What’s the link between Kim Jong Il, a Nanjing orphan, and Korea’s recent nuclear test? The answer to that conundrum lies buried deep within Kim Jong Il’s Godson Yang Bin: From Orphan to Sinuiju SAR Chief, a Chinese book just published in English by Fortune Gate (HK) Ltd. If you’ve never heard of the “Yang … Continue reading Kim Jong Il, a Chinese Orphan and North Korea’s Nuke Test
Interview with China Novelist Fan Wen: A Century of Cultural Collisions in Shangri-la
Shuiru Dadi tells the tale of a multi-ethnic settlement in Lancangjiang Canyon—Gateway to Tibet—beset by battles between arrogant French Catholic missionaries, incompetent Han officials and their marauding troops, Naxi Dongba Shamanists, and the dominant Tibetans, not all of whom lead pacific, vegetarian lives in the local lamasery. The saga spans most of the 20th century, hopping … Continue reading Interview with China Novelist Fan Wen: A Century of Cultural Collisions in Shangri-la
Book Review: “English” by Wang Gang, or Growing up Han in Fictional Xinjiang
“Among the Emperor Qianlong’s trophies from his conquest of Xinjiang was a girl called Iparhan. She was a beautiful Kashgari whose body was said to give off an intoxicating scent without any help from ointments…the abduction of Iparhan became for the Chinese a symbol of the annexation of the western lands which they had … Continue reading Book Review: “English” by Wang Gang, or Growing up Han in Fictional Xinjiang
“Brothers”: Here’s Newsweek’s Book Review Repackaged for Chinese Eyes
Isaac Stone Fish's review of Yu Hua's Brothers (兄弟) has only been online for a few days at Newsweek, but it has already been translated for readers in China by Cankao Xiaoxi (参考消息). Cankao Xiaoxi, a Chinese-language digest of world news, is on virtually every newsstand in China by 7:30 am. To show you how … Continue reading “Brothers”: Here’s Newsweek’s Book Review Repackaged for Chinese Eyes
Transparent Translator Series: Bruce Humes and his “Shanghai Baby” (上海宝贝)
Banned in China, Shanghai Baby (上海宝贝) captured the interest of publishers in the West, and I was commissioned by Simon & Schuster to translate the novel, which was published in 2001. Perhaps because my version became a best-seller in Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Chinese original was later translated into several languages including French, German, Italian and … Continue reading Transparent Translator Series: Bruce Humes and his “Shanghai Baby” (上海宝贝)
Transparent Translator Series: Q & A with Li Jihong, “Kite Runner” Chinese Translator
The Kite Runner /《追风筝的人》: An Afghan Childhood Re-packaged for the Middle Kingdom It was an intriguing sentence alluding to censorship in the translator’s post-script that initially piqued my curiosity: "There are certain places in the original text [of Kite Runner] which are incompatible with Chinese sensitivities. Measuring his words ever so carefully, the translator has … Continue reading Transparent Translator Series: Q & A with Li Jihong, “Kite Runner” Chinese Translator
Tibet Travel Piece Revamped for Chinese Eyes
Newly accessible from Beijing via a luxury train ride, Lhasa and a few other sites in Tibet are the subject of a travel review just published in the New York Times. Author Joshua Kurlantzick will no doubt be touched to see an extract of "Tibet, Now" appear almost simultaneously in Chinese in the December 12 … Continue reading Tibet Travel Piece Revamped for Chinese Eyes
Altaic Storytelling 