Leung Ping Kwan brought as much talent and inspiration to the writing of his short stories as he did to his poems. ‘I have drawn on magical realism to explore the absurdity of Hong Kong,’ he wrote of the story ‘See Mun and the Dragon’ (1975) in which we find him using a simple, clipped style. The later story ‘Drowned Souls’ (2007) was written in a more symbolic, lyrical and more complex manner. Although the two stories are separated by over thirty years, and are in many ways so very different, dragons play a prominent part in both. The dragon has always been a fascinating creature, a complex embodiment of the timeless soul of China, symbol of the universal power of the imagination, of the creative energy and transformative possibilities of the Tao. Both of these enchanting stories are anchored in the author’s idea of freedom and liberation.
These stories by Leung Ping Kwan, “See Mun and the Dragon” and “Drowned Souls,” are separated by over thirty years, and are in many ways very different, yet dragons play a prominent part in both. Both of these enchanting stories are anchored in the author’s idea of freedom and liberation.
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Leung Ping?kwan (19492013) was born in Guangdong but grew up in Hong Kong. He was one of Hong Kong's most celebrated literary figures and a highly versatile writer, writing mainly in the Chinese language under the pen name Yasee. He taught in the Department of English and Comparative Literature of the University of Hong Kong, and Leung was Chair Professor of Comparative Literature in the Department of Chinese of Lingnan University. In 2010, he was honoured by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council as the Best Artist of the Year (Literary Arts). His poetry and fiction have been widely translated into English, French, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Portuguese, and German.
Wendy Chan is a professor of English at Centennial College in Toronto, Canada. She translated See Mun and the Dragon under the authors supervision at the University of Hong Kong in 1990.
Jasmine Tong Man is a senior lecturer teaching translation at Lingnan University. She received her PhD in Translation Studies in 2001. She has translated Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy and Amiri Baraka's poetry into Chinese, as well as poems and a short story by Leung Ping?kwan and children's poetry by Wei Ya into English.
David Morgan has translated various Spanish works into English. He studied Chinese in Hong Kong, Buenos Aires and Granada, and has edited two of Jasmine Tong Mans English translations of Wei Yas children's poetry.
Laura Ng is an editor based in Sydney. She first became acquainted with Leung Ping?kwan and his work in Hong Kong in the late 1990s.
John Minford is Emeritus Professor of Chinese at The Australian National University and Sin Wai Kin Professor of Chinese Culture and Translation at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.
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