Articles About the Chinese Language

Diagnosis: Fire

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I actually never really caught the fire before I moved to China, so it's not that big of a surprise that the condition has never been properly diagnosed in the west. In the Chinese language it's called, 上(Shang4) 火(Huo3). The second word is easy to translate as it just means, ‘fire.' The first word is more difficult, as it appears in countless places, and can mean a variety of things. In general it means, ‘on' or ‘go to' like in the phrase 上(Shang4) 课(Ke4), ‘go to class.'

There are lots of ways that one can 上火, or ‘come down with the fire.' If you don't eat enough fruit, you'll get fire. Eating too much hot pot will do it to you too. If you work long hours and wear yourself out you're also a prime candidate for fire. Luckily, there are just as many ways to fight the fire. Any drug store will have many shelves filled with remedies that claim to 散(San4) 火(Huo3), or ‘disperse' the fire. Usually they are colorful and somewhat sweet little tablets that you take 6 or 8 at a time. I was a non-believer for a long time. It's easy to pass it off as superstition when someone tells you that you have caught the fire. But actually, I think it's something about China that actually makes it possible to catch the fire.