Blurb:

Chapter 12 explores the issue of person in English translations of ancient Chinese poems. We first briefly review some relevant literature on personal pronoun. Then we analyze some English translations of ancient poems in this perspective. Finally, we analyze and compare some ancient poems and their English translations in terms of the selection of personal pronoun and the expression of meaning. Based on our observation, most translators have unavoidably added personal pronouns in their translations. On the one hand, such practice is restricted by the grammatical rules of English. On the other hand, this indicates that translation activity is itself an interpreting activity.