Oldřich Král

In the 1950s and 60s, he spent two periods studying at Peking University, during which time he translated Ba Jin's novel The Family and the Qing dynasty novel The Scholars.

[1] After that, he devoted his life to the translation of Chinese literature and philosophical works into the Czech language.

[2] His translations include the I Ching, Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, The Art of War, The Gateless Barrier, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, and Journey to the West.

[1] His translation of Cao Xueqin's classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber won the Odeon Publisher Award for the best translation in 1988 and at the celebration of the 240th anniversary of Cao Xueqin's death Král received the International Award (Beijing 2003).

[2] In 1993, Král became professor of sinology at Charles University and reestablished a Comparative Literature as a field of study there.