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Comments twitter facebook Sina Microblog reddit A recent photo of Xu Yuanchong (Guangming Daily/Guo Hongsong)
On the afternoon of August 2nd, during the member's assembly of the 20th WorldConference of the Federation of International Translators (FIT), FIT conferred The"Aurora Borealis" Prize on Xu Yuanchong, a Chinese translator. This international award ishosted every three years. Xu is the first Chinese winner of the award.
Unable to attend the ceremony, Xu, 93, expressed his appreciation through a letter writtenin English. Oblivious to the glorious award ceremony, Xu was enclosed in a small room atPeking University, busy translating four great tragedies by Shakespeare."I spend morethan two months translating one book. I plan to finish the complete works of Shakespearein five years." says Xu. A reader can see how painstakingly Xu applies himself toShakespeare's texts by reading his translations.
"I think this version is better than Zhu Shenghao's because I am three times older thanhim which means I am more experienced," Xu laughed. Zhu Shenghao was the one whotranslated the most works of Shakespeare.
In 2013 Xu translated poetry by Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi, all well-knownChinese poets of the Tang Dynasty. In the same year, The Collection of Xu Yuanchong'sTranslations, consisting of 27 books, including English and French, was published.
In the address of the Outstanding Translation of Literature, the committee of the FIT said: "We need effective communication in these international circumstances. Professor XuYuanchong dedicates himself to facilitating communication between Chinese, English andFrench."
"The habits of thinking are different between Chinese and Westerners, but translation canbreak down barriers," says Xu.
Extensive Reading
The "Aurora Borealis" Prize sponsored by Norwegian Association of Literary Translators,one of the highest awards in the international translation field, is awarded to translatorswho promote development of literary translation and make a significant contribution tointernational cultural communication.
Xu Yuanchong is the first Asian scholar to win the prize since its establishment in 1999.
Xu Yuanchong is one of very few Chinese who can translate poetry effectively. Sometranslation experts regard him as "a monument to classical translation of the second half ofthe twentieth Century".
The article is edited and translated from《"北極光"獎(jiǎng)獲得者許淵沖：翻譯改變世界(圖)》,source: Guangming Daily, author: Liu Wenjia
(Editor:Yuan Can、Huang Jin)
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