xilines

[xilines]

Essential vocab for your trip to China

Following my previous post about my trip to China, here are some useful phrases/vocab. I'm focusing on stuff I didn't learn in class or from textbooks—I learned most of these from experience.

借过（借過）jièguò - excuse me (trying to get past someone)

让一让（讓一讓）ràngyíràng - make way; coming through

安检（安檢）ānjiǎn - security check, short for 安全检查（安全檢查）

过安检（過安檢）guò ānjiǎn mean to go through security.

预约（預約）yùyuē - booking / reservation / to book / to make an appointment

In China, some museums require a reservation ahead of time.

扫码（掃碼）sǎomǎ - to scan a QR code or barcode

我扫你（我掃你）wǒ sǎo nǐ - I scan you (your code) 你扫我（你掃我）nǐ sǎo wǒ - you scan me (my code)

Shopping

结账（結賬）jiézhàng - to pay the bill

柜台（櫃檯）guìtái - sales counter; front desk

收银台（收銀台）shōuyíntái - checkout counter; cashier's desk

刷卡 shuākǎ - to pay with credit card

刷 means brush/swipe, but I've also heard this used for tapping with your card.

付现（付現）fùxiàn - to pay in cash

袋子 dàizi - bag

提袋 tídài - bag (with handles)

I'm not 100% clear on what defines 提袋, but it seems like 1) has handles and 2) typically nicer than a standard plastic bag.

纸袋（紙袋）zhǐdài - paper bag

试穿（試穿）shìchuān - to try on clothes

试戴（試戴）shìdài - to try on hats/glasses/etc.

Food

几位？（幾位？）jǐwèi - how many? (people/seats for your table in a restaurant)

堂食 tángshí - to eat in (at the restaurant)

In Taiwan you'll probably hear 内用（內用）nèiyòng instead.

外带（外帶）wàidài - take-out

打包 dǎbāo - to pack up leftovers

取餐 qǔcān - to pick up food

Definitions are adapted from MDBG.

[xilines]

[China History] Bound by Blood, Denied by Law: A History of Women’s Inheritance in China［Eng Sub］

Step into a thousand years of silence.

This is a film about women’s inheritance rights were gradually stripped away during the era of China’s feudal dynasties.

This is not just history. This is herstory.

A narrative long buried under rituals, surnames, and silence — now unearthed.

work by Bao Xian (@宝苋xian）

————————

🧚🏻‍Production & Actor：@宝苋xian

🔗Douyin：https://v.douyin.com/UtQyMA3ZAyI/ 01/15 Ate:/ S@Y.MJ

————————

[xilines]

Its actively disheartening to have seen so many reactions to Wen Yifan in the first frost be 'shes constantly being saved' or declarations that Sang Yan is healing her.

Sang Yan as a character is aware that he cannot heal her, he hasnt even been able to fully Access her at this point — including the times they were in highschool. TFF has been making a point to show that he's always been good to her, but goodness and kindness can't "heal" a person, especially one who genuinely feels as though they can't recieve it.

And that loops right back into that very aggravating first point, that Yifan is always being saved and has no agency. In every way that matters, Yifan has saved herself. Shes managed to extricate herself from her familys grasp, even through abuse and grief she managed to keep her scores high, she managed to make it to university and build a career from the ground up, she's even managed to stand up against these family members that have traumatized and retraumatized her repeatedly.

Whsn she doesnt ask Sang Yan for help and he has to rush in and help her its not just a dashing romantic moment, its also her doing what she does best. Saving herself alone. The main crux of Wen Yifans arc isnt whether she can to be saved and fixed, its that constantly saving herself is what's been beating her down and her reception of new love is being hindered by it.

The drama makes it a point to show that she is consistently being harmed in places Sang Yan cant even access, like her workplace and her home, and that she has been taking every Correct Step advised and it still hasnt helped her. She's a victim of familial abuse, literal incest (presumedly), and several forms of harassment from a number of places. Her being on survival mode is whats forcing her hand in being unable to connect with people, and as a woman theres many ways in which that Cannot change without societal reform.

Very depressing to see a character whos arc and hurt is being dealt with so delicately recieve responses in this way.. Sang Yan wanting to support her and be there for her is something of a wish fulfillment fantasy but its also a plead for rest. Yifan is so busy saving herself that its chipping away at her soul. She is constantly on guard, she can't even shower without waiting for that hand to creep around the curtain. Romance is not a vehicle to "return" people to what they were, instead the show is pleading for her to truly try trusting all the people in her circle so that she can finally find new joy and create new happiness.

[xilines]

I spent two weeks on this animatic (with two of my beloveds, tpw and epic haha) !! there are some spoilers for the dragon republic and the burning god

[xilines]

I lied, put your clothes back on

I'm going to explain to you why Altan, Qara and Chaghan are the characters that were telling us in advance about the end of the trilogy and the trifecta formed by Nezha, Rin and Kitay but we didn't pay enough attention to them

Altan, Chaghan and Qara are the" failed" trifecta

Altan's sacrifice breaks the cycle, paving the way for Rin, Kitay, and Nezha to become the next generation of the trifecta

Each reflects the mistakes of the past: Rin as Altan and Riga, Kitay as Qara and Jiang, and Nezha as Chaghan and Daji, all trapped in the same vicious cycle

In the end, Rin understands that, like Altan, her destiny is to sacrifice herself to break the cycle. Her death, along with Kitay's, leaves Nezha alive and ruling, mirroring Chaghan's fate

In the dynamic of Rin, Kitay and Nezha, it is clear that they represent an echo of Altan, Chaghan and Qara's failed attempt. Rin takes Altan's place as the center of destruction and strength, Kitay represents strategic and emotional stability as Qara did, while Nezha, being the only one left in the end, is a distorted version of Chaghan, the survivor who carries the weight of the world

Rin understands, at the end of the trilogy, the meaning of Altan's sacrifice: not only was it necessary to break the cycle to create something new, but his sacrifice was also an act of love towards her, giving her the opportunity to build a future that he never had. Rin's sacrifice reflects that understanding, breaking the cycle of hatred and revenge that Riga perpetuated in his generation

(I hope you understand, English is not my native language)

I should be drawing I Know...

[xilines]

Moving along to the popular round collar robe of the Tang Dynasty :D

In the 2nd pic, the model in the picture on the bottom wearing the 2-coloured robe has wrist protectors on, which is why the sleeves don't look like "regular" sleeves. To wear the protectors, you gather the sleeve tightly around your arm, then put the protector over the sleeve, so it's a separate piece and not sewn/attached to the robe.

[xilines]

OP makes huapendixie花盆底鞋 (flowerpot sole shoes) and shows how to walk in them (cr: Louise)

[xilines]

OP makes huapendixie花盆底鞋 (flowerpot sole shoes) and shows how to walk in them (cr: Louise)

[xilines]

Women’s chaofu (朝服) or court attire in the Qing dynasty consists of:

gown/chaopao/朝袍

coat/chaogua/朝褂

skirt/chaoqun/朝裙

hat/chaoguan/朝冠

earrings/珥

headband/jinyue/金约

choker/lingyue/领约

beaded necklace/chaozhu/朝珠

sash/caishui/彩帨

Continuar lendo

[xilines]

Women’s chaofu (朝服) or court attire in the Qing dynasty consists of:

gown/chaopao/朝袍

coat/chaogua/朝褂

skirt/chaoqun/朝裙

hat/chaoguan/朝冠

earrings/珥

headband/jinyue/金约

choker/lingyue/领约

beaded necklace/chaozhu/朝珠

sash/caishui/彩帨

Continuar lendo

[xilines]

This might not be a relevant question, but the internet has not been very helpful, so I'm willing to try my luck here. What are the treasures given to the Empress (most prominently seen in Ruyi, I suppose)? I know the edict and seal are two of them, but there seem to be more carried behind her whenever she uses the sedan and also some plaques of gold? At this point, any insight you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

The treasures given to the Empress includes:

jinbao 金宝 - the Empress’ seal. Others from the rank of fei and up also have their own seal but they are called 印 yin and not 宝 which literally means treasure. 

jince 金冊 - proclamation book. When titles are bestowed, the proclamation is recorded on golden tablets as a record, and in the Qing dynasty, these proclamation books are written in Manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan. This is why the proclamation ceremony are called cefeng. When the Step Empress was disgraced, Qianlong recalled both her Empress’ seal and the jince from her promotions to ranks of fei, gui fei, huang gui fei, and huang hou. 

These are the items that Li Yu tried to return to Ruyi in the drama at the end but she refused to take them back.

Ruyi also gets given a bunch of other stuff which makes up her guard of honour/procession later:

Which is basically all the stuff these people are carrying here:

The procession/guard of honour is basically just a show of status and the number of people/items they carry vary according to rank but generally includes various combinations of things like umbrella, fans, incense burners, gold vases, incense boxes, spittoons, basins, stools, gold cross-legged chairs, etc - i.e. to prove you have enough servants to just carry these things you may or may not need for a stroll down the lane. 

They definitely had more stuff when going out on longer trips. Here's a Chinese reference that lists things in full if you want muddle through some machine translation.

The name for the procession vary according to rank too:

仪驾 yijia - ceremonial procession of the emperor, empress, empress dowager

仪仗 yizhang - ceremonial procession for imperial noble consort and noble consort

采仗 caizhang - ceremonial procession for imperial concubine (pin) and consort 

(By the way, we must have gotten at least 5 asks over the years about the procession of honour and just been putting off answering any of them because the details are too complicated and requires too much brain power to detail. Here’s your short answer to anyone who ever asked this.) 

[xilines]

[xilines]

I've been looking into the 'cold reading method' for learning how to read chinese hanzi and. Honestly I need to look into it more, because I don't think I clearly understand what it is. It appears to me, that it's learning to associate a known word-sound to a hanzi, in small chunks with repetition. Before learning the radical components. I've also seen it mentioned at more advanced levels as "read chinese once looking nothing up, and only the second read-through look up what is unknown." Which is all fine. I hope there's more to it, I don't quite get it yet. It's a fine strategy.

I just... if you're a beginner, it's useful to be aware a lot of hanzi have sound components. As in, you look at the hanzi, and one component that makes it up will indicate roughly the pronunciation. For example: 妈 马 骂 are all pronounced ma (tones may differ in rough-similar pronunciations of hanzi components, or the initial may vary slightly like q-ing and j-ing). So if you already know these words from learning them through listening, then knowing oh if I see 马 in a hanzi it MIGHT be the 'ma' word I already know? Useful.

Once I learned a certain amount of hanzi, I became able to guess the pinyin to type in for looking up new hanzi I'd see in books or shows. Because I could guess the pinyin based on the components of the radical. If I didn't know 妈 , I could guess and type "nv" or "ma" and see if the right hanzi showed up on my keyboard/in Pleco app etc. If I see 清, 静, I'm going to guess and type in qing or jing, because one of the radicals is often qing/jing pronunciation. Being aware that you can kind of sound out/guess new hanzi's pinyin (except tone) can be useful. It means more looking up words with pinyin quickly instead of needing to handwrite a new hanzi into your phone, it means sounding out hanzi words roughly when reading to figure out if you Already know the spoken version of a word. And then the extended benefit, it means you see some hanzi like 清 and can guess 'well if qing/jing is the pronunciation component, then the water radical on the left may hint at the hanzi's meaning' the meaning is 'clear' and depending on your own mind you might find some mental connection between water and clear.

So yeah just... be aware there's often sound components in hanzi.

[xilines]

Libraries with a sense of humour.

[xilines]

Shangri-la香格里拉, yunnan province and Daocheng Yading稻城亚丁, sichuan province in china

[xilines]

Why you should watch 乘风破浪 and 披荆斩棘 to learn Chinese

What are these shows?

Both 披荆斩棘 and 乘风破浪 follow the same basic format: 30+ celebrity contestants, mostly actors and singers ages 30+, form teams and compete in singing and dancing over several rounds. Viewers vote on their favorite performances and contestants, and 1-3 contestants are eliminated each round. The top contestants form a temporary "group" and appear on a follow-up reality show.

Why you should watch

1. Exposure to different accents

Contestants come from all over the Chinese-speaking world: Dongbei, Sichuan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even Malaysia. I can personally say that watching these shows has vastly improved my ability to understand the Hong Kong Mandarin accent.

2. Pop culture knowledge

Because the contestants are celebrities, you'll be introduced to dozens of famous actors, singers, etc. Also, you'll hear the many iconic songs that they cover. I've impressed several native speakers with my with knowledge of pop culture and music.

3. Branch out to new media

These shows serve as a gateway to Chinese music, movies, and TV. if you really like the contestants who are actors, you can check out their shows and movies. If you enjoy a certain song or like a contestant who's a singer, you can explore more music.

4. Casual and formal registers

You’ll get to hear casual, unscripted speech while watching the behind-the-scenes and rehearsal clips. But you’ll also get to hear more formal speech when they’re announcing rules and also from the MC who hosts the actual live performances.

5. Incredible talent

Also, you should watch for the awesome performances and general fun. I love seeing the contestants' friendships, and I’m also obsessed with the amazing sets. There are some incredibly talented performers on these shows, and I love getting to see them shine.

Where to watch

All seasons are free to watch on YouTube! Sometimes clips may be muted or missing, probably due to YouTube's restrictions. But the vast, vast majority is available, and when a clip is missing, you can usually do a separate search and find it. I also pay for a Mango TV subscription, which is $1.99 USD/month.

乘风破浪 full episode playlist links:

乘风破浪的姐姐1

乘风破浪的姐姐2

乘风破浪3

乘风2023

乘风2024

披荆斩棘 full episode playlist links:

披荆斩棘的哥哥1

披荆斩棘2

披荆斩棘3

披荆斩棘4

To help you get started, below is a YouTube playlist of my some of my favorite performances (5 per season, except for the most recent season of each). Cause why not! Also, below the cut I'll put more details along with direct links to my favorite performances.

And if you're a fellow fan emotionally preparing for the 披荆斩棘4 finale 🥲, feel free to message me and commiserate!

See similar posts: I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway) Tips for finding Chinese-language media you like

Sisters Who Make Waves

Chinese title: 乘风破浪的姐姐 (S1-2) / 乘风破浪 (S3) / 乘风 (S4-5) English title: Sisters Who Make Waves (S1-3) / Ride the Wind (S4-5) *I call it Sisters for short

This series is the original, having started in 2020. The focus was on female empowerment, particularly of women 30+. A lot of the celebrities had slowed down in their careers, and the show served as their reintroduction to audiences. While female empowerment is still a theme today, I do feel it has lessened in prominence.

Season 1

The original, iconic season. You can tell they had a limited budget and not a ton of space, but it doesn't detract at all thanks to the incredible talent and energy of the contestants. And they had no idea what a phenomenon the show was going to be! Many of my most rewatched performances come from the season.

得不到的爱情

大碗宽面

相爱后动物感伤

FLOW

新物种

Season 2

This season has a special place in my heart as the first one I watched! It's the only one I've seen twice (when it originally aired and rewatched with friends). Compared to season 1, you can definitely tell they had a bigger budget and started to refine the format. Also, some of my all-time favorite contestants are from this season.

现在不跳舞要干嘛

归零

快乐宝贝

给自己的歌

我

Season 3

This season was the first with the show's "modern" and fully-developed format, which remains to this day. For example, they started to include more complex sets and recruited more diverse contestants, such as dancers, an athlete, etc. Also, my favorite performance of the entire series, 雾里, is from this season.

雾里

梦中人

山海

孤独颂歌

有吗炒面

Season 4

This season was the first time I felt there wasn’t improvement over the previous season. I think the stage design took a step backward, and I didn't love the international focus. It was hard to identify my favorite performances because I didn't feel strongly about many. That being said, my friends and I still enjoyed this season.

从头

千里万里

下个，路口，见

归途有风

I'm Not Yours

Season 5

Though this season has already ended, I'm not done yet. I watch with friends, so we move at a slower pace. So far, it seems largely in line with season 4. I'll update this post after we finish.

Call Me By Fire

Chinese title: 披荆斩棘的哥哥 (S1) / 披荆斩棘 (S2-3) English title: Call Me By Fire *I call it Brothers as a nickname

A show about female empowerment gets a male spin off? Out of skepticism, I did not plan to check out this show when it premiered in 2021 (after Sisters S2). But at some point I changed my mind, mostly because I had to run out of other shows. Little did I know I would arguably become a more devoted fan of this show than the original!

Season 1

This season had too many iconic performances to count, and in particular, the Hong Kong contestants really took the world by storm. Due to scandals, they edited out 2 contestants (Huo Zun and Li Yundi), which admittedly does make for an awkward viewing experience at times, but you should totally watch anyway.

凄美地

MMA

飞云之下

达拉崩吧

如果还有明天

Season 2

Looking back, season 2 did not have as many stand out performances as season 1, but it does boast my favorite performances of the entire series, 新地球. It also features a fantastic group of contestants, probably my favorite overall cohort of the show.

新地球

袖手旁观

私人生活

理想

凤毛麟角

Season 3

This was the first season to air after I started watching, though I didn't watch it live because I was still on season 2. While it's probably impossible to top the iconic status of season 1, I think season 3 was an improvement over season 2 in terms of memorable performances. We also got the iconic 0713 (2007快乐男��全国13强) contestants.

行走的鱼

爱人错过

Joker

走麦田

有没有一首歌会让你想起我

Season 4

This season is sadly coming to an end, although I have not started the finale yet. I'll start this weekend and update this post in the future after I've had some time to gather my thoughts.

Now I have to go finish 披荆斩棘4 episode 11 so I can watch the finale. Bye!!!

[xilines]

The problem w writing fiction is that you'll be like tee-hee I'm going to write a story about a fucked up little scenario that's got nothing to do with anything in real life, just some pure messed up nonsense, and then you finish it and take a step back and go aw rats I made a metaphor again