Liu Yingcheng

Liu Yingcheng is a literary translator mainly engaged in rendering English literature into Chinese, and is known for translating Somerset Maugham's novels. Publicly available information is limited: details such as dates of birth and death and nationality are not clearly recorded. What can be confirmed is that three of his translated works have appeared, including The Painted Veil, The Razor's Edge, and Selected Works of Maugham (4 volumes), all published by Wanjuan Publishing Company. His translations generally fall under the category of foreign literature, and his selections concentrate on Maugham's representative novels, suggesting a preference for modern and contemporary English narrative fiction that gives equal weight to character destiny and the observation of human nature. On the basis of the available material, Liu Yingcheng's contribution lies chiefly in recreating in Chinese the narrative rhythm and character dialogue of Maugham's novels, offering Chinese readers readable versions through which to approach this English author.