Tips on How to Read Chinese

To the untrained eye, Chinese characters can seem like a confusing mess of lines. But characters have a logic of their own, revealing clues about definition and pronunciation. Once you learn more about the elements of characters, the logic behind them begins to emerge. Why Are Radicals Important? The building blocks of Chinese characters are radicals. Almost all Chinese characters are composed of at least one radical. Traditionally, Chinese dictionaries were classified by radicals, and many modern dictionaries still use this method for looking up characters. Other classification methods used in dictionaries include phonetics and the number of strokes used for drawing characters. Besides their usefulness for categorizing characters, radicals also provide clues for meaning and pronunciation. This is particularly useful when characters also have a related theme. For example, most characters having to do with water or moisture all share the radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ). The radical æ ° ´ on its own is also a Chinese character, which translates to water. Some radicals have more than one form. The radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ), for example, can also be written as æ ° µ when it is used as part of another character. This radical is called ä ¸â€°Ã§â€š ¹Ã¦ ° ´ (sÄ n diÇŽn shuÇ ), which means three drops of water as, indeed, the radical looks like three droplets.  These alternate forms are rarely used independently since they do not stand as Chinese characters on their own.  Therefore, radicals can be a useful tool for remembering the meaning of Chinese characters. Here are a few examples of characters based on the radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ): æ ° ¾ – fà  n – overflow; flood æ ±  – zhÄ « – juice; fluid æ ±  – wà ¡n – weep; shed tears æ ±â€" – hà  n – perspiration æ ±Å¸ – jiÄ ng – river Characters can be composed of more than one radical. When multiple radicals are used, one radical is typically used to hint at the definition of the word while the other radical hints at the pronunciation. For example: æ ±â€" – hà  n – perspiration The radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ) implies that  Ã¦ ±â€" has something to do with water, which makes sense because perspiration is wet. The sound of the character is provided by the other element. Ã¥ ¹ ² (gà  n) on its own is the Chinese character for dry. But gà  n and hà  n sound very similar. Types of Characters There are six different types of Chinese characters: pictographs, ideographs, composites, phonetic loans, radical phonetic compounds, and borrowings. Pictographs The earliest forms of Chinese writing originate from pictographs. Pictographs are simple diagrams meant to represent objects. Examples of pictographs include: æâ€" ¥ – rà ¬ – sun Ã¥ ± ± – shÄ n – mountain é› ¨ – yÇ” – rain ä º º – rà ©n – person These examples are modern forms of pictographs, which are quite stylized. But the early forms clearly show the objects they represent.   Ideographs Ideographs are characters which represent an idea or concept. Examples of ideographs include ä ¸â‚¬ (yÄ «), ä ºÅ' (à ¨r), ä ¸â€° (sÄ n), which means one, two, three. Other ideographs include ä ¸Å  ( shà  ng) which means  up and ä ¸â€¹ (xià  ) which means  down. Composites Composites are formed by combining two or more pictographs or ideographs. Their meanings are often implied by the associations of these elements. Some examples of composites include: Ã¥ ¥ ½ – hÇŽo – good. This character combines woman (Ã¥ ¥ ³) with child (Ã¥ ­ ). æ £ ® – sÄ“n – forest. This character combines three trees (æÅ" ¨) to make a forest. Phonetic Loans As Chinese characters evolved over time, some of the original characters were used (or loaned) to represent words that had the same sound but different meanings. As these characters took on a new meaning, new characters representing the original meaning were devised. Here is an example: Ã¥Å'â€" - bÄ›i   This character originally meant â€Å"the back (of the body)† and was pronounced bà ¨i. Over time, this Chinese character has come to mean north. Today, the Chinese word for back (of the body) is now represented by the character èÆ'Å' (bà ¨i) . Radical Phonetic Compounds These are characters which combine phonetic components with semantic components. These represent approximately 80 percent of modern Chinese characters. You have already seen examples of radical phonetic compounds as discussed earlier.   Borrowings The final category – borrowings – is for characters that represent more than one word. These words have the same pronunciation as the borrowed character, but do not have a character of their own. An example of borrowing is è  ¬ (wà  n) which originally meant â€Å"scorpion†, but came to mean â€Å"ten thousand†, and is also a surname.

Comparing Evil in Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville Essay

Lionel Trilling once said, A proper sense of evil is surely an attribute of a great writer. (98-99) Although he made the remark in a different context, one would naturally associate Hawthorne and Melville with the comment, while Emersons might be one of the last names to mind. For the modern reader, who is often in the habit of assuming that the most profound and incisive apprehension of reality is a sense of tragedy, Emerson seems to have lost his grip. He has often been charged with a lack of vision of evil and tragedy. Yeats, for example, felt that Whitman and Emerson have begun to seem superficial, precisely because they lack the Vision of Evil (qtd. in Matthiessen 181). There is no doubt that Emerson was†¦show more content†¦(1038) There are Chaos and the Dark, but man can soar over them by unfurling beautiful wings and become an angel of wisdom. (Emerson, American Scholar 1083). It is a duty of Man Thinking to guide men by showing the facts amidst appearances and accepting poverty and solitude. He can and should convert a mulberry leaf into satin and sometimes evil itself can be a guide for good; Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom. (American Scholar 1082) Moral and natural evil appear in experience but they are not ultimate realities, only relative and transitory. But Emersons belief and reality often clashed head-on with each other. Emerson knew the ideal often exists only in thought and lived by and large only in the mind. In his later essay Experience, his doubt is conveyed quite clearly. In this essay he wanted to reaffirm the hope of humanity and presumably he didnt intend to express such a feeling as frustration, but it is certainly there. The essay opens with a tone of bewilderment: Where do we find ourselves? In a series of which we do not know the extremes, and believe that it has none. We wake and find ourselves on a stair, there are stairs below us, which we seem to have ascended; there are stairs above us, many a one, which go upward and out of sight. But the Genius which according to the old belief stands at the door by whichShow MoreRelatedAre Women Destructive Forces?1674 Words   |  7 PagesBell once said that the quality of a lady is not calculated through the sufferings her adversities in life had given her, but through the degree of her refusal to permit those adversities to direct her and decide who she ends up to be. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter in the early 1800’s about a disgraced woman who emerged from the shadows to alter the precise definition of the disgraceful letter â€Å"A† on her chest. Later, John Steinbeck composed Of Mice and Men in the 1930’s that depicted

The History of Chinese Film free essay sample

History of Chinese Film The history of Chinese film has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. The cinema of Mainland China after 1949 has grown up somewhat suppressed by the Communist regime until now. The Beginnings: Shanghai as the Center Motion pictures were introduced to China in 1896. The first recorded screening of a motion picture in China occurred in Shanghai on August 11, 1896, as an act on a variety bill. The first Chinese film, a recording of the Beijing Opera, The Battle of Dingjunshan( ), was made in November 1905. For the next ten years the production companies were mainly foreign-owned, and the domestic film industry did not start in earnest until 1916, centering around Shanghai, a thriving entrepot center and the largest city in the Far East. During the 1920s, film technicians from the United States trained Chinese technicians in Shanghai, and American influence continued to be felt there for the next two decades. The first truly important Chinese films were produced starting from the 1930s, when the progressive or left-wing films were made, like Cheng Bugaos Spring Silkworms (1933), Sun Yus The Big Road (1935), and Wu Yonggangs The Goddess (1934). During this time the Kuomintang struggled for power and control over the major studios, and their influence can be seen in the ensuing films produced. The post-1930 era is called the first golden period of Chinese cinema, where several talented directors appeared, most of them are leftist. The period also produced the first big Chinese movie stars, namely Hu Die, Ruan Lingyu, Zhou Xuan, and Jin Yan. Other major films of the period include Song of the Fishermen (1934), Crossroads (1937), and Street Angel (1937). The Japanese invasion of China, in particular their occupation of Shanghai, ended this golden run in Chinese cinema. All production companies all closed except Xinhua company, and many of the filmmakers left Shanghai, relocating in Hong Kong, Communist- and Nationalist-controlled regions, and elsewhere. The Second Golden Age: the late 1940s, and the Communist Era The film industry continued to develop after 1945. A major Chinese production house, the Lianhua Company, re-established itself in Shanghai after the war and once again became the basis for leftist directors. Many showed the disillusionment with the oppressive rule of s Nationalist Party. There were many classics produced during this period, such as Myriads of Lights (1948), Crows and Sparrows (1949), San Mao (1949), and the most important one was, The Spring River Flows East (1947). The Spring River Flows East, is a three-hour-long film which describes the struggles of ordinary Chinese folks during the Sino-Japanese war, this film was immensely popular during that time, making social and political references to the period. The Wenhua Film Company, one of the two important production companies formed by left-leaning film-makers in the city, also contributed some of the masterpieces of the era. A film by Shanghainese director Fei Mu, Springtime in a Small Town 1948), which was produced in Shanghai before the revolution, is often considered by Chinese film critics as the best Chinese film of all time, and certainly one of the most influential. With the Communist takeover in 1949, the government saw motion pictures as an important mass production art form and propaganda. The number of movie-viewers increased sharply, from 47 million in 1949 to 4. 15 billion in 1959. In the 17 years between the founding of the Peoples Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution, 6 03 feature films and 8,342 reels of documentaries and newsreels were produced, sponsored as Communist Party of China by the government. Chinese filmmakers were sent to Moscow to study Soviet filmmaking. In 1956, the Beijing Film Academy was opened. The first wide-screen Chinese film was produced in 1960. Animated_films using a variety of folk arts, such as papercuts, shadow plays, puppetry, and traditional paintings, also were very popular for entertaining and educating children. The most prominent filmmaker of this era is Xie Jin, whose two films in particular, The Red Detachment of Women (1961) and Two Stage Sisters (1965), exemplify the growing expertise China has in the craft of motion pictures. The Cultural Revolution and its Aftermath During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted. Almost all previous films were banned, and only a few new ones were produced. Feature film production came almost to a standstill in the early years from 1966 to 1972. In the years immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the film industry again flourished as a medium of popular entertainment. Domestically produced films played to large audiences, and tickets for foreign film festivals sold quickly. The industry tried to revive crowds by making more innovative films which take in ideas from the West. In the 1980s the film industry fell on hard times, faced problems of competition from other forms of entertainment and concern on the part of the authorities that many of the popular thriller and martial arts films were socially unacceptable. In January 1986 the film industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the newly formed Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television . The end of the Cultural Revolution brought the release of scar dramas, which described the emotional traumas left by this period. The most popular of these is probably Xie Jins Hibiscus Town (1986), although they could be seen as late as the 1990s with Tian Zhuangzhuangs The Blue Kite (1993). The rise of the Fifth Generation Beginning in the mid-late 1980s, the rise of the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers brought increased popularity of Chinese cinema abroad. The first generation of filmmakers to produce Chinese films since the Cultural Revolution, they made traditional methods of storytelling and used more free and liberal approach. Yellow Earth (1984), directed by Chen Kaige and photographed by Zhang Yimou, was taken to mark the beginnings of the Fifth Generation. Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou went on to produce works such as King of Children (1987), Farewell My Concubine (1993), Judou (1989), and Raise the Red Lantern (1991) . Other notable Fifth Generation directors include Wu Ziniu, Hu Mei, and Zhou Xiaowen. The Fifth Generation movement effectively ended in the Tiananmen_Square_protests in 1989. Sixth Generation and Beyond The recent era has seen the return of the amateur filmmaker as state censorship policies have produced an underground film movement loosely referred to as the Sixth Generation. These films are shot quickly and cheaply, which produces a documentary feel: long takes, hand-held cameras, ambient sound . Many films are joint ventures and projects with international investment. Some important Sixth Generation directors are Wang Xiaoshuai (The Days, Beijing Bicycle), Zhang Yuan (Beijing Bastards, East Palace West Palace), Jia Zhangke (Xiao Wu, Unknown Pleasures, Platform, The World), and Lou Ye (Suzhou River). Unlike the Fifth Generation, the Sixth Generation brings a more individualistic, anti-romantic life-view and pays more attention to contemporary urban life. A New Chinese International Cinema In 1999, the multi-national production lt;Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon gt; achieved success at the Western box. It provided an introduction to Chinese cinema to Westerners. In 2002, Hero (movie) was made as a second attempt to produce a Chinese film with the international appeal of Crouching Tiger, Hiden Dragon. The cast and crew featured many of the most famous Chinese actors who were also known in the West, including , , , , and . The film was a phenomenal success in most of Asia and topped the U. S. box office for two weeks. Its pretty much like this about chinese film history. And now my partner will introduced a typical film typeaction film.

RECYCLING Essays - Real Estate, Waste, Chemistry, Manufacturing

RECYCLING TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract3 Types of Construction and Demolition Wastes4 Type I- Roadway and Site Conversion C&D Waste4 Type II- Construction and Interior Demolition Waste5 C&D Waste Processing Strategies5 Type I C&D Waste Processing Strategy6 Type II C&D Waste Processing Strategy7 Conclusion9 References10 ABSTRACT Environmental concerns about the huge landfill space that is being taken by construction and demolition debris has brought up a new technique in salvaging construction material and recycling demolition debris. Although one process exists for two types of waste, many have tried different strategies in dealing with this problem. These strategies vary between "separating and sorting" then "crushing and reducing" and "crushing and reducing" then "separating and sorting". PROCESS OF C&D DEBRIS RECYCLING CMetals, wood, rocks, concrete, rubble, soil, paper, plastics and glass are among the many materials that are considered CRealizing that the disposal of Clarge amount of space and is economically and environmentally costly, the need to get acquainted with suitable recycling processes is becoming more and more essential (1, p.18). Although, only one recycling process has been developed, there are different strategies for implementation. TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION WASTES Type I - Roadway and Site Conversion C&D Waste C"clean" materials such as wood, metals, and plastics. Type I waste should be easily separable in order to be considered as "clean". The composition by weight of a Type I C&D debris is (2, p.6.31): Rubble concrete, asphalt 40% soil, rock 20% Wood 30% Metals, plastic10% Type II - Construction and Interior Demolition Waste This type is mainly generated from urban structure such as office buildings, stores, etc.. Type II contains mixed fractions of concrete, drywall, framing, ductwork, roofing, windows, corrugated, packaging, etc.(2, p.6.32) . Due to its high heterogeneous composition this type is difficult to separate, it is mainly made of: Rubble25% Wood33% Metals20% Corrugated12% other (carpet, residue, etc.) 10% C & D WASTE PROCESSING STRATEGIES Primary separating equipment used with type I are very efficient while with type II this procedure along with hand sorting will take lots of time. Processing procedure is determined by the type of waste and the possible use of the output materials (2, p.6.32). Table 1 shows the different contents of C & D waste . Table 1 Contents of C&D Waste (2, p.6.31) Waste typeContents RubbleSoil, rock, concrete, asphalt, bricks Tar-based materialShingles, tar paper Ferrous metalSteel rebar, pipes, roofing, flashing, structural members, ductwork Nonferrous metalAluminum, copper, brass Harvested woodStumps, brush, treetops and limbs Untreated woodFraming, scrap lumber, pallets Treated woodPlywood, pressure-treated, laminates PlasterDrywall, sheetrock GlassWindows, doors PlasticVinyl siding, doors, windows, blinds, material packaging White goods/bulky itemsAppliances, furniture, carpeting CorrugatedMaterial packaging, cartons, paper ContaminantsLead paint, lead piping, asbestos, fiberglass, fuel tanks Type I C & D Waste Processing Strategy Clean rubble can directly be placed into a grizzly feeder where a jawcrusher and hammermiller could act on it for reduction. Figure 1 Debris placed into grizzly feeder Sorting and reducing first is more practical than crushing if the debris contains material such as plastics, paper, rags, or contaminants such as paint, lead pipes, etc.. After crushing the mix is then screened to remove fine soil and small rocks. Any contaminants, ferrous, and non ferrous material is removed by either manual picking or magnetic field belt. If wood is present in the rubble then the mix is guided towards a flotation tank where the wood will float and thus the separation from rocks is achieved. Another system instead of a flotation tank could be used and that is an air classifier. The air system is more expensive to use, but if the recycling plant is located in a region where there is strict rules about water pollution, thus requiring that the water from the flotation tank to be treated, then an air system might be a better option. Crushing, reducing and then sorting and separating is much more recommended with systems made from 80% to 90% rubble, wood, a! nd few contaminants. A general processing layout is shown in figure 2 and is available as both fixed and portable designs(2, p.6.34). Figure 2. Recycling plant Type II C&D Waste Processing Strategy It is essential that type II C&D waste be sorted and separated before being crushed and reduced since this type of

Free Essays on How To Be Saved

Romans 3:23-24 in the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible tells us that â€Å"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.† We are all sinners, and we all need justification. The Bible tells us this in many places, and most people believe that there is a right and a wrong. Therefore, if there is a right and a wrong, there must be a way to make the wrongs right again. Jesus provided the way to do this by dying on a cross. John 3:16 says, â€Å"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.† (NIV) So, one must believe, accept, and next, spend time with God. The most important part of the plan is probably the most simple. It requires only one thing, and that is to ask. â€Å"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Joel 2:32). After asking, one should make a public declaration that they want to be saved, and follow the Lord. Baptism is what Jesus did, and he set an example for us to follow. Paul tells us in Acts 22:16, â€Å"And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.† The salvation plan is simple. It is clear, precise, and possible for most any to understand. Believe in God, repent, ask, and declare. There really isn’t anything that is difficult to understand, but yet it is hard for me to comprehend. Not the how, but why Jesus would do this for us. We killed him by nailing his hand to a tree. That has to hurt very badly. I don’t understand why someone would do this for me, and for the people that actually pierced his skin. We humans are terrible, and I would find if incredibly hard to die for anyone on this earth, but yet God died for the most terrible of people. I recently had an experience that helped me understand the whole salvation plan a... Free Essays on How To Be Saved Free Essays on How To Be Saved Romans 3:23-24 in the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible tells us that â€Å"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.† We are all sinners, and we all need justification. The Bible tells us this in many places, and most people believe that there is a right and a wrong. Therefore, if there is a right and a wrong, there must be a way to make the wrongs right again. Jesus provided the way to do this by dying on a cross. John 3:16 says, â€Å"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.† (NIV) So, one must believe, accept, and next, spend time with God. The most important part of the plan is probably the most simple. It requires only one thing, and that is to ask. â€Å"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Joel 2:32). After asking, one should make a public declaration that they want to be saved, and follow the Lord. Baptism is what Jesus did, and he set an example for us to follow. Paul tells us in Acts 22:16, â€Å"And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.† The salvation plan is simple. It is clear, precise, and possible for most any to understand. Believe in God, repent, ask, and declare. There really isn’t anything that is difficult to understand, but yet it is hard for me to comprehend. Not the how, but why Jesus would do this for us. We killed him by nailing his hand to a tree. That has to hurt very badly. I don’t understand why someone would do this for me, and for the people that actually pierced his skin. We humans are terrible, and I would find if incredibly hard to die for anyone on this earth, but yet God died for the most terrible of people. I recently had an experience that helped me understand the whole salvation plan a...

Free Essays on Language Differences

The essays â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan and â€Å"Public and Private Language† by Richard Rodriquez are recollections of both authors personal battles with language. Their stories are very different but each essay attempts to illustrate the personal struggle the two of them went through to discover their voice. The two of them battled with all the forms of language they had to learn. In their lives they were faced with having two forms of language, the â€Å"private† language that was only spoken at home and the â€Å"public† language that was for everyone else. For Richard Rodriquez his struggle was with English and Spanish alone. Amy Tan, on the other, was faced with different levels of English. In both essays there is discussion of public and private language. Each author defines it differently. Amy Tan defines her â€Å"private† language as a language of intimacy. â€Å"The English I spoke to my mother† (21). It seems to be what she uses with those that are within her family spectrum. â€Å"My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It’s because over the twenty years we’ve been together I’ve often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with†.(4) The way that Tan and her mother speak to each other is in a form of broken English, an English that comes from an immigrants comprehension of the language. This â€Å"private† language is like a secret code between Tan and her mother. It is the tie that kee ps them connected and close. Richard carries a different perspective of his private language. For Richard there is no explanation or clarification needed. Spanish is what his family speaks at home and to each other. His language is what ties him to his roots and his colture. Rodriquez identifies with his Spa... Free Essays on Language Differences Free Essays on Language Differences The essays â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan and â€Å"Public and Private Language† by Richard Rodriquez are recollections of both authors personal battles with language. Their stories are very different but each essay attempts to illustrate the personal struggle the two of them went through to discover their voice. The two of them battled with all the forms of language they had to learn. In their lives they were faced with having two forms of language, the â€Å"private† language that was only spoken at home and the â€Å"public† language that was for everyone else. For Richard Rodriquez his struggle was with English and Spanish alone. Amy Tan, on the other, was faced with different levels of English. In both essays there is discussion of public and private language. Each author defines it differently. Amy Tan defines her â€Å"private† language as a language of intimacy. â€Å"The English I spoke to my mother† (21). It seems to be what she uses with those that are within her family spectrum. â€Å"My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It’s because over the twenty years we’ve been together I’ve often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with†.(4) The way that Tan and her mother speak to each other is in a form of broken English, an English that comes from an immigrants comprehension of the language. This â€Å"private† language is like a secret code between Tan and her mother. It is the tie that kee ps them connected and close. Richard carries a different perspective of his private language. For Richard there is no explanation or clarification needed. Spanish is what his family speaks at home and to each other. His language is what ties him to his roots and his colture. Rodriquez identifies with his Spa...

In-Flight Security For Airline Passengers Essay

In-Flight Security For Airline Passengers - Essay Example are to be dealt more cautiously. And now more security provisions are added for airline passengers while in air. The project examines and studies all the security measures adhered to by various airlines including FAMs, Flight Deck Officer, Discrete Codes, Crew Members and Reinforced Cockpit Doors. Their training methods, duties, laws and changed laws after September 11 incident has been mentioned in it. It is highly useful for the general public to be assured regarding the present security provided by the airlines. Even the ethical situation and dilemma has been talked about giving due consideration to the delicate issues. No doubt all the training, requirements and implementation of changed laws needs huge budget. But the Under Secretary and Federal Government are obliged to hold all the cost responsibility of training, supervision, equipment etc. hence leaving no expense to the pilots. Training becomes very ideal when it comes to the security of the public especially when carrying loaded guns to fire when in need. The project clearly shows the comparison between the changed laws before and after the fatal incident of September 11. Budgets have been reformed and the government takes the responsibility. Although TSA initially opposed the Flight Deck Officer program to arm and train cockpit personnel. The conclusion states that the top priority of any organization should be the security of the passengers in airlines. Audience Scenario My project is directly approached to the general public boarding airlines on daily basis. It is to shed all their doubts regarding their security and safety in planes while in air. It will be surely of great help to them to get acquainted to various security methods deployed by airlines for their betterment. After reading the report they'll be more confident and easy while boarding the flights especially after what happened on September