On Huang Gaoxin’s Poetry Translation From Xu Yuanchong’s "Three Beauties" Perspective

Outstanding in classical Chinese poetry translation, Xu Yuanchong puts forward "Three Beauties Theory" on the basis of his translation practice. According to "Three Beauties Theory", rhythm and rhyme should be used in translation, the verse should read smooth and euphonious to convey beauty in sound, the lines’length and symmetry should be maintained to express beauty in form, and similarity in sense could be overlooked while beauty in deep sense of the source text must be conveyed. The three beauties are not of the same importance. Beauty in sense is the most important. Beauty in sound is secondly important and beauty in form takes the third place. Huang Gaoxin has published several volumes of poetry translation from English to Chinese which are very popular. Huang Gaoxin’s translation is characterized by the corresponding number of characters and pauses to that of the original. In addition he pays much attention to the reproduction of sound pattern of the original.Unprecedentedly, the present study uses "Three Beauties Theory" to examine Huang Gaoxin’s poetry translation. The author neither compares Xu Yuanchong’s translation theory with that of Huang Gaoxin, nor makes a contrast between the respective works of Xu Yuanchong and Huang Gaoxin, instead, the author takes "Three Beauties Theory" as a theoretical coordinate and puts Huang Gaoxin’s translation works in the coordinate. Specifically, the reproduction of beauty in sound, in form and in sense are analyzed from the aspects of end rhyme, alliteration, internal rhyme, added exclamations, replaced "foot" with "pause", disposition of onomatopoeia and reduplicative words. The beauty in form is examined through common shape poems and geometric shape poems. The beauty in sense is studied in terms of the reproduction of artistic conception and style. The descriptive analysis turns out that in Huang Gaoxin’s translation works, beauty in sound, form and sense of the original are all reproduced very well. The beauty in sound is reproduced magically well. Even the misuse of characters such as "哦" can not hide the beauty in sound in Huang Gaoxin’s translation. In Huang Gaoxin’s poetry translation, not only the characteristics of shape of the original are reproduced, but the beauty in form of the original is also reproduced. Generally speaking, the beauty in sense including artistic conception and style is reproduced very well, although not as good as that of the original verses. This research shows "Three Beauties Theory" can be used to study poetry translation and Huang Gaoxin’s poetry translation illustrates and gives a very good expression of Xu Yuanchong’"Three Beauties Theory".