The tome includes Qian's works in Chinese and notes the master scholar made in various foreign languages when he read the original foreign works, according to Guo Hong, editor at the Shangwu Publishing House, which is working with Qian's wife Yang Jiang, also a distinguished writer and literary critic herself, on the project.

Qian was born in the neighboring city of Wuxi in 1910 and studied at both Oxford University in Britain and the University of Paris in France.

He earned fame for his critics of Western and Chinese literature, as well as his short stories and his widely read novel Fortress Besieged, which was turned into a television play in 1990.

He was also the main translator of Chairman Mao's selected works.

Qian's 40-volume set includes nearly 400 works covering more than 70,000 pages, dating back to his early efforts as a 26-year-old student just married to Yang Jiang.

His work, based as it was on a consummate mastery of the entire range of Chinese classics, was also informed by his extensive reading in Greek, Latin, English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, said Guo.

"As a scholar, Qian has left us the undisputed masterpiece of 20th century treatments of China's literary and artistic traditions," said Guo, "What I felt being touched very much was the dedication of Yang Jiang. She's over 90, but she read every page of Qian's Chinese scripts and pasted those in tatters that were worn and torn by time."

Yang said that when people have lived to a ripe old age like hers, they start to think about the afterlife. She wouldn't like to see her husband's valuable scripts buried along with them.

"I must leave them behind for it is a work that will continue to inspire and stimulate scholars working in the field for generations to come," said Yang.

(Eastday.com January 28, 2003)