【原文】

[1]近代以降，许多中国先进知识分子纷纷倡导“教育救国”，兴办新式学校培养人才。[2]张伯苓痛心外侮和国家积弱，很早就提出，国家“自强之道，端在教育；创办新教育，造就新人才”，[3]从此，开始艰难曲折的教育探索，[4]先后经历了模仿日本到模仿美国，进而走上从中国国情出发，将时代性与民族性相结合，寻求民族自强和推进中国现代化的“本土化”发展道路，极大地丰富了当时中国的教育内容。

 

     【点评】

中国近现代史上，张伯苓先生作为杰出的教育家，创办了私立南开系列学校，开中国新式教育之风。在今年教师节来临之际，重温这一历史片段，很有意义。

[1]中，所谓“近现代以降”就是近现代以后、以来。有参赛者译成contemporary times，那是当代；而in modern times大体不错，但考虑到那只是“近现代”之始，故用since early modern times似更为确切；有的用了Since 1840，即以鸦片战争为标志，也有一定道理。

对于“先进知识分子”，有的译成progressive intellectuals或liberal intellectuals，前者过于直译，后者过于意译，其实不妨用一般意义上的advanced intellectuals。

“兴办新式学校”，to build new schools显然过于随意：首先，build的原义是to make it by joining things together，即主要是一种具体的动作、行为；其次，这里的“新式”不是简单的new，而是有本质上的不同，故可用new-styled schools。还有参赛者在翻译“兴办”时混淆了found和funded：需知，前者为“成立，创建”（found）的原形，过去式和过去分词是founded；后者为“资助”（fund）的过去式。

“教育救国”，许多人译成了save China by education，但“通过教育……做事情”，其介词多用through，如：① 防范犯罪的有效方法是教育。（The best way to guard against crime is through education.）② The two peoples have become increasingly linked through education, work and travel.（两国人民通过教育、工作和旅游等渠道正日益紧密地联系在一起。）③ Energy Saving through Operation Management of Cooling Plant for Air-conditioning and Air Compression Plant in a Fiber Factory（化纤厂空冷站和空压站的运行管理节能机制）④ 运用变压器经济运行理论来挖掘节电潜力（electricity saving through theory of voltage transformer economical operation）等。同时，鉴于“教育救国”是一种理念，故在译文中应加上the idea of。

至于“培养（人才）”，很多人用了train (talents)，其实该词更多强调的是具体实践，如：① Businesses need to train their workers better.（各企业需要更好地培训工人。）② We shall first enroll some people to train as teachers and then organize a team.（我们要先招些人培训为教师，然后再组团。）

故此，整句不妨译为：Since early modern times, many advanced intellectuals in China advocated the idea of “saving the country through education” and set up new-styled schools to train new talents.

[2]中，不少参赛者按照原文顺序翻译，如Zhang Boling felt deeply grieved at foreign bullying and Chinese weakness, thus…、Zhang Boling mourned the aggression and insult from foreign countries, as well as the accumulative weaknesses of the country、Zhang was extremely distressed by the insults from outside and the weakness inside, so he…等，实则，对于此类句子的翻译不妨将状语提前，以更有表现力，如：鲁迅对于国民的愚昧程度极为失望，故决定弃医从文。（So disappointed with the nation’s ignorance, Lu Xun decided to abandon medicine for literature.）

对于“自强”，大都译成self-improvement、self strength等，其实self-reliance更妥。

“端（在教育）”，有的译成end，显然是理解错误，该词在文言中有“开头”之意，如：“恻隐之心，仁之端也”（《孟子 • 公孙丑上》）；“不见水端”（《庄子 • 秋水》）等。此处表其重要性，即“源于……”。

“新人才”，因前面已有new talents，不必重复，可将其意含在“新教育”（new type of education）之中。

整句可译为：Deeply saddened by foreign aggression and national weakness, Zhang Boling (1876-1951) had long proposed that “the way to self-reliance lies in education; that is to nurture talent by promoting a new type of education”.

[3]前虽为逗号，但译文不妨另起一句，以更清晰。“艰难曲折的教育探索”，有的译得很“实”，如they initiated arduous and tortuous educational exploration、we ushered in an era of educational exploration with twists and turns等, 多少有些“过了”；同时，不妨将张伯苓教育改革的性质融入进去：From then on, he started an arduous exploration of education reform.

[4]中，用了两个“模仿”，不必译成imitated Japan and emulated America，而可合为一个词。其实，此处“因羡慕而仿效”，不妨用copy，其原义：If you copy a person or what they do, you try to do what they do or try to be like them, usually because you admire them or what they have done. 例如：① Never, ever, attempt to copy others' designs for any reason at all – it is a death sentence to any designer.（永远不要因为任何理由去模仿他人的设计；那对设计者无外乎是判了死刑。）② The guy has actually no idea of his own; all his views are just copying others'.（那人其实没什么主见，有的只是随声附和。）

“将时代性与民族性相结合”，多译成combine the contemporaneity with Chinese characteristics、integrating modernization with China’s actual conditions等，似乎有悖原文。

“推进中国现代化”译成promote China’s modernization过于直白，特别是要考虑该句的宾语是“（走上）‘本土化’发展道路”，故要对句式作较大调整。

“丰富了……教育内容”，一般译成了enriched the content of education，过于字面化。实则，这里指的是“教学实践”（teaching practice）。

故此，全句不妨译为：It went through a process of copying Japan and the United States, before embarking on localization to improve national self-reliance and modernize China, in which modernity and nationality were combined according to the basic condition of the country and greatly enriched teaching practice in China.

重温上世纪那些现代教育先行者的睿智与实践，让后人痛感使命远未完成。这种感触，亦应自然地流露在译文之中。

【优胜译文】

@Tyler Wang

Since modern times, many advanced Chinese intellectuals have been advocating for “education to save China” by establishing modern schools to build talents. Grieving for the humiliation imposed by foreign powers and accumulating weakness of his own country, Zhang Boling had early proposed education as the deciding factor to realize self-reliance and educational reforms to nurture new talents. After this proposition, Zhang started an epic exploration into this field. After his attempts to follow Japanese and American models, he turned to a “localized” approach in view of China’s conditions, combining the bigger picture of his time with the characters of the Chinese nation, in pursuit of China’s self-reliance and faster modernization, greatly enlarging the educational content back then in China.

@Schatz

Since 1840, many Chinese scholars advocated to save the nation by education, which was to build new schools with advanced educating ideas to cultivate talents. Confronted with the brutal invasion from foreign countries and witnessed the vulnerability of our nation, Chang, Poling was shameful and distressed. In earlier stages, he put forth that a nation can become stronger and the key lies in education; our nation should embrace a new education which can cultivate talents who can meet needs of the time. Since then, Chang started a painstaking education exploration. From learning the education system from Japan in the beginning to imitate that of the U.S.. Later he found his way. He advocated our education should start from analyzing the real situation of China, combining needs of the time and features of our nation. Besides, education should make our nation become stronger, and improve the localization process of modernization. Chang’s exploration and ideas extremely enriched the education in China back then.

@Crystal 王美祺

In modern China, many advanced intellectuals advocated the idea of “saving the nation by education” and launched new-style schools to nurture talent. Zhang Boling (1876-1951), a famous Chinese educator, felt great sorrow when his fragile motherland was insulted by foreign invaders. He put forward very early that “education is the true path towards a strong nation and it is high time to start new-style education and cultivate new-style talented persons”. After that he embarked on an arduous and tortuous journey in education. Zhang imitated Japan and America first, and then sought to develop a Chinese way for national self-strengthening and modernization based on China’s historical and national conditions. This significantly enriched the content of education in China then.