Brian Holton studied Chinese at the universities of Edinburgh and Durham, and later taught Chinese in both these institutions; he has taught English literature at Ningbo University and Chinese language at the University of Newcastle, where he was the first director of the Chinese-English Translating and Interpreting Programme. He currently teaches translation at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has translated several books of poetry by Yang Lian, and has published many translations of ancient and modern Chinese literature in both English and his native Scots.