Equivalence Of Poetic Image In Translation Of Tang Poetry

Poetic images are the core of the Tang poetry, in which poets express theirthoughts and emotions through external objects; meanwhile, the poets projectprofound cultural connotations into poetic images, so images are an important vehicleto understand Tang Poetry. A Tang poem generally consists of several images whichnot only present readers a vivid and lively picture, but also carry much meaning andemotions and the profound Chinese culture.In the C-E translation of Tang poems, the equivalence of images is the mostdifficult part. The English and Chinese cultures are different from each other, makingit very hard to find one image in English exactly equivalent with one in Chinese.Besides that, the association of poetic images with poetic form and sound is anotherimportant factor in translation. Xu Yuanzhong is one of the most renowned translators.He is a master of poetic images and is able to grasp the essence of each image and thewhole picture of the poem, and recreate the spirit correctly and elegantly. This thesisappreciates Xu’s mastery of images and also examines how Xu Yuanzhong managesto solve the problem of equivalence of poetic images between Chinese and Englishculture.The equivalence theory is an important one in the translation activities. Exactequivalence is hardly possible in translating literary works, and different translatorsadopt different approaches. Xu Yuanzhong pursues “beauty” which is the supremevalue of equivalence. For the sake of preserving the beauty of Tang poems, this thesisfocuses on the combination of sound, form and cultural equivalence instead of purelinguistic equivalence, studying the role of the equivalence of poetic sound and formin the recreation of images, as well as the value of images in the equivalence of poeticsense.