20221231 LangCult 6

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202270081706 汪世博 Wang Shibo 日语笔译(Japanese translation)

The Phenomenon of Student Confucian Rituals and the Reasons Behind It

汪世博 Wang Shibo, 202270081706

Abstract

Many of today's student population will worship Confucius before major exams and use stationery with Confucius-related elements on it in order to get the desired results. This paper will focus on this cultural phenomenon, analysing the contemporary status of Confucius in ancient Chinese education and the impact of his words and actions on contemporary students.

Key Words

Chinese culture，Confucius，Examination culture

Introduction

The worship of Confucius originated in China and spread to the East Asian cultural circle and overseas Chinese Confucian traditions. Because Confucius and his Confucian education are so deeply rooted in Chinese culture, in recent years many students have chosen to pay homage to Confucius prior to their exams in order to obtain the desired grades in the exams. This paper will focus on this theme, outline the phenomenon and analyze the reasons behind it.

1.Worship to Confucius before the examination

Such activities have been reported not only in mainland China, but also in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and other areas where Chinese people live. Its activities are also very flexible and can be simple or grand.

1.1 Major regions where Confucius rituals are held

Rituals to Confucius in the traditional sense are distributed all over the world in places where Chinese people have settled or are deeply influenced by Confucianism, such as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. However, the activities of worshipping Confucius before examinations are mainly concentrated in predominantly Chinese societies, especially in mainland China and Singapore, where the activities of worshipping Confucius before examinations are frequently seen in news reports.

1.2 Event Flow

Generally speaking, there are several processes for pre-examination prayer rituals.

(1) Lining up in line

(2) Cross the “Lingxingmen”

(3) Cross the “Panchi” and walk through the “Zhuangyuanqiao”

(4) Stand alone and touch the “Aotou”

(5) Cross the “Dachengmen”

(6) Pray for blessing and ring the bell

(7) Offer incense to worship Confucius

(8) Tie the red ribbon, issue the blessing bag, wishing sign.

(9) Take a group photo and a small video.

The above activity flow is not universal, but only one of them can be done as a representative. In the specific implementation, according to the site conditions and facilities can be adjusted accordingly.

1.3 Other expressions

In recent years, it has become increasingly common to use stationery with relevant patterns and characters for examinations instead of paying homage to Confucius on site. To meet this market demand, Chinese stationery brand Chenguang has launched the "Confucius Temple Prayer" series of stationery, which has been widely welcomed by the student community. The stationery is often seen on major social media platforms in mainland China.

2.Reasons for the pre-examination worship activities of Confucius

This article analyzes the reasons why students worship Confucius before exams from both the past and present

2.1The Status of Confucius' Educational Thought in China

Confucius enjoys a high status and respect in Chinese educational circles. Confucius' approach to education, its content, principles and objectives have been an important inspiration for the development of contemporary teaching. His policy of 'teaching without discrimination' has laid the foundations for contemporary educational equity, while his teaching of “word and deed” emphasises contemporary moral education in China. Therefore, students choose to worship Confucius before exams in order to get the desired grade.

2.2 The pressure of exams on students under the test-based education system

Under the test-based education system, students are generally overburdened. In some provinces and cities of primary and secondary schools, some elementary school first and second grade students book bag mail more than ten pounds heavy, every day to do homework until 11 or 12 o'clock late at night. In test-based education, the function of the test is alienated from the means of testing to the purpose and motivation of learning. Ultimately, the test can neither test the quality of teaching and students' level, nor effectively select talents. At the same time, the secondary and high school exams under the test-based education system are "once-in-a-lifetime", i.e., one exam alone has a great impact on the tone of future development, so students and parents are ripe with great pressure before the exams and will do anything to get a good score. It is driven by this logical relationship that students and their parents go to the ritual of Confucius.

Conclusion

In areas with a large Chinese population, it is gradually becoming a trend to worship Confucius before exams. The reasons behind this are mainly divided into two parts, historical factors and social factors. The historical factor is the status of Confucius in Chinese education, and the social factor is the pressure that the examination-based education system puts on students, especially primary and secondary school students.

References

[1].Reichenbach, R., & Kwak, D. J. (Eds.). (2020). Confucian perspectives on learning and self-transformation: international and cross-disciplinary approaches (Vol. 14). Springer Nature.

[2].You, Y. (2020). Learning experience: An alternative understanding inspired by thinking through Confucius. ECNU Review of Education, 3(1), 66-87.

[3].侯金亮.（2012). 考前集体“拜神”只是娱乐节目？.河北教育：综合版(1),48-48.

[4].陈定山.(2015).别把“考前文庙祭孔”太当回事． 湖南教育：中旬(B), (6), 15-15.

[5].王营.（2018). 拜孔子像祈求通过考研是迷信不是仪式．甘肃教育,(2),6-6.

[6].周颖. (2015). 橡皮外衣. 中学生博览, (1), 86-86.

[7].(2009).考试笔打出“孔庙祈福”招牌. 共产党员(16),37.

[8]孙复初.(2006).应试教育的危害、风源、及其治理思路. 湖北招生考试(04),33-37+63.

Terms and Expressions

Worship to Confucius 祭孔

Question

1. The act of worshipping Confucius occurs in which of the following areas A. Laos B. Europe C. Japan D. mainland China

2.The reason of worshipping Confucius is the pressure from studying. True False

3.Confucius takes an important part in the Chinese education. True False

4._______is one of the easons for the pre-examination worship activities of Confucius. A. Pressure from the teachers B. Expectations for the future C. Pressure from the exam

Reference answer 1.D 2.T 3.T 4.C

202270081654 王雅姝 Wang Yashu 英语笔译(English translation)

Swear Words in Ancient China

王雅姝 Wang Yashu, 202270081654

Abstract

Most words were not offensive at first. In some situations, at some time, they acquired taboo properties and became swears. Swear words tell a lot about society, gender, class, etc. This paper aims to explore the typical swear words in ancient China, discuss about their origin, background and usage, and try to conclude the development of those filthy words. Such information may offer a fascinating insight into Chinese language and culture.

202270081655 王植碧 Wang Zhibi 英语笔译(English translation)

Post-editing of Machine of Translation

王植碧Wang Zhibi，202270081655

Abstract

As a new language service technology, machine translation will certainly replace human translation in the long run. However, due to its imperfect technology, machine translation still has a lot of room for development. Post editing is a new translation method based on machine translation, which realizes the "intelligent+manual" cooperative translation mode and can make up for the defects of machine translation to a certain extent. Therefore, in a considerable period of time, post editing translation will become the dominant translation mode.

Key words

Machine translation; Post-editing; Cognitive effort.

1. Introduction

After the implementation of rule based, instance based and statistical methods, machine translation has ushered in neural network based machine translation (referred to as neural machine translation NMT). (JIA Yanfang et al, 2022) With the development of technology, the quality of neural network machine translation is better than that of previous generation machine translation. However, due to the inevitable mistakes of machine translation, the post editing system of "machine+manual" came out. There is no doubt that post editing really realizes the human-computer interaction translation mode, which can effectively reduce the errors of machine translation. At present, the mainstream translation mode in the market is post editing. This paper attempts to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of post editing by analyzing its current development.

2. The difficulty measurement system of post editing

JIA Yanfang et al, (2022) believed that there were three main types of factors affecting the difficulty of post editing: (1) material factors, namely, the quality of machine translation and the complexity of the original text; (2) Translator's individual factors; (3) Post editing tools. In addition, JIA also believes that the working memory and cognitive resources that people can allocate when engaging in complex work are limited, so the difficulty system of post editing should be determined by the above four factors.

The direct manifestation of post editing difficulty is the cognitive effort(认知努力) of editors. Generally speaking, the more cognitive efforts translators put in, the greater the difficulty of post editing. Daems et al. (2017) found that the total amount of machine translation errors was negatively correlated with the total fixation times and the number of production units, and positively correlated with the average pause ratio. The low score machine translated versions need to consume more task time and total fixation time in post editing, and the total fixation times are more, which indicates higher cognitive effort.

The methods for measuring the difficulty of post translation editing can be divided into introspection (subjective evaluation, retrospective report, etc.), behavior observation (editing behavior, pause behavior, fixation, task duration, etc.), and physiological measurement (brain function response, pupil response(瞳孔反应), skin response, blood pressure, heart rate, etc.) Vieira (2014) and Cumbreno & Aranberri (2021) compared the correlation among four cognitive effort indicators: eye movement, pause, editing time and subjective score. They found that although all indicators had some correlation, there was a strong correlation between editing time, pause word ratio, and focus number word ratio, with high reliability. Compared with other methods, the correlation is weak and the reliability is low.

JIA, (2022) believes that the cognitive processing of post editing is affected by multiple factors, but most of the existing studies fail to take this feature into account, splitting the influence of the original and machine translation materials on post editing, and often studying the role of the other party without controlling the original or the translated party.

3. The development status of Post editing

3.1 Professional development

Post editing is not only an important way to improve the quality of machine translation, but also a manifestation of human-computer interaction translation. The application fields of post editing can mainly include the fields that attach importance to translation efficiency, quality and cost, such as patents, product manuals, art design and other professional materials. The 2022 Report on the Development of China's Translation and Language Service Industry shows that the scale of China's translation and language service industry is expanding, the application of AI technology is more extensive, translation education is developing rapidly, and industry standardization is steadily advancing. The Report shows that artificial intelligence technology is constantly innovating, and machine translation is more and more widely used in the industry. There are 252 enterprises with machine translation and artificial intelligence businesses. The service model of "machine translation+post editing" has been widely recognized by the market. More than 90% of enterprises said that adopting this model can improve translation efficiency, improve translation quality and reduce costs. It can be seen that post editing is gradually becoming a mainstream translation profession, and the training of post editors also needs to be accelerated.

3.2 Technological development

JIA et al (2022) believes that the new generation of NMT is superior to previous generations of machine translation in quality, especially in fluency. Assisted by manual post translation at different levels, errors in translation can be greatly reduced. Post editing is a new type of human-computer interaction translation model. Its cognitive processing is more complex than traditional manual translation, and it is different from computer-assisted translation based on fuzzy matching(模糊匹配) of translation memory. The task difficulty of post editing is affected by many factors. (JIA Yanfang et al, 2019) NMT post editing is faster than manual translation, but only for professional texts. However, the average pause times, time and density of NMT post editing are less than those of human translation, which shows that compared with human translation, NMT post editing requires less cognitive effort. The complexity of source language materials is an important factor affecting post editing. JIA Yanfang et al (2022) said that the complexity of materials and the quality of machine translation have a very significant interactive response to the difficulty of post editing. For low quality machine translation, the more complex the materials are, the more difficult the task of post editing is.

3.3 Existing problems of PE

The error types of NMT are more difficult to predict. Such errors are hidden in smooth text, which makes it more difficult to identify and correct machine translation errors during post editing. In addition, the existing post editing tasks are generally integrated into computer aided software. The availability of its tool functions and interface design directly affects the external cognitive load needs of post editing. Functions or interfaces that do not meet the cognitive needs and habits of translators will increase cognitive friction and increase task difficulty. At present, post translation pricing is mainly based on task duration and efficiency. However, post editing is influenced not only by task duration, but also by material complexity, cognitive effort, etc.

Conclusion

Post editing is a new translation mode that truly realizes human-computer interaction. Although it has some problems, it is gradually becoming the dominant translation mode. The translation and quality of interactive machine translation change dynamically with the interaction with the translator. The industry urgently needs to increase the research on the latest machine translation methods. Colleges and universities should focus on training MTI oriented post editing and translation talents.

References

[1] Cumbreno, C.& N. Aranberri. What do you say? Comparison of metrics for post-editing effort [A]. In M. Carl (ed). Explorations in Empirical translation Process Research [C]. Switzerland: Springer, 2021;57-79.

[2] Daems, J, S. Vandepitte, R. J. Hartsuiker & L.Macken. Identifying the machine translation error types with the greatest impact on post-editing effort [J]. Frontiers in Psychology, 2017,8:1282.

[3] Jia, YF. & Zheng, B. (2022). The interaction effect between source text complexity and machine translation on the task difficult of NMT post-editing from English to Chinese: Amulti-method study. Across Language and Culture, 23 (2022) 1, 36-55.

[4] Jia, YF. & Michael, C. (2019). How does the post-editing of neural machine translation compare with form-scratch translation? A product and process study. The Journal of Specialised Translation, Issue 31-January 2019, 60-86.

[5] Jia, YF. & Michael, C. & Zheng, B. Post-editing neural machine translation versus phrase-based machine translation for English-Chinese. Machine Translation, 08 March 2019.

[6] Vieira, L. N. Indices of cognitive effort in machine translation post-editing [J]. Machine translation, 2014(3/4):187-216.

[7] 贾艳芳，孙三军，机器翻译译后编辑难度测量体系构建研究，[J] China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. 16-24.

Terms and Expressions

Neural Machine Translation(NMT)：基于神经网络的机器翻译

Post editing(PE)：译后编辑

Cognitive effort：认知努力

Pupil response：瞳孔反应

Fuzzy matching of translation memory：翻译记忆的模糊匹配

Questions

1. Does the greater the cognitive effort, the more difficult the post-translation editing?

Ture

False

2. Which of the following measures the difficulty of post-editing?

A. Introspection

B. Behavior observation

C. Physiological measurement

D. All above

3. How many enterprises said that PE can improve translation efficiency and quality and reduce their cost?

A. 60%

B. 70%

C. 80%

D. 90%

4. _________ of NMT post editing are less than those of human translation, which shows that compared with human translation, NMT post editing requires less cognitive effort.

A. The average pause times

B. Time

C. Density

D. All above

The correct answers

1. Ture 2. D 3. D 4. D

202270081656 王智灵 Wang Zhiling 英语笔译(English translation)

王智灵 Wang Zhiling 202270081656

Abstract Ink and wash is a unique genre of traditional Chinese painting. It uses little or no color but applies black ink in different shades to white paper or silk. As a typical representative of traditional Chinese painting, it is one of the styles that best represent the spirit of China’s fine arts. This paper aims to first explore the origin of ink and wash, then discuss the development of ink and wash in different dynasties.

202270081698 吴博涵 Wu Bohan 英语口译(English interpretation)

Ancient Chinese's Wisdom in Water Conservancy Projects

吴博涵Wu Bohan, 202270081698

Abstract

The water management today is no longer confined to one place or one country. There is still a long way to go to properly understand the water situation and future trends, objectively analyse the relationship between water and nature and human social development, and from the perspective of national public affairs management, this paper seriously sums up the experience and lessons of history, scientific planning and comprehensive management.

Key Words

Water conservancy, Wisdom of ancient China, Society governance, Human and nature, Comprehensive management

Introduction

In recent years, modern water conservancy represented by river dams has been criticized. Most of these projects have caused a lot of irreversible impacts on the local society, people's livelihood and ecological environment. (Liu Junguo 2013, 633)

However, the ancient ancestors of China often built and maintained water conservancy projects from a strategic height, demonstrating the scientific nature of Chinese traditional wisdom. (Lu Yong and Hong Cheng 2014, 132)

Wisdom Inside

1. Harmony between man and nature

The essence of "harmony between man and nature" is the harmony and unity between man and nature, which emphasizes respecting, conforming to and protecting nature. (Cui Yongdong 2014, 28)

Legend has it that Chongbo Gun, father of Yu, was the first person to practice water conservancy. (Wang Shuanghuai 2010, 114) Gun mainly adopted the method of blocking water, resulting in "nine years later, the river is still flooding, and water control has not achieved success." (Lu Yong 2014, 133)

His son, Yu, was the first one in recorded history to implement the concept of "harmony between man and nature" in water conservancy process, which means following the natural law that water flows downwards and dredging the accumulated water in the river, so that the running water gathered in the river and then flowed eastward into the sea, thus realizing the harmony between man and nature. (Lu Yong 2014, 133) Yu successfully controlled the flood, established the Xia Dynasty, and laid the foundation for the "Great Unification" of the Chinese nation and culture. (Fu Dianji 2008, 18)

Dujiangyan project is a great water conservancy project, as famous as China's Great Wall throughout history and is located in the Min River of Chengdu Plain in the upper reaches of the intersection. (Huang Xiaorong 2015, 356) Dujiangyan's greatest feature is "dam-free water diversion," which can keep the river's environmental function, water transport function and the natural ecological circulation mechanism of groundwater and surface water perfectly. This is also the embodiment of the concept of "harmony between man and nature" in water conservancy. (Lu Yong 2014, 133)

2. Systematic planning

In ancient China, water conservancy was actually the system construction related to water control, which was gradually established and perfected. This reflects the systematic planning of traditional Chinese wisdom. (Ning Xin 2020, 112)

The Zhengguo Canal is the representative of the system planning in ancient water conservancy. From the functional perspective, Zhengguo Canal can not only irrigate farmland, but also reduce saline-alkali land and resist flood disaster. Under the productivity level at that time, the fertility of the land and the growth rate of crops were greatly improved. At the same time, because Zhengguo Canal changed the direction of the surrounding rivers and opened up the lower reaches of the surrounding rivers into farmland, so as to expand the irrigation area, it also promoted the flood diversion in case of mountain torrents in this area, so as not to pose a threat to the crops and people downstream. (Ding Li 2022, 46)

3. Dialectical thinking

It is an original creation of ancient Chinese ancestors to utilize water and sand dialectically to realize the transformation from harm to benefit. For example, turn sand from an obstacle into an assistant of water conservancy.

In order to prevent the flood from breaking the levee, Pan Jixun of the late Ming Dynasty chose the solid soil section of the levee to create a "rolling dam". The rolling flood returned to the river downstream along the drainage groove, avoiding the danger of breaking the levee. In addition, that silt carry by the flood can form a silt beach behind the dam, so that the dam is more stable and agricultural production can be developed. This technique fully embodies the dialectical thinking in ancient Chinese wisdom. Sand is not only harmful, but also valuable. The key lies in rational use and good transformation. (Lu Yong 2014, 135)

4. Local-condition-oriented thinking

"Local-condition-oriented thinking" means to formulate or take appropriate measures to deal with problems according to the specific local conditions. Chinese traditional wisdom attaches great importance to the application of local-condition-oriented thinking. Take Yellow River Basin as an example. Although the Yellow River Basin in Northern China is the birthplace of Chinese civilization, it has always been dry and the agricultural production environment has always been bad. According to incomplete statistics, there were 71 droughts in the Yellow River Basin from the 14th to the 19th century. In the face of the increasingly serious threat of drought, ancient ancestors explored a new way to develop and utilize groundwater and develop well irrigation technology according to local conditions. In Shaanxi alone, hundreds of thousands of irrigation wells were dug throughout history, effectively improving the agricultural environment by preventing the soil from returning to salt, thereby achieving the aim of improving the saline-alkali soil. (Lu Yong 2014, 136)

Conclusions

China ancestors consciously introduced a large number of advanced ideas of traditional wisdom to guide water conservancy, creating miracles in the history of human civilization. (Lu Yong 2014, 136) Today's water control is not limited to one place and one country. There is still a long way to go to correctly understand the water situation and future trends, objectively analyze the relationship between nature and human society development, carefully summarize the historical experience and lessons from the perspective of national public affairs management, and practice scientific planning and comprehensive management. (Ning Xin 2020, 112)

References

Ning Xin 宁欣. (2020). 治水如治国: 古人的治水智慧 [Water control is like governing a country: The ancient wisdom of water control]. 人民论坛 People’s Forum (32) 110-112.

Fu Dianji 傅奠基. (2008) 中国古代对河流物质力量的认识和开发——人地关系理念在古代河流文化中的体现 [The understanding and exploitation of the material power of rivers in ancient China -- The embodiment of the concept of man-land relationship in ancient river culture]. 云南师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版) Journal of Yunnan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) (02) 17-24.

Wang Shuanghuai 王双怀. (2010) 中国古代的水利设施及其特征 [Water conservancy facilities and their characteristics in ancient China] 陕西师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版) Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) 39(02) 109-117.

Lu Yong, Hong Cheng 卢勇,洪成. (2014) 中国古代治水中的传统哲学理念及其应用 [The traditional philosophy of water control in ancient China and its application] 西北农林科技大学学报(社会科学版) Journal of Northwest A & F University (Social Science Edition) 14(01) 132-137.

Cui Yongdong 崔永东. (2014) 古代中国的防灾问题试探 [The problem of disaster prevention in ancient China] 北京联合大学学报(人文社会科学版) Journal of Beijing Union University (Humanities and Social Sciences) 12(01) 26-32.

Ding Li, Ju Yao 丁李,居瑶. (2022) 中国古代哲学与治水实践的关系探讨 [Discussion on the relationship between ancient Chinese philosophy and water control practice] 山西大同大学学报(社会科学版) Journal of Datong University of Shanxi (Social Sciences Edition) 36(03) 45-48.

Liu Junguo et al. (2013) Water conservancy projects in China: Achievements, challenges and way forward[J]. Global Environmental Change 23(3) 633-643.

Liu Wenqiang and He Ting. (2020) Early Water Conservancy Project and Chinese Culture in Ancient China: the Cases of Liangzhu Water Conservancy Project and Dujiangyan Irrigation System[C]. Chongqing, China.

Huang X. et al. (2015) Development of Chengdu and sustainable utilization of the ancient Dujiangyan Water-Conservancy Project[J]. Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences 368(368) 356-360.

Terms and Expressions

Harmony between man and nature 天人合一

Chongbo Gun 崇伯鲧

Great Unification 大一统

Dujiangyan project 都江堰工程

Dam-free water diversion 无坝引水

Zhengguo Canal 郑国渠

Pan Jixun 潘季驯

Rolling dam 滚水坝

Local-condition-oriented thinking 因地制宜

Saline-alkali land 盐碱地

Yellow River Basin 黄河流域

Questions

1.What are the key points in ancient Chinese's wisdom in water conservancy projects?

A. Harmony between man and nature

B. Systematic planning

C. Dialectical thinking

D. Local-condition-oriented thinking

E. Nature dominance

2. Who was the first one in recorded history to implement the concept of “harmony between man and nature” in water conservancy?

A. Yu

B. Chongbo Gun

C. Yao

D. Shun

3. Zhengguo Canal reflects the traditional wisdom of systematic planning.

True

False

4. 71 droughts happened in the Yellow River Basin from the__to the__century.

A. 9th; 12th

B. 11th; 14th

C. 14th; 19th

D. 18th; 20th

Answers

1. ABCD

2. A

3. True

4. C

202270081659 伍超穎 Wu Chaoying 英语笔译(English translation)

Lavish Burials in Chinese Funeral Culture

伍超穎Wu Chaoying，202270081659

Abstract

Throughout long Chinese history, lavish burials have basically occupied a dominant position in Chinese funeral culture. The lavish burials of the ancients were related to their soul concepts, ancestor worship and Chinese concept of filial piety. In addition, the rise of lavish burials has led to the spread of the concept of filial piety, the emergence of professional grave robbers and environmental impact. This paper makes a brief introduction on lavish burials.

Key Words

lavish burials; views on death; ancestor worship

Introduction

Human beings naturally have to face death, and so did the ancients. Throughout thousands of years of long Chinese history, lavish burials have basically occupied a dominant position in Chinese funeral culture, influencing the direction of funeral culture. (1991,1) Lavish burial refers to the descendants of the deceased presiding over the funeral with grand etiquette and burying the deceased with rich funeral objects. In addition, the rise of lavish burials has led to the emergence of professional grave robbers who work by robbing graves. Chinese traditional culture is extensive and profound, and funeral culture is an important branch of traditional culture, and funeral customs are also an important part of ancient Chinese traditional culture. Ancient funeral customs and funeral culture play a very important role in understanding the views on death of the ancients, and traditional culture.

Major Periods of Lavish Burials

During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties, the concept of lavish burials was emerging. In the Shang Dynasty, there was the first climax of lavish burials in Chinese history, and burials were characterized by not only a large number of expensive bronzes buried with them, but also people being buried alive with the dead and sacrifices, and the tomb is extremely exquisite and large in scale. (1991, 5) In the Zhou Dynasty, people believed that "the major events of the country lie in Si(sacrifice) and Rong(military affairs)", and the sacrifice of ancestors was still regarded as one of the two major events of the country, and lavish burials should be reasonable.

The lavish burials in the Qin and Han Dynasties were particularly prominent. For example, the First Emperor of Qin excavated the Lishan Mountain and built a mausoleum for himself. The Terracotta Warriors Pits that had been unearthed are underground buildings with a mixed structure of soil and wood of more than 19,000 total square meters, which are grand in scale and extremely luxurious. And in fact, the style of lavish burials in the Han Dynasty arose from the extravagant behavior of the ruling class, especially heirs, consort kin and eunuchs. These people were both political beneficiaries and economically wealthy, capable and qualified to go beyond the ritual system and practice luxury. (1991, 14-19)

The economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the prevalence of Buddhism made people capable of lavish burials. The combination of the concept of reincarnation in Buddhism and the concept of the immortality of the soul made lavish burials rise again. (1991,25)

The lavish burials in the Ming and Qing Dynasties also began with the ruling class headed by the emperors. The Ming Tombs in Beijing, and the eastern and western tombs of the Qing Dynasty, are all examples of lavish burials. For example, the Dingling mausoleum in the Ming Dynasty unearthed thousands of funerary objects, most of which are rare treasures.

Major Reasons for Lavish Burials

The concept of the immortality of the soul

The trend of lavish burials has been seen as early as in primitive society, and the concept of the immortality of the soul is an important reason for the phenomenon of lavish burials. The concept of the immortality of the soul arose before the middle of the Paleolithic period. (1991,1) It is believed that the soul of a person is immortal when he dies, and he could still plague or protect his descendants and interfere with personnel. Under the influence of this concept, the phenomenon of lavish burials appeared in human funeral customs. Since the ancients believed that when a person died, he would become a ghost, and ghosts could plague or bless the living, people spared no effort to please the dead and offer sacrifices to their ancestors. Since the ancients believed that the soul was conscious after death, people did not hesitate to pay a lot of money for a lavish burial in exchange for wealth and peace after death. The living wouldn’t feel guilty, and the dead would be happy. Under the influence of this concept and psychology, lavish burial became a custom in society at that time, and it has been prosperous for a long time. (1991, 11)

The Promotion of Filial Piety Thought

Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the concept of filial piety has gradually developed. People paid more attention to the filial piety of ancestors than to the living. In the pre-Qin period, Confucius attached great importance to the role of filial piety in funerals and demanded to inspire inner benevolence. It should be mentioned that he insisted simple burials and advocated spiritual mourning on funeral issues. However, the concept of filial piety he advocated objectively provided a theoretical basis for the lavish burials of that time and later generations.

A symbol of status and wealth

With the emergence of private ownership and the formation of class society, people's funeral concepts and customs had undergone distinct changes. In order to meet the needs of the ruling class and ethical thought, funeral methods were becoming more and more complicated. While being driven by the concept of the immortality of the soul, the lavish burials had also become a symbol for the ruler to show off his status and wealth. (1991, 3) From the funerary objects, the lavish burials gradually strengthened with the intensification of the division between the rich and the poor. When political power intervened, the hierarchical system became the basis for the lavish burials. In this way, the concept of the immortality of the soul was promoted through the burial, and finally formed an objective fact that a large amount of wealth was buried with the dead. As Wang Zijin said, "One of the main reasons for the rise of lavish burials is that the presiding officers of funerals often use it as a way to show off their position and wealth. Funerals, in essence, are a matter of the living, not the dead. The scale of funerals is actually less important for the dead, and more important for the living." (2000, 31)

Problems Coming with Lavish Burials

The ancient lavish burials left a lot of cultural relics to later generations. Those things reflected the thoughts and beliefs of the ancients, and naturally had great value for the study of the history and culture at that time. But the prevalence of lavish burials is extremely harmful. First, a lot of money is wasted, which can be seen in the construction of emperor tombs in various dynasties. Although the cost of the people is not comparable to that of the royal family, under the influence of this environment, the cost is quite large. Second, it endangers morality. Although living people subjectively want to be filial, it actually has no meaning, but it has brought adverse effects to society. Third, lavish burials were the main source of grave robbing, and it had also become one of the means for grave robbers to make a fortune.(1997,8-9) Last but not least, the traditional burial form has greatly wasted land and wood resources. However, this traditional funeral concept had a certain impact on people so far, and has become a major obstacle to the implementation of funeral reform in modern society.

Conclusion

All living things in the world have life and death, and for human beings with the ability to think, death occupies an important position in their minds. Each country and nation has its own funeral customs, which can be described as varied and all kinds of wonders. The belief in ancient China has always been centered on the worship of ancestors. The ancient ancestors believed in the existence and immortality of the soul, believing that death was just a transition to another world, so funeral became an important event in their social life, and gradually formed a variety of mysterious funeral cultures, a considerable part of which was passed on to later generations. Although the formation of the lavish burials has the interaction of many factors and has the characteristics of the times. But now, lavish burials seem to be unsuitable for the current social conditions.

References

陈华文.《丧葬史》. 上海文艺出版社. 1999:12-18.

李学勤.中国丧葬礼俗•序[J].东南文化, 1991,(02):272.

沈宏格.儒家孝道非隆丧厚葬之源考[J].齐齐哈尔大学学报(哲学社会科学版),2014,(05):72-76.

田亮.盗墓与中国古代丧葬礼俗[J].安徽史学,1997:8-9.

王子今.《中国盗墓史：一种社会现象的文化考察》. 2000:31.

徐吉军,贺云翱. 《中国丧葬礼俗》. 浙江人民出版社.1991:1-43.

张捷夫.汉代厚葬之风及其危害[J].中国历史博物馆馆刊,1995(02):22-28.

Terms and Expressions

Lavish burials 厚葬

Grave robber 盗墓者

Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑

The Ming Tombs 明十三陵

The eastern and western tombs of the Qing Dynasty 清东陵和西陵

The Dingling mausoleum 定陵

Immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭

The Paleolithic period 旧石器时代

Benevolence 仁心

Filial piety 孝

Questions

1、The lavish burials in the Qin and Han Dynasties were particularly prominent, true or false?

A. True B. False

2、When did the concept of immortality of the soul arise?

A. Before the middle of the Paleolithic period B. Qin and Han dynasties C. Tang Dynasty D. Song dynasty

3、How many major reasons for lavish burials are mentioned here?

A. 2 B.3 C.4 D.5

Answers

Correct answers are 1.A 2.A 3.B

202270081658 吴敏 Wu Min 英语笔译(English translation)

Chinese Kung Fu

202270081707 伍晓莉 Wu Xiaoli 日语笔译(Japanese translation)

The reason why Chinese online novels go overseas - represented by WebNovel

伍晓莉Wu Xiaoli,202270081707

Abstract

In 2016, WebNovel became the first official platform for the overseas dissemination of Chinese online literature. Network literature has been given a new mission to help people read, and it needs to show its due social responsibility. This article is represented by WebNovel, explains the current situation of contemporary online novels, analyzes the reasons why online novels can go abroad, and lists some representative works.

Key Words

online novels;go abroad;WebNovel

Introduction

In 2008, the market of online literature formed a super strong situation, with China Reading Group monopolized half of the market, followed by Zhangyue Literature, Baidu Literature, 17k novel network Ali Literature. With the Internet as the display platform and communication medium, Chinese network literature has a creation history of more than 20 years.

Current situation of contemporary online novels

In 2020, China's online literature produced 29.059 million works, with a creative team of more than 21.3 million, and the market size reached 26.81 billion yuan, up 24.5 percent year on year. After more than 20 years of vigorous development, Chinese online literature has grown from a "minority creation" to a large-scale, systematic and influential cultural phenomenon today. (Nie Mao 2020,158)

By the end of 2021, about 2100 translated works of WebNovel have been launched internationally. From the early days when overseas netizens set up websites to translate fantasy and martial arts works, to the hot broadcast of network literature transformed script-writers in Southeast Asia, and to the establishment of overseas platforms by leading domestic network literature enterprises, the overseas localization communication system of Chinese network literature has been preliminarily established.

Reasons for Going Overseas

At present, China is in a critical period to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Enhancing cultural confidence is an important step to realize the great cause and promote the great rejuvenation. The support of the national policy has given the network novel the confidence of "going out." Under the active

guidance of the state to China network novels, network literature ushered in brand-new development opportunities.(Li Zi 2021,61) With the development of digital technology and the rise of the network, the carrier of the novel has changed from the "hard carrier" relying solely on books to the "soft carrier" that can be transmitted through electronic symbols on the network, and the network novel was born. The timeliness, globality and pluralism of the network endow the network novel with the characteristics of public communication, which makes it spread rapidly in the world. As the pioneer of China's online novel market, Qidian Chinese Website, uses this technical support to provide high-quality and rich content, accurate language translation and fast and efficient content update for global users, which greatly attracts overseas readers. (Li Zi 2021,61)

Reading group also strengthen the quality of network novel checks, selected the popular, readers favorite novel types in the overseas platform online.The network appeared in the article of alchemy, qi, and other strange elements to overseas readers surge of emotion surge, germination of mysterious Oriental culture of curiosity and yearning. (Wang Xuepeng 2020,43)

Professional translation is indispensable for the "going out" of online novels. In order to improve the translation quality of novels, the overseas editorial department of Yuewen Group specially established a translation exchange group, spent a lot of money to hire translators, established a professional translator system, and modeled on the domestic professional writer system to establish an overseas and fan-oriented professional writer system. In addition, Reading Group signed a ten-year agreement with Wuxiaworld to protect the copyright of China online novels and promote Chinese online novels to the world.(Li Zi 2021,62)

Representative works

European and American countries prefer novels with more fantastical content, and the output of China Literature Group's online novels on overseas platforms tends to be fantastical works, such as "Release That Witch" and "Super God Gene". “Bloody Romance”,"Goodbye my princess", "The Story of Yanxi Palace” and other works sold well in Southeast Asia. Chinese online literature has been added to the British Library's Chinese collection for the first time, including 16 online novels such as "The Road to Revival", "Great Power, Heavy Industry" and "My Heroic Husband", British media reported.（Xu Yang 2022,1)

Conclusion

Culture is the best reflection of a country's style and its people. With its creative and innovative vitality, online literature has connected the people and the world with Chinese stories.

References

1.Xu Yang许旸(2022-09-18).中国故事海外走俏，网文作品首次收入大英图书馆.文汇报,001.

2.Wang Xuepeng [1]王学鹏.(2020).起点国际：中国网络文学出海之帆.出版广角(20),42-44. doi:10.16491/j.cnki.cn45-1216/g2.2020.20.011.

3.Li Zi [1]李梓.(2021).阅文集团网络小说“走出去”的致胜之道.传媒(15),61-62.

4.Nie Mao聂茂.新世纪网络小说的盛世叙事与中国气派[J].文学评论,2022(04):158-167.

5.Fandom and coercive empowerment: the commissioned production of Chinese online literature[J] .Xiaoli Tian,Michael Adorjan.Media, Culture ＆ Society.2016 (6)

6.VENUTI L. The translator’s invisibility：a history of translation[M]. 上海：上海外语教育出版社，2004.

7.Chinese online literature: creative consumers and evolving business models[J] .Xiang Ren,Lucy Montgomery.Arts Marketing: An International Journat.2012 (2)

Terms and Expressions

WebNovel 起点国际 "Release That Witch" 《放开那女巫》 "Super God Gene" 《超级神基因》 "Bloody Romance" 《媚者无疆》 "Goodbye my princess" 《东宫》 "The Story of Yanxi Palace"《延禧攻略》 "The Road to Revival"《复兴之路》 "Great Power, Heavy Industry"《大国重工》 "My Heroic Husband"《赘婿》

Questions

1.By the end of 2021, how many translated works of Chinese online literature will Qidian International have online? A.2100 B.2800 C.3000 2.What characteristics of the network give network novels the characteristics of public communication? A.Timeliness B.globality C. diversity 3___is indispensable for the "going out" of network novels. A.Writers B. Readers C. Professional translation 4.Chinese online literature has been added to the British Library's Chinese collection for the first time. True False

Answers

Correct answers are:1.a 2.abc 3.c 4.True

202270081660 席书涵 Xi Shuhan 英语笔译(English translation)

Lying Flat Culture in China

席书涵Xi Shuhan，202270081660

Abstract

In recent years, the buzzword "Lying flat" has goes viral among Chinese youngesters. According to politics dictionary, "Lying Flat" is a translation of the Chinese phrase "tang ping" which refers to a social movement and lifestyle whose adopt a more leisurely and nonmaterialistic life in rejection of high professional demands and societal expectations. This chapter will briefly introduce lying flat culture and unveil the reasons behind youngsters’ lying flat.

Key Words

Lying Flat; Involution; Lifestyle;

Introduction

"Lying Flat" or "Tang Ping" is an online buzz word deriving from" Buddhist youth” and "Sang culture" (culture of mourning). It refers those who lower their desire and maintain a low posture to adapt to the cruel social reality, so as to seek their inner peace. (Wang Bin, 2022) In recent years, with the technological development and social reform, the youngsters have to suffer greater pressure from employment, housing, study as well as family. However, working hard has failed to bring them better living quality. In the face of the enormous anxiety, some young people are inclined to drop out of the rate race and embrace a stress-free lifestyle. Under such a background, "lying flat Culture" emerged. In China, some people regarded "lying flat" as a kind of black humor to vent their disaffection towards the society, while some of them went too far to worship "lying flat" as an ultimate rule to solve any problem they meet. The latter one has imposed unignorable negative influence on our society. This chapter will detailly introduce the two main insights on "lying flat culture" and its three types and reveal the reasons behind this cultural phenomenon.

Two Main Perceptions on Lying Flat Culture

"Lying flat" depicts the posture of the youth when they are trapped in cutthroat competition and frustrated about the meager reward brought by their efforts. At work, its followers have no desire to advance and refuse to work overtime. In life, they don’t want to marry or make a family, unwilling to shoulder the responsibility to rear children. In some extent, "lying flat" epitomizes a negative lifestyle. As this culture gets popular, two opposite insights on this culture formed. One is "lying flat is justice" while the other is "lying flat is a shame". People hold the former view take "lying flat" as a means of counteracting the high pressure brought by high consumption and high housing price. By cutting down their spending and quitting social life, they can reduce their sense of unfair and enhance their happiness index. In their mind, "lying flat" is to escape the pressure of jungle competition, to avoid being exploited and oppressed and it’s a resistance against rat race which also known as "involution". And they think people have a right to choose a slow lifestyle of reading, exercising and doing odd jobs to get by. Generally speaking, they think temporary "lying flat" is conducive because it offers them a brief respite for them to find their true self. Those who hold the latter view argue that "lying flat" is an excuse of shirking responsibility and self-degradation. Competition is everywhere in our world and "lying flat" itself has no way to take competition away. Therefore, "lying flat" is considered as a behavior of coward, lacking courage to face difficulty and competition. Besides, "lying flat culture" deviates from the mainstream culture in our society where the youth are supposed to fight for better life and shoulder their responsibility. (Hou Zhenzhong, 2022)

Three Types of Lying Flat

"Lying flat culture" can be mainly divided into three different types: forced type, escape type and self-mockery type. Forced Type. As we all know, one’s energy and capability are limited. In a highly competitive environment, some people may have made a lot of efforts to meet their expectations but still ended with failure. Daunted by the cruel reality, they are forced to accept the unpleasant result and lower their expectation. That is called to be forced to lie flat. (Chen Youhua, Cao Yunhe, 2022) Escape Type. Under this type, the youth proactively lower their desire to escape the pressure. However, they may sink into a negative state where they are reluctant to bounce towards opportunities and just dawdle away their days. Self-Mockery Type. Different from the former two types, the people under this type don’t really pursue a "lying flat" lifestyle, they just take it as a way of discharging their pressure. Though their words express their willing of giving up, they actually have never ceased fighting and even secretly made efforts to surpass others. (Gao Renai, 2022)

The Reasons Behind Lying Flat

The reasons behind Lying flat lie in four aspects: economy, culture, internet and education. Economy. Among all the factors, it is believed that economy plays a decisive role. Because of social transformation and industrial restructuring, Chinese economic growth slows down and industrial development was stunted. Unfair social distribution, higher living cost, widening wealth gap, increasing social uncertainties all contribute to the formation of "lying flat culture". Culture. Among all the cultures, "Involution culture" is the direct reason behind "lying flat". Involution means that people who share the same benefits compete to make more efforts for the limited resource. This kind of vicious competition erode people’s enthusiasm towards life. The youth can no longer gain a sense of achievement from working. As a result, some youngsters choose to lie flat. Beyond that, "consumer culture" is at the downturn. With pressure of life growing heavier, the lying flat youth have to quit unreasonable consumption habits and return to simple life. Internet. In internet era, the social environment becomes more open and inclusive to different voices. Internet is a free and broad platform for youth to exchange their thoughts anonymously. As a result, the catchword "lying flat" quickly spreads cross the whole country. So generally speaking, internet fueled spreading of "lying flat culture". Education. As we all know, education has a profound influence on the shaping of the values of the youth. In China, the traditional education only worshiped high scores, wrongly infusing utilitarianism and sense of hierarchy in students’ mind, but ignored labor education. In this way, students fail to find the significance from labor and become more susceptible of the negative culture. So, the old education is also counted as one of the important reasons that cause the youth to lie flat. (Li Yanan, 2022)

Conclusion

In conclusion, though most of the teenagers just take "lying flat" as a catchword to cry their apathetic life, the "lying flat culture" is poisonous to our society. According to the research, "lying flat" means a big hit on our economy. Suppose all the youth follow "lying flat culture", we will enter into low desire society rapidly, which will have a direct impact on our national economy. If we don’t have enough motivation to consume, the circulation of commodities will fall down, bringing more instability to our economy. In addition, "lying flat culture" also has a negative effect on birth rate, which will create bigger challenge to economy too. So, we must take effective actions to stop the spreading of this culture.

Reference

[1]陈友华,曹云鹤.“躺平”：兴起、形成机制与社会后果[J].福建论坛(人文社会科学版),2021(09):181-192. [2]高仁爱.对青年大学生“内卷”与“躺平”现象的反思[J].领导科学论坛,2022(07):153-156.DOI:10.19299/j.cnki.42-1837/C.2022.07.031. [3]侯振中.“躺平”亚文化的生成及反思[J].人民论坛,2021(35):123-125. [4]李雅楠.“躺平”现象的研究现状与未来展望[J].重庆文理学院学报(社会科学版),2022,41(06):118-129.DOI:10.19493/j.cnki.issn1673-8004.2022.06.010. [5]王彬.“躺平”文化的本质、症候及价值引导[J].文化创新比较研究,2022,6(30):189-194. Terms and Expressions Lying flat 躺平 Involution 内卷 Forced type 被迫式 Escape type 逃避式 Self-Mockery type 自嘲式

Question

How many types "lying flat" are there? A.1 B.4 C.3 D.5

What are the factors behind " lying flat" culture? A.economy B.culture C.internet D.education

Temporary "lying flat" is conducive because it offers people a respite to find their true self. A.true B.false

Involution is the direct reason behind "lying flat" A.true B.false

Answer 1.C 2.ABCD 3.A 4.A