A Study On The Translation And Research Of Fu Of An American Sinologist—David R.Knechtges

David Richard Knechtges is a professor of the University of Washington and a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.He was born and grew up in America and later became a famous American sinologist and an expert of the fu of the two Han dynasties to the Six dynasties.He has published over 20 articles on the study of fu,the translation of more than 80 fu and some books,such as The Han Rhapsody:A Study of the Fu of Yang Hsiung(53B.C.-A.D.18),Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature(3 volumes)and Court Culture and Literature in Early China,etc.He has cultivated more than 50 Masters and Doctors,and is the editor of History of Chinese Civilization(4 volumes),with which he has made an outstanding contribution for the the spread of Chinese culture to western countries.In his long-term teaching,translation and academic research,he has made great accomplishments and gradually formed his own systematic academic thoughts and translation theory on fu.Therefore,it is significant to make a research on Prof.Knechtges' accomplishments on the translation and research on fu,which will benefit the flourishment of the academic communication between China and western countries and is also meaningful to the development of the translation and research of fu.While,the study on his achievements just started.The reviews or introductions do not have a thorough and deep study on all his works and contributions and could not show us his significance as a famous sinologist and the leading character on the fu study in Europe and America.Thus,we choose the subject of "A Study on the Translation and Research of Fu of an American Sinologist——David R.Knechtges" and is going to make a comprehensive analysis on Prof.Knechtges' academic course,his theory on fu,his accomplishments on fu study and translation.There are an introduction and six chapters in this dissertation.The first part is a general introduction,which introduces the relevant study of home and abroad,as well as the motivation,significance,methodology and scope of our study.Since 1977,there are about 10 reviews on The Han Rhapsody:A Study of the Fu of Yang Hsiung and Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature in western countries.Eastern scholars,such as He Pei xiong,He Xin wen,Gong Ke chang,etc.have introduced David Knechtges' fu study in their books since the middle of 1980s.Su Rui long,Sun jing,Jiang Wen yan,Ma Yin qin,etc.have published some summaries of his academic achievements or interview record of him since the beginning of the 21st century.In sum,the relevant study in China is generally some articles of introduction.His representative work Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature is hardly studied,as there is no Chinese version of this book.In addition,there are not any books and dissertations on the study of Prof.Knechtges'academic achievements.Chapter one introduces the academic course of Prof.Knechtges on the background of an introduction of the fu study in Europe and America for about 70 years.David Knechtges'interest on Chinese started from his high school years.Later he gave up the acceptance at Johns Hopkins Universtiy where he had intended to be a chemistry major and learned Chinese in the University of Washington.Then he learned from famous sinologists and got a Master's degree from the Harvard University and a Doctor's degree from the UW.He entered into the field of fu study in Han dynasty with his doctoral dissertation Yang Shyong,the Fuh,and Hann Rhetoric and later enlarged his study scope to the fu in Wei,Jin and Six dynasties.He published 3 big volumes of Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature,which is a milestone of the field of fu study in the western countries.In his later years,he took charge of the big project of the translation of History of Chinese Civilization and continued making contributions to the spread of Chinese ancient fu works and culture.For all these works,he is elected as a member of American Acadmy of Arts and Sciences and won two important awards for his translation work and his contributions to the publication cause in China.Chapter two studies Prof.Knechtges' theories on fu and those on the translation of fu.He holds "being recited and not sung" makes fu different from other genres instead of holding the old view that fu is a kind of poem or prose.So he translated fu as "rhapsody".Later with his progress on the fu study,he gives this genre the English name "fu".He believes fu has many origins.Some genres in pre-Qin period melt into Han fu,the typical form of fu,which develops into many subgenres later.Prof.Knechtges' translation theory is also analyzed in this chapter.He pays great attention to the source language and culture.He considers translation as a way of spreading culture and emphasizes the accuracy of translation.He summarizes the difficulties in the translation of Wen Xuan,and maintains to adopt the method of philology to translation,that is,using absolute accuracy and plenty of annotations to ensure the faithfulness of the translation.He also made a research on the translation of descriptive binomes in the fu and provided some effective methods to translate them,such as to interpret the discripive binome as a whole,to make use of its sound and variants to undertand its meaning,to find the English equivalent which fits the context,to adopt the method of alliteration to translate.Chapter three introduces Prof.Knechtges' research of a famous fu writer in Han dynasty—Yang Xiong and his fu.This research lasts for over 10 years and is the beginning of his academic career and one of the emphases of his research.He wrote the doctoral dissertation—Yang Shyong,the Fuh,and Hann Rhetoric,published three books—Two Studies on the Han Fu,The Han Rhapsody,A Study of the Fu of Yang Hsiung,The Han shu Biography of Yang Xiong and many articles,such as Narration,Description,and Rhetoric in Yang Shyong's Yue-lieh fuh:an essay in form and function in the Hann fuh.Also he translated all of Yang Xiong's fu in his works,including 4 contiously improved translation versions.In these works,he accomplished systematic research on Yang Xiong,his fu works and his fu theory by valuing Yang Xiong's literary achievement and exploring the essence of fu.He thinks highly of Yang Xiong's imitation and creativeness,using the "persuasive rhetoric" and"epideictic rhetoric" to interpret Yang Xiong's "indirect criticism".He claims Yang Xiong is the first poet to espouse his own theory of the rhapsody,and then confirms his importance in the history of the development of fu.Since 1970s,his representative work on the research of Yang Xiong—The Han Rhapsody:A Study of the Fu of Yang Hsiung has been the most creative research about Yang Xiong's fu and fu theory,which embodies the highest standard of fu research in America.Chapter four analyzes the angle,method and characters of Professor Knechtges' research on the fu of Han-Wei and Six dynasties.His research works include over 20 articles and are about more than 60 fu of 30 writers from pre-Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty,which are mainly on distinguishing the fake fu,identifying the material things in the fu,exploring the theme of fu,analyzing the royal aesthetics,royal culture and food culture in fu and translating fu.He adopts philology and historicism to his research and bears the following characteristics:it is from the study of micro aspect to the macro aspect of the fu;it pays great attention on exploring origins;it follows the development of the fu genre.In all,his research clearly reflects his thoughts as a literary historian.Chapter Five analyses Prof.Knechtges' translation work—Wen xuan or Selections of Refined Literature(3 volumes),which is his greatest work and also the emphasis of our study.There are 4 sections in this chapter.Section one,Prof.Knechtges knowledge on Wen xuan and Xiao Tong's standard of selecting literary works is introduced.He holds that there are 37 catergories in Wen xuan,which means that Xiao Tong's scope on literary works is narrower than that of Liu Xie's shown in Wen xin diao long.Xiao Tong inclines to choose refined and elegant literary works.Section two,Prof.Knechtges' translation on rhapsodies on metropolises and capitals in Wen xuan is analyzed.He uses the big words to embody the grandeur and majesty of the capital,makes the description of the space structure of the capital stand out in form to reflect the theme of eulogizing the Han empire.Section three,his translation on rhapsodies on sacrifices,hunting,palaces and halls,rivers and seas in Wen xuan is analyzed.He shows the author's intention of "indirect criticism",describes various animals delicately,uses the method of alliteration and the repetition of synonyms to show the power and magnificence of the river and sea and reflects the writer's literary talent in the fu of different catergories respectively.Section four,his translation on rhapsodies on Literature,Laments and passions in Wen xuan is analyzed.He reproduces the theoretical character of the fu on literature,expresses the melancholy in the fu of laments and creates a beautiful and elegant image of the goddess in the fu of passion.Chapter six summarizes the characteristics and styles of Prof.Knechtges' translation of Wen xuan.A large number of scholarly annotations and accurate diction put his theory that a translated version should be faithful to the source text into practice.Also his translation embodies the enumeration of fu,the beauty of fu and the passions in fu.So,it can be called as a representative work of the combination of "scholarly translation" and "literary translation".His translation of Wen xuan sets a new standard and also provides a classical example for the translation of Chinese classics.Finally,the epilogue summarizes Prof.Knechtges' achievements on translation of Chinese ancient fu and his academic research,together with his theoretical contribution and his exemplary role on fu study and fu translation of the contemporary era.