- George Kao
George Kao (zh-cp|c=高克毅|p=Gāo Kèyì [Kao used a
pen name , 喬志高 ("Qiáozhì Gāo"), a phonetic rendering of "George Kao" inChinese character s, in works in Chinese.] ;29 May 1912–1 March 2008) was aChinese American author, translator, and journalist. He is best known for translating English-language classics into Chinese and for his efforts to bring Chinese classics to English audience.Biography
Kao was born in
Ann Arbor, Michigan in theUnited States to parents who were studying asBoxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program students and moved with them to China at age three, living inNanjing ,Beijing , andShanghai . He graduated fromYenching University in 1933 and returned to the United States, enrolling in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he received a masters degree in 1935, andColumbia University , where he received a masters degree in 1937.From 1937–47, Kao worked for the Publications Section of the Chinese News Service, Inc., a news agency sponsored by the
Republic of China 's Board of Information and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he edited a daily news bulletin called "The Voice of China" based on radio reports fromChongqing , the Republic's capital duringWorld War II . [William E. Daugherty. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X(194221)6%3A1%3C70%3ACOPITU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 "China's Official Publicity in the United States."] "The Public Opinion Quarterly". 6.1 (Spring, 1942): 70-86.] From 1947–49, he worked for China's newly-formedGovernment Information Office as director of the West Coast office and, later, as editor-in-chief of "The Chinese Press" (華美周報 "Huá-Měi Zhōubào").From 1951–53, Kao was a Chinese-language instructor at the
United States Department of Defense 'sDefense Language Institute inMonterey, California . In 1957, he became chief editor for theWashington, D.C. Voice of America 's radio Chinese Broadcast and resided in nearbyKensington, Maryland . In 1972, he moved toHong Kong as a visiting seniorfellow at the newly-founded Research Centre for Translation at theChinese University of Hong Kong . He returned to Kensington, Maryland in 1976 and lived inRockville, Maryland and inFlorida for the remainder of his life. His wife of 57 years, Maeching Li Kao (born ca. 1920), died on25 July 2003 and Kao himself died at a retirement home inWinter Park, Florida in 2008.Writings and translations
Kao was prolific as a translator from both English to Chinese and Chinese to English. He is known in the Chinese world as the translator of several classics of English-language literature and as the author of several books on the English language and about the United States. With his brother Irving K.Y. Kao, he was editor of a popular "New Dictionary of Idiomatic American English". He also translated numerous Chinese works into English. At the
Chinese University of Hong Kong , he founded (in 1973) and served as editor of the highly regarded "" which translates classical and contemporary Chinese literature into English. He also contributed a number of translations to the journal himself. He edited or translated several ofTaiwan authorPai Hsien-yung 's collections into English.elected works
Some works written or edited by George Kao include:
*"New Dictionary of Idiomatic American English: A Compendium of Popular Words and Phrases" (coedited with Irving K.Y. Kao) (1994) ISBN 9789629962005
*"Cathay by the Bay: San Francisco Chinatown in 1950" (1987) ISBN 9789622014237
*"The Translation of Things Past: Chinese History and Historiography" (1982) ISBN 9780295959108
*"Two Writers and the Cultural Revolution: Lao She and Chen Jo-hsi" (1980) ISBN 9789622012028
*"紐約客談" ("Niǔyuē Kètán") (1964) zh icon
*"The Collected Wartime Messages of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, 1937–1945" (1946) ISBN 9780527168001
*"Chinese Wit and Humor" (1946) ISBN 9780806980034elected translations
*"
The Great Gatsby " (大亨小傳)F. Scott Fitzgerald . (1971) zh icon ISBN 9789571335247
*"Long Day's Journey Into Night " (長夜漫漫路迢迢).Eugene O'Neill . (1973) zh icon ISBN 957390215x
*"Look Homeward, Angel " (天使,望故鄉).Thomas Wolfe . (1985) zh icon ISBN 9787108000033
*"Taipei People ".Pai Hsien-yung . (2000) zh icon/en icon ISBN 9789622018594Notes
References
*Joe Holley. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603680.html "George Kao; Writer-Translator Helped Readers in China, U.S. Share Cultures."] (Obituary). "
Washington Post ".7 March 2008. p. B07.
* [http://www.lib.ntu.edu.tw/dbs/dbs/translate/A_Kao.htm "George Kao 高克毅."] atNational Taiwan University Library website zh icon/en iconExternal links
* [http://www.readingtimes.com.tw/ReadingTimes/ProductPage.aspx?gp=productdetail&cid=mcam(SellItems)&id=AA0068&p=excerpt&exid=29623 大亨小傳:增訂版前言] ("The Great Gatsby": Introduction to the Expanded Edition by George Kao) at ReadingTimes.com zh icon
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