itismygreathonourtohavebeenaskedtowriteageneralprefaceforthisimportantseriesofaward-winningtranslationsofaustralianliteraturebyprofessorliyao，tobepublishedbyqingdaopublishinghouse．theseriesisincelebrationofprofessorliyao's40thanniversaryasatranslatorofaustralianliterature，whichcoincideswiththe45thanniversaryoftheestablishmentofdiplomaticrelationsbetweenourtwocountries．asiwillexplain，thesetwoanniversariesarecloselyconnected．

theaustralianlaborparty，ledbygoughwhitlam，hadrecognisedthepeoples'republicofchinaasearlyas1955，butitwasanotherseventeenyearsbeforeitwaselectedintogovernment，on2december1972．lessthanthreeweekslater，on21december1972，primeministergoughwhitlamsignedthejointcommuniqueestablishingdiplomaticrelationsbetweenaustraliaandthepeoples'republicofchina．underthetermsofthecommunique，thetwogovernmentsagreedto“develop…diplomaticrelations，friendshipandco-operationbetweenthetwocountriesonthebasisoftheprinciplesofmutualrespect…equalityandmutualbenefit，andpeacefulcoexistence”．

theaustralianembassyinbeijingwasopenedon12january1973，andlaterthatyeargoughwhitlambecamethefirstaustralianprimeministertovisitchina，holdinghistoricmeetingswithzhouenlaiandmaozedong．whitlam'sestablishmentofdiplomaticrelationsbetweenaustraliaandchinahasbeendescribedasthesinglemostimportanteventinrelationsbetweenourtwocountriesinthetwentiethcentury，andremainsthefoundationoftherelationshiptoday．

inadditiontotradeandtourism，culturalandeducationalexchangeshavebeenofincreasingimportancetotherelationshipbetweenourtwocountries．sincethe1970s，theselinkshaveincludedthestudyofaustralianliterature．thefirstfivechinesestudentstostudyinaustralianuniversitiesaftertheestablishmentofdiplomaticrelationsarrivedin1975，andthenumberincreasedrapidlyfromthelate1980s．professorliyao'scareerintranslatingaustralianliteratureforgenerationsofchinesereadershasbeencentraltothisstoryofculturalexchange．

aftergraduatingfrominnermongoliannormaluniversityin1966，liyaoworkedasawriterandeditorforjournalsininnermongoliauntilhisappointmentasprofessorofenglishatthetrainingcentreoftheministryofcommerceinbeijingin1992．hebecameamemberofthechinesewriters'associationin1986，specialisinginliterarytranslation．atthattime，hestartedcollaboratingwithprofessorhuwenzhongatbeijingforeignstudiesuniversityonthetranslationofaustralianliterature．professorhuisagraduateoftheuniversityofsydney，amemberoftheso-called“gangofnine”，whowereamongthefirststudentsfromchinatoundertakegraduatestudyinaustraliaaftertheculturalrevolutionof1966to1976．in1979，the“gangofnine”studiedundermypredecessorasprofessorofaustralianliteratureattheuniversityofsydney，professordameleoniekramer．iwasthenayoungtutorintheenglishdepartmentresearchingmyownphdthesis，andiwellrememberthepresenceofourchinesevisitorsinthedepartment．the“gangofnine”provedinfluentialindevelopingaustralianstudiesinchinaaftertheirreturn．sincethattime，over30australianstudiescentreshavebeensetupacrosschina．anumberofthesecentreshavecoursesonaustralianliterature，andhavepeopleworkingontranslatingandintroducingaustralianliteraturetochinesereaders．theyincludepekinguniversityandbeijingforeignstudiesuniversity，whereprofessorliyaoteachesadvancedtranslationstudies，aswellas，shanghai'seastchinanormaluniversity，renminuniversity，anhuiuniversity，suzhouuniversity，innermongoliauniversityandinnermongolianormaluniversity．

itwasprofessorhuwenzhongwhofirstencouragedliyaotomakehiscareerinthestudyandtranslationofaustralianliterature．whentheymetinbeijinginthemid1980s，professorhuexplainedthataustralianliteraturewasstillanuntouchedfieldinchina，andheencouragedliyaotodevotehimselftothisareaandmakeacontributiontoitasatranslator．beforetheculturalrevolution，chinesereadershadsomefamiliaritywithamerican，british，russian，french，germanandothereuropeanliteratures，buttheyknewlittleaboutaustralianliterature．atthattime，onlyhenrylawson，frankhardyandafewother“socialrealist”writerswereknownthroughtranslation．collaboratingtogether，professorhuandliyaotranslatedpatrickwhite'sthetreeofman，whichwaspublishedbyshanghaitranslationpublishinghousein1991．patrickwhitewasaustralia'smostfamouswriter，havingwonthenobelprizein1973．unliketheearlierrealistwriters，hewassignificantbecausehisnovelsmediatedaustralianexperienceandtheaustralianlandscapethroughthestylisticinnovationsofinternationalmodernism．

aftercollaboratingwithprofessorhu，liyaocontinuedtotranslateaustralianliterature，carryingonthetraditionthathehadinitiated．liyaotodayhastranslatedastaggeringtotalof35titles．thelistofhistranslationsincludesnovelsbybriancastro，richardflanagan，anitaheiss，colleenmcculloch，davidmalouf，alexmiller，andkimscott，aswellasimportantworksofhistoryandnon-fiction．mostofliyao'stranslationsweregenerouslysupportedbyfundingfromtheaustralia-chinacouncil，theliteratureboardoftheaustraliacouncilandfasic，thefoundationforaustralianstudiesinchina．theworksselectedforre-printinginthe45thanniversaryseriesincludemanyofthenovelsthathavegoneontoachievefamebothinaustraliaandinternationallythroughtheirwinningofprizessuchasthemilesfranklinliteraryaward，thecommonwealthwritersprize，andthemanbookerliteraryaward．histranslationsincludepatrickwhite'snovels，thetreeofmanandafringeofleaves，andhisautobiography，flawsintheglass；twooftheearliestnovelsaboutaustralian-chineserelationships，briancastro'sbirdsofpassage，andalexmiller'stheancestorgame；andavenueofeternalpeace，byacademicandformerculturalofficerinbeijing，nicholasjose．thelistalsoincludestitlesbythethreeaustralianauthorswhohavewontheprestigiousmanbookerliteraryprize：petercarey'struehistoryofthekellygang，tomkeneally'swomanoftheinnerseaandrichardflanagan'sgould'sbookoffish．inadditiontotheancestorgame，whichwonboththemilesfranklinliteraryawardandthecommonwealthwritersprize，therearetwoothernovelsbyalexmiller，landscapeoffarewellandcoalcreek．inadditiontoworksoffiction，liyao'stranslationsofimportantworksofnon-fictionincludedavidwalker'smemoirnotdarkyet，andmaramoustafine'ssecretsandspies：theharbinfiles，bothofwhichindifferentwaystouchonpeople-to-peoplechinese-australialinks．

inmorerecentyears，liyaohascontinuedtoprovideleadershipandinnovationbykeepingupwiththelatestdevelopmentsinaustralianliterature，andcontinuingtointroducenewworksbyaustralianwriterstochinesereaders．hehasrecentlyshownaparticularinterestintheareasofaustralianchildren'sliterature，andwritingbyaustralia'sindigenousauthors，andthereareexamplesoftheseworksalsoincludedintheanniversaryseries．sponsoredbytheaustralia-chinacouncil，from2010liyaoworkedtoselectandtranslate10australianchildren'sbooks，includingsuchwell-knownandlovedclassicsasethelpedley'sdotandthekangaroo，maygibbs'talesofsnugglepotandcuddlpie，ethelturner'ssevenlittleaustralians，dorothywall'sblinkybill，ruthpark'sthemuddle-headedwombat，andcolinthiele'sstormboy．thesebookswerepublishedbypeople'sliteraturepublishinghouseandhavebecomeverypopularinchina．neweditionsofdotandthekangarooandsevenlittleaustraliansaretobepublishedbychinayouthpublishinghouse．liyaohasreaffirmedhiscommitmenttopromotingaustralianchildren'sbooksinchina，andwillintroducemoretitlesintothisseries，whichistobecalledhiskoalabooksseries．

since2006，withthehelpofhisgreatfriend，thenovelist，academic，andformerculturalcounsellor，professornicholasjose，liyaohasbeenresearchingandtranslatingaustralianaboriginalliterature．histranslationsincludekimscott'sbenang：fromtheheart，alexiswright'scarpentaria，andanitaheiss'whoami．heiscurrentlyworkingonatranslationofalexiswright'stheswanbook．hehopesthatthesebookswillexpandchineseunderstandingofaustralia，awarethataustralianaboriginalliteraturehasnotbeenintroducedtochinasystematicallysofar，andsotomostchinesereadersthisisstillanunfamiliarfield．

inadditiontohistranslationandteachingatpku，liyaohasservedasacouncilmemberofthechineseassociationforaustralianstudiessinceitbeganin1988．hewontheaustralia-chinacouncil'sinauguraltranslationprizein1996forhistranslationofalexmiller'stheancestorgame，in2008fornicholasjose'stheredthread，andagainin2012forhistranslationofalexiswright'scarpentaria．hewasawardedthecouncil'sgoldmedalin2008forhisdistinguishedcontributioninthefieldofaustralianliterarytranslationinchina．

perhapsbecauseofwhite'sownfameasaustralia'sonlynobelprizewinningwriter，liyaoisknownespeciallyinaustraliaasachampionofpatrickwhiteinchina．histranslationofthetreeofmanhasbeenreprintedthreetimesinthepasttwentyfiveyears，sellingover20，000copies．white'sautobiography，flawsintheglass，hasalsobeenreprintedthreetimes，seelingmorethan12，000copies．histranslationsofthetreeofman，flawsintheglass，theancestorgame，truehistoryofthekellygang，andcarpentariahavebeenwellreviewedandwellreceivedinchina，andmanystudentshavegoneontowritetheirmastersandphddissertationsontheseworld-classaustraliannovels，havingbeenfirstintroducedtothembyliyao．

liyao'stranslationofcarpentariaperhapsdeservesspecialcommentastheculminationofalifetime'swork，andsomefortyyears'culturalexchangebetweenthetwocountries．thenovelimaginesaustralianlifefromanaboriginalperspective；itiswrittenfromwithintheaboriginallifeworld，inauniquestylethatmightbedescribedasakindofaboriginalmagicalrealism．amongchinesetranslatorsofaustralianliterature，onlyliyaohadthedepthofexperiencetotakeonthechallengingtaskoftranslatingsuchamasterworkfromanothercultureintomandarin．hesawitthroughtopublishingwiththeprestigiouspeople'sliteraturepublishinghouseandgatheredsupportfromleadingchinesewriters，includingnobelliteraturelaureatemoyan，wholauncheditattheaustralianembassyinbeijing．

todayliyaoremainsveryactivelyengagedwithaustralianliterature．mostrecently，hewasanhonouredguestofthe2017conferenceoftheassociationforthestudyofaustralianliterature（asal）inmelbourne，whereheaddressedaninterestedandappreciativeaudienceofaustralianscholarsabouthislife'swork．liyaoisalwaysopentoadviceonnewtitlesofinterest．chinesereadersarecurrentlyveryinterestedintomkeneally'sworks，forexample，andheplanstotranslateshameandthecaptives．heremainsinterestedinaustralianindigenousliteratureandchildren'sbooks，andplanstotranslatefurthernewnovelsbyhisfriendalexmiller．heisalsoco-writing，withprofessordavidwalker，amemoirabouthisandhisfamily'sexperiencesinandafterthewarofliberationandintheearlyyearsofnewchinaandintheculturalrevolution．thisisabookthatwillbeeagerlyreadbyhismanyfriendsinaustralia．

liyaohasshownextraordinarydedicationinhissustainedcommitmenttothetranslationofaustralianliteratureinchina．nooneinchinaknowsmoreaboutaustralianwritingtodaythanliyao，whohasmanyfriendsamongauthorsandliteraryscholarsinaustralia．in2014，iattendedaceremonyintheuniversityofsydney'shistoricgreathallinwhichliyaowasawardedanhonorarydoctorateforhisservicestoaustralianliterature．itwasaproudmomentfortheuniversitythathadplayedsofoundationalaroleinaustralianliterarystudies，bothinaustraliaandchina．“iloveaustralianliterature”，liyaohassaid．“itisanimportantpillarofworldliterature．overthepastfourdecades，ihavenurturedgreatfriendshipswithmanyoutstandingauthorsfromaustralia．intranslatingtheirworks，myownlifehaschangedimmensely”．inretrospect，wecanseethatliyao'scareerinliterarytranslationhasbeenexemplaryinfulfillingthetermsofthe1972communique，withwhichitisapproximatelycontemporary：thatis，to“develop…diplomaticrelations，friendshipandco-operationbetweenthetwocountriesonthebasisoftheprinciplesofmutualrespect…equalityandmutualbenefit，andpeacefulcoexistence”．

professorrobertdixon，faha

professorofaustralianliterature

theuniversityofsydney

july2017

我十分荣幸地应邀为李尧教授这套重要的澳大利亚文学优秀翻译作品写序。这套书为庆祝李尧教授从事澳大利亚文学翻译四十周年，由青岛出版社出版，恰逢我们两国建立外交关系四十五周年。我要指出的是，这两个周年纪念日密切相关。

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