Florence Ayscough
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Florence Ayscough MacNair (21 January 1875 – 26 April 1942) was a
sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...
, writer and translator of Chinese literature.


Early life and education

Florence Ayscough, née Wheelock, was born in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China, to Canadian father Thomas Reed Wheelock and American mother Edith H. Clarke. Ayscough moved to the United States aged nine, and attended Shaw School in
Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri, a village * Brookline, New Hampshire, a town * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookl ...
, Massachusetts, near Boston. It was at the school that she met
Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...
, the American poet. The two were lifelong friends. Ayscough's family returned to live in China when she was in her early twenties. She was a student of Chinese art, literature, and sociology.


Career

Ayscough was a lecturer on Chinese art and literature and was the author of eight books on Chinese history, culture, literary criticism and translation. She traveled as a lecturer to cities including London, Paris, Berlin and New York. Ayscough accepted a permanent lecturing post at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in 1938, where she lectured on Chinese literature and continued her translation work and documenting the history and culture of China. She was Honorary Librarian of the North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society in Shanghai for fifteen years. She collected modern Chinese paintings, including work by Xu Gu. Her efforts introduced this Chinese art form to the American public. Her writings included translations of classical poetry and essays on Chinese art, history, and philosophy. She work also attempted to correct previous inaccurate attempts to translate the cultures of ancient and contemporary China, for example perspectives of China as a stagnant culture. In addition to countering negative stereotypes with positive reevaluations, she also sought to correct misinformation. For example, her review of the 1931 novel ''
The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in an early 20th-century Chinese village in Anhwei. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in '' Sons'' ...
'' by American writer
Pearl Buck Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'', the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and which won her the Pulitzer Prize ...
, Ayscough praised the choice of contemporary Chinese peasantry as the subject, but criticized the accuracy. Ayscough had a strong influence on the work of her friend Amy Lowell, being the source of Lowell's interest in Asian culture and Chinese poetry. Ayscough introduced Lowell to Chinese paintings and poetry in 1917. On a visit to America, she brought with her Chinese word pictures that she translated into English, which Lowell turned into rhymed poetry.


Publications

Her first book, ''Fir-Flower Tablets'', with Amy Lowell, was a translation of poems from the Chinese. ''A Chinese Mirror'', published in 1925, was an analysis of the structure of Chinese society government, in particular the symbolism of the Beijing imperial palaces. She published ''Tu Fu, the Autobiography of a Chinese Poet'' in 1929; her translations of the poems of
Tu Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve hi ...
, with a biography constructed using his poetry. In 1934 she published ''Travels of a Chinese Poet''. These two works contributed to the introduction of Tu Fu to the British public. Ayscough wrote two books intended for younger readers; ''The Autobiography of a Chinese Dog'', an account of Shanghai from the perspective of her Pekingese dog Yo-fei, and ''Fire-Cracker Land.'' Her final work, ''Chinese Women Yesterday and To-day'', published in 1937, examined contemporary Chinese women leaders as successors of a long line of capable, though secluded, Chinese women. Ayscough also contributed articles to ''
The Encyclopaedia Sinica ''The Encyclopaedia Sinica'' is a 1917 English-language encyclopedia on China and China-related subjects edited by English missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to ...
''.


Personal life

Ayscough's first husband was British importer Francis Ayscough, whom she met after moving back to Shanghai, China. As a young bride in Shanghai, she decided to learn to speak and read Mandarin. Her husband died in 1933 after a long illness. Following his death she dedicated a stained glass window (the St Francis window, in the north wall of the sanctuary) at St James the Great church in Cradley,
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, where the Revd Thomas Ayscough had been rector from 1892 to 1917. Ayscough married her second husband, sinologist
Harley Farnsworth MacNair Harley Farnsworth MacNair (b. 22 July 1891 Greenfields, Pennsylvania - d. Chicago, 22 June 1947) was a scholar and academic specialist in the modern international relations of East Asia. After graduation from University of Redlands, he taught firs ...
, in 1935. Ayscough named their homes in Chicago in traditional Chinese fashion; "Wild Goose Happiness House", and "House of the Wutung Trees" after the painting by
Ren Yi Ren Yi (; 1840–1896), also known as Ren Bonian, was a painter and son of a rice merchant who supplemented his income by doing portraits. He was born in Zhejiang, but after the death of his father in 1855 he lived in Shanghai. This move placed hi ...
in their collection. Ayscough enjoyed sailing, swimming, theatre and music, and was a member of the
English Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organisation headquartered in London, England. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages ...
. As a child she developed an interest in horses and developed into a capable horsewoman. In addition to Mandarin, she spoke fluent French and German. In 1941, Ayscough was admitted to the Chicago Osteopathic Hospital, where she died on 26 April 1942 after a long illness. Her memorial service was held at Chicago's First Unitarian Church, conducted by Dr. Von Ogden Vogt. She was buried at
Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum, and sculpture garden in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a pu ...
in
Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...
, Massachusetts.


Legacy

After her death, Ayscough's correspondence with her friend, the poet
Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...
, was compiled and published by her husband Professor Harley Farnsworth MacNair. The following year he published a biography of his wife titled ''The Incomparable Lady''. He donated her collection of 1,292 Chinese-language books to the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayscough, Florence American expatriates in China American sinologists American women academics Chinese–English translators University of Chicago faculty Writers from Shanghai 1942 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers Educators from Shanghai 1875 births