Does Xu Dishan’s father, the author of "Luohuahua", not live at home?

Xu Dishan (1893～1941), a modern writer and scholar. His name is Zankun, his courtesy name is Dishan, and his pen name is Luohuashua. His ancestral home is Jieyang, Guangdong, and he was born into a family of patriots in Tainan, Taiwan. After returning to the mainland, he settled in Longxi, Fujian. After graduating from middle school in 1910, he served as a teacher in a normal school and a middle school. In 1917, he was admitted to the School of Liberal Arts of Yenching University. After graduating in 1920, he stayed at the school to teach. During this period, he co-sponsored the ten-day issue of "New Society" with Zhai Qiubai, Zheng Zhenduo and others to actively promote the revolution. He was engaged in literary activities before and after the May 4th Movement. In January 1921, he and 12 people including Shen Yanbing, Ye Shengtao, and Zheng Zhenduo initiated the establishment of a literary research association in Peiping and founded the "Novel Monthly". In 1922, he went to the United States to enter the Department of Philosophy at the Graduate School of Columbia University in New York, where he studied the history of religion and comparative religious studies and received a master's degree in literature. Later, he transferred to Mansfield College of Oxford University in the UK to study religion, Indian philosophy, Sanskrit, anthropology, folklore, etc. In 1927, he returned to China and worked as an associate professor and professor in the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Religion at Yenching University, while devoting himself to literary creation. In 1935, he was appointed as the chief professor of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Hong Kong and moved his family to Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong, he concurrently served as the chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese-British Cultural Association. After the "July 7" Incident in 1937, he published articles and speeches to promote anti-Japanese resistance and opposed surrender. When the "Southern Anhui Incident" occurred, he and Zhang Yiyan jointly sent a call to Chiang Kai-shek, calling for unity, peace and a cessation of war. At the same time, he served as the executive director of the Hong Kong branch of the All-China Literary and Art Circles Anti-Enemy Association, campaigning for the cause of resisting Japan and national salvation, and carried out various organizational and educational work. Later, he died of illness due to overwork.

Most of the literary works created by Xu Dishan throughout his life were set in Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Southeast Asia, and India. His main works include "Spiritual Rain in the Empty Mountain", "Weaving Spiders in the Web", "Dangerous Nest and the Falling Barrel", "History of Taoism", "Dazhong Collection", "Indian Literature"; translated works include "Twenty Nights Questions", "Sunset", "Bengali Folktales", etc.

Translation by Xu Dishan

Xu Dishan admired Rabindranath Tagore, the "sage of poetry" in India. He likes Rabindranath Tagore's works, so he has translated "Jitan Yingli" (classical Chinese, unpublished), "On the way to Calcutta" (published in "Novel Monthly", Volume 12, No. 4), "Master, take my Pipa" (Published in "Novel Monthly", Volume 22, No. 1) and other poems, novels and essays by Tagore. His love for Tagore also aroused his strong interest in Indian literature. In 1928, he translated "Bengali Folktales". In 1930, he published the monograph "Indian Literature". In 1934, he also translated Indian stories "Sunset", "Twenty Night Questions", etc., thus becoming a famous Indian literature expert. After several years of hard work, Xu Dishan's efforts for Sino-Indian cultural exchanges have yielded fruitful results. According to statistics, in the few years after Xu Dishan returned from studying in the UK (from 1927 to 1935 when he left Yenching University), he wrote 8 academic papers and 5 academic treatises. Among them, "Indian Literature" published in 1930 was the first monograph on the history of Indian literature written by the Chinese themselves. This work is inseparable from his profound literary and translation skills.

In the early 1930s, Ke Zhenghe of the Peking Chinese Music Society edited the "Collection of One Hundred World Famous Songs", which was divided into ten volumes with ten songs in each volume (compiled by the Peking Chinese Music Society in October 1932 Published in March), the ten lyrics of the first volume were all translated by Xu Dishan. There is a "Preface" written by Xu Dishan and a "Preface" written by Ke Zhenghe at the front of the book, and an explanation of the lyrics written by Xu Dishan at the back. Xu Dishan wrote in his "Preface" that little is known about his playing, studying, teaching music and composing music. He began studying music before becoming a monk at the Guangzhou Confucian Temple. He is good at pipa and can compose music and lyrics (although his job seems to have nothing to do with music, he attaches great importance to music and music education). At the same time, Xu Dishan is proficient in music, familiar with Western music and Western folk songs, and has a good command of English, German and French. He has devoted a lot of enthusiasm to the music of countries such as Russia, Scotland, Austria, Italy, and Spain, as evidenced by the ten famous songs he translated. These ten famous songs, except "The Boat Swings Like a Cradle", are all love songs. There are sincere and burning emotions written about passionate love: "The hot hands hold each other. The lips are trembling. The slight sound is as beautiful as music, coming from me. You don't want anything in the world, but I am what you want." ("One More Time!"); There is a poem about lovers' longing after farewell: "The wild birds are singing a cappella, the wild flowers are blooming, the water under the sunlight is as calm as sleep, although I think that joy can eliminate sorrow. But the frustrated mood cannot "Looking forward to the return of spring" ("Luo Lumeng"); there is a novel about nostalgia in life: "Can you forget the old friends and keep them in your heart? Can you forget the old friends and the old days?" The days, I love, the old days, we have to drink for them." ("Can you forget the old friends?"). From the lyrics of these ten songs and the "Preface" he translated, we can feel his love for life and his unique human feelings. Without his devotion to art and his rich life experience, it would be difficult to imagine that he could translate such elegant and sentimental world-famous songs. For Xu Dishan, translation is also artistic creation. Therefore, after Xu Dishan met Ke Zhenghe, a musician he admired, they had the same views when it came to music education. Ke Zhenghe asked him to translate Western music, and he immediately agreed.

He said in the "Foreword" of the first volume of "A Collection of One Hundred Famous Songs of the World": "In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China, I returned from Europe and passed through Shulang Island to find some old colleagues at the Overseas Chinese School. It has been more than ten years since I left. However, the singing taught in that school is not only the same as what it was taught more than ten years ago, but it is also exactly the same as what I learned in elementary school. When I asked them why they didn’t teach new ones, they all asked me. There is something new there. This makes me feel that I must run a music school. However, although I have an interest in music, my knowledge of music is not enough. This must be done by experts. "Here, we have to do it. It is not difficult to appreciate Xu Dishan’s good intentions in popularizing music education. We can see that Xu Dishan really used his pen to translate and introduce good Western music works for us.

Xu Dishan’s translation style

Talking about this, I would like to quote a passage from the translation narrative of Xu Dishan’s “Bengali Folktales”: “This translation is based on the 1912 Macmillan Translated from the company's original text. I did not translate word for word, but simply wrote out the meaning of each story. As for the original words and sentences, they were sometimes added or subtracted in the translation, because it is only necessary to make the content clear when compiling folk tales. As for other articles, I have to consider them word by word. The reason why I translated these 22 stories is because I am very interested in the study of "Folk-Lore" and I feel that many folk tales in China were transferred from India. It will definitely be helpful to study Chinese folklore. Secondly, Zhizi asked me to read a novel this spring. I haven’t written a book for a long time, and I can’t write much at the moment, so I might as well just do it. Spending two or three months translating one or twenty stories for her will satisfy her even more. "

After reading this passage, it is not difficult for us to understand Xu Dishan's translation style - simple and true. , just like his people. Of course, the style of translation is closely related to the style of the translated text. Xu Dishan is very familiar with this. The translation of "Bengali Folktales" is simple. Here is another German folk song translated by Xu Dishan, through which we can appreciate his familiar translation skills and solid writing skills:

Nocturne The moon rises at the end of the summer night, on the silent mountain top; the vibrating sound in the distance Low and low, it's the nightingale's quiet call. Sing, happy nightingale! Sing in the silver light, we can't hear any other sounds on this dreamlike summer night. There is a cloud shadow in the western sky, and darkness seems to be falling. Stop it! Don't come close to cover up the love time for a moment, stop it!

The moon rises at the end of the summer night, on the silent mountain top; the low trill in the distance is the nightingale's murmur, the nightingale's murmur, sing, happy nightingale! Sing in the silver light, we can't hear any other sounds on this dreamlike summer night. Happy bird, sing to us! Happy bird, sing to us!

At the same time, we can find that the main purpose of Xu Dishan's translation is to introduce and spread foreign cultures and promote the development of Chinese culture. His translations of "Bengali Folktales" and "Twenty Night Questions" are of great significance to the study of Chinese folklore. It has important academic value; the translation of famous Western songs also played a certain role in popularizing music education in China.

"Luohuahua" pursues truth and progress all his life, teaches all his life, and teaches people tirelessly. His early death is indeed an irreparable loss to the literary and academic circles. The "groundnut spirit" he enthusiastically advocated is commendable and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. His translations will be remembered forever.

Chronology of Xu Dishan’s translations

1. On the way to Kolkata (written by Rabindranath Tagore) April 1921 "Novel Monthly" Volume 12 No. 4

2. The Handy Bat and the Clever Golden Bird June 1924 "Novel Monthly" Volume 15 No. 6

3. Moon Song June 1925 "Novel Monthly" Volume 16 No. 5

4. The Love Lives of European and American Celebrities November 1928 "Novel Monthly" Volume 19, No. 11, No. 12

5. Bengali Folktales ["Folk Tales of Bengal" Lal Behari Day compiled by Deborah), 1st edition, November 1929, 6th edition, August 1956, Commercial Press

6. Master, take my pipa (by Rabindranath Tagore) "Novel Monthly", Volume 22, No. 1, January 1931

7. The love story of Le Saint Peter Fen is the same as above

8. The future of civilization 1931 "Beijing Morning News"

9. Twenty Nights Questions [Translated from Volume 1 of "The Stories of India" compiled by Bain] First edition, January 1955, Writers Publishing House

10. The Sun Sets [Translated from Volume 8 of the same book] First edition, May 1956, Writers Publishing House