HOUSE-SENTENCES
BY
When we published in the 15 Volume of the «Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie» our sketch of «A Singapore Streetscene», we promised a special paper on Chinese signboards and, at the same time, to draw the attention to several mistakes made in their interpretation by a now deceased, very renowned Japanologue and Sinologue.
At the final session of the 6th International Congress of Orientalists held at Leiden, Î had occasion, in urging my proposition that the British Government should name a commission for the preparation of à Chinese-English and English-Chinese Dictionary, to call the attention of the audience to the <«pitfalls> (œuet-apens) of the Chinese language lurking among the most innocent-looking expressions and phrases, and often inducing the best of Sinologues to make egregious mistakes and misinterpretations.
The purport of the present paper is to point out some of such
mistakes, not with a view of disparaging the memory of our former
friend and teacher, but to show once more how sadly deficient our present Chinese dictionaries still are, and how absolutely necessary it is to supply this deficiency.
Some years before his death, Dr. J. J. Hoffmann, professor of Japanese at the Leiden university, got from Java à collection of Chinese signboards and house-sentences, accompanied by a Malay translation. He translated these inscriptions into Dutch, but never published them. In 1872 he gave 1 MS. to one of his pupils, M. Schaalje, now Chinese Interpreter at Rhio, at the time on furlough in Holland, with permission to publish the same. As M. Schaalje did not feel inchined, or had not the necessary leisure, to do this, he confided, after the death of Professor Hoffmann, the MS. to me, do to with it what I liked. If it is only to-day that I avail myself of this permission, it was because I would not, as the first and eldest pupil of Dr. Hoffmann, blur, without purpose, the scientific reputation of a man whom Ï deeply revered and loved. The mistakes he made were principally due to the insufficiency of our Chinese dictionaries, and to his never having been in China. We quite agree, in this respect, with Dr. Bretschneider, when he says: «that #6 ès impossible to make correct ctranslations from Chinese in Europe, without the assistance of a «good native scholar; excepting, of course, those sinologues, who have studied the language in China, and who have studied it for <a long time» ‘).
We will show, that even with the correct Malay version of these signboards, Prof. Hoffmann was not able to translate them correctly into Dutch.
The first of the 12 Inscriptions is that on the frontispiece of a Chinese Temple Ji E] (in Malay Rumah Djosie = Joss-house).
Above the templedoor is a board with the inscription:
1) Notes on Chinese Mediaeval Travellers to the West, by E. Bretschneider, p. 11.
St ET Ching-chih shi yü translated in Malay by <Segala betul», Every thing right. Prof. H. translated (to be) <Honest and sincere — is sufficient» (Regtschapen en opregt 1s voldoeude). We think it is better to translate <Honesty and sincerity — with these comply». To the right and left side of the entrance is found the well-known sentence É min kuoh Le ngan LS t'ai «The country prospering And the people at peace»
translated in Malay by: dtoeran nagri baij, orang ketjil tingal enak (when good order prevails in the state, small folks dwell at peace). Dr. H. translated: The country well-soverned, the people at peace
(Het r5k wel bestuurd; het volk rustig).
The second inscription is that found above the publie court #5 Je translated in Malay Æuwmah pegang kerdja nagri (the room in which government-work is carried out). The inscription above the door runs:
+ LL Ming hing pih kiao translated in Malay by <Kassi trang salanja, dan kassi mengartie»y — make the crime clear, and make them (the people) understand it: — Dr. H. translated: «Make manifest the laws, support instruction» (Stel de wetten in een helder daglicht, ondersteun het onderwis); or «Enlightened laws support instruction» (Verlichte wetten ondersteunen het onderwis). Wells- Williams (Syl. Dict. p. 693) translates it «Distinct penalties assist the instructor». We would rather comply with the Malay interpretation, and translate: «Make
the crime clear, in order to aid your precepts».
To the right and left of the entrance we find the inseription:
ne tsin JM kia
TK luh TÉ koan !)
translated in Malay by Naek kadudukan op pangkat ; Lebi gagie op Lebi assil ?) (to advance in situation or office; more wages or more revenue). Pr. H. translated: «<Advancement in office, larger income» (Verhooging van ambt, ruimer inkomen). It is better to make a connected sentence of it and to translate: «As you rise in office, your salary increases»; or «May you rise in office and get increased salary».
The third inscription is that found on a spiritsshop T4 JE (in Malay Rumah-Arak = Arrack-shop).
The inscription above the door runs:
Tso chung chun sih in Malay: duduk di media bagoos (to sit at table is beautiful). Dr. H. translated: <Sit amidst spring-gaiety» (Zit midden onder «lenteyreugd») and he adds: under «Spring-gaiety» are understood tables, on which plants, flowers and figures are placed (Men verstaat onder «Lentevreugd» tafels, waarop planten, bloemen en figuren staan).
Both translations, the Malay one and the Dutch one, are wrong. The correct translation is: «On the table (PE FH) are Springcolours» i.e. spirituals. If the Malay or Dutch translation was right, the grammatical sequel would be 4% (not PE) K 1 rh. Tso pr is a substantive, but never à verb.
What the spring-colours are, is explained by the four characters to the right and left side of the door:
1) Should be FF Avr.
2) Properly Aési.
& kin +K yù
JE p'o à yih according to the Malay translation Putihnja bagoos kaïja batu njang putih; Meranja bagoos kaija mûs (Whiteness fair as a white stone; Redness fair as gold). Pr. H. translated: «Precious juice; Golden waves (Kostbaar vocht — Goudgolven). Now these terms simply
indicate the two sorts of Arrack white and red (yellow). !)
N°. 4 contains the inscriptions on an Apothecary’s-shop LEA E4 (Gin Malay: Rumah djual obat, house where medecines are sold).
Above the door is found the inscription:
À5 ai JE À Ngan ching lih fang
translated in Malay by Apa sadja sakit, lantas kassi obat (whenever one is sick, immediately give him physic). Pr. H. translated: «Search into the disease, and afterwards fix upon the prescription» (Doorgrond de ziekte en bepaal daarna het voorschrift). Both the Malay and the Dutch translators have misinterpreted the ch. À which they have translated as a verb instead of as à preposition. The sentence means simply «<According to (Ÿ&) the ailment (HE) make out (3) your prescription (= ).
Then follows an inscription printed on à board, and suspended before the house (ini surat buat taroh di papan di gantung di de-
pan rumah):
1) Compare the English names «Dewdrops» and suchlike for strong drinks.
IRSÉSREH
Ft HR XF
According to the Malay translation: ada békin segala obat menta op matang voor djual dan obattin orang punja sakit di luar di dalem (AI sorts of raw and prepared medecines are made for sale and for euring internal and external diseases of men). Pr. H. makes the curious translation: «The preparation be raw or cooked, the physic takes its effect» (De bereiding zÿj raauw of gekookt, het geneesmiddel doet ziÿjne werking). The literal translation of the inseription is however: Raw or prepared medicines (/£ El LEA #7) made according to the rules (GE y ) for sale (28 fT). The other characters are translated by Pr. H.: «The attentive student of medical and chirurgical art examines the pulse» (De oplettende beoefenaar der genees- en heelkunde onderzoekt den pols) sic//
Of course, the proper translation is: «Internal and external complaints (A XF #h) are specially treated (H 7%) and the pulse examined (=}7 Hk )>-
To the right and left of the door are two apparently very simple inscriptions, which will prove, however, to have a very deep
and far-fetched meaning. They are:
124 GUSTAV SCHLEGEIL.
AS hang 4 kine AK lin JF tsing translated in Malay by Tempat kaluar aïjer baij (place wherefrom comes good water) and tempat kaluar segala obattan (place wherefrom come all sorts of medicines). Pr. H. translated rightly: «Orangewell and Almondgrove» :) (Oranjeput — Amandelbosch); but without giving us an explanation of the origin of these two expressions, and of the reason why they are placed upon the door of an apothecary’s-shop.
The explanation of the «<Lemonwell» is to be found in the
Chinese Cyclopedia É LA KA He, Chap. Îÿ, Art. Ex , where
is found the following legend extracted from the fil LE 2) #4 H£
di
KE D À. HAE, SEE. AR ARE. TE A JE 2k À di 6 BI RÉ RE. A — RE RRÉ-R ÉÊ.ADHELE SH.
RARE FA ER Ve 76 PT & TK À.
5e FH #$ + . Soo-tan, à native of Kwei-yang, on the point of vanishing as a genius, said to his mother: «Next year à great pestilence will come; you may nourish the plaguestricken with the water from the well in the court and the lemontree standing before the eaves of our roof. When the man eats one lemonleaf and drinks one cup of the wellwater, he will naturally recover>. Having spoken, he mounted a cloud and ascended on high. Afterwards really a great plague came, and the townpeole took the lemon and the wellwater to cure the sick. Thousands of hundreds of people were spared to life by it, and they called 1t the Zemonwell».
The «Plumgrove» refers to the following legend related in the
1) Better Plumgrove ; the almond is called Z =.
2) The same legend is found in the ])] {ll {# cited in the same Cyclopedia
Chap. hi AL , Art JE.
Mi fl and cited in the JE Æ KA HN, Chap. #£ np, art. Æ$, in the following words: #5 # JE DE LL, À À 5 6, RIRES. HA À A 2 IL AK. A — #k. St 4 BR TRE. FAR ME — À. FE — fr À A —#%#. APE REC. FES A #4 be VI DK FR. + RS A (ll À À.
«Tung-fung lived on mount Zu, and treated sick people without taking money for it. But he ordered the heavy patients to plant five plumtrees, and the lighter ones to plant one plumtree. When, after some years, the plums had grown big and ripe, he built a shed in the grove. Each dish of plums was exchanged by him for a dish of grain. Those who gave not grain enough, were hunted by the tigers !).
«With the grain obtained yearly by the barter of his plums, he went round to relieve the poor and destitute. Till the present day
it is still called «The plumgrove of the hermit Tung». The same legend is told in the re D} SL cited in the LE KA
FA @m Chap. #£ %P, Art. 7, in a shorter form: Æ EU À À 6 76. SA A = AR EE — ZX.
