On January 2, one of the greatest modern American scholars of the Chinese language passed away.
John DeFrancis was born in the waning months of the Qing Dynasty, and first went to China during the Great Depression to seek out business opportunities. That experience, which included traveling across China on camels and rafting down the Yellow River on an inflated sheepskin raft, led to his becoming a scholar of Chinese. He taught for years at the University of Hawaii, and compiled the greatest Chinese-English dictionary in the history of humanity: the ABC Comprehensive Dictionary. He was active in scholarship and dictionary compilation until the very end, at the ripe old age of 97. For DeFrancis I say:
為吾故兄奠一壺酒
(Roughly translated: "Libate a jug of wine for my late brother." In other words, "Pour out a 40 for my dead homie." By the way, is "libate" the actual verb form of "libation"?)
RIP John DeFrancis (1911-2009)
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Yangmingshan Hike & Shilin Night Market
Today we drove up to Yangmingshan National Park to hike. The park is a large area of mountains and grasslands to the north of downtown, and makes a popular place for day trips.
On the way up we were surprised to encounter this critter:
We saw at least four more of these wild Formosan macaques on the road or climbing in the trees, just down the road from Chinese Culture University.
Chinese Culture University sits on a hill above Beitou, and offers wonderful views of Taipei.
We drove up to Qixingshan (Seven Star Mountain), and did a short hike to Dream Lake. This small lake is home to a rare species of quillwort, Isoetes taiwanensis.
Afterward, we had lunch, then went to Qingtiangang, a grassy area with feral cows. It was very misty, so we didn't take many photos. There was a good trail here, which we hiked along for nearly 3 kilometers.
Here are 3 of the hikers. In the middle is Katannya, who was showing off her hi-tech hiking footwear! (Crocs!) Kate was trailing behind, taking it easy because of her injured ankle.
We came to this wonderful area and had a picnic.
Then it started to rain. So we headed back. But the rain got worse and worse, until it became a downpour. Despite our raingear, some of us ended up soaked. It was a miserable hike back.
We got in the car and drove back to Town. We dropped Kat off at the MRT station, and the rest of us went to a shabu-shabu place nearby. Very good, but very filling!
Then Kate left, and the Kitty, Patty and I went to the Shilin Night Market to browse around.
This area was also visited by Andrew Zimmern. So I decided to photograph some bizarre foods. Unfortunately I was too stuffed to want to try anything. Another time.
Here's squid on a stick:
Duck tongues
Chicken parts (cocks' combs, gizzards, hearts, and some unidentifiable parts)
You can even catch your own shrimp and have it barbecued.
A little dessert of sweet tofu soup before going home.
Looks like someone took a very literal approach in attempting to translate the Chinese for "valet parking" into English:
On the way up we were surprised to encounter this critter:
We saw at least four more of these wild Formosan macaques on the road or climbing in the trees, just down the road from Chinese Culture University.
Chinese Culture University sits on a hill above Beitou, and offers wonderful views of Taipei.
We drove up to Qixingshan (Seven Star Mountain), and did a short hike to Dream Lake. This small lake is home to a rare species of quillwort, Isoetes taiwanensis.
Afterward, we had lunch, then went to Qingtiangang, a grassy area with feral cows. It was very misty, so we didn't take many photos. There was a good trail here, which we hiked along for nearly 3 kilometers.
Here are 3 of the hikers. In the middle is Katannya, who was showing off her hi-tech hiking footwear! (Crocs!) Kate was trailing behind, taking it easy because of her injured ankle.
We came to this wonderful area and had a picnic.
Then it started to rain. So we headed back. But the rain got worse and worse, until it became a downpour. Despite our raingear, some of us ended up soaked. It was a miserable hike back.
We got in the car and drove back to Town. We dropped Kat off at the MRT station, and the rest of us went to a shabu-shabu place nearby. Very good, but very filling!
Then Kate left, and the Kitty, Patty and I went to the Shilin Night Market to browse around.
This area was also visited by Andrew Zimmern. So I decided to photograph some bizarre foods. Unfortunately I was too stuffed to want to try anything. Another time.
Here's squid on a stick:
Duck tongues
Chicken parts (cocks' combs, gizzards, hearts, and some unidentifiable parts)
You can even catch your own shrimp and have it barbecued.
A little dessert of sweet tofu soup before going home.
Looks like someone took a very literal approach in attempting to translate the Chinese for "valet parking" into English:
Friday, January 2, 2009
My visit to Wulai
On New Year's Day I went on a trip to the town of Wulai (or Ulay, as it's spelled in Atayal).
It's historically a settlement of the Atayal Aborigines, and it's a popular tourist destination due to its hot springs, scenery (including mountains and a majestic waterfall), food, and Aboriginal culture. There are a lot of mountain trails in this area, and we often come here to hike, and sometimes to eat afterwards. It was pretty crowded this time, it being New Year's Day:
Following my recent pattern of visiting places where Andrew Zimmern ate, I decided to try my hand (or, should I say, mouth and stomach) at the restaurant Taiya Popo (泰雅婆婆), which sits right on the main drag. It specializes in Aboriginal cuisine.
I ordered two of the dishes that Zimmern ordered: betel palm salad (涼拌檳榔花) and tmmyan (的麼面). The latter, pronounced something like "damamein", is salt-cured pork fermented in jars. It tastes something like prosciutto with sour yogurt. The sourness comes from lactic acid produced by the fermentation of the meat, and the acid "cooks" the meat and kills harmful pathogens.
I didn't order the fried bee dish Zimmern ordered, because it was rather pricy, but when I come with others sometime I will order it then to share. Interestingly, the boss lady noticed what I chose, and asked me if I saw the Travel Channel show. I told her "yes", and she was very happy. She's the one who sat next to Zimmern as he tried the food, and she's every bit as sweet as she appears on the show. She also gave me a free cup of millet wine and wished me a happy new year.
Then I went to the Wulai Atayal Museum, which was worth a visit at NT$50 (aboutUS$1.50).
It has an interesting collection of artfacts, and gives explanations of various customs, beliefs, hunting techniques, cooking methods, and more. One diorama shows a pair of hunters, a father and son, out setting traps. Press a button, and there's a recording of a conversation. The Chinese version makes full use of Atayal accents in the Mandarin dialogue, adding an interesting air of authenticity (even though the dialogue itself is forced). The English version is presented in cheesily inflected American accents.
I remember reading a 19th century ethnography describing Aboriginal knives as being placed in half-sheaths: "The knife is of iron, eighteen inches long, sharp-pointed, and generally crooked, with a one-sided open hardwood sheath." - G. L. Mackay (1896). Well, here is one, just as described:
My main complaint was with the headhunting exhibit, which was peppered with tu quoque defenses of the practice, as if saying, "Well, yeah, sure we practiced headhunting, but who are you to judge us? After all, you Chinese killed people in wars and conquests. So are you really any better than us?" Sigh. Please, just present the facts, and stop trying to make value judgments.
At one point, I overheard the museum staff engaged in a conversation. But the weren't speaking Chinese. They were speaking Atayal!! This is the first time I had ever heard anyone converse in Atayal! Being a language geek, I was overjoyed. I attempted to use my cell phone to record their conversation, but it didn't work out.
The museum then closed (the annoucnements made in Atayal, Mandarin and English), and I went back onto the tourist drag. I saw a vendor selling sausages made of Formosan wild boar (Sus scrofa taivanus). It came in two flavors: plain and maqaw. I asked the guy what maqaw is, and he described it as "Aboriginal mountain pepper." Turns out it's a peppery, lemony spice harvested from the seeds of the native lauracea tree Litsea cubeba. I bought a sausage and it was delicious.
I decided to go back home before too many people started crowding the buses and roads.
It's historically a settlement of the Atayal Aborigines, and it's a popular tourist destination due to its hot springs, scenery (including mountains and a majestic waterfall), food, and Aboriginal culture. There are a lot of mountain trails in this area, and we often come here to hike, and sometimes to eat afterwards. It was pretty crowded this time, it being New Year's Day:
Following my recent pattern of visiting places where Andrew Zimmern ate, I decided to try my hand (or, should I say, mouth and stomach) at the restaurant Taiya Popo (泰雅婆婆), which sits right on the main drag. It specializes in Aboriginal cuisine.
I ordered two of the dishes that Zimmern ordered: betel palm salad (涼拌檳榔花) and tmmyan (的麼面). The latter, pronounced something like "damamein", is salt-cured pork fermented in jars. It tastes something like prosciutto with sour yogurt. The sourness comes from lactic acid produced by the fermentation of the meat, and the acid "cooks" the meat and kills harmful pathogens.
I didn't order the fried bee dish Zimmern ordered, because it was rather pricy, but when I come with others sometime I will order it then to share. Interestingly, the boss lady noticed what I chose, and asked me if I saw the Travel Channel show. I told her "yes", and she was very happy. She's the one who sat next to Zimmern as he tried the food, and she's every bit as sweet as she appears on the show. She also gave me a free cup of millet wine and wished me a happy new year.
Then I went to the Wulai Atayal Museum, which was worth a visit at NT$50 (aboutUS$1.50).
It has an interesting collection of artfacts, and gives explanations of various customs, beliefs, hunting techniques, cooking methods, and more. One diorama shows a pair of hunters, a father and son, out setting traps. Press a button, and there's a recording of a conversation. The Chinese version makes full use of Atayal accents in the Mandarin dialogue, adding an interesting air of authenticity (even though the dialogue itself is forced). The English version is presented in cheesily inflected American accents.
I remember reading a 19th century ethnography describing Aboriginal knives as being placed in half-sheaths: "The knife is of iron, eighteen inches long, sharp-pointed, and generally crooked, with a one-sided open hardwood sheath." - G. L. Mackay (1896). Well, here is one, just as described:
My main complaint was with the headhunting exhibit, which was peppered with tu quoque defenses of the practice, as if saying, "Well, yeah, sure we practiced headhunting, but who are you to judge us? After all, you Chinese killed people in wars and conquests. So are you really any better than us?" Sigh. Please, just present the facts, and stop trying to make value judgments.
At one point, I overheard the museum staff engaged in a conversation. But the weren't speaking Chinese. They were speaking Atayal!! This is the first time I had ever heard anyone converse in Atayal! Being a language geek, I was overjoyed. I attempted to use my cell phone to record their conversation, but it didn't work out.
The museum then closed (the annoucnements made in Atayal, Mandarin and English), and I went back onto the tourist drag. I saw a vendor selling sausages made of Formosan wild boar (Sus scrofa taivanus). It came in two flavors: plain and maqaw. I asked the guy what maqaw is, and he described it as "Aboriginal mountain pepper." Turns out it's a peppery, lemony spice harvested from the seeds of the native lauracea tree Litsea cubeba. I bought a sausage and it was delicious.
I decided to go back home before too many people started crowding the buses and roads.
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