The Garlic Ballads

  SECRETARY WANG (Wang Jiaxiu): the local party boss

  YU QIUSHUI: a peasant

  ZHANG KOU: a blind minstrel

  The proximate pronunciation of modern Chinese has not been materially aided by the pinyin (“spell-sound”) system. For the most part, the key is in the vowels:

  a as in father (except after y, when it is the same as e)

  e as in met

  i as in see (in and ing are the same as in English)

  O as in pork

  u as in mood

  ao as in cow

  ei as in hay

  iu as in use

  ou as in old

  u after j, q, x, and y, as the German ü (über)

  c is pronounced as ts (its)

  q is pronounced as ch (chill)

  x is pronounced as sh (she)

  z is pronounced as ds (yards)

  zh is pronounced as j