Chinese Classical Philosophy Poetry And Its Translation

China is a nation rich in pec try. Acting as an essential role in the social history and culture, poetry can be dated back to the remote periods of time when it was viewed as the uttermost literary form in expressing profound ideas. The Chinese have adored poetry to such an extent that for a considerable phase of history, the government selected and appointed officials according to how well people can compose poems. In the meanwhile, the Chinese are also a people absorbed in thoughts. They have harvested a wealth of sparks of wisdom and seeds of thoughts during the long course of development. The mere method of portraying abstract philosophical theories with harsh preaching is by no means the resort of thoughtful poets. By combining the "three beauties" of poetry, i.e. beauties in form, sense and sound, with the simplicity and profoundness of philosophy, philosophical poems have been regarded as the deposit of culture as well as the crystallization of thoughts. In such a unique branch of poetry, practically each word is the result of much pondering and reflection. Those poems that have survived the test over the thousands of years are with no exception simple and elegant. They may not be the most appealing in the first sight, yet, the images and senses expressed in philosophical poems are apprehended and highly valued if readers give them a second thought. Philosophical poems have been exerting an imperceptible influence o the Chinese readers so much so that they arc instructed and changed before they can realize it.The first chapter of the thesis provides a brief introduction of the two paralleling philosophical schools in the Chinese social structure and history: Confucianism and Taoism. The former is characterized by the doctrine of "benevolence", which has been admired and observed throughout the Chinese history, and the latter puts remarkable stress on "self-development". Nurtured in the bi-impact of the two philosophical ideas, most Chinese intellectuals have adopted, either consciously or unconsciously, the philosophical pattern of "Confucian externally and Taoist internally", the effect of which is bound to find expression in their literary works, especially in poetry.In the second chapter, philosophical poems are roughly classified into three main categories according the themes and topics. Since poetry is an outpouring of poets' feelings on the outside world and the poets' own life experience, philosophical poems exhibit their profound thoughts about the natural scenes, personal expectations and even the least philosophical and most romantic issue, love.A comprehensive analysis of the expression methods in which philosophical thoughts are described in poems is presented in the third chapter. To express simple and true ideas, poets find themselves applying the following methods: straightforward, metaphor, personification, allusion and play of words.The fourth chapter discusses the matter of translatability of philosophical poems. The foundation is that there exists identity in subject matters, identity in thinking modes, regularity in grammatical differences, cultural infiltration and philosophical infiltration.In the fifth chapter, by combining leading translation theory with the practice ofpoetry translation, the thesis demonstrates the rendering methods of translating philosophical poems. Translators apply the following effective methods flexibly: literal translation, modulation, integration and literal translation plus notes.The conclusion of the thesis comes as a natural fruit of the previous chapters. Philosophical poetry translation should follow the translation standards of "faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness". Therefore, translators are supposed to find an appropriate method to transplant the "seeds" of the spirit of philosophical poems to the foreign soil and see to it that the "seeds" revive in the breath of foreign readers.