One might see Andrew Rule reading by a window at the Peking University Library at an ordinary afternoon. Andrew is a member of the 2024 Cohort of Yenching Academy and an honoree of PKU’s 2025 Weiming Reading Star Award. He always feels at home with the Chinese literature when he is in the library.
When Andrew participated in an exchange program in China seven years ago, he was an undergraduate who knew next to nothing about Chinese; he had to resort to using gestures to communicate with his Chinese classmates. Now having completed his MA dissertation in Chinese, he has also developed his passion for reading into an ambitious career goal to introduce young Chinese authors to the rest of the world. Over the years of his language-learning voyage, Andrew has steadfast faith in language as a bridge between different cultures, rather than an obstacle. At Yenching Academy, he has delved into Chinese literature and brought more Chinese stories to the rest of the world.
01 A Seed Planted in His Mind
In 2019, Andrew participated in a six-month exchange program in Beijing and Hangzhou during his undergraduate studies. Fascinated by Chinese language, he spent four months in Hangzhou and two more in Beijing. In the following seven years, Andrew has lived, studied, and worked in a Chinese environment. In Hangzhou, he was assigned to a dormitory shared by international and Chinese students, and the program required him to sign a “language pledge” to use only Chinese during his four-month stay in Hangzhou.
With no knowledge of Chinese at first, Andrew had to resort to other methods to get his points across. Cancan and Wu Wei—Andrew’s two Chinese roommates in Hangzhou—were his “mentors” in this entirely new Chinese-only environment. He gradually learnt a working knowledge of Chinese with them, and the two became his closest friends.
“Conducting your life in a new language is like starting from scratch, and through those friendships, I got to rediscover who I am in Chinese.” Even after years, Andrew felt the experience still fresh in his memory, “Once you feel comfortable in Chinese to express yourself without embarrassment—even if you’re not very fluent yet, even if you make lots of mistakes—there’s so much that you can do.” Thanks to this experience, Andrew came to see language as the key, instead of a barrier, to a new world.
Also in that exchange program, Andrew met Sudarshana Chanda, a member of the YCA’s second graduating class. Through Sudarshana, Andrew heard about YCA, “a welcoming, multilingual, international environment.” This knowledge grew like a seed planted in Andrew’s mind. Five years later, Andrew submitted his application to Yenching Academy and witnessed his dream come true.
02 China Stories in the Spotlight
Andrew’s interest in literature began from literary translation. “I’ve loved reading novels ever since I was a little kid, and I always liked the idea that translation is like reading a good story thoroughly and deeply, absorbing it into yourself, that you’re able to recreate it in your own language.” He chose Chinese literary works as the source for his translation partly for the challenge and partly because Western readership knows too little about Chinese literature. It started as only a vague idea, but after having learnt Chinese for years and explored the world of contemporary Chinese literature, Andrew was shocked by the harsh reality—many of the Chinese novels that fascinate him have almost never been translated into other languages.
To this end, Andrew translates young Chinese writers, publishes articles and book reviews, and works as the operations manager at Paper Republic, a non-profit translation organization. He also runs his own blog “Cold Window Newsletter,” to introduce contemporary Chinese literature to overseas readers. He named his blog after the Chinese idiom “寒窗苦读,” a metaphor for studying diligently in hard circumstances. Through his “Cold Window,” Andrew brings young Chinese writers to international readers, translators, and publishers. He attributes the success of “Cold Window Newsletter” to the rich resources in Yenching Academy and Peking University. To keep his newsletter going, Andrew reads dozens of Chinese books a year—many of which are recommended by his fellow students, for dissertation research, and from the collection of the PKU Library.
Andrew finds the works of many young Chinese writers are compelling, like Zhang Tianyi’s fairy tales through a feminist lens, the tenderness in Ban Yu’s father-son/daughter stories, Du Li’s sharp observation and dissection of urban life, and Li Tang’s introspective, philosophical writing. Yet, few Western publishers take a risk on new writers; rather, they prefer established writers, such as Yu Hua and Mo Yan. China undergoes rapid development, which is reflected in modern Chinese novels; however, Western publishers have failed to keep pace with the latest trends in contemporary Chinese literature. Andrew strives to change the status quo, and YCA serves as a valuable platform.
In his first year at YCA, Andrew received the Dean’s Research Grant, enabling him to conduct field research in young Chinese writers’ hometowns and experience the Chinese society depicted in their novels. In his internship at Douban Books, Andrew had the oppportunity for closer observation of contemporary Chinese literature. “[Yenching Academy] gives us an incredible opportunity to have real proximity to the Beijing literary scene for two years, so I’m trying to take full advantage.”
03 Self-growth at Yenching Academy
At YCA, Andrew selected Chinese-language courses whenever possible. He noted that it was why he came to study China in China. It was challenging but fruitful to take the Chinese-language courses on ancient Chinese philosophy, rural development in modern China, and contemporary Chinese literature. In “The Development of Chinese Internet Literature” taught by Professor Shao Yanjun, Andrew was exposed to and captivated by “a new breed” of Chinese novels. He greatly appreciated the invaluable flexibility of the Academy’s arrangement: a year of open course selection followed by a year of self-directed research.
Andrew was grateful to his dissertation supervisor, Professor Fan Yingchun, who offered great support and guidance when Andrew was trying to navigate the vast expanse of contemporary Chinese novels. Although it seemed at first “a mission impossible” in Andrew’s eyes, “She’s stuffed dozens of books into my hands, connected me with authors to interview over Wechat, and guided me through writing my graduate thesis in Chinese, a task I initially thought might be impossible.”
Andrew has gained new perspectives within YCA’s multicultural community. For him, learning happened both in-class and during conversations with friends. At the Academy, Andrew and his fellow classmates brought and exchanged ideas that have been formed in different cultures; within this, staying open-minded is key to learning from diverse perspectives. Andrew received a list of recommendations for ancient Latin philosophy from Jing Jing Piriyalertsak from Thailand, exchanged French novels with Liu Sitong from China, and learned about Japanese literature with Sheherzad Jamal from Pakistan.
Later, Andrew and Marva Jiaqi Shi from the USA co-founded a casual reading group at Yenching Academy. Every two weeks, international and Chinese students alike would gather at a meeting to discuss the Chinese literature and eat snacks together. The participants’ Chinese proficiency varied and their approaches to reading differed, but the book club offered an excellent opportunity to communicate and learn in Chinese.
Closing Note
Andrew graduates in July. He intends to work in Chinese publishing, either by acquiring foreign manuscripts for the Chinese market or by selling Chinese rights to overseas publishers, as a “ferryman” in the field of literature. He is working on a couple of translation projects and hopes that he can translate his favorite Chinese novels into English some day.
To future cohorts, Andrew advises, “Use your Chinese, no matter how much or how little you have, and be bold about seeking out all the resources that PKU and Beijing have to offer. In literature, there are dozens of author talks happening all over Beijing every month, and it’s not hard to shake an author’s hand afterward and strike up a conversation; any event you take the time to go to could lead to an important new friendship. I’m certain this is true for any other area of specialty as well, not just literature. Take advantage of this incredible bustling city while you have the chance!”
