Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.44.0209171944170.6279-100000@panix2.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>,
"WRYTING-L : Writing and Theory across Disciplines" <WRYTING-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject: Cien2 Su4 Vun2 (Hakka) Inversion -
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 19:44:34 -0400 (EDT)
Cien2 Su4 Vun2 (Hakka) Inversion - [Ellen Zweig and I continue the translation of the 1000 Character Classic. In the Chinese examination system, the characters were used to indicate the applicant's home lane with its examination cells. Each character is used once. We translate in accordance with three dictionaries and two software programs, plus a grammar of T'ang poetry and other assorted aids. The original is in couplets; after a semi-mythological beginning, the essay settles into homilies, platitudes, proverbs, advice. It was used as a study tool, by children learning the characters for the first time. Here, we find our own rhythm in translation, moving back and forth across the 4-character lines, assembling and reassembling, searching for tropes and parallels; suddenly the line is illuminated, and its aura extends to the next or previous. The characters are old-style, not simplified; many are out of date. At times, in the Japanese software, the character will be combined with another (main) radical, existing only as a subsidiary remnant. Almost never does the knowledge of radicals aid in interpretation; it seems, at least in relation to the Japanese, to be an awkward process of elimination as well as accumulation. The best search strategy is the boolean/root system in the Japanese soft- ware; this can be followed by character combinations in the Chinese soft- ware. When all else fails, a Chinese dictionary from 1930 is consulted; with its 10,000 + characters, it works well, in terms of radical and stroke count. But even here there are problems; characters within have up to 48 strokes, often drawn in a space smaller than a quarter-inch. We are un-knowing of Chinese; Ellen is studying it, and I am still use- lessly pursuing Japanese. But we enter a certain zone in this translation, a connection with something barely comprehended. For myself, the tenuous readings of the words plays into my own writing; bridging character to character is bridging English to English; it is a process of thinking into the void, not unlike the text itself. Below is an inversion study in which the translation is first reversed, then sent through software that eliminates duplicate words, then reversed again (specifically, tac -> perl program eliminating duplicates -> tac). The language slowly becomes more coherent towards the end. And we are only between a quarter and a third of the way through.] yellow :: heaven black, earth black - cosmos - are vast - desolate wasteland - moon fills - sun sets west - dusk - 7 9 morning - it's measure word, they spread line constellations - cold - comes - heat - goes - autumn - harvesting - winter - hiding, concealing - intercalary timing - leftover residue - becomes tenth - measurement years - so lu - pitches - shift position - open - clouds - ascend, galloping, - sending - rain - dew - forms - becoming - frost - gives gold - beautiful - water - emanates jade - from Kun mountain - summit - double-edged dagger - furiously named - huge - gate-tower - pearl - called - light - darkness - fruit - plum - apple - vegetables - mustard - ginger - sea - salted - rivers - fresh - fish-scales - hidden depths - feathers - circling above - fire - dragon - teaching - royal - official - beginning - making - writing - characters - then - robes uniforms, wearing - skirts < clothing - expel - throne - yield - country - yao - tang - has - predicted - console - people - strike down - guilty - hold - boundary - test scalding - trying case - at court - query - way - bequeath - bow - doubting - sections - love - raise up - hosts - leaders - minister - prostrate - army - barbarians - near - far - one - reality - ration - guest - returning to - emperor - phoenix - cries - bamboo - white - colt - grazes - there - covers - grass weeds - (vegetation) - trust - attain - a myriad (10,000) - directions (square) - covering - person - issues - (giving birth to) - four - great - five - normal - (connector / alone) - rearing - children - (!) - flattering - destroys - injures - women - adore - chastity - unyielding - imitate - pleasing - genius - know - what passes - certainty - change - attainment - ability - never - neglect - talk deception - other - brief - disintegration - reliance - self (self-reliance) - long - cause faith - should - be covered (protect your faith) - tool (utensil) - desire - (is) trouble - (quantity) measure-word - ink - (on sorrow, sadness - printed (sadness stains silk) - praise poetry - small (lamb) - sheep (sheep) - view, scenery - lines - tied lined-up - wisdom - restraint, conquering - study - makes (creates) - sage - benevolence - built - name - stands - origin - shape - proper (upright) - model - sky - valley - proclaim - (one's) fame - empty - chamber hall (public room) - learn (review lessons) - carefully - depends on (is disaster (catastrophe) - accumulation - evil - blessings (fortune) - (are caused by) - virtuous - happiness - 1/3 (scale, ruler) - bi-jade (circular disk with hole) - negative (un- ) - treasure - 1/30 meter (measurement, small) - yin (shadow, moon, sexual organs, feminine, secret) - is (just so) (to be) - emulated (compete with) - capital - father (parallels) - (business) affairs - supreme ruler - speak - strictly (accurately) - give - respect - filial piety - serves (accepts) - of power (the others) - devotion - follows (rules) - end (of) - life - face (meet, confront) - breathing out - public - rectification - fit - many - men - dwell - in leisure - the ch'in - 4-stringed instrument - good - and wonderful - question or problem - gate - [...] - as well - ===