Wang Tao (translator)

Wang Tao(Chinese:Vương thao;10 November 1828 – 24 May 1897) was a Chinese translator, reformer, political columnist, newspaper publisher and fiction writer of theQing dynasty.He was bornWang LibininPuli TowninSuzhouprefecture.

Wang Tao
Born	Wang Libin (Vương lợi tân) (1828-11-10)10 November 1828 Luzhi,Wuzhong District,Suzhou,Jiangsu
Died	24 May 1897(1897-05-24)(aged 68) Shanghai
Other names	Wang Han (Vương hãn) Lanying (Lan doanh) Lanjin (Lười nay) Ziquan (Tím thuyên) Lanqing (Lan khanh)
Occupation(s)	Translator, reformer, political columnist, newspaper publisher, fiction writer
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	Vương thao
Simplified Chinese	Vương thao
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wáng Tāo Wade–Giles Wang2T'ao1 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Wong4Tou1

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisWang.

Life

Shanghai in Wang Tao's Travel Notes

In 1848, Wang Tao went toShanghaito visit his father. During his stay in Shanghai, Wang Tao visited theLondon Missionary SocietyPress. He was warmly greeted byWalter Henry Medhurstand his daughters Mary and Ellen.Wang Tao also met missionariesWilliam Muirhead,Joseph Edkins,andWilliam Charles Milne,all well versed in spoken and writtenChinese language.^[1]

Work with the London Missionary Society

In 1849 Wang Tao's father died. Wang Tao was looking for a job to support his family. He was offered a job by Walter Henry Medhurst at the London Missionary Society Press in Shanghai assisting in his translation of theNew Testamentinto Chinese. Wang Tao worked at the London Missionary Society Press for the next 13 years. In this period, he also translated many English books into Chinese in collaboration with missionaries Alexander Wylie and Joseph Edkins. These includedPictorial Optics,An Elementary Introduction to Mechanics,Concise History of Sino-British Trade,andA History of Astronomy of the Western Countries.

Refuge in Hong Kong

Drawing of Hong Kong in Wang Tao's 1887 travelog

The middle of the 19th century was a period of turmoil in China. In 1860, theTaiping Rebellionhad captured Suzhou,Changzhou,and was threatening Shanghai. During this period, Wang Tao was in contact with the leaders of theTaiping Heavenly Kingdom.In 1862, he even wrote a letter under the pseudonym Wang Wan to a Taiping leader, proposing tactics against the Qing military and suggesting that westerners were not the enemy of Taiping. He stated that the real enemy was the Qing government; if the Taiping army could achieve victory over the Qing army led byZeng Guofan,then the westerners might take side with the Taiping Kingdom.

When the Qing army captured Shanghai, this letter fell into the hands of the Qing government, and theTongzhi Emperorordered Wang Tao to be arrested. He took refuge in the British Consulate, remaining there for more than four months. In October 1862, a disguised Wang Tao, escorted by several people from the British Consulate, boarded aJardine Mathesonship namedRonabound forHong Kong.This is how he left his homeland to which he was not to return for twenty-two years. In Hong Kong, he changed his name from Wang Libin to Wang Tao.

In Hong Kong,James Legge,the principal of theAnglo-Chinese Collegeinvited Wang Tao to stay at the London Mission Society hostel and to assist him in the translation ofTheThirteen Classics.By 1865, Legge and Wang had completed the translation ofShang ShuandThe Bamboo Book Annals.

In this period, Wang Tao also took on the job of editor in chief of a Chinese newspaperHua Zi Newsin Hong Kong, this was the beginning of his journalism career.

Move to Scotland

Paris

In 1867, James Legge returned to his native Scotland, settling in the small town ofDollarinClackmannanshire.He wrote a letter to Wang Tao, inviting him to come to Scotland to continue assisting in the translation of more Chinese classics. Wang Tao boarded a ship and departed from Hong Kong. The ship stopped at Singapore, Ceylon, Penang, Aden, Messina, and Cairo before reaching Marseille.The voyage from Hong Kong to Marseille took more than forty days. Wang Tao took the opportunity of sightseeing in all the ports of call. From Marseille, he took a train to Lyon, then to Paris. He visited theLouvre,and also visited the sinologistStanislas Julienat theSorbonne.After a short stay of a little under two weeks, Wang Tao crossed the English Channel fromCalaistoDoverand took a train to London. After sightseeing in London (including theBritish Museum), he moved on to Scotland and settled down in Dollar.

During his journey Wang Tao jotted down his impressions of the places he visited. He later collected part of these material into his travel book,Jottings from Carefree Travel(1890), the first travel book about Europe by a Chinese scholar.

TheBritish Museum

In 1867 Wang Tao was invited by the Chamberlain ofOxford Universityto deliver a speech in Chinese, the first speech delivered by a Chinese scholar in Oxford. He talked about the importance of cultural exchange between east and west, and claimed that the whole world was heading toward a commongreat unity(Đại đồng).

Wang Tao inDollar, Clackmannanshire,Scotland

Edinburgh

By the Spring of 1870 the translation of various classics such asThe Book of Songs,I Ching,andThe Book of Riteswere completed.

During 1867–1870, Wang Tao travelled to many places, includingEdinburgh,Aberdeen, Huntly,DundeeandGlasgow,or took short trips toRumbling BridgePark,Castle Campbell,Tillicoultry,AlvaandStirling Castle;sometimes accompanied by James Legge and his third daughter Mary.

The travel notes about these places were also included inJottings of Carefree Travel.

Return to Hong Kong

Having finished his part in the translation of the Chinese Classics, Wang Tao returned to Hong Kong in the winter of 1870. In Hong Kong, he wrote two influential books:A Brief Introduction to FranceandReport on the Franco-Prussian War.The latter was highly regarded by high mandarins of the Qing government, includingZeng Guofan,Li Hongzhang,and paved the way for his final pardon by the Qing government later.

In 1872, Wang Tao bought the printing press of London Mission in Hong Kong and founded theZhong Hua General Printing House.

On 5 February 1874Wang Tao foundedTsun-wan yat-po(1874–1947,Universal Circulating Herald), the first Chinese daily newspaper in history.Lin Yutangcalled Wang Tao the 'Father of the Chinese Newspaper'.

During his ten-year career as editor in chief of Universal Circulating Herald, Wang Tao penned close to a thousand editorials calling for the reform of the Chinese political system, by adopting a British styleparliamentary monarchy.He also called for reform of the educational system by introducing western science to the curriculum; he called for the establishment of textile, railway, machinery and mining industries. His reformist editorial articles reached a wide audience.

He was the de facto forerunner of the reformist movement in China. Many of his reformist articles were later published as a volume:Collection of Essays from The Tao Garden.

Visit to Japan

In 1879, at the invitation of Japanese literati, includingNakamura Masanao.Wang Tao spent over four months in Japan. He visited many cities such asNagasaki,NagoyaandTokyo,and notes of this journey became one of his books:A Record of Travels in Japan(Fu-sang yu-chi).

In Japan, wherever he went, he was surrounded by literati, and sometimes rode in sedan chairs carried by eight men.As a scholar who had lived in Europe and who had an in-depth understanding of European politics and culture, he enjoyed very high esteem in Japan. His travel needs were taken care of by the Qing Embassy in Japan. Wang Tao was apparently quite moved by his warm welcome in Japan; he wrote that when he left Japan, he was treated with a grand dinner party attended by more than one hundred celebrities, and that he never thought he could become so famous and important, because during his youth at Puli township, he was a nobody. "How lucky I am to get such welcome by foreign scholars several thousand miles away".

Wang expressed an admiration for Japan's modernisation through selective use of Western institutions and technology; however, later he became distrustful ofJapan's foreign policy,especially after the annexation of theRyukyu Kingdom.

Return to Shanghai

The fame Wang Tao enjoyed overseas must have affected the Qing government. In 1884, the influentialLi Hongzhangsent a letter to the governor of Shanghai, writing: "That gentleman fromKunshanis a rare genius with encyclopedic knowledge.It is a pity he took exile in Hong Kong, if it is possible to get his service for us, we don't mind a king's ransom ".

In the spring of 1884, Wang Tao and his family returned to Shanghai and settled down in Wusong district, he also foundedTao Garden Publishing House.He nicknamed himself "The Recluse of Tao Garden".

In 1886, Wang Tao became the head ofGezhi Collegein Shanghai, where he promoted Western style education.

In 1890, Wang Tao published his travelogJottings from Carefree Travels. He also worked part-time for Shen Pao and International Tribune as special columnist; he wrote about two hundred short stories for Shen Pao, China's most important journal of the age.

Wang Tao died in Shanghai on 24 May 1897, at age 68.

Impact

Many Chinese literati before Wang Tao introduced western ideas and translated books into Chinese. Wang Tao was the first Chinese scholar who participated in two way cultural exchange; on the one hand, Wang Tao worked with W.A. Medhurst, A. Wylie and J. Edkins to translate western religion books and western sciences into China; on the other hand, he also played an important role in assisting James Legge in the translation of a large number of important ancient Chinese classics into English.

Wang Tao forged a bridge between China and the West.

Wang Tao Memorial Hall is located in a Qing style house at No 6. Zhongshi Street, Luzhi township, Suzhou.

Works

Translations by James Legge assisted by Wang Tao

(The list below is incomplete)

• James Legge:The Sacred Books of China. The Text ofConfucianism(Oxford 1885)
• The Book of ChangeISBN0-88356-000-3
• Shu Ching Book of History
• Lao Tsu
• The Hsiao King Or Classic Of Filial PietyISBN1-4191-6687-5
• The Chinese Classics: Confucian Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Works of Mencius(reprint), Oriental Book Store,ISBN0-89986-353-1

Works in English

• Wang Tao's Diary:excerpts. Trans. Sebastian Eicher.Renditions93 (2020).
• "My Sojourn in Hong Kong." In John and Kirstin Miller,Hong Kong.San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994.
• Selections from Jottings from Carefree Travels[Man you sui lu]. Trans. Ian Chapman.Renditions53/54 (2000).
• Writings of Wang Tao[excerpts]. In Ssu-yu Teng and John K. Fairbank,China's Response to the West: A Documentary Survey, 1839–1923.Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1954, 137–42.
• McAleavy, Henry:Translation of 'Mei-Li Hsiao Chuan'Mị lệ tiểu truyện,a Short Story by Wang T'ao,1953.

Translations from English into Chinese

• A History of Astronomy of the Western Countries(Tây Quốc thiên học nguồn nước và dòng sông,Xīguó Tiānxué Yuánliú), translated with A. Wylie in 1858
• W. Whewell'sAn elementary treatise on mechanics(Trọng học giải thích dễ hiểu,Zhòngxué Qiǎnshuō), translated with A. Wylie

Works in Chinese

• Phổ pháp chiến kỷPu Fa Zhan Ji(Franco-Prussian War)
• Nước Pháp chí lượcBrief History of France
• 《 tùng tân tỏa lời nói 》(Song Bin Shuo Hua) (Stories from the Shore of Wushong)ISBN7-5366-3197-9.A collection of short stories written by Wang Tao after he returned to Shanghai, one story a time on newspaper, then collected into book form. The style of this story book was inspired byPu Songling's Liao Zhai Zhi YiStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio,hence this book was also renowned as Liao Zhai Zhi Yi—The Sequel. The translation of "Song bin" as Shore of Wushong is my interpretation. In his later years, he lived at Wushong district at the north part of Shanghai.
• Dạo chơi tùy lục con dấu:"Man Yiu Shui Lu Tu Ji" ( "Jottings and Drawings from Carefree Travel" )ISBN7-80603-956-2,Sơn Đông hoạ báo nhà xuất bản2004/6. This book was first published in Shanghai in 1890, text by Wang Tao, drawings by Zhang Zhi Yi.::50 of the 51 illustrations in Wang Tao's book "Man Yiu Shui Lu" were drawn by Zhang Zhi Yin before 1887 AD. It is quite clear that these drawings were not life sketches of real scenes.
• Thao viên văn lục ngoại biên(Collection of Essays from The Tao Garden)ISBN7-80622-787-3,Thượng Hải hiệu sách2002
• Jing Shu Jie ChunA Collection of Studies in Classics
• Xi Shu Jie ChunA Collection on Studies in Western Ideas.
• Biography ofStanislas Aignan Julien
• Biography of Dr. Benjamin Hobson.

Books on Wang Tao

• Cohen, Paul A,Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang T'ao and Reform in Late Ch'ing China,Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press,1988ISBN0-674-06875-0
• McAleavy (H),Wang T'ao. The Life and Writings of a Displaced Person(with a Translation of 'Mei-Li Hsiao Chuan', a Short Story by Wang T'ao, 1953.) A lecture delivered at The China Society of London on 22 May 1952.

References

Sources

• Campbell, Allen; Nobel, David S (1993).Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia.Kodansha.ISBN406205938X.
• Hummel, Arthur W. Sr.,ed. (1943)."Wang T'ao".Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period.United States Government Printing Office.