Bamboo Lake

As the weeks pass and I learn new words in Chinese, I have begun to notice that the MRT stops on the subway are often named after physical landmarks in the countryside.  The stop by my house is named after bamboo.  The next stop on the MRT, going north, is named after red trees.  When I told my Chinese teacher about this discovery, he explained that there isn’t any bamboo there.  There aren’t any red trees either.  Then he told me a funny story.

One time, he was going to the national park located behind my house, called Yang Ming Shan, to find Bamboo Lake.  He looked and looked, but couldn’t see it anywhere.  Finally, he asked someone and they said, you are in it.  All around him were lots and lots of bamboo trees.  There was so much bamboo growing there that they had named the place Bamboo Lake.

The next day, when I was talking to my wife, I told her we had a lake in our house, called Shoes Lake, because she had so many shoes.  Quite bright, she quickly turned around and in Chinese told me that I have Stupid Lake.  So funny, she is.

As I learned to read and write Chinese, it takes me back to when I was little.  I learned a lot of English in the same way, reading books and then trying to write my own stories.  So here is the story of Bamboo Lake told in Chinese.  I’ve had some of my students read it and correct some errors for me.  However, mostly they struggle with the particular expressions I choose to use.  My writing ability is limited to the particular phrases I’ve learned in Chinese and this must sound a little strange to them, just like when I try to correct their stories written inEnglish.

我這個星期在中文課告訴我的老師：

「我的新房子旁邊的捷運很有意思。」

他說「為什麼？」

我說「有一站叫竹圍，

也有一站叫紅樹林。」

他告訴我這個故事。

有一天， 他到陽明山去了。

他對自己說「我想要看竹子湖。」

然後他試試看竹子湖，

可是他不能看。

忽然他看見兩個人，

所以他說「我沒有看看竹子湖。」

「在哪裡？」  他問。

「在這裡啊！」  另一個人說。

在這裡有很多竹子。

我的老師說「  沒有水嗎？ 」

「沒有啊！」 他們一起說。

「嗯…」 我的老師一邊說一邊看看竹子湖。

Wake Up, Insects, Wake Up!

Stink Bug

“众所周知，太阳东升西落。”

Everyone knows the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It’s one of those universal truths I thought I could take for granted, so much that I never had to stop and think about it. Then, one day, I discovered something completely different, a new truth about the way the sun and earth interact with each other.

I was riding my bicycle across Alaska, when I took a detour in Fairbanks and rented a car, driving north, past the Article Circle, until I finally arrived at the Arctic Ocean, in the town of Deadhorse. Here the sun wasn’t rising in the east and setting in the west at all. It was going in circles around the sky, twenty-four hours a day. I thought I had arrived on another planet. Even the plants and animals growing up around me looked remarkably different from anything I had ever seen before. Here, 1,300 miles south of the North Pole, the sun goes around the sky for sixty-three continuous days, before finally dipping below the horizon again as winter approaches.

In the first week of March this year, I was walking home when I saw lightening nearby. In the three and a half years that I’ve lived in Taiwan, I don’t recall seeing lightening here at all. I’ve seen some killer typhoons come and go, and I’ve heard thunderstorms before, but never experienced lightening. In fact, I’d forgotten all about the phenomenon. So I stored the event in some curious part of my mind, but just then, before arriving home, forgot all about it.

A week later my Chinese teacher asked if I had seen the lightening in the beginning of March. I had, I told him, and he went on to explain that this event was predicted by the Chinese lunar calendar. He taught me the words for spring (春天), summer (夏天), autumn (秋天) and winter (冬天), then thunder (打雷) and lightening (閃電). At last he showed me the word for insect awakening (驚蟄). He knew I had a strong interest in the environment around Taiwan and he held me spell-bound as he taught.

Everyone knows about the four seasons. The concept is as simple as the sun rising and setting everyday. But the lunar calendar works on a system of twenty-four seasons each year, not just four seasons. Now, tell me, is the sun suddenly doing circles around your head? Do you feel like you’ve just stepped off the planet? Let me explain the Chinese lunar calendar to you and see if we can get your feet back on the ground again.

The Chinese lunar calendar in Asia is somewhat like the farmers’ almanac in North America. Starting in 1792, farmers began collecting data to help them manage their crops, including yearly weather patterns, tide tables, astronomical events and planting and harvesting trends out in the field. Now, over 200 years old, the farmers’ almanac has a reputation for being somewhat accurate in predicting climatic occurrences during each season, such as whether or not there will be a drought next summer or heavy snowfall in the winter. But the Chinese lunar calendar has one outstanding feature, when compared to the farmers’ almanac. The lunar calendar was first formulated some time around 2500 B.C. That’s over 4,500 years of compiled data used to determine what’s going to happen each year in the environment. The Chinese lunar calendar, although referring to the moon, is actually more about the sun’s position in the sky. It’s a way for farmers to determine the best time to till the ground, plant seeds, and later in the year, harvest crops.

In northern Alaska, the people living there – know as the Eskimos – find that snow is a big part of their lives. In fact, the Eskimo language has at least seven different words for snow. Now, I know about powdery snow, which is great for snowboarding, and icy snow, which will knock you flat on your back if you’re not careful, but that’s about it. The English language doesn’t place too much focus on snow, because it’s not such an important part of our worldview. Eskimos, on the other hand, talk about ‘aput’ or snow on the ground, ‘gana’ or falling snow, ‘piqsirpoq’ or drifting snow, and ‘qimuqsuq,’ which is the name for a snowdrift. In this same way, ancient Chinese people found that naming only four seasons in the year wasn’t enough. They needed twenty-four seasons to better explain the world around them, a world they were so highly connected to. And just as English doesn’t have very many specific words for snow, we also don’t have English names for all of the seasons in the Chinese lunar calendar. Only our words for spring, summer, autumn and winter can be used to give us some kind of reference point for the time of year being talked about.

The lightening I had noticed in the first week of March marks the beginning of the third season (驚蟄), as predicted by the Chinese lunar calendar. The ground temperature rises, the air gradually warms up, and the sound of thunder acts as a gigantic alarm clock telling insects and animals alike that its time to wake up and start looking for something to eat. In Chinese, this season was originally called (啓蟄), but latter changed to (驚蟄), because the Emperor (漢景帝) preferred that his given name (啓) not appear in the name for the season associated with the waking of hibernating insects and animals.

Here is a list of the twenty-four Chinese seasons, divided into the four western seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, as a reference point. The English name given for each season on this list is something I derived by looking over several similar lists and then summing them up. Keep in mind that because this system is based on the movement of the sun and moon around the earth, the date for each season will be adjusted accordingly each year. Also, the seasons do not start and end on the same day in both Taiwan and China. Start by looking at this short list of western seasonal markers for the two countries, as provide by Asian Geographic magazine. Then compare that to when the Chinese lunar calendar says the seasons should begin and end.

The Four Seasons of the Western Calendar
China
Spring March – May
Summer May – August
Autumn September – October
Winter November – February
Taiwan
Spring March – May
Summer June – August
Autumn September – November
Winter December – February
The Twenty-Four Seasons of the Chinese Lunar Calendar

Spring
1. Spring Day (立春) Feb 4 or 15 – spring starts here; the first 15 days of the year.
2. Rain Water (雨水) Feb 19 or 20 – preparations for planting begin; rain is more likely than snow at this time; the second 15 days.
3. Insects Awaken (啓蟄) or (驚蟄) March 5 – a time when hibernating insects and animals awaken; spring thunder is present and the stirring of new life.
4. Spring Equinox (春分) March 20 or 21 – the middle of spring.
5. Pure Brightness (清明) April 4 or 5 – howling southeasterly winds may be present; the sky will appear clear and bright; the weather, sunny and warm; also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day.
6. Grain Rains (穀雨) April 20 – farmers are reminded that seasonal downpours are beginning; rain helps grain grow.

Summer
1. Summer Day (立夏) May 5 or 6–the first day of summer.
2. Little Grain (小滿) May 20 or 21 – grain swells on the stalk; kernels are plump.
3. Grain Day (芒種) June 5 or 6 – wheat becomes ripe; time of harvest.
4. Summer Solstice (夏至) June 21–the sun reaches the highest point; the longest day and the shortest night; summer heat becomes more oppressive.
5. Minor Heat (小暑) July 7 – a time when heat begins to get unbearable; torridity begins.
6. Major Heat (大暑) July 22 or 23 – the hottest time of the year.

Autumn
1. Autumn Day (立秋) Aug 7 – beginning of autumn; temperatures begin to cool.
2. End of Heat (處暑) Aug 22 or 23 – heat ends.
3. White Dew (白露) Sept 7 or 8–condensed moisture makes dew white; dew curdles.
4. Autumnal Equinox (秋分) Sept 22 or 23 – the middle of autumn; the true start of the fall season.
5. Cold Dew (寒露) Oct 8–dew starts to turn to frost; the weather turns cold.
6. Frost’s Descent (霜降) Oct 23 – the appearance of frost and falling temps; winter is near.

Winter
1. Winter Day (立冬) Nov 7 – first day of winter.
2. Light Snow (小雪) Nov 22 – a light snow starts falling.
3. Heavy Snow (大雪) Dec 7 – the season of snowstorms is in full swing; snow becomes heavy; deep winter.
4. Winter Solstice (冬至) Dec 21 or 22 – Winter is at its peak; the shortest day and the longest night.
5. Minor Cold (小寒) Jan 6 – minor cold; cold starts to become a little unbearable.
6. Major Cold (大寒) Jan 20 or 21–severe cold; biting cold; the coldest time of year; the beginning of the new year approaches.