Who was the first person to translate and introduce the "Internationale" to China, known as "the war song of the proletariat around the world"? Some say it was Qu Qiubai, some said it was Xiao San, and some said it was a joint translation by Zheng Zhenduo and Geng Jizhi. However, Beita Research, who works at the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, found that before these celebrities, there was an unknown junior - Lie Bei, and even more so. A full translation of "The Internationale" was published early. So, who was the first Chinese translator of "The Internationale"?
In February 2005, the Central Compilation and Translation Publishing House sent me the "Xunfangcao Ji" they had just published. It was Mr. Luyuan's latest essay collection, which included several texts of "The Internationale" "Comparison" article. It was an article written by the old man in 1999 and first published in the "Liberation Army Daily" on March 24, 2000. The original title was a bit sensational, called "The Truth about the Changes in the Translation of "The Internationale"". The article said: "The Chinese lyrics sung in China were translated from the Russian translation in 1923, and the translator is unknown." Mr. Luyuan is a person and witness of modern Chinese history, especially cultural history. He should have heard of several translators. name, but he said "unknown", there must be some hidden meaning. This sparked my interest in exploring.
Qu Qiubai said
The "China Reading News" on November 11, 2005 published Jiao Yuhong's article "
Chen Tiejian said in the later published "Biography of Qu Qiubai" that Qu Qiubai "was the first to translate it into Chinese and attach simplified musical notation." This is a short explanation of "formal". Zhou Yongxiang's "New Edition of Qu Qiubai's Chronicle" gives a more detailed explanation, "At that time, there were three Chinese translations of "Internationale", but none of them met the requirements for singing. He knew music notation and could play the piano. He translated and played and sang at the same time, painstakingly After careful consideration and revision, the lyrics of "Internationale" were successfully translated. The word "Internationale" was retained in its original sound according to international practice and matched with the music score. "The so-called "formal" means that Qu's translation can be done directly. "Enjoy".
Zhou Yongxiang also said: Qu Qiubai started translating "The Internationale" while working in Moscow as a reporter for "Morning Post". After returning to China, he translated new words based on Russian, English, French and other texts, and published them in the first issue of "New Youth" on June 15, 1923. Before the lyrics, Qu Qiubai wrote a short preface, saying: "This song has become the party anthem of all socialist parties since 1870. Now Russia has adopted it as the 'national anthem', and it will become the opening ceremony of the world's communist society in the future." Qu Qiubai hopes that "China's oppressed working people can also respond with the same voice as the proletariat of the world." At the same time, he released the lyrics and music of "Red Tide", the wording and melody of which are obviously "Internationale". ", he probably wants to set an example and make China's "Red Tide" and the world's "Internationale" "sound in harmony". It can be seen that Qu Qiubai translated "The Internationale" probably between 1922 and 1923.
Qu Qiubai was the first translator of the lyrics of "The Internationale" by Ru Yue. This has long been a conclusion in Qu Qiubai's research.
Xiao San said
So, was Qu Qiubai the translator who translated the Chinese lyrics of "The Internationale" from the Russian translation in 1923 as Lu Yuan said? not necessarily. There is another saying. "Chinese Translation Dictionary" said: "In the summer of 1923, 'Xiao San', who was studying at the Oriental Labor University in Moscow, translated the lyrics of the Russian "Internationale" into Chinese (with Chen Qionian singing), and then it was widely sung in China. It’s this version.” He also said: “In 1939, with the help of Lu Ji and Xian Xinghai, Xiao San revised the translation according to the original text. He has since revised it many times.” This statement fully meets the three conditions mentioned by Lu Yuan, namely: in 1923, it was translated from the Russian translation and sung in China. Lu Yuan said "unknown" probably because he was not sure whether the translator was Qu Qiubai or Xiao San. He is matter-of-fact and cautious.
On June 21, 2001, Zu Zhensheng in the "China Reading News" said in his article "Music Publishing and Foreign-Related Copyright": "The 1887 song translated by Qu Qiubai was composed by Bodier and composed by Dickey. The specially composed "Internationale" was published in "New Youth Quarterly" in June 1923; in the same year, Xiao San translated the Russian lyrics of "Internationale" into Chinese (with Chen Qionian singing)..." In the summer of 1923 , Xiao Sancai started translating in the Soviet Union, and Qu Qiubai's translation has been published in China. Which one is sooner or later, do you need to say?
Zheng Zhenduo and Geng Jizhi
So, who was the first person to translate the lyrics of "The Internationale"?
According to the above statement, before Qu Qiubai, "The Internationale had three Chinese translations." Who wrote these three translations? How early and late do they appear and in what order?
According to the "Chinese Translation Dictionary", after the "May 4th" Movement in 1919, "The Internationale" began to be introduced into our country.
The earliest translation was published in the "Labourer" weekly edited by the Guangdong Communist Group and published in October and November 1920 (six paragraphs of poetry, completed in 4 editions), titled "Labor Song", The translator's signature was "Lie Bei"; almost at the same time, in November 1920, the "Hua Gong Xun Journal" sponsored by the Diligent Work-Frugal Society in France published a translation titled "The Internationale of Labor", and the translator Zhang escaped from prison. Therefore, two of the three Chinese translations should be by Lie Bei and Zhang Jingjing, and the Chinese translation of "Labour Song" was published slightly earlier than the Chinese translation of "Labour Internationale." According to Chen Fukang's research, the exact dates are October 10 to December 5, 1920, which are the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th issues of "Labourers" weekly respectively. Lie Bei was a student at Peking University at that time.
So, who is the other person?
On July 16, 1997, "China Reading News" published the article "Children's World and Zheng Zhenduo" by Zheng Erkang. The appendix at the end of the article was an introduction to his father Zheng Zhenduo's "little information", saying that in 1920 , Zheng Zeng and "Geng Jizhi were the first to translate the lyrics of "The Internationale"." The reason why Zheng Erkang dared to use the word "earliest" was because he knew that Zheng Zhenduo and Geng Jizhi's translations were before Qiubai. He gave a more detailed account in the book "Pomegranates Are Red Again - Recalling My Father Zheng Zhenduo": "In July and August 1920, my father Zheng Zhenduo was still a student at the Beijing Railway Management School. One day, he and his good friend—— - Geng Jizhi, a student at the Russian Language Institute in Beijing, accidentally got a Russian version of a poetry collection titled "Red Poems". His father and Geng Jizhi read all 25 poems in it, each one full of revolutionary passion. It deeply touched their heartstrings, so they discussed translating all these poems and preparing to publish them in the monthly magazine "Humanity" they edited. Among them, "Ode of the Third International Party" was the earliest "Internationale". The Chinese translation of "The source of the text cited by Zheng Erkang is the special issue of "Russian Literature Research" published in Volume 12 of "Novel Monthly" in September 1921. The "Hymn of the Party of the Third International" "same translation" by C.Z and C.T was published above. According to Chen Fukang's research, C.Z is the transliteration abbreviation of the word "Jizhi", while C.T is the transliteration abbreviation of the word "Zhenduo". In the "Note" written by C.T., he said: "In July and August last year... I translated the first "Hymn of the Third International Party"."
The Submerged Nobodies
Where were Zheng and Geng’s translations published? There are currently three opinions. 1. "Humanity" monthly, 2. "Republic of China Daily Enlightenment", 3. "Novel Monthly". According to the first theory, Geng and Zheng's translation was published around August 1920, earlier than October 10, 1920. But the key point is that this statement is simply untenable. It comes from the transcript of Zheng Zhenduo's "Last Speech" published in the second issue of "New Literature History Materials" in 1983, which said: "There was also an issue of "Humanity" "(monthly), "Internationale" was published in it, Qu Qiubai translated the meaning, and I wrote the lyrics. "Qu Qiubai was Geng Jizhi's classmate at the time, and was also very close to Zheng Zhenduo. Zheng Zhenduo's recollections of his later years are obviously wrong. One is to put Geng Jizhi's hat on Qu Qiubai's head, and the other is to mistakenly record the published publication as "Humanity". The "Note" he wrote himself in September 1921 made it very clear: "The monthly "Humanity" that was going to publish them could not be published due to financial reasons... Now let's take this "Ode to the Party of the Third International" first. Published in the current issue of this newspaper. "The special issue of "Russian Literature Research" in the 12th volume of "Novel Monthly" does have "The Internationale" translated by Geng and Zheng, but according to Chen Fukang's research, this is the second time it has been published, and the first time. It was in the "Republic of China Daily Awakening" on May 27, 1921.
From the perspective of publication time, even the earlier May 1921, it was later than October or November 1920. Chen Fukang said in the article "my country's Earliest Translation of the Internationale": "This translation by Zheng Zhenduo and others is actually the earliest translation of the Internationale in my country and is widely circulated." It is also said that "Zheng Zhenduo and others are the earliest people in my country who have translated the "Internationale" known so far." Later, in his monograph "The Biography of Zheng Zhenduo, a Talented Generation", it was also said that Zheng Zhenduo and Geng Jizhi were the first to inadvertently complete this song, which is known as "The Internationale". Chinese translation of the lyrics of "The War Hymn of the World Proletariat"! In order to prove this, he made a bold verification. Liebei's translation was published starting from the second issue of the weekly (referring to "Labourer"). It should have been translated in October of this year, and Zheng Zhenduo was quoted from above. It is known from the description that they started the translation in July and August. "In fact, this evidence is still a hypothesis, and it is a hypothesis mixed with preconceptions. Liebei's translation was published in October 1920. We can only say that he translated it in that month at the latest, but how can we arbitrarily say It must be in this month? Couldn’t it be September or August or even earlier than 1919?
In summary, as to the question of who was the first person to translate "The Internationale" into Chinese? It is impossible to find a definite answer now; perhaps it will never be found, because Liebe was a minor figure and it is almost impossible to figure out from his scant biographical information the exact time when he translated the Internationale. It was translated early and completely. At least from the perspective of publication sequence, his translation was earlier than that of Zheng Zhenduo, Geng Jizhi, Qu Qiubai, Xiao San and other celebrities, ranking first.
I hope that the glory of the unknown person will not be overshadowed by the name of the big man because of his unknown name.
(According to "China Reading News")