第1章 序
翻译，是语言转换，但不是语言符号之间的简单替换。相反，它最终是文化转换，是对译出语语料的分析与解构和对译入语内容的重组与构建，是语言与文化的高度融合。
当今，科学技术高度发展，人工智能技术日趋成熟，翻译行业受到严重挑战，尤其是简单的日常交流能借助机器实现，一般的非文学翻译能借助语料库实现高匹配翻译，一般的文学翻译也能基本实现。
然而，机器是翻译不了古典诗歌的，因为古典诗歌语言过于凝练，因为诗歌语汇过于古雅，因为诗歌语言词义古今不同，因为诗歌表达的感情丰富至极，因为诗歌是一个情感世界。我认为，它也是人类最高的生活境界。
有人还在讨论诗歌的可译性，实在无必要。实际上，诗歌翻译始终没有停止过，并且翻译水平越来越高。然而，诗歌翻译的确很难。弗罗斯特曾说："Poetry is what gets lost in translation（诗，翻译所失也）”。他不仅指出诗歌翻译的艰难，还指出误译的不可避免性。的确，我认为，凡是翻译，都有误译，即便理解正确，不恰当的表达也仍然存在。完全对等的翻译是不存在的。
诗歌翻译在文化建设上一直起着十分重要的作用。在对外国诗歌进行汉译中，无论使用古文还是白话文，都在不同时期起到重要作用，或鼓舞斗志，或教人爱国，或展示爱情，或讴歌自然，对中国诗歌艺术是一种丰富。同样，中国诗歌的外译，无论是外国人译的还是中国人译的，都促进了外国对中国诗歌文化、伦理、社会风俗的了解，都促进了世界文化的交流。
中国诗歌英译是传播中国文化的重要途径，是东学西渐和帮助其他国家更多了解中国的重要手段。诗歌是中国历代文学的精华所在，承载了中华文化的基因，反映了中华民族的文化精神和不同历史时期诗人的情怀和信仰。
《诗经》，集黄河流域民歌、贵族祭祀之歌和宗庙祭祀之歌为一体，反映了周朝约五百年间的社会生活面貌。战国后期，《楚辞》出现在长江流域的楚国，标志着诗歌从民间集体创作发展到诗人独立创作的阶段。《诗经》和《楚辞》，是中国诗歌发展的两大源头，共同开创了中国古代诗歌现实主义和浪漫主义和谐发展的传统。
乐府诗在两汉时期逐渐达到鼎盛，魏晋南北朝时期创作不断，形成了唐诗和宋词的雏形。
唐代是中国诗歌史上的黄金时代，流派纷呈，名家辈出，成就卓著。
宋代文学以词为主。宋初，词多写个人离愁。苏轼扩大了词的题材，提高了词的意境，丰富了词的表现手法，开创了豪放词派。辛弃疾使宋词的思想境界和精神面貌达到了前所未有的高度，在词的艺术表现手法上有了新的突破和发展。宋后期，词复归婉约。秦观之词柔婉清丽，情辞兼胜。李清照善于炼字炼意，擅长白描。宋末期，文天祥等人的爱国诗篇，为宋代诗坛添上了最后一抹光彩。
元代以散曲而著名。元曲扩展了诗歌的表现范围，经常与前代诗词互文，形式自由，语言活泼，口语性强，还有地域特征，雅俗共赏，接地气，给诗坛注入了一股清新空气。
明清以小说著称于世。除杨慎、龚自珍和纳兰性德等人外，明、清两朝有影响力的诗人为数不多。龚自珍之诗揭社会之黑暗，抒报国之大志，赢得“三百年来第一流”（柳亚子语）的称誉。
现当代诗人辈出，但把个人之志与家国情怀结合最完美的当属毛泽东。毛泽东诗词是中国革命和建设的史诗，秉承爱国主义传统，具有强烈时代特色，反映中华民族精神，体现共产党人初心，抒发远大革命理想，成为现代中国精神的文化符号，成为全世界作品出版发行数量最大、阅读群体最大的诗人。
在中国三千年的诗歌长河中，经典诗词是中华民族精神追求的深沉积淀，是中华民族生生不息、发展壮大的丰厚滋养。经典诗词伴随一代又一代人成长，滋养了中华民族的民族精神。
经典诗词英译是中华文化对外传播的重要组成部分。对中国诗词进行外译的历史悠久，译者各显神通，把中国诗词文化传播到世界各地，与世界文明互鉴，与世界文化共存。然而，随着时代的变迁和理解的加深，对诗词进行重译，也是有必要的。尹绍东老师的《中国经典诗词选英译》则是这一环节上的一朵小花。
我与云南高校外语界尤其是云南师范大学外国语学院友谊至深，常去云南，或上课，或讲座，或采风，结交了许多有学问、有情有义、多个民族的学者，其中包括尹绍东老师，窃喜遇见一个志同道合的青年学者、一个值得敬仰的翻译人才。
尹绍东老师治学严谨，有思辨精神和创造性。他参加了李昌银教授主持的“十三五”国家重点出版物出版规划项目“云南少数民族经典作品英译文库”翻译工作，承担了苗族长篇叙事诗《金笛》的翻译。他的译诗忠实、达意、通顺，做到了语言交际与文化传递完美的统一，为民族典籍英译积累了成果。
尹绍东老师精选并翻译了一百首中国经典古诗词，集于一书出版。这些诗词都是脍炙人口的经典之作。他力争用英语表达出这些经典诗歌的意象、意境、音美、形美和神韵，精益求精，敢于创新，形成了自己的特色。
他力求知诗真意，传其真意；知诗神韵，传其神韵。另外，他对许多诗词的理解很有新意。例如，“雎鸠”“蒹葭”到底为何物？他遍查资料，寻访专家，认真求证，呈现出自己独特的译文。他没有把“床前明月光”中的“床”译成"bed"，而是译为"around the well"，他是古今中外第一个如此处理的，是一创举。我认为，他对中国古诗词有着自己独到的理解，令人耳目一新。他的翻译是研究型翻译，并且很有说服力。
尹绍东老师对诗词的理解、考证、翻译为我们提供了正确理解这些诗词的另一种选项。我认为，他提供的选项是有道理的。
概括而言，本书有以下特点：
一、符合国际交流的需求。在全球化背景下，向世界讲好中国故事，正确讲述中国故事，推动中国文化走出去，让世界了解中国，这已成为当代中国的国家战略。中国文学，尤其是古典文学的英译，正是这一战略的重要组成部分。古典诗词的英译，可以帮助外国读者进一步了解悠久的中国文学传统和辉煌的文学成就，从而对中国文化有更全面、更深刻的认识，继而实现文明互鉴和民心相通。
二、所选作品代表性强。本书选编了自先秦以降两千多年来的经典诗词，从《诗经》《楚辞》到毛泽东诗词，各个时代、各种风格的代表作均有入选。重点考虑历代大师的经典作品，如李白、杜甫、苏轼、辛弃疾、李清照、毛泽东等，兼顾其他诗人的佳作名篇。其中，有三件作品的入选令人耳目一新。
第一、刘禹锡的《陋室铭》。按照传统的文类划分，铭文自成一体，既不是诗，也不是文。但有一点值得注意，铭文属于韵文，并不是严格意义上的散体。从这个意义上讲，《陋室铭》的收录具有创新价值，同时又有依据。
第二、明代文学家杨慎的《临江仙·滚滚长江东逝水》。这是杨慎所作《廿一史弹词》第三段《说秦汉》的开场词，后清初毛宗岗父子评刻《三国演义》时将其移至《三国演义》卷首，20世纪90年代电视剧《三国演义》将其作为主题曲广泛传播，知名度非常高。译者将其选入，可谓独具慧眼。
第三、罗庸的《西南联大校歌》。歌词采用“满江红”词牌格式写成，悲壮典雅，感人至深。该词的入选具有特殊意义，表达了译者对联大光辉历史的敬意和作为联大遗脉的云南师大一分子的自豪。以上三首作品的入选使本书超越了同类的其他选本，成为独树一帜的汉诗英译选集。
三、译文质量高。选集收录的一百首中国经典诗词，均属韵体，而译文也采用韵体，不仅诗行讲究节奏，行末也尽量押韵，音乐性强，朗朗上口。总体上看，译文从信、达、雅三个方面再现了原文的主题内容、形式特征和语言风格，是汉诗英译之以诗译诗的又一重要成果。当然，译文不可能都是十全十美的，因为每个读者都有自己的期待，但只要理解正确，即便表达上有些不足之处，也应包容。
这本诗集英译的出现是中国古诗词英译领域一件值得关注的事情，因为这本书的出版将大大丰富中西方读者对中国经典诗词的理解，给诗歌翻译活动带来一定启示。
译本出版之际，他所在学院领导和他本人邀我通读书稿，嘱我作序。仓促之间，寥寥数语，难言其妙。请读者读后自评。
是为序。
李正栓 博士、教授
河北师范大学外国语学院
中国英汉语比较研究会典籍英译专业委员会常务副会长兼秘书长
2019年6月6日
PREFACE
Translation is a transformation of one language into another, but not the simple substitution of language symbols.Instead, it is, in the end, cultural transformation.Translation is achieved through an analysis and deconstruction of the source language materials and the reorganization and construction of the content in the target language.In this way, an advanced integration of language and culture is produced.
In such an age when science and technology are highly developed, and artificial intelligence is increasingly perfected, the translation industry is being greatly challenged.Simple daily communications between people from different languages can be done through machine translation.Ordinary non-literary translation can be fulfilled with relative accuracy with the help of corpus, and general literary translation can be almost realized.
However, machines cannot translate classical poetry, since the language used in classical poetry is more condensed, and the vocabulary is more classical and elegant, as well as the fact that the meanings of words have been undergoing changes over time.Furthermore, profound emotions abound in poetry, so poetry is an emotional world, and in my opinion, it is also the highest realm of human life.
It is still debated whether poetry is translatable or untranslatable, and I believe the debate is really unnecessary.Poetry should be translated whether it is translatable or untranslatable.In fact, the translation of poetry has never stopped, and the quality of translation has become higher and higher.However, poetry translation is indeed difficult.Robert Frost once said that "poetry is what gets lost in translation." He has not only pointed out the difficulty of poetry translation, but also the fact that mistranslation is unavoidable.In fact, I believe, there are always mistranslations in translation of any kind.Even if a poem has been correctly understood, improper expressions still exist in translation.Absolute equivalence in translation is a castle in the air.
Poetry translation has been playing an important role in cultural construction.Chinese translation of foreign poetry, either into classical Chinese or modern Mandarin, has greatly and deeply influenced Chinese people at different times.The foreign poems translated are either encouraging or patriotic.They show us what love is about or sing highly of nature.This has enriched Chinese poetry.Meanwhile, foreign translations of Chinese poetry, whether translated by foreign scholars or Chinese translators, have all promoted foreigners' understanding of Chinese poetry culture, ethics, and social customs, and stimulated exchange between world cultures.
Translating Chinese poetry into English is an important way to spread Chinese culture, and it is also a vital means to introduce Chinese culture to the West and help other countries know more about China.Poetry is the essence of Chinese literature in history and it has carried the DNA of the Chinese culture and reflected the cultural spirit of the Chinese people, as well as the poets' sentiments and beliefs throughout Chinese history.
The Book of Songs includes folk songs of the Yellow River Basin, ceremonial or festive odes of the nobles and ritual hymns of sacrifice to praise ancestors.It reflects the social life of the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasties within a period of about five hundred years.In the late years of the Warring Period, The Verse of the Chu, which originated in the Kingdom of Chu in the Yangtze River Basin, indicated that poetry writing had shifted from a collective product to an individual one.The Book of Songs and The Verse of the Chu are the two origins of Chinese poetry, and they together have established the tradition of the harmonious coexistence of realism and romanticism in classical Chinese poetry.
During the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties, Music-Bureau poetry[1] achieved great success and blossomed.In the Wei and Jin Periods and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Music-Bureau poetry continued to develop, thus becoming the embryo of the Tang poetry and the Song lyrics.
The Tang Dynasty was the golden age in the history of Chinese poetry and witnessed the prosperity of different schools and brilliant poets, who were at the peak of achievement in Chinese poetry writing.
Lyrics were the typical literature of the Song Dynasty.In the early Song Dynasty, lyrics were mainly about personal sadness or melancholy over parting.Su Shi broadened the scope of lyrics, elevated their artistic conception, enriched their expression and created the "School of Heroic Abandon." With Xin Qiji's appearance, lyrics reached their apex in the realm of thought and spiritual outlook.This was unprecedented in the history of poetry.In the artistic expressions of lyrics, there were breakthroughs in poetry development.In the late Song Dynasty, lyrics became delicate and restrained again.Qin Guan's lyrics were soft, delicate and beautiful, while Li Qingzhao was a genius in word choice and refinement and was quite good at poetical sketches.At the end of the Song Dynasty, Wen Tianxiang's and some other poets'patriotic poems were the final splendor of poetry in the Song Dynasty.
The Yuan Dynasty was known for its dramatic songs.Yuan songs broadened the scope of poetry expression and very often, there was intertextuality between dramatic songs and poems in previous dynasties.Dramatic songs are free in form and lively in language.The use of everyday colloquial speech was common in dramatic songs and regional characteristics could be found in their language, thus being loved by both the literati and the common people.In their closeness to daily life, dramatic songs have brought a breath of fresh air to poetry writing.
The Ming and the Qing Dynasties were famous for novels.Except for Yang Shen, Gong Zizhen and Nalan Xingde, there were few influential poets during the two dynasties.Gong Zizhen's poems exposed the darkness of society and expressed his great ambition to serve the country, thus earning him the reputation of being "a first-class poet in three hundred years"(by Liu Yazi).
In modern and contemporary China, poets have come out in large numbers, but Mao Zedong was the only one who perfectly merged his personal aspirations with his love for the nation and country.Mao Zedong's poems are epics of Chinese revolution and construction, and have inherited traditional patriotism.They have striking characteristics of the times and reflect the spirit of the Chinese people and the original aspiration of the Communist Party of China.Mao Zedong's poems express his great revolutionary ideals and have become cultural symbols of the spirit of modern China.He was the poet whose poems enjoyed the most widespread publication with readers around the world.
For 3,000 years, in the long river of Chinese poetry, classic poems have been an impressive accumulation of Chinese spiritual aspiration and the rich soil for the growth and development of the Chinese people.Classic poems have been with Chinese people for generations and have nourished their national spirit.
The English translation of classic poems is an important part of spreading Chinese culture to foreign countries.There has been a long history of translating Chinese poetry into foreign languages.The translators have tried what they could to spread Chinese poetic culture to the world, and share or draw on all the achievements of world civilizations.It is their wish to make Chinese poetic culture part of world cultures.However, with the changing times and research done on poems, it is really necessary to retranslate them.Mr.Yin Shaodong's A Collection of Classic Chinese Poems and Lyrics is a little flower among those translation works.
I have formed close friendships with the foreign language circle in colleges and universities in Yunnan, particularly the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Yunnan Normal University.I have been to Yunnan very often for classes, or lectures, or field studies, and have made friends with many learned and sincere scholars of different nationalities, one of whom is Mr.Yin Shaodong.I am very happy to meet a young scholar, an admirable talent in translation, who has a common interest with me.
Mr.Yin Shaodong is a speculative and creative scholar with a rigorous and inquiring mind.He has taken part in the project led by Professor Li Changyin,"Classics of Yunnan Ethnic Groups in English Translation." This project is part of "The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Key National Publication Program." He has translated Gold Flute, an epic of the Hmong people, and his translation is faithful, expressive and smooth.In his translation, he has achieved the perfect integration of language communication and cultural transmission, and has thus made a contribution to the English translation of ethnic classics.
Mr.Yin Shaodong has selected and translated one hundred classic Chinese poems, which will be published.These poems are classics which have been popular and widely praised one generation after another among Chinese people.He tried to convey in English the images, artistic conception, the beauty of sound and form and the romantic charm of these classic Chinese poems.When translating the poems, he constantly strived for perfection and creativity in the formation of unique characteristics in the English translation of Chinese poems.
He has made every effort to know a poem's true meaning, convey its true meaning in English, know a poem's romantic charm and convey its romantic charm in English.Moreover, he has a new and fresh understanding of many poems.For instance, what really are "jujiu" and "jianjia"? He searched for materials, consulted experts, conducted serious research and finally presented his own unique translation to us.He did not translate "chuang" in Li Bai's "chuang qian ming yue guang" as "bed," instead, he used the phrase "around the well" to convey the meaning of "chuang." He is the first translator in the world to deal with the word in such a way.It is my idea that he has his own unique understanding of classical Chinese poetry.His translation is based on research and it is very persuasive and convincing.
Mr.Yin Shaodong's understanding, textual research and translation have provided us with another way to correctly understand these poems.I believe that the different ways he offered are very convincing.
Broadly speaking, his book has the following features:
1.It meets the requirements for international communication.In the context of globalization, it is China's national strategy to relate, in good ways, Chinese stories to the world.These Chinese stories should also be correctly told to introduce Chinese culture to foreign countries and help the world know more about China.The English translation of Chinese literature, particularly classical literature, is one of the most important parts of the strategy.English translation of classical Chinese poetry can help international readers further understand the long Chinese literary tradition and China's glorious literary achievement.In this way, they can have a more thorough and deeper understanding of Chinese culture.This will enable different civilizations to know and emulate each other and people from different countries will be closer to each other.
2.The poems selected are representative.The collection includes classic poems from the Pre-Qin Period to the modern times, with a time span of over 2,000 years.The works selected include poems from The Book of Songs, and The Verse of the Chu to Mao Zedong, covering each period of Chinese history and different styles.The majority of classic poems selected are from master poets like Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, Xin Qiji, Li Qingzhao, Mao Zedong, as well as classic poems of other poets.Among the works selected, three poems, like a breath of fresh air, are well worth mentioning.
Firstly, Liu Yuxi's An Epigraph on the Simple House, according to traditional literary division, is neither a poem nor an article.It is an epigraph, so different from other literary styles.However, it should be pointed out that an epigraph makes use of rhymed verse, so it is not, in a strict sense, prose.From this point of view, the appearance of An Epigraph on The Simple House in a poetry collection, which is well-founded, will be a fresh reading experience for readers.
Secondly, Tune to "Riverside Daffodils"·Rolling, Rolling, the Yangtze River Flows Eastward, a lyric poem from Yang Shen, a Ming Dynasty writer, is in fact, the opening words of On the Qin and the Han Dynasties.This third part of the fiddle ballads Twenty One Dynasties is sung in Chinese southern dialects.Later, in the early Qing Dynasty, when Mao Zonggang and his father commented on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong, and published their version, they borrowed the lyric poem and put it at the beginning of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.In the 1990s, it was used as the theme song of the TV series the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so it has become widely known all over China.The translator can see what others cannot for the very fact that his selection is really unique.
Thirdly, the selection of the Anthem of National Southwestern Associated University, written by Luo Yong, is another example that makes the present collection so special.The lyric, written to the tune "Red Water Fern," is grave, elegant, and touching.The selection of this lyric poem has special significance, indicating the translator's respect for the glorious history of the National Southwestern Associated University and his pride in being a part of Yunnan Normal University.This collection excels similar ones because of the inclusion of these three poems.Mr.Yin Shaodong has blazed a trail in selecting classic Chinese poems for English translation.
3.The translation of the collection is of high quality.The one hundred classic Chinese poems in the collection are almost all rhymed, and their English translations are also almost rhymed.Each line of the English version is rhythmic, and the translator has tried hard to get the ending word in each line to rhyme, which makes his version beautifully musical with a captivating tune.Overall, his translation has reproduced each original poem's thematic content, form, characteristics and language style in terms of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance.Therefore, it can be seen as an important product of the English translation of Chinese poetry.Undoubtedly, the translation can never be as perfect as the translator wishes, since every reader has his/her own expectations.However, as long as the translator is correct in his understanding of the poems, it is understandable that there might be some flaws in his translation, which, I think, should be tolerated.
The present collection of the English translation of Chinese poetry is well worth paying attention to in the circle of the English translation of classical Chinese poetry whether in the West or in China, the publication of the book will greatly enrich readers'understanding of classic Chinese poems.The book will also provide some enlightenment to the English translation of Chinese poetry.
On the verge of its publication, it was expected of me by the translator's director in the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Yunnan Normal University and the translator himself to read through the draft and write a foreword for the collection.Within a limited time, it is hard for this short piece to tell in detail the charm of Mr.Yin Shaodong's translation.The readers are expected to find them all by themselves.
This short piece of work serves as the foreword.
Li Zhengshuan Ph.D＆Professor
School of Foreign Studies of Hebei Normal University
Standing Vice Chairman and Secretary General of
Classics Translation Committee of CACSEC
6 June 2019