Cultural Imagery Transfer In Tang Poetry Translation

"Possessing compendious language and established forms (with flexible images), poetry intensively reflects life and expresses ideas and feelings through fully plentiful rhymes and rhythms (Tong Qingbing, 2002: 170)". As the highest artistic style in literature, poetry is a delicate and fine integration of form and content nursed in the specific cultural and aesthetical environment, and"it somehow makes us more aware of life outside itself"(Cleanth Brooks & Robert Penn Warren, 2004: 11). In China's poetic history, the Tang Dynasty saw a climax and golden stage of poetry with the monumental significance ("Better than past and future"); Tang Poetry represents the most outstanding achievement of Tang Literature, displaying the special appeal and exerting the profound historical influence ("Outshining Li Bai and Du Fu's mastery"); Tang poets showed their creative poetic talent by continuation in the pioneering way ("Evergreen poems and star-lighting poets"). Inevitably, splendid Tang culture bred its great poets and immortal poems that have attracted world-wide attention for their great charm. As the basis and source of its poetry, Tang culture holds a unique place in the world as it developed and integrated cultural essence of the previous times and other ancient nations of its era. Deeply rooted in Tang culture, Tang Poetry is the refreshing expression with blossoming styles and pioneering spirits. Since Tang Poetry with the global significance needs high diffusion across cultural communication, its translation is the best way to strengthen exchange between China and the outside world and better our understanding of the differences between languages and between cultures. Translation is a complex practice across languages and cultures, culture is its primary orientation in nature, and poetry translation most reflects cultural information transfer of languages and cultures. As a bridge between Chinese culture and Western culture, Tang Poetry translation into English is the most typical and elegance-based work in Chinese–English translation.Culture is in central position to Tang Poetry translation. Utilizing the imagery theory of cultural linguistics and based on the relationship of culture, language, and imagery, this thesis proposes"cultural imagery transfer is a key to Tang Poetry translation", compares Chinese cultural imagery and English cultural imagery, and analyzes approaches to dealing with cultural images in the specific translation work.