dynasty, but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun some centuries earlier. After a period of variation and evolution, Chinese characters were standardized under the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC).

 

Because of its geography, pronunciations develop into unintelligible local varieties, but all are able to communicate through its writing. It was not until the early 20th century that Classical Chinese was replaced by vernacular Chinese.

 

Chinese characters were extensively used in Korea, Japan and Vietnam until nationalism crept in to replace them.

 

Chinese characters are developed on six basic principles. The first two principles produce simple characters, known as 文 wén:

 

1.     Pictographs (象形 xiàng xíng), in which the character is a graphical depiction of the object it denotes. Examples: 人 rén "person" (from  to 人), 日 rì "sun", and 木 mù "tree/wood". And the evolution of 馬/马 (horse, mǎ) is depicted below:

 

2.     Ideographs (指事 zhǐ shì), in which the character represents an abstract notion. Examples: 上 shàng "up", 下 xià "down", 三 sān "three".

 

The remaining four principles produce complex characters historically called 字 zì (although this term is now generally used to refer to all characters, whether simple or complex). Of these four, two construct characters from simpler parts:

 

3.     Logical Aggregates (会意 huì yì), in which two or more parts or characters are used to construct a composite character to illustrate a concept. E.g., “east” in Chinese is 東, which is made up of two characters 日 (Sun) and 木 (tree). The Sun rises amongst the trees. From where? East, of course. Hence 東, However, 東has now been simplified to 东!

 

4.     Phonetic Complexes (形聲/形声 xíng shēng), in which one part denotes the general essence of the character (such as water-related or eye-related), and the other part of the character is used for its phonetic value. Example: 晴 qíng "clear/fair (weather)", which is composed of 日 rì "sun", and 青 qīng "blue/green", which is used for its pronunciation.

In contrast to the popular conception of Chinese as a primarily pictographic or ideographic language, the vast majority of Chinese characters (about 95%) are constructed as either logical aggregates or phonetic complexes. 

The last two principles do not produce new written forms; instead, they transfer new meanings to existing forms:

5.     Transference (转注 zhuǎn zhù), in which a character, often with a simple, concrete meaning takes on an extended, more abstract meaning. Example: 網/网 wǎng "net", which was originally a pictograph depicting a fishing net. Over time, it has taken on an extended meaning, covering any kind of lattice, or even to a computer network.

 

6.     Adaptation or Borrowed Form (假借 jiǎ jiè), in which a character is used, either intentionally or accidentally, for some entirely different purpose. Example: 哥 gē "older brother", which is written with a character originally meaning "song/sing" 歌 gē. There was no character for "older brother", so an otherwise unrelated character with the right pronunciation was borrowed for that meaning.

Chinese characters are written to fit into a square, even when composed of two simpler forms written side-by-side or top-to-bottom. In such cases, each form is compressed to fit the entire character into a square.

                                                                                Source: Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

Chinese Surnames. Xing (姓 Xìng)

Han-Chinese are believed to be the first people to use surnames. The earliest surnames might be matrilineal, but Han Chinese family names have been patrilineal for millennia, passing from father to children. Prior to the Warring States period (fifth century BC), only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames.

 

Chinese view their surnames as part of their shared kinship and Han identity. Chinese are exogamous and they are supposed to refrain from marrying those with the same family name. (Koreans, which follow many traditional Chinese practices, are most diligent on this practice.

 

Married women used Shi (氏) to denote their maiden origin.

 

Around 2,000 Han Chinese surnames are currently in use.  19 surnames are used by around half of the Han Chinese people, while 100 surnames are used by around 87% of the population. Wang  (王)  and Li (李), Zhang (张), Liu (刘), Chen (陳), Yang (杨), Huang (黃), Zhao (赵), Wu (吳) and Zhou (周). Many non-Han Chinese have adopted such surnames.

 
Another point to note: Chinese surnames come before given names.
 

 

 

The San Xing Dui (三星堆) Discovery

 The San Xing Dui (Three Star mounds or piles) discovery puts paid to the belief that the Yellow River basin was the sole cradle of Chinese civilisation. The artefacts that have been unearthed in Guanghan (广汉), Sichuan are carbon-dated to be from the twelfth to eleventh centuries BC (or more than three thousand years ago) which makes its civilisation contemporaneous to that of Shang dynasty’s, which was a Bronze Age culture. Chinese archaeologists believe that it belonged to the ancient kingdom of Shu 蜀 (not the Shu of the Three Kingdoms period. Geographically, however, they were in the same Sichuan plain, which spread across the upper reaches of the Yangtze River).

References to the existence of a Shu kingdom that may be dated reliably to such an early period in Chinese historical records are scant. The kingdom is mentioned in Shi Ji (史記) and Shu Jing (书经) as an ally of the Zhou who defeated the Shang. The Shu Kingdom was founded by Can Cong (蠶叢) who was described as having protruding eyes, a feature that is found in many of the masks and figures of San Xing Dui. It has therefore been suggested that the large masks with protruding eyes are a representation of Can Cong, but that is just an interpretation.

 

Bronze objects found included sculptures of humans, bells, axes and animals such as dragons, snakes, and birds. Other were made of gold or carved out of jades. There was also a large number of ivory and clam shells. The most striking finds were dozens of large bronze masks and heads that carried angular human features with exaggerated almond-shaped eyes and protruding pupils, and large upper ears. Researchers were astonished to find an artistic style that was completely unknown in the history of Chinese art.

The San Xing Dui culture is indeed a mysterious civilization. The culture had certainly developed a different method of bronze-making from that of Shang’s. It is also clear that it was quite an advanced one as well.

The large number of seashells excavated at the ruins came from the Indian Ocean, meaning that they must have been transported from ancient India. 

But it vanished out of thin air after this. Was there a huge natural disaster, like an earthquake that befell them? But what had happened to the bodies of the victims? No traces have remained.

 

 

 

 

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 Zhōng Qiū Jié )

(The 15^th Day of the 8^th Moon)

Also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, its history dates back over 3,000 years (Shang Dynasty). It is held on the 15^th day of the 8^th moon in the Lunar calendar.

 

Lanterns of all sizes and shapes are carried and displayed. They are symbolic beacons that light people's path to prosperity and good fortune. Mooncakes typically filled with sweet-bean, egg yolk, meat or lotus-seed paste are traditionally prepared for this festival.

 

The Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the legend of Chang’e (more correctly Chang Er?), the Moon goddess in Chinese mythology. The story was about a hero named Hou Yi (后羿) who was an excellent archer and his wife Chang'e. One year, ten suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster to the people. Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to provide light. An immortal admired Hou Yi and sent him the elixir of immortality. Hou Yi let Chang’e keep it, for he did not want to be immortalized alone. However, Peng Meng, one of his apprentices, knew this secret. On the 15^th day of an 8^th moon, when Hou Yi went hunting, Peng Meng broke into Hou Yi's house and wanted Chang'e to give the elixir to him. Chang'e refused. She swallowed it and it made her fly into the sky. As she loved her husband, she chose the moon – which was nearest to the Earth then – as home, instead of the faraway stars.

 

Hou Yi was devastated. On the 15^th day of every 8^th moon, he could see the silhouette or grainy image of Chang’e with her jade rabbit clearly on the surface of the Moon. He would bring out her favourite cake to offer her.

 

Soon Chang’e became the “goddess” of the Moon and the custom of praying to the Moon on Mid-Autumn Day has been handed down for thousands of years since then.

 

But there is yet another version: After Hou Yi shot down nine of the ten suns, he was pronounced king by the thankful people. However, he soon became conceited and tyrannical. Wanting to have an eternal life, he asked for the elixir from Xi Wang-mu (Queen Mother of the Heavenly West). But his wife, Chang'e, kept it because she did not want Hou Yi to live long and hurt more people. Hou Yi became angry when he discovered that Chang'e had taken the elixir, he shot at his wife as she flee to the moon but missed. People were touched, and that day – the 15^th day of the 8^th moon – was commemorated.

 

Legends, legends, legends…

 

Today Chang’e is China’s space programme that sends missions to the Moon. Its Jade Rabbit (Yùtù-2 – 玉兔二号) is still roving on the dark side of the moon.

 

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[1] Huang may not be his surname. Yellow River or Huang He is the cradle of Chinese civilisation. He is simply being revered as the Father of Huang or Yellow civilisation.

[2] Again, none of these names might be surnames. Surnames came later.