Reading A Dead Book
March 21, 2008 | Filed under Asian-ness
So, I’ve been working on translating an article from Chinese to English for one of my classes (other than one rogue sentence, it’s actually been a largely enjoyable experience), and came across a phrase which I think best encapsulates how concise a language Chinese really is: 读死书. Taken as a literal translation, it would come to something along the lines of “Reading a dead book”. Obviously, the phrase in English doesn’t make much sense – what exactly, is a ‘dead’ book?
However, once you start feeding the cultural implications into the phrase, you begin to realise how many layers of meaning it has. The true meaning of the phrase has nothing to do with reading ‘dead’ books, rather it means something along the lines of, “Reading words in a book/article/newspaper, without absorbing what it means”. It’s not even a matter of not understanding the deeper meaning behind the words, it’s a matter of having the words read by your eyes, without them travelling through to your brain for processing. It is empty, and utterly devoid of meaning.
Along the same lines, one of my favourite terms in Chinese is 天下, which roughly translates to “under the sky”. The real meaning however, is more along the lines of “under heaven”, referencing Chinese spiritual beliefs regarding heaven and Nirvana. You could link it back to dynastic times, with the belief that the Emperor was the “Son of Heaven” ruling on the basis of the “Mandate of Heaven” (or, in English, divine right to rule).
This entry probably would have bored anyone without an interest in the language, but it’s just the little phrases like this that keep me studying Chinese. The language itself is just so culturally-rich, with myriad references to history, as well as layers upon layers of meaning. It gets me a bit wet in the pants.
13 Responses to Reading A Dead Book
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When I saw this blog title in my RSS I imagined you as a busty and sexy Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead using the book of the dead to ward off zombies…
I love phrases that have cultural connotations. Spanish has a bunch of them – often colourful swears. By contrast it makes English look like a rather dull and flat language.
Lil on March 21, 2008 #
I understand ya. The more I learn Filipino, the more I feel English is a barbaric language. Some Filipino sentences have to be explained in paragraphs in English to get the full meaning. Literal translation does the language no justice.
Kat on March 21, 2008 #
I love languages, so that’s really fascinating to know. All the intricate meanings and references to history must be why Chinese is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn…
Mari on March 21, 2008 #
Interesting! I’d love to go and study Chinese and all, but it would take years before I would understand how to use the symbols in context and learn all the “phrases” like you know.
Sarai on March 22, 2008 #
The Chinese language has so many hidden meanings with their words that sometimes I’m bewildered by what a phrase actually means.
My parents laugh at me when I don’t understand something they say though :P
Regina on March 22, 2008 #
Ooh, this is interesting. When I saw your entry in the Snark “blogged” thread, I thought you were talking about reading an ancient book or something like that, and I was wondering why you would call it dead… anyway, considering my (lack of) knowledge of Chinese, I would probably take a lot of phrases like that literally (I do know the two you mentioned, though!).
Meg on March 22, 2008 #
Our kids are reading lots of dead books then! I was working with third graders last semester and many of them would be able to read a passage or story fluently, but were unable to remember the main idea, characters’ names, or even minor details about what they’ve just read. It was devoid of meaning for them, although their fluency was deadly accurate. Quite sad, really.
I would love to learn Chinese as well as Japanese, but it’s not a language that is offered where I live. I can take French, German, Italian, and Spanish down here, but the Asian languages are not offered. It’s frustrating, really. It’s hard teaching yourself!
Lucy on March 22, 2008 #
The last sentence is a nice touch Amanda, to five thousand years of rich Chinese history =D
There are so much you could say about the Chinese language, from the phrases you mentioned to even the shaping of the characters. I really like the catchy idioms that are filled to brim with cultural implications and folklore.
青出于蓝胜于蓝.
不入虎穴，不得虎子
I’m stopping before I embarrass myself with my third grade Beijing education haha.
Crystal on March 22, 2008 #
I’ve never thought of translating Chinese to English in that way.. I always laughed at the literal translations and had fun with it but this is an interesting way to think. I want to learn Chinese as well but the language intimidates me because it seems to complicated… even though I really should just because it’s part of my culture.
Katy on March 22, 2008 #
Ah, it’s times like these when I wish I weren’t so bad at Chinese. =/ “Reading a dead book” sounds like what I do when I read a textbook, though. ;)
I have to admit that the language IS fascinating. It’s complicated, but there are wonderful things about it.
My favorite phrase in Chinese is probably 危機 (no guarantees that I typed the right characters) because it’s like crisis = danger + opportunity.
Kycoo on March 22, 2008 #
I understand what you mean with Chinese — I love Spanish because you can express various degrees of one particular thing.
For example, even though there are many types of love (friendship, romantic, etc.) and various degrees of it (you love some people more intensely than others), there’s really only one way to express it in English — “I love you”.
In Spanish, however, there are a whole bunch of ways to express the degree of love for someone — “Te amo” being the strongest (the romantic equivalent to “I love you” — but even stronger. You should really wait to say this); “Te quiero” being a more subdued and less-threatening, “informal” way to express affection (close friends, new relationships); “Te aprecio”, which is more like caring, etc.
As for “reading a dead book”, here in Puerto Rico we have a phrase which means the same thing: “leer como el papagayo”. It’s basically a word recital or reading without absorbing anything.
Robmarie on March 22, 2008 #
I’ve found the Chinese language to be fascinating ever since we had a Chinese foreign exchange student live with us. He taught me a lot but of course, I’ve forgotten most of it.
Jamie on March 22, 2008 #
I like that phrase. Dead book. It gives me funny mental images.
Jordie on March 25, 2008 #