混
混 – Hun3 – Confuse, Mix
Yesterday’s word of the day is causing lots of 混亂 – Hun3 Luan4 – Confusion!
Check out this rant by Zonble. He thinks 楚留香 is not a thief, and has no idea where I came up with that idea. “The only thing 楚留香 has ever stolen is a woman’s heart” he says. He’s right, in the movie, 楚留香 didn’t steal anything, and was actually just trying to solve a mystery and avoid getting killed. The reason I called him a thief is because every time he introduced himself, he’d say 我是… 楚留香 – Wo3 Shi4… Chu3 Liu2 Xiang1 – I am… Chu Liu Xiang. The other person would invariably respond “Oh?! The master thief Xiang?”
But, there’s still even more possibility for confusion: That’s what it said in the SUBTITLES, which are frequently mistranslated. So, for the final answer on what 楚留香 is, we have to ask Jenny. All those times he introduced himself, what did the other person respond? Did they said “Oh?! The master thief?” or “Oh?! The secret agent?” or something else entirely? This mystery must be solved! What did they say!!
Jenny: “I forgot.”
REPLY))
ha ha ha…..
I guess the key point is :
\” The master thief Chu Liu Xiang \” in chinese could be \” 盜帥楚留香 \”。and 盜 can be translated to \” thief \”…..as follow :
盜
dao4
ㄉㄠˋ
1.to steal; to rob
2.a thief; a robber
REPLY))
and zonble translated the \”thief\” in steve\’s entry into \” 小偷 \”。
偷
tou
ㄊㄡ
1.to steal
2.secretly
3.stealthily
isis ps : 偷(n.)—>a thief.
REPLY))
3rd, \”The secret agent\” is a tricky idea in ancient chinese. I think \”diplomatist\” is the secret agent at that time.
REPLY))
Maybe some depertments of government in ancient China play the likely roles. For example, \”東廠\” (Dong1 Chang3 — means The Easten Office), \”錦衣衛\” (Jing3 Yi1 Wei4 — means The Guards wear in brocade uniforms) in Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), or other depertments in Ching Dynasty(1644-1911). But it\’s a big different between spy and this kind of \”secret agent\”. In ancient Chinese Dynasties, all agents in these departments, who investigated everying just for Emperor\’s governance, they investigated officials or any civilians, to make sure they are loyal to emperor or not. If they find somenoe was not loyal to emperor, they will seize them, they will put them into jail without any judicial procedure, even kill them.
Briefly say, the secret agent in ancient China almost for domestic using, they never sent agent to other nations. (the frequently connect to other nations is in Ching Dynasty) But as \”isis\” says, sometimes, diplomatist play the same role, especially in some periods that China was divided into many states. You can find many insteresting stories about this kind of \”secret agent\”(or diplomatist) in \”戰國策\”, \”春秋左式傳\”, or \”三國演義\”.
REPLY))
Sorry, I must to make some correction:
\”春秋左氏傳\” (左傳)
Sorry I don\’t konw the correct translation of these three books\’ name, and my English is very terrible.