Twenty Five Down
This is quite the landmark for us! Twenty-five issues may not seem like a big deal, but if you consider there are only fifty-two weeks in a year, we're pretty much halfway through. They say big treasures come from heaven, but little treasures are accumulated bit by bit over time. May this issue mark the first of many token points of what may one day become a little treasure.
Worth mention, 25 isn't a very good number in Chinese. It's not as bad as the number 4, but it's up there. Get that 25 is a zero short of 250, and 250 is half of 500. The story goes that old Chinese money came in little coins, and an easy way to carry those coins would be upon a long string. Often times these strings would carry bundes of 500 coins, called a "diao," "吊." A half of a diao is 250, so to use it as an insult is to call someone a "half wit."
That said, you can literally scold someone in Chinese by calling them 250! "Er Bai Wu," "二百五," is a sophisticated insult. In fact, it could even be used in a haggle. You could demand a price reduction on an item priced at $2.50, $250.00, $250,000,000, or more! The traditional Chinese don't care for the number 25 much, and if you're clever, you can absolutely use it as leverage in a spirited exchange. To that point, maybe we're being silly for celebrating, but twenty five issues is a big deal for us. We hope that you all enjoy these funny publicatons as much as we enjoy producing them.
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The Dao that can be Spoken...
...is Here, in the Daoist Outlook!
Contents
・Shifu Says: A brief word from our head teacher, Shifu David Wei.
・Meet Mr. Maceman: We're all set to collaborate with Rik Brown!
・The Daoist Calendar: Special holidays and how to observe them.
・Learning Courtesy: Hijinks and harmony of Gretchen and Grace.
・Practical Points: Learn potent acupoints for common conditions.
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