Sinology

Studies in Chinese classical literature and philosophy.


Folksonomies: sinology china chinese culture chinese history

Memes

23 JUL 2014

 Chinese Books Lack an Index

Yet even if some technological fix were to be devised to solve the problem of character entry, the non-alphabetic nature of the writing system still results in other serious and long-standing “invisible” problems. For example, the inclusion of a standard index to books, manuals and reference materials is made orders of magnitude more difficult by the Chinese writing system. The result is that to this day, the vast majority of non-fiction books published in China do not have an index, or anyth...
Folksonomies: writing chinese sinology
Folksonomies: writing chinese sinology
  1  notes
 
23 JUL 2014

 ????

The most astounding example I encountered back in my early days studying Chinese was during a lunch with three graduate students in the Peking University Chinese department. I had a bad cold that day, and wanted to write a note to a friend to cancel a meeting. I found that I couldn’t write the character ti ? in the word for “sneeze”, da penti ???, and so I asked my three friends for help. To my amazement, none of the three could successfully retrieve the character ti ?. Three Chinese graduate...
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese sinology
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese sinology
  1  notes

"Forget the word Pen"

14 JAN 2014

 Mandarin Curses from the Show "Firefly"

Cow Sucking?? ? Shee-niou - x? niú A Baboon's Asshole????? ? FAY-FAY duh PEE-yen - fèi fèi de;dì;dí pì y?n Extraordinarily Impatient Buddha (True Patience of Buddha)??????? ? Jen mei NAI-shing duh FWO-tzoo - zh?n méi;mò  nài xìng de;dì;dí fú;fó z? Dog Fucking??? ? Go tsao de - g?u c?o de;dì;dí Panda Piss??? ? Shiong mao niao - xióng m?o su? Frog-Humping Son of a Bitch?????? ? Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng - q?ng w? c?o de;dì;dí  liú máng Have a Shit-Throwing Contest with a Monkey?????? ? Gun ...
  1  notes

Not prurient, but funny and fun to practice.

11 OCT 2013

 Confucianism's Lack of "Magic" Made it Endure

Confucius (B.C. 551-479) must be reckoned, as regards his social influence, with the founders of religions. His effect on institutions and on men's thoughts has been of the same kind of magnitude as that of Buddha, Christ, or Mahomet, but curiously different in its nature. Unlike Buddha and Christ, he is a completely historical character, about whose life a great deal is known, and with whom legend and myth have been less busy than with most men of his kind. What most distinguishes him from o...
  1  notes

It was a code of morals by human beings for human beings, with no supernatural elements to make them unrealistic. As a result, it made life in China more pleasant for thousands of years.

11 OCT 2013

 How China and the West May Compliment One Another

The distinctive merit of our civilization, I should say, is the scientific method; the distinctive merit of the Chinese is a just conception of the ends of life. It is these two that one must hope to see gradually uniting. Lao-Tze describes the operation of Tao as "production without possession, action without self-assertion, development without domination." I think one could derive from these words a conception of the ends of life as reflective Chinese see them, and it must be admitted that...
  1  notes

The West has science, which is the essence of rationality, while China has the ethics, an outlook on life that cherishes knowledge and happiness over material gains.

11 OCT 2013

 Confucianism Produced a Civil China

I must confess that I am unable to appreciate the merits of Confucius. His writings are largely occupied with trivial points of etiquette, and his main concern is to teach people how to behave correctly on various occasions. When one compares him, however, with the traditional religious teachers of some other ages and races, one must admit that he has great merits, even if they are mainly negative. His system, as developed by his followers, is one of pure ethics, without religious dogma; it h...
Folksonomies: sinology china confucianism
Folksonomies: sinology china confucianism
  1  notes

The Europeans think the Chinese weak because of their quiet dignity, but Bertrand Russel sees it as a strength with which they conquer.

18 JAN 2013

 Chinese Cultural Innovations Turned to Ritual

When Europeans first arrived in China, three hundred years a^ago, they found that almost all the arts had reached a certain degree of perfection there, and they were surprised that a people which had attained this point should not have gone beyond it. At a later period they discovered traces of some higher branches of science that h had been lost. The nation was absorbed in productive industry; the greater part of its scientific processes had been preserved, but science itself no longer exist...
Folksonomies: culture innovation ritual
Folksonomies: culture innovation ritual
 1  1  notes

An account of the amazing art and inventions found in China, but how these had turned into unquestioned rituals--performed exactly over and over again through the ages without alteration or innovation. The culture had stagnated.

07 AUG 2012

 The Great Learning (??)

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Folksonomies: philosophy sinology
Folksonomies: philosophy sinology
  2  notes

[Translation] The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere. Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified. Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy. From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides. It cannot be, when the root is neglected, that what should spring from it will be well ordered. It never has been the case that what was of great importance has been slightly cared for, and, at the same time, that what was of slight importance has been greatly cared for.

04 AUG 2012

 Study is More Efficient Than Contemplation

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Folksonomies: education learning study
Folksonomies: education learning study
  2  notes

[Translated] Once I spent an entire day in thought, but it was not as good as a moment of study. Once I stood on tiptoe to gaze into the distance, but it was not as good as climbing to a high place to get a broad view. Climbing to a high place and waving will not make your arm any longer, but you can be seen from farther away. Shouting down the wind will give your voice no added urgency, but you can be heard more distinctly. By borrowing a horse and carriage you will not improve your feet, but you can cover a thousand li. By borrowing a boat and paddles you will not improve your ability in water, but you can cross rivers and seas. The noble person is by birth no different from others, but he is good at borrowing from external things.

04 AUG 2012

 Intellectuals Must Craft Their Minds Through Study

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Folksonomies: education learning study
Folksonomies: education learning study
  1  notes

[Translated] The noble person says: Learning must never cease. Blue comes from the indigo plant, yet it is bluer than indigo. Ice is made from water, yet it is colder than water. Wood as straight as a plumb line may be bent into a wheel that is as round as if it were drawn with a compass, and, even after the wood has dried, it will not straighten out again because this is the way it has been bent. Thus wood marked by the plumb line will become straight, and metal that is put to the whetstone will become sharp. The noble person who studies widely and examines himself each day will become clear in his knowing and faultless in his conduct.

04 AUG 2012

 The Noble Person is Like an Echo

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Folksonomies: virtue learning
Folksonomies: virtue learning
  1  notes

[Translated] The learning of the noble person enters his ear, is stored in his mind, spreads through his four limbs, and is made visible in his activity and his tranquility. In his smallest word, in his slightest movement, in everything, he may be taken as a model and a standard. The learning of the lesser man enters his ear and comes out his mouth. With only four inches between ear and mouth, how can he possess it long enough to beautify a seven-foot body In antiquity learning was carried on for the sake of one’s self; today learning is carried on for the sake of others.The learning of the noble person is for the sake of beautifying himself; the learning of the lesser man is offering bird and beast [to win attention from others]. Thus to proffer information when you have not been asked for it is called officiousness; to proffer information on two questions when you have only been asked about one is garrulity. Officiousness is to be condemned, so too is garrulity. The noble person is like an echo.

04 AUG 2012

 The Noble Person Keeps Their Mind in Virtue

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Folksonomies: virtue
Folksonomies: virtue
  1  notes

[Translated] The noble person knows that what is not complete or what is not pure is unworthy to be called beautiful. Therefore he recites and reiterates so as to integrate it, reflects and ponders so as to comprehend it, determines his associations so that he may dwell in it, and eliminates what is harmful in order to preserve and nourish it. He causes his eyes to be devoid of any desire to see what is not right, his ears to be devoid of any desire to hear what is not right, his mouth to be devoid of any desire to say what is not right, and his mind to be devoid of any desire to think what is not right. Having arrived at this, he takes utmost pleasure in it. His eyes will take greater pleasure in it than in the five colors; his ears will take greater pleasure in it than in the five sounds; his mouth will take greater pleasure in it than in the five flavors; and his mind will benefit more from it than from possession of the world. Therefore he cannot be subverted by power or profit, nor swayed by the masses and multitudes, nor unsettled by the whole world. He follows this in life; he follows it in death — this is what is called holding firm to inner power. He who holds firm to inner power is able to order himself; being able to order himself, he can then respond to others. He who is able to order himself and respond to others is called the complete man. Heaven manifests itself in its brightness; earth manifests itself in its breadth; the noble person values his completeness.



References

23 JUL 2014

 The �Invisible� Writing on the Wall

Electronic/World Wide Web>Blog:  Moser, David (8/19/2006), The “Invisible” Writing on the Wall, Retrieved on 2014-07-23
  • Source Material [cognitive-china.blogspot.com]
  • Folksonomies: sinology
    Folksonomies: sinology
     2  
    14 JAN 2014

     Firefly's 15 Best Chinese Curses (and How to Say Them)

    Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article:  Daniels, James (November 4, 2010), Firefly's 15 Best Chinese Curses (and How to Say Them), Topless Robot, Retrieved on 2014-01-14
  • Source Material [www.toplessrobot.com]
  •  1  
    11 OCT 2013

     The Problem of China

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Russell , Bertrand (2007-12-01), The Problem of China, Cosimo, Inc., Retrieved on 2013-10-11
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: history
    Folksonomies: history
     4  
    18 JAN 2013

     Democracy in America

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Tocqueville , Alexis de and Reeve , Henry (1899), Democracy in America, Retrieved on 2013-01-18
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: politics history
    Folksonomies: politics history
     1  
    07 AUG 2012

     The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine...

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Confucius , (2009-08-31), The Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean, Cosimo Classics, Retrieved on 2012-08-07
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: philosophy
    Folksonomies: philosophy
     4  
    04 AUG 2012

     Xunzi

    Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  ?? , and ?? , (1999), Xunzi, Retrieved on 2012-08-04
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: philosophy
    Folksonomies: philosophy
     4