Nixon's visit to China**Why did he send "Liu Wen's Instructions" to the translator?
There are always people in life who try to undermine your self-confidence, perhaps they laugh at your appearance, or belittle your achievements. But don't be swayed by them, your value is not defined by them.
You are unique, have your strengths and weaknesses, and it's all part of you that you can be proud of.
At the farewell banquet, the Prime Minister made a deep impression on the American interpreter. As a critical period for the normalization of Sino-US relations, Nixon's chief interpreter Richard Freeman (later translated as Fu Limin, former minister to China) and Chinese translators Ji Chaozhu and Zhang Hanyi participated in important negotiations and translation work.
After consultations, the two sides agreed that the Chinese interpreter would be the main person in charge of the talks, and the US interpreter would be the observer. Once, Nixon proposed to Prime Minister *** that he wanted to change the translator, on the grounds that Ji Chaozhu was about the same height as him, and it was not as good as the "public image" of the female translator.
Zhang Hanzhi then took over Mrs. Nixon's translation, while Ji Chaozhu continued to serve as Nixon's translator. During the negotiations, Nixon once said something in English: "I think our interests in international affairs are parallel (Chinese means 'parallel').
The Chinese translator translates it as: "I think the interests of our two countries are parallel. Freeman, the interpreter sitting next to Nixon, however, suddenly interjected, saying that the translation was not precise enough.
He explained that "parallel" in Chinese means never to meet, like parallel bars, while ** means that although the two countries have different goals and directions, they ultimately have something in common, so the word "parallel" is not appropriate.
After Freeman's explanation, it was decided to change the translation to "different paths to the same end".
When taking a photo of the Ming Tombs, Freeman accompanied Nixon on his visit to China, and the Chinese translator could not find a more appropriate word than "different paths to the same end", which hit the prime minister and the translators present.
However, Freeman's Chinese level is amazing, and even makes *** full of emotion, and praises Freeman's father Zhang Shizhao as a university scholar, and asks Zhang Hanzhi to give him a set of "Liu Wen Instructions".
Although Zhang Hanzhi thought that he could not understand his father's book, Freeman seemed to be very interested in it, and after the banquet, he specially reminded Zhang Hanzhi that he hoped to get the book.
Title: Why did you send the American side to translate "Liu Wen's Instructions"? Content: According to Zhu Yongjia of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee's writing group, when he was transferred to serve as the spokesman of the Shanghai side on February 27 and 28, he received a copy of "Liu Wen's Instructions" from ***.
This monograph on ancient books was completed over a period of ten years by the famous Chinese scholar Zhang Shizhao, and its main content is to study the works, life and thoughts of the Tang Dynasty writer Liu Zongyuan.
Because it withstood the pressure of Kang Sheng at that time and was published by Chung Hwa Book Company, this is a miraculous monograph on ancient book research. *Why did you send this "Liu Wen Instructions" to the American translation?
As far as the author knows, there are multiple intentions behind this. First of all, the publication of "Liu Wen Instructions" is a measure to promote the publication work, and only with the support and care of the first can this miracle become a reality.
Secondly, Liu Wen's Essentials is a monograph on ancient books with high academic value, which will help American translators better understand and translate Chinese literary works. Finally, by presenting the "Liu Wen Instructions"* expressed the friendly attitude of the Chinese people towards the American translation, and hoped that the two sides could maintain good cultural exchanges and cooperative relations.
**I once read Zhang Shizhao's "Liu Wen" and spoke highly of it, believing that this was a major contribution of Zhang Shizhao in his later years. Kang Sheng's criticism of Liu Wen's class analysis hampered the publication.
However, under the attention and promotion of Prime Minister ***, after many inquiries, Chung Hwa Book Company published the book at the end of October 1971. The book is more than 120 thousand words, divided into 14 volumes, three letters in thread, and a total of 3,000 copies are printed.
Zhang Shizhao gave *** and a colleague and a friend, and received a gift from ***. ** Frequently read "Liu Wen", and when he died, he still kept it on the bookshelf in his bedroom.
The publication of "Liu Wen" is a measure to implement the policy, resume the publishing work, and re-implement the double hundred policy.
At the February 11, 1972 meeting, he criticized the decision to ban the Chinese classics from being given to foreigners, and subsequently instructed that "Liu Wen" be given to Nixon as a gift and "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" as a national gift.
In addition, he is also committed to promoting traditional Chinese culture, especially in the process of interpreting and exchanging with foreign countries, he introduces Chinese traditional culture to American translators and encourages Chinese translators.
With regard to traditional Chinese culture, he advocates a comprehensive dialectical inheritance and development, and as much as possible to reduce and correct the mistakes of the "Cultural Revolution", and to protect intellectuals as much as possible.
However, the negative impact on traditional culture and education since the Cultural Revolution has never been eliminated. In the process of translation exchanges between China and the United States, both the translators and the translators present were well aware of the shortcomings of Chinese translation in terms of traditional cultural knowledge.
**Knowing that the source and true inheritor of traditional Chinese culture is in the mainland, he told them that China is a country with a long history and splendid culture by giving "Liu Wen" to the American translator, and "Liu Wen" was written by Zhang Shizhao in ancient Chinese, which reflects the wisdom of ***.
Why didn't *** directly ask the staff around him to help, but asked Zhang Hanzhi to find a book to give to Freeman? The answer may be hidden in what *** said to Freeman: "I don't think she can read her father's stuff, you can." ”
In fact, I hope that Zhang Hanzhi and other translators will strengthen their learning and improve their professional ability. Diplomacy is no trivial matter, and translation is not only about conveying information, but also about understanding and conveying cultural connotations.
As the leader in charge of New China's diplomacy for 26 years, his stories are numerous. In addition, he is also concerned about the great cause of the reunification of the motherland. As an educator and politician, Zhang Shizhao never joined any political party in his life.
However, under the leadership of ***, Zhang Shizhao acted as a non-party person, maintained frank communication with ***, and had a good relationship. This enabled Zhang Shizhao to travel between Beijing and Hong Kong, maintain normal exchanges with the past, and even play an important role in cross-strait communication.
In 1956, 1962, and 1964, Zhang Shizhao was ordered to go to Hong Kong three times to liaise with the Taiwan side to discuss the issue of cross-strait reunification. The publication of "Liu Wen" brought great joy and comfort to Zhang Shizhao.
He hoped that he would be able to do his part for the great cause of the motherland's reunification. Before he dies, please consider a thoughtful plan to send Zhang Shizhao back to Hong Kong.
So, 92-year-old Zhang Shizhao went to Hong Kong again under the arrangement of ***, with ***'s expectations and eager expectations. Although he was unable to complete the unfinished business, his efforts undoubtedly left a valuable legacy for those who came after him.
Does Freeman really understand the purpose of *** giving away "Liu Wen"? There is no information to indicate that he read this book, but this move did play a positive role in promoting friendly exchanges between China and the United States.
In an online speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Nixon's visit, Freeman called on the United States to focus on improving its own competitiveness and not misdefine its China policy.
He admitted that the United States had provoked Sino-US conflicts, which showed his deep understanding of Sino-US relations.