China and the West

Ludwig Alexander Fabel ist zunächst als Berater der Provinzregierung in Chansha (Hunan) tätig und später Dozent für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsgeographie un Politologie an der Furen-Universität in Beijing.

William Lange ist als Journalist der Nachrichtenagentur Transocean in China und Hong Kong tätig.

George Roerich reist in der Mongolei, in der Mandschurei und anderen Teilen Chinas.

Lu, Xun. Zhu Zhong E wen zi zhi jiao [ID D37397].
"When they (May Fourth men of letters) looked around for concrete advice and guidance, it was then they found Russian literature. Russian literature opened to us the beautiful soul of the oppressed, their suffering, their struggle. Our souls were inflamed when we read the writers of the 1840s. We suffered with the characters created by the writers of the 1860s."

Mark Tobey reist nach China und trifft sich mit chinesischen Maler Deng Kui in Shanghai. Anschliessend verbringt er einen Monat in einem Zen-Kloster in Japan um Kalligrapie zu üben.

Mao, Dun. Literal translation, smooth translation, and distorted translation [ID D38990].
…Needless to say, when a translation is incomprehensible, it is not 'literal' and the true meaning of the original is lost. The translator should be completely responsible for the incomprehensibility caused, and we should not lay the blame for it on the principle of translating literally… When faithfulness to the original is achieved but comprehensibility is lost, one translates in vain. Therefore it is proposed that 'rather than striving for fidelity at the cost of comprehensibility, one might as well seek after comprehensibility rather than fidelity'… Rather, with regard to 'literal translation' we would like to note that it is not word-for-word translation, which implies 'not a word more, and not one less'. Because of the different way in which Chinese and Western languages are constructed, strict word-for-word translation is impossible…
Literary works also differ from theoretical essays. Some literary works are still comprehensible when translated word for word, though the spirit of the original work might not have been accurately conveyed. Suppose we had two translations of the same original text : one is translated word for word, though the spirit is lost, whereas the other, in not translating word for word, retains much of the original spirit. For me the latter can be called a 'literal translation', and this is the true meaning of the term… New there are certain literary works that are stylistically crude and unadorned. Perhaps readers – some of them, of course – can read with greater ease when the style is embellished, but the original work has actually suffered… For example, a translation may change the style of the original work, so that what is plain becomes polished, and what is awkwardly expressed becomes smooth flowing. When these occur, even if no mistakes appear and everyone read the translation with understanding, the original meaning still gets distorted.

Mao, Dun. The 'matchmaker' and the 'virgin' [ID D38997].
The fact is that translation is by no means less challenging than creative writing : perhaps it is much more so. In the first place, to translate a work, one must, before one does anything else, grasp the writer's ideas. But just grasping the writer's ideas is not enough ; one must also be fully capable of appreciating the artistic beauty of the original. Yet, even this is not enough ; one must also enter the work in person, as it were, to weep and laugh with its characters. The translator must have the language to get the style of the original across… If the original is a masterpiece, the translator, on reading it for the first time, often feels that the task of translating it should not be difficult ; however, after reading it a second time, he will find the task difficult ; after reading the work three or four times, he will not even dare to put pen to paper…

Ausstellung mit Liu Haisu, Henri Matisse und Pablo Picasso in Paris. Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo nimmt daran teil.

Alexander Cadogan ist Botschafter der britischen Botschaft in Beijing.

Nicholas Fitzmaurice ist Konsul des britischen Konsulats in Changsha (Hunan).

Hermann Kiebel ist Konsul des deutschen Konsulats in Shanghai.

Harry Edward Arnhold ist Chairman des Shanghai Municipal Council.

Hans Klein gründet die HAPRO = Handelsorganisation für industrielle Produktion mbH für Handel zwischen China und Deutschland.

Bau der Commercial Bank of China in Shanghai durch die Metropolitan Land Company, nach Plänen von Davies, Brooke & Gran.

Bau des Race Club in Shanghai nach Plänen von Spence, Robinson & Partners.

Bau des New Asia Hotel im europäischen Stil nach Plänen von Republic Land Investment Co. Architects geplant und gebaut durch Chinesen.

Hermann Kriebel ist Generalkonsul des deutschen Generalkonsulats in Shanghai.

Robert George Howe ist handelnder Counsellor der britischen Botschaft in Beijing.

Walter Eckert ist Leiter der HAPRO-Projekte = Handelsgesellschaft für Industrielle Produkte in Guangzhou

Felix Altenburg ist Generalkonsul des deutschen Generalkonsulats in Guangzhou.