英語新聞丨馬英九在湖南祭祖

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, fulfilled his long-cherished wish of paying respects to his ancestors in Hunan province over the weekend.

上周末，中國國民黨前主席馬英九在湖南省完成了他的夙愿，祭拜了他的祖先。

Ma and his four sisters traveled to Xiangtan, Hunan, on Saturday morning to worship ancestors and sweep the tomb of their grandfather ahead of Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on Wednesday.

4月1日上午，馬英九和他的四個姐妹前往湖南湘潭，在清明節(jié)之前祭拜祖先并為祖父掃墓。

The 72-year-old's ancestral worship journey on the Chinese mainland has attracted wide attention from people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as it was the first time he had set foot in his ancestral home.

這位72歲的老人在中國大陸的祭祖之旅引起了臺灣海峽兩岸人民的廣泛關(guān)注，因為這是他第一次來到自己的祖籍。

During Ma's trip to the village of Shuangyang, where his grandfather's tomb is located, the local people greeted him with "Welcome home!"

在馬英九前往他祖父的墓地所在的雙陽村時，當?shù)厝罕妴柡颉皻g迎回家”

Ma replied in a Hunan dialect, "The Xiangtan boy is back."

馬英九用湖南方言回應：“湘潭伢子回來了！”

His grandfather, Ma Li'an, who was born in Xiangtan in 1868 and died in 1927, was a successful businessman and was devoted to helping the local community, including in the building of schools and a port.

他的祖父馬立安1868年出生于湘潭，1927年去世。馬立安是一位成功的商人，致力于幫助當?shù)厣鐓^(qū)，包括修建學校和港口。

On many occasions, Ma has mentioned his grandfather and the family motto that he left, which advocates studying hard and performing good deeds. The younger Ma included the motto on the title page of his doctoral thesis.

在很多場合，馬英九提到了他的祖父和他留下的家庭格言，即努力學習，做好事。馬英九在他的博士論文的扉頁上寫了這句格言。

Ma said that paying respects to ancestors is a very important part of the Chinese people's ethical education. Although he never met his grandfather, since he previously had been unable to visit the mainland, he had always hoped to pay his respects to him.

馬英九說，尊敬祖先是中國人道德教育的一個非常重要的部分。雖然他從未見過祖父，但由于之前一直無法訪問大陸，他一直希望能去看望祖父。

"My wish of many years has finally come true," he said.

馬英九說：“我多年的愿望終于實現(xiàn)了，”

After lighting incense in front of his grandfather's tomb on Saturday morning, Ma read an elegy in the local dialect, sobbing several times and wiping away tears as he read.

4月1日早上，在他祖父的墓前點燃香火后，馬英九用當?shù)胤窖宰x了一首挽歌，他哭了好幾次，一邊讀一邊擦眼淚。

"Dear grandfather, this is the first time in my life that I have come to the mainland to worship ancestors and visit relatives. I am very moved," he said. "Your legacy reminds us to love ourselves and pursue self-improvement, help others and be loyal to our duties."

　　“親愛的公公，這是我一生第一次來大陸祭祖與探親，內(nèi)心非常感動。您的遺訓使我們子女都懂得自愛自強，為善助人，盡忠職守。這是我們?nèi)松顚氋F的資產(chǎn)，取之不盡，用之不竭?！?/p>

Videos posted on social media of Ma worshipping his ancestors moved many netizens, as tracing one's ancestry and origins is crucial in Chinese culture.

社交媒體上發(fā)布的馬英九祭祖的視頻感動了許多網(wǎng)友，因為在中國文化中追根溯源至關(guān)重要。

The wide attention given to Ma's trip by people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits reflects the common pursuit of compatriots from the mainland and Taiwan, said Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hunan Provincial Committee.

中共湖南省委書記沈曉明表示，兩岸人民對馬英九此行的廣泛關(guān)注反映了大陸和臺灣同胞的共同追求。

Shen met with Ma in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, on Saturday afternoon and welcomed him home, according to Hunan Daily.

4月1日下午，據(jù)《湖南日報》報道，沈曉明在湖南省會長沙會見了馬英九，并歡迎他回家。

Over the years, Ma has adhered to the 1992 Consensus and opposed "Taiwan independence” and has made important contributions to promoting the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and the deepening of cross-Straits exchanges, which is highly appreciated, Hunan Daily quoted Shen as saying.

《湖南日報》援引沈曉明的話說，多年來，馬英九堅持“九二共識”，反對“臺獨”，為促進兩岸關(guān)系和平發(fā)展、深化兩岸交流做出了重要貢獻，受到高度贊賞。

Hunan, with deep historical connections and close exchanges with Taiwan, will continue to create benefits for Taiwan people working in the province and support exchanges among young people from both sides of the Straits, Shen said.

馬英九說，湖南與臺灣有著深厚的歷史淵源和密切的交流，將繼續(xù)為在湖南工作的臺灣同胞創(chuàng)造福祉，支持兩岸青年交流。

He called on more people from Taiwan to come to Hunan, in order to promote the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and strive for realizing the nation's rejuvenation.

馬英九呼吁更多臺灣同胞到湖南來，為促進兩岸關(guān)系和平發(fā)展、為實現(xiàn)中華民族偉大復興而努力。

Ma thanked Hunan for its warm reception during his visit.

馬英九感謝湖南對他訪問期間的熱情接待

He was born in 1950 in Hong Kong to parents who were from Xiangtan. Ma was the fourth child and only son among the five children. His family left Hong Kong for Taiwan in 1952.

馬英九1950年出生于香港，父母是湘潭人。馬英九是家里的老四，也是五個孩子中唯一的兒子。他的家人于1952年離開香港前往臺灣。

On Friday, while in Hunan, Ma visited Zhounan Middle School, which his mother attended from 1933 to 1936.

3月31日，馬英九在湖南期間，參觀了周南中學，這是他的母親于1933年至1936年就讀的學校。

He visited Hunan University on Sunday, where he met with students.

4月2日，馬英九訪問了湖南大學，并與學生們見面。

In a remark before visiting the university, Ma said, "I hope young people from both sides can exchange more to understand each other so as to deepen their friendship."

馬英九在訪問這所大學之前說:“我希望雙方的年輕人能夠更多地交流，相互了解，以加深友誼?！?/p>

Ma, leading a group from Taiwan, arrived in Shanghai on March 27 for a 12-day visit on the mainland. The trip, including visits to Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Wuhan, Hubei province, and Chongqing, also has encouraged dialogue between young people on both sides of the Straits.

馬英九率領(lǐng)臺灣代表團于3月27日抵達上海，開始對大陸進行為期12天的訪問。這次訪問包括訪問南京、江蘇、武漢、湖北和重慶，還鼓勵海峽兩岸的年輕人進行對話。

Dialect

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n. 方言

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