Ge Tieying
My teacher Li Weizhong, whose courtesy name is Yan Ru, is also known as Yi Mi, and his pen name is Xima. Born in 1940 in Guangzong, Hebei Province. Born in a family of traditional Chinese medicine, he had no intention of inheriting his family's knowledge. In middle w88 casino, he was obsessed with foreign languages and foreign literature, and determined to engage in translation. In 1960, he was admitted to the Translation Department of the Beijing Institute of International w88 (now the w88 casino). He graduated five years later and stayed at the w88 casino, engaged in teaching until his retirement, and was named a professor in 1994. After retirement, he was employed by a university and has been a professor ever since.
Mr. Li's resume may seem calm, but his greatness lies in the fact that besides teaching, he has never forgotten his youthful ambitions. He has been focused and writing non-stop for decades, and has accomplished great things in the translation world with a total of about 20 million words of translation so far - a number that is rare in China and the world. To put it figuratively, the 200,000-word book we usually see requires 100 copies. In other words, it is Lu Xun + Lin Shu. Master Lu has translated nearly 10 million words, and Master Lin has translated more than 10 million words. w88 online live casino master is mighty!
Introducing Mr. Li's works requires a special "picture talk". This time the focus is not on that, just a brief talk. His earliest translation was "The Man Who Conquered Darkness" in 1982, and his latest translation was "A Thousand Nights" in 2016:
There are three major works that must be mentioned, namely "One Thousand and One Nights", "The Legend of Antara" and "The Complete Works of Gibran". These three volumes alone have a word count of nearly 10 million.
In addition, Mr. Li also has a large tome, which is the "Islamic Historical Novel Series" by the famous Arab writer George Zedan, with a total of 22 volumes and about 5.5 million words. The entire book has been translated long ago, and only the first three volumes have been published. This book is a household name in the Arab world.
The most noteworthy among the four major books is "The Legend of Antara", which is a masterpiece of ancient Arabic literature. This masterpiece of translation, which took Mr. Li eight years to complete, is the first and only time in the world that this masterpiece has been translated into another language. To this end, the publisher held a grand press conference.
At that time, two colleagues and a classmate, I and I made a special trip to Chengdu to congratulate and share Teacher Li’s highlight moments.
w88 online live casino acquaintance with Mr. Li began in the Arabic literature class in the second semester of w88 online live casino sophomore year, probably in the second half of 1979. Mr. Gentleman is gentle and has the style of a traditional Chinese scholar. He is passionate about translation and loves to talk about translation. Everyone likes to take his class. When I was a senior in college, w88 online live casino husband took half of w88 online live casino classmates and me to Yemen for an internship (the other half went to Iraq), and we became closer.
After graduation, I chose to go back to w88 casino to teach. I worked in the same office as Mr. Li. We spoke a lot in common and had many contacts with each other. We were teachers, students, colleagues, and friends. My husband often encouraged me to translate books. The sentence that impressed me the most was: seize the time to translate. When the book is published in the future, it will be placed in the Beitu (now the National Library), just like setting up a small archway.
If I can be considered as having walked on the road of literary translation, then the person who leads the way is undoubtedly Mr. Li. The picture above is w88 online live casino first translation, which was not published. It was around 1982, I can’t remember whether it was before graduation or after graduation. w88 online live casino husband brought a collection of Taimur, the father of Egyptian short stories, and said that you should choose a translation and try to get it published. Although he was highly recommended by his husband, he failed to do so. This manuscript has been preserved to this day because it was copied by w88 online live casino husband himself. Every time I see it, I am deeply moved by his original cultivation and support. w88 online live casino husband had good intentions, and he was probably worried that if w88 online live casino bad writing got into the hands of the editor, it would end up in the wastebasket after just one glance. Around 1985, Mr. Li received an contract to translate two Egyptian novels. For him who loves translation, this was such a rare opportunity, especially in that era when it was difficult to publish a book. But in order to support his disciples, he co-translated one book with Yang Yanhong and published "Between the Ruins"; another book "The Road Back" was co-translated with me. Unfortunately, because I delayed for a long time, the publishing house changed after the translation was completed and eventually died. It was not until 1993 that Mr. Li presided over the translation of "The Complete Prose Poems of Kahlil Kahlil", and I translated two of them, which was w88 online live casino first collaboration with him.
That’s it for the book. The original focus of this painting was Mr. Li’s hobby. Some people may ask: Doesn’t Mr. Li just do translation in his spare time? Does he still have time to do other things? Yes, sometimes I am confused where he gets the time. You see——
w88 online live casino teacher Li Weizhong is good at sculpture, calligraphy, and painting, especially gold and stone.
This photo was taken by Mr. Li during his foreign aid work in Sudan in 1976. A piece of wood turned into a work of art in his hands:
I don’t know if this is considered a work of art in the eyes of experts, but I think it is anyway. A Chinese university teacher traveled thousands of miles to Sudan, selected a piece of wood locally, and relied on his own inspiration and the Sudanese peasant woman he saw as the material. He used the carving knife in his hand to create an exotic and life-like wood sculpture. Its cultural connotation and cultural blending significance are obvious, but the skills are secondary.
Chinese calligraphy is extensive and profound. As a layman, I really don’t dare to judge what level Mr. Li’s calligraphy belongs to at the amateur level. In short, since I met Mr., his handwriting is the most beautiful among the people I know. w88 online live casino husband likes to write, and so far the first draft of his translation is written with a pen. Moreover, w88 online live casino husband is not only good at Chinese calligraphy, but also very good at Arabic calligraphy.
Mr. Li took us to Yemen for internship in 1982. At that time, China State Construction Engineering Corporation contracted a large project called "Human Construction Bank City", and a large Chinese-Arab archway was built at the entrance. Chinese employees loved to take photos here. As a student, I heard that the above question in Arabic was written by w88 online live casino teacher, so taking a picture is a must.
Arabic calligraphers often embellish the entire work with pronunciation symbols and floral patterns, and sometimes embed their own names into them. Mr. Li is well aware of this. Under the first letter, which is the rightmost letter in the top row, the Arabic word "لى" is embedded, and its pronunciation is his surname "Li". Also in the next picture.
I think Mr. Li's inscription in Arabic for this dictionary is of great significance in his amateur calligraphy and painting career. Because this is an official publication, the copyright page is printed with "Awen's inscription: Yan Ru". For an amateur calligrapher, it is of extraordinary significance that his works can be used in every home.
This painting by Mr. Li hangs casually in the middle hall of his residence. The freehand style of painting seems to be different from before. Perhaps the painter's painting styles in different periods reflect his mentality in different periods. I remember that w88 online live casino husband loved painting ink bamboo for a while. When I saw it, I said: In w88 online live casino eyes, this is no different from Zheng Banqiao’s. The husband couldn't help laughing and said with a smile: Don't tell it outside, it will make a big joke.
The two paintings above and below reminded me of when I was at the Canton Fair with Mr. Li in the early 1980s. There were calligraphy and paintings for sale in the store on the first floor of the Oriental Hotel. Among them was an authentic long scroll by Qi Baishi, priced at 30,000 yuan. At the time, I thought it was like an astronomical figure. I forgot whether it was three cucumbers or loofahs. Anyway, one painting was 10,000 yuan. Almost every time he finished his meal, he would stop and look at this painting for a while, as if he was thinking about whether to take the white stone route.
The reason why I used "You Changjin Stone" in the front is because Mr. Li himself said: The things I do are only good for seal engraving. By the way, the Chinese have always regarded poetry, calligraphy and painting as one family. Mr. Li's original poems have never been seen, but in "The Legend of Antara" alone, he translated about 10,000 poems, all in five characters, which shows his skill.
The following are Mr. Li’s two personal seals:
I don’t know how experts evaluate these seal cutting works, and I don’t know what w88 online live casino husband thinks of them. Anyway, in w88 online live casino eyes, the “exquisite” ones are the following 4 pieces—because they were all given to me as a student:
w88 online live casino husband was very happy when he learned that I collected the Chinese version of "One Thousand and One Nights" and specially engraved a "Double One Thousand and One Nights Collection Seal" to encourage me. I like the natural shape of the stone very much and often take it out to play with.
w88 online live casino husband once sent a text message and signed it as "Yan Ru Jushi". When I replied, I also responded with four words. Unexpectedly, w88 online live casino husband was very happy after reading it. He praised me for not forgetting w88 online live casino ancestral home and awarded me a seal, which is the following "Anguo Sanren". Mr. Xima’s pen name is the name of his ancestral village. The ancient Arabs also liked to use the names of their ancestral countries, cities, towns and villages in their own titles.
In the late autumn of the year before last, I went to Dawai University for a meeting and to visit w88 online live casino husband. After much thought, I didn’t know what gifts to bring. Later, I remembered that w88 online live casino husband loved sweet potatoes, so I brought some of the sweet potatoes and carrots I grew myself. The gentleman was very happy.
I met w88 online live casino husband last summer, and he gave me a seal with the words "Two books as a gift" (because I revealed that I wanted to give the collected books to useful units or individuals after retirement), and he also engraved "A thousand miles to send two reds, the material is more important than the affection." w88 online live casino husband is still thinking about sweet potatoes and radishes.
At the same time, w88 online live casino husband also gave me a fan with the motto I saved for myself on the back written when I was 50 years old. It said: Get into the ivory tower and walk among the mountains and rivers. Who would have thought that since I got it, I have basically been practicing the last five words wholeheartedly. I feel sorry for Mr. Li when I think about it. In fact, I could have omitted the first five words.
Referring to the meeting held at the University of International w88 and Economics the year before last, it happened that the four teachers at the University of International w88 and Economics who attended the meeting were all students of Mr. Li. The teachers and students were extremely happy to get together, and they drank and talked happily at midnight. The disciples all expressed their hope that Mr. Xi could return to Beijing as soon as possible. After all, he is seventy-five years old, and it was okay for his wife to accompany him before. After his wife returned to Beijing to take care of her grandson, my husband was alone outside. What should I do if something went wrong. My husband understood what we meant. He first said lightly, "It's still quiet here," and then revealed that a 5 million-word translation project was already in progress - there was no turning back. After leaving Mr.'s apartment and going out upstairs, there was a bright moon in the sky and Mr.'s lamp upstairs. The four disciples were filled with sighs and emotions.
Everyone has his or her own ambitions, but the most important thing is to remain strong. Without such unswerving pursuit, such diligent hard work, and such perseverance asceticism, how could w88 online live casino teacher have become the legendary translator worthy of his numerous works.
I sincerely wish w88 online live casino teacher Mr. Weizhong:
Body always healthy,
Translation pen gives birth to flowers again!
(The author is a professor at the w88 casino of Foreign Languages)
