Translators and researchers of works of Abai in China were awarded the Dostyk Order of 2nd degree

Translators and researchers of works of Abai in China were awarded the Dostyk Order of 2nd degree

Beijing, October 9, 2020 – Embassy of Kazakhstan held a grand ceremony of awarding the Dostyk Order of the 2nd degree to Professor Ha Huan Zhang, senior translator of the Chinese Translation Association, as well as to the head of the Main Department of the Chinese Writers Publishing Group, famous writer Akbar Mazhit.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Decree on awarding them the state award of Kazakhstan for the significant contribution to the promotion of the heritage of Abai Qunanbayuly on August 4, 2020.

Ha Huan Zhang (pen name – Habai), born in 1928, is among the first foreign literary scholars who devoted their lifetime to studying the works of Abai. The first collection of his translations “Abai Qunanbayuly. Three poems” was published in 1958. The same year, the "Tien Shan" magazine of the XUAR of China published his first scientific article about Abai "The great poet of Kazakhstan – Abai Qunanbayuly".

Translations of “Abai's Poems” and "Words of edification" by Ha Huan Zhang were published by the Xinjiang publishing house in 1982 and 1984. Three years later, collection of articles "Abai and his poetry" by Habai was published in Beijing, and in 1994, "the complete collection of Abay's works" was published in Chinese. 

One of the most significant works of Ha Huan Zhang is the translation of the globally renowned novel "The Path of Abai" by Mukhtar Auezov, which took him 14 years.

Akbar Mazhit is one of the prominent minority writers in China who writes in Chinese. He has been a member of the China Writers Association since 1982. He served as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and was a three-time winner of the State Awards of China. He wrote over a dozen books, including translations of Abai’s works.

In September 2020, the two-volume collection of "The works of Abai in Chinese" was published.

Today, through the translations and creative research of Akbar Mazhit, the Chinese readers have the opportunity not only to feel and enjoy the poetic and philosophical heritage of Abai Qunanbayuly, but also to get acquainted with the works of other outstanding classical authors of Kazakh literature.