In his 1935 nonfiction book My Country, My People, written in English, the Chinese writer, translator and polymath Lin Yutang identified a problem he felt uniquely suited to fix: “It is the fate of the great to be misunderstood, and so it is with China. China has been profoundly, magnificently misunderstood.”
Lin’s solution to this problem was a bold — if not entirely successful — effort at cultural translation. My Country, My People is Lin Yutang’s discursive rumination on Chinese philosophy, aesthetics, social structures and cultural essence. In it, he argues that China’s civilization embodies inherent wisdom and beauty deserving of long overdue global recognition and appreciation: “God—if there be a God—intended her to be a first-class nation among the peoples of the earth, and she has chosen to take a back seat with Guatemala at the League of Nations.” The book was a bestseller in its time and was translated into multiple languages, including Russian and Japanese, while a Chinese edition appeared in 1936.
When Lin was writing this book in the 1930s, China faced the twin existential threats of internecine discord and external invasion. It was a difficult time for the Chinese people, but a rich era for writing about the country, especially by foreigners. Chinese intellectuals and political figures from Lu Xun to Mao Zedong were also offering their takes on China’s destiny. What elevates Lin Yutang’s book is the rare crossing of worlds: he is a Chinese writer articulating what it means to be Chinese, but doing so in English for a foreign audience.