Chinese Poetry

Yong-eternal
 Phono-semantic Characters
Phono-semantic Characters:
Composed of (1) a character that sounds like the target character
(the character you are looking at) and (2) a character that suggests
the meaning of the target character. For example, “chong” is
composed of a character that sounds like it (zhong) and an
abbreviated form of water (the 3 drops on the left) which suggests
that the character has something to do with water. About 90% of
Chinese characters are phono-semantic.
• 河 (hé) river
• 湖 (hú) lake
• 流 (liú) stream
• 滑 (huá) slippery
• 沖 (chōng) riptide/flush🡺 中 (zhōng): middle
 City Treasure Assignment
For your first City Treasure assignment you will find a hanzi, that is a Chinese character and photograph
it. Find a large character to photograph so the strokes will be distinct. You will then analyze the different
strokes that make up the character. Please include the street and cross street where you found the
character and what it was on (supermarket, restaurant, etc). Any additional information you have about
it is appreciated. A good place to look for Chinese character is in Chinese communities like Chinatown
which is not far from NYU. If you head downtown on Broadway and get to Canal Street you will be in
Chinatown. Head east (turn left off Broadway) and wander around. While you are there, think about what
connections exist (or do not)between your experiences there and what we've read. For example, what
might the lady trying to sell you a knockoff Gucci bag have to do with the approaches to literature that we
have seen with the poems we’ve read?..... For the more adventurous, you can take the 7-train from Times
Square and go to Flushing Queens - the last stop (the ride is above ground!) - where there are larger
Chinese and Asian communities. There is much to see there, but one of the hippest places to visit has
become the food court at the New World Mall. It looks like any mall food court in the basement of a mall
except that all the food is Asian and much of it regional Chinese food that is hard to get anywhere else. It
is right at the Flushing train station. Here’s a map. (Note: The entrance is on Roosevelt Ave). Here are
some reviews.

Find attached a basic strokes handout. Find here a close up of the character "yong" which is comprised of all the
strokes.