7.4: The cardinal directions- NSEW

Most of the cardinal directions are already familiar from place names (as well as from airline names). Běijīng, with běi, is the ‘northern capital’. Until the early 15th century, Nánjīng was the ‘southern capital’. The Japanese capital, Tokyo, is actually the Japanese reading of the characters that, in Mandarin, are pronounced Dōngjīng the ‘eastern capital’. That leaves xī ‘west’, which is represented in the Chinese city of Xī’ān (‘western-peace’), as well as in the Chinese name for Tibet, Xīzàng ‘western-repository’. The four directions are conventionally ordered either dōngnán-xīběi ‘ESWN’, or dōngxīnánběi ‘EWSN’.

The ordering of the directions in Chinese reflects the primacy of the east-west axis, a primacy that is underscored in the names of the diagonal quadrants: dōngběi ‘NE’, dōngnán ‘SW’, xīběi ‘NW’ and xīnán ‘SW’. Dōngběi (with a capital initial) is also the name of the northeast region of China that includes the three provinces of Hēilóngjiāng (‘black-dragon-river’), Jílín, and Liáoníng. This is roughly the area that was colonized by Japan before World War II and at the time, referred to (in English) as ‘Manchuria’ (ie, home of the Manchus, who ruled China as the Qing [Ch’ing] dynasty from 1644-1912). Although Beijing and Tianjin might be considered to be in the northeast of China, they are usually described as being in the north, zài běibiānr, with dōngběi reserved for cities that are actually in the Dōngběi region. The northwest region that includes Xīnjiāng and Qīnghǎi, is referred to as the Dàxīběi ‘The Great Northwest’; while the southwest region that includes Yúnnán, Sìchuān and Guìzhōu, is called the Xīnán.

On the whole, the directions require two syllables to function as nouns. So the diagonals may stand alone: Jílín zài dōngběi; Kūnmíng zài xīnán. But otherwise, the direction words need to combine with either biān<r> ‘side; bank’, bù ‘part’, or fāng ‘side; region’.

Bĕijīng zài běibù.	Beijing’s in the north.
Tiānjīn zài bĕibiānr.	Tianjin’s to the north.
Dàtóng zài běifāng.	Datong’s in the northern region.

The three options differ. Fāng, in particular, refers not to relative direction, but to a quadrant of the country: běifāng ‘the northern region’ or ‘the North’; nánfāng ‘the southern region’ or ‘the South’. Xīfāng and dōngfāng not only mean ‘the western region’ and ‘the eastern region’ respectively, but also (capitalized) ‘the West’ (ie the Occident) and ‘the East’ (the Orient). Combinations with bù (a combining version of bùfen ‘part’) refer to position within a whole; combinations with biānr are the least restricted, simply indicating a direction. So the southern province of Guǎngdōng is zài nánbù (since it is within China) as well as zài nánbiānr. But Yuènán ‘Vietnam’, since it is a separate country, is only zài nánbiānr, not zài nánbù (at least, with reference to China).

Central regions can be referred to as zhōngbù (zhōng as in Zhōngguó and Zhōngwén).

Wǔhàn zài zhōngbù.	Wuhan is in the center [of the country].
Chóngqìng yě zài zhōngbù ma?	Is Chongqing in the middle as well?

Location with reference to the country is expressed with the larger unit first, unlike the English order: zài Zhōngguó běibù ‘in the north of China’. There is usually the option of inserting a possessive de between the country of reference and the direction (zài Zhōngguó de běibù, zài Zhōngguó de běibiānr). De makes a nuance of difference, and reveals the source of the Chinese word order as a possessive (or more accurately, an attributive) construction: ‘in China’s north’.

Bĕijīng zài Zhōngguó <de> běibù.	Beijing’s in the north of China.
Niŭyuē zài Mĕiguó <de> dōngběi.	New York’s in the northeast of the US.
Yuènán zài Zhōngguó <de> nánbiānr.	Vietnam is south of China.

Summary of cardinal directions

xīběi<biānr> xīběi<bù>	běibiānr [bĕifāng] běibù	dōngběi<biānr> dōngběi<bù>
xībiānr [xīfāng] xībù	zhōngbù	dōngbù [dōngfāng] dōngbiānr
xīnán<bù> xīnán<biānr>	nánbù [nánfāng] nánbiānr	dōngnán<bù> dōngnán<biānr>

Exercise 1.

State, then write down the following geographic facts:

Tiānjīn’s in the north of China, about 100 kms. from Běijīng. Shěnyáng is in the northeast, not far from Běijīng either. Shěnyáng is in Liáoníng. Chéngdū is in the middle of Sìchuān, Chóngqìng is south of Chéngdū, but it’s not in the southern part of Sìchuān; it’s a zhíxiáshì [ie under central administration]. Kūnmíng is in Yúnnán. Yúnnán isn’t Yuènán. Yúnnán is a part of China (yí bùfen), but Yuènán isn’t part of China – it’s southwest of China.

Dialogues

a) At a reception, Jiǎ, a student in London, finds himself next to Chén Yuè, a Chinese graduate student, and initiates a conversation in Chinese:

Jiă	Qĭngwèn, nín guìxìng?	May I ask what your name is?
Ch	Wŏ xìng Chén, jiào Chén Yuè.	My name’s Chen, Chen Yue.
Jiă	Chén Yuè, nǐ shi Zhōngguó lái de ba.	Chen Yue, you’re from China, I take it.
Ch	Shì, wŏ shi Zhōngguó rén.	Right, I am.
Jiă	Zhōngguó shénme dìfang rén?	[From] where abouts in China?
Ch	Chángchūn.	Changchun.
Jiă	O Chángchūn. Nà, Chángchūn zài Dōngběi, shì bu shi?	O, Changchun. Now, Changchun’s in the NE, isn’t it?
Ch	Shì, zài Jílín shěng.	Yes, in Jilin province.
Jiă	Lí Běijīng bǐjiào yuǎn ba.	Quite far from Beijing, right?
Ch	Ng, lí Běijīng hěn yuǎn, dàgài yìqiān gōnglǐ!	Yes, quite far from Beijing – about 1000 kilometers!
Jiă	O, shì hěn yuǎn!	Oh, [that] IS a long way!

b) Léi Hánbó, an overseas student, thinks she recognizes Zhāng Yīng from an encounter earlier in the week:

Léi	Nín shì bu shi Zhāng Yīng?	Are you Zhang Ying?
Zh	Wŏ shi Zhāng Yīng.	Yes, I’m Zhang Ying.
Léi	Zhāng Yīng, wŏ shi Léi Hànbó, Wèi lăoshī de xuésheng.	Zhang Ying, I’m Lei Hanbo, Prof. Wei’s student.
Zh	O, Léi Hànbó, nĭ hăo. Nĭ shi Mĕiguó rén ba?	O, Lei Hanbo, how are you. You’re American, right?
Léi	Shì, wŏ shi Mĕiguó Bōshìdùn rén.	Yes, I’m an American from Boston.
Zh	O, Bōshìdùn. Bōshìdùn hĕn yŏumíng!	O, Boston. Boston’s quite well known (‘very have name’)!
Léi	Shì ma?	Really?

c) Jiă, a foreigner, and Yǐ, a Chinese, are looking at a series of numbered illustrations of political leaders in an old copy of China Reconstructs; Jiă – the foreigner, is asking questions about who’s who:

Jiă	Nà, dì-yī ge shi Máo Zédōng ba.	Well, #1 is Mao Zedong, I take it.
Yǐ	Shì, dì-yī ge shi Máo Zédōng.	Yes, #1 is Mao Zedong.
Jiă	Máo Zédōng shi Húnán rén ba?	Mao Zedong’s from Hunan, right?
Yǐ	Shì, shi Húnnán rén.	Yes, [he]’s from Hunan.
Jiă	Nà, dì-èr ge ne?	And #2?
Yǐ	Dì-èr ge shi Zhōu Ēnlái.	#2 is Zhou Enlai.
Jiă	O, Zhōu Ēnlái. Tā shi shénme dìfāng rén?	Oh, Zhou Enlai. Where’s he from?
Yǐ	Zhōu Ēnlái ne, tā shi Huái’ān rén.	Zhou Enlai, he’s from Huai’an.
Jiă	Huái’ān ne, zài Jiāngsū, shì bu shi?	Huai’an, [that]’s in Jiangsu , isn’t it?
Yǐ	Shì, zài Jiāngsū, lí Shànghăi bù yuăn.	Yes, in Jiangsu, not far from Shanghai.
Jiă	Dì-sān ge ne?	#3?
Yǐ	Dì-sān ge, nà shi Péng Déhuái.	#3, that’s Peng Dehuai.
Jiă	Péng Déhuái a, tā shi cóng shénme dìfāng lái de?	Peng Dehuai, where’s [he] from?
Yǐ	Péng Déhuái hǎoxiàng yĕ shì Húnán rén ba.	Seems like Peng Dehuai’s also from Hunan.