《脆弱的真相：中国课本里的历史》

爬坡王

英国《经济学人》2009年10月8日报道
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14587593

The fragility of truth
??Oct 8th 2009 | BEIJING
??From The Economist print edition
??
??History just ain’t what it used to be
??Illustration by Claudio MunozSCHOOL textbooks in China have a habit of bending the truth, to suit Communist Party dogma or to reinforce moral messages. Rarely does anyone challenge them. Exams require rote learning, and children are not encouraged to question received wisdom. A group of 20 or so teachers from across China, however, has recently caused a stir by pointing out some mistakes.
??
??Their efforts, widely reported in the official press, have steered clear of politically sensitive issues such as the party’s own record. Indeed the errors they have focused on sound little more than nitpicks. They question, for example, a commonly told tale (not just in China), that Thomas Edison, who was later to invent the light bulb, supposedly helped a doctor illuminate an operation performed on his mother by manipulating candles and mirrors.
??
??In Chinese schools, however, the dividing line between historical fiction and history can easily be confused. Children are often not taught to make a distinction. As a result, students lose the ability to look for and identify mistakes, says Leng Yubin, one of the teachers campaigning for a textbook purge. The press has quoted comparisons of these errors to the adulteration of milk with toxic melamine, which poisoned tens of thousands of infants last year.
??
??China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, perhaps unwittingly stirred the debate last month when he visited a Beijing high school. After sitting at the back of a class, he pointed out a mistake. A textbook described the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu as in north China, whereas they are officially in north-western China. Why, asked one widely circulated commentary, did it take the prime minister to point out such an error? The publishing house reportedly retorted that geographically speaking, north China is correct.
??
??Such brushes with orthodoxy are unlikely to make much headway. Occasional reports have surfaced in the official press in recent years that Mao Zedong did not, contrary to widespread belief, declare on October 1st 1949 in Tiananmen Square that the Chinese people had “stood up”. (He said something like it at a less dramatic ceremony a few days earlier.) But during recent 60th anniversary celebrations of communist China’s founding, several reports in state controlled newspapers revived the old myth.
??
??Another dubious assertion i：（eing vi：（ perpetuated. The authorities have said that 56 columns erected on Tiananmen Square for the celebrations will stay put. They represent China’s officially recognised 56 “ethnic groups”. It is a number that few Chinese schoolchildren would dare to challenge. Yet when the communists came to power there were found to be more than 400. Officials eventually settled on the much lower figure and suppressed further debate.

爬坡王

半桶水英文看得很吃力,恳请援外的燕友翻译翻译

WIND

这文章厉害。题目是：真理的脆弱。在英语世界中，真理是强大的，在谎言的世界，真理却是脆弱的。

WIND

爬坡兄没贴好，有一句话是说插图由某某所画，并非正文。

爬坡王

嘿嘿,我是一勺烩,那图画的还挺有含义的,可咱不会贴图,还请老兄帮着整整吧

WIND

SCHOOL textbooks in China have a habit of bending the truth, to suit Communist Party dogma or to reinforce moral messages. Rarely does anyone challenge them. Exams require rote learning, and children are not encouraged to question received wisdom. A group of 20 or so teachers from across China, however, has recently caused a stir by pointing out some mistakes.

Their efforts, widely reported in the official press, have steered clear of politically sensitive issues such as the party’s own record. Indeed the errors they have focused on sound little more than nitpicks. They question, for example, a commonly told tale (not just in China), that Thomas Edison, who was later to invent the light bulb, supposedly helped a doctor illuminate an operation performed on his mother by manipulating candles and mirrors.

In Chinese schools, however, the dividing line between historical fiction and history can easily be confused. Children are often not taught to make a distinction. As a result, students lose the ability to look for and identify mistakes, says Leng Yubin, one of the teachers campaigning for a textbook purge. The press has quoted comparisons of these errors to the adulteration of milk with toxic melamine, which poisoned tens of thousands of infants last year.

China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, perhaps unwittingly stirred the debate last month when he visited a Beijing high school. After sitting at the back of a class, he pointed out a mistake. A textbook described the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu as in north China, whereas they are officially in north-western China. Why, asked one widely circulated commentary, did it take the prime minister to point out such an error? The publishing house reportedly retorted that geographically speaking, north China is correct.

Such brushes with orthodoxy are unlikely to make much headway. Occasional reports have surfaced in the official press in recent years that Mao Zedong did not, contrary to widespread belief, declare on October 1st 1949 in Tiananmen Square that the Chinese people had “stood up”. (He said something like it at a less dramatic ceremony a few days earlier.) But during recent 60th anniversary celebrations of communist China’s founding, several reports in state controlled newspapers revived the old myth.

Another dubious assertion i：（eing vi：（ perpetuated. The authorities have said that 56 columns erected on Tiananmen Square for the celebrations will stay put. They represent China’s officially recognised 56 “ethnic groups”. It is a number that few Chinese schoolchildren would dare to challenge. Yet when the communists came to power there were found to be more than 400. Officials eventually settled on the much lower figure and suppressed further debate.

WIND

晚上我尽力翻译一下。燕谈有点小问题，最后一段有几个单词被改得面目全非了。

WIND

第一段：
SCHOOL textbooks in China have a habit of bending the truth, to suit Communist Party dogma or to reinforce moral messages. Rarely does anyone challenge them. Exams require rote learning, and children are not encouraged to question received wisdom. A group of 20 or so teachers from across China, however, has recently caused a stir by pointing out some mistakes.
中国的学校教科书有一种歪曲事实的习惯，以便满足Communist Party教条的要求或者强化道德上的信息。很少有人质疑这一点。测试要求的是死记硬背的学习方法，孩子们不是被鼓励对接受的知识进行提问。一个20人左右的来自全国各地的教师团，近来因指出一些错误引起了轩然大波。

枫林仙

moral messages可否译成道德说教?似乎这样更符合事实.

竹南

前排占座，看风兄翻译，学点知识，也学点英文。

枫林仙

我笨手笨脚地来试一下，有错误请指出来，一定立马改正。


Their efforts, widely reported in the official press, have steered clear of politically sensitive issues such as the party’s own record. Indeed the errors they have focused on sound little more than nitpicks. They question, for example, a commonly told tale (not just in China), that Thomas Edison, who was later to invent the light bulb, supposedly helped a doctor illuminate an operation performed on his mother by manipulating candles and mirrors.
他们的努力得到了官方媒体的广泛报道，但小心回避了政治敏感话题，例如党史记录。其实他们集中批评的错误听起来有点儿像是吹毛求疵。例如，他们质问了一个广为传说的故事（不止是在中国）——发明电灯泡的托马斯·艾迪生据说曾经使用腊烛和镜子帮助医生照明以为其母亲做手术。
??
??In Chinese schools, however, the dividing line between historical fiction and history can easily be confused. Children are often not taught to make a distinction. As a result, students lose the ability to look for and identify mistakes, says Leng Yubin, one of the teachers campaigning for a textbook purge. The press has quoted comparisons of these errors to the adulteration of milk with toxic melamine, which poisoned tens of thousands of infants last year.

然而，在中国的学校中历史虚构和真实历史之间的界线常常被混淆。孩子们常常不是被教育要作出区分。参与发起这场教科书清洁行动的冷玉宾（音译）说：结果，学生们丧失了寻找并识别错误的能力。媒体在引述时将这些错误与掺了三聚氰氨的毒牛奶相比。而这些毒牛奶去年毒害了成千上万的婴儿。

WIND

moral messages可否译成道德说教?似乎这样更符合事实.
枫林仙 发表于 2009-10-14 16:59

1，枫林兄说得有道理，这样翻译好。我认为这篇短文未成经典，原文用词也不一定十分准确，那个messages看着别扭。
2，不过我刚才又细想了一下。按斯密的说法，“从道德上来说，社会是···一个人观察他自己的镜子。”所以，其实道德的形成也可以说是人们行为的一种信息传递。从这种意义上说，不如这样翻译：to reinforce moral messages——强加道德，message本身不译。

枫林仙

这个message确实看着别扭。我也觉得可以不译。

WIND

11# 枫林仙
枫林兄译得很准确。这句：historical fiction and history，我以为可以译为：历史性的虚构小说和历史

WIND

枫林，你是不是在译接下来的两段？那我译最后一段好了。

WIND

最后一段：
Another dubious assertion i：（eing vi：（ perpetuated. The authorities have said that 56 columns erected on Tiananmen Square for the celebrations will stay put. They represent China’s officially recognised 56 “ethnic groups”. It is a number that few Chinese schoolchildren would dare to challenge. Yet when the communists came to power there were found to be more than 400. Officials eventually settled on the much lower figure and suppressed further debate.
另一个可疑的声称被永久性的保存下来了。官方声明为庆典在天安门树立的56根柱子将继续保留。它们象征官方承认的56个“民族”。学校的孩子们是很少有人去质疑这一数字的。然而，在gd掌权的时候，曾经发现过超过400个的民族。官方最终决定采用这个少得多的数字并压制了进一步的辩论。

枫林仙

11# 枫林仙
枫林兄译得很准确。这句：historical fiction and history，我以为可以译为：历史性的虚构小说和历史
WIND 发表于 2009-10-14 18:51

这个地方我也考虑了一下,觉得两译皆可吧.反正是一篇普通报道,用词不是太严格的.

WIND

17# 枫林仙
我主要考虑的是像<三国演义>之类的东西,这句话应该是指像这类的小说其实和历史本身是两码事.

枫林仙

China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, perhaps unwittingly stirred the debate last month when he visited a Beijing high school. After sitting at the back of a class, he pointed out a mistake. A textbook described the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu as in north China, whereas they are officially in north-western China. Why, asked one widely circulated commentary, did it take the prime minister to point out such an error? The publishing house reportedly retorted that geographically speaking, north China is correct.
中国总理WJB上个月在视察北京一所高中时，无心插柳地挑起了争论。当他坐在班级的后排听完课之后，他指出了一个错误。一本教科书说中国的陕西和甘肃两省属于华北，然而官方的说法是它们属于西北地区。一个广为流传的评论问道：为什么要总理来指出这种错误？据报道，出版社反驳说，从地理上讲，属于华北是正确的。

Such brushes with orthodoxy are unlikely to make much headway. Occasional reports have surfaced in the official press in recent years that Mao Zedong did not, contrary to widespread belief, declare on October 1st 1949 in Tiananmen Square that the Chinese people had “stood up”. (He said something like it at a less dramatic ceremony a few days earlier.) But during recent 60th anniversary celebrations of communist China’s founding, several reports in state controlled newspapers revived the old myth.

这类正统说法似乎不会有什么改进。近年来，偶尔有报道说，与广为流传的说法相反，毛泽东1949年10月1日时并没有在天安门广场上宣布中国人民“站起来了”。（此前几天他确实在一个不那么戏剧性的仪式上说过类似的话。）但是在共产主义中国60周年大庆时，官方报纸的数则报道仍在重这一老旧的神话。

枫林仙

17# 枫林仙
我主要考虑的是像之类的东西,这句话应该是指像这类的小说其实和历史本身是两码事.
WIND 发表于 2009-10-14 19:22

不过这里也有区分了，比如我们学的中国现代史中学教材，和三国演义差别就大了。三国演义是明明白白的历史演义，或者历史小说。而那些教材则是被当作信史来对待的——然而它们当中确实很多部分都是虚构的，或者变换过的。所以这一类被当作信史对待的历史叙述称其为“历史虚构”似乎也可以，既与信史相区别，也与历史小说相区别。

枫林仙

中国的历史教科书问题
经济学家杂志 2009年10月8日

中国的学校教科书有一种歪曲事实的习惯，以便满足Communist Party教条的要求或者强化道德上的信息。很少有人质疑这一点。测试要求的是死记硬背的学习方法，孩子们不是被鼓励对接受的知识进行提问。一个20人左右的来自全国各地的教师团，近来因指出一些错误引起了轩然大波。

他们的努力得到了官方媒体的广泛报道，但小心回避了政治敏感话题，例如党史记录。其实他们集中批评的错误听起来有点儿像是吹毛求疵。例如，他们质问了一个广为传说的故事（不止是在中国）——发明电灯泡的托马斯·艾迪生据说曾经使用腊烛和镜子帮助医生照明以为其母亲做手术。

然而，在中国的学校中历史虚构和真实历史之间的界线常常被混淆。孩子们常常不是被教育要作出区分。参与发起这场教科书清洁行动的冷玉宾（音译）说：结果，学生们丧失了寻找并识别错误的能力。媒体在引述时将这些错误与掺了三聚氰氨的毒牛奶相比。而这些毒牛奶去年毒害了成千上万的婴儿。

中国总理温家宝上个月在视察北京一所高中时，无心插柳地挑起了争论。当他坐在班级的后排听完课之后，他指出了一个错误。一本教科书说中国的陕西和甘肃两省属于华北，然而官方的说法是它们属于西北地区。一个广为流传的评论问道：为什么要总理来指出这种错误？据报道，出版社反驳说，从地理上讲，属于华北是正确的。

这类正统说法似乎不会有什么改进。近年来，偶尔有报道说，与广为流传的说法相反，毛泽东1949年10月1日并没有在天安门广场上宣布中国人民“站起来了”。（此前几天他确实在一个不那么戏剧性的仪式上说过类似的话。）但是在共产主义中国60周年大庆时，官方报纸的数则报道仍在重复这一老旧的神话。

另一个可疑的说法被永久地保存下来了。官方声明为庆典在天安门树立的56根民族团结柱将继续保留。它们象征官方承认的56个“民族”。学校的孩子们很少有人会质疑这一数字。然而，在gd掌权的时候，曾经发现过超过400个的民族。官方最终决定采用这个少得多的数字并压制了进一步的辩论。

WIND

不过这里也有区分了，比如我们学的中国现代史中学教材，和三国演义差别就大了。三国演义是明明白白的历史演义，或者历史小说。而那些教材则是被当作信史来对待的——然而它们当中确实很多部分都是虚构的，或者变 ...
枫林仙 发表于 2009-10-14 19:35

你说的这个问题当然存在.只是此处的:fiction,应该指三国演义这样的小说，以及像瘟疫一样流行的历史剧。

枫林仙

但是看起来报道中所批评的主是指“历史虚构”类的这种叙述，而不是说中国的历史教科书写得像三国演义一类的小说。所以我觉得译成历史虚构似乎更贴切一点。

WIND

我觉得：这篇文章谈的不仅仅是历史教科书，而是所有的教科书中所涉及的历史，都充斥着虚假和篡改，以至于学生没有能力辨别历史和历史性虚构小说。而这两种区别，在英语世界是严格区别的。上次我看了影片《1776》，在影片介绍之后，就会明白的告诉你，哪些是为了影视艺术创作的需要而稍与事实有所出入的。

枫林仙

这个翻译就见仁见智吧。呵呵：）

WIND

也是，文章本身也不十分严谨。