中国文学史课程第一讲英文资料双语表达：精彩句子与段落Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction1.C hina has a long and rich literary tradition, but to many Westerners, Chinese literature remains an enigma (谜). Many of the most important Chinese classics are unavailable in translation, as much of China’s literary heritage (particularly its poetry) has been untranslatable, despite scholarly efforts.2.F or 3,500 years, Chinese literature’s diversified genres (类型)and forms have encompassed mythology （神话），poetry, essay, fiction and drama. It rivals (与……媲美) other great literature of the world.3.B eginning with primitive mythology, Chinese literature developed with The Book of Songs (《诗经》)，Poetry of the South (《楚辞》)，the prose of the pre-Qin period, hanfu and yuefu folk songs of the Han Dynasty (汉赋)，the literary criticisim in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the Tang poems, ci of the Song Dynasty, yuanqu in the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming and Qing novels. Each dynasty contributed its own distinctive literary genre.4.C hina’s literary legacy predominantly falls into either classical or modern eras. However, it can be subdivided into four main periods:Classical: pre—late QingModern: 1840—May 4th, 1919Revolutionary: 1919—1949Contemporary: 1949—presentModern literature embraces works from the late Qing Dynasty to the May 4th Movement of 1919. as the decadent (颓废的) reign of the Qing failed to inspire the minds of people, literary forms remained unchanged until the First Opium War of 1840. as foreigners arrived in China and established their colonies, Western thinking began to influence Chinese writing. Novels, poetry, and other works with patriotic (爱国的) and revolutionary themes appeared to expose and attack socialills.●Revolutionary literature spanned the period from 1919 to the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and took on a new vigor, despite the fact that China was in the throes (挣扎) of political and social unrest (骚动). This period was distinctive as it brought along a new and revised literary language, form, content, and set of skills, which evolved into an independent and open art form available to all. It focused on people’s lives with strong political overtones, emphasizing opposition to imperialism and feudalism, and advocating the building of a new China.●Contemporary literature started with the establishment of the PRC in 1949. there was a holdup of development as the consequence of the “cultural revolution” that lasted for nearly 10 years from 1966 to 1976. the era is now long gone and Chinese literature is prospering once again.●Chinese classical literature refers to literary works from the days before the Qin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, and is virtually an unbroken strand (思想等的一个组成部分) enduring dynastic changes.●Long before the written language appeared, there was an oral tradition of tales of fables and legends. Some of them are still kept in some ancient books as a precious heritage of Chinese literature. Over 3,000 years, there has emerged a great variety of excellent works in terms of poems, essays, novels, dramas and so on.●Chinese Mythology 中国神话●Pangu the Creator盘古开天At first the universe was in chaos. Shaped like an egg, it was an undifferentiated whole. Pangu, the Creator, was born into it. He was an almighty giant. He kept growing everyday until he separated the universe into the sky and the earth with his sheer muscular strength. In spite of this the sky and the earth were still connected at various parts. So he kept at his work with a chisel and an axe until the great feat was achieved. He lived for thousands of years, working all the time until he died of exhaustion. When he died, his body changed into various things. His breath became winds and clouds. His left eye turned into the sun and hisright eye the moon. His arms and legs were transformed into the four corners of the earth and parts of his body the various mountains. His blood formed the rivers and his veins the roads. His flesh became the soil and his skin and fine body hair the trees and plants. His teeth and bones turned into rocks and metals and his marrow pearls and jade. His hair and mustache changed into stars. His sweat fell as rain, nourishing all things. The insects on his body took the shape of men and women.●Nuwa, the Maker of Man女娲造人After the birth of the world there were only creatures but no humans. It was indeed a lonely world. The Almighty Goddess Nuwa wanted to add life and beauty to the world. She set about making man with clay. She shaped little figures after her image with her hands. She breathed life into them and set them down. As soon as they touched ground, they began to cheer and dance. She went about her work day and night. It was slow work. When she became tired, the number of creatures she made was still very small. She thought out an idea to speed up the work. She got a rattan, dipped it into the mud and flung the rattan about. The mud drops turned into men and women.●Nuwa mended the Sky女娲补天Once a terrible disaster hit the earth. The sky collapsed and cracked, the earth tilted and split. Endless rains caused fierce floods, crevices in the ground sent out raging fires. Nuwa came out to save the world. She melted rocks of colours to mend the sky. She broke off the legs of a giant turtle and used them to support the four corners of the fallen sky. She killed the black dragon to save the people and checked the flood with reed ashes. Thus the sky was mended and lifted, the cracks of the earth were filled, the fires put out, the flood tamed and the people saved.●The Ancestors of Man兄妹始祖Fuxi(fu xi伏羲) and Nuwa（nv wa女娲）are the ancestors of man. At the beginning of the world there were only two people, Fuxi and Nuwa. They were brother and sister. They wanted to marry each other, but were ashamed of the idea. They decided to climb up to the holy Mountain named Kunlun, the palace of the God of Heaven on earth. They built two fires and prayed: ”If Heaven sent us down to be husband and wife, may the smoke join; if not, the smoke will go different ways.” In no time the smoke joined, they obeyed the decreeof Heaven. Nuwa went up to Fuxi, who took her sister in his arms. Thus they got married.●Myths about man Very conspicuous in Chinese mythology is a lack of detailed myths regarding the origin of man. As already noted, one that is well-known relates that mankind came from the lice on the decaying body of Pan Gu, but Pan Gu is described in another tradition as fashioning men from clay, some of whom were damaged when storm and rain was pressing on and became deformed as a consequence. Nu Wa, the deity who reconstructed the four pillars supporting heaven, was also said to have created men from clay, with the help of other gods and goddesses, some with care, others by dragging a string through mud because they wanted to produce more and faster. Another tale goes that Nu Wa and her elder brother Fu Xi got married, which marked the beginnings of the human race. Later when they found that the young people lived together irregularly, to the great detriment of morality, they prohibited marriage between members of the same family.●Yu the Great, the Flood Tamer大禹治水Gonggong（gong gong共工）, the water god was defeated in the power struggle against Zhuanxu(zhuan xu 颛顼), one of the five celestial emperors. In fury, he knocked down the Buzhou Mountain（buzhou shan不周山）, one of the pillars of the sky. The sky collapsed, rains poured down, the earth tilted, floods raged. Gun （gun鲧）the Yellow Dragon stole the Growing Earth （xi rang息壤）from heaven in an attempt to block the floods. This failed and he was killed by heaven. Three years after his death, his body was still in good condition. When it was cut open, out bounded his son, the Great Yu（da yu大禹）. Yu carried on the unfinished task of his father. Blocking floods by means of dams and dikes was not enough, that was the lesson he drew from his father’s failure. He also dredged rivers and built canals. Yu drove away Gongong the water god and went at his work thirteen years long. The whole earth was inundated. It was slow work. When he was cutting through the most difficult mountain, the Mountain of the Dragon Gate, he turned himself into a bear. When his wife found him in this form, she turned herself into a rock. He lost his wife, but he was not crushed by thismisery. He kept at his work until the floods were tamed and man was saved. And he was revered as Yu the Great.●The Empty Palace of Gods空寂神殿Compared with Greek mythology, Chinese mythology is not very impressive. There is no comparison between it and Greek mythology in amount, Chinese mythology is fragmented, unsystematic. The family trees of gods are not very clear. Much of Chinese mythology is lost, and what is not lost is scattered and difficult to trace. Various causes have been suggested. First, the extremely complicated written word was not efficient in recording myths and legends. Second, Confucius, the most important Chinese philosopher dismissed anything mysterious or fantastic, and that discouraged the spreading of myths. Third, historians before and after Confucius turned much of mythology into historical events and stories. Fourth, Chinese are probably the most historically conscious; even in ancient times early history and mythology were already entwined. As a result, gods became historical figures, and historical figures became gods. No scholars ever thought of systematically recording myths and legends until this century. However, there occurs a brighter side of the picture. Lots of lost myths are still alive among some minority peoples. Much of it has been recorded in the past decades. It won’t be long before Chinese mythology is reconstructed and systematized. 相对于希腊神话，中国神话给人印象不深。
