A Comparative Study Of Two Versions Of Chinese Classical Poems In Hong Lou Meng

Hong Lou Meng (A Dream of Red Mansions), one of the greatest Chinese classical novels, since its first release to the world in the mid-eighteenth century is not only known to nearly every household in China but also gradually accepted in the world. The book has been translated into dozens of languages including English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, etc. either in abridged versions or complete ones. The flourishing studies of it at home and abroad have developed into a specialized discipline"redology", which is rather rare in the history of the Chinese and the world literature.This book, regarded by many people as an"encyclopedia"on Chinese feudal society, is glamorous not only for the richness of its content but also for its successful integration with almost all the techniques of literary merit developed in the previous periods. Of more than 200 verses or poems in the novel, regulated verses cover almost half of them. All these verses, with a high artistic value, are also an indispensable part in Hong Lou Meng. Of the various literary forms existing in Hong Lou Meng, the regulated verse is a very special one because of its significance to the whole novel and the unique charm it possesses. However, the verse section has always been omitted or ignored in many translated versions either because of the false perception the translators hold that it is insignificant to the whole book or because of the difficulty in rendering it, which causes regret and a heavy loss. To our delight, in the 1970s, the British sinologist, David Hawkes and the Chinese scholar Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang presented us two complete versions in which the verse part is satisfactorily reproduced. The two versions dealing with the verse part in the novel should take the credit.This thesis, guided by the"three beauties"principle of poetry translation put forth by Professor Xu Yuanchong, intends to give a tentative study of the translations on the regulated verse of Hong Lou Meng from the perspectives of sense, sound and form by comparing the two complete versions, highlighting on the discrepancy of the two versions. It covers six chapters to present an exposition of the subject in question:Chapterâ… , first introduces the scope and purpose of the thesis, the study perspective of the research, and makes a general survey of previous research on poetry translation, then introduces the challenge confronting poetry translation and the criteria of poetry translation, focusing on the"three beauties"principle of poetry translation put forward by Xu Yuanchong.Chapterâ…¡, briefly introduces the basic characteristics of Chinese poetry and its comparison with English poetry, and then gives an account of Hong Lou Meng and its English versions. The emphasis is laid down on the fundamental characteristics of regulated verse, its status and functions in the novel.Chapterâ…¢makes a comparison of regulated verse in the two versions from the perspective of sense.Chapterâ…£deals with the sound and form respectively.Chapterâ…¤first thoroughly compares the translation ideas of Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes, then further makes a comprehensive comparison of some poems in the two versions combining"three beauties"principle and"faithfulness"principle of translation and presents tentative versions of some poems concerning translated by the author of this thesis.Chapterâ…¥draws a conclusion concerning.