Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang (Chinese林语堂, Pinyin Lín Yǔtáng; * October 10, 1895, † 26 March 1976) was a Chinese writer whose texts about Chinese culture and translations of the Chinese classics in Europe and America were very popular.

Life

Lin Yutang was born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, the son of a Chinese Presbyterian minister. He attended from 1908 a modern middle school in Zhangzhou. From the family intended for clergy, he entered in 1910 in the Protestant College in Xiamen one. In 1911 he moved to the St. John 's University in Shanghai, where he spent two years studying theology. At the age of 18, he experienced a crisis that his renunciation of Christianity result.

Lin Yutang decided in 1919 to continue his studies in the United States. He obtained his MA from Harvard University. He then worked for the YMCA in France.

In 1921, Lin Yutang studied in Germany, one semester at the University of Jena, then at the University of Leipzig, where he received his doctorate in 1923 with a thesis on the topic of " ancient Chinese phonology ".

Lin Yutang returned from Leipzig back to China and became a professor at the English Department of Peking University. In 1926 he became head of the English Department at the Teachers' College of Beijing. He joined a group of liberal professors and was therefore forced to leave Beijing. He returned to his home province, where he was dean of the College of Arts and Letters of Xiamen University.

In 1927, Lin Yutang took to the only political post of his life and became secretary of the Foreign Minister of the National Government in Wuhan. He was, however, only a few months. According to Lin Yutang 1927 taught at the Dongwu University of Suzhou and the Law College of Shanghai. In 1930 he was appointed director of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​at the Academy of Sciences.

In 1935, Lin Yutang published in the U.S., his first book My country and my people ( My Country and My People). This book became a bestseller, the 1936, 1937 translated into Chinese into French in 1938 and into German. Thus, Lin Yutang was the first writer in China, which established his fame abroad.

His last years were spent Lin Yutang mainly in the U.S.. In his works, he tried to bridge the cultural gap between China and the West. He is buried in Taipei.

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Works

  • My Country and My People (吾 国 与 吾民) ( 1935)
  • The Importance of Living (生活 的 艺术) ( 1937)
  • Between Tears and Laughter (啼笑皆非) ( 1943)
  • The Chinese Theory of Art ( 1967)
  • Moment in Peking (京华烟云) ( 1939)
  • The Vermillion Gate (朱门) ( 1953)
  • Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage ( (当代 汉英 辞典) ( 1973).
  • The Importance of Understanding ( 1960)
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