A Study Of The Overseas English Translations Of Tao Yuanming's Poetry

Known as the "Ancestor of the Hermit Poets", Tao Yuanming has long been the focus of attention among not only Chinese scholars, but also international scholars. Chronologically he was the second most prominent poet, after the patriot-poet Qu Yuan of the third century B. C., and before the eighth century masters Li Bai and Du Fu. His works has attracted numerous poets, literature lovers and researchers from both home and abroad since over one thousand years ago. Tao Yuanming and his works have not only been important subjects of study in Chinese literary history, but in world literary tradition, the interest in and study of Tao and his works has been lasting for centuries and is still growing. The achievements made in this area have been so great that a special term "Tao Studies" has been created to refer to such research areas as "Studies on Red Mansion", "Studies on The Songs of Chu" and "Studies on The Book of Songs".Tao Yuanming's contribution in China's literary history, which is reflected mainly in two aspects, deserves the attention of every literature erudite. First, he pioneered the Pastoral Poems in Chinese poetic history. Tao Yuanming lived in a period when Confucianism, Taoism and Buddism all had their influence on literature, which enabled him to absorb the great essence of the different schools of thought and became the first one to create pastoral poems with rich ideas. Thus, in his poems distinct characteristics are revealed. Both lofty aspirations and the desire to withdraw from the worldly affairs can be perceived in his works. Description of the pastoral life is one of the major themes of Tao's poetry. A large number of poems describing the natural scenery of the countryside and his happiness in farming were created by him, opening a new chapter in Chinese poetic history. Many poets in the successive dynasties, especially those idyllists in Tang Dynasty, were deeply influenced by him. Second, he brought the personal lyric poetry to a new level. In the period when Tao lived, metaphysical poetry was prevalent. However, Tao broke from the tradition and expressed his own temperament and personality in his poems. The high-quality lyric poetry was not only a distinct feature of Tao Yuanming's works, but also it became the model for many literati in later generations. Besides, Tao Yuanming's works are appealing to us in that he revealed a "self" in his poetry. He successfully made himself the hero of his works and created a self-image, which appeared simple, yet full of complexity and conflict. It was this complexity and conflict that attracted numerous readers to study his works, trying to understand him from different angles, interpret him and disseminate his works and thoughts.Tao Yuanming's works represent not only the literary achievements of his whole life, but also an epitome of the times. They are full of charm to readers of different periods. Profound thoughts are hidden behind his simple language, and the anguish due to the inability to fulfill his ambitions is disguised by the tranquil country life. These complexities aroused the interest of domestic and overseas scholars and a great deal of research work has been done to interpret Tao Yuanming's works. As a result, a rich and complicated image has been constructed. In Chinese literary tradition, Tao Yuanming was understood as a hermit poet who was spontaneous and unconstrained. He would not like to associate himself with the undesirable worldly affairs, nor would he compromise his principles for a meager income. However, in the eyes of some overseas scholars, Tao is a poet with a mask. What readers can see from his works is only a disguise. The real himself is not shown in them.These completely different interpretations of the poet Tao Yuanming are largely due to the different hermeneutic traditions between China and the west, which in turn results in different understanding of the intention of the author and of the text. In Chinese poetic tradition, the function of poetry is to express the poets' ambitions and wills. Poetry is regarded as a media for poets to express their innermost feelings as well as an important carrier of the poets' personality and individuality. Therefore, in Chinese scholars' eyes, Tao Yuanming's life is closely related to his writing, and he is recognized as a typical autobiographical poet. The farmer, poet and hermit in his poems are thought to be reflections of his own life. Nevertheless, the images reconstructed by some western scholars and translators based on Tao's works appear very much different from those in the eyes of Chinese researchers. In the overseas scholars' eyes, Tao Yuanming shows a dual character in his works and real life. In his poems a farmer hermit is created, but this is not the real image of the poet. His repeated emphasis on the spontaneity in his poems is a vivid display of his anxiety, his worry that the secret motivations might be discovered by readers. Therefore, he feels a need to keep explaining and proving his value.The overseas readers, especially those in the English-speaking countries, began to know Tao Yuanming mainly through the English translations of his works. The history of translating Tao's works can be dated back over a century. It was started by overseas translators or sinologists. Later some Chinese scholars and translators also joined in. The history of translating Tao Yuanming's works is also a process for TaoYuanming and his works to go global and get received by readers from various cultures. Through reading the English translations of Tao Yuanming's works completed in different periods by various translators, readers in modern English world began to know about the poet of the distant orient and the times he lived, and were fascinated by the charming features of his works.The job of translating Tao Yuanming's works into English was started at the end of the 19th century when some sinologists and translators selected some of Tao's poems to include in their translated works of ancient Chinese poems. After nearly half a century, systematic translating work of Tao Yuanming's poetry began in 1950s. In 1952, Willam Acker published T'ao the Hermit:Sixty poems by T'ao Ch'ien,365-427, the first English translation devoted exclusively to Tao Yuanming's poetry in the English world. Soon in 1953, Lily Pao-hu Chang and Marjorie Sinclair published their collaborative translation of Tao Yuanming's poetry in Hawaii University Press, The Poems of T'ao Ch'ien, which was the first English translation of the complete works of Tao Yuanming's. In 1970, James Hightower published the fruit of his over 20 years' study on and translation of Tao Yuanming, The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, in Harvard University Press. At almost the same time, A. R. Davis from Sydney University also completed his translating work on Tao Yuanming. But it was not until 1983 did Davis published the result of his work, T'ao Yuanming(AD365-427):His Works and Their Meaning, in Cambridge University Press. This was the most complete English translation of Tao's works, for it included not only all the poems and fu, but also the biographies, cautionary and sacrificial pieces of the poet. Ten years after this, the American poet and translator David Hinton published his translated works of Tao Yuanming, The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien, which was the latest systematic translation of Tao's works in the English world.In China, scholars started to translate Tao Yuanming's works since 1980s. The first translation was done by Fang Zhong, who spent several decades working on it and got it published in Shanghai in 1984. Several years later, Tan Shilin completed his translation of Tao's works and published it in Hongkong in 1992. The latest translation was done by Wang Rongpei, which was published in Beijing in 2000. Besides these systematic translations, there are also translations of some selected poems by Xu Yuanchong and Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang.The publication of the translations of Tao Yuanming's works, especially those exclusively devoted to Tao Yuanming, soon attracted broad attention of scholars from home and abroad, who either wrote reviews or did research on the translations. Most of the reviews were written by overseas sinologists who had great influence in studying and spreading Chinese culture. Thus, it could be seen that the translations of Tao Yuanming's works played a crucial role in introducing the ancient Chinese literature to the English world. In China, scholars and researchers also carried out extensive studies on those translations published in different periods at different places. In recent decades, in particular, more and more attention has been given to them. The studies can be classified into such categories as general reviews, studies on the translators, comparative studies of different versions, studies on the translation strategies, and studies from various perspectives such as linguistic, cultural, literary and aesthetic ones. Not only has the number of studies been increasing greatly, but also the researchers have been going deeper and deeper in their studies.It must be noted, however, that while great progress has been made in the studies of the English translations of Tao Yuanming's poetry, there are also some weaknesses in this area of study in the past three decades. A distinct phenomenon is that most of the studies focused on one or two translators'works, mostly domestic ones, which could not reveal the overall picture and features of the various translations. More importantly, attention given to the translations done by overseas translators was apparently insufficient, let alone a comprehensive and intensive study of all the overseas translations. In fact, it was the overseas translators who started translating Tao Yuanming's works into English, and their translations played an irreplaceable role both in the spreading and reception of Tao's works and in the establishment of Tao's position in world literary history. The studies of the English translations of Tao's works without a due concern about the overseas translators'contribution could not be integral, nor could they reveal to the readers the whole picture of the translating project. For this reason, this dissertation focuses on all the English translations of Tao Yuanming's works completed by overseas scholars or translators.Translation is not only an essential media for Chinese literature to enter other cultures, but also one of the most important ways for Chinese culture to go global. The purpose of translating literary works from one culture to another is never as simple as merely introducing the literature of a country to readers from other countries. More importantly, it aims at uncovering the thoughts and culture contained in the originals and making them known to more readers in the world. This is a process of exchange and collision between cultures, in which the real features of a culture become prominent. In turn native readers will get a better understanding of their own literature and culture. In this sense, translating Tao Yuanming's works that feature simple and natural language yet profound and rich ideas is meaningful not only in that it introduces to readers in the English world the ancient Chinese poetry created over one thousand years ago, but it can also give a chance for modern readers to communicate directly with the works of Tao Yuanming and discover the cultural elements in them. Through reading different translators' interpretation and recreation of the poet's works, readers can also get to know the development and change of Chinese literature and culture over history.The English translations of Tao Yuanming's works done by overseas translators vary from those done by domestic translators, and the reception of them also differs. The reasons are many. Translators'individuality and their ways of interpreting might influence the reception of their translated works. Social political elements and cultural environment can also play a part. Even the channels of publication can have an influence. Only when a translated work is received by target readers can it fulfill the purpose of promoting literary communications and cultural exchanges. The influence of a publication can be partly found by resorting to OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), the database of all the books in major libraries from over one hundred countries. Through the Worldcat of OCLC, we can easily find out the number of libraries that include a certain book in their collections as well as the distribution of all these libraries. Thus, the influence of each English translation of Tao Yuanming's works among readers in the English world can be found. Statistics show that of all the versions completed by overseas translators, James Hightower's translation is most widely received, with the number of libraries that collect his version hitting 385, followed by David Hinton, William Acker and A. R. Davis, whose translations can be found in 275,259 and 218 libraries respectively. The one done by Lily Pao-hu Chang and Marjorie Sinclair gains the least concern, with only 17 libraries having it in their collections. In contrast, the several translations of Tao Yuanming's works by domestic translators are hardly comparable to those of the overseas translators in term of the influence in the English world. The earliest translation by Fang Zhong can be found in only 4 libraries outside of China, and Tan Shilin's and Yang Xianyi's versions can be found in 48 and 27 libraries respectively. The one that won the most concern in recent years in China, Wang Rongpei's version, can be seen in just 28 libraries abroad. In a word, the number and range of libraries that include the English translations of overseas translators in their collections far outnumber those collect the ones done by domestic translators.It must be acknowledged that the overseas translators have their advantage in translating the ancient Chinese poems into their languages. Compared with Chinese translators, they are more familiar with their own cultures, languages, literary traditions and contemporary social situation. What's more, they have a better idea of the requests and interest of the readers in their times. Therefore, when translating a work they have clear target readers in mind, which results in translations that better meet the expectation of contemporary readers. This greatly helps the spreading and reception of a translated work. For this, a comprehensive study on the English translations of overseas translators can not only provide for us significant materials for the flourishing "Tao Studies", but also help us discover the different images of Tao Yuanming from the perspective of "otherness", thus enriching our understanding of Tao Yuanming. An in-depth study of different translators'principles, interpreting approaches, purposes and strategies of translation, in particular, the common features and individualities of the translators, can offer significant guidance for us to understand the nature and essence of translating literary cannons and the core mission of translation as an interpretive act. By investigating the reception of the various translated versions and the underlying reasons, we can find great reference for Chinese literature to go global.In the end, it is only through translators, especially the overseas ones, that the profound thoughts and rich culture in Tao Yuanming's works can possibly approach readers in the English world. What is worth noticing in their interpretive approaches while translating Tao's works? What kinds of images of Tao Yuanming were constructed in the English world where poetic tradition differs greatly from ours? How are the images different from the ones constructed by native Chinese scholars in the long history of Tao Studies? What result in these differences? How much freedom do translators have in understanding and interpreting the original works and the author's intention? What kind of translated works can win the love and appreciation of readers from other cultures? How should a translator make the choice between being faithful to the originals and catering for the reading interest and aesthetic habits of readers? If there is a balance between the two, what principles and strategies can be employed to achieve it? All these questions are worth in-depth exploration.To answer the above questions, this dissertation takes the five different English translations of Tao Yuanming's works by overseas translators as the major subject of study. The researcher makes an attempt to probe into the overseas translators' multiple perspectives in interpreting and translating Tao's works and the images of Tao Yuanming they constructed. Efforts have been made to explain the diverse interpretations in theory. Besides, close reading and comparative analysis are done to help find out the unique features of each translation and the similarities of them. By doing this, the researcher intends to find out the deep reasons for the success or failure of these translations in the English world. To be specific, this dissertation comprises five chapters.Chapter one is an introductory part, which gives a review of the English translation history of Tao Yuanming's works and the studies on these translations. All the related studies in this area have been surveyed and analyzed to find out the development, achievements as well as weaknesses of the studies in the past decades. The number of libraries that have each translation of Tao Yuanming's works in their collection has been counted through OCLC, offering an objective standard to judge the power of influence of different translations and giving an implication to the significance of the overseas versions in introducing Tao Yuanming to readers in the English world. Research contents and focus are explicated and questions to be answered in this dissertation are raised in this chapter.Chapter two of this dissertation focuses on the translators'general understanding and interpretation of Tao Yuanming's works, including the interpretation of the poet, his works and the background of creating the works etc. The five translators' interpretive perspectives and their general understanding of the poet's works, his philosophy and personality are analyzed one by one. The different images of Tao Yuanming they constructed based on different understanding and interpretation of Tao's works are studied in detail.In chapter three, the researcher turns to close reading of the translated texts to study the various approaches and features of the five translations. The researcher first focuses on the academic approach whose representatives are James Hightower and A. R. Davis. Examples are given to analyze the features, similarities and individualities of their translations.In chapter five, the researcher proceeds to study the creative approach whose representatives are William Acker, Lily Pao-hu Chang and Marjorie Sinclair and David Hinton. Through close reading, the forms, rhythms and languages of their translations are studied to reveal their creativity and individuality in these aspects. Sufficient examples are given to illustrate the distinctive characteristics of different types of translation. Differences in the translation strategies of the translators with distinct purposes are also studied.Chapter five comes to the conclusion that the reason for different translators' varied version is their different general understanding and interpretation of Tao Yuanming's works. The researcher analyzes the diversity and limit in the translators' interpretation of the intention of the author and the intention of the text, which results in the construction of different images of Tao Yuanming by them. Also the merits and demerits of the two different approaches, that is, academic and creative, are summarized and weighed. At last, by referring to the gain and loss of the overseas translators' translations of Tao Yuanming's works, the researcher reflects on the systematic project of translating Chinese literary cannons into other languages.