Literati Zhuyi First Class

Herbert Allen Gile（s1845-1935）is a leading figure after James Legge in BritishSinology. He serves as a diplomat in China for nearly thirty years, but devotes most ofhis time and passion to writing and rendering books about China. During his long life,Giles writes or translates more than sixty books, which amounts to a panorama,covering and containing almost every aspect of Chinese civilization, such as literature,religion, history and social life, leaving a great influence on the history of Chinese andWestern communication. Such a sinologist of weight deserves our further researchand exploration. My thesis consists of three parts, the first part of which discussesGiles’ History of Chinese Literature, the second his translation of classic Chinesepoetry, the third his miscellaneous works about Chinese civilization. Through thecombined method of close reading, translatology and cross-culture study, the thesisintends to draw the conclusion as follows: Before he is a scholar, Giles is a man ofletters. The quarrelsome and undisciplined disposition makes Giles unfit for hisdiplomatic post, but bestows a unique glamour upon his works. With many defectsthough his writing and translating may be, they are profuse in literary aroma and casta new light over the western views of Chinese culture. The importance of Giles, in thehistory of British Sinology, should not be overlooked.