Journey to the West (0)
Sunday, 31. December 2006, 12:00:00
by Shen Youqian 沈有乾
THE LIAONING Education Press has put out a series of thin reprints of forgotten texts in their "New Century Comprehensive Library", ranging from ancient Chinese classics to translations of modern foreign literature. On the discount book-sale table at my university, a short memoir called Journey to the West 西游记 by the American-educated psychologist Shen Youqian 沈有乾 caught my eye, since it shares a name with a much more well-known classic novel.
Shen's memoir covers his experience as an exchange student at Stanford and other universities during the 1920s. He writes with a sensitive eye to culture, both Chinese and American, and observes his experiences with a detached wit. I found it an interesting counterpoint to the memoirs and diaries Westerners have written about their lives in China during the past decade; many of Shen's experiences in America in the '20s have echoes in the working and learning environments of 21st century China.
The memoir is written in 35 short chapters, which will be serialized in the coming weeks. Check back here for new installments, as well as for the original text as soon as I get around to scanning it in. I welcome any critiques of my translation.
THE LIAONING Education Press has put out a series of thin reprints of forgotten texts in their "New Century Comprehensive Library", ranging from ancient Chinese classics to translations of modern foreign literature. On the discount book-sale table at my university, a short memoir called Journey to the West 西游记 by the American-educated psychologist Shen Youqian 沈有乾 caught my eye, since it shares a name with a much more well-known classic novel.
Shen's memoir covers his experience as an exchange student at Stanford and other universities during the 1920s. He writes with a sensitive eye to culture, both Chinese and American, and observes his experiences with a detached wit. I found it an interesting counterpoint to the memoirs and diaries Westerners have written about their lives in China during the past decade; many of Shen's experiences in America in the '20s have echoes in the working and learning environments of 21st century China.
The memoir is written in 35 short chapters, which will be serialized in the coming weeks. Check back here for new installments, as well as for the original text as soon as I get around to scanning it in. I welcome any critiques of my translation.
Journey to the West
by Shen Youqian
·Preface
THE EVENTS RECORDED in this book took place between 1922 and 1929, and were written haphazardly over three years. There was no overall plan at the time of writing, so from beginning to the end is the style is not uniform. It was originally serialized in the West Wind monthly magazine, where this deficiency was not readily apparent, but now that it is published in a single volume without major revisions, the only remedy is to request that the reader not read it all in one sitting.
Because the present text is not long enough to fill an entire book, I have found four additional papers to include as appendices. Two were previously published in West Wind, while "My View of Americans and Americans' View of Me" was published in Wind of the Universe and "The Standardization of Error" was published in All Creatures.
January 1941 Shen Youqian
(待续)
(originally posted on 2004.11.30)
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