The British Museum apologizes for using translator's work without paying or acknowledging

A writer and translator began receiving confusing messages from her peers after the British Museum launched its "China's hidden century" exhibition last month.

Wang was told that the show did not include credits for translators, including poems by feminist and revolutionary Qiu Jin. Despite this, Wang's translations of Qiu Jin seem directly derived from her own work. Was she involved in the exhibit?

Wang replied that she had never been contacted by the museum, which was using her work without permission, payment, or acknowledgment.

The British Museum issued a statement Thursday admitting Wang's permissions and acknowledgements were "inadvertently overlooked."

The Museum apologized to Yilin Wang for its "unintentional human error," and said it had removed her translations from the exhibition and offered payment for the duration of the exhibition, as well as for those that remain in the printed catalog.

She criticized the statement for sounding passive instead of taking proper accountability. It also fails to address the larger concerns this incident raises about academic ethics and the frequent erasure of translators, especially women and minorities, she said.

Firestorm

"Cultural Creativity in Qing China 1796-1912" was supported by a £719,327 ($914,847) grant from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council.

When Wang posted on Twitter about the use of her translations, the online controversy began. In a thread, she wrote, “Please note that this is a copyright infringement... I think you owe me some money for printing and exhibiting my translations, British Museum.” In addition to being published on her website and in literary journals, her translations were also featured in the exhibit’s online guide and printed catalog.

The British Museum affirmed its commitment to ensuring that copyright permissions are properly obtained, as it publicly declared in a statement on Thursday. It is evident that the project of “China's hidden century” was comprehensive; with 400 people from 20 countries dedicating years to bring this idea together alongside international scholars. Unfortunately, despite these efforts and their typical standards, the museum did not manage to acquire all necessary permissions.

The Translator's Name

Wang and others in the translation and publishing industry are now highlighting a long-standing problem: translators’ work often goes unidentified or unacknowledged. To address this, the hashtag #NameTheTranslator has been drawing attention to the importance of noting original authors alongside their translators. “Without them,” Wang clarified, “these works would not be made available. In addition, female translators and poets don’t get the recognition they deserve—just a small fraction of published books are translations. It takes skill, experience, and mastery to become a good translator — it’s not just running texts through Google Translate.”

Translating can be a laborious process. Taking in to account her knowledge of classical Chinese literature and poetry in English, as well as her research into the poet, their time and culture, Wang often works through 10 to 15 drafts of the same poem to capture its spirit and convey its emotional power. Chinese syntax and diction is markedly different from English making translation hard work; something that is not acknowledged when translators’ efforts are poached without credit. The British Museum should come to the table with Wang in a fair manner, apologise for this incident, and move forward with an understanding of copyright laws to ensure it does not happen again.