Lost in translation for more than 40 years

Song Dan, a PhD candidate at Nankai University, shows a photo of Lin Yutang's unpublished English translation of the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. [Photo/China Daily]

"In addition to the typed manuscript of Lin's translation, two pages were in his handwriting," Song says.

"Lin's page-by-page editing is handwritten, which helped in verifying the work's authenticity."

Why Lin's daughter, Lin Taiyi, did not include this piece in the list of her father's work in the 1989 biography of Lin remains a mystery, says Liu Shicong, professor of translation at Nankai University.

"It would have taken a long time to translate such a long novel, and you would think the family would have been aware of it.

"It is also strange that he only sent the translation to the Japanese translator instead of publishing it, given the popularity of his works."

Lin was one of the most influential Chinese authors who wrote in English. His works, such as My Country and My People and The Importance of Living, were best-sellers in the West in the 1930s. So were his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English in the 1960s.

Lin's translation of Dream of the Red Chamber was not a literal one, consistent with his style, Song says. Instead, he rendered the novel into English relying on his own notes, and it was about half the length of the original work.

"Lin's translation style is unique," says Lyu Shisheng, professor of translation at Nankai University. "He is a master of cross-cultural communication. I believe his version will help Western readers better understand the great novel."

Nankai is working on publishing the book, says Liu Yuzhen, Song's supervisor and deputy dean of the School of Foreign Languages of Nankai.