Ian_Lee Posted September 27, 2005 at 07:25 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 at 07:25 PM Does anybody know how to translate 風流 properly into English? Chairman Mao hummed: "數風流人物, 還看今朝" But I don't think Mao was really eligible to be called 風流. Out of so many historical figures, I think only Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms period can be called 風流. Lately 風流 has to be more related to sexual relationship. When Jackie Chan was discovered to have an out-of-wedlock daughter, Jackie explained that he was merely 風流. But a sarcastic critic (James Wong) commented that if Jackie merely had an intimate girl-friend, then he was 風流. But since he had an out-of-wedlock daughter, then Jackie was no more than 下流! Jackie was speechless after he heard such comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuchi Posted September 27, 2005 at 08:15 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 at 08:15 PM Loose? I guess behavior-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted September 27, 2005 at 08:43 PM Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 at 08:43 PM I guess 風流 carries a meaning more than "loose" even in its modern term context. When a guy describes another guy as 風流, his words are not unapproving but instead they are full of envy. Even when a girl describes another guy as 風流, she (except his wife or girl friend) also sounds more like admiring than demeaning. Well, I would say JFK was really 風流. Pre-Lewinsky Clinton was also 風流. But Post-Lewinsky Clinton was definitely 下流! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaoxiajenny Posted September 28, 2005 at 01:28 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 at 01:28 AM http://www.mzdthought.com/sc/sx/xue.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhchao Posted September 28, 2005 at 02:04 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 at 02:04 AM Well, I would say JFK was really 風流. Pre-Lewinsky Clinton was also 風流. But Post-Lewinsky Clinton was definitely 下流! I agree. JFK did it in a way so the public did not know much about his private affairs. He had all the ladies chasing after him. Clinton was more overtly open (stupidly so) in his marital affairs. As a result everyone knew about his marital encounters. Instead of being shrewd like Kennedy, he went chasing after the girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted September 28, 2005 at 03:24 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 at 03:24 AM And then there are phrases like 风流潇洒, which suggest someone who is unconventional, charming, 大方, and talented, all at once. I just saw 'the Aviator' yesterday and right now Howard Hughes comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeze Posted September 28, 2005 at 06:33 AM Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 at 06:33 AM Basically, 风流 has two interpretations in Chinese: a positive one is to describe a person who is tracked by ladies and also gets along with all of these ladies; secondly,in oral Chinese, recently 风流 is almost equal to "dissolute". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWLiu Posted March 6, 2008 at 08:59 PM Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 at 08:59 PM Does anybody know how to translate 風流 properly into English? I think in the historical past, 風流 applies to a "mover/shaker" in history, a much admired powerful personage -- a neutral term without bad connotations. (I guess the 風流 refers to the attendant fame.) More recently, 風流 has become a "lady's man". Lately, I believe 風流 has degenerated into the equivalent of "playboy". More comments on this anyone? I think sometimes all three variants may still be active when applied to someone, leaving the dangling ambiguity as onus for the reader to resolve and decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studentyoung Posted March 13, 2008 at 01:42 AM Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 at 01:42 AM I think 风流 should not be translated alone as a single word. In my opinion, 风流 should be translated with 人物, i.e, take 风流人物 as a phrase. According to the contexts, Chairman Mao mentioned a lot of heroic figure, like 秦王汉武,唐宗宋祖, 成吉思汗, which shows he wanted to take them as reference substances. And then, this 风流人物 is an echo (文学上的首尾呼应) to those famous historic and heroic figures. 俱往矣， 数风流人物， 还看今朝 All’s gone! Who’re true heroes? The men of these days! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amego Posted March 22, 2008 at 07:09 PM Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 at 07:09 PM casanova? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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