Chee Lai!

Is Bo Xilai's given name the same as the Chee Lai in The Song of the Volunteers, sung there (in Chinese of unknown-to-me quality) by Paul Robeson? I understand his father was a high-ranking party functionary; I can imagine such a person naming his son Arise.

Is Bo Xilai's given name the same as the Chee Lai

Nope. I was sure this would prove not to be the case, but it was fun to research what 熙来 (Xilai) really does mean. The first character is uncommon in modern Chinese and means "brightness" or "harmony." The second character is a very common one that means "come." So, together, we get something like "Brightness is Coming." More details on Xilai and his siblings on this page.

The word used in the song is 起来 = "qilai" in pinyin. It does, indeed, mean "get up" or "arise."

X in pinyin, by the way, isn't anything like an English "ch" sound. Rather, it's a palatalized "sh" sound. (English doesn't have it, but various other languages do.)

in Chinese of unknown-to-me quality

Not good.

Thanks.

Bo Qilai would certainly be a fine jocular name for the leader of a peasant uprising and nemesis of that old class enemy Yang Wei.

It's true that that character xi is not used often in modern Chinese for its underlying meaning, but it's nonetheless recognised by all as the second character in the name of Emperor Kangxi. No doubt this imperial association made it an auspicious choice for a son's name, even to a hardened revolutionary like Bo's father.

Chinese are always having to "spell out" their names with as-in references. So since childhood, Bo Xilai has been saying again and again, "that's xi as in Kangxi." This is the sort of factor that counts in picking a Chinese name.

The pinyin 'x' isn't the same as an English 'sh'. It's pronounced more like 'hs' (which is difficult for English speakers).

BTW - my Chinese student tells me that we also mispronounce Ai Wei Wei. His name should be pronounced as 'I Wee Wee'

No, in Mandarin his name sounds far closer to "I Way Way."

The pinyin 'x' isn't the same as an English 'sh'. It's pronounced more like 'hs' (which is difficult for English speakers).

Nobody said it was, you ninny. What part of "palatalized" and "English doesn't have it" did you fail to understand?

Also, 'hs,' though formerly used as a transcription for the sound under the old Wade-Giles system, is a terrible way to tell an English speaker to produce the sound, as it's almost certain to result in a hiss that is completely off the mark. Your comical comment about Ai Wei Wei likewise goes to show that, unlike the other posters on this thread, you've never studied Mandarin, so you don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.

A puntastic Bo Xilai reference

(Due to the mainland government's crackdown on high spending at government banquets, Hong Kong wine re-exporters are having a hard time.)

No, I've never studied Mandarin.
OTOH, my informant has spoken it every day of her life.

Mmmhmm. Go ahead, keep digging yourself deeper...

OTOH, my informant has spoken it every day of her life.

"Your informant" is either having some Chinese fun at your expense or is speaking some local Chinese dialect that is not Mandarin. This is not remotely open to debate. Try Googling "Ai Wewei pronounced" for starters, then listen to some sound files for how Mandarin is pronounced. Or, alternatively, listen to the individual characters in the name here and here.

Why people will insist on opining on languages they've never studied is something I cannot begin to fathom.

BTW - my Chinese student tells me that we also mispronounce Ai Wei Wei. His name should be pronounced as 'I Wee Wee'

Just for information - how old is your student?, That sounds like a joke some of my younger kids would love. Did your student also ask you to spell ICUP?

FYi - she's 33.
A mature student studying to become a psychotherapist..
And the daughter of a high-ranking civil servant.
And I've known her for three years, having met her in China.
And she's so darned honest I had to seriously prune her first application for a visa to study here.

(It is, of course, entirely possible that there's a difference between English English and American English, as far as pronunciation goes.)

(It is, of course, entirely possible that there's a difference between English English and American English, as far as pronunciation goes.)

Huh? What on earth does the difference between English dialects have to do with the pronunciation of Chinese??? Absolutely nothing! Your comments have now gone far beyond ridiculous.

Did you even listen the pronunciation of Wei here? If this sounds even the teeny-tiniest bit like "Wee" to you, see an audiologist tout de suite to be fitted for your hearing aid.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

Thanks for the laugh, Zashibis.
(But do mind your blood pressure.)

I asked my boyfriend (a native Chinese speaker) about Bo Xilai about a week ago.
He said that it xi means morninglight. And yes, Lai means 'come'.

It's a beautiful name!

Hope this helps. If still unsure can ask the boyfriend again.

If still unsure can ask the boyfriend again.

I'm a very great deal more inclined to trust the dictionaries and websites I consulted than your boyfriend. But to each their own.

I'm going to make a wild guess that your boyfriend thinks his name is written with 熹, which has the same sound and tone as 熙.

Hehe, I'll ask him again, after he comes back from his business trip.

It'll be interesting to hear. I'm 100% sure that dear boyfriend knows how that character is written since he reads the news every day. There probably aren't many Chinese adults who haven't seen this name written. I personally had never seen the character before and that's why I asked him, without any getting into it very deeply.

Interesting discussion about people vs dictionaries....
Hehe, dictionaries are made by people too.

Off topic, I remember a post about a foreign guy who made a website with many characters and their development.... I'll have a look there too.