Basics of Chinese Culture

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Unit 8 Literature

A. Classical Literature

Liu Xiaoting

两弯似蹙非蹙笼烟眉，一双似喜非喜含情目。

Her mist-wreathed brows at first seemed to frown, yet were not frowning; her passionate eyes at first seemed to smile, yet were not merry.

Chen Qiuxu

中国古典文学有诗歌、散文、小说以及词、赋、曲等多种表现形式，在各种文体中，又有多种多样的艺术表现手法。

There are many forms of expression in Chinese classical literature, such as poetry, prose, novels, ci, fu and qu. In all kinds of literary forms, there are a variety of artistic expression techniques.

Hu Jingchen

汉赋其主要特点是铺陈写物，不歌而诵，是中国古代特有的一种文学体裁。

The main features of Han Fu are to lay out the writings and recite them without singing. It is a literary genre unique to ancient China.

Li Leyi

林黛玉是书中一位富有诗意美和理想色彩的悲剧形象,她美得让人由衷地心疼和爱怜，更具艺术魅力的是她无与伦比的丰富而优美的精神世界。

Lin Daiyu is a tragic image of poetic beauty and ideal brilliance in the book, she is so beautiful that people sincerely love her and feel pitiful for her, and her unparalleled abundant and elegant spiritual world is more artistically charming.

Li Qi

《红楼梦》是一部具有世界影响力的小说，举世公认的中国古典小说巅峰之作，中国封建社会的百科全书。

A Dream of Red Mansions is a novel with world influence, which is universally recognized as the peak of Chinese classical novels and an encyclopedia of Chinese feudal society.

Luo Xiaodi

中国古典文学广义的指自先秦至清代末年的中国文学，包括作家、作品、文学事件，文体起源与发展历程，文学运动、流派，文学理论，作家作品的考据、研究等等。

In a broad sense, Chinese classical literature refers to Chinese literature from the pre-qin period to the end of the Qing Dynasty, including writers, works, literary events, the origin and development of literary style, literary movements, schools, literary theory, Textual Research and so on.

Li Haowen

儒林外史全篇没有贯穿始终的主要人物和故事框架，而是一个个相对独立的故事的连环套；前面一个故事说完了，引出一些新的人物，这些新的人物便成为后一个故事中的主要角色。

The whole book of Scholars has no main character who shows up from the beginning to the end, nor did a story structure. But it has several separate stories. They are connected by some new characters showing up in the previous story and then they will be the main characters in the next.

Liu Li

汉赋其主要特点是铺陈写物，不歌而诵，是中国古代特有的一种文学体裁。

The main characteristic of Han Fu is to lay out and write things without singing. It is a special literary genre in ancient China.

Qin Ruijing

《离骚》把最为生动鲜艳、只有在原始神话中才能出现的那种无羁而多义的浪漫想象，与最为炽热深沉，只有在理性觉醒时刻才能有的个体人格和情操，最完满地溶化成了有机整体。

Translation: “Li Sao”perfectly combines the most wild, vivid and colorful romantic imagination, which can only appear in the primitive myths, and the most intense and deep individual personality and sentiment, which can only be found in the moment of rational awakening, into an organic whole.

Shi Shuwen

《诗经》三百零五篇中，有一百四十四篇涉及植物，唯有诗歌最能释木。

Of the 305 passages in The Book of Songs, 144 passages relate to plants, only poetry can explain wood best.

Zhang Yuanling

《桃花扇》写李香君和侯方域的离合之情的部分不多，反而是国家兴亡之势的描写占了上风。因此他们之间的爱情，便成了沧海中的一粟，最后化作一缕云烟。

The Peach Blossom Fan is not long in the length of depicting the vicissitudes of Li Xiangjun and Hou Fangyu, but long in describing the fate of Ming Dynasty. Then their love was no more like a drop in the ocean, and finally disappeared as a cloud of vapor.

Luo Feng

Records of the Historians covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese and a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time.

《史记》记载了自黄帝至汉武帝太初年间（即司马迁所处朝代）共2500年的历史。

Ma Qian

《史记》被称为“史家之绝唱，无韵之离骚”。

Records of the Historian has the reputation of " the masterpiece of the history, the Li Sao without rhythm."

Li Xiangyun

中国诗词闻名世界，却也极难翻译。

Chinese poetry and ci lyric are famous all around the world, but they are very difficult to translate.

Ai Xin

《诗经》是我国第一部诗歌总集。编成于春秋时期，大抵是西周初年至春秋中叶500年间的作品，共305篇，代表了2500多年以前诗歌创作的最高成就。

The Book of Songs is the earliest anthology of verse in China, which presents the top achievement of poetic creation more than 2500 years ago. It is compiled during the Spring and Autumn period about 305 works, roughly composed from the early Western Zhou dynasty to the middle of the spring and autumn period.

Xia Ke

可怜无定河边骨，犹是春闺梦里人。

Those miserable piles of bones near the Wuding lake, are still sweet husbands in their wives’ dreams.

士为知己者死，女为悦己者容。

A man would die for someone appreciates him, a woman will dress up for someone she likes.

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

I wish the one I care about will live long and healthy, so we can share the same moon no matter how far apart we are.

Liu Siyu

《诗经》里的作品多方面描写了现实生活，表现了不同阶层人民在现实生活中的各种感受，真实地反映了现实生活。

Compositions in The Book of Songs depicted real life from various perspective, showed the feelings of people of different classes in it, and truly reflected it.

Sun Rui

《诗经》的作者身份十分广泛，有上层的公卿大夫，也有中下层的“士”，“风”类诗歌的作者大多是下层的平民百姓，同时这类诗歌大多是集体创作的。

The authors' identities of The Book of Songs are very broad, which include aristocracy of the upper class and also scholars of the middle and lower class. The authors of Wind Poetry are mostly common people of lower class. At the same time, this kind of poetry is mostly collective creation.

Yang Yuxin

《诗经》里的作品多方面描写了现实生活，表现了不同阶层人民在现实生活中的各种感受，真实地反映了现实生活。

The book of songs mainly described real life, showing all kinds of feelings of different people at different classes, truly reflecting people's real life at that time.

Yang Qing

在艺术上，窦娥冤体现了现实主义与浪漫主义风格的融合，反映了广大人民伸张正义、惩治邪恶的愿望。

Artistically, the Snow in Midsummer reflects the combination of realism and romanticism, and reflects the desire of the people to uphold justice and punish evil.

Yang Jiani

Journey to the West is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. In English-speaking countries, the work is widely known as Monkey, the title of Arthur Waley's popular abridged translation.

《西游记》是一部写于16世纪的明朝的中国小说, 作者是吴承恩。他是中国古典文学的四大名著之一。在英语国家，这部小说通常被称为“猴子”，源自Arthur Waley广为人知的翻译。

Yin Tanwen

中国古代四大名剧分别是《牡丹亭》、《桃花扇》、《长生殿》、《西厢记》。

There are four famous operas in ancient China, which called the Peony Pavilion, the Peach Blossom Fan, Palace of Eternal Youth, the Romance of the Western Chamber.

Yu Jing

文学是用语言塑造形象反映社会生活的一种语言艺术，是文化中极具强烈感染力的重要组成部分。

Literature is a kind of language art, using language to shape figures to reflect social life, and it is an important component with strong infection in culture.

Zhou Xiaolan

中国古典文学是中华民族最宝贵的文化遗产之一。

Chinese classical literature is one of the most precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.

Zhu Wenhao

甩发功，多为男性角色甩动头顶扎束的一绺长发，表现惊慌失措、悲愤交加、疼痛欲绝以及仓皇逃命、垂死挣扎等激烈异常的情绪和情境的一种表演特技。

Hair swing is a acting skills in Beijing opera. Usually, the male character whips a stunt of long hair from the top of his head to express abnormal emotions, such as panic, a mix of grief and anger, extreme pain, and to show fierce situation like rushing to escape and struggling desperately

Peng Lu

中国传统文化养育了中国古典文学，中国古典文学又大大丰富了中国传统文化，使传统文化更具有深刻的影响力。

Thanks to traditional culture, Chinese classical literature has become fertile, which, at the same time, enriches traditional culture and wins it more profound influence.

Guo Xinyi

《诗经》里的作品多方面描写了现实生活，表现了不同阶层人民在现实生活中的各种感受，真实地反映了现实生活，这是它的一大特色。

It is one of the most prominent characteristics of The Book of Songs that the real life is portrayed from more than one aspect in the poems and it manifests different feelings of different classes of people in their real life, so that the reality has its truly reflection.

Tips: 英文长句中一般评论在前，事实在后，所以可先翻译最后一句

英文中更喜欢用被动句，所以中间两句用被动形式更说得通

Liu Qinyu

The majority of the Odes date to the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BC), and were drawn from around 15 kingdoms, those which were mainly provinces and cities in the Zhongyuan area.

这本诗集可以追溯到西周时期（公元前1046-771），且其内容源自当时的15个王国，他们主要位于中原地区。

Liu Ying

原文：《尚书》的主要内容是尧舜至春秋时代一些君主和大臣的讲话，誓词，政令的记录，反映上古时代的政治观念和某些统治者的经验。

The Book of History mainly records the speeches, oaths and decrees of monarchs and ministers from Yao Shun period to Chunqiu period. It reflects political ideas in the ancient times and experiences of some governors.

Du Peixi

The Chinese classical poetry is a gem in the treasure house of Chinese literature as well as an important component of the Chinese traditional culture.

中国古典诗歌是中华文化宝库的一颗明珠,也是中华民族优秀传统文化的重要组成部分。

Tip：gem of the treasure house 的意思为珠宝屋里的宝石，为了使句子更多美感，翻译为宝库的一颗明珠。

Jiang Yun

水浒世界里只有一种颜色，那就是黑色。（中译英）

There is only a kind of color in Shui Hui Huan: black.

Li Shuo

《诗经》反映了劳动与爱情、战争与徭役、压迫与反抗、风俗与婚姻、祭祖与宴会，甚至天象、动物、植物等方方面面，是周代社会生活的一面镜子。

The Book of Songs is a mirror of social life in Zhou Dynasty, which reflects labor and love, war and corvee, oppression and resistance, customs and marriage, ancestor worship and banquet, even celestial, animal, plant and other aspects.

Peng Yu

The Dream of the Red Chamber was very highly regarded when it was published both in China and Japan and is reminiscent of a psychologically complex work like Dostoyevskiy’s.

《红楼梦》在中国和日本出版时都受到高度评价，让人联想到陀思妥耶夫斯基那样的心理复杂作品。

B. Modern Literature

Liu Xiaoting

During the War of Liberation, themes of literature are generally the rural life in liberation areas and Chinese peasant’s struggle against the feudal rule and the system of exploitation.

解放战争时期，文学的主题一般是解放地区的农村生活和中国农民反对封建统治和剥削制度的斗争。

Chen Qiuxu

《狂人日记》是中国第一部现代白话文小说，首发于《新青年》月刊。文中讽刺了中国封建礼教和中国人的陋俗。

A madman's diary is Chinese first modern vernacular novel published in the monthly magazine New Youth. It satirizes the Chinese feudal ethics and the Chinese rotten customs.

Hu Jingchen

现代文学为中国的近现代社会创造了民族共同的想象空间，对中国近现代民族精神的形成和凝聚，民族国家的形成具有不可替代的重要作用。

Modern literature has created a common imagination space for China's modern and contemporary society, and it plays an irreplaceable and important role on the formation and cohesion of China's modern and national spirit and the formation of a nation-state.

Li Leyi

祥子是个绝对的好人，同时他的生活愿望又是那么普通，但是这样的祥子在当时的社会里却无法生存。

Xiang Zi was an absolutely good man, and his desire for life was so ordinary, but such a person could not survive in the society at that time.

Li Qi

中国现代文学是在中国社会内部发生历史性变化的条件下﹐广泛接受外国文学影响而形成的新的文学。

Chinese modern literature is a new literature formed with the influence of foreign literature, when great changes were taking place within Chinese society.

Luo Xiaodi

中国现代文学既是作家作品的历史，也是文学和文化思想的历史，也是中国社会接受和运用现代文学的历史。

Modern Chinese literature is not only the history of writers'works, but also the history of literature and cultural thought, as well as the history of the acceptance and application of modern Chinese literature.

Li Haowen

但是小凤仙在小有名气之后却心猿意马，“不在玩意儿上用功夫，专在交际上用功夫”，成了流氓绅士杨大爷的玩物，背叛了先生为之呕心沥血的戏剧事业。

However, Xiao Fengxian become absent minded when he gets a little famous. He doesn’t bury himself in Beijing Opera, but spares no effort in socializing. Finally, he ends up with being a toy to rich hooligan Yang, betraying the works in which Liu Zhensheng has devoted his whole life.

Liu Li

社会政治事件往往成为现代文学创作的题材源，引发文学创作和理论论争。

Social and political events often become the source of the subject matter of modern literary creation, causing literary creation and theoretical debate.

Qin Ruijing

相对于超越了特定地域审美趣味的昆曲而言，京剧更多地是特定地域文化的产物；相对于昆曲所代表的文人士大夫趣味，它更接近于底层和民间的趣味。

Compared with “kunqu” which transcends the regional aesthetic, Beijing Opera is the product of a specific region’s culture. Compared with “kunqu” that represents the interest of literati and officialdom, Beijing Opera is more closer to the interest of the lower class people.

Shi Shuwen

中国现代文学是在中国社会内部发生历史性变化的条件下﹐广泛接受外国文学影响而形成的新的文学。

Chinese modern literature is a new literature which is widely influenced by foreign literature under the condition of historical changes in Chinese society.

Zhang Yuanling

昆曲是一门集歌唱、舞蹈、道白、动作为一体的综合性很高的艺术形式，在刻画人物性格、表达人物心理状态等方面，形成了完整而独特的表演体系。

Kunqu is a category of art that high in comprehensiveness for integrating singing, dancing, narrating and action in one. It formed a complete and unique performing system in the aspects like depicting one’s character, expressing one’s mentality, and so on.

Luo Feng

Fiction constitutes an important part of the modern literature and features the condemnation of social evils.

在中国近现代文学史上，小说作为其重要组成，以针砭时弊为著。

Ma Qian

京剧的腔调以西皮和二黄为主，主要用胡琴和锣鼓等伴奏，被视为中国国粹。

Beijing Opera is regarded as Chinese national theater, of which the tune mainly are Xipi and Erhuang, and it accompanied with Huqin and drum for most of the time.

Li Xiangyun

近现代文学作品开始使用白话文。

Modern literature works began to use vernacular.

Liu Siyu

中国现代文学是在中国社会内部发生历史性变化的条件下﹐广泛接受外国文学影响而形成的新的文学。

Contemporary literature is a new literature which is widely influenced by foreign literatures under the condition of the historical changes within Chinese society.

这首诗对商妇的各个生活阶段，通过生动具体的生活侧面的描绘，在读者面前展开了一幅幅鲜明生动的画面。

This poetry showed readers a vivid picture by depicting a profile in different life period of the business woman vividly and specifically.

Xia Ke

一位本地英雄，

在废弃的停车场上，

唱歌，

玻璃晴朗，桔子辉煌。

A local hero, is singing in the abandoned parking lot, he is as clear as the the glass in the sun , and as gleam as the glowing orange .

酒进到嘴里，爱进到眼里，

这就是在衰朽和死亡之前，

我们应该学会的全部真理。

We drink with our mouths, we show love with our eyes,

and this is the truth we need to learn,

before we get old and die.

为了寻找你，我搬进鸟的眼睛，经常盯着路过的风。

To look for you, I moved into a bird’s eyes, and staring at the passing wind.

Ai Xin

20世纪70年代末的“伤痕小说”主要是指暴露“文革”十年灾难、揭露“文革”十年的黑暗现实给党和国家造成危害、给人们心灵造成创痛的小说，其主题是彻底否定“文化大革命”，揭露林彪“四人帮”，鞭挞丑恶灵魂，同情人民的遭遇，礼赞美好的情操。

"Scar literature" mainly refers to novels in the late 1970s, which expose the "cultural revolution" disaster and dark reality, which reveal the country’s harm and people’s heart trauma of the ten years. The themes completely deny "culture revolution", criticize Lin Biao "Gang of Four", lash ugly soul, sympathize with unfortunate experience and praise noble sentiment.

我先前总以为人是有罪的，所以枪毙或作监的。现在才知道其中的许多，是因为被人认为可恶。这才终于犯罪了。 --《可恶罪》 一九二七年

I had often thought that a man was shot or put into prison for his guilty; but now I know many of them crime at last because they are considered guilty. -- The Crime of Hate In 1927

Sun Rui

在文革前和文革当中，中国大陆的当代文学一直存在着潜在的创作，历次政治运动中被剥夺了写作权力的知识分子仍然在用笔表达内心的理想之歌和感情世界。

In the period before and during the cultural revolution, potential creation had always existed in the contemporary literature in Chinese mainland. The intellectuals who had been deprived of the right to write in all the political movements were still expressing their inner idea lsongs and emotional world with the pen.

Yang Yuxin

创作实践上要求反映现实政治社会内容，歌颂广大人民和英雄人物对外国侵略者的英勇抵抗。

In practice, composition is supposed to reflect realistic contents of political and social, praising people and heroes' brave resistance to foreign invaders.

Yang Qing

《激流三部曲》，包括《家》、《春》、《秋》，表达了巴金对自由、民主、尊重人格、人性解放的呼吁。

The Trilogy of Turbulent Currents, including The Family, Spring and Autumn, shows Ba Jin's appeal for freedom, democracy, respect for personality and liberation of human nature.

Yang Jiani

Lu Xun was born into a family of landlords and government officials in Shaoxing, Zhejiang; the family's financial resources declined over the course of his youth. Lu aspired to take the imperial civil service exam; but, due to his family's relative poverty, was forced to attend government-funded schools teaching "Western education".

鲁迅出生在浙江绍兴的一个官宦地主家庭里。在他年轻的时候，家里的财力逐渐衰退。鲁迅立志去参加科举考试，然而由于家庭的贫穷，他被迫参加了由政府资助承办的“西式教育”学校.

Yin Tanwen

新文化运动后，一群先进的知识分子将文学作为反帝反封建运动的武器，也用文学来反映劳动者的疾苦和他们为了自由所做的斗争。

After the new culture movement, a group of advanced intellectuals used literature as weaponry against imperialism and feudalism, and also to reflect the sufferings of the workers and their struggle for liberation.

Yu Jing

新民主主义文学中所孕育的社会主义因素﹐保证了文学的社会主义发展方向﹐到中华人民共和国成立后﹐便形成了社会主义文学的洪流。

The socialism factor bred in new democratic literature assured the literature socialism developing direction and formed socialism literature current after the founded of New China.

Zhou Xiaolan

中国现代文学是在中国社会内部发生历史性变化的条件下﹐广泛接受外国文学影响而形成的新的文学。

Chinese modern literature is a new literature which is widely influenced by foreign literature under the condition of historical changes in Chinese society.

Zhu Wenhao

梅兰芳的哑剧表演和服装展示的演出真是精美优雅，可爱绝伦，美妙得就像中国古老的花瓶或是刺绣的帷幔。这是一次接触，与一种在数世纪中不可思议地圆熟起来的文化的接触。

Mei Lanfang ’s pantomime performances and costume show performances are exquisitely elegant, lovely. They are as beautiful as ancient Chinese vases or embroidered curtains. This is a contact with a kind of culture, which formed and developed incredibly in centuries.

Peng Lu

中国现代文学是在中国社会内部发生历史性变化的条件下﹐广泛接受外国文学影响而形成的新的文学。

With historical changes happening inside in China , Chinese modern literature is developed to a new literature though widely accepting foreign achievements.

Guo Xinyi

可以说，没有外国文学、文化的影响，中国现代文学的产生是无法想象的。

To say the least, the advent of Chinese modern literature is hard to imagine if without the impact of foreign literature and foreign culture.

Tips：“可以说”: to say the least

“产生”不一定都用production或者appearance，也可以用advent或emergence

Liu Qinyu

Lu Xun was born into a family of landlords and government officials in Shaoxing, Zhejiang; the family's financial resources declined over the course of his youth.

鲁迅出生于浙江绍兴的一个官僚地主之家。在他年少时，家道中落。

Liu Ying

虽然现代小说是全新的，但并不意味着它是孤立的，恰恰相反，它得益于对中国传统小说的继承和吸取。

Although contemporary literature is brand-new, it isn’t isolated; contrarily, it benefits from inheriting and absorbing the edges of traditional literature.

Du Peixi

In the field of poetry, Guo Moruo is the figure initiated the modern Chinese poetry with his outstanding example, The Goddess.

在诗歌领域，郭沫若是中国现代诗的首要人物，他杰出的代表作是《女神》。

Jiang Yun

这就是中国文学目前的问题，搞文学的在搞艺术，国家希望它服务于社会（中译英） People who belongs to literary are working on arts, but our country hopes it serve the society. This is the question lying in Chinese literature.

Li Shuo

《茶馆》结构上分三幕，以老北京一家叫裕泰的大茶馆的兴衰变迁为背景，展示了从清末到北洋军阀时期再到抗战胜利以后的近50年间，北京的社会风貌和各阶层的不同人物的生活变迁。

The structure of Teahouse is divided into three acts. With the rise and fall of a big tea house called Yutai in old Beijing as the background, it shows the social features of Beijing and the life changes of different figures in every class in about 50 years from the late Qing Dynasty to the period of the Northern warlords, then to the victory of the War of Resistance.

Peng Yu

Lu Xun, the harbinger and master of modern literature, composed the Madman's Diary, which was the first work set completely in exoteric language and which sharply revealed the essence of society.

鲁迅是现代文学的先驱和大师，《狂人日记》是第一部完全以通俗语言为背景，深刻揭示社会本质的作品。