Re: Mah-Jong and Tai-Chi (Misinterpretation Victims)
- From: al <alee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:17:15 -0700 (PDT)
On May 17, 4:34 pm, al <a...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Apr 18, 10:35 pm, al <a...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mah-Jong and Tai-Chi (victims of misinterpretation)
Who first translated Tai-Chi? I don't know.
The translation is a classic example of misinterpretation.
What, if anything, does “Extreme Ultimate” mean to anybody?
“Extreme Ultimate” is a pair of adjectives: 太 极 or 太 ?. It’s like
saying something being “highest lightest”; meaningless.
Philosophically, Tai-Chi is the ultimate place of origin, sometimes
referred to as the Great Emptiness or Void which is unknown and unseen
as to exactly location.
The two words are Tai , 太, and Chi, ? (or 极). Tai is the birthing
place, because 太 in Chinese is known as the vagina of a woman. It is
used in common swearing term by young and old, male and female. They
all know what that means. The symbol is that of two legs and a baby or
something. Chi can be a modifier, ultimate, or an object as in 北极,
North Pole. The two words, Tai-Chi (太 极), together can be a metaphor
for primal universal origin representing a concept of an ultimate
birthplace where ten-thousand and everything else began.
Now when 2 words 太 极 can mean that much philosophically, one can
certainly consider the possibility and probability that 15 words (东南西
北, east south west north, and 中 发 白 plus four more words for flowers
that match the four seasons 春夏秋冬, spring summer autumn winter) have
some meaning more than just “Cash, String and Myriad” in the mahjong
set.
Cash, string and Myriad sound like Extreme Ultimate to me, basically
meaningless with no correlation to the unique features of mahjong or
its method of play, nor the game as a whole conceptually.
Mah-Jong has a far-more deeper meaning. The game was first played by
the literate elite. The terminology of the game today has been muddled
at later time by slang, ignorance and various dialects in different
regions of China and then by Westerners who nicknamed symbols, like
Dragons, on their own.
Western influence was so penetrating 150 years ago, what was
translated, interpreted and written, right or wrong, by beginners to
the game while they were groping their way around for bits and scraps
of information then, still stands.
What a pity...
+++++++++++++++++
Cheers.....al
I have another example of less than accurate interpretation of Chinese
word/expression.
'EARLY HEAVEN EIGHT TRIGRAMS' IS LITERAL TRANSLATION.
In Chinese, the symbols of 'SUN' and 'SKY' can mean 'DAY'. I suppose a
day begins with a sunrise and the sky is bright and clear. That is
understandable.
In old olden days, the sun or sky was the only source of light.
Then 'SKY' is high, high above and beyond. There was 'HEAVEN'. That is
OK.
When there is also a 'group of 'LATER HEAVEN EIGHT DIAGRAMS', then the
interpretation is different.
The definitions should be 'Early Day Eight-Trigram' and 'Later Day
Eight-Trigram'. The two sets of trigrams came in different time. FuXi
trigrams (read counter- clockwise); King Wen trigrams (rearranged
later to read clockwise).
That is the way I see it. BTW, HEAVEN is one of the eight trigrams.
Its picture is three solid lines in the Early-Day and Later-Day
trigram-sets.No difference in the 'HEAVEN' trigram, so the group name
(Bagua) should not be used as such.
+++++++++++++++
Cheers.....al
+++++++++++++
Here is evidence of smother victim of misinterpretation in Mah-Jong
terminology.
索引 [pinyin suo yin] meaning INDEX. This 索引 is a term in my dictionary.
索 by itself is either (1) a rope [as a noun] or (2) to ask for or (3)
to demand, and 引 means guide or lead. Together 索引 is an index..
索 (suo3) had been interpreted as 'string' ( like a stretched thin
rope) by some one unaware of the different meanings when the same word
was used as verb.
Furthermore, 'cash-coins' were used as loose change because of their
value being a fraction of a cent, so it made no sense to tie them up
with a string. The interpretation was not based on knowledge of
Chinese culture.
I brought along 9 coins on a red string when I left China. That was my
parting gift for good luck and long life. It had nothing related to
Mah-Jong.
+++++++++++++
.
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