Intermediate Spoken Chinese

American Professor Peter McCoy’s good friend Mei Tingsheng takes him to see the Great Wall of China at Badaling.

Basic Conversation 21-4

1. MCCOY	Xiăo Méi, wŏ zhōngyú dēngshang Cháng Chéng le!
	Little Mei, I’ve finally climbed onto the Great Wall!
2. MEI	Shì a. Zhōngguo rén cháng shuō: “Bú dào Cháng Chéng fēi hăohàn.” Xiànzài nĭ yĕ suàndeshang shi “hăohàn” le!
	Yes. Chinese people often say: “If you don’t go to the Great Wall, you’re not a brave man.” Now you, too, can be regarded as a “brave man”!
3. MCCOY	À, zhēn shi míng-bù-xū-chuán. Xiăo Méi, Cháng Chéng dàodĭ yŏu duō cháng?
	Wow, it really lives up to its reputation. Little Mei, how long really is the Great Wall?
4. MEI	Hăoxiàng yŏu liùqiānduōgōnglĭ cháng.
	I think it’s over 6,000 kilometers long.
5. MCCOY	Cháng Chéng shi shémme shíhou jiànde?
	When was the Great Wall built?
6. MEI	Dàyuē shi zài liăngqiānduōnián qián, Zhànguó Shídài jiù kāishĭ jiànle. Hòulái lìdài búduànde kuòjiàn. Búguò zhèlide zhèiyíduàn shi Míngcháode shíhou xiūde.
	More than 2,000 years ago, during the Warring States Period, they began building it. Later in successive dynasties it kept being expanded. But this section here was built during the Ming.
7. MCCOY	Nèige shíhou xiūqilai kĕ zhēn gòu bu róngyide.
	At that time to build it must have really been quite difficult.
8. MEI	Kĕ bu shì! Zhèixiē cáiliàor quán dĕi kào réngōng bānyùn, sĭle bù zhīdào yŏu duōshăo rén!
	That’s for sure! The material all had to be transported by hand. No one knows how many people died!

Build Up

1. McCoy
Méi	Mei [SN]
Xiăo Méi	Little Mei
zhōngyú	finally, at last [A]
dēng	climb [V]
dēngshang	climb onto [RC]
dēngshang Cháng Chéng	climb onto the Great Wall
Xiăo Méi, wŏ zhōngyú dēngshang Cháng Chéng le!	Little Mei, I’ve finally climbed onto the Great Wall!
2. Mei
hăohàn	brave man [N]
“bú dào Cháng Chéng fēi hăohàn”	“if you don’t get to the Great Wall you’re not a brave man” [EX]
suànshang	include, count [RC]
suàndeshang	can count as, can be regarded [RC]
nĭ yĕ suàndeshang shi hăohàn	you too can be regarded as a brave man
Shì a. Zhōngguo rén cháng shuō: “Bú dào Cháng Chéng fēi hăohàn.” Xiànzài nĭ yĕ suàndeshang shi “hăohàn” le!	Yes. Chinese people often say: “If you don’t go to the Great Wall, you’re not a brave man.” Now you, too, can be regarded as a “brave man”!
3. McCoy
míng-bù-xū-chuán	have a well deserved reputation [EX]
zhēn shi míng-bù-xū-chuán	it really has a well deserved reputation
dàodĭ(r)	after all, really [MA]
yŏu duō cháng	is how long
Cháng Chéng dàodĭ yŏu duō cháng	the Great Wall really is how long
À, zhēn shi míng-bù-xū-chuán. Xiăo Méi, Cháng Chéng dàodĭ yŏu duō cháng?	Wow, it really lives up to its reputation. Little Mei, how long really is the Great Wall?
4. Mei
gōnglĭ	kilometer [M]
liùqiānduōgōnglĭ	more than 6,000 kilometers
yŏu liùqiānduōgōnglĭ cháng	it’s over 6,000 kilometers long
Hăoxiàng yŏu liùqiānduōgōnglĭ cháng.	I think it’s over 6,000 kilometers long.
5. McCoy
jiàn	build [V]
Cháng Chéng shi shémme shíhou jiànde?	When was the Great Wall built?
6. Mei
zài liăngqiānduōnián qián	over 2,000 years ago
shídài	period [N]
Zhànguó Shídài	Warring States Period [TW]
lìdài	successive dynasties [N]
búduànde	unceasingly, continuously [A]
kuòjiàn	expand [V]
lìdài búduànde kuòjiàn	in successive dynasties it was continuously expanded
zhèlide zhèiyíduàn	this section here
Míngcháo	Ming Dynasty [TW]
xiū	build [V]
Dàyuē shi zài liăngqiānduōnián qián, Zhànguó Shídài jiù kāishĭ jiànle. Hòulái lìdài búduànde kuòjiàn. Búguò zhèlide zhèiyíduàn shi Míngcháode shíhou xiūde.	More than 2,000 years ago, during the Warring States Period, they began building it. Later in successive dynasties it kept being expanded. But this section here was built during the Ming.
7. McCoy
xiūqilai	in the building [RC]
gòu...-de	quite..., rather... [PT]
zhēn gòu bu róngyide	really quite difficult
Nèige shíhou xiūqilai kĕ zhēn gòu bu róngyide.	At that time to build it must have really been quite difficult.
8. Mei
kĕ bu shì	“that’s for sure” [IE]
cáiliào(r)	material [N]
kào	depend on [V]
réngōng	human labor, manual labor [N]
bānyùn	transport [V]
kào réngōng bānyùn	depend on human labor to transport
sĭle bù zhīdào yŏu duōshăo rén	there died it’s not known how many people there were
Kĕ bu shì! Zhèixiē cáiliàor quán dĕi kào réngōng bānyùn, sĭle bù zhīdào yŏu duōshăo rén!	That’s for sure! The material all had to be transported by hand. No one knows how many people died!

1A. Zhōngyú is an adverb that means “finally” or “at last.” It’s used here in the sense of always having wanted to do something but only now “finally” being able to achieve your goal. Zuìhòu, which you learned in 8-4, has the same meaning of “finally” but has a different connotation: zuìhòu has a temporal sense, as in “First I did this, then I did that, and then finally (zuìhòu) I did something else.” Here are two examples that contrast zhōngyú and zuìhòu:

Wŏ yĭqián cháng tīngshuō Bĕijīng kăoyā shi Bĕijīng míngcài, xiànzài zhōngyú chīdàole, zhēn shi míng-bù-xū-chuán.

“I’ve often heard that Peking Duck is a famous Beijing dish, and now I’ve finally eaten some; it truly has a well deserved reputation.”

Chī kăoyāde shíhou, nĭ xiān bă tiánmiànjiàng túzai bĭngshang, ránhòu fàngshang cōng, yāròu, zuìhòu zài bă bĭng juánqilai, jiù kéyi chīle.

“When you eat Peking Duck, you first spread the sweet flour sauce onto the pancake, then you put on scallions and the duck meat, and finally you roll up the pancake, and then you can eat it.”

1B. Wŏ zhōngyú dēngshang Cháng Chéng le! “I’ve finally climbed on the Great Wall!” There could have been a completed action -le here after dēngshang “climbed.” In other words, the speaker could have said Wŏ zhōngyú dēngshangle Cháng Chéng le. However, with double le in sentences with unquantified objects that indicate completed action, the first -le is often omitted. Similarly, Wŏ yĭjīng chīle fàn le “I’ve already eaten” often becomes Wŏ yĭjīng chīfàn le.

1C. GREAT WALL OF CHINA. The full Chinese name for the Cháng Chéng “Great Wall” is Wànlĭ Cháng Chéng “the 10,000 li long wall.” The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan Pass in the east to Jiayuguan Pass in the west, its length totaling over 6,000 kilometers. Construction began in the 7th century BCE, when several of the different states of the time—Qin, Zhao, and Yan—each built walls to protect themselves. During the reign of Qin Shi Huang (221–206 BCE), the so-called “First Emperor” who unified China, these walls were linked into one longer one. In later dynasties, the Great Wall was periodically repaired and reinforced. Most of the present Great Wall was built in the Ming Dynasty. Badaling used to be the main outpost for safeguarding Beijing. The wall at Badaling, one of the most magnificent sections of the wall, is 7.8 meters high and about 5 meters wide, built with rectangular slabs of stones as well as bricks.

2. The meaning of the Classical Chinese morpheme fēi is “not be” or “non-.” You’ve encountered it in fēicháng “not ordinarily” or “extremely” (15-1) and fēixīyān qū “non-smoking section” (18-3).

3A. Míng-bù-xū-chuán literally means “(its) fame (is) not emptily spread,” that is, “there is a reason for its fame” or “it has a well deserved reputation.”

3B. Cháng Chéng dàodĭ yŏu duō cháng? “How long really is the Great Wall?” Dàodĭ “after all” or “really” is sometimes best translated by stress. Here are some more examples with dàodĭ:

Nĭ shuō yŏu rén zăoshang liùdiàn jiù dă diànhuà gĕi wŏ, dàodĭ shi shéi ne?

“You say somebody called me on the phone at 6 a.m.; so who actually was it?”

3C. Notice in this line the question Cháng Chéng dàodĭ yŏu duō cháng? “How long really is the Great Wall?” (lit. “Great Wall after all has how long?”). Also note the answer to this question in the next line: Hăoxiàng yŏu liùqiānduōgōnglĭ cháng “It seems to be over 6,000 kilometers in length” (lit. “Seems has more than 6,000 kilometers long”). Yŏu...cháng here means “be...in length.” Review grammar note 17-3: 6 on yŏu + QUANTITY EXPRESSION + STATIVE VERB to indicate size, distance, etc.

4A. Gōnglĭ “kilometer” literally means “public mile” and derives from the traditional Chinese unit of length the lĭ, which was approximately one-half kilometer. In SV1 you also learn yīnglĭ “mile” (lit. “English mile”).

4B. Note the duō in liùqiānduōgōnglĭ “more than six thousand kilometers.” Cf. also, in line 6, liăngqiānduōnián “more than two thousand years.”

6A. USE OF ZÀI IN TIME EXPRESSIONS. Although zài “be located at” most commonly describes physical location, it can also describe location in time. Thus, in this line, zài liăngqiānduōniánqián means “more than 2,000 years ago.” This zài is optional.

6B. Note the -de in búduànde “unceasingly” or “continuously” and review note 15-1: 1C on the use of -de as adverbial modifier to express manner. This -de is optional.

7A. The speaker on the video and audio discs says nàge shíhou for nèige shíhou “(at) that time.” Either pronunciation is correct.

7B. Xiūqilai means “in the building.” Review the pattern VERB + -qilai “in the VERB-ing” (6-2: 5A).

7C. GÒU + STATIVE VERB + -DE. The word gòu followed by a stative verb followed by -de means “quite,” “pretty,” or “rather.” This is informal, colloquial usage. The gòu, which here functions as an adverb, is the same gòu that elsewhere means “be enough” (cf. colloquial English “Today it sure is cold enough,” in which “enough” has a meaning similar to gòu). In this line, kĕ zhēn gòu bu róngyide means “really not easy at all” or “really quite difficult.” Kĕ zhēn “really” is sometimes added for emphasis. The basic pattern is:

8A. Kĕ bu shì is an idiomatic expression that means “That’s for sure” or “Of course.” Sometimes there is also a following ma, as in Kĕ bu shì ma! “Of course!”

8B. In 19-3: 2 you were introduced to sentences where subject and verb are reversed, such as Lái kèrén le “A guest has come.” In this line there is another example of this: Sĭle bù zhīdào yŏu duōshăo rén “There died I don’t know how many people.” Remember that sentences where the verb comes first always involve an indefinite subject. So while you could say Sĭle hĕn duō rén “A lot of people died” (since in this sentence “people” is indefinite), you could NOT say *Sĭle Xiăo Wángde mŭqīn for “Little Wang’s mother died” (since Little Wang’s mother is a specific individual). Instead, you’d have to say Xiăo Wángde mŭqīn sĭle.

8C. Sĭle bù zhīdào yŏu duōshăo rén! “There died it’s not known how many people there were!” or “Nobody knows how many people died!” The subject of the bù zhīdào is here unexpressed. A fuller version of this sentence would be Shéi yĕ bù zhīdào sĭle duōshăo rén! “Nobody knows how many people died!”

PINYIN	ENGLISH	DATES
Xiàcháo	Xia Dynasty	ca. 2100–1600 BCE
Shāngcháo	Shang Dynasty	ca. 1600–1100 BCE
Xīzhōu	Western Zhou Dynasty	ca. 1100–771 BCE
Dōngzhōu	Eastern Zhou Dynasty	770–256 BCE
Chūnqiū Shídài	Spring and Autumn Period	770–476 BCE
Zhànguó Shídài	Warring States Period	475–221 BCE
Qíncháo	Qin Dynasty	221–207 BCE
Xīhàn	Western Han Dynasty	206 BCE–24 CE
Dōnghàn	Eastern Han Dynasty	25–220
Sānguó Shídài	Three Kingdoms Period	220–280
Xījìn	Western Jin	265–316
Dōngjìn	Eastern Jin	317–420
Nánbĕicháo	Northern and Southern Dynasties	420–581
Suícháo	Sui Dynasty	581–618
Tángcháo	Tang Dynasty	618–907
Wŭdài	Five Dynasties Period	907–960
Bĕisòng	Northern Song Dynasty	960–1127
Nánsòng	Southern Song Dynasty	1127–1279
Liáocháo	Liao Dynasty	907–1125
Jīncháo	Jin Dynasty	1115–1234
Yuáncháo	Yuan Dynasty	1271–1368
Míngcháo	Ming Dynasty	1368–1644
Qīngcháo	Qing Dynasty	1644–1911
Zhōnghuá Mínguó	Republic of China	1912–
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó	People’s Republic of China	1949–

1. yīnglĭ	mile [M]
2. zhànzhēng	war [N]
3. kuān	be wide [SV]

Zhèjĭtiān kĕ zhēn gòu lĕngde.	“These last few days sure have been cold enough.”
Nĭ yĕ gòu mángde.	“You’re pretty busy yourself.”

GÒU	STATIVE VERB	-DE
gòu	jĭnzhāng	de
“quite intense”