Greetings to our dear readers and friends. Thanks to those who have joined us and read along since 2021 & 2022, and greetings to those who newly joined in 2023!
We hold a monthly reading club that mainly focuses on Taiwan literature. Anyone interested is welcome to join us. The next meeting will be held online at 10:00 am (Taipei Time) on March 12 for A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers by Hsiao Li-Hung. If you are interested, feel free to leave a comment, reply to this e-mail message or write to me at transcreation@substack.com to register by March 4.
《翻譯鳥事一籮筐》是中英文雙語電子報。如果只想收到中文版,請到網站右上角的「My Account」內進行操作。有任何問題都歡迎來信聯絡,請直接回覆這封 E-mail 或寫信到 transcreation@substack.com。再次感謝你的訂閱支持!
這篇文章的中文版在這裡。
First, some news.
This year marks a huge transformation for me, and probably more so than I expected.
The talk on February 11 for Signals Across the Centuries 3: Taiwan History in Images (18th-20th Century) was concluded nicely — so happy to see many friends from our reading club, and just as happy to welcome new readers to this community.
(There will be three more talks on March 4, March 12 and March 18 by the other authors of Taiwan History in Images. Find out more at our publisher’s facebook page.)
February 11 was important me for two reasons. First, obviously, it was a rare occasion where I gave a talk as an author — not that I gave a talk as a translator often or at all. Second, I just quit my full-time job as a patent translator (probably a surprise for many readers who did not know that I had actually worked in a patent firm, for more than 4 years), and became a freelance translator. It had been a long and difficult decision I hesitated to make for years, and I finally made up my mind at the age of, well, 35.
I have many good friends who are translators, some working as freelancers, some as full-time employees as I used to be. Both paths have their own pros and cons; neither is easy, and the former requires especially a great deal of self-discipline. But I am glad that I finally made up my mind, and look forward to working on more projects I like. I wish to talk more about life and work as a translator in the future posts.
Another huge transformation came as a surprise, not in a good way: a dear one in my family fell ill. Looking on the bright side, now I have more time to keep their company. This sudden news certainly prompted me to think more, about our priorities in life, about life in general, about what endures.
All That Flourishes Under the Brush: The Late Ming Culturati Wang Shizhen and His Endeavors
Last Saturday Kuang-wei and I went to see the calligraphy masterpiece, “Timely Clearing After Snowfall” (快雪時晴帖) by Wang Xizhi (王羲之). The joy was compounded as an old friend on leave from the U.S. went together with us.
I learned that the original of the artwork was already lost, and this good copy made in the Tang Dynasty (several hundred years after the Jin Dynasty in the fourth century) was treasured as invaluable. Though a copy, it was said to have conveyed the alacrity of the original. I am no connoisseur of calligraphy, but it was interesting to see a letter and a work of art more than a thousand years ago, and to see how literati of different times put their comments beside the masterpiece.
The way the exhibit was arranged helped me understand how Wang Shizhen was active as a central figure in the late Ming cultural world, especially in Lower Yangzi Delta region. This world of prestigious clans made me think of what I read in Home is Not Here, in which the author described how well-connected his father’s and his mother’s families were.
It was a Saturday made joyous by art, sunlight, and renewal of friendship.
All That Flourishes Under the Brush: The Late Ming Culturati Wang Shizhen and His Endeavors
Date: October 5, 2022 to March 21, 2023
Venue: North Branch of National Palace Museum (No. 2, Ln. 342, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City)
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 to 17:00 (Closed on Mondays).
Website: https://www.npm.gov.tw/?l=2
Two side notes:
1. A friend asked me if I write in Chinese and translate the post into English, or the other way around. I usually write in Chinese first, but this post is an exception: the first draft is in English — so there may be more grammatical errors.
2. The story of my birding anniversary will certainly be continued. Also there was big news in the birding world in Taiwan this month: the Mirror Media worked as undercover for near a year to report on an infamous industry of baiting and capturing birds for photos. More on this later.