25 Facts About Florence Ayscough

Florence Ayscough MacNair was a sinologist, writer and translator of Chinese literature.

Florence Ayscough, nee Wheelock, was born in Shanghai, China, to Canadian father Thomas Reed Wheelock and American mother Edith H Clarke.

Florence Ayscough's family returned to live in China when she was in her early twenties.

Florence Ayscough was a student of Chinese art, literature, and sociology.

Florence Ayscough was a lecturer on Chinese art and literature and was the author of eight books on Chinese history, culture, literary criticism and translation.

Florence Ayscough traveled as a lecturer to cities including London, Paris, Berlin and New York.

Florence Ayscough accepted a permanent lecturing post at the University of Chicago in 1938, where she lectured on Chinese literature and continued her translation work and documenting the history and culture of China.

Florence Ayscough was Honorary Librarian of the North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society in Shanghai for fifteen years.

Florence Ayscough collected modern Chinese paintings, including work by Xu Gu.

Florence Ayscough's efforts introduced this Chinese art form to the American public.

Florence Ayscough's writings included translations of classical poetry and essays on Chinese art, history, and philosophy.

Florence Ayscough work attempted to correct previous inaccurate attempts to translate the cultures of ancient and contemporary China, for example perspectives of China as a stagnant culture.

For example, her review of the 1931 novel The Good Earth by American writer Pearl Buck, Florence Ayscough praised the choice of contemporary Chinese peasantry as the subject, but criticized the accuracy.

Florence Ayscough had a strong influence on the work of her friend Amy Lowell, being the source of Lowell's interest in Asian culture and Chinese poetry.

Florence Ayscough introduced Lowell to Chinese paintings and poetry in 1917.

Florence Ayscough's first book, Fir-Flower Tablets, with Amy Lowell, was a translation of poems from the Chinese.

Florence Ayscough published Tu Fu, the Autobiography of a Chinese Poet in 1929; her translations of the poems of Tu Fu, with a biography constructed using his poetry.

Florence Ayscough wrote two books intended for younger readers; The Autobiography of a Chinese Dog, an account of Shanghai from the perspective of her Pekingese dog Yo-fei, and Fire-Cracker Land.

Florence Ayscough's husband died in 1933 after a long illness.

Florence Ayscough married her second husband, sinologist Harley Farnsworth MacNair, in 1935.

Florence Ayscough named their homes in Chicago in traditional Chinese fashion; "Wild Goose Happiness House", and "House of the Wutung Trees" after the painting by Ren Yi in their collection.

Florence Ayscough enjoyed sailing, swimming, theatre and music, and was a member of the English Speaking Union.

In 1941, Florence Ayscough was admitted to the Chicago Osteopathic Hospital, where she died on 26 April 1942 after a long illness.

Florence Ayscough was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

Florence Ayscough donated her collection of 1,292 Chinese-language books to the Library of Congress.