Jade Emperor Shrine in Vinh Long | Vietnam

2007 Trip to Saigon and Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. Granted, the northern Communist Vietnamese changed name to Ho Chi Minh city in 1975, but I grew up with "Saigon" and that is only name I will call city by. Interestingly, Vietnam's "Dai Viet" empire conquered southern Vietnam some 400 years ago, hence most of the place names in South Vietnam has Khmer lineage since it used to be ruled by Cambodians.

Vietnam History | Wiki

Dai Viet | Wiki

For example, "Tay Ninh" city where Cao Dai religious sect is HQ'ed, derived its Khmer name as "Elephant Enclosure".

Vietnam 2007 - Tay Ninh city and Cao Dai sect | Maneko

Another example is possible etymological origin of "Saigon", based on Vietnamese translation of Khmer word "Prey Nokor" ( Forest City ), since area was originally high ground surrounded by forested swamp land. In fact, highest point in Saigon is Notre Dame Basilica ( which used to be the city's feudal fortress ), a block away from the old Presidential Palace.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica | Wiki

From Saigon, entourage traveled to cities in Mekong River Delta. Like here in US, most people who work and reside in large metropolitan centers usually are not born in the city, but rather from surrounding urban centers. Same case for Vietnam, most folks who reside in Saigon are usually from cities such as My Tho, Vinh Long, or Bien Hoa.

Unlike traditional Khmer placename origins, Mekong is phonetically derived from Thai word "Mae Nam Khong" ( Mother Water Khong ). "Khong" word in Thai derived from ancient Sanskrit word "Ganga", which references to Ganges river. Hence, after centuries of usage, "Nam" ( water ) term was dropped, leaving modern derivative "Mekong" via concatenation of "Mae Khong" ( Mother Khong ).

Mekong Delta | Wiki

Mekong River | Wiki

It is possible to travel by boat from any Vietnamese city on Mekong northward into Cambodia, and exit to Gulf of Thailand via this inland waterway ( ex. circa 4 hours by motor boat to reach Cambodia capitol Phnom Penh ). For one of these Mekong delta trips, took excursion to Vinh Long, one of the major tributary cities.

BTW, Vietnamese title for the Mekong is "dong bang song Cuu Long" ( Nine Dragon river delta ), since its 9 delta branches form ripple shape of dragons. In Chinese lore, dragons originate from fishes in the ocean who are able to swim to the highest lake in the Himalayas, hence granted magical powers to transform into dragons. In fact, Saigon capitol is vested as "head of the dragon" since based on geomacy it sits on the high ground to the east of Mekong delta.

Geomacy | Wiki

In Vinh Long city, encountered a small deity shrine maintained by the Le family. Stories had it was originally placed at river's edge some 70 feet from house front entrance, but after decades of erosion, shrine is now some 20 feet away from the house.

Vinh Long imagies | Yahoo

Personal deity shrines ( mainly based on Chinese mythological lore ) is a common sight in Vietnam, along with Chinese character amulet inscriptions pasted onto house entrances for good omen protection.

Chinese Mythology : Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, Deities from China | GCC

The Le diety shrine dedicated to the Jade God ( or colloquially Jade Emperor ) : Supreme ruler of the universe, who brings order to heaven and earthen realms, and bestowed mortal personages the right to rule over mortal beings via his mandate.

Jade Emperor | GCC

Shrine inscriptions written in traditional Chinese literary style of right-to-left / top-down, this style was modified about 100+ years ago to conform with western left-to-right system, but is still utilized for literary and deity inscriptions.

Chinese Writing System | OGC

There are 4 shrine inscriptions : A) Proclamation of "Brave Spirit", B) Honorific "Jade" praise on right flank, C) Honorific "Metal/Gold" praise on left flank, D) Enshrined "Jade God/Emperor" diety name. Note shrine calligraphy inscriptions are slightly different from standard printed characters, mainly due to individual flare and literary styles between simplified brush patterns versus print block characters.

Jade Emperor | Wiki

Jade Emperor | NWE

"Le" family Jade Emperor shrine ( red dot on map ) located near Song Co Chien ( or Co Chien river ) tributary, one of river branches feeding Mekong delta. Traditional Chinese inscription on map states "Ying Yu Tan" ( Brave Jade Altar ).

Song Co Chien River | UAT

Vietnamese surnames mostly based off traditional Chinese surnames, due to the fact China ruled Vietnam for about 1,000 years and various cultural, social, theological, and political standards were adopted in-masse. Thus Vietnamese "Le" is rendered as Chinese-Mandarin "Li", by which semantic meaning is "Host, Multitude".

Vietnamese Surnames | Wiki

As shown above.... Chinese character inscriptions on the shrine is translated in the following format : 1) Top - Traditional Chinese characters, 2) Middle - Sino-Vietnamese Quoc Ngu ( national script ) phonetic alphabets, 3) Bottom - Chinese Pin Yin phonetic alphabets based on Chinese-Mandarin rendition of the characters.

Modern Written Vietnamese | VSO

Basic Rules of Hanyu Pinyin Orthography | PYI

Plate A : Brave Spirit

Reading right-to-left, Sino-Viet is "Anh Linh", Chinese-Mandarin "Ying Ling". Note that since Vietnamese has been integrating Chinese characters as part of their written literary structure for 1,000 years, they are able to "borrow and preserve" verbal renditions of Chinese language from successful empires.

Chinese Mandarin | OGC

Current official Chinese language in China & Taiwan is Chinese-Mandarin, which only has circa 500 years history tracing its lineage back to late 16th-century China Ming Dynasty era. Hence, interesting linguistic heritage is that both Vietnam, Japan, and in certain cases Korea have preserved some aspects of how Chinese was "spoken" centuries past that is no longer replicated in modern Chinese-Mandarin.

China Ming Dynasty | MET

Plate B : Soil Can Create White Jade

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Tho Nang Sinh Bach Ngoc

Chinese-Mandarin : Tu Neng Sheng Bai Yu

What Is the Meaning of White China Jade Stone? | eHOW

Jade is East Asian symbolism is allusion to perfection and purity. Note, Vietnamese word for Jade "Ngoc" with diacritics is verbally rendered as "Yuum", which is close approximate to Chinese Pin Yin "Yu" ( rendered as "Yuu" ).

Plate C : Deity Can Bestow Gold

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Than Kha Xuat Hoang Kim
Chinese-Mandarin : Shen Ke Chu Huang Jin

Gold is symbol of both affluency, prosperity, and scholarly knowledge.

Chinese Symbols and Art Motifs | CPC

Plate D : Jade Emperor

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Ngoc Than
Chinese-Mandarin : Yu Shen

Jade Emperor ( or literally Jade God ) proclamation plaque. In front are stacks of burnt incense sticks and offering cubs ( either tea or liquor depending on event formality ).

Pure August Jade Emperor | HMC

Unlike European alphabetic based languages by which individual alphabets form complete words. Chinese Characters as pictograms ( abstract representation of real world artifacts ) or ideograms ( orthography indicating action or intention ).

Pictogram / Pictograph | Wiki

Ideogram | Wiki

Nevertheless, Chinese Characters are indexed by "Radicals" ( called Chinese "Bushu" or Partial Portion ) via similar format as European words indexed by word "stem" or "root" ( ex. word "Advance", its stem/root is "Ad" to "put forward" ). In above example, Chinese "Ling" / Vietnamese "Linh" ( Spirit ) is indexed by its Radical character "Yu" ( Rain ) or Radical 173.

Chinese Radical | Wiki

List of Chinese Bushu Radical | YBC

Since Chinese is also an organic language by which characters are added by successive generations when linguistic need arises, new characters / radicals have been introduced for past few thousand years. However, to limit expansion to manageable size, last major Chinese Character Bushu ( radical ) index reform during mid-17th century Ching ( also written Qing ) Dynasty era establish Bushu Index to 214 Radicals.


Ching Dynasty | Wiki

Efforts of the Chinese People over the Past Sixty Years to Create a Phonetic Alphabet | PYI


Note that Communist China ( PRC ) has been attempting to create and replace completely Chinese characters with western phonetic alphabet, but its public acceptance has been lukewarm if not outright resistance since it will be mean abandoning literary orthography China has followed for over 2,000 years and abrogate Chinese Communist Party claim that they are the social - political - literary successor linking ancient - feudal - modern China. Nevertheless.... they still try to come up academic propaganda to its benefits.

Phonetic alphabet aside... outside of Mainland China, popular debate and opposition still rages over 1958 Communist China creation of so-called "Simplified Chinese Characters" ( Jian Ti Zi ) set among overseas Chinese communities in Americas - SE Asia - Australia - Europe.

Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters | Wiki

Chinese Bushu ( Radical ) index for Traditional Chinese Characters, 214 indexes in all, colloquially called "Kang Shi" Radicals based on its standardization in 1716 Kangshi ( also written Kangxi ) Dictionary.

Kangshi Radical | Wiki

Kangshi Dictionary | Wiki

This Radical index is followed by all modern countries / regions still using Traditional Chinese character set, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Korea. Mainland China has modified Radical index due to introduction of Simplified Chinese characters call Jian Ti Zi. Japan also has modified Kanji ( Chinese Character ) Radical index due to language reform in post WW2 era..

China Simplified Chinese Characters | Wiki

Orthographic Reform and Kanji List | Wiki

Japan Script Reform | Wiki

Gnaw on my Coke

Conducive brand imagery, 1930s-era Chinese gal in traditional "Chi-Pao" Mandarin collar outfit, enjoying Coca-Cola luxury softdrink (note Chinese Keh-Kou-Keh-Le title for Coca Cola is read right to left).



Let's start with a classic…. we all heard this in business school for the past 25 years, namely Coca-Cola's debacle when transliterating its name to 1920s China market. Allegedly, Coca Cola name was transcribed as "Bite the Wax Tadpole" in Chinese. Comparing with Chinese phonetics, this is not exactly true, for the actual phrase is even more terse.







Chinese phonetic for "Bite" is "Yao", no where close to any Coca-Cola phonetic. However, phonetic for "Gnaw" is "Ken". Hence, possible malformed name is "Kou Ken Dou La" (Mouth Gnaw Tadpole Wax). Gnaw in Chinese is not just someone picking at a bone, but can project image of a crazed dog shaking his bone end to end to get the last meat morsel out. You can imagine average Chinese would think it bizarre that Westerns enjoyed a tadpole-wax extract refreshment. This is classic marketing case of Brand Transcreation, the attempt to preserve a brand name phonetically across different socio-linguistic groups.







Marcom Transcreation : Branding, Communications, Strategy for Asia Market Entry ( PDF 720kb )
http://Lehrmach.com/Research/2007.9-Lehrmach-MarcomTranscreateAsia.pdf



Upon recognizing this terse imagery, Coca-Cola reformed phonetics to "Ke Kou Ke Leh" meaning Suit Taste, Suit Happiness, or colloquially Joyful Refreshing Taste. Mind you, this was all written in Traditional Chinese characters (same Chinese script used for the past 2,000 years, still in use on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese communities in Americas, Europe, SE Asia, Australia).






When Communist China took over in 1950s, all western corporations were expelled, Simplified Chinese characters were instituted. Coca-Cola had to wait another 30 years before re-entering China market in early 1980s. Fortunately, for name transliteration, all Coke had to do was a character glyph flip from Traditional to Simplified Chinese characters, all the meaning and pronunciation remained exactly the same.






There is one nagging question I often reflected on Coke's Gnaw Tadpole Wax debacle. In 1920s, there wasn't much of Chinese middle class nationwide since China was in mist of decades-long civil war among regional Warlords, Communist insurgents allied with Bandit groups, and Nationalist paramilitary groups. Only group that could afford this drink were super-rich Chinese (ex. Shanghai / Hong Kong areas) or Western Colonialists in various foreign-controlled Settlements or Concessions. Imperialist powers have carved up China since mid-1800s, revolts against foreign colonialists periodically erupted, such as mid-1850s Taiping Rebellion, 1900 Boxer Rebellion, and May 4th Movement (1919). This may tie into the Coke 1920s name debacle. More info below :


Taiping Rebellion | Wiki


Boxer Rebellion | Wiki


May Fourth Movement | Wiki


My guess is that either some American homey without knowledge of Chinese language simply picked any Chinese character that sounded close to Coca-Cola, hence malformed Tadpole-Wax variant Kou Ken Dou La. Or this homey may have asked a local Chinese for transcription, the Chinese resenting foreigners in general simply sabotage the brand transliteration process to make it as bizarre as possible. Like the Japanese would say "Umm, omoshiro zo !"

But at least one caveat was tested, one need not transliterate exact phonetics to convey a global brand presence. Coca-Cola is just as well understood via Keh Kou Keh Le with reinforced marcom imageries.
Final note, Coca-Cola has always been a luxury refreshment in East Asia, even back some 30 years when I was growing up in Taiwan, a coke cost 5 times more than a local sodapop. Hence, family would purchase Coke only when guests were visiting.



--

Name you can chew on

Clip from famed 1970s-era Japanese martial art flick called KOZURE OKAMI (literal meaning "Kid following Wolf") or via English title Lone Wolf and Cub or The Baby Cart Assassin. Movie is a definitive cult classic, extreme bloody swordplay (actually got US X-rating for violence in early 1980s), but excellent Japanese Kenjutsu swordsmanship. One thing impressed me back then was those staunch honorific Bushi (warrior) names such as Ogami Itto, Yagyu Gunbei, Iki Jizamon, and Yamada Asaemon. Names much embellished than the common Suzuki Michiko, Tanaka Ichiroo, and Yamamoto Akemi names one encounters today in Japan.

Kozure Okami, Lone Wolf and Cub
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

Saemon Umenosuke (Kanji version above, Hiragana phonetics below), that is going to be my official Japanese name (if I ever decide to vie for Japanese citizenship) :) By Japan's law, one would have to select a Japanese name from official government sanctioned name dictionary. Name above possess a robust gung-ho Bushi (warrior) nuance, Saemon surname means "Left Street Gate", Umenosuke firstname means "Plum Tree of Guard". Hence, the Guard at Plum Tree located at Eastern Gated Street. I figured if one decided to localized, why select mere phonetic equivalents, instead select a completely new native name.

Saemon Umenosuke rendition
http://lehrmach.com/Clip/SaemonUmenosuke.wav

Eons ago at University of Texas at Austin when I began studying Japanese language, one advantage of being fluent in Chinese language was intrinsic understanding of Japanese Kanji (Chinese characters rendered in Japanese language). Being a character-based rather than alphabetic-based written language system, one could immediately understand the meaning without knowing its Japanese pronunciation. Having a Chinese name was also advantageous, one could simply translate Chinese characters into Japanese phonetics and get instant colloquially equivalents. Well you would think… until you encounter two major obstacles : 1) Equivalent Kanji in official government list, 2) Kanji's Onyomi (Sound Reading) versus Kunyomi (Book Reading) pronunciation variants.

Fortunately, my Chinese name ZENG-DING (righteous foundation) had direct Kanji pronunciation equivalents. Since postwar era, Japanese Ministry of Education officially sanctions about 2,000 Kanji for daily use (Joyo Kanji list) and about 5,000 kanji for personal names to control its proliferation (akin to US standardizing pronunciation of Anderson surname by eliminating variants like Andersen, Andersan, Andersin, Anderssen).

This naming convention is also a point of controversy since Japan will not accept what they consider "foreign" names as part of gaining Japanese citizenship. Any event, this naturalized citizenship is extremely difficult earn, such as the contention among 60,000-plus ethnic Koreans in Japan who does not want to abandon their Korean names (hence ethnic identity) in gaining Japanese citizenship. Some call this obstacle blatant discrimination, others assert Japan's means of preserving a culturally homogeneous society.... so take your pick.

Japanese name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name

Joyo kanji
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji

Japanese (Nihongo) language
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese.htm

Although Japan is still the only industrialized Asian country, culturally they possess a westernized veneer, but still much rooted in ancient traditions. As a matter of social adoption, my observation is that Vietnamese are culturally more western inclined than other Asian counterparts.


In my first transliteration attempt, selected Japanese phonetic SHOO-JOO for Chinese ZENG-DING (righteous foundation) name. Upon hearing it, my Japanese professor almost fell to the floor with supreme laugher. Evidently, Japanese also possess various homonyms, thus SHOO-JOO could be interpreted as "Little Miss", hilarious indeed.





Yup... despite my first attempt at gaining a robust Bushi name, Japanese name equivalent SHOO-JOO only projected imagery of cutesy Japanese gals, real gung-ho manly name amissed, such are dangers of transversing language and cultural nuances. BTW American Slang GUNG-HO derived in 1940s-era from Chinese word GONG-HE (public together) or colloquially Team Play, a familiar slogan used in today's US Marine Corps.


Thus going through volumes of Japanese dictionaries (modern and prewar editions) at university libraries, interplay between Onyomi and Kunyomi Japanese readings became evident. Onyomi (sound reading) used Japanese phonetics to replicate Chinese pronunciations of Chinese characters (ex. SAN for mountain). Kunyomi (book reading) assigned intrinsic Japanese pronunciations (before introduction of Chinese characters) to Chinese words (ex. YAMA for mountain). This Chinese Borrowed-vs-Local Intrinsic equivalency also exists in Korean (ex. HAI vs. PADA for Sea) and Vietnamese languages (ex. SUI vs NOUC for Water).

Thus, Chinese name ZENG-DING is replicated via Japanese Onyomi versions of SHOO-JOO or SEI-TEI, and via Kunyomi version of MASA-SADA. Comparing the candidates, Onyomi versions were linguistically correct, but felt abit stiff and foreign. Similiar to a person desiring to select a typical American guy name, but instead of picking John - Mark - Bill, one selected Gustav (German) - Fidel (Hispanic) - Pierre (French), for the names are in Latin alphabets, but their stereotypical American cultural nuance is lacking.

Matter of cultural nuance, when name MASA-SADA (righteous foundation) is uttered among Japanese, it cast imagery of Japan's former Bushi warrior caste and Bujutsu martial art tactics, a personal naming marcom I was striving for.


Based on this interplay, selected Kunyomi version MASA-SADA as localized phonetic for Chinese ZENG-DING. Nevertheless, after much thought, why settle for semantic equivalents, why not select a completely new Japanese name. For example, an Italian-American pal of mine named Brad planning to teach English in Japan was mauling over his phonetic name BURAADO for Brad (given Japanese phonetic structure, almost all Western foreign words must end in a vowel, such as KURAAKU for Clark, JON for John, ERIISA for Elisa). So I scanned through my Japanese Anime movie "Raven Tengu Kabuto" and picked Bushi name KAZUMA (a good warrior name you can chew on). He loved it and shortened it to KAZU (gave nuance of modern hip multimedia guru).

For me, after much pondering on this question, I too decided on a Japanese name one can chew on. Hence, Minasan, Saemon Umenosuke, Doozo Yoroshiku !