Author: Zhang Hongjie
In the eleventh year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan died. Zeng Jize returned to Hunan to handle the funeral for Zeng Guofan and to keep the system. On the first day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Jize wrote in his diary:
After trying to write, I learned foreign characters for a long time.
This was the beginning of his systematic study of English. This year, he was thirty-five years old.
▲ Zeng Jize
The reason why I began to learn foreign languages when I was in the system was because there was plenty of time when I was in the system, and the second was that the place where the system was kept was very remote, no one interfered with it, and it was not eye-catching. If the children of the family learned foreign languages at that time, they would inevitably cause an uproar. In fact, the previous year, Ling Ze escorted zeng guofan's body back to Xiangxiang and chose to use a small steamer, which caused long-term dissatisfaction among the gentlemen of Changsha in Hunan, and the voice of criticism "continued for several years". Of course, Ji Ze had to act cautiously.
As a person with great perseverance and perseverance, this time he picked up the foreign language book, and he did not put it down again:
"He didn't know where to get a copy of The English Dialect." ...... From the fifth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Jize, who had eaten dinner, began to read it. Since then, he has read the book almost every day. ...... From his diary, it can be seen that he sometimes read half a page, sometimes read a page, rain or shine, and the thunder did not move. Even when he was a visitor, he did not forget to read the book in the palanquin. ...... His self-taught English really began, with little interruption. According to his diary, only between June of the thirteenth year of Tongzhi and August of the first year of Guangxu (more than a year), he was forced to interrupt communication, travel, and preparation for examinations, and even so, he never forgot to occasionally take it out to review it. ”
It is very difficult for Zeng Jize to learn a foreign language. First of all, he had no teacher and was completely self-taught, so he could only write letters and spells, but he didn't know how to pronounce them, let alone practice speaking.
He was able to learn English entirely through perseverance. Holcombe (Chester 1844-1912), chargé d'affaires ad interim counsellor at the U.S. Legation in China at the time, said that Zeng jize had spent almost three years trying to learn English on his own without a teacher, relying solely on a Bible, a Merriamian Dictionary, a Watts work, a Select Hymns, and some scripts.
▲ Zeng Jize English learning notes
So he learned dumb English. In July of the third year of Guangxu, when the period of filial piety expired, Zeng Jize came to Beijing and had extensive contacts with the diplomats at that time, so that he had the opportunity to learn spoken language. He was brave in English, and although he spoke poorly, he dared to speak.
Although the level of written English was not high enough at this time, he did not miss any opportunity to use it. He engraved a print of himself in English and translated his name as "Gearkhan of Tseng." One of the things he loves to do in his dealings with Westerners is to translate his poems into English, write them in two languages at the same time on folding fans, and give them to foreigners. He called it "a combination of East and West poetry".
He Tianjue greatly admired Zeng Jize, saying that he was "an outstanding and tireless scholar". He also called Zeng Jize's "beautiful and fluent" English poems ,"both in style and calligraphy, which can be called superior."
But he also said: "Of course, Mr. Zeng Jize's English poems also have some unsatisfactory and grammatical problems", and some poems are "deeply immersed in the mud swamp of our English modal verbs, and can no longer struggle out." ”
Ding Yunliang also said that Zeng Jize did not have a high level of English when he first met him, and the English translation of the poem presented to him was "typical 'Babu English'" (BabooEnglish, p. 246). The Chinese part of the poem is:
The three talents of the sage are disciples, and they are all-knowing and confucian.
Wen Jun chose both Chinese and Western techniques, and doubled the beads under the jaw of the dragon.
The English part is:
To combine the reason of heaven,earth and man,
Only the sage’s disciple who is can.
Universe to be included in knowledge all men are should,
But only the wise man who is could.
I have heard Doctor enoughto compiled the branches of science.
And the books of chinese and foreigners all to be experience.
Chosen the deeply learning to deliberated are at right.
Take off the jewels by side of the dragons it as your might.
The translation is really not very clever. Ding Yunliang said:
"Zeng Jize lives far inland, has almost never met Caucasians, and learns English mainly by grammar and dictionaries. Whether it is because of isolation (which makes Zeng lack of opportunities to compare) or because of flattery (the nobility is always flattered, so self-inflated), Zeng Jize is very conceited about his English level, often giving friends bilingual inscription poetry fans, poems are his own creation. ...... The translation is typical 'Babu English'. ...... Zeng Jize speaks English fluently, but is not in accordance with grammar, and has difficulty reading and writing. ”
Ding believes that Zeng Jize's bilingual poems around are "self-inflated", but I think that this is the courage to practice and not be afraid of ugliness, and people who have learned foreign languages know that bold practice and use are the most valuable. Some people ridiculed Zeng Jize's English proficiency on this basis, saying that "Zeng Jize was a famous figure in the diplomatic circles at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and he made several famous negotiations, which are said to be fluent in Western Language. (The Human World, No. 24, pp. 33-34). But we must have forgiveness for Zeng Jize, who studied under such difficult conditions since the age of thirty-five and was able to reach such a level of foreign language, which was already outstanding at that time.
There is a Saying in China called "One trick, eat all over the sky." It is this foreign language level that does not seem too high today, which gave Zeng Jize the opportunity to create his own business.