Mandarin translation help

[SPJ]

Anyone want a few more puzzles?
These aren't too difficult but I don't think I did such a great job trying to translate them in a succint, poetic way. What do you think?
Thanks in advance for your expert help!
反踢金驁 Reverse kick of golden steed or Golden steed kicks to the rear
回旋鋪錦 Circle back to adorn the ground
長虹弄影 Long rainbow's deceptive image
鋪地錦式 Adorning the earth posture

yes, there are 2 general ways to name the postures/moves.

1. literary name usually in 4 characters. we have take either the meaning/spririts or shapes of what it is represented.

for example,

a. the tiger exit the cave, your tiger claws coming out one after the other.

b. black tiger stealing the heart, your palm is hitting the chest/heart area.

c. smart monkey stealing the peach, the groin area is attacked.

--

2. generic name, usually names of the hand moves and the stepping/posture.

a. pushing palm in bow stance.

b. hitting palm in horse stance.

c. upward plam in bow stance.

--

[Wuyizidi]

hm I have an yi jing book that has explanations all over it. but I can't really decipher it. It's like one symbol, and then pages of explanation. I'll have to look through again to find the actual original text....

thanks for the inspiration wyzd

Fong,

I have the same problem. It's actually very hard to find serious, scholarly, but accessible annotations for Yi Jing, Confucius' books, Lao Zi, and Zhuan Zi.

The main reason for that is since the fall of Qing Dynasty, the entire intellectual environment is against them, for all the good reasons. China at the start of 20th century was a backward, superstitious, conservative, highly unjust, unequal, stagnant society. A society ruled and shaped by many of the core ideas and attitudes contained in those works. So everyone (we're not just talking about communists here, we're talking about people like Hu Shi) regarded them as part of the problem. Everyone was looking for modern, progressive ideas from the West that will bring China to modernity: instead of monarchy (Kong Zi), people turned to egalitarianism (democracy, communism); instead of astrology, fortune telling (Yi Jing, specifically Bagua), people turned to physics and astronomy; instead of 5 elements, people turned to modern chemistry; instead of summarizing everything to the highest level principle ('it's all about yin yang') and stop there, people went the other direction, investigate nature and society in every finer details...

So since 1911 there has not been a successful major effort by Chinese scholars to provide comprehensive, modern translation/annotation on those classics for the average person. Lin Yutang has a English translation of Laozi, which I treasure. For Yi Jing (and Laozi), the most authoritative commentary (translation/annotation) still belongs to Wang Bi (http://www.iep.utm.edu/w/wangbi.htm). I believe those are available in English. For Chinese readers, the best bet is to find a copy with original text, with Wang Bi's commentaries, and modern annotation. I have the standard edition published by Shanghai Ancient Classics Publications 上海古籍出版社. It contains the original text with Wang Bi commentary. But for someone like me, I still need commentaries on those commentaries... I'm still searching, will let you know when I find a good book on that.


Wuyizidi

[Jarek]

My understanding of Chinese classics is that they have always been a part of a more complete tradition, which included oral transmission and practice under the teacher's (master's) guidance. Only the three together would allow one to fully understand the meaning of a certain text. Usually the teacher will guide you on the path to "understanding" within a certain field of "knowledge" - be it meditation, politics, morality, etc. However just like all (true) paths lead to the very same top of the mountain, once you understand one aspect of a book, then you touch the truth and have a more clear idea about its whole.

Chinese have always been a very down-to-earth nation and have been refining their ideas for many centuries, but there were always very specific, practical observations/practices at the root of even the most abstract thoughts.

Hence in any kind of practice - MA is a good example - just by reading the theory, classics, boxing manuals - you will never understand them unless:

1.You practice (involves mind and/or body) them yourself;
2.You have a teacher who will lead through the learning process, not necessarily giving you clear pointers but more than often giving you "thought provoking ideas" that will help you progress from one stage to the next one; the teacher may often refer to certain ideas from the classics during the teaching process;
3.Through specific practice and teacher's guidance you get better and better understanding of the general (more abstract) ideas expressed in classics;

Good start to learning Yi Jing would be trying to find a good teacher, who not only has the necessary experience but who also received a transmission from a Yi Jing master. Then however - just like in MA - it is not easy to find such a master, one has to invest time, put the effort, have talent. Just like in any field of knowledge, most just grasp simple arythmetics and nothing more during their whole life and only a few reach the heights of mathematics (provided there are any). This concerns all other activities, but still with perserverance, practice and humility with each step one will be closer to the truth.

Just some thoughts, FWIW,

Jarek

[nianfong]

thanks wyzd. I'll look for wang bi. how do you write his name? I'll ask my parents to pick me up a copy in taiwan.

JAREK'S BACK! Welcome back man! and nice post. now I gotta find myself an yijing master....

-Fong

[Jarek]

Hey Fong, thank you for warm welcome, actually I've been lurking here for some time already, but registered again only today (could not login with my old name/password). Great to see the good ole EF and its members back here again.

Cheers,

Jarek

[Wuyizidi]

Fong, Wang Bi - 王弼

Yes, nice to see you here Jarek. Sigh, yes, I wish I have a good teacher here for classics (and Zen Buddhism too) to help me rid myself of the vexations


Wuyizidi

[Wuyizidi]

長虹(chang2 hong2): long rainbow, or just rainbow
弄 (nong4): playfully manipulate
影 (ying3): shadow, reflection

In Chinese, when we say 弄影, it means the shallow or reflection of something is dancing/moving in a very artistic manner. That movement can be caused by the thing itself moving, or the reflecting surface moving.

People often talk about flowers 弄影, that means flowers are moving in the wind, so their shadows are dancing. Rainbows don't cast shadows, so here it means the image of the rainbow as reflected in the water dances as the water moves. Lots of time you also see water (like in swimming pool) casting bright reflections on a wall nearby, so you can also say the water can casting playful reflections.


Wuyizidi.