Special Election Issue -Kamala Harris, also known as "哈哈姐."
Digging deeper into Kamala Harris's Chinese nickname, 哈哈姐, or "Big sister Ha Ha," introducing Tim Walz's connections and experience with China, and the usual type of fantastic, Asian culture links.
Greetings,
Thanks for being here and spending time from your busy schedule to look this over. I sincerely hope that I have provided work of sufficient quality to reward the visit.
While I have tried to avoid US politics as much as possible, this week is an exception, with an article on Chinese characters and the etymology (origins) and deep meaning of the charaters that make up Kamala Harris’s nickname of 哈哈姐, or "Big Sister Ha Ha," as well as a brief introduction to Tim Walz’s significant China connection. Meanwhile consider reading my highly rated Trump book please: Scams from the Great Beyond --The Presidential Edition: A Skeptical Look at Our 45th President Using the Tools of a Paranormal Debunker and Historian
Next week, I will return to the life of Ding Wenjiang, China’s first foreign trained geologist. While the subject is at first glance, obscure, I hope you will look forward to a very interesting description of the chaos that characterized life in China at the end of the 19th and early 20th Century, the way science was seen in that time and place, and just how awkward and confusing it was to obtain an education under those circumstances.
Again, a lot of this information comes from my master’s thesis. You may access it here, if you’d like: Cornell e-commons: Chinese and Western Interactions Surrounding the Preparations for the Peking Man Digs of the 1920s
And then there’s a movie recommendation and another update on the saga of the evil Alice Guo, a movie recommendation, and a link to the latest offering from Chinese Cooking Demystified, always an excellent publication.
But first, a moment to discuss typos. Last week this link got left out: Four Pillars of Destiny
It was supposed to be included in the section where I described how in Chinese tradition if a person is born with a poor astrological sign, using Chinese astrology, this can be compensated for by choosing a name with characteristics that will counter-balance the aspects of the astrological sign that indicate problems or weakness.
Mostly Asian History, at this point, is a one man show and will probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. My dream is to someday build up a much larger readership, have a significant percentage of them paid subscribers, have this transform from a labor of love into a significant source of income, be able to get ahead of the curve and a few articles ahead, and hire professional proof readers and editors. It’s a dream though, only a dream, and probably not a terribly realistic one. If want to help, please spread the word, share these articles, consider purchasing a paid subscription, and leave comments and likes on the articles. It does mean a lot when readers take the time to do that, especially strangers.
In the meantime, hope you enjoy this publication and, if the fates allow it, Ishl Allah, see you next week.
“SISTER HA HA” OR KAMALA HARRIS
As stated last week, although I do try to keep politics (mostly) out of this substack, I am excited by the Harris-Walz campaign and am really enjoying their energy and approach to the bizarre Trump-Vance ticket.
While I hope to write more about Tim Walz and his very interesting and complex relationship with China and Chinese culture, this week I am offering a brief introduction to the topic, while focusing on Kamala Harris and her Chinese nickname, "Sister Ha Ha." The name came about because of her very noticeable laugh.
So “Sister Ha Ha” (or “Big Sister Ha Ha” if one prefers as that is what really says ”姐” is pronounced “ Hāhā jiě“ --Notice those little lines above the vowels? Those are tone markers that show the proper tone or pitch used to pronounce the syllables correct.
It’s written thusly in Chinese:
哈哈姐
Which begs the question, at least to a Western or non-East Asian person, how did these characters come about? Why do they mean “sister ha ha”?
With the warning that my Chinese, really is not that great. I cannot read nearly as much as someone with my years of study should be able to read, seriously, I am now going to offer an explanation.
First, Chinese characters are composed of parts. The symbols, the characters, are composed of a compound of smaller symbols known in English as radicals. Some of these radicals can be used as separate characters on their own. Some cannot. Sometimes these radicals are chosen entirely be meaning or chosen due to the way they associate with each other to provide a reader with a concept. In other cases, they are based on ways to draw an object. And in some cases, they are based on sound.
So let’s start with the first character, the one pronounced “Hā.“ :
哈
This consists of four different radicals (actually, three different radicals, as one is used twice in the character.) To explain this, I am now going to cut it down the middle into two halves, a left half and a right half.
口 合
We are going to start by looking at the right half first. Why? Because it’s more complicated and, arguably, the more important part of the character.
合
It means “blended” or “mixed” “combine” “agreement” “harmonize” – something like that. Sometimes it’s not worth the effort, in my opinion, to find an exact translation if you know what the word means. Regardless, its the verb for “when things come together.” I used to study a Japanese martial art called “aikido” and it was written using this character as 合氣道 . It’s name translates as “the way of blending energy” -or something like that – and “aikido” is the Japanese pronunciation of the three symbols. Chinese would pronounce them as “Héqìdào” although it still means the same thing. Aikido, for the record, is a wonderful thing, good for many purposes, including anger management.
Which begs the question, why does 合 mean “harmonize” or “blend” or “mix” or “merge” or whatever it means?
To understand this, we need to understand that it is composed of three symbols also known as three radicals, and in this case each of these can be used on their own to write words when used all alone.
So starting at the top we have:
人
This one means “person” or “people.” Chinese does not normally show plurality. Thousands of years ago, it looked a lot more like a person, but over the centuries it got streamlined and simplified until it began getting written like this.
一
This one is the number “one,”
口
And this one is a “mouth” -yes, that square box represents a mouth. Long, long ago, it looked a lot more like a mouth, just as the character for “person” or “people” looked more like a person than it does now.
So when the three are put together, “people, one, mouth” we get the idea that all these people have joined together to either speak or eat or perhaps sing together (have a big kissing festival perhaps? Probably not, but it’s an interesting idea.) Anyway, all these people and all their mouths have become one together. So that is how one “draws” the word for “merge” or “blend” or “mix together.”
And in Mandarin Chinese it’s pronounced as “hé.”
So that’s the right side of the character. On the left side, we have this symbol, once again.
口
And it is a second mouth. Why is it here? What does it mean or signify? In this case, it has a special meaning. As a mouth can be used to speak or make sounds, in this case it means “sounds like.”
So if this character is:
合 and pronounced as “hé” then 哈 means a noise or sound or utterance that sounds like 合 but is actually just a sound and has no meaning. So 哈哈 means “ha ha!”
Simple I hope.
So that explains that character.
What about this one?
姐
This one has two radicals.
We have this one: 女 and this one且
Let’s explain them one at a time.
The one on the left means “woman” or “female” – It’s normally pronounced as “Nǚ”
That one, I think, is pretty obvious.
This
女
looks like this:
Well, it mostly looks like that. It probably looked more like it a few thousand years ago when this style of writing began to be created.
(That’s the character Jessica from the classic cartoon “who killed Roger Rabbit.” I think it might even be a Disney film, so it must be wholesome. Notice the curves and angles in both images. Really. See. I am not making this up. “Hourglass figure,” right? And don’t call me a pervert. I’m just explaining things in a scholarly way, okay?)
So we have explained the left side of this character? What about the right side?
This:
且
What is this supposed to be? (Hint, it’s not a top hat. They did not exist in ancient China. It is a depiction of something that existed in ancient China.
It’s one of these things:
that is an ancestral tablet used by Chinese to worship or show respect to their ancestors. One places an image of the deceased ancestor on the tablet, and offers the image gifts or burns incense for it or both. If one wonders I found this image on ebay and you can buy this tablet there for a little over 50$ US money or you might try shopping or one at an Asian grocery store if you live in the USA. They are not hard to find, if you know where to look.
And this 且is pronounced like “Qiě” so together they mean “the subset or type of women or girls that sound like Qiě” -Yes, and since the Chinese word for “older sister” is pronounced as “jiě” --姐means “older sister” or “women who are referred to by a word that sounds like ancestral tablet.”
So, you now know not just that the Chinese call Kamala Harris “Big sister Ha ha” but you now know why they write that as “哈哈姐 – One more thing, I almost forgot to mention, in Chinese normally the name comes before the title so “professor Chen” or “mister Jones” would be written so it directly translated as "Chen professor”" or “Jones Mister.”
Tim Walz and China
And it’s not just Harris who has a China connection, but her VP choice, Governor Tim Walz, has one too, and it’s quite a significant and balanced one. Personally, I think this is a good thing in a vice-presidential candidate.
And while CNN is not my favorite news source (I do think it has a Liberal bias), I like this article, and I like this quote from Walz. For the record, I agree. For the record, I do not consider myself “a China expert.” I am “a guy with a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies and a strong and continuing interest in the country and its history or culture.” At best, I might claim to be “a China specialist,” although even this is questionable as I am basically a jack-of-all-trades, but at this point in my life I would never, ever claim to be “a China expert.” It is, as Governor Walz says, a complex country, and its history is quite long and there is always more to learn about both China and my home country of the USA. I don’t expect to ever be “an expert”in either place.
From the CNN report linked below:
“I lived in China, and as I said I’ve been there about 30 times,” he [Tim Walz] said in the 2016 interview. “But if someone tells you they’re an expert on China, they’re probably not telling you the truth because it’s a complex country.”
CNN Kamala Harris’ VP pick has a long history with China. But Beijing may not be happy about it
Much more I could say, including the fact that I too have known several people, both Chinese and non-Chinese who were at Tiananmen Square on that fateful day, and the Chinese government, and many Chinese people, are, in fact, wary of people who actually show understanding of the country. They prefer naive, malleable people who know nothing and accept what they say as the truth. Walz, clearly, knows enough to make them nervous while still embracing many Chinese as friends or potential friends. More power to him.
Update on the Saga of the Evil Mayor Alice Guo
Still in hiding . . .
From The Guardian, newspaper. Sun 4 Aug 2024 00.00 EDT
Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid
For this week’s film recommendation, I am offering Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid. It’s a silly movie, great fun, with some amazing action sequences. On the global scale, it was extremely successful, like most of Stephen Chow’s movies.
Another Great Offering from Chinese Cooking Demystified
In this one we learn that Fujian Fried Rice is not from Fujian at all, that a lot of Chinese dishes have completely inaccurate names, and how to cook it. Yum. Yum.
NOTES
[i] Yes, this is the same name as the popular Chinese beer. The Germans, after seizing Qingdao / Tsingtao and establishing their colony their built a brewery, and it still functions and produces beer today. While China has many brands of beer, few would deny that Tsingtao is the most famous.
[ii] Furth, page 18-19.
[iii] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 274-275.
[iv] Among those engaged in the coup were the Dowager Empress, aka Cuxi and Yuan Shi-kai, two extremely important Chinese historical figures of this period.
[v] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 276-277.
[vi] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 278-279.
[vii] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 278-280.
[viii] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 343, 367.
[ix] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 350-351.
[x] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 352.
[xi] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 354.
[xii] Cambridge History of China, Vol 11, page 357.
[xiii] Kwok, “Scientism in Chinese Thought, 1900-1950,” Chapter 2, pages 33-58, is devoted to Wu's thought and writing and how it developed.
[xiv] Kwok, “Scientism in Chinese Thought, 1900-1950,” pages 28-30.
[xv] Furth, “Ting Wen-Chiang,” page 37-38.
[xvi] Furth, “Ting Wen-Chiang,” page 24-25.
[xvii] Furth, “Ting Wen-Chiang,” page 17-34. Boorman and Howard, “Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, Vol. 3.” pages 278-282.
[xviii] Charlotte Furth, "Ting Wen-chiang, Science and China's New Culture," 26.
Wow, Chinese is a difficult language -- and I was wondering if you were going to offer your recipe for duck tongues. I'll never forget the day I saw them in your freezer. It was kind of Dahmeresque.