5 minutes reading time (937 words)

New Mandarin Chinese Lesson: Wishing Lamp

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We're excited to announce that Mathilda Ren (任回驳) has just published "Wishing Lamp", a new Advanced level Mandarin Chinese lesson, on Language Mentor! 

Lesson Script

Announcer:

Wishing Lamp
Xǔyuàndēng
许愿灯

Vocabulary
Cíhuì
词汇

A:

Three Kingdoms Period
Sānguó Shíqī
三国时期

Invent or Invention
Fāmíng
发明

Besiege
Wéikùn
围困

Dispatch troops
Pàibīng
派兵

Cry for help or Seek rescue
Qiújiù
求救

Accurate
Zhǔn


Produce or Create
Zhìzuò
制做

Lantern
Dēnglong
灯笼

Paper lantern
Zhǐdēnglong
纸灯笼

Hold or Contain
Zhuāng


Combustible
Kěrán
可燃

Combustible thing, i.e. a candle or lamp
Kěránwù
可燃物

To light or To kindle
Diǎnrán
点燃

Flame
Huǒyàn
火焰

Hot air
Rèkōngqì
热空气

Make, cause or enable something to do or be something
Shǐ
使

Float in the air
Piāo


Float away in the air
Piāozǒu
飘走

After that
Qíhòu
其后

As expected or Sure enough
Guǒrán
果然

Hence or As a result
Yúshì
于是

Later generations
Hòushì
后世

Is
Zéshì
则是

Escape danger
Tuōxiǎn
脱险

To name something
Chēng


Appearance, Form or Shape
Wàixíng
外形

Thus or As a result
Yīnér
因而

Put or Release
Fàng


Serve as or Act as
Zuòwéi
作为

Pray for blessings
Qífú
祈福

Suffix indicating "for the purpose of"
Zhīyòng
之用

Serve as prayers for blessings
Zuòwéi qífú zhīyòng
作为祈福之用

People of all ages and genders
Nánnǚlǎoshào
男女老少

With one's own hands
Qīnshǒu
亲手

Happiness
Xìngfú
幸福

Wish happiness for someone
Zhùfú
祝福

Cherished desire
Xīnyuàn
心愿

Hope for or Look forward to
Pànwàng
盼望

Abundant
Fēng


Gather or Receive
Shōu


Bumper harvest
Fēngshōu
丰收

Announcer:

Dialogue
Duìhuà
对话

A:

Wishing Lamp - also called "Kongming Lamp" and "Sky Lamp".
Xǔyuàndēng yě jiào Kǒngmíngdēng yòu jiào Tiāndēng.
许愿灯也叫孔明灯又叫天灯。

Legend says - is invented by Three Kingdoms Period's Zhuge Kongming.
Chuánshuō shì yóu Sānguó Shí de Zhūgě Kǒngmíng suǒ fāmíng.
传说是由三国时的诸葛孔明所发明。

At that time, Zhuge Kongming was besieged by Sima Yi at Pingyang, ...
Nàshí, Zhūgě Kǒngmíng bèi Sīmǎ Yì wéikùn yú PíngYáng, ...
那时,诸葛孔明被司马懿围困于平阳,……

unable to dispatch troops out of town to seek help.
wúfǎ pàibīng chūchéng qiújiù.
无法派兵出城求救。

Kongming accurately determined the wind direction, ...
Kǒngmíng suàn zhǔn fēngxiàng, ...
孔明算准风向,……

created some paper lanterns, ...
zhìzuò le yìxiē zhǐdēnglong, ...
制做了一些纸灯笼,……

these paper lanterns - inside - held a combustible thing.
zhèxiē zhǐdēnglong lǐmiàn zhuāng yǒu kěránwù.
这些纸灯笼里面装有可燃物。

Zhuge fastened messages seeking help, and lit the combustible things.
Zhūgě jìshàng qiújiù xìnxī bìng diǎnrán le kěránwù.
诸葛系上求救信息并点燃了可燃物。

The hot air brought about by the flame - made lanterns lighter than air, ...
Huǒyàn dàilái de rèkōngqì shǐ dēnglong bǐ kōngqì qīng, ...
火焰带来的热空气使灯笼比空气轻,……

thus can float away in the air, ...
cóngér nénggòu piāozǒu, ...
从而能够飘走,……

after that - sure enough - escaped danger.
qíhòu guǒrán tuōxiǎn.
其后果然脱险。

As a result later generations thus refer to this kind of lanterns as Kongming Lamps.
Yúshì hòushì jiù chēng zhèzhǒng dēnglong wéi Kǒngmíngdēng.
于是后世就称这种灯笼为孔明灯。

Another explanation is, ...
Lìngyi zhǒng shuōfǎ zéshì, ...
另一种说法则是,……

this kind of lamp's shape - like Zhuge Kongming's hat, ...
zhèzhǒng dēnglong de wàixíng xiàng Zhūgě Kǒngmíng dài de màozi, ...
这种灯笼的外形像诸葛孔明戴的帽子,……

thus - got name.
yīnér dé míng.
因而得名。

The modern generation releases Kongming Lamps ...
Xiàndàirén fàng Kǒngmíngdēng ...
现代人放孔明灯 ……

mostly serve as prayers for good fortune.
duō zuòwéi qífú zhīyòng.
多作为祈福之用。

Everyone - with their own hands - writes down most wished-for hopes, ...
Nánnǚlǎoshào qīnshǒu xiěxià zhùfú de xīnyuàn, ...
男女老少亲手写下祝福的心愿,……

hoped for bumper harvest - success - happiness year after year.
qīwàngzhe fēngshōu, chénggōng, xìngfú niánnián.

期望着丰收,成功,幸福年年。 


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Creative Commons License

This article and the lesson that it presents are both licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
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Friday, 29 March 2024
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