Fu Lei
Encyclopedia
Fu Lei was a famous translator and art critic. He was born near Shanghai
and raised by his mother. He studied art and art theory in France
from 1928–1932. Upon his return to China, he taught in Shanghai
and worked as a journalist and art critic until he took up translating. His translations, which remain highly regarded, include Voltaire
, Balzac and Romain Rolland
. He developed his own style, the "Fu Lei style," and his own translation theory. Though labeled a rightist in 1957, he persevered until 1966, when, at the start of the Cultural Revolution
, he and his wife committed suicide
. His family letters to his son Fou Ts'ong
, a world-renowned pianist, were published posthumously and have become a bestseller in China
to this day.
Shanghai
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...
and raised by his mother. He studied art and art theory in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
from 1928–1932. Upon his return to China, he taught in Shanghai
Shanghai
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...
and worked as a journalist and art critic until he took up translating. His translations, which remain highly regarded, include Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, Balzac and Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915.-Biography:...
. He developed his own style, the "Fu Lei style," and his own translation theory. Though labeled a rightist in 1957, he persevered until 1966, when, at the start of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, he and his wife committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. His family letters to his son Fou Ts'ong
Fou Ts'ong
Fou Ts'ong is a Chinese pianist.Born in Shanghai to a family of intellectuals , Fou first studied piano with Mario Paci, the Italian founder of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra...
, a world-renowned pianist, were published posthumously and have become a bestseller in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to this day.
Fu's family
- Father-in-law: Zhu Hong
- Mother-in-law: Yang Xiuquan
- Wife: Zhu Meifu, born on 20 February 1913, died on
Selected works
- 1932: RodinAuguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
L'Art by Paul Gsell - 1933: Chalot by SoupaultPhilippe SoupaultPhilippe Soupault was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later founded the Surrealist movement with André Breton...
- 1934: 20 Lectures on World Masterpieces of Art
- 1934: Vie de TolstoiLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
by Rolland - 1934: Vie de Michel-Ange by Rolland
- 1935: VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
by MauroisAndré MauroisAndré Maurois, born Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog was a French author.-Life:Maurois was born in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. Maurois was the son of Ernest Herzog, a Jewish textile manufacturer, and Alice Herzog... - 1942: Vie de BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
by RollandRomain RollandRomain Rolland was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915.-Biography:... - 1949: Eugénie GrandetEugénie GrandetEugénie Grandet is an 1833 novel by Honoré de Balzac about miserliness, and how it is bequeathed from the father to the daughter, Eugénie, through her unsatisfying love attachment with her cousin. As is usual with Balzac, all the characters in the novel are fully realized...
by Balzac - 1950: Le Père GoriotLe Père GoriotLe Père Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac , included in the Scènes de la vie Parisienne section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine...
by Balzac - 1953: ColombaColombaColomba is a municipality in the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala with 212 km2 surface at about 1011 m altitude. The population is 38,746 ....
by Mérimée - 1953: Jean-ChristopheJean-ChristopheJean-Christophe is the novel in ten volumes by Romain Rolland for which he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915. It was translated into English by Gilbert Cannan....
by Rolland - 1963: Philosophie de l'art by Taine