Xu Yuanchong Quotes (6 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Xu Yuanchong: 6 quotes 0 likes

Famous Xu Yuanchong Quotes

“A verse translation should be faithful to the original, less in form than in sense. Or in other words, a poetic translation should be as beautiful as the original in sense, in sound and, if possible, in form.”

Xu Yuanchong

Source: 300 Tang Poems: A New Translation (1987), p. xxii

“By riverside are cooing
A pair of turtledoves;
A good young man is wooing
A maiden fair he loves.”

Xu Yuanchong

The Book of Poetry, "A Fair Maiden"
Song of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry (1994)

“Literary translation may be considered as rivalry between two languages (or even between two cultures) which vie to express the original idea better. It should be faithful to the original at least, and beautiful at best. A literary translator should exploit the advantage of the target language, that is to say, make the fullest possible use of the best expressions of the target language in order to make the reader understand, enjoy and delight in the translated text.”

Xu Yuanchong

"New Translation Theories of the New Age" http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-ZGFY200003000.htm, Chinese Translators Journal, 2000, issue 3, p. 2

“The best way to regain poetry is to recreate it.”

Xu Yuanchong

Source: 300 Tang Poems: A New Translation (1987), p. xxi

“The sun beyond the mountains glows;
The Yellow River seawards flows.
You can enjoy a grander sight
By climbing to a greater height.”

Xu Yuanchong

Wang Zhi-huan, "On the Heron Tower"
Song of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry (1994)

“To face the powder, not powder the face.”

Xu Yuanchong

Translation of "不爱红装爱武装" (line from "Militia Women", a 1961 poem by Mao Zedong), in Illustrated Poems of Mao Zedong, trans. Xu Yuanchong (Beijing: China Intercontinental Press, 2006), p. 102