Well, if Huang Di defeated Yan Di and absorbed his tribe, shouldn't the Chinese themselves "decendants of Huang Yan" instead of "decendants of Yan Huang"?
黄帝 和 炎帝 是 兄弟，他们的 父亲 叫 少典，母亲 叫 有蟜氏。黄帝 在 姬水 边上 长大，所以 姓 姬。炎帝 在 姜水 边上 长大，所以 姓 姜。两个 人 之间经常 发生 战争。
最后的 决战 发生在 涿鹿 的 大原野 上。双方 的 军队 打了 几个 月，打得 天昏地暗。结果，黄帝 战胜了 炎帝。于是 两个 部落 合并，成为 形成 中华 民族 的 主流。
所以 现在 的 中国人 常 自称 “炎黄 子孙”。
Huang Di and Yan Di were brothers,and their father was called Shao Dian,the mother Jiao ShiHuang Di grew up by the River of Ji,so his last name is Ji.Yan Di grew up by the River of Jiang,so his last name is Jiang.They fought a lot of battles.their last fight occurred in the vast grasslands of Zhuo Lu.Both sides fought for several months,they fought so hard the sky turned dark.In the end,Huang Di beat Yan Di.so both of them amalgimated,and formed a Chinese Nation.so this is why the Chinese are referred to as "Yan Huang's descendants."
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The legend of Nv Wa
This is a Chinese version of how creatures on earth were created. The creator was Nv Wa! Interesting!? But how did she come into being?
女娲是 大地 的 女儿，她的 上半部 像 人，下半部 像 蛇。她 在 大地 上 一个 人 游玩，时间 长了，感到 很 孤独，就 用 泥土 造出了 人类 的 祖先，以及 各种 动物。人类 渐渐 繁殖 增加，大地-上 变得 热闹起来 了，女娲 看了 很 高兴。
可是，有 一天，天空 突然 破了，大地 也 裂了 开来，于是 整个 世界上 都是 从 天-上 落下来 的 烈火 和 地下 冒出来 的 洪水。人类 的 生活 变得 很 痛苦。女娲 看到 人类 的 痛苦，感到 十分 难过，于是 决定 去 修补 天空 和 大地。她 把 彩色的 石头 溶化了，用来 修补 天空，用 泥土 去 填平 地下 的 裂缝。她 又 砍下了 海洋 里 的 神龟 的 四条 腿 去 支撑 天空。这样，世界 又 恢复了 平静，人类 又 开始 过 安定的 生活。
Nu Wa is the Earth's daughter, Her top half was that of a woman, and her bottom half was that of a snake. She was playing by herself on the earth but as time passed, Nu Wa was feeling very bored and alone, so she made the humans' ancestors out of mud, as well as all sorts of different animals. The human race slowly began to multiply, and the earth was becoming very noisy indeed, and Nu Wa was very happy about this. However, one day, the sky suddenly burst open, and the earth also cracked open, so the whole universe was filled with raging fire that fell from the sky and floods from the earth. The human race became filled with sorrow and anguish. Nu Wa saw the human races' pain, and felt really sad, so she resolved to fix the sky and earth. So she melted various color rocks, and used them to patch up the sky, and used mud to fill up all the earth's fissures. She also chopped off the turtle deity's four legs (with her magical ninja sword) and used them to hold up the sky. With this, she universe returned to normal, and the human race lead very peaceful lives. (that is, until the badass-marshmallow-eating-dinosaurs came from Jupiter...)
Is 热闹 noise? Or is it "full of excitement"? Methinks it's better to translate it as "full of excitement".
女娲是 大地 的 女儿，她的 上半部 像 人，下半部 像 蛇。她 在 大地 上 一个 人 游玩，时间 长了，感到 很 孤独，就 用 泥土 造出了 人类 的 祖先，以及 各种 动物。人类 渐渐 繁殖 增加，大地-上 变得 热闹起来 了，女娲 看了 很 高兴。
可是，有 一天，天空 突然 破了，大地 也 裂了 开来，于是 整个 世界上 都是 从 天-上 落下来 的 烈火 和 地下 冒出来 的 洪水。人类 的 生活 变得 很 痛苦。女娲 看到 人类 的 痛苦，感到 十分 难过，于是 决定 去 修补 天空 和 大地。她 把 彩色的 石头 溶化了，用来 修补 天空，用 泥土 去 填平 地下 的 裂缝。她 又 砍下了 海洋 里 的 神龟 的 四条 腿 去 支撑 天空。这样，世界 又 恢复了 平静，人类 又 开始 过 安定的 生活。
Nu Wa is the Earth's daughter, Her top half was that of a woman, and her bottom half was that of a snake. She was playing by herself on the earth but as time passed, Nu Wa was feeling very bored and alone, so she made the humans' ancestors out of mud, as well as all sorts of different animals. The human race slowly began to multiply, and the earth was becoming very noisy indeed, and Nu Wa was very happy about this. However, one day, the sky suddenly burst open, and the earth also cracked open, so the whole universe was filled with raging fire that fell from the sky and floods from the earth. The human race became filled with sorrow and anguish. Nu Wa saw the human races' pain, and felt really sad, so she resolved to fix the sky and earth. So she melted various color rocks, and used them to patch up the sky, and used mud to fill up all the earth's fissures. She also chopped off the turtle deity's four legs (with her magical ninja sword) and used them to hold up the sky. With this, she universe returned to normal, and the human race lead very peaceful lives. (that is, until the badass-marshmallow-eating-dinosaurs came from Jupiter...)
Is 热闹 noise? Or is it "full of excitement"? Methinks it's better to translate it as "full of excitement".
The legend of Pan Gu
Ok, this is not a joke. It's a Chinese version of how the world was created.
These days youngsters don't pay a great deal of respect of the legend. In her translation, Indigo actually questioned the validity of the legend and kind of made fun of some parts of the legendary story. Sigh!
最初，宇宙 是 一团 混沌的 气体，像 一个 巨大的 鸡蛋。这个 鸡蛋 的 中心 孕育着 一个 天神，他的 名字 叫 盘古。
盘古 在 鸡蛋-中 昏昏沉沉地 睡了 一万 八千 年，终于 有 一天 醒了 过来。他 看见 周围 是 漆黑的 一片，感到 十分 烦闷，就 挥动 手中 的 斧子，打破了 鸡蛋。于是 鸡蛋 中 轻的 物质 慢慢 上升，变成了 蓝色的 天空，鸡蛋 中 重的 物质 就 慢慢 沉下去，成为 一片 大地。
为了 不 让 天 和 地 重新 合并，盘古 用 他的 双手 托住了 天空。天空 渐渐 升高，盘古 的 身体 也 随着 长高。又 过了 一万 八千 年，盘古 的 身体 长到了 九万 里 高。
他 感到 天 和 地 再 也 不会 合并了，并且 自己 也 很累 了，于是 倒下来 死去了。他的 呼吸 变成了 风 和 云，他的 声音 变成了 雷，他的 左眼 变成了 太阳，右眼 变成了 月亮，身体 变成了 山，毛发 变成了 森林、花草，血液 变成了 河流，牙齿 和 骨头 变成了 石头 和 矿物，汗水 变成了 雨水 和 露水。盘古 的 死 换来了 一个 美丽的 世界。
In the beginning, the universe was just a swirling pile of gases, (P.U.!) and was like a very big egg. Inside this egg lived a god, called Pan Gu. Pan Gu slept deeply in the egg for 18,000 years, and finally woke up one day. He looked 'round at his surroundings only to find pitch-black blackness, and felt very bored and irratated indeed, so he waved his ax wildly around his head shouting the Mongol war-cry, and sliced the egg open. (where he got the ax is beyond me) And so the gases in the egg slowly rose up in the inky air, and turned in to the blue sky we now know today, and the more opaque-y-ish substances slowly sank down, and became a piece 'a land. and because he didn't want the earth and sky to merge together again, Pan Gu held up the sky with both hands. (now answer me this: how the hell is he suppose to hold up something that's entirely made out of gases?!?!) The sky slowly crept upwards, and Pan Gu's body stretched upwards as well. Another 18,000 years past, (how time flies!) Pan Gu's body was now 90,000 meters long. and he felt that the earth and the sky would never merge together now, but he also felt very tired, and fell down dead. His breath became the wind and the clouds, his voice became thunder, his left eye was now the sun, his right eye the moon, his body turned into mountains, his hair forests and flowers, his blood became rivers, his teeth and bones became rocks and minerals, and his sweat turned into rain and dew. And so, because Pan Gu died, we have a beautiful world. (so you're saying that if someone dies then the world would be a better place? sweeeeet...)
These days youngsters don't pay a great deal of respect of the legend. In her translation, Indigo actually questioned the validity of the legend and kind of made fun of some parts of the legendary story. Sigh!
最初，宇宙 是 一团 混沌的 气体，像 一个 巨大的 鸡蛋。这个 鸡蛋 的 中心 孕育着 一个 天神，他的 名字 叫 盘古。
盘古 在 鸡蛋-中 昏昏沉沉地 睡了 一万 八千 年，终于 有 一天 醒了 过来。他 看见 周围 是 漆黑的 一片，感到 十分 烦闷，就 挥动 手中 的 斧子，打破了 鸡蛋。于是 鸡蛋 中 轻的 物质 慢慢 上升，变成了 蓝色的 天空，鸡蛋 中 重的 物质 就 慢慢 沉下去，成为 一片 大地。
为了 不 让 天 和 地 重新 合并，盘古 用 他的 双手 托住了 天空。天空 渐渐 升高，盘古 的 身体 也 随着 长高。又 过了 一万 八千 年，盘古 的 身体 长到了 九万 里 高。
他 感到 天 和 地 再 也 不会 合并了，并且 自己 也 很累 了，于是 倒下来 死去了。他的 呼吸 变成了 风 和 云，他的 声音 变成了 雷，他的 左眼 变成了 太阳，右眼 变成了 月亮，身体 变成了 山，毛发 变成了 森林、花草，血液 变成了 河流，牙齿 和 骨头 变成了 石头 和 矿物，汗水 变成了 雨水 和 露水。盘古 的 死 换来了 一个 美丽的 世界。
In the beginning, the universe was just a swirling pile of gases, (P.U.!) and was like a very big egg. Inside this egg lived a god, called Pan Gu. Pan Gu slept deeply in the egg for 18,000 years, and finally woke up one day. He looked 'round at his surroundings only to find pitch-black blackness, and felt very bored and irratated indeed, so he waved his ax wildly around his head shouting the Mongol war-cry, and sliced the egg open. (where he got the ax is beyond me) And so the gases in the egg slowly rose up in the inky air, and turned in to the blue sky we now know today, and the more opaque-y-ish substances slowly sank down, and became a piece 'a land. and because he didn't want the earth and sky to merge together again, Pan Gu held up the sky with both hands. (now answer me this: how the hell is he suppose to hold up something that's entirely made out of gases?!?!) The sky slowly crept upwards, and Pan Gu's body stretched upwards as well. Another 18,000 years past, (how time flies!) Pan Gu's body was now 90,000 meters long. and he felt that the earth and the sky would never merge together now, but he also felt very tired, and fell down dead. His breath became the wind and the clouds, his voice became thunder, his left eye was now the sun, his right eye the moon, his body turned into mountains, his hair forests and flowers, his blood became rivers, his teeth and bones became rocks and minerals, and his sweat turned into rain and dew. And so, because Pan Gu died, we have a beautiful world. (so you're saying that if someone dies then the world would be a better place? sweeeeet...)
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