translation

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Peach Blossom Spring (translation)

 

"Peach Blossom Spring" (桃花源 táohuāyuán) is a famous passage – in fact the preface to a longer poem – by Tao Yuanming, from the Six Dynasties period at the turn of the 4th century AD. The story has almost mythical status in China. Here's the original text, along with a rather lovely reading of it with an erhu playing the background. And below is a translation, courtesy of Dean Barrett, a writer based in Bangkok.

 

"At the close of the fourth century AD, during the Taiyuan era of the Jin dynasty, a certain fisherman lived in the village of Wuling. One day, so engrossed in exploring the stream of a river, he failed to notice how far he had travelled.

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Translation: True punk

A "zero mark essay" from this year's gaokao

 

In the Analects blog my newest post is about essays in China's university entrance exam that flop, getting no points. Some of these essays fail because they are too rebellious. In the post I quote a student from Shanghai, who in response to the essay prompt the "more important things in life", replied "to be a true punk". For the Anthill I've translated the whole thing.

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Subway Alarm

Science fiction by Han Song, translated by Rachel Faith

 

1. A Sorry Situation

Zhou Xing thought to himself that if ever there had been a sorry situation, it was surely his current one.

Monday morning rush hour in the subway was always like this. As managing to push through the massive crowds down there was a significant accomplishment on its own, cramming himself onto a train was no easy task for Zhou Xing. People were packed into the trains so tightly that they had practically fused together, holding you in place so firmly that any sort of moving around was out of the question. Zhou Xing would get off in seven or eight stops, and only with this end in sight was he able to continue tolerating his current position.

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