为什么中国高中生还要学习文言文，学习文言文有什么好处

Why do Chinese students still need to learn classical Chinese in senior school? What are the benefits learning them?

为什么中国高中生还要学习文言文？学习文言文有什么好处？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Ruoyu Liu

Because they are called Classical Chinese - just like the masterpieces of Shakespeare, the values of classics won’t change over time. The promotion of vernacular Chinese (白话文) against Classical Chinese in early 20th century was aiming to allow people with little education to read texts, articles and books, but those Chinese scholars were not against great works written in Classical Chinese per se.

因为文言文就像莎士比亚的杰作一样，经典文学的价值不会随着时间的流逝而改变。20世纪初，反对文言文的白话文运动旨在让没有受过多少教育的人也可以看得懂文章和书本，但那些中国学者并不反对用文言文写就的伟大文学作品。

Also, Classical Chinese education is more than practical use and benefits, it serves as ties between past and present. If someone really asks me what’s point of learning Classical Chinese, my answer would be - to be a more interesting person.

此外，文言文教育不仅关乎实际运用和好处，它更是历史和现在的纽带。如果真的有人问我学习文言文的意义是什么，我会回答——做一个更有趣的人。

My ex-girlfriend was from Guangdong province, I met her when I was studying in Guangzhou. Geographically, my birthplace (Shann province) is 2,200 km away from hers. Linguistically, we even spoke different languages - she spoke Cantonese with her parents and I spoke Shaan Hua (a dialect of Mandarin) at home, but both of us could speak Standard Mandarin.

我的前女友是广东人，我是在广州读书时认识她的。在地理位置上，我出生的地方陕西省与她相距2200公里。在语言上，我们说的是不同的方言——她和父母说粤语，我在家说陕西话(普通话的一种方言)，但我们都会说标准普通话。

One year I took her to my hometown for travelling, she was so excited as ’an was famous for many cultural legacies. We visited the Huaqing Pool(华清池), a complex of hot springs at the foot of Mount Li, also a place famous for the scene of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang’ romance with his consort Yang Guifei. As we were wandering in Huaqing Pool, I started to recite Chang hen ge(长恨歌), one of the greatest poems we had learned at high school.

有一年我带她去西安旅游，她很兴奋，因为西安是闻名天下的文明古都。我们参观了位于骊山脚下的温泉宫—华清池，这里因为唐玄宗和妻子杨贵妃的爱情而为世人传颂。当我们在华清池漫步时，我开始背诵《长恨歌》，这是我们高中时学过的最出色的诗歌之一。

“春寒赐浴华清池”(She was privileged to bathe in Huaqing Pool on a cold day of spring), I said.

She smiled and continued, “温泉水滑洗凝脂”(Washing her creamy skin with slippery water of the warm spring).

“春寒赐浴华清池”(她有幸在春寒料峭之时沐浴于华清池里)，我起了个头。

她笑了笑，顺着背下去：“温泉水滑洗凝脂”(用温润的泉水拂洗如玉的肌肤)。

And then both of us recited the whole poem one sentence after another, when we came to the final part(Tang Poems):

在天愿作比翼鸟, 在地愿为连理枝。

Let’s be two birds in the sky flying side by side.

Let’s be two branches on the earth inseparably tied.

I held her hand and said, “Hope this is also a commitment between you and me”.

然后我们俩一人一句地背诵全诗，背到最后一节：

在天愿作比翼鸟, 在地愿为连理枝。

愿我们变成天上并肩飞翔的小鸟。

愿我们化为地上相依相偎的树枝。

我握着她的手说：“希望这也能成为你我之间的誓言。”

 

(Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei)

玄宗皇帝和杨贵妃

After that we also visited Qinglong Temple (青龙寺) at Leyou Yuan (乐游原), I asked her “Do you remember the poem ‘Climbing Leyou Yuan’ (登乐游原) written by Li Shangyin (李商隐)? We are now at Leyou Yuan!”. Her face lit up and said “Really?! We’ve learned that poem for years, it’s mind blowing, like I’m touching the history!” And both of us recited the whole poem again:

之后，我们还参观了乐游原的青龙寺，我问她：“你还记得李商隐的《登乐游原》吗？”我们现在就在乐游原呢！”她的脸色一下明亮了起来，说：“真的吗？这首诗我们好多年前就学过了，简直让人震撼，我感觉我正在触碰历史！”我们两人又把整首诗背诵了一遍：

向晚意不适，驱车登古原。

夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏。

Evening approaches finding my spirit indisposed,

So I rode a buggy up the historic site.

Sunset is ever so beautiful,

Regrettably as dusk fades, impends night.

傍晚来临了，我心神不安，

坐上一辆马车去历史遗址转转。

日落是如此的美丽，

但遗憾的是夜幕也即将降临。

It’s been years since we had broken up, but those romantic memories still remains today.

虽然我们已分手多年，但我仍记得那些浪漫的回忆。