英语畅谈中国文化50主题5.doc

05-the role of operas戏曲的作用A: In his book, Chinese characteristics , which was written more than 100 years ago, A.H. Smith said that Chinese people liked opera. To them, opera was the only entertainment,like sports for the British and bullfighting for the Spaniards. B: In a traditional Chinese society, opera was used as a vehicle to spread knowledge and ethical teachings. Most operas were based on historical events, folklore, or classical novels. They promoted traditional values and moral principles, such as punishing evil and eulogizing the good, loyalty and kindness; and the denunciation of the ungrateful. Operas were able to fill the gaps in education and teaching , especially in an agricultural society.A: Opera fans were like todays popular music fans. They enjoyed singing the arias.B: The Dowager Empress Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was a super opera fan. She often had opera troupes perform for her in the court. This is why Peking Opera overtook all other folk operas and became a national entertainment. It was said that the empress was deeply influenced by the teachings of the operas,especially those relating to gratitude. A: I know she would pardon anyone to whom she felt indebted, regardless of their mistakes. B: Thats right. Some historians even suggest that when she engaged the Boxers to fight against the Westerners.,she was under the illusion they were invincible. She got the notion from the operas that they could not be hurt by bullets. Of course, she was wrong and the Boxers were quickly defeated by the Westerners. A: Well, if operas had so much influence on the Dowager Empress, I think it would be even more so on ordinary people. Since Peking Opera is no longer as popular as it was.,does it still have an influence on people? B: Now, it is TV. Since every household has a TV， its influence should not be underestimated. There was a popular Korean TV drama not long ago, which captivated the audience by its costumes and food. As a result, some studios in Beijing began taking photo portraits in Korean costumes and some restaurants introduced similar Korean food. A: Now, I understand why the government discourages TV hosts from imitating Hongkong and Taiwan accents. It also explains why TV stations are forbidden from airing programs about adultery and other unethical topics. B: Thats correct. China has been experiencing an increasingly high divorce rate where adultery is cited as a main reason.Background Reading背景阅读Peking Opera 京剧 Peking Opera is a theatrical art that incorporates singing,dancing, acting and acrobatics.But what we see on the Peking opera stage does not imitate real life.For example,Peking opera uses special imagery in the creation of charactersAll roles are classified according to sex, personality，age，profession and social statusHangdang is the general term for role types in Peking 0peraThere are four types of role in Peking opera today，namely，the sheng(male role),dan(female role)，jing(painted face)and chou(clown).The sheng is the male protagonist，the dan the female protagonist，the jing a male supporting figure with distinct characteristicsAnd chou a comic or negative figure or foil for the protagonist.The four role types are a result of the large variety of roles from earlier stages in the history of Peking Oopera being combined and reduced The four basic role types have their subdivisions，each with its own specialties and techniquesFor example，the sheng role is divided into elderly(1aosheng), young (xiaosheng)，military(wusheng)，red-faced(hongsheng)and young boy (wawasheng) roles, and the elderly male role can be further divided into singing， acting and martial laosheng roles, and so on. The role types cover all the characters on stage，and every actor or actress specializes in a particular role type Based on the role types，a complete set of standards has been formed for aspects such as costumes and facial makeupThese aspects and the classification of role types supplement each other,both being very important in the creation of characters and demonstrating the full beauty of Peking opera. 京剧是融合了歌唱、舞蹈、表演和杂技的舞台艺术。但我们在京剧舞台上看到的并不是对真实生活的摹仿。比如，京剧在人物形象的塑造上使用特殊的表现手法。所有的角色都按其性别、个性、年龄、职业和社会地位类型化。“行当”就是对京剧中角色类型的说法。京剧中的角色有四种类型生、旦、净、丑。“生”指男主角，“旦”是女主角，“净”是有着独特个性的男配角，“丑”是喜剧或反面角色。这四种类型的角色都是从早期京剧中大量的角色中合并或缩减而来。 这四种类型的角色还可细分，每一个都有其特点和技能。比如，“生”角分为老生、小生、武生、红生和娃娃生。老生这一角色还可以进一步分为唱、做和打等。这些角色类型涵盖了所有舞台上的人物形象，每一个男女演员都专攻不同角色。在角色类型的基础上，形成了一整套程式化的表现方法，诸如服装和脸谱。这些表现方法相互补充，在人物形象的塑造以及京剧的整体美等方面十分重要。eulogize 称赞，歌颂 fill the gaps 弥补不足，填补空缺pardon 原谅，宽恕 indebted 感激，有恩与别人regardless of不管，不顾 under the illusion 以为even more so 乃至，更有甚者 underestimate 低估discourage 不鼓励 05-the role of operas戏曲的作用A: In his book, Chinese characteristics(特性，特征)（中国人的德行） , which was written more than 100 years ago, A.H. Smith said that Chinese people liked opera（戏曲）. To them, opera was the only entertainment, like sports for the British and bullfighting(斗牛)for the Spaniards(西班牙人). B: In a traditional Chinese society, opera was used as a vehicle(媒介物；工具；传播媒介)to spread knowledge and ethical teachings(道德教化). Most operas were based on historical events（历史事件）, folklore（民间传说）, or classical novels（古典小说）. They promoted（促进，宣扬）traditional values（传统价值观）and moral principles（道德原则）, such as punishing evil and eulogizing（称赞，颂扬）the good（善行）, loyalty（忠诚；忠实）and kindness（仁慈，友好）; and the denunciation（谴责）of the ungrateful（忘恩负义）. Operas were able to fill the gaps(弥补不足, 填补空白) in education and teaching , especially in an agricultural society(农村地区).A: Opera fans were like todays popular music fans. They enjoyed singing the arias( :ri 咏叹调，独唱曲,戏).B: The Dowager（ daud 贵妇；继承亡夫爵位的遗孀；口老年贵妇人）Empress（皇后；女皇）Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was a super opera fan. She often had opera troupes（剧团，戏班，马戏团）perform for her in the court（朝廷，宫廷）. This is why Peking（北京的旧称，现在称Beijing）Opera overtook（超过）all other folk operas（民间戏曲）and became a national entertainment（国粹）. It was said that the empress was deeply influenced by the teachings of the operas, especially those relating to(关于，和有关的)gratitude(感恩，感激). A: I know she would pardon anyone to whom she felt indebted（负债的；感激的；受惠的）, regardless of（不顾，不管）their mistakes. B: Thats right. Some historians even suggest（认为）that when she engaged （利用）the Boxers(义和团) to fight against the Westerners, she was under the illusion（错觉）they were invincible（无敌的；不能征服的）. She got the notion（观念）from the operas that they could not be hurt by bullets. Of course, she was wrong and the Boxers were quickly defeated by the Westerners. A: Well, if operas had so much influence on the Dowager Empress, I think it would be even more so on ordinary people. Since Peking Opera is no longer as popular as it was, does it still have an influence on people? B: Now, it is TV. Since every household(家庭)has a TV，its influence should not be underestimated(低估；看轻). There was a popular Korean TV drama not long ago, which captivated(迷住，迷惑)the audience by its costumes(服装)and food. As a result, some studios(摄影室) in Beijing began taking photo portraits(人像) in Korean costumes and some restaurants introduced similar Korean food. A: Now, I understand why the government discourages（阻止）TV hosts（主持人）from imitating Hongkong and Taiwan accents（口音）. It also explains why TV stations are forbidden from airing（播出）programs about adultery（通奸，第三者插足）and other unethical（不道德的）topics. B: Thats correct. China has been experiencing an increasingly high divorce rate where adultery is cited as a main reason.Background Reading背景阅读Peking Opera 京剧 Peking Opera is a theatrical art（戏剧艺术）that incorporates（包含） singing, dancing, acting（表演）and acrobatics（ ,krubtiks 杂技）.But what we see on the Peking opera stage does not imitate real life. For example, Peking opera uses special imagery（形象）in the creation of（创建，塑造）charactersAll roles are classified according to sex, personality，age，profession and social statusHangdang is the general term（通称，总括）for role types in Peking 0peraThere are four types of role in Peking opera today，namely（即是；也就是），the sheng(male role),dan(female role)，jing(painted face)and chou(clown).The sheng is the male protagonist（ prutnist 主角，主演；主要人物），the dan the female protagonist，the jing a male supporting figure（配角= supporting role） with distinct(独特的) characteristicsAnd chou a comic(喜剧的；有趣的；滑稽的)or negative(反面的) figure or foil（衬托，烘托）for the protagonist. The four role types are a result of the large variety of roles from earlier stages in the history of Peking Opera being combined and reduced The four basic role types have their subdivisions（ sbdi,vin,细分），each with its own specialties（特点）and techniques（技能）For example，the sheng role is divided into elderly(1aosheng), young (xiaosheng)，military（军人）(wusheng)，red-faced(hongsheng)and young boy (wawasheng) roles, and the elderly male role can be further divided into singing，acting and martial laosheng roles, and so on. The role types cover all the characters on stage，and every actor or actress specializes in（专攻）a particular role type Based on the role types，a complete set of standards has been formed for aspects such as costumes and facial makeup（京剧脸谱）These aspects（表现方法） and the classification of role types supplement（补充）each other, both being very important in the creation of characters and demonstrating the full beauty（整体美）of Peking opera. 京剧是融合了