英语新闻|家祭无忘告乃翁：英国北洋水师墓前，出现了“福建舰”照片

Shortly after China launched the Fujian, the country's third aircraft carrier, the good news flew thousands of miles to the memorial of Chinese heroes in foreign lands with many overseas Chinese bringing photos of the Fujian to honor the sailors buried at the Chinese Beiyang Fleet Sailors' Memorial in Newcastle, the UK.

中国第三艘航母“福建舰”下水后，这一喜讯传到了数千英里外的中华英雄纪念碑，在英国纽卡斯尔市北洋水师水兵墓地里，5座并不豪华的墓碑前摆上了“福建舰”下水的照片和鲜花。

On June 17, China's third aircraft carrier and also its second domestically developed one, the Fujian, was launched in Shanghai. The ship, with a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, is the country's first carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

6月17日，中国第三艘、也是第二艘中国制造的国产航母“福建舰”在上海下水。该舰排水量达8万余吨，是国内首艘配备电磁弹射器和拦阻装置的航母。

The move was seen by experts as a milestone in the vessel's construction and future commissioning.

专家们认为此举是航母建造和未来调试的一个里程碑。

Upon learning the good news, many Chinese in the UK or other European countries visited the Beiyang Fleet Sailors' Memorial in Newcastle, carrying photos of the ship and other advanced weaponry and the national flag, paying tribute to the heroes that sacrificed their lives and were buried in a foreign land while fighting to build up the naval forces of their motherland.

得知这个好消息后，许多在英国或其他欧洲国家的华人纷纷携带我国海军最新锐舰艇等先进武器和国旗的照片，前往位于英国纽卡斯尔的北洋水师水兵墓地，向那些为建设祖国的海军而战斗时牺牲生命、葬身异国的英雄们致敬。

The memorial, located in St John's Cemetery, contains the remains of Yuan Peifu, Gu Shizhong, Lian Jinyuan, Chen Shoufu and Chen Chengkui, five Chinese sailors and part of the first two naval delegations that China sent to Europe who died in Newcastle in the 1880s.

北洋水师水兵墓地位于圣约翰墓园，清政府北洋水师的水兵袁培福、顾世忠、连金源、陈受富和陈成魁长眠于此。这五名水兵是清政府派往赴英接舰的两批北洋水师水兵的一部分，于1880年在纽卡斯尔去世。

The five tombstones, all in Chinese style, stand back from the local tombstones, facing east as if looking far away to their homeland.

这五座墓碑均为中式风格，与当地人的墓碑相背而立，面朝东方，远眺故乡。

Echelle Wang, a PhD student in the UK, told the Global Times on Sunday that she recently visited the memorial with one picture of China's third aircraft carrier and a screenshot of Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee. Yang told the American side during the Alaska talks that the US is not qualified to speak to China from a position of strength.

6月26日，英国博士生艾歇尔·王告诉《环球时报》的记者，她最近带着一张中国第三艘航母的照片和中共中央政治局委员、中央外事工作委员会办公室主任杨洁篪的截图前往北洋水师水兵墓地。先前，杨洁篪在阿拉斯加会谈中对美方表示，美方没有资格居高临下同中国说话。

"I have long planned to visit the place and pay tribute to our national heroes as early as 2019 but the pandemic made me postpone the visit until this year," Wang said. "I was quite emotional while on my way there. It should have been a long and hard journey for those soldiers when they went all the way from China to England to buy warships, and died in a foreign land unable to return to their roots. Living in the 21st century, it is unimaginable the shame they had gone through when facing the invaders at that time," Wang mentioned.

艾歇尔·王说：“早在2019年，我就打算参观这个地方，并向我们的民族英雄致敬，但疫情使我推迟到今年。在去的路上，我感慨万分，那些水兵从中国赴英接舰，客死他乡，这对他们来说是一段漫长而艰辛的旅程。活在21世纪很难想象他们当时面对侵略者时所经历的耻辱。”

"I hope that they will know that China is no longer that poor and weak country during the First Sino-Japanese War and the Opium War. Today, the Chinese people are able to live in abundance and prosperity," she remarked.

她说：“我希望他们知道，中国不再是甲午战争和鸦片战争时期那个贫穷弱小的国家。如今，中国人民能够过上富裕繁荣的生活。”

The tombs are considered to be of historical significance that mark the birth of the Beiyang, or Northern Fleet, the most powerful naval force assembled by China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which was bolstered by four battle cruisers China bought from Britain.

这些墓碑具有历史意义，标志着北洋水师的诞生，这是中国在清朝（1644-1911年）组建的最强大的海军力量，配有中国从英国购买的四艘战列巡洋舰。

In 1881 and 1887, the government of the Qing Dynasty sent hundreds of sailors of the Beiyang Fleet to Newcastle to bring back the cruisers China bought from Britain. Five young sailors died during the mission.

1881年和1887年，清政府派两批北洋水师的数百名水手远赴英国纽卡斯尔，带回中国从英国购买的巡洋舰，其中五名年轻水手在此期间丧生。

Weathering through more than 100 years of wind and rain, the graves of the sailors were dilapidated and the gravestones collapsed but in 2019 they were successfully restored.

历经100多年风雨，这五位水兵的坟墓早已破败不堪，但在2019年成功修缮完毕。

Speaking at the restoration ceremony, the Chinese Embassy in the UK said that "in commemorating the five Beiyang Fleet sailors and revisiting China's modern history, one should never forget the national humiliation and should make every effort to achieve the Chinese dream of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

中国驻英国大使馆在修缮竣工仪式上表示：“给予为国献身者应有的尊严，帮助中国人民铭记历史，为实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦而努力奋斗。”

catapult

英[ˈkætəpʌlt]；美[ˈkætəˌpʌlt,-ˌpʊlt]

n.弹弓; 石弩; 飞机弹射器; 弹射座椅

vt.用弩炮发射; 用弹弓射; 用弹射器发射; 猛投

vi.用弹射器弹射; 快速移动

delegation

英[ˌdelɪˈɡeɪʃn]；美[ˌdelɪˈɡeɪʃn]

n.代表团；委派

invader

英[ɪnˈveɪdə(r)]；美[ɪnˈveɪdər]

n.侵略者；侵入者；侵犯者；侵入物

dilapidate

英[dɪ'læpɪdeɪt]；美[dɪˈlæpɪˌdet]

v.（使）荒废，（使部分）毁坏，浪费

英语新闻 | 家祭无忘告乃翁：英国北洋水师墓前，出现了“福建舰”照片 04:53 Share

China Daily Podcast

Shownotes Transcript

英语新闻 | 家祭无忘告乃翁：英国北洋水师墓前，出现了“福建舰”照片