Yang Yi (translator): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Chinese literary translator (1919–2023)}} |
{{Short description|Chinese literary translator (1919–2023)}} |
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{{Family name hatnote|[[Yang (surname)|Yang]]|lang=Chinese}} |
{{Family name hatnote|[[Yang (surname)|Yang]]|lang=Chinese}} |
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{{Use |
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} |
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{{Infobox writer |
{{Infobox writer |
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| image = Yang Yi graduation photo.jpg |
| image = Yang Yi graduation photo.jpg |
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| caption = High school graduation portrait of Yang Yi |
| caption = High school graduation portrait of Yang Yi |
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| name = Yang Yi |
| name = Yang Yi |
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| native_name = 杨苡 |
| native_name = {{Nobold|杨苡}} |
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| native_name_lang = zh |
| native_name_lang = zh |
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| pseudonym = |
| pseudonym = |
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| birth_name = Yang Jingru<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=29 May 2019 |script-title=zh:第七届南京文学艺术奖获奖名单公布 |trans-title=The list of winners of the 7th Nanjing Literature and Art Awards has been announced |publisher=Sina Corp |agency=Yangtze Evening News Network |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2019-05-29/doc-ihvhiews5489606.shtml |access-date=29 January 2023 |language=zh}}</ref> |
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| birth_name = Yang Jingru |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|09|12|df=y}} |
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|09|12|df=y}} |
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| birth_place = [[Tianjin]], China |
| birth_place = [[Tianjin]], Republic of China<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance --> |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|01|27|1919|09|12|df=y}} |
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|01|27|1919|09|12|df=y}} |
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| death_place = [[Nanjing]], Jiangsu, China |
| death_place = [[Nanjing]], Jiangsu<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, China |
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| resting_place = |
| resting_place = |
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| occupation = Translator |
| occupation = Translator |
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| language = Chinese, English |
| language = Chinese, English |
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| alma_mater = |
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist| |
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* [[National Southwestern Associated University|Southwestern Associated University]] |
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* [[Nanjing University|Chongqing National Central University]] |
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}} |
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| period = 1935–2022 |
| period = 1935–2022 |
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| genre = Novel |
| genre = Novel |
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| partner = |
| partner = |
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| children = |
| children = |
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| relatives = {{ |
| relatives = {{Plainlist| |
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* [[Yang Xianyi]] |
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* {{#ifexist: Yang Minru|[[Yang Minru]]}} |
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}} |
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| awards = |
| awards = |
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| signature = |
| signature = |
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| website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> |
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> |
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| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes |
| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes |
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| s = |
| s = 杨苡 |
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| t = |
| t = 楊苡 |
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| p = Yáng Yì |
| p = Yáng Yì |
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| bpmf = ㄧㄤˊ ㄧˋ |
| bpmf = ㄧㄤˊ ㄧˋ |
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| gr = Yang Yih |
| gr = Yang Yih |
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| altname = |
| altname = Yang Jingru |
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| s2 = |
| s2 = 杨静如 |
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| t2 = |
| t2 = 楊靜如 |
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| p2 = Yáng Jìngrú |
| p2 = Yáng Jìngrú |
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| bpmf2 = ㄧㄤˊ ㄐㄧㄥˋㄖㄨˊ |
| bpmf2 = ㄧㄤˊ ㄐㄧㄥˋㄖㄨˊ |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Yang |
'''Yang Jingru''' ({{zh|s=杨静如|link=no}}; 12 September 1919 – 27 January 2023),<ref name=":0">{{cite news |date=28 January 2023 |title=Renowned translator Yang Yi dies at 103 |work=China Daily |url=https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202301/28/WS63d4eba7a31057c47ebab935.html |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref> known as '''Yang Yi''' ({{zh|s=杨苡|labels=no}}), was a Chinese translator of literary works. Her translation of ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'', called ''Huxiao Shanzhuang'', was reprinted many times since 1980,<ref name=":3" /> and is regarded as a classic and authoritative translation in China.<ref name=":7" /> She was also well known for her lifelong friendship with Chinese novelist [[Ba Jin]],<ref name=":1" /> and her works about the author, including ''The Collection of the Mud in Snow'', a compilation of his letters,<ref name=":1" /> and "An Interview with Ba Jin".<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Cheng |first=George |title=Selected Works by Twentieth-Century Chinese Authors |year=1980 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/42769671 |journal=Modern Chinese Literature Newsletter |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=47–49 |jstor=42769671}}</ref> A writer of poetry, prose, and children's literature,<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=De |first=Lin |date=24 September 2022 |script-title=zh:翻译家、作家杨苡: 文学浸润的人生,饱满而光洁 |trans-title=Translator and writer Yang Yi: A life of literary immersion, full and bright |work=[[Qilu Evening News]] |url=http://m.cyol.com/gb/articles/2022-09/24/content_JVBq7hZyN.html |access-date=28 January 2023 |language=zh}}</ref> one of her later projects was a book of poems translated by Yang Yi and her brother, [[Yang Xianyi]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Liu |first=Mengni |date=16 September 2022 |script-title=zh:百岁杨苡的翻译人生 |trans-title=Translation of a hundred-year-old Yang Yi's life |language=zh |work=Xinhua Daily Telegraph |url=http://www.news.cn/mrdx/2022-09/16/c_1310663237.htm |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref> who predeceased her in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 November 2009 |title=Guru of literary Translation Yang Xianyi passes away |work=CCTV.com |url=http://www.cctv.com/english/special/news/20091125/102897_1.shtml |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref> |
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In 2019, Yang Yi received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nanjing Literature and Art Awards.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 January 2023 |script-title=zh:追忆著名翻译家杨苡:《呼啸山庄》译名灵感来源于一个雨夜 |trans-title=Recalling the famous translator Yang Yi: The translation of 'Wuthering Heights' was inspired by a rainy night |language=zh |work=Southern Metropolis Daily APP |url=https://m.mp.oeeee.com/a/BAAFRD000020230128759914.html |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Her autobiography, an oral history of her life compiled and edited by Nanjing University professor Yu Bin, was published in 2022.<ref name=":4" /> A long-time resident of [[Nanjing]], Yang Yi died |
In 2019, Yang Yi received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nanjing Literature and Art Awards.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 January 2023 |script-title=zh:追忆著名翻译家杨苡:《呼啸山庄》译名灵感来源于一个雨夜 |trans-title=Recalling the famous translator Yang Yi: The translation of 'Wuthering Heights' was inspired by a rainy night |language=zh |work=Southern Metropolis Daily APP |url=https://m.mp.oeeee.com/a/BAAFRD000020230128759914.html |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Her autobiography, an oral history of her life compiled and edited by Nanjing University professor Yu Bin, was published in 2022.<ref name=":4" /> A long-time resident of [[Nanjing]], Yang Yi died in January 2023, at the age of 103.<ref name=":0" /> |
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== Early life and education == |
== Early life and education == |
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[[File:Yang Xianyi mother Yang Yi Yang Minru.jpg|left|thumb|Yang Yi (second from right) with her brother, mother, and sister]] |
[[File:Yang Xianyi mother Yang Yi Yang Minru.jpg|left|thumb|Yang Yi (second from right) with her brother, mother, and sister ({{c.|1928}})]] |
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Born in [[Tianjin]] in 1919, Yang Jingru was the youngest child of Yang Yuzhang, the first president of the Tianjin branch of [[Bank of China]] during the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republican era]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Luo |first=Xin |date=29 January 2023 |script-title=zh:杨苡:我虽平凡,却有人可念,有事想说 |trans-title=Yang Yi: Although I'm ordinary, someone can read it, I have something to say |language=zh |work=[[The Paper (newspaper)|The Paper]] |url=http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2023/0129/c431803-32613502.html |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Her father, who had married her mother as a second wife,<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Song |first=Chundan |date= |
Born in [[Tianjin]] in 1919, Yang Jingru was the youngest child of Yang Yuzhang, the first president of the Tianjin branch of [[Bank of China]] during the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republican era]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Luo |first=Xin |date=29 January 2023 |script-title=zh:杨苡:我虽平凡,却有人可念,有事想说 |trans-title=Yang Yi: Although I'm ordinary, someone can read it, I have something to say |language=zh |work=[[The Paper (newspaper)|The Paper]] |url=http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2023/0129/c431803-32613502.html |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Her father, who had married her mother as a second wife,<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Song |first=Chundan |date=8 February 2021 |title=百岁杨苡:"已故少女"回忆录 |language=zh |work=中国新闻周刊 [China Newsweek] |url=https://www.fx361.com/page/2021/0208/7559614.shtml |access-date=31 January 2023}}</ref> died the year she was born.<ref name=":3" /> Her brother, [[Yang Xianyi]], went on to become an internationally known literary translator, while her sister, Yang Minru, became a professor of classical literature.<ref name=":4" /> |
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From the age of eight, Yang attended the church-run Chinese and Western Girls' School,<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Wang |first=Jingjing |date=7 August 2015 |
From the age of eight, Yang attended the church-run Chinese and Western Girls' School,<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Wang |first=Jingjing |date=7 August 2015 |script-title=zh:翻译家杨苡回忆西南联大里的爱情 |language=zh |work={{lang|zh|《环球人物》杂志}} [Global People Magazine] |editor-last=Xu |editor-first=Luan |url=http://world.haiwainet.cn/n/2015/0807/c345796-29031884.html |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> learning English by watching foreign films.<ref name=":0" /> In 1935, the [[December 9th Movement|9 December movement]] made her want to do more than read books to help China resist Japanese aggression.<ref name=":3" /> Like many teenagers, Yang read the novel [[Family (Ba Jin novel)|''Family'' by Ba Jin]].<ref name=":3" /> Depressed by her own circumstances, which she likened to being trapped in a "golden cage", Yang wrote to a formal letter to [[Ba Jin]] about her frustration.<ref name=":3" /> To her surprise, Ba Jin wrote back, and they continued exchanging letters for over fifty years, bonding over a shared love of literature.<ref name=":3" /> She later compiled 60 of the letters Ba Jin had written and annotated them, in a book called ''The Collection of the Mud in Snow'' ({{zh|s=雪泥集|labels=no}}).<ref name=":3" /> |
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Ba Jin assured her that "the future will be beautiful",<ref name=":3" />{{Efn|The sentence Yang often quoted from Bai was "{{zh|s=未来是美好的|labels=no}}".<ref name=":3" />}} and encouraged her to write.<ref name=":0" /> Yang Yi published her first poems in 1936.<ref name=":0" /> In 1937, she graduated from high school and was accepted to [[Nankai University]], but her life changed with the capture of [[Northern and southern China|northern China]] including Tianjin by Japanese forces, at the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref name=":3" /> Following the arrest of Shao Gunxiang, the editor-in-chief of a magazine she had contributed to pseudonymously,<ref name=":5" /> Yang feared reprisal for the anti-Japanese sentiments in her poetry,<ref name=":0" /> and fled Japanese-occupied Tianjin on 7 July 1938, one year after the [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> Journeying through Hong Kong and [[Vietnam|Annam]] with one of her cousins,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> she eventually arrived in [[Kunming]].<ref name=":0" /> |
Ba Jin assured her that "the future will be beautiful",<ref name=":3" />{{Efn|The sentence Yang often quoted from Bai was "{{zh|s=未来是美好的|labels=no}}".<ref name=":3" />}} and encouraged her to write.<ref name=":0" /> Yang Yi published her first poems in 1936.<ref name=":0" /> In 1937, she graduated from high school and was accepted to [[Nankai University]], but her life changed with the capture of [[Northern and southern China|northern China]] including Tianjin by Japanese forces, at the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref name=":3" /> Following the arrest of Shao Gunxiang, the editor-in-chief of a magazine she had contributed to pseudonymously,<ref name=":5" /> Yang feared reprisal for the anti-Japanese sentiments in her poetry,<ref name=":0" /> and fled Japanese-occupied Tianjin on 7 July 1938, one year after the [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> Journeying through Hong Kong and [[Vietnam|Annam]] with one of her cousins,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> she eventually arrived in [[Kunming]].<ref name=":0" /> |
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In Kunming, Yang entered [[National Southwestern Associated University|Southwestern Associated University]], originally intending to study Chinese literature.<ref name=":0" /> On the advice of writer [[Shen Congwen]], who was teaching at the university, Yang changed her major to English instead, and decided to focus on literary translation in the foreign languages department.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Active in campus life, Yang joined the literary society with poets such as [[Mu Dan]], as well as her future husband, Zhao Ruihong;<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Ruihong |title=Dialogues on the Theory and Practice of Literary Translation |last2=Yang |first2=Yi |last3=Xu |first3=Jun |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |isbn=9780429287848 |chapter=Translation and creative writing}}</ref> participated in the Yunnan branch of the Anti-enemy Literature and Art Association;<ref name=":8" /> and contributed poetry to the magazine ''Songs of War'' ({{zh|s=战歌|labels=no}})<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=16 January 2015 |title= |script-title=zh:杨苡和她的《呼啸山庄》 |language=zh |trans-title=Yang Yi and her Wuthering Heights |work={{zh|s=天津日报|labels=no}} [Tianjin Daily] |publication-date=11 February 2015 |url=https://www.tsinghua.org.cn/info/1014/11674.htm |access-date= |
In Kunming, Yang entered [[National Southwestern Associated University|Southwestern Associated University]], originally intending to study Chinese literature.<ref name=":0" /> On the advice of writer [[Shen Congwen]], who was teaching at the university, Yang changed her major to English instead, and decided to focus on literary translation in the foreign languages department.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Active in campus life, Yang joined the literary society with poets such as [[Mu Dan]], as well as her future husband, Zhao Ruihong;<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Ruihong |title=Dialogues on the Theory and Practice of Literary Translation |last2=Yang |first2=Yi |last3=Xu |first3=Jun |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |isbn=9780429287848 |chapter=Translation and creative writing}}</ref> participated in the Yunnan branch of the Anti-enemy Literature and Art Association;<ref name=":8" /> and contributed poetry to the magazine ''Songs of War'' ({{zh|s=战歌|labels=no}})<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=16 January 2015 |title= |script-title=zh:杨苡和她的《呼啸山庄》 |language=zh |trans-title=Yang Yi and her Wuthering Heights |work={{zh|s=天津日报|labels=no}} [Tianjin Daily] |publication-date=11 February 2015 |url=https://www.tsinghua.org.cn/info/1014/11674.htm |access-date=30 January 2023}}</ref> and ''[[Ta Kung Pao]].''<ref name=":8" /> After two years, Yang moved to the foreign languages department at [[Nanjing University|Chongqing National Central University]].<ref name=":6" /> During her college years, Yang studied with many leading scholars of translation such as Chen Jia and Pan Jiaxun.<ref name=":7" /> |
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== Career == |
== Career == |
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==== ''Wuthering Heights'' ==== |
==== ''Wuthering Heights'' ==== |
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Yang Yi had first discovered ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' as a middle school student in Tianjin, when she went to the cinema to watch a Hollywood film adaptation of the novel. |
Yang Yi had first discovered ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' as a middle school student in Tianjin, when she went to the cinema to watch a Hollywood film adaptation of the novel.<ref name=":6" /> In 1944, she happened to find the book in the library at Chongqing Central University.<ref name=":6" /> According to Yang, she was motivated to translate ''Wuthering Heights'' by [[Emily Brontë]], so that she could prove that it was "superior" to ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', the famous novel written by the author's sister, [[Charlotte Brontë]].<ref name=":6" /> Ba Jin was supportive of her ambition to retranslate ''Wuthering Heights'', and encouraged her to take her time in translating with great care to convey the true meaning of the original work.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |year=1995 |script-title=zh:杨苡和《呼啸山庄》 |url=https://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?FileName=CBGJ199506020&DbName=CJFQ1995 |website=zzqklm.com |language=zh |issue=6 |via=CNKI}}</ref> She started translating ''Wuthering Heights'' in 1953.<ref name=":6" /> |
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In October 1955, Shanghai Pingming, the publishing house founded by Ba Jin in the late 1940s, published Yang Yi's translation of ''Wuthering Heights'',<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Han |first=Wenjing |date=21 December 2019 |title=名著翻译乱象中译本的经典化因素研究—以杨苡版《呼啸山庄》译本为例 |language=zh |work= |
In October 1955, Shanghai Pingming, the publishing house founded by Ba Jin in the late 1940s, published Yang Yi's translation of ''Wuthering Heights'',<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Han |first=Wenjing |date=21 December 2019 |script-title=zh:名著翻译乱象中译本的经典化因素研究—以杨苡版《呼啸山庄》译本为例 |language=zh |work=zzqklm.com |url=https://www.zzqklm.com/w/sklw/26138.html |access-date=30 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /> with a first run of 11,000 copies.<ref name=":7" /> There was new interest in the novel in China, due in part to [[Karl Marx]]'s praise for Brontë's critique of the bourgeoisie and capitalist society, and Yang Yi's translation was well received among readers.<ref name=":7" /> Although there had been several translations of the novel previously, including those by Wu Guangjian, [[Liang Shih-chiu|Liang Shiqiu]], and Luo Sai, each of them had used a different title in Chinese.<ref name=":3" /> Yang Yi came up with the Chinese title for ''Wuthering Heights'', ''Huxiao Shanzhuang'' (呼啸山庄, "whistling/screaming mountain villa"), to convey the natural environment and mood of the setting, and this became the authoritative title for the work in China.<ref name=":3" /> According to literary critics, the distinguishing characteristics of Yang Yi's translation included the care and respect with which she described the female characters, as well as her efforts to stay true to the original work, while also carefully choosing words that were accessible to Chinese readers.<ref name=":7" /> |
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''Wuthering Heights'', like many other works of literature, was suppressed during the [[Cultural Revolution]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> During the [[Chinese economic reform|post-Mao reform]] era, the Jiangsu People's Publishing House started translating and publishing contemporary Western literary works, and was looking for a foreign masterpiece to feature in its collection.<ref name=":10" /> On the recommendation of Anhui University professor [[Wu Ningkun]], a former classmate at Southwestern Associated University, the publishing house decided to re-release ''Wuthering Heights''.<ref name=":10" /> Twenty-five years after it was first published, Yang Yi revised her 1955 translation, adapting some of the language in light of the more "diverse" readership in contemporary China,<ref name=":7" /> and familiarised herself with issues such as typefaces and layout to provide input as the book was prepared for publication.<ref name=":10" /> |
''Wuthering Heights'', like many other works of literature, was suppressed during the [[Cultural Revolution]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> During the [[Chinese economic reform|post-Mao reform]] era, the Jiangsu People's Publishing House started translating and publishing contemporary Western literary works, and was looking for a foreign masterpiece to feature in its collection.<ref name=":10" /> On the recommendation of Anhui University professor [[Wu Ningkun]], a former classmate at Southwestern Associated University, the publishing house decided to re-release ''Wuthering Heights''.<ref name=":10" /> Twenty-five years after it was first published, Yang Yi revised her 1955 translation, adapting some of the language in light of the more "diverse" readership in contemporary China,<ref name=":7" /> and familiarised herself with issues such as typefaces and layout to provide input as the book was prepared for publication.<ref name=":10" /> |
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In July 1980, Yang Yi's updated translation was published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House, with an initial sold-run run of 350,000 copies.<ref name=":7" /> Hunan Publishing House worked with Yang Yi to release an abridged edition of ''Wuthering Heights'' as part of a set of world literature classics.<ref name=":8" /> From 1990, ''Wuthering Heights'' was published by Yilin Publishing House, and by June 2001, it had been reprinted a total of 15 times.<ref name=":7" /> In subsequent years, Yilin released hardcover, paperback, and abridged editions of Yang Yi's translation, and had considerable success with sales, with 26 further printings over a ten-year period.<ref name=":7" /> |
In July 1980, Yang Yi's updated translation was published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House, with an initial sold-run run of 350,000 copies.<ref name=":7" /> Hunan Publishing House worked with Yang Yi to release an abridged edition of ''Wuthering Heights'' as part of a set of world literature classics.<ref name=":8" /> From 1990, ''Wuthering Heights'' was published by Yilin Publishing House, and by June 2001, it had been reprinted a total of 15 times.<ref name=":7" /> In subsequent years, Yilin released hardcover, paperback, and abridged editions of Yang Yi's translation, and had considerable success with sales, with 26 further printings over a ten-year period.<ref name=":7" /> |
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Over time, Yang Yi's translation of ''Wuthering Heights'' endured as the "stand out" translation in China, even as over one hundred translations coexisted during the "translation boom" in later years.<ref name=":7" /> Her translation won the Nanjing Jinling Literature Prize for 1979–1986, the only translated work to be so honored, and received the 7th National Excellent Bestseller Award.<ref name=":8" /> Yang Yi's translation has also been distributed by another publisher in Taiwan,<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lai |first=Sharon Tzu-yun |date=September 2013 |title=Wuthering Heights in Taiwan: Translations, Adaptations and other Derivative Works |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=91585108&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=Compilation & Translation Review |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=1–39 |via=EBSCOHost}}</ref> and as of 2019, was the only Chinese version held in the collection of the |
Over time, Yang Yi's translation of ''Wuthering Heights'' endured as the "stand out" translation in China, even as over one hundred translations coexisted during the "translation boom" in later years.<ref name=":7" /> Her translation won the Nanjing Jinling Literature Prize for 1979–1986, the only translated work to be so honored, and received the 7th National Excellent Bestseller Award.<ref name=":8" /> Yang Yi's translation has also been distributed by another publisher in Taiwan,<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lai |first=Sharon Tzu-yun |date=September 2013 |title=Wuthering Heights in Taiwan: Translations, Adaptations and other Derivative Works |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=91585108&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=Compilation & Translation Review |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=1–39 |via=EBSCOHost}}</ref> and as of 2019, was the only Chinese version held in the collection of the [[Brontë Parsonage Museum]].<ref name=":7" /> |
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==== Other translated works ==== |
==== Other translated works ==== |
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Yang Yi's other highly acclaimed translations included the Chinese translation of [[William Blake]]'s ''[[Songs of Innocence and of Experience]]'' (天真与经验之歌), as well as [[David Weiss (novelist)|David Weiss]]'s ''[[Naked Came I|Naked Came I: A Novel of Rodin]]'' (我赤裸裸地来 |
Yang Yi's other highly acclaimed translations included the Chinese translation of [[William Blake]]'s ''[[Songs of Innocence and of Experience]]'' ({{zh|s=天真与经验之歌|labels=no}}), as well as [[David Weiss (novelist)|David Weiss]]'s ''[[Naked Came I|Naked Came I: A Novel of Rodin]]'' ({{zh|s=我赤裸裸地来:罗丹传|labels=no}}), a biographical novel about sculptor [[Auguste Rodin]].<ref name=":3" /> |
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In addition, she translated the English versions of works from the [[Soviet Union]],<ref name=":8" /> including [[Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy]]'s ''The Russian Character'' (俄罗斯性格) and a novel called ''The Never-Setting Sun'' (永远不会落的太阳),<ref name=":6" /> both of which were reprinted many times in large volumes in China.<ref name=":8" /> |
In addition, she translated the English versions of works from the [[Soviet Union]],<ref name=":8" /> including [[Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy]]'s ''The Russian Character'' ({{zh|s=俄罗斯性格|labels=no}}) and a novel called ''The Never-Setting Sun'' ({{zh|s=永远不会落的太阳|labels=no}}),<ref name=":6" /> both of which were reprinted many times in large volumes in China.<ref name=":8" /> |
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Following the re-release of ''Wuthering Heights'', Yang Yi worked with a group of young translators on the Chinese edition of [[W. Somerset Maugham]]'s ''[[Ten Novels and Their Authors]]'', and translated the chapter on "Emily Brontë and ''Wuthering Heights''".<ref name=":8" /> |
Following the re-release of ''Wuthering Heights'', Yang Yi worked with a group of young translators on the Chinese edition of [[W. Somerset Maugham]]'s ''[[Ten Novels and Their Authors]]'', and translated the chapter on "Emily Brontë and ''Wuthering Heights''".<ref name=":8" /> |
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=== Teaching === |
=== Teaching === |
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Yang Yi taught English as a middle school teacher |
After graduating from university Yang Yi taught English as a middle school teacher.<ref name=":8" /> In 1949, she started teaching Chinese.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=杨苡 (1919~2023.1.27) |url=http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2016/0627/c404952-28495818.html |access-date=1 February 2023 |website=China Writers Association – Member Profile |language=zh}}</ref> In 1956, she was sent to [[Karl Marx University, Leipzig|Karl Marx University]] in [[Leipzig|Leipzig, East Germany]], where she was a lecturer with the school of Oriental languages for one year.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> |
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From 1960 onward, Yang Yi taught at [[Nanjing Normal University]] in the department of foreign languages.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> From 1966 to 1972, her teaching career was interrupted by the [[Cultural Revolution]], when she was subjected to criticism, isolation, and hard labor for having |
From 1960 onward, Yang Yi taught at [[Nanjing Normal University]] in the department of foreign languages.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> From 1966 to 1972, her teaching career was interrupted by the [[Cultural Revolution]], when she was subjected to criticism, isolation, and hard labor for having translated ''Wuthering Heights'', and having "preached the theory of class reconciliation and the extinction of class struggle", "advocated the supremacy of love", and other crimes.<ref name=":8" /> Her brother, literary translator [[Yang Xianyi]], and her sister-in-law, [[Gladys Yang]], were both imprisoned as "class enemies" during this period.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=10 December 2009 |title=Obituary of Yang Xianyi |work=The Telegraph |location=London, United Kingdom |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/6782148/Yang-Xianyi.html |access-date=1 February 2023}}</ref> In 1972, Yang Yi was "released" and resumed working at Nanjing Normal University, teaching "general reading" before being transferred to the United Nations document translation group.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> In 1980, she decided to resign and retire from the university, rather than wait for a promotion to professor.<ref name=":10" /> |
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=== Writing and editing === |
=== Writing and editing === |
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==== Children's literature ==== |
==== Children's literature ==== |
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After returning from East Germany, Yang Yi became a special editor at the journal ''Yuhua'' literature monthly, and began writing poetry for children.<ref name=":8" /> During the [[Anti-Rightist Campaign |
After returning from East Germany, Yang Yi became a special editor at the journal ''Yuhua'' literature monthly, and began writing poetry for children.<ref name=":8" /> During the [[Anti-Rightist Campaign]] years, her works for children including "The Story of Problems" and "The Story of the Cinema" were heavily criticized by party members in [[Jiangsu]] for being "reactionary",<ref name=":10" /> despite receiving critical acclaim in other parts of the country, such as Beijing and Shanghai.<ref name=":8" /> Nevertheless, in 1958, Yang Yi's poem "Beijing–Moscow" was published in the ''Anthology of Children's Literature'' by the People's Literature Publishing House, and in 1959, her poem "Do Your Own Things by Yourself" ({{zh|s=自己的事自己做|labels=no}}) won the Outstanding Children's Literature Award on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.<ref name=":8" /> |
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==== Works on Ba Jin ==== |
==== Works on Ba Jin ==== |
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Starting in 1935, Yang Yi exchanged letters with [[Ba Jin]] for 69 years.<ref name=":10" /> Over the years, many of Ba Jin's letters were lost or destroyed.<ref name=":10" /> In 1938, when Japanese forces entered the French concession in Tianjin, Yang's mother burned more than a dozen of his letters.<ref name=":10" /> Several more of his letters were lost as Yang Yi traveled to Kunming and Chongqing.<ref name=":10" /> During the Cultural Revolution, she reluctantly destroyed letters that might be "incriminate" Ba Jin, such as a letter from the early 1960s in which he had described the environment of "criticism" that had emerged in China, and gave 23 of his letters to friends for safekeeping.<ref name=":10" /> |
Starting in 1935, Yang Yi exchanged letters with [[Ba Jin]] for 69 years.<ref name=":10" /> Over the years, many of Ba Jin's letters were lost or destroyed.<ref name=":10" /> In 1938, when Japanese forces entered the French concession in Tianjin, Yang's mother burned more than a dozen of his letters.<ref name=":10" /> Several more of his letters were lost as Yang Yi traveled to Kunming and Chongqing.<ref name=":10" /> During the Cultural Revolution, she reluctantly destroyed letters that might be "incriminate" Ba Jin, such as a letter from the early 1960s in which he had described the environment of "criticism" that had emerged in China, and gave 23 of his letters to friends for safekeeping.<ref name=":10" /> |
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Following a confrontation with [[Red Guards]] who slapped her for not cooperating, Yang Yi handed over 23 letters from Ba Jin to a task force, warning them that they would be held responsible in the future if any of the letters went missing.<ref name=":10" /> When she was finally "cleared" in 1972, |
Following a confrontation with [[Red Guards]] who slapped her for not cooperating, Yang Yi handed over 23 letters from Ba Jin to a task force, warning them that they would be held responsible in the future if any of the letters went missing.<ref name=":10" /> When she was finally "cleared" in 1972, all the letters were returned to her.<ref name=":10" /> |
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In 1981, she wrote "An Interview with Ba Jin", which was published by Panda Books in an edited volume introducing Western readers to his works.<ref name=":11" /> In 1987, Yang Yi compiled 60 of the remaining letters she had from Ba Jin in a volume called ''The Collection of the Mud in Snow'' (雪泥集).<ref name=":3" /> She annotated the letters and wrote a postscript for the book, which was published by Sanlian Press.<ref name=":3" /> In the letters, Ba Jin discusses literature, books, and periodicals – the art of creation and translation, as well as the business of book publishing – and recommends and critiques various works, including Yang Yi's own writing and translation.<ref name=":3" /> On November |
In 1981, she wrote "An Interview with Ba Jin", which was published by Panda Books in an edited volume introducing Western readers to his works.<ref name=":11" /> In 1987, Yang Yi compiled 60 of the remaining letters she had from Ba Jin in a volume called ''The Collection of the Mud in Snow'' ({{zh|s=雪泥集|labels=no}}).<ref name=":3" /> She annotated the letters and wrote a postscript for the book, which was published by Sanlian Press.<ref name=":3" /> In the letters, Ba Jin discusses literature, books, and periodicals – the art of creation and translation, as well as the business of book publishing – and recommends and critiques various works, including Yang Yi's own writing and translation.<ref name=":3" /> On 22 November 1997, Yang Yi went to Shanghai East China Hospital to visit Ba Jin for the last time. His last words to her were, "Write more."<ref name=":3" /> |
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==== Works in later years ==== |
==== Works in later years ==== |
||
Once she retired from teaching, Yang Yi spent more time on writing shorter pieces such as essays and novellas,<ref name=":3" /> noted for their wit and satire.<ref name=":8" /> In 1986, her article "Dreaming of Xiaoshan", in which she remembers her college classmate and friend who married Ba Jin, received a readers' choice award from ''People's Literature Magazine''.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> Her other prose works included "Three Mountains", which won second place in the inaugural national microfiction competition, and "Moonlight Like a Dream", which placed second in the Jinling Mingyue Prose Competition.<ref name=":3" /> |
Once she retired from teaching, Yang Yi spent more time on writing shorter pieces such as essays and novellas,<ref name=":3" /> noted for their wit and satire.<ref name=":8" /> In 1986, her article "Dreaming of Xiaoshan", in which she remembers her college classmate and friend who married Ba Jin, received a readers' choice award from ''People's Literature Magazine''.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> Her other prose works included "Three Mountains", which won second place in the inaugural national microfiction competition, and "Moonlight Like a Dream", which placed second in the Jinling Mingyue Prose Competition.<ref name=":3" /> |
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After her brother, Yang Xianyi, died in 2009,<ref name=":12" /> Yang Yi compiled and edited a volume of poetry translated by her late brother and herself.<ref name=":1" /> First published in 2012, an updated edition was published in 2022 by Chinese Translation Publishing House.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |last=Gao |first=Dan |date= |
After her brother, Yang Xianyi, died in 2009,<ref name=":12" /> Yang Yi compiled and edited a volume of poetry translated by her late brother and herself.<ref name=":1" /> First published in 2012, an updated edition was published in 2022 by Chinese Translation Publishing House.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |last=Gao |first=Dan |date=21 September 2022 |script-title=zh:《杨宪益杨苡兄妹译诗》:将人生活成诗歌 |language=zh |work=[[The Paper (newspaper)|The Paper]] |url=https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19992635 |access-date=1 February 2023}}</ref> Called ''Brother–Sister Translated Poems'' ({{zh|s=兄妹译诗|labels=no}}) or ''Translated Poems by Yang Xianyi and Yang Yi'', it features more than 100 of their favorite poems.<ref name=":13" /> Most of the poems are translated from English, and include modern classics such as "[[Loveliest of Trees]]" by [[A. E. Housman]], "[[The Hollow Men]]" by [[T. S. Eliot]], and "Solomon and the Witch" by [[W. B. Yeats]].<ref name=":13" /> The 2022 edition includes a poem which had been cut from the original due to its length – "[[The Prisoner of Chillon]]" by [[Lord Byron]] – translated by Yang Yi.<ref name=":13" /> |
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== Personal life and death== |
== Personal life and death== |
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Yang Yi met Zhao Ruihong at Southwestern Associated University in Kunming.<ref name=":5" /> They married on 13 August 1940, publishing a newspaper announcement but foregoing a formal wedding due to the ongoing war.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news |last=Dai |first=Jun |date=28 January 2023 |title=103岁著名翻译家杨苡逝世,曾翻译《呼啸山庄》,丧事一切从简 |language=zh | |
Yang Yi met Zhao Ruihong at Southwestern Associated University in Kunming.<ref name=":5" /> They married on 13 August 1940, publishing a newspaper announcement but foregoing a formal wedding due to the ongoing war.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news |last=Dai |first=Jun |date=28 January 2023 |script-title=zh:103岁著名翻译家杨苡逝世,曾翻译《呼啸山庄》,丧事一切从简 |language=zh |publisher=Sina Corp |url=https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1420555367_54abf467001015u7l.html |access-date=1 February 2023}}</ref> Zhao was also a translator and literary expert, known for his Chinese translation of ''[[The Red and the Black]]'' by [[Stendhal]], and was a co-founder of the Chinese Society of Comparative Literature.<ref name=":14" /> One of their children is writer and painter Zhao Heng.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yi |first=Ouyang |date=6 May 2006 |script-title=zh:赵蘅:用两支笔解说家族历史 |language=zh |publisher=Sina Corp |url=http://finance.sina.com.cn/media/bkcb/20060507/15202547106.shtml |access-date=1 February 2023}}</ref> |
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An oral autobiography of Yang Yi's life, ''One Hundred Years, Many People, Many Things'', was published in 2022.<ref name=":4" /> She died on 27 January 2023, aged 103.<ref name=":0" /> |
An oral autobiography of Yang Yi's life, ''One Hundred Years, Many People, Many Things'', was published in 2022.<ref name=":4" /> She died on 27 January 2023, aged 103.<ref name=":0" /> |
Revision as of 10:30, 23 July 2024
Yang Yi | |||||||||||
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![]() High school graduation portrait of Yang Yi | |||||||||||
Native name | 杨苡 | ||||||||||
Born | Yang Jingru[1] 12 September 1919 Tianjin, Republic of China | ||||||||||
Died | 27 January 2023 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | (aged 103)||||||||||
Occupation | Translator | ||||||||||
Sprache | Chinese, English | ||||||||||
Alma mater | |||||||||||
Period | 1935–2022 | ||||||||||
Genre | Novel | ||||||||||
Notable works | Wuthering Heights (translation) | ||||||||||
Spouse | Zhao Ruihong | ||||||||||
Relatives | |||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 楊苡 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 杨苡 | ||||||||||
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Yang Jingru | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 楊靜如 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 杨静如 | ||||||||||
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Yang Jingru (Chinese: 杨静如; 12 September 1919 – 27 January 2023),[2] known as Yang Yi (杨苡), was a Chinese translator of literary works. Her translation of Wuthering Heights, called Huxiao Shanzhuang, was reprinted many times since 1980,[3] and is regarded as a classic and authoritative translation in China.[4] She was also well known for her lifelong friendship with Chinese novelist Ba Jin,[5] and her works about the author, including The Collection of the Mud in Snow, a compilation of his letters,[5] and "An Interview with Ba Jin".[6] A writer of poetry, prose, and children's literature,[3] one of her later projects was a book of poems translated by Yang Yi and her brother, Yang Xianyi,[5] who predeceased her in 2009.[7]
In 2019, Yang Yi received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nanjing Literature and Art Awards.[8][1] Her autobiography, an oral history of her life compiled and edited by Nanjing University professor Yu Bin, was published in 2022.[9] A long-time resident of Nanjing, Yang Yi died in January 2023, at the age of 103.[2]
Early life and education
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Yang_Xianyi_mother_Yang_Yi_Yang_Minru.jpg/220px-Yang_Xianyi_mother_Yang_Yi_Yang_Minru.jpg)
Born in Tianjin in 1919, Yang Jingru was the youngest child of Yang Yuzhang, the first president of the Tianjin branch of Bank of China during the Republican era.[9][3] Her father, who had married her mother as a second wife,[10] died the year she was born.[3] Her brother, Yang Xianyi, went on to become an internationally known literary translator, while her sister, Yang Minru, became a professor of classical literature.[9]
From the age of eight, Yang attended the church-run Chinese and Western Girls' School,[11][2] learning English by watching foreign films.[2] In 1935, the 9 December movement made her want to do more than read books to help China resist Japanese aggression.[3] Like many teenagers, Yang read the novel Family by Ba Jin.[3] Depressed by her own circumstances, which she likened to being trapped in a "golden cage", Yang wrote to a formal letter to Ba Jin about her frustration.[3] To her surprise, Ba Jin wrote back, and they continued exchanging letters for over fifty years, bonding over a shared love of literature.[3] She later compiled 60 of the letters Ba Jin had written and annotated them, in a book called The Collection of the Mud in Snow (雪泥集).[3]
Ba Jin assured her that "the future will be beautiful",[3][a] and encouraged her to write.[2] Yang Yi published her first poems in 1936.[2] In 1937, she graduated from high school and was accepted to Nankai University, but her life changed with the capture of northern China including Tianjin by Japanese forces, at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.[3] Following the arrest of Shao Gunxiang, the editor-in-chief of a magazine she had contributed to pseudonymously,[11] Yang feared reprisal for the anti-Japanese sentiments in her poetry,[2] and fled Japanese-occupied Tianjin on 7 July 1938, one year after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.[11][2] Journeying through Hong Kong and Annam with one of her cousins,[2][11] she eventually arrived in Kunming.[2]
In Kunming, Yang entered Southwestern Associated University, originally intending to study Chinese literature.[2] On the advice of writer Shen Congwen, who was teaching at the university, Yang changed her major to English instead, and decided to focus on literary translation in the foreign languages department.[2][3] Active in campus life, Yang joined the literary society with poets such as Mu Dan, as well as her future husband, Zhao Ruihong;[11][12] participated in the Yunnan branch of the Anti-enemy Literature and Art Association;[13] and contributed poetry to the magazine Songs of War (战歌)[14] and Ta Kung Pao.[13] After two years, Yang moved to the foreign languages department at Chongqing National Central University.[14] During her college years, Yang studied with many leading scholars of translation such as Chen Jia and Pan Jiaxun.[4]
Career
Translation
After the war, Yang Yi moved to Nanjing and was a member of the translation committee of the Nanjing National Institute for Compilation and Translation, participating in the translation of works such as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and The Travels of Marco Polo.[13]
Wuthering Heights
Yang Yi had first discovered Wuthering Heights as a middle school student in Tianjin, when she went to the cinema to watch a Hollywood film adaptation of the novel.[14] In 1944, she happened to find the book in the library at Chongqing Central University.[14] According to Yang, she was motivated to translate Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, so that she could prove that it was "superior" to Jane Eyre, the famous novel written by the author's sister, Charlotte Brontë.[14] Ba Jin was supportive of her ambition to retranslate Wuthering Heights, and encouraged her to take her time in translating with great care to convey the true meaning of the original work.[3][13] She started translating Wuthering Heights in 1953.[14]
In October 1955, Shanghai Pingming, the publishing house founded by Ba Jin in the late 1940s, published Yang Yi's translation of Wuthering Heights,[4][14][3] with a first run of 11,000 copies.[4] There was new interest in the novel in China, due in part to Karl Marx's praise for Brontë's critique of the bourgeoisie and capitalist society, and Yang Yi's translation was well received among readers.[4] Although there had been several translations of the novel previously, including those by Wu Guangjian, Liang Shiqiu, and Luo Sai, each of them had used a different title in Chinese.[3] Yang Yi came up with the Chinese title for Wuthering Heights, Huxiao Shanzhuang (呼啸山庄, "whistling/screaming mountain villa"), to convey the natural environment and mood of the setting, and this became the authoritative title for the work in China.[3] According to literary critics, the distinguishing characteristics of Yang Yi's translation included the care and respect with which she described the female characters, as well as her efforts to stay true to the original work, while also carefully choosing words that were accessible to Chinese readers.[4]
Wuthering Heights, like many other works of literature, was suppressed during the Cultural Revolution.[13][10] During the post-Mao reform era, the Jiangsu People's Publishing House started translating and publishing contemporary Western literary works, and was looking for a foreign masterpiece to feature in its collection.[10] On the recommendation of Anhui University professor Wu Ningkun, a former classmate at Southwestern Associated University, the publishing house decided to re-release Wuthering Heights.[10] Twenty-five years after it was first published, Yang Yi revised her 1955 translation, adapting some of the language in light of the more "diverse" readership in contemporary China,[4] and familiarised herself with issues such as typefaces and layout to provide input as the book was prepared for publication.[10]
In July 1980, Yang Yi's updated translation was published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House, with an initial sold-run run of 350,000 copies.[4] Hunan Publishing House worked with Yang Yi to release an abridged edition of Wuthering Heights as part of a set of world literature classics.[13] From 1990, Wuthering Heights was published by Yilin Publishing House, and by June 2001, it had been reprinted a total of 15 times.[4] In subsequent years, Yilin released hardcover, paperback, and abridged editions of Yang Yi's translation, and had considerable success with sales, with 26 further printings over a ten-year period.[4]
Over time, Yang Yi's translation of Wuthering Heights endured as the "stand out" translation in China, even as over one hundred translations coexisted during the "translation boom" in later years.[4] Her translation won the Nanjing Jinling Literature Prize for 1979–1986, the only translated work to be so honored, and received the 7th National Excellent Bestseller Award.[13] Yang Yi's translation has also been distributed by another publisher in Taiwan,[13][15] and as of 2019, was the only Chinese version held in the collection of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.[4]
Other translated works
Yang Yi's other highly acclaimed translations included the Chinese translation of William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (天真与经验之歌), as well as David Weiss's Naked Came I: A Novel of Rodin (我赤裸裸地来:罗丹传), a biographical novel about sculptor Auguste Rodin.[3]
In addition, she translated the English versions of works from the Soviet Union,[13] including Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy's The Russian Character (俄罗斯性格) and a novel called The Never-Setting Sun (永远不会落的太阳),[14] both of which were reprinted many times in large volumes in China.[13]
Following the re-release of Wuthering Heights, Yang Yi worked with a group of young translators on the Chinese edition of W. Somerset Maugham's Ten Novels and Their Authors, and translated the chapter on "Emily Brontë and Wuthering Heights".[13]
Teaching
After graduating from university Yang Yi taught English as a middle school teacher.[13] In 1949, she started teaching Chinese.[16] In 1956, she was sent to Karl Marx University in Leipzig, East Germany, where she was a lecturer with the school of Oriental languages for one year.[13][16]
From 1960 onward, Yang Yi taught at Nanjing Normal University in the department of foreign languages.[13][16] From 1966 to 1972, her teaching career was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, when she was subjected to criticism, isolation, and hard labor for having translated Wuthering Heights, and having "preached the theory of class reconciliation and the extinction of class struggle", "advocated the supremacy of love", and other crimes.[13] Her brother, literary translator Yang Xianyi, and her sister-in-law, Gladys Yang, were both imprisoned as "class enemies" during this period.[10][17] In 1972, Yang Yi was "released" and resumed working at Nanjing Normal University, teaching "general reading" before being transferred to the United Nations document translation group.[13][10] In 1980, she decided to resign and retire from the university, rather than wait for a promotion to professor.[10]
Writing and editing
Children's literature
After returning from East Germany, Yang Yi became a special editor at the journal Yuhua literature monthly, and began writing poetry for children.[13] During the Anti-Rightist Campaign years, her works for children including "The Story of Problems" and "The Story of the Cinema" were heavily criticized by party members in Jiangsu for being "reactionary",[10] despite receiving critical acclaim in other parts of the country, such as Beijing and Shanghai.[13] Nevertheless, in 1958, Yang Yi's poem "Beijing–Moscow" was published in the Anthology of Children's Literature by the People's Literature Publishing House, and in 1959, her poem "Do Your Own Things by Yourself" (自己的事自己做) won the Outstanding Children's Literature Award on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.[13]
Works on Ba Jin
Starting in 1935, Yang Yi exchanged letters with Ba Jin for 69 years.[10] Over the years, many of Ba Jin's letters were lost or destroyed.[10] In 1938, when Japanese forces entered the French concession in Tianjin, Yang's mother burned more than a dozen of his letters.[10] Several more of his letters were lost as Yang Yi traveled to Kunming and Chongqing.[10] During the Cultural Revolution, she reluctantly destroyed letters that might be "incriminate" Ba Jin, such as a letter from the early 1960s in which he had described the environment of "criticism" that had emerged in China, and gave 23 of his letters to friends for safekeeping.[10]
Following a confrontation with Red Guards who slapped her for not cooperating, Yang Yi handed over 23 letters from Ba Jin to a task force, warning them that they would be held responsible in the future if any of the letters went missing.[10] When she was finally "cleared" in 1972, all the letters were returned to her.[10]
In 1981, she wrote "An Interview with Ba Jin", which was published by Panda Books in an edited volume introducing Western readers to his works.[6] In 1987, Yang Yi compiled 60 of the remaining letters she had from Ba Jin in a volume called The Collection of the Mud in Snow (雪泥集).[3] She annotated the letters and wrote a postscript for the book, which was published by Sanlian Press.[3] In the letters, Ba Jin discusses literature, books, and periodicals – the art of creation and translation, as well as the business of book publishing – and recommends and critiques various works, including Yang Yi's own writing and translation.[3] On 22 November 1997, Yang Yi went to Shanghai East China Hospital to visit Ba Jin for the last time. His last words to her were, "Write more."[3]
Works in later years
Once she retired from teaching, Yang Yi spent more time on writing shorter pieces such as essays and novellas,[3] noted for their wit and satire.[13] In 1986, her article "Dreaming of Xiaoshan", in which she remembers her college classmate and friend who married Ba Jin, received a readers' choice award from People's Literature Magazine.[3][13] Her other prose works included "Three Mountains", which won second place in the inaugural national microfiction competition, and "Moonlight Like a Dream", which placed second in the Jinling Mingyue Prose Competition.[3]
After her brother, Yang Xianyi, died in 2009,[17] Yang Yi compiled and edited a volume of poetry translated by her late brother and herself.[5] First published in 2012, an updated edition was published in 2022 by Chinese Translation Publishing House.[18] Called Brother–Sister Translated Poems (兄妹译诗) or Translated Poems by Yang Xianyi and Yang Yi, it features more than 100 of their favorite poems.[18] Most of the poems are translated from English, and include modern classics such as "Loveliest of Trees" by A. E. Housman, "The Hollow Men" by T. S. Eliot, and "Solomon and the Witch" by W. B. Yeats.[18] The 2022 edition includes a poem which had been cut from the original due to its length – "The Prisoner of Chillon" by Lord Byron – translated by Yang Yi.[18]
Personal life and death
Yang Yi met Zhao Ruihong at Southwestern Associated University in Kunming.[11] They married on 13 August 1940, publishing a newspaper announcement but foregoing a formal wedding due to the ongoing war.[19] Zhao was also a translator and literary expert, known for his Chinese translation of The Red and the Black by Stendhal, and was a co-founder of the Chinese Society of Comparative Literature.[19] One of their children is writer and painter Zhao Heng.[18][20]
An oral autobiography of Yang Yi's life, One Hundred Years, Many People, Many Things, was published in 2022.[9] She died on 27 January 2023, aged 103.[2]
Explanatory notes
References
- ^ a b 第七届南京文学艺术奖获奖名单公布 [The list of winners of the 7th Nanjing Literature and Art Awards has been announced] (in Chinese). Sina Corp. Yangtze Evening News Network. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Renowned translator Yang Yi dies at 103". China Daily. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y De, Lin (24 September 2022). 翻译家、作家杨苡: 文学浸润的人生,饱满而光洁 [Translator and writer Yang Yi: A life of literary immersion, full and bright]. Qilu Evening News (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Han, Wenjing (21 December 2019). 名著翻译乱象中译本的经典化因素研究—以杨苡版《呼啸山庄》译本为例. zzqklm.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d Liu, Mengni (16 September 2022). 百岁杨苡的翻译人生 [Translation of a hundred-year-old Yang Yi's life]. Xinhua Daily Telegraph (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ a b Cheng, George (1980). "Selected Works by Twentieth-Century Chinese Authors". Modern Chinese Literature Newsletter. 6 (2): 47–49. JSTOR 42769671.
- ^ "Guru of literary Translation Yang Xianyi passes away". CCTV.com. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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