1。2 A brief introduction to Separation on the River Kiang论文网

Separation on the River Kiang written by Li Bai is one of the most famous poem in Chinese literature。 It is a farewell poem which pictures a sad departure between Li Bai and Meng Haoran。 Li Bai expresses his reluctant feeling for Meng by creating it。

2。 Literature Review

2。1 Previous studies on the English version by Xu  源C于H优J尔W论R文M网WwW.youeRw.com 原文+QQ752-018766

Cui Yonglu, a professor from Foreign Language Department of Nankai University, appraises in his book that “the English version of Separation on the River Kiang by Xu Yuanchong is tasteful in terms of appropriateness of words, fine adjustments of allusions and perfect balance achieved between beauties in translation and faithfulness to source text” (Cui 12)。

In a good translation, Cui Yonglu points out, choice of words is critical to reveal the beauty in source text。 The translator must repeatedly taste the source text to make sure that he/she has chosen perfect words to convey the writer’s message。 Xu Yuanchong has undoubtedly done his job in this way。 

Li Han, a professor from Foreign Language Department of Beijing University, says that it is challenging for the translator to adjust the allusions in source text into other images so that Western readers may not find any difficulty understanding the translated text。 There are countless images and allusions in the Chinese version of Separation on the River Kiang by Li Bai that no one could appreciate without a background of Chinese culture。 In this case, Xu Yuanchong has successfully found substitutes to make it up。 

Wang Qinghua, a professor of Xihua University believes that the standard of a good translation is whether it can evoke the same feelings in its readers just as the original text does。 In pursuing evocative translation, Xu Yuanchong pays special attention to differences between Chinese culture and Western culture during his translating process。 Finally, he found his way to touch his Western readers (Wang 34)。

2。2 Previous studies on the English version of by Ezra Pound

Tao Naikan, a professor in Kunming Normal University, comments in his study that Pound set a classic example in Separation on the River Kiang of how to “reproduce” the poem (Tao 5)。

Additionally, he indicates that there still have imperfections in Pound’s translation。 Tao states, there exists different ways of thinking and expressing from nation to nation, which leads to complexity of translating Chinese into English。 In the source text, Li Bai used several rhetorical devices that cannot be translated equally in meaning into English。 In these cases, Tao thinks Pound failed to convey the full message of the source text。

Yuan Jing, a scholar of Zhejiang University, says in her paper that Pound’s translation corresponds to the idea of modern poetry。 She believes that Pound had melted the ideas of revolutionary poetry into his translation and in turn, his translation had promoted the modernization of poetry (Yuan 64)。文献综述

L。S。Dembo writes in his book that he has negative attitudes towards Pound’s colloquial translation strategy。 He points out that Pound sometimes tends to project some of his ideas into the original poem which bring difficulties to the readers (Dembo 19)。

3。 Theoretical Basis 

3。1 Three Beauties Principle by Xu Yuanchong

Poetry is an art of language and a golden treasury of national language。 Also, poetry translation is characterized by its artistry and subtlety as compared to that in the translation of other genres。 The Chinese and English languages belong to different language families and there exists different cultural and linguistic backgrounds between China and the English—speaking countries, so the task of poetry translation from English into Chinese has never been easy。