Anyone know what the glyph at the beginning of each and every chapter of the book means? I know that the first two parts combine to form "Dragon". But what does the last part mean? I'm assuming it to be "Army", but I would have no idea why Dragon Army would be alluded to in CotM at the beginning of each chapter.
Posted by bruinlawyer2002 (Member # 2264) on :
I'm thinking of getting a tattoo and I was considering that character.
I do read some Chinese, and from memory, I recall that it was not a real word.
If anyone can link us to a picture of it, I will be most grateful
Posted by accio (Member # 3040) on :
When I first saw that character, I’ve read it as “Dragon.” I thought it was the ancient way of writing “dragon”. Some Chinese characters have been simplified as time went by. I just left it there.
But the last part itself means “a halberd”. So that character might represent “a dragon with a halberd.”
[This message has been edited by accio (edited April 13, 2002).]
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
What's a halberd?
Posted by Irhamik (Member # 3313) on :
A halberd is a kind of like a pole axe. It's spear with an axe-like blade on the end, with a spike on the top of the blade.
Which now has me even more confused as to why that glyph is there.
Posted by accio (Member # 3040) on :
How about “fighting dragon?” Chinese character represents “war” has “halberd” on the right side too.
Posted by DragonArin14 (Member # 3116) on :
hmm..."Crouching Tiger, Halberd Dragon" Catchy, don't you think? Someone's gotta talk them into making a sequel now Posted by Mialith2713 (Member # 5246) on :
Well, Kwan Yu's Sword, The Kwan Dao, was a halberd variant, and was sometimes refereed to as a Dragon's War Knife. So it most be a Kwan Dao. What I wouldn't do for a Kwan Dao... Posted by SpeakerForTheDead (Member # 2644) on :
This reminds me of a shirt I own that has chinese characters running up and down it. So I never knew what it said and I was actually convinced it read "Americans will buy anything." Then one day someone (actually, several people) who could read Chinese started translating my shirt and they said it was nothing but random words like "moon" and "friend."
Posted by accio (Member # 3040) on :
You need to be careful since I’ve seen some displays, etc. with upside down characters. Some are printed backwards. My son’s Karate Dojo had a poem framed upside down. Yeah, I had to let them know.
Posted by Eiskalte (Member # 5438) on :
even if it is Dragon army, or Dragon war, or the upsidedown dragon halbred of a karate dojo uniform, what does it have to do it CotM?
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
This is really interesting. I've always wondered about the glyph myself. But I'm also curious as to how this relates to CotM.
Posted by Descolada Survivor (Member # 9019) on :
Hey i got hte hard cover of Xenocide and it had a "glyph" imprinted on the cover, any idea what it means?
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
perilous stranger
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)