Trilingual Frequent Human-Monkey Conflicts, and Umbrellas in Taiwan
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From AntC:
Warnings snapped on a terrace overlooking a wooded hillside at a frantic Lunar New Year Shoutiangong Temple, Nantou County, Taiwan.
The 'Umbrellas' were sunshades over the tables. I guess the terrace can get plenty windy. The pot-noodles were unavoidable/give authentic colour.
zhùyì
注意
"warning"
qiángfēng
強風
"strong winds"
lí xí qǐng shōu sǎn
離席請收傘
"Please fold your umbrella before leaving your seat"
———————
お席を離れる際は、傘を閉じてください
O-seki o hanareru sai wa, kasa o tojite kudasai.
Please close your umbrella when you leave your seat.
Táiwān míhóu chūmò zhùyì
臺灣彌猴出沒注意
"Beware of Formosan macaque sightings"
yánjìn wèishí yǐmiǎn shòushāng
嚴禁餵食以免受傷
"To avoid injury, it is strictly forbidden to feed [the macaques]"
yánjìn kàojìn; yánjǐn chùmō
嚴禁靠近; 嚴謹觸摸
"Do not approach; do not touch"
shíwù lòubái
食物露白
"when food items are left out in the open"
hóu qún jiù lái
猴群就來
"the monkey troop will arrive"
———————
タイワンザル
Taiwan-zaru
Formosan rock macaques
人とサルの衝突が頻発しています。ご注意ください。
Hito to saru no shōtotsu ga hinpatsu shite imasu. Go-chūi kudasai.
Human-monkey conflicts are occurring frequently. Please beware.
サルにエサを与えないでください。
Saru ni esa o ataenaide kudasai.
Please do not feed the monkeys.
サルに近づいたり、 触れたりしないでください。
Saru ni chikazuitari, furetari shinaide kudasai.
Please do not approach or touch the monkeys.
食べ物やレジ袋を見せないようにしてください。
Tabemono ya rejibukuro o misenai yō ni shitekudasai.
Please do not show [the macaques] food or shopping bags.
* The one thing to note is that a different grammar pattern is used here. Rather than "don't do X," it's a little softer, "refrain from" might be the best translation? In that case, "Please refrain from showing [the macaques] food or shopping bags."
Nathan Hopson observes that all the Japanese is grammatically and semantically correct.
Selected readings
- "Don't joke the monkeys" (10/20/11)
- "'Sponke their monkeys'" (9/6/17)
- "Monkey park" (12/2/11)
- "Hsigo, the imaginary flying monkeys of Chinese mythology" (10/14/13)
- Hera S. Walker, "Indigenous or Foreign? A Look at the Origins of the Monkey Hero Sun Wukong". Sino-Platonic Papers, 81 (September, 1998), i-iv, 1-110.
- Ramnath Subbaraman, "Beyond the Question of the Monkey Imposter: Indian Influence on the Chinese Novel, The Journey to the West". Sino-Platonic Papers, 114 (March, 2002), 1-35.
[Thanks to Frank Chance and Nathan Hopson]
Victor Mair said,
February 20, 2026 @ 9:14 pm
Monolingual sign from the Ritz Carlton on Langkawi (part of Malaysia).
Photograph by Mark Metcalf.
AntC said,
February 20, 2026 @ 10:02 pm
I can report there were plenty of macaques skulking along the sideroads. They didn't respond to Mandarin, Hokkien nor English; but only snacks. (I didn't see any Japanese speakers.)
Philip Taylor said,
February 21, 2026 @ 7:54 am
Sadly my brother-and-sister-in-law's children did not observe the "Keep all windows and doors closed" element when we all stayed in a 5-star holiday resort just across the river from Đà Nẵng — the monkeys completely trashed the room, searching for anything even vaguely edible.