The Reproduction Of Beauty In Xu Yuanzhong’s Translation Of Book Of Poetry

The Book of Poetry, the gem of traditional Chinese poetry, is the treasure-house oftraditional Chinese culture. It is characterized by abundant themes, distinct rhythm,harmonious rhyme and tidy structure, possessing three beauties of sound, form and sense. Itreflects the panoramic picture of ancient Chinese people with high artistic value. Translationis a complex art. So it requires translators to adopt different strategies with differenttranslation purpose. Professor Xu Yuanzhong, a master translator in China, on the basis of hisextensive practice and rich experiences of poetry translation, and inheriting predecessors’theories of literature and arts, sets forth Three Beauties Principle on poetry translation—“beauty in sense, beauty in sound and beauty in form”. His English translation of Book ofPoetry is just a fine piece in the guidance of his Three Beauties Principle. Taken XuYuanzhong’s Three Beauties Principle into consideration, the author of this thesis conducts adetailed textual analysis of Xu Yuanzhong’s English translation of Book of Poetry todemonstrate Xu Yuanzhong’s successful realization of his Three Beauties Principle in histranslation of Book of Poetry.Chapter one is a general introduction to Book of Poetry and Xu Yuanzhong’s ThreeBeauties Principle. Three Beauties Principle has inherited and developed the Chinesetraditional translation theories and also got high attention and recognition by many scholars.They recommended this theory for verse translation. In Literature Review, the most importantand influential critics and comments about Xu Yuanzhong’s English translation of Book ofPoetry are introduced in this chapter.In Chapters of Two, Three and Four, the author of the thesis conducts a detailed textualanalysis of Xu Yuanzhong’s English translation of Book of Poetry from the perspective ofsound, form and sense. From the perspective of sound, Book of Poetry has the characteristicsof alliteration, assonance, end rhyme, reduplication and tautology, making the poemsmelodious and pleasant. In Xu Yuanzhong’s version, rhymed translation is a typicalcharacteristic. Taking the language features of both Chinese and English poetry intoconsideration, he adopts many methods to translate the reduplication, representing the beautyin sound vividly. From the perspective of form, Book of Poetry is mainly written in a four-character style,varied with short and long sentences and rich in refrains and recurrent songs, making thepoems rhythmical and musical, easy to recite and relish. When translating, he tries his best tokeep the rhythm, the number of line and stanza corresponding with the original. Representingthe exquisite form of repetitive structures vividly can help the target language readersappreciate true Chinese classic poetry.From the perspective of sense, the techniques of Fu, Bi and Xing(赋,比,兴) are adoptedin Book of Poetry, expressing feelings directly or implicitly, making the poems sincere andnatural. There are also abundant and colorful images in Book of Poetry. Cultural images,bearing profound cultural connotation, transmit the unique flavor of exotic nations. In XuYuanzhong’s version, grasping the profound connotation of cultural images andcharacteristics of Bi and Xing techniques, he reproduces the implication of original poemsvividly.In a word, Professor Xu Yuanzhong’s version of Book of Poetry possesses all the threebeauties of sense, sound and form, representing the artistic charm of the Book of Poetrycomprehensively. Although his poetry translation theories are highly controversial and hisEnglish translation is not perfect, he made great contribution to the development of literarytranslation theories by putting forward his poetry translation principles. His experience oftranslating classical Chinese literature has a positive effect on promoting the translation ofChinese literature, opening another window for the world to know more about the Chineseculture.