湖南省衡南县茅市镇联合学校斗山校区 董艳清
Abstract: Li Qingzhao, who was an outstanding poetess in Song Dynasty, played a significant role with her unique style in Chinese literary history and enjoyed great esteem and reputation at home and abroad. A great number of excellent translators have been done translation on Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry and made indelible contribution to the development of English translation of Li’s Ci-poetry. This thesis analyzes Li Qingzhao’s Sheng Sheng Man on different translation versions by comparative study: Sheng Sheng Man . It analyzes Sheng Sheng Man from three parts: the fourteen reduplicative words, the English translation of “雁”, the function of color words.
Key Words: English Translation; Li Qingzhao;Ci-poetry ; Sheng Sheng Man
I. Introduction
Li Qingzhao (1084—1151), a poetess in the turn of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty made outstanding and irreplaceable contribution to Ci-poetry. Reputed as Yi’an Jushi, she was universally acknowledged to be the most prominent poetess in ancient Chinese literary history. Ci-poetry plays a significant role, literally, culturally and historically. Her language is elegant, pure, vivid and lively as well as accessible, concise and plain owing to her flexible application of a number of poetic devices, such as unprecedented utilization of reduplicative words, skillful injection of colloquial expressions, impressive display of images, wonderful creation of unique epithets, and appropriate quotation of allusions.
From beginning to now, a great number of translators and scholars, at home and abroad, have been dedicated to the translation of classical Chinese poetry and have achieved great accomplishments in introducing the brilliant heritage of Chinese culture to the world.
This thesis falls into four chapters. Chapter one is introduction which concentrates on background, aim, significance and structure of the research. Chapter two deals with literature review, which reviews the achievements on translation of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry at home and abroad. Chapter three expounds on comparative analysis on different translation versions of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry : Sheng Sheng Man. It analyzes Sheng Sheng Man from three parts: the fourteen reduplicative words, the English translation of “雁”, comparative analysis of images in Sheng Sheng Man. Chapter four comes to a conclusion. The author summaries the whole paper and also reveals the deficiencies.
II. Literature Review
2.1 Overview of Studies on the Translation of Li Qingzhao’s Sheng Sheng Man (《声声慢》)
2.1.1 Translated by Chinese Translators
Studies on Li Qingzhao and her Ci-poetry have always been an important component of Chinese ancient literature research. In 1961, Lin Yutang (林语堂) translated Sheng Sheng Man《声声慢》. In 1986, Xu Zhongjie (徐忠杰) published 100 Chinese Ci Poems in English Verse (《词百首英译》). Only by the late 80s, the amount of translation and research on Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry began to increase at home. Xu Yuangchong (许渊冲) made a great contribution in this field. He published many editions of translations from Tang and Song Lyrics (《唐宋词一百五十首》1990, 《唐宋词一百首》1991). In 1994, he published Song of the Immortals —An anthology of classical Chinese Poetry. The celebrated couple Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang (杨宪益, 戴乃迭) published Song Lyrics (《宋词》) in 2001.
2.1.2 Translated by English Native Speaking Translators
The research and translation in English world can be divided into two stages.
The first stage is from 1970s to 1980s which was featured by a comprehensive introduction to Li Qingzhao and overall translation and research on Li’s Ci-poetry.
The two stage is from 1990s to date during which various research methods increased and the vision was broadened. For instance, in 1994, Victor Mair edited and published The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature which was known for its vastness and comprehensiveness on materials. In 1994, Paulin Yu published Voices of the Song Lyric in China. In 2000, Olive Classes published Encyclopedia of Literary Tradition into English.
With their rich experience and extensive knowledge, these translators and scholars have been pushing forward the development of the Chinese poetry translation.
III. The English Translation of Li Qingzhao’s Sheng Sheng Man
3.1 Comparative Analysis of Li Qingzhao’s Sheng Sheng Man
3.1.1 The Fourteen Reduplicative Words in Sheng Sheng ManReduplication or reduplicative words, as a lexical phenomenon, exist both in Chinese and English. Its usage is very pervasive in classical Chinese poems as well as in oral Chinese. Reduplication is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect.
In the process of creating poetry, many ancient or modern Chinese poets, have used a large number of reduplicative words, which have greatly added to the artistic expressiveness of works. Li Qingzhao is a typical poet, who used fourteen reduplicative words in the first sentence in her poem: Sheng Sheng Man《声声慢》 “寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惨戚戚” is considered a masterpiece among her works largely due to the remarkable application of the reduplicative words which wowed a great number of translators.
The following translated version is from Lin Yutang.
So dim, so dark,
So dense, so dull,
So damp, so dank, so dead! (Lin Yutang)
By analyzing Lin Yutang’s translated version, we found out that he was not restrained by the literal meaning of the original version, but transcended successfully by recreating the poetess’ feelings and the atmosphere. He used the combination of “so” and “d” produced the same effect as the original version by alternating lingual and dental sounds. In meaning, a series of alliteration words, such as “dim”, “dark”, “dense”, “dull”, “damp”, “dank”, “dead” perfectly imitated reduplicative words in Chinese. It was a wonderful interpretation and also a unique creation in itself.
The following two translated versions are from Xu Yuanchong.
I look for what I miss,
I know not what it is,
I feel so sad, so drear,
So lonely, without cheer. (Xu Yuanchong)
I seek but seek in vain,
I search and search again.
I feel so sad, so drear,
So lonely, without cheer. (Xu Yuanchong)
From Xu Yuanchong’s two translation, we can see that just the first two lines are different. The first version he used end rhyme throughout the whole poem to create the musical beauty (miss, is, drear, cheer). And in the second version, Xu Yuanchong used “seek” not “look for” to create the poetess’ gloomy feelings. With the adroit use of “in vain” and “again”, we almost know and understand the poetess’ hesitation and miserable.
3.1.2 The English Translation of “雁”in Sheng Sheng Man
Ci-poems are full of vivid images and rich in poetic and artistic conception. It is acclaimed that the image is the soul of poetry which gained the poetic works ever-lasting life. Abstract and concrete image are different categorization of images. Concrete image is expected to be much easier to be understood and accepted than abstract concept. Inner thought can be manifested by the form of image and thus put into tangible language.
雁过也，正伤心、 却是旧时相识。——《声声慢》
I recognize the geese flying overhead:
My old friends,
Bring not the old memories back! (Lin Yutang)
Wild geese fly past, while I’m broken -hearted;
But I recognize they are my old friends. (Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yang)
It breaks my heart, alas,
To see the wild geese pass,
For they are my acquaintances of old. ( Xu Yuanchong )
We can see different translators have different translations about “雁”. Yang Xianyi couple, Xu Yuanchong, and are translated “雁”into “wild geese”. While Lin Yutang is translated “雁”into “geese”. But according to the basic characteristics of English famous object “increases with the increasing release”, I think translated “雁”into “messaging geese” is better for foreign readers. In this poem, Li Qingzhao saw the wild goose the south fly, causing her infinite “sad”, originally in the north they are “old acquaintance”. At this time, “wild goose” not only refers to swan goose to mail a letter but also be a metaphor of traces of northern Song Dynasty minister south crossing, since then, an old acquaintance of swan goose more sentimentality and promote the poetess for her husband's miss and homesick.
3.1.3 Comparative Analysis of Images in Sheng Sheng Man《声声慢》 Ci-poems are full of vivid images and rich in poetic and artistic conception. It is acclaimed that the image is the soul of poetry which gained the poetic works ever-lasting life. Abstract and concrete image are different categorization of images. Concrete image is expected to be much easier to be understood and accepted than abstract concept. Inner thought can be manifested by the form of image and thus put into tangible language.
梧桐更兼细雨。——《声声慢》
Images: 梧桐
On plane's broad leaves a fine rain drizzles. (Xu Yuanchong)
And the drizzle on the kola nut. (Lin Yutang)
From the above two translated versions, we can see Xu Yuanchong’s translation is different from Lin Yutang’s. Xu Yuanchong translated“梧桐”into “plane” and Lin Yutang translated“梧桐”into “kola nut”.It loads with Chinese deeply cultural connotation, which conveys the feeling of dreariness and loneliness. So a kind of proper translation is needed for foreign readers to know about the poetess inner world. It remains Chinese classical culture and can help foreign readers understand the connotation of “梧桐”.
IV. Conclusion
This thesis has tentatively analyzed different translation versions of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry : Sheng Sheng Man . It analyzes Sheng Sheng Man from three parts: the fourteen reduplicative words, the English translation of “雁”, comparative analysis of images in Sheng Sheng Man. By analyzing different versions in the former chapters, we encountered translators from quite different cultures and backgrounds. These translators can be categorized into three groups according to their cultural backgrounds.
First of all, Xu Yuanchong, Xu Zhongjie, Yang Xianyi, etc. The indigenous identity enables them to better understand the original works because traditional Chinese culture is deeply rooted in their mind. As native Chinese, they are dedicated to promote Chinese culture and expand its influence.
Then, Gladys Yang and James Cryer are western translators from English speaking countries. Among them, Gladys Yang has experience of living in China for many years. In previous analysis, it can be found out that sometimes, they made mistakes in understanding the meaning of the original Ci-poems. These translators attempt to introduce Chinese poetry to westerners.
Last, Lin Yutang is the Chinese living in English speaking world. The translation works will be inevitably and naturally influenced by a variety of elements, such as cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, intellectual frameworks, personalities. These factors will influence their understanding and further influence their translation.
In my opinion, the translator should have a thorough knowledge of the poetess, such as her historical and cultural background, living environments, intellectual structure, beliefs, emotional life, state of mind, personal relations, personalities, special preferences etc. This knowledge can facilitate the translators to better fulfill their tasks.
Through the efforts of many translators, translations and theories on Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry have developed enormously, but a lot of problems remained unsolved and there is large room for innovation. The translators can do their best to be close to the original poems. And I hope it can be good for the foreign readers to know about Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poetry. This thesis has achieved some results through painstaking efforts. The author always has the hope of contributing her own efforts in the promotion of traditional Chinese culture and expansion of its influential power. So I hope this paper can make a comparative study on several typical English translations of the poems, from which translators of classic Chinese verse may get some inspiration.
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