中国文化英语教程 unit 9 reading A.ppt

Textreading,Tasks,Mini-pedia,(UsedasaGeneralIntroduction),AGeneralIntroductiontoChineseMythologyYangLihui,AnDeming,Para.1ByChinesemythology,wemeanthebodyofmythshistoricallyrecordedandcurrentlytransmittedwithinthepresentgeographicboundariesofChina.ItshouldincludenotonlymythstransmittedbypeopleoftheHanethnicgroupbutalsothosebytheotherfifty-fiveethnicgroupslivinginthisbroadarea.Sincealmosteveryethnicgrouphasitsownmythicalgodsandstoriesabouttheircreativeactions,thereisnotasystematic,integrated,andhomogeneous“Chinesemythology”heldandtransmittedbyalltheChinesepeople.EvenamongHanpeople,thereisnotanintegratedsystemofmyths.,ReadingA,Para.2aTheearliestwrittenrecordsofancientmythscanbetracedbacktoabout3,000yearsago,thoughotherformsofdesignsandpaintingsonshells,bones,andbronzesprobablyrelatingtomythappearedearlierthanthis.Recently,researchersfoundabronzevesselnamed“Suigongxu”(SuigongwasadukeoftheSuiState,nowbelongingtomodernShandongProvince;“Xu”isanancientbronzevesselthathasacoverandtwoears;itfunctionsasafoodcontainer),whichcandatebacktothe9thor8thcenturyBC,themiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty.Theinscriptionontheinsidebottomofthevesselconsistsof98Chinesecharacters,praisingtheachievementsofthemythicheroYu.,遂公盨,盨底98个汉字,Para.2bIttellsthestorythatheavenorderedYutoscatterearth,soYuwentaroundallthemountains,cuttingdownthetreesintheforestsanddeepeningtheseasandriverstodrainallthewateronearthintothesea.ThisinscriptionshowsthatthetechniqueofrecordingmythinChinesecharactershadbecomerelativelymaturenearly3,000yearsago.Additionally,itillustratesthatatleastaslateasthemiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty,themythaboutYucontrollingthefloodhadalreadybeenspread,andithadbeenhistoricizedintoalegendaboutagreatherooragreatkingintheupperclassofsociety.,Para.3Buttheseinscriptionsrecordedmythsverysimply.Sometimesthemythologicalstoriestheyillustratearehardtounderstand.Therefore,ChinesescholarsrelyprimarilyonaccountsofmythsrecordedinlaterancientwritingsaftertheWesternZhouDynastytostudythesemyths.,Para.4aInChina,thereisnosacredcanonrecordingmyths,beliefs,orsacredhistoryliketheBibleortheKoran,norwerethereanyliterati,troubadours,orshamans(sorcererorsorceress)whocollectedmythsfromoraltraditionandcompiledthemintoasystematicandintegratedmythology,liketheGreekcollectionsattributedtoHomerandHesiod.Rather,mythsinancientChinawereusuallyspreadinscatteredandfragmentedformsinvariouswrittenmaterial.,Para.4bThesesourcescontaininformationaboutarchaeology,literature,philosophy,geography,history,witchcraft,ethnography,religion,folklore,andsoon.Manyofthempreserveonlyafewmyths,butsomeofthemholdacomparativelylargenumberofmythsandthusbecometreasuresofancientChinesemyths.Amongthem,Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas),Chuci(TheSongsofChu)andHuainanziarethoughttobethemajorrepositoriesofChineseancientmyths.,Para5Mythsareneitherstaticnorseparatefromsociety.Rather,theirexistenceandtransmissionaredeeplyinfluencedbytheirsocialandculturalcontexts.Ontheotherside,thosemythsthathavebeenhandeddownforthousandsofyearsandcontainChinesepeoplesphilosophy,art,beliefs,customs,andvaluesystemsalsohavehadagreatinfluenceonChinesesocietyandculture.,homogeneousadj.consistingofthingsorpeoplethatareallthesameorallofthesametype由同种族人组成的；由同类组成的e.g.Thepeopleofthiscountryarehomogeneous.这个国家的人同属一个种族。WordFormationhomo-+geneous(variationof“genus”)homogeneous“homo-”,isaprefixwiththemeaningof“same”;“hetero-”,isaprefixwiththeoppositemeaning.e.g.heterogeneousadj.不同类的,canonn.alistofthebooksorotherworksthataregenerallyacceptedasthegenuineworkofaparticularwriterorasbeingimportant真作集；经典著作,e.g.WutheringHeightsisacentralbookinthecanonofEnglishliterature.呼啸山庄是英国文学经典中的一部重要作品。,staticadj.notmoving,changingordeveloping静止的；静态的；停滞的e.g.astaticpopulationlevel稳定的人口水平Synonymunchanging;motionlessAntonymdynamic,YutheGreatorDaYu,thelegendarygod-emperor,isknowntotheChinesefortamingthelong-termdestructivefloodingthatswampedChinaabout4,000yearsago.ThismythconsistedtheopeningchapterinthehistoryofhydraulicengineeringinChina.DaYuisalsocreditedwithfoundingtheXiaDynasty,Chinasearliestrulingfamily.Accordingtothelegend,thespreadofthewatersofthedelugewassodevastatingthatpeoplewagedanunrelentingstrugglewiththisoverwhelmingflood.ItisDaYuwhoadoptedthetacticofchannelingthefloodwatersandeventuallytriumphedinthebattlewithfloodsafter13yearsofstrenuouslabor.Duringallthoseyearsheputallhismindonbattlingthefloodandneversawhisfamily.Asarewardforhisfeat,therulergaveupthethronetoYu,whobecamethefirstemperoroftheXiaDynasty.,Yucontrollingtheflood,TheBibleisacollectionoftextssacredinJudaismandChristianity.Itisacollectionofscriptureswrittenatdifferenttimesbydifferentauthorsindifferentlocations.JewsandChristiansconsiderthebooksoftheBibletobeaproductofdivineinspirationoranauthoritativerecordoftherelationshipbetweenGodandhumans.,Bible,KoranisthecentralreligioustextofIslam,whichMuslimsbelievetobearevelationfromGod.ItiswidelyregardedasthefinestpieceofliteratureintheArabiclanguage.,Atroubadour(/trubdr/)wasacomposerandperformeroflyricpoetryduringtheHighMiddleAges(11001350).Thetextsoftroubadoursongsdealmainlywiththemesofchivalryandcourtlylove.Mostweremetaphysical,intellectual,andformulaic.Manywerehumorousorvulgarsatires.,Shamanism(/mnizm/)isapracticethatinvolvesapractitionerreachingalteredstatesofconsciousnessinordertoperceiveandinteractwithaspiritworldandchannelthesetranscendentalenergiesintothisworld.Ashamanisapersonregardedashavingaccessto,andinfluencein,theworldofbenevolentandmalevolentspirits,whotypicallyentersintoatrancestateduringaritual,andpracticesdivinationandhealing.,HomerisbestknownastheauthoroftheIliadandtheOdyssey.HewasbelievedbytheancientGreekstohavebeenthefirstandgreatestoftheepicpoets.AuthorofthefirstknownliteratureofEurope,heiscentraltotheWesterncanon.,TheIliadisanancientGreekepicpoemindactylichexameter,traditionallyattributedtoHomer.SetduringtheTrojanWar,theten-yearsiegeofthecityofTroybyacoalitionofGreekstates,ittellsofthebattlesandeventsduringtheweeksofaquarrelbetweenKingAgamemnonandthewarriorAchilles.,HesiodwasaGreekpoetgenerallythoughtbyscholarstohavebeenactivebetween750and650BC,aroundthesametimeasHomer.HeisgenerallyregardedasthefirstwrittenpoetintheWesterntraditiontoregardhimselfasindividualpersonawithanactiveroletoplayinhissubject.AncientauthorscreditedHesiodandHomerwithestablishingGreekreligiouscustoms.ModernscholarsrefertohimasamajorsourceonGreekmythology,farmingtechniques,earlyeconomicthought,archaicGreekastronomyandancienttime-keeping.,TheSongsofChu(Chuci)isaverse-styleworkcreatedbyQuYuan,agreatpoetintheWarringStatesPeriod(ca.300BC)inancientChina.Itdepictsthelandscapes,characters,historicalevents,aswellasmythsandlegendsoftheChuKingdom(presentHunanandHubeiProvinces)usingtheliterarystyleanddialectphonologyofthearea,thusendowedwithanintensiveflavoroftheregionalculture.,HuainanziisacollectionofvariousphilosophicaltreatisescompiledunderthementorshipofLiuAn(刘安)(179-122),PrinceofHuainan,duringthemid-FormerHanperiod.TheHuainanzicontainsalotofstoriesofmythologicalcontentandisthereforearichsourceforancientfolkbeliefs.Someofthemareveryfamous,likeNwarepairingtheheavens(女娲补天),Houyishootingdownsuperfluoussunsendangeringtheearth(后羿射日),Changesascensiontothemoon(嫦娥奔月),orhowYutheGreattamedthefloods(大禹治水).,Tasks1.Eachofthefollowingsixstatementscontainsinformationgiveninoneoftheparagraphs(1-5)inthetext.Identifytheparagraphfromwhichtheinformationisderived.Youmaychooseaparagraphmorethanonce.,2,5,4,1,4,1,2.CompareWesternandChinesemythologiesbycompletingthefollowingchartbasedonyourunderstandingofthetext.Movethetagsontheleftintothecorrespondingcategoryandsupplementwithexamples.Thefirstonehasbeendoneforyou.,Chinesemythology,sacredcanon,tags,Westernmythology,peoplewhocollectedandcompiledmythology,bookswithmiscellaneoussubjectsbutcontainingmanymyths,sacredcanon,e.g.:theBible,theKoran,peoplewhocollectedandcompiledmythologye.g.:thegreatGreekwritersHomerandHesiod,bookswithmiscellaneoussubjectsbutcontainingmanymythse.g.:Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas),Chuci(TheSongsofChu),andHuainanzi,Mini-pedia:Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas):aGemofancientChineseMyths,TheClassicofMountainsandSeasisanancientbookofpre-QinDynasty,featuringlotsofancientChinesemythologies.Thebookisanessentialsourceforresearchintohistory,folkcustoms,ancientgeographyandscienceandtechnologies.Duetoitsage,theauthor,editorandcomposingdateofthebookarehardtoestablish.,TheClassicofMountainsandSeasisdividedinto18sections,including5sectionsofMountainClassics,8sectionsofSeaClassics,4sectionsofClassicsoftheGreatWildernessand1sectionofClassicsofReligionswithintheSeas.Thebookis31,000wordslong.Itdocumentedlandscapes,mythologicalstories,specialproducts,witchcraft,religiousbeliefs,folkmedicineandcustoms,etc.inmorethan100smallstates,coveringawiderangeofareas