Cultural Loss and its Processing in Translation of Yumeiren

鄧磊

【Abstract】Chinese traditional poetry has a long-term and splendid history， it accounts a very important role in worlds literature and becomes an essential linguistic symbol in carrying Chinese civilization and promoting cross-cultural exchange. However， because of the differences of two cultures， the process in disseminating our poetry culture to other countries is not an easy task. This paper uses Yumeiren by Li Yu， Southern Tang emperor， as an example to analyze the cultural loss phenomenon， which is an important task in Chinese to English poetry translation. It can bring a new angle to the study in traditional literate translation， and also provide some beneficial experience in traditional literate translation for translators.

【Key words】Cultural Loss； Processing； Translation； Yumeiren

Yumeiren has five famous English Versions now， and this paper would select three of them. They are Xu Yuan-chongs English version in 1990， Xu Zhong-jies in 1986 and Hans Frankels in 1976.

LI YU： TO THE TUNE “LADY YU”

（Transl. Hans Frankel） （HTTP：//zhidao.baidu.com/question/77872872）

Spring blossoms and autumn moon - when will they end？ How much has happened in the past！

On the balcony last night， again an east wind， the moon was so bright， I couldn't bear to look toward my old kingdom.

The carved galleries and jade steps must still be there， only the rosy cheeks have changed.

I ask you， how much sorrow can there be？ It's just like a whole river full of eastward flow in spring.

THE LOST LAND RECALLED TUNE： “THE BEAUTIFUL LADY YU”

（TRANSL. XU YUAN-CHONG） （<文學與翻譯>.2003，12.Page 408-409）

When will there be no more autumn moon and spring ?owers？

For me who had so many memorable hours？

My attic which last night in vernal wind did stand，

Reminds me cruelly of the lost moonlit land.

Carved balustrades and marble steps must still be there，

But rosy faces cannot be as fair.

If you ask me how much my sorrow has increased，

Just see the over brimming river ?owing east！

YUMEIREN

（TRANSL. XU ZHONG-JIE） （<詞百首英譯>.1986.10.Page 20-21）

Too long the autumn moon and spring flowers last.

I wonder how much theyve known of my past.

Last night spring breezes through an upper room……

Reminds me too much my present gloom.

With a bright moon， how could I my country recall……

Without a sense of defeat and despair at all.

The Palace should be still there as before……

With its carved railings； jade-like steps galore.

Only here are changes which my plight entail.

My complexion，once ruddy， has become pale.

Should be asked how much anguish I have found.

Strange！Its like flowing water，eastward bound.

If we want translate one literature work in one language to another， we should pay attention to the image and meaning in the original literature work. Take the Title Translation as an example. Yumeiren actually is a kind of flower， and people use it to call YUJI（虞姬）， a beautiful lady in Qin and Han Dynasty. In these three English versions， Xu Zhong-jie translated it as “Yumeiren”， he only used the transliteration. By this way， it can assure the correctness of the title， however it lacks flexibility and generality， a foreigner can not understand what the poem would talk about at his first sight. Frankel translated it as “To The Tune ‘Lady Yu ” . It shows us the name of this CiPai （詞牌）clearly， but no other use futhermore. And Xu Yuan-chong translated it as “The Lost Land Recall Tune： ‘The Beautiful Lady Yu ” It is a little bit long， however it can point directly at the deep meaning of the poem， when reading this title，we readers may first have our own understanding about this poem and then think naturally what the content would go on. Maybe its the best translation among these three.

Next is the Literary Quotations. We all know in our traditional literature works， in poems in particular， the literary quotations are widely used. Poets always take some ancient works and historical images as to express their own willing and expressions. Whether the translation of the literary quotations is correct and suitable is one of the criterion of a good translation work.

In this poem， we take“小樓”（a small building）as an example. According to our common sense， it is simply a small building， or because it was the living place when Li Yu was a prisoner， where he uttered his painful voice for losing his home and country everyday， it can also be translated as a small room or a small prison， in fact， these are the wrong translations. Some scholars once did some researches about Li Yus living conditions after he was imprisoned. He was arranged in a place just as our ancient “COLD PALACE”（冷宮）. Though it could not compared with his earlier palace when he was the emperor， he could still enjoy a decent life， he could still have wine and meat everyday， still possessed a quite and simple place to write poems. Hans Frankel translated it as “balcony”， its original meaning is “a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet” ， we can know， it is not a correct or nearly-correct translation， they two are quite far away. Also， from it， we can clearly realize the understanding differences due to cultural differences. In Xu Zhong-jies version， he used “an upper room”only， maybe it cant show us the true conditions of Li Yus life， it is just an superficial translation. And then about Xu Yuan-chongs version， he translated it as “attic”， it has nearly the same meaning with “an upper room”. However in his later re-translation version， he described it as “my garden”. This word seems have no relation with Li Yus imprisoned life but in fact it can show his decent life. Its original meaning is that its a piece of land next to a house， with flowers， vegetables， other plants， and often grass. It is a place which can give people the feeling of relax and comfort.

Another example is “雕欄玉砌”. Its hard for those people who does not have enough Chinese cultural background to understand it. So these three masters all focus on this word. In Frankels version， he used “ The carved galleries and jade-steps”. First， “GALLERY means ‘a covered corridor， especially one extending along the wall of a building and supported with arches or columns ” . It is not the same meaning as the image in this poem， it can better be replaced by “railings or balustrade”. While the RAILING means ‘a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports and BALUSTRADE is ‘a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling. These two are better correspond with the original text. Then， “JADE-STEPS” actually is not the correct understanding of this image in this poem. JADE refers to jade-piled objects ） ， in this poem， jade-piled objects are not really objects made from jade which refer to ‘a hard stone， usually green in color， and are usually used for making jewellery and ornaments . In this poem， its the jade-like steps， such as marble steps. In Xu Yuan-chongs version， he used “Carved balustrades and marble steps”， it seems to accord with the original image. And in Xu Zhong-jies version， he used “With its carved railings， jade-like galore”， it can also be said a suitable translation of this poem.

Cultural loss can not be avoided， so different translators choose different ways to deal with it. One of the famous parts of Xu Yuan-chongs version is his title translation. He abandoned the transliteration like “Yumeiren” but choose to take the expression which can be better understood in target language. He tried his best to eliminate the misunderstanding of transliteration then minimize the cultural loss in his English version. Xu Zhong-jie， he translated it selectively according to his own condition， such as in “With a bright moon， how could I my country recall-Without a sense of defeat and despair at all” （故國不堪回首月明中）， he used “Without a sense of defeat and despair at all” to correspond “不堪”（hard to bear） ， it can not only properly show us this emperors upset， frustrations and hatred for losing his kingdom but minimize the cultural loss in his translation. Anyhow， how to let target language and source language coincide to each other， so readers can understand and appreciate this poem in the way like source language readers， it is the key point of poem translation.

References：

[1]James J.Y.Liu The Art of Chinese Poetry.University of Chicago Press.1962

[2]許淵沖.文學與翻譯[M].北京大學出版社，1995.

[3]徐忠杰.詞百首英譯[M].北京：北京語言學院出版社，1986：20-21.