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This week
how to say the right things during Tomb Sweeping Festival,
Lei Jun on Xiaomi’s secret weapon,
and debating skills from chairman Rabbit.
1. What to say during Tomb Sweeping Festival
Easter Sunday and Qing Ming Festival (清明节) - Tomb Sweeping Festival - fall on the same day this year.
I’ve made the mistake of wishing a ‘happy Qing Ming festival’ (清明节快乐!) before.
Apparently this is not the done thing.
So what do you say on Qing Ming Festival? The safest option is:
祝节日安好 (Ān hǎo) - wishing you a peaceful festival
There’s also:
安康 (Ānkāng) - [wishing you] good health; but there’s some debate about this, as it normally refers to society, not individuals
Or, you could say:
文明祭扫 (Wénmíng jì sǎo) - [wishing you] civil tomb sweeping
Some experts say it’s ok to wish a ‘happy festival’. There’s more on that here. With the suggestion that:
当我们去祝福快乐的时候,恰恰也代表着我们有战胜悲伤、困难的勇气,这也是一种积极向上的心态 - when we wish someone a happy festival, it can represent that we have had the bravery to overcome grief and difficulty; it’s about having a positive attitude.
Finally, if you’re looking for a good poem for this time of year, try this one by Tang Dynasty poet, Dù Mù (杜牧):
清明时节雨纷纷,Drizzling heavily on the Pure Brightness Day,
路上行人欲断魂。I travel with my heart lost in dismay.
借问酒家何处有,I ask a shepherd boy* - is there an Inn nearby?
牧童遥指杏花村。He points to towards Apricot Village, far away
*牧童 Mùtóng is normally translated as ‘cowboy’ but I prefer shepherd boy - feels more likely to bump into one of these in Tang Dynasty China.
2. New word: ‘secret weapon’ - 杀手锏 (Shā shǒu Jiǎn)
锏 (Jiǎn) is an ancient Chinese weapon, similar to a ‘mace’.
杀手锏 (Shā shǒu Jiǎn) is an unexpected, killer blow with a mace.
It’s translated as:
Trump card
Ace in the hole
Killer application
I prefer ‘secret weapon’.
It’s an advantage that is unique to the person or the company that only they know about.
It’s one way that Xiaomi’s announcement this week of its venture into the EV market was interpreted:
在造车这个领域当中,有那么多的竞争对手,为什么他们还敢进去?一定是有他们想好的必备成功要素,也就是他们的杀手锏 - With so many competitors how can Xiaomi still dare to enter such a busy sector? They must have a good understanding of what’s needed to succeed, in other words their secret weapon.
Chinese media reaction was measured, pointing to the huge challenges the company will face. Xiaomi does have its advantages too - lots of cash, plenty of useful patents for its new business and a loyal fan base eager to buy a ‘Mi-Car’. Fans are called 米粉 (Mǐ fěn) - a play on the word for flour rice, meaning ‘Mi Fans’.
These advantages are not its secret weapon, though. That will be something else that we don’t yet know about, but hopefully Lei Jun does.
Useful business words
Coverage of the announcement is a gold mine of useful words for talking about business and investment in Chinese.
I’ve tried to include just the few best ones, dividing them into: the basics, great three-character words about battles, fakes and stiff competition, and some useful business idioms.
The basics:
赛道 (Sài dào) - ‘race lane’ [on a track] - sector or sub-sector; the focus of the business, often referring to a chosen new direction (this is a very popular term at the moment - if you don’t have a Sài dào you’re not a proper Chinese entrepreneur; and of course, your Sài dào should fit in to your overall ecosystem 生态圈 and be part of your platform 平台业务)
是因为数字化世界的三条赛道 - it’s because of the three (sub) sectors of the digital world
“新赛道”“新平台”“新生态”2020 年全国人工智能大赛正式启动 - “new direction, new platform, new ecosystem” - 2020 all China AI competition is formally launched
跻身 (Jīshēn) - to rank among
小米跻身于世界五百强 - Xiaomi ranks among the world’s top 500 companies
押上 (Yāshàng) // 压上 (Yā shàng) - ‘to be bet on’ // ‘to put on’ - two slightly different ways to say the same thing, with exactly the same pronunciation but slightly different meaning
押上我 “所有声誉” - I'll bet my entire reputation [on this]
我愿意压上人生所有积累的战绩和声誉 - I’m willing to put all of my life experience and reputation into this (used more broadly than ‘to bet’ but basically means the same thing)
Three-character essentials
Three-character combos in Chinese are great fun - more flexible than idioms, often less formal so more used in spoken Chinese and a good way to make your Chinese sound more impressive by dropping a few into conversation, generally as nouns at the end of a sentence.
There are lots of them in the Xiaomi story:
屠杀战 (Túshā zhàn) - bloody war [of price]
特斯拉Model Y国产版降价近16万,掀起了电动汽车市场的价格“屠杀”战 with the launch of Tesla’s domestically produced Model Y, it’s started a bloody price war in the China EV market
护城河 (Hùchénghé) - ‘moat’, barrier to entry [in business]; similar to 门槛 Ménkǎn (but that’s more about separating yourself from the competition; a moat is more about protecting your patch)
显然,AIoT业务要成为小米商业模式的护城河 - clearly, its AIoT business will become a protective barrier to entry within its business model
门外汉 (ménwàihàn) - outsider, lamen, not qualified
在智能电动汽车领域算是“门外汉” [Xiaomi] is an outsider / non-expert in the Smart Car sector