Zhou Shoujuan

Zhou Shoujuan, c. 1930

Zhou Shoujuan 周瘦鵑 (30 June 1895 – 11 August 1968), born Zhou Zufu, courtesy name Guoxian, also known by his English name Eric Chow, was a Chinese novelist, screenwriter, literary editor, and English–to-Chinese literary translator.

Career

From 1911 to 1947, Zhou translated around 200 short stories from English into the Chinese language.[1] Zhou introduced the works of Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Washington Irving, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many others to Chinese readers.[2] In September 1913, Zhou was the editor of Unfettered Talk, a supplement of Shenbao.[3] Zhou wrote hundreds of stories and some film scripts. Zhou edited magazines including "Weekly" weekly magazine, Dadong Bookstore "Half Moon" magazine (later renamed "Violet" and "New Family"), "Purple Orchid", and "Liangyou pictorial".

Zhou was a significant figure in the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies genre.[4]: 74  Zhou defended the style in the 1920s when it was heavily criticised.[4]: 74  He continued to defend it throughout his career.[4]: 74 

Zhou's first love had the Western name "Violet".[4]: 74  Ultimately she married a different, wealthy, suitor.[4]: 74  The name "Violet" became a motif for Zhou, who used it as the name of a literary journal (founded in 1925), in another journal consisting only of his own writings called Fallen Violet Petals, and the 1956 essay My Endless Love of Violet.[4]: 74 

Personal life

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution and on August 11, 1968, Zhou committed suicide by jumping into a well hours after a struggle session against him.

Works translated into English

YearChinese titleTranslated English titleTranslator
1914行再相見"We Shall Meet Again"[5]Perry Link
1917紅顏知己"Charming Confidante"[6]Cheuk Wong
1921留聲機片"The Phonograph Record"[6]Andrew F. Jones
對鄰的小樓"The Little Apartment Across the Way"[6]Richard King
1923『快活』祝詞"Congratulations to Happy Magazine"[7]Gilbert Fung

Filmography

Zhou Shoujuan wrote the screenplays for these films:

Year English title Chinese title Director Notes
1924Connected by Water and Fire水火鴛鴦Cheng BugaoLost
1926Return the Money還金記Dan DuyuLost
Ma Jiefu馬介甫Zhu ShoujuLost, based on Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

See also

References

  1. ↑ Li, Dechao (2007). "PolyU Electronic Thesis: A Study of Zhou Shoujuan's translation of western fiction". polyu.edu.HK. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ Xu, Xueqing (2000). Short Stories by Bao Tianxiao and Zhou Shoujuan During the Early Years of the Republic (Ph.D. thesis). University of Toronto.
  3. ↑ Stember, Nick (2016). "The Shanghai Manhua Society Chapter 2: The Ties that Bind". Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lekner, Dayton (2025). A Hundred Flowers: How Literature Shaped Maoism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781009600538.
  5. ↑ Revolutionary Literature in China: An Anthology. M.E. Sharpe. 1976.
  6. 1 2 3 Renditions, 2017.
  7. ↑ Modern Chinese Literary Thought: Writings on Literature, 1893–1945. Stanford University Press. 1996.
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