In the Sense of a “Successful” Translation Z I XI L I
Ancient Chinese poetry is notable for its aesthetic, rhetorical beauty and depth. Its forms, themes and contexts vary in accordance with constantly changing historical backgrounds such as warfare, love or culture. Translations from the ancient Chinese language to modern Mandarin are implicit and subtle, therefore adding another layer of uncertainty to the complex analyses of the ancient Chinese poetry. Li Bai[李白] was a Chinese poet acclaimed from his own day to the present as a genius and a romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. The American poet and critic, Ezra Pound, translated Li Bai’s poetry and made it into a collection named Cathay for Western audiences. From the collection, I have chosen to focus on the poem “The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance[玉阶怨]” (Rihaku 5) and to analyze Pound’s mechanisms and approaches, eventually evaluating his translation for its success and credibility. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) was the golden age of classical Chinese poetry; great poets and their works gained reputation and exceptional status. Among them, Li Bai[李白], Rihaku in English, wore the laurel without any doubts. The prosperous Tang Empire bonded closely with the Western world. Merchants and couriers promoted trades and abundant cultural exchanges. The legendary Marco Polo was one of them. Hundreds of years later, this particular situation reiterated itself with Pound translating Li Bai’s poetry for Western audiences. Although Pound’s translation is not literal and misses the nuances of the Chinese language, it can be considered successful as it promotes contemporary cultural exchange between the Western and the Oriental world, and preserves elegance in a Western context. However, Pound faced obstacles in his translation process, further complicated by another translation of this poem. He was not the only contributor to Cathay; it was actually translated based on a Japanese manuscript of “The
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