Shu Lin, known as Qinnan (courtesy name) and Weilu or
Chunjuezhai zhu jen (pseudonyms), was born in Fujian, China. Lin
was a renowned Chinese paleographer, painter and translator. Li
read extensively in classics and had intimate knowledge of
ancient literature. He was one of the opponents of the movement
of Written Vernacular Chinese, a literature reform promoted by
Hu Shih (1891-1962). Lin’s painting is recognized as innovative.
His landscape drawings are often compared with that of Dong
Qichang (1555-1636, a well-known painter at the end of the Ming
dynasty). Lin’s most significant achievement is translation.
Although he only knew how to speak and write Chinese, Lin worked
with Wang Chouchang and Wei Yi and translated several books from
English, French, Russian, Japanese and Spanish to Chinese. An
example of their work is translation into Chinese of “La dame
aux camellias” by Alexandre Dumas.