Venice Merchant

Author: Shakespeare / United Kingdom
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-04-01
Features: Shakespeare is a name that Chinese readers and audiences are very familiar with. Although the name of this world-famous playwright had appeared in Chinese books and periodicals by the mid-19th century, his works were not introduced to Chinese readers until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903, the "Shakespearean Tales" by the British siblings Lamb were translated into Chinese for the first time, and ten of the classical Chinese translations were compiled into a collection titled "Strange Stories from Beyond the World." The following year, the Commercial Press published the complete translation of the same collection by Lin Shu, titled "Whispers by the Edge of the River." It wasn’t until 1921 that Shakespeare’s first play ("Hamlet") was fully translated into Chinese by Tian Han. To this day, his entire oeuvre is familiar to Chinese readers, with each play having at least two or more Chinese translations. Since the late 1970s, the study of Shakespeare in China has developed rapidly. In December 1984, the Chinese Shakespeare Society was officially established and organized two Shakespeare Drama Festivals in Beijing and Shanghai in 1986 and 1994, respectively. Many universities have included Shakespearean dramas as compulsory or elective courses in their English and Chinese departments. Shakespeare has become a foreign writer deeply loved by a broad audience of Chinese readers. In his inaugural address for the journal "Shakespeare Studies" of the Chinese Shakespeare Society in 1984, Mr. Cao Yu once eloquently described Shakespeare’s position in the hearts of Chinese readers.