Message in a Bottle

This afternoon, while walking along the Mugnone, I came across a message written by chalk on a gray trash bin. As far as I understand, it is written in Japanese, and whoever the recipient is, now she or he can be sure that it will never fade away.

戌 (Dog)

14-year-old male sea lion Chen writes the Chinese character 戌 (dog) at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise (八景島シーパラダイス) aquarium in Yokohama (横浜), Japan to mark the imminence of the Year of the Dog which will begin on February 16, 2018. Photo: Aflo/Rex/Shutterstock.

素描 (Drawing)

Artwork: 张广 (Zhāng Guǎng)

The Name of the Rose

• Fabien Simonis, 侯 (Hóu)? 逸凡 (Yìfán)? What’s in a name..., ChessBase.com, December 19, 2013

“Your discussion of ‘Kosteniuk, Kosintseva, and 逸凡 (Yìfán)’ in recent articles sounds as dissonant to a Chinese reader as ‘Clinton, Bush, and Barack’”, writes Fabien Simonis from 东莞 (Dōngguǎn), China — and goes on to give us a primer on the correct use of Chinese names. To his very useful instructions we add a reprint of a 2004 article explaining Indian, Russian and other names. [Read more].

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s autograph on letterhead of the Marina Mandarin Hotel in Singapore. Photo: sgchess.net.