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 Burton Watson is a translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. Watson was born in New York City, United States. He has taught at Columbia, Stanford, and Kyoto universities.
Born in 1925 in New York, Burton Watson was educated at Columbia University, and received his doctorate in 1956. He also studied at Kyoto University as a Ford Foundation Overseas Fellow, and taught Chinese and Japanese language and literature at Kyoto, Columbia and Stanford. In 1979 he received the Gold Medal Award of the Translation Center at Columbia University. In 1981 he received the PEN Translation Prize. He now lives in Japan.
Burton Watson is a founding member of the Renditions Advisory Board, and served as Renditions Fellow in 1989-90. He has published over twenty volumes of translations from and studies of Chinese and Japanese literature. His translations of Hou Han Shu; Shi ji and the poems of Li Bai, Bai Juyi and Lu You are published in Renditions No.1, Nos. 21 & 22, Nos. 33 & 34, and No. 49. His translations of Records of the Grand Historian are published in the Renditions Book series.
Burton Watson is among the best loved of American translators working from Asian languages. The natural ease and quiet elegance of Watson’s use of language is particularly suited to the work of such poets as Wang Wei, Bai Juyi and Lu You. The exhibits here are taken from Watson’s translations of Bai Juyi, one of his faviourite poets.
His translations include The Lotus Sutra, The Vimalakirti Sutra, Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings, Mo Tzu: Basic Writings, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home, and The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early Times to the Thirteenth Century, all published by Columbia University Press.
He received the PEN Translation Prize in 1981.
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Po Chu-i: Selected Poems. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
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Masaoka Shiki: Selected Poems. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
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The Vimalakirti Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
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Letters of Nichire. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
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Selected Poems of Su Tung-Po. Port Townsend, Wash.: Copper Canyon Press, 1994.
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The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
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The Tso Chuan: Selections from China’s Oldest Narrative History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.
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Ssu-ma Ch’ien: the Historian & His Work. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1985.
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The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: from the Early Times to the 13th Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984.
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From the Country of Eight Islands: an Anthology of Japanese Poetry. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1981.
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Japanese Literature in Chinese. New York: Columbia University Press, 1975-1976. Courtier & Commoner in Ancient China. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974.
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The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases: Selected Poetry and Prose of Lu Yu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1973.
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Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poems from the 2nd to the 12th Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
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Chinese Rhyme Prose: fu of Han & the Six Dynasties Period. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
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The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1968.
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An Introduction to Sung Poetry. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967.
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Basic Writings of Mo Tzu Hsün Tzu and Han Fei Tz., New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.
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Su Tung-p’o: Selection from a Sung Dynasty Poet. New York: Columbia University Press, 1965.
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Cold Mountain 100 Poems. New York: Grove, 1962; Cape: London, 1970.
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Early Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 1962.
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Records of The Grand Historian of China. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty I & II; Qin dynasty. Hong Kong; New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993.
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What Others Say
“Burton Watson...possesses all the qualities which distinguish a master translator. As a craftsman and a poet, he has inspired and challenged two generations."
—Asian Affairs
“A new translation of any of the classics...from the hand of Burton Watson is an event to be welcomed with gratitude.”
—Journal of Asian Studies
“Burton Watson is the finest, most consistent, most generous translator of Chinese literature of this century.”
—Gary Snyder
"Burton Watson is renowned for his lucid and beautiful translations from the Chinese and Japanese. He has written or translated several books published by Columbia University Press, including (the list is extensive). We are indebted to Professor Watson that he has been willing to devote his considerable talents and learning to meet this need for accurate translations of basic works. No doubt it would have been personally more gratifying to the researcher's instinct in him, and in the professional fraternity, had he turned to some untouched subject, no matter how obscure and out-of-the-way. That he has returned to several of the old masters is a credit both to them and to him. Great figures like Chuang Tzu, Han Fei Tzu, Mo Tzu, and Hsun Tzu merit rediscovery and reexamination by each generation. How much more is this true when, in comparison to Confucius and Lao Tzu, they have been known until now by so few!"
—Wm. Theodore de Bary
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