The plight of a victim of human trafficking in China
The plight of a victim of human trafficking in China
Blind Mountain Morals
Welcome to RealTime Mandarin!
It’s a free weekly resource helping you learn contemporary Chinese in context, maintain and improve your Mandarin skills, and stay on top of the latest language trends in China.
Subscribe now to get the next newsletter in your inbox on Saturday.
Blind Mountain 盲山 (máng shān) is a movie first released in Hong Kong in 2007, directed by Lǐ Yáng 李杨. It tells the story of Bai Xuemei, a young graduate who is kidnapped, trafficked and sold as a bride to a man in a village in Shaanxi Province.
The movie has been the subject of much discussion (Weibo - in Chinese) recently as the story of a mother of eight from Xuzhou, shackled by her neck and locked up in a freezing shed, caused widespread outrage on social media over the last few weeks.
The phrase, ‘blind mountain morals’ (盲山道德 mángshān dàodé), has been used to describe the plight of this poor women, and others like her who are the victims of human trafficking in China.
It means ‘morally blind to outsiders who are trafficked’. I explain more about it in SupChina’s Phrase of the Week column.
Experts reckon there are a number of cultural and societal issues that contribute to it, such as the number of older single men living in the poorer, more rural parts of China (iFeng - in Chinese).
This week we learn, use and understand the vocabulary to discuss Blind Mountain morals:
The Favourite Five: top five words and phrases you need to know
Consuming the Conversation: more useful words, idioms and colloquial phrases
In the recommendations section there is further reading, listening and watching on the subject.
1. The Favourite Five
Here are five words and phrases that you need to know to understand and discuss Blind Mountain morals.
打光棍 dǎ guānggùn - being single, a man who can’t get married
兄弟几人中总有一两个打光棍，是代代相传的现象 - There’s always one or two brothers who don’t get married in a family. This is a phenomenon that’s seen in every generation.
光棍 guāng gùn - someone who is single
光棍节 guānggùn jié - Single’s Festival
村规民约 cūnguī mín yuē - autonomous administration of villages
因为他们的这个夫妻关系，只有在他们这个村里，才是受“盲山”式的村规民约保护的 - Because the relationship between this husband and wife is protected by villagers who are morally blind.
Note: the phrase is used pejoratively here, meaning the villagers are complicit in the abuse.
延续香火 yánxù xiānghuǒ - continuing the incense; continue the family line
为什么一代代人就是穷到必须从人贩子那里买媳妇，把“延续香火”“多生男娃”成为他们一辈子的人生目标呢 - Why, through the generations, are there people who are so poor they feel they have to buy a wife from human traffickers, in order to achieve their life goal of continuing their family line and have lots of sons?
水落石出 shuǐluò shíchū - when the waters retreat, the rocks emerge, the whole thing comes to light
希望真相早日水落石出 - I hope that the truth is revealed soon.
Note: This was a popular comment on social media this week in response the the Xuzhou government announcing the investigation.
野马套上笼头 yěmǎ tào shàng lóngtou - a wild horse put in a bridle
往往把某位不安分的男青年娶上媳妇说成“野马套上笼头” - Marrying off a certain young man who won’t behave himself is like trying to bridle wild horse.
More: 不安分 bù'ān fèn - don’t behave oneself, difficult (see 5 Feb newsletter).
2. Consuming the Conversation
Basic vocab
To dig deeper into conversations about human trafficking, you need to understand the basics first.
娶妻 qǔ qī - get married, or take a wife (men)
拐卖 guǎi mài - ‘turn sell’ - trafficking
彩礼 cǎi lǐ - betrothal gift, the price a man will pay for a bride
人贩子 rén fàn zi - human trafficker
农耕社会 nónggēng shèhuì - agricultural society
重男轻女 zhòngnán qīng nǚ - preference for boys over girls
Useful words
Beyond the basics, here are some simple sentences to practice.
买主 mǎi zhǔ - the buyer
她被骗到大山深处、被“买主”用铁链拴住 - She was tricked into going into the countryside where she was chained by her ‘buyer’.
村俗 cūn sú - village customs
她挑战了那黑暗的村俗 - She challenged the dark customs of the village.
滋长 zī zhǎng - grow, cultivate
那就是滋长在这些“盲山”当中的、在我们看来畸形而古怪的乡村道德 - This warped and grotesque village morality was cultivated and allowed to grow in these ‘Blind Mountains’.
轻蔑 qīng miè - contempt, scorn
对法律与普世道德怀有一种瞧不起和轻蔑：装什么装，你们跟我还不一样 - They look down on the law and universal morals, holding them in contempt. You behave as if you are better than everyone, but are you any different?
Grammar: this is a nice structure for a rhetorical question
Note: qīng miè is a common ‘Wolf Warrior’ word you will see in MFA press statements
罪孽 zuì niè - sin
更是他们难以离开的生活方式，是他们罪孽的报应 - This is a lifestyle that they can’t easily give up. It’s their punishment for their sins.
Note: 孽 niè - evil
Three-character phrases
In the conversations within the two Chinese articles recommended above, there are some fantastic colloquial phrases - including these three-character words you can throw into everyday discussions:
鸣不平 míng bùpíng - respond to something as an injustice
我的父亲常为他鸣不平说：“我二哥能给五个儿子都娶亲成家，做到这一点很不容易” - My father would often defend him saying: “My second brother can have five kids and they all have got married. This is not easy”.
拉扯大 lāchě dà - bring up, raise a child
其父早逝，母亲把他和哥哥拉扯大，哥哥能娶上亲，已是烧高香了 - His father died when he was young. His mother managed to bring him and his brother up. So she was really grateful that his older brother was able to find a wife.
烧高香 shāo gāo xiāng - ‘burn high incense’; be eternally grateful for something. This relates to 祭礼 jì lǐ a form of worship involving burning incense.
堵得慌 dǔ de huāng - feel uncomfortable or depressed about something
而更让你感觉堵得慌的是，这部电影反映的现象 - And what makes you feel even more depressed is what this movie reflects about real life.
不好使 bù hǎo shǐ - not good, not helpful
他们这套规矩“不好使”的城市机遇，对他们来说则是不存在的 - The opportunities in the city, where their rules don’t apply, do not exist for them.
Idioms
移风易俗 yífēng yìsú - change customs
新政权移风易俗，以强大的行政力量，几乎禁绝了这个现象 - Under the new administration, strong governance changed the customs and virtually stamped out this issue.
骇人听闻 hàirén tīngwén - appalling
将我们社会中这颗长期存在的、骇人听闻的毒瘤，展现在了我们所有人面前 - This long-term, appalling cancer in society was revealed for all of us to see.
Note: 毒瘤 dú liú - malignant tumour
百试百灵 bǎishì bǎilíng - efficient, effective
被拐买的妇女“有精神病”真是一句百试百灵的挡箭牌 - Saying that trafficked women have a ‘mental illness’ is an effective excuse that’s used to hide the truth.
挡箭牌 dǎng jiàn pái - excuse
一锤定音 yīchuí dìngyīn - set the tune with one beat of the gong; give the final word
不期待一锤定音，希望这只是个开始，一直警钟长鸣 - We don’t expect [this announcement] to be the final word. What we do expect is that this will be a start in the right direction and serve as a constant reminder for us in the future.
Colloquial phrases
接过话茬 jiē guò huàchá - pick up the conversation
每听说此言，族祖母便会接过话茬说 - On hearing what was said, she responded….
理想太丰满，现实太骨感 lǐxiǎng tài fēngmǎn, xiànshí tài gǔ gǎn - a beautiful ideal, a bare reality
很可能是“理想太丰满，现实太骨感”，成效反而不好 - This may actually be a case of being over-idealistic, which may end up making things worse.
退一步海阔天空 tuì yībù hǎikuò tiānkōng - take a step back, find a compromise, give yourself more wiggle-room
如果接受现实，制定次优对策，倒可能会达到“退一步海阔天空”的效果 - If we accept reality and set less ambitious policies, this could actually be more effective.
羽翼的庇护 yǔyì de bìhù - ‘shelter under wings’; hide behind something
他们高度依赖这套“道德”体系，不敢离开它羽翼的庇护 - They heavily rely on and shelter behind this system of ‘morals’.
Become a member of RealTime Mandarin+
The RealTime Mandarin+ membership is a multimedia resource helping you learn contemporary Chinese in context
If you enjoyed reading the free newsletter, you’ll LOVE our paid membership: RealTime Mandarin+.
Joining Real-Time-Mandarin+, you’ll unlock loads of extra resources to help you dramatically improve your Chinese language skills.
Every week you get access to new content:
🔈Podcast - 30 min podcast every Saturday with 80% native Mandarin (including transcript)
📚 Resources and integrations - Pleco, Skritter, Hack Chinese, mylingua (new!), and PDF printouts
👩🎓 Intermediate newsfeed - One ‘real’ Chinese language news podcast and article published every Sunday, in a lesson format, pitched at an intermediate level
💬 Community - Slack community, Substack Chat, online meet-ups, in-person gatherings
🤿 Quarterly Deep Dives - One hour webinars focussing on one key challenge of intermediate learners delivered around the end of every quarter.
When you join, you’ll also have an optional 1-1 onboarding and coaching call to help orientate you.
It’s the best way to get motivated, inspired, and kick-start your Mandarin learning habit.
You can access all of these resources for less than the cost of one pint per week in a London pub.
It’s a no brainer (and much better for you)!
So, if you’ve been on the fence for a while, now is the time to confront it, invest in yourself, and commit!
Happy learning!
Andrew