By Wei-fan Yang
If you are interested in teaching literary Chinese to non-native speakers this article can probably give you some help. Nowadays, there are more and more people learning the methodology of teaching Chinese as a second language, in order to meet the current craze for learning Chinese. Most of these teachers, however, cannot teach literary Chinese not only because it is difficult but because the methodology does not tell them how to do it. I would like to share with you my recipe for success. First, you have to teach your students how to distinguish the parts of speech for each character and to understand its meaning, for each character is a fundamental unit that constitutes a complete sentence in Chinese. When explaining, for example, a sentence from The Analects “子曰學而時習之不亦說乎” you first need to tell them that the sentence is a rhetorical question indicated by the character 乎. You then have to teach them to distinguish the part of speech for each character in order to clarify what the sentence means. According to the example above, 曰 (to say) 學 (to learn) 習 (to practice) are verbs; 子 (Confucius, often translated as The Master) is a proper noun; 而 (and then) is a conjunction; 時 ([if you have] an opportunity) is a conditional adverb in Chinese; 之 (things [you learn]) is a pronoun, and so on. In this way, it would be much easier and more effective for a non-native speaker to master the language structure. Second, you have to then teach them to distinguish unique expressions and Chinese idioms from a long (or if you prefer, lengthy) sentence, so as to avoid misunderstanding in reading literary Chinese, which is a common mistake even for a native speaker. Take 忘懷得失以此自終 for instance. Albeit 忘 (to forget) and 懷 (to remember) are supposed to be two verbs with opposed meanings, the two characters in fact only means: to forget. As a result, it should be read as 忘懷得失 (to forget what you get and lose). In addition, 忘懷得失 turns out to be a Chinese idiom used by writers in later dynasties and thus should be noticed by a learner. Third, you then need to tell them how to identify clauses in a sentence, for most works in literary Chinese are not punctuated except for modern versions. Again, take 子曰學而時習之不亦說乎 as an example. There is a convention that as long as 之 functions as a pronoun in literary Chinese, it would be the last word of a completed clause. In addition, like English, 曰 (to say) can be added a completed clause. Thereupon, you could easily identify the whole sentence as follows: 子曰:「學而時習之,不亦說乎?」 (The Master says: “Is it not pleasant to learn and practice things [that you have learned] [if you have] an opportunity [to do so] ?”) Fourth, you need to tell your students that memorizing every sentence or article read in literary Chinese is compulsory. Don’t think I’m being cruel, for I always ask my student to memorize what he reads in classical Chinese prose. In fact, the aim of memorizing is to familiarize students with structures and styles in order to improve their ability. Once students know more about literary Chinese, they can read, write, and enjoy more Chinese literature, and be a student and even a master of Chinese literature, Chinese history, or Chinese philosophy. Of course, before teaching non-native speakers literary Chinese you need to be familiar with these sentence structures, grammatical rules, and allusions yourself, which vary according to different conditions, places, and dynasties. Familiarizing yourself with Chinese literature is also necessary. Visit Amazon if you need a literary Chinese handbook for reference. I also recommend that you buy an authorized dictionary to look up words you don’t know. As for preparing materials, you can select some chapters from classical Chinese prose, drama, and fiction, such as The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, Book of Han, and Classics of Change. In this way, your students won’t have to scratch their heads when they encounter a sentence in literary Chinese. I am hopeful that more people will teach literary Chinese as a second language. Post your questions or share your experiences of teaching literary Chinese at http://ntuforex.blogspot.com/. a
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May 2024
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