The Translator's Aesthetic Participation In Tang-Dynasty Poetry Translation

Tang-dynasty poetry is regarded as the summit of classical Chinese five-character verse and seven-character verse like a brilliant pearl in the history of Chinese poetry. Poetry translation demands not only the theoretical skills but also the translator's aesthetic participation. Only correctly understood and properly processed could the translation of Tang-dynasty poetry be a success. The translator is both the user of language and the initiator of aesthetic activity. Therefore, it is inevitable for the translator to integrate his (her) own cognitive mode and aesthetic view such subjective factors into the rendition. That is the reason why renditions that are more or less branded with the translator's subjective perception could show distinctively artistic features. This thesis, from the translator's subjective perspective and aesthetic connotation, aims to demonstrate that the translator's aesthetic participation, in Tang-dynasty poetry translation from Chinese into English, is a process of finding beauty as well as of reproducing it. The participation requires a higher-level input and output of the given information. Unless the translator really puts himself (herself) in the poet's position to comprehend the conveyed emotions and hidden information, and employs personal perception of beauty and aesthetic experience, no creative rendition can be produced. This article, for the author's part, also leaves the implication of providing a new perspective for dealing with the argument about literal translation and free translation.