[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:05.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hi everyone and welcome to learn chinese\Nnow brought to you by italki.com
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.88,0:00:10.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,today we're going to look at another\Nfamous classical Chinese poem "ascending
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.14,0:00:15.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stork Tower. this is a Tang dynasty\Npoem written by the poet Wang Zhihuan
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.81,0:00:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the early 8th century in the regulated\Nverse style, that is the type of poetry
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.40,0:00:23.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was popular in the Tang dynasty\Nwhere every line has the same number of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.91,0:00:28.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,characters, most commonly five, the poems\Nare written in couplets and the length
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.23,0:00:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is set to 4 8 or unlimited lines if it\Ngoes beyond 8. there were also some
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.00,0:00:36.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poems of six but less common. the\Narrangement of the characters with
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.75,0:00:40.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certain tones is also regulated to a\Nspecific pattern although a lot of this
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.89,0:00:46.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been lost when the poems are read in\Nmodern Mandarin Chinese, since the tones
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.11,0:00:50.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have changed since the Tang dynasty.\NCantonese pronunciation is closer to the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.28,0:00:55.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,original but not exactly the same. so\Nfirst let's read the poem: Deng guan que
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.44,0:01:06.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lou\NBai ri yi shan jin\NHuang he ru hai liu\NYu qiong qian li mu
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.81,0:01:15.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Geng shang yi ceng lou\NSo let's take a look at the\Nfirst line: Bai ri yi shan jin. So the first
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.78,0:01:22.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,line reads: "bai ri" the white Sun, "yi" to\Nrest on, "shan" mountain, "jin" to reach the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.77,0:01:28.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,end of or to be used up. So this\Ncan be thought of as the white Sun reaches
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.35,0:01:32.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its end resting on the mountains. the\Nsunsets resting on the mountains. the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.88,0:01:37.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,character jin is used a lot in classical\NChinese and takes some getting used to.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.17,0:01:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in this context since it is related to\Nthe Sun it means the Sun sets. "Huang he
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.60,0:01:48.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ru hai liu": "huang he" means the\NYellow River - one of the two major rivers
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.75,0:01:52.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in China together with the Yangtze River.\Nthe Yellow River got its name because of
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.56,0:01:55.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the yellow sediment that gives it its\Ncolor
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.14,0:02:01.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Ru" means to enter, "hai" is the sea and\N"liu" means to flow, so we can translate
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.20,0:02:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this as the yellow river flows into the\Nsea. so the first two lines are kind of
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.52,0:02:09.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,describing what the author can see. the\Nlast two lines are more connected together:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.54,0:02:16.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to achieve this, I will do that.\NYu qiong qian li mu. "Yu" means to
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.86,0:02:21.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,desire, "qiong" is another character that\Nis similar to "jin", in this context it
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.81,0:02:23.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,means to go to the limits of.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.97,0:02:29.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Qian li" is 1000 li - a chinese unit of\Nmeasurement, equal to about half a
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.40,0:02:30.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,kilometer in modern terms
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.96,0:02:33.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although its length has changed\Nthroughout history and in the Tang
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.87,0:02:40.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dynasty is equal to maybe a bit over 300\Nmeters. "Mu" means eye or eyes, so the whole
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.44,0:02:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,line reads to go to the limit of 1000\Nli eyes. this line doesn't translate so
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.17,0:02:50.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well into English but you can think of\Nit as the poet desires to see as far as
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.37,0:02:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he can. so, "geng shang
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.52,0:02:59.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yi ceng lou", "geng" means further, pretty much\Nthe same meaning as in modern Chinese
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.28,0:03:02.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"shang"- to ascend, to go up
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.80,0:03:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"yi" is one, "ceng" means level or storey, "lou" is\Npagoda. so i ascend one more level of the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.36,0:03:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pagoda and that pagoda is stork tower,\Nthat is in the title: ascending stork
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.76,0:03:20.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tower. Stork tower is a pagoda built in\NShanxi province in the northern and
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.23,0:03:25.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,southern dynasties period by a northern Zhou\Ndynasty general called Yu Wenhu. it
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.21,0:03:29.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,served as a lookout post for the\Nmilitary and because of storks nesting
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.47,0:03:33.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the structure it end up being called\NStork tower, the tower overlooked to the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.31,0:03:35.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yellow river and was three stories high
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.65,0:03:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The original tower was destroyed by a\Nfire during a battle in the Yuan dynasty
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.91,0:03:43.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and because the Yellow River changed its\Ncourse in the Ming Dynasty the original
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.75,0:03:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,position of the tower is hard to\Ndetermine. but in shaanxi province they
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.32,0:03:50.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have now built a new stork tower as a\Ntourist attraction
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.38,0:03:54.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the building was opened in 2002\NI hope you guys enjoyed that classical
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.73,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chinese poem. would you like more of these?\Nlet us know in the comments below. this
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.00,0:04:01.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,episode was brought to you by italki.com \Ncheck out their site for online
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.81,0:04:05.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chinese lessons as low as ten dollars\Nan hour, i really recommend their service
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.74,0:04:10.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,check out the link or paste it into your\Nbrowser to find out more and access to buy
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.21,0:04:15.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one get one free deal. thanks, see you guys. Zaijian!\NI had been punched in the stomach
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.45,0:04:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.77,0:04:26.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you remember after that, right? to\Nput this in a little sentence to say
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.14,0:04:27.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're hungry you can say