苏轼英文简介诗词翻译.doc

中国诗人苏轼 su shi相关搜索: 苏轼, 中国, shi, 诗人the chinese literator and poet su shi lived from ad 1037 to 1101. during his life, he created many works. he was perhaps most famous for his poems, but he also wrote many essays and was famous in the officialdom. i admire su shi because he has made a great contribution to the literature and was tough even when facing troubles.in chinese history, su shi, together with his brother su zhe and father su xun, were all famous and were called three sus. but su shis contribution was the greatest. he not only created wonderful works, but also did many good things for common people when he was an officer. today, there is still a su bank in hangzhou province.because of sus talent, su was envied and was relegated to huangzhou, a poor place. even when su was there, he didnt lose his spirit for the life. whats more, his poems created at that time was even better. sus time has past, but his spirit lives forever.su shi, who appears as a star in song dynasty, lights up my heart and soul with his great spirit. whenever i meet difficulties, i can hear him saying, “be hopeful and powerful, believe you can face the reality!”（蘇東坡傳）英文簡介林語堂转帖the gay genius: the life and times of su tungpo（蘇東坡傳） lin yutang 林語堂簡介而已。the gay genius (the life and times of su tungpo), lin yutang, the john daycompany, new york, 1947.it is obvious that lin yutang greatly admired this outstanding sung poet.his book is a remarkably enchanting tribute to this versatile and highlyethical personality. as a traditional landscape painting, this biography,four hundred pages long, unrolls scene by charming scene, revealing thisso splendid spirit, this irrepresible human-hearted soul embellishing thearts, striving to save lives, adorning the many places he was pulled anddriven in the turbulent politics of his time.the preface (pages vii-xi) and the introductory chapter, literarypatriotic duke (pp. 1-13), present the enormous appreciation this sincereand outspoken advisor has enjoyed for some nine centuries. their core isemperor shiaotsungs page long preface to sus complete works. seventyyears after sus death, the emperor wrote: we sigh at the appearance of such a rare genius and are shocked at his suffering from his detractors. he was banished across the seas and mountains. what could not be taken away from him was his sturdy integrity. we regret not being born at the same time with him in order to make full use of his talents as a counselor of kings. p. 9chapter two, meishan (pp. 14-22), introduces the reader to the townwhere su tung-po was born and to his father, su shun, brother, su cheh(tseyu), and grandfather. it mentions the eloquence of the inhabitants ofszechuan, the reckoning of age (one is born one and is two on ones firstnew years day), the ancient custom forbidding one to say or write thepersonal name of ones father or grandfather. hence, su tung-po usedforward instead of preface and ssu-ma chien avoided talk.chapter three, childhood and youth (pp. 23-33), explores the early yearsof su tung-po, mentions his attending a school with more than a hundredpupils, the memorization of classics and history, including sus copyingout complete text, the invention of printing, chinese naming conventions,sus legendary younger sister and the family feud occasioned by the earlydeath of his actual older sister. shortly after her marriage.chapter four, the examinations (pp. 34-43), begins with sus marriage,his journey with his father and brother to chengtu, the provincial capitaland thence to the national metropolis, where they saw the sights of thesplendid city, met people and the brothers wrote their examinations. the candidates were examined first on questions of history or principles of government. there was a second examination on the classics, and finally, after the successful ones had been graded, there was one - under the direct supervision of the emperor - on lyrics, descriptive poetry (fu), and again, essays on politics. p. 39the great scholar ouyang shiu marked and greatly admired su tung-poswork. then sus mother died and he undertook the traditional thrice ninemoons period of mourning.chapter five, father and sons (pp. 44-54), describes the move of thefamily from home, where an appropriate family grave site had been selectedand funeral ceremonies conducted, to the metropolis, eleven hundred milesaway. this journey is very poetically described, including withtranslations of some of sus poems on the four month spectacular trip.chapter six,gods, devils and men (pp. 57-74), starts with tung-posdeparture for his post as assistant magistrate of fengshiang and hispoetic letters to his brother. his official duties included praying to enda drought: on top of the taipo mountain, in front of a taoist temple, there was a little pool where lived the god of rain, a dragon who could disguise himself in the form of any small fish. su tungpo went up to this and prayed. he pleaded for the farmers, but, like a good lawyer, he tried to make the dragon god see that a drought or famine was not to the gods own interest. p. 61when this initially failed, it was felt the god could be displeased by hisdemotion to count. su verified that tang referred to the god as duke,drafted a memorial requesting the emperor restore this rank, sent amessenger to so inform the god and to return with a basin of water fromthe sacred pool. rain came with the basin.the men in the chapters title include the old soldier chang chun. sutung-po, after his three year term, returned to the metropolis where hewas assigned to the department of history. his young wife died and a yearlater his father. he observed the traditional thrice nine months mourningfor a parent. after this he married again and returned to the capital.chapter seven, experiment in state capitalism (pp. 75-98), introducesthe central political reality of sus life, the reforms of wang an-shih.lin yutang lists the three great upheavals previously: those of shang yangof the chin dynasty, of han wu-ti and of the usurper wang mang. all,including the efforts of wang an-shih, are assessed as failures. theportrait the author paints of the brilliant reformer resembles thecaricature of the mad scientist, so absorbed in his thoughts he has noawareness of his immediate surroundings. he had steadily declined allpromotions, preferring to remain a local magistrate, but at last heaccepted.wang an-shih advanced his ideas as based on the traditional intent of thesage rulers yao and shun. this enabled him to portray those who opposedhis reforms as just like the evil ministers of those rulers: the most important and the best known were nine in number, which i have for the sake of convenience arranged in three groups. there were three state capitalist enterprises, three new taxes, and three systems of registration for a complete regimentation and control of the people. the three state capitalist enterprises were: a government bureau for national trade, a bureau for government stores in retail trade, and the famous loans to the farmers with an official interest of twenty per cent and an actual interest of thirty per cent (i.e., plus application and registration charges). the three new taxes were the draft exemption tax, the excise tax, and the income tax. the systems of registration were the organizing of all citizens into groups of ten families for military draft (the paochia), and the re-registration of land and of horses. pp. 87-88the farmers loans had enormous impact. there had been grain store housesto offset bad years. however, the new loans forced on farmers slow involuntarily subscribing hit hard those faced with paying them back withhigh interest. wang an-shih also set aside previous commentaries on some ofthe confucian classics and presented his own views as authoritative. these commentaries were so bad that they were soon forgotten after his death, and no copy has been preserved. but while he was in power, they were the bible of the scholar candidates at the examinations the slightest variation from the interpretation of the premier was enough to disqualify a paper. p. 95the chapter closes by laughing at wang an-shihs fanciful etymologies,mentioning his modern defenders, but asserting that the results of hisreforms are the only criteria and these condemn them.chapter eight, the bull-headed premier (pp. 99-124), begins withreference to a sung short story with this title, derived from thedetermination of wang an-shih and his opposition to freedom of expression.there follows a description of sung government and a list of thepersonalities involved. wang an-shih had opposed to him his two brothersand some of his former friends, as well as ssu-ma kuang and the subrothers. however, he had the support of the young emperor shentsung andthat was the one deciding vote. wang moved against the censors. theirfunction of speaking up frankly was unacceptable to him. many others,including su tung-po, also spoke up against the harm of wangs reforms.there followed resignations and demotions.su tung-pos memorial in 1070 stated that what was against reason andagainst nature would fail, that deeds not words counted in arousingopposition to the reforms by those effected by them, and that the uprightcannot be silenced. but since history began, force has never been able to suppress the people. in ancient days scholars were threatened with knives and saws in front and the boiling pot behind, but that did not stop them from voicing their convictions. p. 111his memorial of 1071, nine thousand words long, asserted that popularsupport of the monarch depended on freedom of expression, that thecensorate unimpeded was essential and that what was needed was action, notwords. you have established the bureau of economic planning which is for the purpose of securing revenue. you have sent out over forty tax commissioners, whose evident objective can only be to raise money for the government. it is useless for a man to ride out to the forests with a pack of greyhounds and announce to the world, i am not going hunting, or for a man to go with a fish not to the lakes and declare, i am not going fishing. it would be much better to stop the rumors by throwing away the fish nets and sending home the hunting dogs. pp. 122-3this outspokenness resulted in sus being sent out to the provinces.chapter nine, the evil that men do (pp. 125-140), describes further thedeparture of those opposed to the reforms, the arrival of signs ofheavens displeasure (the landslide on mt. huashan and drought) as well asriots, the moving paintings of the suffering presented to the emperor by agatekeeper, leading to the dismissal of wang an-shih and pleasing rain.there was internal squabbling amongst those of wangs faction still inpower, and wangs departure was only temporary. in october 1076, a yearand a half after his return he retired, following the death of his son.chapter ten, two brothers (pp. 134-140), mentions sus visit to hisbrother tseyu and his response to tseyus advice to keep silent: i know, said su tungpo, to his brother, that i am always careless of my speech. when i find something is wrong, it is like finding a fly in my food, and i just have to spit it out. p. 135there is mention of su tungpos energy, chi, elan vital, and the two poemshe wrote on parting from tseyu are quoted.chapter eleven, poetry, courtesans and monks (pp. 141-165), looks at thehappy time su spent in hangchow. the charms of the city are presented andwu tsemus book is mentioned. then comes reference to su tung-posforeknowledge of details connected with the place and his belief that hehad lived there in a previous incarnation. he disliked presiding at thetrials of those who had fallen afoul of the reforms. he enjoyed thenatural beauty of the area.there is mention of the role of courtesans in the transmission and renewalof poetry, music and dance. there is reference to lin yutangs theory thatsu loved a nameless cousin, and to sus knowing the cindarella story.chapter twelve, poetry of protest (pp. 166-177), looks at some of suspoems of the period and comments on tonal patterns. it mentions that whilethe poet wasnt advocating rebellion, still his memorable verse struckthose in power as a multitude of mosquito bites.chapter thirteen, the yellow tower (pp. 178-186), considers his time aschief magistrate of suchow (1077-1079) and his work protecting the cityfrom flood waters. a great yellow tower, the colour chosen to representthe element earth, subduer of water, was built above the flood wall, andthis term yellow tower was applied to the poems su wrote during his stayin suchow. the chapter mentions his disciples: chang lei, chao puchih,chin kuan and huang tingchien.chapter fourteen,arrest and trial (pp. 187-204), begins by mentioningevidences from sus writing of his displeasure with the reformers, of susmourning for his friend wen tung the painter and his arrest. then comes sutung-pos imprisonment and trial: .over a hundred poems were brought up in the trial for examination, each of which the author was required to explain. as su tung-po had in all his poetry used the choicest of phrases and a great number of literary and historical allusions, we are indebted to this record of the trial for the authors own elucidations of many passages in his texts. p. 197in the opinion of this reviewer, those in charge displayed some humoroussensitivity: there was also a poem about peonies in which the poet admired the incredible ingenuity of nature in creating such a great variety of the same species. this was taken by the judges as a sly reference to the ingenuity of those in power in devising new forms of taxation. pp. 197-198 sus punishment was demotion to a minor post near hungchow.chapter fifteen, farmer of the eastern slope (pp. 207-223), shows thepoet enjoying the scenery, reading buddhist texts, studying taoist lifeextension, farming, delighting in the company of friends and becomingknown as the recluse of tung-po (the eastern slope). it reveals also hisskill at cooking and his efforts to oppose infanticide.chapter sixteen, poet of the red cliff (pp. 224-232), presents supassing a pleasant time with his friends, wine and poetry. when he beganto keep to himself, the rumour went through the capital that he had died,drawing his quip that its reliability was typical of rumours about him.there is a sensitive portrayal or prose rendition of sus depictions ofthe red cliff in the title, backdrop of an historical naval battle, ofnatural beauty and thoughts on the nature of human life and taoistimmortals. chapter seventeen, yoga and alchemy (pp. 233-246), informs us thattung-pos brother had started practising yoga in 1069, and tung-pohimself began seriously to study mysticism (yoga, buddhism and taoism)during his huangchow period. he had an alchemical furnace and sought theimmortality pill. he understood that attention to meditation, diet,breathing exercises, etc. impacted strongly on ones vitality, health andlongevity, even if one didnt remain forever in this incarnation. there ismention of the contrast between the western concept of exercise and thechinese one of the conservation of energy. the peculiarity of yoga is that it combines this complete physical and mental rest with the increased intake of oxygen through different forms of controlled breathing. nothing can be more ideal, for it seems that with a light stomach, a posture of complete relaxation, and deep respiration, the body is put in the unusually favorable state of getting extra supplies of oxygen without corresponding expenditures of energy, which is not the case in sports. p. 237there is reference to the absence of thought, to a technique of swallowingsaliva, to taoist concepts of fire and water (emotions and fluids) and tosus four maxims for long life: 1. having leisure equals having power. 2. going to bed early equals having wealth. 3. a leisurely stroll is as enjoyable as a drive. 4. eating late is as good as eating meat. pp. 245-246chapter eighteen, years of wanderings (pp. 247-257), shows susenjoyable retirement being disturbed by orders from above. it was actuallyan easing of his punishment that had him moved to a more prosperous placenearer the capital. on his journey he visited his brother and wangan-shih. the reformer was now weary and retired. and, su used much of hismoney buying a place and then giving it to the sellers mother, when sucame upon her sobbong because her son had sold the place she had lived allher life. he also penned poetic thanks to a magistrate who had gone withhim after dark along a bridge. su was unaware this was forbidden, untilthe magistrates unexpected reaction. i have just read your poem. but this is serious, very serious! with your national reputation, this poem is bound to reach the court. an ordinary citizen crossing the bridge at night is punishable by two years hard labor. for a magistrate himself to violate this law would be still worse. i beg of you to keep this poem to yourself and not show it to others. p. 256the emperor died, and, after moving to the lake district and then to amagistracy in shantung, su was recalled to the capita