Yang Xianyi

Wedding photo of Yang Xianyi (right) and Gladys Yang in 1941

Yáng Xiànyì ( Chinese  杨宪益 , W.-G. Yang Hsien-yi ; born January 10, 1915 in Tianjin , Republic of China ; died November 23, 2009 in Beijing , People's Republic of China ) was a Chinese translator who worked together with his wife Gladys Yang translated numerous works of Chinese literature into English as well as some works of English , French , Greek and Latin literature into Chinese .

biography

Yáng XianYi began in 1936 to study at Merton College of Oxford University . There he met Gladys Tayler, whom he later married. In the summer of 1940 he returned to China with Gladys and taught at universities in Chongqing , Guiyang and Chengdu . From the beginning of the 1950s, the two worked as translators for the publishing house for foreign language literature in Beijing . They had two daughters (Yang Ying and Yang Zhi) and a son. In 1968, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution , the two were arrested and accused of espionage . In 1972 they were released. After the political events of June 1989, he did not hide his criticism of the Chinese government. Yáng Xiànyì died at the age of 95.

Works

Chinese

• 《零 墨 新 笺》 中华书局 1947。
• 《译 余 偶 拾》 三联 书店 1983。
• 《漏 船 载 酒 忆 当年》 北京 十月 文艺 出版社 2001。 ( autobiography )

English

• White tiger . Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2003; ISBN 962996046X (autobiography).

Translations into English (selection)

• Guo Moruo : Chu Yuan. A Play in Five Acts . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1953.
• Chi Li: Wang Kuei and Li Hsiang-Hsiang . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1954.
• Hong Sheng: The Palace of Eternal Youth . Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1955.
• Lu Xun : Selected Works of Lu Hsün [《鲁迅 选集》]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1956-1960.
• Han Tian: The White Snake. A Peking Opera . Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1957.
• Wu Jingzi : The Scholars [《儒林外史》, The unofficial history of the forest of scholars ]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1957.
• Liang Bin: Keep the Red Flag Flying . China Youth Publishing House, 1957.
• The Forsaken Wife . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1958.
• The Man Who Sold a Ghost. Chinese Tales of the 3rd – 6th Centuries [《魏晋 南北朝 小说 选》]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1958.
• Selected Plays of Kuan Han-ching [Guan Hanqing] . Shanghai: New Art and Literature Publishing House, 1958; New editions: Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1958 and 1979.
• Feng Yuan-chun: A Short History of Classical Chinese Literature . Westport: Hyperion press, 1973.
• Lu Xun: A Brief History of Chinese Fiction [《中国 小说 史略》, 1925]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1976. (German edition: Brief history of Chinese novel poetry . Beijing: Verlag für foreign language literature, 1981.)
• Tsao Hsueh-chin Cao Xueqin , Kao Ngo [Gao E]: A Dream of Red Mansions [《红楼梦》]. Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1974; Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1978; several new editions.
• Stories About Not Being Afraid of Ghosts [《不怕 鬼 的 故事》]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1979.
• Sima Qian : Selections from Records of the Historian [《史记》, Records of the Chronicler ]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1979; New edition: Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 2008 and 2010.
• The Dragon King's Daughter. Ten Tang Dynasty Stories [《唐代 传奇 选》]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1980.
• The Courtesan's Jewel Box. Chinese stories of the Xth-XVIIth centuries . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1980.
• Lu Xun: Call to Arms . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1981.
• Lu Xun: Wandering . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1981.
• Ancient Chinese Fables . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1983.
• Liu E: The Travels of Lao Can [《老残游记》]. 1983.
• Selections from the "Book of songs" . Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 1983.
• Ding Ling : The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River . 1984.
• Poetry and Prose of the Tang and Song . 1984.
• Feng Menglong : Selected Chinese Stories of the Song and Ming Dynasties [《宋明平 话 小说 选》]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 2000.
• Qu Yuan : Selected Elegies of the State of Chu [《离骚》, Lisao ]. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 2001.

Chinese translations (selection)

• George Bernard Shaw : Pygmalion . 1982.

literature

• Lǐ Huī 李辉: Yáng Xiànyì yǔ Dài Nǎidié. Yī tóng zǒuguò《杨宪益 与 戴 乃 迭 一同 走过》. Zhengzhou, Dàxiàng chūbǎnshè 大象 出版社 2001, ISBN 7534725763 .
• Qian Duoxiu, ES-P. Almberg: Interview with Yang Xianyi. In: Translation Review Vol. 62, No. 1 (2001), pp. 17-25.
• Yáng Xiànyì 杨宪益: Wǒ yǒu liǎng gè zǔguó. Dài Nǎidié hé tā de shìjiè《我 有 两个 祖国 戴 乃 迭 和 她 的 世界》. Guilin, Guǎngxī shīfàn dàxué chūbǎnshè 广西 师范大学 出版社 2003, ISBN 756334229X .
• John Minford: Yang Xianyi. In: The Times , December 12, 2009.

Web links

• Colin Mackerras : Yang Xianyi . China Heritage Quarterly No. 25 (March 2011)
• Chen Ran: Timeless Yang Xianyi . Beijing Review , December 3, 2009.
• 賴 慈 芸 ：被 糟蹋 的 一代 譯者 ： 《他 翻譯 了 整個 中國》 選摘 （1）《風 傳媒》, December 16, 2015.
• John Gittings: Yang Xianyi obituary The Guardian , November 23, 2009.
• Delia Davin: Yang Xianyi: Translator who fell foul of authority during the Cultural Revolution Independent November 25, 2009.
• Yang Xianyi, Translator of Chinese Works, Dies at 94 New York Times , November 28, 2009
• Yang Xianyi Telegraph , December 10, 2009.

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Yang is the family name here, Xianyi is the first name.