By Song Shengxia

China's educational authorities are eyeing using the songs of the country's hottest pop stars to promote traditional poems among youngsters.

Wang Dengfeng, director of the Ministry of Education's language-use department, said on Monday that academics are putting classical Chinese poems and prose into song lyrics, and some of the songs will be sung by students attending the summer camp scheduled for mid-August.

Wang said the idea was inspired by Taiwan singer Jay Chou's songs, such as Blue and White Porcelain, which topped music charts throughout Chinese communities across the world after its debut in late 2007.

Hong Kong singer Faye Wong's Wish We Can Last Forever is another example. The lyrics, adapted from a classic moon-praising poem dating back to the Song Dynasty (960- 1276), is one of the most popular songs in karaoke bars.

“To allow young people to appreciate classical Chinese poems and prose, the foremost thing is to evoke their interest in them,” said Wang, also vice director of the National Working Committee on Languages and Writing Systems.

Authorities are planning to invite popular singers such as Jay Chou to record more songs that incorporate Chinese traditional elements, Wang said.

“The idea sounds great. I can't wait to hear them. I hope their attempts are as successful as pop queen Faye Wong's songs,” Zhang Tiran, a 24-year-old Hunan resident, told the Global Times.

But others have different ideas.

“The idea is no good. It debases the Chinese classics. It is likely to counter its intention,” Wang Wanting, a student from Wuhan University, retorted.

This is not the first attempt by the Chinese to popularize ancient traditions.

Previously, Yu Dan, a professor at Beijing Normal University, rebranded Confucius a contemporary sage by interpreting his Analects in a modern perspective in her book Confucius from the Heart: Ancient Wisdom for Today's World. The book brought her national prominence.”

Classics translation project

At a separate meeting held Monday, the Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) announced that scholars and translators from both home and abroad would be invited to translate China's Five Classics into English.

The Five Classics include the Book of Songs, the Book of History, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. Containing collections of folk songs, ancient rulers' writings and speeches, philosophy and cosmology, court ceremonies and histories, the books are widely known as one of the key Chinese cultural classics.

The 700,000-word original text of the selected Five Classics will be translated into one million English words and bound into 25,000 pages of volumes expected to be published within three years.

After the English version is published, other versions including French, German and Spanish will be produced.

The initiative was welcomed by both Chinese and foreigners alike.

“I would certainly welcome a new translation of the Chinese classics. They are the foundation of the illustrious Chinese civilization and should be read by all,” John Johnson, an American language teacher in Beijing, told the Global Times.

“That's a good idea and I would love to read it,” Naomi, a Thai woman told the Global Times.

“By reading Chinese classics, I can better know Chinese culture and values., giving me a better chance to woo a Chinese guy,” she added.

But some people questioned the move, concerned that the essence of Chinese values might be lost in translation.

“The intention is good. But my concern is whether the translation is good enough to be understood by international readers,” Zhang Yiwu, a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, told the Global Times.

“China should focus on building a modern China which is dynamic, open, youthful and vigorous, by promoting its popular culture, like the films by the fifth- or sixth-generation of Chinese directors. That should be the future trend,” he added.

Kou Siyuan contributed to this story