Primary Sources 1A.11—In the Park 公園裡

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Primary Sources."

One year ago on Round and Square (29 June 2011)—Seinfeld Ethnography: Sleep Desk
Click here to access Round and Square's "Primary Sources" Resource Center  

[a] Interaction RF

Over the course of the next year or so, Round and Square will take readers step-by-step through a very particular kind of primary source—the elementary school readers used in the mid-1980s in the Republic of China educational system. Every schoolchild on the island of Taiwan read these texts back then, and they are the foundation for understanding matters of education, acculturation, language acquisition, and translation. They were also the source of a very large chunk of my early anthropological and historical education. This is not a "language learning" series. It is meant to be an inquiry into the territory where studies of history, language, and culture meet.

I encourage readers of Round and Square to follow these posts whether or not they read Chinese. It is clear enough where I begin speaking to language learners (it starts in the "translation notes," but it is worth hanging on through there, even if you have never seen a Chinese character in your life). The section called "language notes" at the end is geared to people who have learned a little Chinese. Everything else, with the exception of the actual Chinese text, can be understood by anyone who takes the time to think about what an entire education from the ground up might be like. How many of us have thought about that element of culture since we were twelve years old? Only those terrific teachers who keep the society of learners moving along. The introduction to this series explains these matters thoroughly, and will be posted soon. In the meantime, take a look at how first-graders (for that is where we begin) started to read their world in Taiwan a generation ago. This is "textbooks from history," and there is much to learn. Let's get to work.

If you think that this is all just kids' stuff, you owe it to yourself to read this text. We're almost through the first half of first grade, and we've seen mothers, fathers, siblings, and even a stray (maternal) grandma here and there. The familial setting narrows quite dramatically in this text—the eleventh of twelve in that fateful opening semester of education. Big bro takes little bro to the park. The trees are big (as Joseph Conrad wrote much more dramatically a century before); the flowers are beautiful; the grass is lush and green. Keep on reading. What is a little kid to do? Don't climb the trees; don't pick the flowers; don't trample on the grass. Get away, little doggies.

Huh?

What do you do with vast stretches of lush, green grass? Don't trample your dirty shoes on it; protect it from your grubby little feet! Stay off of all of that beautiful stuff. Just watch.

Huh? It's called culture (and history). Keep reading.

11—In the Park
Elder brother and younger brother
Go to play in the park
In the park:
           The trees are tall
           The flowers are beautiful
           And there is a stretch of green grass
Elder brother tells little brother:
          "The trees are tall; but we won't climb them!
           The flowers are beautiful; but we won't pick them! 
           The grass is green and lush; we will not trample on it!"

歌 草 還 花 大 公 到 歌  十
歌 地 有 兒 樹 園 公 歌  一
告     一 美 高 裡 園 和  
訴     片             裡 弟  公
弟     綠             玩 弟  園
弟     的                      裡
說                                 __________________________________

[ b] Lush RF

我 草 我 花 我 樹
們 地 們 很 們 很
不 綠 不 美 不 高
要 綠 要     要 
踩 的 摘     爬
壞     下     上
了     來     去
_____________________________________________
訴 告 地 草 綠 片 美 花 高 樹 和 歌 公 
                          壞 踩 摘 爬 園
Text in Simplified Chinese (简体字)*

十一  公园里
哥哥和弟弟到公园里玩
公园里大树高花儿美还有一片绿的草地
哥哥告诉弟弟说
树很高我们不要爬上去
花很美我们不要摘下来
草地绿绿的我们不要踩坏了

*A simplified text is unthinkable in an ROC worldview. I don't "work" for them, though, and am including it for two reasons. First, an almost disturbingly large number of my students these days can't read traditional characters. This is problematic, but I acknowledge (grudgingly) the reality. Second, it should be an eye-opener for students on either side of the "simplified/traditional" divide. Just look. Finally, if you want to read anything written before 1950, you need to learn traditional forms. Get over it. It's not political. It's literature...and politics and history. If you can only read simplified forms, you can read what (Mao) wrote, but not what he read (unless it has been edited and adapted). Think about it.

History and Culture Notes

[c] Universal RF

O.k., first we have fraternal social behavior. Elder brother takes younger brother to the park. It is lush and beautiful. This might just be a hand-holding, "we are the world" kind of story in which everyone can band together and agree on every sentiment, right? I mean, really. The brothers go to the park, view the towering trees, admire the beautiful flowers, and contemplate hectares of verdant grass. We're talkin' universal here, aren't we?

Uh, no. 

You see, the brothers seem as though they have to stay off of everything. Don't climb; don't pick; don't trample. Didn't the text just get translated the wrong way?

Uh, no.  

How is that possible? Isn't the way we look at these matters (today...in "America") the way it is...and was?

[d] Untrammeled RF

Uh, no, and the details have everything to do with why we study history, culture, and literature (including the stuff written for kids). This is precisely why I am adamant that reading texts written for kids matters for anthropologists and historians. 

Let's go to the park and...just stand there politely. 

Translation Notes

The language here is not particularly difficult. We need to look at 不要 here for translation issues, though. I tend to look at the phrase as a modified "future" in such utterances, and that is hardly radical. So it's "will not"—we will not climb them. Still, this is a fun one.  不要, as every first-year Chinese language student knows, has a certain "thou shalt not" quality to it. So does this. Elder brother tells younger brother that the trees are tall, the flowers are beautiful, and the grass is lush...and thou (and we) shalt not interact with them. 

All I can say is 不yow!

Language Notes

There really isn't much stuff here (beyond 不要) that presents much of a grammatical or even etymological challenge. Suffice to say that it is in the first few lines that the language learner must do a quick grammar check. It isn't difficult, but let's take a quick look. 哥哥和弟弟到公園裡玩 tells a story about hierarchical elements of a kinship dyad going off to...activity. Big brother and little brother arrive at the public park to play. Yeah, sort of. If you are learning Chinese, though, it is worth paying attention to 到... 玩.

[e] 到...玩 RF