Domestication of Taoism in Bly’s AncientChinese Poetry of Translation

Yan++Li

Abstract：Domestication refers to the translation strategy in which a transparent， fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers. With the strategy of domestication in translation， this paper perceives and analyzes domesticated Taoism in Blys ancient Chinese poetry of translation.

Key words：Domestication； Robert Bly； Ancient Chinese poetry of translation； Taoism

中圖分類號：H315.9 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1672-1578（2017）01-0001-03

1 Introduction

As a poet， Bly keeps learning the poetry of foreign countries. He goes to China， Norway， Spain， France， German etc. to study poetic culture and art， among which the ancient Chinese poetry and culture influence his poetry most. Bly is an admirer of the Chinese poems. He praises highly of them， “…I think the Chinese poems are the best poetry in human history by now” （Bly， 1980：129）. In the early of 1950s， Bly began to read Taoist classics， the Tao Te Ching and other ancient Chinese poems. He says： “If we want to create great poems， we should model our poems on those by the ancient Chinese poets， especially on Tao Yuanming， Tu Fu and other poets”（Zhao Yiheng， 1983：31）. In the preface of his book The Urge to Travel Long Distances， he states clearly how he benefits from the ancient Chinese poetry and poets：“…I returned in 1955 to a farm a half mile away from my childhood home as a young married man. I wasnt farming， but my wife and I were simply living in a farmhouse on some land my father had saved for me. I was amazed at the permission the land gave to be untroubled， to spend long hours doing nothing， to pay attention to the wind and the land only a few years removed from prairie. By then I had found the Chinese poets， and my models were the poems of Tao Yuanming. I modeled my poems on his relaxed poem songs…”（Bly， 2005： xi） He also translates some of the ancient Chinese classic poems， he says： “I admire the beauty of the Chinese models， which often give more attention to the beings of nature than to the disasters of human life” （ibid）. Most of his translation are collected in Jumping Out of Bed which is “…a collection of Taoist-inspired poems by Robert Bly exploring the joys of solitude， the interdependence of all life， and the delights of being rather than striving” （Bly， 1987）.

It is considered that the great majority of Chinese scholars were the products of the dual influence of Confucianism and Taoism or Buddhism， waving between service and retreat. Tao Yuanming， Tu Fu and Wang Wei are no exceptions. All of them yearn for a simple and tranquil reclusive life in their late years. It is their longing for reclusion expressed in their poems that most appeals to Robert Bly. Thus， to answer the Taoists calling for reclusion and emphasize his high praise of Taoism， Bly fuses his own horizon into the Taoist aspect of that of the three poets in order to make American readers have a better understanding of these ancient Chinese poetry.

2 Domestication

Domestication is one of the translation strategies that are commonly chosen， which is closer to target language. It is easy for target readers to understand and read fluently. It is a target-language-oriented strategy. It aims at minimizing the strangeness to target readers in which case the cultural images of source language are largely replaced by alternatives of the target language.

Venuti believes that domestication conceals the discrepancies between cultures since translations dont look like the translated ones. It is a kind of culture invasion. （Venuti， 2001：240） Canadian translator Robinson calls the domestication translation “assimilative translation”. （Robinson， 1997：116） For example， under domestication strategy， when translating English into Chinese， the translation is more filled with Chinese flavor； when translating Chinese into English， it is more filled with English flavor.劉英凱：1987：270）As the target-language-oriented translation strategy，domestication sometimes has to sacrifice the flavor of source culture so that target readers wont feel strange and uncomfortable when they are reading the translation.

3 Domestication of Taoism in Blys Poetry of Translation

3.1 Return to Simplicity

One of the basic concepts in Taoism is Return to Simplicity. The Tao Te Ching asserts： man should abandon all artificial contrivances that facilitate his work but lead to cunning hearts and agitated sounds in which the Tao will not dwell. As Lao Tzu puts it：“Give up learning and be free from fear … Give up skill and discard profit … manifest plainness and embrace simplicity”（Kohn， 1992：49）.Chuang Tzu also loves simplicity， he says： “All ignorant， they did not lose their virtue； all desireless， they were in a state of natural simplicity as uncarved timber， which kept intact their inborn nature” （Wang Rongpei， 1999：37）.

Bly praises highly of the Chinese poems， he says： “these poems can combine different degrees of consciousness unnoticeably， so I think the Chinese poems are the best poetry in human history”（Bly， 1980：129）. A specific feature of his translations is that they are not the literal or word-for-word translation of the original texts. Instead， he rewrites or recreate these poems for the purpose of “presenting his poetic view and spiritual quest” （Liu Lanhui， 2009：14）.

When Bly translates Tao Yuanmings poems， he adds his own understanding of tranquility and simplicity. For example， his version of“心遠地自偏” is“An aloneness gathers around the soul that is alone”. In the original line， Tao Yuanming expresses his strong decision to be a recluse and his tranquil mind as a hermit. He thinks that as long as he does not desire any official reputation or material wealth， even though he lives in a world of bluster， his dwelling place is a secluded place， so his mind can become calm and peaceful as well. In the translation， “alone” appears twice to emphasize the poets appreciation of the beauty of loneliness and stillness， because he thinks just in such an environment， he can experience the state of Returning to Simplicity Taoism advocates. “Alone” also appears in Tao Yuanmings another poem. In“Drinking Wine No. 7”， the poet is so immersed in the beautiful view of the morning chrysanthemums that he forgets all the earthly affairs， then “Alone， I take a drink” （一觴雖獨進）. In Blys translation， he melts Taos lonely mood of drinking by himself into the enjoyment of aloneness and tranquility. Bly values highly the state of “aloneness”， which is closely related to his own poetic needs. According to Bly， solitude or aloneness is important to the progress of a poet. He says： “living alone for two or three years， a writer or any one will benefit rather than sacrifice from the solitude. For it will help a person find out who he/she is before he/she can even write one word that is of any value…I like solitude—tremendously”（Bly，1980：54-131）.For Bly，by returning to solitude he can be freed from the obstacles of society， and find out what he really wants to be. His answer is： only in a state of aloneness can he enjoy a life of Simplicity.

To express his spiritual quest by translating Chinese poems is Blys favorite practice. He also translates Wang Weis “The Walnut Tree Orchard”（《漆園》）.The original poem is aimed to convey the reason why the poet resigns from his political career. But there are some differences in Blys translation compared with the original. For instance，“自闋經事務” means the poet knew clearly he was incompetent for his position， so he chose to resign voluntarily. We can guess that actually what Wang Wei wanted to express is that he intended to be a hermit. Bly translates it into “he thought making decisions was too complicated for him”. Here although Bly does not mention anything about talents for a political official， “making decisions was too complicated” means that if the poet secures an official position， everything will become “complicated”， such as “making [any kinds of] decisions”， handling human relationships etc. Since everything is complicated as an official， while the poet is weary of the corrupted reality， why not choose to resign？ On the other hand， we know that Bly once refused to be a teacher in a university for the purpose of staying away from the complicated world as well as keeping his solitude； he deliberately translates that way to state his wish to be a hermit. Therefore， “the motivation for reclusion changes from the talent for politics to life attitude， what Bly conveys is the wish for a simple and plain life and his weary of the complicated human relationships”（Liu Lanhui， 2010：12）. Although Bly renders approaches of description of a typical Chinese hermit life， they produce satisfactory result， which is to infect the readers with ease and tranquility of a reclusive life.

In general， in Blys translations， he does not pursue fame and wealth， but enjoys himself in the ideal state of Simplicity； sometimes he resorts to the description of the landscape to express indirectly his longing for a simple life， although they are not so faithful to the original， they present the similar scene and work out almost the same effects.

3.2 Wu Wei

Wu Wei is a cardinal principle of Taoism， which means taking no action that is contrary to nature. In the Taoist view， Wu Wei is the perfect way to keep the world flourishing and people happy. If everything is allowed to go on in accordance with its own nature， the whole world will be happy and harmonious.

As we know， although Tu Fu swings between service and seclusion， he is considered as a Confucian poet at large. However， he still can not resist the temptation of the Taoists calling of living in reclusion. In his translation， Bly makes him a Taoist hermit who enjoys an ideal state of doing nothing. Bly translates Tu Fus“Five Poems on Autumn Fields” （《秋野五首》） as “Thinking of the Autumn Fields”.

The middle part of the poem is：

棗熟從人打，葵荒欲自鋤。

Blys translation：

There are fish in the lake but I will not fish，

I will sit silently at my table by the window.

（Bly， 1987）

Few readers can connect the two lines as they are completely modified and become totally different. The original lines express the poets benevolence and compassion for people as a Confucianist， for the poet said when his jujubes were ripe， he hoped someone would come to harvest； but for his croplands， he just cultivated by himself without any help. We know that in his later years， although Tu Fu stopped his efforts in political career and embraced simplicity and principles of eremitism. His Confucian faith was still alive， which was mainly transformed to benevolence and compassion for the poor and the suffering people. However， in Blys eyes， the poet was very much a part of the“scholar gentry and suffered from their ethnocentrism and caste consciousness， however transfigured”（Rexroth， 1986：149）. It seems quite clear that Bly is uncomfortable with this side of Tu Fus character. Starting from this horizon， Bly， in his translation， obliterates the Confucian color in the original text whether he realizes or not. We can see a Taoist who sits by the window with nothing to do， and even feels reluctant to go fishing. And considering the reading habits of his native readers and making them accept his translations easier， Bly changes “Chinese date” into “fish”， because American readers would rather imagine the image of a hermit is an old man， sitting by the lakeside， fishing.

Although sometimes Blys render of the description uses different approaches with that of Chinese poets， they produce equally satisfactory results， which is to infect the readers with a Taoist image of Wu Wei and leisureliness.

4 Conclusion

Based on the above study of Blys translations of the ancient Chinese poems， we can see that Blys translations

are not very faithful to the original poems， and he even rewrites some of them. Through reading English versions of the ancient Chinese poetry as well as classics， plus “his unceasingly efforts to read， study， translate and model on the Chinese poetry， Bly makes Chinese culture become a part of American culture after he absorbs and transforms it”（Liu Lanhui， 2010：9）. Zhong Lin names his translation as “the creative English translation”， which means that“the translation works intend to express the poets aesthetic perception， the goal is to present his subjective feeling of the Chinese poetry by the means of beautiful English”. Therefore， “his translated texts can also be called his own poetry creation” （Zhong Lin， 2003：34）. In order that his American readers may accept and appreciate his translation， Bly ventures to make modification and adaptation， as he recognizes the big difference between the reading habit， cultural rules， literary tradition and aesthetic attention of the Chinese and American people. And through his poetic recreation， he clearly demonstrates his own spiritual pursuit and poetic ideal.

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作者簡介：晏麗（1984-），女，陜西安康人，講師，研究方向：英美文學及教學。