A Probe Into Two English Versions Of Shijing From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

Shijing is the first poetry anthology in China. It collects 305 poems which are composed in a time period of more than five centuries from the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. Shijing consists of three parts: Feng, Ya, Song. Since the western Han Dynasty, it is regarded as one of Confucian classics and remains as a textbook for Confucianism. Therefore, it enjoys a high historical and social status. As one of the classics, Shijing is warmly welcomed by scholars and translators at home and abroad. The first English version of Shijing was by James Legge in 1871, who is a British missionary. Other English versions of Shijing in European countries began to flourish then, including Arthur Waley's version and Bernard Karlgren's version. In the middle of 20th century, the research center of Shijing was shifted from Europe to the United States. Ezra Pound translated some poems in Shijing and compiled them into Cathay(1915),which aroused heated discussion among scholars then. In 1954, Pound's complete English version of Shijing was published. Domestic translation of Shijing began after the founding of the People's Republic of China.Prof. Xu Yuanchong's complete English version of Shijing was published in 1993. His translation is precise and beautiful. Besides, there is Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang's version, Wang Rongpei and Ren Xiuhua's version. Studies on translation of Shijing are inclusive, such as studies on translation of words or sentences, translated versions as well as the process of translating and translators.This thesis studies Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong's translation of Shijing from the angle of Lefevere's manipulation theory. Lefevere put forward that translation is influenced by ideology, poetics and patronage.Ideology affects translating objectives and translators' choices of translating strategies. Specifically speaking, under the influence of wars and social system, Pound tends to translate poems with theme related to ruthless wars. He adopted unique translation techniques to show his dissatisfaction with the wars and social condition and his yearning for an ideal ruler. Xu Yuanchong is encouraged by the ideological force and determines to translate Chinese classics to spread Chinese culture. To achieve this goal, he brought forward "The Principle of Three Beauties”and applied it to the translation of Shijing. Poetics exerts a great influence on the translating techniques. Influenced by Imagist Movement, Pound emphasized on retaining the original image of the poem and exercised creativity in the translating process. Thus his translation is unique and unconventional. Xu Yuanchong is influenced by Chinese ancient poetics and modern poetics and pursues simplicity and preciseness in his translation. Thus, his translation tends to be colloquial. He also employs rhetorical devices to make the translated poems more acceptable to the westerners. Patronage, either from individuals or religious powers, acts as a decisive role in whether the translated work can be published or not.Patronage's influence on translators differs from each other. Affected by his potential patronage Fenollosa and some scholars, Pound devoted himself into the translation of Shijing. He was imprisoned for treason in 1954. With the help of famous writers and poets like Ernest Hemingway,Robert Frost, he regained freedom and his translation was published without constraint. Xu Yuanchong summarized theories of writers and scholars and formed his own translating theory to guide his translation.Encouraged by the publishers, his English version of Shijing was published successfully. The two versions of Shijing are affected by the three elements of manipulation theory. This conveys that translation is not the isolated text transformation. Instead, it is a communication between languages and cultures on cultural dimension..