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Ethereal Tranquility: A Study of the English Translation of Hanshi Chan Poems in Early Qing Dynasty through the Perspectives of Translation Aesthetics

Author(s)

Ying Song1, Panrong Shi2

Affiliation(s)

1School of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou Vocational University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China 2School of Foreign Languages, Ningxia Normal University, Guyuan, Ningxia, China

Abstract

The Lingnan poet-monk group in early Qing Dynasty is the largest poet group in China to date, with the most renowned being the Haiyun school. The leader, Hanshi, left behind the Xiatang Poetry Collection in 20 volumes, which is considered a classic of Lingnan Buddhist literature. The Chan poems of Tianran Hanshi, as an aesthetic object, contain rich Chan meanings and artistic nuances. Their aesthetic value is primarily reflected in three aspects: the beauty of sound, the beauty of emotion, and the beauty of imagery. This study, using Liu miqing's translation aesthetics as a linguistic aesthetic framework, explores the English translation practices of ancient poems, analyzing how interlingual conversion is carried out within formal and non-formal systems, and how the Chan principles of the original poems are conveyed. The goal is to recreate the ethereal tranquility of the original, promoting the cultural dissemination and reception of Lingnan monk poetry in the English-speaking world.

Keywords

Monk poets of Lingnan; Tianran Hanshi; English Translation of Chan Poetry

References

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