Yang Xianyi, one of China’s most well-known translators, known for rendering numerous ancient Chinese classics into English, including "The Dream of the Red Mansions," died in Beijing Monday. He was 94.
Yang had reportedly been suffering from lymphoma cancer. In September, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Translators Association of China.
Born into a wealthy family in 1915 in the northern coastal city of Tianjin, he was sent to Oxford to study Classics in 1936, where he married Gladys Taylor. Yang and his wife returned to China in 1940, and began their decades-long cooperation of introducing Chinese classics to the English-speaking world.
Working for Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, the couple produced a remarkable number of quality translations, including classic novels such as "The Dream of the Red Mansions" and the selected works of 20th century writer Lu Xun.
Besides, the Yangs were also the first to render "The Odyssey "into Chinese from the ancient Greek original.
His wife, Gladys Yang, died in 1999.
出生于1915年的著名文化史学者、外国文学研究专家、翻译家、诗人杨宪益昨天早上6点45分在煤炭总医院去世,享年94岁。
一生幽默 看淡生死
杨宪益的外甥女赵蘅告诉本报记者,杨宪益患有癌症,两次实施“离子注入术”自己都送他去医院且陪伴在旁。这一次,杨宪益因淋巴癌于10月10日住进煤炭总医院,这家医院有一种离子注入术,这种疗法不开刀,只打针。本来,离子注入术做得很成功,家人、亲属以为很快就能出院。没想到后来病情恶化,他不能说话了,吃东西、呼吸都有问题。后来发现,癌细胞已经转移到喉咙。昨天清晨5点,医院再度抢救,但是没救过来。“虽然明知道这病好不了,但是我们希望能延长他的寿命。他自己很想在明年1月10日过生日,我们也认为没问题,没想到他没等到这一天。”
赵蘅说,杨宪益生前对生死看得很淡,山东电视台“数风流人物”来采访他,他说得很幽默。但是在与疾病做斗争时,他又表现出非常顽强的生命力。“前不久,他的《去日苦多》由青岛出版社出版,尽管不太方便,他还坚持自己题写了书名。”
杨宪益家人表示,杨宪益的丧事从简,中国外文局称,希望给杨先生开一个追悼会,但时间尚未确定。
学贯中西 温和待人
三联书店前总经理,《读书》前主编沈昌文回忆说,杨宪益性格开朗,和大家一起聚会时,很爱喝白酒。但是他话不多,也不会大声说话,看起来很守规矩,这可能与他在英国受的教育有关。
著名诗人邵燕翔说,杨宪益的学问融入了他全部的教养,平时待人从不疾言厉色。但另一方面,他又很有风骨。他从中国传统文化中获得了精神、风骨、节操。浸润西方文化多年,得到了自由、平等、创造的真谛,而不仅表现在翻译的信达雅。
杨宪益本人和两个妹妹都颇有成就。他的小妹妹是翻译家杨苡,原名杨静如,现居南京。大妹妹杨敏如师从顾随,同时也是古典诗词专家。而杨宪益的翻译成就一直深受学界推崇,今年9月17日,中国翻译协会在京举行仪式,授予他翻译文化终身成就奖。
责任编辑:sealion1986