The Corner

Re: Wen For The Road

Somebody wants to know what the characters in “Wen Jiabao” mean. Well:

“Wen” means “lukewarm” (the radical is “water”); “Jia” means “home” (the

radical is “roof”); “Bao” means “precious” (generally listed under the

“roof” radical, but I think should more properly be under “wealth”). Make

of it what you will. (Chinese people rarely think of the meanings of the

characters that make up personal names, any more than when you meet someone

named “Frank” you think: “Oh, he must be an outspoken sort of guy”…)

John Derbyshire — Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.
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