Event Details:

Clement Egerton's Translation of The Golden Lotus (Jin Ping Mei)

In 1939, two English versions of Jin Ping Mei were published: Clement Egerton’s The Golden Lotus, a “complete” translation, and Bernard Miall’s abridged version based on a German edition. Decades later, David Tod Roy produced a full English translation (The Plum in the Golden Vase, 1993–2013). Despite limited knowledge of Chinese, Egerton’s translation captured the spirit of the original and became widely influential, though it contains notable errors. Studying these errors helps us understand translation choices, cross-cultural publishing, and the impact of Golden Lotus in the English-speaking world. 

Speaker: Professor Xuanlong Zhou, professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University, specializing in Ming and Qing dynasty literature.

Welcome & Introduction: Dr. Siddharth Chandra, Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University

A special thank you to Jiahang Li (Outreach Coordinator at Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University) for providing English translation for this evening’s presentation.

Flyer

Event Booklet