Бін Сінь. Псалми / переклад з китайської, вступна стаття та коментарі Н. О. Черниш

Abstract

Bing Xin (real name Xie Wanying, 谢婉莹) is a renowned Chinese writer and poet of the 20^th century. Her life (1900–1999) spanned an entire century, earning her the title “The Person of the Century” (世纪老人). She wrote numerous works, made many translations, pioneered children’s literature in China, and created a new original style in poetry and prose. The themes of her works go beyond the traditional topics of Chinese poetry. At the age of just 21, she wrote a series of poems on Christian themes, compiled into the poetic cycle Psalms (圣诗). Today, these poems are not merely seen as a profound reading of Scripture but, through the young person’s appeal to God, the Universe, people, and oneself, they are perceived as a declaration of her creative creed, later succinctly expressed as: “With love, everything is possible” (有了爱就有了一切). The poetic cycle Psalms is significant not only for understanding Bin Xin’s creative work but also for comprehending the influence of the Bible texts on Chinese literature at the beginning of the 20^th century. Bing Xin’s work marks a new stage in Chinese poetic inspiration in the development of philosophical thought regarding nature, existence, and humanity. The new poetry draws not only from traditional Taoist and Buddhist themes but now includes a Christian perspective on the Universe. At the beginning of the 20^th century, it seemed that the language of Christian texts could help in the search for a new artistic language in baihua, these tendencies were particularly pronounced after the May Fourth Movement in 1919, as mentioned in various articles by Lu Xun’s brother and the writer Zhou Zuoren, who was preparing to translate the Gospels. In this context, the importance of studying Bin Xin’s work takes on new significance. Our publication also includes two additional poems by Bin Xin titled Evening Prayer (晚祷, 1922), which were published by the author a year later after the release of her Psalms.