Arthur Cooper (translator)
Appearance
Arthur Cooper (1916-1988) was a British diplomat, who became a translator of Chinese literature after retirement. He is also known for his original research on early Chinese script.
Life
Cooper was born to Anglo-Irish parents in 1916. He developed an early interest in languages, learning Icelandic before turning to Japanese and Chinese. He worked for the British Foreign Office from 1938, serving in Hong Kong and Singapore from 1939 to 1942, and for several years in Australia under the British High Commission. He retired in 1968, and thereafter devoted himself to Chinese language and literature. His work On the Creation of the Chinese Script (1978) revealed great insight.[1] He also taught, one of his students being Michael Loewe.[2]
Writings
- Li Po and Tu Fu: Poems Selected and Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Penguin Books, 1973)
- The creation of the Chinese script (London: China Society, 1978)
- Deep Woods' Business: Uncollected Translations from the Chinese (Wellsweep, 1990)
External links
- Archival material relating to Arthur Cooper in the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library
- Arthur Cooper biography in Poetry Magazines
- Arthur Cooper on chinese-poems.com