Fu Lei (Fou Lei; ;

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Nu'an 怒安,

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Nu'an 怒庵; 1908–1966) was a Chinese translator and critic. His translation theory was dubbed the most influential in French-Chinese translation. He was known for his renowned renditions of Balzac and

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...

. Born in Nanhui, today a district of Shanghai, Fu was raised by his mother. Between 1928 and 1931 he read literature and art history in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, befriending, amongst others, Jacques Maritain and Jean Daniélou. Between 1932 and 1934 he taught art history at Shanghai Art Academy. An occasional critic and curator, for the most part of his working life, Fu Lei translated full-time. In 1958 Fu was labelled a rightist in the

Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...

, and was politically persecuted. In 1966, at the beginning of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, he and his wife Zhu Meifu committed suicide. His letters to his son, the pianist

Fou Ts'ong Fou Ts'ong (; 10 March 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Chinese-born British pianist who was the first pianist of his national origin to achieve international recognition. He came to prominence after winning third prize and the Polish Radio Prize ...

, were published in 1981. ''Fu Lei's Family Letters'' is a long-standing best-seller.

Scholarship

Fu's close relationship with the artist Huang Binhong is the subject of the 2009 monograph, ''Friendship in Art: Fou Lei and Huang Binhong'', by the Australian scholar Claire Roberts. Fu's life and work is the subject of the 2017 monograph, ''Fou Lei: An Insistence on Truth'', by the Chinese-British scholar Mingyuan Hu. It chronicles the hitherto unknown Parisian milieu and intellectual formation of Fu Lei through archival documents unearthed in France. Reviewing ''Fou Lei: An Insistence on Truth'', the sinologist and literary scholar John Minford wrote: “Here this absorbing book breaks new and fascinating ground, offering crucial evidence of the growth of a great translator’s mind.”

Legacy

The Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award was created in 2009 by the French Embassy in China to recognize the works of Chinese translators and publishers translated from French publications.

Works

Translations * 1932: '' Rodin L'Art'' by * 1933: ''Chalot'' by Soupault * 1934: ''20 Lectures on World Masterpieces of Art'' * 1934: ''Vie de Tolstoi'' by Rolland * 1934: ''Vie de Michel-Ange'' by Rolland * 1935: ''

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

'' by Maurois * 1942: ''Vie de

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

'' by Rolland * 1949: ''

Eugénie Grandet ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a novel first published in 1833 by French author Honoré de Balzac. While he was writing it he conceived his ambitious project, ''La Comédie humaine'', and almost immediately prepared a second edition, revising the names ...

'' by Balzac * 1950: '' Le Père Goriot'' by Balzac * 1953: '' Colomba'' by Mérimée * 1953: '' Jean-Christophe'' by Rolland * 1955: '' Candide'' by

* 1956: '' Zadig'' by Voltaire * 1963: ''Philosophie de l'art'' by Taine * '' Cousin Bette'', '' Le Cousin Pons'', '' Colonel Chabert'' and some other works by Balzac * ''The Conquest of Happiness'' by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

Letters *' (Chinese:傅雷家书)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Lei 1908 births 1966 suicides French–Chinese translators Suicides during the Cultural Revolution Joint suicides Artists from Shanghai Republic of China translators People's Republic of China translators Writers from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese translators Burials in Shanghai Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign Victims of human rights abuses Nanyang Model High School alumni

Scholarship

Legacy

Works

See also

References