Yan Fu is a master in the translation industry, and the translation of the "Theory of Heavenly Speech" is widely circulated, and the three guidelines of translation proposed by "Xinyada" are also far-reaching. However, the leader of the translation industry also praised Lin Shu, who was new to translation, saying that Lin Shu's first translation of "The Relics of the Traviata Girl" "destroyed the soul of the prodigal son". Encouraged by the first work, Lin Shu's translations have since gone on, spanning more than ten countries, and the strange thing is that Lin Shu himself never learned a foreign language. Despite his fame, Lin Shu was still reduced to a joke because he argued with people about the abolition of the ancient text in "New Youth", and he was saddled with infamy.
Leaving aside the insult that Lin Shu bears, Lin Shu's enthusiasm for reading and his love for ancient texts are admirable. When Lin Shu was a child, his family was poor, but he loved to read, so he worked as an auditor at a private school. Influenced by xue Zeke, a private school teacher, he deeply loved traditional Chinese literature, and even if he was forced to run for trivial matters all day long for his livelihood, he did not forget to read poetry books and read ancient books. It is said that Lin Shu read more than 2,000 volumes of ancient books between the ages of 13 and 20 in seven years, so hard is also a kind of genius.
At the age of nineteen, Lin Shu's grandparents and father died one after another, and he also suffered from lung disease and coughed up blood. At this point, Lin Shu still couldn't put down the books in his hand, so he read books under the lights of his mother and sister's embroidery work, and refused to sleep until he finished reading. Reading has become Lin Shu's instinct and his spiritual food.
The ancients said that there is a golden house in the book, and there is a Yan Ruyu in the book, I thought that this is the meaning of taking the meritorious name to become an official, and it is often said that the fame and fortune of the meritorious name are the fame and fortune of the official, and the meritorious name of the official is beneficial to the Lu. But when it comes to Lin Shu, it is likely that my understanding is narrow, and sometimes reading can be just a simple need.
When he was a child, Lin Shu saved up his pocket money to buy books at the book stall, and while reading with relish, he also made a painting on the wall next to him, painting a coffin, and two lines were written next to the coffin, saying: "Reading is born, not reading into the coffin." A sentence written casually when he was a child became the motto of Lin Shu's life. And reading did give Lin Shu a "way to live". At the age of thirty, Lin Shu became a famous person in Jiangnan, not only getting rid of the embarrassing life, but also paving a "Kangzhuang Avenue" for Lin Shu.
Reading books is a matter of course. Lin Shu also has a heart to serve the motherland, although it has passed the year of establishment, but still strong heart, but unfortunately "seven spring officials, repeatedly tried and failed", Lin Shu as an official on this "Kangzhuang Avenue" wrote "this road is not passable." Reluctantly, he gave up being an official and concentrated on literature. As the saying goes, God closes a door for you and leaves you a window. Forty-five-year-old Lin Shu inadvertently opened a window that meant a lot to him.
In this year, Lin Shu's mother died, and soon his wife also died of illness, and his friend was worried that he would not be able to walk out, so he invited him to translate books together to distract his attention. Unable to withstand repeated requests from his friends, Lin Shu finally agreed and began his belated translation career. But Lin Shu can't speak a foreign language, how to translate it? The solution is also simple, by a person who understands foreign languages to tell the original meaning, and then by Lin Shu to sort it into a text. This seems to be a simple matter, but how many people can really translate a vernacular text into a well-written language, and who can work hard?
Moreover, Lin Shu's debut translation of "The Testament of the Traviata Girl" became a hit, and luoyang paper was expensive for a while, which shows the quality of the translation. Lin Shu, who originally held a try, has been quite recognized by the Chinese people, which is undoubtedly an encouragement for Lin Shu. Later, Lin Shu cooperated with overseas talents on more than 180 Western novels, which enriched the Chinese people's understanding of Western culture at that time and also established Lin Shu's status as the "king of the translation world". Therefore, Lin Shu is recognized as the founding master of modern Chinese literature, and has many influences on the younger generations such as Su Manshu and Zhou Zuoren.
His outstanding achievements in ancient literature and profound literary literacy have made Lin Shu smooth in translation and his reputation has become famous. But it was also because of Lin Shu's love and dedication to guwen that he became infamous and was ridiculed.
In 1915, the New Culture Movement was in full swing, and the New Youth said that the ancient chinese were useless, and that the ancient chinese language should be abolished, and the vernacular language should be abolished, and even some people proposed the abolition of Chinese characters. Lin Shu, as an ancient Chinese who deeply loved ancient Chinese, could not bear it, and wrote to Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, saying, "If all the ancient books are abolished and the local language is used as a text, then all the people who lead the pulp sellers will have grammar according to them.", "All the barnyard sellers in Beijing and Tianjin can be used as professors." Lin Shu, who originally supported the restoration and reform of the law, was still conservative about the new cultural movement, and thus completely turned against it.
There are many people who defend the ancient text, but only Lin Shu is the most fierce and the most attentive, and suddenly it has become the target of everyone's public, and the ancient text is like Strict Fu, who believes in natural selection of things and is resigned to the ancient text, and Cai Yuanpei supports the new cultural movement. For a time, "New Youth" and newspapers across the country criticized Yan Fuchengfeng and Lin Shuchengfeng. Lin Shu fell from the altar of the translation circle and was pushed to the cusp of feudal antiquity. In the face of the clamor of infamy, Lin Shu did not flinch, and denounced the "newcomers" on "New Youth", and thus lost the chair of Peking University.
Objectively speaking, Lin Shu's opposition to the vernacular literature movement is only a difference in degree, but he hopes that wenyan still has a place in the future, where he thinks that young people are young and vigorous, as soon as they see the enemy, they come to the spirit, and the verbal criticism is endless, Lin Shu can only sigh in the end: "My generation is old, I can't do it for the right thing", but he did not give up the ancient text, and when he died, he still wanted his son to learn the ancient text and not to be tired.
This is Lin Shu's consistent persistence, and it is also the flaw of Lin Shu's translation. Zeng Pu said that Lin Shu's insistence on translating ancient Chinese was a deficiency in his translation career, and if Lin Shu used vernacular translation, how many people with weak Chinese foundation would be able to read foreign literature?
Lin Shu's "feudal conservatism" is not only to follow the ancient text, but also to maintain feudal etiquette, saying that these young people disturb the three principles and five constants only for their own selfish interests, like animals and beasts, and cannot be in the same stream. The criticism cannot be said to be heavy, and the stereotypes and antiquities of the old Confucian are undoubtedly revealed.
However, the contradiction is that Lin Shu also set up women's education, reformed children's education, and propagated patriotic ideas: "Today, the country's hatred is like a deep sea, and revenge must drum up children's hearts." And Lin Shu himself is even more charitable, earning a lot of money in the years when his translations are best-selling, and Lin Shu, who has been poor since childhood, uses this money to support students from poor families.
Lin Shu's personal character is beyond doubt, whether for the country or for the people.