A Comparative Study Of Four English Versions Of Bai Juyi's Chang Hen Ge

Bai Juyi is one of the most famous and influential poets of the Tang Dynasty in the history of Chinese literature. His poems are not only unique in quantity, but also remarkably extensive in the range of subjects. His diction is simple and plain. There is a popular saying at that time:"even a child can understand the poem of Chang Hen Ge; even people of Hu can read the Song of the Lute Player". Here both "Chang Hen Ge"and "Song of the Lute Player" respectively refer to the poems composed by Bai Juyi. In the light of the love story of Emperor Xuan Zong and his concubine Lady Yang, Bai Juyi composed the touching love lyric Chang Hen Ge. The poem has attracted a large number of readers and scholars for centuries both at home and abroad with its charm in language. Many scholars had translated this poem into English, domestic scholars include Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Xu Yuanchong, Weng Xiangliang and Zeng Bingheng and etc. and foreign scholars are Innes Herdan, Soam Jennings, Herbert A. Giles, W. J. B Fletcher, Arthur Waley, Witter Bynner et al.Xu Yuanchong, who is regarded as the only person that has ever translated Chinese poems into English and French rhymed versions, is the most influential translator in contemporary China. He is also a prolific translator, more than sixty translation works had been translated, including Books of Song,300 Chinese Classical Poems, Western Chamber, Gems of Classical Chinese Poetry, The Red and the Black, Madame Bovary and etc. Integrating traditional translation theory with his practice of poetry translation, Xu Yuanchong brings forward his own translation theory, such as Three Beauties Principle, the Theory of Art, the Theory of Rivalry, and his new thoughts on Literal Translation and Free Translation. Among these theories, Xu's national reputation rests primarily upon his of initiation of Three Beauties Principle. This principle consists of beauty in sense, beauty in sound and beauty in form. Beauty in sense means the rendition should convey the original spirit, and move readers just as the original work does; beauty in sound signifies that the rendition should be of musical quality and be rhymed like a poem; and beauty in form indicates that the rendition should keep trim or similar form as the original.Based upon Xu Yuanchong's Three Beauties Principle, the thesis mainly attempts to analyze the four English versions of Chang Hen Ge respectively by Herbert A Giles, W. J. Fletcher, Xu Yuanchong and Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One mainly presents the objectives, significance and the structure of the thesis. Chapter Two mainly introduces theories on C-E translation of Classical Chinese Poetry as well as Bai Juyi and English versions of his poem Chang Hen Ge. Chapter Three is the systematical analysis of Xu Yuanchong's main literary translation theory, especially on his theory of poetry translation—Three Beauties Principles. And in Chapter Four a comparative study of the four English versions of Chang Hen Ge from the aspect of sense, sound and form. Chapter Five concludes the successful application of Three Beauties Principle in Xu's English version of Chang Hen Ge, so it proves that Three Beauties Principle is practical and feasible in C-E poetry translation.