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「日上三竿」到底是早上多少點？

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從吉打 Lembah Bujang 布央谷開車回家，經過怡保的時候剛好是晚餐時間。 在麥當勞用過晚餐後，發現開車的我好像也有點睏了，於是決定在怡保睡一覺。我們把車開到 Bandar Meru Raya ，然後跟 Casuarina 要了一間房間。 隔天早我見小兒子辛円睡到很遲還不願意起床，就拿起手機給他照了一張相 1 。 原想給照片標上：阿円睡到日上三竿 2 ，大太陽曬屁股還不起身。但，住在我頭腦裡面的另外一個人問我： 三竿 到底是 : 點？ The timestamp of the photograph was 9:12:09 morning (28 May 2017). The explanation given by National Academy for Educational Research of Taiwan 台灣國家教育研究院 is：太陽已上升到 三根 竹竿相接的 高度 。表示時候不早了。This explanation suggests that ‘三' (three) is to be interpreted vertically and absolutely, instead of umbrally and relative to the physical pole. Given the fact in the phrase 三竿 (three poles) was recorded by an observatory officer, it is unlikely that the former intepretation is correct. 大太陽曬屁股還不起身嗎？ 於是我便上網查了一下該成語的出處：「日上三竿」應該是出自《 南齊書・天文誌上・日光色 》的一段話。《南齊書・天文誌》是南齊政府天文局官員根據每日的觀測日記整...
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Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda和金牌急腳遞

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如果你或你的公司不還稅， 內陸稅收局 的人就會寄一封公函來罵你並跟你討錢。 在馬來西亞，所有的政府公函，都會印上 Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda 的字樣。「Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda」其實是延續英國人 On His Majesty's Service 的傳統。「 Seri Paduka Baginda 」這三個字的英語是「His Majesty」或「Her Majesty」，而「Urusan」則是「Service」。 現代英國郵遞系統的原型是愛德華四世國王 Edward IV (1461-1483)設計的，他為了加快情報的傳遞速度，在大概每30km就設了一根柱子(post)和一匹新馬。這樣，情報的傳遞便能達到約2 m/s。 J. C. Hemmeon在1912年出版的《The history of the British post office》是這樣寫道的： A somewhat different style of postal service, a precursor of the modern method, was inaugurated by the fourth Edward. During the war with Scotland he found himself in need of a speedier and better system of communication between the seat of war and the seat of government. He accomplished this by placing horses at intervals of twenty miles along the great road between England and Scotland. By so doing his messengers were able to take up fresh horses along the way and his despatches were carried at the rate of a hundred miles a day. 500年前2 m...
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The children of Yap Ah Loy sued their mum in court (1898 - 1904)

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1957/0118652W In the Court of the Senior Magistrate at Kuala Lumpur Civil Suit No. 138 of 1898. In the matter of the Estate of Yap Ah Loy, deceased, between Yap Hon Chin (28) Yap Loong Shin (23) Yap Leong Soon (18) Yap Kim Neo Yap Leong Sem by his next friend Ong Chi Siew Yap Leong Fong Plaintiffs and Kok Kang Keow (48), otherwise called Kok Ngeo Nga who is sued as Administratrix of the Estate and Effects of Yap Ah Loy, deceased. On the tombstone of Yap Ah Loy, we were given the following list: 1 隆興 (b. 29 December 1869, d. 5 January 1933), 2 隆盛 (Loong Shin, b. 4 April 1875, d. <1925?), 3 隆顺 (Leong Soon, b. 6 March 1880, d. 8 December 1907, died when he was only 27.8), 4 隆發 (b. 10 August 1882, d. 21 September 1900, died when he was only 18...
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Palong untong

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In this article, I would like to draw your attention to the following entry 1 in R. J. Wilkinson's Malay-English dictionary: ڤالڠ  palong. A trough such is used for feeding or watering animals. Wilkinson's work was published in 1901 and it suggests that palong (as sluice box) entered the popular Malay lexicon only relatively lately. However, the word can be readily found in a vocabulary list compiled by Abraham Hale (b. 1854, d. 1919) in 1885. Two Chinese are seen washing gold at Columbia River, utilizing a short palong (sluice box) and a dulang (pan) to achieve gravimetric separation of gold from dirt. The scene was painted by a Wenatchee artist named Walter Graham, and it may be seen at the Rocky Reach Discovery Center , Wenatchee, Washington. The Chinese term for palong is 金山溝. To me, the word 金山 is clearly a toponym (either a reference to San Francisco 舊金山 or Victoria 新金山, most likely the former)...
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Yap-Douglas letter (1877)

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Water disruption at Pangkalan Lumpur On 29 March 1877, Captain Yap Ah Loy 葉德來 wrote a letter ( 1957/0000387W ) to Captain B. Douglas (r. April 1876 - August 1882, Resident of Selangor) to relay a water-related grievance at Pangkalan Lumpur tin mine. This letter is important because it contains several important metadata: The Indic title ( Sri Indra Perkasa Vijaya Bakti ) was invoked by Yap Ah Loy and he This shows that back in 150 years ago, it was perfectly reasonable for Malay courts to install their subjects with Indic titles and decorations, similar to the practices recounted in Sejarah Melayu. However, the way Yap addressed himself was not consistent, for instance, in 1881, he called himself Kaptan Cina Kuala Lumpur and not Kaptan Klang dalam Kuala Lumpur but he used his Indic title consistently. See Arkib Negara Document Number 1957/0001366W . called himself Kaptan Klang dalam Kuala Lumpur (Captain Klang in Kuala Lum...
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