Chapter 253 The Beauty of Ancient Chinese Poetry

The atmosphere in the conference room quickly became lively, and Fang Minghua began to pick up the beautiful verses from the "Book of Songs" and translate them for everyone to appreciate.

Guan Guan Jujiu, in Hezhizhou.

A graceful lady, a gentleman is a good man.

Thefishhawkssinggwangwan(The fishhawk sings and makes a sound

onsandbarsofthestream. A sandbar in the river.

Gentlemaiden, pure and fair, kind, pure and beautiful girl

Fitpairforaprince. Suitable for the prince to marry her. ),

……

….

Hercheekswithsmilesanddimplesglow….

One The hour ended quickly, and there was warm applause in the conference room.

Fang Minghua did not talk about any profound theoretical knowledge about the complicated history of the creation of "The Book of Songs", but only found some beautiful verses for analysis.

There is only one purpose, to let ordinary people in these foreign countries know that in that distant era, there were not only "Homer's Epic" and "Prometheus Bound", but also a famous book of poetry in the far east It’s called The Book of Songs!

Of course, what he never expected was that he would often be invited to explain or recite Chinese classical poetry.

At the Grand Prairie Bookstore in Iowa, readings are held every day, and of course they are not limited to poetry.

Fang Minghua is still willing to go. Although it takes up time, it is a way to spread our Chinese culture.

This afternoon, Fang Minghua was invited to attend a poetry recital at Daprairie Bookstore. Local literature enthusiasts and many of them were college students staying in school during the summer vacation.

He only knows a few English versions of the poems in the Book of Songs. Fortunately, he has an English translation of "150 Tang Poems" written by Professor Xu Yuanchong, which contains poems that are familiar to Chinese people.

"Girls, gentlemen, friends, today I am going to recite a poem by Chen Ziang, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty in my country, called "Dengyouzhou Taige""

Finished , Fang Minghua cleared his throat,

Wherethesagesofthepast,

(The ancients have never been seen before)

Andthoseoffutureyears?

(The ancients have not been seen since.)

Skyandearthforeverlast,

(Thinking of the heaven and the earth)
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Lonely, Ishedsadtears.

(Crying with sadness.)

As soon as Fang Minghua finished reciting, he saw a young man stand up and said: "Mr. Fang, I saw you just recited This poem was recited by the alien named Daya in the book "Poetry Cloud" written by you."

After saying this, the young man also started reciting.

Lookingforward, youcan'tseethebugsthatoncelivedonthisplanetinthedistantpast;Lookingback, youcan'tseethebugsthatwillliveonthisplanetinthefuture.Ifeltthattimeandspaceweretoovast,soIcried

(“Looking forward, I can’t see the bugs that lived on this planet in the distant past; looking back, I can’t see the bugs that will live on this planet in the future; I felt that time and space were too vast, so I cried. )"

Everyone laughed after hearing this.

Fang Minghua also smiled and said: "So, literature and art cannot be created by technology, and omnipotent "gods" like those in novels cannot fully grasp the charm of literature and art."

While Fang Minghua was talking, he saw a girl coming up the stairs. She was probably attending the poetry recital halfway.

This situation is very common. You can leave when you want, and come when you want. As long as you don't disturb others by shouting, no one will care about you.

Fang Minghua didn't pay much attention. He took a look and found that he actually knew him.

Emily met on the train to Chicago that day.

The girl was wearing a pair of jeans shorts and flaming red lips, smiling at him in greeting.

Fang Minghua also nodded as a greeting and recited another poem as planned.

Li Bai's "Thoughts on a Quiet Night":

Beforemybedapooloflight,

The bright moonlight in front of the bed,

Iwonderifit'sfrostaground.

It is suspected to be frost on the ground.

Lookingup,Ifindthemoonbright,

Looking up at the bright moon,

Bowing, inhomesicknessI'mdrowned.

Looking down at my hometown. Amid warm applause, Fang Minghua walked down and sat next to Emily.

“Hello, Emily.”

"Hello, Fang Minghua."

"Are you here to have fun?" Fang Minghua remembered that the girl herself introduced that she lived in a small town called Palm Springs not far from Los Angeles, in Davenport. Studied at the private university of Borås.

The girl replied: "No, I signed up for the summer school at the University of Iowa."

The summer school in the United States is an art, academic, and Courses such as physical education are designed to provide students with rich and diverse learning and experience opportunities.

Iowa Summer School is the most prestigious writing summer school in the United States, and it is also called the most difficult writing summer school in the United States. The programs include poetry, novels, creative writing, TV script writing, and drama writing. etc.

Fang Minghua only learned this after coming to Iowa.

"Congratulations, congratulations." Fang Minghua said in a low voice.

"Thank you." The girl looked at him with a happy face.

At this time, a British writer on the stage began to recite "When you are old" (When you are old) written by the famous Irish poet William Butler Yeats

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,

When you are old and gray and sleepy,

And nodding by the fire, takedown this book,

Sitting tiredly by the fire, take down this book,

Later generations, folk music Zhao Zhao composed music for this purpose, which was widely sung in China.

Fang Minghua signaled to listen carefully, Emily quickly stopped and listened carefully.

After the recitation ended, Fang Minghua and Emily walked downstairs together.

"Fang Minghua, can I buy you a cup of coffee?" the girl invited.

Looking at the time, it was only around four in the afternoon. It was okay to go back to the hotel now, so I agreed.

There is a coffee shop below the Grand Prairie Bookstore. The two of them went in and there were several customers sitting in twos and threes, all holding books in their hands.

It is midsummer and the sun is scorching outside. It feels good to sit in an air-conditioned cafe and drink a cup of iced coffee.

The two of them each ordered a drink and started chatting while drinking.

The girl told Fang Minghua that although she majored in elementary education at Burrows Private University, she had been very interested in literature since she was a child and dreamed of becoming a writer, so she enrolled in the summer school at the University of Iowa.

“Science fiction is my favorite part. My dream is to be a writer, but I haven’t published a single novel yet.” Emily drank coffee with a distressed look on her face.

Looking at the girl like this, Fang Minghua couldn't help but think of those literary young people in China. They seemed to be the same no matter where they were.

"Fang Minghua, if your novel can win an award, and I am still waiting to represent your country at the IWP in Iowa, can you teach me how to write a novel?" the girl asked.

"Didn't you already attend the summer school in Iowa? Didn't there be teachers who specifically taught you about writing?" Fang Minghua asked.

“Yes, but I think the teacher is talking about writing skills. I feel like I understand everything, but I still can’t write anything satisfactory.”

Hearing this, Fang Minghua remembered what he said when chatting with Zhang Xianliang.

American writing is very technical and "anatomical", focusing on the internal structure of the novel. For example, you use too many prepositions here, which makes it difficult to pronounce and too sticky.

What we talk about about literature in China is not these, but the relationship between literature and life, and the process from material to work.

Thinking of this, Fang Minghua said: "I wrote a modernist novel in China - some writing concepts that are called avant-garde novels in our country. I have translated them into English and brought them over. If you are interested, you can take a look."

(End of this chapter)