Hi everyone! My name’s Scarf. I’m a college student majoring in animation. This summer I’m studying abroad in Taiwan. I’m very excited! 🐜
My main blog is @snazzyscarf & is where this blog’s url is derived from! I wanted to keep the energy of the alliteration in my main, so I went with a rhyme.
I’ve been studying mandarin lightly since high school, & more seriously for about a year and a half now in college. I love the journey & hope you will join me in the learning experience. :)
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
[China History] From Court to Catnip — China Ming Dynasty’s Guide to Cat Care［Eng Sub］
In this bite-sized video, we dive into the delightful world of cat culture in Ming Dynasty China — where imperial felines had official titles, slept in golden coffins, and inspired career promotions with their eulogies.
Discover how ancient cat lovers handled:
– Cat grooming & beauty rituals
– Homemade ancient cat food
– Cat toys
– Historical litter box etiquette
– Natural remedies for kitty illnesses
Turns out, being a “cat servant” (铲屎官) has a royal legacy.
Let’s take a scroll back in time and see how ancient chinese did it — one meow at a time.
向天在借五百年 (Asking the Heavens for Another 500 Years) by 韩磊 Han Lei
Used as the opening theme for the 2001 TV show, Kangxi Dynasty (康熙王朝), which covers the tumultuous years of Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, the song is sung from the point of view of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), a military general of that era, as the song was originally written for the drama Hero Chenggong (大英雄郑成功).
The parallel-collared shan/ao played a large part in women's fashion of the Song Dynasty, so there are many different styles. It allowed for a lot of combinations as you can layer the different garments together, depending on the occasion, the weather, etc.
I got a few responses from my last post that people were interested in my experience learning to play/make the Guqin, so I'll add those posts in to my Hanfu posts :D
History
The Guqin (古琴)is a very ancient and important instrument in Chinese history. Originally it was simply called "Qin" but later on "Qin" also became used for other instruments such as piano (gangqin/钢琴), violin (xiaotiqin/小提琴), etc. so "Gu" was added to the beginning ("Gu" means historical/very old/ancient).
The earliest form of Guqin comes from the Warring States period about 2500 years ago, although some records indicate the instrument existed even earlier. There is a saying in Chinese, "君子六艺", meaning the six skills all 'gentlemen' must learn under Confucian teachings. This included the Guqin (kind of like how everyone needs to learn English, math, science in school today).
Warrings States Guqin
Because of how the Guqin is played, there is a belief that the emotions of the player will affect their playing. In addition, those who are familiar with Guqin can listen to a piece and know the emotional state of the musician. There are many stories surrounding this instrument that has garnered it a lot of cultural and historical value to the Chinese civilization. China chose to put the famous Guqin piece, "Flowing Water"(流水) in the Voyager Golden Record sent to space by NASA in 1977 because of its cultural significance.
Styles + parts
The Guqin is a slender instrument. Modern-day Guqin has 7 strings that are plucked to create sound. Above the strings is a set of 13 dots called "hui"(徽), these indicate where the left hand plays.
The instrument is made from 2 pieces of wood, the top portion has a slight upward curve that represents the Heavens (no religions connotation), and the bottom board is flat representing the Earth (historically, people though the Earth was flat). A standard Guqin is 3 "chi/尺" 6.5 "cun/寸" which is approximately 125cm, representing the 365 days of the year (this length can vary, however), and the 13 "hui/徽" represents the 13 months (of the lunar calendar).
There are many styles of Guqin, each with its own unique name. Guqin owners will sometimes name their Guqin and carve it into the bottom. It's also common for owners of famous Guqin to carve a line or two of poetry on the bottom of the Guqin. Currently, the most commonly found and classical style of Guqin is "Zhongni/仲尼" (which was also the courtesy name of Confucius, marking its significance).
Guqin with names and poetry carved into the bottom
Score
Traditional Guqin score gave no indication of rhythm or tempo. It was purely a score to indicate finger positions and stroke technique. Students learned the overall rhythm of a piece from their teacher.
The Guqin score takes parts of Chinese characters to indicate which string is to be played, by which hand, using which finger, etc. Because of this, the score is called "jianzipu/减字谱" meaning simplified characters score.
Traditional Guqin score
Modern day Guqin score
How to read Guqin score
Pic 1:
Blue - Right hand only (散音)
Orange - 6th string (六弦)
Green - Right forefinger flick outwards (挑)
Pic 2:
Blue - Right hand only
Orange - 7th string (七弦)
Green - Right forefinger flick outwards
Pic 3:
Blue - Left hand ring finger slide up to the 10th "hui" (dot) (无名指上十徽)
Orange - 5th string (五弦)
Green - Right middle finger pluck towards yourself (勾)
Pic 4:
Green - Right hand pluck 2 strings at the same time (拨)
Orange - 7th and 6th strings (七弦，六弦)
Blue - Left thumb slide up to 7.6 "hui" on the 7th string, no left hand for 6th string
Pic 5:
Green - Right hand flight+pluck 2 strings at same time (小撮)
Orange - 7th and 5th strings (七弦，五弦)
Blue - Left thumb press down 7th string at 9th "hui", no left hand for 5th string
My brain is a giant ball of confusion the first dozen times I play a a section as it tries to figure out all this information and relay it to my fingers xDD
Sound
There are 3 types of sounds students learn when playing the Guqin:
1) Sanyin (散音)
Only the right hand is used to pluck/flick the string
2) Fanyin (泛音)
The right hand plucks/flicks the string while the left hand gently taps the string at the indicated "hui (徽)"
3) Anyin/Zouyin (按音/走音)
The right hand plucks/flicks the string while the left hand presses down the string at the indicated "hui". To make the sound smoother, the string is pressed down slightly above/below the hui then slides up/down the string to the indicated hui creating a very unique sound to the Guqin
Guqin's tone tends to be in the lower range, its pieces are generally slow-paced. The instrument is quite soft, historically used for personal enjoyment or played in a small gathering of close friends, and not meant for large performances. The Guqin is often played as a solo instrument, or with the Chinese flute (dizi/笛子), rather than in large orchestras as its soft sound can be easily overpowered. Today, Guqin performances use microphones for amplification.
Guqin vs. Guzheng
Many people confuse the Guqin and Guzheng.
The two instruments share some similarities but vary greatly in appearance and sound.
Shape:
Guqin: wider at the head (right hand side) and narrows towards the feet.
Guzheng: rectangular
Strings:
Guqin: 7
Guzheng: 22 strings (usually)
Sound:
Guqin: lower octaves (unless playing fanyin), softer, more suitable for solo playing
Guzheng: higher octaves, louder, more suitable for large performances
Bridge:
Guqin: near the head of the instrument, unmoveable
Guzheng: usually placed diagonally mid-instrument, can be moved
In some Chinese period dramas, they will use the Guzheng to dub for Guqin because given it's louder capabilities it's easier to record (but if you're familiar with the two instruments it's easy to tell them apart by ear).
My experience with Guqin
I first learned of the Guqin when I was around 8-9 years old, through a Chinese TV series called Romance of the Three Kingdoms (lol, I keep mentioning this series, but I really do love it a lot).
I purchased my first Guqin at the end of 2019, but only managed a few classes before a certain pandemic hit. Because of this, I stopped my classes (my city didn't have any Guqin teachers, I had to drive 3 hrs one way to see her and during lockdown it was just too difficult). I tried to pick it up again a few years later but failed.
Currently, on my trip in China, I came across a Guqin workshop that was offering classes on how to play and make Guqin. The tuition includes room and meals. The workshop is in the rural countryside, no shopping malls, no city chaos, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to learn Guqin.
I've only been here for about a week but so far the experience has been wonderful. There are only 2 other students besides me (the teacher is only accepting 3 students maximum), we all live here. Upstairs is our living area (the teacher doesn't live here), we get up at 7am, eat breakfast at 8am, practice Guqin, have lunch, then make Guqin in the afternoon. Sometimes the teacher takes us to meet other Guqin teachers/makers in the area. Everyone has dozens of Qin in their residences, we literally go in, pick up and Qin, and start playing.
Yesterday, our teacher took us to a Guqin workshop on a small mountain. I later learned the mountain is actually a tomb of a duke/marquis from the Han Dynasty. I also learned people will actually make Guqin out of coffin lumber (like, grave rob a tomb, break down the coffin, and sell the wood)…so if you want to purchase a Guqin and the shop owner tells you a particular Qin is made from lumber that's a thousand years old…you should think hard about HOW they got lumber that old O.O;; Luckily for me, my teacher refuses to let coffin wood into his workshop, he says it has bad energy.
Anyway, here's a short video of my Guqin-making progress so far :D
I love you translator notes I love you translators caring that I fully grasp the meaning of the original text I love you translators adding cultural context and specifics so I can better understand what's going on I love you long rants on why a joke is impossible to translate I love you translators adding their little comments to the scene I love you translators feeling human and involved in the material I love you translating as a form of art I love you little t/n abbreviation
(鳥巢 niǎo cháo and 鳥窩(鸟窝) niǎo wō both mean ‘bird nest’).
But if you look at the characters’ origins, the differences become clear.
In oracle bone script (the earliest Chinese characters, written 3000 years ago), 巢 was a picture of three little birds sitting in a nest on top of a tree. It meant a home that an animal builds itself: A bird nest built of twigs; a wasp nest made of wood pulp; or a nest dug by ants.
蟻(蚁)巢 yǐ cháo ant nest
But look at 窩(窝) wō，it’s the radical for ‘cave’ (穴 xué) and the phonetic guō (咼(呙)), and meant a ‘lair’: A naturally occurring cave, pit or hole that an animal has found and made its home.
It can also mean something shaped like a pit or cave, such as
胳肢窩(窝) gā zhi wō armpit, or
酒窩(窝) jiǔ wō dimple (in the cheek, etc), literally 'alcohol lair.’
Please note that the phonetic in 窩(窝) wō, 咼(呙) guō, you’ll most likely encounter as a last name, but it’s also pronounced 'wāi’ and means 'lopsided’, originally describing a lopsided mouth (hence the 口字旁 mouth radical). But a much more common wāi character for lopsided is 歪，which is an extremely satisfying character, made up of '不正.’
I absolutely LOVE the drastic sleeves of this style. The slim, form-fitting upper arm with the sudden widening of the sleeve is gorgeous 😍 The widened collar also gives it a more casual appearance. This period's Hanfu influenced a lot of the later Hanfu style in the Tang Dynasty which was famous for its wide variety of clothing.
@fouryearsofshades kindly informed me that the Xiyi (褶衣) has a fold where the sleeve connects to the body of the clothing, another identifiable difference from the Ru (襦).
(Thank you! It's so difficult to tell the details sometimes when just looking at photos 😭😭)
The holidays are almost here, so here's some useful vocab in Chinese! Even though Christmas isn't really a big celebration in China, it's still useful to know some vocab. Merry Christmas in advance!
突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!
突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly
居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.
忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.
既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"
既然the weather is great, let's go out!
既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.
不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";
You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.
虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.
虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.
当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:
Can you help me with A? 当然!
自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.
China's 自然 is very beautiful.
She speaks Chinese 得很自然.
仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".
I仍然 haven't read that book.
依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.
果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"
This movie is 果然 interesting.
竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.
He竟然forgot her birthday.
显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".
This soup 显然 hot.
偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".
We 偶然 met at the same cafe.
How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!
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