General Literary Chinese from Scratch/Scanning for Major Events in Historical Annals

thumb|300px|成湯 You learned about how days are referred to in the last lesson, and here we will be looking at more common ways. In ancient East Asia, there was a very strong fixation with a standardised calendar and date. Poor form would be scorned or even punished: Chinese tradition discusses the Sanmiao tribe 三苗 being a "backwards" society that did not use the same calendar. While we do not know the specifics, that cultural memory is important. And why would it not be, in a world where a machine doesn't do it for you? So let's look at some historical annals, which are a brilliant way to teach one of the first reading skills I want you to learn. The Four Reading Skills In the English language teaching world, there are four reading skills: Skimming is where you quickly identify key concepts in a text by looking for individual words and small phrases. This gives you a broad idea of what the text is. Scanning is where you look for specific information, when you know what you are trying to find something. Intensive reading is reading a portion of a text slowly and carefully. Extensive reading is where you read from front to back, carefully and critically reflecting on everything. They apply to Literary Chinese all the same, and should be acknowledged early. It is very easy to fall into the trap of intensive reading before you are actually capable of doing it whilst taking in information. With the sheer reading pain that comes from this, you will quickly feel overwhelmed. A little strain is enough! Skimming and scanning are forms of Speed reading. Normally, scanning is taught after skimming, but with the graphical nature of the Han script, as well as the necessity of going over more information, we will go over scanning first. Annals and Scanning Historical annals take a very particular form. Year + Month and/or Season + Day + Event This is used to make them easy for a government minister to scan for the specific information they need. The extremely bare-bones descriptions bolster this and, for our purposes, makes for something easy for you to start with when looking for texts to read. There are five texts that I can suggest which use this very particular structure. The text from the last lesson,《春秋經》, is one such example. 《中山世譜》琉球國 《三國史記》朝鮮 《春秋經》魯 《球陽》琉球國 《竹書紀年》 魏 Each of these are accessible via Wikisource. Two of these annals are from the Ryukyu Islands 琉球國, aka Okinawa. One is from Joseon 朝鮮, aka Korea, and two are from the ancient Chinese states of Lu 魯 and Wei 魏. I want you to remember these nations: Literary Chinese was, and is, a language used in many places! Text The following text is from the Bamboo Annals 《竹書紀年》, a text that recorded the goings-on of ancient China from the period of the Yellow Emperor to Western Zhou. Some think it may have been a forgery, but it is a bit too specific for all of it to have been forged. Therefore, it is nevertheless used as a source! I want you to look at the text for a maximum of 3 minutes, then answer these questions: Where does 桀 appear? What happens to 桀? How long does the 旱 (drought) last? What 年 (year) are missing? What happens at the end? Look the word up. 竹書紀年·成湯 十八年癸亥，王即位，居亳。始屋夏社。 十九年，大旱。氐、羌來賓 。 二十年，大旱。夏桀卒于亭山。禁弦歌舞。 二十一年，大旱。鑄金幣。 二十二年，大旱。 二十三年，大旱。 二十四年，大旱。王禱于桑林，雨。 二十五年，作《大濩樂》。初巡狩，定獻令。 二十七年，遷九鼎于商邑。 二十九年，陟。 Discussion Now that you have scanned the text, I want you to think about why these were recorded. If the text is a forgery, why is it recorded in the way it is? There are some threads here, but I want you to be able to come back to this lesson and be able to review it again in full. Cangjie codes 三: 一一一 (MMM) 苗: 廿田 (TW) 春: 手大日 (QKA) 秋: 竹木火 (HDF) 經: 女火一女一 (VFMVM) 世: 心廿 (PT) 譜: 卜口廿金日 (YRTCA) 琉: 一土卜戈山 (MGYIU) 球: 一土戈十水 (MGIJE) 國: 田戈口一 (WIRM) 史: 中大 (LK) 記: 卜口尸山 (YRSU) 朝: 十十月 (JJB) 鮮: 弓火廿手 (NFTQ) 魯: 弓田火日 (NWFA) 陽: 弓中日一竹 (NLAMH) 書: 中土日 (LGA) 紀: 女火尸山 (VFSU) 年: 人手 (OQ) 魏: 竹女竹戈 (HVHI) 桀: 弓手木 (NQD) 旱: 日一十 (AMJ) 成: 戈竹尸 (IHS) 湯: 水日一竹 (EAMH) 八: 竹人 (HO) 癸: 弓人一大 (NOMK) 亥: 卜女竹人 (YVHO) 王: 一土 (MG) 即: 日戈尸中 (AISL) 位: 人卜廿 (OYT) 居: 尸十口 (SJR) 亳: 卜口月心 (YRBP) 始: 女戈口 (VIR) 屋: 尸一戈土 (SMIG) 夏: 一山竹水 (MUHE) 社: 戈火土 (IFG) 九: 大弓 (KN) 氐: 竹心一 (HPM) 羌: 廿土竹山 (TGHU) 來: 木人人 (DOO) 賓: 十一竹金 (JMHC) 二: 一一 (MM) 卒: 卜人人十 (YOOJ) 于: 一木 (MD) 亭: 卜口月弓 (YRBN) 禁: 木木一一火 (DDMMF) 弦: 弓卜女戈 (NYVI) 歌: 一口弓人 (MRNO) 舞: 人廿弓戈手 (OTNIQ) 一: 一 (M) 鑄: 金土弓戈 (CGNI) 幣: 火大中月 (FKLB) 四: 田金 (WC) 禱: 戈火土弓戈 (IFGNI) 桑: 水水水木 (EEED) 林: 木木 (DD) 雨: 一中月卜 (MLBY) 五: 一木一 (MDM) 作: 人竹尸 (OHS) 濩: 水廿人水 (ETOE) 樂: 女戈木 (VID) 初: 中尸竹 (LSH) 巡: 卜女女女 (YVVV) 狩: 大竹十木戈 (KHJDI) 定: 十一卜人 (JMYO) 獻: 卜月戈大 (YBIK) 令: 人戈弓戈 (OINI) 七: 十山 (JU) 遷: 卜一田山 (YMWU) 鼎: 月山女一中 (BUVML) 商: 卜金月口 (YCBR) 邑: 口日山 (RAU) 陟: 弓中卜中竹 (NLYLH) 尚: 火月口 (FBR) References 《竹書紀年·成湯》 《尚書》 《中山世譜》 《三國史記》 《春秋經》 《球陽》