The national chengyu playoffs

[abcdefg]

Just watched 中国成语大会 on CCTV1. Pitted three teams of university students against each other. Was amazed to find it riveting even though there was lots I couldn't fully understand.

 

They followed several refinements of the same basic format. One member of a duo had chengyus on a tablet and pitched clues to his or her partner. The partner then had to guess what chengyu those hints were suggesting. Tough ones required more clues, and easy ones required fewer. The events were all timed.

 

The target chengyu was displayed on a screen for the viewers to see while the contestants were struggling. Often the answers were lightning fast. Two young ladies seemed almost telepathic when they were paired. It was so striking that the MC asked them about it. Their explanation was 女人的直觉 (women's intuition.)

 

A smart professor was the referee or judge, and at the end of each round he would comment on where some of the chengyus came from. "That one was originally a quotation from Laozi, but it got corrupted and shortened during the Tang"

 

There will be two more rounds; May 18th and May 23rd. The broadcasts start at 8pm and run until about 9:30 on CCTV1. If you like things like that, it's worth tuning in.

[roddy]

Video available here - looks fun, but I can't quite justify the whole 90 minutes. 

 

That video works fine from here in London. 

[abcdefg]

Thanks for the link. I'm out of town on the road just now, when I get back to Kunming, I'd like to figure out some bits that were unclear when I watched it live.

 

(云南会泽县 in upper 曲靖 near 昭通。）

[Michaelyus]

Nice: am enjoying it immensely. Great to see the various strategies in defining 字 being employed under high-stakes conditions!

 

That 人艰不拆 posed to the judges/commenters was quite revelatory. 

 

I have to ask though - how does this compare to 河北卫视's (I think) 英雄 series?

[abcdefg]

I have to ask though - how does this compare to 河北卫视's (I think) 英雄 series?

 

Don't know. I didn't see the latter.

[Meng Lelan]

Amazing what abcdefg finds on TV in between cops looking for him. 

[abcdefg]

Please see next entry.

[abcdefg]

Flipped on the TV last night at random, and as luck would have it, found another round of this grand chengyu contest 中国成语大会。It was nothing short of amazing that I could find such a show riveting. If anyone had said I could have been roped in by it for 90 straight minutes, I would have accused him of spreading vicious rumors.

 

The most enjoyable part of last nights heated contest, in my eyes, was the section where two opposing two-person teams faced off and could only use two-word hints, no long, drawn out charades, to help their partners guess the mystery chengyu. If team one didn't get it in a few seconds, then team two got a crack at it. The turn passed back and forth, until one team or the other finally made a correct guess.

 

Last night they had two moderators instead of just one, both were Chinese language professors. Not only did they give background "color commentary" on the origin of certain chengyus, but occasionally they made corrections. "The hints you were giving didn't really fit that chengyu; I think you must have been misinterpreting its meaning. It's real significance is ..."

 

Sometimes the audience roared approval, signifying a spectacular job of cracking a tough one, guessing a chengyu that was really obscure. Most of that was lost on me, because I found all of them equally difficult. Couldn't help but admire how such an exercise as this requires solid grounding in literary and cultural classics, not just rote memorization.

[陳德聰]

The only thing I've found a bit frustrating is the inconsistent application of the rules during the initial portion. Several times, teams will get an X for 违规 when saying "不对" or "不是" if the 成语 has a 不字 in it, but then other times, the same gaffs will not result in the team receiving a 违规... That was kind of my first heads up that this is likely going to be a rigged sort of competition.

[abcdefg]

@陳德聰 -- Glad to see your post. All along I thought the MC or host was saying 玫瑰, and was puzzled by that choice of terms for a foul, for doing something not allowed. Now I realize it's 违规, with the same tones. 

 

I'm a less discerning viewer than you, and didn't have a clue that the competition might be rigged. (I miss a lot.)

[陳德聰]

Nonetheless I am enjoying the show, though I thought it was a bit much when they focused on that one guy who refused to skip when his partner (the cop) couldn't get the answer, and then made him out to be the devil when he interrupted the writer woman who was trying to tell him he should have skipped.

 

Mainly though, I think the host is a buttface but I think some of the contestants make up for it. Especially the 朝鲜族 girl who is just so ridiculously funny.