The Art of Translation: Methods to Deal with the Cultural Connotations of Flower and Plant Names in the Chu Ci

The Chu ci, the earliest anthology of Chinese romantic poetry by Qu Yuan and other poets, contains a large number of flower and plant names which have both referential and symbolic meanings. These meanings are so difficult to identify and determine today as to bring about great trouble in understanding and representing the names in translation. This article briefly explores the double meaning of some flower and plant names in the Li sao, the most important poem in the anthology, and examines the translation methods used in the English versions of the canon by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, David Hawkes, Xu Yuanchong, and Zhou Zhenying. The present study holds the philosophy of translation that any translating experiment is advisable in dealing with the names if their appropriate cultural connotations can be made clear.

Keywords: Chu ci, Flower and plant names, Cultural connotations, Translation methods