Hmmm... first let me add a disclaimer here. My knowledge of Chinese mythology is quite rudimentary. And while I won't say that my Mandarin is bad, it's not great either. So... I'll do the best I can.
The numbers behind the chinese word indicate the tones that a Mandarin speaker would use. If you like, you can leave it out. Non-chinese readers won't care about the tones, and Chinese readers should be able to guess the term that you mean based on the context of the story.
that person were Chinese, would they think he was an angel or would he possibly think Clark was something else?
The direct translation of angel in Mandarin is tian1 shi3. However, I've never heard it being used in any context other than refering to the angels mentioned in the Bible. Yes, it literally translates as the "messengers of the heaven".
If this Chinese man (or woman if you like, but I'm using the pronoun 'he' henceforth) lives in a major city, like Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou; then he's likely to be pretty familliar with the idea of vistors from other places. That's be his first guess. Then he'll probably just call Clark his "En1 Ren4" (benefector), a term that is applicable even to normal humans.
However, perhaps you'd like this Chinese to be some sort of an illiterate farmer who lives in some obscure corner in China, without modern conveniences, the location of the rescue is likely to be somewhere central or western China. This Chinese will likely think of Clark as some sort of a demigod or supernatural being. Anyhow, you have a few options as to what the farmer thinks Clark is. Clark could be
1) some sort of a god that descended from the heavens at the hour of his need. You'll have to choose gods that traditionally show themselves as young men. In my opinion, this is not a good option to use as I'm assuming that Clark will fervently deny this. In stories, deities have been known to keep quiet, or remain coy with regards to their identities, but never an out front denial.
2) the human reincarnate of a certain deity which is little different from option 1. In option 1, Clark is a deity, but in option 2, Clark's human. There are myths of deities reincarnating as humans because they did something wrong in the heavens and were thus punished, or they were reincarnated as humans because they had a mission to perform. Unless some form of a revelation occurs (by the other deities), this "human" is normally unaware that he/she was a deity originally. When taken at this light, Clark's denial to be a god would make sense to the farmer. "The poor boy is unaware of his identity until his powers manifested suddenly and he managed to save me."
3) some form of an animal spirit. The best animal to use is the fox. The chinese consider it as one of the smartest animals. The farmer will be more fearful/suspicious of Clark if he thinks that Clark is a fox as there are benevolent and evil fox spirits. However, the farmer will never refer to Clark as the "fox spirit" as it's is a degratory term. Trivia: Women who have dubious morals or attract married men thus breaking up marriages are called fox spirits "hu2li2 jing1". Cat Grant may be considered a "hu2li2 jing1".
[thanks to Paul for reminding me about the spirits]
4) one of the 4 long2 wang2. Literally translated as "dragon king". They guard the 4 N, S, E and W seas (you can choose the one that's geographically closest to the rescue) and bring wind and rain. If Clark moves at superspeed, he could be seen as generating winds. The farmer would be in awe and perhaps fear. This is because while dragons are lucky creatures, dragon kings report directly to the King of the Gods, and they aren't hostile, but they aren't exactly friendly either, to humans. [thanks to Carole for talking about the dragon kings]
In all of these 4 scenarios, the farmer will call Clark "Da4 Xian1" (oh great heavenly being). Yes, even for fox spirits, and deities reincarnated into humans.
It's pretty safe to use Mandarin, you'll be able to find people who understand this particular dialect everywhere, it being the official dialect and all. However, for the sake of authenticity, you may want to get the character to speak in his local dialect. I can't help you here, as the only other dialect that I can speak is Cantonese, which is spoken in the Guangdong Province which is at the southern part of China(and Hong Kong of course).
Whew, a very long post. I hope that at least some of the information here is of use to you. Good luck with your story.
metwin1
