家字的由來 / The Origin of the Chinese Character '家'

by mafmadmaf

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	1.	Side A 35:47
	2.	Side B 37:16

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Artist's Note

(1) 豭 (jiā) means male pig, refers to male mammals. Dating back to Shang Dynasty, the early inscriptions found on bones or tortoise shells documents the character family, 家, as feeding pigs under a roof, with 豕 pronounced shǐ, meaning pig. However, the character for family sounds the same as 豭 or male pig's abbreviated phonetic. 豭 in early inscriptions took on the form of a male pig, with reproductive organs. The seal script have since evolved from 豕 and the phonetic 叚 originally meaning male pig, to the general pig.

(2) On Chinese New Year's Eve, I asked my father and my uncle as they were cooking in the kitchen, "do we usually eat more of male pigs, or female pigs?" They replied: male pigs taste a lot better, because the meat of female pigs decrease in quality and nutrition as they age. All of the malnutrition accumulates over time.

(3) My guess is, whoever created the character 家 centuries ago must a male mammal too.

This field recording was recorded on the Chinese Lunar New Year's eve dinner of February 2021. The original recording follows the family from preparations in the kitchen, cooking, up until the family gathering on the dinner table. Settings are respectively 'kitchen' and 'dinner table' in chronological order. In the art piece, "Origin of the Character, 家 (Family)", 'kitchen' and 'dinner table' are located each in the left and right sound paths of the stereo. The two sound tracks are played simultaneously, improvised and non-improvised into combined sound.

mafmadmaf

///

作者筆記

（一）
豭（讀音 jiā），指公豬，亦指代雄性動物。
甲骨文「家」字的象形為在居室之下養豬（豕，讀音 shǐ）。但「家」字的讀音卻是跟隨「豭」字的省聲（省聲，指漢字形聲字的聲符為某字的省略）。豭，甲骨文像公豬之形，並畫出生殖器。小篆變為從「豕」，聲「叚」，本義為公豬，之後才泛指豬。
（二）
我問正在廚房熱火朝天地操刀年夜飯的二叔和他的大哥（我的父親）：我們平常吃的豬肉是公豬肉還是母豬肉？他們說，公豬的肉好吃很多。因為母豬的肉質和營養都隨著過長的生長時間而逐漸下降，體內的不良元素卻逐漸積累。
（三）
創造出「家」字的遠古之人，我猜是雌性動物。

實地聲音記錄於 2021 年 2 月的中國農歷新年除夕（年三十）團年飯。原始的線性記錄是從廚房備菜、烹調一直到餐桌上的家人聚餐，場景分為「廚房」和「餐桌」前後兩個部分。在《家字的由來》作品中，則將「廚房」和「餐桌」分別置於立體聲的左和右聲道，同時播放；並且即興或非即興地填充合成聲響。

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released November 9, 2023

Serial No: GX002
Release Date: 2023-11-27
Length: 73'04"
Genres: Ambient, Documentary
Composed by Liu Yuheng
Designed by maf-works.com
Published by Jyugam.
© Jyugam 2023

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mafmadmaf Guangzhou, China

Composer, graphic designer & indie publisher.
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