Renowned China literary figure Yang Jiang dies

Chinese playwright, author and translator Yang Jiang died at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday at the age of 105, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) told Xinhua.

Born Yang Jikang in Beijing, Yang studied in Soochow University and then Tsinghua University in the 1930s. She was married to Qian Zhongshu, a household name in China for his sarcastic novel "Fortress Besieged" that depicted the lives of Chinese intellectuals in the 1930s. Qian died in 1997.

After studying in Britain and France together with Qian, Yang returned and became a foreign language professor at Tsinghua. She was a literature researcher with Peking University and the CASS foreign literature study center in the 1950s.

Fluent in English, French and Spanish, her translations of such classics as Don Quixote and French picaresque novel Gil Blas remain the definitive versions for Chinese readers.

Yang also penned numerous plays, novels and essays and is known for her plain but resonant style, including "We Three," a 2003 essay collection recalling her husband and daughter, who died of cancer, that became a hit both in China and overseas.

In 2001, Yang and Qian donated all their royalties to Tsinghua and established a scholarship that has benefited more than 1,000 students.

"Yang had expressed her wish to leave this world quietly and simply and not disturb anyone. We appreciate people's care for her but also appeal to the media and the public to respect her wish," Chen Zhongyi, head of the CASS foreign literature study center, told Xinhua.

"Yang's life was not easy. Let's leave her to rest in peace and reunite with her beloved husband and daughter in another world," Chen added. Endi