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Zhou Zuoren's Translations of Two Japanese Stories People to Reform Society Zhou Zuoren’s Translations of Two Japanese Stories NISHIHARA Daisuke INTRODUCTION I would like to examine how translator Zhou Zuoren (周 作 人 ） attempted to introduce certain Japanese stories to Chinese readers, and how Chinese intellectuals responded to modern Japanese litera­ ture. The two stories which I am going to discuss here are Shiga Naoya(志賀直哉）’s “Seibei to hyôtan”（清兵衛と瓢箪）and Senke Moto- maro(千家元麿）’s “Bara no hana.”（薔薇の花） Traditionally, until the Meiji Restoration, Japan had been very ea­ ger to learn from Chinese culture. Japanese classical literature de­ veloped under the continuous influence of Chinese literature. On the other hand, Chinese poets and novelists paid no attention to Japanese literature until the twentieth century. They never imagined that it was possible for Japan to have literature worth reading. Even the 〇/(3^ だゾ/(源氏物語）， completed in the early eleventh century， was unknown to Chinese readers. This blind spot, no doubt, was due to traditional Chinese ethnocentrism, which regarded neighbouring races as non-civilized barbarians. The new Western presence and Japan's adoption of Western tech­ nology during the Meiji Period changed the balance of power in East Asia. The Sino-Japanese War, which lasted from 1894 to 1895, brought about a sense of crisis among Chinese intellectuals and made them realize the need to study abroad. It inspired many intel­ lectuals in mainland China to study in Japan. Zhou Zuoren, who lived in Tokyo from 1906 until 1911, was one of the first Chinese scholars to realize the value of Japanese literature. Zhou Zuoren and his elder brother Lu Xun(魯迅）later became pioneer translators of Japanese novels into Chinese. What I am going to focus on here is the process of China5s first attempts to assimilate Japanese litera­ ture. This essay consists of two sections. In the first section, I will ex­ amine the Confucian view of childhood based on the notion of filial 242 ii Zhou Zuoren’s Translations of Two Japanese Stories piety. At the same time, I will explore Zhou Zuoren’s reasons for translating Shiga’s “Seibei to hyôtan” and Senke’s “Bara no hara.” In the second section, the chief characteristics of his translations will be discussed. SECTION 1 Zhou Zuoren was the younger brother of Lu Xun, and is known as Shu Sakujin in Japanese. He was born in 1885 and died in 1967. This means that he was exactly the same age as the Japanese novel­ ist Mushanokôji Saneatsu(武者小路実篤)， two years younger than Shiga Naoya, and three years older than Senke Motomaro. As an early Japanologist, Zhou Zuoren dominated the first translations of Japanese literature, along with a few other contemporary Chinese in­ tellectuals. In 1923, Zhou Zuoren and Lu Xun published Xiandai A7<ms7z wo//(現代日本小説集） or the ス成/^ fagヌひ/ Modem Japanese Short Stories in book form. It includes thirty short stories by fifteen Japanese authors. Among them were Shiga Naoya’s “Seibei to hyôtan” and Senke Motomaro’s “Bara no hana，” both of which I am going to discuss in this essay. Zhou Zuoren not only translated Japanese literature, but also composed a few poems in Japanese. “A Prayer to the Children”(小 供 へ の 祈 り ）is one of the poems that he wrote in Japanese. Let us ex­ amine this work as a key to understanding Zhou’s reasons for trans- lating Shiga’s “Seibei to hyôtan” and Senke’s “Bara no hana.” A Prayer to the Children Children, children, I pray to you. Atone for me. Please atone for my sins And for my ancestor's sins that I could not atone for. Atone with your smile. Atone with your joy and happiness. Atone with the pride of having become true men. There is a beautiful flower garden before you. 241 Journal o f Comparative Literature 37 Go there peacefully, Jumping over me. I could not go there. I even lost sight of its fading image. Please atone for these sins1. This poem is dated 28th A ugust,1921.There are no difficult words in the poem. The phrases are exceedingly simple, as are the contents. Some may doubt the literary value of this poem and may dismiss it as childish. Some may even regard it as a trashy piece of work. However, the poem provides a key to understanding Zhou Zuoren’s reasons for translating “Seibei to hyôtan” and “Bam no hana.” Let us notice the speaker’s attitude towards his children. In lines nine, ten and eleven, he desires his children to jump over their father in order to arrive at a better place, here depicted as a “flower garden.'' In this poem, the father^ expectation of his children to sur­ pass him is expressed. Such a way of thinking is, no doubt, completely opposed to the traditional Chinese notion of filial piety. It was required of a filial son not to stray from his father’s ways. Preserving one’s ancestor’s way of thinking was widely considered virtuous in China. Confucian­ ism reinforced this belief. For example, The Master said, If for the whole three years of mourning a son manages to carry on the household exactly as in his father’s day, then he is a good son indeed2 Confucianism demanded that children should not deviate from their father^ ways, whereas Zhou Zuoren, in his poem, calls on his chil­ dren to go beyond himself. This is exactly the opposite of the teachings of Confucianism. During the so-called “new culture movement” between 1910 and 1930， Confucianism was criticized as an obstacle to China’s further progress. Intellectuals of the period widely believed that China’s rigid family system tended to get in the way of that country's mod­ ernization, because it interfered with attempts on the part of young 240 iv Zhou Zuoren's Translations of Two Japanese Stories people to reform society. In the course of progress, old, inefficient and unreasonable ways ought to be weeded out so as to be replaced by more reasonable, efficient and satisfactory alternatives. In this sense, society would improve with each generation. Confucianists at that time, however, laid particular stress on filial piety, which did not allow members of the younger generation to change their ances­ tor^ legacy. Whereas filial piety prohibited any deviation from the ways of the older generation, progress required children to surpass their parents. A new image of childhood was thus discovered in China. The speaker in Zhou Zouren’s poem desires that children “jump over” their father. This suggests that Zhou Zuoren’s view of children is anti-Confucianist. Actually, this progressive idea was not his alone. Most Chinese intellectuals of the May Fourth movement, such as Lu Xun, Hu Shi(胡適）， Chen Duxiu(陳独秀）and Wu Yu(呉虞）， shared this idea. I have so far discussed two opposing views of childhood. Next, I would like to examine Zhou Zuoren^ translations of Japanese litera­ ture. As I have already mentioned, I would like to take up the stories “Seibei to hyôtan” by Shiga Naoya and “Bara no hana” by Senke Motomaro. This combination may seem strange, because of the dis­ parity in the popularity of the two stories. The Shiga story has been regarded as a masterpiece of modern Japanese literature, whereas Senke^ story has been largely ignored by Japanese readers. Howev­ er, these works share a similar concern with children. Zhou Zuoren^ selection was deeply motivated by his views on childhood. Shiga Naoya first published “Seibei to hyôtan” on New Year’s D ay,1913, in the (読売新聞）• Zhou Zuoren’s trans­ ition was published in 1923 in the anthology mentioned above. ‘、 eibei to hyôtan’’ is a story of a primary school student，Seibei， who enjoys collecting hyôtan, or gourds, more than his school work. His father and his teacher cannot truly understand the boy^ enthu­ siasm so they deprive him of his gourds, which were later found to be priceless. The author Shiga Naoya seems to be critical of the teacher and the father. After reading “Seibei to hyôtan,” in 1921， 239 Journal o f Comparative Literature 37 Zhou Zuoren wrote an essay on the story. Although I know little about educational philosophy, I am of the opinion that there are serious defects in current juvenile education. I do not know any other cases, but judging from the conditions of juvenile education in certain families and schools I have seen, it would seem that parents and teachers have not understood the characteristics of the target of their education, namely children. This seems true indeed. “Seibei to hyôtan” quietly depicts only one rather peaceful scene, in this enormous tragedy3. In the same essay, Zhou Zuoren criticizes the repressive social sys­ tem of China. His argument is deeply connected with his anti- Confucianism. Senke Motomaro’s “Bara no hana” was published in 19204. It is a short story of eight pages. The story is as follows. One day, the pro­ tagonist buys two potted roses at a temple festival, keeping them under the veranda or his house. Next day, he gets up to find that the flowers have been picked by someone. A six year-old girl living nearby is discovered to have done it. The child picked the roses be­ cause she loved them. Although the roses are spoiled, the protagon­ ist does not scold the girl. On the contrary, he and his wife discover that the child’s behavior is motivated only by her desire for beauty and that she has no sense of guilt about it. The protagonist thinks it wonderful that the girl acted so innocently. This simple story deals with the relationship between social rules and one’s sense of beauty.
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