The School of Translation had the honour of hosting a series of public lectures and master classes from mid-February to mid-March by Professor John Minford, world-renowned sinologist and literary translator. Having translated into English prominent works in Chinese culture such as The Story of the Stone (with David Hawkes), The Art of War, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and The I Ching, Professor Minford has the hands-on, in-depth experience to speak on “culture and translation” with the level of authority which few in today’s world can attain.

In the second public lecture, Professor Minford told the story of self-cultivation of Herbert Giles before quoting from Giles’s translation of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio to lead the audience in exploring the interesting ways of how Giles had handled some elements of the original text.