hsk5 下 lesson 21 with pinyin and English translation

Lesson 21   汉字叔叔：一个美国人的汉字情缘
Uncle Hanzi: The predestined love of
an American for Chinese characters

1972 Nián, 22 suì de Lǐchádé·Xīěr sī ài shàngle zhōngwén, 

1972年，22岁的理查德·希尔斯爱上了中文，

In 1972, the 22-year-old Richard Hills fell in love with Chinese, 

dànshì tā gǎnjué hànzì hěn fùzá, 

但是他感觉汉字很复杂，

but he felt that Chinese characters were very complicated. 

hànzì de yī bǐ yī huà méiyǒu rènhé luójí, 

汉字的一笔一画没有任何逻辑，

There was no logic in each stroke of a Chinese character, 

zhǐ néng sǐjì yìng bèi.

只能死记硬背。

so he could only memorize them without comprehension.

Yīgè ǒurán de jīhuì, 

一个偶然的机会，

By chance, 

tā fāxiàn rúguǒ liǎojiě hànzì de láiyuán hé yǎnbiàn guòchéng, 

他发现如果了解汉字的来源和演变过程，

he discovered that if he understands the origin and evolution of Chinese characters, 

zài xuéxí tā jiù biàn dé qīngsōng, róngyì.

再学习它就变得轻松、容易。

then learning it becomes easier and easier.

Dànshì tā yíhàn de fāxiàn jīhū méiyǒu yī běn yīngwén shū néng chōngfèn jiěshì hànzì de zìyuán.

但是他遗憾地发现几乎没有一本英文书能充分解释汉字的字源。

But he regrets to find that almost no English book can fully explain the origin of Chinese characters.

1994 Nián, Lǐchádé déle xīnzàng bìng, 

1994年，理查德得了心脏病，

In 1994, Richard had a heart attack, 

dāngshí yīshēng shuō tā shèng xià de shíjiān kěnéng bù duōle.

当时医生说他剩下的时间可能不多了。

and the doctor said at the time that he might not have much time left.

Nà shí, tā kāishǐ sīkǎo zìjǐ de rénshēng,

那时，他开始思考自己的人生，

At that time, he began to think about his life, 

“wǒ gāi zěnme bàn? 

“我该怎么办？

"What am i supposed to do? 

Wǒ gāi zuò shénme?”

我该做什么？”

What should I do?"

“Rúguǒ zhǐ néng huó 24 xiǎoshí, 

“如果只能活24小时，

"If I can only live for 24 hours, 

wǒ huì dǎ diànhuà hé péngyǒumen shuō zàijiàn; 

我会打电话和朋友们说再见；

I will call and say goodbye to my friends; 

rúguǒ wǒ hái néng huó yī nián, 

如果我还能活一年，

if I can live for another year, 

wǒ yào zhuājǐn shíjiān jǐnkuài bǎ “shuō wén jiě zì” diànnǎo huà.”

我要抓紧时间尽快把《说文解字》电脑化。”

I will seize the time to computerize "Shu Wen Jie Zi" as soon as possible."

Jiù zhèyàng, 

就这样，

In this way, 

yī bù bù gǔ hànzì jīngdiǎn jìnrù tā de zīliào kù, 

一部部古汉字经典进入他的资料库，

a collection of ancient Chinese character classics entered his database, 

jǐnjǐn fùyìn, zhěnglǐ hé bǎ zhèxiē zīliào shūrù diànnǎo jiù yòngle 8 nián.

仅仅复印、整理和把这些资料输入电脑就用了8年。

and it only took 8 years to copy, organize and input these data into the computer.

2002 Nián yuándàn, 

2002年元旦，

On New Year's Day in 2002, 

zhànshèng jíbìng de tā juédìng bǎ zìjǐ chuàngbàn de wǎngzhàn gōngkāi, 

战胜疾病的他决定把自己创办的网站公开，

after conquering the disease, he decided to make the website he founded public, 

ràng gèng duō xǐhuan zhōngwén de rén zài xuéxí hànzì shí, bù zài xiàng tā zuìchū nàyàng xué dé nàme tòngkǔ.

让更多喜欢中文的人在学习汉字时，不再像他最初那样学得那么痛苦。

so that more people who like Chinese would not be as painful as he did when learning Chinese characters.

2011 Nián, yǒurén bǎ tā de gùshì fàng dào wēi bó shàng, 

2011年，有人把他的故事放到微博上，

In 2011, someone posted his story on Weibo, 

yǐnqǐle guǎngfàn guānzhù, 

引起了广泛关注，

which aroused widespread attention. 

tā yě yīncǐ bèi wǎngyǒu qīnqiè de chēnghu wèi “hànzì shūshu”.

他也因此被网友亲切地称呼为 “汉字叔叔”。

As a result, he was affectionately called "Uncle Hanzi" by netizens.

Dǎkāi hànzì shūshu kèfú zhǒngzhǒng kùnnán, huā guāng quánbù jīxù chuàngbàn de wǎngzhàn, 

打开汉字叔叔克服种种困难、花光全部积蓄创办的网站，

Open the website founded by Uncle Hanzi overcoming all kinds of difficulties and spending all his savings. 

kěyǐ kàn dào tā shōují zhěnglǐ de jìn 10 wàn gè hànzì, 

可以看到他收集整理的近10万个汉字，

You can see that he has collected and sorted nearly 100,000 Chinese characters, 

bāohánle tāmen yǎnbiàn de quánbù zìxíng, 

包含了它们演变的全部字形，

including all the glyphs that they evolved, 

dāngrán yě bāokuò fántǐ zìxíng hé jiǎntǐ zìxíng, 

当然也包括繁体字形和简体字形，

Of course, it also includes traditional and simplified characters,

hái yǒu pǔtōnghuà hé bùfèn fāngyán dúyīn, yīngwén shìyì děng nèiróng, 

还有普通话和部分方言读音、英文释义等内容，

there are also Mandarin and some dialect pronunciations, English interpretations, etc.

bèi wǎngyǒu chēngzàn wèi “yǒu tú yǒu zhēnxiàng”.

被网友称赞为“有图有真相”。

It was praised by netizens as "there is picture of truth".

Gèng ràng rén pèifú de shì, 

更让人佩服的是，

What is more admirable is that 

hànzì shūshu jiāng wǎngzhàn shàng de nèiróng quánbù kāifàng gěi wǎngyǒu miǎnfèi xiàzài.

汉字叔叔将网站上的内容全部开放给网友免费下载。

Uncle Hanzi opened all the content on the website to netizens for free download.

Xiànzài, yǒu hěnduō dānwèi xiàng Lǐchádé fāchūle gōngzuò yāoqǐng, 

现在，有很多单位向理查德发出了工作邀请，

Now, many organizations have issued job invitations to Richard, 

ér Lǐchádé xuǎnzéle qù Běijīng Shīfàn Dàxué jiāoshū, 

而理查德选择了去北京师范大学教书，

and Richard has chosen to teach at Beijing Normal University 

yīnwèi nàlǐ yěyǒu rén zài zuò hànzì shìbié cháxún de yánjiū.

因为那里也有人在做汉字识别查询的研究。

because there are also people doing research on Chinese character recognition queries.

Zài Běi Shī Dà, 

在北师大，

In Beijing Normal University, 

tā chúle jiào wùlǐ, 

他除了教物理，

in addition to teaching physics, 

hái yǒu chōngfèn de shíjiān jìxù yánjiū tā de hànzì, 

还有充分的时间继续研究他的汉字，

he still has enough time to continue to study his Chinese characters 

wánshàn tā de wǎngzhàn.

完善他的网站。

and improve his website.

Zài Zhōngguó, 60 duō suì yǐjīng shì tuìxiū de niánjìle.

在中国，60多岁已经是退休的年纪了。

In China, more than 60 years old is already the age of retirement.

Dàn hànzì shūshu měitiān de rìchéng què ānpái dé hěn mǎn.

但汉字叔叔每天的日程却安排得很满。

But Uncle Kanji has a very full schedule every day.

Tā shuō: “Wǒ bù huì tuìxiū, 

他说：“我不会退休，

He said: "I will not retire. 

wǒ hái yào jìxù zhuīqiú wǒ de mèngxiǎng, 

我还要继续追求我的梦想，

I will continue to pursue my dreams. 

wǒ yào “huó dào lǎo, xué dào lǎo'.”

我要“活到老，学到老＇。”

I will "live to grow old and learn to be old".  "

Gǎibiān zì “Zhōngguó diànshì bào”, zuòzhě: Sūnliánlián

改编自《中国电视报》，作者：孙莲莲

Adapted from "China Television News", author: Sun Lianlian

Full Translation:

Uncle Hanzi: The predestined love of
an American for Chinese characters

In 1972, the 22-year-old Richard Hills fell in love with Chinese, but he felt that Chinese characters were very complicated. There was no logic in each stroke of a Chinese character, so he could only memorize it by rote. By chance, he discovered that if he understands the origin and evolution of Chinese characters, then learning it becomes easier and easier. But he regrets to find that almost no English book can fully explain the origin of Chinese characters.

In 1994, Richard had a heart attack, and the doctor said at the time that he might not have much time left. At that time, he began to think about his life, "What am I supposed to do? What should I do?"  "If I can only live for 24 hours, I will call and say goodbye to my friends; if I can live for another year, I will seize the time to computerize "Shu Wen Jie Zi" as soon as possible."

In this way, a collection of ancient Chinese character classics entered his database, and it only took 8 years to copy, organize and input these data into the computer. On New Year's Day in 2002, after conquering the disease, he decided to make the website he founded public, so that more people who like Chinese would not be as painful as he did when learning Chinese characters.

In 2011, someone posted his story on Weibo, which aroused widespread attention. As a result, he was affectionately called "Uncle Hanzi" by netizens. Open the website founded by Uncle Hanzi overcoming all kinds of difficulties and spending all his savings. 

You can see that he has collected and sorted nearly 100,000 Chinese characters, including all their evolutionary glyphs, and of course it also includes traditional and simplified characters, as well as Mandarin and some dialect pronunciations, and English interpretations, which are praised by netizens as "there are pictures with the truth."

What is more admirable is that Uncle Hanzi opened all the content on the website to netizens for free download. Now, many organizations have issued job invitations to Richard, and Richard has chosen to teach at Beijing Normal University because there are also people doing research on Chinese character recognition queries. 

In Beijing Normal University, in addition to teaching physics, he still has enough time to continue to study his Chinese characters and improve his website. In China, more than 60 years old is already the age of retirement. But Uncle Kanji has a very full schedule every day. He said: "I will not retire. I will continue to pursue my dreams. I will "live to grow old and learn to be old".  "           

Adapted from "China Television News", author: Sun Lianlian

Hsk5 lesson 21 audio with pinyin and English translation 👇

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