中国文化英语教程Unit6

Unit6Chinese

Characters:

Poetic

SymbolsLead-inTextstudyExercisesContentLead-inLead-inIntroductionSymbols

of

SentimentGraceful

Olympic

SymbolsTextstudyIntroductionAdditionalInfoAccordingtolegend,ChinesecharacterswereinventedbyCangjie(仓颉),abureaucratunderthelegendaryYellowEmperor.TheearliestsurvivingexamplesofwritinginChinaareinscriptionsonso-called“oraclebones”,tortoiseshellsandoxscapulae(肩胛骨)usedfordivination(占卜),datingfromaround1200BCinthelateShangdynasty.AdditionalInfo甲骨文AnoracleboneunearthedinAnyang,HenanProvinceIntroductionUnificationAdditionalInfoSealscript,whichhadevolvedslowlyinthestateofQinduringtheEasternZhouDynasty,becamestandardizedandadoptedastheformalscriptforallofChinaintheQinDynasty.IntroductionSimplificationAdditionalInfoAlthoughmostoftenassociatedwiththePeople'sRepublicofChina,charactersimplificationpredatesthe1949communistvictory.Examples:愛

爱鄉

乡義

义導

导親

亲IntroductionThenumberofChineselanguagelearnersacrosstheworldhasbeenontheriseinrecentyears.Somelearnersmayexperiencethegratificationofdiscoveringhistorical

andculturalelementsintheprocess.IntroductionSomepictographic(象形文字的)symbolsofChinesecharactersexpresspeople’skeen

observationandexperienceoftheworld.SomeEuropeanpoetshavefound

Chinesecharactersinspiringtotheirimagination.EzraPound(1885-1972),forexample,waswellknownforhisadmirationofChinesecharacters.Whenhesawthecharacter旦inthedictionary,hewasremindedofthemorning

sun.Symbols

ofSentimentNote:EzraPound:埃兹拉·庞德。美国诗人、翻译家、评论家、意象派诗歌代表人物，曾帮助T．S．Eliot，Joyce和Hemingway手发表早期作品，对英美现代文学发展作出重要贡献。Pound’spoeticallusions(影射)arenotwithoutbasis.Anumberofcharacterscontainingaasanelementallrelatetotherisingorsettingof

thesun.Forexample:

Symbols

ofSentimentCharacterMeaningofthepartsMeaningofthecharacter旦日：thesunThesunrisingonthehorizon.一：thehorizon東looks

likethesunrisingfromaforest.east:the“sun”and“grass”themorningsunrisingandshiningovertheflowing

river

:riveFudan(复旦)means“Thesunandmoonrisedayafterday”,itisto

encouragestudentstoacquirenewknowledgeeveryday.Symbols

ofSentiment東Symbols

ofSentimentSymbols

ofSentiment暮wasoriginallywrittenas莫:Symbols

ofSentiment明

depictsasceneofthemoonshining

throughthewindow.Symbols

ofSentimentThecomplexcharacterfor“beauty”(丽)iswrittenas麗.Itresemblestwodeerrunningsidebysideonamountain.Symbols

ofSentimentGraceful

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SymbolsGraceful

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SymbolsThe2008OlympicsGamesadoptedasetof

symbolstorepresentthebeautyofChinesecalligraphy.Bycombiningcertainfeaturesofdifferenttraditional

formsofChinesecharacters,thesymbolsappearboth

livelyandhighlyrepresentativeofthesportsthey

standfor.ThecalligraphysymbolsforBeijingOlympicsweredesignedtorepresentthe“BeautyofSealCharacter”.ChangesofChinesecharactersGraceful

Olympic

SymbolsAdditionalInfo甲骨文【商】

金文【周】

(大篆)【秦】小篆【秦】隶书【汉】草书【唐】、楷书【唐】、行书【唐】

Atitsbeginning,Chineseincludedlanguagepictures,whichbecamefewerandfewerduringtheperiodoftheoracle-bone(甲骨)inscriptions(铭文).A“sealcharacter”isatypeofChinesecalligraphyoftencarved

onseals.Graceful

Olympic

SymbolsThesealcharactersfeaturesmootherandrhythmiclines,andthushaveamoreappealing

appearance.Therearetwotypesofsealcharacters:thedazhuan,orgreaterseal,andthe

xiaozhuan,orlesserseal.Graceful

Olympic

SymbolsThegreatersealisalsoknownasbronzeinscription,becauseit

wasoftenusedforcarvinginscriptionsonbronzewareinancienttimes.Thelessersealwas

thescripttheFirstEmperorofQin

(r.246-210BC)adoptedforthewholecountry,when

heunitedChinain221BC.Graceful

Olympic

SymbolsLookatthepicture,canyoufindany

difference

between

greater

seal

and

lesser

seal

in

the

following

picture?

What’s

it?Comparedtogreaterseal,lessersealismoresimplified.Graceful

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SymbolsExamples

of

Olympic

symbolsTheupperpartisasymbolfor“person”,whilethelower

partisasymbolfor“water”.Theswimmerstrokesthe

waterwithvigor,impartingastrongsenseofmotion.Ifwetakealookatthesealcharacterfor“walk”,wemakeoutaclearconnectionbetweentheOlympic

symbolandthecharacter:theupperpartfor“swinging

arms”andthelowerpartfor“walkinglegs”.Thegentle

andflowinglinesinthelowerpartoftheOlympic

symbolaresimilartothesealcharacterfor“water”.走水Graceful

Olympic

SymbolsThissymbolisaptlytakenfromthesealcharacterfor

“dance”.Thedancerslightlytilts(使倾侧)hisheadtooneside,leanshisbodyforward,swingshisarmsbackandforth,andliftshislegsinarunningfashion.Thesymbol,athleticyetgraceful,hasalsobeenadoptedforthe“triathlon(铁人三项)”

and“football”.夭Graceful

Olympic

SymbolsExercisesComprehensionCommunicationApplicationComprehensionl.SkimmingandScanningGothroughthepassagequicklyandjudgewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrue(T)orfalse(F)accordingtothepassage.___1)EveryChinesecharacterhasapictographicsymboltoshowitsmeaning(s).___2)Thecharacter旦

ismentionedtoshowthatChinesecharactersareeasyto

recognize,andeven

foreignerscanunderstandthemthroughtheirpictographic

symbols.FF___3)InParagraph4,severalcharacterscontainingElasanelementaregivenas

examplestoillustratethatsuchcharactersrelatetotherisingorsettingofthesun.___4)The20080lympicsymbolswereadoptedmainlytomakeiteasierfortheforeignerstounderstandtheirmeanings.___5)The20080lympicsymbolsweredesignedtorepresentthebeautyofsealcharacters.TFTComprehensionII.CarefulReading1.Readthepassagecarefullyandchoosethebestanswertoeachofthefollowingquestions.WhichofthefollowingisirrelevanttothepictographicsymbolsofChinesecharacters?___Aspiration.Imagination.Creativity.Allusion.AComprehension2)WhichofthefollowingstatementsistrueofthenameofFudanUniversity?___Thecharactersbothstandfor"thesunrisingonthehorizon".ThenameistakenfromaChineseclassicalpoem.Thenameencouragesthestudentstogetupearlyinthemorning.Thecharactersareintendedtotellthestudentstomakeprogressdaybyday.DComprehension3)Whichofthefollowinglanguagesmostlyconsistsoflanguagepictures?___MandarinChinese.HieroglyphsofancientEgypt.Oracle-boneinscription.Sealcharacters.4)The

symbolfor“swimming”isclosestto___.oracle-boneinscriptionMandarinChinesesealcharactersnoneoftheaboveCComprehensionBThesymbolfor“athletics”containstheingredientsof___.dancingandrunningrunningandswingingdancingandswingingtriathlonandfootballAComprehension2.FindfromthepassagetheEnglishinterpretationsofthefollowingcharacterscontaining日

asanelement.CharactersInterpretations1）旦2）朝3）暮4）明thesunrisingonthehorizonthemorningsunrisingandshiningovertheflowingriverthesunsettingintoaforestthem