On The Manifestations Of "Three Beauties" Principle In Translation Skills

As is known to all, Classical Chinese Poetry (CCP), known as therepresentative of Chinese cultural heritages, is not only loved by usChinese, but also attract literature-lovers from abroad. Undoubtedly, thetranslation of CCP has become the arena in literature translation.Meanwhile, innumerable outstanding translators from home and abroadhave been devoted to it, making contributions to the dissimilation ofChinese Culture.Xu Yuanchong, as the leading translator of CCP in our country, hasmade great contributions to the CCP English translation. Based on hisgreat amount of practice on CCP translation, rich literary attainment andChinese traditional translation theory, Xu Yuanchong initiated a completeset of detailed theory on literature translation, of which the three beauties(TB) principle is the most influential one. In short, the TB principle,namely, beauties in sense, sound and form, has been creatively appliedinto the CCP translation by Xu Yuanchong through his abundanttranslation examples, which not only set the standard for CCP translation,but also infuse fresh elements into traditional Chinese theory on literaturetranslation.However, from research papers on Xu Yuanchong’s translationtheory at home, the number of papers on manifestations of Xu Yuanchong’s TB principle in his translation poems ranks first.Specifically, taking Xu’s translation verses as examples, most researchersfocus more on analyses of his several poems, the content of three beautiesprinciple, and effect of his application. Besides, these researchers oftenaim to prove the practicability of his TB principle and confirm Xu’stranslation skills only through analyzing Xu’s few translation poems. Fewresearchers pay their attention to Xu’s translation of certain Chinese poets,let alone to analyze his skills presented in one book to show his TBprinciple. All of these researches are far enough to prove the stability ofthe TB principle in application, and operability of Xu’s translation skills.In addition, it becomes even harder for readers to have a systemic anddeep understanding of Xu’s TB principle as well as to improve theirpractical skills in CPC translation.Based on the above facts, starting with the features of CCP, thisthesis firstly gives an account of the main viewpoints on CCP translation,in particular Xu Yuanchong’s comparison views on Western and Chinesepoetry and Xu’s TB principle. In the main part, examples selected fromXu’s translation of Selected Poems of Su Shi are analyzed and categorizedin an objective way to comb Xu Yuanchong’s translation skills employedin conveying the three beauties of Su Shi’s poems aiming that beginnersof translation learn some practical translation skills based on the TBprinciple. Besides, application limitations of Xu’s TB principle such as lack of clear standards or rules for TB principle are also touched in theend. In conclusion, objective evaluation on TB and Xu’s theory arepointed out.