Vincenz Maria Hermann Hundhausen (15 December 1878 – 18 May 1955) was a German who was a German-language professor at

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

and a translator of Chinese works into German.Walravens, p
92
"xi 洪濤生" (footnote) He used the Chinese name Hong Taosheng (). Hundhausen owned the Poplar Island Press, based out of his Beijing house. In addition, Hundhausen saw himself as a poet and an artist.Bieg, p
71
In 2001 Annette Merker, author of a book review of ''Vincenz Hundhausen (1878-1955): Leben und Werk des Dichters, Druckers, Verlegers, Professors, Regisseurs und Anwalts in Peking'', wrote that he was "little known by non- sinologists".Merker, p. 241. "This stay grew into a lifelong intimate relationship with China, where Hundhausen ..This extraordinary German expatriate, little known by non-sinologists, ..

Life

Hundhausen was born in

Grevenbroich Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a 30 ...

on 15 December 1878. His father, V. Hundhausen, was a factory owner. V. Hundhausen's grandfather, , was a friend of

Ernst Moritz Arndt Ernst Moritz Arndt (26 December 1769 – 29 January 1860) was a German nationalist historian, writer and poet. Early in his life, he fought for the abolition of serfdom, later against Napoleonic dominance over Germany. Arndt had to flee to Swe ...

.Bieg, p
67
Hundhausen studied law in the cities of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. In 1909 in Berlin Hundhausen began practicing law and working as a notary. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Hundhausen initially served as an officer. He became a prosecutor serving in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

for the Commander-in-Chief of the East. By the year 1923, Hundhausen had become a specialist in property administration and guardianship. In 1923, Hundhausen was the executor of the Pape-assets in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

and he had been asked to settle an inheritance case there. He stated that he had a lack of knowledge and awareness of China when he traveled there at age 45.Bieg, p
68
Hundhausen stayed in China, living and working there for 31 years, with one short interruption. In 1946 Hundhausen stated that after he first arrived in China he decided to stay there because he foresaw political developments that would occur in Germany. He worked for the State University of Peking as a professor of German literature. From 1924 to 1937 he taught "German and World Literature" at the university.Bieg, p
69
In China he also became a publisher-printer, a poet, and a translator. In western

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

he lived in an estate called "Poplar Island" (''Pappelinsel''), located west of the former

Beijing city wall The Beijing city fortifications were Defensive wall, walls with series of towers and gates constructed in the city of Beijing, China in the early 1400s until they were partially demolished in 1965 for the construction of the 2nd Ring Road and Line ...

,Merker, p. 242. near the former wall's southwestern corner. It was his base for printing, publishing, translating, and writing of poetry. His business was called the Poplar Island Press (german: Pappelinsel-VerlagMerker, p. 243. or german: Pappelinsel-Werkstatt, ) In the late 1930s about 40 employees worked for the business in the house's courtyards. In 1926 he sent letters to the

Parliament of Germany The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commo ...

urging the country to not join the

Nine Power Treaty The Nine-Power Treaty (Japanese: or Nine-Power Agreement () was a 1922 treaty affirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of China as per the Open Door Policy. The Nine-Power Treaty was signed on 6 February 1922 by all o ...

. He wrote that his letters were successful in "preventing Germany at the very last moment from joining to the Nine Power Treaty, already passed by the legislative body, which was to be repeatedly abused to China’s detriment". After the institutionalized German community was founded in 1935, he refused to join it. He resigned from the Zhong de Xuehui (), the German government's "German Institute" located in China. The

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

forced him to leave his university position in 1937. The German Ambassador to China commented on Hundhausen's expulsion from his position by stating "only such teaching staff are required as are better able to serve the new political era in Germany." That year, Hundhausen took control of Peking University's printing press, keeping it away from the control of the invading Japanese. He used it to increase his printing business. He said that several hundred cultural works had been produced with it. In 1954 the Chinese government expelled him, and he was deported to Germany. Annette Merker wrote that "Hundhausen’s isolation in China during the war years, his intellectual isolation from Germany, and not least the violent political upheavals in China, which caused him, unlike other Germans, to be expelled from that country, prevented him from making a new start in Germany."Merker, p. 244. He died in Grevenbroich in 1955.

Translations and publications

'' Odes of Horace'' was Hundhausen's first translation. Hundhausen had completed translation work done by Christoph Martin Wieland, who had done his own translation of the ''Odes of Horace'' in 1872 and that of the satires in the period 1784 to 1786. Lutz Bieg, author of "Literary translations of the classical lyric and drama in the first half of the 20th century: The "case" of Vincenz Hundhausen (1878-1955)", wrote that Hundhausen was "probably inspired" by Wieland, who Hundhausen had "greatly admired" and had made as "one of his German idols".Bieg, p
6768
Hundhausen had translated Chinese poetry and dramas into German. During the decade of the 1920s, he translated over 120 Chinese texts, with most of them being poems. His translations began appearing after 1926.Bieg, p
70
Poems translated by Hundhausen include those of

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

, Li Taibo,

Su Dongpo The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, and

Tao Yuanming Tao Yuanming (; 365–427), also known as Tao Qian (; also T'ao Ch'ien in Wade-Giles), was a Chinese poet and politician who was one of the best-known poets during the Six Dynasties period. He was born during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420 ...

. He also made German translations of philosophical tracts by Laozi and

Zhuangzi Zhuangzi may refer to: * ''Zhuangzi'' (book) (莊子), an ancient Chinese collection of anecdotes and fables, one of the foundational texts of Daoism **Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; als ...

. In 1930 he wrote a German translation for ''

Tale of the Pipa ''Tale of the Pipa'' ( "Tale of the Pipa" or "The Story of the Lute") is a Chinese '' nanxi'' play written by the playwright Gao Ming during the late Yuan dynasty. There are French, German, English translations of the play, and an English noveliz ...

'' (''Pipa ji''). In 1937 he published a German translation of ''

The Peony Pavilion ''The Peony Pavilion'' ( zh, t=牡丹亭, s=牡丹亭, p=Mǔdān tíng, w=Mu-tan t'ing), also named ''The Return of Soul at the Peony Pavilion'', is a romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598. The plot was drawn from the ...

'' (''Mudan ting'') by

Tang Xianzu Tang Xianzu (; September 24, 1550 – July 29, 1616), courtesy name Yireng (), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty. Biography Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-leve ...

. He also translated

Wang Shifu Wang Shifu (), courtesy name of Wang Dexin (1250-1337?), was a successful Chinese playwright of the Yuan dynasty. He is a representative of “Wencaipai” (Literal talent group) in Chinese opera literature. He was born in Dadu (present-day Beijin ...

's '' The Western Chamber'', as well as Tang Xianzu's '' The Soul's Return''. Hartmut Walravens, author of "German Influence on the Press in China," wrote that Hundhausen was a "masterly translator". Bieg stated that Hundhausen had an "apparently rather limited knowledge of the (literary? classical?) Chinese language" and that he was an "amateur sinologist", his colleagues and helpers, including Feng Zhi and Xu Daolin, were "excellent". In 1946 he wrote "Mein Lebenslauf" (My life), an autobiographical work. He had a German-language theater company, ''Pekinger Bühnenspiele'', which performed Chinese dramas in the German language, and also created publications. In its dramas the company used Chinese and German actors and catered to mostly German audiences in Beijing. It also conducted tours in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. The theater company and Hundhausen toured

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the northern hemisphere spring of 1936. In addition he edited and was responsible for several ''sonderausgaben'' () special issues of the '' Deutsch-Chinesische Nachrichten''. These issues included, on anniversaries of famous people, the famous peoples' articles, translations and texts to celebrate them. He had published

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

s about

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named afte ...

von Platen The House of Platen is a feudal noble family originally from Pomerania. The branch of Platen-Hallermund was a mediatized one and as such was part of the small circle of families that belonged to the High nobility in Germany. History The family's e ...

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

, and Christoph Martin Wieland.

Erwin von Zach Erwin Julius Ritter von Zach (18 April 1872 – 19 January 1942) was an Austrian diplomat and sinologist noted for his studies of Chinese literature and its translation, as well as his often harsh criticism of other scholars' work. His Germ ...

has a positive reception to Hundhausen's work. Some academics criticized Hundhausen. Erich Schmitt, a professor based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, accused Hundhausen of plagiarism.

List of publications

* Vincenz Hundhausen: Die Oden des Horaz ('' Odes of Horace''). In deutscher Sprache. Borngräber o.J. (1925) * Vincenz Hundhausen: ''Die Laute'' ("The Lute", ''

''). Ein chinesisches Singspiel. In deutscher Sprache. Peking: Pekinger Verlag, 1930 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Chinesische Dichter in deutscher Sprache. Peking, Leipzig: Pekinger Verlag, Leipzig : Carl Emil Krug, 1926 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Der Ölhändler und das Freudenmädchen. Eine chinesische Geschichte in 5 Gesängen. Peking: Pekinger Verlag, (1928) * Vincenz Hundhausen: Das Westzimmer. Ein chinesisches Singspiel aus dem dreizehnten Jahrhundert. Eisenach, 1926 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Die Weisheit des Dschuang-Dse in deutschen Lehrgedichten. Peking: Pekinger Verlag 1926 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Die Rückkehr der Seele. Ein romantisches Drama Von Tang Hsiän Dsu. 3 Bände: Traum und Tod / Die Auferstehung / Im Neuen Leben. Erich Röth-Verlag, 1937 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Chinesische Dichter ~ des dritten bis elften Jahrhunderts. Erich Röth-Verlag, 1926 * Vincenz Hundhausen: Korrespondenzen 1934-1954, Briefe an Rudolf Pannwitz 1931-1954, Abbildungen und Dokumente zu Leben und Werk. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2001.

References

* Bieg, Lutz.
Literary translations of the classical lyric and drama in the first half of the 20th century: The "case" of Vincenz Hundhausen (1878-1955)
"
Archive
In: Alleton, Vivianne and Michael Lackner (editors). '' De l'un au multiple: traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes Translations from Chinese into European Languages''. Éditions de la maison des sciences de l'homme (Les Editions de la MSH, ), 1999,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. p. 62-83. , 9782735107681. * Merker, Annette. "
Vincenz Hundhausen (1878-1955): Leben und Werk des Dichters, Druckers, Verlegers, Professors, Regisseurs und Anwalts in Peking
'" (book review). China Review International. Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 2001. pp. 241–244. 10.1353/cri.2001.0034. - Available from

Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...

. * Walravens, Hartmut. "German Influence on the Press in China." - In: ''Newspapers in International Librarianship: Papers Presented by the Newspaper Section at IFLA General Conferences''.

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

, January 1, 2003. , 9783110962796.
Also available at
the website of the

Queens Library The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest li ...

- This version does not include the footnotes visible in the Walter de Gruyter version **Also available in Walravens, Hartmut and Edmund King. ''Newspapers in international librarianship: papers presented by the newspapers section at IFLA General Conferences''.

K.G. Saur K. G. Saur Verlag is a German publisher that specializes in reference information for libraries. The publishing house, founded by Karl Saur, is owned by Walter de Gruyter and is based in Munich. In 1987, K. G. Saur was acquired by Reed Intern ...

, 2003. , 9783598218378.

Notes

External links