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Re: OT: ganzhi help

From:Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Date:Friday, January 20, 2006, 11:28
On 1/20/06, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
> I looked these up in CEDICT (http://www.mandarintools.com/cedict.html), > which is a useful resource for finding Chinese words.
Many thanks! On 1/20/06, Philip Newton <philip.newton@...> wrote:
> FWIW, in Japanese I remember them as "kou, otsu, hei, tei, bo, ki, > kou, shin, jin, ki" (jikkan = ten stems) and "ne, ushi, tora, u, > tatsu, mi, uma, hitsuji, saru, tori, inu, i" (juunishi = twelve > branches).
Interesting. I didn't know the Japanese readings. Thanks!
> Also FWIW, I usually "translate" the twelve animals into the following > characters: 鼠 (nezumi - rat), 牛 (ushi - cow), 虎 (tora - tiger), 兎 > (usagi - rabbit), 竜 (tatsu/ryuu - dragon), 蛇 (hebi - snake), 馬 (uma - > horse), 羊 (hitsuji - sheep), 猿 (saru - monkey), 鶏 (niwatori - cock), 犬 > (inu - dog), 猪 (inoshishi/i - boar/pig). Some of these are > traditionally different in Chinese, I know, especially 狗 for dog > instead of 犬. > > Note that most of the names are similar to the names used in the > juunishi, but some of the juunishi names are slightly different > (usually shorter).
I find the substitution of "cow" for "ox" somewhat intriguing, since the ox is traditionally masculine. -- Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>