Anne Chen
on translating Shu Ting
I attempted to translate the weary, hopeful, and zealous tone of the poem. I chose to use “Ah” in the title to make the poem colloquial, which is a quality present in many of Shu Ting’s poems. Also, I translated the line “ache within your hope” to portray the bitterness and frustration presented by the author. The phrase “utopian land” in the original is “immortal’s sleeve,” which symbolizes an idealistic and happy place. I used “utopian land” to convey the cultural connotation.
about the author
Shu Ting is one of the most prominent female Chinese poets of the twentieth century. At the age of seventeen, she was sent to work in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. However, this did not stop her pursuit of literature and poetry. In the early 1980s, she was regarded as the leading female representative of the Misty Poets, who reacted against the restrictions on art during the Cultural Revolution. Shu Ting has joined the official Chinese Writers’ Association and won the National Outstanding Poetry Award twice now.
about the translator
Anne is a junior studying Digital Media Design at the University of Pennsylvania. She lived in China for six years during elementary school. She admires the rhythm, language, and expression of Chinese poems and hopes to recreate such aspects through translation.
