中国文化英语教程一单元课文

Unit1

ReadingA

AGeneralIntroductiontoChineseMythology

YangLihui,AnDeming

ByChinesemythology,wemeanthebodyofmythshistoricallyrecordedandcurrentlytransmittedwithinthepresentgeographicboundariesofChina.ItshouldincludenotonlymythstransmittedbypeopleoftheHanethnicgroupbutalsothosebytheotherfifty-fiveethnicgroupslivinginthisbroadarea.Sincealmosteveryethnicgrouphasitsownmythicalgodsandstoriesabouttheircreativeactions,thereisnotasystematic,integrated,andhomogeneous“Chinesemythology”heldandtransmittedbyalltheChinesepeople.EvenamongHanpeople,thereisnotanintegratedsystemofmyths.

Theearliestwrittenrecordsofancientmythscanbetracedbacktoabout3,000yearsago,thoughotherformsofdesignsandpaintingsonshells,bones,andbronzesprobablyrelatingtomythappearedearlierthanthis.Recently,researchersfoundabronzevesselnamed“Suigongxu”(SuigongwasadukeoftheSuiState,nowbelongingtomodernShandongProvince;“Xu”isanancientbronzevesselthathasacoverandtwoears;itfunctionsasafoodcontainer),whichcandatebacktothe9thor8thcenturyBC,themiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty.Theinscriptionontheinsidebottomofthevesselconsistsof98Chinesecharacters,praisingtheachievementsofthemythicheroYu.IttellsthestorythatheavenorderedYutoscatterearth,soYuwentaroundallthemountains,cuttingdownthetreesintheforestsanddeepeningtheseasandriverstodrainallthewateronearthintothesea.ThisinscriptionshowsthatthetechniqueofrecordingmythinChinesecharactershadbecomerelativelymaturenearly3,000yearsago.Additionally,itillustratesthatatleastaslateasthemiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty,themythaboutYucontrollingthefloodhadalreadybeenspread,andithadbeenhistoricizedintoalegendaboutagreatherooragreatkingintheupperclassofsociety.

Buttheseinscriptionsrecordedmythsverysimply.Sometimesthemythologicalstoriestheyillustratearehardtounderstand.Therefore,ChinesescholarsrelyprimarilyonaccountsofmythsrecordedinlaterancientwritingsaftertheWesternZhouDynastytostudythesemyths.

InChina,thereisnosacredcanonrecordingmyths,beliefs,orsacredhistoryliketheBibleortheKoran,norwerethereanyliterati,troubadours,orshamans(sorcererorsorceress)whocollectedmythsfromoraltraditionandcompiledthemintoasystematicandintegratedmythology,liketheGreekcollectionsattributedtoHomerandHesiod.Rather,mythsinancientChinawereusuallyspreadinscatteredandfragmentedformsinvariouswrittenmaterial.Thesesourcescontaininformationaboutarchaeology,literature,philosophy,geography,history,witchcraft,ethnography,religion,folklore,andsoon.Manyofthempreserveonlyafewmyths,butsomeofthemholdacomparativelylargenumberofmythsandthusbecometreasuresofancientChinesemyths.Amongthem,Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas),Chuci(TheSongsofChu)andHuainanziarethoughttobethemajorrepositoriesofChineseancientmyths.

Mythsareneitherstaticnorseparatefromsociety.Rather,theirexistenceandtransmissionaredeeplyinfluencedbytheirsocialandculturalcontexts.Ontheotherside,thosemythsthathavebeenhandeddownforthousandsofyearsandcontainChinesepeople’sphilosophy,art,beliefs,customs,andvaluesystemsalsohavehadagreatinfluenceonChinesesocietyandculture.

ReadingC

TheChineseDragonvs.TheWesternDragon

TheChinesedragonisafardifferentbeastfromitsWesterncounterpart.SmaugfromJ.R.R.Tolkien’s“TheHobbit”isperhapsthemostwidelyknowndragonfromrecentWesternfiction,acruel,avariciousandbloodthirstycreaturewhoselairundertheLonelyMountainidentifieshimasacreatureoftheearth.TolkiendrewmuchofhisinspirationforSmaugfromthedragonintheOldEnglishepicof“Beowulf”,pennedmorethanathousandyearsearlier,whichgivessomeindicationofthedepthoftheEuropeantraditionofportrayingdragonsasbadnews.

Bycontrast,theChinesedragonisanauspiciouscreature,symbolizingstrength,wisdom,goodluckandpowerovertheelementsofwindandwater.Assuch,Chinesepeopleproudlyclaimtheyarethedescendantsofthedragon,astorythatisfirmlyrootedinnationalfolkloreandhistory.Forexample,ananecdoteinthe“RecordsoftheGrandHistorian”(Shiji)tracesthebirthofLiuBang,thefirstemperoroftheWesternHanDynasty(206BC-25AD):Oneday,hismotherfallsasleepatariversideanddreamsofadragonlyingonherbody,onlytowakeupandfindherselfpregnant.Tracesoftheanecdotesurvivedinthebeliefthatadragonappearinginapregnantmother’sdreamwasanauspicioussignindicatingshewouldgivebirthtoafutureemperor.

Indeed,China’sfeudalrulersdideverythingtheycouldtomaintainthismythicassociation,surroundingthemselveswithdragon-relatedornamentation,rulingfromaDragonThroneandwagingwarunderadragonflag.Prettymucheverythingrelatedtotheemperorwouldbetaggedwiththecharacter“”,forexample,“”(imperialrobesembroideredwithcurlingdragons),“”(theemperor’sseat),“”(theemperor’sbed)and“”(thelookofanemperor).

WhileSmaugandotherEuropeandragonshaveasolid,serpentineconnectiontotheearth,Chinesedragonsareindisputablyrulersofthesky.ThedragonwasworshipedastheGodofRain,andintimesofdroughtorflooding,localswouldvisitadragon-kingtemple(）andburnincensetoprayformorefavorableconditions.Itisalsosaidthatnaturaldisasterssuchasfloodsortornados(,literally,thedragonrollsupthewind)indicatethedragonkingisinbadtemper.

Dragons’associationwiththunder,lightningandrainmayhavepromptedthewidespreadbeliefthattherearemorelikelytobeaflurryofnaturaldisastersinaDragonyear,andChineseNewYearcelebrationstheworldoverwillincludeceremoniesandprayersdedicatedtowardingoffthepossibilityofsuchacalamitystrikingpeople’shomes.

Thedragon’spowertocontrolrainandwavesisalsocloselyrelatedtoitsrankinthepantheonof12zodiacanimals(rat,ox,tiger,rabbit,dragon,snake,horse,sheep,monkey,cock,dogandpig).Varioustalesdescribetheraceofthese12animalstosecuretheirplaceonthelist,butthesequenceisdeterminedbythetimeofdaytheanimalismostactive,atleastintheeyesoftheancientChinese.Thedragoncorrespondsto7amto9am,whenitismostlikelytobefoggy,allowingthedragontorideatopcloudsandmist.However,partsofthedragonareusuallyhiddenintheheavyfog,givingrisetothephrase“”(youseetheheadofthemysticaldragonbutnotitstail),whichnowreferstosomeonewhohasnofixedwhereaboutsandisdifficultforotherstotrace.

(、、、、、、、、、、)。12，，，。79，，。,,“”(),。

InChinesefolkartpaper-cuts,atypicalpatternshowsthedragonridingonclouds.Anotherdepictstwodragonsplayingwithapearl(),whichisofteninlaidwithadark,comma-likesymbolrunningthroughthemiddle,thoughttorepresenttheunificationofyinandyang.InChinesecalligraphy,theflyingdragonisanaestheticallyappealinganalogyforcursiveandeleganthandwritingknownas“”,literally,“dragonsflyingandphoenixesdancing.”Givenallthepositiveassociationsof“”,it’snowonderthecharacterisatopchoiceforpeople’snames,includingmartialartssuperstarsJackieChan(）andBruceLee().ThereisalsotheChineseidiom,“”(literally,hopingone’ssonwillbecomeadragon),whichroughlymeansparentshavehighexpectationsoftheirchildren.

，。(),,comma-like,。,“”,“。““”,,()()。“”(,),。

However,fewparentswouldwanttheirchildrentobeaggressiveleadersinvolvedinviolence.Unfortunately,thisistheimagethatstruckmanyChineseuponseeingthenewdragonstampissuedbyChinaPostinearlyJanuary,2012.“Evilandfrightening