Professor Xu Yuanchong was born in 1921. He is best known for translating (翻译) Chinese ancient poems into English and French. Xu took foreign language studies at Tsinghua University and then he studied abroad. After that, he became a professor in English and French.
During these years, he has been working on translating. Up to now, he has translated more than 100 Chinese classics from Chinese to both English and French. The first poem he translated from Chinese to English is Don't Cast Away in 1939. It's a poem written by Lin Huiyin. In fact, he translated this poem to express his love to a girl he liked. Though he failed, he got a life-time career in translation.
In 2007, Xu had a cancer. During the time, he did what he liked every day and didn't give up translating. What's more, he didn't go to sleep till three or four o'clock in the morning. He still held on to work over twelve ours a day. Also, he became the first Asian to win the"Aurora Borealis"Prize.
