It is hard, I recon, to translate classic Chinese poetry into English. I took a comparative study of English and Chinese classic poetry in college, and have to say, structurally they are incomparable due to huge cultural and language differences. Chinese classics, like the Dream of Red Mansion , the Journey to the West , or the Outlaws of the Marsh , are even more difficult to translate. I have the English translations but they fail to catch the spirit and vividness of the originals. It is interesting to read them side by side, as a reminder of how disparate the two languages are. This is not to deny the humongous work that the scholars had to undergo to complete the project. It is just sometimes impossible to loyally and artistically translate a masterpiece into another language. Of the handful female poets, Li Qingzhao is my favorite. She lived in the late South Song Dynasty (1127-1278), a chaotic period when central China was under constant inva...
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