Lin Shu

Lin Shu (1852–1924), originally named Qunyu, courtesy name Qinnan, styled Weilu, was a native of Minxian, Fujian, and a late Qing and early Republican man of letters and translator who earned the juren degree in the Guangxu era. Though he knew no foreign languages, he relied on oral renditions by others and translated more than 180 European and American novels in classical Chinese prose. Among the most widely circulated are The Lady of the Camellias, Uncle Tom's Cabin, David Copperfield, and Ivanhoe, which profoundly shaped modern Chinese readers' acquaintance with foreign literature. His translations are elegant and concise, combining classical cadence with narrative force. He was also skilled in poetry and painting, and wrote the Weilu Collected Prose, Weilu Collected Poems, and the notebook Jiji Yuwen. The library holds 25 of his works, mostly translations of foreign literature, also touching on social fiction, mystery and detective stories, social science, and Eastern philosophy, reflecting the breadth of his translating interests.