Lin Buran, 37 years old this year, is from Canada. Since 2015, Lin Buran has been translating his favorite ancient Chinese poems. He spends nearly ten hours a day in his creation, and has now translated more than a thousand poems.

  "If a mountain is not high, there is a fairy. If the water is not deep, there will be a dragon." "Looking back, there are hundreds of mesmerizing lives, and the sixth palace has no color."...In the past six years, more than a thousand ancient Chinese poems were taken by Canadian student Lin Bu. Ran is translated into English and then bound into a book with brush paintings.

Lin Buran is translating ancient poems.

Photo by Jiang Tao

  The 37-year-old Lin Buran is from Canada. He finished his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in China. Now he is a PhD student in the Department of Ancient Chinese Literature at Jiangxi Normal University.

Beginning in 2015, Lin Buran began to translate his favorite ancient Chinese poems. He spends nearly ten hours in his creation every day, and has now translated more than a thousand poems.

The poems Lin Buran is currently translating.

Photo by Li Yunhan

  "'Flick from the lotus root orifice to push out the first peak of Sumi.' The'Sumi' here should be the name of a mountain. I translated it into'magic mountain'." A reporter from Chinanews.com saw Lin Buran. At that time, he was translating a poem in his studio.

Lin Buran's translation works.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  “Academic translations may be more accurate. Some don’t care about beauty or not. I want my translations to look more beautiful.” In Lin Buyan’s view, some people’s names, place names, and some allusions are more difficult to translate. Some conceptual vocabulary similar to the West will be used instead.

Lin Buran's translation works.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  “In the beginning, I used a pen to draw these translations, but I found that the pen was too restricted, and the brush can create infinite possibilities in my paintings.” Lin Buyan said that he would draw a draft on paper before creating. Subsequently, the English translation was written on rice paper with a brush, and each ancient poem was matched with a brush drawing in combination with the artistic conception of the original text.

  Lin Buran's studio is located next to Jiangxi Normal University. After walking through winding paths and a narrow staircase, you can see a large terrace in front of you.

A room with a size of several square meters by the terrace is where Lin Buran creates and lives.

Lin Buyan is exhibiting offline.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  A desk made of wooden boards is stacked with many unused rice papers. The writing brushes, paints, books, and computers on the desk constitute a complete workbench.

In the corner of the studio are piles of works nearly half a meter high. Among them, the translation of "The Shao Shi Ming" is placed in a conspicuous position, and the accompanying painting is a self-portrait of Lin Buyan.

  "My studio may seem crude to outsiders, but I see it as a kind of'cultivation'." Lin Buran said that he likes his "shabby room" very much, and it is here that he has created more than a thousand paintings. work.

Lin Buyan is showing reporters his own translation of "The Shao Shi Ming".

Photo by Li Yunhan

  On Lin Buran's bookshelf, there are his favorite classic Chinese classic "A Dream of Red Mansions", as well as a collection of works by poets such as Nalan Xingde and Han Shan.

Each book has been turned yellow and curled due to repeated reading, and "A Dream of Red Mansions" has been "divided into two" and re-bound.

  "These ancient poems are so beautiful, they are languages ​​that are worth learning all my life." Lin Buran said that he had thought about learning other kinds of languages ​​after learning Chinese, but found that Chinese seemed to be "forever unfinished." There are always new discoveries in Chinese.

Lin Buyan is exhibiting offline.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  "Many relatives and friends in Canada found the ancient Chinese poems very interesting after seeing my translated works." Lin Buran said that there are very few people in the world who have translated ancient poems into English and matched them with paintings. Contribute to the cultural exchanges between China and the West.

My own works often participate in offline exhibitions and are also favored by customers from different countries.

Lin Buyan is exhibiting offline.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  When talking about future plans, Lin Buyan said that he would like to stay in China, continue to translate the ancient poems he loves, and also hope to develop his hobby into a career.

  Reporter: Li Yunhan and Jiang Tao