FSI-Chinese/OptionalModule-MBD/FSI-StandardChinese-OptionalModuleMBD-StudentText.txt

FSI - Standard Chinese - Optional Module MBD - Student Text
Foreign Service Institute

STANDARD CHINESE A Modular Approach

OPTIONAL MODULE:

Customs Surrounding

Marriage, Birth and Death

CONTENTS

OBJECTIVES

UNIT 1 Part I

Part II

Part III

Vocabulary

UNIT 2 Part I

Part II

Vocabulary

UNIT 3 Part I

Part II

Vocabulary

UNIT 1 Part I

Part II

Vocabulary

UNIT 5 Part I

Part II

Vocabulary

UNIT 6 Part I

Part II

Vocabulary

APPENDIX Unit Vocabulary Characters

OBJECTIVES

General

The purpose of the Module on Customs Surrounding Marriage, Birth and Death is to furnish you with the linguistic skills and cultural Background information you need to take part in conversations about changing attitudes and practices with regard to courtship, marriage, birth, divorce, death and funerals in China, and to conduct yourself in a culturally appropriate manner when you come in contact with Chinese people at the time of one of these significant events in their lives.

Before starting the MBD module, you should have at least completed the Arranging a Meeting Module. You may, of course, use this module at any later point in the course.

Specific

When you have finished this module, you should be able to:

Ask about the age when most people get married.

Ask about how a wedding is celebrated and what differences there are in marriage practices between the city and the country.

Ask about the current local customs regarding gifts for weddings, births, and funerals.

Ask about the frequency of divorce.

Talk about the functions and statuses of the people who play a role in arranging a present-day traditional marriage.

Ask questions about the bride, the groom, and the ceremony in a modern-day wedding.

Ask about population control efforts, changes in population control policy, restrictions on young people having children, what factors are taken into consideration in family planning, and how old most couples are when they have children.

Congratulate a new mother. Ask about a new-born infant’s health, appetite, and weight, and describe the baby in terms of traditional values.

Talk about the traditional beliefs and practices with regard to the mother's health before and after giving birth.

Present condolences to someone whose relative has died, comfort and express concern for that person.

Ask, after deciding if appropriate, about the circumstances of the death and the funeral.

Apologize for not being able to attend a funeral.

Ask what attire and behavior are appropriate when attending a funeral.

Customs Surrounding

Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 1

PART I

1.	Zhōngguo zhèngíu shì bu shi tíchàng niánqīng rén wǎn jiéhūn?	Does the Chinese government advocate that young people marry late?
2.	Zhèngfǔ tíchàng wǎnliàn wǎnhūn.	The government advocates late involvement and late marriage.
3.	Nèige qīngnián, gōngzuò hěn nǔlì.	That young person is very hardworking.
4.	Nóngcūn niánqīng rén yě shíxíng wǎnhūn ma?	Do the young people in the countryside also practice late marriage?
5.	Wǎnhūn yǐjīng chéngle yìzhǒng fēngqì.	Late marriage has already become a common practice for young people.
6.	Xiǎo Lǐ hé tǎ liàn’ài hěn jiǔ le, kěshi yìzhí bú yào jiéhūn.	Xiǎo Lǐ has been in love with her for a long time, but he’s never wanted to get married.
7.	Zhège xiǎo chéngshì kě piàoliang le!	Boy, is this little town pretty!

NOTES ON PART I

Notes on No. 1

tíchàng: “to advocate, to promote, to initiate, to recommend, to encourage”

Zhè shi shéi tíchàngde?	Who advocates this?

niánqīng: “to be young” (literally “years-light” or “years green”. There are two different characters with the same sound used for the second syllable.)

Tā zhènme niánqīng, zhènme piàoliang!	She’s so young and so beautiful!

Wǒ niánqīngde shíhou, bù xǐhuan kàn shū.	When I was young, I didn’t like to read.

Zhèixiē niánqīng rén dōu ài kàn diànyǐng.	These young people all love to go to the movies.

Nèige niánqīngde Zhōngguo rén, Yīngwén shuōde bú cuò.	That young Chinese person speaks pretty good English.

jiéhūn: “to get married”, also pronounced jiēhūn. Notice that in Chinese you talk of “getting married”, while in English we talk of “being married”. And it follows grammatically that jiéhūn is a process verb, not a state verb. Jiéhūn will always be seen with an aspect marker such as le or will be negated with méi.

Tāmen jiéhūnle méiyou?	Have they gotten married yet? (This is the equivalent of “Are they married?”)
Nǐ jiéhūn duó jiǔ le?	How long have you been married?

Jiéhūn is a verb-object compound, literally meaning “to knot marriage”. Jié and hūn can be separated by aspect markers, such as de or guo.

Nǐ shi shénme shíhou jiéde hūn?	When did you get married?
or
Nǐ shi shénme shíhou jiéhūnde?

Wáng Xiānsheng jiéguo sāncì hūn.	Mr. Wang has been married three times.

To say “get married to someone” use the pattern gēn ... jiéhūn.

Tā gēn shéi jiéhūn le?	To whom did he get married?

Note on No. 2

wǎnliàn wǎnhūn: “late involvement and late marriage”. Wǎnliàn is an abbreviation for wǎn liàn’ài, “mature love”, (liàn’ài means “romantic love, courtship”), and wǎnhūn is an abbreviation for wǎn jiéhūn, “late marriage”. This policy has been promoted since the 1960s, but only actively enforced since the 1970s. It is difficult to generalize about the required minimum marriage ages, as they differ from city to city and might be nonexistant in certain rural and national minority areas, where the government is trying to increase the population. The minimum age has been progressively raised over the years, until 1978 when the rules were eased a bit. In general, if the combined ages of the couple exceeds fifty years (or the female’s age exceeds the male’s), then the marriage is allowable.

Note on No. 3

qīngnián: “youth, young person”. Do not confuse this noun with the adjectival verb niánqīng, “to be young.” (See Notes on №1)

Zhèiwèi qīngnián lǎoshī yīnggāi dào dàxué qù jiāo shū.	This young teacher should go to a university to teach.

In this sentence, the noun qīngnián is used to modify the noun lǎoshī, “teacher”.

A:	Wǒ jìde sānshinián yīqián nǐ tèbié ài chī táng.	I remember that thirty years ago you especially loved to eat candy.
B:	Shì a, nèi shíhou wǒmen dōu háishi qīngnián. Xiànzài lǎo le, yá bù xíng le.	Yes. Back then we were all young people. Now I’m old, and my teeth aren’t good any more.

nǔlì: “to be hardworking, to diligent”, or as an adverb, “diligently,be hard”.

Tā suīrán he3n nǔlì, kěshi tāde Yīngwen háishi bù xíng.	Although he’s very hardworking, his English is still not good enough.
Wǒ děi nǔlì xué Zhōngwén.	I have to study Chinese very hard.

Notes on No. 4

nóngcūn: “rural areas, countryside, village”.

Nóngcūnde kōngqì bǐ chéngli hǎoduō le.	The air in the country is much better than in the city.
Tāmen jiā zài nóngcūn zhù.	Their family lives in the country.

shíxíng: “to practice, to carry out (a method, policy, plan, reform)”.

Nǐ zhèige jìhua hěn hǎo, kěshi wǒ xiǎng bù néng shíxíng.	This plan of yours is very good, but I don’t think it can be carried out.
Zhèige bànfa yǐjīng shíxíngle sānge xīngqīle, kěshi jiéguǒ bù hǎo.	This method has been in practice for three weeks, but the results aren’t good.

Notes on No. 5

chéng: “to constitute, to make, to become”.

Tǎde xuéxí yìzhí hěn hǎo, bìyè yǐhòu ānpai gōngzuò bù chéng wèntí.	His studies have been good all along, so after he graduates, setting up a job for him won’t constitute a problem.
Wǒde nǚer xiànzài chéngle jiějie, tā zhēn xǐhuan tāde xiǎo mèimei.	My daughter has become an older sister. She really likes her little sister.

fēngqì: “established practice, custom; general mood”.

Xiànzài yǒu bù shǎo qīngnián bú yào zài shāngdiànli mài dōngxi, zhèizhǒng fēngqì zhēn bù hǎo.	There are a lot of young people now who don’t want to sell things in shops. This practice is really bad.
Xiànzài zài Zhōngguo, yòu yǒule niàn shūde fēngqì.	Now in China there is again a general atmosphere of study.

Notes on No. 6

hé: “with”. You have seen he used between two nouns or pronouns as a conjunction meaning “and”. Here you see it used as a prepositional verb meaning “with”. The word gēn, which you have seen, also has both meanings, “and” and “with”.

Formerly, gēn was the most frequently used word for “with” or “and” in the Mandarin spoken in North China, and he was more often written. But he has come into wide conversational use in pùtōnghuà. In addition to this variation, school children in Taiwan are sometimes taught to say hàn instead of hé, which is the same character with another pronunciation.

Generally speaking, if you use hé or gēn you should not have any problem being understood by any speaker of Standard Chinese.

liàn'ài: “to fall in love, to be in love; romantic love, courtship”. This is the socially acceptable way to describe a romantic relationship between two people. Notice that liàn'ài can be used both as noun and as a verb. (Liàn’ài is written with an apostrophe to show where the syllable division is: liàn ài, not lià nài.)

Tǎmen liàn’àile hǎojinián le.	They’ve been in love for quite a few years now.

Tǎmen xiànzài kāishǐ liàn’ài le.	They’ve just started to fall in love.

Wǒmende liàn’ài zhǐ yǒu sāntiān, jiù bù xíng le.	Our love is only three days old and already it’s over.

The noun liàn’ài is often used in the phrase tán liàn’ài, “to be romantically involved” or more literally “to talk of love”.

Tāmen liǎngge tán liàn’ài yǐjīng tánle hěn jiǔ le.	The two of them have been in love for quite a while now.
Wǒ méiyou hé tā tán liàn’ài.	I’m not in love with her.

In China young people tend to go out in groups. When two people are seen going out alone, then it is assumed that they have serious intentions for the future.

Notes on No. 7

kě: “really, certainly”. This is an adverb which intensifies state verbs. Kě can be used before a negative.

Tāmen liǎngge kě hǎo le!		The two of them are very good friends.

Kě bú shi ma!		Isn’t that so! (Really! or No kidding!)

Nà kě bù xíng!		That really won’t do!

Nà kě bú shì yíjiàn hǎo shi.		That’s really not a good thing.

Nǐ kě yào xiǎoxīn!		You’ve got to be careful!

Although some Chinese are fond of using the word kě, to other Chinese it may sound too full of local color with which they do not identify.

Peking:

An American exchange student talks with her language teacher. They are both in their late twenties.

A: 	Wǒ jìde shàngcì nǐ shuō nǐ èrshibásuì le, hái méiyou jiéhūn.	I remember last time you told me that you're twenty-eight years old and you're not married yet.

B: Duì.	Right.

A: 	Wǒ yìzhí xiǎng wènwen ni, Zhōngguo niánqīng rén hǎoxiàng sānshisuì zuǒyòu cái jiéhūn, shi bu shi?	I've been meaning to ask you all along, it seems as if young people in China don't get married until they're about thirty, is that so?

B: Duì le. Women qīngnián you hen duō shi yào zuò. Yào nǔlì gōngzuò, nǔlì xuéxí, bú yào zǎo jiehūn! Zhèngfǔ yě tíchàng wǎnliàn wǎnhūn. Zài chéngshì-li niánqīng rén dōu zài èrshi-wǔliùsuì yīhòu cái jiehūn.	Right. We young people have a lot of things we have to do. We have to work hard and study hard; we shouldn't get married early.' The government also promotes late involvement and late marriage. In the city, young people don't get married before the age of twenty-five or twenty-six.
A: Nongcūnlǐde niánqīng rén yě shíxíng wǎnhūn ma?	Do the young people in the rural areas practice late marriage too?

B: Duì, tāmen yě shíxíng wǎnhūn. Zài nongcūn, wǎn liàn'ài wǎn jiéhūn yǐjīng chéngle yìzhǒng xīn féngqì. Wǒ you yíge zài Bǒijīng jiāoqū gōngzuòde péngyou xià lǐbài jiehūn, nǐ yào bu yao hé wo yìqǐ qù kàn-kan? Wǒ gěi ni ānpai yixiar.	Yes, they do too. In the rural areas, late involvement and late marriage have already become a new common practice. I have a friend who works in the suburbs of Peking who's getting married next week. Do you want to go see it with me? I'll arrange it for you.

A: Hǎojíle. Nà kǒ zhēn you yìsi, gang dào zhèr jiù you zhènme yíge hǎo jīhui.	Great. That would really be interesting. And such a good opportunity so soon after getting here.


NOTE ON THE DIALOGUE

...zài èrshiwǔliǔsuì yǐhòu cái jiéhūn: This is quite a change from Imperial times, when females might be married off at age thirteen and males at age six so as to insure the family fortunes or fend off economic difficulties later. Nontheless, regulations are less strict in the countryside today, where one can marry perhaps at age twenty.

PART II

8.		Xiànzài Zhōngguo rén jiēhūn you shénme yíshì?	What kind of ceremony do the Chinese have when they get married now?

9.	A:	Nǐ jiehūn de shíhou nǐde qǐnqi sònggei ni shénme lǐwù?	What gifts did your relatives give you when you got married?

	B:	Tāmen sònggei wo yìxiē xiǎo lǐwù zuò jìniàn.	They gave me a few small presents as mementos.

10.	A:	Xǔduō nan qīngnián jiehūn yǐhòu zhùdao nuj iār qu.	Many young men now go and live with the wife’s family after they get married.

	A:	Zhè gēn yǐqiánde fēngsū you hen dàde qūbié.	This is very different from the customs of the past.

	B:	Ke bú shi ma! Zhēnshi gǎi-biànle bù shǎo.	I’ll say! It’s really changed a lot.

11.		Ěrqiě zài nóngcūn yě shíxíng wǎnhūn.	Furthermore, late marriage is also practiced in rural areas.

NOTES ON PART II

Notes on No. 8

yíshì: ’ceremony, function’ This can be used to refer to a range of different ceremonies, from the signing of a treaty or agreement to the taking of marital vows.

In old China, marriages were celebrated extravagantly. It was not uncommon to find families going into debt because of the joyous occasion, which marked a new generation added to the family line. This elaborate ritual served to strengthen familial bonds and the newlyweds’ feeling of obligation owed to the family.

In PRC cities of today, lack of extra money and coupons to purchase food for guests, celebration space, and free time for preparation limit the celebration often to procedural formality alone—registration with the local police bureau. Wedding dinners may still be enjoyed in the countryside, where there are fewer restrictions on time and food.

Notes on No. 9

qǐnqi: ’relatives* Qǐnqi is slightly different from the English word ’relatives’ in that it does not include one’s immediate family, that is parents or children, but is used to refer to all other relatives. (One’s immediate family are called Jiāli rén.)

Nǐmen Jiā qīnqi duō ma?		Do you have a lot of relatives in your family?

Wǒmen Jiā qinqi kě duō le!		We have lots of relatives in our family.

sǒnggei: ’give (a gift) to ...’ The verb song has several meanings. One is ’to send’, as in Wǒ bā nǐde xíngli sòngshangqu le, ’I sent your luggage upstairs.’ Another is to give someone something as a present.

Here you see song with the prepositional verb gěi ’for, to’ after it. You have also seen Jiāogei, ’to hand over to ..., to submit to...’. When gěi is used after the main verb as a prepositional verb, it must be followed by the indirect object, that is, the person or thing to whom something is given. Gěi can also be used this way with jì ’to send’, and mǎi ’to sell’.

Wǒ bǎ zhèijiǎn yīfu Jìgei wǒ mèimei le.		I sent this piece of clothing to my younger sister.

Tā bǎ fángzi màigei wǒ le.		He sold his house to me.

In these examples the direct object, clothing or house, is up front in the sentence, making it necessary to use gěi to put the indirect object after the main verb. This usually happens in sentences where the object is specific and the bǎ construction is preferred. When song is followed by an indirect object, however, the gěi is usually optional.

Wǒ yào sòng ta yíge xiǎo lǐwù.		I am going to give him a small present.

Wǒ yào sònggei ta yíge xiǎo lǐwù.		I am going to give him a small present.

...sònggei ni shénme lǐwù?: Wedding gifts for friends and relatives in the PRC are generally “useful” items. Common among these are nuǎnpíng, hot water jugs; huāpíng, vases; táidēng, table lamps; bǐ, pens; liánpěn, wash basins; or cānjù, kitchen items.

zuò: “to act as, to serve as”. Tāmen sònggei wo yìxiē xiǎo lǐwù zuǒ jìniàn. is literally “They gave me a few small presents to serve as mementos.”

Zhèige xuéxiǎo bìyède xuésheng, hěn duō dōu zuò lǎoshī le.	A lot of students who graduated from this school have become teachers.

Yòng zhèiběn xīn shū zuò lǐwù, hǎo bu hǎo?	Would it be okay to use this new book as a present?

Zuò, “to act as, to serve as” is often seen used with yòng, “to use” as in the example above, yòng ... zuò ..., “to use (something) as (something) else”.

jìniàn: “memento, remembrance; to commemorate”.

Wǒ gěi ta yìzhāng zhàopiàn zuò jìniàn.	I’ll give him a photo as a memento.

Notes on No. 10

xǔduō: “many; a great deal (of), lots (of)”. Xǔduō is used as a number (it can be followed by a counter) to modify other nouns.

A: 	Hái yǒu duōshao qián?	How much money is there left?

B: 	Hái yǒu xǔduō.	There’s still a lot left, or There’s a lot more.

Tā mǎile xǔduō (zhāng) huàr.	He bought a lot of paintings.

Xǔduō has several things in common with hěn duō, in addition to similarity of meaning. Used as modifiers in front of nouns, both xǔduō and hěn duō can (1) be used alone, (2) be used with de, and (3) be followed by a counter, but not usually -ge.

Tā rènshi xǔduō rén.	He knows a lot of people.
Tā rènshi hěn duō rén.	He knows a lot of people.

Tā jiànle xǔduō(de) rén.	He saw (met with) a lot of people.
Tā jiànle hen duō(de) rén.	He saw (met with) a lot of people.

Bìchǔli yǒu hěn duō (jiàn) dàyī.	There are a lot of overcoats in the closet.

Tā xiěle xǔduō (běn) shū.	He wrote a lot of books.

Hěn duō is probably more common than xǔduō. Some speakers feel that they do not use xǔduō in conversation; many speakers, however, do not feel any restriction about using it in conversation.

...zhùdao nǚjiār qu: “to go live with the wife's family” You've seen the prepositional verb dào used after main verbs, as in nádao lóushàng qu, “take it upstairs”. Following verbs expressing some kind of motion, the use of dào is fairly straightforward. But in the above example from the Reference List, dào is used with a verb which is not usually thought of as expressing motion, zhù, “to live, to inhabit”. Here is another example of zhù used in a phrase expressing motion:

Tā shi zuótiān zhùjinlaide. 	He moved in yesterday.

The verbs zhàn “to stand” and zuò “to sit” can also be used in phrases expressing motion.

Qǐng ni zhàndao nèibianr qu, hǎo bu hǎo? 	Would you please go stand over there.

Qǐng ni zuòdao qiǎnbianr qu, hǎo bu hǎo?	Would you please go sit up front.

Due to the lack of housing, which might involve a wait of from one to three years for newlyweds, it is not infrequent now to find the groom join the household of his new bride. This is in contrast to former tradition, which stated that the woman became part of the man’s family, and of course, moved into his family’s house.

In the past, for the groom to join the household of his new bride carried special significance. It was called rù zhuì and might take place when a family had only female children and the father wanted his daughter’s husband to take his last name in order to carry on the family line.

qūbié: “difference” When expressing the difference between two things, use ... gēn ... yǒu qūbié.

Zhèiběn zìdiǎn gēn nèiběn yǒu hěn dàde qūbié.	There is a big difference between this dictionary and that one.

Zhèige xuéxiào gēn nèige xuéxiào yǒu shénme qūbié?	What is the difference between this school and that one?

Zhèiliǎngge bànfǎde qūbié zài nǎr?	What is the difference between these two methods?

Kě bú shì ma!. : “Yes, indeed!, I’ll say!”, or more literally, “Isn’t it so”. ’ Kě bú shì ma! is often used in northern China to indicate hearty agreement, or to indicate that something makes perfect sense to the speaker, something like English “Well, of course!” or “Really!”.

bù shǎo: Literally “not a little”, in other words, “quite a lot”.

Tā yǒu bù shǎo huà yào gēn ni shuō.	He has a lot he wants to say to you.

Zài Měiguo bù shǎo rén yǒu qìchē.	In America a lot of people have cars.

érqiě: “furthermore, moreover”

Jīntiǎn tiānqi bù hǎo, érqiě hǎoxiàng yào xià xuě.	The weather is bad today, and furthermore it looks as if it’s going to snow.

Ěrqiě is often used in the pattern bú dan...érqiě “not only ... but also...” or “not only ... moreover...”:

Zhèizhěng huǎr hú dàn hǎo kàn, érqiě fēicháng xiāng.	This kind of flower is not only pretty, but it’s also very fragrant.

Wǒ bú dàn ài chī táng, érqiě shénme tián dōngxi dōu ài chī.	I not only like to eat candy, (moreover) I like to eat anything sweet.

Tā bú dàn xuéguo Zhōngwén, érqiě xuéde bú cuò.	Not only has he studied Chinese, but moreover he has learned it quite well.

Wǒ bù dàn méiyou hé tā tán liàn’ài, érqiě wǒ yě bú dà xǐhuan ta.	Not only am I not in love with her, moreover I don’t like her very much.

Peking:

The American exchange student and her language teacher continue their conversation:

A: 		Zhōngguo rén jiéhūnde shíhou yǒu shénmeyàngde yíshì?	What kind of ceremony is there when the Chinese get married?

B: 		Méiyou shénme yíshì, jiù shi qǐng qīnqi péngyou lái hē diǎnr chá, chi diǎnr táng, diānxin, shenmede.	There is no ceremony, we just invite friends and relatives to come and have some tea, candy, snacks, and so on.

A: 		Qīnqi péngyou sòng bu song lǐwù?	Do the friends and relatives give gifts?

B: 		Yǒude rén sòng yìdiǎnr xiǎo lǐwù zuò jìniàn.	Some people give small gifts as a memento.

A: Wǒ tīngshuō yǐqián nóngcūnli nǚháizi jiéhūnde shíhou, nánjiā yào sòng xǔduō lǐwù. Zhèige fēngsū shì bu shi yě gǎibiàn le?	I’ve heard that it used to be that in the country, when a girl got married, the man’s family would have to give a lot of gifts. Has this custom changed too?

B: Shì a! Zhèizhǒng shìqing zài bù shǎo dìqū dōu méiyou le. Érqiě xiànzài yě yǒude nán qīngnián jiehūn yǐhòu zhùdao nūjiār qu. Zhèi gēn yǐqiánde fēngsū yě yǒu hěn dàde qūbié.	Yes! In many regions, this kind of thing doesn’t exist any more. Furthermore, now there are also young men who go to live with the wife’s family after they get married. This is also very different from the customs of the past.

A: Kě bú shi ma! Zhēn shi gǎibiànle bù shǎo.	I’ll say! It has really changed a lot.

PART III

12. 		Nǐmen jiéhūn yǐqián shuāngfāng dōu hěn liǎojiě ma?	Before you were married, did you both know each other very well?

13. 		Xiànzài Zhōngguo líhūnde bú tài duō.	There aren’t many people getting divorced in China now.

14. 		Nèiduì fūfù bú zài yíge dìqū gōngzuò.	That married couple doesn’t work in the same region.

15. 		Tā měinián yǒu duōshāo tiānde tànqīnjià?	How many days of leave does he get every year to visit family?

16. 		Fūfù zǒngshi nénggōu zài yìqǐ bǐjiào hǎo.	It’s always better if married couples can be together.

17.	A: 	Tāmen shi. jīngguo xiǎngdǎngde kǎolü yǐhòu cái jiéhūnde.	They gave it quite a bit of consideration before they got married.

	A: 	Dànshi bù zhìdào wèishénme, tāmen háishi yǒu hěn duō wèntí.	But for some reason or other they still had a lot of problems.

18. 		Nánnǚ yīngdǎng bǐcǐ liǎojiě yǐhòu zài jiéhūn.	A man and woman should know each other well before they get married.

19. 		Nǐ xiǎng tā huì bu hui bāng wǒ jiějué zhèige wèntí?	Do you think he will help me solve this problem?

NOTES ON PART III

Notes on No. 12

shuāngfāng: “both sides, both parties”

Zhèijiàn shìqing shi Zhōngguo hé Měiguo shuāngfāng dōu zhīdaode.	This matter is known to both America and China.

bǐcǐ: “the one and the other; each other, mutually”

Suīrán wǒmen méiyou shuō huà, kěshi bǐcǐ dōu zhīdao, tāde bìng méiyou bànfa le.	Although we didn't say anything, we both knew. There was nothing that could be done for his illness.

Yǒude dàxuéshēng xǐhuan zài bìyède shíhou bǐcǐ sòng lǐwù.	Some college students like to give each other gifts when graduating.

A: 	Zhōumō hǎo!	Have a nice weekend.

B: 	Bǐcǐ, bǐcǐ!	You too!

liǎojiě: “to understand; to acquaint oneself with, to try to understand”

Zhèijiàn shì, wǒ bù dǒng, hái děi qù liǎojiě yíxià.	I don’t understand this, I have to go back and try to understand it again.

Wǒ liǎojiě ta.	I understand her.

Tā juéde tā méiyou yíge péngyou zhēnde liǎojiě tā.	He feels that he doesn’t have a single friend who really knows him. 

Notice that when you want to say “to know someone” meaning “to understand someone”, the Chinese word to use is liǎojiě, not rènshi (which simply means to have made someone’s acquaintance)

Note on No. 13

...líhūnde bú tài duō: “There aren’t many people getting divorced ...” Líhūnde, “those (people) who get divorced”, is a noun phrase in which líhūn is nominalized by -de.

Notes on No. 14

fūfù: “husband and wife, married couple”.

Tāmen fūfù liǎngge dōu fēicháng hǎo.	Those two (that couple) are both very nice.

bú zài yíge dìqū gōngzuò: “do not work in the same region”. Yíge, “one”, is frequently used to mean “one and the same”. Here are some more examples:

Wǒmen dōu zài yíge xuéxiào niàn shū.	All of us go to the same school.

Tāmen liǎngge dōu shi yíge lǎoshī jiāochulaide.	They are both the product of the same teacher.

Note on No. 15

tànqǐnjià: “leave for visiting family”. Tàn qīn means to visit one’s closest relatives, usually parents, a spouse, or children.

Míngtiān tā jiù qù Shànghǎi tàn qīn le.	Tomorrow he’s going to Shanghai to visit his family.

Note on No. 16

zǒngshi: “always, all the time”. This adverb may also occur as zǒng.

Tā zǒngshi ài qù Huáměi kāfēitīng.	He always loves to go to the Huáměi Coffeehouse.

nénggòu: “can, to be able to”. This is a synonym of něng.

Notes on No. 17

jīngguo: “to pass by or through, to go through”. Jīngguo can mean 1) to pass by or through something physically, or 2) to go through an experience.

Jīngguo zhèicì xuéxí yǐhòu wǒ kě qīngchu duō le.	As a result of this study, I see things a lot more clearly.

Wǒ měitiān xià bān huí jiāde shíhou, dōu jīngguo Bǎihuò Dàlóu... dōu jīngguo Bǎihuò Dàlóu.)	Every day on my way home from work I pass by the Bǎihuò Dàlóu.

Nǐ jīngguo zhèige wūzide shíhou, nǐ méiyou kànjian wǒmen zài lǐtou gōngzuò ma?	When you passed by this room, didn’t you see us working inside?

xiāngdāng: “quite, pretty (good, degree of’. etc.); considerable, a considerable degre of”

Tāde shēntǐ xiāngdāng hǎo.	His health is quite good.

kǎolǜ: “to consider; consideration”

Wǒ yǐjīng kǎolǜguo le, tā háishi yīnggāi shàng dàxué.	I have already given it consideration he should still go to college.

dànshi: “but”, a synonym of kěshi.

Wǒ yǐjīng qùguo le, dànshi wǒ méiyou kàndao ta.	I already went there, but I didn't see her.

Notes on No. 18

nánnǚ: “male and female”.

Nānnǚde shìqing zuì nán shuō. 	Matters between men and women are the hardest to judge.

yīngdāng: “should, ought to”. Yīngdāng is a less-frequently heard word for yīnggāi. These two words share in common the following meanings:

(1) “should” in the sense of obligation or duty.

Zánmen shi tóngzhì, yīngdāng (or yīnggāi) bǐcǐ bāngmáng. 	We two are comrades, we should help each other.

(2) “ought to” in the sense of “it would be suitable to”.

Wàitou lěng, nǐ yīnggāi (or yīngdāng) duō chuān yìdiǎnr.	It’s cold out, you should put on some more clothing.

(3) “should” in the sense of “it would be desirable to”.

Nǐ yīnggāi (or yīngdāng) shìyishi, zhēn hǎo wánr.	You should try this, it’s fun.

(4) “should” in the sense of “it is expected”.

Shídiǎn zhōng le, tā yīnggāi (or yīngdāng) kuài dào le.	It’s ten o’clock, he should be here soon.

Tā xué Zhōngwén xuéle sānnián le, yīnggāi xuéde bú cuò le.	He’s been studying Chinese for three years, he should be pretty good by now.

bǐjiào: “relatively, comparatively, by comparison”. Also pronounced bǐjiǎo

Jīntiān bǐjiào rè.	It’s hotter today.

Zhèijiàn yīfu gǎile yǐhòu, bǐjiào hǎo yìdiǎnr.	After this article of clothing is altered, it will be better.

Zhèi liǎngtiān tā bǐjiào shūfu yìdiǎnr, bù zěnme fā shāo le.	The past couple of days he’s been feeling better, he doesn’t have such a high fever any more.

You may sometimes hear Chinese speakers use bǐjiào before other adverbial expressions like bú tài “not too”, bù zěnme “not so”, bú nàme “not so” or hen “very”. Careful speakers, however, feel that bǐjiào should not be used in such cases.

Notes on No. 19

huì: “will; might; be likely to”. The auxiliary verb huì is used to express likelihood here.

Míngtiān tā huì bu hui lái?	Will he come tomorrow?

Wǒ qù bǎ mén guānhǎo, nǐ huì bu hui juéde tài rè?	If I go close the door, will you feel too hot?

jiějué: “to solve, to settle (a problem), to overcome (a difficulty)”.

Nǐ bú yao jí, qiǎnde wèntí yǐjīng jiějué le.	Don’t get anxious, the problem of money has already been solved.

Washington, D. C.

A graduate student in Chinese studies talks with an exchange student from Peking.

A: 	Wǒmen rènshi zhǐ yǒu liǎngge duō xīngqī, kěshi yǐjīng shi lǎo péngyou le.	We’ve only known each other for two weeks or so, but we’re old friends already.

B: 	Duì. Wǒmen tiāntiān zài yíkuàir, zhēn hǎoxiàng shi lǎo péngyou le.	Yes. We’re together every day; it really is as if we’re old friends.

A: 	Wǒ yìzhí xiǎng wènwen ni nǐ shi shénme shíhour jiéhūnde ne?	I’ve been meaning to ask you all along when you were married.

B: 	Ò! Wǒ shi qiánnián jiēhūnde.	Oh. I was married the year before last.

A: 	Nǐ èrshibásuì le. Nǐ àiren ne?	You’re twenty-eight years old. How about your spouse?

B: 	Tā sānshièr le.	He’s thirty-two.

A: 	Nǐmen jiéhūnde shíhou kě bù xiǎo le! Zhōngguo niánqīng rén dōu shi zhèige yàngzi ma?	You certainly weren’t young when you were married! Is it this way for all Chinese young people?

B: 	Duì le. Zhèngfǔ tíchàng wǎnliàn wǎnhūn. Niánqīng rén yě dōu yào nǔlì xuéxí, nǔlì gōngzuò, bú yào zǎo jiēhūn.	Yes. The government promotes late involvement and late marriage. Also, all young people should study hard and work hard, and shouldn't get married early.

A: 	Chéngshìli nǚde duō dà jiéhūn?	At what age do most women get married in the cities?

B: 	Chàbuduō èrshiwǔsuì zuǒyòu.	After about twenty-five.

A: 	Nǎnde ne?	And men?

B: 	Dàgài èrshibāsuì zuǒyòu.	After about twenty-eight.

A: 	Jiéhūnde shíhour yǒu shénmeyàngde yíshì?	What kind of ceremony is there when someone gets married?

B: 	Méiyou shénme yíshì. Būguò jiēhūn nèitiān qǐng qīnqi péngyou lái hēhe chǎ, chī diǎnr táng, diǎnxin shenmede. Yě yǒu rén sòng diǎnr xiǎo lǐwu zuò jìniàn.	There is no ceremony. But on the day of the marriage relatives and friends are invited to come and drink tea, eat a little candy, snacks and so forth. Some people also give a small gift as a memento.

A: 	Nóngcūnlǐde niánqīng rén yě shíxíng wǎnhūn ma?	Do the young people in rural areas also practice late marriage?

B: 	Duì. Zài nóngcūnli wǎn liàn’ài wǎn jiēhūn yě yǐjīng chéngle yìzhǒng fēngqì.	Yes. Late involvement and late marriage have already become a common practice in the rural areas.

A: 	Nóngcūnli nǚháizi jiéhūnde shíhou nánjia hái yào sòng xǔduō lǐwù ma?	In the farm villages does the family of the husband still have to give a lot of presents when a girl gets married?

B: 	Bú yào le. Érqiě xiànzài yǒu xiē nán qīngnián jiēhūn yīhòu hái zhùdao nǚjiār qu. Zhè gēn yǐqiánde fēngsú yǒu hěn dàde qùbié.	Not any more. Furthermore now there are even young men who live with the wife’s family after they get married. This is very different 'from the customs of the past.

A: 	Kě bú shi ma! Zhēn shi gǎibiànle bù shǎo. 	I’ll say! It’s really changed a lot.

	Xiànzài Zhōngguo líhūnde duō bu duō?	Are there many people who get divorced in China now?

B: 	Yǒu, kěshi bǐjiǎo shǎo. Yīnwei jiēhūn yǐqián nánnǚ shuāngfāng bǐcǐ bǐjiǎo liǎojiě, yòu jīngguo xiāngdāngde kǎolǜ, suóyi líhūnde bú tài duō.	Yes, there are, but relatively few. The man and the woman know each other rather well before they get married, and they give the matter quite a bit of consideration, so not too many people get divorced.

A: 	Wǒ tīngshuō Zhōngguo yǒu yìxiē fūfù bú zài yíge dìqū gōngzuò, bú zhùzai yíge dìfang, zhè huì bu hui yǒu wèntí ne?	I hear there are some couples in China who don’t work in the same place. Do problems ever come about because of this?

B: 	Fūfù bú zài yíge dìfang gōngzuò, suīrán měinián yǒu bànge yuède tànqīnjià, dànshi hái yǒu hěn duō bù fāngbiàn. Suóyi wèile ràng tāmen gèng hǎode gōngzuò hé xuéxí, yīngdāng bāng tāmen jiějué zhèige wèntí.	If the husband and wife don’t work in the same place, even though they get half a month’s leave every year to visit family members, it’s still very inconvenient. So in order to let them work and study even better, we should help them solve this problem.

A: 	Duìjíle. Fūfù zǒngshi nénggòu zài yìqī bǐjiào hǎo.	You’re so right. It’s always better if the husband and wife can be together.

NOTES ON THE DIALOGUE

...nánjia hái yào sòng xǔduō lǐwù ma?: In traditional China, the groom’s family gave gifts to the bride’s family to compensate for the loss of their daughter. (For the loss of the daughter might also entail a substantial loss of property and servants.) In Taiwan, it is still the man’s family who in most cases pays for the wedding arrangements. In the PRC today, these customs no longer exist.

Xiànzài Zhōngguo líhūnde duō bu duō?: Although allowed by law with the mutual consent of both parties, it is not easy to obtain a divorce in the PRC. With the exceptions of one party being either politically questionable or terminally ill, the majority of couples are asked to resolve their differences via study and group criticism.

...yǒu yìxiē fūfù bú zài yíge dìfang gōngzuò: Many couples still have to be split up in order for each to have work. (Jobs are arranged for and assigned by the local government.) This is, of course, a great hardship since it is improbable that either will be able to arrange a transfer of job to the other’s work-place. The splits are arranged in order to increase rural population and provide labor for rural jobs. The partner left in the city, usually the woman, can go to the countryside to join her spouse, but rural life is so difficult that this is not likely.

...suǐràn měinián yǒu bànge yuède tànqīnjià: There are two types of leave for visiting one’s family in the PRC. One is for unmarried children to return home to see their parents, the other is for couples who are assigned to different places for work. These trips are paid for by one’s work unit (but communes have no family leave provisions). If the person on leave is working relatively near his home, he is allowed a fifteen day visit once per year and a worker who is located relatively far from home can take a thirty day visit once every two years.

Vocabulary

bǐcǐ	each other, mutually; you too, the same to you
bǐjiào (bījiǎo)	relatively, comparatively; fairly, rather
bú dàn 	not only
bù shǎo 	quite a lot, quite a few
chéng 	to become, to constitute, to make
chéngshì	city
dànshi	but
érqiě 	furthermore
fēngqì	common practice; general mood
fēngsū 	custom
fūfù	married couple, husband and wife
gǎibiàn	to change
hé 	with; and
huì	might, to be likely to, will
jiéhūn	(jiehūn) to get married
jiějué	to solve
jingguò	to go through, to pass by or through
jìniàn	memento, memorial
kǎolǜ 	to consider; consideration
kě	indeed, really
kě bū shi ma!	I’ll say, yes indeed, that’s for sure
liàn’ài	to be romantically involved with; love
liǎojiě (liáojie)	to understand; understanding
líhūn	to  get divorced
lǐwù (lǐwu)	gift, present
nánjiā(r)	the husband’s family
nánnǚ	male and female
nénggòu 	can, to be able to
niánqīng 	to be young
nóngcūn 	rural area, countryside 
nǚjiā(r)	the wife’s family
nǔlì 	to be hardworking, to be diligent; diligently, hard
qīngnián	youth, young person
qīnqi	relatives
qūbié	difference, distinction
shíxíng	to practice, to carry out (a method, policy, plan, ‘reform, etc.)
shuāngfāng	both sides, both parties
sòng 	to give (something as a gift)
tàn qīn	to visit family
tànqīn	to visit relatives (usually means immediate family)
tànqīnjià 	leave for visiting family
tíchàng	to advocate, to promote, to initiate
wǎnliàn wǎnhūn	late involvement and late marriage
xiāngdāng	quite, pretty, very
xǔduō	many; a great deal (of), a lot (of)
yīngdāng 	should, ought to
yíshì	ceremony
yìzhí	all along, all the time (up until a certain point)
zhèngfǔ 	government
zhùdao	to move to, to go live at 
zǒngshi 	always
zuò 	to serve as, to act as; as

Customs Surrounding

Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 2

PART I

1. 		Hòutiān shi nǐmen xiáojie dàxǐde rìzi.	The day after tomorrow is your daughter’s wedding day.

2. 		Xīnlāng zài Táiwān Yínháng gōngzuò, rén hěn lǎoshi, yě hěn shàngjìn.	The bridegroom works at the Bank of Taiwan. He’s very honest and very ambitious.

3. 		Wǒmen Xiùyún gēn tā jiāowǎng yǐjīng yìniánduō le, duì tā hěn mǎnyì.	Our Xiùyún has been seeing him for over a year now, and she's very pleased with him.

4. 	A: 	Nǐmen gěn nánfāngde fùmǔ shóu bu shóu?	Did you know the groom's parents very well before?

	B: 	Bú tài shóu. Kěshi zǎo jiù tīngshuōguo.	Not too well. But we'd heard of them long before.

	B: 	Tāmen yì lái tíqīn wǒmen jiù dāying le.	As soon as they came to propose the marriage we agreed to it.

5. 	A: 	Tāmen tánlāi tánqù tánle hěn jiǔ bù néng juédìng.	They talked and talked for a long time and couldn't decide.

	A: 	Kěshi hòulái háishi wǒ gàosu tāmen yīnggāi zěnme bàn.	But later it was I who told them what they should do, after all.

6. 		Wǒ nüérde hūnlǐ zài Éméi Cāntīng jǔxíng.	My daughter's wedding will be held at the Omei Restaurant.

7. 		Tīngshuō jiéhūn lǐfú shi xīnniāng zìjī zuòde, tā zhēn nénggàn.	I hear that the wedding gown was made by the bride herself. She's really capable.

8. 		Wǒ zhù yīyuànde shíhou nǐmen hái sòng huā lái, ài, zhēn shi tài xièxie le.	When I was in the hospital you even sent flowers. Thanks so much.

NOTES ON PART I

Notes on No. 1

xiáojie: “daughter”. You have seen xiáojie meaniing “Miss” or ”young lady”. Here it is used to mean “daughter”. Note, however, that it is used only in referring to someone else’s daughter, not in referring to one’s own daughter(s).

Tā yǒu jǐwèi xiáojie? How many daughters does he have?

Nǐmen xiáojie zhēn piàoliang. Your daughter is really pretty.

Xiáojie, meaning either “Miss” or “daughter”, is not in current usage in the PRC.

dā xǐde rìzi: “wedding day”, literally “big joyful day”. Xǐ “to be glad, joyful”, is used in several expressions having to do with weddings. The character for xǐ is often used as a decoration. For weddings, two xǐ characters together are used as a decoration.

Notes on No. 2

rén hěn lǎoshi: “he’s very honest”. Rén, “person”, can he used to refer to a person’s character. It can he used with a noun or pronoun before it, for example Tā rén hěn lǎoshi, literally “As for him, his person is very honest”. The wording Tā rén ... is often used to talk about the way someone truly is:

Tā rén hěn ài bāngzhu bié rén.	He (is the sort of person who) likes to help others.

Liú Xiānsheng rén hěn tèbié, shénme shìqing dōu yào wèn yige wèishenme.	Mr. Liú is a different sort of person, he has to ask “why” about everything.

Tā rén hén kèqi.	He’s a very polite sort of person.

Sometimes rén refers to a person’s mental state of being:

Wǒ hēde tài duō, rén hái yǒu diǎnr bu qīSngchu.	I had too much to drink and I’m still a little foggy.

Ren also sometimes refers to a person’s physical self. This meaning is mostly used in situations where a contrast is implied, something like “And as for the person himself, ...”. For example:

Wǒ yìzhí zhǐshi hé tā tōng diànhuà, jīntiān zǎoshang, cái dìyīcì jiàn miàn, tā rén fēicháng piàoliàng.	All along I had only talked to her over the phone, but this morning I met her for the first time. She’s very beautiful.

Tāmen jiéhūn bu dào yíge yuè, xiānsheng jiù dào Jiāzhōu niàn shū qu le, rén zài Měiguo, xīn zài Tǎiwān, shū zěnme niàndehǎo ne?	They hadn’t even been married for one month when her husband went to California to go to school. He was in America, but his heart was in Taiwan, how could he possibly study well?

Notes on No. 3

jiāowǎng: “to associate with, to have dealings with”, often said of boyfriend-girlfriend relationships.

Wǒ hé tā méiyou shénme tèbiéde jiāowǎng.	There’s no special relationship between him and me. (Said by a daughter in explanation to her mother.)

In the PRC jiāowǎng is not used this way; use rènshi, “to know (a person)” or jiāo péngyou, “to make friends” instead. In the PRC, you will hear jiāowǎng used in phrases such as “lǐangguo rénmínde jiāowǎng”, “the contact (association) between the peoples of these two countries”.

Notes on No. 4

nánfāng: “the bridegroom’s side”, a phrase which often refers to the bridegroom himself, and sometimes refers to the bridegroom’s family, relatives, and friends collectively. Nanfāng, “the bridegroom’s side”, happens to be a homonym of nánfāng, “the South”.

Zhōngguo rén jiéhūnde shíhou, nánfāng dà qǐng kè.	When Chinese get married, the groom’s family hosts a big feast.

Jiéhūn yǐqiǎn nánfāng nǚfāng bǐcǐ sòng lǐ.	Before a marriage, the groom’s side  and the bride’s side give each other gifts.

[Nǚfāng means “the bride’s side,” referring either to ”the bride” herself, or to “the bride’s family, relatives, and friends collectively”.]

shóu: “to be familiar with ...” Also pronounced shú. Shou is used with hé for people and with duì for places.

Wǒ hé tā hen shóu. 	I know him very well.

Tā duì Tǎiběi hěn shóu.	She knows Taipei very well.

Shóu also means “to be cooked sufficiently” and “to be ripe”.

zǎo: You've learned this as the verb “to be early”, now you see it used to mean “long ago”.

Wǒ zǎo zhǐdào nǐ bù huílai.	I knew long ago that you wouldn't come back.

Wǒ zǎo tīngshuō le.	I heard about it long ago.

Zǎo is usually followed by jiù to stress the idea of “as early as that”.

Wǒ zǎo jiù gàosu tā nèijiàn shì le.	I told him that long ago. (Said to correct an impression that he didn't actually know it so early. )

Wǒ zǎo jiù xiǎng lái kàn ni, yìzhí méi shíjiān.	I've been meaning to come see you for a long time, but I never had the time.

tíqǐn: “to bring up a proposal of marriage” Traditionally, the man's parents would visit the parents of the woman they wished their son to marry in order to bring up the subject of marriage. The situation in Taiwan is changing rapidly today, but some marriages are still proposed in this way. More frequently, however, the children simply inform their parents of their own arrangement.

dāying: “to agree (to something), to consent, to promise”

Tā dǎying gěi wo nèijiàn dōngxi, zěnme tā xiànzài yòu bù gěi le?	He agreed to give me that thing. How is that now he won't give it to me?

Nǐ dāying ta le, dāngrán yīnggāi péi ta qù.	You promised him, of course you should go with him.

Nǐ dāying zuòde shì, yídìng yào zuòdào.	You must do what you promise to do.

Nǐ dāyinglede shì, wèishénme bú zuò?	Why don't you do this thing that you have promised?

Nǐ dāyingguode shì, jiù yīnggāi zuòdào.	You ought to do things that you promise•

Wǒ méi dāying gěi ni yíge hùzhào.	I didn't promise to give you a passport.

Dāyjng can also mean “to answer”.

Tā jiào ni, nǐ zěnme méi dāying?	He called you, how come you didn’t answer?

Notes on No. 5

tánlai tánqù: “to talk over”.

Tánlai tánqù, yě bù néng jiějué zhèige wèntí.	We discussed it for a long time, but still couldn’t solve the problem.

Tánlai tánqù, tánde hěn yǒu yìsi.	It got very interesting, conversing back and forth.

juédìng: “to decide”.

Wǒ juédìng yào qù.	I’ve decided that I’m going.

Wǒ yǐjīng juédìng jiù zhènme bàn.	I’ve already decided that it’ll be this way.

Wǒ hái méi juédìng gāi zěnme bàn.	I haven’t yet decided what should be done.

Notice that when you want to say “I can’t decide whether (to do something)” or “I haven’t decided whether (to do something)”, the object of juédìng is a choice-type question.

Wǒ hái méi juédìng qù bu qù.	I haven’t yet decided whether to go or not.

Wǒ bù néng juédìng wǒ qù bu qù.	I can’t decide whether to go or not.

Wǒ hěn nán juédìng ràng bu ràng ta qù.	I’m having a hard time deciding whether to let him to or not.

Wǒ shì bu shi gāi huíqu hěn nán juédìng.	It’s hard to decide whether or not I should go back.

hòulái: “afterwards, later”. You have already learned another word which can be translated as “afterwards” or “later”: yǐhòu. Yǐhòu and hòulái are both nouns which express time. Here is a brief comparison of them.

(1) Yǐhòu can either follow another element, in which case it is translated as “after ...”) or it can be used by itself.

Tā láile yǐhòu, wǒmen jiù zǒu le.	After he came, we left.

Yǐhòu, tā méiyou zài láiguo.	Afterwards, he never came back again.

Hòulái can only be used by itself.

Hòulái, tā shuì jiào le.	Afterwards, he went to sleep.

(2) Both yǐhòu and hòulái may be used to refer to the past. (For example, in the reference list sentence, yǐhòu may be substituted for hòulái. But if you want to say “afterwards” or “later” referring to the future, you can only use yǐhòu. When it refers to the future time, yǐhòu can be translated in various ways, depending on the context:

Yǐhòude shìqing, děng yǐhòu zài shuō.	Let’s wait until the future to see about future matters.

Yǐhòu nǐ yǒu kòng, qǐng cháng lái wán.	In the future when you have the time, please come over more often.

Wo yǐhòu zài gàosu ni.	I’ll tell you later on.

Tāde háizi shuōle, yǐhòu tā yào gēn yíge Rìběn rén jiéhūn.	His child said that someday, he wants to marry a Japanese.

Usage Note: Yǐhòu has the meaning of “after that”. It can imply that some past event functions as a dividing point in time, as a sort of time boundary, and yǐhòu refers to the period from the end of that time boundary up to another point of reference (usually the time of speaking). In this usage it is often translated as “since”.

Tā zhǐ xiěle yìběn shū, yǐhòu zài méi xiěguo.	He only wrote one book, and hasn't written any since.

Ránhòu stresses the succession of one event upon the completion of a prior event.

Wǒ shàngwū zhǐ yǒu liǎngjié kè, ránhòu jiù méi shì le, wǒmen kéyi chuqū wánr.	I have only two classes in the morning, and after that I don't have anything else to do, so we

háishi: “in the end, after all” You have seen háishi meaning “still” that is, that something remains the same way as it was. Here háishi is used to mean that the speaker feels that, all things considered, something is the case after all.

Háishi tā duì.	He is right, after all.

Note on No. 6

jūxíng: “to hold (a meeting, banquet, celebration, ceremony, etc.)” For this example you need to know that diǎnlǐ means “ceremony”.

Míngtiān jǔxíng bìyè diǎnlǐ.	Tomorrow the graduation ceremony will be held.

Notes on No, 8

hái: “even, (to go) so far as to” You have seen hái meaning “still” -as in Nǐ hái zài zhèr!, “You’re still here!”. You’ve also seen hái meaning “also, additionally”, as in Wo hái yào mǎi yìpǐng qìshuǐ., “I also want to buy a bottle of soda.” Here you see hái meaning additionally in the sense of additional effort. The sentence Nǐmen hái song huār lai, hái expresses the speaker’s feeling that sending flowers went beyond what was expected or necessary.

zhēn shi tài xièxie le: “I really thank you so much.” You have seen tài used to mean “very, extremely”, as in Tài hǎo le!, “Wonderful!”. Notice that here it is used with xièxie.

Taipei:

A woman goes to visit her old friend and to present her with a gift for her daughter and future son-in-law.

A: 	Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Zhège Xīngqītiān jiù shi nǐmen èr xiáojiede dàxǐde rìzi! Zhèli shi sònggei xīnláng xīnniángde lǐwù.	Congratulations! This Sunday is your second daughter’s big day! Here’s a present for the bride and groom.

B: 	Xièxie! Xièxie! Nǐ tai kèqi le.	Thank you! That’s so nice of you.

A: 	Yìdiǎn xiǎo yìsi. Nǐ yídìng hěn mǎng ba! Hūnlǐ dōu zhǔnbèihǎo le meiyou?	It’s just a little something. You must be busy! Is everything all ready for the wedding?

B: 	Zuì mángde shíhou yǐjīng guò le, xiànzài chàbuduō dōu zhǔnbèihǎo le. 	The busiest time has already passed; almost everything is ready now.

A: Xīnláng shi náli ren a? Zài náli gōngzuò?	Where is the groom’s family from? Where does he work?

B: 	Xīnláng shi Héběi rén, zài Táiwān Yínháng gōngzuò. Tā rén hěn lǎoshi, yě hěn shàngjìn.	The groom’s family is from Hopei. He works at the Bank of Taiwan. He’s very honest and ambitious.

A: 	Xiùyún gēn tā shi biéren jièshào rènshide háishi zìjǐ rènshide?	Were Xiuyun and he introduced by someone else or did they meet by themselves?

B: 	Shi Xiùyúnde lǎoshī jièshàode. Xiùyún gēn tā jiāowǎng dào xiànzài yǐjīng liǎngnián le, duì ta hěn mǎnyì.	They were introduced by Xiuyun’s teacher. Xiuyun and he have been seeing each other for two years now, and she’s very pleased with him.

A: 	Nǐmen gēn nánfāngde fùmǔ yǐqián shóu bu shóu?	Did you know the groom’s parents well before?

B: 	Bù shóu, kěshi wǒmen zǎo jiù tīngshuōguo tamen le. Tāmen liǎngwèi dōu zài TáiDà jiāo shū. Tāmen yì lái tíqīn wǒmen jiù dāying le.	No, but we had heard of them long before. They both teach at Taiwan University. As soon as they came to propose the marriage, we agreed to it.

A: Wǒ kànjian qǐngtiēshang xiězhe hūnlǐ zài Guǒbīn Dàfàndiàn jǔxíng. Nali dìfang you dà you piàoliang. Zhen hǎo.	I saw on the invitation that the wedding is being held at the Ambassador Hotel. It’s very spacious and beautiful there. That’s great.

B: 	Shì a! Wǒmen gēn nánfāngde fùmú tánlǎi tánqù tánle hǎo jiǔ, bù zhīdào zài nǎli jǔxíng hūnlǐ zuì hǎo. Hòulái haishi wǒ juédìng zài Guóbīn Dàfàndiàn jǔxíng.	Yes. We discussed it back and forth for a long time with his parents. We didn’t know where it would be best to hold the wedding. Afterwards I was the one who decided that we would have it at the Ambassador Hotel.

A: 	Ng! Guobīn Dàfàndiàn bù zhǐ shi dìfang piàoliang, nàlide cài yě tèbié hǎo.	Oh! Not only is the Ambassador Hotel a beautiful place, but the food there is especially good too.

B: 	Duì le.	That’s right.

A: 	Xīnniángde jiēhūn lǐfú zài náli mǎide?	Where did you buy the bride’s wedding gown?

B: 	Bú shi mǎide, shi Xiùyún zìjǐ zuòde.	It isn't bought. Xiuyun made it herself.

A:	 Nǐmen èr xiáojie zhēn nénggàn.	Your second daughter sure is capable.

 	Tiān bù zǎo le, wǒ gāi zǒu le.	It's getting late, I ought to be going. 

B: 	Nǐ hái zìjǐ sòng lǐwù lái, zhēn shi xièxie! Xīngqītiān yídìng lǎi, á!	You even brought the gifts yourself. Thank you so much. Be sure to come on Sunday!

NOTES ON THE DIALOGUE

Guǒbǐn Dàfàndiàn bù zhǐ shi dìfang piàoliang, nàlide cài yě tèbié hǎo. Traditional wedding foods included huāshēng, peanuts; liánzǐ, lotus seeds; and zǎozi, dates, all of which symbolize fertility in that shēng(zǐ) means “give birth to” (a son); liǎnzǐ sounds like part of the phrase liǎnshēng guìzǐ, “have sons consecutively”; and zǎozi sounds like part of zǎoshēng guìzǐ, “have an early son.” The wedding marked the beginning of that generation's carrying on of the family line. Today few adhere to these symbols and food is served according to family preference.

Bú shi mǎide, shi Xiùyún zìjǐ zuòde: Wedding gowns in Taiwan these days are frequently hand-made or tailor-made, as tailoring is affordable and the quality of work surpasses that of ready-made items. Brides may wear two gowns: a white one for the ceremony (which may be in a church nowadays) and a traditional Chinese red one at the celebration.


Part 2

9. 	Xīnláng jiā xìn jīdūjiào, fùmǔ xīwàng tāmen zài jiàotáng jiéhūn.	The family of the bridegroom are Christians and the parents hope they will be married in church.

10. 	Xīnniáng jiā xìn Fó, fùmǔ bú ràng tamen zài jiàotáng jiéhūn.	The family of the bride are Buddhists and -her parents won’t let them be married in church.

11. 	Tāmen yào zài fǎyuàn gōngzhèng jiēhūn ma?	Are they going to have a civil marriage in court?

12. 	Hūnlǐ yǐhòu bādiǎn zhōng rù xí.	After the wedding ceremony the banquet will start at eight.

13. 	Zhège wèntí hěn fùzá.	This question is very complicated.

l4. 	Wǒde yìjian shi děng liǎngge xīngqī wǒmen zài tántan.	My opinion is that we should wait two weeks and talk about it again.

15. 	Tāmen qǐng shéi zhènghūn?	Whom did they ask to witness the marriage?

16. 	A: 	Hūnlǐ yǐhòu tāmen mǎshàng jiù qù dù mìyuè ma?	After the wedding are they going to leave right away to go on their honeymoon?

	B: 	Bù, yào děng huí mén yǐhòu cái qù.	No, they’re going to wait until after the bride’s first visit to her family before they go.

17. 	Hòutiān yídìng lai chī xǐjiǔ!	Be sure to come to the wedding banquet the day after tomorrow.

18. 	A: 	Nǐmen xiáojie hūnlǐshàng jièshaorén shi nāliǎngwèi a?	Who are the two people who are going to be the introducers at your daughter’s wedding?

	B: 	Yíwèi shi lái zuò méide Lǐ Jiàoshòu.	One is Professor Li who was the go-between.

19. 	Nàwěi yóuzhèngjú Júzhǎng shi wǒmen jiā duōniánde lǎo péngyou.	That postmaster is a friend of our family from many years back.

20. 	Tándao jiēhūn, nǐ yě yīnggāi kuài diǎn qù zū jiàn jiéhūn lǐfú.	Speaking of the wedding, you really ought to hurry up and go rent a wedding gown.

NOTES ON PART II

Notes on No. 9

xìn Jīdūjiào: “to believe in (Protestant) Christianity”. This is one way of saying “to be a (Protestant) Christian”.

Notes on No. 10

xìn Fó: “to believe in Buddha”. This is one way of saying “to be a Buddhist”.

Notes on No. 11

zài fǎyuàn: “in court” Zài is the verb “to be in, at, or on”, in other words “to be located (someplace)”. Zài must be followed by a place word or a place phrase. Just what is considered to be a place word or phrase may be difficult for the non-native speaker to figure out. Words which are not considered to be place words or phases must have a locational ending such as -li or -shang added to them. (Nǐ zài chēshang mǎi piào., “You buy the ticket on the bus.”)

The names of institutions in Chinese are considered to be place words. The phrase “in court” does not need a locational ending, zài fǎyuàn. Here are some other words which can function as place words by themselves. Many of these end with syllables such as -shi (shǐ) “house, apartment”, -jú “office, shop”, -diàn “inn, shop”, -chǎng “field, open ground”, -tīng “hall, room”, -suǒ “place, room”, -jiān “house, rooms”, guǎn “public office, hall”.

Jīntiān xiàwu zài bàngōngshì jiàn!	See you at the office this afternoon!

Zài běnshì yǒu wǔge yóuzhèngjú!. 	There are five post offices in this city.

Nǐ zài cáiféngdiàn zuòde ba? 	You must have had that made at a tailor's. 

Nǐ zài cāntīng kàndao ta le ma?	Did you see him in the dining room?

Other words which behave in a similar way are:

càishichǎng 	market	fùjìn	area
cèsuǒ	toilet 	fúwùtái 	service desk
dàfàndiàn	hotel 	Gōngānjú 	Bureau of Public Security
shāngdiàn 	store 	gōngsī 	company
dàlou 	building 	gōngyù 	apartment
dàshiguǎn 	embassy	gōngyuǎn	 park
dìqū	region	huìkèshì 	reception room
fàndiàn	restaurant	huǒchēzhàn 	railroad station
fàngjiān	room	jǐngchájú 	police station
fànguǎnzi	restaurant	kāfēitīng 	coffeehouse
fàntīng 	dining room	lǎojiā	hometown
fēijichǎng	airport	and many more...including proper names of Restaurants, buildings, associations, organizations, etc.

gōngzhèng: “notarization, government witness”. A gōngzhèng rén is a notary public.

Note on No. 12

rù xí: “to take one’s seat at a banquet”, literally “to enter the mat(ted area)”.

Wǒmen kuài diǎnr zhǔnbèi, tāmen liùdiǎn zhōng jiù yào rù xí le.	Let’s get ready a little faster, the banquet starts at 6:00.

Note on No. 13

fùzá: “to be complicated, to be complex”. Questions, problems, or situations can be fùzá if there are many pieces or factors figuring into the problem. It is also possible to use fùzá to imply that the situation is messy, problem-ridden.

Tāmen jiāde qíngkuàng tài fùzá, wǒ gǎobuqīngchu.	Their family situation is too complicated, I can’t make heads or tails of it. (This sentence has an ambiguity in both languages.)

Zhèige wèntí tài fùzá, hěn nán shuōqīngchu.	This question is so complicated, it’s very hard to explain it clearly.

Zhèige jùzi tài fùzá, zuì hǎo bú zhèiyangr xiě.	This sentence is too complicated, it would be best not to write it this way.

Fùzá can also be used in a complimentary way. (For this example you need to know that sìxiǎng means “thinking, thought”.)

Tāde sìxiǎng hěn fùzá. 	His thinking is very complex.

This sentence might be said of an Einstein. The opposite of fùzá in this case would, be jiǎndān “to be simple”, as in “simple-minded”.

Fùzá is also pronounced fǔzā.

Note on No. 14

yìjiàn: “idea, view, opinion, suggestion”.

Gāngcái tā tánle duì zhèiběn shūde yìjian, wǒ juéde duì wǒmen hěn yǒu bāngzhu.	He just told us his opinions on this book, and I feel that they’re really helpful to us.

Wǒ hěn xiǎng zhīdào, zài zhèige wèntíshang, Zhōngguo zhèngfǔde yìjian shi shénme?	I’d very much like to know what the Chinese government’s view is on this question.

Wǒ xiāng xiān qù Shànghǎi, zài dào Wǔhàn, nǐde yìjian zěnmeyang?	I’d like to go to Shanghai first and then to Wuhan, what’s your opinion?

Wǒde yìjian shi xiān qù Wǔhàn, zài dào Shànghǎi qu. Yīnwei zài guò yíge yuè, Wǔhàn fēicháng rèle.	My opinion is to first go to Wuhan, then to Shanghai, because after a month, Wuhan will be extremely hot.

Note on No. 15

zhènghūn: “to witness a marriage”. Witnesses formerly were persons of good reputation and venerable old age. Today, familiarity is most important. The witness makes a brief speech during the ceremony and stamps the marriage certificate with his name seal. He receives no remuneration for this service, but is honored to have been asked.

Notes on No. 16

dù mìyuè: “to spend one’s honeymoon”. Dù is the verb “to spend, to pass” (something which is an amount of time, like a holiday). Mìyuè is literally “honey-moon”.

huímén: “the bride's first visit to her own family on the third day after the wedding”, literally “return to the door”. When the newlyweds return home for this first visit, the family of the bride is given a chance to entertain the couple. More friends and relatives are invited and introduced to them. (It is the groom's family which arranges the marriage ceremony.)

Note on No. 17

xǐjiǔ: “wedding banquet”. Notice that in the Reference List sentence the phrase lái chī xǐjiǔ is translated as “to come to the wedding banquet”. A more literal translation might be “come to eat a wedding feast!”. The verb chī could also be rendered into English by “attend” or “take part”, as in “Be sure to come take part in the wedding banquet the day after tomorrow”.

Notes on No. 18

hūnlǐshàng: “at the wedding”. Notice that in English you say “at the wedding” while in Chinese you say hūnlǐshàng, literally “on the wedding”. -Shang would also be the locative ending to use for “at the meeting” (huìshang).

jièshaorén: “introducer”. This is one person in the cast of people who play a part in getting two people together in marriage. Originally, the “introducer” functioned in much the same way as match-makers - finding a good mate for a friend or relative. Today, most young people find their own mates. The “introducers”, however, still have a ceremonial function. They accompany the bride and groom during the ceremony (one for the bride and one for the groom).

zuò méi: “to act as the go-between for two families whose children are to be married”. This person arranged the details of the match. He acted as a go-between for the families of the bride and groom, settling points which were usually of a financial nature. Often the zuò méide was also the jièshaorén. Traditionally, the go-between was an older woman who made a profession of it. She was paid for her services in money if the family was wealthy or in the best pork legs if they were poor. Today any adult can act as the go-between, although the practice is becoming less and less common. During the wedding ceremony, the go-between places his stamp on the wedding certificate.

Wo gěi ni zuò méi, hǎo bu hǎo? 	I’ll act as go-between for you, all right?

Zhāng Tàitai qǐng wo tǐ tāde nǚér zuò méi.	Mrs. Chang asked me to act as go- between for her daughter.

Notes on No. 19

júzhǎng: “head of an office or bureau”. Júzhǎng is only used when the Chinese name of the office or bureau ends with the syllable -jú, as in yóuzhèngjú, “post office”. You’ve also seen bùzhǎng, “minister of a bureau” and kēzhǎng, “section chief”.

duōnián: “many years”.

Here are some examples:

Wǒmen duōnián bú jiàn le.	We haven’t seen each other for many years.

Wǒmen zài yìqǐ gōngzuòle duōnián le.	We’ve been working together for many years.

Wǒ zhù zài zhèr duōnián le, kěshi méi tīngshuōguo zhèige rén.	I’ve been living here for many years, but I’ve never heard of this person.

Notes on No. 20

tándao: “to talk about, to speak of”. This is used to refer to something that was just brought up in conversation. You have seen dào used as a main verb meaning “to go to, to arrive at”, and as a prepositional verb meaning “to towards”. Now you see that dào is also used as a verb ending. Literally, it means “to, up to”, but its translation into English sometimes changes, depending on the meaning of the verb it is used with. When used with tán, “to talk, to chat”, -dào can be translated as “about” or “of”. Here are some other examples of -dào used with verbs you’ve already studied:

Wǒmen gāngcái hái shuōdao nǐ, nǐ jiù lái le.	We were even talking of you Just now, and here you are!

Jīntiān nǐ gēn ta jiǎngdao wo méiyou?	Did you talk about me with him today?

Wǒ chángchang xiǎngdao wǒde háizi.	I often think of my child.

Notice that in the Reference List sentence, tándao is used at the beginning of the sentence to introduce a topic, like we use “speaking of ...” in English. Here are some other examples:

Tándao jiéhūnde shì, wǒ hái děi xiǎngyixiang.	When it comes to talking about marriage, I have to think it over.

Tándao zěnme xiě Zhōngguo zì, tā bǐ wǒ zhīdaode duō.	When we talk about writing Chinese characters, he knows a lot more than I do.

yě: “really, after all”. You have seen yě meaning “too, also. Another common meaning of yě is “(even though) ... nevertheless, still”. For example:

Wǒ suīrán shi Zhōngguorén wǒ yě huì shuō yìdiǎn Yǐngwén.	Although I am Chinese, I can still speak a little English.

A: Zhèige diànyǐng zěnmeyàng?	How was the movie?

B: Bú shi hěn hǎo, dànshi yě hái kéyi.	It wasn’t great, but it was pretty good nevertheless.

Wǒ suīrán méi dàoguo Tiān Men, yě zài diànshìshang Ān kànjianguo.	Although I’ve never been to Tian An Men, I’ve seen it on television.

In addition, yě often is used to contrast the thought expressed in the sentence with another thought. This meaning can be paraphrased something like this: “in spite of anything which might be believed to the contrary, indeed what I am saying is true.” Sometimes, however, yě is used when there is not much to contrast it with, and means little more than “we really ought to agree that what I am saying is true.”

There are many different possible ways to translate this yě into English. The following examples are meant to show some of its range of meaning and some of its possible translations.

Xiànzài shíyīdiǎn bàn le, wǒ yě yào shàng kè le, wǒmende wèntí míngtiān zài tán ba!	It’s eleven-thirty. I really have to be going to class. Let’s talk about our question tomorrow, okay?

Zhōngguo rénkǒu tài duō, zhèngfǔ tíchàng wǎnliàn wǎnhūn yě shi yīnggāide.	The population of China is too large, it really is right for the government to promote late marriage and late involvement.

Tāmen wèishénme yào líhūn, wǒ yě bù zhīdào.	Why they wanted to get a divorce, I really don’t know.

A: Nǐ zěnme hái méi bǎ zhèxiē yīfu xǐwán?	How come you still haven’t finished washing these clothes?

B: Wǒ yě bú shi nǐde yòngren, báitiān wǒ yě shàng bān, wǒ méiyou zhènme duō shíjiān.	I’m not your servant, after all; I work during the day too, and I don’t have all that much time.

Nǐ xiànzài yě gāi míngbai le ba?	Now you (really) ought to understand, don’t you?

Wǒmen liǎngge rènshi yě yǒu jǐnián le, nǐ yīnggāi liǎojiě wo.	We have known each other for several years, after all; you ought to understand me.

Taipei:

The day before a young couple is to be married, a friend pays a visit to the mother of the bride:

A: 	Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Míngtiān shi nǐmen xiáojie dàxǐde rǐzi! Xīnláng shi shénme rén a? Tāmen shi zěnme rènshide?	Congratulations! Tomorrow’s your daughter’s big day! Who’s the bridegroom? How did they meet?

B:	 Shi péngyou jièshàode. Nánfāngde fùqin gēn wǒ xiānsheng zài yóuzhèngjú shi tóngshì, búguò yǐqián bú tài shóu. Hòulái lìngwài yíge xìng Lǐde tóngshì jiù lái zuò méi, jièshào tamen rènshi. Tāmen jiāowǎng dào xiànzài yě yìnián duō le. Nàge nánháizi xiànzài èrshibāsuì, rén hěn lǎoshi, yě hěn shàngjìn. Xiànzài zài Táiwān Yínháng gōngzuò. Tā bàngōngshìlide rén dōu shuō tā nénggàn. Xiùyún duì ta hěn mǎnyì, érqiě Xiùyún yǐjīng èrshisìsuì le, yě dàole gāi jiéhūnde shíhou le, suóyi nánfāng yì lái tíqīn wǒmen jiù dāying le.	They were introduced by friends. The father of the groom is a colleague of my husband’s at the post office, but they didn’t know each very well before. Afterwards, another colleague by the name of Li came to act as the go-between and introduced them. They have been seeing each other for over a year now. The young man is twenty-eight years old now. He’s very honest and ambitious. He works at the Bank of Taiwan. The people at his office all say he’s very capable. Xiuyun is very pleased with him, and besides, she’s twenty-four years old; she has reached the time when she should get married. So as soon as his family came to propose the marriage, we agreed to it.

A: 	Wǒ kàn qǐngtiēshang shuō wǔdiǎn zhōng zài Guóbīn Dàfàndiàn jǔxíng hūnlǐ, liùdiǎn zhōng rù xí. Nà dìfang hěn dà, cài yě hěn hǎo, míngtiān yídìng hěn rènao.	I see it says on the invitation that the ceremony will be held at the Ambassador Hotel at five o’clock, and that the banquet starts at six. It’s a very big place, and the food is very good. It should be very lively tomorrow.

B: 	Tándaò jǔxíng hūnlǐ a, yìjian duō le. Zhēn fùzá. Xiān shi liǎngge háizi yào dào fǎyuàn gōngzhèng jiéhūn, kěshi nánfāngde fùmǔ bù dāying. Tāmen xìn Jīdūjiào, yídìng yào dào jiàotáng qù. Wǒmen jiā xìn Fó, zěnme kéyi ràng tamen dào jiàotáng qù jǔxíng hūnlǐ ne! Hòulái, liǎngjiā tánlái tánqù, zuìhòu cái juédìng háishi zài Guóbīn Dàfàndiàn jǔxíng hūnlǐ.	As far as the wedding ceremony is concerned, there were a lot of different opinions. It was really complicated. At first the two children wanted to go to court and have a civil marriage, but the parents of the groom didn’t agree to that. They’re Christians, and insisted on going to a church. Our family is Buddhist; how could we let them go to a church to hold the wedding! Later, our two families discussed it back and forth, and finally we decided it would be best to hold the wedding at the Ambassador Hotel.

A: 	Shi qǐng shénme rén zhènghūn a?	Whom did you ask to witness the marriage?

B: 	Zhènghūnrén shi Yóuzhèngjū Zhāng Júzhǎng. Tā gēn nánfāngde fùqin shi duōniánde lǎo péngyou, suóyi yì qǐng ta, tā mǎshàng jiu daying le.	The witness is Postmaster Zhāng. He’s an old friend of many years of the groom’s father, so as soon as we went to ask him, he agreed right away.

A: 	You méiyou jièshàorén? Jièshàorén shi shéi ya?	Are there any introducers? Who are they?

B: 	Nánfāngde jièshàorén jiù shi lái zuò méide nàwèi Lī Xiānsheng. Wǒmen zhèbiān jiù qǐngle Zhāng Zǐmíng Jiàoshòu. Tā shi Xiùyūn niàn dàxué shíhoude lǎoshī.	The introducer for the groom’s side is the Mr. Lǐ who was the go-between. For our side we asked Professor Zhāng Ziming. He was a teacher of Xiùyūn’s when she was in college.

A: 	Xīnniángde jiéhūn lǐfú shi zài shénme dìfang zuòde?	Where was the bride’s wedding gown made?

B: 	Bú shi zuòde, shi zūde.	It wasn’t (specially) made, it’s rented.

A: 	Tāmen jiēhūn yǐhòu yào dào náli qù dù mìyuè?	After they’re married, where are they going to spend their honeymoon?

B: 	Tāmen jìhua yào dào Ālǐ Shān qù wán yíge xīngqī, búguò tāmen jiéhūn yǐhòu bù néng mǎshàng zǒu, yào děng huí mén yǐhòu cái qù.	They’re planning to go to Mt. Ali for a week, but they can’t leave right after the wedding. They have to wait until after the bride’s first visit to her new parents’ home before they go.

A: 	Ò, hǎo hǎo hǎo. Wǒ xiǎng nǐmen yídìng hěn máng. Wǒ yīnggāi zǒu le.	Oh, okay. Well, you must be very busy, so I should be leaving now.

B: 	Nǐ nàme kèqi, hái zìjǐ lái sòng lǐwù lái. Xièxie, xièxie! Míngtiān yídìng lái chī xījiǔ.	You’re so polite, you even brought presents over in person. Thank you! Be sure to come to the banquet tomorrow.

A: 	Hǎo, míngtiān jiàn.	Okay, see you tomorrow.

NOTES ON THE DIALOGUE

...liǎngge háizi yào dào fǎyuàn gōngzhèng jiéhūn: Traditional wedding ceremonies were held at home or in ancestral halls (not in temples or pagodas). Modern ones are likely to be held in hotels or restaurants, as there is more room and food is then easier to prepare.

Tāmen jìhua yào dào Ālǐ Shān qù: Ālǐ Shān and Rìyuè Tán (Sun-Moon Lake) are the two most popular honeymoon spots on Taiwan. An average honeymoon stay might last one week.

Vocabulary

ài	 (sound of sighing)
dàxǐ	 great rejoicing
dàxǐde rìzi	  wedding day
dāying	to agree (to something), to consent, to promise
dù	 to pass
dù mìyuè 	to go on a honeymoon, to spend one's honeymoon
duōnián	 many years
fǎyuàn	 court of law
Fó	Buddha
fùzá (fǔzá)	to be complicated
gōngzhèng jiēhūn	 civil marriage
hái	even, (to go) so far as to
háishi	after all
hòulái	 later, afterwards
húi mén	 the return of the bride to her parents' home (usually on the third day after the wedding)
hūnlǐ	 wedding
jiàotáng	church
jiāowǎng	to associate with, to have dealings with
jīdūjiào	Christianity
jiēhūn lǐfú	wedding gown
jièshaorén	  introducer
juédìng	to decide
jǔxíng	to hold (a meeting, ceremony, etc.)
Júzhǎng	head of an office or bureau (of which the last syllable is jú)
...-lái...-qù	 (indicates repeating the action over and over again)
lǎoshi (lǎoshí)	 to be honest
mǎnyì	to be pleased
mìyuè	  honeymoon
nánfāng	the groom's side, the groom's family 
nēnggàn	to be capable
rén	 person, self, body
rù xí	 to take one’s seat (at a gathering, meeting, or banquet)
shàngjìn 	to be ambitious
shóu	 to be familiar (with), to know well
tándao	 to talk about; speaking of ...
tánlai tánqù	to talk back and forth
tíqīn	 to bring up a proposal of marriage
xiǎojiě (xiáojie)	 daughter (referring to someone else’s daughter)
xījiù	wedding banquet; wedding wine
xìn	to believe (in)
xìn Fó	to be a Buddhist
xīnláng	bridegroom
xīnniáng	bride
yě	indeed, in fact, admittedly
yìjian 	opinion
záo	long ago
zhènghūn	to witness a marriage
zhènghūnrén	chief witness at a wedding ceremony
zū	to rent
zuò méi 	to act as go-between (for the families of a man and woman considering marriage)

Customs Surrounding

Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 3

PART I

1. 	Wǒ tīngshuō Zhōngguo kòngzhi rénkǒude gōngzuò zuòde hen chénggōng.	I hear that population control work has been done very successfully in China.

2. 	Zài chéngshìli zhùde rén yào yǒu yíge háizi děi zuòdao sān tōngguò.	People who live in the city, if they want to have a child, must have ’the three approvals’.

3. Sān tōngguòde yìsi yě jiùshi shuō děi yǒu sānge dìfang toógyì zhèwèi fùnǚ shēng hāizi.	’The three approvals’ means that a woman must have the consent of three places in order to have a child.

4. 	A: 	Něi sānge dānwèi ne?	Which three units?

	B: Zhèwei fùnǚde gōngzuò dānwèi, tā zhùde dìfangde jūmín wěiyuānhuì, hé pàichūsuǒ.	The woman’s work unit, the neighborhood committee of the place she lives, and the local police station.

5. 	Zhōngguo zhèngfǔ gēnju shénme pīzhǔn fùnǚmen shēng xiāoháir?	On what basis does the Chinese government give official permission for women to give birth?

6. 	Gègè chéngshì měinián zhǐ kéyi zēngjiā yídìng shùmude hāizi.	The various cities can only increase by a specific number of children every year.

7. 	Wǒmen shìqū jīnniānde chūshēnglǜ bù gāo.	The birth rate in our municipal area this year isn’t very high.

8. 	Wǒ zhǐ néng fēnpèigei nǐmen zhèiyìqū bābǎige míng'é.	I can only assign a quota of eight hundred to your area.

9. 	Zhōngguo rénkǒu tài duō, zhèngfǔ tíchàng rénmín shíxíng bìyùn.	The population of China is too large so the government encourages the people to practice birth control.

10. 	Bìyùn gōngjù dōu shi miǎnfèide.	All contraceptive devices are free.

11. 	Wǒ yījīng dédao pīzhǔn, kéyi yǒu yìjiān xīn fāngzi.	I have already received permission to get a new room.

NOTES ON PART I

Notes on No. 1

kòngzhi: “to control; control”. This can also he translated as “to dominate; to command”.

Zhèige fǎngjiānde wēndù kòngzhude hù hǎo, yìhuǐr lěng, yìhuǐr rè.	The temperature in this room isn’t well regulated. It’s cold one minute and hot the next.

Shíjiān méi bànfa kòngzhi, shéi yě bànbudao.	There is no way to control time; no one can do it.

Tāde bìng yǐjīng kòngzhizhù le, yěxǔ jǐtiān yǐhòu, tā huì hǎoqilai.	His illness is under control now; maybe in another few days he will start to get better.

Yǒu yìxiē rén kòngzhile zhèijià fēijī, hú ràng ta qǐfēi.	Some people have taken control of this airplane and won’t let it take off.

chénggōng: “to succeed; to be successful“.

Zhèihěn shū chénggōng le.	This hook was a success.

Zhèihěn shū xiěde hěn chénggōng.	His hook was written very successfully, (i.e., His hook came off very well.)

Zhèige tāng chénggōng le, dàjiā dōu ài chī.	This soup is a success, everyone loves it.

Zhǐ yào nǐ nǔlì, nǐde shìqing yídìng néng chénggōng.	So long as you work hard at it, your effort is sure to succeed.

Notes on No. 2

zuòdào: “to achieve, to make (a goal)”. In Unit 2, Part II, you saw tandao “to talk about, to speak of”, with the ending -dào meaning literally “to, up to”. Here you see -dào used as an ending after the verb zuò “to make”. You may think of -dào in zuòdào as conveying the meaning of reaching a goal.

Zhèijiān shi, wǒ yǐjīng zuòdào  le.	I have already succeeded in doing this.

Nǐ shuōguo, zuótiān nǐ yào qù, nǐ zuòdào le ma?	You said that you wanted to go yesterday. Did you do so?

sān tōngguò: “the three approvals”. The “three approvals” have ”been in effect since 1973/74. At that time, the minimum marriage age was pushed upward, but most recently it has been relaxed to ages twenty-five for males and twenty-three for females. Most couples must still wait a number of years before they can have a child. The sāntōngguò guīdìng for city residents effectively means that, without these three approvals for a child, a pregnancy must end in abortion or else the child will have to live without food rations. (A government slogan is Yíge zuì hǎo, liǎngge gòule, “One is best, two is enough.”) Applications to have children are reviewed and permission granted or denied by one’s work unit, based on the total allowable city quota. A third child is strongly discouraged and life would be very difficult for it should it be born. Special gifts, privileges, and awards are given to one-child families. In the countryside, one can find four to six children in a household, but they of course could not easily move to the city.

Notes on No. 3

yě jiùshi shuō: “to mean; in other words, that is to say”.

Jìhuà shēngyù yě jiùshi shuō yào yǒu jìhuade shēng xiǎoháir.	Planned parenthood means having children in a planned way.

“Hébì” yě jiùshi shuō “wèishénme xūyào”.	“Hébì” means “why must”.

Tā bù néng zài shēng xiǎoháizi, yě jiùshi shuō wǒmen juéde tā zhìbuhǎo le.	She can’t have children any more; that is to say, we feel that she cannot be cured.

Tā bù gěi ni dǎ diànhuà hǎoxiàng yě jiùshi shuō tā bù xīhuan ni.	The fact that he doesn’t telephone you would seem to imply that he doesn’t like you.

Dàifu shuō tā bù néng chī ròu, yě jiùshi shuō chi ròu duì tāde shēntǐ bù hǎo.	The doctor said that he couldn’t eat meat, in other words, eating meat isn’t good for his health.

When what follows is a more pointed explanation of what has just been said, jiùshi shuō can be used in place of yě jiùshi shuō, e.g. 

Tā bù kéyi shēng háizi, jiùshi shuō tā hái méiyou zuòdao sān tōngguò.	She cannot have a child; that is to say, she has not yet gotten the three approvals.

tóngyì: “consent, agreement; to agree, to agree with (what someone says or thinks)”.

A: 	Tóngyì bu tongyì?	Do you agree?

B: 	Wǒ bù tóngyì.	I don’t agree.

	Wǒ bù tóngyì nǐde huà. 	I don’t agree with what you say.

Although in English we can say “I agree with you”, in Chinese it is wrong to say either Wǒ gēn nǐ tóngyì or Wǒ tóngyì ni. Tóngyì can be used in two ways: without an object, or with an object like tā shuōde “what he said”, tāde huà “what he said”, tāde jìhua “his plan”, tāde yìjian “his opinion”. If you want to say “I don’t agree with you”, you can say Wǒ bù tóngyì, Nǐ shuōde, wǒ bù tóngyì, Wǒ bù tóngyì nǐde huà, Wǒ bù tóngyì nǐde yìjian, etc.

Notes on No. 4

dānwèi: W(work) unit”. This word is used in the PRC as a cover term for any organization or department of an organization. It may, for instance refer to a factory, a school, a government organization, a store, or an army unit.

Nǐ zài něige dānwèi gōngzuò? is a common way of asking where someone works; compared with Nǐ zài nǎr gōngzuò?, the question Nǐ zài něige dānwèi gōngzuò? sounds more official.

Wǒmen dānwèi yǒu hěn duō nǚ lāoshī.	There are a lot of women teachers in  our unit. (Here, dānwèi refers to a school. )

To specify that you are talking about a place of work, you can say gōngzuò dānwèi, as in the Reference List sentence.

jūmín wěiyuánhuì: “neighborhood committee”. The official duties of a neighborhood committee are diverse, ranging from sanitation maintenance to political study. Its actual role and duty remain ambiguous, as well as its relationship with the government. Although the government pays a committee’s elected delegates, there is no official connection between the two. The power of the committee in local affairs remains large.

pàichūsuǒ: “local police station”. The local police station is the lowest level of the Bureau of Public Security. In addition to taking care of matters of a criminal nature, the pàichūsuǒ is familiar with the history and political situation of every one of its residents. Along with the gōngzuò dānwèi and the jūmín wěiyuánhuì, it affects the daily life of each citizen.

Notes on No. 5

gēnju: “according to, on the basis of; basis”.

Nǐ gēnju shénme shuō zhèige huà?	On what basis do you say this?

Nǐ shuōde huà yǒu méiyou gēnju?	Is there a basis for what you're  saying?

pīzhǔn: “to give official permission (to someone to do something)”.

Dānwèi pīzhǔn ta jiēhūn le. 	Her unit gave her permission to marry.

Xuéxiào pīzhǔn ta qù Shànghǎi  le.	His school gave him permission to go to Shanghai.

Wǒ mǎi zhèige diànshì shi dédao  pīzhǔnde.	I got permission to buy this television.

fùnǚmen: “women”. -Men is a plural ending for nouns and pronouns. You have seen it in the pronouns women, zánmen, nǐmen, and tāmen. After a noun, however, -men is never obligatory. It is usually used with nouns which designate humans (although in literature you may sometimes see it used with nouns referring to animals as well).

Nǚshimen, xiānshengmen.	 Ladies and gentlemen.

Note that the group referred to by a noun phrase with -men must be of unspecified number; it is wrong to say liàngge fùnǚmen or sānge jiàoshòumen, etc.

Notes on No. 6

gègè: “each and every, all of the various”. The first gè (a specifier like zhèi-) literally means “each...” or “the various, the different...”. The second ge is the counter ge, as in yíge rén “one person”.

Jiǔyuèli, gègè xuéxiào dōu kāi xué le.	In September all the schools open,

Měiguode gègè zhōu dōu yǒu zíjǐde zhèngfǔ.	Each of the American states has its government.

zēngjiā: “to increase; to increase by (such-and-such an amount)”.

Jīnnián wǒmen xuéxiàode xuéshēng zēngjiā le.	The students in our school increased this year.

Zhèige yīyuànde bìngrén bù néng zài zēngjiā le.	The patients in this hospital cannot increase any further.

Zhèijǐtiān nǐ máng bu máng, zài gěi ni zēngjiā yìdiǎnr gōngzuò, hǎo bu hāo?	Have you been busy the past few days? Would it be okay if I give you some more work to do?

Wǒmen dānwèi yòu zēngjiāle liǎngge bàngōngshì.	They added two more offices on to our unit.

yídìng: “specific, certain, definite, set”. In addition to the meaning of yídìng which you already know, namely “certainly, surely”, it can also mean “set (by regulation, decision, or convention), fixed, particular,” as in

Tā bàn shìqing yǒu yídìng bànfa.	 He goes about doing things with a definite method.

Měiniān zài yídìngde rìzi, tā dōu huíqu kàn māma.	Every year he goes back to see his mother on a set date.

Notes on No. 7

shìqū: “city proper, municipal area”, the area within a chěngshì where population and buildings are relatively concentrated. Shìqū is used when you are emphasizing the city proper or contrasting it to the suburbs [jiāoqū]. It is an administratively more exact term than chěngshì. [The Peking municipal area, Běijīng shìqū, is made up of eight urban districts, chéngqū.]

chūshēnglü: “birth rate”. Chūshēng means “to be born”. The chūshēnglü is usually considered to be the number of births per one thousand population in one year.

Notes on No. 8

fēnpèi: “distribute; allot; assign; distribution”.

Wǒ tīngshuō xiàge yuè jiù kéyi gěi ni fēnpei gōngzuò.	I’ve heard that you’ll be assigned work next month.

Wǒ xīwang néng zǎo yìdiān fēnpèidào fángzi.	I hope that housing can be assigned soon.

Tīngshuō tā fēnpèi dào Dōngběi qù gōngzuò le.	I've heard that he has been assigned to go work in Manchuria.

míng'é: “the number of people assigned or allowed; quota of people”. Míng’é does not exactly correspond to “quota”. “Quota” is a fixed number of places which must be filled. Míng’é is (1) a fixed number of places which must not be exceeded, or (2) one such place. Bābǎige míng’é is literally “800 name given-numbers”, i.e. “a quota of 800 names.”

Note on No. 9

bìyùn: Literally, “avoid-pregnancy”, i.e. “contraception”. Shíxíng bìyùn “to carry out (the government policy of encouraging) contraception, to practice birth control”.

Note on No. 10

miǎnfèide: Literally “exempt from charge”, i.e. “free (of charge)”

Zhèige zhǎnlǎn kéyi miǎnfèi cānguān.	You can visit this exhibit for free.

Sānyuè Báhào, fùnǚ hé háizi dào gōngyuán qù dōu shi miǎnfēide.	On March 8th, women and children can go to parks free of charge.

Lüxíng bù piányi a! Fēijīpiào kě bú shi miǎnfèide.	Travelling is not cheap. Plane tickets are certainly not free!

Notes on No. 11

dédao: “to receive, to get”.

Tā dédao hùzhào yǐhòu mǎshàng jiù zōu le.	He left immediately after getting his passport.

Tā dédao pīzhǔn kéyi liúzai Běijīng gōngzuò.	He has gotten permission to stay in Peking to work.

yìjiān xīn fángzi: “a new room”. Notice that although you have seen fāngzi meaning “house”, it is being used here in the wider sense of “a place to live”. In this phrase it is preceded by the counter for rooms of a house, jiān. Thus the whole phrase means “a new room”, not “a new house”.

Living quarters in Peking and many other Chinese cities are very scarce. (Housing in Shanghai is more critical than Peking.) When a newly married couple applies for housing, they will be assigned a room that does not exceed 8-10 square meters. Rarely do living quarters have private baths, toilets, or kitchens. Later, when children come along, they will continue to live in the same size room.

Peking:

Notes A Canadian tourist talks with her guide:

A: 	Wǒ zài Jiānádàde shihou jiù tīngshuō Zhōngguo kòngzhi rénkǒude gōngzuò zuòde hěn chénggōng. Nǐ kéyi bu kéyi gěi wo jiǎngyijiǎng?	When I was in Canada I heard that population control work is being done very successfully in China. Could you tell me about it?

B: 	Hǎo. Wǒ xiān shuōshuo zài chéngshìli shi zěnme zuòde. Zài chéngshìli rúguo yǒu rén yào yǒu yíge háizi, děi zuòdào sān tōngguò.	Okay. First I’ll talk about how it’s being done in the cities. In the city if there’s someone who wants to have a child, they have to get the “three approvals”.

A: 	Shénme shi sān tōngguò?	What are the Wthree approvals”?

B: 	Jiùshi děi yǒu nǐ gōngzuò dānwèi, nǐ zhùde dìfangde jūmín wěiyuánhuì, hé pàichūsuǒde tóngyì.	It means that you must have the consent of your work unit, the neighborhood committee of the place you live, and the local police station.

A: 	Zhèi sānge dānwèi gēnju shénme pīzhǔn fùnǚmen shēng xiǎoháir?	On what basis do these three units give official permission to women to have children?

B: 	Gègè chéngshì měinián yǒu yídìngde chūshēnglǜ, yě jiùshi shuō měinián zhǐ kéyi zēngjiā yídìng shùmude háizi. Zhèixiē míng’é jiù àn rénkou fēnpèigei gègè shìqū. Gègè shìqū zài fēnpèigei yào shēng háizide nǚtóngzhì, suóyi fùnǚ dōu shi dédao pīzhǔn yǐhòu cái huáiyùnde.	Each year the various cities have specific birth rates; that is to say, each year they can only increase by a specific number of children. These quotas are distributed among the various cities according to population. The various cities then distribute them to women comrades who want to have children. So women don't get pregnant until they receive official permission.

A: 	Zài nóngcūn, rénmen yě shíxíng bìyùn ma?	Do the people in the country also practice birth control?

B: 	Yě shíxíng bìyùn, kěshi bú xiàng chéngshìli zuòde nàme chénggōng.	They practice birth control too, but it isn't as successful as in the city.

A: 	Bìyùn gōngjù guì bu gui?	Are contraceptive devices expensive?

B: 	Zhèngfǔ tíchàng rénmín shíxíng bìyùn, suóyi bìyùn yào hé bìyùn gōngjù dōu shi miǎnfèide.	The government encourages people to practice birth control, so all contraceptive medicines and devices are free.

PART II

12. Zài Zhōngguo, yǒu gōngzuòde fùnǚ shēng háizi yǒu chǎnjià, hái yǒu gōngzī.	In China working women get maternity leave when they have a child and they still receive their pay.

13. Hěn duō Zhōngguo fùnǚ yòng gèzhǒng bìyùn gōngjù shíxíng jìhuà shēngyù.	Many Chinese women use various kinds of contraceptive devices to carry out family planning.

14. 	Zhōngguo rén zuò juéyù shōushùde duō bu duō?	Are there many Chinese people who have contraceptive surgery performed on them?

15. 	Bìyùn shīhàide rén kéyi dào yíyuàn qu zuò réngōng liúchǎn, hái kéyi yǒu liǎngge xíngqíde jià.	A person who fails at birth control can go to the hospital to have an abortion performed, and they can also have two weeks of leave.

16.	 Zài shǎoshù mínzū dìqū rénkǒu bǐjiǎo shǎo.	The population is relatively small in the national minority areas.

17. 	Zhōngguo rén xiāngxìn hóngtáng duì chǎnfù shi yìzhǒng hěn hǎode yíngyǎngpǐn.	Chinese believe that brown sugar is a very nutritional food for women who have given birth within the last month.

18. 	Tā hé biérén bù tóng, tā shi wǒ zuì qīnjìnde péngyou.	She’s different from other people, she’s my closest friend.

19. 	Shǒuxiān yào qù gěi Māma mǎi xiānhuā, ránhòu hái yào gěi ni bǎ wánjù xiūlihǎo.	First I have to go buy fresh flowers for your mother, and then I have to fix your toy for you too.

20. 	Tándao Zhōngguode nóngcūn, gèdìde qíngkuàng dōu bù tong.	As for the rural areas of China, the situation is different in various places.

NOTES ON PART II

Notes on No. 12

chǎnjià: “maternity leave”. The syllable chǎn, literally “to give birth to” is used in compounds meaning “maternity, delivery, birth”. It can also be used outside the context of human reproduction in compounds meaning “to produce, production”, as in chǎnpǐn “product”.]

gōngzī: “wages, pay”, literally “labor-capital”.

...yǒu chānjià, hái yǒu gōngzi: For a normal birth, a woman is given fifty-six days of paid leave; for a difficult birth, seventy days; and for twins, ninety days after the birth. After this period, one hour per day is allowed off in order to nurse the baby.

Notes on No. 13

gèzhōng: “various kinds, every kind”. Gè “each” is a specifier like zhèi- “this” or nèi- “that”. As a specifier, it can be followed by counters. Here you see ge- used with the counter -zhǒng “types, kinds, sort, species”. Here are some other ways gè- is used:

Tā néng dào gèguō qù lǚxíng zhēn bú cuò.	It’s great that he can go to all sorts of countries.

Xuéshengmen yīnggāi yǒu gèrénde xuéxi jìhua.	Students should each have their own plan of study.

Míngtiānde diànyǐngr piào gègè dānwèi dōu you.	Each and every unit has movie tickets for tomorrow.

Sometimes ge- is followed directly by the noun.

Jīntiān xiàwu gè dānwèi dōu kāi huì.	This afternoon every unit is having a meeting.

bìyùn gōngju: “contraceptive devices”. This does not refer to birth control pills. [Bìyùnpǐn “birth control products” includes both bìyùnyào “birth control pills” and bìyùn gōngjù.]

jìhuà shēngyù: “family planning, planned parenthood”. Jìhuà means “plan; to plan”. Shēngyù literally means “to give birth to and raise”.

Notes on No. l4

juéyù: “sterilization,” or “to sterilize, to be sterilized,” applies to operations for men and women. Sterilization for women is still much more common than for men; and more prevalent in the cities than in the countryside.

Tā juédìng juéyù. 	He has decided on sterilization.

Juéyù shi jiějué Zhōngguo rénkōu wèntíde yíge hāo bànfa.	Sterilization is one good way to solve China’s population problem.

shǒushù: “surgery”.

Dàifu gěi ta zuòde shǒushù hěn chénggōng.	The surgery the doctor performed on him was very successful.

Notes on No. 15

shībài: “to fail”.

Tā zuò mǎimai shībài le.	 He failed in business.

Nǐ gēnju shénme shuō tā shībài le? 	On what basis do you say that he failed?

réngōng liúchǎn: “abortion”, more literally, “artificial miscarriage”.

dào yīyuàn qu zuò réngōng liúchǎn: “go to the hospital to have an abortion performed”. Zuò réngōng liúchǎn here means “to have an abortion done”, not of course “to do an abortion”. Compare the following two sentences:

Yīshēng gěi ta zuòle réngōng liúchǎn.	The doctor performed an abortion on her.

Tā zuòle réngōng liúchǎn.	 She had an abortion.

In the first sentence, the subject of the sentence (yīshēng) performed the abortion. In the second sentence, the subject of the sentence (tā) had the abortion performed. In some cases, a verb-object in Chinese can mean either “to do something” or “to have something done”. Here are some more examples:

Zhènme hǎode yīfu, shéi gěi nǐ zuòde?	Who made such nice clothes for you?

Zài Měiguo zuò yīfu hěn guì. 	It's really expensive to have clothes made in America.

jià: “leave, vacation”. You have seen this as part of the word chǎnjià “maternity leave”. Here you see it used by itself.

Notes on No. 16

shǎoshù mínzú: “minority natiionalities”, often translated as “national minorities”. Besides the Han people, China has over fifty national minorities which are spead out over fifty to sixty percent of the land area and make up six percent of the total population of the country. The largest minorities are the Mongols (mostly in the Nèi Měnggú Zìzhìqū, “Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region”), the Hui (Chinese Muslims), Tibetans, Uighurs (in the Xīnjiāng Wéiwúěr Zìzhìqū, “Xinxiang Uighur Autonomous Region”), and the Miao (found in several southern provinces).

Shǎoshù mínzúde yīfu dōu hěn hǎo kàn.	The clothing of the national minorities is very beautiful.

Zhōngguo yǒu wǔshijǐge shǎoshùmínzú.	China has fifty-odd minority nationalities.

Notes on No. 17

xiāngxìn: “to believe (that), to trust (someone), to believe in, to have faith in”.

Wǒ xiāngxìn, wǒmen liǎngguó rénmínde yǒuyì yídìng huì búduàn fāzhǎn.	I believe that the friendship between the people of our two countries will constantly grow.

Compare xiāngxìn to the verb xìn, which you learned in the last unit. For the second example you need to know yóu is a verb meaning “it’s up to...”.

Bié xìn tāde huà.	 Don’t believe what he says.

Xìn bu xìn yóu nǐ.	 Believe it or not, as you like.

hōngtáng: “brown sugar”, literally “red sugar”. The Chinese often use brown sugar in cooking and for medicinal purposes. For example, a common remedy for colds is a hot drink made by boiling ginger root and brown sugar in water [jiāngtāng], or simply brown sugar water [tángshuǐ].

chǎnfù: “a woman who has given birth within the last month”. [Contrast this word with yùnfù “a pregnant woman”. The birth of a child is celebrated on the successful completion of the first month of life.

yíngyǎngpǐn: “a nutritional food item”. Yíngyǎng means “nutrition”, for example:

Dòujiāng hěn yǒu yíngyǎng.	 Soy bean milk is very nitritious.

-Pǐn is a syllable used in many words to mean “item, article, product”, [for example jìniànpǐn “souvenir”, yòngpǐn “item of use”, chǎnpǐn “produce”, gōngyèpǐn “industrial product”].

As the Reference List sentence shows, the mother’s health continues to be an important consideration even after the child is born. Both mother’s and baby’s health are carefully attended to after birth, while Western medicine emphasizes the mother’s health only as long as she is carrying the child.

Notes on No. 18

bù tóng: “to be not the same, to be different”. This is often used in the pattern ...hé ... bù tóng, “...is different from ...”.

Hùzhào hé lǚxíngzhèng wánquán bù tóng, nǐ bú yào nòngcuò le.	A passport and a travel permit are completely different. Don’t mistake them.

Zhèige gōngchǎng jīnnián hé qùniánde qíngkuàng hěn bù tóng.	The situation in the factory this year is very different from last year.

Bù tóng can also be used as a noun as in

Tāde dānwèi hé nǐde yǒu hěn dàde bù tong.	There is a big difference between his work unit and yours.

You should be aware that tóng “same”, cannot be used as the main verb of a sentence to mean “to be the same”. To say, “These two things are the same”, you must say Zhèiliǎngge dōngxi shi yíyàngde.

qīnjìn: “to be close (to), to be on intimate terms (with)”.

Zhèiliǎngge rén hěn qīnjìn.	 These two are on intimate terms.

Dàjiā dōu yuànyi qīnjìn ta. 	Everyone wants to be friends with him.

Notes on No. 19

shǒuxiān: “first (of all), in the first place, first; first, before anyone/anything else”.

Jīntiān dàjiā kāi huì shōuxiān shi yào jiějué wǒmen chǎng shēngchǎnshàngde wèntí.	The first thing we want to do at today’s meeting is to solve our factory’s problems in production.

Zài fàndiànli shōuxiān yào zhùyi jiějuéhāo kèrenmende chī fàn hé xiūxi wèntí.	A hotel must first of all pay attention to solving the dining and rest problems of the guests.

Zuìjìn wàiguo péngyou hěn duō. Wǒmen shōuxiān yào jiějué zhùde wèntí.	Recently there have been many foreign friends. We must first of all solve the lodging problems.

xiānhuā: “fresh flowers”, as opposed ed to dried or artificial flowers, which the Chinese are also fond of.

wánjù: “(children’s) toy”.

Míngtiān érzi guò shēngrì, gěi ta mǎi ge wánjù.	Tomorrow is let’s buy our boy’s birthday, him a toy.

Note on No. 20

gèdì: “each place; various places” Here you see the specifier -gè “each” used in another compound. Here are some more examples:

Wǒ hěn xiang dào Měiguo gèdì qù kànyikàn, Měiguo shi ge wěidàde guójiā.	I’d very much like to go visit lots of places in America. America is a great country.

Zài Zhōngguo gèdì cānguān yǒulānle sānge xīngqi, wǒ gāi huí guǒ le.	I’ve visited and sightseen lots of places in China for three weeks, it’s time to go back home.

Peking:

A Canadian student in Peking interviews a population control worker:

A: 	Wǒ zài Jiānádàde shihou jiù tīngshuō Zhōngguo kōngzhi rénkoude gōngzuò zuòde hěn chénggōng. Nǐ néng bu néng gěi wo jiǎngyijiǎng nǐmen shi zěnme zuòde?	When I was in Canada I heard that population control work is being done very successfully in China. Could you explain to me what you do?

C: 	Shǒuxiān, zhèngfǔ tíchàng wǎnhūn. Érqiě, yìbānde shuō, zài chéngli jiéle hūnde rén liǎngnián yǐhòu cái yào háizi. Tāmen yào xiǎohair yǐqián yīnggāi zuòdao sān tōngguò.	First, the government promotes late marriage. Furthermore, generally speaking, in the city, married people don’t have children until after two years. Before they have a child they should have the “three approvals”.

A: 	“Sān tōngguò” shi shénme yìsi ne?	What does the “three approvals” mean?

C: 	“Sān tōngguò” yě jiùshi shuō yīnggāi dédao nǐ gōngzuò dānwèi, nǐ zhùde dìfangde jūmín wěiyuánhuì hé pàichūsuǒ zhèisānge dìfangde tóngyì.	The “three approvals” means that you should have the consent of your work unit, the neighborhood committee of the place you live, and the local police station.

A: 	Gè dānwèi gēnju shénme biāozhǔn pīzhǔn fùnǚmen shēng xiǎoháir ne?	According to what criteria do the various units give official permission to women to have children?

C: 	Gè chéngshì dōu yǒu yídìngde rénkōu chūshēnglǜ, měinián měige chéngshì zhǐ kéyi zēngjiā yídìng shùmude háizi. Zhèixie míng'é jiù fēnpèigei gègè shìqūde xiǎng shēng háizide nǚtóngzhì. Fùnǚ dōu shi dédao pīzhǔn yǐhòu cái huáiyùnde. 	All the various cities have set population birth rates, and each year they can only increase by a certain number of children. These quotas are apportioned among women comrades in all the various cities who want to have children. Women do not become pregnant until they receive official permission.
	Bù xiāng yào háizide kéyi shíxíng bìyùn; hìyùn gōngjù hé bìyùn yào dōu shi miǎnfèide.	Those who do not want to have children can practice birth control; all contraceptive medicines and contraceptive devices are free.

A: 	Rúguo bìyùn shībàile zěnme bàn?	What is done if birth control fails?

C: 	Kéyi dào yīyuàn zuò réngōng liǔchān, shǒushù búbì zìjǐ gěi qián, hái yǒu liǎngge xīngqīde jià, yòu yǒu gōngzī.	One can go to the hospital to have an abortion. A person doesn't have to pay for the operation herself, and there is two weeks leave with pay.

A: 	Wǒ hǎoxiàng tīngshuō Zhōngguo fùnǚ shēng háizide shihou yǒu wǔshiliùtiānde chǎnjià, érqiě kéyi duō mǎi yìxiē yíngyǎngpǐn, shi bu shi?	It seems to me I've heard that when Chinese women have children they get 56 days maternity leave, and they can also buy extra nutritional food items. Is that so?

C: 	Duì le, chǎnjià yǒu gōngzī. Chǎnfù hái kéyi mǎi yìliǎngjīn hóngtáng, duō mǎi yìliǎngjīn jīdàn. Zhōngguo rén dōu xiāngxìn hóngtáng duì chǎnfù hěn hǎo.	That's right. The maternity leave is paid. In the month after delivery, a woman can also huy one or two catties of hrown sugar, and one or two extra catties of eggs. Chinese believe that hrown sugar is very good for women during the month after delivery.

A: 	Rénmen shēng háizide shíhou, qīnqi péngyou sòng bu song lǐwù?	When someone has a hahy, do relatives and friends give presents?

C: 	Qīnqi hé qīnjìnde péngyou háishi huì sòng yìxiē xiǎo lǐwù, xiàng xiǎoháizide yǐfu la, xiǎo tǎnzi la, xiǎo màozi la, wánjù shenmede. Yě yǒu rén huì sòng yìxiē shuǐguǒ huōzhě xiānhuā.	Relatives and close friends will still give a few small gifts, like clothes for the hahy, little blankets, little hats, toys, and so forth. There are also people who will give a little fruit or fresh flowers.

A: Yíge jiātíng kéyi yǒu jǐge xiǎoháir?	How many children can one family have?

C: 	Zài chéngshìli niánqīng fūfù zuì duō yào liǎngge háizi.	In the city young couples have two children at the most.

A: 	Nóngcūnde qíngkuàng zěnmeyàng?	What's the situation like in the rural areas?

C: 	Gèdì nóngcūnde qíngkuàng bù tóng. Rénkǒu duōde dìfang zhèngfǔ tíchàng jìhuà shēngyù. Nóngcūnlide rén yě yòng gèzhǒng bìyùn gōngjù. Bù shǎo rén yǒule liǎngge háizi yǐhòu jiù zuò juéyù shǒushù, nánde zuò, nǚde zuò, dōu kéyi. Nóngmín juéde zuò juéyù shǒushù bǐ yòng bìyùn gōngjù fāngbiànde duō.	The situation in rural areas is different in different places. Where there's a large population the government promotes family planning. People in the rural areas also use all the various kinds of contraceptive devices. Quite a few people undergo contraceptive surgery after they've had two children. Either men or women may have this done. The peasants feel that having contraceptive surgery performed is much more convenient than using contraceptive devices.
	Kěshi zài shǎoshù mínzú dìqū, yīnwei rénkǒu shǎo, zhèngfǔ bù tíchàng jìhuà shēngyù, suóyi yìbānde jiātíng kéyi duō yǒu jǐge xiǎoháir.	But in the areas populated hy minority nationalities, because the population is smaller, the government doesn’t advocate family planning, so the average family can have a few more children.

NOTE ON THE DIALOGUE

Rénmen shēng háizide shíhou, qīnqi péngyou sòng bu sòng lǐwù?: As stated in the dialogue, friends and relatives in the PRC give useful items for the baby, like clothes, hats, cups, or perhaps a chicken for the mother. These are presented casually.

Vocabulary

bìyùn	contraception
bù tong	to be different
chǎnfù	a woman who has given birth within the last month
chǎnjià	maternity leave
chénggōng	to succeed, to be successful
chūshēnglü	birth rate
dānwèi	unit
-dào	indicates successful accomplishment of something
dédao	to receive, to get
fēnpèi	to assign, to apportion, to allot
gèdì	the various places, each place
gègè	various
gēnjù (gēnju)	according to, based on
gèzhǒng	various kinds, types
gōngzī  	wages, pay
hóngtáng	brown sugar
jià	vacation, leave
jiātíng	family
jìhua shēngyù	planned parenthood, family planning
juéyù	sterilization
jūmín wěiyuánhuì 	neighborhood committee
kòngzhi	to control
-men	plural suffix
miǎnfèi	to be free of charge
ming’é	the number of people assigned or allowed, quota (of people)
nóngmín	peasant
niǚ	female
pàichūsuǒ(r)	the local police station
pīzhǔn	to give official permission
qíngkuàng	situation
qīnjìn	to be close (to a person)
réngōng liúchǎn	 abortion
sān tōngguò	“the three approvals”
shǎoshù mínzú	minority nationality, national minority
shēngyù	to give birth to and raise
shībài	to fail
shìqū	urban area or district
shōushù	operation, surgery
shōuxiān	first
shùmu	 number 
tongguò	to pass, to approve
tóngyì	to consent, to agree
wánjù	toy
xiāngxìn	to believe
xiānhuā	fresh flowers
xiǎoháir	child, children
yě jiù shi shuō	to mean; in other words
yìbān	ordinary, general, common
yìbānde shuō	generally speaking
yídìng	to be specific
yíngyǎngpǐn	food items of special nutritional value
zengjiā	to increase

Customs Surroundins Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 4

PART I

1. 	Nǐde fúqi zhēn hǎo.	You are really blessed with good fortune.

2. 	Zhāng Tàitaide xífu tóuyìtāí jiù gěi ta shēngle yige dǎ sūnzi.	Mrs. Zhang’s daughter-in-law in her first pregnancy presented her with a fine grandson.

3. 	Wǒ zhèli yǒu yíge hóngbāo shi gěi xiǎo bǎobaode.	I have a “red envelope” for the baby.
Notes on PartN</
4.	 Bù gǎn dāng!	I’m flattered. You shouldn’t have.

5. 	Nǐ zhēnshi tài kèqi le. Hébì pòfei ne?	You’re too polite. Why should you spend so much money?

6. 	A: 	Nǐde nǚér shēngxialaide shíhou yǒu duō zhòng?	How much did your daughter weigh when she was born?

	B: 	Qībàng bàn.	Seven and a half pounds.

7. 	A: 	Wǒ gāng wèile ta bù jiù, tā yòu kū le.	I just fed him not long ago, and now he’s crying again.

	B: 	Dàgài yòu yào chī nǎi le.	He probably wants to nurse again.

8. 	Tā zhǎngde hěn piàoliang.	She is very pretty.

9. 	A: 	Nǐ zhège háizi hěn yǒu fúxiàng, ěrduo zhǎngde zhēn dà.	This child of yours has a lucky physiognomy. His ears are really big.

	B: 	Tuō nínde fú!	It’s because of your lucky influence.

NOTES ON PART I

Note on No. 1

fúqi: “blessings, good fortune, luck”.

Wǒ hěn yǒu fúqi, érzi bāng wo bù shǎo máng.	I’m very fortunate, my son helps me a lot.

Nǐ zhēn méi fúqi, gāng chū mén jiù xià yǔ le.	You really have bad luck. You just leave on a trip and then it rains.

Notes on No. 2

xífu: “daughter-in-law, son’s wife”.

Tā xífu hǎo piàoliang!	 Her daughter-in-law is so beautiful!

Wǒ xífu gōngzuò mángjíle. 	My daughter-in-law is very busy.

tóu-: “first”, (literally “head”) as in tóuyitiān, “the first day”. Tóu- is used much like dì-: before a number and a counter, which may or may not be followed by a noun.

tóuyicì	 the first time

tóuyige rén	 the first person

tóuliǎngge rén	 the first two people

tóusānběn	 the first three volumes

In tóuyige, tóu- is stressed and yi is in the neutral tone. Also notice that the word for “two” is liǎng- (not èr as is usually the case when a counter follows).

Now here is a comparison of tóu- and dì-:

(1) Tóuyige rén and dìyíge rén are both translated as “the first person” and tóuyige is for the most part interchangeable with dìyíge.

(2) Although the yī in tóuyige is unstressed and written without a tone mark over it, the yī in dìyíge is stressed and said with a second tone (or sometimes with a first tone).

(3) The word for “two” is liǎng after tóu-, but èr after dì-. Dìèrge means “the second one”, while tóuliāngge means “the first two”.

(4) Tóu- must be used with a counter, but dì- can be used with just a number after it. Here are some examples of dì- used with a number but no counter after it:

Wǒ yào mǎi zhège dōngxi. Dìyī, zuòde hěn hāo; dìèr, hěn piányi.	I’m going to buy this. First, it’s very well made; second, it’s inexpensive.

Tā shi dìyī, wǒ shi dìèr.	He is first, I’m second.

But tóuyī-, tóuliāng-, tóusān- always have a counter word after the number.

tāi: This is the counter for pregnancies, whether carried to term or not. Literally tāi means “embryo”. The expression tóuyitāi can also be said tóutāi.

Tóusāntāi dōu shi nǚde, dào dìsìtāi cái shēngle ge érzi.	The first three hahies were all girls it wasn’t until the fourth that she had a boy.

Tā shēng tóutǎide shíhou, shēntǐ bú cuò. Shēng dìèrtāide shíhou jiù bù xíng le.	When she had her first baby, she was still in pretty good health. But when she had her second, it wasn’t good any more.

shēng; “to give birth to...” Notice that the Chinese verb shēng is used in an active sense which is not always reflected in the English. Compare the various translations of shēng in the Reference List, the above examples and the dialogue.

sūnzi: “grandson”. This only refers to the son of one’s son. The son of one’s daughter and son-in-law is called wàisūnzi. Here is a chart showing how these terms relate to each other.

image famille.png

Notes on No. 3

hóngbāo: Wa red envelope with money in it, given as a gift or bribe”. These gifts of money may be given to children by people at least a generation older. This usually happens at festive occasions, like New Years or a birthday. The amount given varies greatly but there is one thing to remember: Do not give an amount with the number four in it! The number four, sì, closely resembles the verb “to die,” sǐ, and is therefore considered unlucky. Chinese youth were without any real opportunity to make money in the past, so this is one way that it is made up for.

xiǎo bǎobao: Literally “little treasure”, in other words “the little darling” or “the baby”. This word is usually used by women. Some people use the word bǎobao (with or without xiǎo) in addressing or speaking about babies or children.

The second bǎo in bǎobao is neutral tone; even though it was originally also third tone, it does not make the first bǎo change to a rising tone, as you might expect (e.g. nǎli). The first bǎo in bǎobao is pronounced low, without any rise in pitch. (Some people also say hǎohǎo and xiǎo bǎobǎo.)
[There are many other words used to refer to babies. Some terms used by both men and women include (xiǎo) bēibì, (xiǎo) guāiguai, xiǎo jiǎhuo. Some terms used mostly by men include xiǎo bēibei and xiǎo budiǎnr.]

Note on No. 4

bù gǎn dāng: “I’m flattered”. Literally, this means “I dare not assume (the honor you pay me)”. This is a polite response to a compliment (such as “You speak Chinese very well”), to a respectful gesture (such as helping someone put on their coat), or to a respectful phrase (like “Qǐngjiǎo”).

Note on No. 5

pòfei: “spend money (on someone)”, also sometimes translated as “to spend recklessly“.

Ràng nín pòfei. or Jiào nín pòfei.	I have caused you to spend a lor, of money. (i.e., “you shouldn't have spent all that money on me”)

Tā shi wǒ sūnzi, wèi ta pòfei liǎngge qián shi yīnggāide.	He’s my grandson, it’s only right that I should spend a little money on him.

Tā shēngrìde shíhou, Wáng Xiānsheng pòfeide zhēn bù shǎo.	For his birthday, Mr. Wang really spent quite a bit of money on him.

Notes on No. 6

yǒu duō zhòng: “how heavy?” Zhòng is the adjectival verb “to be heavy”. Notice the similarity between asking age, weight and height. In each the pattern is literally “have how much (of some quality)”.

Nǐ yǒu duō dǎ?	 How old are you?

Nèizhāng zhuōzi yǒu duō zhòng?	 How heavy is that table?

Tā yǒu duō gāo?	 How tall is she?

This pattern is usually confined to measurements of some sort.

bàng: “pound (unit of weight)”. In addition to the traditional Chinese units of weight such as dàn “picul (100 liters approximately)”, jīn “catty (1 1/3 lbs.)”, liǎng “tael (105 grams approximately)”, and the metric system of weights, such as gōngliǎng “100 grams” and gōngjīn “kilogram”, you also find customary American units such as “pound” used.

Notes on No. 7

gāng wèile tā bù jiǔ: This means “It's only been a short while SINCE I fed him.”, NOT “I fed him for only a short while.” Chinese can distinguish between the duration of a continued activity and the duration of something not happening by putting these two types of duration phrases in different places in the sentence.

Let's review time when and time spent, and take a look at how you express TIME WITHIN WHICH something didn't happen and TIME ELAPSED since something happened.

1. Simple duration phrases, that is phrases telling how long an activity went on, follow the verb. These contrast with phrases telling the time when something happened, which come before the verb.

Simple duration

Tā zài Xiānggǎng zhù liǎngtiān.	He’s staying in Hong Kong for two days.

Tā zuòle wǔfēn zhōng, jiù zǒu le.	He sat for five minutes and then left.

Time when

Tā shi zuǒtian dàode.	She arrived yesterday.

2. The amount of time something did not happen, that is the TIME WITHIN WHICH the activity has not taken place, is expressed in negative sentences with time phrases before the verb.

Time Within with a Negative Verb

Wǒmen yìnián méi jiàn le.	We haven’t seen each other for a year.

Wǒ yǐjīng yíge yuè méi qù nàr le.	I haven’t been going there for a month now.

3. To express the time elapsed since an activity took place the duration phrase is again placed after the verb.

Time elapsed in an affirmative sentence

Wǒ zuòwánle yǐjīng yíge zhōngtóu le.	 I’ve been done for an hour already.

Tā cái zǒule yíge xīngqi. 	It’s been only a week since he left.

Wǒ gāng líkāi zhèige wūzi bù jiǔ.	I’ve been out of the room only a short while.

Note on No. 7

chī nǎi: “to eat (mother’s) milk”, in other words, “to breastfeed” and by extension “to drink milk”, even from a bottle. Similarly, wèi nǎi can mean “to feed milk (to a baby)” without specifying mother’s milk or otherwise. To distinguish between breast feeding and bottle feeding, one can say chī māmade nǎi, “to eat mother’s milk”. And from the mother’s point of view, one can say māma zìji gěi háizi wèi nǎi, “the mother nurses the child herself.”

Note on No. 8

Tǎ zhǎngde hěn piàoliang: “She’s very pretty.” Zhǎngde piàoliang literally means “grow pretty”, but it should be translated simply as “is pretty”. Zhǎngde ... is often used in descriptions of the appearance of living things. In these cases, zhǎngde ... is absent of any meaning such as “has grown ...”, “has come to be ...” or “has become ...”; it simply means “is, are”.

Tǎ zhǎngde hěn hǎokàn.	 She is very beautiful.

Tā zhǎngde gēn wǒ yíyàng gāo.	 She is just as tall as I am.

Tāde liǎn zhǎngde gēn wǒ mèimei yíyàng.	 Her face looks just like my little sister.

There is almost no difference in meaning between Tā hěn piàoliang and Tā zhǎngde hěn piàoliang. Both are used frequently. But there is a difference in meaning between Tā zhǎngde hěn gāo and Tā zhǎnggāo le: the former means “He is very tall”, and the latter “He has grown tall”.

Notes on No. 9

fúxiàng: “auspicious physiognomy”. This phrase implies something more than “lucky face”. The word fú expresses the destiny of a person to enjoy a life of good fortune. Xiàng is a person’s looks considered from the point of view of fortune telling. Traditionally, it was believed that a person's destiny could be determined from the individual variations of his hands, bones, face, ears, hair, and so forth. The xiàng includes the face, ears, hairline, and bumps on the head.

...ěrduo zhǎngde zhēn dǎ: Portraits of some of the most admired men in Chinese history depict them with long ears. (Long ears are thought to indicate wisdom.) It was thought that rulers in particular were so endowed. Buddha is also pictured with long ears, as he appeared in Indian portrayals.

Taipei:

Mrs. Sòng’s daughter-in-law, Bǎolán, has just recently had a baby. A friend of the family, Mrs. Zhāng, comes to pay them a visit:

Z: 	Sòng Taitai, nín xífu shēngle meiyou?	Mrs. Song, has your daughter-in-law had the baby yet?

S: 	Shēng le. Shēngle ge nánháizi.	Yes. It’s a boy.

Z: 	Òu! Nín fùqi zhēn hǎo. Tā tóuyitāi jiù gěi nin shēngle yige dà sūnzi. Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ.	Oh! How lucky you are. She had a nice big grandson for you—and it was her first! Congratulations.

S: 	Xièxie, xièxie! Lái kànkan wǒ xífu gēn xiǎo bǎobao ba!	Thank you. Come see my daughter-in-law and the baby!

Z: 	Hǎo. 	Okay.

	Bǎolán! Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Nǐ hǎo ma?	Congratulations, Bǎolán! How are you?

B: 	Wǒ hěn hǎo. Zhāng Bomù, nín lái le.	Well Mrs. Zhāng! I’m fine, thanks.

Z: 	Òu! Nǐ zhè háizi hěn yǒu fúxiāng, ěrduo zhǎngde nàme da!	Oh! He’s got a very lucky physiognomy. Such big ears!

B: 	Xièxie! Tuō nínde fú!	Thank you! It’s because of your lucky influence!

Z: 	Tā shēngxialaide shíhou yǒu duō zhòng a?	How much did he weigh at birth?

B: 	Qībàng bàn.	Seven and a half pounds.

Z: 	Ng, zhēn bù xiǎo.	Hm. That’s really pretty big.

S: 	Tā zhēn néng chī. Bǎolán gāng wèile ta bù jiù, xiànzài yǒu kū le. Dàgài yòu yào chī nǎi le.	He eats like a horse. Bǎolán just fed him a little while ago, and now he’s crying again. He probably wants to nurse again.

Z: 	Tā kūde shēngyin hěn dà. Shēntǐ yídìng hěn jiànkāng.	He cries so loudly. He must be very healthy.

B: 	Duì! Tā cóng yīyuàn huílai yíge lǐbài jiù zhǎngle yíbàng.	Yes! In the week after he came back from the hospital, he gained a pound.

Z:	 Wǒ lái yǐqiǎn xiǎngzhe nǐ yīnggāi shēngle, suōyi zhùnbèile yíge hóngbāo. Shi gěi xiǎo bǎobaode.	Before I came I thought you should have had the baby by now, so I got a “red envelope” ready. It’s for the baby.

B: 	Bù gǎn dāng. Nín tài kèqi le. Hébì pòfei ne?	You shouldn’t have. That’s too polite of you. Why should you spend money?

Z: 	Bú shi kèqi. Zhí shi yìdiǎn xiǎo yìsi.	I’m not being polite. This is just a little something to express my feelings.

B: 	Xièxie! Xièxie!	Thank you!

PART II

10. 	Zhōngguo rén xiāngxìn chǎnfù mǎnyuè yǐqián bù kéyi chuī fēng.	Chinese people believe that women who have just given hirth should stay out of drafts until the child is a full month old.

11. 	Chǎnfù zuò yuèzide shíhou yào tèbié xiǎoxīn.	Women who have just given hirth should he especially careful during the month after delivery.

12. 	Zhōngguo rén dōu shuō chī Zhōngyàode shíhou, bú yào chī shēnglěng.	Chinese people say that when you take Chinese medicine, you shouldn’t eat raw or cold things.

13. 	Yīshēng shuō wǒ déle fēngshī, zuì hǎo bú yào pèng lěngshuī.	The doctor says I’ve got rheumatism and that it would he hest for me not to come in contact with cold water.

14. 	Nǐ yīnggāi duō tǎngzhe, zhùyi xiūxi, zhèyang cái néng huīfude kuài.	You should lie down more and pay attention to your rest; that’s the only way you’ll recover quickly.

15. 	Jiàndao Wáng Bùzhǎngde shíhou qiānwàn dāngxīn, bié suíbiàn shuō huà.	When you see Secretary Wang, he sure to watch yourself, don’t he careless in what you say.

16. 	Tā jiéhūn yǐqián duì tā xiānsheng liǎojiěde búgòu, jiéguō jiéhūn yǐhōu hěn tòngkǔ.	Before she got married she didn’t understand her husband well enough and as a result she suffered a lot after the marriage.

17. 	Nǐ kàn tā duó kuài, yíxiàzi jiù bǎ fàn zuōhǎo le.	Look at how fast he is, he got dinner ready in no time at all.

18. 	Nà shi Wángjiāde xífu, zhènme pàng!	That is the Wang family’s daughter-in-law, she’s so fat!

NOTES ON PART II

Notes on No. 10

mǎnyuè: “thirtieth day after a child is born”, literally, “full-month”. (it also means “full moon”.) This refers to a baby’s completion of the first full month of life and is a cause of celebration.

Wángjiā háizi kuài mǎnyuè le, qǐng dàjiā qù chī mǎnyuè jiù.	The Wáng’s baby is about to be a  month old, and they’re asking everyone to go take part in the “full month” banquet.

chuī fēng: Literally, “to blow wind”, but actually “to be in a current of air, a draft, the wind”. Although what blows is the wind, fēng “wind” seems to be in the object position in this phrase. Chǎnfù bù keyi chuī fēng does not mean “Women recently delivered of a child cannot blow wind”, but rather, “Women recently delivered of a child cannot have wind blow on them.” Traditionally, Chinese women were to stay out of drafts because of the very poor overall health situation of the country, and because of the importance of caring for the next generation. Of the three (Confucian) ways to be unfilial, the worst was to be heirless.

Nǐde bìng gāng hǎo, bú yào chūqu chuī fēng.	You're just over your illness, don’t go out in a draft.

Notes on No. 11

zuò yuèzi: Literally, “to sit the yuèzi”, yuèzi being the month after giving birth during which a woman is supposed to take special care of her health. There are different motivations underlying this custom. Woman’s most important function (indeed her only one) was to aide in perpetuating the family line. Therefore it was essential to take special precautions for her own health so that she would nurse a healthy baby. Another idea was that a woman’s body at this time was “dirty” and to avoid offending the door gods she should not go past them.

Tā zuò yuèzide shíhou, kě xiǎoxìn, méi chūguo yìtiān mén.	 During the first month after delivery she was extremely careful. She didn’t go out once.

xiǎoxīn: “to be careful”, literally, “small-heart”. Xiǎoxīn is an adjectival verb which can be used with or without an object following.

Tā zhèige rén bù zěnmeyàng, hé  tā zuò péngyou yào xiǎoxīn.	This guy is nothing special, you’d better be careful making friends with him.

Xiǎoxīn! Qiánbianr shi hóngdēng.	 Careful! There’s a red light up ahead.

Xiǎoxīn nèige rén! Be careful of that person!

Xiǎoxīn guò mǎlù.	 Be careful crossing the street.

Note on No. 12

shēnglěng: “raw or cold foods”. Traditional Chinese medicine divides foods into yin and yang Yīn are “cool” (liángxìngde) foods, that is, foods that make the system cool; yáng foods are “hot” (rèxìngde), that is, they make the system hot. These characteristics are not dependant on the degree temperature at which the food is eaten, but are rather inherent in the food. For example crab, white sugar, and most vegetables and fruits are yīn or cool while hot pepper, lard, millet, brown sugar, and certain fruits such as canteloupe and lichee nuts are all particularly yáng or hot. Generally speaking, yáng foods harmonize with body temperature while yīn foods shock the system. Nonetheless, a balance between the two kinds of foods must be maintained. Too much yáng food can cause the body's “heat” to rise too much (shàng huǒ), minor symptoms of which might include a cough, fever, dry mouth, blisters on the tongue, and constipation. On the ocher hand, too much yīn food is bad for the stomach and can cause diarrhea.

The body's “heat” (huǒ) can be regulated by eating one or the other kind of foods. Thus in hot weather, when the huǒ naturally rises, one should eat “cool” foods to lower the huo (qīng huǒ), and in the winter one should eat “hot” foods. Likewise, certain illnesses call for the eating of one kind of food or the other: one should eat “cool” foods to counteract infections and fevers, while one should eat “hot” foods to build up one's strength if one has a disease which makes him weak. In particular, women giving birth should eat plenty of the “hot” type of foods.

Shēnglěng, raw or cold foods, have also traditionally been considered bad for women who are pregnant or have just given birth. Given sanitary conditions in traditional China, this is understandable.

Chī shēnglěngde dōngxi yídìng  yào xǐgānjing.	When eating raw things, be sure to wash them well.

dé: “to get, a catch (a disease)”; Dé bìng means “to get an illness”.

Wǒ dé bìng yǐhòu, méi bànfa niàn shū le.	After I got sick, I couldn't study any more.

Tā de bìng yǐqián, shēntǐ hen hāo.	Before she got ill, her health was very good.

Tā déde shi shénme bìng?	What illness was it that she got?

Here are some examples of dé followed by the name of an illness:

Tā dé gānmào yǐhòu, jiù méiyou chūlaiguo.	He didn't go out after he got a cold.

Qùniān dōngtiān, tā déle xuěyā gāo.	Last winter, he got high blood pressure.

Here are some more examples sentences showing various uses of dé:

Jīnniān guò shēngrì wǒ déle yìběn xīn shū.	I got a new book on my birthday this  year.

Xiǎodì jīntiān néng dé hǎojǐ ge hongbāo!	 Little brother will be able to get a lot of “red envelopes” today!

Of course, dé cannot be used in all cases when we would say “get” in English. For one thing, de only means to receive passively, whereas English “get” sometimes denotes actively seeking to obtain, as in “I’m going to the supply room to get some paper and pens”, or “I got a package of cereal at the supermarket”. In these cases, dé would not be appropriate in Chinese. To show you some other ways in which the English word “get” is expressed in Chinese, here are some Chinese sentences which do not use dé although the English translation uses “get”:

Zuótiān lái nǐde diānhuā le.	 Yesterday you got a phone call (but you weren’t here to get it.)

Zuótian wǒ jiēdāo tāde diànhuà le.	 Yesterday I got a phone call from him (and was there to receive it.)

Tā zēngjiā gōngzī le.	He got a raise in wages.

Tā jiā xīnshuǐ le.	He got a raise in salary.

Wǒ shōudàole yíge zhāngdān.	I got a bill.

Wǒ cóng tā nār bǎ jiègei tade nèiběn shū náhuilai le.	I got the book back which I lent him.

Yě gěi wǒ nǎ yíge lai.	Get one for me too.

Cóng shénme dìfang wǒ néng mǎidao yíge xiāng zhèiyangrde?	Where can I get (buy) one of those?

fēngshī: “rheumatism”, literally “wind-humid”.

Tā yǒu fēngshī, tiān yì lěng tuǐ téngde lìhai.	He has rheumatism, as soon as it gets cold, his leg hurts severely.

pèng: “to touch”, only in the sense of one object coming into contact with another. The verb pèng can also mean to come into contact with something in a violent way, “to hit, to bump into”. Whether pèng means merely “to touch” or “to bump into” must be determined by context.

Nǐ bié pèng zhèige zhuōzi.	 Don’t touch this table.

Tāde chē kě bùdeliǎo. Biérén  pèng dōu bù néng pèng, gèng bú yào shuō jièqu kāi le!	His car is terrific! Other people can’t even touch it, not to mention borrowing it to drive!

[Some other words meaning “to touch” are āi “to be close to, to be next
to, to be touching”]

Tā zuì pà dǎ zhēn. Zhēn hái méi āidao ta, tā jiù dà jiao.	She is extremely afraid of getting shots. She cries out before the needle has even touched her.

dòng: “to touch, to handle”

Nǐ bié dòng wo zhuōzishangde dōngxi, děng yìhuǐr wǒ huílaile zìjǐ shōushi.	Don't touch the things on my desk, in a while when I come back I’ll straighten them up myself.

mō: “to feel, to rub, to touch” Here you also need to know that ruǎn means “to be soft, yielding to the touch”.

Zhèijiàn yīfu zhēn hǎo, mōshangqu ruǎnruǎnde; chuānzhe yídìng hěn shūfu.	This piece of clothing is really nice very soft to the touch; it must be very comfortable [to wear.]

Notes on No. 14

tǎng: “to lie down”. This is an action verb. Under most circumstances it requires some kind of complement: either a zài phrase telling where the subject ended up in a lying position, as in

Tā tǎngzai chuángshang le.	 He lay down on the bed.

or the durative aspect marker -zhe, as in

Tā zài chuángshang tǎngzhe.	He is/was lying on the bed.

or the directional ending -xia(lai), as in

Dàifu jiào wo tǎngxia.	The doctor told me to lie down.

or the completion le, as in

Tǎngle bàntiān, háishi bu shūfu.	I lay down for quite a long time, but still felt ill.

Tā tǎngle yìhuǐr, jiù juéde hǎo yìdiǎnr le.	After I laid down for a while, I felt better.

huǐfu: “to restore; to return to (an original state); to recover (one’shealth)”.

Zhèige gōngchāng yǐjīng huīfu shēngchǎn le.	This factory has already restored production. (Production in many areas was stopped during the turmoil of the Great Cultural Revolution.)

Tā qiánjǐnián dào nóngcūn qu le. Zuìjìn cái huīfu gōngzuò.	She went to the countryside several years ago. Only recently did she return to work.

A: Wǒ shàngge yuè shēng bìngle, zhèige xīngqi cái huīfu yìdiǎnr.	I was sick last month and only this week am feeling like myself again.

B: Kàn nǐde yàngzi, huīfude bú cuò.	Looking at your appearance I’d say you’re pretty well recovered.

Notes on No. 15

qiānwàn: “by all means, for sure” literally “thousand ten-thousands”.

Nèitiáo jiēshang chē tài duō, nǐ qiānwàn bié qù.	There are too many cars on that street, you are absolutely not to go there.

Nǐ gāng xué kāi chē, qiānwàn xiāoxīn.	You’ve only just learned to drive a car, be sure to be careful.

Qiānwàn zhùyì, bú yào xiěcuò le, xiěcuòle kě máfan.	Be sure to be careful, don’t write this incorrectly, if you do it’ll be so much trouble.

dāngxīn: “to watch out, to watch oneself, to be cautious”. Not to be confused with dānxīn, “to worry”.

Gāng xiàle xuě, chū mén dāngxīn!	 It’s just snowed, watch yourself when you go out.

Kāi chē shàng jiē dāngxīn yìdiǎnr a!	 Watch yourself when you go out driving downtown!

Notes on No. 16

jiéguǒ: “as a result, and so ...”. One of the uses of this word is to connect the thought of one sentence with the next. (Another is as the noun Wresult(s)”.) It provides a transition from one sentence to another, as in

“As a result, then...” Below is a monologue which takes place in Peking, in which the apeaker uses the word jiéguo in this way several times. (This is not meant to be an example of eloquence; in fact, you should not use jiéguo as repetitively as this speaker.)

Wǒ tīngshuō Xiǎo Wáng hé Xiǎo Lǐ tán liàn’ài le. Tánde zěnme yàng ne? Tánde bú cuò. Liǎngge rén dōu méiyou yìjian. Jiéguǒ Xiǎo Wángde fùqin bù tóngyì. Zhèijiàn shi kě jiù bù hǎo bàn le. Xiǎngle bàntiān, jiéguǒ háishi Xiǎo Wáng qù zhǎo jūmín wěiyuánhuì. Jūwěihuìde gànbu hé Xiǎo Wáng tánle bàntiān, jiéguǒ hái bù xíng. Zěnme bàn? Xiǎo Wáng yòu qù zhǎo pàichūsuǒ. Pàichūsuǒde gànbu yòu lái hé Lǎo Wáng tánle bàntiān, háishi méiyou jiéguǒ. Zuìhòu nǐ xiǎng zěnmeyàng, Xiǎo Lǐ zìjǐ lái hé Lǎo Wáng tánle, shuō jiéhūn yīhòu bù bānchuqu zhù, tā zhàogu lǎorénjiā. Zhèihuǐr Lǎo Wáng mǎnyì le. Jiéguǒ Xiǎo Wáng Xiǎo Lǐ gāogāoxìngxìng jiéhūn le.

I heard that Xiǎo Wáng and Xiǎo Lǐ are in love. How serious? Really serious. The two of them had no problems with the idea (of getting married). But then Xiǎo Wáng’s father didn’t agree. The whole thing became difficult to arrange. They thought for a long time, and as a result it was Xiǎo Wáng who went to seek out the neighborhood committee. The neighborhood committee cadres talked with Old Wáng (Xiǎo Wáng’s father) for a long time. But then it still didn’t go over. What to do? Xiǎo Wáng then went to seek out the local police station. And the police station cadres went to talk with Old Wáng too, but still no result. Well what do you think happened in the end? Xiǎo Lǐ went herself to talk with Old Wáng. She said that after they married they wouldn’t move out, that she would take care of the old gentleman. That’s when Old Wáng became satisfied. So in the end Xiǎo Wáng and Xiǎo Lǐ were happily married.

tòngkǔ: “to be in pain, to be suffering”.

Tā nèi shíhou hěn tòngkū. 	She was in a great deal of pain at that time.

Liàn’ài shībàile tā hěn tòngkū.	 It was very hard on him when they broke up.

Zhèijiàn shìqing ràng ta fēicháng tòngkū.	This matter pained him a great deal,

Notes on No. 17

duó kuài: “how fast!” Duó or the alternate form duóme is used in exclamatory sentences to mean “how ...!” Here are some more examples:

Nǐ kàn cái shuōle liǎngjù huà, tā jiù bù gāoxìng le. Duó ràng rén bù hǎo yìsi!	You see you only have to say two sentences and she gets unhappy. It really makes a person embarrassed!

Zhèi kùzi zhènme duǎn, chuǎnshang duó nánshòu!	These pants are so short, when you wear them they’ll be so uncomfortable.

Zhèiběn shū xiěde duó hǎo!	This book is so well written!

Wǒ bǎ chē yǎoshi fàngzi chuángshang. Duó bèn!	I left the car keys on the bed. How stupid!

yíxiǎzi: “in a flash, at one blow, at one fell swoop, all at once, in no time”.

Wǒ huà hái méi shuōwán, tā yíxiàzi jiù shēngqì le. Shéi zhīdao wèishénme?	I hadn’t yet finished speaking when he got angry all of a sudden. Who knows why?

Notes on No. 18

Wángjiā: “the Wáng family”, referring either to the people, the social unit, or their home (in which case it can be used as a place word).

pàng: “to be fat, to get fat”. The verb pàng can be used in two ways: one as an adjectival verb “to be fat”, the other as a process verb “to get fat”. To the Chinese, a fat baby is not only a healthy baby, it is a beautiful one. Plumpness and roundness are two features admired in babies and children.

Adjectival verb (state)

Tā hěn pàng.	He is fat.

Tǎ xiǎo shíhou bú pàng.	She wasn’t fat when she was little.

Wǒ hěn pà pàng, shénme dou bù gǎn chī.	I’m afraid of being fat, I don’ dare eat anything.

Process verb

Zuìjìn shēntī hǎole, tā pàng duō le.	Lately his health got better and he got very fat.

Nǐ shì bu shi pàngle yìdiǎndiǎn, Èrgē a?	Haven’t you put on just a little bit of weight, Older Brother?

Taipei:

Mrs. Fāng pays a visit to Mrs. Zhāng and her daughter-in-law to see the daughter-in-law’s new baby:

F: 	Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Zhāng Taitai, nín zhēn yǒu fúqi, nínde xífu tóuyitāi jiù gěi nín shēngle yíge dà pàng sūnzi. Nínde xífu hé xiǎo bǎobao cóng yīyuàn huílaile meiyou? Tāmen dōu hāo ba?	Congratulations! Mrs. Zhāng, you’re so lucky! Your daughter-in-law had a big fat grandson for you—and it was just her first! Have your daughter-in-law and the little darling come back from the hospital yet? They’re both doing well, I hope?

Z: 	Xièxie, xièxie! Tāmen dōu hǎo, jīntiān zǎoshang gāng cóng yīyuàn huílai.	Thank you! They’re both fine. They just came back from the hospital this morning.

F:	 Wǒ zhèli yǒu yíge hóngbāo, shi gěi xiāo bǎobaode.	I have a “red envelope” for the baby here.

Z: 	Ai! Bù gǎn dāng, nín zhēn shi tài kèqi le, hébì pòfei ne?	Oh! You shouldn’t have. You’re really too kind. Why should you spend all this money?

F: 	Náli, náli! Zhǐ shi yìdiān xiǎo yìsi. Háizi yǒu duō zhòng a?	Don’t be silly. This is Just a little something to express my feelings. How much does the baby weigh?

Z: 	Háizi shēngxialaide shíhou shi bābàng qī. Zhège háizi shēntǐ zhēn hǎo, zhēn néng chǐ. Gāng wèibāo, yíxiāzi yòu è le. Nǐ tīng, tā yòu kū le, shēngyin zhēn dà, dàgāi yòu yào chī nǎi le. Wǒmen qù kànkan.	He was eight pounds seven ounces at birth. He’s really a healthy baby, and he eats a lot. Right after his feeding, in no time he’s hungry again. Listen, he’s crying again. What a loud voice! He probably wants to nurse again. Let’s go see.

C: 	ō! Fāng Bómǔ, nín yě lái le!	Oh! Auntie Fāng, you’ve come too!

F : 	Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Wǒ lái kàn nǐ ěrzi lai le! Zhège háizi zhǎngde zhēn hǎo, duō yǒu fúxiàng!	Congratulations! I’ve come to see your son! He looks so good! What a lucky physiognomy!

C: 	Xièxie, xièxie! Tuō nínde fú!	Thank you! It’s all thanks to your lucky influence!

F: 	Nǐ shēntǐ hǎo bu hao? Yuèzili yào xiǎoxīn, bú yào chī shēnglěngde dōngxi, bú yào chuī fēng, bú yào pèng lěng shuǐ, yě bú yào chū mén. Nǐ kàn, Liújia nàge xífu zuò yuèzi bú zhùyì, cháng kāi diàn bīngxiāng, yòng lěng shuǐ, jiéguǒ déle fēngshī, tòngkǔde hěn. Xiànzài hái yào tiāntiān chī Zhōngyào. Nǐ qiānwàn yào dāngxīn.	How are you feeling? You have to be careful for the first month after giving birth. Don’t eat raw or cold foods, stay out of drafts, avoid cold water, and don’t leave the house. Look at Mrs. Liú who didn’t pay attention during the first month after giving birth; she opened the refrigerator a lot and used cold water, and ended up getting rheumatism. She suffered so much. Now she still has to take Chinese medicine every day. Be absolutely sure you watch out.

Z: 	Shì a! Wǒ yǐjīng gàosu ta le, yuèzili shénme shì dōu bú yào zuò, duō tǎngzhe, duō xiūxi, duō chī hǎode, shēntǐ jiù huīfude kuài yidiǎn.	Right! I’ve already told her. You shouldn’t do anything at all during the first month after giving birth. You should lie down a lot, get a lot of rest, eat a lot of good food, and then your health will come back faster.

F: 	Wǒ zǒu le, guò jǐtiān zài lái kàn nǐ gēn xiǎo bǎobao.	I’m going to leave now. I’ll come back in a few days to see you and the baby.

C: 	Děng yíxià. Nǐ dài jǐge hóngdàn qu, mǎnyuède shihou zài qǐng ni chī mǎnyuèjiǔ.	Wait a second. Take a few red eggs with you. We’ll invite you to the celebration dinner when the baby is one month old.

F: 	Hǎo hǎo hǎo, wǒ yídìng lái.	All right, I'll be sure to come.

NOTE ON THE DIALOGUE

hóngdàn: Red eggs symbolize a combination of lucky influences: red is the color of happiness and dignity, while eggs are symbols of health and prosperity to the farmer. Hóngdàn are sometimes also used as gifts from a newly-engaged couple to their friends.

Vocabulary

-bàng	 pound (unit of weight)
bǎobao (bǎobǎo)	 baby, darling (term of endearment for a young child)
bīngxiāng	refrigerator, ice box
bù gǎn dāng	I’m flattered, You shouldn't have, I don't deserve this
chī nǎi	 to nurse, to suckle
chuī fēng	 to have air blow on oneself, to be in a draft
dāngxīn	 to watch out
dé	 to get
duó kuài!	 how fast!
ěrduo	 ear
fēngshī	 rheumatism
fúqi	 blessings, luck
fúxiàng 	lucky physiognomy
hóngbāo	 a red envelope with a gift or bribe of money in it
hóngdàn	 eggs dyed red
huīfu	 to recover
jiēguǒ (jiēguǒ)	 as a result; result, results
mǎnyuè	 a full month after the birth of a baby
mǎnyuèjiǔ	 celebration meal one month after a baby is born
pàng	 to be fat
pèng	 to touch
pòfei	 to spend a lot of money (on someone), to go to some expense
qiānwàn	 by all means, be sure to; (in com bination with a negative sentence) by no means, under no circumstances
shēnglěng	 raw or cold foods
shēngxialai	 to be born
sūnzi	 grandson
-tāi	 birth
tǎng	to lie,to recline
tòngkǔ	to be painful
tóuyige	the first
tóuyìtāi	the first pregnancy, the first baby
tuō nínde fú	thanks to your lucky influence, many thanks
Wángjiā	the Wáng family
wèi	to feed
xiǎo bǎobao (xiǎo bǎobǎo)	baby, darling (term of endearment for a young child)
xiǎoxīn	to be careful
xífu	daughter-in-law
yíxiàzi	an instant, a moment, a while
yuèzi	month of confinement after giving birth to a child
zhǎng	to grow; to be (pretty, etc.)
zhòng	to be heavy
zuò yuèzi	to go through the month of confinement and special care after childbirth

Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 5

PART I

1. 	Wǒ zuìjìn chūchāi qu le, méi néng cānjiā zhège huì.	I’ve been out of town on business lately, so I wasn’t able to participate in this meeting.

2. 	Wǒ zài shàng Xīngqīèr jiù tīngdao tā zǔmǔ qùshìde xiāoxi.	Last Tuesday I heard the news that his grandmother had passed away.

3. 	Míngtiān wǒ yào qù diàosāng.	Tomorrow I’m going to present my condolences at the funeral.

4. 	Míngtiān wǒ yào bāng tāmen bàn sānglǐ.	Tomorrow I’m going to help them take care of the funeral.

5. 	Wǒ fùqin yíxiàng xǐhuan hē jiǔ, shàngge yuè hūrán juédìng zài yě bù hē le.	My father always liked to drink, but last month he decided all of a sudden that he would never drink again.

6. 	Wǒ fùqin fànle xīnzàngbìng.	My father had a heart attack.

7. 	Wǒmen gǎnjǐn bǎ tā lǎorénjiā sòngdao TáiDà Yīyuàn qu.	We rushed him to Taiwan University Hospital.

8. 	Yīshēng shuō jīngguo jíjiù, yǐjīng jiùguolai le.	The doctor said that she had been saved through emergency treatment.

9. 	Nǐ zǔmù yíxiàng hěn bǎozhòng shēntǐ.	Your grandmother always took good care of herself.

10. 	Tā guòqude shíhou, niánji yídìng hěn dà le ba?	She must have been quite old when she passed away.

11. 	Wǒ tīngwánle yǐhòu xīnli hěn jiǔ bù néng píngjìngxiàlai.	After I listened to it I couldn't calm down for quite a while.

12. 	Hěn bàoqiàn, wǒ méi néng gǎnhuilai diàosāng.	I’m sorry I couldn’t rush back in time for the funeral.

NOTES ON PART I

Notes on No. 1

zuìjìn; “lately, recently; in the near future”. This word can either refer to the near past or the near future.

A:	 Tā zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?	 How has she been lately?

B: 	Zuìjìn tā hěn hǎo.	 Lately she’s, been very well.

Wǒ zuìjìn zài niàn shū. 	I’ve been studying lately.

Wǒ zuìjìn yào dào Jiāzhōu qù.	 I’m going to be going to California in the near future.

chūchāi: “to go away on official business”.

Míngtiān chūchāi, jǐntiān hěn máng.	Tomorrow I’m going away on business, so today is a busy day.

Zhècì chūchāi, qù shénme dìfang?	Where are you going on this business trip?

Zhèjiàn shì, děng wo chūle chāi yǐhòu zài bàn.	I’ll get to this matter after my business trip.

Zhècì chūchāi huílai, kéyi dài diǎn dōngxi gěi ni.	When I come back from this business trip, I’ll be able to bring you back a little something.

cānjiā: “to participate in; to attend; to go to (a meeting, gathering, performance, etc.); to join”.

Wǒ jìhua xià Xīngqīyī yào dào Niǔ Yüē qu wár. Nǐ xiǎng bu xiǎng cānjiā?	I’m planning to go to New York next week to relax. Do you want to join in?

Wǒ yào cānjiā míngtiān xiàwude huì.	I’m going to attend the meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Zuǒtiān wǒmen gěi Zhāng Tàitai sòngxíng, nǐ yě cānjiā le ma?	Yesterday when we gave the going-away party for Mrs. Zhang, did you come too?

Notes on No. 2

zài shàng Xīngqīèr: “on last Tuesday”. Notice that zài is used here with an expression stating a time when something occurs. In this sentence, zài is optional. Here are some more examples:

Zhège huì zài xiàge yuè kāi.	This meeting will be held next month.

Zhège haizi zài qùniǎn qiūtiān kāishǐ zài jiā niàn shū le.	This child began studying at home last fall.

Wǒ zài shàngge lǐbài mǎile yíjiàn jiéhūn lǐfū.	Last week I bought a wedding gown.

Zài Yījiǔliùsānnián wǒ rènshile ta.	I met him in 1963.

Zài Yījiǔwǔlíngniǎn wǒ jiù kànguo zhèběn shū.	I read this book back in 1950.

zǔmǔ: “(paternal) grandmother”. Remember that this refers exclusively to the father's mother. The mother's mother is wàizǔmǔ. [A grandmother is usually addressed by her son's children as nǎinai.] Here is a chart showing these terms:

Image 

qùshì: “to pass away”. Literally, this means “to go (from this) world”. It is a euphemism for sǐ “to die”, which is introduced in Unit 6.

Xiǎo Wāngde fùqin qùshì yǐjīng liǎngniǎn le.	It's been two years since Xiǎo Wang's father died.

xiāoxi: “news, information, tidings”.

Zhèiliǎngtiān bàozhǐshang yǒu hěn duō guānyu Zhōngguode xiǎoxi.	The past couple of days there's been a lot of news about China in the newspaper.

Jīntiǎn bàozhǐshang yǒu shénme xīn xiǎoxi?	What news is there in the newspaper today?

Wǒmen jiā liǎngge yuè méiyou xìn le, shénme xiāoxi dōu méiyou.	Our family hasn’t sent a letter in two months, there’s no news at all. (Said by one family member who is separated from the rest.)

Xiāoxi can be used with the counter -ge to mean “a piece of news, an item of news”:

Wǒ yǒu yíge hǎo xiāoxi.	I have a piece of good news.

Note on No. 3

diàosāng: “to present one’s condolences at a funeral, to attend a funeral”. At a traditional funeral, the guests, by groups, present their condolences to the family of the deceased in a brief formal ceremony.

Jīntiān wǒ qù diàosāng, jiàndao nín jiā lǎotàitai.	Today when I was at the funeral I saw your grandmother.

Note on No. 4

sānglǐ: “the funeral ceremony”. [Sāng- in some combinations means “funeral”, for example, sāngfú “funeral clothing”, or sāngshì “funeral”.] On a volunteer basis, family, friends, and villagers help with funeral preparations. Members of the immediate family stay with the coffin to guard it during the day and sleep with it at night.

Notes on No. 5

yíxiàng: “always (up to now)”. This adverb indicates that something has been so all along up until now (and may either continue the same way or else change).

Wǒ yíxiàng ài chī tián diǎnxin.	I’ve always like to eat sweet snacks.

Tā yíxiàng niàn shū niànde hěn hǎo.	He has always done very well in his studies.

Wú Lǎoshī yíxiàng xǐhuan háizi.	Teacher Wú has always liked children.

Xià Xiānsheng yíxiàng hěn kèqi.	Mr. Xià has always been very polite.

hūrǎn: “suddenly”. This is a time word. It may go before the verb, or at the front of the sentence.

Wǒ hūrǎn xiǎngqilai, wǒde xìn hái méiyou jì.	I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t mailed my letter yet.

Hūrán, tā pǎolai le, hǎoxiàng yǒu shénme shì.	Suddenly, he came running in, as if there were something wrong.

Hūrán tiān xià yǔ le, xiàde hāo dà.	Suddenly it started raining, raining very hard.

Tā jìnlai zuòle yìhuǐr, hūrán jiù zǒu le.	He came in and sat down for a while, and then left all of a sudden.

zài yě bù hē le: “will never drink again”. Sometimes people ask what is the word for “never” in Chinese. The answer is that “never” is not expressed by one word, but rather by a combination of adverbs and negative. Not only is “never” rendered into Chinese by several words, but the word patterns are different for sentences expressing completed action, habitual action, or planned action. For these examples you need to know that yǒngyuǎn is the word for “forever”.

Wǒ cónglai méi chīguo Zhōngguo cài.	I’ve never eaten Chinese food.

Wǒ cónglái bu kàn nèiyangde shū.	I’ve never read those kinds of books,

Tāde wèntí yǒngyuǎn bù néng jiějué.	His problems can never be solved.

Wǒ zài yě bú qù nàli le.	 I’ll never go there again.

The adverb zài and a negative, such as méiyou, can be used to express the idea of not doing something anymore.

Bìng hāole yǐhòu, tā méiyou zài hē jiǔ.	After he got well, he didn’t drink anymore.

Yǐhòu wǒ bú zài zuò le.	In the future I won’t do it again.

Bú yào zài dǎ ta le.	Don’t hit him any more.

If zài is placed in front of the negative, the meaning of the phrase is more emphatic.

Wǒ zài bù huílai le!	 I’m never coming back here again!

If yě is added between zài and the negative, the meaning is approximately the same.

Wǒ zài yě bù chī táng le.	 I’m never going to eat candy again.

Nèitiáo lù bù hāo zǒu, nǐ zài yě bié zǒu nèitiáo lù le.	That road is hard to go on, don’t  ever take it again.

Nǐ zài yě bié kàn zhèzhǒng shū le.	Don’t ever read, this kind of book again.

Nàge fàndiànde cài tài guì, wǒ zhǐ qùle yícì, jiù zài yě méi qùguo le.	That restaurant is too expensive; I only went there once and then I never went back again.

Wǒmen shi tǒngxué, kěshi líkāi xuéxiào yǐhòu, wǒ jiù zài yě méi kànjian ta le.	We were schoolmates, but after we left the school, I never saw him again.

Sānge yuè yǐqián xiàguo yìchǎng yǔ, yǐhòu jiù zài yě méi xiàguo le.	Three months ago it rained once, and since then it hasn’t rained again.

More on “Again”: Up until now you’ve seen zài ’again’ used in sentences which did not express a completed event and yòu used in sentences which did.

Míngtiān zài lái ba.	Come again tomorrow!

Òu, nǐ yòu lái le.	Oh, you’ve come again!

But there are further qualifications on the use of “again” in Chinese. While zài always refers to activities which have not yet occurred, that is future activities or events, yòu is not totally limited to activities or events which are completed or past. You may be used in present or future situations if the thing being talked about is so certain that it may be treated like something which has actually happened.

Míngtiān yòu shi Xīngqīyī le.	And tomorrow is Monday again.

Zhè yòu yào duōshao qián a?	And how much money is needed again for this?

Zhèi yìtiān yòu yào wán le.	And this day is about to end too. (Said at the end of a long busy day with many things left to do.)

Xiànzài wǒ yòu yǒu gōngzuò le.	Now I have a job again.

Notes on No. 6

fàn: “to have an attack (of a disease), to have a recurrence of, to revert to (an old habit)”.

Tā yòu fàn lǎo máobìng le, zhèjǐtiān hěn bu shūfu.	That old problem of his is acting up again. He hasn’t been feeling well the last few days.

Shàngge yuè tā fàn bìng le, xuěyā hǎo gāo!	Last month he had a recurrence; and his blood pressure was really high!

Bié fan nǐde lǎo mǎobìng le, kuài qù shàng xué qu ba!	Don't fall back into your old habit (of skipping sbhool), get yourself to school.

xīnzàngbìng: “heart disease”. Xīnzàng is “heart”.

Notes on No. 7

gǎnjǐn: “in a hurry”. This adverb means that someone decided to hurry up and start doing something. It can often be translated as “to hurry up and”, or “to rush to (do something)”. Here are some examples:

Nàbiān chū chēhuò le, nǐ gǎnjǐn qù kànkan!	There's been a car accident over there, hurry up and go look!

Jīntiǎn xiàwǔ, tā zǒu le, zhōngwǔ wǒ gǎnjǐn péi ta qù chī wǔfàn.	He was leaving this afternoon, so at noontime I hurried to go out to lunch with him.

Kuài jiǔdiǎn le, wǒ yào gǎnjǐn zǒu le.	It's almost nine o'clock. I have to hurry up and leave.

Gǎnjǐn means only that someone hurries to start the action. It does not mean that the action is finished quickly. For example, to say “He made dinner in a hurry, so it didn’t come out well”, meaning that he finished cooking it in a very short time, you cannot use gǎnjǐn; you could say Yǐnwei tā zuò fàn zuòde tài kuài, suǒyi zuòde bù hǎo.

tā lǎorénjiā: Lǎorénjiǎ is a respectful way of referring to or addressing old people. When addressing someone directly, it is almost always preceded by nǐ or nín, as in

Qǐngwèn nín lǎorénjiā, dào Zhōngshān Lù zěnme zǒu?	Excuse me, sir, how do I get to Zhongshan Road?

Nǐ lǎorénjiā, zuìjìn zěnmeyàng? Shēntǐ hǎo ba?	How have you been lately? Have you been in good health, I hope?

A third party can be referred to as tā lǎorénjiā:

Tā lǎorénjiā shuō le, zhèjiàn shì búbì jízhe bàn.	He said that we don't need to be in a rush to do this.

Wǒ gěi tā lǎorénjiā soòg yidiǎn diǎnxin lái.	I've come to give him some pastries.

Wǒ wènguo wǒ zǔfù le, tā lǎorénjia shuō míngnián zánmen quánjiā qù Shànghǎi.	I asked my grandfather, and he said  our whole family is going to Shànghǎi next year.

Here are two examples of lǎorénjia being used as a respectful word for “old people”:

Jǐntiān, liǎngwèi lāorénjia tánde hěn gāoxìng.	Today those two (old people) had a very pleasant conversation.

Lǎorénjiamen dōu xǐhuan chī ruǎnde dōngxi.	Older people like to eat soft foods.

In Peking, the syllable lǎo in lǎorénjia receives the heaviest stress of the three syllables, and jia is in the neutral tone.

sòng: “to take (someone somewhere), to escort (someone somewhere), to see someone off or out”. The basic meaning of this word is to accompany someone who is leaving, but as you can see from the various translations given, song can be used in a wide variety of circumstances. Here are some examples:

Wǒ qù bǎ kèren sòngdao dàmén wàitou.	I’m going to show the guests out the front door.

Nǐ sòng ta huí jiā.	Escort her home, or Walk her home. or Take her home.

Tā míngtiān zǒu, wǒmen dào jīchǎng qu sòng ta.	She’s leaving tomorrow and we’re going to the airport to see her off.

Wǒ sòng ta dào xuéxiào qu.	I took him to school. (E.g., I drove him there or I walked there with him. )

To specify that you are taking someone in a car, you can phrase your sentence this way:

Wǒ kāi chē sòng ta dào xuéxiào qu.	I drove her to school.

Notes on No. 8

jīngguò: You have seen jǐngguo meaning “to go thru”. Here it is used to mean “though” in the sense of “by means of”. It can also be translated as a “result of”, “after”, “through”, or “via”.

Tā shēntǐ yìzhí bù hǎo, dànshi wǒ xiǎng jīngguò yíduàn shíjiānde bǎoyǎng, kěnéng huì hǎo yìdiǎn.	His health has been bad all along, but I think after a short period of taking care of himself, he might get a little better.

Jīngguò sāntiānde kǎolǜ, wǒ juédìng hé tā jiēhūn.	After three days of consideration, I’ve decided to marry him.

Jīngguò dàjiǎde nǔlì, zhèjiàn shìqing chénggōng le.	As a result of everyone’s hard work, this matter has succeeded.

Zhège jìhua bìxū jīngguò tǎolùn.	This plan must go through discussion.

jíjiù: “emergency treatment; to administer emergency treatment, to receive emergency treatment”. Notice that jíjiù can mean to give or get emergency treatment.

Jīntiān yǐjīng shi jíjiùde dìsāntiān le, bù zhīdào yǒu méiyou xīwàng.	Today is already the third day of emergency (intensive care) treatment. I don’t know if there’s any hope.

Tāde chēzi yǐjīng wánle, rén zài jíjiù.	His car is finished (totalled), and he himself is undergoing emergency treatment.

Gāngcái chū chēhuò, yǒu jǐge rén shòushāng le, yīshēng zhèngzài jíjiù.	There’s just been a car accident, and several people were injured. The doctor is administering first-aid.

Jíjiù refers only to aid given in incidents of a relatively serious nature, usually those where life is in danger; for example, cases of severe  injury or acute attacks of an illness.

jiùguolai: “to save”, literally “to save over”. The directional verb ending guòlai “over” sometimes shows the recovery of an original desirable or normal state. For example, in jiùguolai it implies the change from a condition in which death is imminent to one in which the patient can be expected to live.

Dàren qíngkuàng hai hǎo, háizi jiùbuguòlai le.	The adult’s condition is all right, but the child cannot be saved.

Zhège jùzi xiěcuò le, wǒ yào bǎ ta gǎiguolai.	This sentence is wrong, I have to correct it.

Zhège dìzhǐ xiěde bú duì, nín děi gǎiguolai.	This address is wrong, you have to correct it.

Zuò huǒchē zuòle sāntiān lèihuài le, yào shuì yídà jiào cái néng xiūxiguolai.	After three days on the train, I’m exhausted. I’ll have to have a good long sleep before I can be well rested.

Shàngwù mángle sìwǔge zhòngtou zhōngwǔ shuì ge wǔjiào, rén jiù xiūxiguolai le.	In the morning I ran around for four or five hours, but then after a nap at noon, I felt very rested.

Tiān tài lěng, hē kǒu jiǔ jiù nuǎnhuoguolai le.	The weather is too cold, a sip of wine will warm you up.

Wǒ hǎoxiàng bìng le, chuān zhènme duō yīfu dōu méi bànfǎ nuǎnhuoguolai.	I seem to be sick, I’ve got on all these clothes and I still can’t get warm.

Note on No. 9

bǎozhòng: “to take care of oneself, to take care of (one’s health)”.

Hǎohǎo bǎozhòng shēntǐ, bié lèihuài le.	Take good care of your health, don’t wear yourself out.

In telling someone be sure to take to care of himself, bǎozhòng is usually preceded by duō or duōduō “more (than usual)”.

Yílù píng’ān, duō bǎozhòng.	Have a good trip, and take good care of yourself.

Nǐde bìng gāng hǎo, duōduō bǎozhòng.	You just got over your illness, take real good care of yourself.

Notes on No. 10

guòqu: “to pass away”. Like English “pass away”, this is a euphemism for “to die”.

Tāde zǔfù zuótiān wǎnshang guòqu le.	His grandfather passed away last night.

Nǐ mùqin shi shénme shíhou guòqude?	When did your mother pass away?

Wǒ mǔqin guòqude shíhou, wǒ hái hěn xiǎo.	I was still very young when my mother passed away.

niánji: “(a person’s) age”. Here are some frequently used patterns you should learn by heart:

Nín duó dà niánji le?	 How old are you? (polite way of asking an adult’s age)

Tā niánji bù xiǎo le. 	She’s not young any more.

Tā niánji dà le.	He’s getting on in years
 or
Tā shàngle niánji le.	He’s getting on in years

[Although the adjectival verb dà “to be big” is used after niánji to mean “to be old”, when you want to say “to be young”, you should use the adjectival verb qīng “to be light” rather than xiǎo “to be small”; for example, Tā niánji hái qīng, bù yīnggāi ràng ta qù gōngzuò, “He’s still young, you shouldn’t make him go get a job.”]

Note on No. 11

píngjìng: “to be calm”. Píngjìngxiàlai, “to calm down”.

Shuǐshàng yìzhī chuán dōu méiyou, yě méiyou fēng, hěn píngjìng.	There wasn’t a single boat on the water, and there was no wind. It was very calm.

Kànjian jiāli rén dōu hěn hǎo, xīnli píngjìngdeduō le.	When I saw that everyone in the family was all right, I felt much calmer.

As in the last example above, pingjìng is often used with xīnli “in the heart” to describe one’s emotional state.

Jīntiān tā hěn shēngqì, wǒ méi bànfa ràng ta píngjìngxiàlai.	He got very angry today and there was no way I could get him to calm down.

Notes on No. 12

méi néng: “was not able to”. Here you see the auxiliary verb néng used with the negative méi. You have learned that state verbs (auxiliary verbs are one type of state verbs) are negated with bù, (bù hǎo, bù zhīdao) not with méi. Here, however, you see méi néng instead of bù néng. This is an exception to the rule that all state verbs are always negated with bù. Actually, either bù néng or méi néng would be acceptable in this sentence. Some speakers, however, feel that there is a subtle difference between bù néng and méi néng when referring to an event in the past. For example, one can say Wǒ zuótiān méi néng qù as well as Wǒ zuótiān bù néng qù. Wǒ zuótiān méi néng qù hints at the fact that there was a failure to attain the state of being able to go, whereas Wǒ zuótiān bù néng qù merely describes the state of being unable to go, without making any implications about failure (to attain the state of being able to go). Such a subtle difference in implication may make very little difference in the actual import of a sentence in some contexts, although in other contexts it may be of some significance. (For the first example sentence, you need to know that mìmi means “secret”.)

Zuótiān nǐ wèn wo, wǒ bù néng gàosu ni, yīnwei zhè shi mìmi.	Yesterday when you asked me, I couldn’t tell you, because it’s a secret.

Zuótiān, nǐ wèn wo, wǒ méi néng gàosu ni, yīnwei Zhāng Sān zhàn zai pángbiān, wǒ bù xiǎng ràng ta zhīdao.	Yesterday when you asked me, I couldn’t tell you, because Zhāng Sān was standing there, and I didn’t want to let him know about it.

gǎnhuilai: “to rush back”.

Dōu liùdiǎn zhōng le, wǒ xiǎng tā dàgài gǎnbuhuílai le.	It’s six o’clock already, I think she probably won’t make it back in time.

Xiàwǔ wǔdiǎn zhōng, wǒmen yǒu ge huì, nǐ gǎndehuílai gǎnbuhuílai?	At five in the afternoon we have a meeting. Can you make it back in?

Taipei:

A woman goes to visit her friend after hearing of her father’s death:

A:	 Wǒ zuìjìn chūchāi qu le, jīngguò Táinánde shíhou tīngdao nǐ fùqin qùshìde xiāoxi. Zhēn bàoqiàn, wǒ mei néng gǎnhuilai diàosāng.	I went away on business lately and I heard the news of your father’s death when I was passing through Tainan. I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it back in time to go to the funeral.

B: 	Wǒ fùqin déle bìng, hěn kuài jiù guòqu le. Wǒmen yǒu xiē zài wàidìde qǐnqi dōu méi néng láidejí cānjiā sānglǐ.	My father passed away very soon after he became ill. We even have relatives outside the area who couldn’t make it to the funeral.

A: 	Wǒ jìde nǐ fùqin shēntī yíxiàng bú cuò, zhècì déle shénme bìng?	As I recall your father’s health was always pretty good, what illness did he get this time?

B: 	Ò, wǒ fùqin shēntī shi bú cuò, jiùshi xīnzàng bú tài hǎo, zhècì hūrán fànle xīnzàngbìng, wǒmen gǎnjīn bǎ tā lǎorénjia sòngdao TáiDà Yīyuàn qu. Kěshi jīngguo jíjiù, háishi méi jiùguolai.	Well, my father’s health was pretty good, only his heart wasn’t so good. This time he had a sudden heart attack, and we rushed him to Taiwan University Hospital. But even the emergency treatment didn’t save him.

A: 	Wǒ zǔmǔ yě shi xīnzàngbìng qùshìde. Hǎoxiàng niánji dàlede rén déle xīnzàngbìng yǐhòu, hěn nán zhìhǎo. Lǎo xiānsheng guòqude shíhou bú tài tòngkǔ ba?	My grandmother also died of heart disease. Older people seem to be very hard to cure after they get heart disease. When your father passed away he wasn’t in much pain, I hope?

B: 	Shìde. Tǎ guòqude shíhou bǐjiào píngjìng, hǎoxiàng bú tài tòngkǔ.	No. He was rather calm when he passed away. He didn’t seem to be in too much pain.

A: 	Nǐ zhèxiē tiǎn yídìng mángde hěn lèi le. Nǐ yào bǎozhòng shēntī. Guò xiē shíhou wǒ zài lái kàn ni.	You must be very tired from being so busy these past few days. You have to take good care of yourself. I’ll be back to see you again soon.

B: 	Xièxie ni. Yǐhòu yǒu gōngfu zài guòlai zuòzuo.	Thanks. When you have time come over again and sit awhile.

A: 	Hǎo. Zàijiàn!	Okay. Good-bye!

B: 	Zàijiàn!	Good-bye!

PART II

13. 	Wǒ dǎ chángtú diànhuà gàosu ta.	I called him long distance to tell him.

11. 	Tā lǎo péngyoude mǔqin shàngge xīngqī guòshì le.	His old friend’s mother passed away last week.

15. 	Tā shāngxīnjíle.	He was terribly broken up.

16. 	Nǐ fùqin yǐjīng qīshiwǔsuì, kéyi shuō shi chángshòu le.	Your father was already 75 years old. That’s quite a long life, actually.

17. 	Zài shuō ta guòshìde shíhou yě bu tài tòngkǔ.	Besides that, he wasn’t in too much pain when he died.

18. 	Nǐ bú bì tài nánguò le.	You don’t have to feel too sad.

19. 	Wǒ mǔqin běnlāi xīwàng érnǚmen yíbèizi dōu zài tā shēnbiān.	Originally my mother hoped that her children would stay with her all her life.

20. 	Wǒ dàgē jīnniān qùbuliǎo Xiānggǎng le.	My oldest brother can’t go to Hong Kong this year any more.

21. 	Jiānglái yǒu jīhui zài qù ba!	Go sometime in the future if you get the chance.

22. 	Wǒ mǔqin cháng shuō tā bú yuànyi jiānglái zàngzai guówài.	My mother often said that when the time came she didn’t want to be buried abroad.

23. 	Ràng ta zài jiā ānxǐn xiūxi.	Let her rest without worry in her home.

21. 	A: 	Tā shuō tā qùshì yǐhòu yào huǒzàng.	He says that after he passes away he wants to be cremated.

	B: 	Bìngqiě xīwàng tāde háizimen néng bǎ tāde gǔhuī sònghuí guōnèi.	Moreover he hopes his children will be able to take his ashes back to his home country.

NOTES ON PART II

Note on No. 13

dǎ chángtú diànhuà: “to make a long-distance telephone call”.

Qǐng nǐmen shēngyin xiǎo yídiǎn, wǒ zài dǎ chángtú diànhuà ne!	Would you all be a little quieter, please? I’m making a long-distance call!

You saw in the Post Office-Telephone Module that diànhuà can also be used with the meaning “a telephone call” as in Yǒu nǐde diànhuà, “There’s a telephone call for you”. Chángtú diànhuà can be used in the same way:

Wèi! Xiǎo Sānr! Yǒu nǐde chángtú diànhuà!	Xiǎo Sānr! There’s a long-distance phone call for you!

In the Meeting Module you saw the expression lái diànhuà “a telephone call is received” or “make a telephone call here”. Here is chángtú diànhuà used in the same pattern:

Jīntiān zǎoshàng yǒu rén gěi ni lái chángtú diànhuà le, nǐ bú zài.	This morning someone called long- distance for you, but you weren’t here.

Note on No. 14

guòshì: “to pass away, to die”. You have now seen “to die” expressed three different ways: guòqu, qùshì, and guòshì. All may be used in conversation, although guòqu is probably the most common.

Note on No. 15

shāngxīn: Literally, “to wound the heart”. “To be grieved, to be hurt, to be sad, to be broken-hearted”

A: 	Tā zhènme shāngxīn, wèishénme?	Why is he so broken-hearted?

B: 	Tā nǚpengyou zǒu le, zěnme néng bù shāngxǐn?	His girlfriend left, how can he not be broken-hearted?

Wǒmen jiāde gǒu sǐle, wǒ shāngxīnle hǎo cháng shíjiān.	After the family dog died, I was broken-hearted for a real long time.

Nàme hǎode yíge háizi sǐle, zhēn ràng rén shāngxǐn.	It really grieves one for such a good child to die.

Note on No. 16

chángshòu: “long life, longevity; to live a long life”.

Yào xiǎng chángshòu, jiù bù yīnggāi dūo hē jiu.	If you want to live a long life, you shouldn’t drink excessively.

Běifāng chángshòude rén bǐ Nánfāng duō.	There are more people who live long in the North than in the South.

Note on No. I7

zài shuō: “furthermore, moreover, in addition, besides”. Often following a clause with zài shuō, one of the adverbs yě “also” or you “also” is used.

A: 	Zěnmeyàng? Jīntiān nǐ néng lái ma?	How about it? Can you come today?

B: 	Zhèiliǎngtiān xià xuě, wǒ gǎnmào le, tiānqi yòu zhènme bù hǎo, zài shuō háizi tài xiǎo, bǎ tā yíge rén fàngzai jiāli, wǒ bú fàngxīn. Gǎitiān, wǒ yídìng lái, hǎo bu hǎo?	It’s snowed these two days, and I caught a cold, and the weather is so bad. Moreover the child is too small to leave alone at home. I would worry. I’ll come for sure another day, okay?

Tā hěn nénggàn, zài shuō yòu nàme piàoliang, nǐ jiù tóngyì le ba?	She’s very capable, and what’s more, she’s so beautiful too. So you will agree (to marry her), won’t you? (said by a matchmaker to a young man)

A: 	Wō děng ni bàntiān le, wǒ yào hé ni tán yixia.	I’ve been waiting for you for ages. I want to have a talk with you.

B: Wǒ gāng xià kè. Zài shuō wǒ hái méi chī fàn ne! Gǎitiān zài shuō ba!	I just got out of class. And furthermore I haven’t eaten yet! Let’s talk some other day!

Note on No. 18

nánguò: “to be sad, to be distressed, to feel bad”. This adjectivalverb can be used to refer to either physical or emotional distress.

Yīshēng shuō tā mǔqinde bìng hěn lìhai, wǒmen dōu hěn nánguò.	The doctor said his mother’s illness was very serious, and we were all very sad.

Jīntiān tā chīle hǎo duō shēngcài, xiànzài dùzili nánguò le.	He ate a lot of raw vegetables today, so now his stomach hurts (he feels bad) .

Bié nánguò le, rén yǐjīng sǐle nánguò yě méiyou yòng le.	Don’t be sad, he’s already dead, and it’s no use being sad.

Jīntiān Sòng Lǎoshī hěn nánguò.	Teacher Sòng is very sad today.

Xiǎo Wángde jiāli yǒu nàme duō máfan. Zhēn ràng rén nánguò.	There’s so much trouble in Xǐao Wáng’s family, it really makes a person sad.

Notes on No. 19

běnlái: “originally, at first, in the first place”.

Běnlái wǒ xiǎng jǐntiān xiàwu qù kàn diànyǐng. Hòulái tīngshuō kāi huì. Suànle, wǒ yǐhòu zài qù ba.	Originally I wanted to go see a movie this afternoon. Later I heard there was a meeting. So I’ll forget it and go another time.

Běnlái wǒ jīntiān qù Guangzhou, tiānqì bù hǎo, dàgài děi míngtiān cái néng zǒu le.	Originally I was going to Canton today, but the weather is bad so I’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow before X can leave.

yíbèizi: “all one’s life, in one’s (whole) life, throughout one’s life, as long as one lives, a lifetime”.

Zhèngfù bāng tā bǎ zài wàiguōde qián zhǎohuilai le. Tā yíbèizi yě méiyou jiànguo zhènme duō qián, hǎo gāoxìng.	The government helped her get back money she had outside the country. She had never seen so much money in her whole life. She was really happy.

Tā yǒu sānge érzi, wèi zhèi sānge érzi mángle yíbèizi. Xiànzài lǎole, gāi xiūxi xiūxi le.	She has three sons and for these three sons she was busy her whole life. Now she is old and should take it easy.

shēnbiān: “at/by one’s side; (have something) on one, with one”.

Wǒ yǒu yíge háizi zài nóngcūn, yíge háizi zài shēnbiān.	I have one child out in the country and one child here with me.

Rúguo tā shēnbiān yǒu hǎo jǐge háizi jiù méiyou bànfǎ chūlai gōngzuò.	If she has several children at her feet, then she just can’t go out and work.

Notes on No. 20

dàgē; “oldest brother”. Remember that “older brother” is gēge, but the oldest of several children is dàgē. In addition dàgē can be used between men to show a friendly relationship of unequal status.

qùbuliǎo: “cannot go”. This is a compound verb or result, like kànbujian “cannot see” or chībubǎo “cannot eat one's fill”. The ending -liǎo is in compounds of potential result (those with -de- or -bu- between the main verb and the resultative ending) with the meaning of “be able to”. You may be thinking (and rightly so) that this is just the meaning added by the use of -de- or -bu-. This has led some people to label -liǎo as a “dummy” resultative ending since it does not seem to add any additional information like other more specific endings do (e.g. wan “finish”).

Wàimian shēngyīn hǎo dà. Shízài shuìbuliǎo jiào.	It's so noisy outside. I really can't sleep at all.

Jīntiān tíng diàn, kànbuliǎo diǎnyǐngr.	Today they're turning off the electricity, so we can't watch the movie.

Wǒ zuìjìn dùzi bù shūfu, chībuliǎo shēngcài.	My stomach has been uncomfortable lately, I can't eat lettuce.

Zhènme duō cài, chībuliǎo le!	So many dishes, we won't be able to eat them!

Xiàwu wǒ yǒu shì, qùbuliǎo túshūguǎnle, míngtiān zài shuō ba.	This afternoon I'm busy, I can't go to the library, let's talk about it tomorrow.

Nǐ jiǔdiǎn zhōng xià bān, jīntiān wǎnhuì nǐ qùdeliǎo qubuliǎo?	You get off work at 9:00, can you go to the evening meeting?

Nǐ bú yào dāo jīchǎng lái sòng wo, nǐ yì kū wǒ jiù zōubuliǎo le.	Don't come to the airport to see me off; as soon as you start to cry, I won't be able to leave.

Note on No. 21

jiānglái: “in the future”. Like other time words, jiānglai can be used between the subject and the verb, or at the front of the sentence before the subject.

Jiānglái ZhōngMěi guānxi yuè lái yuè hǎo, wǒmen zài Měiguo jiù bǐjiào róngyi mǎidào Zhōngguode dōngxi.	In the future as Sino-American relations get better and better, it will be easier for us to buy Chinese goods in America.

Wǒ jiānglái yào dào Shànghǎi lǐngshìguān qù gōngzuò.	In the future I want to work in the consulate in Shanghai.

Note on No. 23

ānxīn: “to feel at ease, to set o'ne’s mind at ease, to be at peace; to keep one’s mind (on something)”.

Tā xiānshēng nǔlì zuò shì, tā keyi ānxīn dú shū.	With her husband working hard at his Job, she could keep her mind on her studying.

Wǒde hāizi gōngzuòde hěn hāo, wǒ yě jiù ānxīn le.	My child is doing well at work, and I can now feel at ease.

Note on No. 24

bìngqiě: “furthermore, moreover, and, besides”.

Wǒ yào bā gōngzuò zuò hǎo, bìngqiě yào bā Zhōngwén xuéhǎo.	I want to do a good job at work and do a good job studying Chinese.

Zhèige hāizi hěn nùlì bìngqiě hěn cōngmīng.	This child is very industrious and intelligent too.

Wǒ jìhua zhèige xīngqī bǎ zhèipiān wénzhāng xiěwán, bìngqiě fānyicheng Zhōngwén.	I plan to finish writing this essay this week and furthermore translate it into Chinese.

Taipei:

After the funeral of an elderly man who came to Taiwan from the mainland, a friend comes to visit the family:

A: 	Wǒ zuìjìn chūchāi qu le, zuótiān huílai cái zhīdao lǎo xiānsheng guòshìde xiāoxi, érqiě tīngshuō sānglǐ yě bānguo le, wǒ méi néng gǎnhuilai diàosāng, zhēn shi bàoqiàn.	I've been away on business lately, and I didn't find out until I got back yesterday that your father had passed away. And I hear that the funeral has already been held. I'm really sorry I didn't make it back in time to attend the funeral.

B: 	Wǒ fùqin xīnzàng yíxiàng bú tài hǎo, zuìjìn liǎngniān, yīshēng jiào ta tiāntiān chī yào, jiéguǒ wèntí hǎoxiāng shǎole yìdiǎn, kěshi liǎngge xīngqī yǐqiǎn hūrán fànle lǎo bìng, wǒ dàgē jiù gǎnjǐn bǎ tǎ lǎorénjia sòngdao TáiDà Yīyuàn jíjiù, bìngqiě dǎ chángtú diānhuā bǎ wo jiāohuilai. Tā niánji dà le, suīrán jīngguo jǐtiān jíjiù háishi méi jiùguolai, zāi shàng Xīngqīèr qùshì le; búguǒ tā qùshìde shíhou bǐjiǎo píngjìng, hǎoxiàng bú tāi tòngkū.	My father's heart was never too good. The past two years, the doctor told him to take medicine every day, and there didn't seem to be so much of a problem any more, but two weeks ago he had a sudden attack of his old illness. My oldest brother rushed him to Taiwan University Hospital for emergency treatment. He also called me long distance to get me to come back. He was quite old, and even after several days of emergency treatment they still weren't able to save him. He passed away last Tuesday, but at the time he was rather calm, and he didn't seem to be in too much pain.

A: 	Fùqin qùshì, érnǚ yídìng hěn shāngxīn. Búguò lǎo xiānsheng qīshiduōsuì qùshì yě suàn shi chángshòu le. Zāi shuō tā guòqude shíhou bú tāi tòngkǔ, nǐmen xiōngdì jiěmèi yě dōu zāi tā shēnbiān, tā yě jiù ānxīn le, nǐ yě bú yào tài nánguò. Lǎo xiānsheng zàngzai nǎli?	When a father passes away, the children always feel very grieved. But for your father to pass away at over seventy is really quite a long life. Besides, he wasn't in too much pain when he passed away, and all you brothers and sisters were at his side, so he could set his mind at ease; so don't be too sad. Where will he be buried?

B: 	Wǒ fùqin shuōguo, yào huǒzàng. Tā shuō tā zhèyíbèizi kǒngpà huíbuliǎo lǎojiā le, jiào wòmen jiānglái bǎ gǔhuī sònghuí lǎojiā qu, suóyi wǒmen jiù zhǔnbèi zhào tā shuōde bàn.	My father had said he wanted to be cremated. He said that he probably wouldn't be able to return to his hometown in his lifetime, and he told us to take his ashes back to his hometown someday. So we're planning to do as he asked.

Vocabulary

ānxīn	to be without worry, to feel at ease to feel relieved
bǎozhòng	to take good care (of oneself)
běnlái	originally
bìngqiě	moreover, and
cānjiā	to take part in; to attend
chángshòu	long life, longevity; to live a long time
chūchāi	to be out of town on business
dǎ chángtū diànhuà	to make a long-distance phone call
dàgē	oldest brother
diàosāng	to present one’s condolences at a funeral, to attend a funeral
érnǚ	children
fàn	to have an attack (of an old disease)
gǎndeshàng	to be able to catch up, to be able to make it in time
gǎnhuilai	to rush back
gǎnjīn	quickly
gǔhuī	bone ashes
guòqu	to pass away, to die
guòshì	to pass away, to die
huǒzàng	to cremate; cremation
hūrǎn	suddenly
jiānglái	the future, someday
jíjiù	first aid; to administer emergency treatment
jiùguolai 	to save
lǎorénjiā 	polite way of addressing or referring to an old person (nǐ lǎorénjiā, tā lǎorénjiā)
-liǎo	 can, to be able to
nánguò	 to be sad 
niánji (niánjì)	age
píngjìng	 to be calm
qubuliǎo	cannot go
qùshì	to pass away, to die
sānglǐ	funeral
shāngxīn	to be grieved, to be sorrowful, to be heartbroken
shēnbiān	one’s vicinity, one’s immediate surroundings
sòng	to escort, to take (someone to a place)
xiāoxi	 news
xīnzàng	heart
xīnzàngbìng	heart disease
yíbèizi	all one’s life
yíxiang	(have) always, (had) always, consistently, all along
zài shuō	furthermore, besides
zàng	to bury
zuìjìn	recently; soon
zǔmǔ	grandmother (on the father’s side)

Customs Surrounding

Marriage, Birth, and Death: Unit 6

PART I

1. Xiǎo Lǐde māma sǐ le.	Xiao Li’s mother died.

2. 	A: 	Nǐ shuō wǒmen shì fǒu gāi cānjiā tāde sānglǐ?	Do you think we should go to the funeral?

	B: 	Wǒmen yīngdāng qù yíxià.	We should go.

3. 	Xiǎo Lǐde māma jīntiān chū bìn.	The funeral procession for Xiǎo Lǐ’s mother is today.

4. 	Yìbān rénde sānglǐ méiyou nàme duōde guīju le.	Most people’s funerals don’t have so many special customs anymore.

5. 	Yìbān cānjiā sānglǐde rén dōu sòng wǎnliàn huò huāquān.	Most people who attend a funeral send a funeral scroll or a flower wreath.

6. 	Xiě wǎnliàn fǎnzhèng láibují le.	It’s too late to write a funeral scroll anyway.

7. 	Wǒmen qù mǎi yige huāquān rúhé?	How about if we go buy a flower wreath?

8. 	Niánqīng fùnǚ xǐhuan chuān huā yīfu.	Young women like to wear multicolored clothing.

9. 	Nǎ néng ràng ni pòfei?	How could I make you spend money?

10. 	Wō qù gěi ta mǎi diǎn xiǎo lǐwù jiù shì le.	I’ll just go and buy her a little present.

11. 	Zhǐ yǎo bú tài guì, wǒ háishi dā jìchéngchē qu.	As long as it’s not too expensive, it would be best if I took a taxi.

12. 	Nǐ shuō wǒmen liǎngge rén héqilai sòng ta yítào pánziwǎn zěnmeyāng?	What do you say the two of us give him a set of dishes together?

13. 	Nǐ xiǎode Yāngmíngshān Gōngmù zài náli ma?	Do you know where Yāngmíngshān Public Cemetery is?

NOTES ON PART I

Notes on No. 1

māma: “mother, mom” Although this can he used as a term of address, like English “Mom” or “Mommy”, it can also he used in informal conversation to refer to one’s own or someone else’s mother, as in wǒ māma “my mother”, or tā māma “his mother”. For the term of direct address “Mom”, Mā is prohably more commonly used than Māma.

Wǒ māma shàng bān qu le.	 My mother has left for work.

Xiàwù, Māma jiù zuò huǒche lāi kàn wǒ le.	This afternoon, Mom came hy train to visit me.

sǐ: “to die” This is a process verb, like bìng “to become ill, to get sick”, and therefore corresponds more closely to the English “to become dead” than it does “to be dead”. In English one can talk about a person who has a terminal illness, saying “He is dying”, but this does not translate directly into Chinese. In Chinese one can say Tā kuài (yào) sǐle, “He is about to die,” or Tā huòbuliǎo duó jiù le, “He won’t live much longer.”

Tīngshuō Lǎo Liùde fùqin sǐ le. 	I heard that Lǎo Liù’s father has died.

Sǐ can be used directly before a noun as an adjective, meaning “dead”. Shi sǐde may be used to mean “is dead”.

Zhè shi yìtiāo sǐ yú.	 This is a dead fish.

Zhèitiáo yú shi sǐde. 	This fish is (a) dead (one).

Notes on No. 2

shì fǒu: “is it (true) or isn’t it (true that) ...” This phrase is a more formal-sounding equivalent of shì bu shi; fǒu in literary Chinese means “or not”. In spoken Standard Chinese, the use of shì fǒu is more restricted than shi bu shi. First of all, shì fǒu has a more educated, formal ring to it than shì bu shi. Secondly, shì fǒu is usually used only before another verbal expression, as in the following examples:

Zhèzhǒng tiān shì fǒu huì xià yù?	Is (this weather) going to rain?

Jīnnián dōngtiān, nǐ shì fǒu xiǎng dào Màiāmì qu?	Are you hoping to go to Miami this winter?

Nǐ shì fǒu zhùnbèi ànzhao zhège jìhua qù zuò?	Are you planning to act according to this plan?

Nǐ yīnggāi xiǎngyixiǎng, nǐ duì zhège rén shì fǒu liǎojiě.	You ought to think about whether you understand this person or not.

Nǐ niánji bù xiǎo le, nǐ shì fǒu kǎolüguo jiéhūnde wèntí?	You’re not young anymore, have you considered the question of marriage?

Jīnnián, nǐmen xuéxiàode xuéshēng shì fǒu zēngjiā le?	This year did the (number of) students in your school increase?

Wǒ bù zhīdào wǒde yìjian shì fǒu néng dédao tóngyì.	I don't know whether my opinion will be agreed with or not.

Zhèizhǒng dōngxi zài zhèli shì fǒu mǎidedāo?	Can this sort of thing be bought here?

Note on No. 3

chū bìn: “to transport the coffin to the burial place or to the tomb”. Literally, this means “take out the coffin”.

Liújiā míngtiān chū bin. 	The Liú's have the funeral procession tomorrow.

Zuótiān, Liú Xiānsheng gěi tā  fùqin chūle bin yǐhòu, huí jiā jiù bìng le. 	Yesterday, after Mr. Liú accompanied his father's coffin to the cemetery he went home and then got sick.

Note on No. 4

guīju: “fixed standards of conduct, regulations, or customs”.

Ànzhao Zhōngguode guīju, gěi sǐrén chūle bìn yǐhòu hái yào zuò shénme?	According to Chinese custom, after accompanying the coffin of the deceased to the cemetery, what else should be done?

Kèren lái le, zài máng yě yào hē bēi chá, zhè shi wǒmende guīju.	When a guest comes, no matter how busy he is, he should have a cup a cup of tea. This is our custom.

Yǒu guīju means “to have manners”:

Zhège háizi bù dǒng shì, méi guīju, zhēn ràng rén bù hǎo yìsi.	This child does not understand about things, he has no manners. It really embarasses a person.

Wángjiāde lǎodā zhǎngde hǎokàn, yoò yǒu guīju, zhēn hǎo.	The Wáng's oldest son is good looking and he is well mannered. He's really great.

Guīju as an adjectival verb means “to be proper, to be correct (of a person)”.

Lǎo Wǎngde nǚér rén hěn guīju. 	Lǎo Wang’s daughter is very proper.

Notes on No. 5

dōu: Some of the uses of dōu do not correspond to “all”. “All” in English is often described as “collective”, that is, referring to all the members in a group. Dōu in Chinese is often described as “distributive”, that is referring to the members of a group as individuals. This usage sometimes is translated as “each”. Notice that in the Reference List sentence dōu in combination with yìbān and another noun produces this meaning.

Hěn duō Zhōngguo rén dàole Měiguo dōu xiǎng niàn shū.	A lot of Chinese want to study after they get to the United States.

Qiánjǐnián, xǔduō xuéshēng bìyè yǐhōu dōu dào nóngcūn qu le. Several years ago many students went to the countryside after they graduated.

Yìbān Zhōngguo rén dōu juéde xué Yīngwén bǐ xué Zhōngwén nán. The average Chinese thinks that English is harder to learn than Chinese.

wǎnlián: “funeral scroll, scroll of condolence”, literally “elegiac-couplet”. [Lián is short for duìlián “a written or inscribed couplet (pair of parallel sentences)“.] Traditionally, white cloth scrolls in one to three strips were written for the deceased by friends. More recently a new practice has developed which is to send scrolls or wreaths bearing one character: diàn, “to sacrifice.” Sending flowers has been brought in by Western custom.

Xiàwǔ wǒ dào Liújiā qu, nǐ gěi xiě ge wǎnliàn hǎo bu hǎo?	This afternoon I’m going to the Liú’s, could you write a funeral scroll for them?

huò: “or”. You have learned huòshi and huòzhě for “or”. Huō is a more literary variant, but it can still be heard in conversation.

Jīntiān wǎnshang huò míngtiān wǎnshang nǐ dào wǒ zhèli lái yítàng hǎo bu hǎo?	Come over to my house tonight or  tomorrow night, okay?

huāquān: “flower wreath”, literally “flower circle”.

Wǒ xiǎng mǎi ge huāquān gěi Liújiā sōngqu.	I want to buy a flower wreath to send to the Liú’s.

Note on No. 6

fǎnzhèng: “anyway, anyhow, either way, in any case, all the same”. Fǎnzhèng may come either before or after the subject of the sentence.

Nǐ jí shenme, fǎnzhèng gǎnbushàng kāi huì le, mànmàn zǒu ba!	What are you so anxious for, we won’t make it in time for the meeting anyway, so let’s just take our time!

Fǎnzhèng wǒ bù mǎi, méi qián méi guānxi.	I’m not going to buy it anyway, so it doesn’t matter that I don’t have any money.

Wǒ fǎnzhèng méi shì, wǒmen jiù tántan zhèige wèntí ba.	I don’t have anything to do anyway, so let’s talk about this.

Fǎnzhèng wǒ yào qù, nǐ bú qù yě kéyi.	I’m going anyway; it’s okay if you don’t go or It’s okay if you don’t go; anyway, I’m going.

Fǎnzhèng is often prefaced by a clause beginning with bù guǎn “no matter whether...”:

Bù guǎn nǐ qù bu qù, fǎnzhèng wǒ yào qù.	No matter whether you go or not, I'm going anyway.

Note on No. 7

rúhé: “how; how about; in what way”. This is a literary word which means about the same as zěnmeyàng. In a more plain, colloquial style, the Reference List sentence could also be said as Wǒmen qù mǎi yige huāquān zěnmeyàng? Spoken Standard Chinese draws more on the written style in an area like Taiwan, where a majority of the population learn Standard Chinese in school, rather than at home. A speaker from Peking might consider Wǒmen mǎi yige huāquān rúhé to sound a little stiff and unnatural. You should be able to understand rúhé, but use it yourself only in speaking with people who use it, or in writing.

Míngtiān Lǎo Zhāng qǐng wǒmen dǎjiā chī fàn, nǐ juéde rúhá?	Tomorrow Lǎo Zhāng has invited all  of us to eat, what do you think?

Zhèjiàn shìde jiéguǒ rúhé? 	What was the outcome of this matter?

”Jiào wǒ rúhé bù xiǎng ta?”	“(it makes me so that) How could I not miss her?” (name of famous popular song of the 30's)

Note on No. 8

huā: “to be multicolored”.

Jīntiān tā chuānle yíjiàn huā yīfu, hǎo piàoliàng!	Today she’s wearing a multicolored dress. It’s gorgeous!

Note on No. 9

Nǎ néng ràng ni pòfei: Nǎ or nǎr (Peking) is used in rhetorical questions.

Tā méi qián, nǎ néng jiēhūn!	He has no money, how can he get married?

Zài Yéye nali nǎ(r) néng nàme shuō huà!	How can you talk like that in front of Grandpa?

Nǐ shi wǒmen jiāde rén, nǎ(r) néng bú ràng ni zhīdao zánmen jiāde shì ne?	You’re family, how could we not let you know what’s going on in our family?

Wǒ shuōde shi jǐbǎiniánqiánde shì, nà shíhoude Měiguo nǎ(r) yǒu shenme chéngshì!	I’m talking about something several hundred years ago, how could America have had any cities at that time?

A: Wǒ nǎ(r) míngbai!	Like heck I understand!

B: Nǐ nàme cōngmingde rén, nǎ(r) huì bù míngbai!	You’re such a smart person, how could you not understand?

Nǐ kàn, nǎ(r) yǒu zhèyang bàn shìde, bù jīngguò jūmín wěiyuánhuì, jiù xiǎng shēng háizi, nǎ nǎ(r) xíng?	Look, how can you go about things like this? You want to have a child without going through your neighborhood committee, how can that be okay?

Tā yìzhí zǎi chéngli zhùzhe, nǎ(r) dàoguo nóngcūn ne!	When has he ever been to the countryside! He’s always lived in the city!

A: Zěnmeyàng? Xiǎo Zhāng kuǎi jiēhūn le ba?	How’s it going? Is Xiǎo Zhāng going to get married soon?

B: Nǎr a! Nǚjiā fùmǔ bú yuǎnyi , máfan dà le!	You must be kidding! The girl’s parents don’t want it. There’s a lot of trouble.

Note on No. 10

jiù shi le: This phrase is used at the end of a sentence to mean W...that’s all”. It can have several different implications, depending on the context:

(1) “Don’t worry, this matter can simply be taken care of like this.” (something is virtually taken care of)

Wǒ yòu wàngle bǎ shū dàilai, búguǒ wǒ yídìng jiègei ni jiù shi le.	 I forgot to bring the book again, but I’m going to lend it to you for sure, don’t worry.

Wǒ zhào nín shuōde bàn jiù shi le.	 I’ll simply do as you say.

Děng yixià gěi ni bàn jiù shi le, nǐ jí shenme!	 I’ll take care of it for you in a moment, don’t worry, why are you so anxious?

Ànzhao zhège jìhua zuò jiù shi le, yǒu shénme hǎo tánde?!	 Do it according to this plan and that’s all there is to it! What else is there to discuss?

2) “Only, just this, nothing more than this”.

Zhèliǎngge háizi chàbuduō, búguǒ Lǎo Dà cōngming yidiǎnr jiù shi le. 	These two children are about the same, but the older one is a little more intelligent, that’s all.

Tā lái, méiyou shénme shi, búguǒ xiǎng yào nàběn shū jiù shi le. 	When he came he wasn’t up to anything special, he just wanted that book, that’s all.

(3) that’s all that can be done about it.

Fǎnzhèng wǒ gēn ni shuōguo jiù shi le. 	In any case, I've told you, and that’s all I can do.

Notes on No. 11

zhǐ yào: “as long as, so long as, if only”.

Zhǐ yào wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang yǒu kòng, jiù kéyi bǎ zhèběn shū kànwán.	As long as I have time tonight, I can finish reading this book.

dā: “to travel by, to take (a bus, car, train, boat, etc.)”

Wǒ yě yào dào xuéxiào qu, dā nínde chē xíng bu xíng?	I’m going to school too, can I get a ride with you?

Wǒ dācuòle chē, jiéguǒ pǎodao Běitóu qu le.	I got on the wrong bus, and ended up in Běitóu.

Měitiān wǒ dā sìlù chē shàng bān.	I take the Route 1 bus to work every day.

Note on No. 12

héqilai: “to combine, to put together, to unite”. He is a verb meaning “to combine, to put together, to unite, to merge”. You should learn to use he in the following combinations: hézai yìqǐ “to combine (two or more things together)”, héqilai “to combine (forces), to come together, to put together”, héchéng “to combine into, to merge into”.

Wǒmen liǎngjiā héqilai mǎixiale zhè liùjiān fángzi.	Our two families bought these six rooms together.

Zhèliāngge jùzi hécheng yíge, róngyi shuō yidiǎnr.	If you combine these two sentences into one, it’s easier to say.

Zhèliāngbān hézai yìqǐ, zhǐ yǒu shíge xuéshēng, hái bú suàn tài duō.	If these two classes are combined, there are only ten students; that’s still not too many.

Notes on No. 13

xiǎode: “know”. This is a synonym of zhīdao, and can be used in most of the same ways that zhīdao can be used. Xiǎode is not, however, commonly used in Peking; it is mostly used in southern areas.

gōngmù: “public cemetery”.

Gāngcái tā yòu dào gōngmù qu le, gěi tā māma sòng yibǎ huā.	Just now she went to the cemetery again and left a-bunch of flowers (on her mother’s grave).

Taipei:

Two friends who work together at the Bank of Taiwan are having a talk:

A: 	Tīngshuō Xiǎo Lǐde Māma sǐle. Nǐ xiǎng wǒmen shì fǒu gǎi qù cānjiā tāde sānglǐ?	I heard that Xiǎo Lǐ’s mother died. Do you think we should go to the funeral?

B: 	Wǒmen gēn Xiǎo Lǐ yǐjīng shi shíjǐniánde lǎo péngyou le, nǎ néng bū qù!	We’ve been friends with Xiǎo Lǐ for over ten years, how could we not go!

A: 	Sānglǐ yǒu méiyou shénme tēbié guīju? Wǒ zhǎngde zhènme dà le, hái méi cānjiāguo sānglǐ ne!	Are there any apecial customs at funerals? I’ve reached this age without ever having been to a funeral!

B: Zhǐ yāo bù chuān huā yīfu dàgāi jiù kéyi le.	As long as you don’t wear multicolored clothes it should be okay.

A: 	Wǒmen gāi sòng diǎn shénme dōngxi ma?	Should we send some kind of gift?

B: 	Yìbān rén dōu sòng wǎnlián huò huāquān. Wǒmen liǎngge rén kéyi héqilai sòng yíge huāquān. Nǐ kàn rúhé?	Most people send a funeral scroll or a flower wreath. The two of us can send a flower wreath together. What do you think?

A: 	Dāngrán hǎo... .Nǐ zhīdao bu zhidao tā māma nǎtiān chū bin?	Of course that would be good... .Do you know what day his mother’s funeral procession will be?

B: 	Xià Lǐbàisān xiāwǔ sāndiǎn.	Next Wednesday afternoon at 3.

A: 	Yào zàngzai náli?	Where is she going to be buried?

B: 	Yāngmíngshān Dìyī Gōngmù.	In Yāngmíngshān Public Cemetery No. 1.

A: 	Zěnme qù?	How do you get there?

B: 	Wǒ yě bù xiǎode. Fǎnzhèng dào shíhou wǒmen dā jìchéngchē qu jiù shi le.	I don’t know either. Anyway, when the time comes we’ll just take a cab there.

A: 	Xiǎng bu xiǎng xiànzài qù kànkan Xiǎo Lǐ?	Do you want to go see Xiǎo Lǐ now?

B: 	Bù xíng. Wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang yǒu shìqing.	I can’t. I’m busy tonight.

A: 	Nàme míngtiān jiàn.	Then I’ll see you tomorrow.

B: 	Míngtiān jiàn.	See you tomorrow.

PART II

14. 	Zài Táiběi yǒu rén rènwéi Yángmíngshān gōngmù fēngshuǐ hǎo.	In Taipei there are people who believe that the feng-shui in Yangmingshan demetery is good.

15. 	Shéi dōu xīwàng tāde zǐsūn hòudài fādá.	Everyone hopes that his descendants will be prosperous.

16. 	Jiǎngjiu fēngshuǐ hǎo bu hǎo hǎishi jiù guānniàn.	To be particular about whether the fengshui is good or not is an old way of thinking.

17. 	Wǒ mǔqin bù míxìn, tā shuō tǔzàng, huǒzàng dōu kéyi.	My mother isn’t superstitious; she says that either burial or cremation is okay.

18. 	Wǒmen yídào qù Jílè Bìnyíguǎn ba!	Let’s go to the Paradise Funeral Home together, okay?

19. 	Wǒ kàndao chū bìnde rén dàdōu zhǐ zài shǒubìshang dài xiào.	I saw that most of the people in the funeral procession were only wearing mourning on their arm.

20. 	Wǒ cónglāi bù chuān huī yīfu.	I never wear gray clothing.

21. 	Kèren dōu yào zài qiānmíngbùshang qiān míng, zhè shi wǒmende xíguàn.	The guests are all supposed to sign their name in a guest book. This is our custom.

NOTES ON PART II

Notes on No. 14

rènwéi: “to think (that), to consider (that), to believe (that)”. This is a very common verb used to express that someone has formed an opinion or made a judgment about a person or thing.

Wǒ rènwéi zhè shi yíge hěn zhòngyàode wèntí.	I think this is a very important question.

Wǒ bú rènwéi nǐ yīnggāi zuò zhèjiàn shi.	I don’t think you should do this.

fēngshuǐ: Literally “wind and water”, this means the geographical outlay of something to be built, such as a grave or the foundation of a house. The traditional Chinese science of fēngshuǐ, or geomancy, is concerned with the good and bad influences which the location of a grave or building are believed to exert over a family and its descendants. In particular, the dead are influenced by and able to influence the celestial bodies for the benefit of the living. Each family, therefore, is naturally interested in arranging the most auspicious placement for it’s family grave.

Zhège fángzide fēngshuǐ bù hǎo. 	The fengshui of this house is no good.

Zhèlide fēngshuǐ bú cuò.	 The fengshui here is pretty good.

Notes on No. 15

zǐsūn: Wsons and grandsons”, or used in a more general sense, “offspring descendants”. For this example, you have to know that Huángdì means “the Yellow Emperor”, a legendary ruler thought of as the father of Chinese civilization.

Zhōngguo rén dōu shi Huangdìde zǐsūn.	 The Chinese are all descendants of  the Yellow Emperor.

hōudài: “descendants, posterity, later generations”.

Wǒmende hōudài dōu yīnggāi jìzhu zhèijiàn shì!	Our descendants should all remember this!

Tā méiyou hōudài. 	He is without descendants.

fādá: “to be prosperous, to be flourishing; to be developed, to be well-developed”. For the first example, you need to know that gōngshāngyè means “industry and commerce”.

Měiguode gōngshāngyè fēichāng fādǎ.	America’s industry and commerce are very developed.

Zhèijiā rénjiā hěn fādǎ.	 This family is prosperous.

Notes on No. 16

jiǎngjiu: “to be particular about, to be meticulous about, to pay attention to, to strive for”.

Zhège rén hěn jiǎngjiu chī, hěn jiǎngjiu chuān.	This person is particular about what he eats and what he wears.

Nèige háizi tài jiǎngjiu chuān.	 That kid pays too much attention to what she wears.

Jiǎngjiu can also mean “to be elegant”.

Nǐmen jiāde jiāju zhēn jiǎngjiu.	 Your furniture is truly elegant.

guānniàn: “way of thinking, concept, notion, view, sense (of), mentality (of).”

Měiguo rénde guānniàn gēn Zhōngguo rénde guānniàn yǒude yíyàng, yǒude bù yíyàng.	Sometimes the American way of thinking and the Chinese way is the same, sometimes not.

Nǐ kàn ba, zài guò jǐniān niánqīngrén yīnggāi wǎnliàn wǎnhūn jiù huì biàncheng yizhǒng guānniàn.	You watch, in more few years, it will have become an accepted notion that young people should get involved late and marry late.

Notes on No. 17

míxìn: “to be superstitious (about); superstition”.

Shāngcháode shíhou Zhōngguo rén bǐjiào míxìn, xiànzài bǐjiào bù míxìn le.	During the Shang Dynasty, the Chinese were relatively superstitious, now they aren’t so much any more.

Yǒude Zhōngguo rén míxìn fēngshuǐ. 	Some Chinese are superstitious about fengshui.

tǔzàng: “to bury (a dead person)”, literally “ground-bury”. This word is used only in contrast to other ways of disposing of a dead body, for example cremation or burial at sea. [If no contrast with other forms of disposal is implied, then the word for “to bury” is simply zàng (for formal burials), mái (for informal burials), máizàng, or ānzàng (literally “peacefully bury”, a respectful term).]

Éguo rén shuōguo tāmen yào māizàng Měiguo.	The Russians said they wanted to bury Americans.

huǒzàng: “to cremate; cremation”. In this word, you may think of zàng “to bury” as extended to mean “to dispose of (a dead body)”. Huǒ means “fire”.

Note on No. 18

yídào: “together”. You have already learned yìqǐ and yíkuàir for “together”. Yídào is mostly used by speakers of southern Mandarin and is little used by northerners.

Yàohuá hé tāde nǚpéngyou yídào kàn diànyǐngr qu le.	Yàohuā and his girlfriend went to  see a movie.

Háizimen zài yídào wánr.	The children are playing together.

Notes on No. 19 

dàdōu: “for the most part, mostly”. Another word with the same meaning which is probably used by more people than dàdōu is dàduō.

Zài Yìndu rénmín dàdōu (or dàduō) xìn Yìndujiào.	In India the people are mostly Hindu.

Zhōngguo rén dàduō shi nóngmín. 	Chinese for the most part are rural people.

shǒubì: “arm (from the wrist to the shoulder)”. Other words for “arm” used in different regions are gēbei and gēbo (Peking gēbe).

Xiǎo Lǐ gēbo shòule shāng, Xiǎo Wángde tuǐ yě shòule shang.	Xiǎo Lǐ was hurt in the arm, and also Xiǎo Wáng was hurt in the leg.

Gāngcái, wǒ bù xiǎoxin pèngdaole ménshang, dào xiànzài shǒubì hái téng ne. 	Just now I was careless and bumped into the.door, and my arm still hurts now.

dàixiào: “to wear mourning”. Formerly, people wore certain types of clothes while in mourning (sackcloth or white from head to foot). Nowadays, customs differ widely, but some small item is usually still worn to indicate a death in the family. These include a white flower in the hair, a coarse cloth patch on the arm or in the hair, or a black armband.

Tā fùqin sǐle kuài sānnián le, tā hái dàixiào ne!	Her father has been dead for almost  three years and she is still wearing mourning!

Notes on No. 20

cōnglái bù: “never, never does...”. In the last unit, you saw the pattern cónglái méi(you), meaning “have never...” or “had never...”. Cōnglái means “from the past up until now (it has always been this way)”.

Wǒ cōnglái bú yuànyi zǎoshang niàn shū.	I never want to study in the morning. 

huī: “to be gray”.

Zài Zhōngguo dàduōshù rén dōu xǐhuan chuān lánsè hé huīsède yīfu.	The great majority of people in China like to wear blue or gray clothing, 

Notes on No. 21

qiānmíngbù: “guest book”, literally, “sign-name record book”.

qián míng: “to sign one’s name”.

Qǐng ni zài zhèli qiān míng.	 Please sign here.

xíguàn: “custom, habit”. The definition of xíguàn in a Chinese dictionary reads: “behavior, tendency, or social practice cultivated over a long period of time, and which is hard to change abruptly”. Compare this with fēngsú “custom”, which you learned in Unit 1: “the sum total of etiquette, usual practices, etc. adhered to over a long period of time in the development of society”.

Notice that xíguàn may refer to the way of an individual or of a community, whereas fēngsú only refers to the way of a community.

Taipei:

An American student attending Taiwan National University is talking with a Chinese classmate and friend:

A: 	Tīngshuō Wáng Lāoshīde fùqin qùshì le. Nǐ xiǎng wǒmen shì fǒu gāi qù cānjiā sānglǐ?	I heard that Teacher Wáng’s father died. Do you think we should attend the funeral?

B:	 Wǒ xiǎng wǒmen yīngdāng qù.	I think we ought to go.

A: 	Tīngshuō sānglǐ zài Jílè Bìnyíguān jǔxíng. Nǐ xiǎode Jílè Bìnyíguān zài náli ma?	I hear that the funeral is going to be held at the Paradise Funeral Home. Do you know where that is?

B: 	Xiǎode. Jiù zài Nánjīng Dōnglù.	Yes. it’s on Nánjīng East Road.

A: 	Wǒ cónglái méi cānjiāguo Zhōngguo rénde sānglǐ, bù zhīdào nǐmen yǒu nǎxiē guīju. Nǐ néng bu néng gēn wǒ jiāngyijiāng?	I’ve never been to a Chinese funeral, so I don’t know what special practices you have. Could you tell me about them?

B: 	Kéyi. Xiànzài yìbān rénde sānglǐ dōu hěn jiāndān, méiyou tài duōde guīju. Búguò, nǐ bú yào chuān hóngde, lǚde, huòshi huāde yīfu. Chuān hēide, huīde, lānde dōu kéyi. Qù cānjiā sānglǐde rén dàdōu sòng wǎnlián huò huāquān. Wǒ xiǎng wǒmen kéyi héqilai sòng yige huāquān.	Okay. These days the average person’s funeral is very simple. There aren’t too many special customs. But you shouldn’t wear red, green, or multicolored clothing. Black, gray, and blue would all be okay to wear. Most people who attend a funeral send a a funeral scroll or a flower wreath. I think we could send a flower wreath together.

A: 	Hǎo.	Okay. 

B: 	Dào bìnyíguǎnde shíhou, nǐ yí jìn mén jiù huì kàndao zhuōzishang fàngzhe qiānmíngbù, nǐ yào zài shàngmian qiān míng.	When you get to the funeral home, as soon as you go in the door you’ll see a guest book on the table. You should sign your name in it.

A: 	Ng. Wáng Lǎoshīde fùqin yào tǔzàng háishi huǒzàng, nǐ tīngshuō le ma?	Uh huh. Have you heard whether Teacher Wáng’s father is going to be buried or cremated?

B: 	Tīngshuō shi yào tǔzàng.	I heard he’s going to be buried.

A: 	Yào zàngzai náli?	Where is he going to be buried?

B: 	Yào zàngzai Yángmíngshān Gōngmù, yīnwei tāmen rènwéi nàlide fēngshuǐ hǎo, rén zàngzai nàli, tāde zǐsūn hòudài jiù huì fādá.	In Yangmíngshān Public Cemetery, because they believe that the fengshui there is good, and that if a person is buried there his descendants will be prosperous.

A: 	Táiwān xiànzài yǒu xiē rén hái yǒu diǎn míxìn, shì bu shi?	There are still some people in Taiwan who are a little superstitious, aren’t there?

B: 	Shìde, búguò zhèxiē dōu shi jiù guānniàn. Niánqīng rén dàdōu bù jiǎngjiu zhèxiē le.	Yes. But these are all old notions. For the most part, young people don’t pay much attention to this kind of thing any more.

A: 	Tǎiwān xiànzài hái yǒu dài xiàode xíguàn ma?	Does the custom of wearing mourning still exist in Taiwan?

B: 	Yǒu. Nǐ méi kàndao Wáng tā shǒubìshang jiù dàizhe xiào ne. Yǐqiánde rén dài xiào yào dài yìnián! Xiànzàide rén duōbàn zhǐ dài yìbǎitiān le.	Yes. Didn’t you see Teacher Wǎng, she’s wearing mourning on her arm. Before, people had to wear mourning for a year’. Now most people only wear it for a hundred days.

A: 	Míngtiān wǒmen shénme shíhou qù?	What time shall we go there tomorrow?

B: 	Xiàwu yìdiǎn zhōng wǒ zài TǎiDà ménkǒu děng ni, wǒmen yídào qù.	I’ll wait for you at the gate of Taiwan University at one o’clock, and we can go together.

A: 	Hǎo.	Okay.

NOTE ON THE DIALOGUE

Funeral procedures in the PRC today are very simple. In the interest of sanitation (bodies might have some communicable disease) and economy (ground burials are expensive and consume government agricultural land), deceased city residents are required to be cremated. By government regulation the immediate family is allowed two days of paid leave, sàng jià. The funeral involves someone saying a few kind words about the deceased in the presence of relatives and people from his work unit. Those present are dressed plainly, bearing a white flower. Ashes are placed in carved wood or porcelain boxes in a gǔhuī cúnfàngchù, a building reserved for this purpose. It is not necessary to give anything to the family of the deceased but people sometimes give money or other small items. In the countryside, there might be a large feast at the deceased's home. There is an attitude which says a funeral is a time of gladness when the deceased enters the world of the non-living. [A funeral is a “white joyous event,” bái xīshì. A wedding is a “red event.” Together they are sometimes referred to as hóngbái xīshì, red and white joyous events.]

Vocabulary

bìnyíguǎn	funeral home
chū bìn	to hold a funeral procession
cónglái bù	never
cónglái dōu	always (in the past)
cónglái méi	have never
dā	travel by, take (a taxi, bus, train, airplane, etc.)
dàdōu	for the most part
dài xiào	to wear mourning
fādá	to be developed, to be prosperous
fǎnzhèng	anyway, in any case
fēngshuǐ	the Chinese science of geomancy (that is, the influence of landscape on people and their fortunes)
gāi	should, ought to
gōngmù	public cemetery
guānniàn	concept, notion, view
guīju	special customs, established rules
héqilai	to combine, to join together
hòudài	descendants
huā	to be multicolored
huāquān	flower wreath
huī	to be gray
huò	or
huǒzàng	cremation
jiǎngjiu	to be particular about; to be elegant, to be tasteful
Jílè Bìnyíguǎn	Paradise Funeral Home (in Tapei)
jiù shì le	..., that’s all
māma	mother, mom
míxin	to be superstitious; superstition
nǎ (náli, nǎr)	how (used in rhetorical questions to deny something)
qiān míng	to sign one’s name
qiānmíngbù	guest book
rènwéi	to think that, to believe that
rúhé	how, in what way; how (someone or something) is; how is it (literary form)
shì fǒu	literary form meaning shi bu shi
shǒubì	arm
sǐ	to die
tǔzàng	burial (the word used in contrast to cremation or burial at sea)
wǎnliàn	funeral scroll
xiǎode	to know
xíguàn	habit, custom
Yàngmíngshān	a mountain in suburban Taipei
yídào	together
zhǐ yào	as long as, if only
zǐsūn	descendants

Vocabulary

bǐcǐ	each other, mutually
bǐjiào (bǐjiǎo)	relatively, comparatively
bú dàn	not only
bù shǎo	a lot, many
chéng	to become, to constitute, to make
chéngshì	city
dànshi	but
érqiě	furthermore
fēngqì	common practice
fēngsú	custom
fūfù	married couple, husband and wife
gǎibiàn	to change
hé	with; and
huì	might, to be likely to, will
jiéhūn (jiēhūn)	to get married.
jiějué	to solve
jīngguò 	to go through, to pass hy or through
jìniàn	memento, memorial
kǎolü	to consider; consideration
kě	indeed, really
kě bú shì ma!	I’ll say, yes indeed, that’s for sure
liàn'ài	to be romantically involved with
liǎojiě (liáojie)	to understand; understanding
líhūn	to divorce
lǐwù (lǐwu)	gift, present
nánjiā(r)	the husband’s family
nánnǚ	male and female
nénggòu	can, to be ahle to
niánqīng	to be young
nóngcūn	rural area, countryside
nüjiā	the wife’s family
nǔlì	to be hardworking, to be diligent; diligently, hard
qīngnián	youth, young person
qīnqi	relatives
qūbié	difference, distinction
shíxíng	to practice, to carry out (a method policy, plan, reform, etc.)
shuāngfāng	both sides, both parties
sòng	to give (something as a gift)
tàn qīn	to visit family
tànqīnjiā	leave for visiting family
tíchàng	to advocate, to promote, to initiate
wǎnliàn wǎnhūn	late involvement and late marriage
xiāngdāng	quite, pretty, very
xǔduō	many, a great deal (of), a lot (of)
yīngdāng	should, ought to
yíshì	ceremony
yìzhí	all along, all the time (up until a certain point)
zhèngfǔ	government
zhùdao	to move to, to go live at
zǒngshi	always
zuò	to serve as, to act as; as

Vocabulary

ài	(sound, of sighing)
dàxǐde rìzi	wedding day
dāying	to agree (to something), to consent, to promise
dù	to pass
dù mìyuè	to go on a honeymoon, to spend one's honeymoon
duōnián	many years
fǎyuàn	court of law
Fó	Buddha
fùzá (fǔzá)	to be complicated
gōngzhèng jiēhūn	civil marriage
hái	even, (to go) so far as to
háishi	after all
hòulái	later, afterwards
huí mén	the return of the bride to her parents’ home (usually on the third day after the wedding)
hūnlǐ	wedding
jiāotáng	church
jiāowǎng	to associate with, to have dealings with
jǐdūjiāo	Christianity
jiéhūn lǐfú	wedding gown
jièshaorén	introducer
juédìng	to decide
jǔxíng	to hold (a meeting, ceremony, etc.)
júzhǎng	head of an office or bureau (of which the last syllable is Ju)
lǎoshi (lǎoshí)	to be honest
mǎnyì	to be pleased
mìyuè	honeymoon
nánfāng	the groom's side, the groom's family
nénggàn	to be capable
rén	person, self, body
rù xí	to take one’s seat (at a gathering, meeting, or banquet)
shàngjìn	to be ambitious
shóu	to be familiar (with), to know well
tándao	to talk about; speaking of ...
tánlai tánqù	to discuss back and forth
tíqīn	to bring up a proposal of marriage
xiǎojiě (xiáojie)	a way of referring to someone else’s daughter
xǐjiǔ	wedding banquet
xìn	to believe (in)
xìn Fó	to be a Buddhist
xīnláng	bridegroom
xīnniáng	bride
yě	indeed, in fact, admittedly
yìjian	opinion
zǎo	long ago
zhènghūn	to witness a marriage
zhènghūnrén	a witness for a marriage
zū	to rent
zuò méi	to act as go-between (for the families of a man and woman considering marriage)


Vocabulary

bìyùn	contraception
bù tóng	to be different
chǎnfù	a woman who has given birth within the last month
chǎnjià	maternity leave
chénggōng	to succeed, to be successful
phūshēnglü	birth rate
dānwèi	unit
-dào	(indicates successful accomplishment of something)
dédao	to receive, to get
fēnpèi	to assign, to apportion
gèdì	the various places, each place
gègè	various
gēnjù (gēnju)	according to, based on
gèzhǒng	various kinds, types
gōngzī	wages, pay
hóngtáng	brown sugar
jiā	vacation, leave
jiātíng	family
jìhua shēngyù	planned parenthood, family planning
juéyù	sterilization
jūmín wěiyuánhuì	the neighborhood committee of the place you live
kòngzhi	to control
-men	plural suffix
miǎnfèi	to be free of charge
míng'é	the number of people assigned or allowed, quota (of people)
nóngmín	peasant
nü	female
pàichūsuǒ(r)	the local police station
pīzhǔn	to give official permission
qíngkuàng	situation
qīnjìn	to be close (to a person )
réngōng liūchǎn	abortion
sān tōngguò	”the three approvals”
shǎoshù mínzú	national minority
shēngyù	give birth to and. raise
shíbài	to fail
shìqū	urban area or district
shǒushù	operation, surgery
shǒuxiān	first
shùmu	number
tōngguò	to pass, to approve
tóngyì	to consent, to agree
wánjù	toy
xiāngxìn	to believe
xiānhuā	fresh flowers
xiǎoháir	child, children
yě jiù shi shuō	to mean; in other words
yìbān	ordinary, general, common
yìbānde shuō	generally speaking
yídìng	to be specific
yíngyǎngpǐn	food items of special nutritional value
zēngjiā	to increase


Vocabulary


-bàng	pound (unit of weight)
bīngxiāng	refrigerator, ice box
bù gǎn dāng	I’m flattered! You shouldn’t have!
chī nǎi	to nurse, to suckle
chuī fēng	to have air blow on oneself; to be in a draft
dāngxīn	to watch out
dé	to get
duó kuài	how fast!
ěrduo	ear
fēngshī	rheumatism
fúqi	blessings, luck
fúxiàng féj	lucky physiognomy
hóngbāo	a red envelope with a gift or bribe of money in it
hóngdàn	eggs dyed red
huīfu	to recover
jiéguǒ (jiēguǒ)	as a result
mǎnyuè	a full month after the hirth of a baby
mǎnyuèjiǔ	celebration meal one month after a baby is born
pàng	to be fat
pèng	to touch
pòfei	to spend a lot of money on someone
qiānwàn	by all means, be sure to; (in a negative sentence) by no means, under no circumstances
shēnglěng	raw or cold foods
shēngxialai	to be born
sūnzi	grandson
-tāi	fetus, embryo
tǎng	to lie down
tòngkǔ	to be painful
tóuyige	the first
tóuyìtāi	the first pregnancy, the first hahy
tuō nínde fú	thanks to your lucky influence
Wáng jiā	the Wáng family
wèi	to feed
xiǎo bǎobao	yjx^e^ hahy
xiǎoxīn	to be careful
xífu	daughter-in-law
yíxiàzi	an instant, a moment, a while
yuèzi	month of confinement after giving hirth to a child
zhǎng	to grow; to be (pretty, etc.)
zhòng	to be heavy
zuò yuèzi	to go through the month of confinement and special care after childbirth


Vocabulary

ānxīn	to be without worry, to feel at ease to feel relieved
bǎozhòng	to take good care (of oneself)
běnlái	originally
bìngqiě	moreover
cānjiā	to take part in; to attend
chángshòu	long life, longevity; to live a long time
chūchāi	to be out of town on business
dǎ chángtú diānhuà	to make a long-distance phone call
dāgē	oldest brother
diāosāng	to present one’s condolences at a funeral, to attend a funeral
érnü	children
fàn	to have an attack (of a disease)
gǎndeshāng	to be able to catch up, to be able to make it in time
gǎnhuilai	to rush hack
gǎnjǐn	quickly
gǔhuī	hone ashes
guòqu	to pass away
guòshì	to pass away
huǒzàng	to cremate; cremation
hūrán	suddenly
jiānglái	the future, someday
jíjiù	first aid; to administer emergency treatment
jiùguolai	to save
lǎorénjia	polite way of referring to an older person (nǐ lǎorénjia, tā lǎorénjia)
-liǎo	can, to be able to
nánguò	to be sad
niánji (niánjì)	age
píngjìng	to be calm
qùbuliǎo	cannot go
qùshì	to pass away
sānglǐ	funeral
shāngxīn	to be grieved.
shēnbiān	one’s vicinity, one’s immediate surroundings
sòng	to escort, to take (someone to a place)
xiāoxi	news
xīnzàng	heart
xīnzàngbìng	heart disease
yíbèizi	all one’s life
yíxiàng	(have) always, (had) always, consistently, all along
zài shuō	furthermore, besides
zàng	to bury
zuìjìn	recently
zǔmǔ	grandmother (on the father’s side)

Vocabulary

bìnyíguān	funeral home
chū bin	to hold, a funeral procession; a funeral procession
cónglái	always (in the past)
conglǎi bù/méi	never
dā	travel by, take (a taxi, bus, train, airplane, etc.)
dādōu	for the most part
dài xiāo	to wear mourning
fādā	to be developed, to be prosperous
fǎnzhèng	anyway, in any case
fēngshuǐ	the Chinese science of geomancy (that is, the influence of landscape on people and their fortunes)
gāi	should, ought to
gōngmù	public cemetery
guānniàn	concept, notion, view
guīju	special customs, established rules
héqilai	to combine, to join together
hòudài	descendants
huā	to be multicolored
huāquān	flower wreath
huí	to be gray
huò	or
huozàng	cremation
jiāngjiu	to be particular about
Jílè Bìnyíguān	Paradise Funeral Home (in Tapei)
jiù shi le	
mama	mother, mom
míxìn	to be superstitious; superstition
nā (nali, nār)	how (used in rhetorical questions to deny something)'
qiān ming	to sign one's name
qiānmíngbù	guest book
rènwéi	to think that, to believe that
rūhé	to be how, how is it; how, in what way (literary form)
shi fǒu	(literary form meaning shi bu shi)
shǒuhì	arm
sǐ	to die
tǔzàng	burial (the word used in contrast to cremation or burial at sea)
wǎnlián	funeral scroll
xiǎode	to know
xí guan	habit, custom
Yǎngmíngshān	a mountain in suburban Taipei
yí dào	together
yīngdāng	should, ought to
zhǐ yào	as long as, if only
zǐsūn	descendants


Vocabulary


ài	(sound of sighing)	MBD 2
ānxīn	to be without worry, to feel at ease, to feel relieved	MBD 5
-bàng	pound (unit of weight)		MBD 1
bǎobao (bǎobǎo)	baby, darling (term of endearment for a young child)		MBD 1
bǎozhòng	to take good care (of oneself)		MBD 5
běnlái	originally		MBD 5
bǐcǐ	each other, mutually; you too, the same to you		MBD 1
bǐjiào (bǐjiǎo)	relatively, comparatively; fairly, rather		MBD 1
bìngqiě	moreover, and		MBD 5
bīngxiāng	refrigerator, ice box		MBD 1
bìnyíguǎn	funeral home		MBD 6
bìyùn	contraception		MBD 3
bú dàn	not only	MBD 1
bù gǎn dāng	I’m flattered, You shouldn’t have, I don’t deserve this		MBD 1
bù shǎo	quite a lot, quite a few	MBD 1
bù tóng	to be different	MBD 3
cānjiā	to take part in; to attend		MBD 5
chǎnfù	a woman who has given birth within the last month	MBD 3
chángshòu	long life, longevity; to live a long time		MBD 5
chǎnjià	maternity leave		MBD 3
chéng	to become, to constitute, to make		MBD 1
chénggōng	to succeed, to be successful		MBD 3
chéngshì	city		MBD 1
chī nǎi	to nurse, to suckle		MBD 1
chū bìn	to hold a funeral procession		MBD 6
chūchāi	to be out of town on business		MBD 5
chuī fēng	to have air blow on oneself; to be in a draft		MBD 1
chūshēnglü	birth rate	MBD 3
cónglái bù	never	MBD 6
cónglái dōu	always (in the past)	MBD 6
cónglái méi	have never	MBD 6
dā	travel by, take (a taxi, bus, train, airplane, etc.)	MBD 6
dǎ chángtú diānhuà	to make a long-distance phone call	MBD 5
dàdōu	for the most part	MBD 6
dāgē	oldest brother ”	MBD 5
dài xiào	to wear mourning	MBD 6
dāngxīn	to watch out	MBD 1
dànshi	but .	MBD 1
dānwèi	unit	MBD 3
-dào	(indicates successful accomplishment of something)	MBD 3
dàxǐ	great rejoicing	MBD 2
dāxīde rìzi	wedding day	MBD 2
dāying	to agree (to something), to consent, to promise	MBD 2
dé	to get	MBD 1
dédao	to receive, to get	MBD 3
diàosāng	to present one’s condolences at a funeral	MBD 5
dù	to pass	MBD 2
dù mìyuè	to go on a honeymoon, to spend one's honeymoon	MBD 2
duó kuāi!	how fast!	MBD 1
duōnián	many years	MBD 2
ěrduo	' ear	MBD 1
érnü	children	MBD 5
érqiě	furthermore	MBD 1
fādá	to be developed, to be prosperous	MBD 6
fàn	to have an attack (of an old disease)	MBD 5
fǎnzhèng	anyway, in any case	MBD 6
fǎyuàn	court of law	MBD 2
fēngqì	common practice; general mood	MBD 1
fēngshī	rheumatism	MBD U
fēngshuǐ	the Chinese science of geomancy (that is, the influence of landscape on people and their fortunes)	MBD 6
fēngsú	custom	MBD 1
fēnpèi	to assign, to apportion, to allot	MBD 3
Fó	Buddha	MBD 2
fūfù	married couple, husband and wife	MBD 1
fúqi	blessings, luck	MBD U
fúxiàng	lucky physiognomy	MBD U
fùzá (fǔzá) 	to be complicated	MBD 2
gāi	should, ought to	MBD 6
gǎibiàn	to change	MBD 1
gǎndeshàng	to be able to catch up, to be able to make it in time	MBD 5
gǎnhuilai	to rush back	MBD 5
gǎnjǐn	quickly	MBD 5
gèdì	the various places, each place	MBD 3
gègè	various	MBD 3
gēnjù (gēnju)	according to, based on	MBD 3
gèzhǒng	various kinds, types	MBD 3
gōngmù	public cemetery	MBD 6
gōngzhèng jiēhūn	jiēhūn civil marriage	MBD 2
gōngzī	wages, pay	MBD 3
guānniàn	concept, notion, view	MBD 6
gǔhuī	bone ashes	MBD 5
guīju	special customs, established rules	MBD 6
guòqu	to pass away, to die	MBD 5
guòshì	to pass away, to die	MBD 5
hái	even, (to go) so far as to	MBD 2
háishi	after all	MBD 2
hé	with; and	MBD 1
héqilai	to combine, to join together	MBD 6
hóngbāo	a red envelope with a gift or bribe of money in it	MBD U
hóngdàn	eggs dyed red	MBD U
hóngtáng	brown sugar	MBD 3
hoòdài	descendants	MBD 6
hòulái	later, afterwards	MBD 2
huā	to be multicolored	MBD 6
huāquān	flower wreath	MBD 6
huī	to be gray	MBD 6
huì	might, to be likely to, will	MBD 1
huí mén	the return of the bride to her parents’ home (usually on the third day after the wedding)	MBD 2
huīfu	to recover	MBD 1
hūnlǐ	wedding	MBD 2
huò	or	MBD 6
huǒzàng	to cremate; cremation	MBD 5
huǒzàng	cremation	MBD 6
hūrán	suddenly	MBD 5
jià	vacation, leave	MBD 3
jiǎngjiu	to be particular about; to be elegant, to be tasteful	MBD 6
jiānglái	the future, someday	MBD 5
jiàotáng	church	MBD 2
jiāowāng	to associate with, to have  dealings with	MBD 2
jiātíng	family	MBD 3
jīdūjiào	Christianity	MBD 2
jiéguǒ (jiēguǒ)	as a result; result, results	MBD 1
jiéhūn (jiēhūn)	to get married	MBD 1
jiéhūn lǐfū	wedding gown	MBD 2
jiějué	to solve	MBD 1
jièshaorén	introducer	MBD 2
jìhua shēngyù	planned parenthood, family planning	MBD 3
jíjiù	first aid; to administer emergency treatment	MBD 5
Jílè Bìnyíguǎn	Paradise Funeral Home (in Taipei)	MBD 6
jīngguoò	to go through, to pass by or through	MBD 1
jìniàn	memento, memorial	MBD 1
jiù shi le	... , that’s all	MBD 6
jiùguolai	to save	MBD 5
juédìng	to decide	MBD 2
juéyù	sterilization	MBD 3
jūmín wěiyuánhuì	neighborhood committee	MBD 3
jǔxíng	to hold (a meeting, ceremony,  etc. )	MBD 2
júzhǎng	head of an office or bureau (of which the last syllable is jú)	MBD 2
kǎolü	to consider; consideration	MBD 1
kě	indeed, really	MBD 1
kě bú shì ma	I’ll say, yes indeed, that’s for sure	MBD 1
kòngzhi	to control	MBD 3
...-lái ...-qù	(indicates repeating the action over and over again)	MBD 2
lǎorénjia	polite way of addressing or referring to an old person ní laorénjia, tā lāorénjia)	MBD 5
lǎoshi(lǎoshí) 	to be honest	MBD 2
liàn’ài	to be romantically involved with; love	MBD 1
-liǎo	can, to be ahle to	MBD 5
liǎojiě (liáojie)	to understand; understanding	MBD 1
líhūn	to get divorced	MBD 1
lǐwù (lǐwu)	gift, present	MBD 1
māma	mother, mom	MBD 6
mǎnyì	to be pleased	MBD 2
mǎnyuè	a full month after the hirth of a hahy	MBD U
mǎnyuèjiǔ	celebration meal one month after a hahy is horn	MBD U
-men	plural suffix	MBD 3
miǎnfèi	to be free of charge	MBD 3
míng’é	the number of people assigned or allowed, quota (of people)	MBD 3
míxìn	to be superstitious; superstition	MBD 6
mìyuè	honeymoon	MBD 2
nǎ (náli, nǎr)	how (used in rhetorical questions to deny something)	MBD 6
nánfāng	the groom’s side, the grocm’s family	MBD 2
nánguò	to be sad	MBD 5
nánjiā(r)	the husband’s family	MBD 1
nánnü	male and female	MBD 1
nénggàn	to be capable	MBD 2
nénggòu	can, to be able to	MBD 1
niánji (niánjì)	age	MBD 5
niánqīng	to be young	MBD 1
nóngcūn	rural area, countryside	MBD 1
nóngmín	peasant	MBD 3
nü	female	MBD 3
nüjiā(r)	the wife’s family	MBD 1
nǔlì	to be hardworking, to be diligent; diligently, hard	MBD 1
pàichūsuǒ(r)	the local police station	MBD 3
pàng	to be fat	MBD U
pèng	to touch	MBD U
píngjìng	to be calm	MBD 5
pīzhǔn	to give official permission	MBD 3
pòfei	to spend a lot of money (on  someone), to go to some expense	MBD 4
qiān míng	to sign one’s name	MBD 6
qiānmíngbù	guest hook	MBD 6
qiānwàn	by all means, be sure to; (in combination with a negative  word) hy no means, under no  circumstances	MBD U
qíngkuàng	situation	MBD 3
qingnián	youth, young person	MBD 1
qinjìn	to be close (to a person)	MBD 3
qīnqi	relatives	MBD 1
qūhié	difference, distinction	MBD 1
qùbuliǎo	cannot go	MBD 5
qùshì	to pass away, to die	MBD 5
rén	person, self, hody	MBD 2
réngōng liúchǎn	abortion	MBD 3
rènwéi	to think that, to believe that	MBD 6
rù xí	to take one’s seat (at a gather ing, meeting, or banquet)	MBD 2
rúhé	how, in what way; how (someone or something) is; how is...?, how is it (literary form)	MBD 6
sān tōngguò	”the three approvals”	MBD 3
sānglǐ	funeral	MBD 5
shàngjìn	to be ambitious	MBD 2
shāngxīn	to be grieved, to be sorrowful, to be broken-hearted	MBD 5
shǎoshù mínzú	minority nationality, national minority	MBD 3
shēnbiān	one’s vicinity, one’s immediate surroundings	MBD 5
shēnglěng	raw or cold foods	MBD it
shēngxialai	to be born	MBD U
shēngyù	to give birth to and raise	MBD 3
shì fǒu	literary form meaning shi bu shi	MBD 6
shībài	to fail	MBD 3
shìqū	urban area or district	MBD 3
shíxíng	to practice, to carry out (a method, policy, plan, reform,  etc.)	MBD 1
shóu (shú)	to be familiar (with), to know well	MBD 2
shǒubì	arm	MBD 6
shǒushù	operation, surgery	MBD 3
shǒuxiān	first	MBD 3
shú (shóu)	to be familiar  (with), to know well	MBD
shuāngfāng	both sides, both parties	MBD 1
shùmu	number	MBD 3
sǐ	to die	MBD 6
sòng	to give (something as a gift)	MBD 1
sòng	to escort, to take (someone to a place)	MBD 5
sūnzi	grandson	MBD U
-tài	birth	MBD 1
tàn qīn	to visit family	MBD 1
tándao	to talk about; speaking of ...	MBD 2
tǎng	to lie, to recline	MBD U
tánlai tánqù	to talk back and forth	MBD 2
tànqīn	to visit relatives (usually means immediate family)	MBD 1
tànqīnjià	leave for visiting family	MBD 1
tíchàng	to advocate, to promote, to initiate	MBD 1
tíqīn	to bring up a proposal of marriage	MBD 2
tōngguò	to pass, to approve	MBD 3
tòngkǔ	to be painful	MBD 1
tóngyì	to consent, to agree	MBD 3
tóuyige	the first	MBD 1
tóu(yì)tāi	the first pregnancy, the first baby	MBD 1
tuō nínde fú	thanks to your lucky influence, many thanks	MBD 1
tǔzàng	burial (the word used in contrast to cremation or burial at sea)	MBD 6
Wángjiā	the Wáng family, the Wángs	MBD U
wánjù	toy	MBD 3
wǎnliàn	funeral scroll	MBD 6
wǎnliàn wǎnhūn	late involvement and late marriage	MBD 1
wèi	to feed	MBD 4
xiānhuā	fresh flowers	MBD 3
xiǎngdāng	quite, pretty, very	MBD 1
xiāngxìn	to believe	MBD 3
xiǎo bǎobao	baby, darling (term of endearment for a young child)	MBD U
xiǎode	to know	MBD 6
xiǎoháir	child, children	MBD 3
xiǎojiě (xiǎojie)	daughter (referring to someone else’s daughter)	MBD 2
xiāoxi	news	MBD 5
xiǎoxīn	to be careful	MBD U
xífu	daughter-in-law	MBD U
xíguān	habit, custom	MBD 6
xǐjiǔ	wedding banquet; wedding wine	MBD 2
xìn	to believe (in)	MBD 2
xìn Fó	to be a Buddhist	MBD 2
xīnlǎng	bridegroom	MBD 2
xīnniáng	bride	MBD 2
xīnzàng	heart	MBD 5
xīnzàngbìng	heart disease	MBD 5
xǔduō	many, a great deal (of),  a lot (of)	MBD 1
Yángmíngshān	a mountain in surburban Taipei	MBD
yě	indeed, in fact, admittedly	MBD
yě jiù shi shuō	to mean; in other words	MBD
yìbān	ordinary, general, common	MBD
yìbānde shuō	generally speaking	MBD
yíbèizi	all one’s life	MBD
yídào	together	MBD
yídìng	to be specific	MBD
yìjian	opinion	MBD
yīngdāng	should, ought to	MBD
yíngyǎngpǐn	food items of special nutritional value	MBD
yíshì	ceremony	MBD
yíxiàng	(have) always, (had) always,consistently, all along	MBD
yíxiàzi	an instant, a moment, a while	MBD
yìzhí	all along, all the time (up until a certain point)	MBD 1
yuèzi	month of confinement after giving birth to a child	MBD 1
zài shuō	furthermore, besides	MBD 5
zàng	to bury	MBD 5
zǎo	long ago	MBD 2
zēngjiā	to increase	MBD 3
zhǎng	to grow; to be (pretty, etc.)	MBD 1
zhèngfǔ	government	MBD 1
zhènghūn	to witness a marriage	MBD 2
zhènghūnrén	chief witness at a wedding ceremony	MBD 2
zhǐ yào	as long as, if only	MBD 6
zhòng	to be heavy	MBD ll
zhù dao	to move to, to go live at	MBD 1
zǐsūn	descendants	MBD 6
zǒngshi	always	MBD 1
zū	to rent	MBD 2
zùijìn	recently; soon	MBD 5
zǔmǔ	grandmother (on the father’s side)	MBD 5
zuò	to serve as, to act as; as	MBD 1
zuò méi	to act as go-between (for the families of a man and woman considering marriage)	MBD 2
zuò yuèzi	to go through the month of confinement and special care after childbirth	MBD 4