Left and Right: Honor and Percentages

[Altair]

On another forum, there is a discussion about some of the cultural significance of left and right. During Nixon's famed visit to China, I read that the position for a guest of honor in China is on the left side of his or her host. Is this true? If so, what is the justification for this practice?

In the West, the position of honor is on the right, because the right is associated with the power, significance, and importance that majority right-handers associate with the right hand.

I have also read that Chinese have a disproportionate percentage of left-handers in their population. Is this true? I have also read that the true number of left-handers is masked by the fact that all children are strongly encouraged to use the right hand for writing and eating, regardless of whether they may actually be left-handed naturally. I believe that in martial arts instruction, left-handers are also compelled to learn to use weapons with the right hand in order to conform with the other members of the class.

[trevelyan]

I would imagine that any significance in Western culture would be more religious, with Jesus sitting on the "right hand side of the Father", etc....

[Quest]

I've seen a lot more left handers in the US than in China.

Never heard/learned about the left and right implications in China.

[skylee]

Never heard/learned about the left and right implications in China.

左右手(acoustic mix)

歌手：張國榮　作詞：林夕　作曲：葉良俊

不知道為何你會遠走

不知道何時才再有對手

我的身心只適應你

沒氣力回頭

不知道為何你會放手

只知道習慣抱你抱了太久

怕這雙手一失去你

令動作顫抖

尚記得　左手邊一臉溫柔

來自你熱暖　在枕邊消受

同樣記得　當天一臉哀求

搖著我右臂　就這樣而分手

從那天起我不辨別前後

從那天起我竟調亂左右

習慣都扭轉了　呼吸都張不開口

你離開了　卻散落四周

從那天起我戀上我左手

從那天起我討厭我右手

為何沒力氣去捉緊這一點火花

天高海深　有甚麼可擁有

留住你　別要走　無奈怎能夠

除下在左右我的手扣　有愛難偷

[Altair]

Thanks for the reply.

I would imagine that any significance in Western culture would be more religious, with Jesus sitting on the "right hand side of the Father", etc....

I can see how religion may have reinforced the custom, but I believe recalling that this preference was expressed even by pagans in Europe. I should also add that even though this norm still exists, it has almost no impact outside of the world of diplomacy and formal entertainment. Nobody cares about this in the U.S. for private entertaining.

Never heard/learned about the left and right implications in China.

I did some digging and came up with this quote from this business-oriented site :

Generally, the seat in the middle of the table, facing the door, is reserved for the host. The most senior guest of honor sits directly to the left. Everyone else is seated in descending order of status. The most senior member sits in the center seat. Follow this seating pattern if you are hosting a banquet or a meal in your residence, whether for business or purely social reasons.

As I consider my original question from this viewpoint, I wonder if the issue is making it easy for the host to serve the guest. For right-handers, it would be awkward to serve someone on the right side with chopsticks held in the right hand. With no strong cultural or religious values at stake, perhaps people could simply make determinations according to practicality.

Skylee, I enjoined the song. In light of the ongoing discussion on the other forum about spoken and written Cantonese, I was surprised it was in Cantonese and included all those Mandarin words that nobody seems to speak or hear in daily life. Why use standard grammar in a love song of all places? I am really getting puzzled and intrigued by this issue.

[skylee]

In light of the ongoing discussion on the other forum about spoken and written Cantonese, I was surprised it was in Cantonese and included all those Mandarin words that nobody seems to speak or hear in daily life. Why use standard grammar in a love song of all places? I am really getting puzzled and intrigued by this issue.

Because it is the way we write. And because it is elegant.

[Altair]

Aah, interesting. From what was written on the other forum, I had assumed this form of writing would give a stiff, formal flavor to a song. "Elegance" is a nice word.

This provoked me to do some Google research on Cantopop and was surprised to find this quote from this site :

It is interesting to note that Cantopop established a tradition of writing lyrics in Standard Modern Chinese (with standard Mandarin syntax) but pronounced in Cantonese. Fewer songs contain Classical Chinese (Wenyan) lyrics and yet fewer with truly colloquial (and usually comical) Cantonese lyrics.

Up until reading this, I had assumed Cantopop referred to songs written in colloquial Cantonese.

Since I am wandering off topic, I think I will add this quote to the other forum.

[Quest]

Try not to drop your chopsticks, as this is considered a sign of bad luck.

筷落 sounds the same as 快乐

[Altair]

筷落 sounds the same as 快乐

Shouldn't that mean good luck, rather than bad luck?

[Quest]

It originally meant bad luck, but Cantonese people like to add twists to supposedly bad events and words.

For example, if you drop a dish/mirror and it breaks (supposedly bad omen), we often say 落地开花，富贵荣华 to twist it into a good sign.

Then, since 空 and 凶 sound the same, we change 空屋，空房 ect. to 吉屋，吉房。

伯母 and 百无 sound the same, so we change it to 百有。

舌 sounds the same as 蚀 (亏本), so we say 脷 instead.

猪肝 = 干 (水＝money, dried=no money), so it becomes 猪润.

etc

[TSkillet]

I have also read that Chinese have a disproportionate percentage of left-handers in their population. Is this true? I have also read that the true number of left-handers is masked by the fact that all children are strongly encouraged to use the right hand for writing and eating' date=' regardless of whether they may actually be left-handed naturally. .[/quote']

As a left-handed Chinese person, once I got into rural China, I got as many stares (if not more) for my weilding of pens and chopsticks with my left hand as foreigners did. I also received a lot of comments "Why are you using your left hand?" - I don't think the idea occured to anyone in rural china.

On the plus side, I became a lot better at basketball because very few of my students expected me to go left.