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Yang Xianyi
Yang Xianyi (; January 10, 1915 – November 23, 2009) was a Chinese literary translator, known for rendering many ancient and a few modern Chinese classics into English, including '' Dream of the Red Mansions''. Life and career Born into a wealthy banking family in Tianjin, he was sent to Merton College, Oxford to study Classics in 1936. There he married Gladys Tayler. They had two daughters and a son, who committed suicide in 1979. Yang and his wife returned to China in 1940, and began their decades long co-operation of introducing Chinese classics to the English-speaking world. Working for the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, a government-funded publisher, the husband and wife team produced a number of quality translations. The works translated include classical Chinese poetry; such classic works as ''A Dream of the Red Mansions'', '' The Scholars'', Liu E's ''Mr. Decadent: Notes Taken in an Outing'' (), also known as '' The Travels of Lao Can'', and some of Lu Xun' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yang (surname)
Yang (; ) is the Transcription (linguistics), transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the list of common Chinese surnames#People's Republic, sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' text. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period of the Ji (Zhou dynasty ancestral surname), Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty ) who was enfeoffed in the Yang (state), state of Yang. History The German sociologist Wolfram Eberhard calls Yang the "Monkey Clan", citing the totemistic myth recorded in the ''Soushenji'' and ''Fayuan Zhulin'' that the Yangs living in southwestern Shu (state), Shu (modern Sichuan) were descendants of monkeys. The ''Soushenji'' "reported that in the southwest of Shu there were monkey-like animals whose names were ''jiaguo'' (猳國), ''mahua'' (馬化), or ''Monkeys in Chinese culture#Jue and Juefu, jueyuan'' (玃猿). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Travels Of Lao Can
''The Travels of Lao Can'' () is a novel by Liu E (1857–1909), written between 1903 and 1904 and published in 1907 to wide acclaim. Thinly disguising his own views in those of Lao Can, the physician hero, Liu describes the rise of the Boxers in the countryside, the decay of the Yellow River control system, and the hypocritical incompetence of the bureaucracy. Its social satire showed the limits of the old elite and officialdom and gave an in-depth look into everyday life in the countryside in the late Qing period. Publication history The first 13 chapters were serialized in the bi-weekly '' Xiuxiang Xiaoshuo'' (; Illustrated Fiction) from March 1903 to January 1904, in issues 9 through 18. It was published in the '' Tianjin Riri Xinwen Bao'' ( United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commercep. 188) in a 20 chapter version with a prologue.Doleželová-Velingerová, p724 Plot In the prologue Lao Can (T: 老殘, S: 老残; literally, "Old Decrepit"), a traveling medical pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Paper (newspaper)
''The Paper'' ( zh, first=s, s=澎湃新闻, l=Surging News) is a Chinese digital newspaper owned and run by the state-owned Shanghai United Media Group. History ''The Paper'' was launched in July 2014 as an offshoot of the Shanghai United Media Group publication '' Oriental Morning Post''. It received a large amount of initial funding, speculated to be anywhere from US$16 million to 64 million. Of this, RMB 100 million (approximately $) was provided by the government through the Cyberspace Administration of China. ''The Paper'' was founded as an attempt to capture the readership of mobile internet users as revenue from mainstream physical papers across China saw major declines in the early 2010s. In May 2016, ''The Paper'' launched '' Sixth Tone'', an English-language sister publication. On December 28, 2016, six completely state-owned or invested firms in Shanghai executed a strategic equity investment in Shanghai Oriental Newspaper Industry Company Limited, the operator o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doggerel
Doggerel, or doggrel, is poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning. The word is derived from the Middle English ''dogerel'', probably a derivative of ''dog''. In English, it has been used as an adjective since the 14th century and a noun since at least 1630. Appearing since ancient times in the literatures of many cultures, doggerel is characteristic of nursery rhymes and children's song. Examples The Scottish poet William McGonagall (1825–1902) has become famous for his doggerel, which many remember with affection despite its seeming technical flaws, as in his poem " The Tay Bridge Disaster": Hip hop lyrics have also explored the artful possibilities of doggerel. . Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas is written in this format. It irritates the Host of The Tabard so much that he interrupts him and makes him tell a di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976. Its stated goal was to preserve Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese socialism by purging remnants of Capitalism, capitalist and Four Olds, traditional elements from Chinese culture, Chinese society. In May 1966, with the help of the Cultural Revolution Group, Mao launched the Revolution and said that Bourgeoisie, bourgeois elements had infiltrated the government and society with the aim of restoring capitalism. Mao called on young people to Bombard the Headquarters, bombard the headquarters, and proclaimed that "to rebel is justified". Mass upheaval began in Beijing with Red August in 1966. Many young people, mainly students, responded by forming Cadre system of the Chinese Communist Party, cadres of Red Guards th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pygmalion (play)
''Pygmalion'' is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, named after the Pygmalion (mythology), Greek mythological figure. It premiered at the Burgtheater, Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913 and was first presented on stage in German. Its English-language premiere took place at Her Majesty's Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre in London's West End theatre, West End in April 1914 and starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree as phonetics professor Henry Higgins and Mrs Patrick Campbell as Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle. Inspiration In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion (mythology), Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era British playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called ''Pygmalion and Galatea (play), Pygmalion and Galatea'' that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as ''Man and Superman'' (1902), ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' (1913) and ''Saint Joan (play), Saint Joan'' (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Dublin, in 1876 Shaw moved to London, where he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the Gradualism (politics), gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Song Of Roland
The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval and Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries. The epic poem written in Old French is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''chanson de geste'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in Medieval Europe and celebrated legendary deeds. An early version was composed around 1040 AD, with additions and alterations made up to about 1115 AD. The final poem contains about 4,000 lines. Manuscripts and dating Although set in the Carolingian era, the ''Song of Roland'' was written centuries later. There is a single extant manuscript of the ''Song of Roland''. It is he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgics
The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural [things]") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example of peaceful rural poetry, it is a work characterized by tensions in both theme and purpose. The ''Georgics'' is considered Virgil's second major work, following his ''Eclogues'' and preceding the ''Aeneid''. The poem draws on a variety of prior sources and has influenced many later authors from antiquity to the present. Description and summary The work consists of 2,188 hexameter, hexametric verses divided into four books. The yearly timings by the rising and setting of particular stars were valid for the precession of the equinoxes, precession epoch of Virgil's time, and so are not always valid now. Book One Virgil begins his poem with a dedication to Gaius Maecenas, Maecenas, then a summary of the four books, followed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the ''Eclogues'' (or ''Bucolics''), the ''Georgics'', and the Epic poetry, epic ''Aeneid''. A number of minor poems, collected in the ''Appendix Vergiliana'', were attributed to him in ancient times, but modern scholars generally regard these works as spurious, with the possible exception of a few short pieces. Already acclaimed in his own lifetime as a classic author, Virgil rapidly replaced Ennius and other earlier authors as a standard school text, and stood as the most popular Latin poet through late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and early modernity, exerting inestimable influence on all subsequent Western literature. Geoffrey Chaucer assigned Virgil a uniquely prominent position among all the celebrities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Birds (play)
''The Birds'' () is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BC at the City Dionysia in Athens where it won second place. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs. Unlike the author's other early plays, it includes no direct mention of the Peloponnesian War and there are few references to Athenian politics, and yet it was staged not long after the commencement of the Sicilian Expedition, an ambitious military campaign that greatly increased Athenian commitment to the war effort. In spite of that, the play has many indirect references to Athenian political and social life. It is the longest of Aristophanes's surviving plays and yet it is a fairly conventional example of Old Comedy. The plot of the play revolves around Pisthetaerus, an Athenian who convinces the birds to create a great city in the sky, and thus regain their status as the original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving plays belong to the genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are considered its most valuable examples. Aristophanes' plays were performed at the religious festivals of Athens, mostly the City Dionysia and the Lenaia, and several of them won the first prize in their respective competitions. Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes wrote plays that often dealt with real-life figures, including Euripides and Alcibiades, and contemporary events, such as the Peloponnesian War. He has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His plays are characterized by preposterous premises, explicit language, wordplays, and political satire. His powers of ridicule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
