Данное издание является сокращенной версией этой стоглавой эпопеи при сохранении всей ее канвы путем тематического объединения глав в крупные части. Издание рассчитано на широкий круг читателей, поэтому наиболее важные и интересные главы представлены в нем целиком, а остальные – в виде крупных фрагментов, соединенных между собой выделенными курсивом связками от переводчика.
Исследованию романа была посвящена диссертация, в свое время защищенная переводчиком, поэтому, несмотря на общедоступный характер издания, перевод снабжен подробным комментарием, поясняющим многие исторические и культурные реалии, и не теряет ценности для специалистов-китаеведов.
За исключением перевода на английский язык последних пятнадцати глав, описывающих в основном пребывание флотилии в царстве мертвых, роман целиком – даже в таком на треть сокращенном виде – не был переведен ни на один из языков мира, поэтому российское издание «Сказа» можно по праву считать мировой премьерой.
Abstract: The translation of Luo Maodeng’s novel
The Tale of Zheng He’s Voyage to the Western Ocean (San Bao taijian Xiyang ji, 1597)
According to the generally accepted Eurocentric ideas shared by many historians, the era of great geographical discoveries of the 15>th – 16>th centuries began with the expeditions of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan. However, preceding these voyages by almost a century and greatly outdoing them in scale (considering the number of ships and participants involved) were the extraordinary expeditions conducted by the enormous Chinese armada in the first quarter of the 15>th century. Under the command of Admiral Zheng He – a palace eunuch also known as «San Bao» (meaning «Three Treasures» in reference to the three central precepts of Buddhism) – this fleet managed to reach the shores of India, Arabia, and Africa. The seven separate cycles of these epic explorations are depicted as one long sea voyage in this novel, considered one of the most outstanding in medieval Chinese literature.
The genre of «Xiyang ji» may be described as an adventure novel, a fantasy, a thriller, or even what is referred to in modern literature as a travelogue. In this regard, the novel was experimental for its time. The author wove into the geographical, historical, and mythological canvas of the work accurate documentary information derived from the diaries of expedition members as well as from contemporary treatises on various fields of knowledge. An inquisitive reader will find in the novel unique information that is often not found anywhere else. Examples vary from the construction of ships and the deployment of flotillas to the size of anchors and types of military armaments; there are also descriptions of the mores and customs of distant lands and of the Ming Empire itself, as well as a detailed description of the Buddhist Other World and Hell as it was imagined in China at the time. The book is deeply steeped in the philosophy of Buddhism, and it also includes references to the practices and rituals of Taoist sects. At the same time, the narrative is animated by comic and even erotic episodes.