Renowned Chinese translator Yang Xianyi passed away on November 23 in Beijing at the age of 95.

Here is Xiaojinsi Hutong in downtown Beijing, where Yang had lived since his English wife Gladys passed away in 1999.

79-year-old Wu Shousong is writing a commemorative story about Yang, whom he had worked with for five decades.

"He is a learned man with a high moral quality. He is as honest as the day is long," Wu said.

Born in 1914 in Tianjin, Yang was sent to Oxford to study Classics in 1930s, where he married Gladys Tayler. The Yangs returned to China in 1940, and began their decades-long cooperation of introducing Chinese classics to the English-speaking world.

Working for Foreign Languages Press in Beijing since the 1950s, the couple produced a remarkable number of quality translations, including classic novels such as The Dream of the Red Mansions and selected works of 20th century writer Lu Xun. The Yangs were also the first to render The Odyssey into Chinese from the ancient Greek original.

Yang had reportedly been suffering from lymphoma cancer. In September 2009, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Translators Association of China.

Yang's funeral was held on November 29. His death is regarded as a big loss for Chinese translation.

(Source: BTV, Xinhua News Agency)