Tag: Entertainment

刘宇昆在二零一六年发表的《纸动物园》是一个很感动的故事，讲了一个小男孩子和他与父母之间的发生的故事。他的爸爸是美国人，而他妈妈是从中国来的。小孩的妈妈用纸做了动物送给他。叙述者反感他的妈妈，因为他学校的朋友欺负他。他的朋友都有比较贵的玩具，所以嘲笑他妈妈做的动物。他对妈妈很刻薄，所以他长大后，他跟妈妈的关系很疏远。过了三十年后，他的妈妈生了病，快要去世了。他去了医院看望妈妈。但是到医院的时候妈妈已经去世了。几个星期以后，他在打扫和清理妈妈旧的东西，找到了两个东西：妈妈做的纸老虎和一封信。这封信中有他妈妈心里的想法和疑问。首先，她写了他生活中和移民到美国的故事，其实也承认了她孩子对自己的反感。最后，她问了她的孩子一个问题：“你为什么不跟你自己的妈妈讲话？”

我觉得这个故事代表很多的第二代移民和跨种族家庭中的孩子的感觉和故事。我们的身份是有一点儿矛盾和分裂的。我们常常会想：“我是美国人还是中国或者是别的国家的人呢？”长大以后，我们不知道这个问题的答案。比如说，有些人不理解别的国家的文化，可以影响你自己身份的。这就是故事里孩子的经历。我自己以前有这样的经历和心理冲突，但是我越来越成熟的时候，发现你生活全部的内容是一定要找到平衡的。这个想法也能对身份认同有帮助。我们第二代混血不只是美国人或者中国人，我们是美国人和中国人。

Translation

Ken Liu’s 2016 short story “The Paper Menagerie” is a very moving and emotional story. It tells the story of a young boy and his relationship with his parents. His father was American, while his mother came from China. As he was growing up, the boy’s mother gifted him paper animals to play with. However, these toys were made fun of by his friends, which led to bullying. This caused him to begin to resent his mother. His friends had more expensive and intricate toys, so they looked down upon and made fun of the paper animals crafted by his mother. This resentment grew and grew, so as he continued to grow up, his relationship with his mother became more strained and distant. After 30 years had passed, his mother was severely ill and on the verge of death. As he rushed to the hospital to see her in her final moments, she had already passed away. A few weeks later, as he was cleaning out his mother’s old belongings, he found two things: the paper tiger that his mother made for him as a child, and his mother’s old journal. Besides containing details about his mother’s journey immigrating to the US, it also contained his mother’s thoughts about her faltering relationship with her son. The very last sentence in the journal wrote, “My son, why won’t you speak to your own mother?”

I believe this story is very representative of the story and feelings of many second generation immigrants and children of multiracial families. One’s personal identity can be very divisive and contradictory. For example, biracial children commonly ask themselves, “Are we American, or are we Chinese (or any other nationality for that matter)?” After growing up, I still don’t know the answer to this question. Furthermore, there are times and situations that lead us to choose one side or the other. For example, there are some people who do not understand the cultures of other countries, and thus can influence how somebody looks upon their own culture. This is exactly the experience told by the boy in “The Paper Menagerie”. Personally, this is an internal conflict that I have experienced many times. However, as I grew and matured, I began to realize that all aspects of life have to include balance, which is a philosophy that is very applicable to discovering identity. As a biracial child of an immigrant, I’ve come to realize that I am not solely Chinese or American. I am a Chinese-American.

从小，我最期待的事，就是睡觉前可以听上侯文勇与蔡康永的《欢乐三国志》的CD。他们用了现代幽默风趣的对话方式来讲《三国演义》的故事，当时我中文能力不足以直接阅读罗贯中的《三国演义》，更是对历史毫无兴趣，但是我在听故事的过程中听得津津有味。

当我长大好好学习之后，第一个想阅读的中国的四大名著便是《三国演义》。 在阅读的过程中，我被各个鲜明的角色深深吸引。想复兴汉室的刘备，年纪轻轻就管理着江南的孙权，还有著作中的大反派“挟天子以令诸侯”的曹操。但是我最喜欢的人物还是诸葛亮。他 在赤壁之战前后扮演了一个很重要的角色，不管是“草船借箭”还是“三气周瑜”，都深深让我体会到不管是在哪个时代，有学问都是非常重要的。刘备有那么多猛将愿意跟随着他，但他还是需要有计谋的诸葛亮才得以三分天下。

从《三国演义》中，我深深体会了中国文化中文武双全的意义。说到《三国演义》，自然是离不开精彩的“赤壁之战”，不论是政治还是生意都离不开结盟，就如刘备与孙权的两个不被曹操看在眼里的合作者能扳倒号称有百万大军的曹操 ，不仅仅是有才智超群的诸葛亮、擅长水战的周瑜、再加上刘备的虎将以及勇敢的黄盖，曹操东拼西凑的降军哪里是他们的对手?

先是“草船借箭”减少了曹操的资源，接着是黄盖的 “苦肉计 ”，最后是诸葛亮神乎其技借来了东风打得曹军落花流水。一连串的连环计让我也挺同情曹操的。在华容道上，罗贯中安排了有情有义的关羽放了曹操一马，不仅让关羽的性格更加鲜明， 更是让赤壁之战结束在一个和气的场景中。

罗贯中对每个角色都刻画得淋漓尽致，也对每个角色的爱恨情仇描述得很完美。侯文咏与蔡康永的作品，能让听众在历史与现代中来回思考刘备以德服人的管理方式，把五虎上将的忠心耿耿放到现代的社会依然受用。中国人所谓的“德”跟刘备的“德”其实本质上是一样的。关羽的忠义也非常能体现中国的文化。不痛打落水狗、牢记恩情，是中国人的美德。在三国演义中，我不仅仅学到了历史，更能深深体会中华文化的博大精深。

Translation

When I was young, I looked forward to listening to the CD of “Happy Three Kingdoms” by Hou Wenyong and Cai Kangyong before going to bed. They told the story of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a modern, humorous, and witty style of dialogue. At that time, my Chinese was not good enough to read Luo Guanzhong’s The Romance of the Three Kingdoms directly, and I was not interested in history, but I had a great time listening to the story.

When I grew up and studied Chinese diligently, the first out of the four Chinese classics I wanted to read was The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the process of reading, I was very impressed by the distinctive characters. Liu Bei who wanted to revive the Han Dynasty, Sun Quan who managed the south of the Yangtze River at a young age, and Cao Cao who was the villain in the book “Holding the Emperor to Order the Dukes”. But my favorite character is still Zhuge Liang. He played a very important role during the Battle of Chibi. Whether it was in “Straw Boat Borrowing Arrows” or “Zhou Yu’s three angers”, I understood that no matter what era you are in, having mastery of knowledge is especially important. Liu Bei has many talented generals willing to follow him, but he still needs Zhuge Liang, who devised the strategy to divide China into three.

From reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I deeply understand the importance of having both knowledge and physical power in Chinese culture. When talking about The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is impossible not to discuss the remarkable “Battle of Chibi”. Whether it is politics or business, both rely upon forming alliances, just like Liu Bei and Sun Quan, two partners who were initially overlooked by Cao Cao. They were able to defeat Cao Cao, despite his million-strong army through a combination of Zhuge Liang’s intelligence, Zhou Yu’s water warfare skills, Liu Bei’s talented generals and Huang Gai’s bravery. How could Cao Cao’s ragtag army of defectors, assembled from different places, ever compete with them?

First, “Straw boat borrowing arrows” reduced Cao Cao’s resources, followed by Huang Gai’s “taking the pain to gain trust”, and finally Zhuge Liang’s miraculous skills borrowed the east wind to defeat Cao’s army. This series of chain tricks made me sympathize with Cao Cao. On Huarong Road, Luo Guanzhong arranged for the virtuous and righteous Guan Yu to let Cao Cao go, not only making Guan Yu’s character more distinct, but also ending the Battle of Chibi in a peaceful manner.

Luo Guanzhong not only vividly portrays each character, but also perfectly describes the love and hatred of each character. The works of Hou Wenyong and Cai Kangyong allow the audience to reflect back and forth between history and modern times. Liu Bei’s leadership style of winning people over with virtue ensured the loyalty of the five Tiger generals, which is still applicable in modern society. Liu Bei’s morality is representative of the morals shared by many Chinese people. Guan Yu’s loyalty can also embody Chinese culture very well. It is a Chinese virtue not to beat a drowning dog, but instead to remember kindness. Thanks to The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not only did I learn history, but also deeply understood the profoundness of Chinese culture.