ENPages That Need Review
Arthur W. Hummel Sr., notebooks, Fenchow, China 1914-1924
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things new-comers must learn to tolerate.
A student who has been in mischief writes to apologize or make the matter right with you. To avoid a direct apology he says, "someone told me that you said the other day I was in that plot I was exceedingly sorry to hear that because I really wasn't in it at all". He can then get you to say that you never said such a thing at all to any one and that if he wasn't in it, it is all very well.
Foreign words in Chinese :- 葡萄 p'u t'ao grapes from Greek Βo'τρus? 司馬遷 in 91 BC. says that grapes and horses were introduced from Fergana & Arabia
西瓜 water melon is from Greek σik'va
蘿蔔 lo-po radish is from Greek ρa'ϕn
Japanese word for incense is 安息香 Ansoku ko The above word in China means Parthia
Pomegranate in China is "the Parthian fruit" or 安息榴
獅 shih lion is said to come from Persian "shir" The Persian word "[Yesumbord?] 耀森文 was adopted in the Chinese trans. of Indian [books?] on astronomy in the 8th cent.
The words 婆彈 Satan, and 彌尸訶 Messiah appear in two or three differt forms in Chinese writings of the T'ang era.
The Hebrew and Shedek (攝提格) appeared in Chinese works on astronomy
The Japanese word Maru (丸 or 麻呂) once used in sense of "Master" "God" "Saint" now used as name of a ship is traced to [?] "Mar", Mars or Mari meaning "Master" "God". In China the characters 摩 or 麻囉 is used for 麻呂 玻璃 poli glass, first manufactured in China 424 AD comes from Turkish billur, cf. polish
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(continued)
In China you can ask any question and also give any answer. cf. 給了多少錢, ans 沒有給多少錢
It is wise for all to sleep in afternoon. Two kinds of missionaries those who stay, those who don't. Those who take naps in afternoon stay.
Never can get out of sight of either a living or a dead Chinese. If Chinese people were to hold hands they would encircle the earth ten times. If they went past you single file the procession would never end.
Chinese think sullying into a handkerchief and putting it in pocket very queer + indelicate.
Japanese can detect odors of foreigners, a Japanese student in America wrote Doctor's thesis on odors of Westerners. He attached the odor to the greater amount of meat which Westerners eat compared to Orientals.
In walking abreast Chinese "sift thru" when meeting others.
When passing a man who is carrying goods on a pole always pass him on the side where his carrying pole is not, and you have no difficulty in passing.
Describe customs in cart riding - get off at village or else get into cart + close blinds. Carts with women must give way to carts with men. Never lose temper with a carter.
Overcleanliness in hospitals does not appeal to many Chinese who sometimes care more for personal freedom then the rules of hygiene of which they are ignorant. If reproved they will go to a native doctor where the standards are not so high. "It is only the very progressive who have learned to value the rewards of science enough to pay what they cost in self-discipline and vigilance. To lose patience - to maintain standards while loving the hearts of the people - is to fail of the goal - Educ. Rev. Oct. 1920
Mr. [Stinmeyer?] tells of stopping at an inn in the early 80ties. The innkeeper sat on the [kiang?] beside him and asked him his age, country, occupation, etc. always getting nearer and apparently more in earnest, finally putting his hand on his
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[松]柏獨存本性 棑梨盡屬公門 said of a teacher. This was hung on lanterns at [?] when giving [?] to new [?].
Your talents like the pine & fir, always retain their original characteristics. The exceptional & talented (peach & plum) students are all your disciples Pupils called [?] and plums - unripe fruit receiving [?] from teacher.
竹月[松]風 Emblem of beauty & piety. The moon shining thru the bamboo and the wind soughing thru the pines. This is also written [松]風水月, which comes from an ancient couplet as follows. 松風水月未足比其清華 仙露明珠詎能方其郎潤
千年老樹為衣架 萬里長江作浴盆 This is a perfect couplet since noun stands opposite noun, verb opposite verb, adjec. against adjec. and the tones are in perfect juxtaposition.
Once during the triennial examination at Nanking one of the candidates met a man near the Yangtze river in the act of undressing for a bath and hanging his clothes on the dried up twigs of an old tree near the rivers water's edge. Being accustomed to put all his thots into smooth sentences, our friend mumbled the words 千年老樹衣架 but then got stuck. In vain he cudgelled his brain to get a second line matching the first; altho he worried day and night no suitable idea would occur to him. Finally he lost his sleep and soon also what reason had been left him. Anyhow he came to the conclusion that such a life was not worth living so he put an end to it by jumping into the river ..... People who passed the place where the poor man had drowned himself constantly heard a voice from the water repeating these words 千年老樹為衣架. Evidently the poor ghost could find no rest till his line was capped with a parallel. The case was repeated to the Chief Examiner (Hsueh Tai) who lived up to his great reputation and finished the couplet with the second line thus 萬里長江作浴盆. From that moment the poor spirit was at rest - M. H. Ruck in the China Bookman Sept. 1919
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黃河之水天上來 奔流到海不復回 By Tu Fu(?) referring to the passing of time.
同舟共濟持危扶顛 刷新精神母稍退餒 The above was in a New Year's greeting sent out by Educ. Board of Shansi Governmt.
東壁圖書府 西園翰墨林 From Tang Dynasty poem. These lines now pasted on letter boxes (in [Fenchow?]) and on ink stones.
能患於職務者 ［？］是真基督徒 on gate keeper's house Fenchow.
撒[?]空中差可擬 不如柳絮滿天飛 It seems methinks as the the air were filled with scattered salt. Say rather willow catkins floating [?] over heaven's vault. The above 1st line [?] by a certain 謝道韞 Hsieh Tao Yün. His niece immediately [capped?] the 2nd line.
At Ma Pu near Mien Shan saw over door the following sentence 尊天化普声雷元应天九 with the radical 雨 over each character. Also saw a pannier on a horse with a couplet of 7 characters on each side, each character having the radical 辵 辶 for walking.
卜云其吉 over a door near Sui te Chou. Shensi
倉德 storehouse of virtue (near Sui Te Chou Shensi)
竹苞松[盛] on doors
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古寺有塵清風掃 山門無鎖白雲封
七重寶樹圍金界 一點閒燈伴白雲 In temple
白蓮台上弥勒佛 紫竹林中觀世音
聞香下馬 over a door in shrine
倉義 storehouse of righteousness over house door in Shensi
春為一歲首 梅占百花魁 梅柳爭春
燕視三多 梅呈五福
貨聚五都 may my gods gather in the 5 Capitals
日高花影重 風暖鳥聲碎
志在春秋功在漢 心同日月義同天 raid of Kuan Ti
竹報平安
五更雲夢三千里 一日思親十二時 In front of box containing the ancestral tablet.
畫魚難畫尾,畫馬難畫腿 畫龍難畫骨 知人知面不知心 Heard a fortune teller repeat this on streets of Fenchow while drawing pictures with his finger nails on polished tin
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主因信實千金托 客為公平萬里投 on door of inn
簾垂小閣畄[?]影 引吒方書信手翻 The above is the couplet a bamboo [?] the [?] [?] gave to me - (does not fit - a [like?] couplet).
白日依山盡 黃河入海流 欲窮千里目 更上一層樓 - Li Po. The sun completes its course behind the mountains. The Yellow River flows away into the sea. Would you [?] a prospect of a [?] li climb yet one storey higher - Giles Englis [Britannica?]
聞香皆下馬, 得味盡[停?]車 on outer gate of a Fenchow courtyard.
遇急思親戚 臨危託故人 When in anxiety one thinks of his relatives When in danger he flies to his friends.
目下一言不定 早晚市價不同 posted in shop at Nanking on money [?]
德門蔭遠 仁里春深 On a Chinese front door in Nanking. Shadow keep aloof from the virtuous house Spring tarries long in a benevolent village
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存好心做好事說好話 學好人但行好事莫問前程 A notice on wall of Fenchow temple. 1922
月落鳥啼霜滿天 江楓魚水對愁眼 姑蘇城外寒山寺 夜半鐘聲到客船 Seen on a grandfather clock in Peking.
為學日益,為道日損 自知者明,自勝者強
The following composed by Jen Tzu Ying of West [Suburb?] Fenchow and put on rear gate of new Chapel which he did so need to erect there (putting in [?] of his own money, giving the land, and his two millstones for the poor to come & use) Over the gate 漸入佳境 Gradually entering a lovely environment 引經據典談天道 破迷醒夢[晚?]人心 With the scripture as a basis to talk of the heavenly way Appeal to men's hearts to blast superstitions and awake from dreams.
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紅梅枝上傳春信 黃鳥聲中送好音 Over door of Yamen
[Chinese characters] 對我生寸 出門見喜 Seen in Hengtung South Shansi
文必韓栁 書必鐘緜 In literature we must place Han Yü and Liu Tsung-yuan first. In caligraphy we must put Chung Mian.
風流人物來西晉 翰墨文章大小蘇 For men of class and reputatin the eastern and western China dynasties For skill in exposition Su Hsün and his son Su Tung-p'o.
竹報平安 The fire crackers (爆)竹) announce 報 peace. Before the invention of firecrackers, the Chinese heated bamboo 竹 [joints?] which in [opening?] made a crackling sound.
閒門草色迷三徑 深院書聲醉六經 The paths in front of the deserted cottage are [choked?] with weeds fragrant odors. Deep in the court yard issues the souds of pupils mentally intoxicated with the six Canons. as they [illegible]
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The following on wheelbarrows:- 遠近達道逍遥過 進退連環運遇通
Characters on two big gates Right gate 活[源?]流 Left gate 活潑 All have water radical.
千里為重重水重山重慶府 一人成大大邦大國大明君 The first line above was made [by?] Ch'ien Lung for student's Exam. A student from Ch'ung Ch'ing Fu 重慶府 made the reply, not knowing that the emperor wrote the first line.
The following a line couplet by 鄭板橋 看來世事錢能語 說到人情劍欲鳴 戴月披星 the moon for a hat and the stars for a cloak – of travellers. Seen as a lantern.
Mottoes on Gov. Yen's Middle School. 茹古涵今 Consult past submerge immerse self in present. 歸真反璞 Put right first (right side of a gem)