Chi Pang-yuan

{{Short description|Taiwanese translator and professor of English literature (1924–2024)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Chi Pang-yuan

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1924|2|19}}

| image = Chi Pang-yuan 2015.jpg

| caption = Chi in 2015

| birth_place = Tieling County, Liaoning, Republic of China

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2024|3|28|1924|2|19}}

| death_place = Guishan District, Taoyuan, Taiwan

| alma_mater = Wuhan University

| spouse = {{Marriage|Luo Yuchang|1948|2012|end=d.}}

| children = 3

| parents = Chi Shi-ying

| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|t={{linktext|齊|邦|媛}}|s={{linktext|齐|邦|媛}}|p=Qí Bāngyuán|w=Ch'i² Pang¹-yüan²}}

| native_name_lang = zh

| native_name = 齊邦媛

}}

Chi Pang-yuan ({{zh|c=齊邦媛|p=Qí Bāngyuàn}}; 19 February 1924 – 28 March 2024) was a Manchurian-born Taiwanese writer, academic, and Chinese–English translator. She was instrumental in introducing Taiwanese literature to the Western World through translations.{{cite web|url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?post=25109&unit=20,29,35,45|title=The River Flows On|date=1 October 2009|website=Taiwan Review|last=Gao|first=Pat}} She is also known for her autobiography The Great Flowing River (2009).

Education and career

Chi's father, Chi Shi-ying, was a politician and intelligence officer affiliated with the Kuomintang's CC Clique, as well as a personal secretary to Chen Li-fu. Chi herself held the CC Clique in high regard, describing it as the liberal faction within the Kuomintang.{{cite book |title=巨流河 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwqqDwAAQBAJ&dq=%E9%BD%8A%E9%82%A6%E5%AA%9B+%E5%B7%A8%E6%B5%81%E6%B2%B3+%E9%9D%A9%E6%96%B0%E4%BF%B1%E6%A8%82%E9%83%A8&pg=PT199|publisher=遠見文化|pages=320 |date=7 July 2007|isbn=471-122-531-044-2}} She cited several examples to support this view, including her father's career, Chen Li-fu's late-life advocacy for depoliticizing textbooks, and Liang Su-yung's defense of Lei Chen.{{cite book |title=巨流河 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwqqDwAAQBAJ&dq=%E9%BD%8A%E9%82%A6%E5%AA%9B+%E5%B7%A8%E6%B5%81%E6%B2%B3+%E9%9D%A9%E6%96%B0%E4%BF%B1%E6%A8%82%E9%83%A8&pg=PT199|publisher=遠見文化|pages=418 |date=7 July 2007|isbn=471-122-531-044-2}}

Chi studied English literature at Wuhan University under the tutelage of Zhu Guangqian and Wu Mi. In 1947, she became a teacher of English at National Taiwan University. In 1956, she went to the United States on the Fulbright Exchange Teachers' Program and in 1967, she went to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College as a Fulbright scholar again. She enrolled at Indiana University Bloomington in 1968, but returned to Taiwan six credits away from completing a Master of Arts degree due to family matters.

In 1969, Chi founded and served as head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Chung Hsing University. In the 70s, while working at the National Institute for Compilation and Translation, she pushed for the de-politicization of the mandatory Chinese textbooks in Taiwan and started translating Taiwanese literature into English. From 1977 to 1988, she was professor of English literature at NTU and was granted emeritus status after retiring.{{cite news |last1=Chiu |first1=Tsu-yin |last2=Ko |first2=Lin |date=30 March 2024 |title=Renowned Taiwan writer Chi Pang-yuan dies at 100 |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202403300012 |access-date=31 March 2024 |agency=Central News Agency}}{{cite news |title=Indiana University awards honorary doctorate to renowned Taiwanese writer |url=https://news.iu.edu/live/news/25782-indiana-university-awards-honorary-doctorate-to |access-date=31 March 2024 |publisher=Indiana University Bloomington |date=25 February 2019}} Chi subsequently became editor-in-chief of The Taipei Chinese PEN.

Chi's autobiography, The Great Flowing River, is a bestseller in the Sinophone world. It has been translated into English, German, and Japanese.{{cite book|url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-great-flowing-river/9780231188401|title=The Great Flowing River: A Memoir of China, from Manchuria to Taiwan|date=July 2018 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231547819 }}

President Chen Shui-bian awarded Chi the Order of Propitious Clouds in 2004.{{cite web |url=https://www.president.gov.tw/NEWS/8887 |title=總統頒授「二等卿雲勳章」給資深作家柏楊、鍾肇政、葉石濤、琦君及齊邦媛 |publisher=Office of the President (Taiwan) |date=15 October 2004 |accessdate=23 August 2021 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823012624/https://www.president.gov.tw/NEWS/8887 |url-status=live}} In 2015, Chen's successor Ma Ying-jeou awarded Chi the Order of Brilliant Star.{{cite news |title=Brilliant stars |url=https://taiwantoday.tw/print.php?unit=36&post=35043 |access-date=31 March 2024 |work=Taiwan Today |date=13 November 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.president.gov.tw/NEWS/19959 |title=總統主持104年文化界人士授勳典禮 |publisher=Office of the President (Taiwan) |date=12 November 2015 |accessdate=23 August 2021 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823020745/https://www.president.gov.tw/NEWS/19959 |url-status=live}}

Chi turned 100 in early 2024 and died on 28 March of the same year.{{Cite web|url=https://udn.com/news/story/6885/7865702|title=「讀書寫作每刻都是永恆」台灣文學巨擘齊邦媛辭世享嵩壽101歲|website=聯合新聞網}}