Qian Daosun (1887–1966) was a Chinese writer and translator.Culture Hanba "- Life of Qian Inan That Translated Manyoshu" Toho Bookstore, 2014 . His renowned translations include the Inferno part of the Divine Comedy, Man'yōshū and The Tale of Genji.Zou, Shuangshuang (2011). "佐佐木信綱選、銭稲孫訳『漢訳万葉集選』研究 ― 成立背景、出版事情、翻訳をめぐって―". 4. Translated by Qian, Daosun. Journal of East Asian Cultural Interaction Studies: 98. . Qian was born in a family of officials and scholars.
Life
Early life In 1900, when Qian was 13 years old, he went to Japan with his diplomat father, and studied at Keio Yochisha Elementary School, Seijo Gakkou, and Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakkou. Later Qian went to Belgium and Italy with his family and received education first in French, Italian, and later in German and medicine before he returned to China. In 1912, together with Lu Xun and Xu Shoushang, Qian co-designed the Twelve Symbols national emblem.Lu, Xun. “Ren zi ri ji (壬子日記) ” Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 13. Since 1927, Qian taught Japanese in the Tsinghua University, where he obtained the professor's title in 1931, while also being the head of the university library.Professor Junsei Inagaki "Makita Makoto authored works" 8, Ryuke-gosa, 1986, 121–124
Family members Mother: Shan Shili (1856–1943), courtesy name Shouzi, was born in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang.“单士厘生平简介.” 单士厘生平简介 – 族讯文化, 1 Jan. 2000, www.zuxun100.com/wenxian/8746 . Shan Shili accompanied her husband on several missions since 1899 to countries such as Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, and Italy.“单士厘：母亲是孩子的第一个老师: 社会科学报.” 单士厘：母亲是孩子的第一个老师 | 社会科学报, 3 May 2018, www.sohu.com/a/230304225_550962. And wrote the first Chinese female account of women's experience travelling abroad, Gui Mao Lv Xing Ji (癸卯旅行记 1903). Shan also compiled Gui Qian Ji (归潜记 1910) and The First Edition of the Continuation of the Beautiful Lady's Beginning (清闺秀正始再续集初编 1944).Gao, Xinping. “高辛萍：单士厘与《癸卯旅行记》.” 近代中國網, 1 Mar. 2019, modernchina.org/5178.html .
Father: Qian Xun (1854–1927), famous diplomat in the late Qing dynasty.Li, Xiaodi. “晚清的两位外交官与百科全书编纂.” 中华文史网, www.qinghistory.cn/qsjj/qsjj_sxwh/426014.shtml . Between 1899 and 1908, Qian Xun was appointed to go to Japan (1899), Russia (1903), the Netherlands (1907), and Italy (1908).“晚清著名外交家钱恂.” 文秘帮, 18 Sept. 2022, www.wenmi.com/article/py0h2v02enj4.html . In 1912, Qian became the first director of Zhejiang Provincial Library.百廿浙图 嘉惠书藏：浙图与名人故事之钱恂与浙江图书馆, 10 Nov. 2020, wenhui.whb.cn/third/yidian/202011/10/379354.html. In 1914, he served as a member of the Senate of the Republic of China and participated in politics.钱恂：为自强学堂发展奠定基础, 16 Dec. 2004, www.cnhubei.com/200412/ca636611.htm. In 1917, Qian Xun worked as the editor at the National History Compilation Office of Peking University.“【校史】湖北工艺学堂首任提调--著名外交家、学者钱恂.” 【校史】湖北工艺学堂首任提调--著名外交家、学者钱恂-武汉科技大学, 8 Apr. 2018, www.wust.edu.cn/info/1591/369601.htm .
Career life: Ministry of Education Qian Daosun worked at the Ministry of Education of the Beiyang government between 1912 and 1927.Chen, Keyao. “’Lu Xun ri ji’zhong de Qian Daosun (《鲁迅日记》中的钱稻孙).” Journal of Modern Chinese Studies, no.4, 2013, pp. 103–107, doi:CNKI:SUN:ZXZD.0.2013-04-018. [pp. 106.] Together with Lu Xun and Xu Shoushang, he designed the Twelve Symbols national emblem during his first year in office.Lu, Xun. “Ren zi ri ji (壬子日記) ” Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 13. In March 1913, the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation organized by the Ministry of Education passed the proposal, which Qian participated in the drafting, to adopt Jiuwen (later renamed to ‘Zhuyin’) as the system of phonetic symbols to standardize the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese characters.Lu, Xun. “Gui chou ri ji (癸丑日记) ” Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 41.
Qian Daosun was a colleague and a close friend of Lu Xun between 1912 and 1915.Lu, Xun. Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 1–174. According to Lu Xun's Diary, they also helped prepare the 1914 National Children's Art Exhibition.Lu, Xun. “Gui chou ri ji (癸丑日记) ” Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 68. While Qian was visiting Tokyo in 1916, the correspondence between him and Lu Xun continued via letters and postcards.Lu, Xun. “Bing chen ri ji (丙辰日记) ” Lu Xun Ri Ji. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House,1976, pp 205–206. In August 1917, Qian was appointed to work in the Department of College Education to tackle the difficulties associated with the admission criteria.Ministry of Education. “Order NO.36 (委任令第三十六号 六年八月十一日).” Jiao yu gong bao (教育公报), vol.4 no. 13, 1917, National Index to Chinese Newspapers & Periodicals, pp. 13. Qian became an appointed member of the National Anthem Research Committee in December 1919, and the Beiyang government ordered a change of the national anthem to the Song to the Auspicious Cloud in 1921.Ministry of Education. “Order NO. 107 (第一百〇七号 十二月十日).” Anhui jiaoyu yue kan (安徽教育月刊), no. 24, 1919, pp.3.
Career life: Librarian After leaving the Ministry of Education in 1927, Qian Daosun took on different positions at higher education institutions in Beijing, one of which was the lecturer of Japanese language at the National Tsinghua University Library.Chen, Keyao. “’Lu Xun ri ji’zhong de Qian Daosun.” Journal of Modern Chinese Studies, no.4, 2013, pp. 106. doi:CNKI:SUN:ZXZD.0.2013-04-018. Between 1913 and 1944, however, Qian also worked at different libraries in Beijing, such as the Capital Library (nowadays the National Library of China) between 1913 and 1914, the National Beijing College of Fine Arts in 1925, and the National Peking University Library in 1931.Liu, Jiaku and Yang, Xuejing. “Briefing on Qian Daosun’s Career in Library.” Journal of Academic Libraries, no. 4, 2014, pp. 116–120. doi:CNKI:SUN:DXTS.0.2014-04-023. [pp. 116–117.]
In 1936, after completing the handover procedures with Zhu Ziqing, Qian Daosun officially served as the director of the National Tsinghua University Library and facilitated a considerable growth in the number of library collections before the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of the Japanese invasion in July 1937. Qian set up the “Library Director’s Reception Day” to communicate directly with the readers and granted professors the authority to recommend and purchase books on the library's behalf.
According to the recollections of Jin Yuelin, when Qian Daosun worked at the National Tsinghua University Library, he opposed Jin's determination to resist the Japanese invasion as he believed that the Japanese invaders, facing resistance, would be very likely to commit genocide against Chinese people.葛胜华."鲁迅先生的三位酒友." 文学自由谈, no.4, 2006, pp. 136–143. doi:CNKI:SUN:WXLT.0.2006-04-020. [pp.142.] Between 1940 and 1945, Qian endured the Wang Jingwei Regime and worked as the Secretary to the pseudo-Peking University.
Five years after the Nanjing Massacre took place, Qian Daosun delivered a speech at the National Central University in Nanjing (controlled by Wang Jingwei's regime) in 1943.Qian, Daosun. “Zhou hui ji lu: Beijing da xue zhi guo qu yu xian zai (周会记录：北京大学之过去与现在).” Zhong da zhou kan (中大周刊), no. 90, 1943, pp.1–3. CLC Number: G649.285.3. During his speech, Qian advised the students to be responsible not only for their studies but also for their own health:“In today's era, unlike how things were in the past, you cannot expect others to pity you when you are sick.” said Qian, “We must know that the right to pity does not belong to the patient but to others. Patients have no right to demand pity from others. We individual persons belong to the country, not to our own. For this reason, I think that significant events in the world should start with self-cultivation. Not only should we have a sound body, but we must also have a sound spiritual self-cultivation. Only then can we be Chinese and make great contributions to the country.”
Career life: Professional translator After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Qian Daosun was first assigned to the Qilu University in Shandong to teach medicine as a retained member in the early 1950s.文洁若."我所知道的钱稻孙." 读书, no.1, 1991, pp. 55–62. doi:CNKI:SUN:DSZZ.0.1991-01-007. [pp. 60] "I had to carry my own clothes and go to the post alone,” Qian later told his colleague at the People's Literature Publishing House, “but it was much better than living in jail." A few years later, Qian was transferred back to Beijing and worked as an editor at the publishing house of the Ministry of Health.文洁若."我所知道的钱稻孙." 读书, no.1, 1991, pp. 55–62. doi:CNKI:SUN:DSZZ.0.1991-01-007. [pp. 56.] After his retirement in 1956, he worked as a guest interpreter for People's Literature Publishing House. The famous Chinese translator Wen Jieruo said: “apart from Qian Daosun, it is hard to imagine that there is another person who can translate such a difficult academic work into such an easy-to-understand, elegant text”.
Works
Design Together with Lu Xun and Xu Shoushang, Qian Daosun designed the Twelve Symbols national emblem (十二章國徽) (1913).
Books edited A book on modern Chinese writings (中国现代文读本 1938) is a collection of modern Chinese writings and consists of 20 volumes edited by Qian Daosun, You Bingqi (尤炳圻), and Hong Yanqiu (洪炎秋).岡村, 敬二 (1992). "Japan in the Collection of Bei-jing Modern Science Library". 日本研究 : 国際日本文化研究センター紀要. 国際日本文化研究センター. 7: 115. .北京近代科学图书馆编 (1938), 中国现代文读本, 白水社
Poems written in Jail (1946) In 1946, after the KMT-ruled Nationalist government took control, Qian Daosun was charged with “conspiracy with enemy countries and plotting against one's own country,” sentenced to ten years in prison, and deprived of his civil rights for six years.文洁若."我所知道的钱稻孙." 读书, no.1, 1991, pp. 55–62. doi:CNKI:SUN:DSZZ.0.1991-01-007. [pp. 60–61.] While Qian was in prison, he sent to his friend the classical-style verses he composed while he was in prison, and three of those poems were published in the newspaper Qiao sheng bao in November.Qian, Daosun. “Qian Daosun yu zhong shi (钱稻孙狱中诗).” Edited by Zhen, Qiao sheng bao (侨生报), November 14, 1946, pp.5.
Translation Divine Comedy (神曲一臠 1921)檀, 德 (1924). 神曲一脔. Translated by Qian, Daosun. 商务印书馆[发行者].
Qian translated the opening part of Dante's Divine Comedy in the form of Chu Ci and published it in Fiction Monthly.「文化漢奸」と呼ばれた男 – 万葉集を訳した銭稲孫の生涯. 東方書店. 2014. pp. 57–59. .
The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 1957)呉, 衛峰 (2017). "銭稲孫と日本古典文学の中国語訳 ―『源氏物語』「桐壺」巻の訳を中心に―". 55: 40.
He began translating slowly and carefully to interpret The Tale of Genji in 1933. In the 1950s, the People's Literature Publishing Company commissioned Qian to translate The Tale of Genji, but due to his slow writing, Feng Zikai took place instead and became the first translator who translated the whole chapter.Ying, Liu (2016). "Study on Chinese Translation of Saikaku's Ukiyozōshi: 'Selected Works of Chikamatsu Monzaemon and Ihara Saikaku'". Translated by Qian, Daosun. 国際日本文学研究集会会議録: 49. . In 1957, Kiritsubo (桐壺), translated by Qian, was published in the magazine Yi Wen (譯文). Qian translated the first five chapters, but all but Kiritsubo were lost during the Cultural Revolution. In order to reproduce the atmosphere and stylistic characteristics of the original text, Qian used Written vernacular Chinese.呉, 衛峰 (2017). "銭稲孫と日本古典文学の中国語訳 ―『源氏物語』「桐壺」巻の訳を中心に―". 55: 37–38.
Man'yōshū (漢譯萬葉集選 1959)呉, 衛峰 (2017). "銭稲孫と日本古典文学の中国語訳 ―『源氏物語』「桐壺」巻の訳を中心に―". 55: 37.