(Question about things) Characters|Li Zhiyi: Recalling Sinologist Lin Xili
China News Service, Beijing, December 7th, title: Remembrance of Sinologist Lin Xili
Author Li Zhiyi, translator and former deputy editor-in-chief of People's Pictorial
Editor's note: Recently, the Swedish Embassy in China held a memorial meeting for "Ms. Lin Xili".
People come here to deeply cherish the memory of this Swedish Sinologist, Cecilia Lindqvist, who has a close relationship with China.
Lin Xili is a famous Swedish Sinologist who has visited China dozens of times and published books on Chinese culture such as "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" and "Guqin".
This column was published on June 19 "(East-West Questions) Exclusive | Swedish "Polaris" Medal winner Li Zhiyi talks about mutual learning between China and the West: The beauty of Chinese characters is the same?
"In this article, I interviewed Li Zhiyi, the translator of Lin Xili's main works.
Today, this old Chinese friend of Lin Xili personally writes an article to commemorate her.
Professor Lin Xili, an old friend of the Chinese people and winner of the China Book Special Contribution Award, died on September 26, 2021 in Stockholm, Sweden, at the age of 89.
The bad news came and made me extremely sad.
Professor Lin Xili is an outstanding Swedish Sinologist, writer, expert on China issues and photographer.
She has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and Sweden throughout her life.
In July 2018, a watch with dial numbers designed as personalized Chinese characters was exhibited at the "Chinese Characters Fair" in Hong Kong.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Wei
She is a teacher in Sweden. She was the first to offer a Chinese course in a Swedish high school in 1970. It is no exaggeration to use the well-known phrase "Peaches and plums are all over the world".
Now some of her students have become Chinese professors, diplomats, teachers, or work in economic, technical or scientific research departments related to China.
She is a writer.
Her three main works are all about China, and all have won awards in Sweden, including the August Prize.
The three works are: "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" (1989)-tells the story of Chinese people and their Chinese characters; "Guqin" (2007)-"A story about the guqin, about its meaning in the life of literati, about The relationship between music, poetry, people and the guqin-even how we should live-some of my experiences and experiences in the guqin world"; "Another World" (2015)-"I have never been unbearable Escape from China and become deeply fascinated by Chinese culture.
On November 24, 2021, the Swedish Embassy in China held the "Remembrance of Ms. Lin Xili" memorial service. The Swedish Ambassador to China Song Lian (Helena Sångeland) (left) delivered a speech.
Behind her are the main works of Ms. Lin Xili.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chai Jingbo
She is an outstanding expert on China.
In the 1980s and 1990s, she chose two locations in China in order to observe and experience the changes in China at close range, one in Big Fish Island in Shandong and the other in northern Shaanxi.
During this period she wrote many articles for Swedish newspapers.
When she was in Suide, northern Shaanxi, she also went to the countryside to inspect the folk craft paper-cutting, visited women's paper-cutting artists, collected a lot of materials and paper-cutting works, and prepared the fourth book "Paper-cutting" about China.
It's a pity that I didn't get what I wanted.
She also gave me an article about Chinese paper-cutting, which seemed to be the preface to the work "Paper-cutting", and I immediately translated the article into Chinese.
She joked to me that she is busy with "China" almost every day. People often call her or write letters to ask her about China. It can be as small as an ancient book, a piece of porcelain, a painting, and as large as a national system. .
I first met Professor Lin Xili in the early 1980s, when I received a Swedish government scholarship to study Swedish literature at Stockholm University, mainly studying Strindberg's works.
One day she invited me to her house as a guest.
I took the subway from the city center to a small town in the south of Stockholm called Lake Elva, which is a transportation hub. I could have taken a bus from there to where she lives.
But in order to see the surrounding scenery, I walked for ten minutes.
She lives at No. 24 Changqiaogu Avenue. It is a villa with a garden in front. In addition to flowers and plants, she also grows various vegetables and Chinese bamboo.
Ms. Lin Xili's inscription "The Origin of Chinese Characters".
Photo by Su Kaize issued by China News Agency
Professor Lin Xili's cooking skills are very high, and several dishes are delicious.
After the meal, she took out the blueprint of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" to show me. She asked me to read through one article to see if there were any errors. If there were any errors, she could change the blueprint.
On the one hand, time is tight, on the other hand I am not a philologist, and I only found some trivial mistakes.
About two months later, the Swedish version of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" was officially published. I should be among the first readers.
This work caused a sensation immediately after its publication and received rave reviews.
One day, Professor Lin Xili called me and asked me if I would be interested in translating "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" into Chinese. I replied, I will try!
I returned to China in 1984 and started translating.
After the translation was completed, I visited editors of several publishing houses. They heard that it was difficult to read the writing about Chinese characters written by a foreign sinologist.
Thanks to the help of my friend Li Hui who worked in the People's Daily, I got in touch with Wang Jiaming, the then editor-in-chief of Shandong Pictorial Publishing House.
After reading the manuscript, he excitedly said on the phone that this is a work with very good intentions. It is extraordinary, and we will definitely publish it.
The Chinese version of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" became very popular after it came out, and it was printed about 6 times in a row.
Both Shandong TV Station and CCTV have produced special programs on "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters".
Later, Wang Jiaming was transferred to Beijing as the deputy editor-in-chief of Sanlian Bookstore and brought the copyright.
He presided over the publication of various versions of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" in Sanlian Bookstore.
Later, he was promoted to the president of People's Fine Arts Publishing House and brought the copyright to the past, where different versions were also published.
Later, he retired, still planning the publication of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters", planning and publishing "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters for Children".
Before Professor Lin Xili became seriously ill, he and Professor Lin Xili were still discussing a new version of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters for Younger Children."
Frankly speaking, without Wang Jiaming's insight, there would be no such thing as "Kingdom of Chinese Characters" in mainland China, Taiwan, or Singapore.
Through this incident, I really understood the meaning of Bole's hard to find.
Nowadays, there are various versions of "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" on the market. First of all, we would like to thank the writer Professor Lin Xili, who has made thousands of readers at home and abroad understand the ancient Chinese characters with her unique narrative skills. We also want to thank the foresighted publication. Home Wang Jiaming.
"The Kingdom of Chinese Characters for Children" by Lin Xili, translated by Li Zhiyi.
Photo by Su Kaize issued by China News Agency
I once saw an article on "Reference News" in which it was mentioned that Qian Qichen, then Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State Council, praised Professor Lin Xili's "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters" in a speech.
I immediately wrote and told Professor Lin Xili about the matter. She was very happy, and I was very proud of it. I told Wang Jiaming about the matter immediately, and he was also very happy.
On November 24, 2021, the Swedish Embassy in China held the "Remembrance of Ms. Lin Xili" memorial service. Chinese translator Li Zhiyi was invited to attend as a guest and recalled the plot of the first meeting with Lin Xili many years ago.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chai Jingbo
Professor Lin Xili left us, but she will always live in our hearts.
Here in China, she has tens of thousands of readers who like her. They like her narrative skills, psychology and humor.
(over)
About the Author:
Li Zhiyi accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Question about East and West" at his home in Beijing.
Photo by Shi Yuanfeng, China News Service
Li Zhiyi, born in 1940, is a native of Beijing.
Served as deputy editor-in-chief and translation reviewer of People's Pictorial.
In the 1960s, he studied at the Beijing Foreign Studies University to study Swedish; in 1981, he received a Swedish government scholarship to study at the Department of Literature of Stockholm University.
The main translation works include "History of Swedish Literature", "Inside the Nobel Prize for Literature", "The Kingdom of Chinese Characters", "The Complete Library of Prose of Previous Nobel Prize Winners" (Nordic part), "Selected Foreign Folktales", and also translated The selected works of Swedish children's literature master Lindgren (9 volumes), including "Pippi Longstocking", "Naughty Bag Emil" and so on.
In 2004, he won the Special Contribution Award of the Swedish Academy; in June 2005, he was awarded the "First Class Knight Medal" in the "Polaris Order" series issued by King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden; in October of the same year, he was awarded the "2005" Strindberg Award".