Ye Weiqu

Ye Weiqu (1929–2010), whose ancestral home was Dongguan, Guangdong, was born in Saigon, Vietnam. A Chinese scholar and translator of Japanese literature, he graduated from the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures at Peking University in 1956 and later served as an editor at the People's Literature Publishing House and as a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Beyond his research and translation, he is best known to readers for his collaborative translations with his wife, Tang Yuemei, of works by Yasunari Kawabata, including Snow Country, The Old Capital, The Izu Dancer, Thousand Cranes, The Sound of the Mountain, and Sleeping Beauties. These translations, circulated for many years, deeply shaped Chinese-language reception of modern and contemporary Japanese literature. He also wrote A History of Japanese Literary Trends and A History of Japanese Literature, and his translations exceed two million characters, continuing to influence readings in foreign literature, world classics, and cultural studies.