2016年CRI Celebration of William Shakespeare to Reach Millions across China

 

For all English-speaking personnel in China, 2016 will be the year when they feel culturally taken care of. Many highly-rated and highly-anticipated theater works and films written by Shakespeare will come to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong throughout the year.

British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward says, Shakespeare is one of the UK's greatest literary exports. 400 years after his death, his works continue to thrill audiences of all ages across the world.

"His works covers the human emotions and experiences, including love, including hate, including revenge, jealousy¹, loyalty², betrayal, greed, power, fate and tragedy. His works highlight our common humanity."

Stan Lai, one of the most acknowledged theater makers³ in the Chinese world, echoes Barbara Woodward's comments on Shakespeare. He recalls some of the most touching⁴ lines to him from Shakespeare's works in English easily, and says:

"The British Embassy is very proud that Shakespeare is from the UK. But I'm sorry, Shakespeare belongs to the world."

In a major celebration program called "Shakespeare Lives" initiated⁵ by British Council, some of Shakespeare's best-loved works including Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch will be put onto big screens in China. Acclaimed⁶ productions of Henry IV and Henry V will be staged by Royal Shakespeare Company. World-renowned actor Sir Ian McKellen will attend Shanghai International Film Festival.

What's more, various English-learning programs are about to be launched as well to commemorate⁷ the language master's contribution. Over 3,000 words and hundreds of idioms that we use now first appeared in Shakespeare's works. New technology is also used in this campaign. People will be able to "shake" their smart phones, then through social media apps they can find what character they look like in Shakespeare's works, to add the connection.

For CRI, I'm Liu Xiangwei.

1 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

2 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

5 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

6 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

7 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。