把詩還給詩經：中英雙語散文和詩

詩經簡史

春秋中葉當孔子周遊列國，廣收三千弟子的時候，詩三百就存在而且成書了，並且是孔子重要的教科書，發展為經典，他說詩「可以興，可以觀，可以群，可以怨。邇之事父，遠之事君。多識於鳥獸草木之名。」這是說詩經有三大功用。第一：訓練聯想力、觀察力、合群力、批評力。第二：教人孝敬父母、忠於君國。第三：多認識一些動植物，多接近自然。秦朝（221 – 205 B.C.）一把大火，許多書籍灰飛煙滅，西漢（206 B.C. – 24 A.D.）廢除挾書令，因為詩經中有許多是口耳相傳，很快被恢復，出名者有三大家：魯詩、齊詩和韓詩。這三家詩都是用當時的隸書寫成，所以又叫今文詩，後來又出了第四家毛詩，毛詩是用篆字寫成，是為古文詩，之後的詩經版本就是毛詩傳下來的。

到了東漢（25 - 220 A.D.）出了位大學問家鄭玄，他兼通古文今文，為毛序寫箋，又有位衛宏為毛詩寫序，全詩經的序叫大序，每一篇的序叫小序，小序就是題解，詩序最大的貢獻是歸納出詩六義：風、雅、頌、賦、比、興，前三者是詩經分類，後三者是寫詩的體裁與表現方法，綿綿三千餘年今人寫詩仍離不開這三個規範。鄭箋和詩序使毛詩一枝獨秀，其他的三家卻相繼式微了。

民國（1912 A.D. - ）五四運動後在打倒孔家店的口號下，許多文人如胡適之、傅斯年、聞一多、余平伯諸人都有自己的看法，有些人把在大學授課的筆記發表，清末民初有幾位國外學者開始翻譯詩經，但是他們缺乏中國古典文學的造詣，譯詩與原文距離相當遠。近五十年來，台灣許多大學中文系都有詩經課，也成立了碩、博士班，這樣許多與詩經有關的論文或教科書也問世了。十年來大陸古書新譯也非常盛行，二○○○年我在北京大學附近的一家書店，一次就買了十六本不同的詩經今譯，但有些僅是選譯，並非全譯。

過去一百餘年的翻譯和註釋多強調歷史及當時思想和觀念，我的譯書強調表達詩意，因此這本書的題目是把詩經還給詩經。



Brief History of the Shi-Jing

During the middle of the “Autumn” and “Spring” periods, when Confucius was visiting many States, and when he already had more than 3,000 disciples, the Shi Jing already existed and it was the most important textbook for his teachings. He said there were three major functions of “Shi” (“poems”): 1) training in: expression of feelings; observation; comradeship or team spirit; and critical thinking; 2) to teach people how to respect their parents and be loyal to the State; and 3) the teaching and learning of the names of animals and plants, and how to get closer to nature. During the Qin dynasty (221 - 205 BC), all books were ordered to be burned. When the Western Han dynasty (206 BC -- 24 AD) rescinded the book burning orders, the Shi Jing, being folksongs, was quickly and easily recovered from the people’s memories. Three interpretive schools of the Shi Jing became established in three books, written in the vernacular of the time: Lu shi, Qi shi and Han shi, collectively called the “modern language” Shi Jing. Later a fourth book, written with the ancient characters appeared; it was the Mao shi, and was called the “Old language shi.” Many of the books published today about the Shi Jing are based on the text and

interpretations of the Mao shi.

During the East Han dynasty (25 -- 220 AD), there was a great scholar, Cheng Xian, who knew both the current and ancient languages, who wrote the “Commentaries” for the Mao shi. About the same time, another scholar, Wei Hung, wrote the “Preface” to the Shi Jing. His preface for the entire book is called the “Greater Preface,” and the preface for each poem was called the “Little Preface.” The “Little Prefaces” are, in fact, analyses of the meanings of the poems. The major contribution made by the “Preface” was to call attention to six elements of the Shi Jing: “The Airs of the States,” “Odes” and “Hymns” (the Shi Jing’s three sections) and the three styles of writing or methods of expression: “fu” (narrative), “bi” (similies or explicit comparisons) and “xing” (metaphor or implied comparisons). After 3,000 long years, modern Chinese poets still cannot escape the three styles of fu, bi and xing. Cheng’s commentaries and Wei’s “Preface” ensure the perpetuation of the Mao shi. The other three books (Lu shi, Qi shi and Han shi) have slowly disappeared.

During the Tang dynasty (618 -- 907 AD), there were a number of people who commented on the Shi Jing, but they were all followers of the traditions of Confucius, of Cheng’s commentaries, and Hung’s “Preface.” There was little new contribution, except by the poet Lu Ji, who concentrated on explaining the names of flora and fauna. During the Song dynasty (960 -- 1279 AD), Mr. Zhuxi, another great scholar, revolutionized the meanings of the Shi Jing by removing it from the tradition of moral discussion and returning it to the realm of literature. For centuries, most people who studied the Shi Jing were basically disciples of Zhuxi. During the Qing dynasty (1644 -- 1911 AD), scholars concentrated mainly on philology, but there were some brilliant commentators who revolutionized the previous understanding of the Shi Jing by bringing it back much closer to the study of literature as literature.

During the Republics (1911 -- today), many scholars such as Hu Shi, Fu Si-ning, Weng Yi-duo and others have expressed their own opinions about the Shi Jing by publishing lecture notes from their teachings. At the same time or earlier, several western scholars began to translate the Shi Jing, but most of them have lacked an in-depth understanding of the Chinese classics. Their translations remain at some distance from the original text. During the past fifty years, many universities in Taiwan have established Masters and Doctoral programs in their Department of Chinese, and many theses and textbooks related to the Shi Jing have been published. In mainland China, translation of the Chinese classics has been very popular during the past two decades. In the year 2000, I went to a bookstore near Beijing University, where I bought sixteen (some partial, some complete) translations of the Shi Jing into modern Chinese.

Since translations of the “Airs of the States” over the last 100 years have focused on historical and ideological aspects of the poems, it is time to examine them through lens of poetics. In my translations and discussion of the “Airs of the States” it is the poetic qualities of the poems which have been my paramount concern. With this in mind I hope I have, then, returned the poetry to the Shi Jing’s poets.

詩經簡史

春秋中葉當孔子周遊列國，廣收三千弟子的時候，詩三百就存在而且成書了，並且是孔子重要的教科書，發展為經典，他說詩「可以興，可以觀，可以群，可以怨。邇之事父，遠之事君。多識於鳥獸草木之名。」這是說詩經有三大功用。第一：訓練聯想力、觀察力、合群力、批評力。第二：教人孝敬父母、忠於君國。第三：多認識一些動植物，多接近自然。秦朝（221 – 205 B.C.）一把大火，許多書籍灰飛煙滅，西漢（206 B.C. – 24 A.D.）廢除挾書令，因為詩經中有許多是口耳相傳，很快被恢復，出名者有三大家：魯詩、齊詩和韓詩。這三家詩都...

序

除了與讀者交通，並共同欣賞藝文外，這本雙語小書還有兩個目的，第一再介紹並推廣我的譯書《詩經‧國風：英文白話新譯》（2008年書林出版社出版）。第二，提供西方教中文、中國教英文的語言學校師生作參考。

我今年七十八歲，在中國住了二十七年，在西方住了五十一年，對中西的語文學校基礎課程相當了解。課程內容多注重日常家庭及社交生活對話語言，對近代及古典詩文很少涉獵。

世界各國有鑑於近年來政治和經濟的全球化，更有鑑於全球化過程中以語言為最大的動力，所以許多國家紛紛成立了多語課程。中國於2004年計畫於全世界創辦一千所孔子學院，到了2008年已經成立了二百四十九所，分佈在七十八個國家。第一期孔子學院雜誌於2009年出版，洋洋灑灑圖文並茂，長達一百二十八頁，學院領導人員正確地指出在推廣語言與文化以品質最重要。

我在加拿大愛德蒙頓市定居三十年，在亞伯達大學執教二十四年。目前該市的孔子學院在校長斯圖爾特‧瓦喬威奇和副校長李偉博士的領導下，對於中文教育和文化發展已經做了很多，亞伯達大學也於2005年出資三千八百萬加幣成立了中國學院（The China Institute），也做出了相當突出的成績。

這本書共有十篇短文和十二篇詩歌，書名與第一篇散文〈把詩還給詩經〉相同，這些詩文都是我近年所寫，多少與我譯書有關，或者代表我對生物多樣和生態的一些看法。詩文的初稿是以中文或英文所寫，有些中文稿子已經發表，英文部分都是重新修正的。我的朋友史蒂芬‧亞諾爾給我很多協助，他是比較文學榮休教授，曾任亞伯達大學比較文學系系主任，也曾在三個洲以多種語言教近代詩三十年之久。我的妻子雪倫也修改過英文部分，另外〈不同就是大同〉由鄭惠雯英譯（亞諾爾編審），她和葉欣宜小姐對這本書的出版幫了很大的忙，於此一併致謝。

此書的封面是我妻子雪倫的一幅油畫，她將於2010年正月展出十八幅畫。我選了這張因為花和石代表了自然，而瓶和碟代表了文化，陳列在一起，詩意盎然，與詩經的民歌相互輝映。封底是我譯書的封面圖，封底的原文和英文詩句都是選自詩經譯書。



Preface

Besides sharing literary appreciation with my readers, this small, bilingual book has two other objectives:

1) to reintroduce and to promote my book “The Airs of the States” from the Shi Jing. A new trilingual translation of the world’s oldest collection of lyric poetry.

2) to provide a reference for teachers and students in Western schools teaching Chinese and schools in China teaching English.

I am 78 years old, and I have spent 51 years in the West and 27 years in China; I am quite familiar with the curricula used in both language schools; I am aware that the textbooks used understandably concentrate on daily events and conversations. This book and my book of translations should help fill the gap in available course material for contemporary and classical literary writings for advanced students.

Recognizing the trend of globalization in recent years, and further recognizing that the most important force for globalization is language, many nations in the world have established multilingual programs. China decided in 2004 to launch one thousand Confucius Colleges in the world, focusing on language and culture. By 2008 over two hundred Confucius Colleges had been established on all continents. The Journal of the Confucius Institutes, issue Number 1, was published in 2009. As correctly pointed out by the leaders, the emphasis of the Institutes is on quality.

The title of this book is identical to the first essay found herein. The book also includes other essays and poems I have written during recent years, but most of them are related to my translations of the Shi Jing. If not, they express my own personal philosophy on biodiversity and human culture. The initial writing of the essays or poems was in either English or Chinese, but some of the essays were published earlier in Chinese, the English versions in this book are current effort in translation between myself and my friend, Stephen Arnold (Emeritus Professor and former Chair of the University Alberta’s Department of Comparative Literature and Film Studies) who taught Modern Poetry in several languages for three

decades in several universities on three continents. I want to express my sincere appreciation for his help.

It should be recorded that my wife, Sharon, has also reviewed the English parts of this book, and my friends Miss Heather Cheng who translated the article “Diversity is Universality” from Chinese to English (which was edited by Arnold and Miss Hsin-Yi Yeh, have helped a great deal in the preparation of the manuscript. They have my thanks.

Lastly, I must mention that the book cover art is an oil painting by my wife, Sharon Simonds Chia, titled “Wild rose Campion, Chinese vase, sushi server and rocks on rice paper and mat,” 2008. I chose this painting from those to be exhibited in Edmonton in January, 2010, because it represents to me nature in the living flower and rocks and human culture in the vase and server; together, they are poetically consistent with the poems represented in the Shi Jing. On the back cover there is an image of “The Airs of the States” from the Shi Jing book cover and a seal print (Diversity is Universality) and selected quotations (Chinese and English) are from the translated book.

Poets

序

除了與讀者交通，並共同欣賞藝文外，這本雙語小書還有兩個目的，第一再介紹並推廣我的譯書《詩經‧國風：英文白話新譯》（2008年書林出版社出版）。第二，提供西方教中文、中國教英文的語言學校師生作參考。

我今年七十八歲，在中國住了二十七年，在西方住了五十一年，對中西的語文學校基礎課程相當了解。課程內容多注重日常家庭及社交生活對話語言，對近代及古典詩文很少涉獵。

世界各國有鑑於近年來政治和經濟的全球化，更有鑑於全球化過程中以語言為最大的動力，所以許多國家紛紛成立了多語課程。中國於2004年計畫於全世界創辦一千...

目錄
CONTENTS
序
Preface
作者小傳
About the Author
詩經簡史
Brief History of the Shi-Jing
1 把詩還給詩經
Returning the Poems to the Shi Jing
2 東風緩緩吹來(孔子學院)
East Wind Blows Softly and Gently (Confucius College)
3 使命感
Sense of Mission
4 歌之絃之
Sing It, Play It
5 五月多事
Busy in May
6 浮生小雨札記
Notes on Small Raindrops as Life’s Reflections
7 夜讀蒹葭
Evening Reading of “Reeds”
8 多識「鳥獸草木之名」是詩經的餘緒嗎？
Is “To Learn the Names of Birds, Beasts, Grasses and Trees” Unimportant?
9 難產
Difficult Birth
10 不同就是大同：寫給大學畢業生
Diversity is Universality: A Letter to University Graduates
11 橋
Bridge
12 天河
Heaven’s River
13 窗內窗外
Inside and Outside the Window
14 三月雪
March Snow
15 生物多樣之歌
Biodiversity Song
16 立霧溪
Standing Fog Stream
17 七十六歲自剖
Self-Anatomy at Seventy Six
18 七十一歲生日宴
Celebration of Seventy First Birthday
19 告別雨季
Farewell Rain
20 相思在遠方
My Heart is Far Away
21 給拉黑子
To La Hi Tzi
22 殘雪和綠苔
Snow and Moss

目錄
CONTENTS
序
Preface
作者小傳
About the Author
詩經簡史
Brief History of the Shi-Jing
1 把詩還給詩經
Returning the Poems to the Shi Jing
2 東風緩緩吹來(孔子學院)
East Wind Blows Softly and Gently (Confucius College)
3 使命感
Sense of Mission
4 歌之絃之
Sing It, Play It
5 五月多事
Busy in May
6 浮生小雨札記
Notes on Small Raindrops as Life’s Reflections
7 夜讀蒹葭
Evening Reading of “Reeds”
8 多識「鳥獸草木之名」是詩經的餘緒嗎？
Is “To Learn the Names of Birds, Beas...