The Chinese translation of poems by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in the book 'Stray Birds' has been withdrawn after the author was accused of trying to inject vulgarity and misinterpretations into the classic writings.
Chinese writer Feng Tang has been heavily criticised for his 'racy' and 'vulgar' translation of Tagore's famous poems, which include changes such as the translation of the original sentence - 'The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover' - to -'The world unzipped his pants in front of his lover', according to Xinhua.
Zhejiang Wenyi Publishing House, the Chinese publisher of the translation, said on Monday that it will remove books from shelves and websites and also recall the books that were already sold since the translation was published in July.
"Many readers and media have given us their benevolent feedback about the book, saying that the book contains inappropriate content that may mislead teenage readers. We accepted their suggestions and decided to recall the books," Zheng Zhong, president of the publishing house, told the Global Times.
Chinese author Zhang Hong called the translation a 'cultural terrorist attack' on young readers, given that Tagore's book is often recommended to students in China.
While there was heavy criticism against Feng's translation on social media in the country, there were also some who defended the author's work and the 'bold language' in the new version, Chinese media reported.
There is said to a massive following of Rabindranath Tagore's works in China.
Feng, 44, has reportedly authored several novels about life in Beijing in the 1990s, which were deemed to be provocative.
