Yang Xiangyi RIP

Like any of you who read a lot of Chinese literature in translation you’ve probably read, knowingly or not, translations by Yang Xiangyi and his wife Gladys Yang (below). They were the premier translators of their generation and produced many official translations at a time when other versions were rare, out of print or hard to find. Sadly Yang Xiangyi recently died – the Daily Telegraph has an interesting obituary that reveals a lot about his early life and relationship with the post-1949 Chinese state I didn’t know.