On the Translation of Classical Chinese Poetry

Li Guofang

【Abstract】The translation of classical Chinese poetry is a topic heated discussed in translation studies throughout the world.In this paper， the author analyzes the characteristics of Chinese as a poetic medium first， and tries to point out that the differences between Chinese and English lie in the nature of the two languages themselves， and that there are differences due to unique concepts or divergent ways of thinking and models of feeling as well.And in the following part， the author tries to explore the art the translating Chinese poetry， emphasizing on the problems of translation of rhythm and rhyme， as well as the different understandings about nature， time， nostalgia and the feeling of love between the two cultures.Last， the author draws a conclusion that translation of poetry is a kind of transplantation and recreation.

【Key words】Translation； Classical Chinese poetry； Characteristics of Chinese； Transplantation； Recreation

1.Introduction

Though there has been a long history of practice and discussion on the translation of classical Chinese poetry， it is clear that some of the poems can only be translated semantically at the cost of the formal beauty and sound effects.Since the function of the language in poetry is to arouse the same aesthetic feeling in the reader of the target language， the form of a poem is equally important as its content.

In this paper titled “On the Translation of Classical Chinese poetry”， I will first of all analyze the characteristics of Chinese as a poetic medium and then try to explore the art of translating classical Chinese poetry， aiming to see where the problems are and how to deal with them， accordingly.

2.The characteristics of Chinese as a poetic medium

2.1 The structure of Chinese characters

A “word” in Chinese， as in any other language， is a unit of speech， which may be of one or more syllables， and hence written with one or more characters.A “character” is a written symbol which corresponds to one syllable and may form one word or part of a word.Theoretically each character has a meaning， but in actual usage some characters do not occur independently but only together with other characters， e.g.“鸚鵡”， “蟋蟀”， “窈窕”， “葡萄”.These are to all intents and purposes disyllabic words， each written with two characters.Words of more than two syllables are rare， except for transliterations of foreign words， e.g.“阿彌陀佛”.Sometimes a character may either occur independently or together with another character to form a “compound”.The character “先” and the character “生” can each occur by itself， but together they form a compound “先生”.

2.2 Implications and associations of words and characters

To begin with the implications of word， a word may possess a predominant meaning and several subsidiary ones as its implications at the same time.For instance， the word “孝”， commonly translated as “filial piety”， in fact covers a whole range of meanings： to love， obey， honor， serve and look after ones parents， without necessarily pulling a long face， as the English word “piety” rather suggests.Any of these meanings may be the predominant one， according to the context.When we apply the word to someone， we may mean he never goes against his parents wishes， or simply he takes good care of them， with the idea of “love， honor， respect” as implication.

Next， let us consider the associations of words.There are several kinds， apart from those induced purely by personal fancy：

（1） Notional associations： those aroused by the object the word denotes， not by the sound， visual form of the word itself.Such associations may be due to some common belief of custom， or due to some legend or myth.In the Chinese poetry， the willow is often associated with parting because in the Tang Dynasty it was a custom to break a willow twig and present it to a departing friend.This kind of association also occurs in English， e.g.the association of the moon with chastity because of its identification with the goddness Diana.

（2） Auditory assiciation： those around by the sound of the word.All conscious and unconscious puns are based on them.For instance， in a poem by the Tang poet Liu Yuxi， written in the style of a folk song， the poet puns on the word “晴”， which has the same sound as the word “情”：

東邊日出西邊雨，

道是無情卻有情。

The sun comes out in the east； it rains in the west；

Youll say its not sunny（love）， yet it is.

（3） Contextual associations： words connected in a readers mind because of some familiar literary context， not because of any inherent relation between them.For instance， most Chinese readers will associate the word “苗條” with the words “淑女”， as they occur together in the very first song in The Book of Poetry（Shi Jing）.This kind of association differs from the first kind in that the words are arbitrarily connected， not connected by some real or imagined relationship.

The above kinds of associations may be presumed to be common among readers with similar education， reading experience， and sensibility.

2.3 Some Chinese concepts and ways of thinking and feeling

Nature：

In Chinese poetry， as in the poetry in other languages， there abound innumerable pieces describing the beauties of Nature and expressing joy over them.Such straightforward poems need no comment.However， in the works of some Chinese poets， such as Tao Qian and Wang Wei， Nature assumes a deeper significance， quite different from that perceived by English “Nature poet”.

In the first place， Nature to these Chinese poets is not a physical manifestation of its Creator， but something that is what it is by virtue itself.And the Chinese mind seems content to accept Nature as a fact.

From this it follows that Nature is neither benignant nor hostile to Man.Hence， Man is not conceived of as for ever struggling against Nature but forming part of it.

Time：

Most Chinese poetry displays a keen awareness of time， and expressed regret over its irretrievable passing.Of course， Western poets are sensitive to time too， but few of them seem to be as obsessed by it as Chinese poets generally are.Moreover， a Chinese poem often gives more clear and precise indications of the season and the time of day than a Western poem normally does.There are hundreds of Chinese poems lamenting the fading away of spring， grieving over the coming of autumn， or dreading the approach of old age.Yet， paradoxically enough， just because this life is finite and brief， it seems all the more precious and worth living.While bemoaning the transiency of life， Chinese poets are at the same time determined to make the best of it while it lasts.

Nostalgia：

No one who has read any amount of Chinese poetry， even in translation， can fail to notice the abundance of poems on nostalgia.Chinese poets seem to be perpetually longing for returning home.One should remember the vastness of China， the difficulties of communication that existed， the sharp contrast between the highly cultured life in the main cities and the harsh conditions in the remoter regions of the country， and the importance of the family in traditional Chinese society with the consequent deep attachment to the ancestral home.It is not surprising， therefore， that nostalgia should have become a constant， and hence conventional， theme in Chinese poetry.

Love：

In old China， where marriages were arranged by the parents， a mans needs for sympathy， understanding， and affection often found their answer in another man； nevertheless， many men did feel true love for women， if not always for their wives， and there is a great deal of love poetry in Chinese.The Book of Poetry is full of outspoken love songs； so are anthologies of folk songs of the Han（202 B.C.—A.D.220） and the Six Dynasties（A.D.220—589）.Nor did love poetry diminish in later periods.In short， love is a theme as inevitable in Chinese poetry as it is in Western poetry， but where the Chinese conception of love seems to differ from the European one is that the former does not exalt love as something absolute that frees the person on love from all moral spiritual union.The Chinese attitude towards love is sensible and realistic： love is given its proper place in life as an essential and valuable experience but not elevated above everything else..

3.The art of translating classical Chinese poetry—transplanting the seed： poetry and its translation

Since a text is not the property of any individual culture， the translator has every right to help in its transfer across linguistic frontiers.

In order to translate poetry， the first stage is intelligent reading of the source text， a detailed process of decoding that takes into account both textual features and extra textual factors.

Pound（1954） stresses the importance of the target language for translators.He was concerned primarily with the translation of texts from earlier periods or from non-Western cultures， hence his emphasis is less on the problems of translating formal properties of verse， for he recognized that forms are by no means equivalent across literatures.What he insists upon， though， is that the translator should first and foremost be a reader.The translator needs to read well， to be aware of what the source text is， to understand both its formal properties and its literary dynamic as well as its status in the source system， and then has to take into account the role that text may have in the target system.

He also makes another kind of distinction in his thinking about the translation of poetry and endeavors to define elements that are more or less translatable.There are， he suggests， three kinds of poetry that may be found in any literature.The first is melopoeia where words are surcharged with musical property that directs the shape of the meaning.This musical quality can be appreciated by ‘the foreigner with the sensitive ear， but cannot be translated， ‘except perhaps by divine accident or even half alone at a time.（Pound， 1954：15-40）

The second， phanopoeia， he regards as the easiest to translate， for this involves the creation of images in language.The image was， of course， central to Pounds poetics， as his deliberate choice of the highly imagistic Japanese and Chinese verse forms as models demonstrates.

His third category， logopoeia， ‘the dance of the intellect among words is deemed to be untranslatable， though may be paraphrased.However， Pound suggests that the way to proceed is to determine the authors state of mind and start from there.We have come back again to Shelley and to the notion of transplanting the seed.

Time and again， translation scholars struggle with the problem of the inter-relationship between the formal structure of the poem， its function in the source language context and the possibilities offered by the target language.Robert Bly（1984） talks about eight stages of translation.Andre Lefevere（1975） in his book On Translating of the poetry of Catullus talks about seven strategies and a blueprint.The missing element in so much writing about poetry and translation of the idea of the ludic， of jouissance， or playfulness.For the pleasure of poetry is that it can be seen as both an intellectual and an emotional exercise for writer and reader alike.

We may， at this juncture， make two assertions： firstly， that the translation of poetry requires skill in reading every bit as much as skill in writing.Secondly， that a poem is a text in which content and form are inseparable.What a translator has to do is to recognize his or her limitations and to work within those constraints.James Holmes suggests， helpfully， that every translator establishes a hierarchy of constituent elements during the reading process and then re-encodes those elements in a different ranking in the target language.If we compare translation and source， then the ranking of elements becomes visible.James Holmes describes this process as a “hierarchy of correspondences”.（Holmes， 1978：69-83）

One of the most useful critical methods for approaching translation is the tried and trusted comparative one.When we compare different translations of the same poem， we can see the diversity of translation strategies used by translators， and locate those strategies in a cultural context， by examining the relationship between aesthetic norms in the target system and the texts produced.Crucially， the comparative method should not be used to place the translations in some kind of league table， rating x higher than y， but rather to understand what went on in the actual translation process.

Yves Bonnefoy（1992） suggests that a work has to be compelling， or it is not translatable.Pound would certainly have agreed with this.For if translation is， as Lefevere and others claim， rewriting， then the relationship between writer and rewriter has to be established as productive.Translations of poems are part of a process of reading continuity.Writers create for readers， and the power of the reader to remake the text is fundamental.Different readers will produce different readings， different translators will always produce different translations.What matters in the translation of poetry is that the translator should be so drawn into the poem that he or she then seeks to transpose it creatively， through the pleasure generated by the reading.

In short， though a poem cannot be transfused from one language to another， it can nevertheless be transplanted.The seed can be placed in new soil， for a new plant to develop.The task of the translator must then be to determine and locate that seed and to set about its transplantation.

When the rewriter is perfectly fused with the source， a poem is translated.That this happens so frequently is a cause for celebration.Poetry is not what is lost in translation； it is rather what we gain through translation and translators.

4.Conclusion

Since the differences between Chinese and English are inevitable， there must exist certain difficulties concerning the translation between the two languages.Therefore， to some extent， classical Chinese poetry is untranslatable.

However， just as every coin has two sides， although a poetry in one language cannot be transfused into another language directly， it can be transplanted.In other words， as Lefever and others claim， translation is a rewriting of an original text.Therefore， translations of poems are part of a process of reading continuity Different readers produce different readings by remaking the original text， and so do different translators.There doesnt exist a set model of translation of a text， and translation is recreation in fact.

References：

[1]Bly，Robert.（1984）.The eight Stages of Translation，in William Frawley（ed.）.Translation： Literary，Linguistic and Philosophical Perspectives.Newark： University of Delaware Press.

[2]Bonnefoy，Yves.（1992）.Translating Poetry.Tr.John Alexander and Clive Wilmer，in Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet（eds.）.Theories of Translation.An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida.Chicago and London： University of Chicago Press.

[3]Holmes，James.（1978）.Describing Literary Translations： Models and Methods，in James Holmes，Jose Lambert and Raymond van den Broek（eds.）.Literature and Translation.Leuven： ACCO.

[4]Lefevere，Andre.（1975）.Translating Poetry.Amsterdam： Van Gorcum.

[5]Pound，Ezra.（1954）.How to Read.New York Herald.Reprinted in T.S.Eliot（ed.）.Literary Essays of Ezra Pound.London： Faber and Faber.

[6]Pound，Ezra.（1954）.Hell.The Criterion.Reprinted in T.S.Eliot（ed.）.Literary Essays of Ezra Pound.London： Faber and Faber.