David Tod Roy facts for kids

David Tod Roy (simplified Chinese: 芮效卫; traditional Chinese: 芮效衛; pinyin: Ruì Xiàowèi; 1933 – May 31, 2016) was an American expert on China. He was a scholar of Chinese literature. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1967 until 1999. Roy is best known for translating a famous Chinese novel called Jin Ping Mei. This book is also known as The Plum in the Golden Vase. His translation was published in five books between 1993 and 2013. It was the first time the entire novel was translated into English.

Early Life in China

David Roy was born in Nanjing, China, in 1933. His parents were Presbyterian missionaries. His father, Andrew Tod Roy, taught at Nanking University. David and his younger brother, J. Stapleton Roy, grew up in China.

When the Second Sino-Japanese War started, his family moved to Chengdu, Sichuan. David and his brother did not go to a regular school for a while. Their father taught them poetry. Other university teachers tutored them in different subjects from 1939 to 1945.

After the war, Roy attended the Shanghai American School. As the Communist Revolution grew, many students left. Roy was one of only 16 students remaining. He took his final geometry exam on the day the communist army entered the city. His parents decided to stay in China. They believed their mission was to share their faith.

His mother arranged for the boys to learn Chinese from a traditional scholar named Zhao Yanan. This scholar had helped Pearl S. Buck translate another famous Chinese novel, The Water Margin. The brothers also became very good at speaking Chinese. Roy later said that asking Zhao to write his name in Chinese characters was a "wonderful choice." He spent half the night practicing it.

Returning to America and College

In the summer of 1950, Roy moved back to the United States. He lived with his aunt and uncle in Merion, near Philadelphia. He went to Friends' Central School there. A Chinese expert named Derk Bodde also let Roy join his advanced class at the University of Pennsylvania. Roy was the only student in this class.

Bodde suggested that Roy apply to Harvard. Harvard was one of the few universities with a Chinese program. Roy got into Harvard but struggled with some classes. He was asked to leave. He then joined the United States Army during the Korean War. While in the Army, he was stationed in Japan and Taiwan. He improved his Chinese even more by reading notes written by his Chinese co-workers.

He later returned to Harvard to finish his college degree. He then continued his studies in Chinese. In 1958, he became a member of Harvard's special Society of Fellows. He taught at Princeton University for several years. He later finished his doctoral degree, which was a study of the Chinese poet Guo Moruo. This study became his first book, Kuo Mo-Jo: The Early Years, published in 1971.

Translating Jin Ping Mei

Roy first became interested in Jin Ping Mei when he was still in China. However, he did not start focusing on it until he joined the University of Chicago in 1967. He began teaching a class about the novel. At first, he did not plan to translate it. But his colleague, Anthony Yu, translated another long novel called Journey to the West. This inspired Roy to start his own translation in 1982. It took him 30 years to complete, finishing in 2012.

Roy's class on the novel spent two years reading all 3,000 pages of the earliest version. He and his students noticed that the novel contained many quotes from older books. Roy spent several years making an index for every line of poetry, proverb, or play in the text. He filled more than 10,000 small note cards. Then, he read all the works that existed before the novel was written. This helped him find many quotes and references that earlier scholars had missed.

When his translation was published, people praised it highly. Jonathan Spence, a reviewer for the New York Review of Books, called it "splendid" and "remarkable." Spence noted that Roy translated "everything," even jokes and common sayings. It was the first time the entire novel was available in English. Roy also made it easy to understand the different layers of the story. His notes were very detailed and helpful.

Another scholar, Perry Link, reviewed the last book of the translation. He wrote that Roy's work was "3,493 pages, five volumes, and 13.5 pounds." It was the only translation that included "everything" from the novel. Link said that this huge work was very important for Chinese literature.

Personal Life

David Roy married Barbara Chew in 1967. At that time, he was teaching at Princeton.

In 2012, just after he finished translating Jin Ping Mei, he was diagnosed with ALS. This disease is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. David Roy passed away in Chicago on May 30, 2016.

Major Books

• The Plum in the Golden Vase (Princeton University Press, 1993–2013, 5 books)
• Ancient China: Studies in Early Civilization (Chinese University Press, 1978, with Tsien Tsuen-hsuin, editors)
• Kuo Mo-Jo: The Early Years (Harvard University Press, 1971)