Burton Watson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Burton Watson
Born	(1925-06-13)June 13, 1925 New Rochelle, New York, United States
Died	April 1, 2017(2017-04-01) (aged 91) Kamagaya, Japan
Occupation	Sinologist translator writer
Education	Columbia University (BA, MA, PhD)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	華茲生
Simplified Chinese	华兹生
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huá Zīshēng

Burton Dewitt Watson (born June 13, 1925 – died April 1, 2017) was an American expert in Chinese studies. He was also a famous translator and writer. He is best known for translating many important works from Chinese and Japanese literature into English.

Watson's translations won many awards. In 1979, he received the Gold Medal Award from Columbia University. He won the PEN Translation Prize twice. The first time was in 1982 for a book of Japanese poetry. He won it again in 1995 for his translation of poems by Su Tung-p'o. In 2015, when he was 88 years old, he received the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation. This award honored his long and successful career as a translator.

Life and Career

Early Life and Navy Service

Burton Watson was born on June 13, 1925, in New Rochelle, New York. His father worked as a hotel manager. In 1943, when he was 17, Watson left high school. He joined the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He was stationed on repair ships in the South Pacific. This was during the last years of the war. In August 1945, the war ended. His ship was in the Marshall Islands at that time. On September 20, 1945, his ship sailed to Japan. It anchored at the Yokosuka Naval Base. This was Watson's first time experiencing Japan and East Asia directly. He later wrote about his first visit to Tokyo. He and his shipmates found a stone with musical notes on it. They tried to sing the tune. Months later, Watson realized he had been in Hibiya Park. The song was "Kimigayo", Japan's national anthem.

College and Studies

Watson left Japan in February 1946. He was discharged from the Navy. He was then accepted into Columbia University in New York. He used the G.I. Bill to pay for his studies. This was a program that helped soldiers go to college.

At Columbia, he focused on Chinese studies. His main teachers were L. Carrington Goodrich and Wang Chi-chen. Back then, learning Chinese meant mostly reading Chinese characters and literature. It was thought that serious students would learn to speak Chinese later in China. He also studied Japanese for one year. Watson studied at Columbia for five years. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1949 and his master's degree in 1951.

Moving to Japan and Early Translations

After getting his master's degree, Watson wanted to study more in China. However, the Communist Party of China had taken control of China in 1949. They had closed the country to Americans. He could not find work in Taiwan or Hong Kong. So, he moved to Japan using his last savings from the G.I. Bill.

In Kyoto, Japan, he found two jobs. He taught English at Doshisha University. He also worked as a graduate student and research assistant at Kyoto University. He helped Professor Yoshikawa Kōjirō with Chinese language and literature. His total income was about $50 a month. He lived like other Japanese graduate students.

In 1952, he received a scholarship from Columbia University. This allowed him to leave his teaching job. Later that year, he got a fellowship from the Ford Foundation. He had always been interested in translating poetry. His first important translations were of kanshi. These are poems written in Chinese by Japanese authors. He translated them in 1954 for Donald Keene, who was putting together a Japanese literature book.

Later Career and Focus on Translation

In 1956, Watson earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University. His doctoral paper was about Sima Qian, a Chinese historian from the 1st century BC. After that, he worked with Ruth Fuller Sasaki to translate Buddhist texts into English. He returned to Columbia in 1961. He later taught Chinese at Columbia and Stanford universities. He often worked with Professor Donald Keene in student seminars.

In 1973, Watson moved back to Japan. He lived there for the rest of his life. He spent most of his time translating. He translated both literary works and everyday texts like advertisements. He was influenced by the translations of Ezra Pound and Arthur Waley. While in Japan, he also practiced Zen meditation. He worked as a translator for the Soka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist group. However, he was not a member of their specific Buddhist school. Despite his many translations of ancient Chinese texts, he did not visit China until 1983. It was a three-week trip paid for by the Soka Gakkai.

Burton Watson passed away on April 1, 2017, at the age of 91. He died at Hatsutomi Hospital in Kamagaya, Japan.

Translations

Burton Watson translated many important works. Here are some of his translations from Chinese:

• The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, Soka Gakkai, 2009 ISBN: 978-4412014091
• Late Poems of Lu You, Ahadada Books, 2007
• Analects of Confucius, 2007
• The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, 2004
• The Selected Poems of Du Fu, 2002
• Vimalakirti Sutra, New York: Columbia University Press 1996
• Selected Poems of Su Tung-P'o, Copper Canyon Press, 1994
• The Lotus Sutra, Columbia University Press, 1993
• Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty, Columbia University Press, 1993, ISBN: 978-0-231-08164-1.
• The Tso Chuan: Selections from China’s Oldest Narrative History, 1989
• Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century, 1971
• Cold Mountain: 100 Poems by the T’ang Poet Han-Shan, 1970
• The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases: Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Lu Yu, 1973
• Chinese Rhyme-Prose: Poems in the Fu Form from the Han and Six Dynasties Periods, 1971
• The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 1968
• Su Tung-p'o: Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet, 1965
• Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings, 1964
• Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, 1964
• Hsün Tzu: Basic Writings, 1963
• Mo Tzu: Basic Writings, 1963
• Early Chinese Literature, 1962
• Records of the Grand Historian of China, 1961
• Ssu-ma Ch'ien, Grand Historian of China, 1958
• Chinese Rhyme-Prose: Poems in the Fu Form from the Han and Six Dynasties Periods. Rev. ed. New York Review Books, 2015.

He also translated many works from Japanese, including:

• The Tale of the Heike, 2006
• For All My Walking: Free-Verse Haiku of Taneda Santōka with Excerpts from His Diaries, 2004
• The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol 1 in 1999 and vol 2 in 2006
• The Wild Geese (Gan, by Mori Ōgai), 1995
• Saigyō: Poems of a Mountain Home, 1991
• The Flower of Chinese Buddhism (Zoku Watakushi no Bukkyō-kan, by Ikeda Daisaku), 1984
• Grass Hill: Poems and Prose by the Japanese Monk Gensei, 1983
• Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, 1977
• Buddhism: The First Millennium (Watakushi no Bukkyō-kan, by Ikeda Daisaku), 1977
• The Living Buddha (Watakushi no Shakuson-kan, by Ikeda Daisaku), 1976

Many of Watson's translated books were published by Columbia University Press.