Translation of Chinese Poem “Sheng sheng man” from the Perspective of Reception Aesthetics  
Abstract

The poem “Sheng sheng man” is one of Li Qingzhao’s representative poems, who is a representative of “Wanyue” School (婉约派). The poetess expresses her sadness and sorrow through describing the scenery of the late autumn. There are numerous English versions of the poem “Sheng sheng man”. Xu Yuanchong, Lin Yutang, Xu Zhongjie and many other professionals in translation have translated it. Some specialists abroad also translated it into English, such as Kenneth Rexroth and John Turner. The translators have also done extensive translation theory research about the poem and put forward various techniques on how to translate the poem. For example, Xu Yuanchong put forward the principle of “Three Beauty”, which is Sound Beauty, Sense Beauty and Form Beauty. And John Turner held an opinion that the translation of a poem should read like a poem itself.

The theory of reception aesthetics transferred the literature research from author-centrism and text-centrism to reader-centrism, holding that a work of art is always created for readers and that a work of art does not actually exist unless it has been read by readers. Based on the theory of reception aesthetics and its core concepts---- expectation horizon and blank theory, with the reference to current translation research of the poem “Sheng sheng man” both at home and abroad, the paper analyzes the techniques of translation employed in respect of images, wording features, figures of speech, rhythms and rhymes in translation of the poem “Sheng sheng man”.

Key words: the poem “Sheng sheng man”, English translation, reception aesthetics, expectation horizon, blank theory