Name John Minford | ||
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Similar People David Hawkes, Cao Xueqin, Jin Yong | ||
1 5 searching for the dream 44 years of studying china by professor john minford
John Minford (Chinese: 閔福德; pinyin: Mǐn Fúdé; born 1946) is a sinologist and literary translator. He is primarily known for his translation of Chinese classics such as The Story of the Stone, The Art of War and I Ching. He also translated Louis Cha's The Deer and the Cauldron and a selection of Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Contents
- 1 5 searching for the dream 44 years of studying china by professor john minford
- John minford translator
- Early years and education
- Career
- Marriage
- Main publications
- References
John minford translator
Early years and education
John Minford was born in Birmingham, UK, in 1946. The son of a diplomat, Leslie Minford, he grew up in Venezuela, Argentina and Egypt, before attending Horris Hill School, Newbury, and then Winchester College (1958-1963), where he studied Ancient Greek and Latin literature. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1964 on a classical scholarship and obtained first class honours in Chinese Literature in 1968. He completed his PhD at the Australian National University in 1980, under the supervision of Professor Liu Ts'un-yan.
Career
He has held a number of teaching posts in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. In 1982, he joined the staff of the Research Centre for Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, working closely with Stephen Soong, 宋淇, and eventually taking over from him as editor of the journal Renditions. His later positions included those of Chair Professor of Chinese at the University of Auckland (1986-1991) and at the Australian National University (2006-2016), Chair Professor of Translation at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1994-1999) and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2011-2013). He is currently Emeritus Professor of Chinese at The Australian National University, Sin Wai Kin Professor of Chinese Culture and Translation at the Hang Seng Management College, Hong Kong and Convenor of the University of Melbourne MA in Translation. In November 2016 he was awarded the inaugural Medal for Excellence in Translation by the Australian Academy of Humanities, for his I Ching.
Marriage
Minford was married in 1969 to Nickie Curteis, and they had two children, Emma and Luke. Nickie died in 1973. In 1977 he married Rachel May, the daughter of the noted sinologist David Hawkes. They had two children, Daniel and Laura. Rachel died in January 2015. Hawkes was also Minford's teacher at Oxford University. Together, the two translated Cao Xueqin's The Story of the Stone, with Hawkes translating the first eighty chapters (Volumes 1-3) and Minford the last forty (Volumes 4-5).