The Eight Chinese Characters

"The ancient Chinese devised a method of reading the life of a person from his birth year, month, day, and hour. This information is displayed in the form of four columns each consisting of two characters. Each column is called a Pillar. The four pillars together will contain eight characters. This method of Life Reading is called "The Four Pillars of Destiny" or simply "The Eight Characters".

Ancient Chinese used the combinations of two sets of words to denote time. A year is represented by two words. So is a month, a day or an hour.

The first set of words is the set of the "Ten Heavenly Stems". They are the yin and yang components of the Five Elements: Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire , Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water, Yin Water.

The second set of words is the set of the "Twelve Earthly Branches". They are more popularly represented by the twelve animals of the Zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. "

(From astro-fengshui.com)

These characters were extremely important in determining a person's marriage and friendship in the case of "laotongs". These eight characters were matched at birth, and before making destined decisions, they would be paired up with other people to see if they made a good match, such as a person's future husband/wife. i think this is a very interesting way of fortune- telling.

Losing Face

There is a common saying in chinese about "losing face", a synechdoche representing one's pride and dignity; embarrassment and disappointment. A person's "face" in Chinese society represented authority and power, and to "lose" it would cause great embarrassment, especially if it is made known to the public. Every man has "face", form the poor to the rich, and every man wants to maintain and keep his "face" in the best conditions. For example, a proud father might tell his son to not make him lose face when he sends him off to the army to become a soldier, his father is eventually telling his son to not bring shame onto him. I find this saying very interesting, and very creative way in expressing embarrassment. It also showed how much the Chinese people valued pride more than anything else, even over death.

What's In a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." - Shakespeare

Shakespeare may have believed that a name was just an artificial and meaningless convention, something to refer to someone as. However, the chinese did not share this same belief; instead, a name was chosen and constructed very carefully for a newborn child. This name would make the child grow up to encompass and reflect the meaning of the name, to help the child develop and assimilate this hope, and to create the foundation of who this child could be. For example, in the novel, Snowflower meant snowflake, and this would bring connotations of purity, gentleness, beauty, simplicity, and uniqueness. Beautiful Moon brought ideas of beauty, value, eternalness, brightness, high- achiever, and completeness. I think a name is a very important aspect of a person too, for I don't think we are more or less like "objects"; we are each special and different, with no one else in the world the same as one another. Thus, I believe a well-though- of name indeed does make an impact on how the person will be.

A Beautiful Passage

"Snowflower had the true independent streak of the horse sign, only her horse had wings that carried her far above the earth, while mine had a plodding nature."

I really like passage, and it struck me as very interesting, since it has to do with the chinese zodiac. The zodiac has 12 signs, or rather, animals: rat, snake, ox, rooster, boar, hare, dog, tiger, dragon, monkey, lamb, and horse. The horse is recognized as an independent and free spirited person, and in this passage, two totally juxtaposing personalities can be seen. The horse with the wings reminds me of Pegasus, Hercules' horse. Here, one can assume the freedom and adventure and speed and independence of a god-like creature. On the other hand, the plodding horse is more of a tamed and domesticated animal who is obedient and never goes beyond its border. Indeed, descriptions like these are used to describe some people's personalities, of what type of horse or animal they may be. I find this very interesting.

Click here for a link to learn more about the chinese zodiac and find out what you are!

How Much Are You Worth?

Marriage was not about love during 19th century China, instead, it was about money. Every girl was basically "sold" off by their family into their husband's family. Besides, practically all the girl's marriages were arranged by her parents and matchmakers, thus it was usually the highest "bidder" that won the marriage. A girl had to possess so many great qualities, along with beauty, and suffering pain of bounded feet, to attain a suitable marriage. I just feel that this was so unfair, a girl is practically not even treated as human, but an object, a thing with little value that can be easily bought, and sold. A girl was born and raised solely to be bargained and controlled and used by her future "master", her husband, her in-laws, and eventually her own son. If she was fortunate to bore sons, her value in other's eyes may increase, but what difference does that make from being a baby machine? Is that something to be proud of? I just sympathize with these women, they never know the feeling of love, only monetary deals.

Chinese Poem

Recently, i have been discovering so many things about my own culture, and i am just so fascinated by it. One of my current obsessions is chinese poetry, but not just ANY contemporary poem, but some great classics by very well- known poets. Here is an example of one by Li Bai, a very famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, called "Long Yearning". Li Bai was the equivalent of a Shakespeare in our standards. Anyone knows that once something is translated, it loses its original powerful meaning, however, one can still feel the words in the poem as if it were alive, and see it happening; this was the power of Li Bai's writing.

Long yearning,
To be in Chang'an.
The grasshoppers weave their autumn song by the golden railing of the well;
Frost coalesces on my bamboo mat, changing its colour with cold.
My lonely lamp is not bright, I’d like to end these thoughts;
I roll back the hanging, gaze at the moon, and long sigh in vain.
The beautiful person's like a flower beyond the edge of the clouds.
Above is the black night of heaven's height;
Below is the green water billowing on.
The sky is long, the road is far, bitter flies my spirit;
The spirit I dream can't get through, the mountain pass is hard.
Long yearning,
Breaks my heart.

Laotong, or "same old"

Everyone knows what's a best friend: that one person you can share anything with, the one person you sometimes trust and rely on more than your own family, the one person that will always be there for you, the one person you will do anything for, the one person you will stay forever connected to; this is a best friend, and people don't come by a genuine one quite too often in a lifetime. It is an experience you cannot define until you met that one person, someone as important, or even more vital than the love of your life. In China, the equivalent would be called a "laotong", meaning "same olds", and through the connotations of old, like growing old together through thick and thin, constituting the idea of eternalness and friendship link and same, like two united as one, the similarities shared, one can see the connection of the idea of BBFs in the chinese use of "laotong".