Coquettish Rebirth

That's right, what is the original book of a movie like "Lord of the Rings"?It's The Lord of the Rings.Is the original "Lord of the Rings" published by Tolkien between 54 and 55 years old?To be honest, if Jia Hongjian said it, it would be really ugly.You know, Jia Hongjian is someone who has read the original English version of "The Lord of the Rings". The Lord of the Rings is a product of Tolkien's "show off skills", not something written for the sake of good-looking writing!

Why did Jia Hongjian say that Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is a show-off?Because first of all, Tolkien created an "elvish language" in the novel. Although it sounds very powerful, in fact, as a reader who only wants to read a good story, he needs to know the grammar of the elf language. how is it like?What kind of specific things do they need to know about Elven language?unnecessary!Just like in a Hollywood blockbuster, for the sake of good plot and dramatic tension, the gasoline will be installed in the car to detonate, and a good-looking "fireball" with no actual destructive power will be made to show the explosion scene, while in real life the real A lethal, car-shattering explosion, just a lot of ash, not some giant flaming fireball!

Therefore, from the fact that Tolkien created his own elf language, we can actually find that the old man made such a book for his own pleasure, not for the pleasure of others!At the same time, his book was written in all kinds of obscurity—for example, in order to express the kind of medieval style in the book.How much of the old man's dialogue and words are the grammar and vocabulary of Middle English!For example, the English second person pronoun "you" - "thou", which is no longer used in modern English, and even "be-e" to express the perfect Germanic English grammar really give Jia Hongjian a headache to read!Not to mention, in order to express the classical style, Tolkien also created n many ancient style poems...

What is this rushing Jia Hongjian?That is equivalent to saying that a foreigner has lived in China for 6 years, and finally he can speak Chinese fluently, and can read newspapers and TV. Then he read a fucking "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and then read those classical vernacular Not to mention, if you look at it at any time, there will be a "poetry as evidence..." This is definitely a huge blow to the enthusiasm of foreigners to read books!

Although it is possible that Chinese people will be able to watch "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" very smoothly.But don't think that foreigners will have no trouble reading the original Shakespeare!You must know that English and Chinese are completely different languages.According to Mr. Xu Shiyi, the person in charge of the Postdoctoral Station of Chinese Language and Literature and the deputy director of the Institute of Ancient Books, the separation of written and spoken language has basically begun since the Eastern Han Dynasty.In the earliest days, the Chinese were just like foreigners.Written and spoken language are largely the same.It is like the vernacular and spoken language of later generations.Although the vocabulary may vary, the general grammar remains the same.But in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the literati and scholars at that time.When the written language is "reverted" to the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, the spoken language is constantly developing!

So this has become a phenomenon, that is, the "high-end" characters in China for thousands of years have hardly changed, while the spoken language in civilian use has been changing, which leads to the fact that if Chinese people want to learn culture, they must To read ancient Chinese, one must learn the grammar of written language hundreds of thousands of years ago!Therefore, after basic education, it is not a big problem for Chinese people to read classical Chinese, but it is even easier to read vernacular novels of Ming and Qing Dynasties!

But there is no such trend in foreign countries!You must know that their languages ​​and characters are tied together. Their characters do not express meaning, but sound!So when the pronunciation changes, it is normal for the text to change!According to the research and comparison of European and American scholars, it is found that in the 1945 years from 1995 to 50, the spelling of 50% of the English vocabulary has changed!This is only 50 years!

Well, the British in 1998 could hardly understand the British works in 1498, that is simply too normal!And in this case, looking at Tolkien's deliberately antiquated novels, it's really torture to put it bluntly!It is more torture than letting primary school students read classical Chinese novels!

Although such an original work seems very obscure, lacks reading pleasure, and has many dyslexia, but after such a pioneering work of fantasy style is turned into a movie, there is no such obscurity. All over the world!

If Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" can do this, then why can't "Journey to the West"?If "Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Red Mansion" are all too Chinese, it is difficult for foreigners to understand the beauty in China without a series of historical knowledge.Then "Journey to the West", which is similar to fictional fantasy literature, isn't it easy for foreigners to accept?A monkey like Sun Wukong fights with all kinds of strange monsters. If this is done with Hollywood's top special effects, how can it not be too inferior to "Lord of the Rings"?

What's more, from a traditional point of view, "The Lord of the Rings" is just a simple adventure story, but "Journey to the West" digs deeper, and it's not impossible to dig out various reflections!And when this kind of mapping is put in front of you, let alone foreigners, even Chinese people will be very surprised-for example, why is Honghaier, the son of the Bull Demon King, so popular in Samadhi, while his father, the Bull Demon King Won't?Why does his mother Iron Fan Princess live alone all year round, and at the same time, the Flame Mountain and Plantain Fan that this Iron Fan Princess uses to support her family are all related to the Taishang Laojun?Even, why was Sun Wukong so powerful when he was making troubles in the Heavenly Palace before, but so cowardly when he was taking the Western Classic?Is there some kind of religious struggle between Taoism and Buddhism behind this?Is there a question of sphere of influence competition?Even, there is the question of the master who taught Monkey King in the past - this master only taught Sun Hou'er 72 changes and then kicked him out of the mountain gate, so is this master much better than Sun Hou'er?But why has there been no news from this master since then?Why is there no reputation for him in the Jianghu?

Everything behind this, if it is unearthed, it might turn out to be a shocking secret!Of course, Jia Hongjian knew that this kind of excavation is the same as the Chinese teacher appreciating Mr. Lu Xun's "Two Jujube Trees" writing. Thought.But the problem is, Jia Hongjian doesn't care what the author thinks!The problem is that this era itself is an era of postmodern deconstruction!What is Deconstructivism?That is to disassemble the previous "cognition" and reassemble it to make something that everyone thinks is completely different!It is to break the existing order!And the people's traditional understanding of Journey to the West, isn't this an order?

Just like the role of the Democratic Party in the War of Resistance, starting from this era and slowly reaching the 21st century, there will be more and more fruit fans, not to mention how useful the Democratic Party is in the War of Resistance. But in fact, the textbooks that Jia Hongjian came across absolutely did not say that only the Turtle Party resisted Japan, and everything that should be mentioned about the Democratic Party was mentioned.However, there are many children on the Internet in later generations who say that the achievements of the Democratic Party have been obliterated by the Turtle Party. On the one hand, this proves that this child fell asleep in history class, and on the other hand, it also proves that this child has a tendency to deconstruct behind his back. There is a kind of adolescence that hopes to challenge authority, hope to destroy the existing order, and hope to discover one's "strength" and "sight"!From this point of view, it is more appropriate to reinterpret Journey to the West and dismantle the traditional revolutionary class struggle system of "Sun Wukong represents the proletariat" and turn it into a more secular one. The development trend of society?

So from this point of view, Jia Hongjian felt that if this Journey to the West was reinterpreted, it would not be a hit, and it would not lose money!And it's quite interesting to play like this!Especially with the help of Spielberg, if this old man can adapt it, maybe he will make a lot of money in foreign markets?Can it even promote the soft power of Chinese culture?So that in the future, when foreigners mention Japan, they can think of Naruto, and when they mention China, they can at least think of Journey to the West?

Of course, this idea is good, but if Lao Si thinks that it is too difficult to do, then forget it, and Jia Hongjian is not at a loss—anyway, this book has been written for too long, and it has long been written. The copyright is gone, so if you want to change it, you don't have to give a dime to the original author!

Thinking of this, Jia Hongjian immediately went to foreign language bookstores all over Shanghai to find out where there was an English translation of Journey to the West.It turns out that there are quite a few translations, including several versions, such as Timothy Richard's "The Monk's Journey to Heaven", and Helen Hayes' "Buddhist's Paradise". Journey to the West, even Arthur Waley's Monkey, and Jenner's Journey West.

In order to see which of these versions was better, Jia Hongjian finally had to buy several versions.After spending two days rereading "Journey to the West" against the vernacular version, Jia Hongjian felt that "Monkey" and "Journey to the West" were better.However, the content of "Monkey" has been greatly abridged, and many poems have been deleted. Although this is generally more suitable for foreigners to understand, the cuts are still a bit too much.In the end, Jia Hongjian recommended the book "Journey to the West" to Spielberg and Rowling. (To be continued..)