Treason by Bilingualism? Xenophobia, Clique, and the Impeachment of Yu Jing

<p>A gifted linguist, diplomat, and negotiator, Yu Jing (1000-1064) is uniquely qualified among Northern Song officials in his extensive knowledge of Khitan language and culture. At a time when Liao-Song relationship was at its most contentious, the advantage of having an official who could communicate fluently in both languages cannot be overstated. However, according to official history, not only did his bilingualism not endear him to the court, it aroused constant suspicion and led to his eventual impeachment, which occurred after he composed a poem in the Khitan language and presented it to the Emperor of the Liao State as a token of gratitude. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the cause of Yu Jing’s indictment in the context of political machination. By contextualizing his composition of the Poem in the Language of the Barbarian and subsequent impeachment within the politics of the court, my goal is to supplement, even challenge, our above conventional acceptance of xenophobia as the sole cause of Yu’s downfall. In doing so, I hope to point out the potential flaw of our current understanding of Song diplomacy as guilelessly dictated by its inferiority complex and0xenophobic sentiments.</p>

The Image of the Interpreter in the First Sino-Spanish Contacts (16th Century)

<span>The earliest Spanish travelers in China coming from the Philippines (16th century), not being able to communicate in Chinese, have to trust interpreters who, very often and for the most diverse reasons, do not always carry out their work with the expected fidelity. These interpreters, beyond being mere translators, also function as guides, as informants about the territory and, above all, as cultural mediators. The first documents on Sino-Spanish contacts, especially Rada’s, Loarca’s, Tordesillas’, and Sánchez’ travel accounts, written between 1575 and 1583, allow to catch a glimpse of the interpreters’ identity, their social and geographical origin, their linguistic and cultural skills, their various</span> <span>tasks in mediation as well as the difficulties<br />they have to deal with in their work. The documents also allow to perceive the need for the first missionaries to learn Chinese and their very first attempts to do so.</span>

The Relations of “shi tun” (示屯) during the Reign of Wu-Ding of Shang (≈1250 B.C. - 1222 B.C.)

<span>In Annals of Spring and Autumn it is stated that: “State affairs are worship and military affairs.” The inscriptions on turtle shells and bones are records of the escapulimancia during the Shang dynasty (≈1600 BC - 1046 BC), and that covers all aspects of life and society. The “tun” (屯) is a unit of measurement used for the turtle shells and bones of the oracle during the Shang dynasty. A shell or a bone is “a pian (丿)”, and a pair is “a tun (屯)”. “Shi tun” (示屯) refers to the “offering of shells and prepared bones”, is one of the important sources of oracular bones. The organization and analysis of reception records in those bones allow us to get to know this dynasty of more than 3,000 years ago from a new perspective. In addition, we can also understand</span> <span>the social status of taxpayers and signatories, through comparisons with the content of other oracular bones.</span>

Problems in the Translation of Phraseologisms in Bilingual Dictionaries Spanish-Chinese / Chinese-Spanish

<p>The phraseology is part of the linguistic studies on phrases, proverbs, idioms, proverbs and other units of syntax totally or partially fixed. It is the reflection of a certain tradition and idiosyncrasy of society. The native speaker recognizes the phraseological units in the praxis of speech without difficulty. However, because of their idiomaticity and the sociocultural divergence between two linguistic communities, Spanish sayings and expressions cannot always be understood by the Chinese speakers. Students of Spanish as a foreign language have difficulty recognizing the non-literal meaning of an expression, the use of this type of expression in language teaching develops communicative competence, linguistics competence, sociolinguistics and pragmatics competence. Then, when producing a bilingual dictionary, it is not enough to translate it into the target language, but rather to contrast the two languages in order to inform non-native speakers of unknown elements, such as historical and cultural backgrounds, uses, and their frequency of application, variants, etc.</p>

A Research on the Copies and the Author of the Philippine-Published Chinese Incunabula: Symbol of Faith

<span>The Spanish Dominican Thomas Mayor published his Symbol of Faith in Chinese Language (Gewu Qiongli Bianlan) in 1607 Philippines. This article studies its present copies conserved in different libraries around the world indicated in earlier reports. It will also try to bring forward some new points of view about several debatable questions on the biography and the publications of this Spanish Dominican author through a thorough study of the archives about him dating up to the beginning of the seventeenth century, as well as all the discovered Philippine-published Chinese Incunabula in the present.</span>

Dictionary, Translation and Chinese Language in Domingo Fernández de Navarrete

<p><span lang="EN-US">One of the essential elements of the much-admired accommodation of the Jesuits was their dedication to the study of the Chinese language. However, this orientation is not exclusively to the Jesuits. The other religious orders also showed the same orientation from the first moment. Although following the imperial guidelines of Nebrija evangelization should be done in Spanish, the friars who left for America and Asia were</span><span><span> </span></span><span>focused from the first moment to learn the local languages. Following the line of sixteenthcentury Mexican dictionaries and languages, the translation of texts between Spanish and Chinese already had a clear representation in the Philippine Islands with the work of Juan Cobo. Throughout the XVII several vocabularies, grammars and language arts would appear while the work of the Dominican Domingo Fernández de Navarrete would include a very brief dictionary. This interest of mendicants by the local languages would culminate in the work of the Dominican Francisco Varo. Starting from the original sources —manuscripts and printed— of the seventeenth century, this communication will analyze in detail the linguistic accommodation of the mendicant orders with special emphasis on the Franciscans and the Dominicans.</span></p>

Teaching of Classical Chinese Prose under Bilingual Environment in Singapore

<p>The teaching of classical Chinese prose in Singapore involves challenges peculiar to the bilingual environment, which suggest a need for new strategies based on a crucial recognition of the difference between teaching literature and teaching language. The paper argues for a key pedagogical approach based on the teaching of literary aspects in ancient prose with the help of problem-based learning. This would also involve systematic classification in order to consolidate different strategies suited for different types of Classical Chinese Prose. These strategies include mind mapping, five thinking hats and so on.Through an approach of problem-based learning, one may motivate students to explore ancient articles more enthusiastically, foster their critical thinking and creative ability, thereby enhancing cognitive ability, and increasing their interest in learning ancient articles. Through the reading, understanding and analysis of subtle words, one may improve on students’ ability in literary appreciation, and prompt them to explore more sophisticated interpretation, thereby enhancing their cultivation in the humanities.</p>

Communication in Greetings in Chinese: a Pedagogical Proposal

<span>Due to the problems detected in the practice of teaching Chinese as second Language, on the other hand with the theoretical advances both in nonverbal communication and in pedagogy, especially in that of Chinese language, we began to reflect on the importance of the nonverbal language in intercultural communications. It is found that it necessary to make a theoretical and practical proposal for the integration of nonverbal communication into the Chinese</span> <span>language teaching materials, for the purpose of improving our students’ communication and the comprehension on the culture and society of China. In this goal, the present work consists in the analysis of nonverbal signs used in some specific communicative contexts in Chinese related to the topic of “greetings”, and in the identification of those nonverbal signs that can more easily cause errors of interpretation in the students, mainly by questionnaire, interviews and bibliographic review. Finally, based on the results of our study, we present a concrete pedagogical proposal composed by five activities, in order<br />to offer a complementary material that could help the students to avoid misinterpretations in spoken or written context that block and distort the transmission of messages.</span>

Challenges in Translating Chinese Classics into English: Example of Biography of Huan Tan and Feng Yan from Book of the Later Han

As one of the Early Four Historiographies, Fan Ye’s Book of the Later Han preserves significant works of both historical and literary value. This is something increasingly significant in response to the dynamic growth in popularity of classical Chinese texts among Western sinologists. Through reading the English translation of the “Biography of Huan Tan and Feng Yan” from the Book of the Later Han, the following<br />three issues are arguably noteworthy for the translator’s consideration. Firstly, the English translation may involve an<br />interim step of intralingual translation from classical Chinese to modern Chinese, before a subsequent interlingual translation from modern Chinese to English. While this facilitates the process of translation,<br />the vernacular translation also involves further risks in misinterpretation. Secondly, translation of such historiographical work which consists of literary works by various writers with numerous historical references,<br />not only requires the translator to conduct additional analysis and write explanatory notes, it also makes the English output inaccessible to most readers. Thirdly,<br />the highly interdisciplinary knowledge in relevant historiography not only demands a high quality of competency in translators, but also arguably acts as a catalyst for further academic research in the process of close reading and research. This paper intends to analyse the above three issues through a case study on the “Biography of Huan Tan and Feng Yan”, thereby demonstrating how the translation of Chinese classics is an<br />arduous yet meaningful challenge.

Affinity and Influence of Federico García Lorca on the Poetry of Dai Wangshu

As one of the most representative modern poets in China, Dai Wangshu not only contributs a lot to the development of the modern Chinese poetry, but also plays an important role in introducing western poetics to China. Dai’s translation of western poetry has a profound influence on his poetic creation. Dai, throughout his poetic career, was at first influenced by the French romanticism, then was fascinated by the French symbolism and post-symbolism. The years of Disaster, a collection of poems in his later years, however, demonstrates an inclination to the Spanish modernist poetry, especially to the poems of Federico García Lorca, one of the most representative poets of the Generation of 27. This paper focuses on analyzing the characteristics of the works of these two poets, Dai Wangshu and Lorca, and is intended to make a comparative study of the affinities and similarities in their poetic beliefs and practice and the Lorca’s deep influences on Dai’s poetic creation, thus filling the blank in this field.