【中国系列】Read About China

Iam_zhcn

Gift-giving Revolution

China is traditionally known as the "land of ceremony and propriety", which was originally manifested in the imperial convention of exchanging gifts, in the form of tributes and rewards.

Today it is manifested in jubilant seasonal exchanges among families, friends and work associates.
Although the etiquette of gift giving has changed through the ages, its essential message of friendship and goodwil remains unchanged.

Over the past 30 years, China has experienced a transition from material shortages to economic prosperity, which is most evident in the type of gifts people exchange now.

《阅读中国》 高等教育出版社 2008年5月第1版 P2
[待续]

wyd2008

...which was originally manifested in the imperial convention of exchanging gifts, in the form of tributes and rewards.

Today it is manifested in jubilant seasonal exchanges among families, friends and work associates.

请教老师：
这两句怎么翻译？

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【大意】
过去体现在皇家礼品习俗上，就是进贡和赏赐。
现在则是家人、朋友、同事间，节日性的一种表达方式。

Iam_zhcn

From Mao Badges to MP3s

In the 1970s, Chairman Mao Zedong was revered; his portrait was hung in every household.
At that time, the most commonly and enthusiastically exchanged gifts were badges bearing the image of the great helmsman and The Selected Works of Mao Zedong.

In the early 1980s the Chinese government began implementing its reform and opening-up policy.
The essence of gift-giving etiquette subsequently shifted from spiritual support to physical sustenance.
Friends and relatives in urban areas presented one another with powdered milk, malt extract, and pastries.

In rural areas, cereals were the main gifts. Wang Wu, a veteran farmer of Shimen County, Hunan Province, recalls, "The amount of grain a farmer had at his disposal was a measure of his wealth. When there was a wedding in my immediate family, relatives would present us with two baskets of grain, transported on a shoulder pole. We would reciprocate in kind at other clan weddings."

A length of fabric was also an accepted gift in the countryside.
In certain areas, a family would present shoes to relatives shortly before a daughter's marriage.

The greater proportion of farmers was emerging from poverty, yet memories of past privations were still vivid. Gifts at that time, therefore, were generally food and clothing.

《阅读中国》 高等教育出版社 2008年5月第1版 P2-3
[待续]

Iam_zhcn

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the gift-givng trend had changed. Zhang Peng, a doctoral student at the Chinese Language Department of Nanjing University, remembers, "In the early 1990s when I was in senior high school, a relative presented me with a grain coupon of a face value of 50 kilograms. Shortly after, grain coupons were abolished." As basic commodities were in abundant supply, they were no longer rationed. Bicycles, wristwatches and electrical goods soon supplanted grain as the most popularly exchanged gifts.

In the 21st century, the public focus is on healthy living and keeping fit. This is reflected in the frequently quoted slogan: "Health-giving gifts are the best." Friends and relations now present one another with vitamins, tonics and other health products. In this era of high-tech, gifts of handsets, computers and various digital products are also commonplace. Sun Yan, who works at a publishing house in Beijng, recalls, "years ago, domestic electric appliances were the most well-received gifts in my home village in southern China. But, when I go home the next Spring Festival, I plan to give a digital camera to my elder brother and a latest MP3 to my nephew."

The advent of the Internet has expanded the scope of gifts beyond recognition. Finding sometihng truly original can consequently be a problem. When Sun Yan first took business trips he would bring back gifts he thought were characteristic of the town he had visited. To his disappointment, however, what he assumed were local specialties were also widely available in Beijing. He has since given up buying souvenir gifts.

《阅读中国》 高等教育出版社 2008年5月第1版 P3-4
[待续]