It is known to all that Chinese culture is profound, and traditionally, there is such kind of view that Tang Poems, Song Ci, Yuan Qu and Ode of Han Dynasty are regarded as the treasures of Chinese literature。 So in the development of Chinese literature, Tang poetry is one of the most distinct forms of literature。 Many lines form the Tang poetry have become Chinese proverbs used constantly, for example, if one man guards the pass, ten thousand are unable to get through(一夫当关，万夫莫开)；Long distance separates no bosom friends (海内存知己,天涯若比邻)；A tiny insect, trying to shake a mighty tree, is ludicrously ignorant of its own weakness（蚍蜉撼大树， 可笑不自量）and so forth。 So clearly, Tang poems are of great significance in Chinese literature。

And Bai Juyi, with a long standing reputation and profound influence, is one of the greatest poets in Tang dynasty。 He is called the poem zealot。 During his life, he has written more than three thousand poems, such as The Old Charcoal Seller(卖炭翁), Song of a Pipa Player(琵琶行), The Everlasting Regret(长恨歌) and so on, making him a prolific poet during that time。 His poems are popular, realistic and easy to understand。 It is said that whenever Bai Juyi finished writing a poem, he would read it to old people。 If the old people could not understand, he would rewrite the poem。 Although this story remains to be proved, the language used in his poems is indeed plain。 Therefore, there is another saying that “even a child could understand the poem of The Everlasting Regret; even people of Hu could read the Song of the Lute Player” ( 童子解吟长恨曲，胡儿能唱琵琶篇)。 Both poems are written by Bai Juyi。 

And in my thesis, I would make a study on the former poem--- The Everlasting Regret。

The Everlasting Regret is one of his masterpieces, originating from the tragic love story between emperor Tangxuanzong and his consort Yang Yuhuan。 And as a typical Tang poetry loaded with abundant cultural implication, the poem has won great attention of readers and scholars both at home and abroad。 Besides, Chinese poetry is a most highly regarded literary genre in China, which is a unique form of literature, and is rhymed, implicit and profound, carrying the minimum number of characters to express abundant ideas。 Therefore, the task of translating Chinese into English versions is one of the hardest nuts to crack。 And in terms of the versions, many translators have presented their ideas, as the poem is translated into English by foreign translators, including Innes Herdan, Soam Jennings, Herbert A。 Giles, W。J。 B Fletcher, Arthur Wally, Witter Bynner, and Chinese translators Yang Hsien-yi, Xu Yuanchong, Weng Xianliang and so on。 In this paper, two English versions are going to be discussed ---- the Yang Hysien-yi’s and the Xu Yuanchong’s。 文献综述

Poem is a form of communication。 And which kind of English version could better express its meanings, ideas even emotions? By applying central concepts of relevance theory and analyzing some translation materials selected from two versions of The Everlasting Regret, I want to explain what translation should achieve。

This thesis is pided into four parts。 Chapter one presents the background and significance of the thesis。 Chapter two is the literature review which concerns about the development and application of relevance theory。 Chapter three makes a detailed comparative study of two English versions of The Everlasting Regret, respectively translated by Xu Yuanchong and Yang Hysien-yi。 And the last chapter is the conclusion part which gives a summary of this thesis and points out some limitations of the relevance theory。