Old things in the south

Chapter 79 Endless reverence

Among the writers in the 30s, Dr. Lin Yutang is one I respect and admire.When I was studying in junior high school, it was the peak of the development of new literature. We were fascinated by this new era of literature, and we kept reading more and more new books.New ideas and new styles have touched our hearts, and literary ideas and works from every corner of the earth outside China have continuously impacted our narrow-mindedness.We are no longer the kind of silly little girls who can only memorize books, and we know what doctrines and ideals are embellished in our pure hearts.The main introduction figure was Dr. Lin Yutang.

Dr. Lin Yutang, who is proficient in ancient and modern Chinese and foreign countries, has done the work of "communication" that everyone loves to say about Chinese and Western cultures.His "The Art of Living" and "My Country and My People" written in English introduced Chinese culture, literature, spirit, and philosophy to foreign countries. Although they were first written in English, they were immediately translated into many languages. Best-selling internationally, he is known as a writer and scholar who has made the greatest contribution to the international promotion of Chinese traditional culture.

However, the works of Dr. Lin Yutang that I read in my youth were translated into Chinese. The interpretation of Chinese culture with Western scientific methods has benefited me a lot, and I have become an admirer of Dr. Lin.As for the Chinese magazine "The Analects of Confucius", which is famous for its humor, it has been more than 60 years ago. In addition to "The Analects", there are also "Human World" and "Cosmic Wind".These magazines created a literary trend of humor and spirituality. Writers in the 30s all contributed to these magazines, such as Lao She, Lao Tan (He Rong), and Lao Xiang were all generals under their command, and later became famous as humorous writers.Lao She is also a world-renowned writer. His world-famous work "Camel Xiangzi" was first published in "Cosmic Wind".

We were young female students at that time, but we were also infected by the trend of this new literary era and understood the humorous style, which had a very important influence on my later literary work.

Dr. Lin Yutang is also a philologist. The humor of the Analects of Confucius is only part of his spiritual literature. His last and biggest job is to edit the "Contemporary Chinese-English Dictionary".Wanting to compile a dictionary is almost his lifelong wish. At first, more than 60 volumes were compiled, but they were destroyed by war at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War.He returned to Taiwan from the United States in 1966, and after seven years of hard work, he finally got his wish.

One year before his return to Taiwan (1965), I happened to be invited by the U.S. State Department for a trip to the U.S. They arranged for me to interview Dr. Lin Yutang and his wife, which was exactly what I expected.Before leaving, his niece and daughter-in-law Bi Pu, a writer, once told me that Lin and his wife like to speak Hokkien, so they might as well chat more when they visit, because Mr. Lin is from Longxi, Fujian.Probably Bi Pu had already written a letter to introduce me. On the first day of my visit to New York, I made a phone call first, and Mrs. Lin answered the call. As soon as I heard who I was, I immediately changed my mouth to Hokkien. Not bad.Mrs. Lin was very happy and told me carefully how to get to their house.

They lived in a nice apartment on East 65th Street in New York.We met for two hours, and we talked a lot. They probably were planning to return to China to settle down at that time, so they also asked me a lot of questions about Taiwan, and asked about their old friends.He also called their eldest daughter, Miss Ruth, and asked her to come and meet me.They have only three daughters, of which the second daughter, Lin Taiyi, is the one who inherited his father's mantle among the three sisters.Although Taiyi has been studying abroad since middle school, her father has been teaching them Chinese all the time. It can be said that both Chinese and English have been developed without any delay.Taiyi later served as the editor-in-chief of the Chinese version of "Reader's Digest" in Hong Kong for many years, and we also became friends at this time.She edited this magazine very Chinese. She not only selected some articles and translated them into Chinese, but added works created by many Chinese writers, and her essays were especially popular.

Speaking of prose, I suddenly recalled Dr. Lin Yutang's special love for prose and essays. After his death, his son-in-law, Mr. Liming, and his wife, Taiyi, specially compiled and compiled Mr. Yutang's unfinished translations before his death. "You Meng Ying" written by Chao, "Yangzhou Slender Horse" selected and translated from the works of Zhuangzi, Su Dongpo, Zhang Dai, etc., and "July and a half of the West Lake" selected and translated from the works of Mencius, Su Dongpo, Zheng Banqiao, etc., are all famous Chinese classics. Prose sketches, published by Zhengzhong Bookstore, are three very popular books.

Regarding the translation of prose, Mr. Yutang himself said: "Translation is a very delicate job. Only a translator who can communicate with the author can translate well. Because the translator actually speaks for the author in another language. If the two are not like old friends, how can this be done?" I remembered something more, that is, when Professor Liang Shiqiu chatted about English once before his death, he once said that Mr. Ye Gongchao told Liang that he believed that there were two English speakers in China. [-]. The person with the best English is Mrs. Jiang Songmeiling, and the other is Dr. Lin Yutang.

Dr. Lin Yutang selected what he considered to be good Chinese classical prose, and passionately translated them into English, which not only made outsiders appreciate the beauty of our country, but also gave our young Chinese students the best learning gift. Although Lin Yutang has already been in my country The literary world has stood for a hundred years, but it is endless. It will last forever with history and become a link in the history of Chinese culture.

Written for the centennial of Lin Yutang
(End of this chapter)