In deep mourning, Yang Yi passed away
On the evening of January 27, the famous translator Yang Yi unfortunately passed away at the age of 103. As a leader in the translation industry, she has translated many classic works for us with her outstanding talent and unique insights, which are deeply loved and praised by the majority of readers.
Among them, she introduced the translation of "Wuthering Heights" to China for the first time, and was highly praised. In addition, Yang Yi's life story has also been told by the "My Family, My Country" column of the main station, let us relive this touching program together and remember this great translator.
Born in 1919, Yang Yi enrolled in Tianjin Chinese and Western Girls' School at the age of 8, watched foreign movies with her classmates, and took practicing English as a daily pleasure, laying a solid foundation in Chinese and English.
Her translation career is full of love and enthusiasm, and she has always adhered to the belief that "patriotism and faith are integrated into words, and she is determined to serve the country with writing". Throughout her life, she has devoted herself to the exchange and understanding of Chinese and Western cultures, and her contributions will always be remembered.
Under the influence of the "May Fourth Spirit", she has had a desire to contribute to the suffering motherland since she was a child. In order to fulfill this wish, she wrote to the writer Barkin, and was inspired by her correspondence.
She found her own way to serve the country, and used her pen to write spiritual words full of patriotism, progress and the pursuit of truth.
In 1938, after Yang Yi published the poem "The Child Who Lost His Father", he was hunted down by Japanese soldiers because of the content of "scolding the Japanese" contained in it. In order to escape, she chose to go to Kunming and enter Southwest Associated University to study.
The journey was full of hardships, as she slept on the floor, crammed into a tanker, traveled from Tianjin to Hong Kong, and then made a detour to Vietnam, and finally set foot on the soil of her homeland. When that moment came, she burst into tears with everyone and finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.
During her study career at Southwest Associated University, Yang Yi met her translation mentor Shen Congwen. Shen Congwen was very appreciative of Yang Yi's English talent and suggested that she transfer to the Department of Foreign Languages.
He also provided Yang Yi with a wealth of translation reference books and encouraged her to try her hand at translation. Ba Jin also wrote to her, reminding her to take her time and translate hundreds to thousands of words a day.
As a result, Yang Yi has a solid foundation in translation, which has laid a good foundation for her translation career.
Yang Yi's first translation was Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. This work has been translated as "Roaring Heights" before, but Yang Yi always felt that it was in the original text"howling"(whistling) than"roaring"(Roar) can more accurately convey the emotion and atmosphere of the original work.
On a stormy day, Yang Yi was deeply attracted by the scene of the wind howling outside the window, as if the protagonist in the book was crying. Inspired by this, she picked up the pen and put the English name" wuthering heights"Translated as "Wuthering Heights".
Since the publication of this translation, it has been repeatedly reprinted in the past 70 years, opening the door to world literature for Chinese readers, allowing more people to understand and appreciate the charm of this classic work.
Yang Yi emphasized that her favorite translation method is to convey the author's unique writing style through the faithful presentation of the characteristics of the original language. "'Faith' is to respect the author's words and not to tamper with them at will;'Da' is to make the reader understand what I translated.
For example, when I was translating Wuthering Heights, a colleague came to me, and I asked him to listen to my reading and asked if he understood. ”
Yang Yi is a clear stream in the translation world. In the past few decades, she has translated many works such as "Russian Character", "The Sun That Never Sets", "Great Moments", "Song of Innocence and Experience", etc., which are widely praised for their high quality and beautiful language.
At the age of 100, she still insists on reading books every night, keeping in mind Ba Jin's entrustment to live a fulfilling life. In Yang Yi's life, Ba Jin is undoubtedly a spiritual mentor.
Ba Jin often encouraged and guided her, making her go further and further on the road of translation. Even during his serious illness, Ba Jin still did not forget to tell Yang Yi to "write more". This warm care and encouragement made Yang Yi feel grateful.
She compiled more than 60 letters with Ba Jin into a book, and at the age of 94, she published "Memories of Youth", writing a touching story with Ba Jin from a unique perspective.
The friendship between Ba Jin and Yang Yi is touching. Although she is over 100 years old, she still adheres to Ba Jin's teachings, reading and writing more, so that she can be full and quiet. Every night, she would read late because she felt like it was a part of her that she couldn't let go.
She has experienced many ups and downs in her life, but in her oral autobiography, she summed up her life journey and believed that life was worth it. Let's pray for Mr. Yang Yi and hope she goes all the way!