Book on renowned Chinese translator published

A new book about renowned Chinese literature translator Yang Xianyi was published by the China Translation & Publishing House, and hit the market at a bookstore on August 20, in Beijing.

My Uncle Yang Xianyi, a patchwork of candid and personal accounts of yang's life in the last decade has been combined with dozens of fine illustrations, and reveals the daily life of the extraordinary translating master.

Zhao Heng, writer and niece of Yang, attended the bookstore and shared her memories of Yang and highlights from the book.

"Looking back at those ten years, I felt quite relaxed in front of my uncle."Zhao said,"He smoked quietly in the room and asked what I was doing."

"I am drawing a picture of you."Zhao responded.

"In my memory, he never felt that he was an outstanding translator, only a craftsman."she noted.

Yang Xianyi, who died at 94 in Beijing in 2009, was a prolific translator who brought the classics of Chinese literature to life for Western readers.

Yang was noted for rendering Chinese classics into English, including the 18^th century "A Dream of Red Mansions" and the selected works of 20^th century writer Lu Xun. He and his British wife, Gladys Taylor, were the first to render Homer's "Odyssey" from the original ancient Greek into Chinese.

Born in the northern port of Tianjin in 1915, Yang's wealthy family sent him to study the classics in England at Oxford University in 1936, where he met Taylor. Returning to China in 1940, the pair married and embarked on their lengthy careers in translation.

Classic Poems Translated by Yang Xianyi and Yang Yi, a collection of English poetry by the brother-sister translators, was also on show at the store.