Lin Yutang, << lihn yoo tahng >> (1895-1976) was a Chinese scholar and writer. He helped interpret Chinese culture to the West in such books as My Country and My People (1935) and The Importance of Living (1937). Lin wrote novels, plays, essays, and travel guides in English. His best-known novels are Moment in Peking (1939) and A Leaf in the Storm (1942). He also translated three Chinese novelettes into the collection The Widow, Nun, and Courtesan (1951) and edited The Wisdom of Confucius (1938) and The Wisdom of China and India (1942).
In 1932, Lin founded the humor magazine The Analects, which achieved immediate success. He was interested in Chinese language reform, and played a major role in developing a romanized system of Chinese speech sounds known as Gwoyeu Romatzyh. This system of sounds simplified writing in the Chinese language. Lin compiled an important Chinese-English dictionary, published in 1972.
Lin was born on Oct. 10, 1895, in Xiamen (also called Amoy). After serving with the Nationalist government in 1927 and 1928, Lin devoted himself to writing and translating. He lived in the United States from 1936 to 1966. He died in Hong Kong on March 26, 1976.
