Xinkule (辛苦了, pronounced seen-koo-luh), is a Mandarin phrase which is, in my opinion, untranslatable. Without understanding context, it's a mere set of characters lending a potpourri of potential meanings.

 

The first part, 辛苦 (seen-koo) means to work hard, hardship, hard work, to labour. When used with the le particle (or 了, in characters), it vaguely means, 'you have laboured'. It usually implies that the speaker is appreciative or impressed that you have laboured. 'Thank you for your hard work' is a common translation, but it can also just be a statement that something difficult or troublesome has been taken care of.

 

Allow me to give a few examples. For newbie Mandarin speakers, I've bolded the phrase in question.

 

After a sports game, a coach might say: "这次我们赢了，大家辛苦了". ["We won this time, everyone worked really hard.]" It would sound more natural in English to translate it as, "Everyone gave it their all today", but someone could argue the meaning strays slightly (ah, the translator's prerogative). 

 

If you've taken a sixteen-hour flight to go see your friend across the Atlantic Ocean, your friend might use the same phrase to greet you. "路上辛苦了吧！" The literal translation here is, "the journey was labourious!". Figurative translation: "My goodness, what a long journey." [also implies: I am impressed you braved the long trip].

 

Someone's boss could use the same expression yet again at the end of a long day. "你辛苦了!". Here, the boss is literally saying, "you have laboured". But figuratively, the boss is praising, admiring, and thanking the employee for putting in a lot of work during the day. If the employee has spent a lot of time in China, they'd respond appropriately: "you are too polite!".

 

I use Xinkule as an anecdote for concepts that are ingrained within one another that can't be separated, as is the case with parts of language and context (or culture). A standalone translation for Xinkule doesn't exist. In so few words, this is how I try to approach my research and observations.

 

This blog started as a humorous and scattered ramble during my year abroad in China, and has developed into a collection of pieces I've written, should the occasional wandering visitor care to peruse them. I've divided Xinkule into three sections: Travel Blog, news, and Surprise Me. All is fair game here -  powerful speeches, uplifting stories, dark memoirs, conspiracy theories, a cute puppy, or a sonata which tickled my fancy. If you'd like me to add something, please get in touch.

 

Feel free to email me with any questions, related to content, or not. I read all emails and reply to everything, even if slowly. 

  

All work is my own unless otherwise credited. Make of it what you will.

 

 

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