Mandarin variant:  万

Character story:

Derived from the character for insect 벌, 萬 만 actually does resemble a fly.

Much like insects that are almost infinite, 萬 represents a huge number. To the ancient Chinese and Koreans, this was around 10,000. Therefore, 萬 both represents the real number 10,000 and the concept of limitless or a huge amount!

Shin Saimdang, Grass and Insects (Joseon, 16th century)

a famous and respected female artist and the mother of a hugely famous scholar in Korean history, Shin Saimdang is featured on the Korean 50,0000 won bill (五萬 오만)! Read more about her works below (also img credit):

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/animals-and-plants-in-korean-traditional-paintings-i-%C2%A0plants-and-insects-national-museum-of-korea/8ALCU0JJWG92Lg?hl=en

Study vocab here!

Vocab:

萬歲      만세      hurrah, hurray

ten thousand x years (roughly “long live the king!”’s equivalent)

^百萬      백만      million

100 x ten thousand

^千萬      천만      ten million

1000 x ten thousand

萬物      만물      all things

innumerable x (physical) thing, object

萬事      만사      everything

innumerable x (conceptual) thing, affairs, matter

             만사가 형통하다            everything goes well

天下萬事            천하만사          everything[all (things)] in the world

sky x under x innumerable x things 

萬人      만인      all people, everybody

innumerable x person

萬邦      만방      the nations of the world

innumerable x state, nation

萬病      만병      all (kinds of) diseases

innumerable x disease

萬能      만능      omnipotence,having an all-round capability

innumerable x capabilities

萬般 의  準備    만반의 준비*    be fully ready (for)

innumerable x manner + certain x preparation

萬年筆  만년필  fountain pen

ten thousand x years x pen

萬壽無疆            만수무강*          a long life

ten thousand x longevity x no x boundry

萬無      만무*    cannot be, be hardly possible (that)

innumerable x no (absence)

萬一      만일      just in case

ten thousand x one (one chance in ten thousand)

              만일의 경우      in case

萬若      만약      if, in case

innumerable x if

Notes: 

*can add 하다 to make a verb form

^The Korean counting system is based on the Chinese, which unlike English hinges on ten thousand, not one thousand. Therefore,

ten::: 십

hundred::: 백

thousand::: 천

ten thousand::: 만

hundred thousand::: 십만 (ten ten thousand)

million::: 백만 (hundred ten thousand)

ten million::: 천만 (thousand ten thousand)

hundred million:::: 억

etc etc.

They re-converge at this point!

The Mother Tongue of Every Canadian

S/HE: PERFORMANCE ART by Amanda Heng. Performance Art. 1995

Born in 1951, Amanda Heng is Singapore’s foremost contemporary female artist who dabbles in performance art, installation, and photography. 

In S/He, Heng uses her own body to express the hybridization of Asian and Western culture. Singapore, which became independent from Malaysia in 1965, implemented a bilingual policy in 1966, with English as the official language. The secondary language was Mandarin, but the majority of ethnic Chinese living in Singapore at that time could speak neither Mandarin nor English. 

This work is based on the experiences of Singaporeans damaged and marginalized by this national language policy. By writing Chinese characters and letters of the alphabet on her own face, Heng address that the question of where to belong, where to go, what to do and how to be a useful and contributing member of society became not only an existential quest but one that is painfully real and disturbing.