Pierre Ryckmans (28 September 1935 – 11 August 2014), better known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian writer, essayist and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, translator, art historian,

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the e ...

, and university professor, who lived in Australia from 1970. His work particularly focused on the politics and traditional culture of China, calligraphy, French and English literature, the commercialization of universities, and

nautical fiction Nautical fiction, frequently also naval fiction, sea fiction, naval adventure fiction or maritime fiction, is a genre of literature with a setting on or near the sea, that focuses on the human relationship to the sea and sea voyages and highlig ...

. Through the publication of his trilogy ''Les Habits neufs du président Mao'' (1971), ''Ombres chinoises'' (1974) and ''Images brisées'' (1976), he was one of the first intellectuals to denounce 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 go ...

in China and the idolizing of

Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ...

in the West. Ian Buruma
"The Man Who Got It Right"
''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', 15 August 2013; also: Ian Buruma
"The Man Who Got It Right"
chinafile.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

Biography

Pierre Ryckmans was born at

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

, an upper-middle-class district of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, to a prominent Belgian family living in a house on Avenue des Aubépines. He was the son of a publisher, the grandson of Alfonse Ryckmans, an Antwerp

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

and vice president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

, the nephew of Pierre Ryckmans, a governor general of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, and Gonzague Ryckmans, a professor at the

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

and a recognized expert of Arabic epigraphy.

Philippe Paquet Philippe Paquet is a former champion jockey from France, who in 1974 was the winner of the Prix du Jockey Club on Caracolero, and the Gran Premio d'Italia on Ribecourt. In 1976, he also won the Irish Derby on Malacate, and the Irish Oaks on Lagun ...

" Le sinologue belge Simon Leys est décédé "
''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; literally ''The Free Belgium''), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a major daily newspaper in Belgium. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the country's major French language newspapers and is popular in ...

'', 11 août 2014. Pierre Mertens
"Réception de Simon Leys"
Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique, 30 May 1992. He attended the Servites de Marie primary school near his home, then studied Greek and Latin humanities at the Cardinal Mercier diocesan school in

Braine-l'Alleud Braine-l'Alleud (; nl, Eigenbrakel ; wa, Brinne-l'-Alou) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, about south of Brussels. The municipality consists of the following districts: Braine-l'Alleud (inclu ...

. There, one of his teachers, abbé Voussure, "finished ingraining in him an unwavering Christian faith." From 1953 he studied law and art history at the

. In 1955, his father died prematurely. In May, he became a member of a delegation of ten young Belgians invited to spend a month in China. During that visit he took part in a conversation with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

, the Premier of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

.Daniel Sanderson
"An Interview with Pierre Ryckmans"
''China Heritage Quarterly'', No. 26, June 2011. As a result, he became sympathetic to the

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

regime: "I confidently extended to the Maoist regime the same sympathy that I felt for all things Chinese." He returned from the trip with also the firm view that "it would be inconceivable to live in this world, in our age, without a good knowledge of Chinese language and a direct access to Chinese culture." Upon his return to Belgium, he finished his studies in art history and began to learn calligraphy. In the summer of 1958, he travelled to Étel, a port in French

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

, to board one of the last remaining tuna boats. The account he wrote of the fishing expedition was only published 45 years later, under the title ''Prosper''. After being awarded a small bursary from the

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

government, he enrolled at the Fine Arts department of the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

. There he studied under the guidance of Pu Hsin-yu, a cousin of Pu Yi, the last emperor, and did some research for his future PhD dissertation on Shitao, a Chinese painter at the time of the

Qing empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. After completing his studies in Taiwan in 1960, he was called up for military service in Belgium. Instead, he chose to become a conscientious objector and perform civil service in the field of development cooperation for the next three years. First, thanks to the intervention of Eurasian writer Han Suyin, he was able to take up a part-time student and teaching job at Nanyang University in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. However, in 1963, under suspicion of being a communist by the

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

regime, he had to pack up and leave for

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, at the time a British colony. For two years he taught at the New Asia College, one of the colleges of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university a ...

. He lived in a Kowloon squatter area, sharing with three friends a small accommodation they dubbed Wu Yong Tang (《无用堂》the "hall of uselessness") and living a life redolent of an Eastern ''

Scènes de la vie de bohème ''Scenes of Bohemian Life'' (original French title: ''Scènes de la vie de bohème'') is a work by Henri Murger, published in 1851. Although it is commonly called a novel, it does not follow standard novel form. Rather, it is a collection of loos ...

''. He supplemented his income by writing summaries of articles from the mainland Chinese press and collecting testimonies from refugees from the mainland on behalf of the Belgian diplomatic delegation.Laurent Six
"Aux origines d’''Ombres chinoises'': une mission de six mois au service de l'ambassade de Belgique en République populaire de Chine"
''Textyles'', N. 34, 2008, pp. 65–77. He also gleaned information from '' China News Analysis'', a weekly publication produced in Hong Kong by the Jesuit scholar Father László Ladány. These reports would become the basis of his 1971 book ''Les Habits neufs du président Mao'' (translated as ''The Chairman's New Clothes''). He also taught courses at the local

Alliance française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. In 1964, he married Han-fang Chang, a journalist he met in Taiwan, and became the father of twins in 1967.Biographie de Simon Leys
''Who's who''.Philippe Paquet

''Lalibre.be'', 12 December 2011. While in Hong Kong, Ryckmans was introduced to French sinologist René Viénet, then a member of the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolutio ...

, by another sinologist,

Jacques Pimpaneau Jacques Pimpaneau (12 September 1934 – 2 November 2021) was a French scholar of Chinese. He was Chair of Chinese Language and Literature at INALCO, Paris. Biography A specialist in Chinese language and civilization, Pimpaneau discovered Chin ...

, whom he had met at the New Asian College. René Viénet, who took the view that Chinese press reports on the

were less sanitized than the writings of Western journalists and sinologists, obtained Pierre Ryckmans's agreement for his essay ''Les Habits neufs du président Mao'' to be published in Paris by Champ Libre, a publishing house run by Gérard Lebovici. For his PhD thesis, Ryckmans chose to translate and comment on a masterpiece of the history of Chinese art, the treatise on painting by Shitao. It was published in 1970 by the Institut Belge des Hautes Etudes Chinoises in Brussels, under the title ''Propos sur la peinture du moine Citrouille-amère de Shitao. Contribution à l'étude terminologique des théories chinoises de la peinture''.Rowan Callick
Pierre Ryckmans’ early books triggered outrage and controversy in Europe
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

'', 12 August 2014. On his publisher's advice, he decided to assume a pen name to avoid being declared ''persona non grata'' in the

. He chose "Simon" as his first name, a reference to the original name of the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

, and "Leys" as his second name, a tribute to the main character of Victor Segalen's ''René Leys'' published in 1922, in which a Belgian teenager residing in Peking in the final days of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

entertains his employer with accounts of the intrigues and conspiracies taking place behind the walls of the imperial palace. It is also suggested that his nom de plume is an allusion to a dynasty of painters from Antwerp under the name of Leys, with Henri Leys as its most famous representative. In 1970 Ryckmans settled in Australia and he taught Chinese literature at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in Canberra, where he supervised the honours thesis of future Australian Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

. He returned to China in 1972 for six months as a cultural attaché for the Belgian Embassy in Beijing. In 1983 Ryckmans appeared on the literary talk show '' Apostrophes'' on French television. The host,

Bernard Pivot Bernard Pivot (; born 5 May 1935) is a French journalist, interviewer and host of cultural television programmes. He was chairman of the Académie Goncourt from 2014 to 2020. Biography Pivot was born in Lyon, the son of two grocers. During Wor ...

, had also invited Maria-Antonietta Macciocchi, a "China expert" and author of the book ''Dalla Cina''. After the latter had waxed lyrical on the subject of the New China, Ryckmans responded ferociously, pointing out errors of fact that suggested she had not verified her sources before writing her book, a work that he judged as being "d'une stupidité totale" (totally stupid) or "une escroquerie" (a fraud). In the period 1987–93 he was Professor of Chinese Studies at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. He took early retirement, later explaining that, near the end, "deep modifications" had begun to affect universities in Australia and worldwide, "transformations ... progressively taking the university further away from the model to which I had originally devoted my life". Following his retirement he returned to Canberra, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He died of cancer in Sydney at the age of 78, in August 2014, surrounded by his wife and four children, Etienne, Jeanne, Louis and Marc.

Works

Ryckmans wrote in French, English and Chinese. His books on the Chinese

and on Maoist China - beginning with his trilogy ''Les Habits neufs du président Mao'' (1971), ''Ombres chinoises'' (1974) and ''Images brisées'' (1976) - gave scathing descriptions of the cultural and political destruction in mainland China while denouncing the hypocrisy of its western defenders. In 1971, on the advice of his publisher, he decided to adopt a pseudonym before the release of ''Les habits neufs du président Mao'', in order to avoid the risk of becoming a ''persona non grata'' in the People's Republic of China. He chose "Leys" after the main character of Victor Segalen's novel ''René Leys'' (published in 1922). During the 1970s these books by Ryckmans provoked intense hostility among many Western intellectuals,Josh Freedman
The Sincere Indignation of Simon Leys
chinachannel.org, 19 March 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2019. particularly the French Maoists associated with the journal '' Tel Quel'' (such as

Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936) is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the ''avant garde'' literary journal '' Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was published by Le ...

) and attracted attacks from daily newspapers such as ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

''. However, he was defended by some intellectuals such as

Jean-François Revel Jean-François Revel (born Jean-François Ricard; 19 January 192430 April 2006) was a French philosopher, journalist, and author. A prominent public intellectual, Revel was a socialist in his youth but later became a prominent European prop ...

and Étiemble. In 1996 he delivered the

Boyer Lectures The Boyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast on ABC Radio National. The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commi ...

on the theme "Aspects of Culture", in which he argued the need to cultivate the gardens of the mind and which were later published as ''The View from the Bridge: Aspects of Culture'' (1996). Ryckmans was also a translator of Chinese literature, such as the ''

Analects of Confucius The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

'' and ''The Treatise on Painting'' by Shitao. His translation of ''The Analects of Confucius'' (1997) sought to introduce readers to "the real, living Confucius" rather than the official Confucian cult portraying him as "always proper, a bit pompous, slightly boring" — and appropriated by authoritarians.Rowan Callick
"Pierre Ryckmans’ early books triggered outrage and controversy in Europe"
''

'', 12 August 2014. The 2001 film '' The Emperor's New Clothes'', directed by Alan Taylor, was based on Leys' novel ''The Death of Napoleon''. Leys expressed distaste for the film, however; stating in an afterword accompanying a reprint of the novel that this "latter avatar 'The Emperor's New Clothes'' by the way, was both sad and funny: sad, because Napoleon was interpreted to perfection by an actor (

Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...

) whose performance made me dream of what could have been achieved had the producer and director bothered to read the book." His collection of essays, ''The Hall of Uselessness'' (2011), revealed the scope of his eccentric interests, wit and insights. His translation (2013) of

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( , ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Over 2,500 scholarly works have been published about her, including close analyses and readings of her work, since 1995. ...

’s 1940 essay ''On the Abolition of All Political Parties'' was inspired, he said, by the "toxic atmosphere" that had started to pollute Australian politics. He wrote regularly for the English-language press — ''

'', ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', '' Quadrant'', and ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'' — and for the French-language press — ''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'', ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

'', ''

'', '' Le Figaro littéraire'', and '' Le Magazine Littéraire''. He was a fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Austra ...

, an Honorary Commander of the French Navy and member of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique. He received many awards including the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

's Prix Jean Walter, prix d’histoire et de sociologie, the Prix Renaudot de l'essai, the Prix Henri Gal, the Prix Femina, the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, the Prix Guizot-Calvados, the Prix Quinquernal de Literature, and the Christina Stead Prize for fiction.

Bibliography

* Shen Fu, '' Six récits au fil inconstant des jours'' (Brussels: Maison Ferdinand Larcier, 1966) - translation from Chinese to French by Pierre Ryckmans, with a preface by

Yves Hervouet Yves Hervouet (30 April 1921 – 29 January 1999) was a French sinologist, specializing in classical Chinese literature. He was professor emeritus at the Paris Diderot University as well as an appointed Legion of Honour The National Order ...

* Shitao, ''Les propos sur la peinture du moine Citrouille-amère'' (Brussels: Institut Belge des Hautes Études Chinoises, 1970) - translation from Chinese to French and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans * Kouo Mo-jo (Guo Moruo), ''Autobiographie : mes années d'enfance'' (Paris: Gallimard, 1970, Collection "Connaissance de l'Orient") - translation from Chinese to French by Pierre Ryckmans * ''La Vie et l’œuvre de Su Renshan, rebelle, peintre, et fou, 1814-1849?'' (Paris and Hong Kong: Centre de publication de l'U.E.R. Extrême-Orient-Asie du Sud-Est de l'Université de Paris, 1971. 2 volumes). * ''Les habits neufs du président Mao: chronique de la "Révolution culturelle"'' (Paris: Champ libre, 1971) * ''Ombres chinoises'' (Paris: 10/18, 1974) *

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...

, ''La mauvaise herbe'' (Paris: 10/18, 1975) – translation from Chinese to French and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans * ''Images brisées'' (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1976) * ''

Chinese Shadows ''Chinese Shadows'' is a book written by Simon Leys, which is the pseudonym for Belgian Sinologist Pierre Ryckmans. It was originally published in the French language in 1974 under the title ''Ombres chinoises'', and was then translated into Engl ...

'' (New York: Viking Press, 1977) * ''The Chairman's New Clothes: Mao and the Cultural Revolution'' (London:

Allison & Busby Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher. Background Launching as a publishing company in Ma ...

, 1979; New York:

St Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 1977) * ''Human Rights in China'' (United Daily Newspaper, 1979) * ''Broken Images: Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics'' (London: Allison & Busby, 1979; New York: St Martin's Press, 1980) * ''La Forêt en feu: Essais sur la culture et la politique chinoises'' (Paris: Hermann, 1983) * Yao Ming-le, ''Enquête sur la mort de Lin Biao''. Preface by Simon Leys. (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1983) * ''Orwell, ou l'horreur de la politique'' (Paris: Hermann, 1984; Plon, 2006) * ''The Burning Forest: Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics'' (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985) * ''La Mort de Napoléon'' (Paris: Herrmann, 1986)
"The Chinese Attitude Towards the Past"
(presented as the Forty-seventh Morrison Lecture, 16 July 1986; republished i
''China Heritage Quarterly''
No. 14, June 2008) * Confucius, '' Les Entretiens de Confucius'' (Paris: Gallimard, 1987) – translation from Chinese to French, notes and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans *

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast''. ...

, ''Deux années sur le gaillard d'avant'' (Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont, 1990) – translation from English to French and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans * ''L'humeur, l'honneur, l'horreur: Essais sur la culture et la politique chinoises'' (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1991) * ''The Death of Napoleon'' (London: Quartet Books, 1991; Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia, 1991) * ''Aspects of Culture'' (Boyer Lectures, 1996): Lecture 1
"Introduction; Learning"
Lecture 2
"Reading"
Lecture 3
"Writing"
Lecture 4
"Going Abroad and Staying Home"
* ''The View from the Bridge: Aspects of Culture'' (Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1996) * Confucius, '' The Analects of Confucius'' (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1997) – translation from Chinese to English and commentary by Pierre Ryckmans * ''Essais sur la Chine'' (Paris: Laffont, 1998, Collection " Bouquins") * ''L'Ange et le Cachalot'' (Paris: Seuil, 1998) * ''The Angel and the Octopus: Collected Essays, 1983–1998'' (Sydney: Duffy and Snellgrove, 1999) * ''Protée et autres essais'' (Paris: Gallimard, 2001) – awarded the 2001 Prix Renaudot de l'Essai * ''La Mer dans la littérature française: de François Rabelais à Pierre Loti'' (Paris: Plon, 2003. 2 volumes.) * ''Les Naufragés du Batavia'', suivi de ''Prosper'' (Paris:

Arléa Arléa is a French publishing house created in 1986. Arléa publishes thirty new titles each year, including pocket ones. His catalog contains more than a thousand titles: the great classics of Antiquity (whether Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit or ...

, 2003) – awarded the 2004 Prix Guizot-Calvados * ''The Wreck of the Batavia: A True Story'' (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2005) * ''Les Idées des autres, idiosyncratiquement compilées pour l'amusement des lecteurs oisifs'' (Paris, Plon: 2005) * ''Other People's Thoughts: Idiosyncratically compiled by Simon Leys for the amusement of idle readers'' (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2007) * ''The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays'' (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2011) * ''Le Studio de l'inutilité'' (Paris: Flammarion, 2012) *

, ''On the Abolition of All Political Parties'' (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2013) – translation from French to English by Pierre Ryckmans For a more comprehensive list of his publications in various languages and editions, see WorldCat fo
Pierre Ryckmans
an
Simon Leys
see also thi
list of articles by Simon Leys
in ''The New York Review of Books''.

References

External links

* Simon Leys

MorningSun.org website, n.d. (originally published 1978). * Pierre Ryckmans

Extract from the 1996 Boyer Lectures. * David Warren
"Anatomy of a Tyrant"
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'', 10 June 2007. * Laurent Six
"Aux origines d’Ombres chinoises: une mission de six mois au service de l’ambassade de Belgique en République populaire de Chine"
''Textyles'', 34, 2008. * Daniel Sanderson
"An Interview with Pierre Ryckmans"
''China Heritage Quarterly'', No. 26, June 2011. * Geordie Williamson
"Simon Leys' essays reveal a writer cunning like a hedgehog"
''

'', 16 July 2011. * Pierre Ryckmans, Phillip Adams
"A Conversation with Pierre Ryckmans"
''

Late Night Live ''Late Night Live'' is a radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web. Since 1991, the program has been hosted by farmer, writer and public intellectual P ...

'', 11 August 2011. * Ian Buruma
"The Man Who Got It Right"
(review of ''The Hall of Uselessness''), ''

'', 15 August 2013; also see
archive copy
* Luke Slattery

''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 23 August 2014. * Rowan Callick
"Chairman’s New Clothes author Pierre Ryckmans dies aged 78"
''The Australian'', 11 August 2014. * Rowan Callick
"Pierre Ryckmans’ early books triggered outrage and controversy in Europe"
''The Australian'', 12 August 2014. * Michael Forsythe

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 14 August 2014. * Murray Bail
"Pierre Ryckmans: Remembering a man of letters, and a friend"
''

'', October 2014.
Pierre Ryckmans (Simon Leys) Quotes
(English and French quotes), wideworldofquotes.com website.
''The Emperor's New Clothes''
(film review), IMDb.com website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leys, Simon 1935 births 2014 deaths Writers from Brussels 20th-century Belgian male writers Belgian emigrants to Australia Belgian sinologists Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni University of Sydney faculty Australian National University faculty Prix Femina winners Prix Renaudot de l'essai winners Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chinese–French translators English–French translators Belgian writers in French Australian sinologists Australian essayists Australian male writers Quadrant (magazine) people Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique 20th-century translators

Biography

Works

Bibliography

See also

Further reading

References

External links