Some Chinese Words in Kungfu Panda

Source: http://www.chinesesession.com/blog/

Throughout the history of interactions between China and the western world, words are borrowed from each other. For example, Kungfu itself is a Chinese word Gong Fu (功夫). It was popularized at 70’s and 80’s with Bruce Lee and HongKong Kungfu movies. Now, with the rapid growth of box office income, some more Chinese words might get into American dictionary.

The first one is Oogway. Oogway, or Wu Gui, is indeed the original pronunciation of tortoise (乌龟) in Chinese. In ancient China, tortoise often means longevity. However, in more recent time, slow and dumb is often being emphasized on the animal. Maybe the movie will help to revive the reputation of it.

The second one is Shifu. Its Chinese version is Shi Fu (师父). It was consisted by two parts. The first one is Shi, means teacher. The second is Fu, means father. In the time when students lived in Shifu\'s house starting from a very young age, Shifu really means both teacher and father, just like what the Kungfu Panda depicted. Sometime the bond between the Shifu and students can be stronger than those between father and son. There is another word (师傅) in China used quite often today with the same pronunciation. However, it’s used to refer anyone who can do something for you, somewhat more like sir or madam in English.

There is one more new Chinese word used in the film. It’s Wushi finger. Wushi, or Wu Shi (巫师), means wizard in Chinese. However, in China, they don’t really call it Wushi Finger. The most widely used name is Yiyang Finger (一阳指), or if translate directly, One Sun finger. It is claimed to be the top kungfu skill in Wudang. BTW, Wudang is the martial art developed by the believers of Taoism (that’s why you can see a Taichi symbol raised out from the peace lake in Kungfu Panda), and Shaolin can be considered to represent the kungfu developed by Buddhist students.

One more word is the name of Tailung, the evil leopard in the movie. The name Tailung will make many Chinese kids to reckon the word Da Hui Lang, the big gray wolf. One animated sequel popular in China these days is Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang, talking about the fight between a sheep (yang, 羊) called Xi Yang Yang and a wolf (lang, 狼) called Hui Tai Lang.