The Beauty of the Chinese Words! 汉字之美

Take a look at the above Chinese poem arranged in a ‘seven characters by eight rows’ format.

看看上面七字八行的中国诗。

My friend, who has a solid foundation in the Chinese Language send me an interesting post with a series of questions regarding the Chinese character that represents “the mouth” ( 口 ).

   一位朋友，一生從事語文教學，文字功底厚實。前些時發來一個 帖子，很有趣味，轉發以下，望大家讀中有思，思中有樂！

“Chinese characters are so meaningful, and any Chinese poetry is so COOL!” he exclaims.

   中國字，有趣味；中國詩，爽歪歪！

Question # 1: Can you given me a character with two ” mouths “, he asks?

    ？1 ：2個口是什麼字？

Answer # 1: The character ( 回 ) meaning ” going back “.

    答：回

  Question # 2: How about a character with three ” mouths “?

    ？2 ：3個口是什麼字？

The character ( 品 ) meaning ” taste “, ” brand “.

    答：品

Question # 3: Four ” mouths “?

    ？3 ：4個口是什麼字？ 

The character ( 田 ) meaning ” field “, especially a ” paddy field “.

    答：田

Question # 4: How about a character with five ” mouths “, I am sure you cannot think of such a character.

    ？4 ：5個口是什麼字？

The Answer is ( 吾 ), written as a Chinese character five ( 五 ) on top of the character for mouth ( 口 ). The word means I or Me in ancient Chinese script.

    答：吾

Question # 5: How about ten ” mouths “?

    ？5 ：10個口是什麼字？

Answer: The character representing ten ( 十 ) on top of the ” mouth “. ( 古 ) meaning ” antiquity “; ” old “.

    答：古

Question # 6: Now for a more difficult Chinese character with eleven ” mouths”?

    ？6 ：11個口是什麼字？

Answer: The character ( 吉 ) using the character for ten ( 十 ) on top of a character for one ( 一 ) over the character for ” mouth ” ( 口 ), meaning ” luck ” or ” lucky “.

    答：吉

Question # 7: Eighty-eight “mouths”?

    ？7: 88個口是什麼字？

Answer: The character is formed by two characters representing ” eight ” ( 八 ) over the ” mouth ” ( 口 ), meaning a valley.

    答：谷

Question # 8: A thousand ” mouths “?

    ？8: 1,000 個口是什麼字？

Answer: 舌 meaning tongue.

    答：舌

The eight answers can be combined as the starting characters of the following beauty Chinese poem of eight rows, each row having seven characters.

    答案其實是首詩 

The poem is written in Chinese below:

回首凝望美山河, 

    品味人生笑唱歌。

    田園美景碧似玉, 

    吾心沉醉此景多。

    古人亦懷此胸襟, 

    吉人福地萬事和。

    谷中無憂歲月好，

    舌根常享美餚樂。

The meaning of the poem now follows:

这首诗的意思如下：

Row # 1: 回首凝望美山河, Reflecting on the beauty of the mountains and the rivers,

Row # 2: 品味人生笑唱歌。 We need to look at life with songs of happiness. Note that the last characters of Row # 1 ( 河 ) and Row # 2 ( 歌 ) rhymes. Also, note that the starting characters of the two rows follow the “two mouths” and the “three mouths” characters.

Row # 3: 田園美景碧似玉, The idyllic scene with the paddy fields matches that of the calm and peace of jade.

Row # 4: 吾心沉醉此景多。My heart is fascinated by the beauty of this scene. We note that the first character is that of “five mouths” and the the last character rhymes with the last character of Rows # 1 and Row # 2.

Row # 5: 古人亦懷此胸襟, We share this beauty with ancient minds, meaning this the beautiful scene has not changed in years. First character is the “ten mouths”.

Row # 6: 吉人福地萬事和。A person in luck finds everything is in harmony. The first character has “eleven mouths” and the last character rhymes with the last characters of Row # 1, Row # 2, and Row # 4.

Row # 7: 谷中無憂歲月好，Staying in the valley and completely unaware of the troubled world makes us live longer. The first character has “eighty-eight mouths”.

Row # 8: 舌根常享美餚樂。Our tongue tastes the delicious food before us. The first character has “a thousand mouths” and the last character rhymes with the last characters of Row # 1, Row # 2, Row # 4, and Row # 6.

What a beautiful poem depicting the peace and quiet of the harmonious world we live in, with the beauty of nature still remaining in place.

多么优美的诗句，描绘了我们生活的和谐世界的和平与安宁，自然之美仍然存在。

       讀後感言：中國文化博大精深，中國文字生動有趣，细细品酌，回味無窮！

After thought: Chinese culture is extensive and profound. Chinese characters are vivid and interesting.