11.20.08
Sexual Education and Family Planning with Chinese Characteristics
This past summer, during my trip to the Yu Village in Southern Hebei, I came across a jovial series of public health/sex education signs. They were constructed out of tile and affixed to the sides of stone buildings lining the main road of the Yu Village. Several generations ago, public displays such as these were the main avenues for the dissemination of public information. Thesedays, they are less and less common, and virtually non-existent in major cities. The following signs give step-by-step instructions on how you and your family can live a happy healthy life, and I have translated them for your enjoyment. Read carefully. You might even learn something.
(Click on the images to see enlarged views)
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Fresh New Marriage and Child Rearing for 10,000 Families
Carrying out the activities of “Fresh New Marriage and Child Rearing for 10,000 Families” relies on the community, depends on families, and is for the greater purpose of establishing proper childbearing masses, science, civilization, and improving the institution of marriage. Our purpose is to create families which are civilized and happy, have less children, and become rich fast. There should be a societal trend in which marriage and childbearing is delayed, having less children is eugenic, and having a girl is just as good as having a boy. Happiness is connected to you, me, and others. Keep your knowledge of marriage and child rearing up to date, and help to establish Fresh New Marriage and Child Rearing. Promote the idea of women having only one child. note: ”10,000” is a commonly used Chinese hyperbolic expression implying an extremely large, if not infinite number. |
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The Wonderful Green Spring Period
What is the Green Spring Period? The Green Spring Period… What are the signs of the Green Spring Period? The secondary sexual characteristics appear side note: 青春期 (the Green Spring Period), in English is commonly known as “puberty.” However, the adolescent in me couldn’t help but leave it directly translated. |
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The Wonderful Green Spring Period
“Menstruation,” What’s going on? Once a girl has reached the Green Spring Period, the inner lining of the uterus and the hormones begin to react. Girls will find that a cycle begins, and they will bleed. Blood will come out of the vagina and this is called “menstruation.” The menstrual cycle on average is 28 days. Menstruating is a sign of a healthy girl. What you should pay attention to during your menstrual period If you fall in love early, you could easily be affected by bad guys What are the dangers of falling in love early? blurb, middle right: 工读学校 (a special school for kids who need extra discipline) |
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Wish You A Happy Marriage
What is the pre-marriage examination? Regular gynecological exam Help for you to get through the difficult peri-natal period
What you should pay attention to during labor What you should pay attention to during the post-partum period |
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How to Have a Healthy and Smart Child
Why close relatives can’t get married The chances of inheriting a genetic disease are 150 times higher for children whose parents are related as opposed to those of unrelated parents. What is 优生? Who determines the sex of the child? note: The word next to the crying mother and female child in the bottom right (过去) means “in the past.” The word next to the two happy parents and the female child (现在) means “now,” thus implying in the past having a girl would make a couple sad, whereas today it will make a couple happy. |
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Necessary Precautions for Pregnancy
How to project your due date Due date: How do you know you’re pregnant? Early on in pregnancy, most women feel nausea, vomit, notice enlargement of the breasts, and become picky about their food |
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Healthcare for Infants
What kinds of special neonatal care should be given to infants? Neonatal refers to the period from when the baby is born until it is 28 days old Remember: Do not button their clothes. Do not use a needle either. You should use a 带子系 which is tied at one side The best thing for infants to eat is their mother’s milk Mother’s milk is full of various nutrients. it’s easy to digest and absorb, it can boost the immune system, it’s economical, convenient, clean, and it’s the appropriate temperature. Under normal circumstances, at about 10-12 months, an infant should stop drinking its mother’s milk. |
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Care for Common Infant Maladies
What kinds of maladies do infants often get? Anemia Children’s Rickets Hives Care for whooping cough “Children’s Hospital” Go quickly to the hospital to get a diagnosis |
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Choosing the Most Suitable Birth Control Method for You 1. For unmarried women 2. During the breast feeding period 3. A mother with one child 4. Parents with two children 5. Couples living in two different regions 6. Women nearing menopause |
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| Control the population and thus improve the population’s quality.Strengthen the population and the Family Planning Policy. Stabilize the low birth rate. |










Louise
said,
November 20, 2008 at 7:10 pm
What are “visiting relatives” birth control pills? The name is confusing.
Josh
said,
November 20, 2008 at 7:20 pm
That wall seems like it was miles long!
I think my favorite part was seeing the cucumber-looking character chasing Little Red Riding Hood, apparently his cousin. Good thing that girl knows illegal when she sees it…ha!
maxiewawa
said,
November 20, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I bet that took a while to translate. 辛苦了。
china pasticcio
said,
November 20, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Love this and appreciate your xinku le. Though, had it been me and being even more adolescent than yourself it would seem…I would have gone with Green “Lust” Period as a translation for chūn.
Again, thanks for sharing…
耿氏
said,
November 20, 2008 at 10:54 pm
yeah , fighting ! your translation is funning ,hehe. In fact, according to this education signs,I mean the country people look so childish,you see!,what makes me embarassed. in some way ,everything is lovely,including you and me.
drewsky
said,
November 20, 2008 at 11:05 pm
what the fuck is a menstrual belt?
Benjamin Ross
said,
November 21, 2008 at 12:04 am
@Louise
According to two Chinese friends I consulted, “Visiting relatives” birth control pills are a pill which is designed for short-term encounters. For example, you will be going out of town for a weekend to see your wife/girlfriend/other girlfriend/secretary and the woman needs a birth control pill, but one which is only intended to be taken for a short period to provide temporary contraception. I did a little of my own research as well, and couldn’t figure out exactly which form of contraception this matches up to in English. If anybody does, please comment.
@drewsky
my thoughts exactly
xge
said,
November 21, 2008 at 4:20 am
There may not be a English name for Visiting Relative Pill. It is a Chinese thing. In the past, every thing is central planed, including your job and the place you are assigned to live in. People are not allowed to move around freely. For example, a couple may be assigned to two jobs in two cities. They are allowed about a month a year for family visit. The pill is specially designed for them.
chriswaugh_bj
said,
November 21, 2008 at 5:11 am
Would the “visiting relatives” pill be the morning after pill? Short term, as in take within 72 hours of having unprotected sex/breaking the condom. It generally works by bringing on the period within a couple of days.
Sue
said,
November 22, 2008 at 5:29 am
Hi, Ben,
How things have changed from 20-30 years ago. Although those information are displayed publicly probably due to they are not taught in school or discussed privately enough. Still, I see this as progress as you will not see this 20-30 years ago.
Just couple of minor questions about 3rd picture, in “What you should pay attention to during your menstrual period”.
Dose “Do not shower” corespondent to “不要淋雨”? If so, would it be “Do not get wet in the rain”?
I got confused by the word eluviate in “Every day use warm water to wash the genital area or eluviate”.
Can’t find it in my dictionary and online translator.
After google it, I got “to be subjected to eluviation”.
Then in wiki eluviation
“1. (soil science, countable) The sideways or downward movement of dissolved or suspended material within soil caused by rainfall,
2. (geology, uncountable) Creation of geological deposits (eluvial deposits) by in situ weathering or weathering plus gravitational movement or accumulation.”
I’m confused. How would you translate eluviate into Chinese?
I would translate “每日用温水擦洗外阴或淋浴” as “”Every day use warm water to wash the genital area or shower”.
moonlight?
I feel a bit silly now going over the minor details here. I’ll stop.
Jake
said,
November 24, 2008 at 12:08 pm
That made my day! Ha!
Shane
said,
November 25, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Hi Ben,
I would like to talk to you about Fuzhou. I am planning a trip next year and would like to know your thoughts about certain questions I have about the Expat/European community there.
Here is my email add: >>mattenleys@yahoo.com
Ben
said,
November 25, 2008 at 8:02 pm
@ chriswaugh_bj
The morning after pill is usually called 紧急避孕药 (“emergency” pill) or 事后避孕药 (“after the act” pill), so I am pretty sure the “visiting relatives pill” is something different. Also, the morning after pill usually makes women feel like crap for a couple days, so I doubt it would ever be recommended in any other context than emergency contraception.
@sue
-The wording in the third pic is不要淋浴, so I think it is referring to showering not necessarily the rain.
-I am quite confused with the word “eluviate” as well. The word in question was 淋溶. When I checked various sources including Kingsoft Powerword and Google translate, “eluviate” was the best I could come up with. I think your translation is probably more accurate (and I was thinking along those lines as well), but was hesitant to just rely on intuition until I could actually figure out what 淋溶 means. More often than not though in translation, intuition is the most reliable source. Thanks for your corrections.
eileen
said,
December 21, 2008 at 10:38 am
it’s so funny to translate 美好的青春期 into “The Wonderful Green Spring Period”, lol, and i find the first item under the title “Choosing the Most Suitable Birth Control Method for You -Contraception method choices” is incorrect, i bet u have misunderstood , it’s for newly-married couples, not for unmarried women.
Nina
said,
January 4, 2009 at 2:30 am
Great material, and thanks for translating. I was a little confused about
“female: [...] the voice gets higher.”
I was not aware that female voices actually get higher during puberty, I don’t think mine did and none of my female friends’ did. Is this more a cultural thing than a biological?
shoe
said,
June 24, 2009 at 5:25 pm
reading is an exhausting thing…