Lesson 3a: romanization.

Evening, folks. We're not doing history tonight. Tonight I'm gonna attempt the best explanation I can manage of a topic that drove me stark raving bugnuts for a while when I first started developing this case of rampant Sinophilia: the conversion from Chinese written ideograms to the phonetic alphabet we know and love, aka the process of romanization. I freely admit it's something of a detour, but it puzzled me a great deal when I first encountered discrepancies between the names Barry Hughart had for historical figures, and the names I turned up in the library...

Disclaimer here: Not a linguist. Not a Chinese speaker. Not even able to write the language beyond the characters for 'computer', 'horse', and 'patience', and maybe a few food terms. (Long story.) You get the idea.

( That having been said... )

Bwah.

I had to laugh when I saw this one. I'm really sorry, gang.

Lesson 4: Xia and Shang Dynasties.

Evening, folks. The clock is slowly but surely creeping into the era of properly recorded history as we move forward with the lessons; tonight we're going to cover two ancient dynasties in one go. It's not as famous a period as some of the others, but there's a good bit to be learned. We will get through these half-legendary bits eventually, I promise. For now, though, insert standard disclaimer re: my lack of qualifications vs. your grades here. Thanks.

Now, before we go on to the lesson, today's pulp survival tip: #176. People who wear what you consider pyjamas during daytime are generally either insane, comically separated from their luggage, or capable of ripping your arms out of their sockets with less effort than it takes you to sneeze. Treat them all with the respect you'd give category #3.

( Right, then. )