Book review: The Life and Times of Hu Wenzhong at Beijing Foreign Studies University

Australian studies

A key member of the so-called "Gang of Nine" in the Australian studies circle, Prof. Hu studied together with eight other scholars from different Chinese universities at the University of Sydney from 1979-1981. Their teachers were Professor Leonie Kramer, the renowned chair of Australian literature, and Professor M.A.K. Halliday, the noted linguist. On the advice of Professor Wang Zuoliang, Prof. Hu chose Australian literature as a field of study and graduated with a master’s degree in 1981.

After they returned to China, the "Gang of Nine" pioneered Australian studies in China in the 1980s. Prof. Hu set up China's first Australian studies center at Beiwai in November 1983. Australian studies courses were offered and postgraduate students enrolled. With the establishment of more Australian studies centers at East China Normal University, Soochow University, Anhui University, Xiamen University, and Xi'an International Studies University, Prof. Hu organized the first International Conference of Australian Studies in China in March 1988 and initiated the founding of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies at the conference. Prof. Hu was elected president of the Association and held the position until 2000.

Besides teaching Australian literature, Prof. Hu supervised postgraduate students, edited special issues of Foreign Literatures on Australian literature, introducing contemporary Australian writers to Chinese readers. As president of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies, he organized seven international conferences of Australian studies in China while keeping close contact with Australian academics and writers as well. Busy as he was with teaching and administrative work, first as vice-dean of the Department of English and then as vice-president (academic) of the Institute, he wrote dozens of papers on Australian literature. He also translated Australian literary works into Chinese, including Patrick White's The Tree of Man (with Li Yao) and Voss (with Liu Shoukang), Jack Hibberd's A Stretch of the Imagination, David Williamson's The Club and A Selection of Contemporary Australian Short Stories and other short pieces.

Prof. Hu has a long list of Australian friends he has made over the years, including Leonie Kramer, Patrick White, Michael Wilding, Brian Kiernan, Ken Stewart, Geoff Page, Jocelyn Chey, Carrillo Gantner, Nicholas Jose, Shelley Warner and many others. He introduced them to his students and colleagues and made sure that links were sustained.

His friendship with the Nobel Prize laureate, Patrick White, was especially remarkable. They first met at White's home in 1980, a meeting arranged by Professor Albert Davis of the University of Sydney. Prof. Hu was to become a noted White scholar in China and their friendship lasted until White's death in 1990. Prof. Hu donated all his letters from Patrick White to the National Library of Australia, as a testimony of great friendship between an Australian writer and a Chinese scholar. In March 2023 he donated his entire collection of Patrick White's works to the National Library of China, some of which were signed by the author.

Prof. Hu's achievements in Australian studies and in promoting people-to-people links were acknowledged in Australia. In 1990, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters was conferred on him by the University of Sydney. The Australia China Council granted him the ACC Translation Award in 1996 and the ACC Distinguished Achievement Award in 1999. The University of Melbourne made him a Miegunyah Distinguished Fellow in 2003 and an Honorary Professorial Fellow in 2004.