Chiang Yee
Encyclopedia
Chiang Yee (May 19, 1903 – October 26, 1977), self-styled as "The Silent Traveller", was a Chinese
poet
, author
, painter
and calligrapher
.
, China
, on a day variously recorded as May 19 or June 14. He married Tseng Yun in 1924, with whom he was to have four children, and in 1925 graduated from Nanjing University
(then named National Southeastern University), not only one of the world's oldest institutions of learning but also relaunched in 1920 as China's first modern university. He served for over a year in the Chinese army
during the Second Sino-Japanese War
, then taught chemistry in middle schools, lectured at National Chengchi University
, and worked as assistant editor of a Hangzhou
newspaper. He subsequently served as magistrate of three counties (Jiujang in Jiangxi
, and Dangtu and Wuhu in Anhui
.) Unhappy with the situation in China then (see Nanjing decade
), he departed for England
in 1933, to study for an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics
, focusing on municipal administration, leaving wife and family behind.
), University of London
, and 1938 to 1940 worked at the Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology. During this period, he wrote and illustrated a well-received series of books entitled The Silent Traveller in..... His first was The Silent Traveller: a Chinese Artist in Lakeland, written from a journal of a fortnight in the English Lake District
in August 1936). Others followed: The Silent Traveller in London, the Yorkshire Dales
, and Oxford. Despite paper shortages and rationing, these books were kept in print. He wrote The Silent Traveller in Wartime, and, after World War II
ended, the series gradually ventured further afield, to Edinburgh
, Dublin, Paris
, New York
, San Francisco, and Boston
, concluding in 1972 with Japan
.
in Edinburgh
is actually far more like a sleeping elephant. In his wartime books, Chiang Yee made it plain that he was fervently opposed to Nazism
. His writings exude a feeling of positive curiosity, life-enhancing in a unique way. Some of his books have been re-issued in modern times, sometimes with fresh introductions.
and being obliged, during the war, neither to travel nor to take part in the hostilities, on account of being classed as an 'alien', he moved to the United States
in 1955, where he became a lecturer (and ultimately Emeritus Professor of Chinese) at Columbia University
from 1955 to 1977, with an interlude in 1958 and 1959 during which he was Emerson Fellow in Poetry at Harvard University
. He became a naturalized citizen in 1966. He illustrated all his books, including several for children, and he wrote a standard tome on Chinese calligraphy
.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and calligrapher
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
.
1903-1933: China
Chiang Yee was born in JiujiangJiujiang
Jiujiang , formerly transliterated Kiukiang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province, the largest one being Nanchang...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, on a day variously recorded as May 19 or June 14. He married Tseng Yun in 1924, with whom he was to have four children, and in 1925 graduated from Nanjing University
Nanjing University
Nanjing University , or Nanking University, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China...
(then named National Southeastern University), not only one of the world's oldest institutions of learning but also relaunched in 1920 as China's first modern university. He served for over a year in the Chinese army
Chinese Army
Two modern armies have been known in English as the Chinese Army:* People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China* Republic of China Army , which succeeded the National Revolutionary Army in 1947For Chinese armies before 1912, see:...
during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, then taught chemistry in middle schools, lectured at National Chengchi University
National Chengchi University
National Chengchi University is a prestigious public university at Muzha in Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan. It is well-known for its concentration on the social sciences, law, commerce, communication, liberal arts and for its MBA programs....
, and worked as assistant editor of a Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
newspaper. He subsequently served as magistrate of three counties (Jiujang in Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
, and Dangtu and Wuhu in Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
.) Unhappy with the situation in China then (see Nanjing decade
Nanjing decade
The Nanjing decade was the decade from 1927 to 1937 in the Republic of China. It began when Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took the city from Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang halfway through the Northern Expedition in 1927. He declared it to be the national capital despite the...
), he departed for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1933, to study for an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, focusing on municipal administration, leaving wife and family behind.
1933-1955: England
From 1935 to 1938 he taught Chinese at the School of Oriental Studies (now School of Oriental and African StudiesSchool of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
), University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and 1938 to 1940 worked at the Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology. During this period, he wrote and illustrated a well-received series of books entitled The Silent Traveller in..... His first was The Silent Traveller: a Chinese Artist in Lakeland, written from a journal of a fortnight in the English Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
in August 1936). Others followed: The Silent Traveller in London, the Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...
, and Oxford. Despite paper shortages and rationing, these books were kept in print. He wrote The Silent Traveller in Wartime, and, after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended, the series gradually ventured further afield, to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Dublin, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, San Francisco, and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, concluding in 1972 with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Commentary on his writing: 1933-1955
The books characteristically bring a fresh 'sideways look' in a peaceful and non-judgemental way to places perhaps unfamiliar at the time to a Chinese national: the author was struck by things the locals might not notice, such as beards, or the fact that the so-called Lion's Haunch on Arthur's SeatArthur's Seat, Edinburgh
Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
is actually far more like a sleeping elephant. In his wartime books, Chiang Yee made it plain that he was fervently opposed to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. His writings exude a feeling of positive curiosity, life-enhancing in a unique way. Some of his books have been re-issued in modern times, sometimes with fresh introductions.
1955-1975: United States
After living for some years in a small flat in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and being obliged, during the war, neither to travel nor to take part in the hostilities, on account of being classed as an 'alien', he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1955, where he became a lecturer (and ultimately Emeritus Professor of Chinese) at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1955 to 1977, with an interlude in 1958 and 1959 during which he was Emerson Fellow in Poetry at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He became a naturalized citizen in 1966. He illustrated all his books, including several for children, and he wrote a standard tome on Chinese calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
.
1975-1977: China
Chiang died in his seventies in China after spending over forty years away from his homeland, on a day variously recorded as October 7 or 26, 1977. His tomb is on the slopes of Lu-Shan above his home town; he is now part of the landscape and environment that influenced his painting over the years.Survivors
Chiang Yee was survived by his eldest son, Chiang Chien-kuo who joined him in the UK after WWII. Chien-Kuo married and lived in Jersey, Channel Islands. He died in 2002 and was survived by his wife, Barbara Chiang, two children, Stephen and Sudi Chiang and grandchildren, Toby and Emily Chiang and Shiao-li Green. Chiang Yee's younger son, Chiang Chien-Fei, joined him in the USA in the 1960s, where he still lives with his wife and children in New England.The Silent Traveller series
- The Silent Traveller: A Chinese Artist in Lakeland (London: Country Life, 1937 reprinted Mercat, 2004) ISBN 1-84183-067-4
- The Silent Traveller in London (London: Country Life, 1938 reprinted Signal, 2001) 6 impressions by 1945.
- The Silent Traveller in the Yorkshire Dales (London: Methuen 1941) at least 3 editions by 1942. Not known if re-printed
- The Silent Traveller in Oxford (London: Methuen, 1944 reprinted Signal, 2003)
- The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh (London: Methuen, 1948 reprinted Mercat, 2003) ISBN 1-84183-048-8
- The Silent Traveller in New York, (London: Methuen, 1950)
- The Silent Traveller in Dublin, (London: Methuen, 1953)
- The Silent Traveller in Paris (New York: W. W. Norton, 1956)
- The Silent Traveller in Boston (New York: W. W. Norton, 1959)
- The Silent Traveller in San Francisco (New York: W. W. Norton, 1963) ISBN 0-393-08422-1
- The Silent Traveller in Japan (New York: W. W. Norton, 1972) ISBN 0-393-08642-9
China: childhood and return
- A Chinese Childhood (New York: John Day, 1953)
- China Revisted: After forty-two Years (New York: W.W. Norton, 1977) ISBN 0-393-08791-3
Painting and calligraphy
- The Chinese Eye: An Interpretation of Chinese Painting, (London: Methuen, 1935)
- Chinese Calligraphy, (London: Methuen, 1955)
- Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique (Harvard: University Press, 1973 3rd ed.) ISBN 0-674-12225-9
Other works
- Chin-Pao and the Giant Pandas, (London: Country Life, 1939)
- The Men of the Burma Road (London: Methuen, 1942)
- Dabbitse, (London: Transatlantic Arts, 1944) for children
- Yebbin: a Guest from the Wild (London: Methuen, 1947) ISBN 0-908240-87-2
- The Story of Ming, (London: Puffin, c. 1945)
- Lo Cheng The Boy Who Wouldn′t Keep Still, (London: Puffin, c. 1945)
- Some Chinese Words to be learnt without a teacher, (Privately published; date unknown)
Illustrated only
- Innes Herdan (tr.), 300 Tang Poems, (Far East Book Co., 2000) illustrated by Chiang Yee. ISBN 957-612-471-9
- Birds and Beasts, Chiang Yee (Country Life 1939). A portfolio of illustrations of birds and animals.
- The Pool of Chien Lung by Lady Hosie 1944 (frontispiece)
- Chinese Cookery by M P Lee -'decorations (i.e. Illustrations) by Chiang Yee
Resources about Chiang Yee
- Da Zheng, 'The Traveling of Art and the Art of Traveling: Chiang Yee's Painting and Chinese Cultural Tradition',
- Da Zheng, 'Writing of Home and Home of Writing', Comparative American Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 488–505 (2003)
- Janoff, Ronald, "Encountering Chiang Yee: A Western Insider Reading Response to Eastern Outsider Travel Writing" (Ann Arbor, MI, UMI Dissertation Services, 2002)