Heinu yutianlu

work by Lin Shu

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June 29, 2026

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Heinu yutianlu is a work translated by Lin Shu, a Chinese translator active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although Lin Shu did not know any foreign languages, he translated over 180 works of Western literature into classical Chinese, often working through oral interpreters.1

Heinu yutianlu is a Chinese translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was adapted into a play in 1907 by Chinese students in Japan, marking the beginning of huaju, a form of Chinese drama that uses realistic spoken dialogue. Despite inaccuracies due to its secondhand nature, Lin Shu's translation is significant for introducing Western literature to China.21

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huaju
…an adaptation of Lin Shu’s Heinu yutianlu (1901; “The Black Slave Cries Out to Heaven”), itself a version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; it was produced by a group of Chinese students in Japan in 1907. At first the huaju plays consisted exclusively of translations or adaptations of Western works intended…
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…an adaptation of Lin Shu’s Heinu yutianlu (1901; “The Black Slave Cries Out to Heaven”), itself a version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; it was produced by a group of Chinese students in Japan in 1907. At first the huaju plays consisted exclusively of translations or adaptations of Western works intended…
Read More