How do you start out an interview with a spry 102-year-old? In the US, you might ask if he remembers seeing his first car. In Beijing you might ask him about whether he ever had a queue, the long braid hairstyle for men from the Qing Dynasty, which was still kicking in 1911-12.

The queue question is the opening line from a talk show in which the host interviews Zhōu Yǒuguāng (see here). It serves as a reminder, again, that Manchu culture and, by extension, language are not that far in China’s past (which is of course why we set up the Echoes of Manchu blog to explore the subject).

In this clip you can hear mostly Zhōu Yǒuguāng’s very un-Beijing Mandarin (he lives in the capital but hails from Shanghai) with its /s/ instead of /sh/ or /ts/ instead of /ch/.

[Go to website or bottom of this post to listen to audio]

HOST:
Zhōu xiānsheng, nín shì 1906 nián shēngrén.
周先生，您是1906年生人
Mr. Zhou, you were born in 1906

ZHOU:
Duì
对
Right.

HOST:
Nà nín shūguo biànzi ma?
那您梳过辫子吗？
Then have you braided your hair? [Manchu style]

ZHOU:
Méiyǒu. Nàge shíhòu suīrán shì qīngcháo
没有。那个时候虽然是清朝
No, at that time although it was still the Qing Dynasty,

yǐjīng shì kāishǐ xiàndài huà le.
已经是开始现代化了
it was already changing into the modern era.

Nánháizi zài chénglǐmian dōu tí duǎn tóufa le.
男孩子在城里面都剃短头发了
Boys in the city were already shaving their hair.

Zài xiāngxia háiyǒu shū biànzi de
在乡下还有梳辫子的
In the country there were still those who braided.

Wǒ suīrán jīnglì le sìge shídài:
我虽然经历了四个时代
Although I’ve lived through four eras:

Qīngcháo, Běiyáng Zhèngfǔ, Guómíndǎng Zhèngfǔ, xīn Zhōngguó
清朝，北洋政府，国民党政府，新中国
Qing Dynasty, Beiyang Government, Kuomintang (Nationalist) Government, new China.

yīnwèi Qīngcháode shíhòu wǒ niánjì tài xiǎo
因为清朝的时候我年纪太小。
because during the Qing Dynasty I was too young

qíngkuàng bùyīdìng liǎojiě.
情况不一定了解
I didn’t necessarily understand the circumstances [this needs translation and perhaps transcription help]

Búguò méiyǒu shū biànzi dàoshi zhēnde.
不过没有梳辫子倒是真的
But there certainly wasn’t any hair braiding.

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