Comments on: What is a studio?

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:35:28 +0000

Yeah, maybe I slipped on the translator part…Morrison oversaw translation projects but he himself was never really literate in the language. But I might suggest, since we are talking of studios, that he made quite a mark as a bibliophile, amassing a huge collection of Chinese works–a collection that would later form the heart of the Tōyō Bunko (東洋文庫) in Japan.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:38:17 +0000

If one feels that the some future razing of a residence of a former National Enquirer journalist is cause for mourning, then perhaps the fate of George Morrison’s studio is regretful. Yet what is shameful is that he may still be considered some kind of authority on the latter days of the Qing Dynasty. To call him a “translator and Sinologist” is a great leap since he was not only contemptuous of the Chinese, he also never learned the language. And his scribblings and posts enjoyed much convergence with those of Edmund Backhouse. A lovely pair of charletans.

By: Shu Jierui

Shu Jierui — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:03:25 +0000

Totally unrelated, but: I noticed that one of the authors of the CHQ article is John Minford, who is the son-in-law of “Brother Stone” – David Hawkes, & translator of the volumnes 4 & 5 of Hawkes’s Penguin Hong Lou Meng. It’s always been a dream of mine to meet these two men. I think you’d be interested, too, to read the notes that Hawkes kept while he was translating Hong Lou Meng. A bound version was published a few years ago by Lingnan University Press, & I’d assume they’ve got a copy or two over at BeiDa. His “zi” are incredible – all fanti. In fact, I’d say 3/4 of the notes are written in Chinese, & vertically no less. As far as I know, Prof. Hawkes has now retired from Oxford & is living in a small cottage above the sea in Wales, probably working in his own little shuzhai…

By: Froog

Froog — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:43:43 +0000

I am concerned about your turtle’s perturbation – but I think Perturbed Turtle might make a good band name.