The Art of Translation

At 91, Lin Wusun is a staunch advocate of somersaults, that is, mental somersaults, his name for the act of translating.

An eminent communicator who spent his career explaining Chinese culture to foreigners and the Western way of thinking to Chinese, Lin donned a translator’s mantle after retirement, became a foremost Chinese translator, and still keeps his hand in.

Currently, he is translating the works of ancient Taoist philosophers. The work is not as ancient as it sounds for the philosophers used a good deal of fables to drive their lessons home and some of them, like the story of the old man who decided to move a mountain that was in his way, is used by Chinese even