=海滩之贝=

Today I finally found the meaning of Lokutus Prime. Dear Loku posted it on his blog and I promised to do the same... Now, I'll be telling you the meaning of both my Chinese name and English one... (applause:D)

My 'official' name is Zhang Chi, in Chinese, 张弛. Zhang is my family name- it's a tradition of Chinese people to put their family name first in honor of their ancestors- which has many meaning in the word itself. It can mean 'open, look around, to spread, to stretch out, bold, a sheet of' and many other meanings. But when it combines with my given name Chi, it means one thing only. Together they form a phrase, meaning 'To draw a bow open, then release it.' as you can probably see provided you've installed Chinese characters in your computer- the left part of Zhang is 弓, which looks like a bow, right? Yes, It means bow in Chinese. The right part of Zhang is长, which means 'to open, to make sth bigger, taller, stronger'. Chi means 'to relax, slacken', in this case, it means 'to release the bow'.

The above is the original meaning of my name. However, there is a idiom in Chinese, 一张一弛，文武之道。It means, 'to work when it's time for work, to relax when it's time for relax, and you'll easily be successful in all things you attempt.' in fact, this is one of my 'life quotes'. I give it here to you, hope you can benefit from it...

Now, my English name, AzureTimm. The Timm is given 5 years ago by my first American friend. He was on a three-year visit to Harbin, where I live. I came to know because we attended the same painting class. His name is Jeffery Martin Lawdermilk. I call him Jeff, and asked him to give me a name. He thought for a while and here it is- Timm.

I looked up in my dictionary, and found it means 'To look up in awe'. Well, I told him before that I was a materialist, so he gave me that name to tell me there's always someone or something superior to me. And I'm thankful of that.

Now, azure. I came across The word 'Azure' while reading the last chapter of Dumas's The Count of Mount Cresto. I have already read the Chinese version and was trying the English version, and found it very poetic-

A light yacht, chaste and elegant in its form, was gliding amidst the first dews of night over the immense lake, extending from Gibraltar to the Dadanelles, and from Tunis to Venice, the vessel resembled a swan with its wings opened towards the wind, gliding on the water. It advanced swiftly and gracefully, leaving behind it a glittering stretch of foam. by degrees the sun disappeared behind the western horizon; but as though to prove the truth of the fanciful ideas in heathen mytholory, its indiscreet rays reappeared on the summit of every wave, as if the god of fire had just sunk upon the bosom of Amphitrite, who in vain endeavored to hide her lover beneath her azure mantle.

I looked up the dictionary to find it is the last word beginning with an 'a'. It means, 'Bright blue in color like the sky'. So I adapted it as my prefix, to tell you and me, where my heart belongs...

The above is all that's hidden in my name. Do you like it?

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在这片从直布罗陀到达达尼尔，从突尼斯到威尼斯的浩瀚无垠的大海上，一艘整洁，漂亮，轻捷的游艇正在黄昏的轻雾中穿行，犹如一只迎风展翅的天鹅，平稳地在水面上滑行。它迅速而优美地在它的后面留下一道发光的水痕。渐渐地，太阳消失在西方的地平线上了：但像是要证实神话家的幻想似的，尚未收尽的余辉像火焰一般跳动在每一个波浪的浪尖上，似乎告诉人们海神安费德丽蒂把火神拥抱在怀抱里，她虽然竭力要把爱人掩藏在她那蔚蓝的大毯子底下，却始终掩饰不住。海面上的风虽然还不够吹乱一个少女头上的鬈发，但那艘游艇却行进得非常快。…－《基度山伯爵》，章117。