Whoo boy, there's a lot to go through... I'm just going to do this in one 
message, consolidating all the messages here...


At 09:56 AM 1/31/2001 -0800, ^_^x Kenshin-dono wrote:
> >>http://www.geocities.com/tenchi_mp/akusokuzan.jpg
>i just checked and it loaded fine now. musta been having problems. So is
>that right? (the caligraphy version i think)

Yes, it is.  The calligraphy looks fine, too.  I'm pretty sure the same 
type was used quite often in Rurouni Kenshin.


At 09:26 AM 1/31/2001 -0800, Kathleen wrote:
>Well, although I am only assuming that those are Chinese characters, imho 
>those
>would be the ones you want because you are a Metal Monkey according to  the
>Chinese calendar. ;-)

That was my thought, as well, which is why I didn't say not to use them 
outright, but to confirm which language he wanted.


At 11:12 PM 1/31/2001 -0800, ^_^x Kenshin-dono wrote:
>At 12:29 PM 2/1/01 +0800, 'CuSO4' Yung wrote:
> >>From: "Sasami-chan" <b4506062@csie.ntu.edu.tw>
> >>http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~b4506062/goldmonkey.gif
> >>It sounds better (being gold and all ;) and, correct me
> >>if I am wrong, "gold" is often the word used for
> >>representing the metal in the elements. I am also
> >>almost 100% certain "gold" is identical in Japanese
> >>and Chinese. Comment, Dr. Briefs, CuSO4?

Yes, the kanji for "gold" is the same in Chinese and Japanese.  However, 
the kanji for monkey....  The one you have is commonly used in Chinese, but 
is rarely, if ever, used in Japanese.  The Japanese for "monkey" is "saru," 
and the corresponding kanji, if translated from the common Chinese usage, 
is "ape."


> >In this case, Kenshin-dono is referring to one of the five
> >elements : Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.  So the character
> >needed is indeed "Gold".
>what the bloody hell? err isn't there just a charicter for Metal itself? or
>does metal and gold mean the same thing in chinese? AHHH im confused as hell!

In Chinese, if you want to say "metal" in general, you would use the hanzi 
for "gold" in conjunction with another hanzi ("type").  So no, there is no 
single character that translates to "metal."  What literally translates to 
"gold-type" (two characters) is what's used for "metal."

In common usage, the character for "iron" is used almost interchangeably 
for the meaning of "metal," which is why Sasami-chan originally erred and 
used that, instead.


However, I agree with CuSO4 and Sasami-chan's analysis on the usage for 
"gold" in this instance.  The use of "gold" as meaning "metal" is archaic, 
but it is used exactly this way to represent the five elements, so it would 
definitely apply in the case of "metal monkey" as a form of the "Chinese 
zodiac."


>just clarification, these are the Chinese, not Japanese characters for
>Metal monkey right?

Yes.


--
Glenn Wang <brief@ix.netcom.com>, http://www.capcorphq.com/
       Proud member of #SAS# and Co-Founder of #WASHU#
      One Ring to rule them all.  One Ring to find them,
   One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
                                         -Lord of the Rings