Translation

Bloomsday in China

joyce_fragment_s.jpg

Today, June 16, is Bloomsday, the annual commemoration to celebrate Irish writer James Joyce and the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which take place in Dublin on June 16, 1904.

'Bloomsday' is named after the hero of the novel Leopold Bloom. Joyce chose June 16 because it was the day of his first date with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle.

In 1994, a Chinese translation of Ulysses was published and became a best seller. The translators were Xiao Qian (萧乾) and his wife Wen Jieruo (文潔若).

On an unrelated subject, June 16 is also Youth Day in South Africa, commemorating a protest march against apartheid education policies by high school students in 1976 in Soweto near Johannesburg. The police opened fire on the demonstrators, killing hundreds high school students.

Update:

An Irishman who identifies himself as Buck Mulligan sent in the following comment:

It is said by those who can read that a much better translation of Ulysses is that by Jin Di who is less favored in China than the more widely celebrated political hack Xiao Qian.

I don't think its banned but it is hard to find—I have tried to buy it a couple of times and always got handed Xiao Qian's one. I interviewed both of them years ago—Xiao is now dead—and found Jin delightfully contrary and more serious than Xiao. They have both had amazing lives. Xiao covered the Nuremberg trials for Ta Kong Pao (大公報) and Jin read Ulysses in 1938 and not again until the 1980s. In the meantime he suffered all the Cultural Revolution hassles of an educated sophisticate including pig farming if I recall, but never forgot Mr. Joyce.

Links and Sources
There are currently 1 Comments for Bloomsday in China.

Comments on Bloomsday in China

I have both copies of Jin and Xiao's translation. I bought Xiao's copy (first print) in 1994 and Jin's just a few months ago on Amazon.cn but don't think it's available any longer.

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL090619paulfrenchbook.jpg
Foreign journalists in China, from the Opium Wars to Mao : Paul French, author of a book on Carl Crow has written a book about the lives and exploits of foreign journalists reporting from China from the 1820s to 1949.
Earnshaw Books' Tales of Old Peking: Tales from Old Peking is available from Earnshaw Books, and like its sister, Tales from Old Shanghai is a book of fragments of information about periods, events or places in Beijing's history, collaging together pictures and text about eunuchs, concubines, the Lama Temple, Opium Wars, art, emperors, and a miscellany of other interesting topics
Henry F. Pringle's "Bridge House Survivor": Pringle was imprisoned by Japanese forces from October 1942 to August 1945, and Bridge House Survivor, available from Earnshaw Books, is his harrowing account of torture under the Japanese.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ A short interview with Muzi Mei (2004.02): Danwei interviews Muzi Mei
+ CCTV vs. classic movies (2006.03): A rundown of several pastiches of Chinese movies appearing online as 大史记 - "The Year That Was". Some from CCTV, others not. With links to video.
+ Street hawker cries of Beijing (2006.12): Yang Changhe demonstrates hawker's cries in a video shot by Muzimei.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30