{"id":65850,"date":"2024-09-06T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T15:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=65850"},"modified":"2024-09-06T11:20:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T16:20:14","slug":"china-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=65850","title":{"rendered":"China flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I\u2019m still trying to figure out, in XJP rhetoric, when \u4e2d\u534e is used and when it\u2019s \u4e2d\u56fd. How long has Zhongguo been used directly as an adjective this way, as opposed to \u4e2d\u56fd\u4f3c\u7684or \u4e2d\u56fd\u6027\uff1fIs a \u4e2d\u56fd\u5473different from a \u4e2d\u534e\u5473\uff1fWhich smells better? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9CARnICZSu\">pic.twitter.com\/9CARnICZSu<\/a><\/p>\r\n\u2014 James Millward \u7c73\u83ef\u5065 (@JimMillward) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JimMillward\/status\/1831393314890793157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\r\n<p>For non-specialists to understand this tweet, a considerable amount of annotation and explication is necessary.<\/p>\r\n<p><b>Key terms<\/b><\/p>\r\n<p>Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 \u4e2d\u570b\/\u56fd &#8212; usually rendered as \"China; Chinese\", literally \"central \/ middle kingdom\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1 \u4e2d\u83ef\/\u534e &#8212; usually rendered as \"China; Chinese\", literally \"central \/ middle florescence\"<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">So named because the first ancient Chinese settlements were around the <a title=\"Yellow River\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Yellow_River\">Yellow River<\/a>, which was considered to be the center, and because the culture was considered to be magnificent and flourishing.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>In traditional East Asian thought, <span class=\"Hant\" lang=\"zh-Hant\"><a title=\"\u83ef\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E8%8F%AF#Chinese\">\u83ef<\/a><\/span><span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\">\uff0f<\/span><span class=\"Hans\" lang=\"zh-Hans\"><a title=\"\u534e\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E5%8D%8E#Chinese\">\u534e<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">Hu\u00e1<\/span><\/i>) or <span class=\"Hant\" lang=\"zh-Hant\"><a class=\"mw-selflink-fragment\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u83ef<\/a><\/span><span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\">\uff0f<\/span><span class=\"Hans\" lang=\"zh-Hans\"><a title=\"\u4e2d\u534e\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u534e<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1<\/span><\/i>), often translated as \"Chinese\", has a philosophical connotation of <a title=\"civilizedness\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/civilizedness\">civilizedness<\/a> and <a title=\"decorous\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/decorous\">decorous<\/a> behavior that transcends a strictly ethnic definition. This is in opposition to \"foreigners\" or \"barbarians\", <span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\"><a title=\"\u5937\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E5%A4%B7#Chinese\">\u5937<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">y\u00ed<\/span><\/i>) or <span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\"><a title=\"\u5937\u72c4\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E5%A4%B7%E7%8B%84#Chinese\">\u5937\u72c4<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">y\u00edd\u00ed<\/span><\/i>), whose cultures are uncivilized and lacking in proper morality. Therefore, in certain contexts, other nations of the <a class=\"extiw\" title=\"w:East Asian cultural sphere\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/East_Asian_cultural_sphere\">East Asian cultural sphere<\/a> could refer to themselves as <span class=\"Hant\" lang=\"zh-Hant\"><a class=\"mw-selflink-fragment\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u83ef<\/a><\/span><span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\">\uff0f<\/span><span class=\"Hans\" lang=\"zh-Hans\"><a title=\"\u4e2d\u534e\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u534e<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1<\/span><\/i>) in the sense that they were civilized people following the classical traditions first established in Ancient China, without meaning that they saw themselves as Chinese in an ethnic sense.<\/li>\r\n<li>Although also used in the formal names of both the Republic and People's Republic of China, the term carries a somewhat broader sense than <span class=\"Hant\" lang=\"zh-Hant\"><a title=\"\u4e2d\u570b\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u570b<\/a><\/span><span class=\"Hani\" lang=\"zh\">\uff0f<\/span><span class=\"Hans\" lang=\"zh-Hans\"><a title=\"\u4e2d\u56fd\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD#Chinese\">\u4e2d\u56fd<\/a><\/span> (<i><span class=\"tr Latn\" lang=\"zh-Latn\">Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3<\/span><\/i>, \u201cstate of China\u201d) and connotes something like the \"nation of the Chinese people\" or \"land of the Chinese culture\".<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF\">Wiktionary<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n<p>If we compare Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 \u4e2d\u570b\/\u56fd and Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1 \u4e2d\u83ef\/\u534e, the former is more <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/China\">PRC<\/a>ish and the latter is more <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taiwan\">ROC<\/a>ish.\u00a0 However, both sides employ both designations at different times and for different purposes.<\/p>\r\n<p>Other terms raised by James Millward are:<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 sh\u00ec de \u4e2d\u56fd\u4f3c\u7684 (\"China-like\")<br \/>Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 x\u00ecng \u4e2d\u56fd\u6027 (\"Chineseness; Chinese nature \/ character\")<br \/>Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 w\u00e8i \u4e2d\u56fd\u5473 (\"Central Kingdom flavor\")<br \/>Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1 w\u00e8i \u4e2d\u534e\u5473 (\"Central Florescence flavor\")<\/p>\r\n<p>Here's the quotation from Xi Jinping printed against a blue background at the bottom of the tweet (with a few small modifications from online sources):<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">W\u01d2men de ji\u00e0oy\u00f9&#8230; ju\u00e9 b\u00f9n\u00e9ng p\u00e9iy\u01ceng ch\u016b y\u012bxi\u0113 \u201czh\u01cengzhe Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 li\u01cen, b\u00f9sh\u00ec Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 x\u012bn, m\u00e9iy\u01d2u Zh\u00f2nggu\u00f3 q\u00edng, qu\u0113sh\u01ceo \u201cZh\u014dnggu\u00f3 w\u00e8i\u201d de r\u00e9n!<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\u6211\u4eec\u7684\u6559\u80b2&#8230;\u7edd\u4e0d\u80fd\u57f9\u517b\u51fa\u4e00\u4e9b\u201c\u957f\u7740\u4e2d\u56fd\u8138\uff0c \u4e0d\u662f\u4e2d\u56fd\u5fc3\uff0c\u6ca1\u6709\u4e2d\u56fd\u60c5\uff0c\u7f3a\u5c11\u4e2d\u56fd\u5473\u201d\u7684\u4eba\uff01<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">\"Our education&#8230; must not cultivate people who have \"Chinese faces but not Chinese hearts, no Chinese feelings, and lack 'Chinese flavor'!\"<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>Make of it what you will.\u00a0 For myself, I am savoring what Xi Jinping meant by his rather peculiar reference to a Chinese w\u00e8i \u5473 (\"taste; flavor; smell; odor\") as applied to people.<\/p>\r\n<p><b>Selected readings<\/b><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\"<a title=\"Permanent link to Mee Tu flavor\" href=\"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=40829\" rel=\"bookmark\">Mee Tu flavor<\/a>\" (11\/29\/18)<\/li>\r\n<li>\"<a title=\"Permanent link to Xi Jinping's faux classicism\" href=\"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=59485\" rel=\"bookmark\">Xi Jinping's faux classicism<\/a>\" (7\/2\/23) &#8212; with lengthy bibliography<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>P.S.:\u00a0 If you want to see the whole of Xi Jniping's smiling face, click on the X at the top right of the tweet.<\/p>\r\n<p>[Thanks to Bruce Humes]<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m still trying to figure out, in XJP rhetoric, when \u4e2d\u534e is used and when it\u2019s \u4e2d\u56fd. How long has Zhongguo been used directly as an adjective this way, as opposed to \u4e2d\u56fd\u4f3c\u7684or \u4e2d\u56fd\u6027\uff1fIs a \u4e2d\u56fd\u5473different from a \u4e2d\u534e\u5473\uff1fWhich smells better? pic.twitter.com\/9CARnICZSu \u2014 James Millward \u7c73\u83ef\u5065 (@JimMillward) September 4, 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15,248],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language-and-politics","category-names","category-usage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65850"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65871,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65850\/revisions\/65871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}