Welcome to Amber and Victor’s Chinese Buffet, ChineseClass101’s smorgasbord of Chinese cultural quirks, news, travel, history, and the source of all the tidbits you always wanted to know about China, but had no idea even existed. Amber and Victor will bring a little taste of China to you each week on the Chinese Buffet show. Load up weekly!
In this segment, “General Tso’s China,” Amber and Victor feature a quirky or momentous tidbit from history, and take a deeper look at its impact on society and the people of China today.
Today’s topic is Confucius. We know he was wise, but what else do we know about this renowned Chinese thinker? Today, on the Chinese Buffet, Amber and Victor look at what Confucius actually said, and the extent of his impact on Chinese society, past and present. And Victor gives a rundown on some ancient Chinese wisdom that you won’t want to miss!












This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Culture Class . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
9 Responses to “Culture Class #9 - Amber and Victor’s Chinese Buffet: General Tso’s China - Confucius”
Saturday at 6:30 pm
Tell us your favorite Confucius quote!
Saturday at 11:45 pm
@Amber/Victor
i have two lighthearted ones:
1- ‘it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop’
this one can be applied to my learning of mandarin. can you translate it for me?
2- ‘there is no best there is only better’ (méi yǒu zùihǎo zhǐ yǒu gènghǎo)
i’ve worked on this one on my own
BTW have you been able to enjoy the sounds and atmosphere of the USOPEN this week along with the great weather
Sunday at 10:09 pm
Was it Confucius who said “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step?”
Monday at 7:41 am
@蓝大卫,
I believe it was him who said that … as in 千里之行,始于足下。
@ Richard,
Awesome quotes, especially the first one. Unfortunately I’m not sure how to translate the first one, but I did find an complete translation list for all of Confucius’ Analects: http://www.chinese-wiki.com/Analects_of_Confucius You may find some luck there if you have the time to look through it.
The second quote, and your translation of it, was actually used in a commercial in China, I think for the Haier Corp. 没有最好, 只有更好, pretty cool.
Victor
Monday at 11:17 am
@蓝大卫,@Victor,
actually 千里之行,始于足下was said by 老子(lǎozǐ)-Lao-Tse. 老子(lǎozǐ) lived in the same time as Confucius, but his hometown was Henan province and confucius lived in Shandong province…
Monday at 1:11 pm
@richard,
for the sentence “it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop”, i think the chinese version is 譬如为山,未成一篑,止,吾止也。譬如平地,虽覆一篑,进,吾往也。with pinyin ,it should be:譬如(pìrú)为(wéi)山(shān),未(wèi)成(chéng)一(yī)篑(kuì),止(zhǐ),吾(wú)止(zhǐ)也(yě)。譬如(pìrú)平地(píngdì),虽(suī)覆(fù)一(yī)篑(kuì),进(jìn),吾(wú)往(wǎng)也(yě)。
and the direct translation should be: if we want to make a mountain and stop while it still lack a basket of soil, it cannot called as a mountain. on the contrary, if we want to make a mountain by gathering baskets of soil, and never stop, we can finally make it.
so some body also translate this sentence as: Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.
Tuesday at 1:31 am
zhouli,
Thanks for the correction and the translation … cool stuf!
Tuesday at 1:39 pm
@Victor,
Wednesday at 4:33 pm
great lesson!
Leave a Reply