ABSTRACT
Of all areas of Chinese translation, one of the most debated is that of Chinese poetry. The canon of classical Chinese poetry is well known outside China to intellectuals, and mostly to sinophiles and poetry aficionados. Chinese classical poetry, which has been interpreted in very varied forms over hundreds of years, may be a good candidate for an overtly adaptive or transcreational approach. There is a strong tradition in China of translation by Chinese native speakers into English. Any translation of Chinese into English is to some extent a transcreation. Traditional Chinese poetry has strict rhyme schemes and regular metres, many of which are based on song. China currently exploits stereotypical tradition in order to 'sell' or serve its culture to western nations. Translations of Chinese poetry do not need to be agonisingly stilted and romanticized; they can, if so desired, be agonisingly modernised.
