Leo Tolstoy's monument in Moscow. Photos: AFP

By Hu Bei

This year is the 100th anniversary of the death of Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), perhaps the best-known and loved of all the Russian writers for Chinese people. War and Peace, Anna Karenina and Resurrection are some of the most popular books of all time and sections of Anna Karenina can be found in senior school textbooks here.

In Shanghai, a century after Leo Tolstoy's death, some of his admirers, translators, university academics, the Deputy Director of the Consulate General of Russia in Shanghai and delegates from Leo Tolstoy National Museum in Chechnya and the Sholokhov National Museum, in Russia, got together to commemorate this master of literature.

"It would have been a totally different Russia without Leo Tolstoy," noted Cao Ying, an acclaimed Chinese translator now in his eighties who has spent more than 30 years translating all Tolstoy's novels.

Direct translation

"I was not the first Chinese to translate Tolstoy's work, but I'm the only one who translated them directly from the original Russian into Chinese," he said. Because of this achievement, Cao is the only Chinese to have been given the Gorky Literary Award which he received at the International Translation Conference in Moscow in 1987.

"Leo Tolstoy was a man who had a passion for literature. In the whole history of Russian literature, he was one of the most productive writ-ers and the writer who wrote longer and had more influence on readers than anyone else. He wrote in a style that enveloped not just his stories but expressed a reality and a criticism of that reality," Cao said.

Cao began to translate Tolstoy's works before the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). "When I first read his works, I was deeply impressed by the humanism inside, especially his notion of not meeting violence with violence. When I experienced the Cultural Revolution and was not allowed to write, I could only think how this tragedy could have occurred and how it might have been avoided. Leo Tolstoy's humanism encouraged me greatly at the time and pointed me in the right direction."

Cao said that, to convey the precise and original meaning of Tolstoy's works, he needed to read the books at least 10 times before beginning the translation. "You must be absolutely familiar with the original work. There are 559 characters in Tolstoy's War and Peace and it is impossible to translate this if you aren't clear about every one of them. You must implant all of these people into your mind one by one before translating, including their personalities, characteristics, habits and customs."

The first surge of popular translations of Tolstoy's works in China dates back to the 1920s. The Commercial Press then published a series of Chinese versions of Leo Tolstoy's novels. Ba Jin (1904–2005), the famous Chinese writer, wrote a widely read article expressing his opinion of the Russian author. He did not agree with Tolstoy's philosophy of 'non-resistance' towards violence.

"I'm not a follower of Leo Tolstoy and I can not approve of his negativism. I won't live according to a Christian doctrine. However, actually, no one can know how many people in the world admire him, and how many are against him, and who can say, 'I really know Leo Tolstoy?'" he wrote.

Ni Ruiqin, a professor from the East China Normal University who has been researching Tolstoy for years, talked about Tolstoy's interest and love of China and traditional Chinese culture.

In 1907 Tolstoy wrote to Gu Hongming (1857-1928), the writer and advocate of traditional Chinese culture, after he had read two works on Chinese culture which Gu sent to him through the Consulate General of Russia in Shanghai at the time. Ni told the Global Times that in the letter, Tolstoy showed his great respect for Taoism. He thought that it was not just the right way for China to develop, but the universal way for the whole world to develop and progress.

Two other famous Russian writers, Alexander Pushkin (1799– 1837) and Anton Chekhov (l860– 1904) were introduced to China earlier than Tolstoy. At the beginning of the 20th century, the free spirit and independent will expressed in Pushkin's works encouraged the Chinese youth involved in the May Fourth Movement, which, in 1919, spearheaded a national campaign to overthrow the feudal society and promote scientific and democratic ideas.

This year is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of Chekhov. In Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev flew to the playwright's hometown Taganrog and laid a bouquet of white roses. A memorial hall was built in the city of Yekaterinburg and a festival of Chekhov's plays was presented in St. Petersburg. Compared to the playwright, Tolstoy's cemetery remained rather bleak and silent in this year.

Reportedly both Tolstoy and Pushkin often tried to visit China, but never managed this. At least Chekhov visited China - he came here with Maxim Gorky towards the end of his life.

The title page of Confession by Leo Tolstoy. Photos: AFP

One of Leo Tolstoy's manuscripts. Photos: AFP

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