Translations of Chinese texts seen on Avatar

[Icy_Ashford]

wooooooooooo! lol at least we have a time line now! Wow you rock

Let's start the countdown to the next Solar Eclipse!

Thankyou so much for these Icy!
You = awsome

*Blush* Your welcome

[Argyle Bender]

Citizens of the Avatar World would experience the solar eclipse on the 1st day of the 8th Month, Year of the Monkey. Weather condition of that day, fierce wind.

Innermost dial says 八 which means 8.

2nd innermost dial says 一 which means 1.

3rd innermost dial says 气武. 气 means air. 武 means military/fierce/valiant.

That certainly makes sense--if Aang is in an epic battle, fierce wind is likely very appropriate weather.

Icy, a thousand thanks for doing this!  We appreciate it so much!

[mistresskatara]

Question: Why is the solar eclipse going to happen in August if he has to defeat Ozai "by Summer's end"? That doesn't make sense... animation error, perhaps?

Again, Icy, thank you for all you're doing for all of us. ^_^ Arigato! (Or whatever "thank you" is in Chinese instead of Japanese, lol. )

[InsaneZeroG]

Well summer ends on August 21 so that gives Aang 20 days between the eclipse and the comet. o.O

Icy, you are a king. If I had put forth the effort to study Chinese, I might be able to help you....

[Nandireya]

If I can throw a spanner in the works...who says the Avatar world works on the northern hemisphere calendar (though being created by Americans it probably does)?  Summer for me is December through February.  The Avatar world IS a globe, right?  Seasons can't possibly occur simultaneously in all four nations...though they probably will out of simplicity...

[mistresskatara]

Well summer ends on August 21 so that gives Aang 20 days between the eclipse and the comet. o.O

*facepalm* Thanks for straightening me out. I don't know why I thought that August 1st would be fall... o_0

[Icy_Ashford]

Translations for the Master Yu's earthbending advertisement, his school sign and the ransom note seen in The Blind Bandit.

25)


余师傅运土术武馆
包教会

Description : Master Yu's earthbending school is the best school in the Earth Kingdom. Guaranteed that everything taught will be understood by the students

26)


特兴傅单第一课免费仅须购买高级制服

Description: Special promotion, first lesson is free. You only need to purchase top grade training uniforms

27)


余师傅著名运土术武馆 means Master Yu's famous earthbending Academy.

28)


见你女儿有生百金条至兢技大块石辛富

Description: If you wish to see your daughter alive, pay 100 gold bars to The Boulder and Xin Fu

[Icy_Ashford]

To everyone who says "Thank you", your welcome!

That certainly makes sense--if Aang is in an epic battle, fierce wind is likely very appropriate weather

That's what I thought too!

Again, Icy, thank you for all you're doing for all of us. ^_^ Arigato! (Or whatever "thank you" is in Chinese instead of Japanese, lol. )

Thank you in Mandarin is Xie Xie or if you want it in Chinese script, 谢谢.

Well summer ends on August 21 so that gives Aang 20 days between the eclipse and the comet. o.O

*facepalm* Thanks for straightening me out. I don't know why I thought that August 1st would be fall... o_0

I've never experience the 4 seasons before and I always thought that Spring was from January to March. Summer from April to June. Fall from July to September and Winter from October to December. I guess it varies from place to place?

Icy, you are a king.

I'm a girl...

[Icy_Ashford]

Translation of Birth of Kyoshi Island painting seen in Avatar Day

29)


降世神通虚子今日拓创(?)(?)(?)
愿吾民文化永绝于世界暴政

Description : On this day, Avatar Kyoshi spilt open the ground and created (?, possibly Kyoshi Island). Hope that our peoples' culture would never have to suffer under such World tyranny (a.k.a. Chin's conquest of the Earth Kingdom) again.

[mistresskatara]

Again, Icy, thank you for all you're doing for all of us. ^_^ Arigato! (Or whatever "thank you" is in Chinese instead of Japanese, lol. )

Thank you in Mandarin is Xie Xie or if you want it in Chinese script, 谢谢.

Cool. Then... Xie Xie, Icy!

Well summer ends on August 21 so that gives Aang 20 days between the eclipse and the comet. o.O

*facepalm* Thanks for straightening me out. I don't know why I thought that August 1st would be fall... o_0

I've never experience the 4 seasons before and I always thought that Spring was from January to March. Summer from April to June. Fall from July to September and Winter from October to December. I guess it varies from place to place?

Hmmm. That's interesting. I think I'll have to look into that.

[Icy_Ashford]

Here is the translation of the writing seen on the mask cart in The Swamp

30)


快乐浪人歌剧团

Description: Happy Travellers Opera Troupe

In Chinese opera, the actors/actresses paint their faces with bright colours similar to the masks on the cart.

[FlamingBabiez]

OMG! The Blue Spirit Mask is for sale?

Very strange indeed...did Zuko steal that one mask from the cart?
Most likely, since the first mask might have been destroyed when his ship exploded (awesome scene btw).

But that also means that the Blue Spirit mask is comercially sold to anyone who wants one...which takes away from the awesomeness of the Spirit...

[Somnus]

The calligraphy in Avatar is one of the main reasons I love this show.  It's not mere mimics of Chinese writing, they are real and readable characters.  Knowing the attention to detail the creators have for the show makes me appreciate Avatar all the more!

[Dragon of the West]

That's awesome. Thanks so much. How long does it take you to translate one?

[InsaneZeroG]

Icy, you are a king.

I'm a girl...

And I am a moron. Let's just say you rock then?

[Icy_Ashford]

OMG! The Blue Spirit Mask is for sale?

Very strange indeed...did Zuko steal that one mask from the cart?
Most likely, since the first mask might have been destroyed when his ship exploded (awesome scene btw).

But that also means that the Blue Spirit mask is comercially sold to anyone who wants one...which takes away from the awesomeness of the Spirit...

Yeah, I agree. We don't even know where/how Zuko got the mask. Is it sold in the Fire Nation? Hmm...

The calligraphy in Avatar is one of the main reasons I love this show.  It's not mere mimics of Chinese writing, they are real and readable characters.  Knowing the attention to detail the creators have for the show makes me appreciate Avatar all the more!

I just wished that they would use less of traditional Chinese as that takes me quite a while to figure out how is it written in simplified Chinese. But since Avatar is supposedly set in the past, I guess they have to use ancient Chinese writings.

That's awesome. Thanks so much. How long does it take you to translate one?

Translating a text takes less than 5 minutes but looking for each word's meaning can take up to 1 hour (Eg. Entry 18) depending on how long the text is.

[Icy_Ashford]

Translation of Tom Tom's ransomnote in Return to Omashu

31)


懦弱之拐人
我愿以你卑贱的布米王换取我儿子汤安全
正午会于城巅石像下交换

Description: Cowardly kidnapper, I am willing to use your lowly King Bumi in exchange for my son's safe return. The exchange will be held precisely at noon tomorrow at the bottom of Summit Rock Statue.

[Icy_Ashford]

Translations of various Chinese words seen in The Cave of Two Lovers

32)


情人洞

Like what the episode name suggests, the cave is well, Cave of Two Lovers.

33)


This is the most complicated text I'e seen so far as some of the words engraved are not written in traditional or simplified Chinese but in the Classical Chinese style which is the ancient form. I apologise if I'm unable to translate it properly.

男女相隔二地
Description on the right : The man & woman (Shu & Oma) were separated by two lands (their villages are far apart, remember?).

会于此峰
Description on the left : Will meet at this mountain peak

34)


战. The word means war.

35)


奥玛舒 is Omashu in Mandarin

36)


奥玛舒城永志恋情
Description: Omashu City, built to remember their love.

37)


I have sharpened the words above the door and zoomed in on it. If I'm not wrong, it's 医, meaning Doctor.

[Kindly Sage]

Is it in Mandarin? Cantonese? Teochew?

There's only one form of written Chinese.  Those are all dialects spoken in different parts of China.  It's like a southern drawl, ebonics, or a New York accent here in the States.  All are the same language, but a lot of us can't understand what the hell someone speaking a different one is saying.

[Avalon]

Last translation for today. Library Map, "Darkest day in Fire Nation" parchment and words seen on the dial from The Library.

19)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/Icy_Ashford/ASN/LibraryMap.jpg

Read from left to right

Description : Wan Shi Tong's mysterious library

1st, 2nd & 3rd words, 万知堂 is our owl friend's name in Mandarin. 万 means 10000. 知 means know/knowledge/inform. In this case, it would the first 2 meanings. 堂 means classroom/hall.

4th & 5th words, 神秘, means mystical/mysterious. 神 means god/deity/supernatural. 秘 means secret.

6th, 7th & 8th words, 图书馆, means library. 图 means drawing/picture/sketch. 书 means books. 馆 means shop/place for cultural activities. In this case, it would be latter.

20)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/Icy_Ashford/ASN/DarkestDayPaper.jpg

This parchment is read vertically from right to left.

Description : The 9th day of the 7th Month (9th July in modern times) in the Dragon Year was the Fire Nation's darkest day.

1st word in the right column, 培, means bank up with earth/cultivate/foster.

2nd word in the same column, 治, means rule/peace/cure/wipe out/punish.

3rd & 4th words in the same column, 龙年, means Dragon Year. The chinese lunar calender follows the cycle of 12 zodiac animals. Starting with rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog & ending with pig. Random information, this year is the Year of the Dog, so you can count backwards to see which animal in the cycle you are. The dragon is the most auspicious animal in the zodiac. See entry 18 for the meaning of 龙. 年 means year.

5th, 6th, 7th & 8th words in the same column, 七月九日, means July 9. 七 means 7. 月 means month/moon. In this case, it's month. 九 means 9. 日 means day/sun/daily.

1st, 2nd & 3rd words in the left column, 烈火国 is Fire Nation in Mandarin. See entry 18 for the meanings of 烈火 and entry 13 for the meaning of 国.

4th word in the same column, 最, means the most.

5th & 6th words in the same column, 黑暗, means dark. 黑 means black/dark. 暗 means dark/dim/unclear/hazy/hidden. In this case, the first 2 meanings would be more appropriate.

7th word in the same column, 的, like what I said in entry 1 has no specific meaning.

8th & 9th words in the same column, 一天, means one day. 一 means 1. 天 means day/sky/Heaven. In this case, the first meaning would be more suitable.

21)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/Icy_Ashford/ASN/DateDial.jpg

Innermost dial contains the 12 months in the year ranging from 1 to 12.

2nd innermost dial contains the days in the month ranging from 1 to 31.

3rd innermost dial probably states the weather conditions of that day.

Outermost dial contains pictures of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac cycle.

Next picture contains the date of the upcoming Solar Eclipse. Don't read it if you don't wish to know when it will happen.



22)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r270/Icy_Ashford/ASN/DateDial2.jpg

Citizens of the Avatar World would experience the solar eclipse on the 1st day of the 8th Month, Year of the Monkey. Weather condition of that day, fierce wind.

Innermost dial says 八 which means 8.

2nd innermost dial says 一 which means 1.

3rd innermost dial says 气武. 气 means air. 武 means military/fierce/valiant.

Hey everyone, this is my first post here and i think i've found something interesting about that dial. the thing is i found this... http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE2008/TSE2008.html  it's the next full solar eclipse and guess what it's the first of august... perhaps the makers implied another real thing... too bad 2008 isn't a year of the monkey, the last one was 2005 in the chinese zodiac, maybe some special date for them since they aired in 2005 approx. 2 weeks after the end of the monkey zodiac chain.

Also found this:

Metal
The West
Respiratory system
Lungs
Useful
Faith
Sophistication
Sadness
'Governs' Monkey, Rooster and Dog.

year of the monkey -> Metalbending ?

The First Trine The first trine consists of the Rat, Dragon, and Monkey. These three signs are intense and powerful individuals, capable of great good or great evil (historically, Japan ruled by the dragon and Germany ruled by the Rat were causes of WWII and major atrocities, including the holocaust). They make great leaders, but the three have different approaches. Rats and Dragons have a tendency to be quite dictatorial and autocratic, whilst monkeys are more diplomatic. Frustrated when hampered, these signs are ruled by highly potent energy and unpredictability. They are intelligent, magnanimous, charismatic, charming, authoritative, confident, eloquent and artistic. They can also be tyrannical, bombastic, prejudiced, deceitful, imperious, ruthless, power-hungry, and megalomaniacal.

another monkey thing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_2008_August_1

the solar eclipse obviously covers asia, making the Asian resemblance in Avatar more interesting

These things are just speculation, but it's pretty interesting they might've implied all these things

these are my first fast speculations

Cya Around

PS: Nice work, i've been doing these too but i think your's might be slightly better since i only added the correct meaning

[Icy_Ashford]

Wow, that's quite a cool fact! Too bad not everyone in Asia is able to see it

Actually we can guess which year of the Zodiac the characters are. Assuming that Zuko is still 16 in the Monkey Year, he would be born in the Year of the Dragon. Sokka would be born in Year of the Snake. Katara would be the Year of the Horse. Toph would be Year of the Monkey. Aang, being 112, would be a Dragon like Zuko!

Your partially correct about each element "governing" a certain animal in the cycle. Take me for example, I'm born in the Year of the Horse which is governed by Fire but looking at which Year I'm born in, I'm "governed" by Metal as well. Kinda of like being "subdivided". Just like each animal in the Zodiac has different characteristics, a Metal Horse would also have different characteristics from a Water (Or other elements) Horse despite being in the same "species"

Click here to see which element your zodiac is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac#Table_of_the_lunar_calendar_and_zodiac

[Avalon]

about the governing thing, that's what i found on wikipedia, the metalbending is speculation, for it being the 5th chinese element & Aang's remark... even before that episode was aired i thought about metalbending & it's awesome possibilities so im 50% sure they'll imply it in the show really
maybe an elite amount of avatars that controlled all elements could bend metal : fire heating it, air for extra control, water for it's movement & earth for extra power

[Yong Wing]

   OMFG!!! This is so awesome! Icy_Ashford, you ROCK!!!! \m/

Love the translations, man! I'm trying to learn some Chinese languages, but you got me beat. Keep up the AWESOME work!

*bows to your royal Momo-ness!*

[Lani]

Woah, the eclipse thing is just freaky! o__o Verry interesting and keep up the awesome translation!!

[Icy_Ashford]

I noticed that Distant Horizon has not covered Siege of The North Part 2 which has some texts in it. Here goes.

38)




The word carved on both gateways of the Human World and Spirit World is the same. It is 水, meaning water/fluid.

39)


Right column: 月神海神 meaning Moon Spirit and Ocean Spirit. As you can guess, 神 means spirit, 月 means moon and 海 means sea/ocean.

Left column: 北方水族 meaning Northern Water Tribe.