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(2263, 1, '2020-05-07 17:46:45', '2020-05-07 21:46:45', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nOh man, I just found a <a href=\"http://www.rain8.com/article/class4/201202/9103.htm\">huge trove</a> of essays by <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Ching-hsuan\">Lin Qingxuan</a> (林清玄), all of which are just the right length and language level for intermediate readers, so expect a ton more from him.  \r\n\r\nLin Qingxuan was an award-winning Taiwanese essayist. He studied Buddhism, and following along as he marvels at the wonders of nature, time, space, and reincarnation, you can tell. This piece is all about awe of the natural world, and you\'ll learn some Discovery Channel vocab, like \"pupa\", \"mate\", \"breed\", \"spawn\", and all that kind of stuff. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nI changed one word of the Chinese original, because the version I found included the name of some kind of fish (娃鱼 [pinyin]wa2 yu2[/pinyin]) that I couldn\'t find online anywhere, so it was either a typo, or that fish is just too obscure for the internet, or maybe it\'s the way that fish is referred to in Taiwanese but not in mainland Mandarin. I changed it to 鲸鱼, \"whale\", because it makes sense in context and [pinyin]wa2 yu2[/pinyin] kind of sounds like \"whale\", but if anyone knows what a 娃鱼 is, by all means, enlighten me.\r\n\r\nAll the grammatical structures in here, to my eye, were uncomplicated, and there are no colloquialisms, so I think all the work in understanding this piece is just learning new animal-related vocab. Do comment if you see something I ought to explain.  \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《蝴蝶的种子》</h4>\r\n我在院子里，观察一只蛹，如何变成蝴蝶。\r\n\r\n那只蛹咬破了壳，全身湿软地从壳中钻了出来，它的翅膀卷曲皱缩成一团，它站在枝桠上休息晒太阳，好像钻出壳已经用了很大的力气。\r\n\r\n它慢慢地、慢慢地，伸直翅膀，飞了起来。\r\n\r\n它在空中盘桓了一下子，很快地找寻到一朵花，它停在花上，专注、忘情地吸着花蜜。\r\n\r\n我感到非常吃惊，这只蝴蝶从来没有被教育怎么飞翔，从来没有学习过如何去吸花蜜，没有爸爸妈妈教过它，这些都是它的第一次，它的第一次就做得多么精确而完美呀！\r\n\r\n我想到，这只蝴蝶将来还会交配、繁衍、产卵、死亡，这些也都不必经由学习和教育。\r\n\r\n然后，它繁衍的子孙，一代一代，也不必教育和学习，就会飞翔和采花了。\r\n\r\n一只蝴蝶是依赖什么来安排它的一生呢？未经教育与学习，它又是如何来完成像飞翔或采蜜如此复杂的事呢？\r\n\r\n这个世界不是有很多未经教育与学习就完美展现的事吗？鸟的筑巢、蜘蛛的结网多么完美！孔雀想谈恋爱时，就开屏跳舞！云雀有了爱意，就放怀唱歌；天鹅和鲸鱼历经千里也不迷路；印度豹与鸵鸟天生就是赛跑高手。\r\n\r\n这些都使我相信轮回是真实的。\r\n\r\n一只蝴蝶乃是带着前世的种子投生到这个世界，在它的种子里，有一个不可动摇的信念：\r\n\r\n“我将飞翔！我将采蜜！我将繁衍子孙！”\r\n\r\n在那只美丽的蝴蝶身上，我看到空间的无限与时间的流动，深深地感动了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n<h4>Seed of a Butterfly</h4>\r\n[When] I was in the yard, I observed how a pupa became a butterfly. \r\n\r\nThat pupa bit open its casing, its soft, moist body burrowing out of its shell, its wings curled and wrinkled around him, it stood on the branch and rested while sunning itself, as if in burrowing out of its shell it had already used up a large amount of strength.  \r\n\r\nIt slowly, slowly, straightened its wings, and flew. \r\n\r\nIt lingered in the air a while, and quickly sought out a flower, it paused on the flower, intently, indifferently sucking up the flower\'s honey.\r\n\r\nI felt extremely surprised, this butterfly was never taught how to fly, had never studied how to suck down honey, no mother and father taught it, all of this was its first time, and did this so precisely and perfectly the first time! \r\n\r\nI thought, this butterfly will go on to mate, reproduce, spawn and die, and none of this requires study or education. \r\n\r\nAnd then, the offspring it breeds, generation by generation, will also need no education or study, but will fly and pluck flowers.\r\n\r\nWhat does a butterfly depend on to arrange [the course of] its life? Without undergoing education or study, how does it then complete such complicated tasks as flying and gathering flowers? \r\n\r\nDoesn\'t this world have so many things that don\'t require education or study? How perfect are the nests that birds construct and the webs that spiders tie! When a peacock wants to find a mate, it simply spreads its tail and dances! When a sparrow has an inclination to love, it sings its heart out; swans and whales can travel ten thousand miles and not lose their way; the Indian leopard and the ostrich are innately master racers. \r\n\r\nAll this makes me believe that reincarnation is real. \r\n\r\nA butterfly is still carrying the seeds of its past lives as it enters this world, and in its seed, there is an unwavering conviction:\r\n\r\n\"I will fly! I will gather honey! I will breed offspring!\"\r\n\r\nIn the body of that beautiful butterfly, I could see the limitlessness of space and the flow of time, and was deeply moved. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: 《蝴蝶的种子》Seed of a Butterfly by Lin Qingxuan', 'Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan marvels at the wonders of nature, time, space, and reincarnation. This piece is all about awe of the natural world, and you\'ll learn some Discovery Channel vocab, like \"pupa\", \"mate\", \"breed\", \"spawn\", and lots of animal names.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2239-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-07 17:46:45', '2020-05-07 21:46:45', '', 2239, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/2239-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2264, 1, '2020-05-12 00:00:06', '2020-05-12 04:00:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>长什么样</strong> [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \r\n\r\n<strong>原来</strong> [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>只不过</strong> [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n<strong>才能</strong> [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'This story is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. A challenge for HSK 2, should be smoother for HSK 3.', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-chengyu-idioms-mang-ren-mo-xiang', '', '', '2020-05-13 22:01:38', '2020-05-14 02:01:38', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2264', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(2268, 1, '2020-05-07 19:49:27', '2020-05-07 23:49:27', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang ren mo xiang[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n胆子 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - In English, when we want to describe someone who\'s brave, we may say they have \"lots of courage\". In Chinese, they use \"big courage\" (胆子大) and \"small courage\" (胆子小) instead. In Mr. Coward\'s name, this has been shortened to 胆小.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/291450108_100010175\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象长什么样，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” 原来第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它只不过是一根绳子。”原来他摸到的是大象的尾巴。四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样才能真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-07 19:49:27', '2020-05-07 23:49:27', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2265, 1, '2020-05-07 19:22:47', '2020-05-07 23:22:47', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nMr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. \n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\nA few words being used in their less common definitions. \n\n胆子 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - In English, when we want to describe someone who\'s brave, we may say they have \"lots of courage\". In Chinese, they use \"big courage\" (胆子大) and \"small courage\" (胆子小) instead. In Mr. Coward\'s name, this has been shortened to 胆小.\n\n放 [pinyin]fang4[/pinyin] - The most common usage of this word is \"to put\", but in this case, its alternate meaning is being used: \"to let go\", or \"to set free\", as in birds or captives. \n\n配 [pinyin]pei4[/pinyin] - One definition for this word is \"match\", as in \"Does this shirt match this blouse?\" But here, it\'s being used as \"deserve\", as in \"You don\'t deserve me!\"\n\n...呀...呀 [pinyin]ya[/pinyin] - So, this one\'s interesting. The sound 呀 can be used when you\'re listing out similar things. You use it after every item in the list. Take the English sentence: \"They feasted on pies, and cakes, and cookies, and candy... it was a real banquet!\" In Chinese, you\'d add 呀 like this: \"They feasted on pies 呀, and cakes 呀, and cookies 呀 and candy 呀...\". You can do it with actions, too: \"We were at the beach for hours, we played 呀, and swam 呀, and lay in the sun 呀.\" This adds an unspoken sense of happy abundance to your sentence. \n\n咚 [pinyin]dong1[/pinyin] - An onomatopoeia describing the sound of a thump\n\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Often means \"originally\", as in \"I originally intended to come Monday\", but in this case means \"Turns out\", as in \"Turns out I had something else to do that day.\"\n \n以为 [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - I just covered this one in <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/chinese-childrens-stories-tomato-girl/\">a recent beginner post</a>, so if you\'re a frequent reader, you\'ll get to use what you learned here. If not, go check it out.\n\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/291450108_100010175\">Source here</a>.\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>胆小先生</h4>\n有一位先生，住在一座漂亮的房子里。因为他的<span class=\"highlightText\">胆子</span>很小，大家都叫他胆小先生。\n\n一天，一只大老鼠闯进了他的房子。胆小先生马上去捉，结果在地下室捉住了它。\n\n\"你<span class=\"highlightText\">放</span>了我!\"大老鼠挣扎着说，\"我要是一跺脚，整个房子就塌了。\"\n\n胆小先生害怕了，连忙放开了他，还允许他住在地下室里。\n\n地下室里吃的东西真多，大老鼠吃<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，喝<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，真开心。后来，大老鼠生了一窝小老鼠，小老鼠又长成大老鼠……很快，地下室住满了老鼠。\n\n\"不行，不行!\"大老鼠冲着胆小先生嚷嚷：\"这么多老鼠住这么一个小小的地下室，而你一个人住那么多房间，太不合理了，得换房子。\"\n\n\"换房子?\"胆小先生住在地下室，老鼠们住进各个房间，他们在宽大的客厅里唱<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，跳<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，在喷香的厨房里喝<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，吃<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，每天都像过节一样。\n\n\"你应该搬出去!\"大老鼠又冲着胆小先生嚷嚷，\"你干嘛住在地下室?这么好的地下室，你<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>住吗?\"\n\n\"什么?\"胆小先生气愤得跺了一下右脚，\"<span class=\"highlightText\">咚</span>\"老鼠们害怕了，他们个个抱头乱窜，以为地震了。\n\n\"哦，<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>我是很有力量的!\"胆小先生抓起旧扫帚，这儿一扑，那儿一打，这儿一戳，那儿一捣，老鼠被打得\"吱吱\"叫，全逃走了。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nThere was a man who lived in a beautiful house. Because he had very little courage, everyone called him Mr. Coward. \n\nOne day, a big mouse charged into his house. Mr. Coward immediately went to catch it, and the result was that he caught it in the basement. \n\n\"Let me go!\" the big mouse said, struggling, \"If I stamp one foot, the whole house will fall down.\" \n\nMr. Coward was afraid, and hurriedly let him go, and even allowed him to live in the basement. \n\nThere was lots to eat in the basement, and the big mouse ate, and drank, and had lots of fun. Later, the big mouse birthed a nest of little mice, and the little mice grew into big mice.... soon, the basement was full of mice.\n \n\"This won\'t do, this won\'t do!\" the big mouse yelled at Mr. Coward, \"This many mice living in this small, small basement, and you alone living in that many rooms, it\'s too unreasonable, we have to switch quarters.\" \n\n\"Switch quarters?\" So Mr. Coward [went to] live in the basement, the mice moved into every [upstairs] room, and in the wide living room they sange, and jumped, and in the fragrant kitchen they drank, and ate, and every day was like a holiday.  \n\n\"You should move out!\" the big mouse again yelled at Mr. Coward, \"What are you doing living in the basement? Such a nice basement, do you deserve to live there?\"\n\n\"What?\" Mr. Coward was so angry he stamped his left foot, <em>\"Dong...\"</e> The mice were afraid, they covered their heads and fled in disarray, thinking it was an earthquake. \n\n\"Oh! Turns out I\'m quite fierce!\" Mr. Coward grabbed up an old broom, pouncing here, hitting there, stabbing here and beating there, beating the mice until they squeaked \"<em>zhi zhi</em>\", and they all ran away.\n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《胆小先生》Mr. Coward', 'Mr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2006-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-07 19:22:47', '2020-05-07 23:22:47', '', 2006, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/2006-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2266, 1, '2020-05-07 19:13:40', '2020-05-07 23:13:40', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nMr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThere\'s not much rough grammar here, but there are few words being used in their less common definitions. \r\n\r\n胆子 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - In English, when we want to describe someone who\'s brave, we may say they have \"lots of courage\". In Chinese, they use \"big courage\" (胆子大) and \"small courage\" (胆子小) instead. In Mr. Coward\'s name, this has been shortened to 胆小.\r\n\r\n放 [pinyin]fang4[/pinyin] - The most common usage of this word is \"to put\", but in this case, its alternate meaning is being used: \"to let go\", or \"to set free\", as in birds or captives. \r\n\r\n配 [pinyin]pei4[/pinyin] - One definition for this word is \"match\", as in \"Does this shirt match this blouse?\" But here, it\'s being used as \"deserve\", as in \"You don\'t deserve me!\"\r\n\r\n咚 [pinyin]dong1[/pinyin] - An onomatopoeia describing the sound of a thump\r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Often means \"originally\", as in \"I originally intended to come Monday\", but in this case means \"Turns out\", as in \"Turns out I had something else to do that day.\"\r\n \r\n以为 [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - I just covered this one in <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/chinese-childrens-stories-tomato-girl/\">a recent beginner post</a>, so if you\'re a frequent reader, you\'ll get to use what you learned here. If not, go check it out.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/291450108_100010175\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>胆小先生</h4>\r\n有一位先生，住在一座漂亮的房子里。因为他的<span class=\"highlightText\">胆子</span>很小，大家都叫他胆小先生。\r\n\r\n一天，一只大老鼠闯进了他的房子。胆小先生马上去捉，结果在地下室捉住了它。\r\n\r\n\"你<span class=\"highlightText\">放</span>了我!\"大老鼠挣扎着说，\"我要是一跺脚，整个房子就塌了。\"\r\n\r\n胆小先生害怕了，连忙放开了他，还允许他住在地下室里。\r\n\r\n地下室里吃的东西真多，大老鼠吃呀，喝呀，真开心。后来，大老鼠生了一窝小老鼠，小老鼠又长成大老鼠……很快，地下室住满了老鼠。\r\n\r\n\"不行，不行!\"大老鼠冲着胆小先生嚷嚷：\"这么多老鼠住这么一个小小的地下室，而你一个人住那么多房间，太不合理了，得换房子。\"\r\n\r\n\"换房子?\"胆小先生住在地下室，老鼠们住进各个房间，他们在宽大的客厅里唱呀，跳呀，在喷香的厨房里喝呀，吃呀，每天都像过节一样。\r\n\r\n\"你应该搬出去!\"大老鼠又冲着胆小先生嚷嚷，\"你干嘛住在地下室?这么好的地下室，你<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>住吗?\"\r\n\r\n\"什么?\"胆小先生气愤得跺了一下右脚，\"<span class=\"highlightText\">咚</span>\"老鼠们害怕了，他们个个抱头乱窜，以为地震了。\r\n\r\n\"哦，<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>我是很有力量的!\"胆小先生抓起旧扫帚，这儿一扑，那儿一打，这儿一戳，那儿一捣，老鼠被打得\"吱吱\"叫，全逃走了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who lived in a beautiful house. Because he had very little courage, everyone called him Mr. Coward. \r\n\r\nOne day, a big mouse charged into his house. Mr. Coward immediately went to catch it, and the result was that he caught it in the basement. \r\n\r\n\"Let me go!\" the big mouse said, struggling, \"If I stamp one foot, the whole house will fall down.\" \r\n\r\nMr. Coward was afraid, and hurriedly let him go, and even allowed him to live in the basement. \r\n\r\nThere was lots to eat in the basement, and the big mouse ate, and drank, and had lots of fun. Later, the big mouse birthed a nest of little mice, and the little mice grew into big mice.... soon, the basement was full of mice.\r\n \r\n\"This won\'t do, this won\'t do!\" the big mouse yelled at Mr. Coward, \"This many mice living in this small, small basement, and you alone living in that many rooms, it\'s too unreasonable, we have to switch quarters.\" \r\n\r\n\"Switch quarters?\" So Mr. Coward [went to] live in the basement, the mice moved into every [upstairs] room, and in the wide living room they sange, and jumped, and in the fragrant kitchen they drank, and ate, and every day was like a holiday.  \r\n\r\n\"You should move out!\" the big mouse again yelled at Mr. Coward, \"What are you doing living in the basement? Such a nice basement, do you deserve to live there?\"\r\n\r\n\"What?\" Mr. Coward was so angry he stamped his left foot, <em>\"Dong...\"</e> The mice were afraid, they covered their heads and fled in disarray, thinking it was an earthquake. \r\n\r\n\"Oh! Turns out I\'m quite fierce!\" Mr. Coward grabbed up an old broom, pouncing here, hitting there, stabbing here and beating there, beating the mice until they squeaked \"<em>zhi zhi</em>\", and they all ran away.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《胆小先生》Mr. Coward', 'Mr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2006-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-07 19:13:40', '2020-05-07 23:13:40', '', 2006, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/2006-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2267, 1, '2020-05-07 19:23:10', '2020-05-07 23:23:10', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nMr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n胆子 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - In English, when we want to describe someone who\'s brave, we may say they have \"lots of courage\". In Chinese, they use \"big courage\" (胆子大) and \"small courage\" (胆子小) instead. In Mr. Coward\'s name, this has been shortened to 胆小.\r\n\r\n放 [pinyin]fang4[/pinyin] - The most common usage of this word is \"to put\", but in this case, its alternate meaning is being used: \"to let go\", or \"to set free\", as in birds or captives. \r\n\r\n配 [pinyin]pei4[/pinyin] - One definition for this word is \"match\", as in \"Does this shirt match this blouse?\" But here, it\'s being used as \"deserve\", as in \"You don\'t deserve me!\"\r\n\r\n...呀...呀 [pinyin]ya[/pinyin] - So, this one\'s interesting. The sound 呀 can be used when you\'re listing out similar things. You use it after every item in the list. Take the English sentence: \"They feasted on pies, and cakes, and cookies, and candy... it was a real banquet!\" In Chinese, you\'d add 呀 like this: \"They feasted on pies 呀, and cakes 呀, and cookies 呀 and candy 呀...\". You can do it with actions, too: \"We were at the beach for hours, we played 呀, and swam 呀, and lay in the sun 呀.\" This adds an unspoken sense of happy abundance to your sentence. \r\n\r\n咚 [pinyin]dong1[/pinyin] - An onomatopoeia describing the sound of a thump\r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Often means \"originally\", as in \"I originally intended to come Monday\", but in this case means \"Turns out\", as in \"Turns out I had something else to do that day.\"\r\n \r\n以为 [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - I just covered this one in <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/chinese-childrens-stories-tomato-girl/\">a recent beginner post</a>, so if you\'re a frequent reader, you\'ll get to use what you learned here. If not, go check it out.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/291450108_100010175\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>胆小先生</h4>\r\n有一位先生，住在一座漂亮的房子里。因为他的<span class=\"highlightText\">胆子</span>很小，大家都叫他胆小先生。\r\n\r\n一天，一只大老鼠闯进了他的房子。胆小先生马上去捉，结果在地下室捉住了它。\r\n\r\n\"你<span class=\"highlightText\">放</span>了我!\"大老鼠挣扎着说，\"我要是一跺脚，整个房子就塌了。\"\r\n\r\n胆小先生害怕了，连忙放开了他，还允许他住在地下室里。\r\n\r\n地下室里吃的东西真多，大老鼠吃<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，喝<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，真开心。后来，大老鼠生了一窝小老鼠，小老鼠又长成大老鼠……很快，地下室住满了老鼠。\r\n\r\n\"不行，不行!\"大老鼠冲着胆小先生嚷嚷：\"这么多老鼠住这么一个小小的地下室，而你一个人住那么多房间，太不合理了，得换房子。\"\r\n\r\n\"换房子?\"胆小先生住在地下室，老鼠们住进各个房间，他们在宽大的客厅里唱<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，跳<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，在喷香的厨房里喝<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，吃<span class=\"highlightText\">呀</span>，每天都像过节一样。\r\n\r\n\"你应该搬出去!\"大老鼠又冲着胆小先生嚷嚷，\"你干嘛住在地下室?这么好的地下室，你<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>住吗?\"\r\n\r\n\"什么?\"胆小先生气愤得跺了一下右脚，\"<span class=\"highlightText\">咚</span>\"老鼠们害怕了，他们个个抱头乱窜，以为地震了。\r\n\r\n\"哦，<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>我是很有力量的!\"胆小先生抓起旧扫帚，这儿一扑，那儿一打，这儿一戳，那儿一捣，老鼠被打得\"吱吱\"叫，全逃走了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who lived in a beautiful house. Because he had very little courage, everyone called him Mr. Coward. \r\n\r\nOne day, a big mouse charged into his house. Mr. Coward immediately went to catch it, and the result was that he caught it in the basement. \r\n\r\n\"Let me go!\" the big mouse said, struggling, \"If I stamp one foot, the whole house will fall down.\" \r\n\r\nMr. Coward was afraid, and hurriedly let him go, and even allowed him to live in the basement. \r\n\r\nThere was lots to eat in the basement, and the big mouse ate, and drank, and had lots of fun. Later, the big mouse birthed a nest of little mice, and the little mice grew into big mice.... soon, the basement was full of mice.\r\n \r\n\"This won\'t do, this won\'t do!\" the big mouse yelled at Mr. Coward, \"This many mice living in this small, small basement, and you alone living in that many rooms, it\'s too unreasonable, we have to switch quarters.\" \r\n\r\n\"Switch quarters?\" So Mr. Coward [went to] live in the basement, the mice moved into every [upstairs] room, and in the wide living room they sange, and jumped, and in the fragrant kitchen they drank, and ate, and every day was like a holiday.  \r\n\r\n\"You should move out!\" the big mouse again yelled at Mr. Coward, \"What are you doing living in the basement? Such a nice basement, do you deserve to live there?\"\r\n\r\n\"What?\" Mr. Coward was so angry he stamped his left foot, <em>\"Dong...\"</e> The mice were afraid, they covered their heads and fled in disarray, thinking it was an earthquake. \r\n\r\n\"Oh! Turns out I\'m quite fierce!\" Mr. Coward grabbed up an old broom, pouncing here, hitting there, stabbing here and beating there, beating the mice until they squeaked \"<em>zhi zhi</em>\", and they all ran away.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《胆小先生》Mr. Coward', 'Mr. Coward\'s home is invaded by mice, but he doesn\'t have the gumption to do anything about it. Or does he? This little story will be comfortable at HSK 3-4. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2006-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-07 19:23:10', '2020-05-07 23:23:10', '', 2006, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/2006-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2270, 1, '2020-05-09 23:21:18', '2020-05-10 03:21:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nSong dynasty military folk hero Yuefei (岳飞) gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. \r\n\r\nLong story sort, The Song dynasty had two main enemies, both on their northern border. The Liao (辽) to the Northeast, and the Jin (金) to the Northwest. The Song bickered with the Liao for 150 years, and then both the Song and Liao were invaded by the Jin who took the Song capital at Kaifeng and forced them to relocate it south, to modern-day Hangzhou. The pre-invasion period is called the \"Northern Song\", because the song capital was in the north, and the post-invasion period the \"Southern Song\", because the capital was moved south. The way history remembers it, the Song Dynasty was corrupt and broken, which is why the Jin were able to take the capital city, and the nation only survived thanks to heroes like Yuefei. \r\n\r\nThe story of Yuefei\'s tattoo is full of machismo and to-the-death loyalty, and gossip is that gangsters or military will sometimes get this same tat. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns, here: we\'ve got the dynasty names, the Liao (辽), the Jin (金) and the Song (宋); we\'ve got the name of the Song capital Kaifeng (开封), we\'ve got people like Yuefei (岳飞), his mother Madam Yaotai (姚太夫人), and Deputy Marshall Zongze (副元帅宗泽). \r\n\r\nWe\'ve also got some things that no longer exist, such as 醋墨, which is a mix of vinegar and ink paste used to smear on wounds to seal them. There\'s also an official / military rank, 秉义郎, which I\'ve translated as \"Minister of Righteous Justice\", which only existed during the Song Dynasty. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, we have classical-ish Chinese being used in a quote: “智勇才艺，古良将不能过”. Breaking this down word-by-word clears its meaning right up:\r\n\r\n智 - Intelligent\r\n勇 - brave\r\n才 - talented\r\n艺，- artistic\r\n古 - antiquity\r\n良 - Good\r\n将 - general (military)\r\n不能 - cannot\r\n过 - defeat\r\n\r\nIn other words, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\"\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B2%B3%E6%AF%8D%E5%88%BA%E5%AD%97/2635978\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>岳飞纹字</h4>\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">岳飞</span>十五六岁时，北方的<span class=\"highlightText\">金</span>人南侵，<span class=\"highlightText\">宋</span>朝当权者腐败无能，节节败退，国家处在生死存亡的关头。岳飞投军抗<span class=\"highlightText\">辽</span>。不久因父丧，退伍还乡守孝。\r\n\r\n1126年，金兵大举入侵中原，岳飞再次投军。临行前，<span class=\"highlightText\">姚太夫人</span>把岳飞叫到跟前，说：\"现在国难当头，你有什么打算？\"\r\n\r\n\"到前线杀敌，精忠报国！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人听了儿子的回答，十分满意，\"精忠报国\"正是母亲对儿子的希望。她决定把这四个字刺在儿子的背上，让他永远铭记在心。\r\n\r\n岳飞解开上衣，露出瘦瘦的脊背，请母亲下针。\r\n\r\n姚太夫人问：\"孩子，针刺是很痛的，你怕吗？\"\r\n\r\n岳飞说：\"母亲，小小钢针算不了什么，如果连针都怕，怎么去前线打仗！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人先在岳飞背上写了字，然后用绣花针刺了起来。但“国”字没有一点，象征国内无首。刺完之后，岳母又涂上<span class=\"highlightText\">醋墨</span>。从此，\"精忠报国\"四个字就永不褪色地留在了岳飞的后背上。 母亲的鼓舞激励着岳飞。岳飞投军后，很快因作战勇敢升<span class=\"highlightText\">秉义郎</span>。这时宋都<span class=\"highlightText\">开封</span>被金军围困，岳飞随<span class=\"highlightText\">副元帅宗泽</span>前去救援，多次打败金军，受到宗泽的赏识，称赞他“<span class=\"highlightText\">智勇才艺，古良将不能过</span>”，后来成为著名的抗金英雄，受历代人民所敬仰。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWhen Yuefei was fifteen or sixteen, the Northern Jin invaded [across] their southern [border]. Those who held power within the Song Dynasty were corrupt and incompetent, were pushed back through gradual defeats, and the country\'s continued existence hung by a thread. Yuefei joined the army to resist the Liao. But before long his father died, and he left the military to return to his hometown and pay his respects. \r\n\r\nIn 1126, the Jin launched a large-scale incursion into the central plains, and Yuefei once again enlisted. Before he set out, Madam Yaotai [Yuefei\'s mother] called Yuefei before her, and said: \"Right now the country is facing great difficulty, what do you plan to do?\" \r\n\r\n\"Go to the front lines and slaughter the enemy, and serve my country with perfect loyalty.\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai listened to her son\'s answer, and was quite satisfied, as \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" was precisely what she hoped her son would do. She decided to take these four words and tattoo them onto her son\'s back, so they would be forever engraved on his heart. \r\n\r\nYuefei opened his shirt, exposing his thin back, and invited his mother to begin.\r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai asked, \"Child, tattoos are quite painful, are you afraid?\" \r\n\r\nYuefei said: \"Mother, a little needle is nothing. If I was afraid of a needle, how could I [face] going to war on the front lines?\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai first drew the words on his back, then used an embroidery needle to tattoo him. But she left the dot off the character \"国\", to symbolize that the country had no [real] leader. When she was done, she spread a mix of ink and vinegar [over the wound]. From then on, \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" [were engrave], never-fading, on his back. His mother\'s encouragement inspired Yuefei. After Yuefei joined the army, he was promoted quickly to the rank of Minister of Righteous Justice due to his courage on the battlefield. During this time, the Song capital of Kaifeng was surrounded by the Jin army, and Yuefei went to Deputy Marshall Zongze\'s rescue, defeating the Jin army many times, and he won Zongze\'s appreciation, who said of him, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\" Later he became a famous hero of the anti-Jin resistance, and receive the admiration of later generations.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Folk tales of real people: 《岳飞纹字》Yue Fei\'s Tattoo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2050-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-09 23:21:18', '2020-05-10 03:21:18', '', 2050, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/09/2050-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2271, 1, '2020-05-09 23:22:12', '2020-05-10 03:22:12', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nSong dynasty warrior-poet and folk hero <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Yuefei (岳飞)</a> gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. \r\n\r\nLong story sort, The Song dynasty had two main enemies, both on their northern border. The Liao (辽) to the Northeast, and the Jin (金) to the Northwest. The Song bickered with the Liao for 150 years, and then both the Song and Liao were invaded by the Jin who took the Song capital at Kaifeng and forced them to relocate it south, to modern-day Hangzhou. The pre-invasion period is called the \"Northern Song\", because the song capital was in the north, and the post-invasion period the \"Southern Song\", because the capital was moved south. The way history remembers it, the Song Dynasty was corrupt and broken, which is why the Jin were able to take the capital city, and the nation only survived thanks to heroes like Yuefei. \r\n\r\nThe story of Yuefei\'s tattoo is full of machismo and to-the-death loyalty, and gossip is that gangsters or military will sometimes get this same tat. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns, here: we\'ve got the dynasty names, the Liao (辽), the Jin (金) and the Song (宋); we\'ve got the name of the Song capital Kaifeng (开封), we\'ve got people like Yuefei (岳飞), his mother Madam Yaotai (姚太夫人), and Deputy Marshall Zongze (副元帅宗泽). \r\n\r\nWe\'ve also got some things that no longer exist, such as 醋墨, which is a mix of vinegar and ink paste used to smear on wounds to seal them. There\'s also an official / military rank, 秉义郎, which I\'ve translated as \"Minister of Righteous Justice\", which only existed during the Song Dynasty. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, we have classical-ish Chinese being used in a quote: “智勇才艺，古良将不能过”. Breaking this down word-by-word clears its meaning right up:\r\n\r\n智 - Intelligent\r\n勇 - brave\r\n才 - talented\r\n艺，- artistic\r\n古 - antiquity\r\n良 - Good\r\n将 - general (military)\r\n不能 - cannot\r\n过 - defeat\r\n\r\nIn other words, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\"\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B2%B3%E6%AF%8D%E5%88%BA%E5%AD%97/2635978\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>岳飞纹字</h4>\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">岳飞</span>十五六岁时，北方的<span class=\"highlightText\">金</span>人南侵，<span class=\"highlightText\">宋</span>朝当权者腐败无能，节节败退，国家处在生死存亡的关头。岳飞投军抗<span class=\"highlightText\">辽</span>。不久因父丧，退伍还乡守孝。\r\n\r\n1126年，金兵大举入侵中原，岳飞再次投军。临行前，<span class=\"highlightText\">姚太夫人</span>把岳飞叫到跟前，说：\"现在国难当头，你有什么打算？\"\r\n\r\n\"到前线杀敌，精忠报国！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人听了儿子的回答，十分满意，\"精忠报国\"正是母亲对儿子的希望。她决定把这四个字刺在儿子的背上，让他永远铭记在心。\r\n\r\n岳飞解开上衣，露出瘦瘦的脊背，请母亲下针。\r\n\r\n姚太夫人问：\"孩子，针刺是很痛的，你怕吗？\"\r\n\r\n岳飞说：\"母亲，小小钢针算不了什么，如果连针都怕，怎么去前线打仗！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人先在岳飞背上写了字，然后用绣花针刺了起来。但“国”字没有一点，象征国内无首。刺完之后，岳母又涂上<span class=\"highlightText\">醋墨</span>。从此，\"精忠报国\"四个字就永不褪色地留在了岳飞的后背上。 母亲的鼓舞激励着岳飞。岳飞投军后，很快因作战勇敢升<span class=\"highlightText\">秉义郎</span>。这时宋都<span class=\"highlightText\">开封</span>被金军围困，岳飞随<span class=\"highlightText\">副元帅宗泽</span>前去救援，多次打败金军，受到宗泽的赏识，称赞他“<span class=\"highlightText\">智勇才艺，古良将不能过</span>”，后来成为著名的抗金英雄，受历代人民所敬仰。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWhen Yuefei was fifteen or sixteen, the Northern Jin invaded [across] their southern [border]. Those who held power within the Song Dynasty were corrupt and incompetent, were pushed back through gradual defeats, and the country\'s continued existence hung by a thread. Yuefei joined the army to resist the Liao. But before long his father died, and he left the military to return to his hometown and pay his respects. \r\n\r\nIn 1126, the Jin launched a large-scale incursion into the central plains, and Yuefei once again enlisted. Before he set out, Madam Yaotai [Yuefei\'s mother] called Yuefei before her, and said: \"Right now the country is facing great difficulty, what do you plan to do?\" \r\n\r\n\"Go to the front lines and slaughter the enemy, and serve my country with perfect loyalty.\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai listened to her son\'s answer, and was quite satisfied, as \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" was precisely what she hoped her son would do. She decided to take these four words and tattoo them onto her son\'s back, so they would be forever engraved on his heart. \r\n\r\nYuefei opened his shirt, exposing his thin back, and invited his mother to begin.\r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai asked, \"Child, tattoos are quite painful, are you afraid?\" \r\n\r\nYuefei said: \"Mother, a little needle is nothing. If I was afraid of a needle, how could I [face] going to war on the front lines?\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai first drew the words on his back, then used an embroidery needle to tattoo him. But she left the dot off the character \"国\", to symbolize that the country had no [real] leader. When she was done, she spread a mix of ink and vinegar [over the wound]. From then on, \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" [were engrave], never-fading, on his back. His mother\'s encouragement inspired Yuefei. After Yuefei joined the army, he was promoted quickly to the rank of Minister of Righteous Justice due to his courage on the battlefield. During this time, the Song capital of Kaifeng was surrounded by the Jin army, and Yuefei went to Deputy Marshall Zongze\'s rescue, defeating the Jin army many times, and he won Zongze\'s appreciation, who said of him, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\" Later he became a famous hero of the anti-Jin resistance, and receive the admiration of later generations.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Folk tales of real people: 《岳飞纹字》Yue Fei\'s Tattoo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2050-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-09 23:22:12', '2020-05-10 03:22:12', '', 2050, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/09/2050-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2272, 1, '2020-05-10 19:34:26', '2020-05-10 23:34:26', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang ren mo xiang[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n长什么样 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). \r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n只不过 [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:34:26', '2020-05-10 23:34:26', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2273, 1, '2020-05-10 19:42:54', '2020-05-10 23:42:54', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believe to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a>, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n长什么样 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). \r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n只不过 [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:42:54', '2020-05-10 23:42:54', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2274, 1, '2020-05-10 19:50:03', '2020-05-10 23:50:03', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \n\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\n\n<strong>长什么样</strong> [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \n\n<strong>原来</strong> [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\n\n<strong>只不过</strong> [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \n\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\n\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\n\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\n\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\n\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\n\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\n\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \n\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \n\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \n\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \n\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \n\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\n\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. Appropriate for HSK 2-3.  ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:50:03', '2020-05-10 23:50:03', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2275, 1, '2020-05-10 19:44:42', '2020-05-10 23:44:42', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believe to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n长什么样 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). \r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n只不过 [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:44:42', '2020-05-10 23:44:42', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2276, 1, '2020-05-10 19:45:17', '2020-05-10 23:45:17', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n长什么样 [pinyin]dan3 zi[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). \r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n只不过 [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:45:17', '2020-05-10 23:45:17', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2277, 1, '2020-05-10 19:48:06', '2020-05-10 23:48:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n长什么样 [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \r\n\r\n原来 [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n只不过 [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n才能 [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. Appropriate for HSK 2-3.  ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:48:06', '2020-05-10 23:48:06', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2278, 1, '2020-05-10 19:50:06', '2020-05-10 23:50:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>长什么样</strong> [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \r\n\r\n<strong>原来</strong> [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>只不过</strong> [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n<strong>才能</strong> [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. Appropriate for HSK 2-3.  ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:50:06', '2020-05-10 23:50:06', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2279, 1, '2020-05-10 19:51:06', '2020-05-10 23:51:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>长什么样</strong> [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \r\n\r\n<strong>原来</strong> [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>只不过</strong> [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n<strong>才能</strong> [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. A challenge for HSK 2, should be smoother for HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 19:51:06', '2020-05-10 23:51:06', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2280, 1, '2020-05-14 00:00:05', '2020-05-14 04:00:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together, as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But \"coming together\" is used figuratively here, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t necessarily be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [he was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'story-behind-the-idiom-%e7%94%bb%e8%9b%87%e6%b7%bb%e8%b6%b3-the-dangers-of-showing-off', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:55:22', '2020-05-14 01:55:22', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2280', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(2281, 1, '2020-05-10 20:23:12', '2020-05-11 00:23:12', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nxxxx\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n谁 - not \"who\". It\'s \"whoever\". \r\nXXXX\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，还不如给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？于是，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。正待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他十分得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也未必画完。” 边说边给画好的蛇画脚。\r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. A challenge for HSK 2, should be smoother for HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 20:23:12', '2020-05-11 00:23:12', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2282, 1, '2020-05-10 20:31:18', '2020-05-11 00:31:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nxxxx\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n谁 - not \"who\". It\'s \"whoever\". \r\nXXXX\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，还不如给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？于是，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。正待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他十分得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也未必画完。” \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-10 20:31:18', '2020-05-11 00:31:18', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/10/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2283, 1, '2020-05-11 20:58:06', '2020-05-12 00:58:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nSong dynasty warrior-poet and folk hero <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Yuefei (岳飞)</a> gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. \r\n\r\nLong story sort, The Song dynasty had two main enemies, both on their northern border. The Liao (辽) to the Northeast, and the Jin (金) to the Northwest. The Song bickered with the Liao for 150 years, and then both the Song and Liao were invaded by the Jin who took the Song capital at Kaifeng and forced them to relocate it south, to modern-day Hangzhou. The pre-invasion period is called the \"Northern Song\", because the song capital was in the north, and the post-invasion period the \"Southern Song\", because the capital was moved south. The way history remembers it, the Song Dynasty was corrupt and broken, which is why the Jin were able to take the capital city, and the nation only survived thanks to heroes like Yuefei. \r\n\r\nThe story of Yuefei\'s tattoo is full of machismo and to-the-death loyalty, and gossip is that gangsters or military will sometimes get this same tat. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns, here: we\'ve got the dynasty names, the Liao (辽), the Jin (金) and the Song (宋); we\'ve got the name of the Song capital Kaifeng (开封), we\'ve got people like Yuefei (岳飞), his mother Madam Yaotai (姚太夫人), and Deputy Marshall Zongze (副元帅宗泽). \r\n\r\nWe\'ve also got some things that no longer exist, such as 醋墨, which is a mix of vinegar and ink paste used to smear on wounds to seal them. There\'s also an official / military rank, 秉义郎, which I\'ve translated as \"Minister of Righteous Justice\", which only existed during the Song Dynasty. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, we have classical-ish Chinese being used in a quote: “智勇才艺，古良将不能过”. Breaking this down word-by-word clears its meaning right up:\r\n\r\n智 - Intelligent\r\n勇 - brave\r\n才 - talented\r\n艺，- artistic\r\n古 - antiquity\r\n良 - Good\r\n将 - general (military)\r\n不能 - cannot\r\n过 - defeat\r\n\r\nIn other words, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\"\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B2%B3%E6%AF%8D%E5%88%BA%E5%AD%97/2635978\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>岳飞纹字</h4>\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">岳飞</span>十五六岁时，北方的<span class=\"highlightText\">金</span>人南侵，<span class=\"highlightText\">宋</span>朝当权者腐败无能，节节败退，国家处在生死存亡的关头。岳飞投军抗<span class=\"highlightText\">辽</span>。不久因父丧，退伍还乡守孝。\r\n\r\n1126年，金兵大举入侵中原，岳飞再次投军。临行前，<span class=\"highlightText\">姚太夫人</span>把岳飞叫到跟前，说：\"现在国难当头，你有什么打算？\"\r\n\r\n\"到前线杀敌，精忠报国！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人听了儿子的回答，十分满意，\"精忠报国\"正是母亲对儿子的希望。她决定把这四个字刺在儿子的背上，让他永远铭记在心。\r\n\r\n岳飞解开上衣，露出瘦瘦的脊背，请母亲下针。\r\n\r\n姚太夫人问：\"孩子，针刺是很痛的，你怕吗？\"\r\n\r\n岳飞说：\"母亲，小小钢针算不了什么，如果连针都怕，怎么去前线打仗！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人先在岳飞背上写了字，然后用绣花针刺了起来。但“国”字没有一点，象征国内无首。刺完之后，岳母又涂上<span class=\"highlightText\">醋墨</span>。从此，\"精忠报国\"四个字就永不褪色地留在了岳飞的后背上。 母亲的鼓舞激励着岳飞。岳飞投军后，很快因作战勇敢升<span class=\"highlightText\">秉义郎</span>。这时宋都<span class=\"highlightText\">开封</span>被金军围困，岳飞随<span class=\"highlightText\">副元帅宗泽</span>前去救援，多次打败金军，受到宗泽的赏识，称赞他“<span class=\"highlightText\">智勇才艺，古良将不能过</span>”，后来成为著名的抗金英雄，受历代人民所敬仰。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWhen Yuefei was fifteen or sixteen, the Northern Jin invaded [across] their southern [border]. Those who held power within the Song Dynasty were corrupt and incompetent, were pushed back through gradual defeats, and the country\'s continued existence hung by a thread. Yuefei joined the army to resist the Liao. But before long his father died, and he left the military to return to his hometown and pay his respects. \r\n\r\nIn 1126, the Jin launched a large-scale incursion into the central plains, and Yuefei once again enlisted. Before he set out, Madam Yaotai [Yuefei\'s mother] called Yuefei before her, and said: \"Right now the country is facing great difficulty, what do you plan to do?\" \r\n\r\n\"Go to the front lines and slaughter the enemy, and serve my country with perfect loyalty.\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai listened to her son\'s answer, and was quite satisfied, as \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" was precisely what she hoped her son would do. She decided to take these four words and tattoo them onto her son\'s back, so they would be forever engraved on his heart. \r\n\r\nYuefei opened his shirt, exposing his thin back, and invited his mother to begin.\r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai asked, \"Child, tattoos are quite painful, are you afraid?\" \r\n\r\nYuefei said: \"Mother, a little needle is nothing. If I was afraid of a needle, how could I [face] going to war on the front lines?\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai first drew the words on his back, then used an embroidery needle to tattoo him. But she left the dot off the character \"国\", to symbolize that the country had no [real] leader. When she was done, she spread a mix of ink and vinegar [over the wound]. From then on, \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" [were engrave], never-fading, on his back. His mother\'s encouragement inspired Yuefei. After Yuefei joined the army, he was promoted quickly to the rank of Minister of Righteous Justice due to his courage on the battlefield. During this time, the Song capital of Kaifeng was surrounded by the Jin army, and Yuefei went to Deputy Marshall Zongze\'s rescue, defeating the Jin army many times, and he won Zongze\'s appreciation, who said of him, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\" Later he became a famous hero of the anti-Jin resistance, and receive the admiration of later generations.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Folk tales of real people: 《岳飞纹字》Yue Fei\'s Tattoo', 'Song dynasty warrior-poet and folk hero <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Yuefei (岳飞)</a> gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2050-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-11 20:58:06', '2020-05-12 00:58:06', '', 2050, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/11/2050-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2284, 1, '2020-05-12 09:20:39', '2020-05-12 13:20:39', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThe idiom \"画龙点睛\" comes from this legend. Now it\'s usually used to describe the use of a couple of perfectly incisive language added a critical moment when writing or speaking to illuminate a deeper meaning, and give the content more power. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在金陵（现在南京）安乐寺的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，顷刻间电闪雷鸣。两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n\r\n成语“画龙点睛”就是从这个传说中来的。现在一般用来比喻写作、讲话时，在关键性的地方用上一两句精辟的语言来点明含义，使内容更加生动有力。这种手法也称为“点睛”之笔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao，and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The logs were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant twisting dragons with beams of light radiating from their eyes charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 09:20:39', '2020-05-12 13:20:39', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2285, 1, '2020-05-12 22:16:40', '2020-05-13 02:16:40', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n顷刻间 [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n腾空而去 [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起 - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. This is difficult because it\'s hard to break out which parts of the sentence go with which, so I\'m going to put this here again, with spacing to show how the sentence is grouped: 两条巨龙  转动着光芒四射的眼睛  冲天而起. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao，and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:16:40', '2020-05-13 02:16:40', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2286, 1, '2020-05-12 22:19:01', '2020-05-13 02:19:01', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n顷刻间 [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n腾空而去 [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起 - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. This is difficult because it\'s hard to break out which parts of the sentence go with which, so I\'m going to put this here again, with spacing to show how the sentence is grouped: 两条巨龙  转动着光芒四射的眼睛  冲天而起. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao，and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:19:01', '2020-05-13 02:19:01', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2288, 1, '2020-05-12 22:20:02', '2020-05-13 02:20:02', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao，and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:20:02', '2020-05-13 02:20:02', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2287, 1, '2020-05-12 22:19:35', '2020-05-13 02:19:35', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. This is difficult because it\'s hard to break out which parts of the sentence go with which, so I\'m going to put this here again, with spacing to show how the sentence is grouped: 两条巨龙  转动着光芒四射的眼睛  冲天而起. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao，and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:19:35', '2020-05-13 02:19:35', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2289, 1, '2020-05-12 22:22:57', '2020-05-13 02:22:57', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao, and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, suddenly a big wind gusted up, in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, charged towards the sky, taking off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:22:57', '2020-05-13 02:22:57', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2290, 1, '2020-05-12 22:23:50', '2020-05-13 02:23:50', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫张僧繇，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao, and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, when suddenly a big wind gusted up, and in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, rose charging towards the sky, and took off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:23:50', '2020-05-13 02:23:50', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2291, 1, '2020-05-12 22:26:21', '2020-05-13 02:26:21', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\nWe\'ve got the names of a few places here, notably 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \n\nAlso, the character \n\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\n\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\n\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\n传说古时候有个画家叫<span class=\"highlightText\">张僧繇</span>，他画龙画得特别好。\n\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\n\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\n\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao, and he drew dragons very well.\n\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \n\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \n\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, when suddenly a big wind gusted up, and in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, rose charging towards the sky, and took off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\n\n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:26:21', '2020-05-13 02:26:21', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2292, 1, '2020-05-12 22:27:52', '2020-05-13 02:27:52', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns here. We have the name of a painter Zhang Sengyao (张僧繇 - my pinyin generator erroneously translates \"yao\" as \"you\"), a city called Jinling 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and 安乐寺, Anle Temple. Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫<span class=\"highlightText\">张僧繇</span>，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao, and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, when suddenly a big wind gusted up, and in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, rose charging towards the sky, and took off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:27:52', '2020-05-13 02:27:52', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2293, 1, '2020-05-12 22:28:43', '2020-05-13 02:28:43', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns here. We have the name of a painter Zhang Sengyao (张僧繇 - my pinyin generator erroneously translates \"yao\" as \"you\"), a city called Jinling 金陵, which is present-day Nanjing (南京), and Anle Temple (安乐寺). Since 乐 can be pronounced both [pinyin]le4[/pinyin] and [pinyin]yue4[/pinyin], I had to look this one up - apparently it\'s [pinyin]le4[/pinyin]. \r\n\r\n<strong>顷刻间</strong> [pinyin]qing3 ke4 jian1[/pinyin] - A word worth noting, since it\'s not used too often: this means \"in an instant\".\r\n\r\n<strong>腾空而去</strong> [pinyin]teng2 kong1 er2 qu4[/pinyin]  - This one is notable because of the 而去. The 而 here is used to describe the manner in which one is leaving (去). This construction is pretty common. There\'s 拂袖而去, or \"to turn on one\'s heels and go\" / \"to leave abruptly\"; there\'s 悠然而去, or \"to leisurely take one\'s leave\"; 哄然而去, or \"to leave boisterously\". You can also use other words like 走 after the 而 to describe how someone is moving forward, like 沿江而走, or \"to travel on following the river\", or 不胫而走, \"to get around fast / spread like wildfire\". In this case, 腾空 means to rise into the air, so 腾空而去 means to \"lift off into the air (and leave)\".\r\n\r\n<strong>两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</strong> - Now that we understand 而去, we can tackle this beast of a clause. First, the subject of the sentence: 两条巨龙, two giant dragons. Then, a present-tense verb: 转动着, in this case \"rotating\" or \"moving around in a circular or twisting motion\". What is moving around in a circular motion? That would be the dragon\'s 眼睛 - their eyes. What kind of eyes do they have? They have 光芒四射的 eyes, or \"radiating beams of light\". The hard part in translating this is really 转动着, because in English we don\'t describe eyes as \"revolving / twisting\". But you can kind of get the idea that the eyes of these two dragons are sweeping around as they look all about themselves, and their eyes are shooting beams of lights as they look around. Finally, we have 冲天而起 - 冲天, to charge towards the sky, and 而, \"the manner in which something is done\", and 起, to rise up. So the two dragons (两条巨龙) rise charging into the sky (冲天而起) casting about with beams of light shooting from their eyes (转动着光芒四射的眼睛). Whew.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画龙点睛</h4>\r\n传说古时候有个画家叫<span class=\"highlightText\">张僧繇</span>，他画龙画得特别好。\r\n\r\n有一次，他在<span class=\"highlightText\">金陵</span>（现在<span class=\"highlightText\">南京</span>）<span class=\"highlightText\">安乐寺</span>的墙壁上画了四条巨龙，那龙画得活灵活现，非常逼真，只是都没有眼睛。人们问张僧繇：“为什么不把眼睛画出来？”\r\n\r\n他说：“眼睛可不能轻易画呀！一画了，龙就会腾空飞走的！”\r\n\r\n大家听了，谁也不信，都认为他在说大话。后来，经不起人们一再请求，张僧繇只好答应把龙的眼睛画出来。奇怪的事情果然发生了，他刚刚点出第二条龙的眼睛，突然刮起了大风，<span class=\"highlightText\">顷刻间</span>电闪雷鸣。<span class=\"highlightText\">两条巨龙转动着光芒四射的眼睛冲天而起</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">腾空而去</span>。围观的人，个个看得目瞪口呆，对张僧繇更佩服了。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that in ancient times there was a painter named Zhang Sengyao, and he drew dragons very well.\r\n\r\nOne time, he painted four giant dragons on a wall at Anle Temple in Jinlong (present-day Nanjing). The dragons were vividly drawn, extremely lifelike, but they didn\'t have eyes. Peopled asked Zhang Sengyao：\"Why don\'t you draw the eyes?\" \r\n\r\nHe said: \"The eyes can\'t be painted on rashly! Once they\'re drawn, the dragons will take to the air and fly away!\" \r\n\r\nEveryone listened, but no one believed, everyone thought he was bragging. Later, he couldn\'t bear people coming repeatedly to beg him, so Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on the dragons. The strange event happened as expected, he had just draw the eyes on the second dragon, when suddenly a big wind gusted up, and in an instant lightning flashed and thunder sounded. Two giant dragons, casting about with beams of light radiating from their eyes, rose charging towards the sky, and took off into the air. Each of the bystanders looked on dumbfounded, and admired Zhang Sengyao even more.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story behind the idiom: 画龙点睛 - Perfect words at a critical moment', 'This is the legend that underpins the idiom \"画龙点睛\", which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen words or sentences, added a critical moment in written works or spoken arguments, which illuminate a deeper meaning and give the content more power. The story itself, though, it about dragons, and is only tied to that concept in the loosest way. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2248-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-12 22:28:43', '2020-05-13 02:28:43', '', 2248, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/12/2248-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2295, 1, '2020-05-13 21:26:02', '2020-05-14 01:26:02', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n属(谁) [pinyin]shu3 (谁3)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n不过... 而已。 [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:26:02', '2020-05-14 01:26:02', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2296, 1, '2020-05-13 21:26:34', '2020-05-14 01:26:34', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n属(谁) [pinyin]shu3 (谁3)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n不过... 而已。 [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:26:34', '2020-05-14 01:26:34', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2297, 1, '2020-05-13 21:52:56', '2020-05-14 01:52:56', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\n\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\n\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\n\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \n\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\n\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\n酒 - Wine\n反正 - in any case\n你 - you\n是 - are\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\n了 - grammar word.\n\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But \"coming together\" here isn\'t literal, it\'s more figurative, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\n\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \n\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\n\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\n\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\n\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\n\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\n\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \n\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \n\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\n\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\n\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \n\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \n\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\n\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:52:56', '2020-05-14 01:52:56', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2298, 1, '2020-05-13 21:27:58', '2020-05-14 01:27:58', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:27:58', '2020-05-14 01:27:58', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2299, 1, '2020-05-13 21:28:47', '2020-05-14 01:28:47', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\n不料，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人不依，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，不过是给蛇添几只脚而已。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒反正你是喝不成了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本属自己而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:28:47', '2020-05-14 01:28:47', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2300, 1, '2020-05-13 21:49:24', '2020-05-14 01:49:24', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n酒反正你是喝不成了 - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But not \"coming together\" here isn\'t literal, it\'s more figurative, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake was unwilling to concede, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:49:24', '2020-05-14 01:49:24', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2301, 1, '2020-05-13 21:50:32', '2020-05-14 01:50:32', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to give way to another.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But not \"coming together\" here isn\'t literal, it\'s more figurative, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake was unwilling to concede, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:50:32', '2020-05-14 01:50:32', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2303, 1, '2020-05-13 21:53:18', '2020-05-14 01:53:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together, as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But \"coming together\" is used figuratively here, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:53:18', '2020-05-14 01:53:18', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2302, 1, '2020-05-13 21:51:49', '2020-05-14 01:51:49', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But not \"coming together\" here isn\'t literal, it\'s more figurative, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:51:49', '2020-05-14 01:51:49', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2304, 1, '2020-05-13 21:54:24', '2020-05-14 01:54:24', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together, as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But \"coming together\" is used figuratively here, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t necessarily be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:54:24', '2020-05-14 01:54:24', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2305, 1, '2020-05-13 21:55:22', '2020-05-14 01:55:22', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuess it\'s idiom week over here. I realized how many of the classic 成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin] I hadn\'t gotten to yet, and started rolling through them. This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis piece in an exercise not in learning nouns and verbs, but in sentence-supporting words, like 还不如 [pinyin]hai2 bu4 ru2[/pinyin], \"might as well\", 于是 [pinyin]yu2 shi4[/pinyin], \"and so\", 十分 [pinyin]shi2 fen1[/pinyin] \"quite / rather\", 未必 [pinyin]wei4 bi4[/pinyin], \"not necessarily\", and 不料 [pinyin]bu4 liao4[/pinyin], \"unexpectedly\". A couple other points:\r\n\r\n<strong>谁</strong> [pinyin]shei2[/pinyin] - This usually means \"who\", but in this case, it\'s more like \"whoever\".\r\n\r\n<strong>不依</strong> [pinyin]bu4 yi1[/pinyin] - To be unwilling to concede a point, to be unwilling to comply or go along with something.\r\n\r\n<strong>属(谁)</strong> [pinyin]shu3 (shei2)[/pinyin] - 属 means \"to belong to\", in many of the same senses it does in English. \"I belong in this family\", \"This book belongs to me\", \"I belong to this land\"... you can use 属 to express all those concepts. But in this case, it\'s referring to an object belonging to a person. \r\n\r\n<strong>不过... 而已。</strong> [pinyin]bu2 guo4 ... er2 yi3[/pinyin] - This sentence structure is similar to \"Was only....., that\'s all.\" As in, \"I was only trying to help, that\'s all.\" Or, \"I was just here to grab my stuff is all.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>酒反正你是喝不成了</strong> - Gonna break this one down:\r\n酒 - Wine\r\n反正 - in any case\r\n你 - you\r\n是 - are\r\n喝不成 - unsuitable to drink it / shouldn\'t be allowed to drink it\r\n了 - grammar word.\r\n\r\nWe can see from this that 喝不成 is the hard part here. The character 成 by itself can have broad connotations of something coalescing, or coming together, as in 变成 \"to become\"，合成 \"to compound\", 造成 \"to create\". In this case, 你是喝不成 could be understood as \"It doesn\'t come together that you should drink this\". But \"coming together\" is used figuratively here, in that an idea which isn\'t correct or proper doesn\'t \"come together\". In English we might say, \"It doesn\'t square that you should drink this\". \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>画蛇添足</h4>\r\n有个人举办晚会，把一壶酒给客人喝。客人拿着这壶酒，觉得这么多人喝一壶酒，肯定不够，<span class=\"highlightText\">还不如</span>给一个人喝。可是到底给谁好呢？<span class=\"highlightText\">于是</span>，客人商量了一个好主意，就是每个人在地上画一条蛇，<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>先画完了这壶酒就给<span class=\"highlightText\">谁</span>喝。大家都同意这个办法。\r\n\r\n每个客人拿了一根小棍，开始在地上画蛇。有一个人画得很快，他几分钟就把蛇画好了，于是他把酒壶拿了过来。<span class=\"highlightText\">正</span>待他要喝酒时，他看见其他人还没把蛇画完，他<span class=\"highlightText\">十分</span>得意地又拿起小棍，自言自语地说：“看我再来给蛇添上几只脚，他们也<span class=\"highlightText\">未必</span>画完。” \r\n\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">不料</span>，这个人给蛇画脚还没完，手上的酒壶便被旁边一个人一把抢了过去，原来，那个人的蛇画完了。\r\n\r\n这个给蛇画脚的人<span class=\"highlightText\">不依</span>，说：“我最先画完蛇，酒应该给我喝！”\r\n\r\n那个人笑着说：“你到现在还在画，而我已经画完，酒当然是我的！”\r\n\r\n画蛇脚的人说：“我早就画完了，现在是趁时间还早，<span class=\"highlightText\">不过</span>是给蛇添几只脚<span class=\"highlightText\">而已</span>。”\r\n\r\n那人说：“蛇本来就没有脚，你要给它添几只脚那你就添吧，酒<span class=\"highlightText\">反正</span>你是<span class=\"highlightText\">喝不成</span>了！”\r\n\r\n那人很不客气地喝起酒来，那个给蛇画脚的人却看着本<span class=\"highlightText\">属自己</span>而现在已被别人拿走的酒，很后悔。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a man who threw a party, and gave a pot of wine to his guests. The guests took the wine, but felt that with so many people drinking one pot of wine, surely it wouldn\'t be enough, and it would be better to give [the whole pot] to one person. But who would be best to give it to? So, the guests discussed it and [came up with] a good idea, which was that everyone should draw a snake on the ground, and whoever finished drawing the snake first, that\'s who would be given the wine to drink. Everyone agreed to this solution. \r\n\r\nEvery guest took up a small stick, and started drawing a snake on the ground. One person drew very fast, and had finished his snake in just a few minutes, so he took up the pot of wine. Just as he was waiting to drink it, he saw the others still hadn\'t finished drawing snakes, so feeling very pleased with himself he took up the stick again, and said to himself, \"Looks like [if] I give the snake a few feet, they still won\'t necessarily be done.\" \r\n\r\nUnexpectedly, before this person could finish drawing feet on the snake, the wine pot in his hand was snatched away by the man next to him, turns out, that person\'s snake was finished.\r\n\r\nThe person drawing feet on the snake wasn\'t having any of that, and said, \"I finished the snake first, the wine should be given to me!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person said, smiling: \"You\'re still drawing, but I\'ve already finished, of course the wine should be mine!\" \r\n\r\nThe man drawing feet on the snake said: \"I finished early, now I\'m just taking advantage of the [extra] time, and I\'m only giving the snake a few feet is all.\" \r\n\r\nThe [other] person said: \"Snake don\'t have feet, if you want to give them feet go ahead, at any rate the wine shouldn\'t be for you!\"\r\n\r\nThe [other] person rudely drank up the wine, and the person who drew feet on the snake watched as the wine that originally belonged to him was taken by someone else, and [he was full of] regret. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 画蛇添足 - The dangers of showing off', 'This is the first 成语 backstory I recall reading in class. It\'s about a guy who can\'t help but flaunt his superior skill in front of others, and the nasty surprise he gets as a result. This is upper-beginner, HSK 4.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2280-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 21:55:22', '2020-05-14 01:55:22', '', 2280, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2280-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2306, 1, '2020-05-13 22:01:38', '2020-05-14 02:01:38', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nGuest post! The story behind the classic Chinese idiom (成语 [pinyin]cheng2 yu3[/pinyin]) \"Blind People Touch an Elephant\" (\"盲人摸象\" [pinyin]mang2 ren2 mo1 xiang4[/pinyin]), was contributed by the content team over at <a href=\"http://duchinese.net\">Du Chinese</a> - thank you guys. As I say often, I always struggle to find Mandarin reading appropriate for newbies, as most writing won\'t come together without some higher-level words, but if you\'re just getting started and these posts are too hard for you, Du Chinese has more HSK 1 and 2 materials than I\'ll ever have, since they write their own Chinese content, so they can control the difficulty level. \r\n\r\nThe idiom 盲人摸象 refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. It is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, to be precise, which is over 1500 years old. This is not the original text of the sutra - the original Sanskrit version was lost, and this story has been re-told a zillion times in a zillion ways, but it\'s still cool to get a glimpse into what is essentially a Buddhist story from antiquity. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>长什么样</strong> [pinyin]zhang3 shen2 me yang4[/pinyin] - The character 长 has many meanings and two pronunciations. The one we usually learn first is [pinyin]chang2[/pinyin], which means \"long\", as in the opposite of \"short\". But pronounced [pinyin]zhang3[/pinyin], it also means \"appearance\", or \"what something looks like\" (and about a billion other things, so don\'t get married to that definition). So, 长什么样 means \"what something looks like\". \r\n\r\n<strong>原来</strong> [pinyin]yuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - I just went over this in a recent post, but again, this means \"turns out that\", as in, \"Turns out she was here to see someone else.\"\r\n\r\n<strong>只不过</strong> [pinyin]zhi3 bu guo4[/pinyin] - Is nothing more than / is nothing but. \r\n\r\n<strong>才能</strong> [pinyin]cai2 neng2[/pinyin] - My dictionary pop-up generator has this wrong, it displays the definition as \"ability\" or \"talent\". As a noun, that is indeed what 才能 means. However, this is actually not a single noun made up of two characters, but two separate characters, 才 and 能, which together mean \"only then can one _____\". I always found 才 to be a pain-in-the-butt character, because it has so many amorphous meanings that don\'t translate well into English, and you can only really figure out which one is being used in context, and some of those meaning are direct opposites. Blogger Jenna Wang does a good job of explaining all of them <a href=\"http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/cai-in-chinese-grammar\">here</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>盲人摸象</h4>\r\n很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象<span class=\"hightlightText\">长什么样</span>，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。\r\n\r\n第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”\r\n\r\n第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”\r\n\r\n“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” <span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。\r\n\r\n第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它<span class=\"highlightText\">只不过</span>是一根绳子。”<span class=\"highlightText\">原来</span>他摸到的是大象的尾巴。\r\n\r\n四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。\r\n\r\n“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样<span class=\"highlightText\">才能</span>真正地了解问题。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn\'t see it, and could only touch it with their hands. \r\n\r\nThe first blind person touched the elephant\'s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.” \r\n\r\nThe second blind person touched the elephant\'s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!” \r\n\r\n“You\'re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the  third blind person was touching the elephant\'s leg. \r\n\r\nThe fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn\'t that big at all, it\'s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant\'s tail. \r\n\r\nThe four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant\'s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.\r\n\r\n“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn\'t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Story Behind the Idiom: 盲人摸象 - To only partially understand something', 'This story is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra</a> 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. A challenge for HSK 2, should be smoother for HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2264-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 22:01:38', '2020-05-14 02:01:38', '', 2264, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/2264-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2307, 1, '2020-05-13 22:34:30', '2020-05-14 02:34:30', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;>In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“#\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》 is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon. \r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n我长大以后喜欢往城里跑，常常是十天半月不回家。我穿着白色的丝绸衣衫，头发抹得光滑透亮，往镜子前一站，我看到自己满脑袋的黑油漆，一副有钱人的样子。\r\n\r\n滑膛知道他们在看什么：哥哥飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是朱汉杨，他的华软集团的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在福布斯财富500排行的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与齿哥是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的玩艺儿。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\n其实滑膛并没有去注意那枚钻戒，他看的是朱汉杨手上的那三张照片，那显然就是委托加工的工件了。朱汉杨起身越过圆桌，将三张照片推到他面前。\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Y239oT\" target=\"blank\" class=\"inline-link-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buy it on Amazon</a>\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWork is just work, doesn\'t mean anything. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential suite of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it was a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n我长大以后喜欢往城里跑，常常是十天半月不回家。我穿着白色的丝绸衣衫，头发抹得光滑透亮，往镜子前一站，我看到自己满脑袋的黑油漆，一副有钱人的样子。\r\n\r\n滑膛知道他们在看什么：哥哥飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是朱汉杨，他的华软集团的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在福布斯财富500排行的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与齿哥是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的玩艺儿。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\n其实滑膛并没有去注意那枚钻戒，他看的是朱汉杨手上的那三张照片，那显然就是委托加工的工件了。朱汉杨起身越过圆桌，将三张照片推到他面前。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 22:34:30', '2020-05-14 02:34:30', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2308, 1, '2020-05-13 22:47:08', '2020-05-14 02:47:08', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;>In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“#\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》 is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon. \r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n我长大以后喜欢往城里跑，常常是十天半月不回家。我穿着白色的丝绸衣衫，头发抹得光滑透亮，往镜子前一站，我看到自己满脑袋的黑油漆，一副有钱人的样子。\r\n\r\n滑膛知道他们在看什么：哥哥飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是朱汉杨，他的华软集团的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在福布斯财富500排行的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与齿哥是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的玩艺儿。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\n其实滑膛并没有去注意那枚钻戒，他看的是朱汉杨手上的那三张照片，那显然就是委托加工的工件了。朱汉杨起身越过圆桌，将三张照片推到他面前。\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Y239oT\" target=\"blank\" class=\"inline-link-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buy it on Amazon</a>\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWork is just work, doesn\'t mean anything. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential suite of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it was a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential suite, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously hid his hands in his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe suit was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandellier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly discovered the people, they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the suite, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\n我长大以后喜欢往城里跑，常常是十天半月不回家。我穿着白色的丝绸衣衫，头发抹得光滑透亮，往镜子前一站，我看到自己满脑袋的黑油漆，一副有钱人的样子。\r\n\r\n滑膛知道他们在看什么：哥哥飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是朱汉杨，他的华软集团的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在福布斯财富500排行的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与齿哥是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的玩艺儿。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\n其实滑膛并没有去注意那枚钻戒，他看的是朱汉杨手上的那三张照片，那显然就是委托加工的工件了。朱汉杨起身越过圆桌，将三张照片推到他面前。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-13 22:47:08', '2020-05-14 02:47:08', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/13/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2309, 1, '2020-05-14 00:56:29', '2020-05-14 04:56:29', '<h3>The Basics</h3>\r\nMy name is: <strong>Kendra Schaefer <a href=\"http://www.kendraschaefer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(My personal site)</a></strong>\r\nFollow on Twitter: <a href=\"http://www.twitter.com/chinesereading\">@ChineseReading</a>\r\nEmail me at: me@kendraschaefer.com\r\nI live in: <strong>Beijing</strong>\r\nAge: <strong>37</strong> \r\nIn China since: <strong>2002</strong>\r\nMy day job: <a href=\"http://www.triviumchina.com\">Tech research</a>\r\n\r\n<h3>The Backstory</h3>\r\nI got my BA in Mandarin at a university in Beijing, and though I\'ve been out of school for a while, reading Chinese is one of the few things I never get bored of, probably because no matter how long I study, there\'s always more to learn. \r\n\r\nI originally became interested in learning Chinese primarily because I wanted to read the language. And though reading textbooks is important, I found the readings outrageously boring. I wanted to read important works of Chinese fiction, Chinese news, Chinese fables and myths - in other words, I wanted real reading, something a Chinese kid might read in school or online.\r\n\r\nBut I soon found that tracking down reading materials was difficult and frustrating. Everything I picked up tended to be too long, too short, too easy, or too hard, and I ended up spending more time looking for something that was suitable than actually doing any reading. I wanted something challenging, and was willing to work to understand it, but every time I found something new to read, I never knew if I would be able to finish it. I\'d often get through a few paragraphs only to hit a phrase I couldn\'t decipher and, with no one to ask, would have to put the reading aside. \r\n\r\nOnce I did get to a place where my reading level was high enough to get through most pieces, I started this site to keep my own skills fresh, and to pay it forward for those students who are in the same spot I was. \r\n\r\n<h4>How I Classify Reading Levels</h4>\r\nNothing on this site is truly beginner reading. If you just picked up Chinese yesterday, or if you\'re at HSK 1 or 2, even the beginner stuff is going to be a rough ride for you - I only have found a couple of pieces that HSK 1-2 might be able to tackle. This is because for any story, article or essay to really take shape, it usually has to have some higher-level grammar or vocabulary mixed in. This is why most truly beginner textbooks stick to dialogs (你好! 你好吗? 我很好!) as opposed to actual stories. And the truth is, truly fluent native readers read at well above HSK 6. And, in the real world, many pieces of writing are mixed-level; the first few paragraphs might be intermediate, with an advanced paragraph thrown in. So, my classifications are the same classifications you might apply to a native speaker, not a learner. I also don\'t classify by HSK level. But, as a general guideline, on this site:\r\n\r\nBeginner: HSK 2-4\r\nIntermediate: HSK 5-6\r\nAdvanced: HSK 6+\r\n\r\nThe idea is not to give you something you can read without difficulty, but something that is an appropriate challenge at your reading level. So, I try to put texts into the lowest level at which someone, with a little work, might be able to figure the text out. So if, for example, you\'re at HSK 4, there are some pieces in the intermediate section you should be able to get through with some work. And if you can\'t figure something out, post in the comments. I\'ll try to answer you.\r\n\r\n<h4>About the Translations</h4>\r\nMost (but not all) of the translations on this site are done by me. I am not a linguist, and I translate for readability. I don\'t post anything unless I\'ve checked it several times, but that doesn\'t mean I haven\'t made a mistake. Do feel free to comment if you see anything that ought to have a better translation - it won\'t be taken amiss. \r\n\r\n<h4>How did you do those pop-up Chinese hover effects?</h4>\r\nThanks to Alex, the coder behind <a href=\"http://mandarinspot.com/\">Mandarinspot.com</a>, Chinese Reading Practice now has pop-up translation on Chinese texts - hover over any mandarin word in the reading text to see the definition. If you\'d like to implement something similar on your own blog, you can head over there and grab his Javascript file / annotations API. \r\n\r\nUnfortunately, the pinyin and definitions generated by the script is not always right. It can\'t be - it\'s trying its best, but it can\'t understand the context of the sentence, so sometimes when a character has more than one pronunciation, it\'ll choose the wrong one. Sorry! \r\n\r\n<h4>Commenting rules</h4>\r\nI try to maintain a pleasant learning environment, so abusive (you idiot!), pointless (I am Groot.),  or unhelpful (Hi.) comments will be deleted. I will also delete links from your comments unless those links are very relevant to the post. For example, it\'s fine to link to a Wikipedia page that\'s relevant to Chinese or to the content of the translation, but if you link to your own site, I sadly don\'t have time to verify if it\'s a phishing link or malware or inappropriate content so I\'m just gonna take it out. I don\'t always manage to catch all the spam that slips through, though, so apologies if there\'s some clutter.\r\n\r\nEnjoy, and good luck with your studies.', 'About', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 00:56:29', '2020-05-14 04:56:29', '', 2, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/2-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2310, 1, '2020-05-14 03:12:13', '2020-05-14 07:12:13', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;>In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, and \r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" class=\"inline-link-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, as Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, for them riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 03:12:13', '2020-05-14 07:12:13', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2311, 1, '2020-05-14 03:12:40', '2020-05-14 07:12:40', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, and \r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" class=\"inline-link-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, as Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, for them riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 03:12:40', '2020-05-14 07:12:40', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2316, 1, '2020-05-14 06:24:01', '2020-05-14 10:24:01', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got it right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was wrong, he wanted to meet face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, they transformed riches into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 06:24:01', '2020-05-14 10:24:01', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2312, 1, '2020-05-14 03:13:43', '2020-05-14 07:13:43', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" class=\"inline-link-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, as Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, for them riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 03:13:43', '2020-05-14 07:13:43', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2313, 1, '2020-05-14 03:15:05', '2020-05-14 07:15:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was off, he wanted to meet him face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, as Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, for them riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 03:15:05', '2020-05-14 07:15:05', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2314, 1, '2020-05-14 06:23:40', '2020-05-14 10:23:40', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \n\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\n\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \n\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \n\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\n\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got it right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\n\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\n\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\n\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\n\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\n\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\n\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\n\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\n\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\n\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\n\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was wrong, he wanted to meet face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\n\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\n\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\n\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\n\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\n\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, [in the] riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \n\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\n\n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 06:23:40', '2020-05-14 10:23:40', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2315, 1, '2020-05-14 06:21:30', '2020-05-14 10:21:30', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got it right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑堂暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was wrong, he wanted to meet face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, for them riches had transformed into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 06:21:30', '2020-05-14 10:21:30', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2317, 1, '2020-05-14 11:21:47', '2020-05-14 15:21:47', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nSong dynasty warrior-poet and folk hero <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Yuefei (岳飞)</a> gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. \r\n\r\nLong story sort, The Song dynasty had two main enemies, both on their northern border. The Liao (辽) to the Northeast, and the Jin (金) to the Northwest. The Song bickered with the Liao for 150 years, and then both the Song and Liao were invaded by the Jin who took the Song capital at Kaifeng and forced them to relocate it south, to modern-day Hangzhou. The pre-invasion period is called the \"Northern Song\", because the song capital was in the north, and the post-invasion period the \"Southern Song\", because the capital was moved south. The way history remembers it, the Song Dynasty was corrupt and broken, which is why the Jin were able to take the capital city, and the nation only survived thanks to heroes like Yuefei. \r\n\r\nThe story of Yuefei\'s tattoo is full of machismo and to-the-death loyalty, and gossip is that gangsters or military will sometimes get this same tat. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nWe\'ve got a few proper nouns, here: we\'ve got the dynasty names, the Liao (辽), the Jin (金) and the Song (宋); we\'ve got the name of the Song capital Kaifeng (开封), we\'ve got people like Yuefei (岳飞), his mother Madam Yaotai (姚太夫人), and Deputy Marshall Zongze (副元帅宗泽). \r\n\r\nWe\'ve also got some things that no longer exist, such as 醋墨, which is a mix of vinegar and ink paste used to smear on wounds to seal them. There\'s also an official / military rank, 秉义郎, which I\'ve translated as \"Minister of Righteous Justice\", which only existed during the Song Dynasty. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, we have classical-ish Chinese being used in a quote: “智勇才艺，古良将不能过”. Breaking this down word-by-word clears its meaning right up:\r\n\r\n智 - Intelligent\r\n勇 - brave\r\n才 - talented\r\n艺，- artistic\r\n古 - antiquity\r\n良 - Good\r\n将 - general (military)\r\n不能 - cannot\r\n过 - defeat\r\n\r\nIn other words, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\"\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B2%B3%E6%AF%8D%E5%88%BA%E5%AD%97/2635978\">Source here</a>.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>岳飞纹字</h4>\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">岳飞</span>十五六岁时，北方的<span class=\"highlightText\">金</span>人南侵，<span class=\"highlightText\">宋</span>朝当权者腐败无能，节节败退，国家处在生死存亡的关头。岳飞投军抗<span class=\"highlightText\">辽</span>。不久因父丧，退伍还乡守孝。\r\n\r\n1126年，金兵大举入侵中原，岳飞再次投军。临行前，<span class=\"highlightText\">姚太夫人</span>把岳飞叫到跟前，说：\"现在国难当头，你有什么打算？\"\r\n\r\n\"到前线杀敌，精忠报国！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人听了儿子的回答，十分满意，\"精忠报国\"正是母亲对儿子的希望。她决定把这四个字刺在儿子的背上，让他永远铭记在心。\r\n\r\n岳飞解开上衣，露出瘦瘦的脊背，请母亲下针。\r\n\r\n姚太夫人问：\"孩子，针刺是很痛的，你怕吗？\"\r\n\r\n岳飞说：\"母亲，小小钢针算不了什么，如果连针都怕，怎么去前线打仗！\"\r\n\r\n姚太夫人先在岳飞背上写了字，然后用绣花针刺了起来。但“国”字没有一点，象征国内无首。刺完之后，岳母又涂上<span class=\"highlightText\">醋墨</span>。从此，\"精忠报国\"四个字就永不褪色地留在了岳飞的后背上。 母亲的鼓舞激励着岳飞。岳飞投军后，很快因作战勇敢升<span class=\"highlightText\">秉义郎</span>。这时宋都<span class=\"highlightText\">开封</span>被金军围困，岳飞随<span class=\"highlightText\">副元帅宗泽</span>前去救援，多次打败金军，受到宗泽的赏识，称赞他“<span class=\"highlightText\">智勇才艺，古良将不能过</span>”，后来成为著名的抗金英雄，受历代人民所敬仰。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nWhen Yuefei was fifteen or sixteen, the Northern Jin invaded [across] their southern [border]. Those who held power within the Song Dynasty were corrupt and incompetent, were pushed back through gradual defeats, and the country\'s continued existence hung by a thread. Yuefei [had originally] joined the army to resist the Liao. But before long his father died, and he left the military to return to his hometown and pay his respects. \r\n\r\nIn 1126, the Jin launched a large-scale incursion into the central plains, and Yuefei once again enlisted. Before he set out, Madam Yaotai [Yuefei\'s mother] called Yuefei before her, and said: \"Right now the country is facing great difficulty, what do you plan to do?\" \r\n\r\n\"Go to the front lines and slaughter the enemy, and serve my country with perfect loyalty.\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai listened to her son\'s answer, and was quite satisfied, as \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" was precisely what she hoped her son would do. She decided to take these four words and tattoo them onto her son\'s back, so they would be forever engraved on his heart. \r\n\r\nYuefei opened his shirt, exposing his thin back, and invited his mother to begin.\r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai asked, \"Child, tattoos are quite painful, are you afraid?\" \r\n\r\nYuefei said: \"Mother, a little needle is nothing. If I was afraid of a needle, how could I [face] going to war on the front lines?\" \r\n\r\nMadam Yaotai first drew the words on his back, then used an embroidery needle to tattoo him. But she left the dot off the character \"国\", to symbolize that the country had no [real] leader. When she was done, she spread a mix of ink and vinegar [over the wound]. From then on, \"serve the country with perfect loyalty\" [were engraved], never-fading, on his back. His mother\'s encouragement inspired Yuefei. After Yuefei joined the army, he was promoted quickly to the rank of Minister of Righteous Justice due to his courage on the battlefield. During this time, the Song capital of Kaifeng was surrounded by the Jin army, and Yuefei went to Deputy Marshall Zongze\'s rescue, defeating the Jin army many times, and he won Zongze\'s appreciation, who said of him, \"Even the good generals of antiquity couldn\'t have defeated [someone with] so much intelligence, courage, talent and artistry.\" Later he became a famous hero of the anti-Jin resistance, and receive the admiration of later generations.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Folk tales of real people: 《岳飞纹字》Yue Fei\'s Tattoo', 'Song dynasty warrior-poet and folk hero <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Fei\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Yuefei (岳飞)</a> gets a tattoo to remind himself of his duty to his country. This is an \"advanced\" post for three reasons: one, there are some words in here that can\'t be found in the dictionary, two, there are quite a few proper names, and three, to understand this, you need to know a little bit about Song history. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2050-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 11:21:47', '2020-05-14 15:21:47', '', 2050, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/2050-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2318, 1, '2020-05-14 11:24:42', '2020-05-14 15:24:42', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. In Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded that in all societies, there are those who struggle with the materialism that engulfs us.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\", or 理想 [pinyin]li4 xiang3[/pinyin]. In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we most value generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of the same. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me to accomplish. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your dynamism, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Ideals exist. But some people seek them all their lives and all they find is disillusionment, some people find them by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if an ideal is [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp it. So, why do you so anxiously \"call for my aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not precisely show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", on the contrary, those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is sometimes so odd, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"life [literally: circumstances] is pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve witnessed personally, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, and when one person is in trouble, good people [appear from] all directions to offer assistance, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although life is largely good, there are [still] always many troubles; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, this wind didn\'t blow in over the last couple of days.\r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because an ideal is still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. I\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded that in all societies, there are those who struggle with the materialism that engulfs us.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 11:24:42', '2020-05-14 15:24:42', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2319, 1, '2020-05-14 11:36:56', '2020-05-14 15:36:56', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. In Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded that in all societies, there are those who struggle with the materialism that engulfs us.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\", or 理想 [pinyin]li4 xiang3[/pinyin]. In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we most value generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of the same. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me to accomplish. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your dynamism, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Ideals exist. But some people seek them all their lives and all they find is disillusionment, some people find them by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if an ideal is [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp it. So, why do you so anxiously \"call for my aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not precisely show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", on the contrary, those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is sometimes so odd, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"life [literally: circumstances] is pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve witnessed personally, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, and when one person is in trouble, good people [appear from] all directions to offer assistance, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although life is largely good, there are [still] always many troubles; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, this wind didn\'t blow in over the last couple of days.\r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – [even when this happens,] you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because an ideal is still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. I\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded that in all societies, there are those who struggle with the materialism that engulfs us.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-14 11:36:56', '2020-05-14 15:36:56', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/14/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2320, 1, '2020-05-18 00:00:40', '2020-05-18 04:00:40', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n翡翠 [pinyin]fei3 cui4[/pinyin] - My translation software has this as \"jadeite\", but this can be both jade or emerald, and since I usually see \"jade\" translated as 玉 [pinyin]yu4,[/pinyin] I\'m going with \"emerald\" here.\r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last clause is a bit long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which in this case means 比 [pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在<span class=\"highlightText\">翡翠</span>宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-childrens-fable-freedom-in-heaven', '', '', '2020-05-23 22:01:54', '2020-05-24 02:01:54', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2320', 0, 'post', '', 12),
(2321, 1, '2020-05-16 06:43:05', '2020-05-16 10:43:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nxxx\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\nhttps://www.51test.net/show/9430844.html\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉说道。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙其它别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，大得我飞都飞不到边，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里跟住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉说道。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙其它别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，大得我飞都飞不到边，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里跟住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-16 06:43:05', '2020-05-16 10:43:05', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/16/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2322, 1, '2020-05-20 00:00:38', '2020-05-20 04:00:38', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn this short story, a garden rake (草耙 - [pinyin]cao3 pa2[/pinyin]) teaches one stuck-up kid a lesson in humility. HSK 3-4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>父亲这儿</strong> [pinyin]fu4 qin zhe4 er[/pinyin] - 父亲, as we know, means \"father\", and \"这儿\" usually means \"here\". But this phrase does not mean \"father is here\". In this case, 这儿 is colloquial Chinese meaning \"place\". So, 父亲这儿 means \"father\'s place\" - most often, \"place\" refers to someone\'s house, but it can also mean \"hometown\", or simply \"where someone is\". \r\n\r\n<strong>给我当个帮手</strong> [pinyin]gei3 wo3 dang1 ge bang1 shou3[/pinyin] - You can probably figure this one out for yourself if you break down the meaning of each character: \r\n\r\n给 - Give\r\n我 - me\r\n当 - be / act as\r\n个 - a\r\n帮手 - helping hand\r\n\r\nThe difficulty here lies in the fact that both 给 and 当 are used simultaneously, since in English, we\'d only either say \"give me a helping hand\", or \"be my helping hand\", not \"give me be a helping hand\". But we can probably parse this a little better if we understand the definition of 给 not as \"give\", but as \"for\". In that case, the sentence becomes \"be a helping hand for me\". And that makes more sense.\r\n\r\n<strong>干活</strong> [pinyin]gan4 huo2[/pinyin] - Beginners usually first see the character 活 in the word 生活, \"life\". But 活 in this case means \"labor\". So 干活 is \"to do labor\", usually labor done with the hands. It\'s also sometimes used derogatorily to describe mindless busywork, as in \"This isn\'t a career, it\'s just 干活.\" \r\n\r\nFinally, we\'ve got two idioms at the very end. Those are:\r\n\r\n恃才傲物 [pinyin]shi4 cai2 ao4 wu4[/pinyin] - To be conceited and contemptuous.\r\n\r\n夜郎自大 [pinyin]ye4 lang2 zi4 da4[/pinyin] - I\'ve actually got a whole post on this idiom <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/11/01/story-behind-the-idiom-yelang-zi-da/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here</a>, if you\'d like to dig deeper， but in essence, it means \"to think too highly of oneself\".  \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>有学问的儿子</h4>\r\n\r\n上大学的儿子从城里回到农村，回到<span class=\"highlightText\">父亲这儿</span>。\r\n\r\n父亲说：“今天你和我一起去割草，你去拿草耙，<span class=\"highlightText\">给我当个帮手</span>。”\r\n\r\n可是儿子不愿<span class=\"highlightText\">干活</span>，他说：“我学的是科学，乡下人的<span class=\"highlightText\">活</span>我全都忘记了。草耙是什么样的东西?”\r\n\r\n他刚刚走进院子，就一脚踩在草耙上，草耙的把儿一下子打在他的脑门上。这时他终于想起了什么是草耙。\r\n\r\n做人不能忘本，更不能因为学了一点本事而<span class=\"highlightText\">恃才傲物</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">夜郎自大</span>。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA college student came back from the city to [his] village, returning to his father\'s place.\r\n\r\nHis father said, \"Today we\'re going to cut the grass, go get the rake, and be my helping hand.\" \r\n\r\nBut his son wasn\'t willing to do the work, and he said, \"I studied science, and I\'ve forgotten all [the particulars of] village work. What kind of thing is a rake?\" \r\n\r\n[The son] had just walked into the yard, when he trod upon the rake with his foot, and the rake\'s handle suddenly [sprung up and] hit him in the head. That\'s when he finally remembered was a rake was.\r\n\r\nPeople must not forget their roots, and moreover [they] shouldn\'t be full of themselves just because they\'ve learned a few things. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Story: 有学问的儿子 - The Learned Son', 'In this short story, a garden rake (草耙 - [pinyin]cao3 pa2[/pinyin]) teaches one stuck-up kid a lesson in humility. HSK 3-4.', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-fable-the-learned-son', '', '', '2020-05-20 01:35:04', '2020-05-20 05:35:04', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2322', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(2323, 1, '2020-05-16 07:01:42', '2020-05-16 11:01:42', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nxxx\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\nhttps://www.51test.net/show/9307666.html\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>有学问的儿子</h4>\r\n\r\n上大学的儿子从城里回到农村，回到父亲这儿。\r\n\r\n父亲说：“今天你和我一起去割草，你去拿草耙，给我当个帮手。”\r\n\r\n可是儿子好逸恶劳，不愿干活，他说：“我学的是科学，乡下人的活我全都忘记了草耙是什么样的东西?”\r\n\r\n他刚刚走进院子，就一脚踩在草耙上，草耙的把儿一下子打在他的脑门上。这时他终于想起了什么是草耙。\r\n\r\n他揉揉脑门儿恼怒地说：“这是哪个傻瓜把草耙扔在这儿的?”\r\n\r\n寓言启示：做人不能忘本，更不能因为学了一点本事而恃才傲物，夜郎自大。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n上大学的儿子从城里回到农村，回到父亲这儿。\r\n\r\n父亲说：“今天你和我一起去割草，你去拿草耙，给我当个帮手。”\r\n\r\n可是儿子好逸恶劳，不愿干活，他说：“我学的是科学，乡下人的活我全都忘记了草耙是什么样的东西?”\r\n\r\n他刚刚走进院子，就一脚踩在草耙上，草耙的把儿一下子打在他的脑门上。这时他终于想起了什么是草耙。\r\n\r\n他揉揉脑门儿恼怒地说：“这是哪个傻瓜把草耙扔在这儿的?”\r\n\r\n寓言启示：做人不能忘本，更不能因为学了一点本事而恃才傲物，夜郎自大。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 有学问的儿子 - The Learned Son', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2322-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-16 07:01:42', '2020-05-16 11:01:42', '', 2322, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/16/2322-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2324, 1, '2020-05-16 22:02:21', '2020-05-17 02:02:21', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Hua\">Liu Cixin</a> (刘慈欣) is China\'s most famous contemporary science fiction writer, and is most well-known as the author of <em>The Three Body Problem</em>, which won significant critical acclaim worldwide, and spawned a series of movies. \r\n\r\nBut Liu Cixin has written several other novels and short stories, of which《赡养人类》<em>Support Human Beings</em> is one. It\'s good fiction, if you like spaceships, but more than that, it\'s super short - only around 70 pages or so - so if you\'d like to try your hand at finishing a whole novel, this is a pretty solid choice. You can pick up the book on Amazon (<a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">kindle</a>). China actually has a great tradition of novella-length fiction in a way that the West seems to lack. Modern authors often put out works longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel, which lowers the barrier to entry nicely.\r\n\r\nIn this post, we\'ll read the first part of Chapter One, which introduces one of the main characters: the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛). When we first him, he\'s in the process of taking on a new hit. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nFirst, the proper nouns: We\'ve got the assassin Smoothbore (滑膛), a wealthy tech magnate named Zhu Hanyang (朱汉杨), who owns Huaruan Group (华软集团), we\'ve got some guy named Yage (齿哥), and we\'ve got a mention of the Forbes Fortune 500 list (福布斯财富500排行). There\'s also mention of a person only named 哥哥, Big Brother, who\'s a central character in the rest of the book, but only comes up for a second in this passage. \r\n\r\n玩艺儿 [pinyin]wan2 yi4 er[/pinyin] - Another pretty useful and commonly-used word. When the you add the 儿, 玩艺 does not mean \"toy\", it becomes the colloquial equivalent to 东西, \"thing\". It\'s often used derogatorily, like \"Ew, what is that thing you\'re wearing?\", or dismissively, as in, \"Hand me that thing.\" In this passage, Smoothbore uses this word to describe some ostentatious jewelry that a flashy rich guy wears, so the use of 玩艺儿 adds a note of contempt to the sentence.\r\n\r\nParagraph five highlights the essential difficulty of reading sci-fi in a foreign language: it\'s hard to know if you got it right when what is being described is a made-up thing, so you can\'t gut-check your understanding against reality. You may have to check the translation here. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《赡养人类》第一章</h4>\r\n\r\n业务就是业务，无关其他。这是滑膛所遵循的原则，但这一次，客户却让他感到了困惑。\r\n\r\n首先客户的委托方式不对，他要与自己面谈，在这个行业中，这可是件很稀奇的事。三年前，滑膛听教官不止一次地说过，他们与客户的关系，应该是前额与后脑勺的关系，永世不得见面，这当然是为了双方的利益考虑。见面的地点更令滑膛吃惊，是在这座大城市中最豪华的五星级酒店中最豪华的总统大厅，那可是世界上最不适合委托这种业务的地方。据对方透露，这次委托加工的工件有三个，这倒无所谓，再多些他也不在乎。\r\n\r\n服务生拉开了总统大厅镶金的大门，滑膛在走进去前，不为人察觉地把手向夹克里探了一下，轻轻拉开了左腋下枪套的按扣。其实这没有必要，没人会在这种地方对他干太意外的事。\r\n\r\n大厅金碧辉煌，仿佛是与外面现实毫无关系的另一个世界，巨型水晶吊灯就是这个世界的太阳，猩红色的地毯就是这个世界的草原。这里初看很空旷，但滑膛还是很快发现了人，他们围在大厅一角的两个落地窗前，撩开厚重的窗帘向外面的天空看，滑膛扫了一眼，立刻数出竟有十三个人。客户是他们而不是他，也出乎滑膛的预料，教官说过，客户与他们还像情人关系一一尽管可能有多个，但每次只能与他们中的一人接触。\r\n\r\n[SCI-FI PART]滑膛知道他们在看什么：<span class=\"highlightText\">哥哥</span>飞船又移到南半球上空了，现在可以清晰地看到。上帝文明离开地球已经三年了，那次来自宇宙的大规模造访，使人类对外星文明的心理承受能力增强了许多，况且，上帝文明有铺天盖地的两万多艘飞船，而这次到来的哥哥飞船只有一艘。它的形状也没有上帝文明的飞船那么奇特，只是一个两头圆的柱体，像是宇宙中的一粒感冒胶囊。\r\n\r\n看到滑膛进来，那十三个人都离开窗子，回到了大厅中央的大圆桌旁。滑膛认出了他们中的大部分，立刻感觉这间华丽的大厅变得寒碜了。这些人中最引入注目的是<span class=\"highlightText\">朱汉杨</span>，他的<span class=\"highlightText\">华软集团</span>的“东方3000”操作系统正在全球范围内取代老朽的WINDOWS。其他的人，也都在<span class=\"highlightText\">福布斯财富500排行</span>的前50内，这些人每年的收益，可能相当于一个中等国家的GDP，滑膛处于一个小型版的全球财富论坛中。\r\n\r\n这些人与<span class=\"highlightText\">齿哥</span>是绝对不一样的，滑膛暗想，齿哥是一夜的富豪，他们则是三代修成的贵族，虽然真正的时间远没有那么长，但他们确实是贵族，财富在他们这里已转化成内敛的高贵，就像朱汉杨手上的那枚钻戒，纤细精致，在他修长的手指上若隐若现，只是偶尔闪一下温润的柔光，但它的价值，也许能买几十个齿哥手指上那颗核桃大小金光四射的<span class=\"highlightText\">玩艺儿</span>。\r\n\r\n但现在，这十三名高贵的财界精英聚在这里，却是要雇职业杀手杀人，而且要杀三个人，据首次联系的人说，这还只是第一批。\r\n\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nBusiness is business, and nothing else. This was the principle by which Smoothbore abided, but this time, the client had left him feeling puzzled.\r\n\r\nFirst of all, the way the client commissioned him was wrong, he wanted to meet face-to-face, and in this business, that was a curious matter. Three years earlier, Smoothbore had heard his drillmaster say more than once, their relationship with their clients was like the relationship between the forehead and the back of the head, never to see one another in this world, and this of course was out of consideration for the interests of both parties. The meeting place surprised Smoothbore even more, it was in the most luxurious presidential hall of the city\'s most luxurious five-star hotel, which was the least suitable place in the world for commissioning this type of work. According to what the client let slip, this job had three parts, though that was no big deal, even if it had been a few more [Smoothbore] wouldn\'t have minded.\r\n\r\nThe server pulled open the gold-inlayed door of the presidential hall, and before Smoothbore walked in, he surreptitiously moved his hands inside his jacket, lightly flicking open the snap of the gun holster beneath his left armpit. In truth this was unnecessary, no one would do anything too untoward to him in a place like this.\r\n\r\nThe hall was magnificent, as if it had no connection to the outside world, the huge crystal chandelier was this world\'s sun, and the crimson carpet was this world\'s grass. At first glance the place was open and spacious, but Smoothbore quickly found the people [inside], they gathered around the floor-to-ceiling windows in one corner of the hall, pushing aside the thick curtains to look at the sky outside, and Smoothbore swept his gaze around [the room], quickly counting that there were 13 people there. That the clients were many and not just one was also unexpected, as the drillmaster had said, the relationship between themselves and their clients was like the relationship between lovers - though there may be several, at each meeting you only have contact with one.\r\n\r\nSmoothbore knew what they were looking at: Big Brother\'s spaceship had taken off to move to the southern hemisphere again, and now it could be seen clearly. It had already been three years since the gods left Earth, and that big visit from outer space [lit: the universe] greatly strengthened mankind\'s psychological acceptance of alien civilizations, besides, the gods\' civilization had 20,000 spaceships that blanketed the sky, and this time Big Brother only had one. [The spaceship\'s] shape also wasn\'t as peculiar as the ones the gods had, it was just a big pillar rounded at both ends, like a big cold [medicine] capsule [out there] in the universe.\r\n\r\nWhen they saw Smoothbore enter, those 13 people all left the window, and came back to the big round table in the center of the hall. Smoothbore recognized most of them, and immediately felt that the resplendent hall had become shabby [in comparison to them]. The most interesting person among them was Zhu Hanyang, his Huaruan Group\'s \"Oriental 3000\" operating system had already replaced decrepit WINDOWS the world over. As for everyone else, they were all in the Forbes Fortune 500 Top 50, and their annual profits were probably equal to a middling country\'s GDP, so Smoothbore was [standing] in a small forum of world\'s wealthy.\r\n\r\nThese people were completely different from Yage, Smoothbore thought to himself, Yage was <em>nouveau riche</em>, but these guys were from three generations of nobility, and although the timeline [probably] wasn\'t really that long, they were nobility indeed, they transformed riches into a reserved moral elevation, just like the diamond ring on Zhu Hanyang\'s hand, fine and exquisite, understated on his slender finger, occasionally glinting with a soft, gentle light, but it was worth several of the gaudily-glittering walnut-sized things [that] Yage [wore on his] hand. \r\n\r\nBut right now, these thirteen noble magnates were collected here to hire an assassin to commit murder, moreover to kill three people, and according to his first contact, that was just the first part [of the job].\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese sci-fi novella 《赡养人类》by Liu Cixin', 'Assassins and spaceships and evil doings! Start reading Chapter One of the novel <em>Support Human Beings</em> by Liu Cixin, author of China\'s most famous sci-fi <em>Three Body Problem</em>. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1953-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-16 22:02:21', '2020-05-17 02:02:21', '', 1953, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/16/1953-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2325, 1, '2020-05-19 00:00:41', '2020-05-19 04:00:41', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nYou can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄). HSK 4-5. \r\n\r\nI threw up <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/chinese-essays-seed-of-a-butterfly-lin-qingxuan/\">another essay of his</a> about butterflies a couple weeks ago, and if you read both of them, you\'ll start to get a sense of Lin\'s style, his wide-eyed marveling, how he rejoices at every little thing. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>因... 而...</strong> [pinyin]yin1 ... er2 ...[/pinyin] - You\'ve probably already come across this sentence construction, but it bears pointing out: 因 in this case is 因为, \"because of ______\", and 而 is \"as a result ______\".\r\n\r\n<strong>生起</strong> [pinyin]sheng1 qi3[/pinyin] - You won\'t find this in the dictionary, and it\'s a little difficult because 生 has so many meanings. Depending on context, it can mean \"to give birth to\" as in (生孩子), or \"to grow\" (as in 生长), or \"be afflicted with\" a sickness (as in 生病), or it can just mean \"life\" (as in 生活). But in all of these definitions, there\'s a general sense of nothing expanding into something. So, if you understand 生起 that way, as an expansion or growth, the sentence will make sense.\r\n\r\n寄情 [pinyin]ji4 qing2[/pinyin] - This isn\'t in the pop-up dictionary, but this means \"to express one\'s feelings\" about something, usually in writing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rain8.com/article/class4/201211/12523.htm\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>感谢困难</h4>\r\n\r\n我做了一个梦。\r\n\r\n梦见我在街上问人：“请问您可不可以给我一些困难、一些挫折，一些痛苦？”\r\n\r\n所有的人都拒绝我，我着急地恳求别人：“那么，我雇用您，每小时五百元，请您给我一些折磨！”\r\n\r\n那些陌生人摇摇头，沉默地离开，我<span class=\"highlightText\">因</span>找不到愿意折磨我的人<span class=\"highlightText\">而</span>惊醒。\r\n\r\n我坐在床上发呆，是呀！困难，折磨，痛苦是多么珍贵！如果一切平顺，谁会静下来沉思，谁会<span class=\"highlightText\">生起</span>智慧，谁又能在平凡安逸的日子中超越自我、登上高峰呢？\r\n\r\n如果没有困难，谁又会谦卑地跪下来祈祷？谁又能相信有无边的宇宙？谁又能<span class=\"highlightText\">寄情</span>于来生呢？\r\n\r\n我深深地感谢着困难、挫折与痛苦。\r\n\r\n也深深地感恩那些曾经折磨过我的人，他们是多么慈悲呀！我并未花钱聘雇他们，他们却以宝贵的时间来考验我、提升我，为了增长我的智慧。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nI had a dream.\r\n\r\nI dreamed that I asked someone on the street: \"Excuse, me, can you give me some challenge, some setback, some pain?\" \r\n\r\nEveryone refused me, and anxiously I begged someone else: \"Then, I\'ll hire you, 500 RMB per hour, please torment me!\" \r\n\r\nThose strangers shook their heads, silently leaving, and as I was unable to find anyone to torment me, I woke with a start. \r\n\r\nI sat on the edge of my bed staring into space, yes! Challenges, torment, pain, how precious they are! If everything is going smoothly, who would settle down to ponder deeply, who would become wise, and who in their common and comfortable days would surpass selfishness, rise to higher heights? \r\n\r\nWithout difficulty, who would humbly kneel down and pray? Who could believe in the boundlessness of the universe? Who could express their feelings about the next life? \r\n\r\nI deeply thank difficulty, setbacks and pain. \r\n\r\nAnd I feel deep gratitude for those people who once tormented me, how merciful they are! I didn\'t even spend money to hire them, but they still used their precious time to come test me, elevate me, to grow my wisdom.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: 《感谢困难》Thanking Life\'s Challenges by Lin Qingxuan', 'You can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄). HSK 4-5. ', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-essay-thanking-lifes-challenges', '', '', '2020-05-18 20:23:57', '2020-05-19 00:23:57', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2325', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(2327, 1, '2020-05-21 00:00:26', '2020-05-21 04:00:26', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nDoesn\'t it seem like humankind has a collective memory of some prehistoric natural disaster built into our DNA? So many cultures have ancient myths about close calls with total destruction, be it Noah\'s Ark, or the story of Atlantis, or in China\'s case, \"Nvwa Mends the Heavens\" (女娲补天). \r\n\r\nThis ancient myth is old, very old. The goddess Nvwa is not really part of any modern Buddhist or Taoist pantheon, she appears to come from shamanistic folk legends that predate these religions. Early versions of this myth were included in texts from the Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD), so the story of Nvwa has been floating around for at least 2000 years. There are two main myths regarding Nvwa, our post today is one of them. In the other one, she creates human beings out of mud and clay. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nAs always, I\'ve highlighted the proper nouns. We\'ve got the water god Gonggong (共工), the fire god Zhurong (祝融), Buzhou Mountain (不周山), and the heroine of our tale, the goddess Nvwa (女娲).\r\n\r\nI didn\'t see anything in here that might trip up advanced readers, probably just new vocab, but there was one weird thing: the placement of the character 晨 seems a little weird to me. It means \"morning\", as in 早晨, but I\'m only 80% sure I translated its usage in this context correctly. If you have more insight, let me know in the comments. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>女娲补天</h4>\r\n传说当人类繁衍起来后，忽然水神<span class=\"highlightText\">共工</span>和火神<span class=\"highlightText\">祝融</span>打起仗来，他们从天上一直打到地下，闹得到处不宁，结果祝融打胜了，但败了的共工不服，一怒之下，把头撞向<span class=\"highlightText\">不周山</span>。\r\n\r\n不周山崩裂了，撑支天地之间的大柱断折了，天倒下了半边，出现了一个大窟窿，地也陷成一道道大裂纹，山林烧起了大火，洪水从地底下喷涌出来，龙蛇猛兽也出来吞食人民。\r\n\r\n人类面临着空前大灾难。<span class=\"highlightText\">女娲</span>目睹人类遭到如此奇祸，感到无比痛苦，于是决心补天，以终止这场灾难。她选用各种各样的五色石子，架起火将它们熔化成浆，用这种石浆将残缺的天窟窿填好，随后又斩下一只大龟的四脚，当作四根柱子把倒塌的半边天支起来。\r\n\r\n女娲还擒杀了残害人民的黑龙，刹住了龙蛇的嚣张气焰。最后为了堵住洪水不再漫流，女娲还收集了大量芦草，把它们烧成灰，埋塞向四处铺开的洪流。\r\n\r\n经过女娲一番辛劳整治，苍天总算补上了，地填平了，水止住了，龙蛇猛兽佥欠迹了，人民又重新过着安乐的生活。但是这场特大的灾祸毕竟留下了痕迹。从此天还是有些向西北倾斜，因此太阳、月亮和众星<span class=\"highlightText\">晨</span>都很自然地归向西方，又因为地向东南倾斜，所以一切江河都往那里汇流。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLegend has it that when humans had just begun to multiply [upon the earth], a great battle suddenly broke out between the water god Gonggong and the fire god Zhurong, disrupting tranquility in every quarter. In the end, Zhurong was victorious, but Gonggong would not accept his defeat, and in a fit of anger, smashed his head against Buzhou Mountain. \r\n\r\nBuzhou Mountain split apart, the giant pillars that held up the heavens were broken, and half of the sky caved in, leaving a large hole. Great cracks also appeared in the earth, the mountain forests went up in flame, floodwaters spurted forth from under the ground, and dragons and monsters came out and began devouring the people. \r\n\r\nMankind was facing an unprecedented catastrophe. When Nvwa witnessed the unexpected disaster that befell humanity, she was terribly agonized, and so she decided to patch up the sky, in order to put an end to the present calamity. She chose to use a selection of multi-colored stones, set a great fire to smelt them into a slurry, and used the smelted rock to paste over the hole in the firmament. Then she chopped the four feet off a giant tortoise, and used them as the four pillars to prop up half the heavens.\r\n\r\nNvwa also captured and slayed a great black dragon that was cruelly slaughtering human beings, putting a stop to the dragon\'s arrogance. Finally, in order to stem the floodwaters, Nvwa collected many reeds and grasses, burned them into ash, and stopped up the streams that were spreading in all directions. \r\n\r\nAfter Nvwa had toiled through the repairs, the sky was mended, the earth was even, the waters had been stopped, no trace remained of the dragons and monsters, and the people once again lived in peace and happiness. But of course, some vestiges of this huge calamity remained. From then on, the sky was slightly tilted to the northwest, and because of this the sun, moon and stars all naturally return to the west each morning, and also because the earth is tilted to the southeast, all of the rivers flow in that direction. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Mythology: 女娲补天 - Nvwa Mends the Heavens', 'Doesn\'t it seem like humankind has a collective memory of some prehistoric natural disaster built into our DNA? So many cultures have ancient myths about close calls with total destruction, be it Noah\'s Ark, or the story of Atlantis, or in China\'s case, \"Nvwa Mends the Heavens\" (女娲补天). ', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-myths-fables-nvwa-mends-the-heavens', '', '', '2020-05-20 03:04:47', '2020-05-20 07:04:47', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2327', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(2326, 1, '2020-05-17 02:10:25', '2020-05-17 06:10:25', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nYou can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, this . \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\nhttp://www.rain8.com/article/class4/201211/12523.htm\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>感谢困难</h4>\r\n\r\n我做了一个梦。\r\n\r\n梦见我在街上问人：“请问您可不可以给我一些困难、一些挫折，一些痛苦？”\r\n\r\n所有的人都拒绝我，我着急地恳求别人：“那么，我雇用您，每小时五百元，请您给我一些折磨！”\r\n\r\n那些陌生人摇摇头，沉默地离开，我因找不到愿意折磨我的人而惊醒。\r\n\r\n我坐在床上发呆，是呀！困难，折磨，痛苦是多么珍贵！如果一切平顺，谁会静下来沉思，谁会生起智慧，谁又能在平凡安逸的日子中超越自我、登上高峰呢？\r\n\r\n如果没有困难，谁又会谦卑地跪下来祈祷？谁又能相信有无边的宇宙？谁又能寄情于来生呢？\r\n\r\n我深深地感谢着困难、挫折与痛苦。\r\n\r\n也深深地感恩那些曾经折磨过我的人，他们是多么慈悲呀！我并未花钱聘雇他们，他们却以宝贵的时间来考验我、提升我，为了增长我的智慧。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nI had a dream.\r\n\r\nI dreamed that I asked someone on the street: \"Excuse, me, can you give me some challenge, some setback, some pain?\" \r\n\r\nEveryone refused me, and anxiously I begged them: \"Then, I\'ll hire you, 500 RMB per hour, please torment me!\" \r\n\r\nThose strangers shook their heads, silently leaving, and as I was unable to find anyone to torment me, I woke with a start. \r\n\r\nI sat on the edge of my bed staring into space, yes! Challenges, torment, pain, how precious they are! If everything is going smoothly, who would settle down to ponder deeply, who would become wise, and who in their common and comfortable days would surpass selfishness, rise to higher heights? \r\n\r\nWithout difficulty, who would humbly kneel down and pray? Who could believe in the boundlessness of the universe? Who could feel wonder at the origins of life? \r\n\r\nI deeply thank difficulty, setbacks and pain. \r\n\r\nAnd I feel deep gratitude for those people who once tormented me, how merciful they are! I didn\'t even spend money to hire them, but they still used their precious time to come test me, elevate me, to grow my wisdom.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: 感谢困难 - Thanking life\'s challenges', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2325-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 02:10:25', '2020-05-17 06:10:25', '', 2325, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2325-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2328, 1, '2020-05-17 10:12:22', '2020-05-17 14:12:22', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIntro\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>女娲补天</h4>\r\n\r\n传说当人类繁衍起来后，忽然水神共工和火神祝融打起仗来，他们从天上一直打到地下，闹得到处不宁，结果祝融打胜了，但败了的共工不服，一怒之下，把头撞向不周山。\r\n\r\n不周山崩裂了，撑支天地之间的大柱断折了，天倒下了半边，出现了一个大窟窿，地也陷成一道道大裂纹，山林烧起了大火，洪水从地底下喷涌出来，龙蛇猛兽也出来吞食人民。\r\n\r\n人类面临着空前大灾难。女娲目睹人类遭到如此奇祸，感到无比痛苦，于是决心补天，以终止这场灾难。她选用各种各样的五色石子，架起火将它们熔化成浆，用这种石浆将残缺的天窟窿填好，随后又斩下一只大龟的四脚，当作四根柱子把倒塌的半边天支起来。\r\n\r\n女娲还擒杀了残害人民的黑龙，刹住了龙蛇的嚣张气焰。最后为了堵住洪水不再漫流，女娲还收集了大量芦草，把它们烧成灰，埋塞向四处铺开的洪流。\r\n\r\n经过女娲一番辛劳整治，苍天总算补上了，地填平了，水止住了，龙蛇猛兽佥欠迹了，人民又重新过着安乐的生活。但是这场特大的灾祸毕竟留下了痕迹。从此天还是有些向西北倾斜，因此太阳、月亮和众星晨都很自然地归向西方，又因为地向东南倾斜，所以一切江河都往那里汇流。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Mythology: 女娲补天 - Nvwa Mends the Heavens', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2327-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 10:12:22', '2020-05-17 14:12:22', '', 2327, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2327-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2329, 1, '2020-05-17 10:23:09', '2020-05-17 14:23:09', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nxxx\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\nhttps://www.51test.net/show/9307666.html\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>有学问的儿子</h4>\r\n\r\n上大学的儿子从城里回到农村，回到<span class=\"highlightText\">父亲这儿</span>。\r\n\r\n父亲说：“今天你和我一起去割草，你去拿草耙，<span class=\"highlightText\">给我当个帮手</span>。”\r\n\r\n可是儿子不愿干活，他说：“我学的是科学，乡下人的活我全都忘记了。草耙是什么样的东西?”\r\n\r\n他刚刚走进院子，就一脚踩在草耙上，草耙的把儿一下子打在他的脑门上。这时他终于想起了什么是草耙。\r\n\r\n做人不能忘本，更不能因为学了一点本事而恃才傲物，夜郎自大。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA college student came back from the city to [his] village, returning to where his father\'s place.\r\n\r\nHis father said, \"Today we\'re going to cut the grass, go get the rake, and be my helping hand.\" \r\n\r\nBut his son wasn\'t willing to do it, and he said, \"I studied science,  and forgot all about village work. What\'s kind of thing is a rake?\" \r\n\r\nHe had just walked into the yard, when he trod upon the rake with his foot, and the rake\'s handle suddenly hit him in the head. That\'s when he finally remembered was a rake was.\r\n\r\nPeople must not forget their roots, and moreover shouldn\'t be full of themselves just because they\'ve learned a few things. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 有学问的儿子 - The Learned Son', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2322-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 10:23:09', '2020-05-17 14:23:09', '', 2322, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2322-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2330, 1, '2020-05-17 10:39:39', '2020-05-17 14:39:39', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nMan, you could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. Make of it what you will. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.51test.net/show/9430844.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里<span class=\"highlightText\">有什么区别呢</span>?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 10:39:39', '2020-05-17 14:39:39', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2331, 1, '2020-05-22 00:00:53', '2020-05-22 04:00:53', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nOne picky little horse doesn\'t appreciate the food he is served, until he sees what everyone else is eating. Upper-beginner, bordering on intermediate, HSK 4.\r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nQuite a bit of the harder vocab in this piece revolves around eating. We\'ve got  津津有味 [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin], to eat something with joyous relish, 啃 [pinyin]ken3[/pinyin], to gnaw on, 狼吞虎咽 [pinyin]lang2 tun1 hu3 yan4[/pinyin], to fiercely gobble something up, and 饥肠辘辘 [pinyin]ji1 chang2 lu4 lu4[/pinyin], to be so hungry one\'s stomach is rumbling. \r\n\r\n饥肠辘辘 is actually a pretty interesting phrase. 饥肠 means \"an empty stomach\", and 辘辘 is being used as an onomatopoeia, <em>lu lu</em> being the sound of one\'s stomach grumbling from hunger.  \r\n\r\n<strong>爱挑食</strong> [pinyin]ai4 tiao1 shi2[/pinyin] - Three different words here, 爱, to love, 挑, to be picky, and 食, food. The literal translation here is \"loves to be picky about food\". It bears pointing out that in this case, \"love\" does not really mean \"to have fondness for\", but rather, \"to do something often\". We use \"love\" this way in English as well, as in, \"You just love to start an argument, don\'t you?\"\r\n\r\n<strong>转一圈</strong> [pinyin]zhuan3 yi1 quan1[/pinyin] - 转 is \"to turn around\" and 一圈 is \"a circle\" or \"a loop\". That might sound like it means \"to spin around in a circle while standing in place\", but it doesn\'t. It means \"to make a circular pass through a place\" - imagine shopping at a farmer\'s market or something, you walk all around to the different stalls to see what everyone is selling. \r\n\r\n<strong>一幕</strong> [pinyin]yi1 mu4[/pinyin] - You\'ll notice my popup dictionary translates this as \"a curtain\", a \"screen\" or \"an act of a play\". A 幕 is indeed the measure word for \"an act of a play\", but this is being used figuratively, what it means here is \"scene\", as in, \"When my eyes came to rest upon that ugly scene...\" \r\n\r\n<strong>那儿</strong> [pinyin]na4 er[/pinyin] - Literally means \"there\", but when it comes after a noun, it means \"over where [noun] is\", or \"[noun\'s] place\". I just covered a similar usage of \"这儿\" in the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/20/chinese-fable-the-learned-son/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last beginner post</a>. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-9965.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>最可口的食物</h4>\r\n\r\n在一个农场里养着很多动物。其中有一匹<span class=\"highlightText\">爱挑食</span>的小马，它总是不满意农场主给它的食物。于是它决定去转<span class=\"highlightText\">一圈</span>，看看别的动物们<span class=\"highlightText\">那儿</span>有什么好吃的。\r\n　　\r\n它很快就发现了几只鸡正在愉快地吃着什么，上前一看，是谷子，它尝了一口，却马上又吐了出来，“一点味没有，不好吃！”说着就走了。\r\n　　\r\n不久它又看到一只狗在<span class=\"highlightText\">津津有味</span>地<span class=\"highlightText\">啃</span>着骨头，还有一只猫一边唱着歌一边<span class=\"highlightText\">撕咬</span>着一条鱼。这些食物，它看了都害怕，那气味快使它呕吐。它赶紧走开了。\r\n　　\r\n走了好一会儿，小马有点渴了，它来到水塘边喝水。看到两只鸭子正在抢夺一条蚯蚓，蚯蚓被它们拉扯的又细又长，最后断成两截，两只鸭子<span class=\"highlightText\">狼吞虎咽</span>地吃下了各自的半截，又开始寻找起来。看到这残忍的<span class=\"highlightText\">一幕</span>，小马水也<span class=\"highlightText\">顾不上</span>喝就跑开了，“真恐怖！”它说。\r\n　　\r\n跑了<span class=\"highlightText\">一大圈</span>，它看到的动物吃的东西，都不合它的胃口，有的甚至还让它感得恶心。小马饥肠辘辘的回到马厩，才发现主人为它预备的草料，才是它最喜爱最可口的食物。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a farm where many animals were raised. Among them was one little horse that was very picky about his food, he was always unsatisfied with what the farmer gave him to eat. So he decided to go walk around, to see what yummy things the other animals had to eat. \r\n　　\r\nHe quickly discovered a few chickens happily eating something, so he went over to look, it was grain, so he tried a mouthful, but he spit out, \"[This] has no flavor, it\'s gross!\", he said and left.　\r\n　　\r\nNot long after he saw a dog gnawing on a bone with relish, and a cat singing a song while tearing into a fish. Just looking at these foods frightened him, and the smell made him retch, so he quickly took his leave. 　\r\n　　\r\nAfter walking for a while, the little horse was a bit thirsty, so he went to the pond to drink some water. He saw two ducks fighting over an earthworm, they stretched the earthworm out long and thin, and finally broke it into two pieces, and the two ducks each gobbled down their piece, and started looking about [for another]. Seeing this cruel scene, the little horse couldn\'t even stand to drink any water and quickly ran away, \"Truly horrifying!\" he said. \r\n　　\r\nHe ran all around, and everything he saw the other animals eating didn\'t suit his own tastes, and some even disgusted him. He returned to his pen with his stomach rumbling, and found that the grass master had prepared for him to eat was his favorite delicious food after all.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Story: 最可口的食物 - The most appetizing meal', 'One picky little horse doesn\'t appreciate the food he is served, until he sees what everyone else is eating. Upper-beginner, bordering on intermediate, HSK 4.', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'chinese-childrens-story-most-appetizing-meal', '', '', '2020-05-21 19:55:31', '2020-05-21 23:55:31', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=2331', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(2332, 1, '2020-05-17 11:52:31', '2020-05-17 15:52:31', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIntro\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.51test.net/show/9430844.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>最可口的食物</h4>\r\n\r\n　在一个农场里养着很多动物。其中有一匹爱挑食的小马，它总是不满意农场主给它的食物。于是它决定去转一圈，看看别的动物们那儿有什么好吃的。\r\n　　\r\n　　它很快就发现了几只鸡正在愉快地吃着什么，上前一看，是谷子，它尝了一口，却马上又吐了出来，“一点味没有，还扎嘴，不好吃！”说着就走了。\r\n　　\r\n　　不久它又看到一只狗在津津有味地啃着骨头，还有一只猫一边唱着歌一边撕咬着一条鱼。这些食物，它看了都害怕，那气味快使它呕吐。它赶紧走开了。\r\n　　\r\n　　走了好一会儿，小马有点渴了，它来到水塘边喝水。看到两只鸭子正在抢夺一条蚯蚓，蚯蚓被它们拉扯的又细又长，最后断成两截，两只鸭子狼吞虎咽地吃下了各自的半截，又开始寻找起来。看到这残忍的一幕，小马水也顾不上喝就跑开了，“真恐怖！”它说。\r\n　　\r\n　　跑了一大圈，它看到的动物吃的东西，都不合它的胃口，有的甚至还让它感得恶心。小马饥肠辘辘的回到马厩，才发现主人为它预备的草料，才是它最喜爱最可口的食物。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nTranslation\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Story: 最可口的食物 - The most appetizing meal', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2331-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 11:52:31', '2020-05-17 15:52:31', '', 2331, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2331-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2333, 1, '2020-05-17 11:52:56', '2020-05-17 15:52:56', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIntro\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-9965.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>最可口的食物</h4>\r\n\r\n　在一个农场里养着很多动物。其中有一匹爱挑食的小马，它总是不满意农场主给它的食物。于是它决定去转一圈，看看别的动物们那儿有什么好吃的。\r\n　　\r\n　　它很快就发现了几只鸡正在愉快地吃着什么，上前一看，是谷子，它尝了一口，却马上又吐了出来，“一点味没有，还扎嘴，不好吃！”说着就走了。\r\n　　\r\n　　不久它又看到一只狗在津津有味地啃着骨头，还有一只猫一边唱着歌一边撕咬着一条鱼。这些食物，它看了都害怕，那气味快使它呕吐。它赶紧走开了。\r\n　　\r\n　　走了好一会儿，小马有点渴了，它来到水塘边喝水。看到两只鸭子正在抢夺一条蚯蚓，蚯蚓被它们拉扯的又细又长，最后断成两截，两只鸭子狼吞虎咽地吃下了各自的半截，又开始寻找起来。看到这残忍的一幕，小马水也顾不上喝就跑开了，“真恐怖！”它说。\r\n　　\r\n　　跑了一大圈，它看到的动物吃的东西，都不合它的胃口，有的甚至还让它感得恶心。小马饥肠辘辘的回到马厩，才发现主人为它预备的草料，才是它最喜爱最可口的食物。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nTranslation\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Story: 最可口的食物 - The most appetizing meal', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2331-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 11:52:56', '2020-05-17 15:52:56', '', 2331, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2331-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2334, 1, '2020-05-17 20:39:50', '2020-05-18 00:39:50', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. \r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last sentence is very long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which is this case means 比[pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 20:39:50', '2020-05-18 00:39:50', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2335, 1, '2020-05-17 20:40:46', '2020-05-18 00:40:46', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last sentence is very long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which is this case means 比[pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 20:40:46', '2020-05-18 00:40:46', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2336, 1, '2020-05-17 20:42:32', '2020-05-18 00:42:32', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last clause is a bit long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which is this case means 比[pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在翡翠宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 20:42:32', '2020-05-18 00:42:32', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2337, 1, '2020-05-27 21:59:29', '2020-05-28 01:59:29', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\n\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \n\n翡翠 [pinyin]fei3 cui4[/pinyin] - My translation software has this as \"jadeite\", but this can be both jade or emerald, and since I usually see \"jade\" translated as 玉 [pinyin]yu4,[/pinyin] I\'m going with \"emerald\" here.\n\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\n\n大 - Big\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\n我 - I\n飞 - fly\n都 - but even\n飞 - fly\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\n边 - the edge.\n\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \n\nFinally, the last clause is a bit long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which in this case means 比 [pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \n\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\n\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\n\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\n\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\n\n画眉沉默了。\n\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在<span class=\"highlightText\">翡翠</span>宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\n\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\n\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \n\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\n\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \n\nThe thrush was silent.\n\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\n\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\n\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-27 21:59:29', '2020-05-28 01:59:29', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2338, 1, '2020-05-17 20:47:26', '2020-05-18 00:47:26', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n翡翠 [pinyin]fei3 cui4[/pinyin] - My translation software has this as \"jadeite\", but this can be both jade or emerald, and since I usually see \"jade\" translated as 玉 [pinyin]yu4,[/pinyin] I\'m going with \"emerald\" here.\r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last clause is a bit long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which is this case means 比[pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在<span class=\"highlightText\">翡翠</span>宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-17 20:47:26', '2020-05-18 00:47:26', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/17/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2339, 1, '2020-05-18 00:18:06', '2020-05-18 04:18:06', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.\r\n\r\nYou could take a lot of lessons away from this story. Maybe it\'s trying to tell us that money is immaterial without friends and loved ones around us. Or maybe that God is fallible. Or that the grass is always greener. You read it, you decide. \r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin] - Usually, when we first start reading dialogues, we learn that \"说\" means \"said\", as in \"He said,\" (他说). There are actually a few different ways to say \"said\" in Chinese, three off the top of my head. 说 is the \"beginner\" way. At the intermediate level, this can become 说道 [pinyin]shuo1 dao4[/pinyin], or simply 道. In ancient Chinese, they often use 曰 [pinyin]yue1[/pinyin], which looks like 日 [pinyin]ri4[/pinyin], but if you look closely you\'ll see it\'s a little wider, and the line crossing it in the middle doesn\'t quite touch the right side of the character. In this piece, we\'ve got 说道 and a 问道 - don\'t let that \"道\" confuse you, it just means \"to say\". \r\n\r\n翡翠 [pinyin]fei3 cui4[/pinyin] - My translation software has this as \"jadeite\", but this can be both jade or emerald, and since I usually see \"jade\" translated as 玉 [pinyin]yu4,[/pinyin] I\'m going with \"emerald\" here.\r\n\r\n<strong>大得我飞都飞不到边</strong> [pinyin]da4 de wo3 fei1 dou1 fei1 bu dao4 bian1[/pinyin] - We\'ve also got one slightly rough sentence construction here. This clause is being used by the thrush to describe a house, let\'s break it down:\r\n\r\n大 - Big\r\n得 - To the extent that / to the point that\r\n我 - I\r\n飞 - fly\r\n都 - but even\r\n飞 - fly\r\n不到 - can\'t arrive at / can\'t reach\r\n边 - the edge.\r\n\r\nIn other words, the house is so big that even if the bird starts flying at one side of the house, he can fly and fly but still won\'t reach the other side. \r\n\r\nFinally, the last clause is a bit long, so here\'s a trick for figuring it out: find the 跟 [pinyin]gen1[/pinyin], which is this case means 比 [pinyin]bi3[/pinyin], a comparative word. Everything before 跟 is being compared to what\'s after it. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/xiaogushi/id-1746.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>天堂里的自由</h4>\r\n\r\n一只可爱的画眉被主人关在笼子里，上帝于是对画眉说：“跟我到天堂去生活吧。”\r\n\r\n“我现在生活的很好啊，为什么要去天堂呢?”画眉<span class=\"highlightText\">说道</span>。\r\n\r\n上帝反问道：“那你有自由吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉沉默了。\r\n\r\n画眉跟着上帝来到了天堂，上帝把它安排在<span class=\"highlightText\">翡翠</span>宫里住下，自己便去忙别的事情。\r\n\r\n过了很长一段时间，上帝突然想起了画眉，便去翡翠宫看它。他问画眉：“我亲爱的孩子，你现在过得还好吗?”\r\n\r\n画眉哀叹一声，说：“房子很漂亮，<span class=\"highlightText\">大得我飞都飞不到边</span>，可是我一个人孤零零地生活在这大房子里<span class=\"highlightText\">跟</span>住在笼子里有什么区别呢?”\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nA cute little thrush was shut in a cage by its master, so God said to the thrush: \"Come and live with me in Heaven.\" \r\n\r\n\"My life is very good now, why should I go to heaven?\" the thrush said.\r\n\r\nGod answered, \"Well, do you have freedom?\" \r\n\r\nThe thrush was silent.\r\n\r\nThe thrush followed God to Heaven, and God arranged for it to settle down in an emerald palace, and then he went to deal with other matters.\r\n\r\nAfter a long time had passed, God suddenly thought of the thrush, and so he went to the emerald palace to see it. He asked the thrush: \"My dear child, are things going well now?\"\r\n\r\nThe thrush uttered a sorrowful sigh, and said: \"The house is beautiful, so big that [no matter how long] I fly I can\'t reach its edges, but how is living by myself alone in this big house any different than living in a cage?\"\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 天堂里的自由 - Freedom in Heaven', 'A little thrush (画眉 [pinyin]hua4 mei2[/pinyin]) trades one cage (笼子 [pinyin]long2 zi[/pinyin]) for a bigger one, and doesn\'t much like the upgrade. Suitable around HSK 3.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2320-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-18 00:18:06', '2020-05-18 04:18:06', '', 2320, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/18/2320-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2340, 1, '2020-05-18 20:21:39', '2020-05-19 00:21:39', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nYou can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄). HSK 4-5. \r\n\r\nI threw up <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/chinese-essays-seed-of-a-butterfly-lin-qingxuan/\">another essay of his</a> about butterflies a couple weeks ago, and if you read both of them, you\'ll start to get a sense of Lin\'s style, his wide-eyed marveling, how he rejoices at every little thing. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>因... 而...</strong> [pinyin]yin1 ... er2 ...[/pinyin] - You\'ve probably already come across this sentence construction, but it bears pointing out: 因 in this case is 因为, \"because of ______\", and 而 is \"as a result ______\".\r\n\r\n<strong>生起</strong> [pinyin]sheng1 qi3[/pinyin] - You won\'t find this in the dictionary, and it\'s a little difficult because 生 has so many meanings. Depending on context, it can mean \"to give birth to\" as in (生孩子), or \"to grow\" (as in 生长), or \"be afflicted with\" a sickness (as in 生病), or it can just mean \"life\" (as in 生活). But in all of these definitions, there\'s a general sense of nothing expanding into something. So, if you understand 生起 that way, as an expansion or growth, the sentence will make sense.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.rain8.com/article/class4/201211/12523.htm\">Source here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>感谢困难</h4>\r\n\r\n我做了一个梦。\r\n\r\n梦见我在街上问人：“请问您可不可以给我一些困难、一些挫折，一些痛苦？”\r\n\r\n所有的人都拒绝我，我着急地恳求别人：“那么，我雇用您，每小时五百元，请您给我一些折磨！”\r\n\r\n那些陌生人摇摇头，沉默地离开，我<span class=\"highlightText\">因</span>找不到愿意折磨我的人<span class=\"highlightText\">而</span>惊醒。\r\n\r\n我坐在床上发呆，是呀！困难，折磨，痛苦是多么珍贵！如果一切平顺，谁会静下来沉思，谁会<span class=\"highlightText\">生起</span>智慧，谁又能在平凡安逸的日子中超越自我、登上高峰呢？\r\n\r\n如果没有困难，谁又会谦卑地跪下来祈祷？谁又能相信有无边的宇宙？谁又能寄情于来生呢？\r\n\r\n我深深地感谢着困难、挫折与痛苦。\r\n\r\n也深深地感恩那些曾经折磨过我的人，他们是多么慈悲呀！我并未花钱聘雇他们，他们却以宝贵的时间来考验我、提升我，为了增长我的智慧。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nI had a dream.\r\n\r\nI dreamed that I asked someone on the street: \"Excuse, me, can you give me some challenge, some setback, some pain?\" \r\n\r\nEveryone refused me, and anxiously I begged someone else: \"Then, I\'ll hire you, 500 RMB per hour, please torment me!\" \r\n\r\nThose strangers shook their heads, silently leaving, and as I was unable to find anyone to torment me, I woke with a start. \r\n\r\nI sat on the edge of my bed staring into space, yes! Challenges, torment, pain, how precious they are! If everything is going smoothly, who would settle down to ponder deeply, who would become wise, and who in their common and comfortable days would surpass selfishness, rise to higher heights? \r\n\r\nWithout difficulty, who would humbly kneel down and pray? Who could believe in the boundlessness of the universe? Who could express their feelings about the next life? \r\n\r\nI deeply thank difficulty, setbacks and pain. \r\n\r\nAnd I feel deep gratitude for those people who once tormented me, how merciful they are! I didn\'t even spend money to hire them, but they still used their precious time to come test me, elevate me, to grow my wisdom.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: 《感谢困难》Thanking Life\'s Challenges by Lin Qingxuan', 'You can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄). HSK 4-5. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2325-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-18 20:21:39', '2020-05-19 00:21:39', '', 2325, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/18/2325-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2341, 1, '2020-05-18 20:31:04', '2020-05-19 00:31:04', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nYou can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄), about one of those things that most religions seem to be keen to teach us: that suffering is to be welcomed as a path to the divine. HSK 4-5. \n\nI threw up <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/07/chinese-essays-seed-of-a-butterfly-lin-qingxuan/\">another essay of his</a> about butterflies a couple weeks ago, and if you read both of them, you\'ll start to get a sense of Lin\'s style, his wide-eyed marveling, how he rejoices at every little thing. \n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\n<strong>因... 而...</strong> [pinyin]yin1 ... er2 ...[/pinyin] - You\'ve probably already come across this sentence construction, but it bears pointing out: 因 in this case is 因为, \"because of ______\", and 而 is \"as a result ______\".\n\n<strong>生起</strong> [pinyin]sheng1 qi3[/pinyin] - You won\'t find this in the dictionary, and it\'s a little difficult because 生 has so many meanings. Depending on context, it can mean \"to give birth to\" as in (生孩子), or \"to grow\" (as in 生长), or \"be afflicted with\" a sickness (as in 生病), or it can just mean \"life\" (as in 生活). But in all of these definitions, there\'s a general sense of nothing expanding into something. So, if you understand 生起 that way, as an expansion or growth, the sentence will make sense.\n\n寄情 [pinyin]ji4 qing2[/pinyin] - This isn\'t in the pop-up dictionary, but this means \"to express one\'s feelings\" about something, usually in writing. \n\n<a href=\"http://www.rain8.com/article/class4/201211/12523.htm\">Source here</a>\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>感谢困难</h4>\n\n我做了一个梦。\n\n梦见我在街上问人：“请问您可不可以给我一些困难、一些挫折，一些痛苦？”\n\n所有的人都拒绝我，我着急地恳求别人：“那么，我雇用您，每小时五百元，请您给我一些折磨！”\n\n那些陌生人摇摇头，沉默地离开，我<span class=\"highlightText\">因</span>找不到愿意折磨我的人<span class=\"highlightText\">而</span>惊醒。\n\n我坐在床上发呆，是呀！困难，折磨，痛苦是多么珍贵！如果一切平顺，谁会静下来沉思，谁会<span class=\"highlightText\">生起</span>智慧，谁又能在平凡安逸的日子中超越自我、登上高峰呢？\n\n如果没有困难，谁又会谦卑地跪下来祈祷？谁又能相信有无边的宇宙？谁又能<span class=\"highlightText\">寄情</span>于来生呢？\n\n我深深地感谢着困难、挫折与痛苦。\n\n也深深地感恩那些曾经折磨过我的人，他们是多么慈悲呀！我并未花钱聘雇他们，他们却以宝贵的时间来考验我、提升我，为了增长我的智慧。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nI had a dream.\n\nI dreamed that I asked someone on the street: \"Excuse, me, can you give me some challenge, some setback, some pain?\" \n\nEveryone refused me, and anxiously I begged someone else: \"Then, I\'ll hire you, 500 RMB per hour, please torment me!\" \n\nThose strangers shook their heads, silently leaving, and as I was unable to find anyone to torment me, I woke with a start. \n\nI sat on the edge of my bed staring into space, yes! Challenges, torment, pain, how precious they are! If everything is going smoothly, who would settle down to ponder deeply, who would become wise, and who in their common and comfortable days would surpass selfishness, rise to higher heights? \n\nWithout difficulty, who would humbly kneel down and pray? Who could believe in the boundlessness of the universe? Who could express their feelings about the next life? \n\nI deeply thank difficulty, setbacks and pain. \n\nAnd I feel deep gratitude for those people who once tormented me, how merciful they are! I didn\'t even spend money to hire them, but they still used their precious time to come test me, elevate me, to grow my wisdom.\n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: 《感谢困难》Thanking Life\'s Challenges by Lin Qingxuan', 'You can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here\'s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan (林清玄). HSK 4-5. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2325-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-18 20:31:04', '2020-05-19 00:31:04', '', 2325, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/18/2325-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
