It took Joseph Needham and his Cambridge colleagues over twenty years (and five volumes of Science and Civilisation in China) to demonstrate that most of the modern ideas the West considers its own had been long ago thought of by Chinese thinkers and experimenters. Paradoxically, the story of modern China is one of the dominance of Western social and scientific thought and technology, and many ancient traditions have been depreciated and dismissed. But as we shall see, the mixtures and contradictions between the old and the new are as potent as ever.
The different structure of Chinese, which builds words through combinations of pictures or ideograms, has been refining the concepts that affect almost everything they do and say for over four thousand years. Chinese has seven major language groups, though the main dialects used in China are Mandarin and Cantonese. As the predominant language spoken in mainland China, classical Mandarin is like Latin to the ancient world, acting as the traditional tongue of scholarly works and communication. Cantonese may be considered a more modern Chinese language, hence it is spoken in the Westernized regions of China, such as the Southeast provinces of Guandong and Guangxi, also in overseas Chinese communities in Australia, Europe, and America.
The language barrier between Westerners and the Chinese is perhaps more of a culture barrier. As Chinese culture is based on Confucian principles directing all levels of social relations, along with Taoist principles of conceiving the world and its infinite laws of change, the barriers to understanding are huge. However, some things were easier to export from China. One of our common modern words is a simple corruption of the original Cantonese KêTsiap, the name of a spicy sauce brought back to Europe in the seventeenth century. The word? "Ketchup."
The following examples reveal some of the cultural challenges of living in China, and offer slightly more difficulty, if not impossibility, in translation.
dao (tao) (Mandarin) [da-u] (noun)
Dao is the central concept of the Taoist tradition, usually translated as "the Way." It is said that without an understanding of Dao, it is impossible to understand Chinese culture. However, when we try to address this challenge, we run up against obstacles such as the very opening line of the classic Taoist text, the Dao Dejing, written by the greatest Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu two and a half thousand years ago: "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao!' Well, if we cannot speak of it, we cannot translate it. The author Alan Watts, who spent a lifetime bringing Eastern concepts to a Western audience, writes of this problem, "I prefer not to translate the word Dao at all because to us Dao is a sort of nonsense syllable indicating the mystery that we can never understand."
mingzhi (Mandarin) [ming-djirr] (noun)
This term, based on the elements ming, meaning "dark, dim, otherworld" and zhi, meaning "paper," refers to "ghost money," which in parts of China is sold in bundles for ritual burning. The Chinese burn mingzhi in metal containers at the side of the road, or outside temples, businesses, shops, or by street stalls. Printed on the money are the characters for Happiness, Peace, Good Fortune, and so on, depending on what you wish to send to the gods, ghosts, or spirits. The burning of the money will ward off angry spirits or satisfy a "hungry ghost" from the underworld so it won't bother you or your family.
renao (Mandarin) [ren-ah-oh] (adjective)
This word literally means "hot" but includes the additional meanings of "noisy," "making noise," and "stirring up trouble." Not overlaid with negative connotation, in China the term is a positive, implying "lively, festive, happy, noisy" - especially, noisy! The Chinese do not have the same response to noise as Westerners, and are even attracted by it, which explains the loud music in stores and restaurants, as well as the very renao practice of setting off firecrackers. The Chinese like to live close together, and enjoy the excitement of a city, which is also very renao.
feng shui (Mandarin) [feng-shoo-ay] (noun)
Literally, "wind water," this is the study and practice of arranging your life in correct alignment with surrounding nature, in particular the location and furnishing of your house. Now so fashionable in the West, it barely needs more comment.
guanxi (Mandarin) [gwon-shee] (noun)
This is one of the essential ways of getting things done in traditional Chinese society. To build up good guanxi, you do things for people such as give them gifts, take them to dinner, or grant favors. Conversely, you can also "use up" your guanxi with someone by calling in favors owed. Once a favor is done, an unspoken obligation exists. Maybe because of this, people often try to refuse gifts, because, sooner or later, they may have to repay the debt. However the bond ofguanxi is rarely acquitted, because once the relationship exists, it sets up an endless process that can last a lifetime.
qi (ch'i) (Mandarin) [chee] (noun)
Qi or ch'i is a fundamental and untranslatable word that affects many aspects of Chinese life and society from health, sex, and longevity, to social relations, enterprise, work, and play. It is perhaps the most basic concept of Chinese traditional medicine. Here it refers to something like a life energy, an energy in movement, with a direction or tendency. Matter and energy are conceptualized as aspects of the same thing. The task of healing therapies is to gather a person's qi and then direct it as required. The measurement of qi, or of different types of qi, indicates your "life strength" and how much respect you are due in wider social terms.
yinyang (Cantonese) [yin-yong] (noun)
A fundamental concept in Chinese culture. The closest meaning in English is "female, male" but yin also means "soft, gentle, implicit" and yang "hard, strong, explicit." For example, female, water, and the moon are yin, and male, mountain, and the sun are yanf. Both yin and yang are symbols of strength of an opposing nature, and optimal strength is the combination of yin and yang, which must be harmoniously balanced to sustain all forms of life. If you are ill, it could be understood that there is too much yin, "cold," or yang, "hot," in your body, and to cure the illness, yinyang must be rebalanced through various means such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, or exercises like taiji (t'ai ch'i) and qigong (ch'i kung).
zhongyong (Mandarin) [djung-yung] (noun)
This is another fundamental concept in the Chinese culture and philosophy. Zhong means "middle, mean" and yong means "ordinary, normal, simple." From the title of one of the four greatest Chinese classics, the closest English translation is "the doctrines of the mean." Zhongyong emphasizes the avoidance of all forms of extreme based on common sense. Moderation, compromise, and a sense of proportion in any aspect of life are valued against radicalism, rigidity, and extremism.
gagung (Cantonese) [ga-gung] (noun)
As a result of the one-child policy in China, the number of surplus males is now over a hundred million. This sad term, which means "bare sticks," or "bare branches," refers to the men who are unlikely to marry or to have families because of the skewed sex ratios.
jingjie (Mandarin) [djing-djeh] (noun)
Jingjic refers mainly to the highest moral and spiritual state. The Chinese believe that all human beings are good by nature. But good nature can be corrupted during the course of life owing to both human weaknesses and evil influences in society. So education is important, the primary aim of which is to cultivate a person to be a moral being and to reach the highest jingjie.