87 Jiangnan water town — Liu Yuan 江南水乡——留园
ツアーガイドが職業（という設定）の小明妈が、留园について色々と解説してくれます。
Hi everybody, 大家好. 欢迎收看今天的成长汉语. Thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese.
Now did you all manage to fall in love 苏州 last episode? If not, well, you have another chance. Indeed, our cast of characters continue to explore the beauty of this town today. So let’s check in with them and see where they are off to in 苏州 today.
妈妈：小明、麦克这就是苏州四大园林之一的留园。
Mike：留园？ 这里为什么叫留园呢？
小明：我猜啊，可能是因为留园太美了，让人流连忘返，所以才叫留园吧。
妈妈：小明，你还挺有想像力的。不过，其实啊，留园原来的主人姓刘，人们就都管这座园林叫做“刘园”。姓刘的“刘”又与停留的“留”同音，所以才有了今天的“留园”。
爸爸：是这样的。小明、麦克，我考考你俩。你们知道苏州的四大园林指的是哪四座吗？
Mike：我只知道有留园，这还是刚听阿姨说的。
爸爸：哈哈，你这孩子。小明，你呢？
小明：对我来说，这道题太简单了。苏州四大园林分别是：沧浪亭、狮子林、拙政园，和我们现在逛的留园。
爸爸：呦，小明，你还真让爸爸刮目相看呢！
小明：哈哈，爸爸，咱们好不容易才来一趟苏州，我说什么也得提前做点儿功课吧。
Mike：小明，看来，我也得向你学习呀！
妈妈：哈哈，孩子们，来，咱们去前面的厅堂里看看。小明：妈妈，这里的家具好棒，真漂亮啊！
妈妈：小明，你知道吗，这些家具都是楠木的，所以这里也叫楠木厅。Mike：阿姨，你看，我怎么觉得这两个房间不太一样啊？
小明：是啊！ 这边的房间风格很简朴，这边的房间呢，看起来要更华丽一些。
妈妈：这个厅堂就叫做“鸳鸯厅”。
Mike：鸳鸯不是鸟的名字吗？ 鸳鸯跟这个厅堂有什么关系啊？
爸爸：是啊，这个说法真新鲜，我也得好好听听是怎么回事。
妈妈：鸳鸯是一种鸟，不过这里的鸳鸯厅呢，是一对儿的意思。你们看啊，这个比较华丽的房间是为了招待男客人用的，那个比较简朴的房间是为了招待女客人用的。
Mike：阿姨，为什么招待男客人的房间要更华丽呢？ 我觉得，招待女客人的房间应该更漂亮一些才是啊！
妈妈：在封建社会啊，男人是一家之主，所以男人的房间会比女人的房间更讲究。
Mike：阿姨，您懂得真多啊。
小明：麦克，你忘了，我妈妈本来就是一个导游啊！爸爸：对了，李红，留园里有卖苏州特产的吗？ 我想给同事买点儿纪念品回去。
妈妈：有啊，那边有个礼品商店。走，我们去转转。妈妈：老王，你看，这就是大名鼎鼎的苏绣。
小明：哇，麦克，你快看啊！ 这种苏绣两面都有图案，还是一模一样的。
妈妈：是啊，这就叫双面绣，你们看，这些图案是不是绣得活灵活现的？
Mike：是啊，这手艺真是巧夺天工啊。我要买一个送给我的爸爸妈妈。
爸爸：是啊，这些双面绣真不错，送人正好。李红，你眼光好，帮我挑两件吧？
妈妈：好啊。
小明’s mom said today 留园原来的主人姓刘, 人们都管这座园林叫做“刘园”. 姓刘的“刘”又与停留的“留”同音, 所以才有今天的“留园”. So, to break it down, the original owner of 留园 had the surname 刘, which is written one way. But the surname 刘 sounds identical to the 留 of 停留, which means to stop, stay, stay for a time or remain. And this is how we get 留园 Lingering Garden. 姓刘的刘 的刘 of the surname 刘. 停留的留 的留 of 停留. Do you see how the differentiation works? So if you’re ever uncertain of what character someone’s talking about, you can always ask which liú or which whatever is it?
妈妈：小明、麦克这就是苏州四大园林之一的留园。
Mike：留园？ 这里为什么叫留园呢？
小明：我猜啊，可能是因为留园太美了，让人流连忘返，所以才叫留园吧。
妈妈：小明，你还挺有想像力的。不过，其实啊，留园原来的主人姓刘，人们就都管这座园林叫做“刘园”。姓刘的“刘”又与停留的“留”同音，所以才有了今天的“留园”。
爸爸：是这样的。
Now a fun four-character idiom came up today. And it was 刮目相看. The meaning of 刮目相看 is to look at someone with new eyes or regards someone in a totally different light. Treat someone with increased respect. Now if you break it down, 刮 on its own means to blow as in the wind is blowing. 目 means eyes and 相看 means look or see for oneself. So if the wind blows across your eyes, you might need to rub them and look again right? And things might have changed. Haha! So again, 刮目相看 means to see someone in a different light.
爸爸：是这样的。小明、麦克，我考考你俩。你们知道苏州的四大园林指的是哪四座吗？
Mike：我只知道有留园，这还是刚听阿姨说的。
爸爸：哈哈，你这孩子。小明，你呢？
小明：对我来说，这道题太简单了。苏州四大园林分别是：沧浪亭、狮子林、拙政园，和我们现在逛的留园。
爸爸：呦，小明，你还真让爸爸刮目相看呢！
小明：哈哈，爸爸，咱们好不容易才来一趟苏州，我说什么也得提前做点儿功课吧。
Mike：小明，看来，我也得向你学习呀！
Now there is one last thing I want to cover. And that is the bird 鸳鸯, otherwise known as mandarin duck*1. Now remember, there were two rooms in 留园 that were called the 鸳鸯厅. Now why mandarin ducks?
You’ll see a lot of them if you come to China. They appear in paintings, embroideries, really you can see them in lots of places. And they mate for life. So they are always depicted in pairs and they symbolize conjugal*2 affection and fidelity*3.
Mike：阿姨，你看，我怎么觉得这两个房间不太一样啊？
小明：是啊！ 这边的房间风格很简朴，这边的房间呢，看起来要更华丽一些。
妈妈：这个厅堂就叫做“鸳鸯厅”。
Mike：鸳鸯不是鸟的名字吗？ 鸳鸯跟这个厅堂有什么关系啊？
爸爸：是啊，这个说法真新鲜，我也得好好听听是怎么回事。
妈妈：鸳鸯是一种鸟，不过这里的鸳鸯厅呢，是一对儿的意思。你们看啊，这个比较华丽的房间是为了招待男客人用的，那个比较简朴的房间是为了招待女客人用的。
Mike：阿姨，为什么招待男客人的房间要更华丽呢？ 我觉得，招待女客人的房间应该更漂亮一些才是啊！
妈妈：在封建社会啊，男人是一家之主，所以男人的房间会比女人的房间更讲究。
Mike：阿姨，您懂得真多啊。
小明：麦克，你忘了，我妈妈本来就是一个导游啊！
All right now let’s take a few minutes to go over today’s vocabulary.
- 停留 stay for a time, stop, remain. tíng liú
- 简补 simple and unadorned*4, plain. jiǎn pǔ
- 华丽 magnificent, resplendent*5, gorgeous. huá lì
- 大名鼎鼎 famous, well-known, celebrated. dà míng dǐng dǐng
All right it’s language point time everyone, so let’s begin with 说什么也.
说什么也 is typically followed by a negative pattern. And means no matter what happens, X won’t happen. Now that might sound a bit confusing so let’s take a look at how it was used in today’s dialogue. 小明 said 咱们好不容易才来一趟苏州, 我说什么也得提前做点儿功课吧. We don’t come to 苏州 everyday, so no matter what doing a little homework beforehand was necessary.
- 你们在笑什么？／哈哈，MIKE说什么也不肯尝臭豆腐。
- 兰兰，快点儿，跟上！／下次说什么也不出来和你们跑步了，累死我了！
Here is the pretty straightforward one 为了. Now 为了 expresses a reason or aim much like the English “for”, or for the sake of, in order to. Now 为了 can come before the subject of a sentence or it can appear in the middle of a sentence. Today 小明’s mom said 这个比较华丽的房间是为了招待男客人用的, 那个比较简朴的房间是为了招待女客人用的. This more resplendent room was used for receiving male guests. And that relatively simple room was used for receiving female guests. Now you could also say 为了找到合适的房子, 他跑了很多地方. In order to find the right apartment, he looked all over the place.
- 你今天去哪儿了？／哎，为了给兰兰买礼物，我逛了一整天商场。
- 你们俩昨晚没睡好？／是啊，为了看“世界杯”比赛，我们四点就起床了。
And finally, let’s take a look at something 才是. Now this comes at the end of a sentence and in spoken Chinese you might also hear 才好 instead of 才是.
Now it’s used to add some tact*6 to a suggestion. So rather than come straight out and say I think the girl’s room should be the resplendent one, Mike said 我觉得, 招待女客人的房间应该更漂亮一些才是. It seems to me that the room used for receiving women should be the more beautiful one.
- 我这个新发型怎么样？／我觉得这里应该在去点儿才是！
- 妈，我吃饱了。／你正在长身体，应该多吃点儿才是。
We’ve just about run out of time for today, I hope you all enjoyed getting a further glimpse of 苏州.
Now please don’t forget to visit our website if you have any questions or you want to review anything or watch today’s episode again. And while you are there, please leave us some comments or send us your questions. It’s always great to hear from you. OK, I will see you all next time. 大家, 加油, 下次见.
