A Comparative Study of Biological and Geographical Image Translation in Existing Versions of Hard Roads in Shu

Abstract

Hard Roads in Shu, a famous poem by Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, has been translated into the English and American worlds with a certain degree of alteration of its original meaning. This paper analyzes the translation of geographical imagery and biological imagery in the four English translations of Hard Roads in Shu from the perspective of Chinese and foreign comparisons based on the translations of four Chinese and foreign translators, which focuses on analyzing the three dimensions of the direct translation treatment and the free translation treatment, the embodiment of rhetorical devices such as couplets, and the different word choices of the four translators in translating biological and geographical imagery. In the end, the study finds some better solution and suggestions for the future translation of geographic and biological imagery in other languages while retaining the flavor of the source language, so as to achieve the purpose of cultural exchange.