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猴: monkey

By February 7, 2016December 1st, 2016Chinese Word, Japanese Word, Language-Learning

 

猴 hóu

noun
: monkey

Kun Reading
none applicable

猿 | さる saru

noun
: monkey (esp. the Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata); ape; non-human primateUsually written using kana alone, See also ニホンザル
: sly person (Derogatory)
: idiot; hick (Derogatory)
: sliding wooden bolt (for holding a door or window shut)
: clasp used to control the height of a pot-hookSee also 自在鉤
: bathhouse prostitute (Archaism)
: Monkey

猿 | ましら mashira

noun
: monkey (esp. the Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata); ape; non-human primate

On Reading

エン en

 Usage:

2016 is the year of Red Fire Monkey

People born in a year of the Monkey are witty, intelligent, and have a magnetic personality. They are highly sociable, adaptable, mischievous, curios, garrulous and clever. Monkeys are master pranksters who don’t have bad intentions, but their practical jokes sometimes hurt the feelings of others.

Those born in the year of the Monkey are fast learners and crafty opportunists, (to some, manipulative). While some like the eccentric nature of Monkeys, some don’t trust their sly, restless, and inquisitive nature. Although Monkeys give the impression of getting on fabulously with everybody, this is often nothing but a ruse – Monkeys are in fact egotistical and selfish. They tend to be lazy, concentrating on small matters while ignoring more important issues – finding them beneath their consideration.

The monkey distrusts people born under any other sign and considers himself to be superior to all of them. He has plenty of intelligence and a fantastic ability to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Although they are clever and creative, monkeys can’t always exhibit their talent properly. Monkeys like to take challenges and they prefer urban life to rural.

Monkeys shamelessly acknowledge their attraction to money. They quickly assimilate facts and figures, picking up new skills and techniques almost instantaneously. In business it is their opportunism coupled with their keen competitive instinct that gives them an eye for that tiny opening into which only Monkeys can insinuate themselves. Once they have instilled themselves, it is their ability to turn their hands to anything that will bring them ultimate success and, in many cases, even make their fortune.

申 shen1 | さる saru
: 9th earthly branch: 3-5 p.m.
: Sunday
: 7th solar month: Aug 7 – Sep 7
: Year 9; Year of the Monkey
: 2016
申猴 shen1hou2: Year 9; Year of the Monkey
[申年 | さるどし sarudoshi: Year of the Monkey]


猴子 hou2zi: monkey
猴兒[儿] hou2’er2: little devil
猴年 hou2nián Year of the Monkey (e.g. 2016)
猴急 hou2ji2: impatient; to be in a rush (to do something); anxious; fretful; agitated
熊猴 xiong2hou2: Assamese macaque
狐猴 hu2hou2: lemur
猿猴 yuan2hou2: apes and monkeys
[猿猴 | えんこう engou: monkey (esp. a gibbon)
: hand of the puppeteer (puppet theatre)
: (Slang) menstrual period
: kappa]
獼猴[猕] mi2hou2: macaque
耍猴 shua3 hou2: to get a monkey to perform tricks; to put on a monkey show; to make fun of sb; to tease



猴王 hou2 wang2
OR 孫猴 sun1 hou2
: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a character with supernatural powers in the novel Journey to the West 西遊記 [西游记] Xi1 you2 Ji4. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang 玄奘 [さんぞ Sanzo in Saiyuki – Japanese adaptation] (together with Pigsy” (猪八戒 Zhu Bajie) [ちょはっかいCho Hakkai] and “Sandy” (沙悟浄 Sha Wujing) [しゃごじょSha Gojo]) on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India.

Sun Wukong [そのごく Son Goku] possesses an immense amount of strength; he is able to lift his 13,500 jīn (7,960 kilograms (17,550 lb)) staff with ease. He is also extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 kilometers (34,000 mi)) in one somersault. Sun knows 72 transformations, which allow him to transform into various animals and objects. Sun Wukong is a skilled fighter, capable of holding his own against the best warriors of heaven. Also, each of his hairs possess magical properties, capable of being transformed into clones of himself, and/or into various weapons, animals, and other objects. He also knows spells that can command wind, part water, conjure protective circles against demons, and freeze humans, demons, and gods alike.
photo credit: Comic Vine – GameSpot



猿 yuan2 | さる Saru : Monkey
– for a full list see entry –



Japanese expression | idiom
*沐猴にして冠す | もっこうにしてかんす mokkou ni shite kansu
: to be an incompetent leader (like a monkey wearing a crown)

– for a full list see entry –



Chinese chengyu 成語 | idiom
猴子偷桃 hou2 zi5 tou1 tao2
: “monkey steals the peach” (martial arts), distracting an opponent with one hand and seizing his testicles with the other; (coll.) grabbing sb by the balls

猴年馬月 [猴年马月] hou2 nian2 ma3 yue4
: long time off; time that will never come

*沐猴而冠 mu4 hou2 er2 guan4
: lit. a monkey wearing a hat; fig. worthless person in imposing attire

殺雞儆猴 [杀鸡儆猴] sha1 ji1 jing3 hou2
: lit. killing the chicken to warn the monkey; to punish an individual as an example to others; pour encourager les autres
OR
殺雞給猴看 [杀鸡给猴看] sha1 ji1 gei3 hou2 kan4
: lit. to kill a chicken in front of a monkey; fig. to make an example of sb (by punishment) to frighten others

 Etymology:


形声 Pictophonetic.
犭 (quan3: dog radical 94) suggests the meaning while
侯 (hou2: marquis) suggest the meaning while 矦 (hou2: old variant of 侯) provides the sound.



 Chinese New Year Greeting:
猴年送你五只猴:
hou2nian2 song4 ni3 wu3zhi3 hou2
機靈詭祕如獼猴,
ji1ling2 gui3mi4 ru2 mi2hou2
健康快樂像馬猴,
jian4kang1 kuai4le4 xiang4 ma3hou3
悠閒富貴似猴子,
you1xian2 fu4gui4 si4 hou2zi
無憂無慮比猿猴,
wu2you1wu2ü4 bi3 yuan2hou2
聰明伶俐勝孫猴。
cong1ming2 ling2li4 sheng4 sun1hou2

This Monkey year, I give you five monkeys:
the ingenuity of the macaque,
the health and happiness of the mandrill (African Monkey or baboon),
the leisure and wealth of monkey-kind,
the lightheartedness of apes and monkeys,
and intelligence and wit surpassing the Monkey King.

 
The next wish gives three best wishes for the new Monkey year — i.e. a bright future, good knowledge, and great success; mirroring the Monkey King’s abilities…

祝您猴年前程
zhu4 ni3 hou2nian2 qian2cheng2
一個筋斗十萬八千里,
yi1ge4 jin1dou3 shi2wan4 ba1qian1 li3
兼七十二變混世才學,
jian1 qi1shi2’er4 bian4 hun4shi4 cai2xue2
具八十一種創業本領。
ju4 ba1shi2yi1 zhong3 chuang4ye4 ben3ling1

I wish you in the Monkey year ahead
a somersault of 9,000 kilometers (18,000 li),
72 simultaneous scholastic transformations,
and 81 kinds of entrepreneurial / creative aptitude.

Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary