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MEXICO CITY, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- "The fisherman's song floats on a still shore, and Wang Wei rewards Zhang Shaofu in a hut in the heart of his lake, but I do not want to have a wise hermit's residence in San Angel or Kojoakin." After many years of living as a diplomat and abroad, the Mexican poet Octavio Paz (1914-1998) borrowed images from the Chinese Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei and wrote a long poem "Return".
Paz, who has translated many Chinese poems into Spanish, wrote in his book Double Flame that ancient poetry was one of the greatest cultural heritages that China has left to the world.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, The Mexican sinologist Flora Bolton said: "Poetry has brought Paz close to China, from reading other people's Chinese poetry translations to his own hands-on translation, he gradually understood the background of the times behind the poetry and the thoughts of ancient Chinese." ”
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Born in 1914 to an intellectual family in Mexico City, Mexico, Paz's grandfather, Ireneo Paz, was a journalist and writer, and his rich book reserve opened the door for Paz to embark on a literary path. Paz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his literary achievements.
Beginning in 1951, Paz became acquainted with Eastern cultures, and he traveled as a diplomat to Japan, India and other countries. Chinese, Indian, Japanese and other national literature accompanied Paz through his days as a diplomat in the Far East, and he also translated a large number of oriental literatures. Under Paz's pen, the works of Zhuangzi, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Su Shi and other famous artists were translated into Spanish and drifted to readers on the American continent who were far away from the ocean.
In 1968, Paz resigned as ambassador to India. He also had a deeper feeling for the state of mind of Wang Wei, the author of the Tang poem "Reward Zhang Shaofu". Wang Wei must not have imagined that his story would resonate with a foreign poet after a thousand years, and in "The Return", Paz used this allusion to express his philosophy of life in similar circumstances.
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In a television interview about Oriental culture, Paz talked about his understanding of Chinese philosophical thought, and he read his translation of Wang Wei's five-sentence "Lu Chai", which fascinated him with the quiet and empty realm of the poem, and he was fascinated by the meditation realm of the unity of reality and surreality.
In the anthology Translation and Recreation, Paz has a special chapter on "China" that includes a large number of Chinese poetry and prose. For Latin American readers in the 20th century, exploring Chinese poetry because of linguistic differences was no easy task, as was Paz, who had not systematically studied Chinese.
"Paz was one of the pioneers of this undertaking, and at the time there was little Spanish material to refer to, and he mainly referred to English and French translations when translating." Bolton lamented that his in-depth study and excavation of this cause eventually helped Paz overcome language barriers.
Through extensive reading, Paz's understanding of Chinese poetry continued to deepen. He translated three versions of the poem "Deer Chai" alone in a few years. Bolton says the poem is the best example of Paz's translation: from word-for-word translation, to understanding the poet's mood hidden between the lines, to reflecting the empty realm of the original poem with the transformation of grammar and word choice.
"Through three attempts, Paz restored the poetic connotations, and if Wang Wei himself could see the final translation, he might be satisfied." In Bolton's view, Paz's keen intuition and long-term accumulation as a poet are the biggest reliance on his translation process.
In translating Du Fu's "Spring Hope", Paz attached nearly two pages of commentary notes after a short eight-line poem, describing the scene of the Tang Dynasty's destruction and family destruction and war separation under the Anshi Rebellion, so that Du Fu's rise and fall and bitter lament broke through the limitations of language differences and conveyed to Latin American readers.
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In 1991, the first Chinese translation of Paz's works was published in China, and a series of works such as "Labyrinth of Loneliness" entered the field of vision of Chinese readers. In 2015, to commemorate Paz's birthday, his poems floated into the Shanghai subway cars, and his masterpiece "Sun Stone" was excerpted and printed on the carriage wall and gripper: "A crystal weeping willow, a water spirit black poplar, a high fountain fluttering with the wind, a straight tree dancing, a crooked river, forward, backward, roundabout, always get to where you want to go." ”
In his decades of literary career, Paz has used poetry and prose translations to bring Mexico and Latin America closer to China. If you see that he has traveled to the eastern country of literature, and now many readers read his works like he loves Chinese literature, Paz should be pleased! (Reporters: Zhu Yubo, Wu Hao; Editor: Wang Pei; Editors: Han Xiao, Liang Yi, Zhang Lian, Wang Yu, Chang Tiantong, Wang Jiansheng, Qian Yongwen, Wang Yujue)