Published : 2025-12-19
On 19 December 1998, Qian Zhongshu (錢鍾書), a Chinse literary master of his generation, passed away from illness in Beijing at the age of 88.
Qian Zhongshu was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu in 1910. He had studied in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Tsinghua University, and later went to study in the United Kingdom, obtaining a bachelor's degree from the University of Oxford.
In 1938, Qian lived in Lantian County in Hunan for two years, and wrote half of On the Art of Poetry (《談藝錄》). Two years later, he wrote the other half of this book. After it was published, it received widespread critical acclaim.
Qian Zhongshu was a prolific writer, with works including the essay collection The Marginalia of Life (《寫在人生邊上》), the novel Fortress Besieged (《圍城》), and the literary criticism On the Art of Poetry.
The book critic Hsia Chih-tsing (夏志清) once said that Fortress Besieged is the most interesting and most meticulously crafted novel in modern Chinese literature, and possibly the greatest.
The literary historian Cao Juren (曹聚仁) also pointed out that one only truly understands a little of classical Chinese poetry after reading Qian Zhongshu's On the Art of Poetry, reflecting Qian's contribution and status in the literary world.
Proficient in multiple languages, Qian Zhongshu was both a writer and also conducted extensive research into literature.
From 1950 to 1953, Qian served as a member of the committee for the English translation of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong (《毛澤東選集》), spending a great deal of energy translating Mao Zedong (毛澤東)'s works, and published almost no articles.
In 1957, Qian Zhongshu's Selected and Annotated Song Dynasty Poems (《宋詩選注》) was published, and was criticised soon after.
In 1972, Qian began writing A Comparative Philological Survey of Chinese Classics, in which he not only clarified many long-disputed cases in academic history through traditional exegetical methods, but also made incisive commentaries based on the collation and cross-referencing of a vast amount of literature.
In his later years, Qian Zhongshu was tormented by illnesses, including asthma, cataracts, acute renal failure, and a stomach tumour, for which he underwent multiple surgeries and even had to have his left kidney removed.
