Franz Walther Kuhn (10 March 1884 – 22 January 1961) was a German lawyer and translator chiefly remembered for translating many Chinese novels into German, most famously the ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...

''.

Biography

Kuhn studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

and the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, passing his state examination in 1908 and obtaining his doctorate in 1909. He began to practice law in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in 1909. He was soon assigned to the German delegation to

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

as an interpreter, having completed a course of Chinese during his study at Berlin. He stayed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

until 1912. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Kuhn began to translate classic Chinese literature into German. Eventually he ran into conflict with the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

authorities, who considered his works to be harmful. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kuhn's work began to be more widely known and appreciated. He received the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

in 1952.

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

attributes the discovery of a " paradoxical list of animals" to Kuhn. The list has become the subject of much modern commentary after it was cited by

Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French historian of ideas and philosopher who was also an author, literary critic, political activist, and teacher. Foucault's theories primarily addressed the relationships be ...

. However, Borges's attribution is the only known evidence that either such a work existed or that Kuhn discussed it. (it is, actually, a fictional attribution; see ''Otras Inquisiciones'' ( in Spanish)).

Translations

* ''Chinesische Staatsweisheit'', Darmstadt 1923 * ''Chinesische Meisternovellen'', Leipzig 1926 * ''Eisherz und Edeljaspis oder Die Geschichte einer glücklichen Gattenwahl'', Leipzig 1926 * ''Die Rache des jungen Meh oder Das Wunder der zweiten Pflaumenblüte'', Leipzig 1927 * ''Das Perlenhemd'', Leipzig 1928 * '' Kin Ping Meh oder Die abenteuerliche Geschichte von Hsi Men und seinen sechs Frauen'', Leipzig 1930 * ''Fräulein Tschang'', Berlin .a.1931 * '' Der Traum der roten Kammer'', Leipzig 1932 * ''Die Räuber vom Liang-Schan-Moor'', Leipzig 1934 * ''Die Jadelibelle'', Berlin 1936 * ''Das Juwelenkästchen'', Dresden 1937 *

Mao Dun Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his Literary realism, rea ...

: ''Schanghai im Zwielicht'', Dresden 1938 * ''Die dreizehnstöckige Pagode'', Berlin 1939 * ''Mondfrau und Silbervase'', Berlin 1939 * ''Die drei Reiche'', Berlin 1940 * ''Das Rosenaquarell'', Zürich 1947 * ''Das Tor der östlichen Blüte'', Düsseldorf 1949 * ''Und Buddha lacht'', Baden-Baden 1950 * ''Der Turm der fegenden Wolken'', Freiburg i. Br. 1951 * ''Kin Ku Ki Kwan'', Zürich 1952 * ''Goldamsel flötet am Westsee'', Freiburg i. Br. 1953 * ''Wen Kang: Die schwarze Reiterin'', Zürich 1954 * ''Blumenschatten hinter dem Vorhang'', Freiburg i. Br. 1956 * ''Altchinesische Liebesgeschichten'', Wiesbaden 1958 * ''Die schöne Li. Vom Totenhemd ins Brautkleid'', Wiesbaden 1959 * ''Li Yü: Jou pu tuan'', Zürich 1959 * ''Goldjunker Sung und andere Novellen aus dem Kin Ku Ki Kwan'', Zürich 1960

Notes

References

* Kuhn, Hatto. ''Dr. Franz Kuhn (1884–1961): Lebensbeschreibung und Bibliographie seiner Werke: mit einem Anhang unveroffentlichter Schriften''. Wiesbaden: Steiner, Sinologica Coloniensia; 1980. 180 pp. Bd. 10 . * Walravens, Hartmut. ''Franz Kuhn''. Hamburg 1982. * Peng Chang. ''Modernisierung und Europäisierung der klassischen chinesischen Prosadichtung''. Frankfurt am Main .a.1991.

External links

* * , a short story/essay where Borges attributes a paradoxical list of animals to Kuhn's work on a Chinese encyclopedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Franz Kuhn, Franz Walter Kuhn, Franz Walter 20th-century translators Chinese–German translators German expatriates in China German male non-fiction writers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Leipzig University alumni

Biography

Translations

See also

Notes

References

External links