Yuanchong-the master in the field of translation, who is good at employing rhyme in poetry translation.
This paper consists of five chapters.Chapter1 is an introduction: chapter 2, the background of ancient Chinese poems and the brief introduction of Professor Xu Yuanchong: chapter 3, the skills of employing rhyme in poetry translation from the works by Xu Yuanchong: chapter 4, the advantages of rhyme when translating ancient poetry: chapter 5, conclusion.
2.The Background of Ancient Chinese Poems and the Brief Introduction of Professor Xu Yuanchong
2.1 Common Theories of Ancient Chinese Poetry Translation
Translation of poetry can be traced back to the rise of China's Overseas Trade. Although there is debate over whether poetry is translatable or not, many translators still spare no efforts to make the pith of ancient Chinese culture known to the world. Coupled with the translation practice, many explorations of the translation criteria have been made. As the theories of Classical Chinese Poetry translation are of close kin with general translation theories, I will review them together with the general theories at home and abroad.
2.1.1 The dominant translation theories in the west
The earliest influential theory about translation criteria in the west is Tytler’s “three principles”. According to Tytler, a good translation first should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work. Then as for style and manner of writing, it should be of the same character with that of the original. Thirdly, the translation should have all the ease of the original in language.
Newmark has propounded his theory of semantic translation and communicative translation based on the functions of language, namely expressive function, informative
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function, and vocative function. By semantic translation, he means that it attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow. So concerning poetry translation, he advocates that semantic translation should be adopted.
Another influential theory is Nida’s “dynamic equivalent”. Nida has defined translation as “reproducing in the receptor language the closest nature equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”. So a good translator should strive for the closest nature equivalent.
2.2.2 The influential translation theories in China
In China, Yan Fu has put forward his theory of “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance” in the preface to his translation of Evolution and Ethics天演论 in 1898. “Faithfulness” is the requirement of intelligibility of the translation, which is supposed to abide by the language rules in the target language. “Elegance” requires that the translation be aesthetically refined. Concerning how to retain faithfulness to the original, there has also a lot of debate over literal translation and liberal translation. Some scholars such as Lu Xun, Liu Banong, etc. argue for literal translation, others like Mao Dun, Zheng Zhenduo, and Sir John Denhama adhere to liberal translation. Furthermore, there are also some scholars who take the third way. According to Ba Jin, there is no distinction of “literal translation” and “liberal translation”. A good translation should be both “literal” and “liberal”.
Another prominent figure who has contributed a lot to Classical Chinese Poetry translation is Xu Yuanchong. Based on his translation practice, he has proposed “Three Beauties”(beauty in meaning, in sound, and in form) to direct how to translate Classical Chinese Poetry.
Regarding over views about Classical Chinese Poetry translation, there are also Fu Lei’s theory of “closeness in spirit” and Qian Zhongshu’s “transmigration”, by which
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Qian means that the translation should not bear any trance of awkwardness in the target language, and meanwhile is not lose the slightest flavor of the original.
2.2 The Schools in Ancient Poetry Translation: the Employment of
Rhyme or not
Chinese classical poetry is the treasure of our nation who has two thousand years of history. With the development of China, we communicate with the world more and more closely. Our nation’s outstanding literary works are known by the world, especially poems. Therefore, the translation of Chinese classical poetry is very popular in home and aboard. There are different schools among those who claim translatability of poetry. The three major schools are metrical verse school, free school and creative school. The first school put to use rhyme and the latter don’t use.
The metrical verse school pays special attention to the meter and rhyme scheme. Its representatives include Hebert G. Giles, John Tuner, W.J.Fletcher and the well-known Chinese translator Xu Yuanchong. His version rhyme naturally. Much of Xu’s theory concerning the translation of poetry, such as “three beauties”(三美论)and“exploiting the advantages of the target language to the full(发挥译语优势论)”,is gradually accepted by more and more scholars.
The free school translates poems into free verse or prose. They focus more on the spirit of the poem. They hold that rhyme in the translated version will definitely impair the meaning of the original; hence, the good taste of the poem is lost in translation. Army Lowell, Arthur Waley, writer Bynner and the famous domestic translator-Weng Xianliang are the representatives. The representatives of creative school are Ezra Pound and Kenneth Rexroth. This school overlaps with the free school. The difference lies in that the creative school also put poems into free verse, but they lay particular emphasis on the expression of aesthetic perception of the Chinese poetry which is usually subjective. As a result, some translated versions of this school are not regarded as translation but creative work in some important poetry anthology.
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2.3 Brief Introduction on Professor Xu Yuanchong s
Xu Yuanchong, professor of Peking University; author of Art of Translation, On Literary Translation, On Chinese Verse in English Rhyme; editor of 300 Tang Poems, co-editor of Gems of Classical Chinese Poetry in Various English Translations. Professor Xu has gained a world-wide reputation for his rhymed translation of Chinese verse. It is widely accepted that Xu Yuanchong is a prolific and influential poetry translator in contemporary Chinese academe who has published more than sixty books about translation theory and practice in his more than sixty years of translation career. Xu is not a translator but also a theorist. He has rendered many poems as well as Ci poems and Qu poems into English and French. Both his practice and theory were highly praised by Qian Zhongshu. Qian once talked about Xu’s two books-Art of Translation(《翻译的艺术》) and The English Versions of 300 Tang Poems(《英译唐诗300首》) that “the two books are complementary as features to the wings of a bird or the stars and the moon add radiance and beauty to each other in the sky(二书如羽翼之相辅，星月之交辉).With the painstaking research about literary translation, Xu Yuanchong has established a set of translation theories of his own, one of which is theory of three beauties(beauty in sense, in mind and in form)。
3. The Skills of Employing Rhyme
Professor Xu, the great master in the filed of translation has outstanding achievements. He lays stress on the poetry translation skills especially the importance of creative translation skills. The skills of his employment of rhyme represent in different levels.
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3.1 Aspect of Word
3.1.1 Adding word for rhyme
The so called “adding word for rhyme” means we can add a word or phrase to achieve the goal of rhyme when have a problem with translating the poem rhyme. However, the words are not come out of thin air, it should be implied meaning of the original poem .That is to say, to ensure to add words or phrases under the premise of the original poem. As Xu said, the adding you can’t find in the form of original but can search in the content. When adding words to save rhyme, if the artistic conception convey is excellent, it can not only save rhyme, but also have the effect of the gain. The limit of using word to save rhyme is avoiding the damage of meaning.
The three examples show that Professor Xu has skillful employment on “adding word for rhyme”. In the first example, the adding word “tears” rhymes with “years”, but at the same time, the accuracy and fluency of the translation has not changed. In the second example, the adding phrase“under your feet” means all the mountains under your feet, therefore all the peaks are much more smaller. The adding phrase not only adds poetry to this poem, but also has an end rhyme. The third example adds the phrase“safe and sound”,so the word “sound” rhymes with “ground”. It makes the version trip off the tongue and gives the readers a kind of aesthetic feeling of reading. At the same time, it shows the warriors have a strong desire to come back safe and sound. 文章千古事，得失寸心知。 ——杜甫《偶题》 Good writing may last a thousand years, Who knows the author’s smile and tears. 会当凌绝顶，一览众山小。 ——杜甫：《望岳》 Try to ascend the mountain’s crest! It dwarfs all peaks under your feet. 醉卧沙场君莫笑！古来征战几人回？
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