William John Francis Jenner
William (Bill) John Francis Jenner (Chinese: 詹纳尓; * 1940) is an English sinologist, specializing in Chinese history and culture, and translator of Chinese literature.
Biography
From 1958 to 1962 Jenner studied sinology at Oxford and wrote his dissertation about the history of Luoyang in the 5th and 6th century.
From 1963 to 1965 he worked as a translator at Foreign Languages Press in Beijing. There he translated i.e. From Emperor to Citizen, an „autobiography“ of the last Emperor of China, Puyi, and started translating the novel Journey to the West into English.
Since 1965 he taught at the University of Leeds, Australian National University and University of East Anglia.
From 1979 to 1985 Jenner travelled to China every summer, and worked on the translation of Journey to the West and other works, for example those by Lu Xun.
His most recent project is The History of China in two volumes.
Jenner has two daughters and one son.
Partial Bibliography
Translations
- Wu Cheng'en: Journey to the West. Foreign Languages Press, Beijing
- Lu Xun: Selected Poems. Foreign Languages Press, Beijing 1982.
- Ding Ling: Miss Sophie's Diary and Other Stories. Panda Books / Chinese Literature Press, Beijing 1985.
- Modern Chinese Stories. Oxford University Press 1970; with Gladys Yang.
- Chinese Lives. An Oral History of Contemporary China. Pantheon, New York 1987; with Delia Davin and Cheng Lingfang.
- From Emperor to Citizen. The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi. Oxford University Press 1987 / Foreign Languages Press, Beijing 1989.
- Zhang Leping: Adventures of Sanmao the Orphan. Joint Publications, Hong Kong 1981; with C.M. Chan.
Monographies
- Memories of Loyang. Yang Hsüan-chih and the Lost Capital, 493–534. Clarendon Press, Oxford / Oxford University Press, New York 1981.
- The Tyranny of History. The Roots of China’s Crisis. Penguin, London 1992.
- A Knife in My Ribs for a Mate. Reflections on Another Chinese Tradition. Australian National University, Canberra 1993.
Articles
- 1979: A New Start for Literature in China? China Quarterly 86, Cambridge University Press / School of Oriental and African Studies, June 1981, p. 274–303.
- Race and History in China New Left Review 11, September/October 2001.
- Introduction to Mao's “Letter to Comrade Lin Piao” New Left Review 1.65, January/February 1971.
- The New Chinese Revolution New Left Review 1.53, January/February 1969.
- History in the Manufacture New Left Review 1.41, January/February 1967.
- China Today New Left Review 1.17, Winter 1962.