Chinese Character Learning: Shou3 Juan4

In this class, we will focus on the Chinese character learning. That is to say, we are going to learn the Character meaning, the Character structure, and also the usage.

“手绢(shou3 juan4)” is a kind of traditional stuff in China. Almost in all the Chinese ancient dynasties, all the women would carry a “手绢(shou3 juan4)” with them, which has been a symbol of women. Because this is a class for Chinese learning (中文學習), we have to figure out the real meaning and usage of “手绢”.

Literally, “手绢” is composed of “手” and “娟”. I suppose you have already know “手”, so I am going to talk more about “娟”. It is a kind of cloth in China, which is very smooth and thin. Sometime the “娟” can be made of “丝绸(si1 chou2), which means silk, a Chinese specialized cloth”. “手绢” in English means hanky or handkerchief. It is obviously to know that it has something to do with our hands.

Having knowing the basic meaning of it, let’s come to the function of it. Just as we have mentioned, it is symbolic women, so the girls often pined it onto their waist. It can be used to wipe something or to cover their face, for some ancient Chinese women were really shy.

When it comes to “手绢”, a famous game can not be ignored. That is “丢手绢(diu1 shou3 juan4)”. Usually, it is popular in Chinese schools, especially the primary schools. “Throwing the hanky” is the English translation. The playing rules are like the followings:

Some people squat and form a circle. One of them runs along the circle with a hanky in his hand. And then he is supposed to silently throw the hanky at the back of any other people. And then he has to run away until the people find a hanky behind him. He has to catch the former one.

If you are interested in this game, you can have a try after this Chinese language course.

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