Chinese Herald News Mr. Jin Xiaoming, the president of the Japan-China Translators Association and the vice president of the Japan Chinese Writers Association, and the translator of the new book "Translation of Rhythmic Poetry Manyoshu", was successfully held in the Tokyo conference room of Hiroshima University on the afternoon of September 14.
Jin Xiaoming
The Manyoshu is the earliest surviving collection of poetry (waka) in Japan, and the year of its completion is unknown. It is generally accepted today that it was compiled by the Otomo family in the second half of the 8th century. It consists of 20 volumes and contains more than 4,500 waka. Among them, there are about 4,200 short songs, about 260 long songs, about 60 spin songs, 1 continuous song, and 1 Buddha foot stone song. Manyoshu plays an important role in the history of Japan literature, not only reflecting the social life and emotions of the people at that time, but also an important source for understanding the history and culture of ancient Japan. It is known as the Book of Poetry of Japan. The content of this collection of poems is varied, including those describing natural scenes, showing banquets and amusements, and remembering lovesickness. This book conveys the various feelings and thoughts and emotions of the Nara period, and from this book, we can take a look at the living conditions of Japan in the Nara period and experience the social development of the Nara period.
Ten years ago, Jin Xiaoming, who majored in Japanese, had the courage to take on the challenge and began the research and translation of "Manyoshu". At the beginning of the press conference, Jin Xiaoming gave a keynote speech and gave an introduction to his interpretation and translation of "Manyoshu". "Wanye Collection" is deeply influenced by Chinese classics, and even the three characters "Wanye Collection" are also Chinese, "Wanye" means Wanshi, Wandai, hoping that this poetry collection can be passed down for eternity. This translation book is named after the "Translation of Rhythmic Poetry Manyoshu", and its flat rhyme meets the requirements of rhythmic poetry.
Jin Xiaoming believes that "Wanye Collection" is divided into 4,516 songs according to the serial number, and it cannot be vaguely said that it is about 4,500 songs, and he interprets "Wanye Collection" from three aspects.
1. What kind of book is "Manyoshu"?
Manyoshu is a collection of Japanese songs from Japan 1,200 years ago. Unlike the classical Japan Kojiki and Japan Shoki, the style is serious and solemn, and the vocabulary is rich. Although Manyoshu does not have the integrity of the entire text, it vividly expresses the simple, aromatic, elegant, natural and passionate aspects of the words used by the ancient Japan in simple language, making the waka vividly present in front of the reader's eyes. A sense of closeness can be glimpsed and experienced from the everyday language of the ancestors of the Japan nation as individuals. Therefore, "Manyoshu" is more loved than other classics, and is known as the classical among classics and the "Book of Poetry" of Japan. Manyoshu is the earliest ancient book in Japan to be phonetically or ideographically written in kanji (Manyokana), consisting of 20 volumes and a total of 4,516 waka songs (10 reproduced and 2 combined into one) over a period of about 450 years from the beginning of the 4th century. It covers Japan social life, such as love, death, war, banquets, legends, travel, political events, historical figures (including Tang envoys), and the customs of the four seasons. In the works, there are not only firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, but also poems and distances.
In terms of subject matter, the Manyoshu can be roughly divided into: Xiangwen (a love song sung by men and women), miscellaneous songs (describing official duties such as palace ceremonies), and elegy (remembering the deceased and expressing grief and nostalgia). Among the more than 1,500 poems (more than 150 species) about animals and plants, 119 are about plum blossoms (including 1 about red plums), 142 are about hagi flowers, 11 are about peach blossoms, 40 are about willows, and 44 are about cherry blossoms. There are 83 poems about horses and 156 songs about cuckoo birds. The cuckoo bird is written the most, because in the Japan concept, the cuckoo bird is more nostalgic and can support its own feelings. In terms of knowledge structure, Manyoshu can be called an encyclopedia of ancient Japan.
2. "Manyoshu" and "Book of Songs"
The dates of their founding are quite different, but what they have in common is that they are the earliest collections of poetry compiled during a major period of state formation. The historical conditions under which they were established and the content they reflect are also very similar, so their literary characters are also very similar, and from the perspective of comparative literature, they are of great significance for deepening the understanding of the cultural structure and literary thought of China and Japan. Although the "Reiwa" era name that Japan began to use in 2019, it was the first time that it came from the ancient Japan book "Manyoshu". But without the Book of Poetry, there would be no Manyoshu in Japan. But Jin Xiaoming believes that without ancient Chinese books, there would be no Wanye Collection.
3. What does the "Manyoshu" quote and learn from ancient Chinese books?
Japan learned from the Tang Dynasty the statecraft of the Ritsu system. From 630 to 894, Japan sent a total of 19 Tang envoys, who, regardless of danger, traveled across the ocean to study and bring back a large number of ancient Chinese books for Chinese people to study, such as "You Xian Grotto", "Selected Literature", "Shishuo Xinyu", "Hanlin Bachelor's Collection", "Wang Boji", "Tang People's Farewell Poems", "Hanshu Yang Xiong's Biography" and so on. These books are preserved as national treasures in Japan to this day.
The "Wanye Collection" quotes a lot of words, words, fu, customs, legends, etc. from ancient Chinese books. ·For example, the word "writing" in Wage No. 805 originates from the "Later Han Shu · Cao Bao Biography", which "according to the old classics, mixed with the text of the Five Classics, the second Son of Heaven is the system of the end of the marriage." "Unharmed" comes from Han nationality. "Chu Ci · Nine Arguments" "Lai Huangtian's virtue is also unharmed". The "dragon horse" in 806 comes from the "Zhou Li", "A horse above eight feet is a dragon". "Shangshu Zhonghou · Grip River Ji" "Fuxi clan has the world, and the dragon horse negative picture comes from the river". The "pillow knee" in 810 comes from "· the Book of Jin, the Later Concubine Passed Down the · Xiaowuwen Empress Dowager Li", "After counting the dreams of two dragons pillow knees, the sun and the moon enter the arms, meaning auspicious".
Then Jin Xiaoming talked about the authors of "Manyoshu", up to the emperor, royal nobles and famous singers, such as the persimmon himself Maro and Yamabe Akato, who are known as the saints of songs; From monks, nuns, beggars, markets, fishermen, farmers, geisha, and warriors, to all classes in Japan. But they are all equal in Manyoshu. Jin Xiaoming said: This book is a collection of songs translated with metrical poems, and 1330 poems are selected from 4516 translations, which is a new attempt in the Chinese and Japanese literary circles and Chinese and Japanese translation circles.
symposium
Then, Jiang Jianqiang, president of the Japan Chinese Writers Association, gave a speech. I would like to express my sincere admiration for Mr. Jin Xiaoming, who spent 10 years and used up 100 pencils, piled up a mountain of manuscripts, and then completed the full translation of 4,516 poems in the Manyo Collection, and then selected 1,330 poems translated with rhythmic poems and published them.
There has always been controversy in the academic circles about the translation of the Wanyoshu, and the biggest controversy is whether it is advisable to translate the Wanyoshu in the format of Chinese poems, and whether it can express the temperament and temperament of the Wanyoshu itself, but Jin Xiaoming's translation practice proves that it is desirable to use the poetry of the Grammatical Poetry to translate the Manyoshu, and it is successful in expressing the temperament and temperament. This is groundbreaking. In addition, another highlight of this book is that Jin Xiaoming is very confident in attaching the original text of the Manyoshu, and he is not afraid of readers picking thorns and finding hard flaws in reading it, which is a manifestation of his confidence in translation.
The publication of such a book by Jin Xiaoming is a pioneering achievement in the history of translation of classical Japan literature, an academic contribution to the study of Manyoshu, and a pride of our Chinese Writers Association. The significance of this book is even greater if he can calm down and hide in a small building in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, devote his time and all his time to translating daunting and obscure subjects, and do things that Chinese scholars don't really want to do. He himself once said movingly that his daughter grew up watching the back of his father who had been working on the desk for many years. It's really a decade of breaking the wall, and it's all in this groundbreaking translation book.
In her speech, Dr. Liu Hong said that she met Chairman Kim 10 years ago and translated 64 tanka together, so she knew the hardships involved. This kind of hard work of racking brains to choose words and sentences is impressive. It cannot be compared with the hard work of the more than 4,000 songs translated by Jin Xiaoming. Today, I will talk about it mainly from the perspective of translation style. Chairman Kim and Chairman Jiang also said this. Should it be ancient poetry or vernacular? Literal or paraphrased? First of all, consider the literal translation, and then consider the style according to the content. For example, if the original author wrote a very pastoral style, it would be inappropriate for you to translate it into a very impassioned style. Therefore, in order to maintain the style of the original text, since the "Manyoshu" is an ancient text, it is first necessary to consider translating it in the style of ancient poetry. Therefore, Jin Xiaoming's translation of rhythmic poetry is very much in line with my thoughts.
When the newspaper was serialized, Jin Xiaoming also tried to speak in style, and his translation really did all the attempts, giving readers a very good choice. In addition, I think that compared with Japan's in-depth study of Chinese classics, such as the Book of Poetry, the Analects, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, China's study and translation of Japan's classics are very insufficient. So Jin Xiaoming's book plays a very big complementary role in this regard. In particular, his book is accompanied by the original text, as well as the author's name, and the pronunciation is also marked, and there are a large number of annotations, which is also a very big highlight of the book. So this book is valuable not only in translation, but also in terms of information.
Critic Cai Zhiyue said in his speech that when Mr. Jin Xiaoming was 60 years old, he could have enjoyed a free retirement life, but he began a 10-year translation of "Wanye Collection", which is a great project, which shows that life is in addition to real life, there is also an artistic life. Mr. Jin must also be able to understand the author's mood and feelings at that time during the translation process, which is undoubtedly attractive and pleasant. Cai Zhiyue finally asked a question, why is Japan greatly influenced by Chinese classical culture, but has not learned the tradition of Chinese long poetry? Is it related to the national roots?
Jin Xiaoming said in his answer: There are long songs in "Wanye Collection", and the longest long song has 149 sentences. In terms of word count, short songs account for 1/3 and long songs account for 2/3. Long songs are narrative, and short songs are lyrical. Changge is to make this matter clear, who did what and when? And tanka is what I think about it.
Professor Lu Tao of Hiroshima University served as the moderator of the sharing session, and he answered Cai Zhiyue's question with a book review by doctoral student Tong Yi: Japan poetry pays attention to silence is better than sound, and it is not accidental that "Junno Dai" has become the national anthem with the shortest lyrics in the world, it is the accumulation and tradition of Japan culture. Japanese poems can convey a large and timeless meaning in a very small amount of words. On the contrary, as reflected in the anecdote of the Meiji period writer Kansuke Yamamoto who failed in his attempt to write long poems and asserted with frustration that "long poems cannot be written in Japanese", it seems that it is very difficult to write long poems in Japanese, as if long poems were only tributes to the metaphysical gods, rather than a tool for recording the "beautiful cross-section of the crystallization of time" (Yukio Mishima) that belonged to the individual. Japan poetry is a delicately sharp emotional sword, not a long and grand salute of praise. This artistic conception of seeing Ye Zhilin can be called one of the great charms of Japan poetry and literature, but it is also a major difficulty in appreciating Japanese poetry and literature. On the basis of accurately interpreting the connotation of the poems of "Manyoshu", Mr. Jin Xiaoming peeled off the mystery of dusty ancient words, and brought us a vivid and easy-to-understand translation that will make great contributions to Chinese's understanding of the treasures of Japan's classical literature and even Chinese classical classics.
After making a concluding remarks, the professor read the evaluation of the book "Gelu Poetry Translation Manyoshu" by the bilingual writer Motoyama Riko in Japan: When "Manyoshu" meets Jin Xiaoming, it is like meeting a confidant in life, and Jin Xiaoming's translation of "Manyoshu" not only gives the charm of the Chinese "Book of Poetry", but also reproduces the innate four seasons and mourning of the Japan nation, and at the same time presents some unique "character beauty" and "sound joy" of Chinese characters, which can be said to be a luxurious version of the Japanese style Chinese rhyme "Manyoshu". He also said that he was very shocked when he got this book, and he wanted to read it well and write a review after reading it.
Jin Xiaoming has been translating Wanyoji for 10 years, and he has used up 100 pencils and a large box of manuscript paper, which is moving. This book is the culmination of his painstaking study and ten years of sharpening his sword. Today, more than 1,200 years later, we can also directly touch the hearts of Japan's ancestors and feel the emotional world of their time through these waka works by Manyoshu. Finally, Jin Xiaoming signed a commemorative autograph for the reader. After participating in the sharing session, the participants said that they benefited a lot. The publication of this book is a pioneering achievement in the history of translation of classical Japan literature, and it is worth collecting and studying.
In addition to being a translator, Jin Xiaoming also has acting talents. He has starred in more than 30 films, including NHK's "Long Goodbye" and "Wei Wonten", Fuji TV's "Rescue the Abducted Child", Japan TV's "I Come to Study" and "Shocking News", TBS TV's "Foreign Police", Shochiku's film "Breaking the Door" and AKB's large-scale stage.
(Photo courtesy of Xu Zhaoxia, member of the Japan Chinese Writers Association)