Bath terms

[Ian_Lee]

The bath terms are very interesting.

When we study Classical Chinese, we learnt that Qin Shihuang went to Taishan to worship the heaven. Before he started on this ritual, he got to 沐浴更衣 and be a vegetarian for 3 days ( I guess in the ancient time, probably even the Emperor only took bath once a month).

Though nowadays hardly any Chinese say "to bathe" as 沐浴 or "change clothes" as 更衣, the signs still say so. For example, the bathroon in your apartment is called 浴室 while the changing room by the public swimming pool is called "更衣室".

(I guess a novice Chinese learner who never touches Classical Chinese would scratch his head on why changing room is called 更衣室!

Gradually 洗澡 has replaced 沐浴 in colloquial Mandarin and vernacular Chinese. Public bath seems to be called 澡堂 in Beijing.

For Cantonese, we have to learn both words: 沐浴 and 洗澡. But practically hardly any Cantonese use either term. Every Cantonese say "to take a bath" as 沖涼. In fact, I think this is the most appropriate term for bath in sub-tropical cities like HK and Guangzhou. When you take bath, most likely it is a shower which you 沖 (pour/flush) water down and feel 涼 (cool).

But among the Sinic Circle, who is the most classical about taking bath?

I would say it should be the Koreans, They call "to take a bath" as 목욕하다 (沐浴) and public bath house as 목욕탕 (沐浴堂) or 욕장 (浴場).

On the other hand, Japanese call bath as 風呂. It sounds like Classical Chinese but I hardly come across this term. Any clue?

[skylee]

Thanks, Ian, for teaching the terms. Glad to know that the korean pronunciation of 沐浴 is so close to Cantonese.

[Ian_Lee]

Skylee:

Actually I like the way Koreans keep their Chinese terms -- very elegant. For example, they call restroom as 化妝室 (화장실).

[Ncao]

Actually I like the way Koreans keep their Chinese terms -- very elegant. For example, they call restroom as 化妝室 (화장실).

I don't know. Having guys call the restroom 化妝室 sounds weird to me.

[skylee]

yes I've noticed that term from K drama and my visits to korea (knowing the pronunciation of the korean script is very helpful even though I don't really know korean sometimes, given the context, I can guess the meanings). And also 解憂所 is used for lavatory. How is it pronounced in korean?

[noblsheep]

Actually I like the way Koreans keep their Chinese terms -- very elegant. For example, they call restroom as 化妝室 (화장실).

Some bars and restaurants in Beijing use the term too - under the circumstances it's not difficult to understand, though if the term was found, for example, backstage of a play, things would get very confusing.

The fact that the Japanese call it 解憂所 strikes most Chinese as very funny.

[skylee]

The fact that the Japanese call it 解憂所 strikes most Chinese as very funny.

Is the term also used in Japan? I think it is only used in Korea. I think toilet is called トイレ and 御手洗 in Japan.

[Gestalt]

On the other hand, Japanese call bath as 風呂. It sounds like Classical Chinese but I hardly come across this term. Any clue?

I checked some sites and it appears there are a couple of theories, but

the most likely is that 風呂 (furo) came about as a variation on the word 室 (muro),

which at the time a kind of dug-in room used for storage. 風呂 only been used in Japan since the edo-period, so it's probably not related to Chinese.

The fact that the Japanese call it 解憂所 strikes most Chinese as very funny.

That term isn't used in Japan.

The words for toilet are トイレ、お手洗い、便所、 or 化粧室 (more "polite" not as common these days)

[novemberfog]

Since we are all talking about the Korean and Japanese words, I guess I shall chime in:

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化粧室 is very common for signs in large stores and shopping centers and malls. But in most smaller places, you see お手洗い or just the standard blue-guy-pink-girl images.

お手洗い - I normally use this because it was the first term I learned. But always Japanese laugh when they hear this. It is becoming kind of obsolete. But it is considered very polite.

トイレ - this appears to be the most common, and everytime I have heard someone say "I want to go to the bathroom", they use this term.

便所 - I only hear this used by older men or by people who know each other rather well. I noticed that some girls called the men's room a 便所 and the women's room is トイレ. Perhaps this is just something in Tokyo though....

[semantic nuance]

In Taiwanese, when we say restroom we use 便所 . I guess it is because Taiwan was once colonized by Japan. As for the bath term, 泡澡 is another one, soaking in the bath water.

[Yuchi]

And also 解憂所 is used for lavatory. How is it pronounced in korean?

개우소

hae u so

[amego]

Every Cantonese say "to take a bath" as 沖涼.

Singaporeans like me say 冲涼 chong1 liang2, and Hokkiens here say 冲浴 "zhang eik", eik sounds like "egg/ache" .

Other terms for lavatory I've heard before are 厕所 ce4 suo3 (common), 茅房 mao2 fang2 "straw room", 茅厕 mao2 ce4 and the most euphemic and literary 听雨轩 ting1 yu3 xuan1"A room to listen to the rain" (have you all heard before?), I heard it in a show. Sounds really neat. The 雨 (rain) here obviously refers to the watery excretment.

[雅各]

Hi Ian,

Not having studied classical Chinese, I myself don't know why 更衣室 is change/locker room. Would it be possible for you to give me a brief explanation or a URL I could go to to find out?

Thanks,

雅各

[zhwj]

更 gēng means to change (used in modern Chinese in compounds like 变更, 更改, 更新 and so forth). So 更衣 means to change one's clothes (or, as a euphemism, to relieve oneself).

[Ian_Lee]

雅各:

Actually 更 carries a meaning "to change" if it is used in the term 更換. However, if it stands on its own, it carries a lot of different meanings like "in addition", "extra", "couple hours (used before western time system is introduced)",....etc.

However, in Classical Chinese, 更 on its own can carry the meaning "to change". For instance, during New Year's time, some old style scroll pasted on front door says "萬象更新".

[Ian_Lee]

Does anybody know how to translate bidet into Chinese?

[Yuchi]

坐浴盆

[雅各]

Thanks for your explanations. So I guess the words themselves make sense, but if one knows some classical Chinese one picks up greater meaning in this case (?)...

雅各