7/2. Fl5- 'i^^^^W-'^-M-Mt':'^^^ ■ , ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE BY THB 1 REV. ARNOLD FOSTER, li.NDOx \nssroN-ARY SOCIETY, HANKOW Bonbon HENRY FROWDE B.A. AMEN CORNER, PATERNOSTER ROW -THE- -JOHN -FRYER- • CHINESE -LIBRARY ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE BY THE EEV. AKNOLD FOSTEE, B.A. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY, HANKOW Bonbon HENRY FROWDE AMEN CORNER, PATERNOSTER ROW 1887 Mai» LiV>- JOHN FRYER CHINESE LIBRARY ©xfotB PRIKTED BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY ELEIENTAEY LESSONS IN- GHIJE^E/ The object of this little book is firstly to provide some easy lessons in the Chinese language for beginners who cannot obtain the help of a teacher, and secondly to give some hints to students which they will find useful through- out the whole of their student course. Missionaries and others leaving England for the first time, are often either unable to obtain any Chinese books at all to study on their voyage, or they get hold of books which though good in themselves are of no practical use to them: A student destined to live at Canton for example, buys a book of phrases that might be of great use to him if he was proceeding to Peking, but this is of no use whatever to one whose business it is to study Cantonese. Or he buys a grammar which will perhaps be very useful to him after two or three years, but is of no use to a beginner. The dialects known as the Mandarin, the Cantonese, the Amoy, and the Foochow dialects, not to mention other minor varieties, are so entirely different from one another, that no speaker of any one of these will be intelligible in a district where another is spoken. This being so, it would be well for beginners, unless they have some trustworthy person to guide them in the purchase of books suitable for them to use in acquiring the colloquial of the district in which they are to reside, to wait until they arrive in China before spending their money on such books ^. ^ I met on one occasion a lady who had spent six guineas in buying a Chinese dictionary in London, which she found on arrival in China was obtainable for ten or twelve shillings ; inasmuch, however, as the book was quite out of date, it was practically of no value at all, and she had to buy another. Unfortunately in this instance the purchase was made by the advice of some one who had spent i^'is.ny years in China, and who ought to have known better than to recommend the book. 747696 4 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. It is very desirable that missionaries to China should iitiliz^'tlieibs or seven weeks occupied by their voyage in ; acqi^uiyiag son^e knowledge of the language in which their fufttrf e work i'S^ta be carried on. To attempt to acquire the Chinese sounds without a living guide to the right pronun- ciation of them is indeed useless ; but in the study of the written character there is a great deal of plodding work to be done by the student, which is independent of a teacher, and in which a teacher, even if he were at hand, could give no material assistance. I venture to think that time spent in a careful study of the following pages will in no case be time wasted. What is here written it is necessary for every student of Chinese to know, in whatever part of the empire he may be stationed, and whatever dialect he may wish to learn. If he can succeed in mastering these lessons before he commences studying with a native teacher, he will find himself able at once to make much better use of his teacher's services than he would otherwise do; and the work here marked out is not more than any person of average ability can easily get through, if he be fairly diligent, between the time of leaving England and that of arriving in China. In spite of an opinion to the contrary, which one may occasionally hear expressed by some who have themselves made good progress in the study of Chinese, it may be safely said that the almost unanimous opinion of persons competent to speak on the subject, is that no solid or rapid progress can be made in acquiring a knowledge of the written character until the student has thoroughly mastered the radicals, or at least those of them which are in most frequent use. The importance of acquiring some knowledge of the written character cannot be overrated. Even those whose ambition is to be first and foremost good sjoeakers of Chinese, will find that a knowledge of common words in their written form is most useful to them in attaining this object of their ambition. Again, even in districts where the spoken language has been romanized by missionaries, INTRODUCTION. 5 no one who wishes to be properly equipped for his work of teaching the Chinese will be content to remain in entire ignorance of the characters in which the natives themselves express their thoughts. No Chinaman of any intelligence will accord much respect to a teacher whom he finds to be entirely ignorant of the written language of the country. The romanized system of writing is said by those who use it to have its advantages, but if it hinders any missionary from studying the Chinese system, this must certainly be accounted as one of its disadvantages. All Chinese characters are either themselves radicals or are classified under radicals, ami are to be found in the dictionary by referring to the radical to which they belong, in somewhat the same way as an English word is to be found in an English dictionary by looking under the initial letter of the word. In Chinese, however, all characters have a double classification. The first is according to the radicals, the second according to the number of strokes required to make up that part of the character which is distinct from the radical. A few illustrations will best shew the way in which a Chinese-English dictionary has to be used. In most of such dictionaries an index is given towards the end of the volume, in which all the characters that are explained in the dictionary are arranged according to their radical. To this index we turn first. Suppose then we want to find the sound and meaning of the character ^ (can or may). This character is composed of two parts, P and J . The student who has learned the radicals by heart will at once recognize P as radical No. 30, and will also know that the rest of the character ^ is not amongst the radicals. He will notice that this part of the character is made with two strokes. Looking now under the radical P he will there find a great many characters, but all of them arranged systematically, according to the number of strokes which compose them ; thus we have >^ (two strokes in addition to the radical), ~^ (two strokes). G ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. etc. etc. ; ^ (three strokes), ^ (three strokes), etc. etc. ; ffy (four strokes), t^ (four strokes), and so on. Under the first of these divisions, viz. that which contains all the characters that have two strokes in addition to the radical, we find some twenty or twenty-five characters in all, and amongst these we have not much difficulty in picking out the character ^ (ma^ or can) of which we are in search ; by its side a reference is given to another part of the dictionary, and there we find its sound, its meaning, and examples of its use. We will now suppose that we want to find the character >Q (to summon). A moment's glance at this character shews that it is composed of two parts, yj (a knife) and O {a mouth). In this case, both of the component parts happen to be radicals, and since a beginner cannot be sure under which of the two the character occurs, he may have to search under both before he will find it, although it is only actually to be found under one. He knows that ^ has two strokes and P has three ^. Looking then first under the radical y] (No. i8) and in the subdivision in which are characters with three additional strokes, he discovers that the character -^ (to summon) is not there. He then turns to the radical P (No. 30), and in the subdivision in which are the characters with two additional strokes, his eye lights at once on this one. One other example of the way in which a character is found will suffice. We wish to know the sound and meaning of the character ^ {a custom). A familiar acquaintance with the radicals enables us to say at once that y^ is not one of them, but that ^ is. Having counted the number of strokes which compose the character y^ we find them to be four, and then turning to the radical ^ (No. 147), and looking in the proper subdivision, we meet almost at once with the character r^ and learn both its Chinese sound and its English meaning. 1 |Z| is written thus |-i| i. e. with three strokes of the pen. INTRODUCTION. 7 The student will see from what has been said already the great importance of mastering these radicals. He should aim at a thorough familiarity firstly with the form of the radical, secondly with the number of strokes that compose it, thirdly with its numerical place in the following list. Of course each of these Chinese radicals has a sound of its own, but I have not attempted here to reproduce that sound in English letters, for I have found by experience that it is far easier to provide a sound to which a beginner studying without a teacher will attach a wrong pronunciation that he will have afterwards to try and forget, than to provide a sound which will give him eveji an approximately correct notion of what the pronunciation should be. Moreover, any so*und that can be given in English letters will at best only represent the sounds as pronounced in certain parts of China ; an altogether different pronunciation may be given to the same character in the particular district to which the student is going. At first nothing better can be done than to call each Chinese character by the English sound which is attached to it in this book, and which in every case represents its general meaning. In giving now a list of the radicals, it will be well to offer a few suggestions as to the best way of learning them. They are given here in their regular order as they will be found in any dictionary, but with a view to lightening the labour of learning them, an asterisk has been attached to those which are in most frequent use. While I should advise the student not to rest satisfied till he is thoroughly familiar with all the radicals, and can not only recognize them when he meets with them, but can also write them from memory, I should also advise him at the outset to pay special attention to the form, and number in the series, of those radicals which are marked with an asterisk. By far the larger number of Chinese characters will be found under one or other of these : at the same time, if a student is not thoroughly familiar with the form even of radicals that are hardly ever met with, it may happen that he will sooner H ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. or later waste much valuable time in hunting for a character in every place except the only one in which it is to be found. In the following list, in addition to the ordinary division of the radicals according to the number of strokes which are used in forming them, a further division of them has been made into lessons. These lessons, thirty-three in all, are marked here with large figures. If the student will learn one of these lessons each day, at the same time constantly going over the previous lessons in order to make sure of ground already gained, he will easily compass the whole work in six or seven weeks, and will have some time left for practising the knowledge he has gained in trying to translate a few easy exercises that are given on pages "Z^-iS- The vocabulary here given by the side of the radicals has been so arranged as to make the task of finding particular characters far more simple than it would be to find them in a dictionary. The selection of words has been made not merely to explain the exercises that follow, but also to shew the various j)ositio?is in which a radical must be looked for. It may occur in any part of a char- acter, i.e. either outside or within, to the right or to the left, at the top or at the bottom. LIST OF THE CHINESE KADICALS. In this list the letter C is attached to certain radicals to indicate that they are not perfect characters in themselves, but are only used now in combination with other signs, as j)arts of characters. Of the rest, some are to be met with in books, but are not used in ordinary colloquial. Where contractions are given after the meaning of a radical, it is to be understood that the contracted form of the character is never used by itself, but only in combination, to form other characters. Radicals. TFith one stroke, LIST OF THE BADICALS. VOCABULAKY. 1. — • one, unity, the \^ under. Jq over, upon. w^<^^®- ^ not, neither, nor. zn three. 2. c I to pass through. Pfl middle, to hit the mark. 3. c ^ a point. ^ a master, lord. 4.cy a stroke to the ^^ sign of possessive (like Eng- lish 's), him, her, it, them. yV long time. yL nine. gL confusion, '(g^ a final particle which often cannot be translated. ^ matters, business, to serve. left 5. c 2j one, a hook. 6. c J a barb. With two strokes. 7. JH two. 8. c -*^ cover. ■^9. yv a nian. 10. cJL a man. 11. yV to enter, go in. 12. /\ eight. ^ a well, i five. "^ also. ^ a capital. ^t to secure, guarantee. 'P£ to use, employ, cause. 5(5 to come. ^ now, the present time, f^ faithful- ness, sincerity, to believe, tmst, faith, y^ to do, prac- tise. yX to take, to regard, use. \I1 benevolence. yfj an elder brother. ^ to remit. TiQfii'st. y^ within, inside. ;^ all, the whole. y>fc six. S his, its. 4j" pub- lic. A 3 lO ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. 2. I3.c|^ a Kmit. 14.0^ to cover. 15. c J^ ice. 1 6. Ju a bench. 17. c |_4 a receptacle. *i8. 7/ a knife. Ij ^19' y] strength. 20. c '^ to wrap. :zi.c (j ladle. ^3. c LZ a basket. 23. cXT *o conceal. 3. 24. "pten. 25. p to divine. 26. c P a stamp. [J 27. c/^ a cliff. 28.0^ selfish. 29. ^ also, again. With three strokes, *30. PJ mouth. 3i.c|Z| an inclosure. fSj to turn, return. 7(i a cap, a bird's comb. ^ winter, i'^ cold. jl all. ^ a stool. tti to go out, to give forth. ^IJ gain, profit, f^lj before, in front. "5^ urgent, yy a tenth, a part, to divide. Jlj to arrive at. ^ to exhort. JJf| to add. yf to toil. ^ do not. 'Q to wrap up. i[i north. |£ a mechanic. |g to hide. ^ a thousand. ]^ south. ^1^ divining signs. ^ danger. "pP to unload. J? thick. ^ to go. ^ to receive. ^ a friend. ^ harmonious. |^f together, the same as. PJf can, may. ~^ ancient times. ^ good, virtuous. ^ a prince, sovereign. ^ a name. ■^ a decree, fate. Y^ four. m a kingdom. ^ a cause, because of LIST OF THE RADICALS. H *33. _tl earth. 33' "it a scholar. 4. 34. c :X. to follow. 35' c y^ walking slowly. 36, y evening. 31' A great. "^38. 3^ a daughter. 39. -y* a son, child. ■^40. c " a roof. 41. \J an inch. 43. A^ small. 5. 43- c iXj lame. :/c ^(]) 44. jr a corpse. 45. c y^ a sprout. ■^46. |Jj a hill, mountain. 47. {(( streams, jll ^^ 48. Hi labour. 49. ^ self, one's own. ^50- rfj a napkin. \ the ground, earth, land. ^ to sit. ^ in, with. ^ a hall. $^ to requite, recompense. I a jug. ^ summer. ^ much, many. y\ outside, foreign. j^ heaven. ^ to lose, let slip. •y^ a husband. ^ri like, if, as. ^ good. ^^ a woman, a wife. ^ to learn. ^^ filial, -f- a letter, character. J ■ j_ ^ i » .^ ^ a family, home, g rich, riches. ^ reality. ^ single, attentive. !^ to accord honour to. ^ little, few. ^ yet. •gi to go towards. }\. a foot measure. ^ to dwell. j^ a shore. -^ an island. ul^ a peak. jH a continent. ^^ a nest. i^ the left. J^5 skilful. i^ magic. ^ an alley. % cloth. l|lfl a veil. % a master, teacher. J% ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE, 51. '~f^ to opposd. 6. 5^^. ca^ immature. ^53' ^ J ^ covenng". 54. c yi^ to move on. 55' ^/T Viands joined. 56. ~^ a dart. S7' ^ archery. 58. C 3L a hog's head. ^ 59. c^ hairs, feathers. ■^60. c ^ SL step. With four strokes, l,Hi, J\j>aheart. f ij* 6.. :fe a spear. 63. ^ a door. ^64. ^ a hand. :f 65. 3ca branch. *66.cJ^torap. X 67. ^ literature. i^ a year. ^ level. ^ capa- ble. ^ young. ^ this, now. j^ a bed. ^ a throne. ^g to establish, set up. ^ to trifle with. 53^ an example. ^ a younger brother. 5 1 to B bent. •J^ form, shape. ^ afterwards, behind. ^^ to obtain, gain. "^ to follow after. f ^ to fear. ^^ to rest. '1$ to repent. ^ bad, evil. ^g> to think, the thoughts. J^ kindness, grace, favour. iJl^ must, there will be. ]S to for- get. ^ to love. ^ loyal. ^g sorrow, anxiety. J^ to complete. ^ I, me. %^ a battle ^ a house. ^ a building. *|^ to point. ;^ to hold. ^ to change, correct, reform. ^ to teach. ^ to rever- ence. LIST OF THE KADIOALS. 13 68. ^ a bushel. 8, 69. JX ^ hatchet. 70. ^ square, then. 7 1 . c ^ without. yC ^y2. sun, day. 73. to speak, say. 74. ^ moon, month. ^75' >f^ wood, tree. ^76. y\J to owe. 9. 77. ih to stop. 78. ^ vicious. ^ 79.0^ to kill. 80. -^ to deny. 81. J:|j to compare. 82^. ^ hair. 83. ^ surname. 84. c ^ breath. 10.^85. 7]< water. V^ ^86. j/Cfire. 4»li ^j- to deliberate. Jffi to scold. ^If to behead. ^ in. ^ by the side of. P^ since. B^ a time, season. :;g to be, yes. ^ clear, to-morrow, ^ easy. ^ day-time. § a book. ;^ very, exceed- ingly. ^ to have, there are. ^ morning, ^g to expect. ^j^ a frame. |^ joy, pleasure, to rejoice. >Ik a root. ^ east. ^ to wish. ^ to cheat. ^ to return. ^ a year. itb this. 5E to die, death. 7^ to kill. ig^ a mother, -^poisonous. ^ felt, blankets. % aa atom. K the people. ^ air, breath. S^ sea. *^ to wash. 1^ a law. 1^ deep, i!^ a spring, source. /(< everlasting. >]< to seek, beg. ffi not, has not. ^ calamity, jft^ annoyance. H ELEMENTAKY LESSONS IN CHINESE. ^J. jK claws. ^ 88. :$C father. 89. c^t Wending. 90. c ^ a frame. 91. /-f'a spKnter. 11. 93. ;^ a tooth. ■^93. ^ an ox, cattle. ^94. :;fCadog. 4 ^^^^ ^2;e strokes. 95- 3^ sombre. ^9^' j£ a gem. 5 97. /R. a melon, 98. ^ a tile. 12. 99. H pleasant. 100. ^ to produce, life. 1 01. Jfl to use, avail, useful. ■^io:j. ffl a field. 103. /E a roll of cloth. ■^104. c^ disease. 105. cTv back to back. 13. 106. Q white. 107. ^ skin, bark. 108. JDl a dish. to do, make, be. cheerful, healthy. a wall. a shield, tablet. S^ things, creatm-es. -^ a prison. ^t to offend, transgress. JJ); to offer in worship. ^ to lead. "F. a king, ruler, sovereign. 3^ precious, rare. ^ a gem. JpJI a vase. ^ very. ^ sweet. j^ to bring forth. ^ a sister's son. pff from. ;^ male. ^ a pic- ture. j^^ open, wide apart. ^ a malady. ^ to give forth. •^ all. ^ a hundred. ^ imperial. ^Jf a drum. S to exhaust, entire, utmost. LIST OF THE RADICALS. 15 ■109. no III 112 @ the eye. m 14.^113 114 ^115 ^ a lance. ^ a dart. ^ ^ stone. 7J\ omen, jjf ? c p) a foot-print. tR grain. ■^116. y?Cacave. 117. JLL to set up, stand , be established. JTM six strokes, ^118. 4i* bamboo. ^^ •119. ^ rice. 15.^120. :^silk. ^ 131. ^crockery. 122. c^ a net. CQ % 123. ^a sheep. 124 . ^wi angs. 125. :^old. 16. 126. rfij and, yet, still. 127. ^^ a plough. ^128. I^the ear. J^ true, genuine. ^ to see. ^ subtle. f^ to compassionate. ^ to know. ^ a final par- ticle. ?^ a gravestone. ^^ a rock. jiff§ happiness. ^ to sacrifice, decorum, propriety, birds. ^U private, selfish. ^^ to grasp. ^ to provide for. ^ empty. ^ poor. )/|5 to stand. J|[ a boy. §J perpendicular. f to inile. \L a grain. |g^ millet. to manure. ^Ji red. ^ tight, urgent. ^X a jar. ^|g; a pitcher. fp sin. ^ a net. ^ righteousness, what is just and proper. ^ a flock. ^ to practise. ^;J} to clip. ^ a plume. ^ to examine. ijff patient. ^ to play. ^ to cultivate the ground. ig holy. ^ to hear. |lt shame. i6 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. 129. ^130. 131- 17. 132. ^33- ' 134. ^137. 18. 138. 139- ^140. 141. "^142. 143- 19. 144. c ^ a pencil. ^ reckless. ^ majestic. 1^ meat, flesh. p\ ^ back. 3^ able, can. JIB fat. p. a statesman, . g/v to rest, minister. § self, from, natu- -^ a bad odour, rally. ^ to reacb, until. ^X to go. ^g a terrace, a stand. a mortar. J^ to prosper. ^ with, and. ^old. •^ a cottage. S& to lick. ^i^ to dance. j^ a boat. M good. 135- R a tongue. 136. >^ opposing. 7^' a ship, c ^ perverse. R^ colour. c!)«}< herbs. '*^ j:^ a tiger. ^insects. J^ blood. -fj to do, to walk, to practise, to act. '145. ^ clothes. ^ 146. [mJ cover, Wit^ seven strokes, 1 47 • >^ to see, peixjei ve. 1^ a myriad. ^ do not. Jig cruel. :^ a mark, brand. Si lice. B^ mosquito, ^^bar- barous people, -^all. f^ a street. ^^ to manifest. ^^ inside. ^ a skirt. ffl west. ^ to want. 5i love, parents, parental affection. )]j§^ to look at, see, a-egard. LIST OF THE RADICALS. 17 148. ^ a horn. 1^) a catty, i. e. a Chinese pound or i^ lbs. Eng. •^149. "^ words, to speak. ^ to plan. ^ to speak, 20.150. >^ a valley. 151* _H. pulse, beans. 152. ^C swine. preach. ^ to scold. ^53-^^ reptiles, precious. ■^154. @ m- 1 55- :^ flesh colour. 21. 15^. J^ to walk, to run. 5£a foot, enough, ^a road. ^ lame. 158- :^ the body. :S5^ to conceal. ^159- a carriage. j|^ troops, flight, i.e. not heavy. ^ a fault. ^ to manage. >^ to insult. ^ to cultivate the ground. i^ a fault, transgression, to cross, to pass. |M] the way, doctrine. ^|> vicious, depravity, g to cure, the healing art. Y@ spirits, ^p to unloose. 166. Jl^ a Chinese mile. ^ a desert. ^ to estimate. ?feV^ ^?^/^^ strokes, 23.'^i 67. ^ gold, metal. ^ a needle. ^ a bit. S a chisel. 1 60. ^^ distressing. 161. J^time. 22.^162.0^ going. \^ ■^163. ^ a region. [5 ■^164. g new wine. '^5' c;?!^ to separate. 18 ELEMENTAKY LESSONS IN CHINESE, 1 68. -^long. :§ ^169. Pi a door, gate, ^i 70. c -^ a mound. "(J 1 7 1 . c ^ to reach to. 24. 172.0"^ bii'ds. "^173. ^ rain. 174. fg azure. 175- ^F wrong, a fault, not, no. Wit A nine strokes. 176. pj the face. 25. ■^177- ^ raw hides. 178.0!^ leather. 179- ^ leeks. ■ - 180. Q sound, news. *i8i. a page. 26. 183. Mwind. 183. filtofly. ■^184. "^ to eat, food. 1 85. ~g head, first. 186. ^incense. With ten strokes. 27.^187. i^ horse. 188. *^ a bone. . 189. igjhigh. ^ to open. ^Jj to ward off. ^^ reckless. ^ difficult. ^ ^ to assemble. ^^ spiritual. ^ quiet. ^ to lean against. bird. a boot. ^ a rhyme. § a noise. JIP comply, obey, agreement. g]^ the head. ^ to regard, attend to. ^ a whirlwind. ^ superabundance, more than enough. ^^ to nourish, bring up. |§pj a colt, f f the body LIST OP THE RADICALS. 19 "^190. c;^ hair. 191. P^ to quarrel. 28. 193. c ^ fragrant herbs. ^93- c ^ a tripod. 194. 7^ a ghost. WitA eleven strokes. ^195. #,afish. ^19^' i^ a bird. 29. 197. [^ salt land. 198. J^a deer. 199. ^ wheat. 200. ^ flax. ^Fi^/^ twelve strokes. 30. 301. ^yellow. 'XO'Z. ^ millet. ^03- .^ black, dark. ^^4* IS embroidery. With thirteen strokes, 31. 'xo^. H frogs. 206. j^T a tripod. ^07* sic ^ drum. 208. jj;^\^ mouse, rat. With fourteen strokes, 32. 209. ^ the nose. 210. ^ even, correct. With ffteen strokes. 2X1. # teeth. noise, bustle. %%, a soul. the carp, a raven, salt. flour. P black. §)t secret. ^R a black spot. 20 ELEMENTAKY LESSONS IN CHINESE. With sixteen strokes. 33. iJi2. "Ill, a dragon. ^13- ® a tortoise. With seventeen strokes. 2,14. "^ a musical reed. As the student advances in Chinese he will find it interesting, as well as very helpful to him in his studies, to notice that the radical to which any particular character belongs often gives at once a general clue to its meaning. Thus, e. g. the group of characters occurring under radical No. 61 i\j) a heart, mostly refer to the mind, the feelings, the passions, etc. Those under No. 75 yfC wood, a tree, have reference principally to trees, fruits, and articles made of wood. Those under No. 85 y^ water, refer to liquids or the properties and appearance of liquids ; and so on. The following radicals perhaps more than any others afford illustrations of this kind of classification of words with reference to their meanings or properties : — 30 82 112 145 169 195 32 85 118 147 173 196 38 86 119 149 177 197 39 93 120 154 180 198 46 96 121 157 182 199 S^ 97 124 158 184 208 61 98 137 159 187 211 64 102 140 162 188 213 72 104 141 164 190 IS 109 142 167 194 Chinese Exercises. Three short exercises given below will provide practice both in finding characters under the radicals to which they EEMAEKS ON THE EXERCISES. 21 belong^, and also in translating easy Chinese sentences. Every character here employed may be found on pages 9-20 in its proper place under its radical, with the meaning attached to it. The student is advised to try and translate the sentences without the aid of the key which follows them, and only to turn to that to test the accuracy of his translation, or in case he finds any particular sentence too difiicult for him. The sentences given are almost all of them either Chinese proverbs, quotations from the classics, or set phrases in common use amongst the Chinese. And here it may be observed that it would be well for the student as early as possible to^study books written by native authors, rather than translations into Chinese made by Europeans. A young missionary will naturally devote much time to studying the Scriptures in Chinese, in order to become familiar with them in their Chinese dress, and also with a view to getting a religious vocabulary, but he should by no means accept the Scriptures or any other book, either translated or composed by foreigners, as a model of style. Such books are, it is true, far easier for a beginner to understand than purely native books, but this is owing partly to the fact that the idiom resembles the English idiom more nearly than that wfiich is strictly Chinese, and further, the thoughts are such as an Englishman is familiar with, whereas the thoughts expressed in a native book are often quite strange to one who has only just arrived in China, and are consequently difficult to understand. In attempting to translate these exercises, the student will do well to bear in mind the following rules : — 1. Prepositions often follow the substantive that in English they govern, thus ^ ~P 'under heaven,' lit. ' heaven under ; ' iljl _h ' on earth,' lit. ' earth upon.' Nega- tives also precede verbs, as !^ "pf ' cannot,' lit. ' no can.' 2. Properly speaking there is no article in Chinese. * In the case of some characters that a beginner would find it very hard to trace to their proper radical, the number of the radical is put beside the char- acter in the exercises, in brackets. 2,^ ELEMENTABY LESSONS IN CHINESE. 3. The verbs 'to be' and 'to have/ as well as some pronouns, conjunctions, etc., have often to be supplied; in particular, the words 'if and 'when' are more frequently- understood than expressed. 4. There are no inflexions of verbs in Chinese ; the same word ^ e. g. will stand for either ' I have,' ' he has,' or ' they have.' The moods and tenses also are only very imper- fectly distinguished. 5. Many words may be either verbs or abstract nouns ; thus ^ may either mean ' to live ' or ' life.' Others may be either adjectives or adverbs, according to the context in which they occur. 5. The distinction between singular and plural is often not marked. Thus /V niay mean either ' a man' or ' men.' EXERCISES. 23 m A Exercise 1. ff r^ - A ^' 16 El (83) JUJL H^^ — -*■ ::: 30 PI" ^ ffil o M i 4 m it 26 i\r> 31 39 32 (77) at'' B '40 o m 28 ia ^ ^ 3E 18 A 13 - ± % 111 " ' A' >g' A A PI + yv4 ^c^ 34 35 n m o 4 ^ 14 E A =. :^ 20 A 24 .21 4ni: 10 15 H ELEMENTAKY LESSONS IN CHINESE. EXEECISE 2. rff) M B A * rfij 25 u m EH 27 ^|li> 28 ± # It 6 m 4- tr rfij 11 30 E # o o * # A ^(32)g^i. a ± ^ » #^^ m m m r^ m u ^ ^\^ # W B# A" m m m r^ ° Hi''' B ^ E 5C ° 'hi o ^ S r^ ^ o Ma m 1 '(184) # o #^ J^ (37) o A 4H-9 -er :j5(a2) g A ^ 4 (10) 3^ 13 ^10 ^ EXERCISES. EXEECISE 3. 35 A z Z ES 35 37 A S ^ A 30 35 -^ A O A lis o A # H S ig 0" # ^^ n n ° ^ z ^ ^ fl ^" A * M « >Cl> ^ ^ m M" ^ A $^ ° m M n ^o te(,25 4L.2O BH14 ^ ;dc PI #' 000 ;& M, ^ ^ m -k ° ;/c {^ ^ Ji ^ ^ ^ +" ° :S ^E. ^ ^ A' " m ^ ^ M 31 ^ m ^ 33 2>6 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. Exercise 1 (Translation). 1. (All) under Heaven (are) one family. 2. On the earth are hills. 3. Enter the great door. 4. The mind (or heart) is the lord of the whole body. 5. Neither many nor few. 6. (Chinese) months are divided into great and small. 7. (When) the month (is) small (it) has twenty-nine days. 8. (When) the month (is a) great (one) (it) has thirty days. 9. One divided (so as) to make two. 10. The four seasons. 11. Heaven has not two suns, (and) a people has not two rulers. 12. A mouth giving forth great words. 13. Knowing men (you) know (their) faces, (you do) not know (the) heart. 14. Three men (with) six faces (i. e. men are double-faced). 15. (If) the people have not sincerity, (they will) not be, estab- lished. 16. From ancient times to the present. 17. The face virtuous, (but) the heart bad. 1 8. The family has its master, a kingdom has its sovereign. 19. The Middle Kingdom (China). ' 20. Outer kingdoms (foreign countries). 21. (For) one year to practise virtue (the time) is not sufficient ; (for) one day to do evil (the time) is more than enough. 22. Brothers (lit. elder and younger brothers) (are) like hands and feet (i. e. members of one body). 23. A kingdom may not (be for) one day without a sovereign. 24. (If) a man do not learn, (he will) not know (what is) right. 25. Think thrice and afterwards act. 26. The four books (i. e. a division of the Chinese Classics con- taining some of the works of Confucius and those of Mencius). 27- Men all have brothers. 28. The mouth (saying) yes, the heart (meaning) no. 29. (As for) the heart of parents, men all have it (i. e. men all have the parental instinct). 30; Having a mouth, but not able to speak. 31. Ten (Chinese) inches (make) one (Chinese) foot. 32. A thousand years. TRANSLATION OF THE EXERCISES. ^7 ^^. Deep water. 34. Level ground. ^^. To repent of sin and alter one's faults. 36. A whole family. ^y. Inside the door. 38. The heart and mouth as one (i. e. in agreement). 39. (When) standing (he did) not (stand) in the middle of the doorway. 40. A filial son. 41. (When you) know (your) fault (you) must change. Exercise 2 (Translation). 1. Bring up children, then (you*will) know the kindness of parents. 2. To obtain and again to lose. 3. (When you) see a man (perform) one good (action), forget his hundred faults. 4. To remit sin. 5. The father sits, the son stands. 6. To go out by the north gate. 7. When words are many there will be slips. 8. (When you) see gain, think of righteousness. 9. To plan things (lies) with men, to complete them (or carry them out) (rests) with Heaven. 10. Do not regard a good (action) as small and leave it un- done, do not regaxd a bad (action) as small and do it. 11. To bring up (children) and not to teach (them) is a father's fault. 12,. Men do not know their own faults. 13. To say (what is) good is not difficult ; to practise (what is) good is the difficulty. 14. To love (other) men as oneself. 15. At home a thousand days (are) good ; to go abroad for an hour is a hardship. J 6. Happiness comes from Heaven. 17. A loyal statesman (will) not serve two sovereigns. 18. Ten thousand years. 19. To alter (what is) evil and follow (what is) good. 2,0, (If) one word (does) not hit the mark, ten thousand words (will be of) no avail. a8 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. 31. A loyal statesman does not fear death ; (he who) fears death (is) not a loyal statesman. 22. The king sat in the hall (at the) upper (end). 23. A sovereign in employing a minister (should) use propriety ; a minister in serving a sovereign (should) use loyalty. 24. Not to know (when one has) enough. 25. To cross the sea. 26. Riches and honoui-s. 27. Difficult at first, (but) easy afterwards. 2S. To be a sovereign is difficult, to be a minister is not easy. 29. This morning cannot guarantee the affairs of to-morrow morning (i. e. one knows not what a day may bring forth). 30. The sun comes forth and (men begin) to work, the sun goes down and (they) rest. 31. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth (the ' five elements ' of the Chinese). 32. Happiness like the eastern sea. ^^. The thoughts without depravity. 34. (He who does) not think (will have) a hundred (causes for) anxiety. Exercise 3 (Translation). 1. Death and life are decreed (lit. have a decree), riches and honours (lie) with Heaven. 2. An attentive mind. 3. Having a name (with) no reality. 4. Clothing and food. 5. Filial obedience to parents. 6. Man is the spiritual part of creation (lit. the ten thousand things). 7. Those who go before (lit. the men in front) open a road, those who come after walk in it. 8. To requite favours. , 9. Goodness has a good reward, evil has an evil reward. 10. The cross (lit. a frame (the shape of the) character ten). 11. Take virtue as being joy. 12. The whole heart. 13. (When) a family is harmonious all things (lit. ten thousand things) prosper. TRANSLATION OF THE EXERCISES. 39 14. Open the door. 15. To wash the hands. 16. To walk (on) a road. 17. (Between) father and son (there should be) affection, (between) husband and wife, agreement. • 18. First have regard to food, afterwards have regard to clothing. 1 9. Do not forget the affairs of former (times). %o. Well water. 21. True gold does not fear the fire. 1%. When the king's son transgresses the law, the guilt is the same (as it would be) in the case of the people. 23. Water has its fountain, a tree, has its root. 24. The Northern Capital (i. e. Peking). 25. To return home. 26. Regard death as a return (home). 27. (When you have) received favours, do not forget (them). 28. To be guilty of crime and to do evil. 29. (When) children (are) virtuous, (their) parents naturally rejoice. 30. To exhort men to practise virtue. 31. To reverence the old and to honour the virtuous. 32. Eveiy thing must have a cause. ^'^. Good things may be done ; evil things, do not practise. 34. For the sake of (what is) small, to lose (what is) great. ^^. Benevolence is man's (proper state of) mind; righteous- ness is man's path. 36. Regard (another) man's gain as (your) own gain ; regard (another) man's loss as (your) own loss. ^"j. (If) the road is not walked in, (the end will) not be reached; if a thing is not attempted it will not be completed. Nothing has been said in the foregoing pages of either aspirates or tones, and the ordinary student of Chinese need not trouble himself about them until he comes to learn the spoken language with the help of a teacher. It cannot, however, be too strongly impressed upon learners from the outset that both aspirates and tones are of the utmost impor- tance to one who would learn to speak Chinese intelligibly 30 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. Carelessness about the difference between aspirated and unaspirated words in Chinese, will often render a speaker as absolutely unintelligible in China as a foreigner in England would be if he should substitute d for t ox t for d, saying, for instance, ' too dry ' for ' do try,' or if he should substitute b for jo or jt? for ^, speaking of ' bears ' when he means 'pears' and of 'pears' when he means 'bears.' It is not intended here to assert that the difference between aspirated and unaspirated words is exactly the same as the difference between the English d and t ox b and p sounds, etc., but the difference is quite as distinct and great as this, and it is even more important in speaking Chinese to observe these differences than it is in speaking English. The distinction of tones in Chinese often appears to beginners to make the acquisition of the spoken language almost hopelessly difficult, but this difficulty, like many others, is found to yield to persevering effort, and by constantly reading aloud after a teacher, the ear becomes familiar with the difference in the tones of the words pronounced. At the same time it is not desirable to trust to the ear alone in trying to remember what is the tone of a particular word. A child will unconsciously acquire the right tones in speaking, as the Chinese themselves do, with- out any effort of memory, but with the rarest possible exceptions adults, if they wish to speak correctly, will find it necessary to learn what the proper tone of each character is, together with its sound and meaning. Both tones and aspirates are chiefly important in the spoken language, but even in studying the written language it is necessary to notice that a character often has two sounds, one aspirated and the other unaspirated, or one of one tone and another of another, and its shade of meaning varies accordingly ; thus, the word Pp ' the middle ' is differently pronounced when it means ' to hit the centre.' The Chinese have a very simple method of marking tones, and it is better from the begin- ning to follow this, than to follow any of the various methods invented by foreigners. CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 3I Two or three other hints may here be given in regard to learning to speak Chinese. (i) Many Europeans who speak with great fluency seem to have acquired their fluency from conversing with coolies, boatmen, carters, and the like, rather than from conversing with Chinese gentlemen. The difierence between the speech of educated people and the speech of uneducated people is quite as marked in China as it is in England, and while a man who talks like a gentleman can always make himself intelligible to the poor and uneducated, a man, on the other hand, who talks like a coolie will find it almost impossible to gain either the respect or the attention of educated listeners. (2) The Chinese as a nation pay great attention to modes of address becoming, on the one hand, the social position of the speaker, and on the other hand, that of the person spoken to. In speaking English there are certain distinc- tions in phraseology which we make (though perhaps quite unconsciously to ourselves), according as we are addressing our equals or our inferiors. Thus, e.g. we speak of a master telling his servant to do a thing, but of a servant requesting his master to do the same. Again, we talk of a servant's wages^ a clerk's salary^ a clergyman's stipend, etc. Similar distinctions exist in China, and are held to be of far greater importance than they are with us. A person who in his speech ignores these distinctions will at once be set down by the Chinese as being either wanting in good manners, or unacquainted with the usages of the Chinese language. The student should be careful from the commencement to learn the right terms to employ under different circumstances, and should never suppose that it is a matter of indifference what terms he uses so long as his meaning is intelligible. (3) In learning a foreign language, and especially an oriental one, we should remember that in our own tongue we often use one word to cover two distinct thoughts ; when, however, we want to translate those thoughts into another tongue we must use a different word for each. 3Z ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHINESE. Thus our English word * ask' means both to * enquire ' and also to * request.' Englishmen learning Chinese often seize upon the Chinese word signifying to 'enquire,' and then taking this as being the exact equivalent of the English word ' ask,' proceed to apply it indiscriminately in Chinese wherever they would use the word ' ask ' in English ; the result is that they speak of ' enquiring a person to do a thing,' when of course they mean 'requesting him to do' it. Such mistakes become very serious when we find translators of theological books using the Chinese word p^ ' flesh,' gene- rally signifying ' dead meat,' as an equivalent for the Greek word a-ap^. ' Flesh ' in English has an ethical sense, just as a-ap^ has in Hellenistic Greek; but the Chinese word p^ never has, so far as I am aware, an ethical meaning. To introduce such a word into St. Paul's epistles is therefore to make the apostle's meaning unintelligible, not to say ridiculous. The rule cannot be too strongly impressed on the student of Chinese that whether in speaking or in writing, his business is to translate thoughts and not merely words. It may even be necessary to depart altogether from verbal resemblance in translating a particular phrase or sentence in order to give an exact equivalent in Chinese for the idea which we have conceived in English. In conclusion, I would say for the encouragement of beginners, that however difficult Chinese may at first appear, no one who is resolutely determined to learn it need despair of meeting with good success. The experience of many students has been that after about twelve or fifteen months they began to fear that they were making no progress worth speaking of, and that they should never know enough to be of any use to them. Time has shewn them, however, that their failure was apparent rather than real, and they have ultimately succeeded, if not in speaking as well as they could wish, at least in speaking with complete fluency and ease, and in gaining also a thoroughly serviceable acquaintance with the written language. Photomount Pamphlet Binder Gaylord Bros. Makers Stockton, Calif. PAT. JAN. 21. 1908 NON-GIRGULATING BOOK The conditions under which this book was acquired place certain restrictions upon its use. It may not be taken from the Library building, nor may it be reserved in the Reserved Book room, in a seminar room or elsewhere. 747G96 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY