Ok, this isn’t really Southeast Asian history, but I came across something today as I was doing some research that I want to relate to Southeast Asian history. That research required that I try to read and understand a fourth-century stone inscription from Yunnan. It is a slow process, and I had to look for information on the Internet to help clarify certain points, as I tried to read through the inscription.

I was doing searches in both English and Chinese, as well as a mixture of the two, and I came across numerous English-languages pages that made absolutely no sense!!

Here is an example. It is a passage from this page about a person who lived in the ancient kingdom of Chu by the name of Dou Wenzi.

“Bucket, a surname clansmen, bucket Dou’s. A valley Yutu, the word Zi Wen. Chu is the famousPrime Minister. The story of his life, “Zuo Zhuan Xuangong has a detailed record of four years”: first, a surname to marry Yunfu (cloud Piao, namely Yun), students fight bobby. A surname died, from the dam to Yunfu, prostitution in the Yunfu child female, the yan. Cloud 阝 lady abandoned the dream (Yang Bojun “spring and autumn Zuo Zhuan) Note: the dream that Chu cloud Chak, in Jiangbei). Tiger milk. Cloud Fuzi field, see, fear and return. Lady to tell, and make the. Man of Chu that dairy Valley, that tiger tiger, so called lifeDou Gu Yutu. With its daughter bobby. It makes Yin Ziwen.”

I think what happened here is that someone just used translation software to “translate” something like the following text:

斗子文，若敖族人，斗鬭氏。名谷於菟，字子文。是楚国有名的令尹。 他的身世，《左传·宣公四年》有详细的记载：初，若敖娶于云阝（云阝，即郧），生斗伯比。若敖卒，从其母畜于云阝，淫于云阝子之女，生子文焉。云阝夫人使弃诸梦中（杨伯峻《春秋左氏传）注：梦即楚之云梦泽，在江北)。虎乳之。云阝子田，见之，惧而归。夫人以告，遂使收之。楚人谓乳谷，谓虎於菟，故命之曰斗谷於菟。以其女妻伯比。实为令尹子文。

But it just didn’t work. . . This then got me thinking. . . There are over one billion Chinese. If every day, each person in China who uses a computer takes one piece of writing in Chinese, “translates” it by using translation software, and then posts the “English” translation to the Internet. . .

. . . then search engines will quickly become overwhelmed and will be unable to sift through all of the gibberish, and we will then all enter “iHell” (Internet hell). . .

We will enter a world where we communicate with each other by using incomprehensible words.

“Cloud 阝 lady abandoned the dream.” – No, no, don’t do that! Don’t abandon the dream Cloud 阝lady!!!

After all, there is still hope.

“Tiger milk. Cloud Fuzi field, see, fear and return. Lady to tell, and make the. Man of Chu that dairy Valley, that tiger tiger, so called life Dou Gu Yutu. With its daughter bobby. It makes Yin Ziwen.”

That’s right! It makes Yin Ziwen, so everything is going to be ok!!!