On July 21st , titled “Yeh Chun Chan and World War II—A Chinese Member of the Bloomsbury Group” , a photographic exhibition marking the life of the renowned Chinese translator Yeh Chun Chan was launched at King's College, University of Cambridge.
The exhibition was held in celebration of the Chinese-British Year of Cultural Exchange as well as the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II. By revealing various historical documents, the display illustrated the great contribution made by Yeh, an outstanding alumnus of Wuhan University, in terms of both cultural communication between China and UK and advocacy for the worldwide condemnation of fascism.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was hosted by Dr. Rob Wallach, Vice-Provost of King’s College. The guests present included Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University, Luo Yuting, Vice-Chair of the Wuhan University Council, Professor Alan Macfarlane, curator of the exhibition as well as Yeh’s family members.
Guests who attended the exhibition's opening
Vice Chair Luo Yuting’s speech emphasized the prominent role of Mr. Yeh as a participant and pioneer in the Sino-British cultural exchange. With this regard, his invaluable contribution would undoubtedly enhance the cooperative relationship between WHU and Cambridge University to a great extent. Before the exhibition, Luo had reached an agreement with the University of Cambridge on behalf of WHU, through which the collaborative relation between the two universities would be promoted to a new level.
Luo Yuting and Ambassabor Liu Xiaoming at the exhibition
The exhibition was held in association with King's College Archive Centre, the Cambridge Rivers Project (University of Cambridge), the Vanishing Worlds Foundation, Wuhan University (China) Archive Centre and Yeh Chunchan's family.
Well-known for his translation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, Yeh Chunchan was a prestigious translator, writer and social activist of his time. In 1944, invited by the British Wartime Propaganda Ministry, he went to the UK on a tour to deliver speeches around the country, successfully arousing the anti-Nazi fervour amongst the British. At the end of the war, in order to pursue further study, he went to King’s College, Cambridge, where he spent the next five years studying literature and writing.
(Rewritten by Siying Wu, edited by Diana & Sijia Hu)
