U Htin Kyaw unveils father’s book in China
Min Thu Wun’s Affinity with China — a book in Chinese and Burmese — was unveiled by the President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw in Beijing on Sunday.
The late Min Thu Wun, the president’s father, was a famous poet who is regarded as one of the three luminaries in Myanmar’s literary movement called Khitsan (new writing) of the 1930s.
The president attended the book launch at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing during his first visit to China since becoming Myanmar’s leader in 2016.
Published by China’s Foreign Language Press in April, the book is a collection of Min Thu Wun’s essays on China and Chinese literature, reflecting the cultural links between China and Myanmar.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to those who contributed to the book’s publishing process,” U Htin Kyaw said at the ceremony. “My father put great emphasis on introducing Chinese literature to Myanmar. He thought the two have many things in common.”
He still has some of his father’s manuscripts, he said.
The book includes the Burmese translation of Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Bai Juyi’s poems, modern writer Lu Xun’s short stories and ancient Chinese fables.
Li Mou, a professor of Burmese language and literature at Peking University, has written a short biography of Min Thu Wun. Li is one of the editors of the new book.
Decades ago, he helped Min Thu Wun with some of the translations which are included in the book. A student of Burmese language at Beijing Foreign Studies University in the 1950s, Li was among the first Chinese students to visit Myanmar. He met Min Thu Wun while studying in the University of Yangon from 1958 to 1962.
Min Thu Wun studied Burmese literature before going to Oxford University to study linguistics, Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan in 1936. He returned to Myanmar in 1939 and worked at the University of Yangon — teaching, writing and translating.
“Min Thu Wun was the chief editor of the university’s publishing house when I was there,” Li recalls. “When Chen Yi, then-foreign minister of China, visited Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 1960, Min Thu Wun asked me to explain the meaning of the poems Chen had written during his visit.”
The translations of seven poems by Chen, expressing his feeling at the different sites he visited in Myanmar, are included in the new book with paintings of the places such as the Mandalay Palace and the Thanlwin River.
Min Thu Wun visited China with a group of scholars in 1962 and Li accompanied them as an interpreter. They traveled to many cities, including Beijing and Hangzhou. Li recalls Min Thu Wun asking him for an anthology of Bai Juyi during that trip. Both he and the Tang poet were interested in the portrayal of grassroots people, Li says.
Besides the translations of works that are familiar to Chinese readers, the book also has three essays by Min Thu Wun on his hometown and Burmese culture.
“Min Thu Wun has built a bridge of literature between the peoples of China and Myanmar, connecting their hearts and souls,” Lu Cairong, the deputy director of China International Publishing Group, says.
“This book is a mark of the friendship between people of China and Myanmar, a token of respect to Min Thu Wun, and a wish for further cultural exchanges between the two countries.”