18.Passing on Beauty of Words Famous American poet Robert Frost once said, "Poetry is what gets lost in translation." A well-known Chinese translator, Xu Yuanchong, has tried his best to pass on the beauty of ancient Chinese poetry all his life.
Xu has just turned 100 years old. On April 1, China Translation and Publishing House published a series of books about his life and career to pay respects to him.
Since 1978, Xu has published more than 100 translated novels, anthologies (选集) and plays in Chinese, English and French. Especially, he translated Chinese poems into English and French. He is also the first Asian winner of the "Aurora Borealis Prize" for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature.
Xu is known to be very strict in his work. He has given his mind to "translating beautifully". For him, English is a "scientific" language that requires correctness, while Chinese is an "artistic" language that includes a wider range of content. Following this, Xu keeps his translations correct and beautiful.
Through Xu's translations, historic Chinese wisdom has made an influence on Western societies and the world at large.
For example, when former US president Barack Obama tried to begin a reform (改革), some officers were against at first. But after reading the poem titled Fishing in Snow (《江雪》)translated by Xu, one officer was so impressed with the fisherman's independent, non-conformist (不墨守成规的)thinking that he chose to support Obama, noted NewsChina.
Having made such great achievements, the 100-year-old is still hard-working. He lives alone in an old house near Peking University. Every day he translates about 1, 000 words, working till 3 to 4 am, sleeping about 3 hours and getting up at 6 am to continue.
1. Who is Xu Yuanchong?
2. How old is Xu Yuanchong?
3. How many translated novels, anthologies and plays has Xu published since 1978?
4. Which poem translated by Xu impressed the American officer?
5. What does Xu Yuanchong's translation mean to China?