tongs and kes (sp?) [Archive] - Yellowworld Forums

kasia

06-10-2003, 11:51 PM

tongs are basically associations - usually in chinatown. i know blue_hoodie's family belongs to one. my family belongs to the lee association - 'jick seen tong' in chinese.

apparently, these tongs were created - per my grandfather - because many single men back in the day were unable to pay for burial plots in america. thus, they formed tongs to ensure that they would receive proper burials when they passed. members of the tong would have to pay membership fees - and the fees would be used to pay for these plots.

today, tongs have additional functions. our tongs award annual scholarships to its student members, hold annual fundraising dinners, and are a place for our older members to gather and play mahjong.

a related question - how difficult do you think it would be to motivate these tongs to become more politically involved in the community?

what other first-generation associations are out there?

SunWuKong

06-11-2003, 12:14 AM

are the tongs in the US mostly based on regional origin in China? i've read that this is the case in Southeast Asia, and that part of the most prevailing similarities of the members of a tong is having the same dialect.

kasia

06-11-2003, 12:15 AM

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 10 2003, 11:14 PM
are the tongs in the US mostly based on regional origin in China? i've read that this is the case in Southeast Asia, and that part of the most prevailing similarities of the members of a tong is having the same dialect.
very true. the tong that my family belongs to speak primarily 'jung saan' - i have no idea how to translate that into english. i don't know of very many toisan tongs.

SunWuKong

06-11-2003, 12:20 AM

Originally posted by kasia@Jun 11 2003, 03:15 AM
very true. the tong that my family belongs to speak primarily 'jung saan' - i have no idea how to translate that into english. i don't know of very many toisan tongs.
really? but your heung ha is in toi san right? that's interesting that your family belongs to a juhng saan tong. by the way, a friend of mine says that a lot of triad people come out of juhng saan, including cecilia cheung's family.

kasia

06-11-2003, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 10 2003, 11:20 PM
really?  but your heung ha is in toi san right?  that's interesting that your family belongs to a juhng saan tong.  by the way, a friend of mine says that a lot of triad people come out of juhng saan, including cecilia cheung's family.
i'm a jahp-jung (mixed). part toisan, part juhng saan :lol:

SunWuKong

06-11-2003, 12:23 AM

Originally posted by kasia@Jun 11 2003, 03:21 AM
i'm a jahp-jung (mixed). part toisan, part juhng saan :lol:
hahah oh i see. :lol:

by the way, jaap juhng is derogatory. in case you didn't know.

kasia

06-11-2003, 12:24 AM

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 10 2003, 11:23 PM
hahah oh i see.  :lol:

by the way, jaap juhng is derogatory.  in case you didn't know.
i'm okay with making self-depracating statements. :D

i'm a jaap-juhng and a jook sing. *sigh*

how about ke? the korean lottery clubs?

AliBabaIncorporated

06-11-2003, 03:44 PM

overwhelmed with cantonese pinyin ... head gonna explode :! :! :!

Korean "gge" (in economics we just call it a Rotating Credit Association) also seems to be popular among Chinese and West Indians ... but the structure tends to be a lot more informal than a tong, from what I see. Basically just get a couple of guys who feel like pooling their savings, and they go at it. Not usually any regional basis. Certainly they don't hold banquets and give out scholarships.

deez nuts

06-11-2003, 07:12 PM

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jun 11 2003, 05:44 PM
overwhelmed with cantonese pinyin ... head gonna explode  :!  :!  :!

Korean "gge" (in economics we just call it a Rotating Credit Association) also seems to be popular among Chinese and West Indians ... but the structure tends to be a lot more informal than a tong, from what I see. Basically just get a couple of guys who feel like pooling their savings, and they go at it. Not usually any regional basis. Certainly they don't hold banquets and give out scholarships.
i'm having deja vu

is this the whole biao hui and lai hui convo we had?

and i have no clue what this thread is about.

is this like a cult or something?

what's the mandarin word for it? or is it in mandarin and i can't read the pinyin? is it in cantonese? what's the chinese character? i'm lost.

nonamerasian

06-11-2003, 09:31 PM

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jun 11 2003, 06:44 PM
Korean "gge" (in economics we just call it a Rotating Credit Association) also seems to be popular among Chinese and West Indians ... but the structure tends to be a lot more informal than a tong, from what I see. Basically just get a couple of guys who feel like pooling their savings, and they go at it. Not usually any regional basis. Certainly they don't hold banquets and give out scholarships.
West Indians call it "susu."

No mahjong is associated with it.

I'm not sure it can be compared to a tong.

Emperor_Mike

06-11-2003, 09:32 PM

a related question - how difficult do you think it would be to motivate these tongs to become more politically involved in the community?

It would be difficult if there are no issues for the Tong to claim as their own. Activism usually germinates from social, commercial and political matters that affect the party or parties in question in a very personal way. So if you want to nurture the seed that is government power and influence in the making, you must give the people something to believe in, to champion, and to seize as a righteous cause they will hold dear to their hearts and minds.

YuheiCarreau

06-11-2003, 10:02 PM

About these hui things... How exactly does it work? Does the person recieving the money that month just get the entire month's worth from the other members, or is some of the money left as savings, or what?

nonamerasian

06-11-2003, 10:19 PM

Typically for susu, let's say 20 people want to put $100 in a pot weekly.

Every week everyone puts in their hand. Every twenty weeks you'll get all the money.

After that week you put in your $100 again, as will everyone else, and then one of the other 19 people collects the money and the cycle continues.

I don't think there is usually a "savings."

Is it the same for the gges, tongs, huis, whatevers?

SunWuKong

06-12-2003, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Jun 11 2003, 10:12 PM
Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Jun 11 2003, 05:44 PM
overwhelmed with cantonese pinyin ... head gonna explode :! :! :!

Korean "gge" (in economics we just call it a Rotating Credit Association) also seems to be popular among Chinese and West Indians ... but the structure tends to be a lot more informal than a tong, from what I see. Basically just get a couple of guys who feel like pooling their savings, and they go at it. Not usually any regional basis. Certainly they don't hold banquets and give out scholarships.
i'm having deja vu

is this the whole biao hui and lai hui convo we had?

and i have no clue what this thread is about.

is this like a cult or something?

what's the mandarin word for it? or is it in mandarin and i can't read the pinyin? is it in cantonese? what's the chinese character? i'm lost.
if you're talking about what a "tong" is, it is this word: <img src='http://www.chinalanguage.com/cgi-bin/char.cgi?9ee8.gif[/img]

tvbdude

07-11-2003, 10:12 PM

I don't think that's the right tong character. the bottom is suppose to be "to"-earth/land

Napoleon Chynamite

07-11-2003, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 10 2003, 11:23 PM
hahah oh i see. :lol:

by the way, jaap juhng is derogatory. in case you didn't know.
Most Chinese are mixed like that anyways right? The chances of both of our parents' families coming from the exact same area (even within the same province) are pretty slim.

My Name Is...

07-12-2003, 05:49 AM

I think Nigerians have something similar to 'ke'. It's how my mom finds a way to pay for the portion of my college tuition not covered by scholarships and grants.

nonamerasian

07-12-2003, 10:29 AM

After asking around, I’ve found that susus and tongs aren’t really related.

West Indians have something exactly like a tong, but I haven’t seen any in the West Indian communities of the U.S.

I’m not even sure if they have a name.

The ones I’ve been made aware of still have the main purpose of ensuring a proper burial for it’s members, but I don’t know if any others have other purposes--Although, there probably are, and if not, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to begin one with other purposes.

Even so, I'm not sure if these could be effective political tools, at least when it concerns influencing not only those who are members, but a good portion of the community.

Their bases tend to be strictly financial.

AliBabaIncorporated

07-12-2003, 03:13 PM

The only time I've ever heard of a rotating credit association using its funds for political purposes was when some idiot Democratic lawmaker was trying to get them banned as "illegal lotteries" and they donated to the campaign against it.

People don't join kke for the purpose of politics, nor would they likely want to see the money they put in going towards that end, any more than you'd want to see your bank deducting money from your balance for its own political goals.

SunWuKong

07-14-2003, 11:29 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tvbdude @ Jul 12 2003, 01:12 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I don't think that's the right tong character. the bottom is suppose to be "to"-earth/land [/b][/quote]
oh are you sure? i looked it up on zhongwen.com to make sure.
can you type it in a post for me?

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 11:31 AM

that's not tong. that's dan as in political affiliation.

as in guo ming dan de dan

tong is a different character. i suppose the tong used in this case (sorry can't write it. no chinese program) means together, similiar etc etc as in tong yan de tong (same, similar).

that's the only thing i can think of that's remotely similiar to the concept of biao hui and lai hui

i forgot about this topic and i still have no idea what you guys are talking about. is it a cult or something i.e. people with the same last name (tong is being used in this sense)sharing funds?

SunWuKong

07-17-2003, 11:54 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 17 2003, 02:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> that's not tong. that's dan as in political affiliation.

as in guo ming dan de dan

tong is a different character. i suppose the tong used in this case (sorry can't write it. no chinese program) means together, similiar etc etc as in tong yan de tong (same, similar).

that's the only thing i can think of that's remotely similiar to the concept of biao hui and lai hui

i forgot about this topic and i still have no idea what you guys are talking about. is it a cult or something i.e. people with the same last name (tong is being used in this sense)sharing funds? [/b][/quote]
i think "tong" is an old Cantonese romanisation.  it's pronounced more like "dong" though.

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 12:04 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Jul 17 2003, 01:54 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 17 2003, 02:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> that's not tong. that's dan as in political affiliation.

as in guo ming dan de dan

tong is a different character. i suppose the tong used in this case (sorry can't write it. no chinese program) means together, similiar etc etc as in tong yan de tong (same, similar).

that's the only thing i can think of that's remotely similiar to the concept of biao hui and lai hui

i forgot about this topic and i still have no idea what you guys are talking about. is it a cult or something i.e. people with the same last name (tong is being used in this sense)sharing funds? [/b][/quote]
i think "tong" is an old Cantonese romanisation. it's pronounced more like "dong" though.[/b][/quote]
so the dong/dan (whatever pinyin) mean they're affiliated with one another in sharing funds by virtue of their same last names? so one can form the lee dong with a group of lee's, a tsai dong with a group of tsai's, wong dong with a group of wong's and etc etc etc - kinda corny.

i've never heard it when i was growing up in taiwan and over here in the usa and my parents and relatives never done it or been asked to do it - and we have a really common chinese last name. is it purely done by chinese here in america?

my parents and i have done something similiar, but in no way do all the participants share the same last name, just really close friends pooling money together (lai hui and biao hui).

SunWuKong

07-17-2003, 03:48 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 17 2003, 03:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Jul 17 2003, 01:54 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 17 2003, 02:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> that's not tong. that's dan as in political affiliation.

as in guo ming dan de dan

tong is a different character. i suppose the tong used in this case (sorry can't write it. no chinese program) means together, similiar etc etc as in tong yan de tong (same, similar).

that's the only thing i can think of that's remotely similiar to the concept of biao hui and lai hui

i forgot about this topic and i still have no idea what you guys are talking about. is it a cult or something i.e. people with the same last name (tong is being used in this sense)sharing funds? [/b][/quote]
i think "tong" is an old Cantonese romanisation. it's pronounced more like "dong" though.[/b][/quote]
so the dong/dan (whatever pinyin) mean they're affiliated with one another in sharing funds by virtue of their same last names? so one can form the lee dong with a group of lee's, a tsai dong with a group of tsai's, wong dong with a group of wong's and etc etc etc - kinda corny.

i've never heard it when i was growing up in taiwan and over here in the usa and my parents and relatives never done it or been asked to do it - and we have a really common chinese last name. is it purely done by chinese here in america?

my parents and i have done something similiar, but in no way do all the participants share the same last name, just really close friends pooling money together (lai hui and biao hui). [/b][/quote]
i'm not sure.  i've only ever read about it.  maybe it's a west coast thing?  i think it may also be more common in the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.

also, i think it may not be just a common surname, but what region of China you're from, and a lot of times that correlates with having the same surname.

kasia

07-17-2003, 03:50 PM

you guys don't have tongs in your chinatown?  where the old ppl go to play mahjong?

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 03:54 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (kasia @ Jul 17 2003, 05:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> you guys don't have tongs in your chinatown? where the old ppl go to play mahjong? [/b][/quote]
huh?

what does da mah jong have anything to do with it? it's an illegal gambling house in chinatown now?

when my folks play m.j. they just get together with their friends/co-workers or hit up atlantic city or mohegan sun.

when my grandparents played m.j. back in taiwan they just got together with friends and/or co-workers.

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 04:01 PM

so back to the question

is it tong or dong in mandarin? they are two different chinese characters.

i guess either can be used to refer to this?

tong: being similiar, same etc etc

dong: being affiliated in the same way in some way? i.e. same political party affiliation.

i can tell my mom and pops about this. they can meet new people and hang out with them now that they're retired. that is, only if it don't involve them shelling out money to put some dude's kid through college or grad school. you know how shady chinese people are.

and also does this happen mostly amongst chinese people that aren't recent immigrants - like they already have previous generations that lived here in america i.e.  3rd, 4th generation chinese american? if so, i don't think my parents would be interested.  they find them odd with nothing in common and unable to communicate with them.

kasia

07-17-2003, 04:18 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 17 2003, 03:01 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> so back to the question

is it tong or dong in mandarin? they are two different chinese characters.

i guess either can be used to refer to this?

tong: being similiar, same etc etc

dong: being affiliated in the same way in some way? i.e. same political party affiliation.

i can tell my mom and pops about this. they can meet new people and hang out with them now that they're retired. that is, only if it don't involve them shelling out money to put some dude's kid through college or grad school. you know how shady chinese people are.

and also does this happen mostly amongst chinese people that aren't recent immigrants - like they already have previous generations that lived here in america i.e. 3rd, 4th generation chinese american? if so, i don't think my parents would be interested. they find them odd with nothing in common and unable to communicate with them. [/b][/quote]
it's tong.  dan is dong in cantonese.

they're usually not recent immigrants - they're still first-generationers, but have been here for decades.  when you walk through your chinatown, do you hear the sound of mahjong being played above the stores?  some of those may be the tong headquarters.

and yes, they can be shady.  the scholarship money always goes to the immediate family members of the officers.

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 04:24 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (YuheiCarreau @ Jun 12 2003, 12:02 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> About these hui things... How exactly does it work? Does the person recieving the money that month just get the entire month's worth from the other members, or is some of the money left as savings, or what? [/b][/quote]
to make it short and simple:

a bunch of close friends/relatives pool in x amount of money per week/month.

one person is in charge of holding and keeping tabs on the funds.

if one of them needs money they will dip in the pool and get how much they need or how much money the pool has. that person doesn't need to put in money for that week/month. the others will split what the borrower usually puts in. so in other words, they put in their usual amount plus what the borrower puts in, split x ways to cover what the borrower usually puts in a week/month.

from my personal experience: if two people need money at the same time. the money goes to the person that needs the most amount.

deez nuts

07-17-2003, 04:29 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (kasia @ Jul 17 2003, 06:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> it's tong. dan is dong in cantonese.
[/b][/quote]
so in reference to this: in mandarin it's tong yan de tong. not guo ming dong de dong? not the character swk wrote? i need to write it for my parents since they have no idea what this is. worse comes to worse, i'll just write both characters out for them. geez for some reason this is complicated for me

they're usually not recent immigrants - they're still first-generationers, but have been here for decades. when you walk through your chinatown, do you hear the sound of mahjong being played above the stores? some of those may be the tong headquarters.

possibly, but from my experience here in nyc, if you hear the massive shuffling of m.j. tiles upstairs or in the basement it's usually an illegal gambling house operated by a chinese gang. i used to work in a few when i was in high school.  great money, off the books and the gangsta bitch hood rats digged it.

and yes, they can be shady. the scholarship money always goes to the immediate family members of the officers.

ouch. i'd figure as much.

thanks for patience in this topic, swk and kasie.

just trying to find new things to occupy my folks with.

SunWuKong

07-17-2003, 09:12 PM

oh i thought it's the character that i wrote.  now i'm confused.  i just assumed it's the same dong as guo min dong.  because that same dong is used for triad groups, political parties, etc etc.

kasia

07-17-2003, 09:36 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Jul 17 2003, 08:12 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> oh i thought it's the character that i wrote. now i'm confused. i just assumed it's the same dong as guo min dong. because that same dong is used for triad groups, political parties, etc etc. [/b][/quote]
i thought 'tong' was used for some triads. it's tong, sounds like the 'tong'  in 'tong yun' - chinese person. tong = association.

YuheiCarreau

07-17-2003, 09:37 PM

This is good. If HK, China, and Taiwan were all nuked to smithereens today, tomorrow we'd have CSB, Kasia, and SWK sitting around debating how the Chinese actually lived.

"Do you think they really ate 1,000-year-old eggs?"

"I dunno. My grandfather once ate an egg that had been sitting out for like, a week"

"Well, I guess we'll never know now... Do you think they really ate with sticks?"

kasia

07-17-2003, 09:41 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (YuheiCarreau @ Jul 17 2003, 08:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> This is good. If HK, China, and Taiwan were all nuked to smithereens today, tomorrow we'd have CSB, Kasia, and SWK sitting around debating how the Chinese actually lived.

"Do you think they really ate 1,000-year-old eggs?"

"I dunno. My grandfather once ate an egg that had been sitting out for like, a week"

"Well, I guess we'll never know now... Do you think they really ate with sticks?" [/b][/quote]
but the tongs were formed in the US!

SunWuKong

07-17-2003, 10:01 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (kasia @ Jul 18 2003, 12:41 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (YuheiCarreau @ Jul 17 2003, 08:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> This is good. If HK, China, and Taiwan were all nuked to smithereens today, tomorrow we'd have CSB, Kasia, and SWK sitting around debating how the Chinese actually lived.

"Do you think they really ate 1,000-year-old eggs?"

"I dunno. My grandfather once ate an egg that had been sitting out for like, a week"

"Well, I guess we'll never know now... Do you think they really ate with sticks?" [/b][/quote]
but the tongs were formed in the US! [/b][/quote]
can you write out the word that you're thinking of?  or find a picture of it?

and actually tongs were first started in Southeast Asia, where the first waves of the Chinese diaspora went.

AliBabaIncorporated

07-17-2003, 10:33 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Jul 18 2003, 12:01 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> and actually tongs were first started in Southeast Asia, where the first waves of the Chinese diaspora went. [/b][/quote]
hehe, typical ... so much of the stuff that ABCs think they did first or makes them unique, we had long before. baba dan nonya boleh!

SunWuKong

07-17-2003, 10:50 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AliBabaIncorporated @ Jul 18 2003, 01:33 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> baba dan nonya boleh! [/b][/quote]
oh yes, the original hapa identity.   :P

deez nuts

07-18-2003, 03:41 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Jul 17 2003, 11:12 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> oh i thought it's the character that i wrote. now i'm confused. i just assumed it's the same dong as guo min dong. because that same dong is used for triad groups, political parties, etc etc. [/b][/quote]
you did write out dong

that's what i've been trying to say.

friggin cantonese.

j/k

deez nuts

07-18-2003, 03:46 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (kasia @ Jul 17 2003, 11:36 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> i thought 'tong' was used for some triads. it's tong, sounds like the 'tong' in 'tong yun' - chinese person. tong = association. [/b][/quote]
are you speaking cantonese or mandarin?

tong yun means "same" in mandarin

ok, i'll make this simple the chinese character swk wrote is dong in mandarin. meaning a group of people with the same interest i.e. political affiliation, gang, guo ming dong, whatever.

when you are saying "tong" i assume it's cantonese for dong

to make it easy: is that the right character for what you are referring to in this thread. right now i'm confused whether you mean the mandarin tong or mandarin dong

please get with it, cantonese people. hahahahaha

this is like getting together with my cantonese cousins. mass confusion.

AliBabaIncorporated

07-18-2003, 05:25 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 18 2003, 05:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> are you speaking cantonese or mandarin?

tong yun means "same" in mandarin

ok, i'll make this simple the chinese character swk wrote is dong in mandarin. meaning a group of people with the same interest i.e. political affiliation, gang, guo ming dong, whatever.

when you are saying "tong" i assume it's cantonese for dong

to make it easy: is that the right character for what you are referring to in this thread. right now i'm confused whether you mean the mandarin tong or mandarin dong

please get with it, cantonese people. hahahahaha

this is like getting together with my cantonese cousins. mass confusion. [/b][/quote]
my god ... this is why Cantonese pinyin is a bad idea. y'all never see me writing in Hakka pinyin and expecting y'all to understand. Dunno why they say "fear not heaven, fear not earth, fear only Cantonese people speaking mandarin," Cantonese people speaking Cantonese is even worse. Damn provincials.  :P

"Tong yun" is a Cantonese word which people use to mean "Chinese people." That "tong" is tang2, like the Tang dynasty. "Yun" is ren2, people. That is not the character for the "tongs" which are the topic of this thread.

There is another character  which means a big room, or the cousins on your mother's side. Coincidentally it's read the same way and same tone as the character "Tang dynasty" in both Mandarin and Cantonese (tang2 like tian1 tang2 "paradise"). This is the one Kasie is referring to. It's also the word used to refer to the "tong" family associations which are the topic of this thread.

The character which SWK wrote out way back there, Pinyin dang3, in the first place is not the "tong" association which is the topic of this thread. Different kind of association. Like KMT or the Democratic Party. Neither Cantonese nor Mandarin reads this character in the same way as "Tang dynasty" or the "tong" which is the topic of this thread. The tone is different and the initial consonant is not the same "t" sound.

deez nuts

07-18-2003, 07:10 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AliBabaIncorporated @ Jul 18 2003, 07:25 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chasiubao_Boy @ Jul 18 2003, 05:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> are you speaking cantonese or mandarin?

tong yun means "same" in mandarin

ok, i'll make this simple the chinese character swk wrote is dong in mandarin. meaning a group of people with the same interest i.e. political affiliation, gang, guo ming dong, whatever.

when you are saying "tong" i assume it's cantonese for dong

to make it easy: is that the right character for what you are referring to in this thread. right now i'm confused whether you mean the mandarin tong or mandarin dong

please get with it, cantonese people. hahahahaha

this is like getting together with my cantonese cousins. mass confusion. [/b][/quote]
my god ... this is why Cantonese pinyin is a bad idea. y'all never see me writing in Hakka pinyin and expecting y'all to understand. Dunno why they say "fear not heaven, fear not earth, fear only Cantonese people speaking mandarin," Cantonese people speaking Cantonese is even worse. Damn provincials. :P

"Tong yun" is a Cantonese word which people use to mean "Chinese people." That "tong" is tang2, like the Tang dynasty. "Yun" is ren2, people. That is not the character for the "tongs" which are the topic of this thread.

There is another character which means a big room, or the cousins on your mother's side. Coincidentally it's read the same way and same tone as the character "Tang dynasty" in both Mandarin and Cantonese (tang2 like tian1 tang2 "paradise"). This is the one Kasie is referring to. It's also the word used to refer to the "tong" family associations which are the topic of this thread.

The character which SWK wrote out way back there, Pinyin dang3, in the first place is not the "tong" association which is the topic of this thread. Different kind of association. Like KMT or the Democratic Party. Neither Cantonese nor Mandarin reads this character in the same way as "Tang dynasty" or the "tong" which is the topic of this thread. The tone is different and the initial consonant is not the same "t" sound. [/b][/quote]
hahahaha, i agree. that's why to be fair, i don't even bother picking up cantonese.

thanks ali. that's what i thought that it's the "tong" character in mandarin i initially thought it was, not the "dong" character (swk used) in mandarin as in guo ming dong, in reference to this thread.

SunWuKong

07-18-2003, 07:19 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AliBabaIncorporated @ Jul 18 2003, 08:25 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> There is another character  which means a big room, or the cousins on your mother's side. Coincidentally it's read the same way and same tone as the character "Tang dynasty" in both Mandarin and Cantonese (tang2 like tian1 tang2 "paradise"). This is the one Kasie is referring to. It's also the word used to refer to the "tong" family associations which are the topic of this thread.

The character which SWK wrote out way back there, Pinyin dang3, in the first place is not the "tong" association which is the topic of this thread. Different kind of association. Like KMT or the Democratic Party. Neither Cantonese nor Mandarin reads this character in the same way as "Tang dynasty" or the "tong" which is the topic of this thread. The tone is different and the initial consonant is not the same "t" sound. [/b][/quote]
oh this:°ó ?
i always just assumed that tong was a bad romanisation and that it was:ÄÒ

deez nuts

07-18-2003, 10:48 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (YuheiCarreau @ Jul 17 2003, 11:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> This is good. If HK, China, and Taiwan were all nuked to smithereens today, tomorrow we'd have CSB, Kasia, and SWK sitting around debating how the Chinese actually lived.

"Do you think they really ate 1,000-year-old eggs?"

"I dunno. My grandfather once ate an egg that had been sitting out for like, a week"

"Well, I guess we'll never know now... Do you think they really ate with sticks?" [/b][/quote]
hahaha

nice one.

but, we all know i am the chinesiest...i mean taiwanesiest, errrr whatever, so there will be no debate.

heh heh heh heh