The life journey of learning English and working in English

Author: Li Funing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Li Funing, a master of Western languages and literature, renowned educator, translator, and professor of the English Department at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, passed away on the morning of May 10, 2004, at 10:10 AM due to multiple organ failure caused by late-stage cancer. Despite rescue efforts, he passed away at the age of 87. Li Funing was originally from Putian, Shaanxi. He was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu, on March 17, 1917. He graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages at Tsinghua University in 1939 and from the Graduate School of Tsinghua University in 1941. From 1941 to 1946, he taught at the Department of Foreign Languages at Southwest Associated University. In 1946, he went to the United States to study at the Department of English at Yale University, earning a master's degree in 1948. He returned to China in 1950 and served as an associate professor at the Department of Foreign Languages at Tsinghua University. After the reorganization of academic departments in 1952, he became a professor at the Department of Western Languages and Literatures at Peking University and was one of the first doctoral supervisors in China in 1982. He taught and conducted research at Yale University and Cornell University in the United States. He served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Peking University, Director of the Department of Western Languages and Literatures, and Director of the Department of English. He also held positions such as a member of the Academic Evaluation Committee of the State Council, a special member of the Committee, Honorary President of the China British Literature Society, Vice President of the China Foreign Language Teaching Research Association, Advisor to the College Foreign Language Textbook Review Committee of the former State Education Commission, Honorary Council Member of the China Foreign Literature Society, Vice President of the China University Foreign Literature Society, Advisor to the China-US Comparative Culture Research Association, Vice President of the China Shakespeare Society, Deputy Team Leader of the Foreign Literature Volume of the China Great Encyclopedia, Advisor to academic journals such as the Journal of Peking University, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Literature, the first Director of the Department of Foreign Languages at Shenzhen University, a member of the Central Committee of the Jiu San Society for the 7th and 8th terms, serving as the Director of the Education and Culture Committee, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Central Committee for the 9th term, as well as a member of the Political Consultative Committee of Beijing for the 5th and 6th terms.
Li Funing had a broad academic scope, covering philosophy, ethics, literature, aesthetics, linguistics, and history. He was proficient in multiple foreign languages, including English, French, German, Latin, Greek, and Old English. Over the decades, he taught a wide range of courses, such as professional English, professional French, the history of English, Old English, Latin, ancient Greek and Roman literature, medieval English literature, English literature from the 16th and 17th centuries, Shakespeare studies, the history of European literature, Western literary criticism, the history of English literature, the history of French literature, selected readings in English literature, specialized studies on Molière, and Chinese-English translation.
Li Funing's teaching skills were impeccable and renowned both domestically and internationally. He participated in the translation of documents for the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Selected Works of Mao Zedong, and other important documents. Over more than 60 years of dedicated scholarship, Li Funing achieved remarkable accomplishments, including numerous monographs such as The History of English, Li Funing on English Learning and Western Literature, A Brief Talk on English Learning, and Experiences in English Learning; translated works such as Eliot's Literary Essays and the preface to Johnson's Shakespearean Dramas; edited works such as Selected Readings in English Literature (co-edited) and A Guide to English Learning; and published dozens of academic papers on Shakespeare, Chaucer, Homer, and Western language and literature, as well as English teaching and research. Among these, Selected Readings in English Literature was widely acclaimed, and Eliot's Literary Essays had a profound impact in the field of foreign languages. Notably, The History of English, which was hailed as a "landmark in the teaching and research of English history in China," won the First Prize for Outstanding Teaching Materials from the Ministry of Education. The History of European Literature (three volumes, four books), edited by Li Funing as the chief editor, was nominated for the 6th National Book Award in Literature, won the First Prize of the 6th National Foreign Literature Book Award, and received the First Prize of the 7th Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award. Li Funing was also awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award for Humanities and Social Sciences Research by Peking University.
Li Funing had a deep love for his country. In the autumn of 1949, while passing the doctoral examination at Yale University and having already completed half of his doctoral thesis, he heard the news of the liberation and the founding of the People's Republic of China. Driven by a patriotic heart, he returned to China in 1950. Over the decades, he devoted himself to the cause of education in his country, working diligently to teach and nurture students, emphasizing humanities education, and cultivating generations of outstanding talents who made significant contributions to the nation. He was a lifelong learner, knowledgeable in both the East and the West, with rigorous academic standards, achieving great academic success and becoming a towering figure in the field of Western languages and literature in China and abroad.
Li Funing was a man of great virtue and modesty, always humble and kind to others, especially caring for young scholars. He was a revered master of his time, and his noble character and charm earned him sincere respect from the academic community. With his life's brilliance, Li Funing has left us forever. Though he is gone, his legacy endures. Let us carry forward the lofty virtues of Li Funing and his selfless dedication to his country and people.