This one’s pretty cool, guys. Today, we’re going to take look at a short text that’s almost 2000 years old. This passage comes from the 《山海经》shān hǎi jīng, or The Classic of Mountains and Seas, an ancient compendium of mythological beasts that was formalized during the Han Dynasty – that’s around the same time as the Roman Empire.
发鸠山，山上长了很多柘树。有一种鸟，它的形状像乌鸦，头部有花纹，白色的嘴，红色的脚，名叫精卫，它的叫声像在呼唤自己的名字。传说这种鸟是炎帝小女儿的化身，名叫女娃。有一次，女娃去东海游泳，溺水身亡，再也没有回来，所以化为精卫版鸟。经常口衔西山上的树枝和石块，用来填塞东海。浊漳河就发源于发鸠山，向东流去，引入黄河。 Buy it on Amazon:
In Chinese or In English.
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 发 | fā | to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds); hair; Taiwan pr. [fa3] |
| 鸠 | ||
| 山 | Shān | surname Shan |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 柘 | ||
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一种 | yī zhǒng | one kind of; one type of |
| 鸟 | diǎo | variant of 屌[diao3]; penis |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 形状 | xíng zhuàng | form; shape |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 乌 | wu | abbr. for country names that begin with 烏|乌[wu1]: Ukraine 烏克蘭|乌克兰[Wu1 ke4 lan2], Uzbekistan 烏茲別克斯坦|乌兹别克斯坦[Wu1 zi1 bie2 ke4 si1 tan3] etc |
| 鸦 | yā | crow; variant of 鴉|鸦[ya1] |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 部 | bù | ministry; department; section; part; division; troops; board; classifier for works of literature, films, machines etc |
| 花纹 | huā wén | decorative design |
| 白色 | bái sè | white; fig. reactionary; anti-communist |
| 嘴 | zuǐ | mouth; beak; nozzle; spout (of teapot etc); CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 红色 | hóng sè | red (color); revolutionary |
| 脚 | jiǎo | foot; leg (of an animal or an object); base (of an object); CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1]; classifier for kicks |
| 名叫 | míng jiào | called; named |
| 精卫 | Jīng wèi | mythological bird, reincarnation of drowned daughter Nüwa 女娃[Nu:3 wa2] of Fiery Emperor 炎帝[Yan2 di4] |
| 叫声 | jiào shēng | yelling (sound made by person); barking; braying; roaring (sound made by animals) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 呼 | hu | to call; to shout; to exhale |
| 唤 | huǎn | to call |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 名字 | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 传 | chuān | to pass on; to transmit; to transfer; to conduct (electricity) |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 炎 | yán | flame; inflammation; -itis |
| 帝 | dǐ | (bound form) emperor; sovereign; supreme deity |
| 小女 | xiǎo nu:3 | my daughter (humble) |
| 儿 | ér | child; son |
| 化身 | huà shēn | incarnation; reincarnation; embodiment (of abstract idea); personification |
| 女 | nu:3 | female; woman; daughter |
| 娃 | wā | baby |
| 有一次 | yǒu yī cì | once; once upon a time |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 海 | Hǎi | surname Hai |
| 游 | Yóu | surname You; to walk; to tour; to roam; to travel |
| 泳 | yǒng | swimming; to swim |
| 溺 | ||
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 身亡 | shēn wáng | to die |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 化 | huā | variant of 花[hua1] |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 版 | bǎn | a register; block of printing; edition; version; page |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | frequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily |
| 口 | kǒu | mouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls |
| 衔 | xián | variant of 銜|衔[xian2]; bit (of a bridle); to hold in the mouth; to harbor (feelings); to link; to accept; rank; title |
| 西山 | Xī shān | see 西山區|西山区[Xi1 shan1 Qu1] |
| 树枝 | shù zhī | branch; twig |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 石块 | shí kuài | stone; rock |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 填 | tiān | to fill or stuff |
| 塞 | sai | to plug; to stop up; to stuff in |
| 浊 | ||
| 漳 | ||
| 河 | hé | river (CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]); (bound form) the Yellow River; (bound form) the Milky Way; (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉[he2 fen3] |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 源 | yuān | root; origin |
| 于 | Yú | surname Yu; (of time or place) in; at; on; (indicating any indirect relation) to; toward; vis-à-vis; with regard to; for; (indicating a source) from; out of; (used in comparison) than; (used i… |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 流 | líu | to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to degenerate; to banish or send into exile; stream of water or sth resembling one; class, rate or grade |
| 引入 | yǐn rù | to draw into; to pull into; to introduce |
| 黄河 | Huáng Hé | Yellow River or Huang He |
Fajiu Mountain – upon the mountain grew many mulberry trees. There is a kind of bird there, whose shape is like a raven, with a patterned head, a white beak, and red feet, which is called the Jingwei, and its name sounds like its cry. According to legend, this bird is the reincarnation of the ‘s daughter, her name was Nvwa. Once, Nvwa went swimming in the Eastern Sea, where she drowned and died, never to return, so she transformed into the Jingwei. [The Jingwei] often carries sticks and stones from the Western mountains in its mouth, and tries to fill up the Eastern Sea. The Zhuozhang River originates from Fajiu Mountain，and flows east, into the Yellow River.