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(2143, 1, '2020-04-30 19:50:58', '2020-04-30 23:50:58', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nPoor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort.  \r\n\r\nSooooo, this is an actual picture book for kids, available in print, from a French author and a Chinese illustrator. I\'m not 100% sure about the copyright on this story. I <a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">found it</a> floating all around on dozens of sites on the Chinese internet, but considering lax copyright protection in China, that doesn\'t mean it\'s not stolen. I hope not... but if you like it, I found one print copy of the Chinese version on Amazon, so <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2YkIIDw\">go buy it</a> to read aloud to young readers at home or in the classroom. It\'s better with pictures. If you are the copyright owner, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/about/\">contact me</a>. \r\n\r\nAnyway, this is a sweet story that also includes a little bit of story-ception. At one point, Mile has to read a story to her class, so you get two beginner stories for the price of one. \r\n\r\nAs with most of these pieces, a few advanced phrases have snuck in, so let\'s take a look at those before we get going:\r\n\r\n<strong>小得不能再小</strong> [pinyin]xiao3 de bu4 neng2 zai4 xiao3[/pinyin]  - This structure actually just came up in my <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/29/essay-the-ugly-rock-by-jia-pingwa/\">last advanced post</a>, so it\'s pretty commonly used. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n小 - Small \r\n得 - To the point that / to the degree that\r\n不能 - Cannot\r\n再 - Again\r\n小 - Small\r\n\r\nYikes. Hard to piece that together, even though we know the definition of each character. It means \"small to the point that it could not be any smaller\", or in better English, \"so small it could not be smaller\" / \"extremely small\". We can use this structure with many different adjectives. In the advanced post, the phrasing was: 丑得不能再丑, or \"so ugly it couldn\'t be uglier\". \r\n\r\n<strong>不知所措</strong> [pinyin]bu4 zhi1 suo3 cuo4[/pinyin] - To be at one\'s wit\'s end, to not know what to do. \r\n\r\n<strong>硬着头皮</strong> [pinyin]ying4 zhe tou2 pi2[/pinyin] - This one cracks me up. 头皮 is the skin on the top of your head over your skull. 硬, as we know, is usually an adjective which means \"hard\", as in \"a hard surface\". In this case,  硬 is being used as a verb, as in \"to harden\". But, \"to harden the skin over one\'s head\" still doesn\'t make any sense in English. That\'s because in Chinese, hardening one\'s head-skin is used to describe \"bracing oneself to do something scary or difficult\". For example, you\'ve got to 硬头皮 before you walk out on stage to give a performance, or before you have a hard conversation with your significant other, or before you walk into a job interview. 着 is a grammar word indicating something is continually happening. You can\'t just brace yourself for a second. You\'ve got to brace, and then hold onto that courage to go forth and complete whatever task you had to brace yourself for, so 着 shows us that this is a continual state. \r\n\r\n<strong>腿发软</strong> - [pinyin]tui3 fa1 ruan3[/pinyin] Three easy characters that seem to make no sense together. Let\'s look at each:\r\n\r\n腿 - Legs\r\n发 - To radiate, to send out\r\n软 - Soft\r\n\r\nLegs send out soft?! Clearly, the hard part here is the appearance of the character 发. In Chinese, 发 can be used to describe a kind of discomfort that radiates out from some part of the body. For example, after a workout, your muscles can 发酸 [pinyin]fa1 suan1[/pinyin], \"radiate ache\", or in better English \"be sore\". When you\'re sick, you may 发烧 [pinyin]fa1 shao1[/pinyin], \"radiate burn\", or in better English \"have a fever\". If a cut gets infected, it may 发炎 [pinyin]fa1 yan2[/pinyin], \"radiate heat\" or \"become inflamed\". If you\'re terrified, you may 发抖 [pinyin]fa1 dou3[/pinyin], \"radiate twitches\", or \"tremble\". So, all together, 腿发软 is equivalent to the English for \"to go weak in the knees\" or when ones \"legs go soft\" from fear. \r\n\r\n<strong>以为</strong> [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - And last but not least, 以为 means \"to think\", but not \"to think\" in the sense of sitting around pondering something, like \"to think up a solution\" or \"to think about a friend\". It means to have the wrong idea about something, or to believe something false, as in, \"Did you really think you could beat <em>me</em>?\" or \"Do you think this is some kind of joke?\" or \"I really thought I turned that paper in already!\" \r\n\r\nAlright, ready? On with the Chinese.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《西红柿女孩》</h4>\r\n\r\n这个小姑娘叫米乐。她非常，非常，非常害羞。只要有人叫她的名字，她就会变得满脸通红！可怜的米乐！\r\n\r\n在学校的操场上，同学们最喜欢的游戏，就是米乐的脸变颜色。米乐的脸会从淡粉色变成玫瑰红。从“米乐”变成“西红柿”。\r\n\r\n上课的时候，如果老师叫到她的名字，她会马上心跳加速，呼吸困难。虽然她明明知道答案，但是答案却总是躲在脑子里，不肯出来。没有一个人听到过米乐<span class=\"highlightText\">小得不能再小</span>的声音。从来没有！\r\n\r\n在面包店的阿姨面前（那是常常送糖给她的阿姨哦），米乐也说不出一个字。邻居家的小姑娘来米乐家玩，米乐也害羞得<span class=\"highlightText\">不知所措</span>。\r\n\r\n可怜的米乐，她从来不敢和同学们一起玩跳房子，同学们也不愿意和米乐一起玩。\r\n\r\n这些还不算什么。最最可怕、最最悲惨、最最让人担心的，这辈子最让米乐害怕的，是明天。因为明天她要在全班同学面前背诗！\r\n\r\n米乐度过了一个可怕的晚上。她在床上翻来覆去，先是怎么也睡不着，接着又做了许多的噩梦。\r\n\r\n可是第二天，米乐不得不硬着头皮去上学......\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n“米乐，该你了！”\r\n\r\n米乐的<span class=\"highlightText\">腿发软</span>、心乱跳，她恨不得自己能马上消失。\r\n\r\n“她的脸好红呀！”\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n老师说，“怎么这么吵！你们<span class=\"highlightText\">以为</span>这里是动物园吗? 是菜市场吗? 你们这些捣蛋鬼，不觉得难为情吗？她叫米乐。不叫西红柿！” \r\n\r\n米乐这才发现同学们的脸和她的一样红！突然，米乐张开了嘴。\r\n\r\n“小鸟\r\n一只小鸟，\r\n并不美丽，\r\n所有的动物都嘲笑它。\r\n它的颜色很奇怪，\r\n羽毛也不柔软。\r\n一天早上，在清晨的阳光里，\r\n小鸟唱起了动听的歌，\r\n所有的动物都伸长了耳朵，\r\n原来在并不耀眼的羽毛下，\r\n藏着最美丽的歌喉！”\r\n\r\n完。\r\n\r\n“太棒了！”\r\n\r\n“真好！”\r\n\r\n“真了不起！”\r\n\r\n从那天起，米乐有一个新外号，“米乐小百灵”。\r\n\r\n<h6>Buy on Amazon:</h6>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThis little girl is named Mile. She is very, very, very shy. One only needs to call her name, and her whole face will turn red! Poor Mile!\r\n\r\nOn the school playground, her classmates\' favorite game, is to make Mile\'s face change color. Mile\'s face will change from light pink to rose red. From \"Mile\" she becomes \"Tomato\". \r\n\r\nDuring classtime, if the teacher calls her name, her heartbeat immediately speeds up, and it\'s difficult to breathe. Although she clearly knows the answer, the answer always hides in her brain, unwilling to come out. Not one person has ever heard Mile\'s small [so small it couldn\'t be smaller] voice. Never! \r\n\r\nIn front of the lady [lit: auntie] at the bakery (that\'s the lady that always gives her some candy), Mile still can\'t speak a word. The neighbor\'s little girl came to Mila\'s house to play, and Mile was so shy she was at her wit\'s end. \r\n\r\nPoor Mile, she had never dared to play hopscotch with her classmates, and her classmates also weren\'t willing to play with her. \r\n\r\nBut all this was nothing. Most most frightening of all, most most miserable, most most worrisome, was tomorrow. Because tomorrow she had to read aloud in front of the whole class! \r\n\r\nMile spent the whole night terrified. She tossed and turned on her bed, first she couldn\'t sleep, and then she had many nightmares. \r\n\r\nBut on the second day, Mile had to brace herself and go to school... \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\"\r\n\r\n\"Mile, it\'s your turn!\"\r\n\r\nMile\'s legs went soft, her heart beat madly, and she wished she could immediately disappear. \r\n\r\n\"Her face is so red!\" \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\" \r\n\r\nThe teacher said, \"How are you all this noisy? Do you think this is a zoo?! That it\'s a vegetable market? You troublemakers, aren\'t you ashamed? Her name is Mile. Not Tomato!\"  \r\n\r\nAt this time, Mile discovered all her classmate\'s faces were as red as hers! Suddenly, Mile opened her mouth. \r\n\r\n“Little bird,\r\nOne little bird,\r\nNot at all pretty, \r\nAll the animals made fun of it.\r\nIt\'s color was very strange,\r\nAnd its feathers were not soft.\r\nOne morning, in the light of the dawn,\r\nThe little bird sang a pleasant song,\r\nAll the animals perked up their ears,\r\nFor it turned out that under unremarkable feathers,\r\nThere was hidden the most beautiful song!\"\r\n\r\nShe finished.\r\n\r\n\"So great!\"\r\n\r\n\"Well done!\" \r\n\r\n\"Really impressive!\" \r\n\r\nFrom that day on, Mile had a new nickname, \"Mile the Little Lark\". \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《西红柿女孩》Tomato Girl', 'Poor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2065-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 19:50:58', '2020-04-30 23:50:58', '', 2065, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2065-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2144, 1, '2020-04-30 19:57:47', '2020-04-30 23:57:47', '<h3>The Basics</h3>\r\nMy name is: <strong>Kendra Schaefer <a href=\"http://www.kendraschaefer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(My personal site)</a></strong>\r\nEmail me at: me@kendraschaefer.com\r\nI live in: <strong>Beijing</strong>\r\nAge: <strong>37</strong> \r\nIn China since: <strong>2002</strong>\r\nMy day job: <a href=\"http://www.triviumchina.com\">Tech research</a>\r\n\r\n<h3>The Backstory</h3>\r\nI got my BA in Mandarin at a university in Beijing, and though I\'ve been out of school for a while, reading Chinese is one of the few things I never get bored of, probably because no matter how long I study, there\'s always more to learn. \r\n\r\nI originally became interested in learning Chinese primarily because I wanted to read the language. And though reading textbooks is an important, I found the readings outrageously boring. I wanted to read important works of Chinese fiction, Chinese news, Chinese fables and myths - in other words, I wanted real reading, something a Chinese kid might read in school or online.\r\n\r\nBut I soon found that tracking down reading materials was difficult and frustrating. Everything I picked up tended to be too long, too short, too easy, or too hard, and I ended up spending more time looking for something that was suitable than actually doing any reading. I wanted something challenging, and was willing to work to understand it, but every time I found something new to read, I never knew if I would be able to finish it. I\'d often get through a few paragraphs only to hit a phrase I couldn\'t decipher and, with no one to ask, would have to put the reading aside. \r\n\r\nOnce I did get to a place where my reading level was high enough to get through most pieces, I started this site to keep my own skills fresh, and to pay it forward for those students who are in the same spot I was. \r\n\r\n<h4>How I Classify Reading Levels</h4>\r\nNothing on this site is truly beginner reading. If you just picked up Chinese yesterday, or if you\'re at HSK 1 or 2, even the beginner stuff is going to be a rough ride for you - I only have found a couple of pieces that HSK 1-2 might be able to tackle. This is because for any story, article or essay to really take shape, it usually has to have some higher-level grammar or vocabulary mixed in. This is why most truly beginner textbooks stick to dialogs (你好! 你好吗? 我很好!) as opposed to actual stories. And the truth is, truly fluent native readers read at well above HSK 6. And, in the real world, many pieces of writing are mixed-level; the first few paragraphs might be intermediate, with an advanced paragraph thrown in. So, my classifications are the same classifications you might apply to a native speaker, not a learner. I also don\'t classify by HSK level. But, as a general guideline, on this site:\r\n\r\nBeginner: HSK 2-4\r\nIntermediate: HSK 5-6\r\nAdvanced: HSK 6+\r\n\r\nThe idea is not to give you something you can read without difficulty, but something that is an appropriate challenge at your reading level. So, I try to put texts into the lowest level at which someone, with a little work, might be able to figure the text out. So if, for example, you\'re at HSK 4, there are some pieces in the intermediate section you should be able to get through with some work. And if you can\'t figure something out, post in the comments. I\'ll try to answer you.\r\n\r\n<h4>About the Translations</h4>\r\nMost (but not all) of the translations on this site are done by me. I am not a linguist, and I translate for readability. I don\'t post anything unless I\'ve checked it several times, but that doesn\'t mean I haven\'t made a mistake. Do feel free to comment if you see anything that ought to have a better translation - it won\'t be taken amiss. \r\n\r\n<h4>How did you do those pop-up Chinese hover effects?</h4>\r\nThanks to Alex, the coder behind <a href=\"http://mandarinspot.com/\">Mandarinspot.com</a>, Chinese Reading Practice now has pop-up translation on Chinese texts - hover over any mandarin word in the reading text to see the definition. If you\'d like to implement something similar on your own blog, you can head over there and grab his Javascript file / annotations API. \r\n\r\n<h4>Commenting rules</h4>\r\nI try to maintain a pleasant learning environment, so abusive (you idiot!), pointless (I am Groot.),  or unhelpful (Hi.) comments will be deleted. I will also delete links from your comments unless those links are very relevant to the post. For example, it\'s fine to link to a Wikipedia page that\'s relevant to Chinese or to the content of the translation, but if you link to your own site, I sadly don\'t have time to verify if it\'s a phishing link or malware or inappropriate content so I\'m just gonna take it out. I don\'t always manage to catch all the spam that slips through, though, so apologies if there\'s some clutter.\r\n\r\nEnjoy, and good luck with your studies.', 'About', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 19:57:47', '2020-04-30 23:57:47', '', 2, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2146, 1, '2020-04-30 20:22:32', '2020-05-01 00:22:32', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis read is pretty much just an exercise in picking up new vocabulary. You\'ll learn good-for-the-soul words like \"Christianity\", \"pious\", \"charity\", \"donation\" and \"wealth\".\r\n\r\nGrammatically, the difficult bits are in the last paragraph, which includes two rhetorical questions that aren\'t quite so straightforward. I\'m actually not going to explain these like I usually do, because I don\'t think they\'ll trip up your understanding too much, but I will highlight them below so you know where to focus your attention. \r\n \r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/zheligushi/id-1787.html\">Source is here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《上帝的铲子》</h4>\r\n\r\n有个农夫信仰基督教，对上帝十分的虔诚。他为人乐善好施，经常资助贫困的人们，还向各个慈善机构捐赠大笔钱款。邻居和亲友们都不明白，他捐赠如此之多的钱财，为何仍然这么富裕？\r\n\r\n有一天，邻人问他：“我们不明白，你捐出去那么多的钱，而且频频去施舍，可你怎么却越来越富有呢？\r\n\r\n农夫说：“<span class=\"highlightText\">这还不好解释</span>？你看，我用铲子不断地往上帝的仓库里铲，而上帝也不断地往我的仓库里回铲。你想想，<span class=\"highlightText\">我的铲子能有上帝的大吗？</span>”\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a farmer who believed in Christianity, and was quite devout in the Lord. \r\n\r\nHe was kind and generous to people, often aided the poor financially, and frequently donated large sums of money to charitable organizations. 　\r\n\r\nHis neighbors and close friends didn\'t understand, he donated so much money, how was he still well-to-do?\r\n\r\nOne day, his neighbors asked him: \"We don\'t get it, you give out so much money, and often give to charity, how are you then increasingly wealthy?\"　\r\n\r\nThe farmer said:　\"Must this be explained? Look, I use a shovel and unceasingly [fill up] God\'s storehouse, and God unceasingly shovels into mine in return. Think about it, could my shovel ever be bigger than God\'s?\"\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 《上帝的铲子》God\'s Shovel', 'A devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2139-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:22:32', '2020-05-01 00:22:32', '', 2139, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2139-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2145, 1, '2020-04-30 20:21:47', '2020-05-01 00:21:47', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis read is pretty much just an exercise in picking up new vocabulary. You\'ll learn good-for-the-soul words like \"Christianity\", \"pious\", \"charity\", \"donation\" and \"wealth\".\r\n\r\nGrammatically, the difficult bits are in the last paragraph, which includes two rhetorical questions that aren\'t quite so straightforward. I\'m actually not going to explain these like I usually do, because I don\'t think they\'ll trip up your understanding too much, but I will highlight them below so you know where to focus your attention. \r\n \r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/zheligushi/id-1787.html\">Source is here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《上帝的铲子》</h4>\r\n\r\n有个农夫信仰基督教，对上帝十分的虔诚。他为人乐善好施，经常资助贫困的人们，还向各个慈善机构捐赠大笔钱款。邻居和亲友们都不明白，他捐赠如此之多的钱财，为何仍然这么富裕？\r\n\r\n有一天，邻人问他：“我们不明白，你捐出去那么多的钱，而且频频去施舍，可你怎么却越来越富有呢？\r\n\r\n农夫说：“<span class=\"highlightText\">这还不好解释</span>？你看，我用铲子不断地往上帝的仓库里铲，而上帝也不断地往我的仓库里回铲。你想想，<span class=\"highlightText\">我的铲子能有上帝的大吗？</span>”\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a farmer who believed in Christianity, and was quite devout in the Lord. \r\n\r\nHe was kind and generous to people, often aided the poor financially, and frequently donated large sums of money to charitable organizations. 　\r\n\r\nHis neighbors and close friends didn\'t understand, he donated so much money, how was he still well-to-do?\r\n\r\nOne day, his neighbors asked him: \"We don\'t get it, you give out so much money, and often give to charity, how are you then increasingly wealthy?\"　\r\n\r\nThe farmer said:　\"Must this be explained? Look, I use a shovel and unceasingly [fill up] God\'s storehouse, and God unceasingly shovels into mine in return. Think about it, could my shovel ever be bigger than God\'s?\"\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 《上帝的铲子》God\'s Shovel', 'A devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2139-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:21:47', '2020-05-01 00:21:47', '', 2139, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2139-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2147, 1, '2020-04-30 20:23:05', '2020-05-01 00:23:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nThis read is pretty much just an exercise in picking up new vocabulary. You\'ll learn good-for-the-soul words like \"Christianity\", \"pious\", \"charity\", \"donation\" and \"wealth\".\r\n\r\nGrammatically, the difficult bits are in the last paragraph, which includes two rhetorical questions that aren\'t quite so straightforward. I\'m actually not going to explain these like I usually do, because I don\'t think they\'ll trip up your understanding too much, but I will highlight them below so you know where to focus your attention. \r\n \r\n<a href=\"http://www.rensheng5.com/zheligushi/id-1787.html\">Source is here</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《上帝的铲子》</h4>\r\n\r\n有个农夫信仰基督教，对上帝十分的虔诚。他为人乐善好施，经常资助贫困的人们，还向各个慈善机构捐赠大笔钱款。邻居和亲友们都不明白，他捐赠如此之多的钱财，为何仍然这么富裕？\r\n\r\n有一天，邻人问他：“我们不明白，你捐出去那么多的钱，而且频频去施舍，可你怎么却越来越富有呢？\r\n\r\n农夫说：“<span class=\"highlightText\">这还不好解释</span>？你看，我用铲子不断地往上帝的仓库里铲，而上帝也不断地往我的仓库里回铲。你想想，<span class=\"highlightText\">我的铲子能有上帝的大吗？</span>”\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere was a farmer who believed in Christianity, and was quite devout in the Lord. He was kind and generous to people, often aided the poor financially, and frequently donated large sums of money to charitable organizations. 　\r\n\r\nHis neighbors and close friends didn\'t understand, he donated so much money, how was he still well-to-do?\r\n\r\nOne day, his neighbors asked him: \"We don\'t get it, you give out so much money, and often give to charity, how are you then increasingly wealthy?\"　\r\n\r\nThe farmer said:　\"Must this be explained? Look, I use a shovel and unceasingly [fill up] God\'s storehouse, and God unceasingly shovels into mine in return. Think about it, could my shovel ever be bigger than God\'s?\"\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Fable: 《上帝的铲子》God\'s Shovel', 'A devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5). ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2139-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:23:05', '2020-05-01 00:23:05', '', 2139, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2139-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2148, 1, '2020-04-30 20:24:10', '2020-05-01 00:24:10', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nPoor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, and is much longer than most beginner reads on this site. It will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort.  \r\n\r\nSooooo, this is an actual picture book for kids, available in print, from a French author and a Chinese illustrator. I\'m not 100% sure about the copyright on this story. I <a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">found it</a> floating all around on dozens of sites on the Chinese internet, but considering lax copyright protection in China, that doesn\'t mean it\'s not stolen. I hope not... but if you like it, I found one print copy of the Chinese version on Amazon, so <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2YkIIDw\">go buy it</a> to read aloud to young readers at home or in the classroom. It\'s better with pictures. If you are the copyright owner, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/about/\">contact me</a>. \r\n\r\nAnyway, this is a sweet story that also includes a little bit of story-ception. At one point, Mile has to read a story to her class, so you get two beginner stories for the price of one. \r\n\r\nAs with most of these pieces, a few advanced phrases have snuck in, so let\'s take a look at those before we get going:\r\n\r\n<strong>小得不能再小</strong> [pinyin]xiao3 de bu4 neng2 zai4 xiao3[/pinyin]  - This structure actually just came up in my <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/29/essay-the-ugly-rock-by-jia-pingwa/\">last advanced post</a>, so it\'s pretty commonly used. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n小 - Small \r\n得 - To the point that / to the degree that\r\n不能 - Cannot\r\n再 - Again\r\n小 - Small\r\n\r\nYikes. Hard to piece that together, even though we know the definition of each character. It means \"small to the point that it could not be any smaller\", or in better English, \"so small it could not be smaller\" / \"extremely small\". We can use this structure with many different adjectives. In the advanced post, the phrasing was: 丑得不能再丑, or \"so ugly it couldn\'t be uglier\". \r\n\r\n<strong>不知所措</strong> [pinyin]bu4 zhi1 suo3 cuo4[/pinyin] - To be at one\'s wit\'s end, to not know what to do. \r\n\r\n<strong>硬着头皮</strong> [pinyin]ying4 zhe tou2 pi2[/pinyin] - This one cracks me up. 头皮 is the skin on the top of your head over your skull. 硬, as we know, is usually an adjective which means \"hard\", as in \"a hard surface\". In this case,  硬 is being used as a verb, as in \"to harden\". But, \"to harden the skin over one\'s head\" still doesn\'t make any sense in English. That\'s because in Chinese, hardening one\'s head-skin is used to describe \"bracing oneself to do something scary or difficult\". For example, you\'ve got to 硬头皮 before you walk out on stage to give a performance, or before you have a hard conversation with your significant other, or before you walk into a job interview. 着 is a grammar word indicating something is continually happening. You can\'t just brace yourself for a second. You\'ve got to brace, and then hold onto that courage to go forth and complete whatever task you had to brace yourself for, so 着 shows us that this is a continual state. \r\n\r\n<strong>腿发软</strong> - [pinyin]tui3 fa1 ruan3[/pinyin] Three easy characters that seem to make no sense together. Let\'s look at each:\r\n\r\n腿 - Legs\r\n发 - To radiate, to send out\r\n软 - Soft\r\n\r\nLegs send out soft?! Clearly, the hard part here is the appearance of the character 发. In Chinese, 发 can be used to describe a kind of discomfort that radiates out from some part of the body. For example, after a workout, your muscles can 发酸 [pinyin]fa1 suan1[/pinyin], \"radiate ache\", or in better English \"be sore\". When you\'re sick, you may 发烧 [pinyin]fa1 shao1[/pinyin], \"radiate burn\", or in better English \"have a fever\". If a cut gets infected, it may 发炎 [pinyin]fa1 yan2[/pinyin], \"radiate heat\" or \"become inflamed\". If you\'re terrified, you may 发抖 [pinyin]fa1 dou3[/pinyin], \"radiate twitches\", or \"tremble\". So, all together, 腿发软 is equivalent to the English for \"to go weak in the knees\" or when ones \"legs go soft\" from fear. \r\n\r\n<strong>以为</strong> [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - And last but not least, 以为 means \"to think\", but not \"to think\" in the sense of sitting around pondering something, like \"to think up a solution\" or \"to think about a friend\". It means to have the wrong idea about something, or to believe something false, as in, \"Did you really think you could beat <em>me</em>?\" or \"Do you think this is some kind of joke?\" or \"I really thought I turned that paper in already!\" \r\n\r\nAlright, ready? On with the Chinese.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《西红柿女孩》</h4>\r\n\r\n这个小姑娘叫米乐。她非常，非常，非常害羞。只要有人叫她的名字，她就会变得满脸通红！可怜的米乐！\r\n\r\n在学校的操场上，同学们最喜欢的游戏，就是米乐的脸变颜色。米乐的脸会从淡粉色变成玫瑰红。从“米乐”变成“西红柿”。\r\n\r\n上课的时候，如果老师叫到她的名字，她会马上心跳加速，呼吸困难。虽然她明明知道答案，但是答案却总是躲在脑子里，不肯出来。没有一个人听到过米乐<span class=\"highlightText\">小得不能再小</span>的声音。从来没有！\r\n\r\n在面包店的阿姨面前（那是常常送糖给她的阿姨哦），米乐也说不出一个字。邻居家的小姑娘来米乐家玩，米乐也害羞得<span class=\"highlightText\">不知所措</span>。\r\n\r\n可怜的米乐，她从来不敢和同学们一起玩跳房子，同学们也不愿意和米乐一起玩。\r\n\r\n这些还不算什么。最最可怕、最最悲惨、最最让人担心的，这辈子最让米乐害怕的，是明天。因为明天她要在全班同学面前背诗！\r\n\r\n米乐度过了一个可怕的晚上。她在床上翻来覆去，先是怎么也睡不着，接着又做了许多的噩梦。\r\n\r\n可是第二天，米乐不得不硬着头皮去上学......\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n“米乐，该你了！”\r\n\r\n米乐的<span class=\"highlightText\">腿发软</span>、心乱跳，她恨不得自己能马上消失。\r\n\r\n“她的脸好红呀！”\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n老师说，“怎么这么吵！你们<span class=\"highlightText\">以为</span>这里是动物园吗? 是菜市场吗? 你们这些捣蛋鬼，不觉得难为情吗？她叫米乐。不叫西红柿！” \r\n\r\n米乐这才发现同学们的脸和她的一样红！突然，米乐张开了嘴。\r\n\r\n“小鸟\r\n一只小鸟，\r\n并不美丽，\r\n所有的动物都嘲笑它。\r\n它的颜色很奇怪，\r\n羽毛也不柔软。\r\n一天早上，在清晨的阳光里，\r\n小鸟唱起了动听的歌，\r\n所有的动物都伸长了耳朵，\r\n原来在并不耀眼的羽毛下，\r\n藏着最美丽的歌喉！”\r\n\r\n完。\r\n\r\n“太棒了！”\r\n\r\n“真好！”\r\n\r\n“真了不起！”\r\n\r\n从那天起，米乐有一个新外号，“米乐小百灵”。\r\n\r\n<h6>Buy on Amazon:</h6>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThis little girl is named Mile. She is very, very, very shy. One only needs to call her name, and her whole face will turn red! Poor Mile!\r\n\r\nOn the school playground, her classmates\' favorite game, is to make Mile\'s face change color. Mile\'s face will change from light pink to rose red. From \"Mile\" she becomes \"Tomato\". \r\n\r\nDuring classtime, if the teacher calls her name, her heartbeat immediately speeds up, and it\'s difficult to breathe. Although she clearly knows the answer, the answer always hides in her brain, unwilling to come out. Not one person has ever heard Mile\'s small [so small it couldn\'t be smaller] voice. Never! \r\n\r\nIn front of the lady [lit: auntie] at the bakery (that\'s the lady that always gives her some candy), Mile still can\'t speak a word. The neighbor\'s little girl came to Mila\'s house to play, and Mile was so shy she was at her wit\'s end. \r\n\r\nPoor Mile, she had never dared to play hopscotch with her classmates, and her classmates also weren\'t willing to play with her. \r\n\r\nBut all this was nothing. Most most frightening of all, most most miserable, most most worrisome, was tomorrow. Because tomorrow she had to read aloud in front of the whole class! \r\n\r\nMile spent the whole night terrified. She tossed and turned on her bed, first she couldn\'t sleep, and then she had many nightmares. \r\n\r\nBut on the second day, Mile had to brace herself and go to school... \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\"\r\n\r\n\"Mile, it\'s your turn!\"\r\n\r\nMile\'s legs went soft, her heart beat madly, and she wished she could immediately disappear. \r\n\r\n\"Her face is so red!\" \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\" \r\n\r\nThe teacher said, \"How are you all this noisy? Do you think this is a zoo?! That it\'s a vegetable market? You troublemakers, aren\'t you ashamed? Her name is Mile. Not Tomato!\"  \r\n\r\nAt this time, Mile discovered all her classmate\'s faces were as red as hers! Suddenly, Mile opened her mouth. \r\n\r\n“Little bird,\r\nOne little bird,\r\nNot at all pretty, \r\nAll the animals made fun of it.\r\nIt\'s color was very strange,\r\nAnd its feathers were not soft.\r\nOne morning, in the light of the dawn,\r\nThe little bird sang a pleasant song,\r\nAll the animals perked up their ears,\r\nFor it turned out that under unremarkable feathers,\r\nThere was hidden the most beautiful song!\"\r\n\r\nShe finished.\r\n\r\n\"So great!\"\r\n\r\n\"Well done!\" \r\n\r\n\"Really impressive!\" \r\n\r\nFrom that day on, Mile had a new nickname, \"Mile the Little Lark\". \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《西红柿女孩》Tomato Girl', 'Poor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2065-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:24:10', '2020-05-01 00:24:10', '', 2065, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2065-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2149, 1, '2020-04-30 20:25:15', '2020-05-01 00:25:15', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nPoor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, and is much longer than most beginner reads on this site. It will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort.  \r\n\r\nSooooo, this is an actual picture book for kids, available in print, from a French author and a Chinese illustrator. I\'m not 100% sure about the copyright on this story. I <a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">found it</a> floating all around on dozens of sites on the Chinese internet, but considering lax copyright protection in China, that doesn\'t mean it\'s not stolen. I hope not... but if you like it, I found one print copy of the Chinese version on Amazon, so <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2YkIIDw\">go buy it</a> to read aloud to young readers at home or in the classroom. It\'s better with pictures. If you are the copyright owner, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/about/\">contact me</a>. \r\n\r\nAnyway, this is a sweet story that also includes a little bit of story-ception. At one point, Mile has to read a story to her class, so you get two beginner stories for the price of one. \r\n\r\nAs with most of these pieces, a few advanced phrases have snuck in, so let\'s take a look at those before we get going:\r\n\r\n<strong>小得不能再小</strong> [pinyin]xiao3 de bu4 neng2 zai4 xiao3[/pinyin]  - This structure actually just came up in my <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/29/essay-the-ugly-rock-by-jia-pingwa/\">last advanced post</a>, so it\'s pretty commonly used. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n小 - Small \r\n得 - To the point that / to the degree that\r\n不能 - Cannot\r\n再 - Again\r\n小 - Small\r\n\r\nYikes. Hard to piece that together, even though we know the definition of each character. It means \"small to the point that it could not be any smaller\", or in better English, \"so small it could not be smaller\" / \"extremely small\". We can use this structure with many different adjectives. In the advanced post, the phrasing was: 丑得不能再丑, or \"so ugly it couldn\'t be uglier\". \r\n\r\n<strong>不知所措</strong> [pinyin]bu4 zhi1 suo3 cuo4[/pinyin] - To be at one\'s wit\'s end, to not know what to do. \r\n\r\n<strong>硬着头皮</strong> [pinyin]ying4 zhe tou2 pi2[/pinyin] - This one cracks me up. 头皮 is the skin on the top of your head over your skull. 硬, as we know, is usually an adjective which means \"hard\", as in \"a hard surface\". In this case,  硬 is being used as a verb, as in \"to harden\". But, \"to harden the skin over one\'s head\" still doesn\'t make any sense in English. That\'s because in Chinese, hardening one\'s head-skin is used to describe \"bracing oneself to do something scary or difficult\". For example, you\'ve got to 硬头皮 before you walk out on stage to give a performance, or before you have a hard conversation with your significant other, or before you walk into a job interview. 着 is a grammar word indicating something is continually happening. You can\'t just brace yourself for a second. You\'ve got to brace, and then hold onto that courage to go forth and complete whatever task you had to brace yourself for, so 着 shows us that this is a continual state. \r\n\r\n<strong>腿发软</strong> - [pinyin]tui3 fa1 ruan3[/pinyin] Three easy characters that seem to make no sense together. Let\'s look at each:\r\n\r\n腿 - Legs\r\n发 - To radiate, to send out\r\n软 - Soft\r\n\r\nLegs send out soft?! Clearly, the hard part here is the appearance of the character 发. In Chinese, 发 can be used to describe a kind of discomfort that radiates out from some part of the body. For example, after a workout, your muscles can 发酸 [pinyin]fa1 suan1[/pinyin], \"radiate ache\", or in better English \"be sore\". When you\'re sick, you may 发烧 [pinyin]fa1 shao1[/pinyin], \"radiate burn\", or in better English \"have a fever\". If a cut gets infected, it may 发炎 [pinyin]fa1 yan2[/pinyin], \"radiate heat\" or \"become inflamed\". If you\'re terrified, you may 发抖 [pinyin]fa1 dou3[/pinyin], \"radiate twitches\", or \"tremble\". So, all together, 腿发软 is equivalent to the English for \"to go weak in the knees\" or when ones \"legs go soft\" from fear. \r\n\r\n<strong>以为</strong> [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - And last but not least, 以为 means \"to think\", but not \"to think\" in the sense of sitting around pondering something, like \"to think up a solution\" or \"to think about a friend\". It means to have the wrong idea about something, or to believe something false, as in, \"Did you really think you could beat <em>me</em>?\" or \"Do you think this is some kind of joke?\" or \"I really thought I turned that paper in already!\" \r\n\r\nAlright, ready? On with the Chinese.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《西红柿女孩》</h4>\r\n\r\n这个小姑娘叫米乐。她非常，非常，非常害羞。只要有人叫她的名字，她就会变得满脸通红！可怜的米乐！\r\n\r\n在学校的操场上，同学们最喜欢的游戏，就是米乐的脸变颜色。米乐的脸会从淡粉色变成玫瑰红。从“米乐”变成“西红柿”。\r\n\r\n上课的时候，如果老师叫到她的名字，她会马上心跳加速，呼吸困难。虽然她明明知道答案，但是答案却总是躲在脑子里，不肯出来。没有一个人听到过米乐<span class=\"highlightText\">小得不能再小</span>的声音。从来没有！\r\n\r\n在面包店的阿姨面前（那是常常送糖给她的阿姨哦），米乐也说不出一个字。邻居家的小姑娘来米乐家玩，米乐也害羞得<span class=\"highlightText\">不知所措</span>。\r\n\r\n可怜的米乐，她从来不敢和同学们一起玩跳房子，同学们也不愿意和米乐一起玩。\r\n\r\n这些还不算什么。最最可怕、最最悲惨、最最让人担心的，这辈子最让米乐害怕的，是明天。因为明天她要在全班同学面前背诗！\r\n\r\n米乐度过了一个可怕的晚上。她在床上翻来覆去，先是怎么也睡不着，接着又做了许多的噩梦。\r\n\r\n可是第二天，米乐不得不硬着头皮去上学......\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n“米乐，该你了！”\r\n\r\n米乐的<span class=\"highlightText\">腿发软</span>、心乱跳，她恨不得自己能马上消失。\r\n\r\n“她的脸好红呀！”\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n老师说，“怎么这么吵！你们<span class=\"highlightText\">以为</span>这里是动物园吗? 是菜市场吗? 你们这些捣蛋鬼，不觉得难为情吗？她叫米乐。不叫西红柿！” \r\n\r\n米乐这才发现同学们的脸和她的一样红！突然，米乐张开了嘴。\r\n\r\n“小鸟\r\n一只小鸟，\r\n并不美丽，\r\n所有的动物都嘲笑它。\r\n它的颜色很奇怪，\r\n羽毛也不柔软。\r\n一天早上，在清晨的阳光里，\r\n小鸟唱起了动听的歌，\r\n所有的动物都伸长了耳朵，\r\n原来在并不耀眼的羽毛下，\r\n藏着最美丽的歌喉！”\r\n\r\n完。\r\n\r\n“太棒了！”\r\n\r\n“真好！”\r\n\r\n“真了不起！”\r\n\r\n从那天起，米乐有一个新外号，“米乐小百灵”。\r\n\r\n<h6>Buy on Amazon:</h6>\r\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">Tomato Girl 《西红柿女孩》</a>\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThis little girl is named Mile. She is very, very, very shy. One only needs to call her name, and her whole face will turn red! Poor Mile!\r\n\r\nOn the school playground, her classmates\' favorite game, is to make Mile\'s face change color. Mile\'s face will change from light pink to rose red. From \"Mile\" she becomes \"Tomato\". \r\n\r\nDuring classtime, if the teacher calls her name, her heartbeat immediately speeds up, and it\'s difficult to breathe. Although she clearly knows the answer, the answer always hides in her brain, unwilling to come out. Not one person has ever heard Mile\'s small [so small it couldn\'t be smaller] voice. Never! \r\n\r\nIn front of the lady [lit: auntie] at the bakery (that\'s the lady that always gives her some candy), Mile still can\'t speak a word. The neighbor\'s little girl came to Mila\'s house to play, and Mile was so shy she was at her wit\'s end. \r\n\r\nPoor Mile, she had never dared to play hopscotch with her classmates, and her classmates also weren\'t willing to play with her. \r\n\r\nBut all this was nothing. Most most frightening of all, most most miserable, most most worrisome, was tomorrow. Because tomorrow she had to read aloud in front of the whole class! \r\n\r\nMile spent the whole night terrified. She tossed and turned on her bed, first she couldn\'t sleep, and then she had many nightmares. \r\n\r\nBut on the second day, Mile had to brace herself and go to school... \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\"\r\n\r\n\"Mile, it\'s your turn!\"\r\n\r\nMile\'s legs went soft, her heart beat madly, and she wished she could immediately disappear. \r\n\r\n\"Her face is so red!\" \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\" \r\n\r\nThe teacher said, \"How are you all this noisy? Do you think this is a zoo?! That it\'s a vegetable market? You troublemakers, aren\'t you ashamed? Her name is Mile. Not Tomato!\"  \r\n\r\nAt this time, Mile discovered all her classmate\'s faces were as red as hers! Suddenly, Mile opened her mouth. \r\n\r\n“Little bird,\r\nOne little bird,\r\nNot at all pretty, \r\nAll the animals made fun of it.\r\nIt\'s color was very strange,\r\nAnd its feathers were not soft.\r\nOne morning, in the light of the dawn,\r\nThe little bird sang a pleasant song,\r\nAll the animals perked up their ears,\r\nFor it turned out that under unremarkable feathers,\r\nThere was hidden the most beautiful song!\"\r\n\r\nShe finished.\r\n\r\n\"So great!\"\r\n\r\n\"Well done!\" \r\n\r\n\"Really impressive!\" \r\n\r\nFrom that day on, Mile had a new nickname, \"Mile the Little Lark\". \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《西红柿女孩》Tomato Girl', 'Poor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2065-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:25:15', '2020-05-01 00:25:15', '', 2065, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2065-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2150, 1, '2020-04-30 20:26:05', '2020-05-01 00:26:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nPoor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, and is much longer than most beginner reads on this site. It will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort.  \r\n\r\nSooooo, this is an actual picture book for kids, available in print, from a French author and a Chinese illustrator. I\'m not 100% sure about the copyright on this story. I <a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">found it</a> floating all around on dozens of sites on the Chinese internet, but considering lax copyright protection in China, that doesn\'t mean it\'s not stolen. I hope not... but if you like it, I found one print copy of the Chinese version on Amazon, so <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2YkIIDw\">go buy it</a> to read aloud to young readers at home or in the classroom. It\'s better with pictures. If you are the copyright owner, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/about/\">contact me</a>. \r\n\r\nAnyway, this is a sweet story that also includes a little bit of story-ception. At one point, Mile has to read a story to her class, so you get two beginner stories for the price of one. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n\r\nAs with most of these pieces, a few advanced phrases have snuck in, so let\'s take a look at those before we get going:\r\n\r\n<strong>小得不能再小</strong> [pinyin]xiao3 de bu4 neng2 zai4 xiao3[/pinyin]  - This structure actually just came up in my <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/29/essay-the-ugly-rock-by-jia-pingwa/\">last advanced post</a>, so it\'s pretty commonly used. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n小 - Small \r\n得 - To the point that / to the degree that\r\n不能 - Cannot\r\n再 - Again\r\n小 - Small\r\n\r\nYikes. Hard to piece that together, even though we know the definition of each character. It means \"small to the point that it could not be any smaller\", or in better English, \"so small it could not be smaller\" / \"extremely small\". We can use this structure with many different adjectives. In the advanced post, the phrasing was: 丑得不能再丑, or \"so ugly it couldn\'t be uglier\". \r\n\r\n<strong>不知所措</strong> [pinyin]bu4 zhi1 suo3 cuo4[/pinyin] - To be at one\'s wit\'s end, to not know what to do. \r\n\r\n<strong>硬着头皮</strong> [pinyin]ying4 zhe tou2 pi2[/pinyin] - This one cracks me up. 头皮 is the skin on the top of your head over your skull. 硬, as we know, is usually an adjective which means \"hard\", as in \"a hard surface\". In this case,  硬 is being used as a verb, as in \"to harden\". But, \"to harden the skin over one\'s head\" still doesn\'t make any sense in English. That\'s because in Chinese, hardening one\'s head-skin is used to describe \"bracing oneself to do something scary or difficult\". For example, you\'ve got to 硬头皮 before you walk out on stage to give a performance, or before you have a hard conversation with your significant other, or before you walk into a job interview. 着 is a grammar word indicating something is continually happening. You can\'t just brace yourself for a second. You\'ve got to brace, and then hold onto that courage to go forth and complete whatever task you had to brace yourself for, so 着 shows us that this is a continual state. \r\n\r\n<strong>腿发软</strong> - [pinyin]tui3 fa1 ruan3[/pinyin] Three easy characters that seem to make no sense together. Let\'s look at each:\r\n\r\n腿 - Legs\r\n发 - To radiate, to send out\r\n软 - Soft\r\n\r\nLegs send out soft?! Clearly, the hard part here is the appearance of the character 发. In Chinese, 发 can be used to describe a kind of discomfort that radiates out from some part of the body. For example, after a workout, your muscles can 发酸 [pinyin]fa1 suan1[/pinyin], \"radiate ache\", or in better English \"be sore\". When you\'re sick, you may 发烧 [pinyin]fa1 shao1[/pinyin], \"radiate burn\", or in better English \"have a fever\". If a cut gets infected, it may 发炎 [pinyin]fa1 yan2[/pinyin], \"radiate heat\" or \"become inflamed\". If you\'re terrified, you may 发抖 [pinyin]fa1 dou3[/pinyin], \"radiate twitches\", or \"tremble\". So, all together, 腿发软 is equivalent to the English for \"to go weak in the knees\" or when ones \"legs go soft\" from fear. \r\n\r\n<strong>以为</strong> [pinyin]yi3 wei2[/pinyin] - And last but not least, 以为 means \"to think\", but not \"to think\" in the sense of sitting around pondering something, like \"to think up a solution\" or \"to think about a friend\". It means to have the wrong idea about something, or to believe something false, as in, \"Did you really think you could beat <em>me</em>?\" or \"Do you think this is some kind of joke?\" or \"I really thought I turned that paper in already!\" \r\n\r\nAlright, ready? On with the Chinese.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《西红柿女孩》</h4>\r\n\r\n这个小姑娘叫米乐。她非常，非常，非常害羞。只要有人叫她的名字，她就会变得满脸通红！可怜的米乐！\r\n\r\n在学校的操场上，同学们最喜欢的游戏，就是米乐的脸变颜色。米乐的脸会从淡粉色变成玫瑰红。从“米乐”变成“西红柿”。\r\n\r\n上课的时候，如果老师叫到她的名字，她会马上心跳加速，呼吸困难。虽然她明明知道答案，但是答案却总是躲在脑子里，不肯出来。没有一个人听到过米乐<span class=\"highlightText\">小得不能再小</span>的声音。从来没有！\r\n\r\n在面包店的阿姨面前（那是常常送糖给她的阿姨哦），米乐也说不出一个字。邻居家的小姑娘来米乐家玩，米乐也害羞得<span class=\"highlightText\">不知所措</span>。\r\n\r\n可怜的米乐，她从来不敢和同学们一起玩跳房子，同学们也不愿意和米乐一起玩。\r\n\r\n这些还不算什么。最最可怕、最最悲惨、最最让人担心的，这辈子最让米乐害怕的，是明天。因为明天她要在全班同学面前背诗！\r\n\r\n米乐度过了一个可怕的晚上。她在床上翻来覆去，先是怎么也睡不着，接着又做了许多的噩梦。\r\n\r\n可是第二天，米乐不得不硬着头皮去上学......\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n“米乐，该你了！”\r\n\r\n米乐的<span class=\"highlightText\">腿发软</span>、心乱跳，她恨不得自己能马上消失。\r\n\r\n“她的脸好红呀！”\r\n\r\n“西红柿！”\r\n\r\n老师说，“怎么这么吵！你们<span class=\"highlightText\">以为</span>这里是动物园吗? 是菜市场吗? 你们这些捣蛋鬼，不觉得难为情吗？她叫米乐。不叫西红柿！” \r\n\r\n米乐这才发现同学们的脸和她的一样红！突然，米乐张开了嘴。\r\n\r\n“小鸟\r\n一只小鸟，\r\n并不美丽，\r\n所有的动物都嘲笑它。\r\n它的颜色很奇怪，\r\n羽毛也不柔软。\r\n一天早上，在清晨的阳光里，\r\n小鸟唱起了动听的歌，\r\n所有的动物都伸长了耳朵，\r\n原来在并不耀眼的羽毛下，\r\n藏着最美丽的歌喉！”\r\n\r\n完。\r\n\r\n“太棒了！”\r\n\r\n“真好！”\r\n\r\n“真了不起！”\r\n\r\n从那天起，米乐有一个新外号，“米乐小百灵”。\r\n\r\n<h6>Buy on Amazon:</h6>\r\n<a href=\"https://www.sohu.com/a/385988976_751590\">Tomato Girl 《西红柿女孩》</a>\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThis little girl is named Mile. She is very, very, very shy. One only needs to call her name, and her whole face will turn red! Poor Mile!\r\n\r\nOn the school playground, her classmates\' favorite game, is to make Mile\'s face change color. Mile\'s face will change from light pink to rose red. From \"Mile\" she becomes \"Tomato\". \r\n\r\nDuring classtime, if the teacher calls her name, her heartbeat immediately speeds up, and it\'s difficult to breathe. Although she clearly knows the answer, the answer always hides in her brain, unwilling to come out. Not one person has ever heard Mile\'s small [so small it couldn\'t be smaller] voice. Never! \r\n\r\nIn front of the lady [lit: auntie] at the bakery (that\'s the lady that always gives her some candy), Mile still can\'t speak a word. The neighbor\'s little girl came to Mila\'s house to play, and Mile was so shy she was at her wit\'s end. \r\n\r\nPoor Mile, she had never dared to play hopscotch with her classmates, and her classmates also weren\'t willing to play with her. \r\n\r\nBut all this was nothing. Most most frightening of all, most most miserable, most most worrisome, was tomorrow. Because tomorrow she had to read aloud in front of the whole class! \r\n\r\nMile spent the whole night terrified. She tossed and turned on her bed, first she couldn\'t sleep, and then she had many nightmares. \r\n\r\nBut on the second day, Mile had to brace herself and go to school... \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\"\r\n\r\n\"Mile, it\'s your turn!\"\r\n\r\nMile\'s legs went soft, her heart beat madly, and she wished she could immediately disappear. \r\n\r\n\"Her face is so red!\" \r\n\r\n\"Tomato!\" \r\n\r\nThe teacher said, \"How are you all this noisy? Do you think this is a zoo?! That it\'s a vegetable market? You troublemakers, aren\'t you ashamed? Her name is Mile. Not Tomato!\"  \r\n\r\nAt this time, Mile discovered all her classmate\'s faces were as red as hers! Suddenly, Mile opened her mouth. \r\n\r\n“Little bird,\r\nOne little bird,\r\nNot at all pretty, \r\nAll the animals made fun of it.\r\nIt\'s color was very strange,\r\nAnd its feathers were not soft.\r\nOne morning, in the light of the dawn,\r\nThe little bird sang a pleasant song,\r\nAll the animals perked up their ears,\r\nFor it turned out that under unremarkable feathers,\r\nThere was hidden the most beautiful song!\"\r\n\r\nShe finished.\r\n\r\n\"So great!\"\r\n\r\n\"Well done!\" \r\n\r\n\"Really impressive!\" \r\n\r\nFrom that day on, Mile had a new nickname, \"Mile the Little Lark\". \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Children\'s Stories: 《西红柿女孩》Tomato Girl', 'Poor little Mile (米乐) is so shy (害羞 - [pinyin]hai4 xiu1[/pinyin]), she never speaks, and her face turns bright red whenever someone speaks to her. This story is upper-beginner, will be a reasonably comfortable read at around HSK 4, and a do-able read at HSK 3 with a bit of effort. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2065-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 20:26:05', '2020-05-01 00:26:05', '', 2065, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2065-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2151, 1, '2020-04-30 22:35:39', '2020-05-01 02:35:39', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn Part II of this , we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out - the original work . Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers into advanced territory, partially because of its length, partially because of its language. \r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary . \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n“向钱看” vs. “向前看” - The author uses this play on words \r\n\r\n起了作用 - This comes up a few times in , and its meaning is a little amorphous. To be of use, to matter, to have impact.\r\n\r\n定风珠\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在“向钱看”的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有定风珠嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。“向前看”一下子就变为“向钱看”，定风珠也会变成风信鸡。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarassed me. I\'m a sick old man, though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue. But as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing their \"ideals\", as if their ideal is waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Is it not so that you already have ideals? That you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost the way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so strange, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, circumstances are largely good, I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything is great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but I see the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this this phenomenon, some people don\'t care at all, they say this is just a tributary, a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although these situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\", or for another example the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel  less worry, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. Waiting with our hands, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both parties will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why have we used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in a moment becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl  。“向前看”一下子就变为“向钱看”，定风珠也会变成风信鸡。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In the first of a two-part post, we\'ll look at a letter sent in 1987 from a group of elementary school students to the anarchist writer Ba Jin (most famous for his 1931 novel The Family) as they struggle to cope with China\'s changing social values. In Part II, I\'ll translate Ba Jin\'s reply.', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 22:35:39', '2020-05-01 02:35:39', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2152, 1, '2020-04-30 23:06:41', '2020-05-01 03:06:41', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out - the original work . Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers into advanced territory, partially because of its length, partially because of its language. \r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary . \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n“向钱看” vs. “向前看” - The author uses this play on words \r\n\r\n起了作用 - This comes up a few times in , and its meaning is a little amorphous. To be of use, to matter, to have impact.\r\n\r\n定风珠\r\n风信鸡\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2153, 1, '2020-04-30 23:52:18', '2020-05-01 03:52:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers into advanced territory, both because of length and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and how the great writers in every culture remind us how not to despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look forward\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, was once telling me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2154, 1, '2020-04-30 23:52:34', '2020-05-01 03:52:34', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers into advanced territory, both because of length and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and how the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look forward\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, was once telling me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 23:52:34', '2020-05-01 03:52:34', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2155, 1, '2020-05-01 10:33:08', '2020-05-01 14:33:08', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. In Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\n\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our struggles, and how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us.\n\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\nSmall point of order: You\'ve probably noticed by now, Chinese sentences can get way longer than English sentences, so I messed with the punctuation in the translation a little to make things a little clearer. Sorry about that, if you\'re using punctuation to track your place in the translation.\n\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\", or 理想 [pinyin]li4 xiang3[/pinyin]. In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \n\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \n\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\n\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \n\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \n\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\n\n</ul>\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\n亲爱的同学们：\n\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\n\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\n\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\n\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\n\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\n\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nDear students:\n\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me to accomplish. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your dynamism, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\n\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Ideals exist. But people seek them all their lives and all they find is disillusionment, some people find them by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if an ideal is [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp it. So, why do you so anxiously \"call for my aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not precisely show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", on the contrary, those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\n\nI often think, our life in society is sometimes so odd, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"life [literally: circumstances] is pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve witnessed personally, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, and when one person is in trouble, good people [appear from] all directions to offer assistance, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although life is largely good, there are [still] always many troubles; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, this wind didn\'t blow in over the last couple of days.\n\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \n\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \n\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 10:33:08', '2020-05-01 14:33:08', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2156, 1, '2020-04-30 23:53:50', '2020-05-01 03:53:50', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a> - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and how the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look forward\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, was once telling me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2157, 1, '2020-04-30 23:54:36', '2020-05-01 03:54:36', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a> - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look forward\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, was once telling me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 23:54:36', '2020-05-01 03:54:36', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2159, 1, '2020-04-30 23:56:28', '2020-05-01 03:56:28', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a> - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 23:56:28', '2020-05-01 03:56:28', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2158, 1, '2020-04-30 23:55:50', '2020-05-01 03:55:50', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a> - I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, was once telling me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2160, 1, '2020-04-30 23:58:04', '2020-05-01 03:58:04', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture remind us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 23:58:04', '2020-05-01 03:58:04', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2161, 1, '2020-04-30 23:58:56', '2020-05-01 03:58:56', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still work hard to follow. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-30 23:58:56', '2020-05-01 03:58:56', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/30/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2162, 1, '2020-04-30 23:59:45', '2020-05-01 03:59:45', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2163, 1, '2020-05-01 00:00:49', '2020-05-01 04:00:49', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for aid\"? Don\'t you already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:00:49', '2020-05-01 04:00:49', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2164, 1, '2020-05-01 00:01:35', '2020-05-01 04:01:35', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals have played some part? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:01:35', '2020-05-01 04:01:35', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2165, 1, '2020-05-01 00:02:07', '2020-05-01 04:02:07', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this was] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2166, 1, '2020-05-01 00:03:35', '2020-05-01 04:03:35', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle relates to each of our destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:03:35', '2020-05-01 04:03:35', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2168, 1, '2020-05-01 00:08:02', '2020-05-01 04:08:02', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:08:02', '2020-05-01 04:08:02', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2167, 1, '2020-05-01 00:07:16', '2020-05-01 04:07:16', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then society\'s development and the country\'s advancement are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit to be seen. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2169, 1, '2020-05-01 00:09:29', '2020-05-01 04:09:29', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:09:29', '2020-05-01 04:09:29', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2170, 1, '2020-05-01 00:09:50', '2020-05-01 04:09:50', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations appear, for example cash money becoming a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, the habit of speaking and hearing empty words develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made... you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:09:50', '2020-05-01 04:09:50', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2171, 1, '2020-05-01 00:17:18', '2020-05-01 04:17:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nSmall point of order: You\'ve probably noticed by now, Chinese sentences can get way longer than English sentences, so I messed with the punctuation in the translation a little to make things a little clearer. Sorry about that, if you\'re using punctuation to track your place in the translation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai [I felt] as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it\'s hard to catch my breath when I speak, when I write my fingers won\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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(2172, 1, '2020-05-01 00:18:40', '2020-05-01 04:18:40', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nSmall point of order: You\'ve probably noticed by now, Chinese sentences can get way longer than English sentences, so I messed with the punctuation in the translation a little to make things a little clearer. Sorry about that, if you\'re using punctuation to track your place in the translation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is often so bizarre, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:18:40', '2020-05-01 04:18:40', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2173, 1, '2020-05-01 00:20:28', '2020-05-01 04:20:28', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nSmall point of order: You\'ve probably noticed by now, Chinese sentences can get way longer than English sentences, so I messed with the punctuation in the translation a little to make things a little clearer. Sorry about that, if you\'re using punctuation to track your place in the translation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if ideals are [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp them. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is sometimes so odd, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"circumstances are pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although circumstances are largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. ', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2060-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-01 00:20:28', '2020-05-01 04:20:28', '', 2060, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/01/2060-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2175, 1, '2020-05-01 00:28:57', '2020-05-01 04:28:57', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn the second and final part of this series, we\'ll read acclaimed author <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin\">Ba Jin</a>\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/27/letters-ba-jins-correspondence-with-young-friends-searching-for-ideals-part-i/\">go check it out</a>. Ba Jin references the letter he received in his reply, so if I were you, I\'d read that first. Plus, in Part I, I introduce Ba Jin and the context in which this letter was written. Part I is intermediate, likely as it was written by children, but Part II was written by an adult author, and veers well into advanced territory, in length, subject matter and language.\r\n\r\nI\'m not a super weepy person, but I legit cried reading this. Ba Jin may have been well into his later years when he put pen to paper, but he had lost none of his literary talent. My translation does this no justice at all - I struggled between writing in a way that made the language clearer to understand, and writing for beauty, and the former won out in most cases, so if you want get the feelz from this, you\'ll have to look to the original. This is a noble, elevating piece of writing, and reading it, I\'m reminded how similar all societies are, how similar our worries and aspirations, how we all struggle with the materialism that engulfs us, and that the great writers in every culture are the ones who show us how to stave off despair. \r\n\r\n<h4>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nSmall point of order: You\'ve probably noticed by now, Chinese sentences can get way longer than English sentences, so I messed with the punctuation in the translation a little to make things a little clearer. Sorry about that, if you\'re using punctuation to track your place in the translation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Ideal vs. ideals</strong> - One of the beautiful things about this letter is that it illuminates the connection between the definitions of the word \"ideal\". In English, we use the word \"ideal\" to talk about what we wish would happen: our \"ideal life\", our \"ideal future\", our \"ideal partner\". Quite separately, we use the word \"ideals\" to describe our values, what we believe to be important. We never really use these things in the same context; the word is the same, but the definitions are divorced. \r\n\r\nIn Chinese, and specifically in this letter, these definitions are much more connected, and this underscores a deeper truth: the things we find important frame the future we most desire. If we care most about money, then what we most want is lots of money. And if we care most about generosity of spirit, then what we most want is a life full of kindness. So, you\'ll understand this piece better if you understand the word 理想 from both of these perspectives simultaneously - it is both the values we hold dear, and the future we most yearn for. You\'ll see that I struggle to choose which English word to use. Sometimes I use \"ideal\" and sometimes \"ideals\", and my choice changes the English meaning significantly, but in the Chinese, it all makes sense. \r\n\r\n<strong>“向前看” vs. “向钱看”</strong> - These two phrases sound similar, and Ba Jin uses this play on words to juxtapose those who \"look to the future\" and those who only \"look towards money\".\r\n\r\n<strong>起了作用</strong> - This comes up a couple of times, and its meaning is a little amorphous. The characters seem to say \"to be of use\", but this definition doesn\'t illuminate the phrase\'s true meaning. 起了作用 means \"to have a hand in\", or \"to play a part in\". This can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on context. Negative, as in \"to have a hand in his demise\", positive as in \"to play a role in his advancement\". This has stuck in my head since one of my Chinese friends, who had recently been divorced and now had a new girlfriend, told me that his mother hated his girlfriend because she erroneously believed that his girlfriend \"起了作用\" in his divorce, in other words, that his girlfriend had a hand in manipulating him to get a divorce from his wife. But in this piece, the positive definition of 起了作用 is used. \r\n\r\n<strong>定风珠 and 风信鸡</strong> - These are two physical objects that Ba Jin uses to represent bigger concepts. <a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E9%A3%8E%E7%8F%A0/2099916?fr=aladdin\">定风珠</a> is a mythological pearl that can stop the wind. In this story, he uses it to describe the power to put a stop to negative social trends. 风信鸡 is a weathervane, which can really only reflect the direction that winds (negative social trends, in this case) are blowing. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BB%E6%89%BE%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E7%9A%84%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%8B%E5%8F%8B/15130105?fr=aladdin\">Source here</a>\r\n\r\n</ul>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《寻找理想的少年朋友》</h4>\r\n亲爱的同学们：\r\n\r\n你们的信使我感到为难。我是一个有病的老人，最近虽然去北京开过会，可是回到上海就仿佛生了一场大病似的，一点力气也没有，讲话上气不接下气，写字手指不听指挥，因此要“以最快的速度”给你们一个回答，我很难办到。我只能跟在你们背后慢慢地前进，即使远远地落在后面，我还可以努力追赶。但要带着你们朝前飞奔，不是我不愿意，而是力不能及了。这就说明我不但并无“神奇的力量”，而且连你们有的那种朝气我也没有，更不用说什么“神秘钥匙”了。\r\n\r\n不过我看你们也不必这样急，“寻求理想”不是一天两天的事。理想是存在的。可是有的人追求了一生只得到幻灭；有的人找到了它一直坚持到生命的最后一息。各人有各人的目标，对理想当然也有不同的理解。我听广播、看报纸，仿佛人们随时随地都在谈论“理想”，仿佛理想在前面等待人，只要你一伸手就可以把它抓住。那么你们为什么还那样着急地向我“呼救”呢？你们不是都有了理想吗？你们在<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>的社会风气中感觉到窒息，不正是说明你们的理想<span class=\"highlightText\">起了作用</span>吗？我不能不问，你们是不是感到了孤独，因此才把自己比做“迷途的羔羊”？可是照我看，你们并没有“迷途”，“迷途”的倒是你们四周的一些人。\r\n\r\n我常常想，我们生活在其中的社会有时会是十分古怪，叫人难以理解。人们喜欢说，形势大好，我也这样说过。这种说法不是没有道理，我也有自己的经验：根据我耳闻目睹，舍身救人、一心为公的英雄事迹和一人有难、八方支援的好人好事，每天都在远近发生。从好的方面看，当然一切都好；但要是专找不好的方面看，人就觉得好像被坏的东西包围了。尽管形势大好，总是困难很多；尽管遍地理想，偏偏有人惟利是图。你们说这是“新的现象”，我看风并不是一天两天刮起来的。\r\n\r\n面对着这种现象，有人毫不在乎，他们说这是支流，支流敌不过主流，正如邪不胜正。即使出现这样的情况，譬如说钞票变成了发光的“明珠”，大家追求一个目标：发财，人人争当“能赚会花”的英雄；又譬如说从喜欢空话、爱听假话，发展到贩卖假药、推销劣货，发展到以权谋私、见利忘义……也不要紧，因为邪不胜正。还有人说：“你不要看风越刮越厉害，不久就会过去的。我们有<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>嘛！”同他们交谈，我也感到放心，我也是相信邪不胜正的人，我始终乐观。\r\n\r\n同学们，请原谅，我不是在这里讲空话。束手等待是盼不到美好的明天的。我说邪不胜正，因为在任何社会里都存在着是与非、光明与阴暗的斗争。最后的胜利当然属于正义、属于光明。但是在某一个时期甚至在较长的一段时期，是也会败于非，光明也会被阴暗掩盖，支流也会超过主流，在这里斗争双方力量的强弱会<span class=\"highlightText\">起大的作用</span>。在这一场理想与金钱的斗争中我们决不是旁观者，斗争的胜败关系到我们每个人的命运。我们是这个社会的成员，是这个国家的公民，要是我们大家不献出自己的汗水和才智，那么社会的发展和国家的腾飞，也不过是一句空话。我常常想为什么宣传了几十年的崇高理想和大好形势，却无法防止黄金瘟疫的传播？为什么用理想教育人们几十年，那么多的课本，那么多的学习资料，那么多的报刊，那么多的文章！到今天年轻的学生还彷徨无主、四处寻求呢？\r\n\r\n小朋友们，不瞒你们说，对着眼前五光十色的景象，就连我有时也感到迷惑不解了。我要问，理想究竟是什么？难道它是虚无缥缈的东西？难道它是没有具体内容的空话？这几十年来我们哪一天中断过关于理想的宣传？那么传播黄金疫的病毒究竟来自何处、哪方？今天到处在揭发有人贩卖霉烂的食品，推销冒牌的假货，办无聊小报，印盗版书，做各种空头生意，为了带头致富，不惜损公肥私、祸国害人。这些人，他们也谈理想，也讲豪言壮语，他们说一套，做另外一套。对他们，理想不过是招牌、是装饰、是工具。他们口里越是讲得天花乱坠，做的事情越是见不得人。<span class=\"highlightText\">“向前看”</span>一下子就变为<span class=\"highlightText\">“向钱看”</span>，<span class=\"highlightText\">定风珠</span>也会变成<span class=\"highlightText\">风信鸡</span>。在所谓“不正之风”刮得最厉害、是非难分、真假难辨的时候，我也曾几次疑惑地问自己：理想究竟在什么地方？它是不是已经被狂风巨浪吹打得无踪无影？我仿佛看见支流压倒了主流，它气势汹汹地滚滚向前。然而即使在这个时候我也没有理由灰心绝望，因为理想明明还在我前面闪光。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDear students:\r\n\r\nYour letter embarrassed me. I\'m a sick old man, and though I recently attended a conference in Beijing, when I returned to Shanghai it was as if I had contracted a serious illness, I had not even the slightest bit of energy, it was hard to catch my breath when I spoke, when I wrote my fingers wouldn\'t heed my commands, and because of this replying \"as quickly as possible\" [which the students asked him to do in Part I] was difficult for me. I can only slowly forge ahead at your back, and though I lag far behind, I can still diligently pursue you. So as for dashing forward with you, it\'s not that I\'m not willing, but rather that I don\'t have the strength. This only shows that not only do I not have \"mystical powers\" [which students attributed to him in Part I], but that I don\'t even have your drive, and even less do I have any \"mysterious key\" [reference to Part I].\r\n\r\nBut as I see it you also needn\'t be in such a rush, [because] \"seeking ideals\" is not a matter of a day or two. Some people seek this all their lives and all they get is disillusionment, some people find it by persevering until their last breath. Everyone has their own goals, and of course everyone has a different understanding of ideals. I listen to broadcasts, read newspapers, and it seems like people are all casually discussing \"ideals\", as if an ideal is [always] waiting just ahead, and all you must do is reach out your hand and you can grasp it. So, why are you so anxious to \"call for [my] aid\"? Do you not already have ideals? [The fact that] you feel so stifled in a social atmosphere that looks only to money, does that not show your ideals are already playing a role? I can\'t not ask, is it [perhaps] that you feel lonely, and because of this compare yourselves to \"lost lambs\"? But as I see it, you haven\'t \"lost your way\", those who have \"lost their way\" are the people all around you.\r\n\r\nI often think, our life in society is sometimes so odd, and [can be] hard for us to comprehend. People like to say, \"life [literally: circumstances] is pretty good\", I\'ve also said this. This isn\'t without logic, as I\'ve experienced myself: from what I\'ve seen and heard, [acts of] sacrificing one\'s life to save others, heroic deeds of wholehearted [dedication] to the public, good people offering assistance and doing good works in every quarter, these things happen near and far every day. From a positive perspective, of course everything looks great; but if you flip it around and look from a negative perspective, you may feel you are surrounded by bad things. Although life is largely good, there are always many difficulties; although there are [grand] ideals everywhere, there is also always someone bent solely on profit. You say this is a \"new phenomenon\", but as I see it, the wind didn\'t [start] blowing this way in the last couple of days. \r\n\r\nFaced with this phenomenon, some people pay it no mind, they say [the people who behave this way] are just a tributary [of the river], and a tributary can\'t overwhelm the mainstream, just like evil cannot triumph over good. Although [bad] situations [make frequent] appearances – for example [when] cash becomes [seen as] a shining \"treasure\", everyone chasing after one goal: to get rich, and everyone vying to be a hero of \"earning and spending\"; or for another example, when the love of speaking empty words and listening to falsehoods develops into the selling of fake medicine and poor-quality goods, which develops into using power for personal gain and forgetting what is right as soon as there is profit to be made – you still needn\'t be anxious, because evil cannot triumph over good. Still others say: \"You needn\'t pay attention to the wind blowing ever more violently, it will pass in a while. We have a Wind Stopping Pearl!\" As they talk, I also feel reassured, I\'m also someone who believes evil cannot triumph over good, I\'m ever the optimist. \r\n\r\nStudents, please forgive me, I don\'t mean to speak empty words here. [Simply] waiting with our hands tied, we cannot look forward to a beautiful tomorrow. I say evil can\'t triumph over good, because in any society there exists a struggle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Final victory of course belongs to justice, belongs to light. But in any age, [perhaps] even for long periods of time, right can lose to wrong, light can also be covered by darkness, the tributary can engulf the mainstream, and in this fight the weakness and strength of both sides will matter greatly. In this struggle between ideals and money we are certainly not spectators, which side wins and which loses the struggle is dependent upon our own destinies. We are the members of this society, we are the citizens of this country, if we do not offer our sweat and wise ability, then \"social development\" and \"national advancement\" are nothing but empty words. I often wonder why the noble ideals and general positivity propagandized over the last few decades have not been able to prevent the sickness of gold from spreading? Why is it that we have used ideals to educate people for decades, so many textbooks, so many study materials, so many newspapers, so many articles! And [yet] today\'s young students pace about without [moral] guidance, seeking everywhere? \r\n\r\nYoung friends, I won\'t lie to you, facing all the multifarious scenes [that unfold] before my eyes, I also sometimes feel befuddled. I want to ask, what <em>are</em> ideals, really? Could it be that they are illusionary things? Could it be that they are empty words without substance? On what day over the last few decades did we stop propagandizing ideals? And then from which direction, which place, did the spreading plague of gold sickness come? These days, everywhere we uncover people selling rotten food, pushing imitation goods, making boring tabloids, printing pirated books, doing all kinds of phoney business, to be the first to get rich, not hesitating to make personal gain at public expense, bringing calamity on the country and harming the people. These people, they also talk about ideals, they speak in grand language, they say one thing, but they do another. To them, ideals are shop signs, ornaments, tools. The more they speak of flowers cascading from the sky, the more their actions are unfit for the world of men. \"Looking ahead\" in an instant becomes \"looking towards money\", and the Wind Stopping Pearl becomes [nothing but] a weathervane. In all times when the so-called \"winds of injustice\" blow strongest, when right and wrong are hard to distinguish, when true and false are hard to recognize, I have also doubtfully asked myself: where <em>are</em> [our] ideals? Have they already been blown away without a trace by the violent winds and mighty waves? It\'s as if I can see the tributary overwhelming the mainstream, its momentum roaring tumultuously forward. But even in these times I have no reason to despair, because ideals are still clearly sparkling just ahead of us. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Letter: Ba Jin\'s Correspondence with \"Young Friends Searching for Ideals\" - Part II', 'In Part II of this two-part series, we\'ll read acclaimed author Ba Jin\'s reply to the 10 elementary school students who wrote him a letter asking him for moral guidance in 1987. If you haven\'t read Part I yet, go check it out. Part I is an intermediate read, while Part II is advanced. 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