FACTOR DAILY（2019.1.12）:
Telling the China Story: The Rise and Riseof Chinese Science Fiction

講好中國(guó)故事: 不斷崛起的中國(guó)科幻小說(shuō)

“Science fictionis as rare as unicorn horns, which shows in a way the intellectual poverty ofour times”, wrote Lu Xun, one of China’s most towering and revered literaryfigures, writing about science fiction literature in China in his preface tohis 1903 translation of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon.

"科幻小說(shuō)像獨(dú)角獸的角一樣稀有，在某種程度上反映了我們這個(gè)時(shí)代的知識(shí)貧乏," 中國(guó)最杰出、最受尊敬的文學(xué)家之一魯迅在1903年翻譯儒勒 ?凡爾納的《從地球到月球》的序言中寫(xiě)道。（原文為“于科學(xué)小說(shuō)，乃如麟角。智識(shí)荒隘，此實(shí)一端”）

The beginnings of modern Chinese sciencefiction first took root during the period of the Late Qing Dynasty, not justthrough translations of western science fiction but also with Chinese authorssuch as the scholar and reformist, Liang Qichao’s 1902 futuristic tale,TheFuture of New China, which was set in 1962 and depicted a world in whichShanghai hosts the World’s Fair, and a geopolitically dominant China hasdeveloped a multi-party system and westerners study Chinese in hopes ofimproving their life. The other significant science fiction story that isconsidered by many to be ‘Chinas first true science fiction story’ was Colonyof the Moon by an anonymous author, known only by his pseudonym, HuangjiangDiaosou. The purpose of all these stories of those times was simple, topopularise science and spark imagination and critical thinking.

中國(guó)現(xiàn)代科幻小說(shuō)萌芽于清朝末年，這不僅得益于西方科幻小說(shuō)的譯入，中國(guó)本土作家同樣功不可沒(méi)。比如，著名學(xué)者、改革家梁?jiǎn)⒊?902年發(fā)表了未來(lái)主義小說(shuō)《新中國(guó)未來(lái)記》，故事發(fā)生在1962年，那時(shí)的上海將舉辦世博會(huì)，西方人紛紛學(xué)起漢語(yǔ)以期改善他們的生活。另一部影響深遠(yuǎn)的科幻小說(shuō)是荒江釣叟所著的《月球殖民地》，許多人認(rèn)為這是“中國(guó)第一篇真正意義上的科幻小說(shuō)”。當(dāng)時(shí)這些科幻小說(shuō)的創(chuàng)作目的都很簡(jiǎn)單，就是為了傳播科學(xué)、激發(fā)想象力、培養(yǎng)批判性思維。

Once again, it wasn’t till years later – inthe late 1970s – that science fiction would flower again in China. a large bodyof SF emerged during this period, most notably Ye Yonglie’s Little Know-It-allTravels the Future, archaeologist and anthropologist Tong Enzheng’s Death Ray on a Coral Island and ZhengWenguang’sFlying to Sagittarius (also translated as Forward Sagittarius).

20世紀(jì)70年代末，科幻小說(shuō)再度在中國(guó)復(fù)興。當(dāng)時(shí)涌現(xiàn)了大批科幻小說(shuō)，其中代表作品有葉永烈的《小靈通漫游未來(lái)》，童恩正創(chuàng)作的《珊瑚島上的死光》，以及鄭文光的《飛向人馬座》。

It was only to be in the early 1990s whenChinese science fiction would enter an uninterrupted golden age, and leadingthe charge would be writers: Wang Jiankang, Han Song and Liu Cixin, the authorof The Three-Body Problem, the novel that was instrumental in opening thefloodgates of Chinese SF to the English-speaking (and reading) world and thewriter of The Wandering Earth, on which the film billed as China’s breakoutsci-fi blockbuster is based on. A name most often added to this list is that ofHe Xi, the pseudonym of an as-yet-anonymous author, to make it the ‘Big 4’ of Chinese science fiction.

上個(gè)世紀(jì)90年代，中國(guó)的科幻文學(xué)步入了一個(gè)不間斷的黃金時(shí)代。王晉康、韓松、以及《三體》和《流浪地球》的作者劉慈欣扛起了科幻文學(xué)的大旗?！度w》為英語(yǔ)世界讀者打開(kāi)了中國(guó)科幻小說(shuō)的大門(mén)，而根據(jù)《流浪地球》改編的電影則被視為中國(guó)科幻電影元年到來(lái)的標(biāo)志。此外，何夕的名字也常在其列，他們四人合稱(chēng)中國(guó)科幻界的“四大天王”。

As the writer Chen Quifan said in a speechat the eighth Chinese Nebula Awards in November 2017, saying that one of thepurpose of Chinese science fiction was to, “advance the establishment of thepower of the international spread of the culture of socialism with Chinesecharacteristics, in order to tell the China story.”

正如陳楸帆在2017年第八屆華語(yǔ)科幻星云獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)典禮上所說(shuō)，中國(guó)科幻小說(shuō)創(chuàng)作的目的之一便是“推動(dòng)中國(guó)特色社會(huì)主義文化在國(guó)際上的傳播，向世界講好中國(guó)故事。”

評(píng)論翻譯

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：天際長(zhǎng)弓 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
論壇地址：http://www.ltaaa.com/bbs/thread-483665-1-1.html

Jerry2
Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past'trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when Ipicked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time fortranslations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. Hemanages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and itfeels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he managesto achieve the impossible. His world-building skills are second to none and heintroduced so many novel and interesting technologies into his universe.

劉慈欣的《地球往事》三部曲是我讀過(guò)的最偉大的科幻小說(shuō)， 我仍然記得當(dāng)我看完第一部，然后耐心等待下一部翻譯出版時(shí)候的心情， 等待相當(dāng)煎熬，但等待是值得的。他常常把他的角色放在看似不可逾越的高度上，我們讀者感覺(jué)不知道下一步該怎么寫(xiě)，但不知何故他總是能在不可能中找到可能，他構(gòu)建世界的技巧絕對(duì)首屈一指，能將許多新奇有趣的科技融入進(jìn)他筆下的世界。

I’ve been told it gets better after thefirst book, but why would I subject myself to another book after my experienceof the first?

有人告訴我，在讀完第一部之后，情況會(huì)有好轉(zhuǎn)，但我為什么要在第一部不好的經(jīng)歷之后，還要再去讀另一部呢？

Anyway, to each their own, but as a hugesci-fi fan, I generally love the Hugo winners and nominees. The Chinese sci-fithat’s been nominated has all left me cold.

不管怎樣，每個(gè)人都有自己的體驗(yàn)，作為一個(gè)科幻迷，我通常很喜歡雨果獎(jiǎng)的獲獎(jiǎng)作品和提名作品，但被提名的這些中國(guó)科幻小說(shuō)都讓我感到失望。

Jerry2
I was not a huge fan of the first bookeither but saw the potential. Second book, The Dark Forest, is the greatest ofthe three (IMO anyway). Third book isalso amazing. Definitely 'endure' reading through the first one and then you'llbe rewarded with 2nd and 3rd.

我也不是第一部的超級(jí)粉絲，但我看到了它的潛力， 第二部《黑暗森林》是三部中最偉大的一部 (至少在我看來(lái)是這樣)， 第三部也很棒， 一定要堅(jiān)持讀完第一部，然后你會(huì)得到第二部和第三部的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

The game-theoretic aspects of the book, onthe other hand, and the final comeback of aforementioned nerd, are something Ilike to point out when summarizing this book.

另一方面，這部書(shū)里關(guān)于博弈論的內(nèi)容 （猜疑鏈），以及前面提到的書(shū)呆子最終的回歸，是我在總結(jié)這一部時(shí)喜歡列出的內(nèi)容。

ethbro
I enjoyed that part, but he could have doneit in a 20 page short story.

我也很喜歡這一部，但他完全可以寫(xiě)成一個(gè)20頁(yè)的短篇小說(shuō)。

I'm not sure if Liu Cixin is emblematic ofChinese science fiction, but the services of a more aggressive editor seem tobe missing. Imho, it would have vastly improved the series, and possibly cut itdown to a single volume.

我不確定劉慈欣是否是中國(guó)科幻小說(shuō)的象征，但他似乎需要一個(gè)更強(qiáng)勢(shì)的編輯，恕我直言，三部刪減到一部可能更有看頭。

erinnh
You described like 90% of Chinesewebnovels.

你描述了中國(guó)90% 的網(wǎng)絡(luò)小說(shuō)。

I still read some of them from time totime, but they’re all basically the same.

我仍然時(shí)不時(shí)地會(huì)閱讀其中的一些作品，但它們基本上都是一樣的。

the_af
What's a webnovel? Fanfiction? Or like anonline Japanese visual novel?

什么是網(wǎng)絡(luò)小說(shuō)？ 同人小說(shuō)？或者像日本的在線(xiàn)視覺(jué)小說(shuō)？

throwanem
Guessing, but maybe an original novelpublished freely on the web? That’s what the name appears to imply.

我猜，也許是在網(wǎng)上免費(fèi)發(fā)表的原創(chuàng)小說(shuō)？ 這似乎就是這個(gè)名字的含義。

_0ffh
Yep, it's novels published online in achapter by chapter format. You'll also find translations of some of them, butbeware that some sites provide automatic translations, which are naturally abit wonky. Here's an example site, specialized in the wuxia genre:https://www.wuxiaworld.com/

是的，它的小說(shuō)以一章一章的形式在網(wǎng)上出版， 你也可以找到其中一些的翻譯，但要注意有一些網(wǎng)站提供的是自動(dòng)翻譯，這自然有點(diǎn)不靠譜， 以下是一個(gè)武俠類(lèi)網(wǎng)站的站點(diǎn): https: / /www.wuxiaworld. com /

da_chicken
> I couldn’t stand the first book ofthis series. Interminable, I never built any empathy for any of the characters.

“這個(gè)系列的第一部我就讀不下去， 沒(méi)完沒(méi)了，其中任何一個(gè)角色都不能讓我產(chǎn)生共鳴?！?br/>

Maybe the culture in China is different andperhaps filters out the genuinely curious for those who produce definitiveresults? I'm only asking, not claiming.

也許中國(guó)的文化是不同的，也許它會(huì)過(guò)濾掉真正有好奇心的人，不會(huì)讓這些人來(lái)做決策性事務(wù)？我這只是瞎猜，不算數(shù)的啊。

tabtab
In Chinese culture, rocking the boat isgenerally heavily discouraged and decisions by family heads and/or leaders arenot to be questioned or second-guessed. It's again another hint there may besome cultural differences that readers in the USA and other democracies findodd. (Yes, I know the USA is arguablynot a democracy, but I don't want to get into a vocabulary or political debatehere.)

在中國(guó)文化中，不安分通常是嚴(yán)重不被鼓勵(lì)的，家長(zhǎng)和 / 或領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的決定是不容置疑或事后批評(píng)的， 這是另一個(gè)暗示，可能存在一些文化差異，美國(guó)和其他民主國(guó)家的讀者可能會(huì)覺(jué)得奇怪 (是的，我知道美國(guó)可以說(shuō)不是一個(gè)民主國(guó)家，但我不想在這里糾結(jié)詞匯或進(jìn)行政治辯論)。

ethbro
Curious, have you read Asimov? SpecificallyFoundation?

很好奇，你讀過(guò)阿西莫夫的小說(shuō)嗎？ 特別是《基地》？

TeMPOraL
Not yet. I've been meaning to, and recentlymy wife bought me hardcover Foundation books for my birthday; it's my nextfiction to read after I finish the newest Safehold book!

暫時(shí)還沒(méi)有， 我一直想讀來(lái)著，最近我妻子給我買(mǎi)了精裝本的《基地》系列作為我的生日禮物，這是我讀完最新的《安全區(qū)》系列書(shū)籍后下一部要讀的小說(shuō)！

sfifs
the Dark Forest (second book) is definitely worth the readwhatever your experience with the first book. It is quite remarkable thebreadth of the ideas that were explored.

《黑暗森林》 (第二部)絕對(duì)值得一讀，無(wú)論你閱讀第一部的體驗(yàn)如何，它所涉及的構(gòu)思之廣博是相當(dāng)引人注目的。

dominicr
Same for me.

我也是。

From reading only a few Chinese/Asian booksI think the problem is that each culture has its own style of writing fictionand Chinese books tend to have a slower pace and more introspection. You alsoget that in some English language fiction, but not so much in sci-fi, so theaverage English culture sci-fi reader is going to get frustrated with Chineselanguage sci.fi.

我只讀過(guò)幾本中文 / 亞洲書(shū)籍，我認(rèn)為問(wèn)題在于每種文化都有自己的小說(shuō)寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格，而中文書(shū)籍往往節(jié)奏比較慢，更加自省， 你也可以在一些英語(yǔ)小說(shuō)中看到這一點(diǎn)，但在科幻小說(shuō)中就不那么常見(jiàn)了，所以普通英語(yǔ)文化背景的科幻讀者可能會(huì)對(duì)中文科幻小說(shuō)感到失望。

C1sc0cat
It's the same in films a lot of slower longshots.

這在電影中是一樣的，他們有很多較慢的長(zhǎng)鏡頭。

And the jungle is the galaxy. Westernsci-fi is all about being human-centric, as if we are the only species in theuniverse that matters. Whereas Cixin, presented us with a reality, wherehumanity is only one of billions of intelligent species. Those that hadsurvived the jungle, or those that hide from the rest, or those that evolvedinto another form, or those that end up hunting, to maintain their probabilityof survival.

叢林就是銀河系， 西方科幻都是以人類(lèi)為中心的，好像我們是宇宙中唯一重要的物種，然而劉慈欣向我們展示了一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)，人類(lèi)只是數(shù)十億智能物種中的一員， 那些在叢林中幸存下來(lái)的，或者那些潛伏在其他地方的，或者那些進(jìn)化成另一種形式的，或者那些結(jié)束狩獵的，其實(shí)都只是為了保持生存的可能性而已。（而不是為了善惡）

So, if you want to continue to feel goodabout yourself, then stick with what you know. Keep reading western sci-fi. Ifyou want to expand your mind, then try out Cixin's novel.

所以，如果你想繼續(xù)自我感覺(jué)良好，那么就堅(jiān)持你所知道的， 繼續(xù)讀西方科幻小說(shuō)吧， 如果你想拓展你的思維，那就試試劉慈欣的小說(shuō)吧。

It's not an either/or. Books are oftenmuch, much darker than Hollywood adaptations.

這不是非此即彼的問(wèn)題， 書(shū)籍本身往往比好萊塢改編的電影黑暗得多。

Why is a US programme such as Breaking Badconsidered ground breaking and hugely refreshing? For the first time in decadesthe USA has produced something where the hero is also the bad guy. You end upwith some sympathy, and conflicted, for a complex main character, with manyshades of grey and black. None of the usual black/white, so obvious it'spainful.

為什么《絕命毒師》這樣的美國(guó)節(jié)目會(huì)被認(rèn)為是開(kāi)創(chuàng)性的、令人耳目一新的？ 幾十年來(lái)，美國(guó)第一次在屏幕上產(chǎn)生了英雄也是壞人的情況， 對(duì)于一個(gè)復(fù)雜的主人公來(lái)說(shuō)，你最終會(huì)有一些同情，也有一些矛盾，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)主人公處于灰色地帶，不像通常那么黑白分明，這顯然很痛苦。

oblio
As big as China is getting and will get inthe future, I wonder if their movie industry will ever become a global draw.They seem to be awfully local right now. Same goes for Japan or even India.

中國(guó)正在變強(qiáng)，未來(lái)還會(huì)更強(qiáng)，我不知道他們的電影產(chǎn)業(yè)是否會(huì)吸引全球的目光，他們現(xiàn)在似乎還很本地化， 日本甚至印度都是如此。

int_19h
My take on hard sci-fi is that it musteither use science and technology that we already understand, in waysconforming to that understanding, or - if it presents new technology that isposited as something beyond our understanding - it must be consistent,including other "magic" as well as interactions with things we doknow. Some examples of what I would consider hard sci-fi: "Tau Zero","Tales of Pirx the Pilot", "2001", "Seveneves",the Mars trilogy.

我對(duì)硬科幻的看法是，它必須使用我們已經(jīng)理解的科學(xué)和技術(shù)，以符合這種理解的方式來(lái)推進(jìn)情節(jié)，或者— 如果它提出的新技術(shù)被假定為我們無(wú)法理解的東西— 它的理論也必須是前后一致的，包括其他"魔法"與我們確實(shí)知道的東西的互動(dòng)，一些我認(rèn)為屬于硬科幻小說(shuō)的作品包括:" 宇宙過(guò)河卒","宇航員珀珂斯","2001","七夏娃"，火星三部曲。

TeMPOraL
There's a rule I remember, that in hard-ishsci-fi, the author gets to invent one unrealistic thing. I wouldn't put CixinLiu's trilogy as hard hardsci-fi, as it invents a few more, but all in all,there aren't that many "fantasy devices" there. It definitely has aflavour of hardness.

我記得有一條規(guī)則，在硬科幻小說(shuō)中，作者只可以發(fā)明一個(gè)不切實(shí)際的東西， 我不會(huì)把劉慈欣的三部曲作為硬科幻小說(shuō)，因?yàn)樗l(fā)明了更多，但總的來(lái)說(shuō)，沒(méi)有那么多的"幻想設(shè)備"， 它絕對(duì)有硬科幻的味道。

yoz-y
According to comments in this thread thisbook seems to be either at the top or the bottom of the pile. To me this is agood indicator of a good book. Like in music, if you want to be interesting youcan't cater to everyone, adding stuff that some people hate will make otherpeople love it.

根據(jù)本帖的評(píng)論，《地球往事》這部作品看起來(lái)要么特別好，要么特別差， 對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，這正說(shuō)明這是一本好書(shū)， 就像音樂(lè)一樣，如果你想變得有趣，你不可能迎合所有人，一部分人討厭的東西可能正是其他人喜歡它的原因。

andrenth
I read that as “after 1948, no referencesto magic, religion, fairies (in otherwords, the supernatural) is allowed”.

我覺(jué)得應(yīng)該是"1948年之后，不允許提及魔法、宗教、精怪 (換句話(huà)說(shuō)，超自然現(xiàn)象)"。

jayalpha
Long overdue. When South Korea and Japanhave super interesting Sci-Fi books and movies (e.g. Korean Bladerunner "Natural City"), why not China? I amglad China is coming along.

早就應(yīng)該有了， 當(dāng)韓國(guó)和日本有超級(jí)有趣的科幻書(shū)籍和電影 (如韓國(guó)的銀翼殺手《自然城市》)時(shí)，為什么中國(guó)不能有呢？ 我很高興中國(guó)正在崛起。

Please recommend more Chinese movies if youcan

如果可以的話(huà)，請(qǐng)推薦更多的中國(guó)電影

chillee
Three Chinese movies I've seen get fairlywidespread acclaim are: 1. Hero 2. Flowers of Shanghai 3. The Legend of theDrunken Master

我看過(guò)的三部廣受好評(píng)的中國(guó)電影是: 英雄，海上花，醉拳II

kaffeemitsahne
Wong Kar-Wai is a Chinese director I like alot.

王家衛(wèi)是我非常喜歡的一位中國(guó)導(dǎo)演。