我们知道“东”和“西”都是表示方位的词,东边和西边。
但是为什么我们会说“买东西”而不是“买南北”呢?
有一种说法是中国古代的五行学说,金木水火土和东西南北中相对应。
东方属木,代表一切植物;
西方属金,代表一切金银铜铁等矿物;
南方属火,北方属水,中方属土。
而篮子可以装金木类物体,不能装水火类物体。
所以我们会说“买东西”,而不是“买南北”。
另一种说法,东汉时期有两个首都,东都洛阳和西都长安。
商人们大部分都集中在这两个大都市。
“买东”就是去东都洛阳购物,“买西”就是到西都长安购物,后来我们就用“东西”称呼货物,就有了现在通用的“买东西”。
还有一种很流行的说法。
唐朝时期,中国是世界上最强盛的国家,当时的首都长安是最大最繁荣的国际大都市,世界各地的商人都来长安做生意。
长安城有六条大道,十二座城门,中轴线是朱雀大街。
这条大街把长安城分成了东西对称的两部分。
东部和西部各有一个商业区,被称为东市和西市。
其中,东市有很多奢侈品售卖,西市则主要售卖世界各地各种各样的日用品。
所有想买的货品都能从东市和西市买到,慢慢就有了“买东西”这种说法。
除了以上这三种,你还知道哪些有趣的说法?
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vc2VjdXJlL2xlYXJuY2hpbmVzZS9TaG9wcGluZ18tXzUxMjIubXAz&filename=Shopping.mp3&signature=923ff105e0f8e65f22d4ce85ab07fb6564132d039e56cef775fb4521cea6d799
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of |
| 东 | dōng | east / host / landlord |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 西 | xī | west |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 表示 | biǎo shì | (of sb) to express; to state; to show / (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show |
| 方位 | fāng wèi | direction / points of the compass / bearing / position / azimuth |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 词 | cí | word |
| 东边 | dōng bian | east / east side / eastern part |
| 西边 | xī biān | west / west side / western part |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 为什么 | wèi shén me | why? / for what reason? |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy / to purchase |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 不是 | bù shì | no / not |
| 南 | nán | south |
| 北 | běi | north |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?") |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 种 | zhǒng | classifier for types, kinds, sorts |
| 说法 | shuō fa | way of speaking / wording / formulation / one's version (of events) / statement / theory / hypothesis / interpretation |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 古代 | gǔ dài | ancient times |
| 五行 | wǔ xíng | five phases of Chinese philosophy: wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, water 水 |
| 学说 | xué shuō | theory / doctrine |
| 金 | jīn | gold / chemical element Au / generic term for lustrous and ductile metals / money |
| 木 | mù | (bound form) tree / (bound form) wood |
| 水 | shuǐ | water / (after a name) ... River / (bound form) additional cost; extra income |
| 火 | huǒ | fire / ammunition / internal heat (Chinese medicine) / Kangxi radical 86 |
| 土 | tǔ | earth / dust / clay / crude opium |
| 中 | zhōng | middle; center |
| 相 | xiāng | each other / one another / mutually |
| 对应 | duì yìng | to correspond (to); to be equivalent to; to be a counterpart to |
| 东方 | dōng fāng | east |
| 属 | shǔ | to belong to / to be / to prove to be / to constitute |
| 代表 | dài biǎo | to represent / to stand for |
| 一切 | yī qiè | every / all |
| 植物 | zhí wù | plant / vegetation |
| 西方 | Xī fāng | the West / the Occident / Western countries |
| 银 | yín | silver |
| 铜 | tóng | copper (chemistry) |
| 铁 | tiě | iron (metal) / arms / weapons |
| 等 | děng | and so on; etc.; et al. / (used to end an enumeration) |
| 矿物 | kuàng wù | mineral |
| 南方 | nán fāng | south; southern direction / (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River |
| 北方 | běi fāng | north / the northern part a country / China north of the Yellow River |
| 中方 | Zhōng fāng | the Chinese side (in an international venture) |
| 篮子 | lán zi | basket |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can / may / possible / able to |
| 装 | zhuāng | to adorn / to play a role / to pretend / to install / to fix / to wrap (sth in a bag) / to load / to pack |
| 类 | lèi | kind; type; class; category / (classifier) kind; type |
| 物体 | wù tǐ | object; body; substance |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore / as a result / so |
| 另 | lìng | other / another / separate |
| 东汉 | Dōng hàn | Eastern or later Han dynasty, 25-220 |
| 时期 | shí qī | period / phase |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 首都 | shǒu dū | capital (city) |
| 洛阳 | Luò yáng | Luoyang, a city in Henan; historically an important Chinese capital, especially the Eastern Han’s eastern capital. |
| 长安 | Cháng ān | Chang'an (ancient name of Xi'an), capital of several Chinese dynasties from 202 BC to 907 CE |
| 商人 | shāng rén | merchant / businessman |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest |
| 部分 | bù fen | part; portion; piece |
| 集中 | jí zhōng | to concentrate / to centralize / to focus / to put together |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 都市 | dū shì | city; metropolis |
| 就 | jiù | merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly |
| 去 | qù | to go, to go to |
| 购物 | gòu wù | shopping |
| 到 | dào | to leave for; to go to |
| 后来 | hòu lái | afterwards; later |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 东西 | dōng xi | thing / stuff / person |
| 称呼 | chēng hu | to call; to address as |
| 货物 | huò wù | goods / commodity / merchandise |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now; at present; currently |
| 通用 | tōng yòng | to use anywhere, anytime / to be used by everyone |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | in addition |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 流行 | liú xíng | (of a style of clothing, song etc) popular / fashionable |
| 唐朝 | Táng cháo | Tang dynasty (618-907) |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 上 | shàng | (noun suffix) on; above |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est |
| 强盛 | qiáng shèng | rich and powerful |
| 国家 | guó jiā | country; nation; state |
| 当时 | dāng shí | then; at that time |
| 繁荣 | fán róng | prosperous; booming |
| 国际 | guó jì | international |
| 各 | gè | each / every |
| 地 | dì | earth / ground / field / place / land |
| 来 | lái | to come |
| 做 | zuò | to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc) |
| 生意 | shēng yi | business |
| 城 | chéng | city walls / city / town |
| 六 | liù | six / 6 |
| 条 | tiáo | classifier for long thin things |
| 大道 | dà dào | main street / avenue |
| 十二 | shí èr | twelve / 12 |
| 座 | zuò | classifier for large immovable objects |
| 城门 | chéng mén | city gate |
| 中轴 | zhōng zhóu | axis / (bicycle) bottom bracket |
| 线 | xiàn | thread / string / wire / line / (after a number) tier (unofficial ranking of a Chinese city) |
| 朱雀 | Zhū què | (ancient Chinese astronomy) Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird (the southern quadrant of the sky) / (Daoism) the guardian deity of the south |
| 大街 | dà jiē | street / main street |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 分成 | fēn chéng | to divide (into) / to split a bonus / to break into |
| 对称 | duì chèn | symmetrical |
| 东部 | dōng bù | the east / eastern part |
| 西部 | xī bù | western part |
| 商业 | shāng yè | business / trade / commerce |
| 区 | qū | area / region / district |
| 被 | bèi | used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb) / (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes |
| 称 | chēng | to name |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of) |
| 东市 | dōng shì | the east market; the eastern commercial district |
| 西市 | xī shì | the west market; a commercial district on the west side |
| 其中 | qí zhōng | among / in / included among these |
| 很多 | hěn duō | many; a lot of |
| 奢侈品 | shē chǐ pǐn | luxury good |
| 售卖 | shòu mài | to sell |
| 则 | zé | (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then |
| 主要 | zhǔ yào | main; principal; major; primary |
| 各种各样 | gè zhǒng gè yàng | various kinds / all sorts |
| 日用品 | rì yòng pǐn | articles for daily use |
| 所有 | suǒ yǒu | all |
| 想 | xiǎng | to desire; to want (to) |
| 货品 | huò pǐn | goods |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 慢慢 | màn màn | slowly; gradually |
| 除了 | chú le | apart from; besides; in addition to |
| 以上 | yǐ shàng | the above-mentioned |
| 三 | sān | three / 3 |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 还 | hái | in addition, also, else, even |
| 哪些 | nǎ xiē | which ones? / who? / what? |
| 有趣 | yǒu qù | interesting; fascinating; amusing |