The Chess Master 棋王

Name: The Chess Master 棋王
Price: 15.0000 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 978-962-996-237-1

A Cheng (阿城) / Translated by W. J. F. Jenner

English, Chinese , 2005/07 Bilingual Series on Modern Chinese Literature The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Tags: Literature, Translation, Bilingual, Bilingual Series on Modern Chinese Literature

213 x 140 mm , 150pp ISBN : 978-962-996-237-1

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"The Chess Master" is a captivating tale of the dramatic transformation of the protagonist Wang Yisheng from an obsessive chess player into an enlightened chess master who understands the Tao of life. Although the story is set in the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution, it shuns the depiction of political violence and human suffering and focuses on the simple pleasures of life enjoyed by Wang and other high school students sent to work in state farms. It is noted for its celebration of friendship, occasional feasts, and Chinese chess, but the core of the story lies in A Cheng's belief in the great potential of seemingly ordinary people in self-transcendence.

〈棋王〉描述主人公王一生如何由一名心無二用的棋癡，變成領悟生命真諦的棋王的過程；故事跌宕起伏，扣人心弦。小說以文革的動盪歲月爲背景，但無意渲染文革的苦難，凸顯的反而是王一生和一衆知青下鄉時的簡樸快樂生活。小說對友情、會餐和對弈之樂的謳歌，爲讀者所樂道；但作者對普通百姓克服困難、超越自我的能力之信念，更令人動容。

A Cheng was born in Beijing in 1949. A self-taught painter and writer, he emerged from the ruins of the Cultural Revolution in 1979 by joining the Stars artists in their pioneering avant-garde exhibitions. His novella, "The Chess Master", published in 1984, was an instant success. It is now considered by many to be his tour de force and a masterpiece of modern Chinese fiction.

W. J. F. Jenner is a veteran translator of many major works of Chinese literature, including a complete translation of the classic novel Journey to the West. Ngai Ling-tun, who wrote the introduction, received his Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His representative publication in Chinese is Reading Fiction in Hong Kong.

阿城,1949年生於北京,靠自學成材,以繪畫與寫作知名。1979年參加星星畫展,嶄露頭角；1984年發表〈棋王〉後,聲名鵲起。〈棋王〉廣獲好評,不僅是他的力作,也是中國現代小說的經典。

詹納爾爲資深之中國文學譯者，近作爲《西遊記》之全譯。導論作者危令敦爲美國威斯康辛大學博士，近著有《天南海外讀小說》。