Bulgarian scholar Radina Plamenova Dimitrova discusses her lifelong passion for Chinese literature, her research on Yang Guifei, and her efforts to introduce Chinese literary classics to Spanish-speaking readers in Latin America.
Did Yang Guifei die at Mawei Slope, as traditional historical accounts record? Or did she escape to Japan, as one enduring Japanese legend suggests?
That question has stayed with Bulgarian sinologist Radina Plamenova Dimitrova for nearly 20 years. She has returned to the story of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and his beloved consort Yang Guifei time and again in her research.
“People in Japan have their own legend saying that Yang Guifei fled there and spent the rest of her life in the country,” Radina said. To her, the famous couple are China’s version of Romeo and Juliet. “The difference is that they were real historical figures.”
Now 47, Radina is a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Born in Bulgaria and now living in Mexico, she has built her academic career around Chinese literature. Beyond her own research, she has also trained hundreds of young people in Latin America to understand China better and translate between Chinese and Spanish.
“Bai Juyi Kept the Story Alive”
Radina’s fascination with Yang Guifei began with The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, the famous narrative poem by Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi.
More than 1,200 years ago, Bai Juyi and his friend Chen Hong each retold the story of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei in a different literary form. Bai wrote the poem The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, while Chen wrote the classical tale Biography of Everlasting Sorrow. Together, they turned a historical episode into one of China’s best-known love stories.
“They both succeeded in keeping the story alive,” Radina said. “Without them, this story might have disappeared long ago.”
Over the years, she has also studied Rain on the Wutong Tree by Bai Pu of the Yuan Dynasty and The Palace of Eternal Life by Hong Sheng of the Qing Dynasty. Still, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow remains her favourite.
For Radina, the poem’s ending is what makes it unforgettable. Emperor Xuanzong remains in the human world, while Yang Guifei becomes an immortal. Their reunion takes place not on earth but in heaven. “That is the most moving ending,” she said.
In 2017, Radina received a scholarship through the New Sinology Program. She then spent a year at Nanjing University conducting research under Professor Cheng Zhangcan. There, she discovered a rich collection of Tang-dynasty biji, or anecdotal writings. Many of these little-known texts tell different versions of the story of Yang Guifei.
“I bought a four-volume collection and brought home every text I could find,” she said. Few scholars in China specialise in these writings, she noted. In Latin America, however, almost no one even knows they exist. Today, Radina is translating these texts into Spanish in the hope of introducing them to a wider audience.
She is also a fan of director Chen Kaige’s film Legend of the Demon Cat. Years ago, she translated its subtitles for a film festival organised by the Confucius Institute in Bulgaria.
“I cried while translating it,” she recalled. What impressed her most was the film’s portrayal of Bai Juyi. “Very few works had ever given him such an important role.”
Radina has her own interpretation of the love between Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei. “Their relationship was built on art,” she said. “The emperor composed music, and Yang Guifei danced. The souls of two artists came together through the art they created.”
A Children’s Book That Led Her to China
Radina’s connection with China began with a children’s book. When she was seven or eight years old, she read a Bulgarian translation of a collection of Asian folktales. One story, titled The Great Bell, left a lasting impression on her. It tells the story of the daughter of an ancient bell maker. To help her father complete a giant bronze bell, she sacrifices herself by jumping into a pool of molten metal.
“I cried every time I read it,” Radina said. The story stayed with her for years.
Then, in 1998, she entered Sofia University to study international relations. During her second year, she chose Sinology as an elective. After only one semester, she changed her major.
“I never looked back.”
In 2002, she came to China for the first time to study Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University. Outside class, she often visited small neighbourhood shops in Beijing’s Wudaokou area and chatted with shopkeepers to practice everyday Chinese. “I wanted to learn how people really spoke,” she said.
Two years later, she enrolled in Central China Normal University in Wuhan to pursue a master’s degree in classical Chinese literature.
When she graduated in 2009, she completed a comparative study of Bai Pu’s Rain on the Wutong Tree and Shakespeare’s King Lear under the supervision of Professor Tan Banghe. “That experience gave me a much deeper understanding of tragedy,” she said.
During her years in China, she also took an unforgettable journey with a Mexican friend. They set out from Xi’an and travelled all the way to Urumqi, spending five weeks on the road. Looking back, Radina often encourages students who plan to study in China to look beyond Beijing and Shanghai. She recommends cities such as Chengdu, Xi’an and Nanjing instead.
“If your goal is to learn Chinese, universities across the country offer excellent education,” she said. “Experiencing life in different parts of China is far more valuable than staying only in Beijing or Shanghai.”
“Training Students Is Even More Rewarding Than Publishing My Own Research”
Today, Radina teaches at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she has developed nine Chinese-Spanish translation courses. She personally teaches seven of them. The courses cover a wide range of subjects, including legal translation, scientific and technical texts, audiovisual translation and literary translation.
Many of her students are young Mexicans who know little about China when they first enter the program. “But after they graduate,” she said, “they are fully prepared to work for Chinese companies, become professional translators or pursue master’s degrees at Chinese universities.”
Radina prefers an interactive classroom instead of traditional lectures. Several years ago, she asked her students to translate the story of The Butterfly Lovers. After finishing the translation, she encouraged them to reinterpret the story in their own creative ways.
Even Radina was surprised by the results. One student turned it into an illustrated children’s book. Another rewrote the story as song lyrics and performed it through music. Others recreated it in the form of Shakespearean sonnets. “Mexican students have wonderful imaginations,” she said. “Give them one idea, and they will turn it into something much bigger.”
In 2023, Radina and her students published a Spanish-Chinese bilingual illustrated edition of The Stories of Afanti through the publishing house of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The book contains around 200 stories and humorous anecdotes about the beloved folk character. Each story appears in both Chinese and Spanish, making it accessible to young readers and Chinese language learners.
Radina has also worked with colleagues to create an online learning platform, Chinese Tales: Chinese Proverbs and Their Stories. The free website introduces Chinese idioms and proverbs in both Chinese and Spanish. It also includes language and culture exercises, as well as translation activities designed for students.
Looking ahead, Radina hopes to introduce more contemporary Chinese literature to readers across Latin America.
She is currently translating works by poets from Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and other Chinese cities. At the same time, she is looking for publishing opportunities to bring novels by young Chinese writers to Mexico.
She also hopes to return to China every year. “I want to meet fellow scholars and continue learning from them,” she said.
As the interview drew to a close, Radina returned once again to the subject that has stayed with her for nearly two decades—Yang Guifei.
“I will keep studying this topic for as long as I can,” she said. Every time she teaches The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, she watches her Mexican students struggle with the language of classical Chinese at first. Then, little by little, she sees recognition replace confusion.
In those moments, she knows she chose the right path.
Written by Chenhui.
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