Chinese languages

Hi All, I would like to bring to your attention that at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, there is a research center devoted to the Taiwanese studies, called Research Unit on Taiwanese Culture and Literature. Its director is Dr. Henning Klöter. He has recently published a book on Written Taiwanes...

Dear All: Here are some links to the King Boat Burning festivals in Taiwan: (1) Tangkang, Pintong County: http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/LOCAL/WEB/Eng/Content.aspx?Para=11&Class=2 (2) Sikang, Tainan County: http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/LOCAL/WEB/Eng/Content.aspx?Para=6&Class=2 (3) Sanliao Bay, Peimen, Tai...

Dear Anton: Yes, we are talking about "Burning of King's Ship", the fire festivals celebrated in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia (see the posting by niuc), and of course, Shetland, UK. Thank you very much for the timely report of a celebration you just had at Bagansiapiapi, and the fantastic p...

I agree! The han-ji for "wind" does not give us a clue about its pronunciation, nor its meaning. The poor school children who struggle to learn han-ji have to memorize 3 things: (1) what the han-ji mean; (2) how the han-ji is pronounced; and (3) how to write it (the strokes). The han-ji fo...

It turns out that King Higlac is following a centuries-old Germanic custom. The first-century Roman historian Tacitus wrote a small book entitled Germania . In it he describes the customs of ancient Germanic peoples. In Chapter 20, he says, “The sons of sisters receive the same honour from their unc...

Dear All: In Beowulf there is another custom that is similar to a Taiwanese custom. But it is not immediately obvious, it takes a little “sniffing around” to discern it. First, let me sketch the background. Hrethel is a king of the Geats (who are a people of southern Sweden). He has 3 sons and a dau...

Addendum: I have found one more mention of "winters" for the sense of "years" in Beowulf. This is about Beowulf's father Edgetho in Lines 263-264: "...His name was Edgetho, His life lasted many winters;..." The following is a quote from "The Oxford Dictionary of En...

Dear All: Continuing with the written sources for the burning of the king’s ship: (2) An eye-witness account by the Arab Ibn Fadlan during the years AD 921-922. Ibn Fadlan served as secretary of an embassy from the Caliphate of Baghad to the Bulgars of the middle Volga. The east branch of the Viking...

Dear All: In the Prologue of Beowulf, the poet describes how the Danish King Shild is “buried” (or rather, “sent forth”). The following quote is from the Modern English “translation” by Burton Raffel (published by Signet Classic – Penguin Books, Ltd., 1963) Lines 28 – 29; and Lines 32 – 43: “His com...

Hi Niuc: Sorry for the delay in answering your message. I was away attending a church retreat, and thus had no access to the internet. Responding to your question, I don't know whether other Chinese also have the custom. Maybe our forum members who live in Fujian may have the information. Thank you ...