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 Theobald ...

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 Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

. 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 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 ...

, befriending, amongst others,

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...

and

Jean Daniélou Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou (; 14 May 1905 – 20 May 1974) was a French Jesuit and cardinal, an internationally well known patrologist, theologian and historian and a member of the Académie Française. Biography Early life and studies Jean ...

. 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 goal ...

, he and his wife Zhu Meifu committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. 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 Huáng Bīnhóng (; 1865–1955) was a Chinese literati painter and art historian born in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. His ancestral home was She County, Anhui province.Cihai: Page 2056. He was the grandson of artist Huang Fengliu. He would lat ...

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 Mingyuan Hu is a British historian of art and literature. Hu read Classics, Philosophy, and Art History at the University of Glasgow and received the Herkless Prize in 2008. From the same university she received her PhD in Literary History. She ...

. 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 John Minford (born 22 June 1946) is a British sinologist and literary translator. He is primarily known for his translation of Chinese classics such as 40 chapters of '' The Story of the Stone'', ''The Art of War'', the ''I Ching'' and the ''Tao ...

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 The Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award (French: Le Prix Fu Lei) (Chinese: 傅雷翻译出版奖) is an award established in 2009 by the French Embassy in China to recognize the works of Chinese translators and publishers translated from French ...

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 François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

L'Art'' by * 1933: ''Chalot'' by Soupault * 1934: ''20 Lectures on World Masterpieces of Art'' * 1934: ''Vie de

Tolstoi Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

'' by Rolland * 1934: ''Vie de

Michel-Ange Michel-Ange is a French given name, translation of Michelangelo. It may refer to * Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville (c. 1700–1778), French Governor of New France * Michel Ange Houasse (1680-1730), French painter * René-Michel Slodtz, known in ...

'' by Rolland * 1935: ''

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

'' 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 classical ...

'' by

Rolland Rolland is a surname and masculine given name which may refer to: Surname * Alain Rolland (born 1966), former Irish rugby union footballer and current international referee * Andy Rolland (born 1943), Scottish former footballer * Antonin 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 Colomba is a town, with a population of 28,655 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & towns in ...

'' by Mérimée * 1953: ''

Jean-Christophe ''Jean-Christophe'' (1904‒1912) is the novel in 10 volumes by Romain Rolland for which he received the Prix Femina in 1905 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915. It was translated into English by Gilbert Cannan. The first four volumes ar ...

'' by Rolland * 1955: ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

'' by

* 1956: ''

Zadig ''Zadig; or, The Book of Fate'' (french: Zadig ou la Destinée; 1747) is a novella and work of philosophical fiction by the Enlightenment writer Voltaire. It tells the story of Zadig, a Zoroastrian philosopher in ancient Babylonia. The story ...

'' by Voltaire * 1963: ''Philosophie de l'art'' by Taine * ''

Cousin Bette ''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette (given name), Bette'') is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended fami ...

'', ''

Le Cousin Pons ''Le Cousin Pons'' () is one of the last of the 94 novels and short stories that make up Honoré de Balzac’s '' Comédie humaine''. Begun in 1846 as a novella, it was envisaged as one part of a diptych, '' Les Parents pauvres'' (''The Poor Rel ...

'', '' 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