Chinese Studies Journal

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Wuttipong Prapantamit — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

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Wuttipong Prapantamit — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

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Wuttipong Prapantamit — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

กองบรรณาธิการ

Wuttipong Prapantamit — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Sacred Stones in Chinese Culture: Exploring the Legend and Beliefs Surrounding the “Shi Gan Dang”

Surasit Amornwanitsak — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The legend of the “Shi Gan Dang” is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and emerged from the venerence of sacred stones. Over time, the story merged with local beliefs in the Shandong province, where people believed that Mount Taishan was a protective place against ghosts or other harmful entities. As a result, the legend evolved to become associated with the revered Shi Gan Dang of Mount Taishan.

This article explores the legends associated with the dauntless stone from five different sources. The study finds that the styles of storytelling vary depending on the location where the stories were told. For example, in Tai’an, Shandong province, the stone is portrayed as a male figure, revered by both ghosts and spirits. On the other hand, in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, the stone is highly respected as a symbol or charm that can protect people from evil and misfortune. However, the passing down of the legend through generations may have led to some missing or incomplete details due to the beliefs and comprehension of the storytellers.

The shortcomings on rhetorical beauty of the four-syllable compound words’ mistranslations in the children’s fiction WaenKaew series’ Chinese version.

Burin Srisomthawin, Lu Dan — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This research paper is focused on the shortcomings of mistranslations of four-syllable compound words in the Chinese translation of children’s fiction WaenKaew series from the perspective of Thai literature criticism. The research reveals that due to the translator's failure to conduct comprehensive research on the author's writing style before conducting the translation and possibly insufficient in-depth exploration of the characteristic’s expression of four-syllable compound words in the Thai language, as well as translated version of fiction did not go through editing by an editor who has expertise in the field of Chinese-Thai languages and cultures before its public release. As the result, there are certain shortcomings on rhetorical beauty of four-syllable compound words in the Chinese translation. The mistranslations can be categorized into three levels, and with the degree of mistranslation ranking from low to high as follows: 1) Level Three Mistranslation: The Chinese translation's wording may not match the rhetorical beauty of the Thai original words, but the meaning expressed aligns with the original text. 2) Level Two Mistranslation: The Chinese translation’s use the wrong wording, and the meaning does not align with the Thai original text. 3) Level One Mistranslation: The Chinese translation directly omit four-syllable compound words from the Thai original text.

Imaginative Geographies and the Identity Transformation of Chinese Diaspora Characters in Qiongyao’s 1960-1970’s Romance Novels

Jirayut Hansapan — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This research paper aims to study the imaginative geographies of Mainland China, Taiwan and Western countries, and the identities of Chinese diaspora characters in Qiongyao’s romance novels during half of 1960-1970 decades. The theories of Orientalism and the concept of imaginative geographies, the link between the novel and the modern nation-state, and the concept of cultural identity and diaspora were applied in this study. The study found out that, Mainland China was depicted as a nostalgic place, full of happiness and nature. Whereas Taiwan was written as a place of the present, full of issues, and an urban space, influenced by American culture. The western countries were portrayed as places of opportunities and refuge, with inhabitants characterized by distinct races, languages, and cultures differing from those in Taiwan. Qiongyao wrote Mainland China and western countries as the past and the future to project Taiwan as the present. The research also found that, in her novels from 1960’s, Mainland China was portrayed as the homeland of the first-generation Chinese diaspora characters. However, the novels from 1970’s Taiwan was more frequently referred to as home by the second-generation of Chinese diaspora characters. This change in perception of one’s homeland coincided with transformation of role of the two generations in Qiongyao’s novels after 1970. In contrast to the first-generation, who saw Taiwan more as a temporary sanctuary than a homeland, the second-generation characters considered Taiwan as their homeland.

Construction of Folklore in the Online Horror Film “Legend of the Xing'an Mountains Hunter”

Zhu Guangde, Kanokporn Numtong — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The online horror film “Legend of the Xing’an Mountains Hunter,” released during the COVID-19 pandemic, received critical acclaim and financial success, with its folklore narratives being a major highlight. This paper, utilizing methods such as “literature review,” “organization and summarization,” “comparative analysis,” and "case analysis,” compiles the folklore elements featured in the film. It analyzes the adaptation of folklore in the movie and explores the characteristics of online horror films. The study reveals that the folklore in the film is characterized by being “down-to-earth,” “non-mainstream,” and “diverse,” contributing to attention and discussion the film has received. However, these characteristics also present challenges in film production. The paper analyzes how the film utilizes folklore from a narrative perspective, highlighting the film's narrative strategy of strengthening the connection between each movie story structure based on the three-act-screenplay structure of classic horror film elements. Focusing on the legendary folk element of the "human-faced tree" in the Xing’an Mountains, the film adopts a narrative approach with one observer and multiple narrators, creating a storytelling pattern of “potential storyline and obvious storyline intertwined, truth and lies intersect.” This structure forms vivid narrative imagery with contrasting elements, utilizing abstract, three-dimensional, and regionalized audio-visual language. The film conveys simple folk values such as “A virtuous man makes his fortune in a proper way,” “family wealth should not be flaunted,” and “karma and retribution.” The balance between artistic and commercial aspects has gained favor from audiences and recognition from the industry. It opens up new avenues for the development of online horror films and pioneers a fresh approach to incorporating folklore in horror cinema. It marks a new milestone for the evolution of horror films based on folklore in the online genre.

‘A-Zhong’ Nationalist Discourse in Comments on Weibo

Chonticha Teekamongkol, Chanyaporn Chawla — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This study examines the 'A-Zhong' nationalist discourse present in Weibo comments, focusing on the linguistic strategies and techniques shaping this discourse. The research involved gathering data from comments and sub-comments with over 100 likes on Weibo posts containing the term ‘A-Zhong' from ten news agencies. The data, gathered between August and December 2019, was analyzed to understand the concepts of nationalism and the linguistic strategies in nationalist discourse. The findings reveal that the 'A-Zhong' nationalist discourse aims to achieve three objectives: 1) Celebrating the state, 2) Depicting state adversaries, and 3) Encouraging unity and solidarity. The linguistic strategies employed are categorized into four groups: 1) Usage of positively connoted words and phrases, 2) Utilization of negatively connoted words and phrases, 3) Assertion of claims, and 4) Employment of metaphors. These strategies collectively strengthen a sense of national identity and pride among Chinese citizens, reinforce their commitment to defend the nation and promote a spirit of unity.

The Investigation and Analysis of Current Situation on "Chinese + Vocational Education" in Thailand

Ma Lijuan, Tian Chunlai — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

In order to understand the development of “Chinese + Vocational Education” in Thailand, to investigate and analyze the shortcomings and needs of “Chinese + Vocational Education” in Thailand, and to effectively promote the development of “Chinese + Vocational Education” in Thailand, the author designed the “Thai Chinese + Vocational Education” questionnaire (Chinese-Thai bilingual version) and distributed it to local teachers in Thai vocational and technical college.The survey results show that Thailand's “Chinese+Vocational Education” has characteristics such as a shortage of Chinese teachers, low Chinese proficiency of students, a majority of “Chinese+tourism and commerce” courses, a focus on “online + offline” or pure offline teaching, bilingual versions of textbooks, low satisfaction with textbooks, and a lack of supporting teaching resources. The respondents have a high level of understanding, demand, and support for the “Chinese+Vocational Education” program in Thailand, and students have gained a lot. It is recommended that the “Chinese+Vocational Education” program in Thailand be led by the Chinese and Thai governments, and carry out cooperation projects such as award-winning student delivery, vocational teacher visits, vocational education lectures, joint training of dual degree programs between Chinese and Thai vocational schools, and joint construction of Sino Thai vocational school cooperation bases.

The distribution of meaning items of the Mandarin verb “填” (to fill)

Feng Haidan, Ai Hongjuan — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

By analyzing the distribution of meaning items the Mandarin verb “填” (to fill), based on 10,000 words of balanced corpus, it was found that there are four main senses of the verb: ① to fill in a depression or low-lying place with soil or garbage to make it flat; ② to fill with something, such as a) filling a space with something, b) filling a space with an emotion or odor; ③ to write or draw in a blank space according to requirements, such as a) writing text in a blank space according to requirements, b) drawing colors or patterns in a blank space according to requirements, c) writing poetry/song lyrics in a blank space according to meter/melody; and ④ to add something to a gap to make it complete, such as a) adding personnel to meet job requirements, b) compensating for a problem through certain actions, c) utilizing spare time through certain actions. In order to better explain the meaning items of the verb “填”, argument structure and qualia structure theories were employed to construct image schemas of each meaning item. These image schemas can provide references for Chinese language learners to better understand the various meanings of the vocabulary and also facilitate the compilation of a Chinese learner's dictionary.

A Study of Worldview of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia Through Folk Narratives

Suphacha Sriratanaban — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This study aims at analyzing the worldview of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia through folk narratives. By analyzing 115 folk narratives, it has been found that the worldview represented in the folk narratives of the overseas Chinese can be grouped into 4 categories. The 4 categories are as follows: 1) worldview towards the relations between the Chinese and the locals, including “the Chinese married local people and adapted to the local culture”, “the Chinese forged productive relationships with the local ruling class” , “the Chinese disseminated knowledge and technology to the locals”, “the Chinese were creators or were involved in the creation of things in the local community”, “the Chinese played a crucial role in the economic, social, and political development of the local community”; 2) worldview towards the relations between the Chinese and the westerners, including “the Chinese were oppressed by the westerners”, “the Chinese joined forces with the locals in the resistance against western imperialism”; 3) worldview towards the values and moral principles held by the Chinese, including patriotism, perseverance, frugality, filial piety, and honesty; 4) worldview towards the hopes and fears of the Chinese, including safety of sea travel, safety of valuable possessions, and family reunion.

A Study of the Rhyme and the Chong niu yun of the “Shi Ji Suo Yin” by Sima Zhen

Ng Foong Hang — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The rhyming of the Shi Ji Suo Yin has a small number of mixed phenomena, it can be divided into two types, one is the mix chongyun (rhymes with common features but under different headings), and the other is the same rhyme groups but different division. However, the number of mixed between rhyme is relatively small, and most of the examples belong to the occasional mix, which have not yet reached the proportion of rhyme that are combined, the only two rhymes that are really combined are the Guai (怪) and Guai (夬).The Chong niu yun (redundant syllable in rhyme tables) A and B of the Shi Ji Suo Yin are used by labial, velar, glottal as the second sinigram in a fanqie, there no examples of mixing, and it is possible to distinguish the difference between the A and B types. As for the characters with lingual and dental as second sinigram in a fanqie, there are some cases appear mixed.

Column Couplets in Thai - Chinese Temple A Case Study of Tsi Shan Temple in the HatYai District Songkhla Province

Li Xiaoxiao, Kanokporn Numtong, Siriwan Likhidcharoentham — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Column couplets are couplets written in Chinese and carved on the column. Column couplets are special type of Chinese verse. The skill of writing Chinese couplets is keeping symmetry, two sentences of couplets must have the same number of characters, and the first sentence is on the right side, the second sentence is on the left side. Column couplets can be found in most of the Thai - Chinese temples in Thailand. This study had investigated Tsi Shan Temple and collected all the column couplets of the temple. Author had translated couplets from Chinese to Thai, studied the structure and assessed the historical value of column couplets, the result shows that Tsi Shan Temple has a long history but the history about the temple abbot who is also the column couplets writer may not have been recorded in the history of the temple. And as the reason of the decline of the author's Chinese proficiency, column couplets of the temple have changed in meaning, structure and historical value with times changing. And with the theory of cross-cultural communication and the theory of Herbert Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the message. Culture always must adapt itself to the development of society. There for, couplets in Tsi Shan temple made a change from the cool medium to the hot medium.