Shen Jiawei, celebrity artist in China from the mid-1970s, relocated to Australia in 1989. Becoming a leading portraitist, he painted official portraits of dignitaries such as Pope Francis, Princess Mary of Denmark and Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove. Seventeen of his history paintings are held in Beijing at the National Museum, Art Museum and Military Museum; other history paintings are held in public or private collections in Australia, China, USA, Vatican, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the European Union.

About the translator

Mabel Lee, PhD, Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, taught modern and contemporary Chinese history and literature at the University of Sydney, 1966–2000. She is concurrently adjunct/honorary professor in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at The University of Sydney and at The Open University of Hong Kong, and is best known for her translations of Nobel Laureate of Literature Gao Xingjian’s writings, and as coeditor of The University of Sydney East Asian Series (1986–2000).