Lecture by Prof. Wang Ning on the Relationship between Chinese and English Learning
On May 11, Professor Wang Ning, famous scholar and professor of Foreign Languages Department, deputy director of academic Committee of School of Humanities, Director of Academic Committee of Foreign Languages Department, Tsinghua University, came to our college and gave a lecture entitled "The Past, Present and Future of the Relationship between Chinese and English Literature" in Office Room 1200, Liberal Arts Building, at 15 p.m. Professor Sun Yifeng, Dean of The Faculty of Arts, Lingnan University, presided over the lecture.
Professor Wang Ning received a warm welcome after Professor Sun Yifeng’s brief introduction of him. Then Professor Wang Ning first introduced the main content of the lecture and then the history of China and the UK in terms of literary relations. He mentioned the famous translator of Shakespeare's drama, Zhu Shenghao, and pointed out that his translation "the complete works of Shakespeare's drama” is by far the most complete one with relatively good quality. Though there appeared numerous translations after Zhu’s work, many of them are actually the retranslation of Zhu’s work which based on his understanding of Shakespeare.
Professor Wang also showed his concern for the current state of Chinese and English literature: though most Chinese are required to read the ‘great works’ of Shakespeare and the book of Ulysses is selling quite well in China, few actually read it. China devoted itself to translating foreign literature, while few Chinese translators have committed to the translation of excellent Chinese works. At the end, Professor Wang Ning patiently responded to the questions put forward by the present students and teachers.
Through this lecture, students gained a thorough understanding of the historical status and future of the relationship between Chinese and English learning and the current situation of the translation of Chinese and English literature. This lecture will help increase students’ interest of reading books concerned English and Chinese culture, and encourage them to introduce Chinese literature abroad while learning about the excellent works created by foreign cultures.
