[Nankang] Secretary Reading | Taiwo Township Liu Chunshui: A Great Translation under the Kerosene Lamp

【Issue 2360】

Study well the party's historical | Tell the red story well

Works: A translation of a huge work under the kerosene lamp

Submission: Organization Department of Nankang District Committee

Liu Chunshui

Secretary of the Party Committee of Taiwo Township, Nankang District

The spread of Marxism in China is inseparable from the translation of the works of Marx and Engels. In the turmoil of the twentieth century, many scholars put great effort into translating their works, and Guo Dali was one of them.

Guo Dali, born in 1905 in Nankang, Jiangxi, graduated from university in 1927 and began translating the first volume of Capital. When the first translation came out, he hesitated in the face of the translation of the next two volumes. Guo Dali later confessed that he did not even have a preliminary understanding of classical economics, the object of criticism of Capital at that time, and that translating Capital under the condition of insufficient preparation made him feel palpitations. He decided to put aside the translation of Capital for the time being and seriously study classical economics. It was at this time that he became acquainted with Wang Yanan, and the two of them saw each other at the same time, and in the next few years, they jointly translated the works of classical economists such as David Ricardo and Adam Smith.

In 1934, Guo Dali resumed the translation of Capital, and since the translation of the first volume of Capital had been destroyed by the fire of the Japanese invasion, he had to re-translate it again. At the beginning of 1937, the Reading Life Publishing House led by the Communist Party of China planned to publish a full translation of Capital, and the head of the publishing house thought that Guo Dali was the most suitable person to undertake this undertaking, and in order to let him translate the book with peace of mind, the publishing house paid him a monthly living expenses. Guo Dali's old partner Wang Yanan subsequently joined the cause.

In August 1937, the Battle of Songhu broke out, and Guo Dali returned from Shanghai to his hometown where he had been away for many years. In the humble corner tower of his home, he immersed himself in translation and relied on a kerosene lamp at night. After unremitting efforts, Capital was finally translated. From August to September 1938, the first full translation of Capital to be published, the first full translation of Capital Chinese, and the second full translation would not be seen until thirty-four years later with Chinese readers.

During Guo Dali's ten years in his hometown, the Kuomintang authorities repeatedly invited him to become an official, but Guo Dali refused. His father asked him to find a county magistrate, and he said, "What does it mean to be a county magistrate, and the work I am doing now is more meaningful than being a county magistrate." In this way, Guo Dali devoted himself to the cause of translation, and after Capital, he successively translated works such as "Capital Correspondence Collection" and "History of the Doctrine of Surplus Value".

Marx said: "There is no smooth road to walk on the road of science, and only those who climb along the steep mountain road without fear of toil can hope to reach the peak of glory." Guo Dali's translation also maintains this spirit. When we praise the breadth and profundity of the works of Marx and Engels today, we should not forget the great contributions of Guo Dali and other translators.

Source: Gannan Daily

Editor: Xie Zhongying Proofreader: Peng Fang

Duty Director: Ming Xinwu

Editor: Xie Yunsheng