On Li Bai’s “Jing Ye Si” and Its Translations into English
Anders PETTERSSON
Umeå University
Page 073-084
Abstract: In my article, I base myself on 19 different translations into English of Li Bai’s well-known poem “Jing Ye Si” (静夜思). These translations were published between 1898 and 2019, and I comment on how the ways of converting “Jing Ye Si” into a poem in English have changed over time. But first and foremost, I look at how various translators have dealt with some specific translation problems in the poem and with the overall challenge of recreating “Jing Ye Si” in English as an artistic whole. I conclude with some more general reflections on texts, meanings, and translations.
Keywords: Li Bai, “Jing Ye Si,” translation of Chinese poetry, Herbert A. Giles, Florence Ayscough, Burton Watson
DOI: 10.53397/hunnu.jflc.202501008
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