《CHINA DAILY 中国日报》6月29日刊载 Ancient general is a cut above 文章标题：《威震华夏的古代将军》
英文原稿及参考译文：
The world’s largest traditional Chinese paper cut-out attracted hundreds and thousands of locals at the IDCC mall in Shah Alam, capital city of the state of Selangor in Malaysia, on June 23.
6月23日，全世界最大的中国传统剪纸在马来西亚雪兰莪州首府莎阿南市国际会议中心展出，该作品一亮相即吸引了千百名当地民众参观。
Visitors needed to take several minutes to walk past the red-and-white artwork. At more than 550 square meters, the cut-out covers an area the size of a basketball court.
参观者绕行这幅红白相间的艺术品，得花上好几分钟。这幅面积超过550平米的剪纸能够覆盖一个篮球场。
"We made about 40,000 cuts over the course of several months to make one piece of Great Wall paper cut-out," explains artist Gao Xiaodong. He made this Guinness World Record-holding creation with his wife Yan Fang three years ago in North China’s Shanxi province. "But actually, this is the artwork’s first public exhibition around the world," Gao says.
“单单为了完成其中的长城图案，我们历时数月，剪了四万多刀”，艺术家高晓东介绍道。他与妻子闫芳三年前在中国北方的山西省创作了此幅作品，并打破了吉尼斯世界纪录。高说：“事实上，这是它第一次向全球公众展出。”
The couple chose a strong starring cast to feature in their paper-cut artwork. As well as the Great Wall, one leading light is Confucius, the other is Guan Gong, a Chinese general during the Three Kingdoms period of more than 1,700 years ago.
高晓东夫妇挑选了一组“超强明星阵容”作为该幅巨作的“主角”——以长城为背景，孔子和关公构成了画面主体。关公是生活在距今1700多年前中国三国时代的一位将军。
Like King Arthur in the West, Guan Gong has been a popular historic hero among Chinese people for many centuries.
正如西方人所熟知的亚瑟王一样，关公是千百年来中国人耳熟能详的历史英雄。
And although he is a figure from history, Guan Gong is also viewed as a deity in Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Across Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, he is still worshipped in home shrines and Chinese shops and restaurants.
关公不仅是一位历史人物，同时也被中国儒家、道教、佛教及其他民间信仰奉为神明。横跨东南亚地区，包括马来西亚在内，当地华人的宗祠、商店和餐馆都仍在膜拜关公这一神邸。
The character has also popped up in some online games and manga stories popular with younger people.
关公在青少年中同样流行，并成为各类网络游戏和动漫故事中的热门角色。
Guan Gong’s continued popularity in the region explains why Soh Kok Hiang, chairman of a Malaysia-based Guan Gong cultural association, decided to bring the paper-cutting artwork to the city to mark the country’s first International Guan Gong Cultural Festival.
关公文化在亚洲地区经久不衰，也正因如此，“马来西亚关老爷文化协会”主席苏国贤决定举办该国首届国际关公文化节，并引进展出《中华双圣图》巨幅剪纸。
Over 300 people from China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries and regions attended the event to discuss the positive effects of the spirit of Guan Gong in modern society.
来自中国、印尼、新加坡、越南、马来西亚及其他国家地区的300多名代表出席了本次活动，探讨了“关公精神”在当代社会中的积极意义。
During his opening speech, Soh said that Guan Gong was renowned for his righteousness. Soo Khin Wah, a retired academic from the University of Malaysia, further pointed out that more efforts are needed to understand the key tenet of Guan Gong culture – reciprocity.
苏国贤在本届文化节开幕致辞中表示，关公素以“忠义”精神著称于世。而马来西亚学者苏庆华则进一步指出，当今社会亟待理解关公文化蕴含的要义——互惠原则。
After conducting research on sixteen Guan Gong temples and shrines in Malaysia and Singapore between 2009 and 2010, Soo found that most of the locals worshiped Guan as a wealth god, since the idol is perceived to bless the morally upright, help connect people, reduce costs and bring win-win deals.
2009至2010年间，苏庆华指导完成了一项针对马来西亚和新加坡境内16间关帝庙的田野调查。调查结果发现，大部分当地信众将关公奉为“财神”。通过这种偶像崇拜，信众能够护佑共同的“信义”道德，促进生意人的联谊加盟，减少（人际）交易成本，带来生意上的双赢。
"There is an old saying in Cantonese that ‘your teeth can be used as gold’," says Soo, meaning that keeping promises and remaining loyal are important policies underlying many successful businesses.
“广东老话讲‘牙齿当金使’，”苏庆华解释说，（关公信仰）所代表的一诺千金、笃守信义正是商业成功的重要行为准则。
Guan Zhijie from central China’s Henan Province claims to be a descendent of the historical general. "I founded a website to promote my ancestor’s traditional values and norms in such a competitive society," the 49-year-old says.
来自中国河南省的关志杰据介绍是关公的第59代后裔。“在市场竞争日益激烈的今天，我成立了一个网站，以弘扬先祖关公所代表的传统价值观和行为规范。”49岁的关志杰说。
At the event’s academic forum on June 24, Mei Hong, an assistant professor at Southwest Jiaotong University in Sichuan, said that Guan Gong worship is a significant phenomenon along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
在6月24日举办的本届文化节学术论坛上，来自中国四川西南交通大学的梅红副教授则表示，关公崇拜是“21世纪海上丝绸之路”沿岸国家的重要文化现象。
In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping initiated the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to improve connectivity across the region. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on April 28 that his country is supportive of the Belt and Road initiative.
2013年，中国国家主席习近平提出建设“新丝绸之路经济带”和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的战略构想，强调相关各国要打造互利共赢的“利益共同体”和共同发展繁荣的“命运共同体”。在今年4月28日第26届东盟峰会新闻发布会上，马来西亚总理纳吉布对于中国提出的“一带一路”战略表达了关注，他说马来西亚全力支持中国的这一战略。
"Ports on the Malay Peninsula used to be important voyage depots of China’s fleet during the early Ming Dynasty", Mei said, "It not only unites all overseas Chinese together by common cultural experiences, but benefits the development of those countries and regions."
“马来半岛上的港口早在中国明朝初年便成为郑和舰队出访航线上的重要补给站，”梅红说，“关公文化不仅能连接世界各地华人的共同的文化价值认同和文化体验”，也“势必为所在国家地区的经济发展做出贡献”。
(作者：新华社 王轲)