Emma
安末

LEVEL 1 (300 unique characters)
Clever, rich, and single, the beautiful Ān Mò (Emma Woodhouse) is focused on her career as fashion designer in the glamor of 21st-century Shanghai. She sees no need for romance in her life, but when she tries to find a boyfriend for her new friend Fangfang (Harriet), her carefully laid plans begin to unravel. As she ignores the warnings of her good friend Shi Wenzheng (Mr. Knightley), her decisions bring consequences that she never expected. With its witty and charming characters, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.
Adaptation Notes
This adaptation of Emma is approximately 200 years removed from the original, a change from the Victorian Era to the Digital Age, two widely different cultures. Although there are great differences in time and culture, we were able to find direct parallels between these two different time periods to bring this classic story to you. When Jane Austen sat down in January 1814 to write about “a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like,” she could have never imagined that one day her story would be adapted into a Chinese setting hundreds of years in the future.
However, bringing Emma into the hustle and bustle of 21st century Shanghai was no small task. In the original story, Emma was born into a wealthy family, sees no need for a man in her life, and spends much of her time dabbling in the lives of her friends and neighbors. In this adaptation, Emma has a wealthy father yet has an ambitious drive to make something of her life. She is married to her career as a fashion designer, which leaves her with no time for a man. Instead of pursuing a relationship of her own, she tries to set up her friends and co-workers.
Setting the story in modern day brought in a number of new possibilities. Hand-written letters sent via courier, commonly used in Victorian England, are replaced by text messaging. Community newspapers and bulletins as a way of spreading local news are replaced with social media, complete with likes, comments, and selfies. It is fun to note that the cover image pays homage to the movie Clueless, perhaps the most commercially successful adaptation of Emma yet.
Despite the time difference between the original and adapted version, the core essence of Emma’s personality remains intact: a spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied heroine who greatly overestimates her own skills and is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people’s lives.
The following is a list of the characters from Emma in Chinese followed by their corresponding English names from Austen’s original story. There are, of course, other characters in the story besides these, but many do not have exact correspondences to the original. The names below aren’t translations; they’re new Chinese names used for the Chinese versions of the original characters. Think of them as all-new characters in a Chinese story.
- 安末 (Ān Mò) – Emma Woodhouse
- Elton (Elton) – Philip Elton
- Jane (Jane) – Jane Fairfax
- 石文正 (Shí Wénzhèng) – George Knightley
- 芳芳 (Fāngfāng) – Harriet Smith
- 小周 (Xiǎo Zhōu) – Robert Martin
- 陈然 (Chén Rán) – Frank Churchill
在公司1,芳芳常常帮2同事3们叫外卖4,所以她跟送5外卖的小周常常见面6。小周今年23岁7,也是外地人。他爸爸是开饭店8的,他常常帮2忙送5外卖。每次他来送5外卖的时候都会跟芳芳说一会儿话。现在他们已经是朋友了。
这一天中午,小周又来送5外卖了:“芳芳,这个周末9你有时间吗?我想请你一起吃饭。”
“周末9我没什么事,但是你们店里周末9不忙吗?”芳芳笑10着问。
“我们工作日都很忙,周末9还好。”小周不好意思11地笑10了一下,“那我晚点发12发13给你,告诉14你时间和地点。”
“好,周末9见!”
- 公司 (gōngsī)n. company, corporation; office
- 帮 (bāng) v. to help; for (someone)
- 同事 (tóngshì) n. co-worker, colleague
- 叫外卖 (jiào wàimài) vo. to order take-out
- 送 (sòng) v. to deliver; to send; to give (as a present); to see off
- 见面 (jiànmiàn) vo. to meet
- 岁 (suì) mw. [measure word for years old]
- 开饭店 (kāi fàndiàn) vo. to open a restaurant
- 周末 (zhōumò) n. weekend
- 笑 (xiào) v. to laugh, to smile
- 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) adj. to feel embarrassed or awkward
- 发 (fā) v. to send out
- 短信 (duǎnxìn) n. text message
- 告诉 (gàosu) v. to tell, to inform
This is a great book like all in this series, it changes the original story and sets it in China. I have not read, nor know anything about the original story. I can only say that the story moves at a fast past keeping lots of details of what I would assume came from the original.
The story definitely kept things interesting and moved pretty quickly. I’m glad I read it and I feel it improved my Chinese reading comprehension which is extremely important to me. The book is written well, has some interesting love triangles, a few drama bombs, and introduces words in a refreshing way that doesn’t feel repetitive. If relationship drama isn’t on your list of things you find interesting maybe check out some other books from the series like the Sixty year dream or The country of the blind.
All in all, I feel like I learned things from this book and that’s very valuable to me. 🙂