Gulliver's Travels

Author: (UK) Swift
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: To comprehensively improve the Chinese literacy of primary and secondary school students, enhance the modern awareness of Chinese teaching, and vigorously promote new learning methods, the Ministry of Education issued the "Full-time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" and the "General High School Chinese Curriculum Standards" as core content of the basic education curriculum reform in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The "Chinese Curriculum Standards" serve as the basis for teaching, assessment, and examination question setting, as well as the foundation for national curriculum management and evaluation, reflecting the fundamental requirements of the state for students at different stages in terms of knowledge, skills, processes, and methods. Compared to the original "Chinese Teaching Syllabus" for primary and secondary schools, the "Chinese Curriculum Standards" have made significant revisions to the specific titles of extracurricular reading materials in the original syllabus and have stipulated the total amount of reading required for students at different stages, urging primary and secondary school students to read widely. For this reason, we have compiled and published this series of "New Curriculum Standards Chinese Must-Read Books," with all titles designated by the new standards. To assist students in reading, we have included an introductory essay before each classic, providing an in-depth yet accessible introduction to the relevant information.
The satire in Gulliver's Travels is a multi-edged sword. The first to be criticized and mocked is contemporary Britain, also known as the world's first emerging "modern society." The most extreme place Gulliver visits is Lilliput. There, he can drag an entire fleet of warships with one hand and consume a large number of chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep, along with many barrels of wine, in one meal. To transport this giant creature to the capital, the people of Lilliput use five barrels of wine. This novel not only criticizes the social reality but also consciously imitates certain languages and styles. In Lilliput, Gulliver copies an official proclamation that praises the king as the "world's most beloved" "king of kings," "with his feet on the earth and his head in the sun," and so on.