by George J. Dance
Florence Wheeler Ayscough (January 21, 1875 - April 24, 1942) was a Canadian poet and translator.[1]
Florence Wheeler Ayscough (1875-1942). Courtesy Simon Fraser University.
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Ayscough was born Florence Wheeler in Shanghai, the daughter of Edith Haswell (Clarke) of Massachusetts, and Thomas Reed Wheelock (?1842-1920) of Annapolis, Nova Scotia.[1]
She spent her first 9 years in China,[1] and then attended Mrs. Quincy Shaw's School in Brookline, Massachusetts.[2] At school she met and befriended American poet Amy Lowell.[1]
Marriage and career[]
After completing school, she returned to China, where she met and married English merchant and sinologist Francis Ayscough (1859-1933),[1] circa 1895.[2]
Ayscough and Lowell collaborated on a book of translations of Chinese poetry, Fir-Flower Tablets, published in 1921, with Ayscough supplying literal translations from the Mandarin for Lowell to turn into finished poems.[1]
The Ayscoughs moved to Canada in 1923, settling in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick.[1]
Francis Ayscough died in 1933. In 1935, Florence Ayscough married another sinologist, Harley Farnsworth McNair (1891-1947), who became professor of Chinese history at the University of Chicago. Beginning in 1938 Ayscough also began lecturing at the University of Chicago, on Chinese literature.[1]
Ayscough died in Chicago in 1942. She is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, near the grave of E.E. Cummings.[3]
Recognition[]
Acadia University awarded Ayscough an honorary D.Litt. in 1927.[1]
Publications[]
Non-fiction[]
- Chinese Painting. New York: Mentor Association, 1918.
- Friendly Books on Far Cathay: Being a bibliography for the student, and a synopsis of Chinese history. Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1921.
- The Chinese Idea of a Garden. Shanghai: 1923.
- A Chinese Mirror: Being reflections of the reality behind appearance (illustrated by Lucille Douglas). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / London: Cape, 1925.
- The Autobiography of a Chinese Dog (illustrated by Lucille Douglas). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / London: Cape, 1926.
- Chinese Women: Yesterday and today. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1937.
Juvenile[]
- Firecracker Land: Pictures of the Chinese world for younger readers. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1932.
Translated[]
- Fir-Flower Tablets: Poems translated from the Chinese (translated by Ayscough; English versions by Amy Lowell). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1921.
- Du Fu, The Autobiography of a Chinese Poet, A.D. 712-770. (2 volumes), Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / London: Cape, 1929.
Letters[]
- Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell: Correspondence of a friendship (edited by Harley Farnsworth MacNair). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1945.
The Lonely Wife - Florence Ayscough (Amy Lowell)
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Ayscough, Florence Wheelock, Canada's Early Women Writers, Simon Fraser University. Web, July 11, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ayscough, Florence, Women in World History: A biographical encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com. Web, July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Florence Wheelock Ayscough, Find a Grave, October 23, 2010. Web, Mar. 14, 2019.
- ↑ Search results = au:Florence Ayscough, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 12, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- Translations by Ayscough & Amy Lowell in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "An Evening Meeting" by Li Hai-Ku, "The Emperor's Return from a Journey to the South" by Wen Cheng-ming, "On Seeing the Portrait of a Beautiful Concubine" by Ch’en Hung-Shou, "Calligraphy" by Liang T’ung-shu, "The Palace Blossoms" by T’ai Ta-mien, "One Goes a Journey" by Liu Shih-an, "From the Straw Hut among the Seven Peaks" by Lu Kun, "On the Classic of the Hills and Sea" by T’ao Ch’ien, "A Recluse" by Wang Chang-ling, "After How Many Years" by Li Hai-Ku, "The Inn at the Western Lake" by Wang Ching-seng
- Books
- Florence Ayscough at Amazon.com
- About
- Ayscough, Florence Wheelock at Canada's Early Women Writers
- Knowledge is Pleasure: Florence Ayscough in Shanghai by Lindsay Shen, Hong Kong University Press
- Florence Wheelock Ayscough at Find a Grave
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