This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
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1. Why do we go “up” (上) to the toilet and “down” (下) to the kitchen?
Since ancient times China has had the Five Phases, and the Five Phases correspond to five directions. In ancient times the toilet was built in the north, slightly to the east, and the kitchen had to be built in the south, slightly to the east. When going south, people habitually said “going down south” (the emperor “went down” to Jiangnan); when going north, they habitually said “going up north” (going “up” north to resist Japan). To go to the toilet one had to go to the north side of the courtyard, so one said “go up to the toilet” (上厕所). To go to the kitchen one had to go to the south side of the courtyard, so one said “go down to the kitchen” (下厨房).
2. The origin of the word 智囊 (zhìnáng, “brain trust,” literally “sack of wisdom”)
In the Warring States period, King Hui of Qin had a half-brother, Prince Ji. Prince Ji first served as shuzhang and was enfeoffed as Lord Yan for his military merit. Under King Wu of Qin, he and Gan Mao served as Left and Right Chancellors. Prince Ji was witty and full of stratagems, but because he suffered from goiter and had a large cyst on the front of his neck, the people of Qin jokingly called him “sack of wisdom” (智囊). The word 智囊 later gradually shifted in meaning from a cyst on someone’s body to a clever person.
3. Why do Buddhist disciples all take the surname 释 (Shì)?
释 is one of the surnames of the Han Chinese, generally used uniformly by monastics of Chinese Buddhism, and it is not included in the Hundred Family Surnames. Chinese monastics taking 释 as their surname began with the Chan master Dao’an. In the early days of Buddhism, the śramaṇa of the Wei and Jin took their teachers’ surnames, so their surnames differed. Dao’an held that the fundamental teacher of the Way was the World-Honored Śākyamuni, so “he named his clan after 释 (Śākya).” Later, when he translated the Ekottara Āgama, it contained the phrase “those who leave home from the four seas are all called the Shi clan.”
4. Why are buttons on men’s clothes on the “right,” and on women’s clothes on the “left”?
When buttons first appeared, only the coats of the rich had buttons. According to the customs of the time, men dressed themselves, while women were dressed by servants. Putting the buttons on the left of women’s blouses greatly helped the servants who attended their mistresses. The buttons on men’s shirts were on the right, not only because men dressed themselves, but also because it made it easier to draw with the right hand the sword hanging at the left hip without its catching on the shirt.
5. Why is a distinguished son-in-law called a “golden-turtle son-in-law” (金龟婿)?
The golden-turtle son-in-law is related to the insignia worn by Tang dynasty officials. In the early Tang it was stipulated that all court and provincial officials of the fifth rank and above wore fish tallies and fish pouches. The fish tallies were made of different materials: “princes of the blood with gold, ordinary officials with bronze, all inscribed with their rank and name.” The fish pouches were likewise “decorated with gold for the third rank and above, and with silver for the fifth rank and above.” Those who could wear a golden turtle (or golden turtle pouch) were all princes of the blood or officials of the third rank and above. Later generations therefore used “golden-turtle son-in-law” to refer to a son-in-law of high status.
