Treasurer of Yellow Emperor

[medvedtom]

Hello,

I have just a simple task to solve, however, I don't speak Chinese. I need to translate following title into Chinese: "Treasuser of Yellow Emperor". I've found symbols, but I don't know how they should be ordered.

I would really appreciate help. Thanks a lot.

Tom

[cantonese]

I think it is 皇帝的宝藏. But can you show us the symbols that you found?

[medvedtom]

Yellow Emperor 黃帝

Treasure 珍惜 or 财 The second one is more like money, isn't it? I would like to translate treasure as treasure of spirit.

Thanks a lot. Tom

[medvedtom]

I've found a web translator at http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

It says 珍惜黄帝 Do you think I can rely on this source?

Thanks. Tom

[HashiriKata]

It says 珍惜黄帝 Do you think I can rely on this source?

No, you need to know a bit about the language to rely on internet machine translation. The output it gives here is no good. You'll be much better off using what cantonese suggested in post #2.

Edit: I just noticed that you want "Treasurer" (in post #1) and not just "Treasure", so post #2 is off also. 黄帝的财政大臣 may be what you want.

Edited February 10, 2010 at 12:40 PM by HashiriKata

[medvedtom]

Oh, yes, I've mistyped the post. Treasure of Yellow Emperor is what I need.

However, the symbol 的 makes the relation in the form owner 的 owned subject. Am I right? I don't know anything about Chinese.

Tom

[fanglu]

You need to explain what you're trying to say better if you want anyone to help you. You've mentioned treasure (noun, as in gold and jewels), treasurer (as in the person who manages the funds of a country or organisation) and treasure (verb, to value highly). Which is it?

Also what do you mean by yellow emperor? 黄帝 is the name of a (mythical) chinese emperor. 黄 does mean yellow and 帝 does mean emperor, but the 黄 in 黄帝 doesn't really mean 'yellow' per se, it's just his name.

Maybe you should explain what the 'simple task you need to solve' is?

[medvedtom]

First of all, thanks a lot for your answers.

I see that my simple task is not so simple. I'll try to describe it in more detail.

Yellow Emperor is the name of the mythical Chinese emperor. 黄帝 is what I've found on wiki.

Treasure should stay for both tangible wealth and the personal wealth/treasures of spirit (unfortunately, I am hardly finding words for this). If it is not possible express this in Chinese using one word as in English, I would prefer the second meaning (treasure of spirit).

Thanks a lot.

Tom

[HashiriKata]

However, the symbol 的 makes the relation in the form owner 的 owned subject. Am I right?

Yes you're right.

Going back to "Treasuse of (Yellow) Emperor", so you can use "皇帝的宝藏" as suggested in post #2. But IF you really, specifically mean "Treasuse of The Yellow Emperor", then it should be "黄帝的宝藏" (note a slight change in the first character)

[jbradfor]

Doesn't "宝藏" refer more to actual treasure (jewels, gold) than "personal wealth/treasures of spirit"?

[HashiriKata]

I understood "treasure" in the general sense, and that is what the translation is in. What is "personal wealth/treasures of spirit"? "Personal wealth" may be considered part of the general sense but how can it be lumped together with "treasures of spirit" ?

[jbradfor]

I assume the OP means things such as strength of spirit, generosity, intelligence, caring. Think of all the good characteristics that an idealized Emperor would possess.

I'm assuming the OP is looking for a bit of a pun: hoping for both all the wealth of an Emperor, and also all the good internal characteristics.

[medvedtom]

I've found these symbols 寶庫. The comment says: treasure-house / treasury / treasure-trove (often fig., book of treasured wisdom). What do you think about it?

Does the following make sense? 黄帝的寶庫

[Daan]

I would use classical Chinese for this and write 皇帝之寶. 寶's meaning encompasses both treasures such as jewels and gems, and thoughts.

Take a look at this excerpt from the Mencius:

孟子曰：“諸侯之寶三：土地，人民，政事。寶珠玉者，殃必及身。”

Mencius said, 'The precious things of a prince are three: the territory, the people, the government and its business. If one value as most precious pearls and jade, calamity is sure to befall him.'

Or this excerpt from the Laozi:

我有三寶，持而保之。一曰慈，二曰儉，三曰不敢為天下先

But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.

Yet it can also refer to treasures in the more materialistic sense of the word, as here in the Zhanguoce:

公東收寶於秦，南取地於韓

In the east, the Duke collects treasures from Qín; in the south, he takes territory from Hán.

I'm not a native speaker of Mandarin, however, and don't know how this would sound to them, so wait for someone else to confirm whether 皇帝之寶 would be acceptable.

Edited February 11, 2010 at 01:48 AM by Daan

[HashiriKata]

皇帝之寶 sounds very good to me.

(But from his post above, the OP may want to use 黄帝之寶 instead)

[Kenny同志]

黄帝 was not an emperor. It is better to refer to him as Huang Di.

I'd like to know whether treasure here implies 黄帝内经.

Edited February 11, 2010 at 10:29 AM by kenny2006woo

[chrix]

"Yellow Emperor" is the standard English translation...

[Kenny同志]

From 百度百科

黄帝(英文：The huangdi；Mauslleum）（前2697-前2599年）少典之子，本姓公孙，长居姬水，因改姓姬，居轩辕之丘(在今河南新郑西北)，故号轩辕氏，出生、创业和建都于有熊(今河南新郑)，故亦称有熊氏，因有土德之瑞，故号黄帝。

　　人文始祖----轩辕黄帝历史身份：华夏族始祖，人文初祖，中国远古时期部落联盟首领，天下共主。

1. 古帝名。传说是中原各族的共同祖先。

　　少典之子，姓公孙 ，居轩辕之丘 ，故号轩辕氏 。又居姬水 ，因改姓姬 。国于有熊 ，亦称有熊氏 。以土德王，土色黄，故曰黄帝 。

《史记》

黄帝者，少典之子，姓公孙，名曰轩辕。 生而神灵，弱而能言，幼而徇齐，长而敦敏，成而聪明。号有熊。有土德之瑞，土色黄，故称黄帝

黄帝 was a chieftain, not an emperor. It's wrong to call him the Yellow Emperor.

[chrix]

I know that but it doesn't change the fact that it is the standard translation for English. This is how things work...

[Kenny同志]

Decades ago, 社会科学 had been invariably translated as "social sciences" (the equivalent of the pharse in English is social sciences and humanities) and even today it is so in some cases. To my joy, such cases are becoming fewer and fewer because more and more translators have realised the mistranslation and that it is not right to let a known mistake continue.