中国为何看中《简·爱》，将其列为九年级必读书目 这位维多利亚时代的女主角因其独立精神和对平等的坚持，早已在中国备受推崇。
What China Sees in ‘Jane Eyre,’ Now Required Reading for Ninth Graders The Victorian heroine has long been celebrated in China for her independence and insistence on equality.
在《简·爱》首次挑战维多利亚时代英国习俗近两个世纪后，中国正要求新一代青少年阅读她的故事。这部英国经典早已在中国广受欢迎，并被列为中小学生推荐读物。
Nearly two centuries after “Jane Eyre” first defied the conventions of Victorian England, China is requiring a new generation of teenagers to read her story. The British classic has long been popular in China and was already recommended reading for schoolchildren.
但据中国官方媒体报道，今年秋季起，全国九年级学生将被要求完整阅读这部小说。
But this fall, ninth-grade students across the country are being required to read the novel in full, according to Chinese state media.
一份官方报纸的报道将其举荐为一部反物质主义的爱情故事，供年轻人汲取教益。
One report in an official newspaper held it up as an anti-materialistic love story that young people could learn from.
书中，年轻孤儿简·爱在富有却神秘的罗切斯特先生家中担任家庭教师，这部小说因其关于独立以及男女平等的主题而在中国广受赞誉。
The book, in which the young orphan Jane Eyre works as a governess in the household of the wealthy but elusive Mr. Rochester, is widely celebrated in China for its themes of independence and equality between women and men.
中文译本最早于1925年问世，此后又出现了众多译本及舞台、影视改编作品。
A Chinese translation appeared as early as 1925, and there have since been numerous translations and adaptations for stage and screen.
1979年，一部英国电影改编版在中国影院上映，距“文革”结束仅几年，当时中国正重新向外来文化开放。
A British film adaptation was shown in Chinese theaters in 1979, just a few years after the end of the Cultural Revolution, as China was reopening to foreign culture.
加州大学圣地亚哥分校文学教授、研究中国女性主义与文学的朱平（音）表示，这部小说符合中国政府关于女性平等的愿景——这种愿景可以与传统性别角色及异性核心家庭共存。
Ping Zhu, a literature professor at the University of California, San Diego, who researches Chinese feminism and literature, said the novel is compatible with the Chinese government’s vision of women’s equality — one that can coexist with traditional gender roles and the heterosexual nuclear family.
她指出，将其纳入九年级教材，正值中国面临人口下降、政府鼓励年轻人结婚生育之际。
Its inclusion in the ninth grade textbook comes as China struggles with population decline and the government encourages young people to marry and have children, she said.
“《简·爱》讲述的是一个独立女性，但她对父权制的挑战并不算过激，”朱教授说。小说结尾，简·爱嫁给了罗切斯特先生并生下孩子。“这些都是中国政府希望年轻一代去做的事，”朱教授说。
“‘Jane Eyre’ is about an independent woman, but she’s not too outrageous in her challenge of patriarchal power,” Ms. Zhu said. By the end of the novel, Jane has married Mr. Rochester and had a child. “All these things are what the Chinese government wants the younger generation to do,” Ms. Zhu said.