Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 23 (Xinhua) -- From China to the World: The Charm of Chinese Classics Everywhere
Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhou Wenqi, Ma Xinran, Zhang Xinyi
"Tao Te Ching", "Zhuangzi", "Chen's Taijiquan Diagrams", ...... Zhang Weiyu, a Russian student studying at Beijing Language and Culture University, recently shared the "highlight moment" of his reading career on WeChat Moments.
"According to school statistics, I borrowed the most books last year, and my favorite was books about traditional Chinese culture. Having just attended the award ceremony of the Beijing Language Library, Zhang Weiyu proudly said that he won the 2023 "Reader Star" awarded by Beijing Language and Culture University.
April 23 is the 29th World Book Day. In recent years, books on traditional Chinese culture have not only been favored by more Chinese readers, but also won the hearts of many foreign readers.
The Tao Te Ching, a classic of Chinese philosophy, has been translated into nearly 100 languages and more than 2,000 editions, and has been rated as the best-selling world cultural masterpiece by UNESCO.
At the "February Book Fair" in Bangladesh at the beginning of the year, the "Chinese Book House", which mainly focuses on Chinese culture and history, made readers nostalgic; at the London Book Fair in March, the English version of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: The Illustrated Guide to Chinese Mythical Beasts" was very popular; and at this month's Paris Book Fair, Chinese books on literature, traditional culture, Chinese language and writing were selling well...... Since the beginning of this year, more and more traditional Chinese classics have stood out in many overseas book fairs and cultural festivals, becoming the "favorite" of local readers.
The "Confucian Classics", which interprets the classics in a form that children like to see, has exported the copyright in Korean and achieved the intention of publishing in Arabic, Russian, Kyrgyz and other languages, and the "Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Picture Book Series", which shows folk skills and folk art with vivid and interesting stories, has exported the copyright in Korean, Arabic and Urdu...... Tomorrow Publishing House, a subsidiary of Shandong Publishing Group, recommends books that embody the excellent traditional Chinese culture to children all over the world.
The Arabic version of "Fairy Tale Classic of Mountains and Seas" will be published and sold in Arab countries in May this year, and Shebaru, the head of the Arab Science Publishing House, which published the book, said that "Fairy Tale Classic of Mountains and Seas" can allow readers to understand the wisdom and creativity of Chinese culture in a relaxed and pleasant reading, and everyone is looking forward to this set of books.
According to one statistic, in the five years from 2016 to 2021, the number of copyright trade agreements signed between China and Belt and Road countries increased by 167%. From 2015 to April 2023, the Silk Road Scholars Project funded nearly 3,000 projects, and the copyright was exported to more than 80 countries and regions, involving books such as "Tao Te Ching", "Warring States Policy" and "Liezi".
Li Weirong, a professor at Yuelu College at Hunan University, believes that the "going out" of Chinese classics has mainly focused on literary and philosophical works such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, classical poetry, and classical novels. At present, more and more overseas translators are interested in Chinese classics in historiography, science and technology, and military science.
In the "Analects", he commented on the wisdom of the world, touched the vicissitudes of history in "Historical Records", realized the charm of the Tang and Song dynasties and the beauty of words in the Tang and Song poems, and felt the charm of classical novels in the four masterpieces......
Wang Kefei, a professor at Beijing University of Foreign Chinese, believes that the beauty of oriental philosophy and writing contained in Chinese classics can not only enlighten the world, but also have far-reaching academic significance and cultural value for promoting the global interpretation of Chinese culture.
While "Reading for All" has been written into the government work report for 11 consecutive years and the construction of a scholarly China has been continuously promoted, from the Silk Road Scholarly Project to the Classic China International Publishing Project, from the Asian Classics Mutual Translation Program to the Chinese and Foreign Books Mutual Translation Program, the Chinese government has taken a number of measures to make traditional Chinese culture books visible to people in more countries, so that traditional Chinese culture and other cultures in the world can better carry out dialogue and exchange.
In the "Corner of Chinese Culture: Nishan Book House" located in the Wakayama Prefecture International Exchange Center in Japan, more than 200 Chinese and Japanese books about Chinese culture are neatly placed on the shelves for readers to borrow. Shizu Nakao, a Japanese staff member at the Wakayama Prefecture International Exchange Center, said that there are many people who come to the "Nishan Book House" to learn Chinese, and there are also some old gentlemen and aunts who have studied Chinese for decades, and they are willing to come here to borrow books.
Zhang Zhihua, chairman of Shandong Publishing Group Co., Ltd., introduced that in June 2022, the "Corner of Chinese Culture, Nishan Book House" project was launched, and Shandong Publishing Group docked with relevant departments of 16 cities in Shandong to determine the landing in sister cities, integrate foreign language book bibliographies, and design book house plaques. The Group has also developed the "Nishan Collection", a digital project of "Nishan Book House", and launched e-book distribution services for overseas libraries through OverDrive, a digital reading platform in the United States.
By the end of 2023, 97 "Nishan Book House" have settled in 34 countries in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania, and more than 50,000 sets of books have entered the field of vision of overseas readers through "Nishan Book House".
"The most important thing is that the fragrance of books can go far". According to Yang Zhusong, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University's Institute of National Studies, the charm of Chinese civilization can be shared with the world through the channel of books.
"Reading more books and reading good books can enrich people's understanding of the world and enhance tolerance of different cultures. Yang Zhusong said.
Since coming to China in 2009 to work, Zhang Weiyu has gradually fallen in love with the local customs. "Chinese often say, 'live to be old, learn to be old', in order to better understand the land of life, I came up with the idea of returning to school and continuing to study. ”