FOR at least four centuries, from the 14th to the 18th, China was looked upon by the West with awe. The Venetian trader Marco Polo (1254-1324), whose family had long been travelers on the Silk Road, spent over 20 years exploring Asia, including much of China and Mongolia.

至少四个世纪，从14世纪到18世纪，中国被西方国家仰视与敬畏。威尼斯商人马可·波罗(1254 - 1324)，他的家人一直是丝绸之路上的旅行者，花了20多年探索亚洲，包括中国大部分地区和蒙古。

Another word for cultural power is "soft power," a subject that has increasingly over recent years challenged Chinese policymakers and thought leaders.

另一个表述文化力量的词是“软实力”，一个近年来越来越挑战中国政策制定者和思想领袖的课题。

There have been some developments. The opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics projected some brilliant images of Chinese tradition; the Chinese pavilion of the Shanghai World Exposition in 2010 was an architectural masterpiece, while its techno-artistic display of the recreation of the scroll "Along the River during the Qingming Festival by" Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145) was simply brilliant.

已经有了一些进展。2008年夏季奥运会开幕式展现了中国传统的一些精彩图像；2010年上海世博会的中国国家馆是一个建筑杰作，而其数码艺术展示的宋代画家张择端(1085 - 1145)《清明上河图》的大幅再现是极其辉煌的。

Similarly, Chinese contemporary authors are getting to be much better known in the world, a trend which should get a spurt with this year's award of the Nobel Prize of Literature to Mo Yan (born in 1955).

同样，中国当代作家越来越成为世界所熟知，这一趋势随着今年的诺贝尔文学奖得主莫言(生于1955年)而应该得到井喷。

China's rising cultural flourishing is reflected not only in the traditional arts, but also in its absorption of Western culture. China stands out especially in its embrace of Western classical music; the annual Beijing Music Festival is becoming increasingly known and hailed.

中国不断增强的文化繁荣不仅反映在传统艺术上，也反应在对西方文化的吸收上。特别是在拥抱西方古典音乐方面中国脱颖而出，一年一度的北京国际音乐节越来越知名和广受赞誉。

While these developments are important and impressive, it no doubt remains the case that China's global cultural reach remains modest when compared to that of the US and some European countries.

尽管这些发展重要且令人印象深刻，但中国的全球文化造诣与美国和一些欧洲国家相比仍然保持中等，毫无疑问事实依然如此。

Though Chinese universities are attracting more and more foreign students , the numbers pale in comparison with American, European and Australian universities. Indeed, Western soft power still exerts great impact on China as many of its students flock to Western universities.

尽管中国的大学正吸引着越来越多的外国学生，这一数字与美国、欧洲及澳大利亚的大学相比相形见绌。事实上，随着许多中国学生涌向西方大学，西方软实力依然对中国发挥着重大影响。

As its economic power matures and its population ages, China should increasingly develop its cultural fields. In the course of the decades ahead, as China may be exporting fewer goods, it should aim at exporting more culture.

由于经济实力的成熟和人口老龄化，中国应该日益发展文化领域。在未来几十年的过程中，因中国可能将出口越来越少的商品，它应该致力于出口更多的文化。

Soft power is the best means to make friends and influence people.

软实力是影响朋友和他人的最好手段。

资料来源：新概念英语网校