Beijing on kapuscinski.info

"The Emperor" in Chinese

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A press conference took place at the Polish Embassy in Beijing with the participation of Professor Wu Lan, who translated Ryszard Kapuściński’s “The Emperor” into Chinese. The ceremony was attended by the Polish Ambassador to China, Tadeusz Chomicki, outstanding translators of Polish literature, representatives of Chinese publishing circles, students of the Polish studies department of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, as well as Chinese and Polish media. This is already the second book by Ryszard Kapuściński translated by Professor Wu Lan. In 2009 “Travels with Herodotus” appeared in Chinese bookshops. The translator emphasised that Kapuściński’s objective view of Africa attests to the Poles’ openness to other cultures. Professor Wu Lan now plans to translate another book by the outstanding Polish reporter, “Imperium”. After the press conference Professor Wu Lan signed copies of “The Emperor” for the readers present at the Embassy.

皇帝 (Huángdì) — "The Emperor" in Chinese

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Adam Kajzer, June 2011

The Chinese edition of Ryszard Kapuściński’s The Emperor is one of the most important literary events in the world this year.

This is already the third book by Kapuściński to be translated into Chinese. In recent years, publishers in Taiwan have translated Imperium and Travels with Herodotus. In China itself, the translation of Kapuściński’s works is handled by translator Wu Lan. In addition to The Emperor, just now published, a Beijing publisher released Travels with Herodotus in 2009.

The Chinese Translation of "The Emperor" by Ryszard Kapuściński

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The Chinese translation of Ryszard Kapuściński’s “The Emperor”, rendered by Wu Lan — a Polish studies scholar who two years earlier had translated “Travels with Herodotus” for Chinese readers — has been published by the Beijing publishing house Xinxing (New Star).

This was announced to PAP by Andrzej Piskulak, a journalist and writer from Kielce, a friend of the translator Wu Lan.

“The appearance of the translation of ‘The Emperor’ has already aroused interest in Chinese literary circles. Negotiations are being conducted with the holders of the copyright, regarding the staging of ‘The Emperor’ as a theatrical production, as has been done in, among other places, Great Britain and Poland” — the man from Kielce quoted from a letter from the Chinese translator.

Excerpts from "Imperium"

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Trans-Siberian, ‘58

The place of my second encounter with the Empire: far away, in the steppes and snows of Asia, in a barely accessible land whose entire geography bears alien and strange names — rivers called Argun, Unda, Chaykhar; mountains called Chingan, Ilchuri, Dzhagdy; and towns called Kilkok, Tungir, and Bukachacha. From these names alone one could compose resonant, exotic poems.

The Trans-Siberian Railway train, which set out the previous day from Beijing on its nine-day journey to Moscow, approaches from the direction of Harbin and enters the Soviet border station of Zabaikalsk. Drawing near any border heightens tension in us and stirs emotion. Human beings are not made for life in border situations; they avoid them or try to free themselves from them as quickly as possible. And yet a person encounters them everywhere, sees and feels them everywhere. Take an atlas of the world: nothing but borders. Of oceans and continents. Of deserts and forests. Of rainfall, monsoons, typhoons, arable land and wasteland, permafrost and peat bogs, shale and conglomerate. Add the distribution limits of Quaternary sediments and volcanic flows, basalt, chalk, and trachyte. We can see the boundaries of the Patagonian Shield and the Canadian Shield, the tropical and arctic climate zones, the erosional forms of river basins, the Adige and Lake Chad. The ranges of various mammals. Of various insects. Of various reptiles and amphibians, including the highly dangerous black cobra and the fearsome yet fortunately lethargic anaconda.