Rediscovering British literature

The ongoing show at the Mu Xin Art Museum in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, features manuscripts of such well-known British writers as George Byron, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and Charles Lamb. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The late Chinese poet and writer, Mu Xin (1927-2011), said British poet George Byron was like his brother and praised him as "a hero" and "the strongest voice in human civilization", according to The Memoir of Literature, a book comprising Mu's lectures on world literature in New York over five years.

Now, the British lord is having a "dialogue" with his Chinese admirer－through their manuscripts－at the Mu Xin Art Museum in Mu's hometown of Wuzhen in East China's Zhejiang province.

Besides Byron's manuscripts, the museum also has works by three other well-known British writers－Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and Charles Lamb－all of whom were loved by Mu.

The ongoing show, In Mu Xin's Words: Treasures of the British Library, is one of the key activities of a three-year project financed by the British government to deepen cultural exchanges between China and the United Kingdom.

Chen Danqing, director of the Mu Xin Art Museum and a long-time student of the late Chinese author, says: "In Mu Xin's words, Byron is a hero, like the sun, totally burning himself out. Mu, on the other hand, remained low-key during his lifetime, like the moon, suffering in silence while being a hero in his books." Chen has compiled The Memoir of Literature.

The book on Mu features four of his lectures on British literature, one of which totally focused on Byron, whom he admired for his independent spirit and passion.

Alexandra Ault, the lead curator of the British Library in China project, says the Mu Xin Art Museum is a perfect fit for the ongoing exhibition and a "dialogue" between Chinese and British literature.

Previously, the British Library had exhibited its manuscripts in conjunction with the National Library of China in Beijing, displaying 11 manuscripts by authors including William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and William Wordsworth.