I like that scene where that hot chick gets raped by a tree. She has nice breasts, and it was cool when that long and thick branch or root rammed itself into her vagina. Could someone upload a pic of that? A GIF image would be nice.
There is no excuse for the errors in the above passage, especially as Professor Ching is a native Chinese scholar. Indeed, the Chinese Etymology is heavily camouflaged and is deeply hidden. It is not completely lost. Furthermore, the common meaning for the word 若 is "as... something" or "if...something." There is no chance of any kind for it to be a spirit of any kind. Let us look at the following words, 花 (flower) , 茶 (tea), 苦 (bitter) , 若 . All these four words share a word root (on the top of each word) which is a word root to identify that word is a name of a grass-like plant. You might already notice that the word 苦 (bitter) and the word 若 are very similar. The word 苦 is a name for a vegetable which is very bitter, so it also means bitter. The cross ( 十 ) right above the 口 (mouth) in the word 苦 is a different way to write the word root 屮 (grass or weed). By pointing that cross 屮 directly into the mouth, it signifies to swallow it quickly as it is very bitter. Now, we might guess that the word 若 is a kind of vegetable which can be enjoyed slowly as that cross sits on the side of the mouth. Indeed, it is. 若 is the name of a chive-like vegetable, and it is always served on the side of a main dish. That is, it is not the main thing. So, its derived meaning today is "as ... something."
In the old time China, king's pronouncement was called edict. In professor Ching's passage, that king { 周 成 王 } was only a few years old kid then, and the country was ruled by his uncle ( 周 公 ), the most famous Duke of Chou who was the one setting the foundation for an 800 years of Chou dynasty. Thus, the pronouncement of a kid king can only be call as-edict. This was the reason that the text was written "King 若 (as...) pronounced."
Indeed, no one today knows that the word 若 was a name of a vegetable as it was only recorded in an ancient dictionary which no one uses any more. Yet, since Chou dynasty, it already means "as ... something" or "if ... something." In fact, it gives rise to the meanings of many other words, such as 諾 ( a promise, not yet something concrete), 惹 (provoking, not yet become a fighting).
If 99.99% of native Chinese scholar does not know that Confucianism is a religion, what is the chance for foreigners to know better?
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Anonymous2007-06-30 21:36 ID:jYJ9kLmS
To post #2: What the hell are you talking about? That is an epic fail.