Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang 林語堂 (October 10, 1895March 26, 1976) was a Chinese writer whose original works and translations of classic Chinese texts became very popular in the West. Lin was born in Fujian province in southeastern China, near Xiamen. This mountainous region made a deep impression on his consciousness, and thereafter he would constantly consider himself a child of the mountains (in one of his books he commented that his idea of hell was a city apartment). His father was a Christian minister. Lin studied for his bachelor's degree at Saint John's University in Shanghai, then received a half-scholarship to continue study for a doctoral degree at Harvard University. He left Harvard early however, moving to France and eventually to Germany, where he completed his requirements for a doctoral degree (in Chinese) at the University of Leipzig. From 1923 to 1926 he taught English literature at Peking University. Dr. Lin was very active in the popularization of classical Chinese literature in the West, as well as the general Chinese attitude towards life. He worked to formulate a new method of romanizing the Chinese language, and created an indexing system for Chinese characters. After 1928 he lived mainly in the United States, where his translations of Chinese texts remained popular for many years. His many works represent an attempt to bridge the cultural gap between the East and the West. He was frequently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His first two books, My Country and My People (吾國吾民) (1935) and The Importance of Living (生活的藝術) (1937), written in English in a charming and witty style, brought him international fame. Others include Between Tears and Laughter (啼笑皆非)(1943), The Chinese Theory of Art (1967), and the novels Moment in Peking (京華煙雲) (1939) and The Vermillion Gate (朱門) (1953), Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage(當代漢英辭典) (1973). Dr. Lin was buried at his home in Yangmingshan, Taipei, Taiwan. His home has been turned into a museum.

External links

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
sant'angelo
old goa
xinhai revolution
panaji
pierre pettigrew
nithard
louis i
boston mountains
case closed
pulp and paper industry in japan
resistance techniques
potlatch corporation
demandred
trinification
law and economics
william de mandeville
welfarism
pulp and paper industry in the united states
pulp and paper industry in europe
geoffrey de mandeville
ffs
siamese fighting fish
naruto, tokushima
ajah
dobrich
rand al'thor
little rock central high school
doctor eggman
generalized system of preferences
surfers paradise
greasy kid
suetonius on jesus
rik waller
rolando navarette
pop idol
vaastu shastra
historical chinese anthems
will young
gerald stern
darius danesh
univers
au pairs
johnson johnson
chili con carne