Renowned translator who bridged Chinese and Western literature dies at the age of 100
- Xu Yuanchong translated some of the most iconic Chinese texts into English and French
- In his old age, Xu was an advocate for a world that collaborated, not competed
Xu Yuanchong, a translator who helped bridge Chinese and Western cultures by translating Chinese classics into English and French, and vice versa, died last week at the age of 100.
Xu was well known for translating poetry from Mao Zedong, poems from the Tang and Song dynasties, and his translation of Tao Te Ching , an ancient text by Lao Tzu that is fundamental to Taoism.
Xu was still an avid translator late into his old age and died just before finishing his goal of translating the Complete Works of William Shakespeare into Chinese. His translation of Romeo and Juliet is one of Xu’s most famous works.
Born in 1921 in Nanchang, in eastern China’s Jiangxi province, his journey towards translation began in 1938 when he was accepted to the foreign language department of the National Southwestern Associated University.