Translation Of Chinese Poetry From The Perspective Of Hermeneutics

One Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems lays a foundation for Waley’s lifelong research of Chinese poetry and represents a landmark for his most distinguished achievements in translation. The translations of the poems are divided into two parts. Part I is composed of five chapters, each of which presents poems from Pre-Qin period to Ming Dynasty. Part II contributes 59 poems of Po Chu-I (772-846 A. D.), and a short biography of Po’s life. As soon as it was published, One Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems caught the attention of the general readers as well as critics at a time when the influence of the Far East on the poetry of the Western nations was becoming important and far-reaching and when Western people’s knowledge of the Chinese language and culture was imperfect. People were already conscious of the aims of a new modern poetry and its kinship with Chinese poetry. People think that these translations brought not only new knowledge of Chinese poetry and poets but also a new light for the poetry of Europe. Therefore, there has a certain research value to explore the translation of the poetry.Based on the hermeneutic theories, George Steiner puts forwards his Fourfold Translation Motion Theory, consisting of translator’s trust, aggression, incorporation and compensation. Steiner believes that any translation activity begins with the translator’s trust and choice of translation, that is, the translator’s first identification of the original text is meaningful or the translation can be achieved a particular purpose. However, translation is always biased, because the translator couldn’t compromise to his time and background. This leads to aggressing to the original text. The purpose of aggression is to incorporate, and it will inevitably lose the target character in the incorporation process. Therefore, it is essential to compensate. In fact, the target character is lost in all stages of translation. So, the compensation must go through the whole process of translation. This is the only way to show the connotation of the original text, and the translation can lay the role of communication.The research object of the paper is One Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems. All the examples from this paper belong to this book. The main theoretical basis of this paper is George Steiner’s Fourfold Translation Motion Theory, according to the order of these four steps, the main frame structure is formed. The method of this paper is qualitative analysis and description. The author chooses examples which are fit for the theory and representative poems to analyze. From the words, rhymes, allusions and format, the author analyzes Waley’s translation of Chinese poems in detail, and discusses Waley’s English translation features in depth, so as to conclude Waley’s translation strategies. This paper opens a new window, let the reader look at hermeneutic translation theory from another angle, and let the reader have a deeper understanding to the characteristics of Waley’s Chinese poems translation. It enhances the reader’s understanding of English version of One Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems.