David R. Knechtges | |||||||||||
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| Born | (1942-10-23)October 23, 1942 (age 82) Great Falls, Montana, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Washington (BA, PhD) Harvard University (MA) | ||||||||||
| Scientific career | |||||||||||
| Fields | Fu,Han dynasty andSix Dynasties literature | ||||||||||
| Doctoral advisor | Hellmut Wilhelm | ||||||||||
| Other academic advisors | James Robert Hightower K. C. Hsiao Li Fang-Kuei Vincent Y.C. Shih | ||||||||||
| Notable students | Stephen Owen | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 康達維 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 康达维 | ||||||||||
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David Richard Knechtges (/kəˈnɛktəs/; born October 23, 1942) is an American sinologist and professor emeritus ofChinese literature at theUniversity of Washington. An expert onHan dynasty andSix dynasties period literature, Knechtges' studies of Chinesefu poetry are largely responsible for the revival of Western academic interest in the subject, a major genre which had become largely neglected until the mid-20th century.
Knechtges is best known for his ongoing translation of the early Chinese literary anthologySelections of Refined Literature (Wen xuan), which is to be its first ever full translation into English.
David Knechtges was born on October 23, 1942, inGreat Falls, Montana, and grew up inKirkland, Washington. Knechtges attendedLake Washington High School, and originally intended to studybiology orchemistry. However, while in high school he happened to attend a presentation given at his school by the German SinologistHellmut Wilhelm on two well-known China-related novels the students had been assigned to read:The Good Earth byPearl Buck, andRickshaw Boy byLao She.[1] He was fascinated and impressed by Wilhelm's knowledge and presentation, and soon decided to change his academic focus to Chinese history, language, and literature.[1]
After graduating from high school in 1960, Knechtges matriculated at theUniversity of Washington andmajored in Chinese, graduating in 1964 with aB.A.magna cum laude. Having decided to pursue graduate study in Chinese, he first went toHarvard University, and received anA.M. in 1965. He then returned to the University of Washington for doctoral studies under Wilhelm, and received aPh.D. in 1968 with a dissertation entitled "Yang Shyong, theFuh, and Hann Rhetoric", a study of thefu rhapsodies ofHan dynasty writer and scholarYang Xiong. After receiving his Ph.D., Knechtges taught at Harvard and thenYale University for several years before joining Washington's Asian Languages and Literature faculty in 1972. He taught at Washington for 42 years before retiring in 2014.[2]
Knechtges has written or edited a number of books on ancient Chinese literature, and is best known for his ongoing translation of theWen xuan (Selections of Refined Literature), a major collection of early Chinese literature, which is to be the work's first ever full translation into English. His wife, Tai-ping Chang Knechtges, is an affiliate assistant professor at Washington, and often serves as Knechtges' co-editor. They have one daughter together.
Knechtges was inducted into theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006. In 2014, the Chinese government awarded Knechtges the 8th China Book Award for his contributions to Chinese literary scholarship, especially his editing and translation ofThe Cambridge History of Chinese Civilisation.[3]
