Chinese History Puns

I'm asking because I'm having a hard time finding other prominent examples. Are these the two most well-known translated sci-fi anthologies?

Here are Goodreads links to Broken Stars and Invisible Planets.

Just recently, Jabzy of 3-minute history dropped this video titled ‘Why was the Qing Dynasty so weak? History of China 1644-1839 Documentary 1/3’. Its scope is actually somewhat bigger, covering from the 5th century AD up to the beginnings of the Taiping War in 1850, and it devotes enough to the Opium War that its end date ought to be 1842. Jabzy does a few things right here, and his narrative intent seems decent enough, but there’s a lot of mistakes of varying scale here that I think need to be picked up on.

0:07 – Why specifically this map of China, corresponding to the height of the Western Han? Marco Polo would have visited during the period of Mongol rule. This map includes territories of Chinese occupation like the Tarim Basin, northern Vietnam, and arguably southern Manchuria, to describe ‘China’ writ large, instead of a more limited map of ‘China proper’, say during the Northern Song.

0:30 – Uh, the Jewish community in Kaifeng still exists.

0:36 – ‘Dark Ages’? Seriously?

0:38 – No, it was not the Nestorian Church, but the Church of the East, colloquially called ‘Nestorian’ but with, at best, dubious theological links to Nestorius.

1:02 – What does it mean to say that ‘the Muslims dominated trade between East and West’? It seems like a bit of a non-point, like ‘the people in the middle were between the people in the east and west’. Separate but related, the idea that the middle exists to facilitate trade between the extremes is a problematic assumption worth examining: recent historians of Central Asia like Scott Levi have suggested that we see Central Asia not as the middle stop on an East-West route, but as a distinct region which other regions had a specific interest in, which coincidentally led to cross-continental transfers.

1:19 – That’s not Guangzhou, it is the Qing-era borders of the entire province of Guangdong. Also, the extent to which we should see the 878 massacre at Guangzhou as either having a six-digit death figure or as being specifically targeted against foreign merchants writ large, let alone Muslims in particular, is open to question. This AskHistorians answer by /u/mikedash synthesises a lot of the limited information we have and is worth a read, along with the cited sources.

1:24 – ‘Then the Mongols invaded China and invited the traders back.’ Holy timeskip, Batman

In the 1960s, the Chinese government banned people from doing business. Only the privileged class could do business. As a result, they became rich. In the 1970s, people were banned from importing foreign goods. As a result, those who risked imports became rich. In the 1980s, people were forbidden to have more than one child. As a result, brothers and sisters of the privileged class are now very happy. Now the Chinese government bans Bitcoin, think about it.

For those not familiar with them, Xiran Jay Zhao is a Youtube channel host who gained some popularity by making a Twitter thread ripping on Disney's live-action Mulan movie. Their channel is mostly about examining western media that adapts or takes influences from Asian culture such as Avatar and Kung Fu Panda. Their latest video examines Legend of Korra and whether or not the criticism of it being too "western", especially in comparison to the previous series. It's quite an interesting and informative video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOPHLsczY4k&ab_channel=XiranJayZhao

Video is 18 minutes long.

There's a famous instance from Western history in which a written note read "Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est"; this was deliberately ambiguous for plausible deniability, as it could be parsed as either "Edwardum occidere nolite, timere bonum est" (Do not kill Edward, it is good to fear) or "Edwardum occidere nolite timere, bonum est" (Do not be afraid to kill Edward, it is good". Are there any similar cases from Chinese history that hinge on ambiguous punctuation?

ETA: I’ve been informed that people are apparently sending hate mail and/or harassment to the OP. This is never justified. We’ve all been newcomers to a topic before, and it’s important that we keep civil so there’ll be more.

So yeah, stop bullying people, this isn’t 4chan.

https://www.np.reddit.com/r/teenagers/comments/mjlikx/guys_cant_hold_a_conversation_for_shit_alright/

This post. This frigging post.

I swear, I was going to wait until I got at least a Master’s to post on this sub but this post was so misinformative it made me want to go early.

Before I begin, I’m going to point out I’m not a giant knocking the heads of imps. I am very much in the middle of my teen years. Yet, I can somehow summarize Chinese history properly and still have time to feign social skills. But do correct me if I’m wrong about anything, I always need feedback.

So yeah, this is honestly just… kind of lame. If the OP sees this, my advice on improving social skills is to join more clubs with opportunities forcing you to socialize. A single year of forensics has already made me actually sociable to a passable extent. Ranting about your interests is fun and all, but it’s really not the best idea to do it unprompted. I’d like to make it clear, therefore, that none of this is done with malice.

Though, OP, PM if you’d like to chat about history. I, for one, am always into rants.

Now, where to start?

OP begins by dismissing the pre-imperial Chinese states out of hand. Technically, yes, it could be argued that the Chinese Empire in the sense of being a culturally homogenous state with an emperor at its head only began with Qin Shi Huang, but the years before that are vital to our understanding of China as a whole too.

Every single one of the Four Books and Five Classics later held to such importance by the Chinese was written before the Qin dynasty. In addition, though the Warring States are not well-recorded, they were hugely formative in shaping Chinese philosophy. The philosophies of Zhuangzi, Laozi, and many (possibly mythical) others first appeared during this time.

>This quickly drove him into insanity and later death. Also, Qin Shi Huang is the one that had a massive terracotta army at his grave.

I can’t find a single source claiming it drove him insane; much of his mass-murder and immortality obsession were long before he ingested the mer

I’m sure at some level they must know that their government isn’t honest and suppresses them. But to what extent do they know? Does school in China cover issues regarding their history, such as genocide, war losses and wins, etc.?

Disclaimer: I also know that the US education system isn’t fully honest either.

I'm a translator who works for a translation firm; despite not being a translator of historical documents (or all that familiar with history), sometimes we handle things such as period drama subtitles that include references to, among other things, the Chinese 王 (often with qualifiers [親王, 郡王, etc.], the significance of which seems to also vary.)

What little history I learned tell me that the word can refer to someone enfeoffed, or not; stipended greatly, or not; hereditary, or also not; their titles may refer to actual locations.....or also not.

(Google sometimes helps a lot, but also sometimes not.)

Usually, my clients and editors are happy enough with a "Prince of XX" (although a colleague once complained that Prince of Zhongxiao isn't a good rendition for 忠孝王 since that suggests Zhongxiao is a place); however, I've always wondered - just how exactly has this simple character been used differently in what are no doubt very different contexts throughout the states of China? Is there a "better" translation for, or a term in English that corresponds to, the term in general?

PS: I think I once read u/EnclavedMicrostate write a comment that somewhat covered the Ming system, but I also forgot where it was.

Ive been doing some research on population growth in Malaysia and it lead me towards the topic of the changing demographics in our country. I've read through a handful of materials and these two were probably the easier reads. Just wanted to share in case some of you would would find this a topic interesting as well:

History: https://says.com/my/lifestyle/history-ancestral-origin-spoken-dialect-of-chinese-people-in-malaysia

Future (Forecast): https://cilisos.my/malaysias-chinese-population-is-shrinking-at-an-alarming-rate-here-are-3-possible-reasons/

The latest statistic i can find on the fertility rate for Malaysian Chinese woman is about 1.1 children per 1 woman in Year 2019. This basically means that if the fertility rate of the Malaysian Chinese does not improve, there will be about 50% lesser Malaysian Chinese that make up the future generation, assuming we dont have more chinese migrants.

Some interesting additional findings:
- Malaysian Indian's fertility rate is about 1.2 (Year 2019)
- Singaporean chinese have a fertility rate of about 0.94 (Year 2020).
- Singaporean Indians have a fertility rate of 0.96 (Year 2020).
- Malays have the highest fertility rate in both countries (Malaysia at about 2.3, Singapore at about 1.8)
- China's fertility rate is at about 1.3 (Year 2020).

EDIT: *The point of sharing these info is not to encourage Chinese people to go breed more. It is more for sharing on the history on when and why the Chinese came to Malaysia, how this ethnic group has influenced the Malaysian culture and development, and perhaps prompt thoughts about what the Malaysian culture would be like in the next couple of decades with the forecasted change in demographics*

Dear community,

I have lived in the SGV my whole life and I have so much love for all the people and the places that make the 626 so special. As I grew older, I became curious about the history of the SGV and I read as many articles and books as I could to learn about this place we call home. My two favorite books on the SGV are Wendy Cheng's The Changs Next Door to the Díazes (2013) and East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte by the South El Monte Arts Posse (SEMAP; 2020). While reading these books, I began exploring the SGV as much as I could. I'd ride my bike for hours, walk to neighboring cities, and even take the bus and the train to visit different landmarks mentioned in the books I'd read. Throughout my time exploring, I knew that I wanted to somehow give back to the SGV community for all the love it had blessed me with growing up. One day I began reflecting deeply about the relationship between the Chinese and Mexican population in particular, and I thought to myself, "Is there another part of the world where there exists a deep love and unity and respect between Chinese and Mexican people?" Then I remembered that when I was 14 or so, I visited some family members in the town of Mexicali in the northern Mexican state of Baja California. One day during our stay we ate at a Chinese-Mexican fusion restaurant and from what I remember from our meal, the food was delicious. I googled "Mexicali, Chinese restaurants" and other related keywords over the next couple of hours until I finally stumbled upon a book that talked about the history of Chinese communities in Mexico. The book was The Chinese in Mexico, 1882-1940 by Robert Chao Romero (University of Arizona Press, 2010). I ordered the book online and when it arrived in early December of 2020, my journey into the history of Chinese communities in Mexico had begun. I learned that the Chinese community of Mexicali had been instrumental in the city's founding- by 1915 more than 80 percent of the city's population was of Chinese descent. Chinese fraternal and Chinese language associations established in the early 1900s provided the foundation for a successful and vibrant Chinese business community that continues to this day. There are hundreds of Chinese restaurants in Mexicali, and they are the heart and spirit of Mexicali's downtown economy. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, over 90% of the Chinese population that immigrated to Mexico was from the southern province of Guangdong. Many came

A couple reason why I think that.

1. Taiwan is still learning Traditional Chinese for the very reason to pass down the history of Chinese culture. Simplified Chinese was instilled and created during the Cultural Revolution for the purpose of erasing the history of China as a message from the Communist party that they hold the control and flow of information however they would like.
2. What is now Taiwan is what the original Chinese envisioned for a postmodern China after the fall of the dynasties in the early 1900s. Then leader Sun Yat Sun, a devout Christian who spent his whole life dedicated to seeing a China that is for the people and by the people, not ruled by an autocratic society as to what China is now.
3. Taiwan continues to pass down more Chinese tradition, even in the midst of a progressive technologically advanced world. The people of taiwan still hold values dear to that of olden day China instead of completely letting themselves become washed out by the culture of the western world. It's a beautiful blend of western capitalism and traditional Chinese Culture.
4. Though the Taiwanese government is far from perfect (which any government in the world isn't). The strength, honor and pride of the Taiwanese people can be sensed when you go there to travel. There is less discrimination, more servitude; less hate, more love; less demand, more understanding. I am proud to be taiwanese, although living in America now, because my parents immigrated, I am still bound as a Taiwanese and want to share the history and culture of the Chinese Taiwanese people to the world.

A couple quotes, from the Father of Modern China: Sun Yat Sen(Revered and honored by many in Mainland China and Taiwan)

1. "Which, autocracy or democracy, is really better suited to modern China? If we base our judgment upon the intelligence and the ability of the Chinese people, we come to the conclusion that the sovereignty of the people would be far more suitable for us."
2. "For forty years, I have devoted myself to the cause of the people's revolution with but one aim in view - the elevation of China to a position of freedom and equality among the nations."
3. "The Chinese people have only family and clan groups; there is no national spirit. Consequently, in spite of four hundred million people gathered together in one China, we are, in fact, but a sheet of loose sand."
4. "Remember that a civilized nation cannot just have one party; if there were only one party, this would merely

There's a famous instance from Western history in which a written note read "Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est"; this was deliberately ambiguous for plausible deniability, as it could be parsed as either "Edwardum occidere nolite, timere bonum est" (Do not kill Edward, it is good to fear) or "Edwardum occidere nolite timere, bonum est" (Do not be afraid to kill Edward, it is good". Are there any similar cases from Chinese history that hinge on ambiguous punctuation?