Achilles Fang
Encyclopedia
Achilles Fang was a sinologist
and comparatist
. He was held in great esteem by those who knew him in life; Marianne Moore
called him "the word wizard." His correspondence with Ezra Pound
significantly influenced Pound's understanding of Chinese subjects, and his doctoral dissertation on Pound, an attempt to compile all the allusions in The Cantos
, remains an important source for Pound scholars.
. He subsequently majored in philosophy and classical studies at Tsinghua University
, where he was one of the few friends of Qian Zhongshu
(who would go on to write one of the best-known and most highly regarded works of modern Chinese literature, Fortress Besieged
). After graduating in 1932, Fang spent two more years at Tsinghua as a graduate student, and then, within a period of four years spent in Nanjing
and Beijing
, was married, had a child, and suffered the death of his wife.
in Beijing, first as editorial secretary and then as associate editor (the latter which position he maintained for two years after leaving Beijing in 1947). The main content of Fang's work was to proofread translations in submissions to the journal; he corrected errors with a pedant's callous zeal. Fang's own contributions included a regular "Review of Reviews" feature, wherein he summarized important articles in European and Japanese sinological journals, providing Western sinologists with news of developments in Japanese sinology those without Japanese would otherwise not have had. Fang also taught German during this period, both at Fu-Jen University and the Deutschland-Institut.
with his son to work on a Chinese-English dictionary project sponsored by Harvard University
. He was fired for constant use of quotations from Finnegans Wake
in his entries, and subsequently enrolled in Harvard's comparative literature Ph.D. program, from which he graduated in 1958 (in Burton Pike
's graduating class) with a dissertation on Ezra Pound's The Cantos. That dissertation, the 865-page "Materials for the Study of Pound's Cantos,"
Fang became friendly with Pound while writing his dissertation, and decided not to publish it for fear of embarrassing Pound over Pound's many errors in his use of sources. During Pound's years at St. Elizabeths, Fang was Pound's key correspondent on Chinese topics.
Fang stayed on at Harvard teaching courses in classical Chinese, Chinese literary theory, and art criticism until he retired in 1977, having spent thirty years there in one capacity or another. He died of cancer in 1995, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery
. In 1997, through a gift of "the students and friends of Achilles Fang," Harvard established a prize in his honor, "awarded occasionally to a doctoral dissertation on the traditional Chinese humanities or related cultural developments throughout East Asia that continues the tradition, which Achilles Fang exemplified, of rigorous textual research."
's poem "Glory," a 1953 encounter is dramatized thus:
Indeed, Fang was not the type to hold back criticism nor to offer undeserved praise. Yet he loved teaching, and was an extremely devoted teacher who won the affection and devotion of students. As far back as his days at Monumenta Serica, he would work with American exchange students who came to him for advice and help, always refusing payment, and his generosity with his time continued until the end of his life: he met with students throughout his retirement and illness, and even spent an hour with one the day before he died.
Fang was an avid, even obsessive book collector. His obituarist writes:
's Zizhi Tongjian
, published as The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms in Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies VI (1952).
Sinology
Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
and comparatist
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
. He was held in great esteem by those who knew him in life; Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
called him "the word wizard." His correspondence with Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
significantly influenced Pound's understanding of Chinese subjects, and his doctoral dissertation on Pound, an attempt to compile all the allusions in The Cantos
The Cantos
The Cantos by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a canto. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date from 1922 onwards. It is a book-length work, widely considered...
, remains an important source for Pound scholars.
Youth
The Chinese-descended Fang grew up in Japanese-occupied Korea, eventually leaving, with the help of a missionary, to attend high school at the American Baptist College in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. He subsequently majored in philosophy and classical studies at Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
, where he was one of the few friends of Qian Zhongshu
Qian Zhongshu
Qian Zhongshu was a Chinese literary scholar and writer, known for his wit and erudition.He is best known for his satiric novel Fortress Besieged . His works of non-fiction are characterised by their large amount of quotations in both Chinese and Western languages...
(who would go on to write one of the best-known and most highly regarded works of modern Chinese literature, Fortress Besieged
Fortress Besieged
Fortress Besieged was written by Qian Zhongshu, published in 1947, and is widely considered as one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Chinese literature. The novel is a humorous tale about middle-class Chinese society in the late 1930s...
). After graduating in 1932, Fang spent two more years at Tsinghua as a graduate student, and then, within a period of four years spent in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, was married, had a child, and suffered the death of his wife.
Monumenta Serica
From 1940 to 1947, Fang worked for the East Asian studies journal Monumenta SericaMonumenta Serica
Monumenta Serica – international academic journal of sinology . It is published by Monumenta Serica Institute in Sankt Augustin. The editor-in-chief is now Roman Malek....
in Beijing, first as editorial secretary and then as associate editor (the latter which position he maintained for two years after leaving Beijing in 1947). The main content of Fang's work was to proofread translations in submissions to the journal; he corrected errors with a pedant's callous zeal. Fang's own contributions included a regular "Review of Reviews" feature, wherein he summarized important articles in European and Japanese sinological journals, providing Western sinologists with news of developments in Japanese sinology those without Japanese would otherwise not have had. Fang also taught German during this period, both at Fu-Jen University and the Deutschland-Institut.
Harvard
In 1947, Fang moved to CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
with his son to work on a Chinese-English dictionary project sponsored by Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He was fired for constant use of quotations from Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
in his entries, and subsequently enrolled in Harvard's comparative literature Ph.D. program, from which he graduated in 1958 (in Burton Pike
Burton Pike
Burton Pike is professor emeritus of comparative literature and Germanic languages and literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. He received his Ph. D from Harvard University, and has also taught at the University of Hamburg, Cornell University, and Queens College and Hunter College of the City...
's graduating class) with a dissertation on Ezra Pound's The Cantos. That dissertation, the 865-page "Materials for the Study of Pound's Cantos,"
tracked down all the allusions in the Cantos, a work admirably suited to his vast reading in many languages and acute detective instincts. One small example: In Canto 11 is the line, „der in Baluba das Gewitter gemacht hat,“ obviously a quotation, but from what source? Achilles found it in one of the seven volumes of FrobeniusLeo FrobeniusLeo Viktor Frobenius was an ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography.-Life:He was born in Berlin as the son of a Prussian officer and died in Biganzolo, Lago Maggiore, Piedmont, Italy...
' Erlebte Erdteile, where the author is referring to the activities of an African shaman.
Fang became friendly with Pound while writing his dissertation, and decided not to publish it for fear of embarrassing Pound over Pound's many errors in his use of sources. During Pound's years at St. Elizabeths, Fang was Pound's key correspondent on Chinese topics.
Fang stayed on at Harvard teaching courses in classical Chinese, Chinese literary theory, and art criticism until he retired in 1977, having spent thirty years there in one capacity or another. He died of cancer in 1995, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...
. In 1997, through a gift of "the students and friends of Achilles Fang," Harvard established a prize in his honor, "awarded occasionally to a doctoral dissertation on the traditional Chinese humanities or related cultural developments throughout East Asia that continues the tradition, which Achilles Fang exemplified, of rigorous textual research."
Personality
Fang was known to have a forceful personality. In a scene in Frederick SeidelFrederick Seidel
-Career:In 1962, his first book, Final Solutions, was chosen by a jury of Louise Bogan, Stanley Kunitz, and Robert Lowell for an award sponsored by the 92nd Street Y, with a $1,500 prize...
's poem "Glory," a 1953 encounter is dramatized thus:
His [Ezra Pound's] pal Achilles Fang led me to the empty attic of the Yenching InstituteHarvard-Yenching InstituteHarvard-Yenching Institute is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Asian culture...
,
In the vast gloom arranged two metal folding chairs
Under the one lightbulb hanging from the ceiling,
And hating me, knee to knee,
Unsmilingly asked, What do you know?
Indeed, Fang was not the type to hold back criticism nor to offer undeserved praise. Yet he loved teaching, and was an extremely devoted teacher who won the affection and devotion of students. As far back as his days at Monumenta Serica, he would work with American exchange students who came to him for advice and help, always refusing payment, and his generosity with his time continued until the end of his life: he met with students throughout his retirement and illness, and even spent an hour with one the day before he died.
Fang was an avid, even obsessive book collector. His obituarist writes:
Books were his lifelong passion. He found sympathetic souls in two Ch'ing dynasty bibliophiles and translated their charming essays on the subject of book collecting under the titles "Bookman's Decalogue" and "Bookman's Manual." After coming to the United States he began to acquire a library of Western books and soon was as well known to Boston antiquarian dealers as he had been in Peking's Liu-li ch'ang. His interests were catholic: Latin and Greek literature (two complete sets of the Loeb ClassicsLoeb Classical LibraryThe Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...
, acquired one title at a time over the years, all used or damaged remainders), a complete PatrologyPatristicsPatristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. The names derive from the Latin pater . The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian...
in Latin, works on philosophy and literature ancient and modern. He pursued congenial writers relentlessly: everything by George SaintsburyGeorge SaintsburyGeorge Edward Bateman Saintsbury , was an English writer, literary historian, scholar and critic.-Biography:...
, all of Virginia WoolfVirginia WoolfAdeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
in first editions, everything in print by or about Pound and JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. he set up rows of stacks in his office, as in most rooms of his house, which was threatened with collapse when he gave up his office on retirement and brought the books home, a shopping bagful at a time over the course of a year. Before his death he willed the collection to Peking University Library, after sending an initial shipment of some 5,000 volumes for which he could find no space.
Publications
It was said of Fang that "he knew everything, but published little." Indeed, his complete bibliography runs only four pages. Aside from his dissertation, his most significant publication may have been his heavily annotated translation of ten chapters from Sima GuangSima Guang
Sīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty, jinshi 1038.-Life, profession, and works:...
's Zizhi Tongjian
Zizhi Tongjian
The Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE, Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered the great historian Sima Guang to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the...
, published as The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms in Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies VI (1952).