Jiang - what Confucius insisted on eating

[W Brewer]

BB: <<bu4 de2 qi2 jia4ng>>

WB: Wife's kindergarten teacher would disagree with this analysis. Showed
msg to wife; contrarily without hesitation proclaimed it as WRONG; no
arguing with native speaker. Since kindergarten, she has learned that if
his meat were not *correctly prepared*, Confucius would not eat it. Recites
rotely 肉不正不食 rou4 bu4 *zheng4* bu4 shi2 <meat not *square* not eat>.
Further explicating symbolism: Confucius was fastidious about being correct
in everything, morality, politics, filial piety (thus accounting for the
<anal> in Analects--WB). Anyway, am heartened at prospect of 200,000
Chinese words for sauce, making mincemeat of the Eskimos.

A philosopher colleague once asked me whether it was common practice in
Taiwan to cite Chinese classics in Old Chinese pronunciation or Mandarin. I
think Confucius should be cited in his own <<dialect>>: pə tək gə tsaŋh (=
p@ t at k g@ tsangh).

One of Mathews' (1943) glosses for jiang4 is 'ketchup'. I also like to put
ketchup on Chinese food, just tastes better that way.

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