A Report On The Translation Of Casual Expressions Of Idle Feeling: The Ciqu And Yanxi Sections (Excerpts)

Li Yu is a famous literatus,playwright,drama theorist and aesthetician in late-Ming and early-Qing Dynasties.Xian Qing Ou Ji(Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling)is one of Li Yu's best works.The book consists of eight Chapters which show Li Yu's love for everyday life and his pursuit for art.Lots of culture-loaded words,allusions and rhetorical devices are employed in this book,which are typical features of Chinese classics.Meanwhile,these are also difficult points that the translator will face in the translation process.The report made an analysis on those points in the excerpts(Chapter Ciqu and Chapter Yanxi)of Xian Qing Ou Ji under the guidance of Thick Translation theory.During the translation practice,the translator findsthe translation methods of literal translation plus annotation,transliteration plus annotation,paraphrase plus annotation and paraphrase quite useful.According to the four methods,the author classifies the difficulties in translation and makes detailed analyses.It is important to preserve the connotations of the source text and maintain the coherence and readability.It is both a challenge and a learning opportunity which can provide precious experience for the translator.