Born in 1934, in Nanjing, with a German background on his mother's side, Tan Shilin （譚時霖） was educated at Friends School ( Chongqing ), St. Francis Xavier's College ( Shanghai ), and the Foreign Language Institute ( Beijing ). Only after the ten years and more of great upheavals across the nation did he settle down to teaching at Jinan University ( Guangzhou ), where he is professor of English in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

As the present volume shows, he is deeply devoted to introducing to the English reading public the cultural heritage of his native country. Currently he is working on an anthology of ancient Chinese classics in English translation which will include some of his earlier literary translations.