Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t15.4

v2.c10.s2.t15.4

In 1956, Shi Zhen translated *Do Bigha Zamin*, an epic by Tagore, and published it in a monthly journal, ‘Yiwen’ (Issue 2, 1956). The translation reproduced the strong poetic flavour and peasants’ attachment to the soil in the original text, and this text was soon included in Chinese textbooks. In 1957, she translated Tagore’s *Katha*, which in the next year, was combined with ‘Poems’ translated by Bingxin from English, and published by People’s Literature Publishing House, and was well received and sold. ‘Katha’ is an important collection of Tagore’s narrative poems, and Shi Zhen’s translation is a masterpiece of Chinese translation. In 1958, she published Tagore’s play ‘Muktadhara’, with a Chinese title half transliterated and half paraphrased. In 1961, she translated ‘Chaturanga’, a novella by Tagore, which was included into Volume 5 of ‘Collected Works of Tagore’. She also published the translated poems by Tagore in some journals and newspapers. In her late years, she translated three of Tagore’s poem collections written in English and combined and published them as ‘Fruit-gathering’, ‘Lover’s Gift’, ‘Crossing’, with detailed notes on the time and source of each poem. Some poems were provided with her translation from Bengali for readers’ comparison, and understanding of how Tagore translated his own poems. She also wrote an introduction for the Chinese translation of ‘Gora’, a masterpiece novel by Tagore. She also wrote for the Foreign Literature Volume of ‘Encyclopedia of China’ to introduce Bengali writers.