A Review On Wang Rongpei’s English Version Of Shijing From The Perspective Of "Xiang Thinking"

Shijing,the earliest anthology of poems in China as well as the source of realistic literature,is honored as “the cultural canon of the Chinese nation”,and has exerted a profound impact on the literary creation of later generations.Under the background of Chinese culture going global,the study of the translation of Shijing is of great practical significance.At present,the studies on the English translation of Shijing at home and abroad are mostly conducted from the perspectives of literature,linguistics or aesthetics,while little attention is paid to the speculative forms and cultural spirit embodied in Shijing.Therefore,a critical study of the English translation of Shijing from the perspective of thinking mode is conducive to highlighting the essence of Chinese traditional culture and satisfy the needs of Western society for Chinese culture.From the perspective of “Xiang thinking” which is the unique cognitive form and wisdom pattern of Chinese culture,taking Wang Rongpei’s English version of Shijing as the research object,this paper analyzes and studies his translation from the three dimensions,namely,the presentation of “Xiang”,the application of “Xiang thinking” and the faithfulness to the original spirit.As a spiritual product of Chinese civilization,“Xiang thinking” is a more original and creative way of thinking.It is a kind of thinking in which things are concretized and visualized and then understood through association,imagination and other ways in the thinking process.Since ancient times,the Chinese people have used “Xiang thinking” to understand all things in the universe.Such literary works as verses,ditties,odes and songs have long been deeply influenced by it.Based on the philosophical cognitive form of “Xiang thinking”,this paper analyzes and comments on the degree of agreement between Wang Rongpei’s translation and the original text in terms of the presentation of “Xiang” and the language representation.First of all,the paper summarizes the previous studies on the English translation of Shijing at home and abroad,and finds that most of them are conducted from the perspectives of literature and linguistics,and systematic studies are far from enough.Secondly,the paper expounds the specific connotations of “Xiang” and “Xiang thinking”,discusses the close relationship between “Xiang thinking” and the translation of Chinese classics,and emphasizes that the spirit of the original work should be understood on the basis of “Xiang thinking”.At last,some representative “Xiang” in Wang Rongpei’s English version of Shijing are selected for analysis,such as those related to plants,animals and religions.From the angles of the presentation of “Xiang” as well as the construction of artistic conception,this paper focuses on the retention,variation and transformation of “Xiang” in Wang Rongpei’s translation,and discusses the gains and losses of his translation in terms of the language representation style of “Xiang thinking”.In the translation practice of Shijing,Wang Rongpei put forward the translation theory of “conveying the meaning via transmitting the spirit”,emphasizing that the translated works should not only be faithful to the content of the original works,but also convey the spirit of the original works.For instance,Mei,an important “Xiang” in the poem Biaoyoumei(a regional song in Shijing),if directly translated into “plums”,the linguistic features of pun in the original poem will no longer exist.Mei shares the same pronunciation as “matchmaking” in Chinese,so it is regarded as a symbol of making a match,which echoes the theme of the poem.In the translation,Wang Rongpei added the verb “marry” to retain the cultural connotation behind the “Xiang” in the original poem.Furthermore,the translated text is strictly faithful to the syntactic representation of the original poem,which is in line with the aesthetic experience of “Xiang thinking”.Nevertheless,there are inevitably some oversights and omissions in his translation,such as Yangliu in Caiwei(an ode in Shijing),which is a common “Xiang” in ancient Chinese poems.Since the pronunciation of “willow” is the same as “stay” in Chinese,it is often used to express the feeling of reluctant to part when relatives and friends are separated.In Wang Rongpei’s translation,he only translated this “Xiang” into “the willow”,without any additional elaboration,which means that the symbolic meaning and cultural connotation of Yangliu were abandoned.The artistic conception of the original poem is greatly weakened here,so that the target language readers are unable to obtain the same emotional experience as the source language readers.With the method of combining description and analysis,this paper points out that Wang Rongpei’s English version of Shijing is concise,easy to understand,and well retains the cultural connotations and the symbolic meanings of many “Xiang” in Shijing.However,it is not good enough for some special “Xiang” with Chinese cultural characteristics,such as “Jujiu”,“Lin”,“Yangliu”,“Di”,etc.It is found that “Xiang thinking” is closely related to the translation of Chinese classics,for it is inseparable from the representation of traditional Chinese language,which is of great significance to literary creation and aesthetic representation.For one thing,applying “Xiang”,the traditional cultural cognitive form,to the study of the English translation of Shijing contributes to interpreting the connotation and grasping the implication of the original text,so as to facilitate the readers to understand the spiritual essence of Chinese poetry.For another,it is helpful to highlight the essence of traditional culture,and seek a reasonable cultural soil for Chinese culture going global.