How to say ” Do you like coffee or tea?” in Chinese:
[audio:http://www.chinesetolearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/listen-to9.mp3|titles=listen to]
ni3 xi3 huan1 ka1 fei1 hai2 shi4 cha2 你喜欢咖啡还是茶？
The Chinese people use the sound of the coffee and made these two words Ka1 fei1 咖啡, while long time ago, English speakers adopted the sound of tea (t’e) from China. In Taiwanese, people still call tea as t’e (dei).
There are a few way to express the meaning of or in Chinese. You can use hai2 shi4 还是or huo4 shi4 或是, both mean or. For example, you can ask your friend “Do you like summer or autumn?” In Chinese, it would be ni3 xi3 huan1 xia4 tian1 hai2 shi4 qiu1 tian1 你喜欢夏天还是秋天or ni2 xi3 huan1 xia3 tian1 huo4 shi4 qiu1 tian1 你喜欢夏天或是秋天.
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In the Far East there is a river,
its name is the Yangtze River
In the Far East there is a river,
its name is the Yellow River
雖不曾看見長江美
夢裡常神遊長江水
雖不曾聽見黃河壯
澎湃洶湧在夢裡
Although I’ve never seen the beauty of the Yangtze,
in my dreams I miraculously travel the Yangtze’s waters
Although I’ve never heard the strength of the Yellow River,
the rushing and surging waters are in my dreams
古老的東方有一條龍
她的名字就叫中國
古老的東方有一群人
他們全都是龍的傳人
In the Ancient East there is a dragon,
her name is China
In the Ancient East there is a people,
they are all the heirs of the dragon
巨龍腳底下我成長
長成以後是龍的傳人
黑眼睛黑頭髮黃皮膚
永永遠遠是龍的傳人
I grew up under the claw of the dragon,
after I grew up I became an heir of the dragon
Black eyes, black hair, yellow skin,
forever and ever an heir of the dragon
百年前寧靜的一個夜
巨變前夕的深夜裡
槍砲聲敲碎了寧靜夜
四面楚歌是姑息的劍
One hundred years ago on a tranquil night,
in the deep of the night before enormous changes
Gun and cannon fire destroyed the tranquil night,
surrounded on all sides by the appeasers’ swords
多少年砲聲仍隆隆
多少年又是多少年
巨龍巨龍你擦亮眼
永永遠遠的擦亮眼
How many years have gone by with the gunshots still ringing out,
how many years followed by how many years
Mighty dragon, mighty dragon open your eyes,
forever and ever open your eyes
In Chinese culture today, the dragon is mostly used for decorative purposes. It is a taboo to disfigure a depiction of a dragon; for example, an advertisement campaign commissioned by Nike, which featured the Americanbasketball player LeBron James slaying a dragon (as well as beating up an old Kung Fu master), was immediately banned by the Chinese government after public outcry over disrespect.
In Chinese mythology, the Dragon King has nine children: Qiuniu, Yazi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Suanni, Bixi, Bi’an, Fuxi and Pixiu. Dragons are believed to have supernatural power in changing weather and ruling the oceans and that is very naturally that its sons are all powerful. In Chinese people’s minds, dragons are a symbol of power and dignity, and that is also one reason why the Chinese call themselves “descendants of the dragon.”
Seems like a simple enough question. Actually… while the question of what it means to be Chinese is very simple, it is all of the numerous, equally valid answers that make the issue complicated. We have to accept that there are different answers for different people.
Here is one answer, translated from a post written by an American-raised Chinese on MITBBS (原贴):
I was eating lunch with a good friend (both a colleague and a classmate) a few days ago. He’s a true Englishman, having lived in England from birth through university. Although he’s now attending school with me in the United States, he naturally does so with the identity of an Englishman. Whereas I, as an ethnic Chinese person raised in the United States, have in his eyes been categorized as an “American”. And I will often correct him by saying “I’m Chinese”. This time, when the topic popped up again, he laughed and asked: “From your point of view, what is a Chinese person?”
I believe “Chinese” has three different meanings.
1) From a superficial point of view, it would mean the legal definition. If you are a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, if you use a Chinese passport outside of China’s borders, then this person from a legal point of view is Chinese. Based on China’s constitution, if a Chinese citizen acquires foreign citizenship and a foreign passport, they automatically relinquish their Chinese citizenship. So, with this definition, you can only choose one between the identities “Chinese” and “foreigner”. So, if you acquire American citizenship, you’re no longer Chinese. But I don’t believe the definition of “Chinese” is limited to this.
If we talk a little more tightly, if your bloodlines are 100% Chinese, then using this definition, you are Chinese, and this will never change. It doesn’t matter what passport you hold, it doesn’t matter what citizenship you hold, even if you grow up or are born in a different country and can’t speak Chinese, you’re still Chinese. But I believe that even this definition isn’t the most important.
3) I believe the most important definition is understanding of China’s language, history, and culture. Understanding of China’s way of life. These people, even if they don’t have Chinese citizenship, even if they don’t have Chinese blood-lines, they can also be called Chinese. For example, let’s talk about Dashan (ed: aka Mark Henry Rowswell). He’s completely fluent in all things “China”; even if he doesn’t have a drop of Chinese blood, when compared to those with Chinese blood but can’t speak Hanyu, he’s more Chinese. And from that point of view, someone can both be Chinese and a foreigner. And I believe that because I grew up in the United States and understand American culture, I am Chinese, and also American.
Posted inChinese culture, Chinese songs|Comments Off on 龍的傳人 Heirs of the Dragon: Song with pinyin and English translation, dragon symbolic value for Chinese, and What does it mean to be Chinese?
