James Legge and other great classical translators

[Luxi]

The translator James Legge came up on a question a few days ago, made me realise  that I knew very little about him. I had the man completely wrong. This lecture by another great sinologist and translator, John Minford, changed my view (and will change yours if you have access to You Tube and a couple of hours to spare).   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2snVo3FVhXI&feature=youtu.be    

(Tip: if you watch the videos having logged in to your Google account, it will bookmark the videos where you let off, so you can watch them in parts.)    

 

And then you'll probably want to know more about those classical translators and see more lectures by John Minford. This page will take you there:   

Other Lectures & articles on translation by and about John Minford  
http://chinaheritage.net/journal/encore-john-minford-on-change/     

The lecture series on translators is 1/4th of the way down the page:    

A Lineage of Light — Four Translators    
(James Legge, Herbert Giles, Arthur Waley and David Hawkes)