NTU Enlists Goran Malmqvist, a world renown sinologist, a fellow of the Swedish Academy, and a senior judge for the Nobel Prize—as a visiting chair to Teach Courses on Chinese Classical Literature

Miss Jenny Chen, an alumnus of NTU's Department of Chinese Literature, is the Chief Cultural Officer of Trend Micro, a company that produces anti-virus computer soft-wares. In order to show her respects for Taiwan's most famous modern writer Mr. Kenneth Pai, and to enhance the teaching of literature at NTU, she donates U.S. $1 million to set up the"Kenneth Pai Literary Symposium" . The Symposium is scheduled to commence from 2008 for a five year term, during which internationally renowned writers and scholars will be enlisted to teach literature courses at NTU. Dr. Goran Malmqvist, a fellow of the Swedish Royal Academy, is the first scholar who has been invited to come to NTU as a visiting chair professor for the"Kenneth Pai Literary Symposium."

Dr. Goran Malmqvist (1924--) is a Swedish national. He is an internationally well known sinologist, a fellow of the Swedish Academy, and a senior judge of the Nobel Prize of literature. In his academic career he translated a tremendous amount of Chinese literary works, and he was also the founder of the Department of Chinese Studies of the University of Stockholm. Born in 1924 in the southern part of Sweden, he entered the University of Stockholm in 1946, and studied ancient Chinese and Chinese phonology under Bernhard Karlgren, who was the top ranking sinologist of Sweden at that time. Upon obtaining his Bachelor's degree in 1948, Goran Malmqvist went to the Sichuan Province of China, where he studied the Sichuan local dialects. An expert in Chinese classical literature, Buddhism, and Zen, Goran Malmqvist taught at the Departments of Chinese at London University, the University of Australia at Canberra, and the University of Stockholm. He retired in 1990. In 1975 he was elected academician of the Swedish Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquity. In 1985 he was elected academician of the Swedish Academy, and was appointed a judge of the Nobel Prize of Literature. From 1980 to 1982 he was twice voted to become the President of the European Association of Chinese Studies. And in 1987 he was elected academician of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.

Goran Malmqvist originally studied Latin. For in-depth understanding of Lao-Tze's Tao-Te-Ching, he embarked upon the Chinese world. In 1946 he entered the University of Stockholm, and studied classical Chinese and Chinese phonology under Bernhard Kalgren, who gave him his first textbook-“The Zuo Annals." In 1948 Goran Malmqvist went to the Sichuan Province of China to study local dialects. He became a disciple of a high ranking Buddhist monk on Erh-mei Mountain and studied the Four Books and Five Classics under him, while conducting field studies of the Cheng-du dialect in the countryside. He was married to Chen Ning Tzu, a Sichuan girl, for over fifty years (Chen passed away in 1996). Malmqvist is a prolific translator of Chinese literature, his multifarious translations include:"Outlaws of the Marsh," "Journey to the West,""Romance of the Three Kingdoms,""Gu Liang Chuan,""Poems by Hsin Chi-Ji,""Chun Qiu Fan Lu," etc, and modern Chinese writings such as novels by Shen Tsung Wen, Lu Xun, Gao Xingjian, Li Rui and poems by Bei Dao. Professor Malmqvist habitually conducted his research and did his translation work at the same time. In recent years he guided his students in their translation of the"The Dream of the Red Pavilion." He said:"I am duty bound to let my fellow countrymen have a chance to read the works of Chinese literature which I loved."

Since 1965, Professor Malmqvist has translated more than fifty classical and modern Chinese literary works into the Swedish language, including the"Book of Songs" (partial rendition),"Folksongs of the South" (partial rendition), and large amounts of poems from the Han, Tang, Sung, Yuan dynasties. Modern poetry by writers since the New Culture Movement such as Guo Mo-jo, Wen Yi Duo, Ai Qing, Zang Kejia, and even the obscure poems by Bei Dao were also translated by Malmqvist. In addition, he translated"Outlaws of the Marsh,""Journey to the West," and contemporary novels by Shen Tsung Wen and Li Rui.

From a young disciple in an ancient temple on Erh-mei Mountain of Sichuan Province to a world renowned sinologist, Goran Malmqvist's journey to the East has taken him far and wide. As a native born Swedish national, Chinese to him is his second mother's tongue. Utilizing his Chinese proficiency, Goran Malmqvist takes his readers to transcend time and space, appreciating a nostalgia which is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. NTU is truly honored to have the opportunity to enlist the scholarship of Professor Malmqvist for the"Kenneth Pai Literary Symposium." Starting from October 16th to November 20th, Professor Malmqvist's course on Chinese Classical Literature will be taught for six weeks, and every week for three intensive hours. Only students above the Master's level are allowed to enroll in his course, which is bound to give students a better understanding of the Chinese studies both home and abroad, and widen the students' international perspective.