Three Kingdoms in Bahasa
By TAN EE LOO
educate@thestar.com.my
After seven years of meticulous work, a Chinese literary classic has been translated into Bahasa Malaysia.
STUDENT Nuriman Azri Norazhar was excited about the Bahasa Malaysia version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the critically-acclaimed classic Chinese literature.
The 13-year-old boy might not have read the book, but he had played a computer game based on the historical novel and was fascinated by the military strategies used during wartime in ancient China.
Nuriman could not contain his excitement during a bus ride to Balai Budaya Tun Syed Nasir to witness the launch of the Bahasa Malaysia version of the novel, Hikayat Tiga Negara, by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Goh Ming Lee (left) and Zarina Jaafar holding copies of Hikayat Tiga Negara, which comes in four volumes.
“He couldn’t stop telling us about the characters and the storyline during the bus ride. Other students also got very excited because of Nuriman’s sharing,” said his Chinese language teacher Kho Chiew Tong.
Nuriman, who had just started learning the Chinese language in January, said his favourite character is warlord Liu Bei.
“Liu Bei is intelligent and strong. He also has a kind heart,” said the Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah, Putrajaya, student.
Written by Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the most widely read literary works of all time, having been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai.
Set towards the end of the Han Dynasty, the historical tale revolves around three characters – Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu – and artfully depicts the meaning of brotherhood, loyalty, trust and integrity in a time of war.
Thanks to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the Creative Writing and Translation Association of Malaysia (Perspektif), Romance of the Three Kingdoms is now available in Bahasa Malaysia.
Muhyiddin holding a copy of the book at the launch. Looking on are Dr Awang (left), Goh and a Guan Gong impersonator (right).
Perspektif president Goh Hin San said it took the team about seven years to translate the book.
“When Luo wrote the book, he could not have possibly imagined the legacy he would leave behind in the history of Chinese literature,” he said.
For example, he said the character Guan Gong has achieved celebrity status.
“He displays the values of zhong (loyalty), yi (brotherhood), ren(generosity) and yong (bravery) which are commonly the yardstick for one’s behaviour,” he added.
Goh said the translation of another great classic Chinese literature,Journey to the West, or Xi You Ji, is underway and should be ready in five years.
DBP director-general Dr Awang Sariyan said classic literary works played an important role in nation-building.
“The literature works are not published just for aesthetic reasons, but they serve as important lessons for us. As the saying goes, ‘History often repeats itself’, and there are many values that we can learn, especially for building social, political, cultural and other aspects of life,” he said.
The move to publish Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Bahasa Malaysia was an initiative to promote better understanding of the world’s civilisations. As a government agency, DBP would continue to embark on projects and programmes that would enrich the literacy and knowledge of Malaysians, said Dr Awang.
Kho and his students including Nuriman (fourth from left, partially hidden) admiring a Chinese ink painting at an exhibition of arts and culture related to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
In conjunction with the book launch, there was an exhibition on arts and cultures related to that period in history.
Kho, who attended the launch in an olive green Han costume, said the field trip had given him an opportunity to show his Malay students the beauty of Chinese arts and cultures.
“As they are learning the language, it is also imperative for them to understand the cultural aspects of China. In fact, they are very interested in the book Journey to the West because of the mischievous character Monkey King,” he said.
He added that Hikayat Tiga Negara could be used as learning material for story-telling sessions in class.
Student Adlan Abdul Rahman said he would like to watch the movie version and might get a set of the books.
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