So I was trained to become a gymnast for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s. When I was in the first grade, the government wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes, all expenses paid. But my tiger mother said, "No." My parents wanted me to become an engineer like them. After surviving the Cultural Revolution, they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness: a safe and well-paid job. It is not important if I like the job or not.
Dve leti sem trenirala, da bi postala telovadka. To je bilo v 1970. letih v Hunanu na Kitajskem. Ko sem bila v prvem razredu, me je vlada želela premestiti v šolo za atlete z vsemi plačanimi stroški. Moja odločna mati pa je rekla ne. Starša sta želela, da bi postala inženirka, tako kot onadva. Preživela sta kulturno revolucijo in trdno sta bila prepričana, da obstaja samo ena pot do sreče: varna in dobro plačana služba. Ni pomembno, ali ti je služba všeč ali ne.
But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer. That is me playing my imaginary piano. An opera singer must start training young to learn acrobatics, so I tried everything I could to go to opera school. I even wrote to the school principal and the host of a radio show. But no adults liked the idea. No adults believed I was serious. Only my friends supported me, but they were kids, just as powerless as I was. So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained. My dream would never come true. I was afraid that for the rest of my life some second-class happiness would be the best I could hope for.
Jaz pa sem sanjala, da bi postala pevka v kitajski operi. Tule igram svoj namišljeni klavir. Operni pevci morajo vaditi od malih nog, se naučiti akrobatike, zato sem naredila vse, da bi se lahko vpisala v operno šolo. Celo ravnatelju sem pisala in voditelju radijske oddaje tudi. A nobenemu od odraslih moja ideja ni bila všeč. Nihče ni verjel, da mislim resno. Samo prijatelji so me podpirali, a bili so otroci, prav tako nemočni kot jaz sama. Pri petnajstih sem vedela, da sem prestara. Moje sanje se ne bodo nikoli uresničile. Bala sem se, da bom do konca življenja lahko upala kvečjemu na neko drugorazredno srečo.
But that's so unfair. So I was determined to find another calling. Nobody around to teach me? Fine. I turned to books.
Ampak to je tako nepravično. Odločila sem se najti drug poklic. Nikogar ni bilo, ki bi me učil? Prav. Obrnila sem se h knjigam.
I satisfied my hunger for parental advice from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]
Svojo lakoto po starševskih nasvetih sem potešila s tole knjigo, ki jo je napisala družina pisateljev in glasbenikov.
I found my role model of an independent woman when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]
Našla sem svojo vzornico v obliki samostojne ženske, medtem ko konfucijanska tradicija zahteva ubogljivost.
And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]
In tale knjiga me je naučila učinkovitosti.
And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.
Po tehle sem dobila navdih za študij v tujini.
["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]
("Zbrana dela Sanmaa" (Echo Chan)) ("Lekcije iz zgodovine", Nan Huaijin)
I came to the U.S. in 1995, so which books did I read here first? Books banned in China, of course. "The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life. That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it. The Bible is interesting, but strange. (Laughter) That's a topic for a different day. But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany: "You shall honor your father and mother." "Honor," I said. "That's so different, and better, than obey." So it becomes my tool to climb out of this Confucian guilt trap and to restart my relationship with my parents.
V ZDA sem prišla leta 1995. In kaj sem najprej prebrala? Knjige, ki so na Kitajskem prepovedane, seveda. "Dobra Zemlja" govori o kitajskem kmečkem življenju. Pač ni primerna za propagando. Razumem. Biblija je zanimiva, ampak čudna. (smeh) To je tema za kak drug dan. A peta zapoved je prinesla razsvetljenje: "Spoštuj očeta in mater." "Spoštuj", pravi. To je tako drugače in boljše od "ubogaj". Postala je moje orodje za izhod iz konfucijanske pasti krivde in mi omogočila na novo začeti odnos s starši.
Encountering a new culture also started my habit of comparative reading. It offers many insights. For example, I found this map out of place at first because this is what Chinese students grew up with. It had never occurred to me, China doesn't have to be at the center of the world. A map actually carries somebody's view. Comparative reading actually is nothing new. It's a standard practice in the academic world. There are even research fields such as comparative religion and comparative literature.
V novi kulturi sem razvila tudi navado primerjalnega branja. To prinese veliko spoznanj. Na primer, sprva sem mislila, da je ta zemljevid nenavaden, saj kitajski študentje odrastejo s takim. Nikoli nisem pomislila, da Kitajska ni nujno v središču sveta. Zemljevid pravzaprav kaže nekogaršnji pogled. Primerjalno branje v bistvu ni nič novega. V akademskem svetu je uveljavljena praksa. Cela raziskovalna področja obstajajo, recimo primerjalna religiologija in primerjalna književnost.
Compare and contrast gives scholars a more complete understanding of a topic. So I thought, well, if comparative reading works for research, why not do it in daily life too? So I started reading books in pairs. So they can be about people -- ["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] -- who are involved in the same event, or friends with shared experiences. ["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder] I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter) [Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] -- or similar stories from different cultures, as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell] For example, both the Christ and the Buddha went through three temptations. For the Christ, the temptations are economic, political and spiritual. For the Buddha, they are all psychological: lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.
Primerjava znanstvenikom nudi bolj celovito razumevanje teme. Zato sem si mislila, no, če primerjalno branje deluje v raziskovanju, zakaj ne bi v vsakodnevnem življenju? Tako sem začela knjige brati v parih. Lahko so o ljudeh ("Benjamin Franklin", Walter Isaacson) ("John Adams", David McCollough) ki so vpleteni v isti dogodek, o prijateljih, ki delijo doživetja. ("Osebna zgodovina", Katherine Graham) ("Snežna kepa: Warren Buffett in posel življenja", Alice Schroeder) Primerjam tudi iste zgodbe skozi različne žanre (smeh) ("Sveto pismo: Verzija kralja Jakoba") ("Jagnje", Christopher Moore) ali podobne zgodbe iz različnih kultur, kot je to storil Joseph Campbell v svoji čudoviti knjigi. Tako Kristus kot Buda, na primer, sta se soočala s tremi skušnjavami. Kristusove so bile ekonomska, politična in duhovna. Budine so bile vse psihološke: poželenje, strah in družbena odgovornost - zanimivo.
So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun to read your favorite books in two languages. ["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts] Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain. For example, it's through translation that I realized "happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh! "Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh. (Laughter)
Če razumete tuj jezik, je zabavno tudi brati najljubše knjige v dveh jezikih. ("Pot Čuang Tzuja", Thomas Merton) ("Tao: pot vode", Alan Watts) Ne gre za izgubljeno s prevodom, ampak za veliko korist. Na primer, skozi prevod sem spoznala, da "sreča" v kitajščini dobesedno pomeni "hitro veselje". Ha! "Nevesta" je v kitajščini dobesedno "nova mati." Ojoj. (smeh)
Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people of the past and the present. I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again. Having a dream shattered really is nothing compared to what many others have suffered. I have come to believe that coming true is not the only purpose of a dream. Its most important purpose is to get us in touch with where dreams come from, where passion comes from, where happiness comes from. Even a shattered dream can do that for you.
Knjige so mi odprle magična vrata, ki vodijo v stik z ljudmi iz preteklosti in sedanjosti. Nikoli več ne bom osamljena ali nemočna. To, da so mi uničili sanje, ni nič v primerjavi s trpljenjem mnogih drugih ljudi. Verjamem, da uresničitev sanj ni njihov edini namen. Najpomembnejši namen je najti stik s prostorom, od koder prihajajo sanje, od koder prihajajo strasti in kjer je sreča. Celo uničene sanje vam to lahko prinesejo.
So because of books, I'm here today, happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity, most of the time. So may books be always with you.
Danes sem tu zaradi knjig, srečna, živim z namenom in jasnim pogledom, vsaj večino časa. Naj bodo knjige vedno z vami.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(aplavz)¸
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. (aplavz)
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. (aplavz)