Mandarin

The Role of the “Groove” 卯 Character in Chinese Writing: 69 characters and 22 definitions

by Jennifer Ball and Xu Chao Using a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer Ball Nov. 11, 2018 Thanks to Chinese…

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The Role of the “Youth/Essence” 青/靑 Character in Chinese Writing

byJennifer Ball and Xu ChaoUsing a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer BallNov. 11, 2018 Thanks to Chinese Text Project, Wiktionary,…

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Chinese word for “heart” 心 comes from a penis

The website http://hanziyuan.net (originally ChineseEtymology.org) is phenomenal, and the amount of work put into it is impressive, but I think it’s pretty clear from…

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Cantonese characters for penis and vagina

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Mandarin II to you too

Putonghua Uncensored Class 1

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The cunning chipmunk holds something in its mouth.

Interesting Chinese Characters #4 and #5: Cunning involves holding something in one’s mouth

刁 tricky, sly, crafty, cunning diao1 (diu1) 叼 holding in mouth diao1 (diu1) http://ctext.org/dictionary In order to be cunning, what do you suppose one…

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Tarte de la vaca

Ms Lin’s corrections: The equivalent symbol for $ (US dollars) to yuan 元 is ¥  yuan 元 is the same as ¥ ¥ Renminbi…

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Who’s up for Mandarin II?

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension Class 12 Nov. 29, 2011 425 Market StreetSan Francisco, CAProfessor: Virginia Mau Mandarin II is now available for enrollment. I…

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Grain has symbolic meaning in China

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension Class – 11 – Nov. 22, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Homework: Menu Include:Name of…

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Now we know why they have to be funny…

Clowns have breasts but no milk by Jennifer Ball 笨 笑 哭 Meaning: foolish laugh cry Characteristics crinkly eyes, funny face crinkly eyes, open…

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Interesting Chinese Characters #1: Mythical Animal that Eats Its Mother

獍 A mythical animal that eats its mother when it is born; Manchurian tiger. Pinyin: jing4. Cantonese: ging3. Very few animals eat their mothers; occasionally some insects and…

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Puyi had a wet nurse (not shown) until age 14

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension Class 7 Oct. 18, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Test 11/1 (next class): Comprehensive –…

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You say “gege,” I say “gugu”; you’re Chinese, I’m Akkadian, and we’re both talking about virgins

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 6 – Oct. 11, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau “Ge ge” (guh-guh) means…

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The Chinese character for ‘please’ combines the characters for ‘flesh’ and ‘explosion,’ another way to say ‘ejaculate.’ The character for rice includes the character for semen. In the image, semen is suggested by a spoonful of rice pudding.

The roots of “Please 请” are kind of messy

请 Please qing3 = please   The right-hand phonetic 青 is also in the word for“semen”: 精 jing1. This makes sense: the bottom is the moon stand-in…

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Wang ba is a cuckold which is a tortoise

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 5 – Oct. 4, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Notes taken and commentary…

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Bubble Tea – Boba Nai Cha – and the biggest-breasted woman in China

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 4 – Sept. 27, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Notes taken and commentary…

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Was Chinese simplification a way to make the characters look less like pictures?

Sept. 20, 2011 Class 3 Berkeley Extension 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau (pronounced “Mew”) Notes taken and commentary (marked by“Note:”)…

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It takes sharp eyes 色 to see at night 晚

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 2 – Sept. 13, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau (pronounced “Mew”) Email: vmmauhk@yahoo.com…

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meat = moon in Chinese

Mandarin Uncensored – Class 1

Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 1 Sept. 6, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau (pronounced “Mew”) Email: vmmauhk@yahoo.com Notes…

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